Ahri Arete
Cassandra was quiet until we reached the baths, her brows scrunched together in thought and her eyes travelling across my body from time to time while her ears twitched. There was barley a dwarf left on the ship and it took me a while to get my hands on two fresh sets of clothes. We were burning through them fast enough to earn a disgruntled stare from the bearded quartermaster, but at least no one complained, yet.
A good decision because I’d probably have snapped and gone on a long, uncalled for tirade. The reason was simple, I was on my last legs. I had tried to put up a brave front, but the truth was, the last time I had truly slept was when we had fled from Boseiju and I was more than exhausted, I was jaded. Last night I had barely been able to do more then cling onto Cassy, terrified she might be gone if I fell asleep. My mind felt gooey and everything I did seemed like a marathon to me. And then a dragon had arrived and Cassy had attacked me. I had had to deal with a bunch of memories while awake, adding another layer of guilt to the maelstrom I already felt every time I remembered her death. I had never known that Lucifer could have killed me right then and there, but what got to me was, that I knew for certain I would have lashed out defiantly if I had been in his place. It was difficult to know that he had had more dignity left in his dying moments than I could muster even now.
I just wanted to cry, sink against Cassy, let her hold me and fall asleep for a while, allow my feverish thoughts to calm down, maybe make some sense of what was happening to us. When we were finally alone, I unceremoniously slipped out of the smelly garments and into one of the tubs, the hot water immediately soothing some of the tension in my body. I didn’t even have any trouble ogling Cassandra while she stripped and the sight was enough to drive away my lethargy and bad mood, at least for a while.
She hadn’t changed much, but her ordeal in the tomb was definitely visible. When she moved, faint lines appeared on her skin, a barely visible sign of the muscles underneath. I might have even overlooked them, but her perfect, creamy complexion, marred as it was with stains of spider blood, was now constantly glowing with a silvery sheen, highlighting the small changes. She was tall, somewhere around 1.8 metres, with long dresses of silky black hair, parted only by her cute, fluffy ears, that reached down to her waist and a set of soft, bright, silver tails that were about as long as her body, hypnotically swinging from left to right to counterbalance her movements. Slender, graceful legs supported a slim waist and her dancers belly where I could make out the small protrusions of her hipbones, with a rounded bubble butt on the other side.
Her breasts were beautiful, in my opinion, perky and firm but I could have sworn they had gotten a little bigger since before she had been forced to rebuild her body. I really wanted to ask, but I knew she was self conscious in that regard so I remained tactfully silent. Plus, I didn’t want her to stop halfway out of her undergarments. Maybe a little less than tactful, but she didn’t seem to mind, she even slowed down a notch and pirouetted on the spot for me. What had happened to the shy girl from a few days ago, who had had trouble sharing a bed with me?
I was glad for the dim light, my heart was pumping fast enough as it was and since kitsune didn’t have a speck of hair on their bodies, except for our tails and heads, I might just have developed a nosebleed if I had seen even a little better. When she had whirled around, the soft glow from her large, slanted eyes, framed by unbelievably long lashes, had turned mischievous, casting smooth shadows along her high cheekbones and cute nose. The line of her jaw had become a touch sharper and combined with her lush, full lips, she appeared more like the ideal of what a kitsune might look like, an ethereal ghost of my fantasies, and less like a girl of flesh and blood.
When she pranced towards me and elegantly slipped into the same tub, her warm touch put any doubts of her physicality to rest, though. The contact sent a tingling wave of heat along my tails and I felt my fur stand on edge in the warm water. Before I could catch my breath she was already in my embrace, her soft curves tantalisingly pressed against my body. She squirmed and turned, her lips coming ever closer until they met mine in a delightful explosion of sensation. Her smell, her taste, the feel of her heat under my fingertips, it wiped my thoughts clean of everything except for her. I relaxed, tendrils of pleasant fire racing through me. They carried me along, away from the moment as my head fell back and I felt my thoughts disperse, the flames of happiness, anticipation and nervousness more than my overburdened mind could deal with after the turmoil of emotions I had been through. The last thing I heard and felt was her whispered complaint: “there’s always something…” while she slipped behind me and pulled my head against her chest. My vision dimmed and the scent of soap and Cassy’s hair turned into cherry blossoms and ancient wood, while another scene appeared before me, more vivid by the second.
