Chapter 16

Mother. Mother. Kiko went through so many different emotions in a short length of time. First she was amazed and relieved, thinking her mother was dead or someone she would never meet. Her heart swelled with elation, and then her mind burned with fury. Why had she left? Why…why…why?!“Why?” Kiko’s feelings spilling over to a point of speech. “Why did you leave me?” Kiko’s eyes filled with tears and was frozen to the spot, just staring mournfully.“We have an intricate culture. A culture that your father wanted to keep you from. And I couldn’t stay with him telling me that I couldn’t teach you who you were. I couldn’t watch you bounce about life not knowing who you were, looking to your friends as they got old and wondering why you were still young. So I returned to my clan and waited for him to come talk to me. He never did” Yeni seemed deeply aggrieved to look at Kiko as she was. But it wouldn’t last.“That’s your reason? Some bullshit culture keeping you away from your daughter like it’s a valid excuse?!” Kiko’s despair turned to rage at the whole concept, anger bubbling away inside her. In response Yeni took on that angry mother look that just came so naturally to every mother.“It’s been our guidance for thousands of years, how can you dare call it into question!” Yeni bristled at such an accusation, and barked back angrily.“And how many children have been abandoned for this glorious culture of yours?” Kiko was not one to give up, so deep in the throngs of anger as she was, and so jabbed wherever she could, not going to be the one to fall first in this argument.“Ugh, you really are his daughter, aren’t you? No-one else could be so stubbornly against their heritage” Yeni’s tone became a dismissive one, more than hinting at her relationship with Kiko’s father.“Speaking of parents, are you really my mother, or just the woman who gave birth to me?” Kiko immediately regretted it as soon as she said it, but this was no time for regret. It was a time for anger, and angry words. And in her head, the words of her inhabitant rang out. Forever the most beautiful thing Kiko would hear, they still didn’t soothe her.‘Wow, you guys suck. I am so fixing that as soon as I am more than a voice in a girl’s head. Nice statue though’

The tent, so bustling and full of life, suddenly just...stopped. Everything went quiet, nobody dared breath, they just stared at Yeni and Kiko. The elder Kitsune stared for a moment and then the fluffy tails behind her back stiffened and trembled, subjecting Kiko to some unseen pressure forcing her down. Kitsunes of five tails and above were those ascending to godhood, and had the power and presence far greater than their four tailed kin. Nobody was sure what was going to happen, not even Kiko. And the voice in her head was conspicuously silent after the last quip. And then, after what seemed like an eternity, the pressure subsided, and the tails retracted. In their place, was tears, and Yeni grabbed Kiko, enveloping her tightly in a hug.“I…” She whispered, an attempt to speak before failing entirely. Which was good because Kiko was still a bit shell shocked from the power released by her mother. The tent subtly emptied and Yeni just, hugged Kiko. For a long time. And then Kiko took a deep breath and Yeni let go, looking at her daughter through tear stained eyes.“What a mess we are. First time we ever meet and there is a screaming argument between us. I wish I could have stayed, wish I could have watched you grow up, and guide you. But, we all have such faith in this culture of ours, and nobody questioned it. On the rare occasion that a woman is in this situation where an abandoned City Kitsune is met, the separation and culture has harrowed the love they feel until there is nothing. But for you, I just can’t. There are such feelings in my heart that I just can’t give you up. I have to keep you, and I know SIR will want you back and I know I will be torn if I ever let you go again” Yeni hugged Kiko tightly, pressing her against her bosom as a child would her favorite toy that had only just been returned to her. This extended for Kiko until she was released, and her mother stared deep into Kiko’s eyes. She had the most beautiful auburn eyes, Kiko felt her heart melting all over again.“Why don’t you like the cities? Why do you live all the way up here?” Kiko asked, looking at her mother with tear-stained eyes.

“Because of The Betrayer. But that is for later. We have to get you back. The Shadowtails magic will be fading soon and SIR is hardly subtle when it comes to these sort of things” Yeni took Kiko’s hand and pulled her along, out of the tent.“W-woah! Who are the Shadowtails?!” Kiko asked frantically, stumbling along behind her mother.“Special Kitsunes that can cast powerful concealing magic. They can choose a person, a group, a country or even the whole world, and for a number of hours equal to twice their tails, that person ceases to exist to the chosen targets. Reasons for their absence are fabricated, and they just, aren’t there until the power runs out. We haven’t got the exceptional Shadowtails, but we do alright for these kind of situations”“So, what did they say about me? Who can see me?” she asked, a little bit of trepidation in her voice.“Basically…only Kitsunes can see you” Yeni replied.

The idea that there were Kitsunes with such a powerful ability, and the slight terror of the idea that someone could be around an entirely imperciveable. But Kiko really tried to ignore that and just go along with Yeni. Getting dragged into a small, black tent, and then through an archway. A sudden pressure crashed against her entire body, feeling viscous and oozy. Like sticking her finger in jelly, only across her entire body. A few seconds of jelly transport later, and she was in the city again. The back room of a café, in fact. It never really got a lot of custom, but had been around as long as Kiko had.“Did we just…teleport?!” Kiko asked, looking back at the arch.“I could go into the science of what we did, but it would go over your head. Just, accept that we didn’t, ok?” Yeni asked, with a coy grin. It was quite disconcerting to see the Kitsune mentality in action with someone else, but it didn’t bother her very much because of exactly the same reason. Running to prevent herself from getting dragged along by her eager mother, they arrived at SIR. And then, on a whim, Kiko gave her mother a tight hug.“Hopefully…next time can be better?” She asked, smiling awkwardly before turning to the door, and getting face to face with Queenie.“Yeni. I haven’t seen you here since you left Drax…” Queenie seemed surprised to see Yeni, and Kiko was surprised the two knew each other. Thinking about it, the three knowing each other was logical, but still surprising.“I did not leave, Tai’zian. Drax forced me to go” Yeni replied, turning to set off, but not making it far because her hand was grabbed by Queenie, or Tai’zian, as it seemed her name was.“Drax didn’t force you to do anything. But, I’m not getting into that. Why are you here? Have you come to see Kiko?” The Demoness had a warm touch and a soft voice, trying her best to comfort Yeni so she -wasn’t so ready to dart off.“No. I was in town on Maiden business, and was just passing through. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back” Yeni tugged on the holding hand, not hard enough to rip out of her grip, but enough to impress the fact that she wanted Queenie to let go.“You were always a terrible liar, doll. But fine, if you want to keep your secrets, I can’t force you to tell me. Just know I am here for you whenever you need me. Whatever you need me for” Queenie’s words made Yeni pause, and look back at the demoness.“Tai…I loved Drax. Even after my culture forced me to leave him. I was heartbroken to hear he had died, which as you know, is not an easy emotion for a Kitsune to feel. Kiko, I don’t know. I will know in future but for now she has to focus on her training” Yeni nodded, and then strolled away. Tai, smiled to herself and went inside, happy to have talked to her friend.

Kiko then turned away and scurried back into the building. Not wanting Queenie to decide to go check on her while she wasn’t there. In the main lobby, there was a pair of people stood, as if waiting for something or someone. A man, in regal dress uniform, and a sword by his side, stood like a veteran soldier, postured and prepared for any movement. The woman, by contrast, had a rather casual way of holding herself, and a rather casual set of clothes to accompany it. And she had some amazing eyes as well, one was a deep, crimson red, just the shade of blood, and the other was a striking yellow. The yellow eye seemed to glisten in the light. And then, turned to Kiko, while the rest of the woman didn’t move. Kiko froze, not knowing what was going on, since nobody should be able to see her. And then the woman smiled.“Something funny? Do share, it might break up the monotony” the man told the woman. He had a gruff voice, and Kiko could see some elongated fangs in his mouth almost like the Headteacher of her school, Mr Ridas.“My eye is seeing things again. As long as I have had it, it’s still strange to see things the rest of me can’t perceive…But, hey. If you have such an issue with the montomy, why don’t you go to the mess hall?” the two seemed friends, despite the differences in their dress.“Hmm, if I go to the mess hall, who will protect you?” The large, fanged man asked, scanning the hall intimately.“Heh. Protect me? Darlin, if anything, I’m protecting you. Your position is purly ceremonial~” the woman replied, a teasing grin on her face. “Besides, your montomy is about to break” The woman looked directly at Kiko and grinned, flicking her eyebrows.

A little spooked that someone was looking at her despite being told that nobody should be able to see her, Kiko scurried away to Queenie’s room, and got changed into her SIR uniform. How, she was going to explain the outfit she had just taken off, she didn’t know. But, cross that bridge when she came to it. What was she going to say to Queenie? Or…Tai’Zian as was apparently really called. Kiko had to be sure not to call her that until she found out in a way that wasn’t overhearing it while she didn’t exist. She explored, did some tail tricks and tried to get used to having two, and then practiced drawing her gun from its holster. These activities ate up the rest of the time, and eventually the door opened and Queenie came in.

“Hey Kiko. Good to see you awake. Let me have a look at that gunshot wound” Queenie said, coming up to Kiko before she could refuse and expertly stripping her clothes to bare her shoulders. That skillset would definitely work well in the bedroom later. But, for now, there was just a confused look on her face. “Any…secret regeneration powers you’ve not told us about?” Queenie asked. The question made Kiko look to her side and, see that there was no wound. Not even a blemish.“No…umm, I have no idea where it went, but I was definitely shot” Kiko’s voice had a stunned tone as she stared at the lack of wound.“I know. Bruyn reported it. We got you patched up and let you rest here, so you were in more comfortable surroundings when you came too” Queenie’s words sparked a memory in Kiko, and she quickly looked to the woman.“How’s Remokr?” There was a bite to the request, an intense impatience that Queenie picked up on and didn’t try reassuring. Just spoke.“Unconscious, but other than that she is stable. It was a very stupid thing she did. Could have blown her brain to hell, or fried her nervous system. Or any other manner of a terrible, terrible death. I understand why you did it, but it was stupid” Queenie somewhat lectured. And Kiko couldn’t deny that. “Stupidity aside, come on, we’ve got someone for you to meet. And as much as I love your personality, do try to be nice around this one” And with that, Kiko followed, entirely unsure what her ‘personality’ was. She wasn’t sure it was ever anything of note.

