Sometimes, Kitsune really hated just how weak her manifestations had to be. There was always the rare world when the greater part of her existence could meld seamlessly with reality, but for the most part she always felt the strain, the weariness of power's fragmentary existence as it adhered to the laws of reality. It wouldn't do to crack this world like an egg, no matter- looking at the idiotic tribesman who'd shot an arrow at her again, as if uncomprehending the first one hadn't worked- how much she wanted to.
A third arrow sliced through the air beside her as she deftly dodged to the side, and she considered just… leaving. Her current goal was important to the plan- projections placed the small group of tribes as critical to a few minor developments in the future- but it wasn't like they were going to be wiped out in the next hour.
She had at least a- another arrow! Well, a bit of fire never hurt anyone, except the people it did. A tongue of flame flickered in the air between them for the briefest part of a second before the warrior cried out, dropping his now-smoldering bow and quickly retreating a few feet back as if that'd help him. "Demon fox-" and for all the vitriol in the word, Kitsune was suddenly alert. If this was Sija showing her hand early… she'd have to watch the tribe carefully.
"I need a deviance report on… actions taken in anger."
[ISON note - significant deviance not expected from hostile action.] Perfect… but she couldn't let whatever tenuous connection existed be supplanted by her own actions.
A flash of white fire echoed shadows in the daylight, leaving behind only ashes, and memories.
………
The eternal Emperor's conquest of the equatorial archipelago tribesmen was quick and relatively bloodless. For all the arrogance and righteous fury they were able to impart into their people, canoes really had nothing against warships, their bows barely scratched standard imperial plate, and their shamans were so ridiculously outmatched against the power of the eternal Emperor that it was a little funny. They'd perform some elaborate ritual to throw a puny fireball at the invading forces only to be cratered from a thousand feet in the sky in an instant.
How she missed orbital bombardment. Maybe she'd set up some extrasolar bombardment platforms, just for fun…
Nevertheless, the conquest was over almost as soon as it began, and only a few months later the colonists arrived en masse. Twelve years with not more than a word or two from her and the islands were a thriving trade center, giving rise to the eastern oceanic trade renaissance so critically important to future societal development. Freer trade would go on to influence several vassal states of the eastern central empire to significantly reduce trade barriers leading to…
Boring. It was boring. Everything was more or less working itself out without her input, the pieces were in place for the next few hundred years, and even Tabs' messages were few and far between. Still annoying, though… so, when she was walking through Port Jaze in the form of a young fisher-girl and saw an opportunity…
So, running through a port city barefoot, master alchemist and half the city guard on her tail, because she'd nabbed a small bag from a pile of equally small bags on a shipment guarded by a geezer. Overkill for sure, but it was the one bag out of the lot bound for the eternal Emperor himself. She dodged around a corner, pulling ahead a few feet from the guard. "You're still old!" Laughing, she ducked beneath a small stand, deftly stumbling on a board which sent another fish straight into the alchemist's face.
"Brat!" He swiped at her, but she was already gone, leapt onto a passing canoe and over onto the next street. The guards might have thought it luck, but she got to laugh every time they were nailed with seafood, rotten produce, and random mud. Golden. Just… perfect-
She ducked into an alleyway, and quickly realized there wasn't a way out. Pouting a bit, she slipped the small pill out of the packet and into her grubby hands… like a bead of fire, almost- it shone brilliantly in the dim corridor and was hot enough to be uncomfortable to human hands. Golden, like the hottest of remnant coals, impure- she could sense it, for all its impressive creation it was nothing close to the true element of fire.
She was the true element of fire.
For a long moment she watched patterns of flame swirl around the jagged impurities within the pill, enraptured even as the master alchemist stepped warily into the alleyway after her. "It's so… pretty? Like… a candle's flame made tangible."
"Just- just put it down." She made as if to drop it onto the muddy street, eliciting a strangled groan from the alchemist. "No- up- in the bag! Put it in the bag!"
"What is it? Can I keep it, please?" She channeled her best Eaera expression into cute-girl puppy-eyes. "Please please?"
"No! It's…" the alchemist looked distinctly uncomfortable against her Eaera face. Total success. "They're… dangerous if you accidentally break it, or eat it. Look, just put it in the bag, and we'll put this whole thing behind us."
"Eat… is it like… some sort of candy?" She had to fight hard to keep from laughing at the panicked expression that stole over the alchemist's face as he desperately reached out to stop her, but it was far too late for that.
The last thing she saw before burning unconsciousness stole over her mortal form was a thoroughly flustered alchemist panicking as she slumped into the muddy street. Complete victory- and the darkness claimed her.