“I swear, you couldn’t have picked a worse moment! By the Great Fox, please tell me I can wake up quickly.” I was back in the glade on Boseiju, Aurora sitting across from me with a wide smile on her face, her fiery wings quivering and her azure eyes sparkling with suppressed mirth.
“Maybe, but it feels like you simply asked too much of your body. You can’t support it with your energy, yet, and I fear it now took the chance to shut down and recharge. If you’re lucky you’ll be back up in an hour, possibly less. Why? What could possibly be that important? You can’t have been in danger, otherwise you wouldn’t have drifted off.”
“As if you don’t know. Aren’t you a part of my subconsciousness? I imagine you have access to more details than me, don’t you?”
“True, but that’s not the same and I’m still going to tease you. You’ll have to deal with it… so tell me, how far did the two of you get, this time? Is she still a good kisser?”
If I had had something to throw, I would have done so and as it stood, I was highly tempted to punch her. Except… she was a part of me and not real, striking her would be a true Sisyphus work. Still, I wasn’t going to indulge her, not even to shut her up. I wasn’t going to share that part of Cassy with anyone, not even with her and not even the memories, if I could help it.
“None of your business, not anymore.” That made her pout. “Since I’m not going to tell and I’m stuck here for a while, aren’t there a couple of other things we should talk about? Angels turned demons and vice versa, for example? The Corruption? Amazeroth?” My mood had turned sour again, which wasn’t much of a surprise.
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“No, I don’t think so. All valid and important topics but not nearly as enticing and pressing as something else. Don’t look at me like that, I don’t mean sex, even though I’m sure I could give you a pointer or two, if you wanted them. Anyways, I’m talking about your next transformation. You’ve seen how Cassy changed when she became able to control her energies? For you, it’s going to be a little bit harsher. I tinkered with your, or rather, our development and if I’m not mistaken, you’re going to be able to use your magic again, with a few restrictions. I’ll talk, you’ll listen and when I’m done, I’m going to answer as many questions as I can. I don’t expect us to be pressed for time, but we should still get the essential stuff out of the way.” I nodded. I would even have agreed to a dance lesson as long as we didn’t revisit the talk about the birds and the bees. Was it possibly to blush in an imaginary world? Probably…
Luckily she seemed content with explaining the dos and don’ts of what was to come, for the moment, without embarrassing me any further, despite her threat. Apparently I had not only left myself with a reservoir of energy that had allowed me to work my magic in the past, but I had also implemented a set of enchantments that had continuously kept on changing my body while my core had developed naturally. The gist of it: my flesh had slowly been infused with parts of my astral body, which would allow the energies from my core to power those parts through my meridians, as soon as I could channel them.
Reality was based on a few building blocks, the basic elements everything was born from. Mana, life, soul and transcendent forces made up the spiritual aspect and earth, water, fire and air combined into the natural aspects, from atoms to complex molecules and compounds. While the former could influence or even create the latter, the latter were much more abundant as part of the environment and as such, much more efficient to manipulate. A spell could, for example, create gold from nothing, either by attracting and shaping small particles of earth and fire with a touch of spiritual power or by reshaping the spiritual spect directly into the desired form. As one might imagine, it took much less energy for the former than it took the latter.
Aurora’s meddling was supposedly going to activate the parts of my astral body, which were the closest to the natural expression of my essence: fire. Every fire related magic that’s wasn’t fed by my life force or my soul should work, in theory, as long as I didn’t push enough energy into the spell to shatter the bridge between my astral body and my flesh. That would be bad. Really bad. Like, I wouldn’t be able to access my mana ever again if I made that mistake, bad. And even if I didn’t, it would hurt. Transcending energy seeping through artificial pathways was going to feel like someone was trying to rip my astral body straight from my body. Her words, not mine.