Then she was face to face with the heterochromia woman, and her wolf companion. The woman looked on with a smile, but the wolf-man looked back at the woman and then to Kiko, and then said something she missed.“Kiko, this is Sarasagi, the Queen of Blood. And her Knight-Commander Ulf” Queenie introduced. Kiko stared for a few seconds and then gave an awkward curtsey.“It-it-it-it-it is good, to see, you, your Majesty. I, am Kiko” there was a sudden feeling of being pressed down upon, as if the gravity of the world had multiplied many times. She could hardly focus on anything until Ulf nudged Sarasagi in the ribs, and the pressure vanished.“Call me Sagi. I do so hate the formality of my full name. You are Kiko, I hear. One of my beautiful girls from back in the war” Sagi walked up to Kiko and strokes her face, planting a kiss on her lips which made Queenie scowl deeply, but said nothing about it. Clearly, this Sagi was quite a character to intimidate the Ever-Burning Lady. And then suddenly Kiko shrieked and made Queenie and Sagi jump. Ulf didn’t so much as bat an eyelid however.“You! Are from another planet!” she suddenly pointed and accused vehemently. After recovering from the jumping, Sagi gave a nervous laugh.“Yes, yes I am. It is a nice place, but then it is my home so I guess I am bias towards it” Sagi put on a fond smile, remembering all the hijinks and shenanigans she got up to. And then gave Kiko a stare when the Kitsune poked her in the breast.“Why do you seem so…normal?” Kiko asked more, poking Sagi some more. The question seemed to amuse Sagi considerably, and she gave a hearty giggle.“Ahh, I am sorry. I’m not laughing at you. It’s just I asked the very same question when I saw my first, extra-terrestrial, if you will. There is a point in gravitational force in the planet, where it is too strong to create fully sentient life. Evolution is too focused on not going splat and not enough on brain power. Standard Gravity is designated as 1G. A planet can get about 2.5G, about two and a half times stronger than this planet’s gravity, before it becomes too strong. And about 0.3G About three times weaker than this planet’s gravity, before it becomes too weak to create a proper form. Life can evolve, but at a staggeringly slow pace and it can’t leave the planet without specialized pressure suits or it will quickly die from either asphyxiation or being crushed under the power of the gravity their bones are not designed to handle. People from different planets may appear shorter and stockier, or taller and more limber, but the general shape remains the same. Planetary aspects can add in deviations. My planet has a lot of night, so I am a very pale thing. Some planets are 95% water, so you get aquatic appearances. But nothing dramatically deviates from that because, Science” Sagi finished her explanation and saw Kiko’s brain had been well and truly burned out.

“You broke it. Nice” Ulf commented, which got him a glare.“Not my fault they are so easy to break. My Blood-Moons were a hardy bunch. A true delight to fight alongside” Sagi replied, her head held high as she spoke of her Kitsunes. This place was one of great glory and great horror both. One of the biggest wars outside of Olympus Mons. And Mons was a fucking deathpit. Even long after it had happened, it was still a holy pilgrimage for Necromancers across the universe, considered one of the greatest places to connect with their aspect. Eventually, while reminiscing, the little Kitsune managed to recover herself.“You are very beautiful, my Queen” Kiko said suddenly, and then blushed when she heard it and covered her mouth. Queenie scowled at that, but Sagi only giggled.“To the task at hand then. Blood Moon runes, yes? They have been going a bit wild but you had them under control because of their rarity and the fact that Kitsunes are rarely people in SIR to boot because of how The Great War ended. So this is the first time all the values have added up to make this particular situation. Is that a correct summary?” Sagi asked, holding herself with regal posture despite the less than regal clothing and tone.

“Yea..but, what do you mean, how it ended? Does that have anything to do with…The Betrayer?” Kiko asked. Her mother had mentioned something like that but never elaborated.“It does, yes. The Betrayer was a cowardly creature who drove a Blade of Blackened Soul into the back of Tzi, the great hero of the Kitsune, and wielder of the Crystal Talon. There, at his moment of triumph, he died. The Kitsune tore The Betrayer into a thousand pieces and then ate them so he would never rise again, but the damage had been done” Sagi looked as if she was going to go on more, but Kiko’s eyes grew wide and her breath suddenly laboured.“S-sword…where’s my sword? Where did my sword go? I need my sword!” she exclaimed, looking around with a panicked expression.“Hmm. Reminds me of a young Taka at the start of the War” Ulf commented, before looking to Queenie.“Bruyn has it” the large Demon woman said, waiting a second before realizing nobody knew her, except for Kiko who was currently freaking out, so she darted off to go find it.

While she was gone, Sagi put a hand on Kiko’s forehead and soothed her frantic heart. Kiko, feeling the warm hand on her head, was calmed. Enough so that Queenie could return and hand her the sword. Kiko grabbed it and hugged it, before unsheathing it and sighing deeply at the song. “It has been a long time since I heard that song. You would not think the man who sung it to be capable of such, but he did. Matched pitch and tone, tempo and style to the song of another, a most potent creation. The two songs together are things of great wonder to behold” Sagi spoke while the song went on, and then Kiko sheathed it and sighed deeply again.“Yay. Kiko, now with extra nuts. Can’t I obsess over something better than a sword?” she exclaimed, shaking her head before looking up at Sagi. Something about the stare made her feel completely naked in front of her. And so Kiko covered herself even though fully clothed. Sagi smiled and shook her head softly, before cocking it and looking into the Kitsune’s eyes.“I see she has found a new host in you. I look forward to meeting her again. Divinity is an interesting thing to interact with when you are something like me”. Kiko’s eyes grew wide at the mention of Divinity, especially when in relation to her. As if implying that the she in her was some sort of God. She couldn’t ask any questions however, because a growl suddenly ripped through the air. One of the members of SIR had walked past, and growled viciously at Ulf. The man turned and snarled back, the two baring teeth and certainly not shy about their hostilities.

Sagi closed her eyes for a long second, and then opened them back up and looked to Ulf. The man bared teeth for a few more seconds, and then regained composure and took his place back at Sagi’s side.“Good dog” the other man said, his voice dripping with venom and hate. Kiko barely had time to react before Ulf pounced with a savage roar and the two ripped at each other with claws and teeth as if the other was an enemy they had been tracking for a decade. The problem came quickly, as their violence brought blood, and Kiko was ensnared. Sagi let out a groan as the two struck each other, but Koko dived right into the combat and it was quickly over with yelps and pained growls. Mostly the man who had stayed to fight, Ulf had recognized a lost cause and backed out with only a few breakages to pay for.“And that, I take it, is the core concern of my presence” Sagi commented, nodding softly before speaking again. “Kiko!”

The words were sharp and hard, and even in her blood-lusted state, Kiko couldn’t help but turning around to look. And there, she beheld, a wonder. She, was unsure how anything could look this good, could look this beautiful, but she couldn’t do anything about it, and just dropped the battered wolf man and stared.“Come with me, my dear” Sagi held out a hand, which Kiko stumbled towards and took. With the fox girl in hand, Queenie left to a deeper part of the building.

Chapter 17

Taking Kiko to an operating theatre for the more immediately threatening wounds, Sagi laid Kiko on the table, and stripped her clothes with surprising ease.

“Ohh, the guy who did your sigils was an artisan. Merciless, vicious bastard but an artisan. But why would you give someone an Aeonic bridge unless you were…” she stopped, and looked at Kiko, and then about the place. The yellow eye glittered with an unspoken power, and then she turned back to Kiko. “Anyway, let’s get started” Sagi commented, placing a strip of cloth across Kiko’s eyes and tying it in place. Soon there was sounds of everyone else catching up, and Kiko was glad for the feeling that Sagi instilled in her, because she didn’t have to suffer the stares of everyone looking at her scar ridden body. “The Taltin Touch your body is showing is quite considerable. These scars must have been given to you with the intent to make them as wounding as possible…I hope he is dead” Sagi spoke, her voice growing a bit hard towards the end.

“I…can’t, be sure. How. But, he is yes. A, a, a...black winged guy appeared and pulled him apart. But it could have been a hallucination from the blood loss” Kiko explained, shivering at the so-soft touch of Sagi. There was a grace and brilliance to it that thoroughly overwhelmed her repulsion.

“Black winged man...I would say you were just seeing things. Not that a man killed him, but that a man had black wings. It’s possible that the trauma of the situation caused some mental overlap between what you were seeing and what you thought you were seeing. Kitsunes do share a hereditary memory, albeit few can tap it these days. And the black winged men and women were a big part of the Great War that your Kitsune made their mark on” she then got to work. Almost immediately, her body flushed with alien emotions. It, was not quite pain, not quite pleasure, but a feeling akin to the melding of both and heightening to the highest possible degree. Some liquid crawled over her body, and slipped its way into her crotch before nestling in there happily. It reminded her of the man who had taken her while chained in the warehouse. The panic came again, and her mentality did nothing to help it as the liquid in her spread outwards and inwards, all over her body.

And then it was all over. The blindfold was taken away and she was left on the table. Nothing covered her body at all, she couldn’t feel…anything that had just happened. So confused, she couldn’t even think to be embarrassed. Or that she no longer felt quite an obsession towards Sagi. Or that she even remembered what had happened beyond a strange possible.

“So the runics I used for the original Blood Moon were really outdated. A short while back, a guy distilled liquid intelligence and then drunk a lot of it in an attempt to become a genius. Just before dying from neural overload, he did manage to write out an equation that accelerated Runics hundreds of years. I can’t erase it, but I did update it. It’s not quite so flawed anymore” the woman nodded, and handed Kiko her uniform to get dressed with. Kiko dressed hurriedly, and then decided to change the topic.

“Right. Nobody, saw me naked and horribly mutilated” she muttered to herself before looking up at Sagi. “How…did you get here?” she asked, her cheeks on fire and trying to ignore what just happened.

“With my legs” Sagi replied, totally deadpan.

“I will bite you!” Kiko exclaimed. A strange exclamation but Sagi seemed to understand the origin because she just laughed.

“Ok, ok. A friend of ours picked up your call for the Queen of Blood and hit me up about it. Then we found out the origin and it was all ‘Isn’t that were we….?’ And so I came to check it out. And it was. We actually lost how to get here after the Puppet War, so seeing that the garrison has grown to an entire, fully populated planet is fantastic” Sagi exclaimed, but, then looked at the confused fasces and closed her eyes. “History been lost, huh?” she muttered. “Ok, short version is this was a battlefield, your descendants were left here after we won to defend it, and then a lot of bad stuff happened and we lost a lot of space lanes to get across the galaxies. Some rediscovered, some waiting to be rediscovered” she told the group.

“Wait…so the Quasi-Human’s diversity is because…they came here to fight in the Great War? We…aren’t native?” Kiko hadn’t even considered the possibility of not being from this place. Of how so many different beings could come to one place and work with each other – for the most part, everyone had their own grudges, like the Tengu and the Kitsune, and the Kitsune and everyone else – so readily.

“Mmhmm. You and the Lupians come from the same Planet even. Lovely place, or rather, it used to be. Different story entirely, that one” she then, saw Kiko’s enthralled look, and even Alric cocked an eyebrow in interest. So, Sagi grabbed a seat and crossed her legs, taking a breath before getting into total storyteller mode.

“Once, there was a fox. This Fox looked up at the sky, saw the majesty of the Gods, and felt enthralled. The Fox wanted this for herself, wanted to be sparkling and magnificent like they were. And so with the cunning and guile inherent in all of her race, The Fox broke into the Uprights dens of stone and began to indulge herself in the reading of occult tomes. It took her a while to learn how to read, but the Fox was a smart fox, and managed it eventually. This reading carried on until the den had run out of words for the fox to see, and so it scurried away to a new den.