………
If she had been human, the expanse of elemental flame before her, a deepness of eternal conflagration so brilliantly burning, ever tumultuous in an infinite- beautiful, it would have been the most beautiful thing she’d see or ever would see.
She was not human.
She was the fire and the fire was she. Primordial met primordial, manifestation met self, and she- fox in a single iteration, Seraph of fire omnipresent across the universe- smiled in warm relief. It was an embrace, a touch of freedom…
The pill burnt to a crisp within her, impurities erased from its form until it was a drop of fundamental annihilation, orange bright flames of existence that melded seamlessly into her body and slipped between the dimensional barriers and into her greater being beyond. After all, it was a part of herself, had always been a part of herself… and this manifestation was already as strong as it could be without tearing reality with her steps. She didn’t really feel the need, right now, not when everything was going so well…
She cracked her eyes open to the inside of a small room, still damp with the scent of sea and city. A dim lantern flickered in the corner and heavy blankets held her down- it was so similar to the first time Taza had met her this iteration she couldn’t help but giggle softly.
A spark of light flickered through the air with the scent of some acrid mixture, a muttered curse barely making its way to her ears. “...awake, but couldn’t you have done it at a less inconvenient time? I was just finishing up some medicine for a local… nevermind. Do you understand what you’ve done?”
She looked at him with the most unimpressed gaze she could muster. “Yes.”
“You could have died, and that-” he paused, face frozen in befuddlement. “What do you mean- ‘yes’?”
“I eat a shiny pill, and I get a deeper connection to the element. Fire, I think, for that one.”
The alchemist gaped. “You… brat! You were stringing me along the entire time! I swear, you orphans will be the death of me one day… you’re incredibly lucky to have not been burnt to a crisp from that pill. That one was earmarked for the eternal Emperor himself.” He sighed, placing a rough hand on her forehead. “You still have a fever, the guards will be all over the city for that pill in a few months, and anything you do will give you away instantly. Congrats, girl, you’ve landed yourself a job as an assistant alchemist.”
Kitsune blinked in shock, then smiled warmly. “Thanks, old man…” she smirked a little bit at his insistence that he was barely past his forties- “I’m sure you’ll make good work of someone without late stage arthritis for all your cool experiments.” A laugh, and a chuckle in return… this was great. Absolutely perfect. It wasn’t often one came across someone so genuinely selfless… the next few years would be fun, for sure… and maybe she’d be able to find some connections she hadn’t seen before. After all, if her suspicions were right, then at least part of Sija’s plans were centered on the isles.
The upcoming years were going to be… interesting.
Old man alchemist on the other hand, watched the devilish grin that spread across her features, and wondered if he was too late to find a different assistant…
………
“Golden holly, please.” Kitsune- ‘Tsune,’ again- crushed a few of the leaves into paste before handing them over to the alchemist for refinement. They burned a merry orange and filled the room with a sharp scent that probably wasn’t healthy to inhale, but nobody had ever accused medieval alchemists of adhering to high standards of personal protective equipment. “Here, observe carefully how the essence of the leaves combine with bloodgrass and just a hint of rehydrated waterweed to bring out the most effect.”
“Right. I do so love watching old men smoke.” Smirking at the almost comical pout on the alchemist's face, she preempted him with the other ingredients, already a bit prepared. Or a lot prepared. It really just depended on one’s experience with manipulating the fundamental concepts underpinning reality.
She was a fundamental concept. She had a fair bit of experience there.
“You know, I was looking into some people with your… unique situation, and I think I might have found someone for you to work under.” Kitsune blinked at that- she’d been expecting a relatively unremarkable stint under the old man-
[Prerecorded message from Seraph: Tabby - “You ruined it. I can feel it from here. Aren’t you supposed to be the best infiltrator in the Seraphim?”] Scowling into her arrangement of beakers and esoteric flasks, Kitsune dismissed the message and warily looked up. “...who?”
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“Lady-general Ameai. She’s a professional inquisitor who has experience with the sort of powerful fire pill you used a few years ago. She’s coming to do some… research…. into some of the more hidden traditional alchemical practices of the isles.” Mistaking the distraught look on her face for something else entirely, he was quick with an assurance that it wouldn’t be permanent. Unless it was. Or if the inquisitor decided some repossession of alchemical assets was in order…
[ISON note - designate: “Inferno General” associated with significant possibility of early Sija connections according to current path-sets.] Kitsune cursed under her breath. This was not what she needed to deal with…
She had time, she supposed. Not like she hadn’t messed around in the world a few thousand times before- the plan had been successful so far, and she had been planning to find the first impressions of Sija…
Hopefully it wouldn’t destroy the main part of their plan, at least. Or worse, tip Sija off that something was up in the world- and no matter how subtle she was there was always the chance… “How long until she’s here?”