“Why,” I asked her. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you’re going to need it. We are warriors, Ahri. You know it yourself. You won’t be able to stand back, whatever is going to happen, you’ll be in the middle of it and I’m not going to let us die. So I tried my damned hardest to give you the tools you’ll need. It might not seem like much, but trust me, your magic, if supported by your core, will be a force to be reckoned with. I’ve stressed the repercussions of what will happen if you overdo it, but truth be told, there shouldn’t be a force in the mortal world that can put that much strain on you. If you ever run into an immortal while stuck at this stage, though, I’d advise you to grab Cassy and run. Unlikely as it is. Both of you are too stubborn for your own good. Which brings us back to what you wanted to know in the beginning.” She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, a mannerism I recognised. I usually did the same thing, when I was struggling with my words.
“You’ve probably already guessed that I can’t tell you anything about angels becoming demons. I’ve only stumbled upon the truth in that last memory you saw and I didn’t even know that Amazeroth was one of them until Cassandra told you. I’ve been sifting through our past ever since and there’s nothing that could help you understand, as far as I know. What might be interesting are the bits and pieces when and where we came across Corruption. I can’t tell what might turn out to be important and I’m not going to narrate days worth of time, so I’ve taken the liberty of mashing them all together. The next time you dream, you’ll see those memories, if that is, what you want.”
“Partly, but what I really want to know is, how my family, my biological family, ties back into it. Who are they?”
“I’m sorry, but I won’t tell you. That’s a question you have to ask your grandmother. She will tell you what you have to know, but I, that is, you, have promised to stay silent. And while your technically not bound by it anymore as a new incarnation and consequentially neither am I, I won’t break a promise. Never.”
“Then… please tell me, is Cassy corrupted? Her wings, the colour… you even betrayed her because you thought she is. How can I be sure I won’t lose her?”
“Oh, she is, very much so, I’m almost sure of it. But… she, Lucifer, they never changed. I don’t know why or how, but I think… well, as much as you have an affinity for fire, I think she’s linked to whatever the Corruption truly is. If I had to guess, I’d say that it’s simply another expression of her power from a different source. Nothing she has to be afraid of. Speaking of her… oh, oh my.” She fell silent and cocked her head as if she was listening to a song I couldn’t hear. A satisfied smile played around the corners of her mouth and before I could ask, she explained:
“Did you know that your girlfriend can sing? She’s got an amazing voice, I’ll give her that.”
“What?”
“Here, listen.” Her brows came together in concentration and a soft, melodious voice sounded in my ears as if Cassy was directly behind me.
“The night is long, and the path is dark,
Look to the sky, for one day soon,
The dawn will come.
The sun will rise, it’ll leave its mark,
The shadows gone, for one day soon,
The dawn will come…”
Her words trailed off, replaced by the rustling wind and chirping birds from my memories. When I raised my head, I saw a tear, slowly running down Aurora’s cheek while she whispered:
“She remembers…” I had trouble focusing on her, my own eyes stinging. I didn’t know why, or how, but the song had broken the dam and every suppressed emotion I had shoved away in the last days burst forth. I closed my eyes but it became even worse, as I immediately felt Cassandra’s touch and her soft body behind me, her arms slung around my chest. I couldn’t hear her but it felt like she was consoling me, repeating my own words back to me while she sheltered me with her warmth. “Cry, cry for as long as you have to and tomorrow, you’ll laugh again. The dawn will come.” And I did. I allowed my tears to flow freely, I allowed myself to mourn for what we had lost and to be afraid of what was yet to come.
With every heartfelt sob, the steely lump of worries in my stomach became lighter, as if it was slowly being washed away, my tears carrying it along on a cleansing river. Aurora’s presence, the soft grass under my feet, it all vanished gradually until there was nothing left but warmth all around me. And then I heard her voice again, humming softly in my ears. Hot water swirled around my body and soft tails held me close. When I opened my eyes, I saw the dim light of the flickering lantern again while two small, pearly white hands moved across my face, caressingly removing the last specks of grime from my skin.
“Sleep,” Cassandra whispered. “You’ve more than earned it. Let me take care of you, once in a while. I’ll have to wake you again, soon. Sleep, my love.” When her voice rose in the same, beautiful cadences again and I felt the vibrations of her song run through me, I snuggled deeper into her embrace, happy and content to simply be with her, for however long we had until the world was going to intrude again. I didn’t dream, for the first time in what felt like ages, I slept soundly and wasn’t woken by the smallest disturbance, the worries and woes of yesterday and tomorrow forgotten while she sang.