But it was here, while observing this new den, that the Fox realized a universal truth. What would be the point of having such power, if there was nobody to share it with? The Fox was in luck, for the alpha wolf of a nearby pack had the same thoughts as the Fox. It too looked to the sky and desired the glittering splendour of the Divinity. Fox and Wolf joined paw, and together they snuck into all the stone dens of the Uprights. Sometimes they were caught and had to fight or flee, but on rare occasion they were caught and inspired only curiosity and interest. But it all turned vindictive, as the curiosity became obsessive, or turned to thoughts of self-empowerment rather than the betterment of all, and they were dissuaded with Magic and Fang. The Magic enhanced the life-spans of the Fox and the Wolf, and so they spent two hundred years slipping in and out of every stone Den on the planet. Eventually, they were both skilled enough to take a mostly human form. One can never truly hide their form, and so their ears and tail were kept to remind them and everyone around them who they were inside. Fox grew nine tails after taking her form, but Wolf remained with one.

Irate and jaded from the years of misuse at the hands of the Uprights - while they knew the name of these people, they preferred Uprights, even if they themselves were also Upright now - led Fox and Wolf to try a new emotion that had been brewing in their soul. Revenge. Taking the knowledge of the Uprights, they gathered many followers among their own race, and gave all who would follow them a human form and a human mentality. The rumours spread, and soon they had every fox and every wolf on the planet under their banner. The foxes agreed that the Wolves had been here longer, and so had no issue with them taking their name from the planet, Lupia. While the Foxes took their collective name from their leader, Vanaet. These two races, The Lupians and the Vana, then took to the Stone Dens on the Uprights, starting the War of Fur and Fang.

Furiously, the Uprights resisted, but they could not fight against the peerless magical power of Vanaet, nor the martial prowess and vigour of her brother in arms, Agnaet. And so they were cleansed from the world of Lupia. With the Uprights gone, the Lupians began to settle in, populate the Stone Dens, improve and enhance them, and build a culture. But, like their Leader, the Vana had an intense curiosity that they quickly ran out of things with which to satisfy it. And so they looked to the sky, not to the glittering Gods, who seemed to glitter much less these days, and instead to the stars. How many worlds were there out there? How much could be seen, how much could be learned?

Before that could be answered, they had obligations to fulfil. Vanaet and Agnaet had led them to victory over the Uprights, and given them form to begin with, rose them above their simple lives and given them so many gifts. So all Lupians and all Vana gathered together at a massive shrine, and conducted an auspicious ritual of immense potency. Billions of thoughts all filtered into the shrine and were put to work with a singular desire. To Grant Divinity. Their aspirations finally fulfilled, Vanaet and Agnaet didn’t exactly read the fine-print, and dissolved from the material world, ascending to the Divine realm, where they found themselves unable to touch the material world anymore. Not wishing to be away from his people, Agnaet asked a boon of the great Gaia, to be spun into the skein of Life once more, tied to the life of the Lupian King, so that he may always lend a hand to his race. Gaia obliged, and the tale of God-kin Lupians, began. Interestingly, he was never the king himself, but instead born close to the King, as an advisor.

Vanaet was not one who would take such a simple and pedestrian solution, however. Plus, the Vana did not need guidance the same as Agnaet gave to the Lupians. While some Vana did stay on Lupia to put their intelligence to work for their Lupian brothers, most others found ways off world and dispersed across the Universe to sate their burning curiosity about existence. So instead she researched, pulling up great archives in the Divine realm that made all she had read in the last two hundred years akin to a single page of parchment. Eventually, she concocted the prototype for the Avatar, a skin-coat that Gods may wear to be on the Material Plane, and implanted the ability to live within any Vana that was destined to grow her ninth tail, like Vanaet. And this, my dear, is the origins of your race. This is how the Kitsune came to be"

Sagi finished her story, and Kiko’s mouth was open. The amazement of hearing where she had come from and what she was going to become – a frigging GOD! – was such a shock. She could barely work her head at all. And, then she came to realize that that was what the voice was. Vanaet, the Kitsune God. Or, the Vana God. Cultural degradation probably led to the name, probably. And then, before anything else could be said, Mizia appeared.

“Madam Sarasagi. Your arrival was rather unexpected. Are you staying?” She asked. The pale Queen looked over, and shook her head.

“Sadly no. I came here to assist Kiko and to rediscover this planet’s lane. There are many who would like to come here and talk. Sons and Daughters of Puppet War Veterans are always quite the attraction. I shall send an envoy to talk about specifics some time. I am sure that you will be in for a jarring shift from mono-planetary culture to broad galactic hotspot” Sagi then gave a nod, and waved Alric to her side, taking his hand and vanishing abruptly. The air made a sucking noise as the sudden vacuum was filled, and Kiko stared with amazement, still unable to think enough to get any words out.

‘Sagi was always such fun’ the voice said, and unlike the previous times, Kiko rounded on it will all the force of will at her disposal and grasped it so it would not flee.

‘YOU! Vanaet!’ she shrieked.

‘Mmm. You Kiko’ Vanaet replied coyly.

‘Isn’t that something you mention?!’ Kiko demanded, her face contorted with irritation.

‘When, you are a half-coherent voice in someone’s head? Why yes, that is exactly the thing to bring up, well done Kiko, have a cookie’ Vana seemed to have read many books on sarcasm during her time, since she was well versed in it. Kiko growled softly but was forced to concede the point.

‘Fine. Just, stick around this time’ Kiko demanded. Not wanting the voice to go and leave her in her madness.

‘I have hijacked Sagi’s power to create a stronger connection between us. Only Hannah can proclaim a stronger grasp of magic than me, so it’ll be stable for us to chat with, whenever you wish~’ Vanaet then seemed to be speaking to someone else, not directed at all at Kiko. ‘Yes it is my Vana. No, I can’t ask if her planet has tortillas, how would she even send them here? Why are you bothering me with this?’

Kiko, hearing the argument brewing, took a mental step away and the words faded from her head, and she returned to reality.

“Are you…ok? You’ve been staring gormlessly since the Queen left” Queenie asked, having come over and taken Kiko’s hand. The sudden realization that reality carried on round her while she was talking to her fox god was an embarrassing one, and Kiko’s cheeks flushed.

“Just talking to my God” she said, without thinking first.

“I know Sagi’s tale has inspired you but that is no reason to think you are some priestess, Kiko. Now come on, we got some practice to get to” Queenie gestured with her head and moved to leave the theatre.

“So…what’s your name? You, real name” Kiko asked, scurrying to catch up.

“Queenie. If I have another name, then you will learn it in time” she gave an awfully cryptic response, and that was that.

Chapter 18

More gym-work, more gun-work, more school-work made up the weeks, and Kiko was glad that she was losing her grasp on individual days. It meant that nothing bad was happening to stick out in her mind. Blood made her riled and energetic, but not to a maddening, psychotic degree. Of course, she was still fucked in the head and needed to go talk to Asha ever three days. Most of the time was just a touch of lying because she didn’t really feel like telling her how she felt about Queenie, about physical contact and about the fact that she was nervous sharing a bed with someone, especially someone as aggressively potent as Queenie. Even if she wasn’t apprehensive around people, she’d still be apprehensive around being in a bed with her.

But, the Kitsune mind-set was strong and all pervasive, if a bit delayed with things of immense trauma. So the torture she had undergone slowly slipped away from her mind like water melting off an ice-cube. It became a memory, something that had happened rather than anything else. Bloody handy thing as well, she couldn’t imagine what would happen were she to have to deal with everything she had gone through without the mind-set. But it didn’t help with her dealing with the stress of Queenie and Bruyn clashing egos over her. Which was even harder to deal with because she wanted to be good with her shooting, and would never have had to bleed all over Remokr if she had been better. Remokr was another worry, since she was not getting up, staying in a coma as she had damaged herself more than most had thought.

One day, a month or so into this whole training thing, Kiko collapsed on the bed and groaned deeply.

“And here I thought I was the only one who was able to make you sound like that” Queenie commented, giggling to herself.

“I can’t remember the last time you made me sound like anything that wasn’t on the track” Kiko replied, muffled by the quilt. Possibly the wrong thing to say, as Queenie slid up and stroked her back most sensually.

“Mmm, I can always fix that for you” Queenie whispered, getting close to nibble her ear, and hearing Kiko snoring. She snored soft and cutely, which as always funny. “Maybe next time” Queenie commented, getting Kiko sorted for bed and tucking her in, before going out into the building proper. And then, feeling a familiar presence outside, Queenie exited the building and looked at the woman in the Maiden uniform.

“Yeni” Queenie said, a formal, neutral tone.

“Tai’Zian” the replied mirrored her tone. Clearly, whatever the former relationship, they were not longer friends.

“It is custom to inform the parent of your romantic intentions” Yeni replied, her icy formal tone chilling the air.

“Well, for one, fuck your customs, they got you in this position in the first place. And two, you are hardly a parent in the first place, so you don’t deserve it” Tai’Zain’s tone was hot fire, and heated the air with its vehemence.

“Watch your tongue. Your Throne will not save you from me, Tai’Zian” the threat was obvious, and backed with six tails blossoming from her back, each one looming menacingly. In response, came Tai’Zain’s demonic visage, horns grew and feet rose into hooves, the two staring each other down and a half-step from making a move. And then Yeni sighed and retracted her tails, turning from her. “I told you all I need to say. Now I am going, before either of us start something that is most regretful” The Kitsune Maiden stared for a few more moments and then turned and headed off, leaving Tai’Zian to exhale a sigh and suppress her demonic stature.

Whatever was the appeal with Kitsunes? They were a stubborn, obnoxious, culturally stupid race who really just existed to piss everyone else off.

“Queenie! I…I got three!” came the startled cry of the only reason Queenie ever tolerated the Kitsunes. Well, descendant of, but still quickly becoming the main reasoning.

“And instead of going to Asha, you came to me?” Queenie asked with an amused voice.

“I…ehh, she wasn’t in her office” Kiko lied, scratching her head softly. Queenie giggled, it was nice to have light after the meeting with Yeni had turned so dark.

“Well, having three is better than having two, hmm? It is rare for a Kitsune to have even two tails before completing training. Due to the fact that they are spawned from age or great situations. What ‘great situations’ means was never really explained, but you and y…our father both came out of the blue wielding more tails than they had the day before, so it has to be something” Queenie explained, stuttering a bit on telling her Yeni had just been here. Wasn’t the time to tell her that her mother was alive and around.

Kiko, for her part, was far too tired to call her out on the suspicious, and just nodded.