“I… uh…” the alchemist smiled sheepishly as something crashed downstairs. “-I’ll get back to you on that one? Wise, right, now- pass me some of that, there-”
“I’m going to find poison ivy, and turn it into a reagent.”
The alchemist winced. “Yes, of course, now please pass that flask with yesterday’s distilled binding agent-”
“I’m going to mix the poison ivy reagent into every single binding material in this house.”
“Very… well?” The alchemist was looking distinctly nervous between the combination of loud footsteps marching up the stairs and his apprentice’s blank stare. “Now, could you-”
“And then I’ll sell it to every noble in the empire with your name on-” the door behind them burst open and without a second of ceremony a scarred hand grabbed her by the collar and tossed her out the room, leaving it empty but for a vaguely threatened alchemist and the still smoking golden holly.
Slowly, as if afraid of Ameai returning, he measured out half an ounce from the flask Tsune had passed him and- the golden holly exploded, smashing half the glassware in his lab and sending him tumbling to the ground with a groan. “I… might have made a mistake.”
………
The first thing Lady-general Ameai did upon dragging Tsune into her private suite was to rake her over the coals. Literally. She threw her into the fireplace! Truly a stunning declaration of future camaraderie if there ever was one… and her clothes were new too! She’d just bought them, and now they were well and thoroughly singed.
Tsune pulled herself out of the still red-hot coals and glared at the inquisitor. “Nice going there. Kill me a bit faster next time, would you?”
“You’re not dead, brat. If you didn’t have some sort of crazy adaptability to fire after eating that pill and not dying, then I’d be doing you a favor.”
“Dying in a fire is a favor?”
Ameai smirked. “Fire is the best thing ever.” Preaching to the chorus. No need for flatter, not that she knew it… “Now, I want you to make that fire hot enough to burn me. Or the building. Or the city, I don’t care about this cesspit.”
“Isn’t this like… a major trade city?”
Ameai shrugged halfheartedly. “It can be a major wasteland for all I care. All the emperor wants me to do is find some of the more reticent local leaders, employ some… imperial standard recruitment techniques… and then I’m out of here. What’s a trade city or two to a lady?”
“...dry kindling?”
Ameai grinned. “I think I’m going to like you.” A pause, interrupted only by her viscous grin- “...the fire?”
“Right.” It was beyond easy to stoke the flames into a roaring inferno. It was harder to make it look like it did take effort- for all she’d had an eternity to perfect her acting, she always found it somewhat difficult. Beyond the initial boring investigations- the back of her mind reminded her she was on one of those now- the Seraphim didn’t really do subtlety. “Is this enough?”
“Yes! Yes yes- those sanctimonious officials won’t know what hit them! Who cares, anyways-” Tsune groaned inwardly at being assigned to a permanent apprenticeship with barely a word in edgewise- “we have some people to totally not torture, so follow me!”
Her hand was gripped tightly, and then they were off through the city, ducking through the markets and crowds as they gently pulled away from the imposing, scarred woman. A few of the store owners she knew looked at her askance, and she sent a pleading look to one or two because she felt like it before Ameai threw her (again) into a dark hallway and down a staircase. “An underground warren? Do you want to get me killed?”
“Dead or badass! You got it, skinny.” She slowed her stride, flipping up the hood of her cloak as they strode through darkened corridors and barely lit intersections, shying away from hostile gazes as they passed. “Kid… you have to understand, there’s places like this everywhere, and in places like this people get all rebellion-like, and then I have to come and use… recruitment tactics… on them.” They stopped before a rickety wooden gate nailed shut with a few boards. “We’re here. Watch and learn-” a tongue of flame swirled around her hand before pooling at her feet- a movement, sharp, a flicker of light-
And the door exploded inwards with a rolling wave of flame, scalding air rolling over the barely awake thugs laying against the wall and boiling them alive. A twitch of her fingers sent a hundred little sparks flying down the corridors, into wooden supports and heaps of hay and all the rooms they came across.
As the air started to fill with smoke, the inquisitor only grinned. “Well! We’ll be seeing them soon, don’t you think?” A serenade of the sounds of death filled the air under the crackle of flames, and Tsune pulled on the part of herself that had seen universes die in infinite fire to ignore the burning visage before her. “Now you see why I needed to make sure you were fireproof?”
“Uh… yeah.”
A grin split her face in an instant, only a little scary in the harsh shadows and burning light. “Hey- why don’t you try? See- I don’t think anyone in… lets say those rooms needs to be interrogated.” She looked at her expectantly. “Well… get to it?”