“I got up for a moment and there were three of them hovering about. Sort of…tingling. Pointing to the entrance. So I came out here to see what they were pointing at and found you” Kiko shrugged, and yawned deeply, before gesturing generally. “Gonna sleep” and with that she left again to, go sleep. Queenie, however, stood out and stared at the retreating Kitsune, before letting out a sigh. Her tails sensed the appearance of her mother, and it seemed deep in her heart, Kiko was still looking for her family…Keeping her from it any longer would a grand mess. But for now, all she could do was wait and let the woman get some rest. She had enough right now with all the training and didn’t need Queenie adding on any.

“We’ll let it lie for now, little one, but soon we are going to have to acknowledge all the things that you are destined for. And that’s going to be painful” she muttered, shaking her head before entering back in, and getting off to sleep herself. There was nothing that could be done now, so all she could do was support Kiko in what was to come.

Kiko, for her part, was off in the land of dreams. Or memories. She was unsure which one was which these days. All she knew was that she stood at the head of a line of men and women, different races all, and Quasi-Humans abound. In her hand, was her sword, the thing she instinctively knew to be the Crystal Talon. The men and women were wary and weary, but passionate all the same.

Chapter 19

“Za. Kronous’ beasts are gathering on the western flank. We have no information about why, or the specific amounts that are mustering, but the forces are there. And they have a Greater Hellhound at their head, so we need some reinforcements there” Kiko was, all of a sudden, thrust into this man’s head, and he was being spoken to by a surprisingly familiar person. Though she was speaking to Kiko, it was not Kiko who responded, instead a man with a deep, and commanding voice.

“Mmm, I’ll send them something. Tell the Maiden to expect a Sending” he replied, before drawing the Crystal Talon. Her Crystal Talon. Thief! Vagabond! Bandit! She wanted to claw his eyes out, but the man didn’t seem to be bothered about the ghost who was spitting venom at him. He cut his palm with the blade, and then held it up and began to speak. While speaking she got a feeling resonating through him, something of great power and of great elegance.

“This silence offends me. I desire the vibrancy of noise. Reaching my hand across the Ether, I extend it to you, for the beautiful cacophony you offer unto me. Take my hand, and bring joy; Talai Zahai!” the elegant power shuddered from the very core of her – or his? – being, ran up the sword, and then swelled and vanished. A few seconds later, a thunderous roar erupted from the west, followed by the man smiling. “That should handle the greater, if nothing else. How’s front, front, Sagi?” The man asked. Sagi looked back, and her eyes…were different. It was Yellow when Kiko saw it, but here, a soft, light blue, barely even blue, and the crimson red eye was a much softer colour as well, more pink than red.

“Not great. Pyric victory has taken back Astor City, just to fuckin’ lose it again when a reprisal came. We are spinning our bloody wheels here, where the hell is Sean in all this?” Sagi was not the regal and calm woman that Kiko had met, but one of blunt words and vulgar tongue.

“The Universe is a big place, Sagi. And there are creatures far beyond our ken that would be to us as we are to ants. He cannot be everywhere at once, and he can not appear in every battlefield to sweep away the ants that invest the picnic of Creation. That is our job” the Kitsune – Za, he had been called – was one of sound mind and firm convictions, to pacify Sagi as he did.

“Tsk, I get that, alright. I do have a fragment of him in me. It’s just, seeing so many people die, knowing he could take this entire planet by himself and not even notice there were forces arrayed against him…It’s frustrating. So! I am going to take my Bloodmoons and frustrations, and head over to Astor. Ruins of Astor at this point, but there will be things to kill” Sagi nodded, and then left him to his Kitsuning.

Kiko watched Za take a seat and then, look to the bright blue sword.

“Though I am sad, Ka’za’lie. Knowing you are in fights so far beyond us does not help the despair of knowing that you could still end this inside a day” Za spoke to the sword, and sighed softly, before entering a meditating pose. Kiko, between astonished thoughts of what kind of being could be so powerful to get this kind of admiration and respect, felt what he was doing instantly, as if it was her own body. Every deep breath in flushed new power into her body, and every exhale released exhausted power from her body. She could feel something, separate from her own body, flux and grow with each breath, until an extrasensory alert pinged in her mind, and her eyes flew open. She had become melded with him, his words were her words, his actions were her actions. She was Him.

“Goetia” Za’s gentle whisper sent a shudder through his body, and from there he stood. A few gently spoken orders were given to Tvk. Black wings and black armour, the man was one of Lucy’s soldiers. Not anyone of note in the galaxy, but Za respected the man’s skill and discipline. and then he set off, at a great pace, releasing some half-visible light from his feet with every step and granting him exceptional speed from that. Eventually, he was in range of the oncoming horde. A Goetia would not move alone. Za grasped the sword firmly, the energy he had been inhaling filtered into the blade, and it turned from a deep crystal blue to a strong yellow colour, identical to Sagi’s modern eye.

The horde rushing towards them was made up mostly of Hellhounds and Squawks, covering air and ground, but there was a giant creature lumbering at the front. As if someone had made a gorilla from drunken memory, it lurched with abnormal movements, seeming more a puppet or machine being piloted than a natural, living creature. Seeing this, Za exhaled and swung his sword. The words resonated in his soul, and Kiko heard them though they were not spoken. Solaris Paragon Artarius. The slash of the blade hissed, water boiling and air turning to plasma for a moment as the incredible heat raged through the air, and cut through anything in it’s way, creatures exploding in gouts of steam. The gorilla fared no different, and revealed a woman sat inside. Either she was missed by the burning slash, or it did nothing to her. The second was liable.

“What’s one of the Zian Goetia doing here?” Za asked, pointing his sword to the elegant woman with toned muscles who had just stepped out. She was mostly humanoid, and of normal height. Surprisingly humble for a being of magic, but the Zian clan never bothered with such trivialities. It was fighting they wanted.

“I do love being recognized. It makes all the effort I put into this so worthwhile” the woman flicked a hand and the horde of monsters charging towards Za stopped in their tracks. Howling, baying and slavering, but stopped in their tracks. “But if you know who I am then you know why I am here. It’s a huge fight, of course the Zian clan are going to be represented. Besides” the Zian woman pulled out a wooden tablet, and on it, strange symbols were carved. “I’ve already been paid”.

“The Oracle of Delphi” there was surprise in Za’s voice. A touch of avarice – because that was a hundred king’s ransoms – and a touch of relegation. “Then I shall speak no longer” Za nodded, and set into a stance, the yellow colour growing deeper. The Zian woman, for her part, spawned a pair of greatswords from bursts of flame from her hands. While most supernatural warriors enjoyed the drawing-slice action of the katana – sometimes even being necessary to compete due to the first-strike advantage it had over others – the Zian clan made weapons already drawn, and so they focused on size and crushing force to best use their overwhelming might against the enemy.

And then it began, the Zian Woman moved with preternatural speed, the first greatsword swinging and hitting Za’s parry. Though the force was too great and after an attempt to keep his footing, he was blown back, the second blade coming swinging to slice him in half. It never got there, however, as three of his tails moved in to intercept. The fur of the tails flattened against the tail and clashed against the greatsword, stopping its movement. Kitsunes were so hard to fight because the elders had many tricks for combat surrounding their tails, and so you had to fight five to nine ‘people’ for every Kitsune you went up against. She came up against the second lot of tricks as three more tails rushed in, the Fox Fire held at the tip and fur focused into a point that jabbed at her while Za regained his footing, and then slipped through the window that opened in her guard and cut a surprisingly small gash in her side. All the Ars were strong magic users, but the Zian were the best at physical enhancement, and so had skin to rival a Deimos.

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Seeing that this man was a special man, beyond the normal, horns sprouted from her head, feet morphing into hooves and her whole body swelling out. With a new swing, she blew Za clean off his feet and up into the air. While he tried to roll and recover his form, the Zian was there, right in front of him. Void Step made this fight so very difficult, and the kick to the sternum that shot him back into the ground and blew away some of the smaller beasts was also not really a good thing. A luminescent flash of blue light exploded from the impact point. The Zian woman stepped down gently and smiled at the Kitsune, who was standing surprisingly upright given the blow he had just taken.

“A Magician as well as a Cultivator. How rare~” The Zian complimented Za, grinning to herself most enthusiastically.

“I am Za, protector of Algaza. Herald of Vannet, Lord of the Kitsunes. So having several different tricks up my sleeve does make sense, no?” he replied, flourishing his sword and casting a spell into its depths to be used later.

“Mmm~ Trick or two of my own left yet. Never managed the inner calm you need to be a Cultivator though” The Zian shrugged softly. She didn’t know why, but there was a culture between warriors to have polite chat between trying to murder each other. Probably to keep the fight in polite, civilized grounds. A proper fight should be done for personal reasons, but not out of hate or anger or rage, which a proper conversation helped to ensure.

“It takes some work, to be sure. But, if you are laying claim to titles like Herald of Vannet, Lord of the Kitsunes and all that, you need to make sure you are the best. When you are competing with Bloodmoons-” he would flick his sword and bisect a Shriek that tried to dive bomb him “-You gotta be good” he finished. Eight tails blossomed and gathered into form, charging a burst of energy between them. Not wanting to let him get such a thing off, The Zian exploded towards Za with a speed one would not expect from a woman of her size and girth. In return, Za acted, spontaneously casting the spell stored in the blade and ripping flesh from the bone as the Fulgar Ultima exploded from it. It caused some severe damage, and then he released the Fox Fire. The Zian threw both swords at the blaze and then belched a gout of raging inferno, but both were overwhelmed by the Fox Fire.

The catacylsm that followed was enough to take Za off his feet, were he not to cast a barrier of wind around him to spiral the explosion and direct it away from him. That kind of blow would definitely lay the woman low, and half the horde with it. Though, it was a funny thing. Young Kitsunes could fire off their full tailed fire a lot before exhaustion took them, but as a Kitsune got stronger, their tails outstripped their mana, and they could easily exhaust themselves by overusing the tails. Eight-strike along with a Paragon, an Ultima, and charging the blade...He was glad for his training. Taking heavy breaths and reaching his hand out, he’d pull the sword back to his hand.

Though it wasn’t to be, as the Goetia crawled out of the crater, coughing and spluttering, glowing with a blazing crimson flame but disarmed.

“Damn, were you trying to kill me?” she asked, shaking her head and letting the flame fade away. Woman wasn’t kidding about having a trick or two of her own left…

“Mmm. Let me try harder this time!” Za would then launch off, an explosion of semi-visible light throwing himself at the woman. But, then suddenly she was right there and smashing his skull in with a palm strike, using the momentum of Za against him and slamming him into the ground, burying him some thirty foot in the floor.

“I’d appreciate it if you tried...weaker? Is that even a word?” she confused herself towards the end and frowned. She didn’t get a reply, and instead the ground exploded around her, Za rising up from the earth and launching the sediment at her. It didn’t work, the woman just weathered the storm with fury and passion, and then moved into close range again, her greatsword flashing into her hands and smashing into Za’s sword. It was a very heavy handed disarm, but a disarm all the same.

“I prefer” she exclaimed, the greatsword vanishing where it came after ripping the sword out of Za’s hand “My fists!”

Rolling her body down and then stepping forward to throw her entire bodyweight into a gut punch, Za reflexive cast the “Mirror Of Yami'' esoteric spell and reflected the blow into the woman’s gut. From there, he grabbed her head as she rolled from the blow and smashed her knee into it, using localized Stutter to smash into her face a dozen times in the same moment. Then as the woman rolled up from the blow, he’d step forward and thrust his fists out into her gut, punching as if to punch through the woman, and sending her off so he could have a moment’s rest.

And by the gods he needed it. This fight had dragged on longer than most. People of the relatively same level didn’t fight long because their equal attack potency often outstripped their durability. But, the Goetia was just so damned durable he could barely break her hide except with the most powerful of attacks, and then she just recovered from those with a flourish. It was truly vexing. And just to prove his point, the woman returned saundering up to him and shaking her hair to get the debris out.

“Ohh, I would love to have a hundred children with you, dear. But you look pooped already. Need a nap?” she teased, grinning broadly and biting her lip. The implication of the nap being located in the woman’s bed did not escape him.

‘Vanaet, give me an hour from tomorrow’ Za spoke to his deity.

‘It’s not a healthy thing to do, you know’ she replied, sliding into his consciousness like a perfectly fitting glove.

‘It’s not healthy to get my face stoved in by a Goetia either’ he retorted. Vanaet sniggered at that and slid her hands into Za’s temporal existence, pulling tomorrow into today and revitalizing him to the brim.

“As a Cultivator, I must thank you a thousand times for showing me the power of a Goetia. It is not custom to do such a thing with the intent to harm another, but I shall respect your overwhelming capabilities” Za spoke, giving her a light nod and then sliding a foot back. His shadow seemed to get up and wrap around him, covering him so that he was no longer a Kitsune but instead some vaguely humanoid blob of blackness.

Then he moved, appearing instantly and slammed into the Zian woman, shoulder and elbow ramming into her torso at the same time, and then the blow coming again immediately from his shadow. Void Step was great but it had no momentum like an actual rush, and couldn’t be used to drive into a person. But in this universe, nothing was impossible if one had desire. Driving the Zian back with the force of the blow, he would sweep around her back and leave tiny cuts with his claws all across her body using the second of the nine profound techniques; Circling Nine Cranes, moving with her as she was forced back from the Void Strike. When she finally got her footing back and won against the inertia, Za threw her off balance again with the fifth of the nine profound techniques; Shrieking Mountain Wind. His palm slammed into her face, and the namesake wind would strike at her a hundred times over.

The Zian woman threw off Za’s flurry and launched a punch at him, which he countered with the sixth of the nine profound techniques; Soul-Crushing Strike. His two fingers were like a caress against the knuckle that they hit, but that did nothing to stop it from cracking under the force. The Zian woman would let out a raging snarl and lash a kick at him, which was countered again when Za leaned back and threw a kick in return, cracking her shinbone with the eighth of the nine profound techniques; Splitting The Sky. Having set up well, he would dip low, touch his fingers to the ground and activate the Earth-Defying Array. Four shining lines would spread out from the point of contact, each one in a cardinal direction and each representing the profound techniques utilized against the Goetia.

She tried to back away, the Array sealing her Void Step but not her natural movements. However, it was useless, as Za went through the motions and threw his punch anyway. Though she was on the cusp of the northern line, she took the blow to her sternum as if she was right in front of him. The wispy form of one hundred and eight Dragons crashed into her chest - probably where the name “One Hundred and Eight Crashing Dragons” came from, martial arts could be very self-explanatory at times - and she crumpled on the spot, winded and with a broken sternum.

Wasting no time, Za drew out a lustrous golden chain and threw it at the woman, quickly wrapping her up in a harness tie and binding her arms securely behind her back.

“Gah...kinky~ Seems you took my offer of a bedroom fling seriously” the Zian woman coughed up some blood and then grinned and flexed her muscles. Though, it did nothing and the chains wrapped tighter around her muscular form, ripping into the clothes and places and extenuating her physical assets far more than she liked. “W-wait...I can’t…?” she was stunned at the fact that these chains wouldn’t break from her strength. She took a deep breath and forced her muscles to strain, but the chain held tight and even added a crotch strap for added support, pulling tightly as she exerted herself. “Hey! Get out of there you damned perverted chain!”

Glaring at Za, who had recovered his sword and put it away, allowing his shadow to melt off him and return to it’s natural position. She tried to point but her hands were really well tied up.

“What the hell is this, ya damned fox?” She demanded, baring her teeth at Za.

“No idea” He replied casually, to the shrieking fury of the woman. “There was a tale a long time ago of a guy tying up a giant bull so his friend and possible lover could cut the thing’s head off. But old tales have a way of getting lost in time. Bits added, bits removed, bits from other bits brought in to spice stuff up, bits changed to back up your claims about what this God can do to your God if you don’t follow him. This could be the chain he used to bind the bull, could be a chain made while inspired by the tale. Could just be a chain. What is known is that it has a special enchantment on it that makes the chain grow stronger and tighter the more the captive writhes and thrashes against it. So, loose up a little and it might give you a bit of slack down there” Zarh would flick his eyes down to the woman’s crotch, and she blushed at it, knowing the damned chain had ripped through her clothes down there. The glorious fox man had deflated some, no doubt suffering the backlash of his flurry. She’d have been able to counter such a rush to begin with, and leave him helpless, but he had adapted to her well before releasing that.

‘Tsk, Mother mother always did say I relied too much on being a Goetia and not enough on skill and reading the opponent…’ she thought before shaking her head.

“Fine. You have defeated me, Talia’Zian. You can...who’s that coming up behind you?” Talia asked, frowning. Za, confident in the chain, would look over there and see a Tengu flying in, probably drawn by the carnage.

“Akaka. What news from the front?” Za asked, waving him down. Though the Tengu was not in a chatty mood and just stepped up to Za. His arm shifted forward, and KIko’s vision ended there and then, waking up abruptly in a cold sweat.

Chapter 20

Awakening came with a start, and a pant. She was drenched with sweat and panting hard. It jolted Queenie out of her sleep, and the woman woke to coherency quickly, reaching out a hand to touch the clammy hand of Kiko.

“Kiko? Are you ok?” Queenie asked, stroking the Kitsune’s hair softly.

“Y-yea. Strange dream. Is all” Kiko replied, staring into the distance. That feeling inside her, inside him…She absently reached out her hand and repeated the same feeling as she had felt in him. Near-instantly, the blade set with the rest of her uniform launched from across the room and into her hand.

“Neat trick” Queenie commented, staring at Kiko softly.

“Like I said” she muttered, throwing back the covers and standing up. “Strange dream” she finished. Drawing the sword and looking into the clear blade, she took a breath and channelled more of the energy into the blade. She didn’t get to see the results, as she was back in bed a moment later. Not Queenie’s bed, but the infirmary bed she got well acquainted with after her knife-based meeting with that man.

“Well, good to see all Kitsunes are fools” the infirmary doctor exclaimed as Kiko’s eyes opened. Her body felt exhausted. But, not sore from the kind of exertion that would cause this. This, was more than the run of the track, more than anything in the last week. Her body could scarcely move from the strain. And with him, a strange woman in a coat, with a cloak that reached her feet and the hood over her eyes, hands clasped behind her back. Kiko couldn’t see her eyes but felt she was being stared at rather intimidatingly. And another thing, the lines across her cloak were the same blue as the sword that Za was wielding. It was all, very strange.

“So, apparently what happened to you isn’t physical. I am just here to make sure that it hasn’t done anything physical in addition. Your neat trick pulled out quite a reclusive branch of ODD. I’ll let her introduce herself” The doctor told Kiko, scrawling a final note on the clipboard and then putting it down on her bed, and going off to look to the other patients.

“Good day, Kiko Ator. I am Eteria Normis, of the Disciples of the Crab. As Doctor Haedan has said, we are somewhat reclusive due to the rarity of our order’s calling, but you are one of them. We oversee, maintain and support the Mages of the world” the hooded woman did as she was prompted and introduced herself.

“M…magic? That’s just… a simple explanation of natural Quasi-Human biology, no?” Kiko asked. Sure, she couldn’t give a reason for why she could bring tails out of nowhere without saying ‘magic’ but surely it was just a simple thing?

“It is technically. But Magic is also a thing, you can learn both. Kitsunes are well versed to learn it as their God, Vanaet-” Kiko felt Vanaet perk up at the mention of her name “-is one that is said to be well acquainted with the Magical Arts. Your father was Drax, yes?” the woman asked.

“Y…yea. Was he a Mage as well?” Kiko asked. Her father was not one to talk about his job, but being able to do magic was a bitch move to keep secret.

“Not precisely. He was good at Borrowing, but never learned true Magic” Eteria saw Kiko’s confused face, and took a seat next to her. “You’ll be taught all this going forward, as your little trick has blown open the first Gate, and so you need to learn to control your magic or die in a catastrophic manner that will put everyone around you are risk” Eteria gave a deadpan explanation for what was going to happen, but it panicked Kiko, enough to push herself up and try to leave the bed.

“T-then come on. I don’t want to put anyone at risk!” Kiko exclaimed, but was held down by a strange force. Oppressive but not too strong, just enough to keep her down.

“You need to keep yourself calm. Mana, the source of power, reacts to emotion. You get to riled and it will act” that, would explain the woman’s softly spoken, demure tone, but didn’t help Kiko.

“Why the fuck!...” she took a breath and calmed herself down. “Why would anyone want to be a Mage if it has so many issues inherent?” Kiko asked. Still a bit pissed at the whole situation but getting better at staying calm.

“A .50 caliber rifle can dislocate your shoulder with one shot if you hold it wrong. But people still use it” Eteria replied, her soft and warm smiling doing well to simmer down Kiko.

“That’s because we need that against…………ok, I get it. People become Mages because we need their magic. Never heard of Mages before though” Kiko paused for a long moment, and then finished.

“We don’t precisely advertise, and even here people will rationalise what seems fantastical. Now. I shall let you rest you can come see me later. Here’s hoping that you do not decide to do anything else foolish” Eteria gave a soft giggle at the last tease, almost to show that she was capable of emotion after all, and then left Kiko to her slumber. And slumber, she did. The tiredness was a strange thing that she couldn’t explain but was pervasive. She wasn’t tired but at the same time she was amazed at her fortitude of staying awake. A terrible duality that she decided to put an end to by just going to sleep.

Morning came in an instant. Despite not being physically tired, the spiritual tiredness was something that more than made up for it and dragged her under in merely a second. Waking and feeling refreshed, if a bit stiff from sleeping most of the day. She heard from the nurse that Queenie had come to see her, but Kiko was dead to the world, so just made sure she was alright. And alright she was, getting out of the bed and stretching, letting out the loud cry of stretching that just seemed to come unbidden from most. Maybe one day she’d ask Vannet about it. But still, she needed to go talk to that woman person from the crab people about magic so she didn’t frigging blow up or whatever. She was deceptively vague about the issues. Though, she did get a little lost on the way to it and had to ask for directions, she eventually arrived and found everyone was dressed the same. The coat and cloak combo seemed to differ only by colour, and it was no personal choice for the woman to hold her hands behind her back, since everyone here did so.