Tsune nodded, and the fire leapt to her command, a river of flame streaming through the air to fill the room with a roiling inferno, incandescent against their bare skin. “Is that enough?” Bad at acting or not, she had the ‘I’m totally innocent I swear’ face absolutely down, even as she laughed inwardly at Ameai’s stunned expression. “I… it was really hard, but I can do it again? Maybe?”
“No need. That was great… ah, to imagine such heat!” Tsune couldn’t help but wonder if she’d selectively forgotten that most normal people weren’t immune to fire. “Now, we’re going to use some… recruitment… well, nevermind.” She mumbled something that sounded a little too close to imminent trauma to care- “torture! Fire is great for torture.” Tsune gave her another unimpressed look, which only caused her to cackle. Absolutely pyromaniacal, this woman… “you’re a natural. I’ll enjoy this.”
They stepped into a merrily blazing room, the flames pulling back into the walls at a single gesture from Ameai. A charred half-corpse… thing groaned and looked up, delirium swimming in his gaze as he watched the two approach. “...the eternal night, the moon… the… don’t let them know. Blackstone dreams…” Ameai stepped forward with a flame on her fingers, but he’d already burnt to nothing… along with her new plushy- apprentice. Glancing around and confirming they weren’t in the room, she dropped to her knees, thoroughly confused. “Well…”
………
“What’s happening? I… is this death?” A specter stood on a platform of obsidian-dark stone, looking out into the infinite flames beyond, a sense of… foreboding worming itself into his being. A primal fear, etched into his soul, an incomprehensible terror in that inferno that surrounded him on every side, something that whispered secrets and horrors beyond his comprehension.
The flames rippled and he stumbled back, forward, desperately trying anything to get away from the immensity that was slowly circling him. As he curled up on the floor a figure pushed its way out of the fire- a fox, wrought in burning orange flames and heavy, in a way he felt in his chest. A presence more immense than any he’d ever felt before, a presence that spoke of infinite existence… if there were deities, then this would be one. “The eternal night. The blackstone dreams. Tell me.”
It was a command, impressed onto reality around them and he could feel the promise of retribution if he failed to comply. “Ancient prophecies! I don’t know… they just… stories, I think! Blackstone ore is a material from the central volcano on the main island- it’s an excellent material for deepening elemental connections! That’s all I know! I swear-”
“Good enough. Sorry about this-” and then the flames swept over him, consuming the platform and everything that was him, all the concepts that made up his form except for the bones of a soul. She wasn’t able to destroy that- Eaera would have been, but it wasn’t really necessary here-
She manifested on the mortal plane beneath her, pulling in fire to constitute a new form identical to the one she’d burnt away. This one was barely a specter of the last in terms of raw strength, but it would do for the next day or two.
Ameai glanced up at her as she entered the room, eyes wide and mouth agape. “I- what- you burned to nothing!”
“I got better.”
“You don’t get better from being incinerated!”
“Who knew that modern medicine could be so effective?”
“Not me! You were gone! Not even a smear on the floorboard! You can’t be alive- that’s just- what?”
Tsune shrugged. “I guess fire is really cool, or something?” She paused, then nodded sagely. “I get it. Did you see me die?”
“Yes!”
“Probably not. I think you just missed me as I slipped out of the room.” She gazed up at the utterly flabbergasted inquisitor with her most earnest expression. “Won’t happen again, promise-” a grin, and she stooped to the ground to look at the ashes of one particularly unlucky rebel. Or oppressed native. Semantics, really… “did you remember to pack your object permanence today? You look like the sort of person to forget.”
Ameai just blinked in surprise. “You… absolute brat!" The air around her grew hazy as the fires roared. "I'll show you object permanence!"
"Burning something generally means it's not-" and then she was dodging halfhearted bolts of flame with deft movement, carefully registering the new information. It was a tenuous connection at best, but already better than almost anything she'd gotten before. "I'm off to the old man's! See you never!" She dodged out into the hallway and sprinted away, leaving Ameai in the burning underground.
The best part? She didn't even get dragged off to an apprenticeship. Just a nice, fun afternoon of arson and conspiracies millions of years in the making.
………
Twelve years later, as Lady-general Ameai gave her comprehensive report about the recently rediscovered alchemical reagent blackstone to the eternal Emperor, one detail in particular stood out to him. “This… fire user.” Ameai paused her detailed description of the southern imperial temple complexes, because when the eternal Emperor spoke, one listened. “Do you think she would ever be amenable for recruitment? I didn’t catch her name…”
“Yeah! It was something weird like Mune, or Tune or Tsune-”
Ameai would go on to take the question of why the eternal Emperor blew up his tower with her in it to her grave.