Approaching a bored looking person at the desk and asking for Eteria Normis, she got directed to some room with nobody in. Great. Seeing nothing else to do, she just slumped in a chair and groaned.

“Here’s hoping that being bored to death by this whole confusing situation is one of the situations I have to go through for a tail” she grumbled, kicking an imaginary rock.

‘If it helps. Vana are magically inclined beings, coming from my bloodline. So you do actually grow a tail on the Third Gate’ Vanaet explained, coming back into Kiko’s head.

‘Ugh! So this whole First Gate Fuckery is not going to net me anything?’ Kiko complained, leaning back on the chair.

‘Not every hardship in life is going to be rewarding beyond the experience you gain of it. But yes, this first gate Fuckery is not going to net you anything’ Vanaet replied. Kiko groaned more and then let out a sigh as nobody turned up.

‘Explain these gates to me then. You say you are really good at this magic thing so I assume you’ve got some knowledge of it’ Kiko asked, leaning back to settle into one of them long lectures like Sagi gave about the planet and people in general.

‘Mmm. The Gate is a concept rather than anything that is ‘real’. The First Gate is opened when you first come into contact with your Mana. The First Gate is what stands between you and Magic, and it is the safeguard that prevents a vast majority of people from dying horribly. It is opened, most of the time, by training in the Art of Magic and spiritual meditation. Sometimes it is accidental though, in your case. The Second Gate is opened with Manifestation of Mana, The actual usage of spells, and such. It is the gate that stands between you and the auxiliary magic you accumulate through your life. It’s an energy like any other, and beings soak it up simply by living. The Third Gate is opened after you successfully grasp the three Major Pillars of Magic. It is the Gate that stands between you and your Soul. This is the most important gate, as this is where your magic will take off, becoming powerful and much less limited than the usual. You can only soak up so much mana in a day, after all. But when it comes from within, you unlimited, if you keep the casting reasonable.

The Three Major Pillars of Magic, are; Terrestrial Magic, which is magic of your own soul. Celestial Magic, which is magic that comes from prayer, often known as Miracles. It is the magic I use naturally, and that I can grant to supplicants. And Sidereal Magic, which is magic of the stars. The most complex of the three magics, Sidereal Magic requires very specific understanding of stellar constellations, rooting natural Mana through the Ley-Lines from these constellations and then harnessing it into the spell you want to use. Terrestrial Magic is generally the weakest, but with a long time to work on it and aptitude, it can be very powerful. Celestial Magic is limited in scope because it does not work with Terrestrial Magic very well. You must never use these two together, as it is extremely dangerous. But, it has good power and the added benefit that it is not strenuous on you at all since you are simply directing it. Sidereal Magic is the one with the greatest raw power, since Stars draw in vast amounts of Mana, mostly due to their size but also due to the fact that the Ley-Lines are connected to them as dumps in case of large explosions of energy are released somewhere that can’t handle it. I could go into the lecture of how the Ley-Lines work but I’ll leave that one for another day.

Te-’ Vanaet was cut off by Eteria coming into the room, and nodding to Kiko.

“Good morning Kiko. I am sorry for the vagueness of yesterday, you were exhausted, and Terrestrial Magic does not deal with that” she paused for a second, and then spoke. “I, should probably explain before carrying on. There are three Major Pillars of Magic-” Eteria was then cut off by Kiko, who held out her hand.

“I’ve already gotten that lecture. Vanaet has a nice voice, though no offence to you but I don’t think you could hold my interest the way she does” Kiko replied. Eteria threw back her hood and pulled a chair up, sitting down in front of Kiko and staring at her. Beautiful purple eye turned silver and a delighted expression came across her face.

‘Hello Eteria’ Vanaet spoke, which made the woman recoil slightly.

“You…can really see me. That’s an impressive connection you have. And...is that an Aeonic Bridge? Are you trying to pass through?” Eteria asked.

‘How personal. We’ve only just met’ Vanaet replied, grinning slightly. Though, Kiko wasn’t sure if Eteria could see the grin.

“S-sorry...Talking to divine beings is an extremely rare experience. Terrestrial Magic does not work with Celestial Magic, so Gods can’t come to the universe anymore, at least not properly. So we don’t talk to them very often and etiquette is lax” Kiko, just along for the ride at this point, gave a bored glare but gave up and just let her ramble.

‘Mmm, you know I made that. At least, the V1 concept. Teltatitia made the “Walks Among Us” version and then Sean and his daughter made the one that lets us actually use Celestial Magic to a degree while we are here’ Vanaet was talking with a passion in her heart that really melted Kiko’s irritation. Well, she did take three hundredish years breaking into libraries despite the risk to read about magic, so one would assume she was into it.

“I have been writing a dissertation of Aeonic Theory, and the Avatars are a fascinating subject. The idea of concentrated energy being used for form makes the possibility of prosthetics made in the same vein a field I would love to see come to fruition”

Kiko didn’t hear Vanaet’s reply. There was only so much talk about a subject way over your head you could take before you just started to have a little monkey with cymbals in your head. Eventually she was brought back to reality by Eteria shaking her shoulder.

“I am sorry, Kiko. I got excited talking to the Goddess Vanaet, and let my emotions get the better of me. I shall ensure to have a way to communicate around you in future” that chipper little school girl tone was gone, and was replaced by the formal school teacher tone.

“Mmm. You know, she doesn’t sound like a Goddess. Or feel like a Goddess. She just seems like any other person” Kiko replied, sitting up properly.

“Admittedly, they are people. The founder of my order was said to be…God-Adjacent, and that all Divine Beings were just really powerful people. Having followers and being able to perform Miracles loses it’d uniqueness when a person like yourself can do exactly the same. The separating line is scale and potency. The Weakest God is still a very powerful Magus, and the Greater Gods are on a scale beyond what we can comprehend. But that in no way means there are no none-divine Magus who also have power beyond what we can comprehend” Eteria replied, pulling her hood back up and standing.

Kiko just sat and stared. It was quite hard to be told Gods were real and existed in the universe. And it was infinitely more hard to hear that they weren’t any more special than a normal person who put the work in to match them. She’d be equal to a God if she worked on it, was the kicker. And that, well…really brought everything into stark contrast.

“Alright. So, how do we do this casting thing?” Kiko asked, grinning broadly. There was a real inspiration from the idea that she had just had. However, to curb such enthusiasm, Eteria called the table from the other side of the room and slammed a tower of books on it.

“You don’t get to even think about using Magic until you pass the tests that say it’s safe for you to” her hooded teacher exclaimed, which made the poor Kitsune’s face fall.

“What? It’s Magic! It’s meant to be flashy and wow, not frigging…books!” Kiko exclaimed, whining loudly.

“Keep it up and I’ll add your high school tests to it. I don’t like the idea of you skipping education, but I will settle with what SIR says. Now, get studying”

Chapter 21

The last few months had been studying, tests, training, exercises, combat training, and all manner of things that a military operative required. Sometimes she forgot this place was military from the cosy warm feelings it gave off, but other times it was impossible to forget as the day dragged on painfully. Kiko had to put in accelerated training for a week due to missing training from the whole being kidnapped and tortured thing. She could have just graduated a week later, but Kiko specifically requested to not do that so she could graduate with the class. While she wasn’t the most social of people and didn’t hit up the lounge very often- given her backed training, her Kitsune studies and her Magic studies, she rarely had any time too – she had gotten to know them, and wanted to graduate with them.

So, when the ten-week basic course was done, she graduated with them and with the rest of the recruits, was directed to a new room. Here, she was face to face with the Division Heads. She had met all of them, except for Lassadora. A Tsuchigumo, Lassadora gave off a terrifying aura. The eyes and skin colour were pitch black, she had six arms, four eyes and generally massively unnerving, so she avoided her. Some person she had never seen before was at the head of the Foot Teams – basic, none-specialized infantry, it seemed – and from the looks of the requirements, it was easy to get into this division. Though, she was going to the Assault Teams if anything, looking around didn’t hurt.

Bruyn’s Rifles required an exacting score in marksmanship, something Kiko missed, and so she wondered if there was going to be anyone joining. But apparently if you got within six-point margin, Bruyn did offer extra lessons and a retake after the lessons. A courtesy she learned was not offered by Mizia and the Ten Blades. The marksmanship requirements were as high as Bruyn’s, plus high physical training, mental aptitude and cqc proficiency. Inquiring there, she learned that the Sheaths – Apprentices of the Ten Blades – were not something that came from the recruits, generally. She was just here in case someone did get the required scores. Much like the Fire Teams, one could join the Sheaths at any point in their life, which made a lot more sense.

After meandering and looking in on everyone, she eventually put in her sign on the Assault Team. Having Queenie on her side to make sure she got the required scores, it was easy enough to get her name down, and by the end of it, she was arrayed into a team of three others, which would be their team for the rest of their service, excluding deaths, retirements and moving between divisions. When everyone was done slotting into their divisions, the teams were taken to one side by sergeants and other instructors to be given the lowdown.

“Alright. If you four can pass the six months of advanced training, you will be part of Watcher Squad. The Assault Teams are close-combat vanguards, clearing way and taking point. We are often supported by the Rifles, so expect to have multiple combined training operations with them in the coming months. During training operations, we will refer to you as call-signs, to ensure that you are fully ready for their use in the field” The sergeant then pointed to each of them in turn and reeled off their call signs. “You will be; Sneeze, Dog, Red and Fluffy”

The call signs were shocking, and everyone cocked their eyebrows and looked at each other. Clearly, nobody had had any forewarning about them, and the sergeant wasn’t about to explain. He just ferried them off to a new part of the building – every time Kiko got taken to a new part of the building she was amazed at the size of the place for such a small building when you were outside of it – which served as Assault Team barracks. It was late in the day so there was nothing planned, and the night was spent socializing with the other recruits and then sleeping.

Though the day after was certainly an adventurous one. No plans to ease them into anything, there was a ten v ten urban combat exercise that they were immediately thrown into. They got to choose their own weaponry, and Kiko took an assault rifle and semi auto pistol sidearm, thankful for the training she had gotten at Bruyn’s over the ten week course of basic training. While they were only gas powered paintballs, the recoil was specifically designed to be equal to their real counterparts for authenticity. A man took control of the group and set up the plan of action before executing it.

Of course, this plan left Kiko pinned down against a wall with three others looming over her ready to strike. She agreed with the principle behind it, but still felt irate.

“Cheeky little shits” Kiko muttered, pressing against the wall. She had yet to pass Eteria’s tests, so there was no magic she could use here, and the studying she did at Asha’s office in her free time was not getting her very far on the racial magic – officially called Borrowing, so called because it borrowed power from the surrounding area rather than casted by herself. The metaology of it was that the race was steeped in Magic from their God right down to the children, and so there were things that were embedded into the very tails of the Kitsunes. One could “Borrow” specific powers depending on the number of tails they had to borrow from. The only thing she had managed to get was none-lethal Foxfire. Though her senses had improved quite considerably from how they were, but that was merely auxiliary.

So she had nothing to help her when a paintball whizzed past the wall she was hiding behind and clipped her helmet. Glances were fortunately not a hit to take someone out, but the jarring of her helmet from the blow jolted her out of her mental complaints and pulled her back to reality. Which was not much better, as the aforementioned plan explained. Now all she could do was wait for help and pin these three down by being pinned down by them. Though, from the sounds of things, someone was taking their chances storming up to her position, numerical advantage and all. Maybe they got bored first.

Kiko waited for the footfalls to get close and then, drawing her sidearm, suddenly darted from her half-broken wall. Sudden, frantic shooting came from her oppressor, but they were too clumsy to hit the rapidly moving target. Levelling the pistol and accounting for her own movement, she fired off a quick three round burst, each pellet covering the other in case of miscalculation. One went wide, but the second splattered across the recruit’s arm and the third hit them clean in the chest, taking them out of the fight. They weren’t terrible tactics, as only one had moved up while the other two covered, and the covering fire did harrow her as she made a run for it. Not fast enough either, as she got hit by one round. Splatting clearly across the calf of her leg, she stumbled and barely managed to get into a controlled roll, before lying flat on the ground and hissing.

Sure, they were only balls of paint, but the dam guns had a kick to them and those balls really hurt. She couldn’t stand on it without limping and making herself a target, so she was just incapacitated on the ground and waiting for the other two to come find her. Queenie was so going to chew her out later for charging from a stable position into unknown territory. Still, she rolled about frantically until she found herself in a house, and crawled to in there, tipping over a table and leaning behind it.

“Any time, guys” she spoke into her radio. Hopefully the now 9 v 7 fight had gone poorly in their favour and they could spare some time to come get her.

Not leaving it to chance however, she spawned her three tails and spread out her senses. The rushing feet were coming to her position, but when they got outside they weren’t confident. Discussion was had, something she could hear but not really hear. She knew they were talking but it was too muffled to comprehend. Eventually, and fortunately, they went in next door first to search for her, giving her a moment.

“I’m at number 11, the enemy has just gone into number 10. Hurry your ass up and you’ll be able to take them as they leave” Kiko told the squad, leaning against the table and sighing. This lame leg was stinging like hell, and there were two guys that were going to come in and shoot at her with more sting-like-hell rounds when they got here.

Though her self-doubt was strong, she was able to get up on her knees, peak over the table, and when the two entered her house after searching the previous, she unleashed a frantic spray of paintballs from her rifle, driving them to the ground. And it was on the ground that Kiko’s relief squad found them. It was like fish in a barrel as they both got shot down and then Kiko rescued proper.

“Thanks for the help. We flanked west around them and they didn’t have the numbers to hold that position. We got three of them before they retreated, and another one as they did. With the three taken down here, there is only three left to fight our seven” the man who had led her rescue was a man part of her own squad, the rather interestingly named Dog.

“Thanks….Dog….we really need to talk about where those Call signs came from” Kiko told him, shaking her head and standing gently on her wounded leg.

“Well, for me and you, it’s not so hard. I’m a Lupian, and your tails are really fluffy. Though, I’d have gone with Snow” He would gesture to Kiko’s white-hair strand. Though, it was not a gesture Kiko appreciated.

“Oi” she exclaimed, scowling.

“Or Specs, because that eye is super creepy” Dog continued, grinning broadly.

“Double Oi. I’m going to start throwing fire in a moment” Kiko threatened. Dog took the hint and changed the subject.

“On the topic of fire. Red, is probably a fire guy or something? Red fire, you know? Sneeze is the hardest one to guess though. Maybe he sneezes loudly or something?” Dog was a fun guy, seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, outside of the teasing commentary. She’d be happy to know him, ultimately. It wasn’t vindictive. Kiko sighed and nodded gently.

“Fluffy. Hmm, I could get a worse one considering my antics” she commented, ensuring that her gun was fully loaded and then leaving at a slow walk.

“Ohh? Not heard of them. Fill me in?” Dog asked, taking up position behind her.

“No. None of them would be in the least bit flattering, and while Fluffy is hardly valorous or intimidating, at least it isn’t embarrassing like the others could be” Kiko refused to tell, and Dog didn’t press, so they made their way back to their squad’s position. Two guys were on duty periodically firing pellets into some hastily barricaded windows to keep the other squad’s heads down, and the rest were watching for any trickery.

“We rescued the damsel!” Dog exclaimed, to Kiko’s dismay.

“Triple Oi!” Kiko replied, pointing one of her tails at him, lit up with the fire. After a few teasing seconds, she looked to the enemy location. They were well barricaded but it was mostly hastily stacked furniture. “Well, they haven’t told us any of the rules so if they complain, I shall shoot them” Kiko spoke. Before anyone could ask what she meant by that, she charged her Foxfire and shot it through the windows, setting fire to the table they were using for cover. The shouts of surprise as the cover burst into flames were easily heard, and the boss man looked to Kiko with a face between admiration and terror.

“Well……you certainly help keep them on their toes if nothing else. Dog?” the boss seemed to have had a talk with the group after Kiko had left, because Dog nodded and shook his head, growing rapidly hirsutisc and animalistic. Rushing forward on all fours and leaping through the window, there were more shouts of surprise and then the klaxon rang out signalling the end of the training exercise.

“Well, that was productive. And a great Quasi-Human display as well. Never be afraid to adjust strategies on the fly to use your partner’s biological capabilities to your advantage. Commendations for Fluffy and Dog for their combined assault in invading the stronghold. Brains for the plan and the quick modification of the plan when Kiko threw in her hand” the Sargent spoke through a tannoy. And with that they were let out of the training ground – the buildings and terrain melted into the ground in a spectacular show of power – and Kiko was amazed by it.

‘That’s impressive. They have Geomancy embedded into the ground to spontaneously create things on demand with the merest touch of power. I wanna meet who has made this place’ Vana spoke, as Kiko left the place for a more in-depth debriefing and lesson on the tactics they had exhibited. Kiko, as expected, got in trouble for her mad dash out of cover. But she did learn more about what was going on. The draw away went well and an ambush took out most of the enemy group, leaving a small batch of survivors to shore up in cover. And that was where she came in and dealt the finishing blow.

Then they learned this exercise was not one that was meant to go so cleanly. But between Brain’s intelligence, Kiko’s aptitude and Dog’s solid grasp of his lineage, the opposing side basically disintegrated. Brain really seemed to earn his name, but he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t meet Queenie’s requirements, so you could rely on him to be supporting you if you needed to go in. It was heartening to know that there were people that she could rely on. She’d have to make an effort to get to know them better than she knew her basics. And maybe without the double cram of said basic she could manage it. Though, the question of socializing brought about the question of barracks. And the question of barracks brought about the question of where she was going to stay. Would it still be Queenie’s room? Would that be awkward? They weren’t exactly conventional military but banging your boss was always a thing that sparked controversy. Even though Kiko wasn’t really ‘banging’ her so much as being with her for emotional support.

Still, those thoughts were for later, and so she just left them to be them and got on with the day. It was mostly theory and self-evaluation. They watched the video of their own combat and then read about ways to make it better and what they did. It seemed there was a lot of intelligence behind being one of the Assault Teams. Leading the way generally meant taking charge of frontline tactics, after all. But after cramming her head full of the stuff, the day ended, and she managed to get to Queenie’s so she could talk to the woman.

“We gotta have a talk~!” Kiko exclaimed as she opened the door, and saw the woman standing there. The outfit she got from her visit to Yeni’s tribe laid out in full view. She froze for a moment and then with a panicked franticness, gave a smile. “Ni-ce outfit. You want me to wear that now you got your fill of Maid?” Kiko asked, smiling badly as she made her excuse. This, was awkward….

Chapter 22

“Well done, you barely stuttered. Now explain” Queenie demanded, glaring down at the young Kitsune.

“…You know, I’d love to but I’ve got some-” Kiko tried, and then the rest just died on her tongue when Queenie turned up the glare from irritated to horrifying eldritch monstrosity. Though, maybe she knew, or suspected, but Kiko wasn’t quite brought to hysteria this time. It was still terrifying, but decidedly less so.

“Fox hunting is cruel, you know” Kiko grumbled, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to the uniform. From there she let out a deep sigh and looked to it. “I can’t tell you the specifics because I was unconscious at the time, but I…went to see my mum” Kiko said. She was aware of the oxymoronical nature of the statement, but that was part of the levity. “And got that while I was there” Kiko finished. There were a lot of details she had just never really bothered to work through in her head, and so they just floated there, waiting. The short, choppy explanation was clearly not enough for Queenie, but she seemed resolved to seek out the rest of the answers elsewhere and just shook her head softly.

“So Yeni has Shadow tails. Tsk, that’s all we need. The renegade Kitsunes are not to be trusted, Kiko. They are sneaky, conniving tricksters” Queenie would drop the whole demon form and go sit down next to Kiko.

“Are you just saying that because you and mum don’t get along? Because you were crushing on Drax and then mum got him instead and then left him? For some crappy but kind of understandable reason given the whole apparent brainwash culture thing that they got going on” Kiko asked. It gained an eyebrow raise from Queenie.

“How much do you know?” Queenie asked. In response, Kiko flopped down on the bed and stared at the celling.

“To preface, I get a lot of frigging hallucinations and strange dreams and shit like that. Met Drax the other week” she spoke. It was surprising for Queenie, since Drax was decidedly living-impaired at the present time. “And yes, he’s dead. Apparently magic hallucinations are a racial Kitsune thing. He told me about the left hip spot you have and everything” Kiko looked to Queenie who was blushing at the mention.

“Shitster. He found that out totally by accident as well” Queenie grumbled.

“He kissed your hip by accident, huh?” Kiko asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It was a complex situation, hard to really put into words. But, yes” Queenie was adamant that she was going no further than that, so Kiko blew out a breath and continued.

“Tai’Zian. I heard Yeni say it because she was bringing me back to SIR when you saw her. It didn’t mean anything to me and I tried to forget it so as not to accidentally say it. But, that day I passed out with the sword, I had a dream in the night. Or a memory” Kiko stared at the celling, trying to make some sense of her mind. “In the dream there was this guy called Za. The, hero of the Great War, I am assuming. Given he was using my sword. His sword. The sword. He fought a woman called Tari’Zian, and beat her with great effort” she more voiced words than spoke to Queenie at this point, who was shocked into silence upon hearing the words.

“And I’ve got a God in my head. Vanaet knows a lot, and while she kind of does overshare at times, she seems to know that half the stuff she knows is something that would mean nothing to me. Eteria says that Gods are nothing beyond us, but just really good at what they do” Kiko finally finished and just let all the tension go from her body and collapse properly onto the bed. Queenie, Tai, just stared at her for a few moments before coughing.

“Well, I can see why you haven’t said anything about this. If it had been to anyone but me, you’d have seemed deranged. And with what you have been through, that is a real worry. But, this is not something that is wrong, everything you have said is precisely accurate. From the hip to the demon that fought in the Great War. Can’t say anything about the God though, I’m not really that kind of woman” Tai sighed and stood up, picking up the uniform and smiling. “You wanna keep it?” she asked.

“Would be helpful if I go visit her again. Though, I don’ actually know where she is given the whole being kidnapped while I was unconscious and sorta frigging teleported back here through secret Kitsune shit” Kiko replied, nodding. “Though, more pressing matters. What is a Goetia? It seemed to really mean a lot to Za and his men” Kiko continued, asking the only question that Queenie could really answer.

“Ahh. Well, they are a group of Demons far beyond their kin. A very long time ago, the Demons were led by a man who was a being of immense power. Something something, acknowledged by The Beast. We’ve lost what that actually means but apparently it was good. And he looked over his race and decided he wanted to branch out into the whole of existence, and so instead of one being that was very powerful, he decided that a group would do better than a single being. Reference to something happening that gave him this thought but we have also lost that.

So, he learned from a…crab…how to split his soul up into 72 pieces, and made what is now known as the Goetia. These demons then spread out to the twelve clans, and each clan made use of them how they wished. Some were independent, others were clan assets to be used to further their own goals. We’ve got entire library stacks of the fights they have gotten into. Which is kind of a shame because we don’t have a lot of more important stuff like where we have come from or the context required for stuff like the crab. The, priorities of people seem a little messed”

Tai’Zian finished her deep, lore-rich explanation to Kiko, who looked mostly asleep by that point.

“Hey” Tai said, nudging Kiko, who woke up with a start.

“Ahh! Sorry. So much bloody studying, it’s a tax on the brain” Kiko replied, shaking her head gently.

“Well you are eighteen. You should be studying. Only, school stuff not magic and combat tactics. I am grateful you came to us, though” Tai replied, moving over to kiss Kiko’s cheek. It was a gentle, tender thing, but Kiko felt something grow inside her. It was nice, that she had finally got her Kitsune mentality working on that bit of trauma. Not being with Tai was not something that appealed.

And so, to show her newfound appreciation for the woman, Kiko returned the kiss and decided to make the night one to remember for the both of them.

‘Kiko, I got…..ohh……you are busy……I’ll come back later’ Vanaet seemed almost abashed at the idea, which would have been amusing any other time. But right now, she was a bit preoccupied with a more preferred method of spending the night and didn’t have anything to reply to her little Goddess.

Chapter 23

“Well, now I am officially banging my boss, are we going to get in trouble?” Kiko asked in the morning, looking to Tai’Zian.

“Ha! Mmm, no. I don’t think Mizia will kick up a stink about it. It’s helpful for the both of us on an emotional level. You’ve been through a lot, and the Zian Clan are the inheritors of the Resolve Flame. While our passion isn’t quite equal to the owner of that flame, it still bubbles close to the surface pretty much all the time. Just don’t flaunt our relations and you’ll be fine” Tai replied. It was sound logic, but did bring her to the next part.

“So, do I stay here, or go to the barracks, or what? I’m unsure of protocol in this place” Kiko carried on with the questions, because answers were needed to them. It was a good question, and Tai rose slightly from the bed, leaning on one elbow to look at her.

“Socializing with your squadmates would be a good thing, and with the crammed schedule you have, you won’t have much time to do it outside of practice. So it all depends on your wants” Tai gently played with Kiko’s cute white hair-strand while talking. It made her feel like she was sticking out, but at the same time, if Tai’Zian liked it, then she wasn’t going to complain.

“I’ll head to the barracks then. Just, occasionally once in a while come back to see you” Kiko replied, getting up and heading to the shower. Tai followed, and they had a very delightful parting before Kiko dressed and headed out.

Rumors had already spread about the place as to what Kiko got up to in her spare time, and having spent the night in Tai’s room, they were all but confirmed, leading to good-natured ribbing and other fun socializing in the barracks. There was an hour before she had to go anywhere, so Kiko went to her squad and hit them up. They were all there, and she got to meet share actual names rather than callsigns with them. Dog was Eric, Red was Seliza, and Sneeze was Ashra Nhal.

“Well, that explains that one” Kiko commented to Eric, giggling to herself and getting a laugh back. Poor guy had a name like a violent sneeze. He even cracked a smile when Kiko explained the joke to him. They came from pretty broad backgrounds as well, Kiko felt like hers was the most boring of them all.

Eric’s family lived out in the forests outside the town, being what they called “Pure Lupians” who lived on the lands and embraced their quasihuman heritage far more than the human part of that. He had joined because he had a scrap with one of SIR’s Lupians and lost to them, having to join to repay the debt of honour that he incurred by not being killed. Red had a cousin in the military, who had a joint operation with SIR once and the stories told enthralled the young man to come join as soon as he could, kind of pissing off his parents because they had planned him to become a teacher like the generations before. Ashra, was of the Asturi, and had a far more tribal culture than Kiko was used to, leading him to be what was loosely translated as a tithe to SIR in return for protection from the Beasts. Kiko found herself somewhat embarrassed to say she was just a schoolgirl hired because she was a Kitsune. It felt like she was getting preferential treatment just because of a biology she could hardly control.

Still, all things came to an end, and Kiko had to go off to her studies of magic. Though, right now, she wasn’t learning any actual magic but what they called ‘The Art of Magic’ which basically revolved around safety procedures, proper casting traditions and general education. It was boring and dragged on and Kiko wanted to just set something on fire, but she understood why this dry slog was required, and did it with as much as she could muster.

“So where did this even come from? This system is pretty complex, so who even made it to begin with?” Kiko asked, looking at the words that would craft a spell, the suffixes to change it, and why speaking it would help to begin with.

“Magic is, to some, an instinctive thing beyond the need to learn. The words came from the soul and sparked the creation of power from that. Rather than keep it to themselves, however, they taught the world what words were required to pull it from their souls, and it grew out from there. As you grow in power, you don’t need to speak them out loud so long as you say it in your soul. Though, even the best magus focus their Aeonics into form with words if the need arises, such as high tier magic or lengthy incantations. Ignis is easy, Solaris Trius Airus Jeritus, is not something I would risk trying wordlessly”

Eteria finished her lecture and Kiko just stared at that last bit.

“Sol…what?” she asked, her jaw a little hung from the confusion.

“Ahh, sorry. Solaris is the base of the spell. It’s high tier fire magic that produces a flame similar to a star. Trius is the primary suffix designating additional strength” Eteria started and Kiko lit up, flicking through the book.

“I remember that bit! Duos, Trius, Quadrio, Paragon. They make it just, like, basic stronger?” she asked, grinning broadly. When she grasped a bit of magic she was really happy, just wished it wasn’t so damned complex.

“The technical answer is you are casting the spell multiple times within the same instance. Hence why the suffixes have root in number. Paragon is different, it’s the refinement of Mana to a point the spell begins to reach perfection, the first, gentle caress of the divine. There is a level beyond that called Ultima, which is absolute perfection and active touch of the divine. Though, we have not had a magus capable of using that. First, last, and only record is the founder of my order. She is the reason we know about it as anything more than a theory” Eteria seemed, almost delighted to be teaching someone about this. It did seem her life’s passion after all.

“So, Fulgar Ultima would be a powerful spell then?” Kiko asked. That, was what Za had used, though the Zian woman had taken it without too much of a problem.

“We have no frame of reference for the power of Ultima spells. But, if we put the baseline at twice as powerful as a Paragon, there wouldn’t be much left of the city block you cast it in” Eteria told Kiko, who’s eyes bulged with amazement.

“Holy shit. Tari just took that to the bonce” Kiko exclaimed, shaking her head. She couldn’t imagine the power of a woman who could take something capable of liquifying a city block and carry on.

“Tari?” Eteria asked, canting her head sideways.

“O-oh...I, had a dream last night. I guess all this studying is making me have wild dreams” she muttered, keeping her eye on her book. Eteria wasn’t Tai, probably wouldn’t understand as well.

Flicking through the book some more, she eventually came across the other one.

“Airus…suffix to turn a spell gaseous. That sounds…painful” Kiko grimaced at the idea of gaseous flames engulfing a person. Though, would they really be any worse than normal flames when it got to a sufficient degree? “Jeritus…is…” She returned to the index and scanned for it, flicking back to the right page number and then suddenly stopping and scowling at Eteria.

“You are making me enjoy studying. What kind of Witch are you?” Kiko asked, her scowl and tone playful and filled with mirth. When Eteria gave a soft laugh, she returned to the studying and read about it. “Jeritus. Suffix to allow the spell to work underwater! That is cool!” Kiko bounced gently in her seat and then suddenly stopping and looking up at Eteria.

“How does a person remember all these suffixes to call on when you need it casting?” Kiko asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You don’t. Art of Magic is learning, well, the art of magic. It helps you treat magic as a thing that immutably exists, and from there you are able to connect to the Mana of the world far better than just using it spontaneously” Eteria would then, either from showing off or simply by being used to it at this point, take a seat on the air, to Kiko’s delight.

“I do treat magic as a thing that exists though. I mean, look at it! It’s right there! How can you not?” Kiko asked, passionate and vigorous as she spoke. This whole thing was fantastical, out of a storybook. How could she not love it?

“True, but you still think of it as fantastical, as mystical, as something apart from that of a remote control or radio, or phone. Each one of those are fantastical and mystical. You can speak to a person on the other side of the planet in such crisp instancy that they appear to be standing right beside you. And yet there is no sense of marvel for that. It is perfunctory and a part of life. So too, much magic be” Eteria tutored. Though, Kiko couldn’t see how a person treated such power as the same as a toaster.

‘When I was young, I could not see how the Uprights made fire from two bits of wood, let alone control such a primal force for their own goals. It will come in time, Kiko’ Vanaet spoke. It made some small amount of sense…So she spent a few more minutes reading about the nature of magic, the history of powerful or intelligent Mangus – something even Eteria had an entry on – and theories on higher realms. She was already in on the secret of Gods being about, so the part about them having their own realm up there wasn’t all that surprising.

‘Why do you stay up there though? I mean, if I was a God I’d come down here and kick ass with my God Powers’ Kiko exclaimed, making judo chop motions that made Eteria frown at her.

‘Gods use Divnica, and often are Divnica embodied. It’s basically the mana of a god, drawn from belief and worship of others. But, it does not mix with Mana at all, it is like oil and a spark. We can come down in Avatars, specifically crafted coats that cover our Divnica, but we have little power in such a state, as we can’t use Mana or outwardly manifest Divnica’