I walked up to the cages beside Tulip. Everyone in the groups behind us were muttering amongst themselves, an idle chatter about what beasts we would find left amongst the cages. A soft sigh escaped from my lips—Most of the beasts hissed or growled as I approached them, none of them wanted to be here.
But I couldn’t blame them either, they were just prisoners like I was. I felt remorse for them—After all, I hated being locked up in a cage too. Another sigh escaped from my lips when another cage rattled and hissed from my approach, this one was covered by a thick tarp that blocked out the sunlight. Splitting away from Tulip, I approached it.
“Why are you hidden?...” I asked gently as the cage rattled again. There was a low hiss from within the cage. “Lets… see what you are?” I asked softly. Crouching down onto my knees, I began raising the cloth slowly.
The beast inside scurried back, hiding in the shadows near the back while I raised the cloth up. Its angered hisses quickly turned to fearful ones as it backed away into the far corner. The only thing I could make out from within the shadows were a twin pair of thin purple spheres divided by black slits at their center of the spheres.
“Hey—Don’t be shy… I don’t wanna hurt you.” I offered in a gentle voice. I halted my progress in raising the cloth, leaving the small beast to hide in the shadows.
The glowing eyes narrowed further at my words. It didn’t trust me—And I couldn’t blame it for that. I knew for a fact that if I were in its position I would react the same.
“I get it… you don’t like being in the cage, do you?” I watched the beast intently as I offered my question. It shifted around in the shadows for a few moments before its gaze met my own, softened by just a little. “I get it… honestly, I do. I was locked up like this not too long ago—But, I can let you out!” I added, being sure to try and be as positive as I possibly could… which turned into me copying Tulip’s tone to force hope into my voice.
The hissing from the beast settled, its head twisting to the side to watch me curiously.
“Well… I can’t just let you out. It’s not how this works sadly—If I could I would though!” I tried my best to reassure the beast. Once again it’s eyes narrowed, not quite in anger but more in annoyance. “Alright yea, I get it. Just; ‘get to the point,’ right?” The beast answered me by giving a gentle snort almost like a sigh.
I answered it with my own sigh. I felt myself deflating as the forced confidence faded away with grim thoughts.
“What is going to happen to the rest of these beasts?” I wondered silently. Sanders didn’t quite seem like the type to just kill them—But I also knew it was the easiest and most likely option for him to pick.
“I’m not really sure how it works, but we’re supposed to work together? I help you, you help me kind of thing, get it?” The beast only blinked at my words. I wasn’t sure if it actually understood me, or if it just coincidentally reacted in a meaningful way.
“How about this—Blink once for yes, twice for no. You get that?” I made sure to show what I meant, blinking exaggeratedly alongside my words.
I watched the beast intently, its head tilted to one side again as if in thought—And it gave a single blink of its eyes!
“You do?! He…. he wasn’t kidding when he said beasts are smart, was he?” My question was answered not with a series of blinks but with another sigh. If it was able to speak I could easily assume it would have been a simple “Of course” answer.
“So…. what do you say? Do you wanna work with me?—I can give you plenty of food if that's what you like!” I watched the beast hopefully. I felt my lips shifting upwards into a dull smile, one meant to try and reassure the fearful creature that I had good intentions.
Its gaze remained steadfast, unmoving, unchanging. It was focused solely upon me, watching my every motion—Yet it refused to blink once, or even twice. It just watched me with uncertainty.
It felt like an eternity where I lost myself in the violet eyes of the small beast before me. I could understand its unease, I almost thought I could even feel it as well. Just the way its eyes shifted, its inherent, intelligent thoughts that bore into me.
It wasn’t just some wild creature, it could think—Maybe not with as much detail as another human could, but it wasn’t some wild creature either. It was small, maybe that meant it was young?
“Please… we’re more alike than you know…” I understood its pain, and its fear. I was treated like a wild animal too, wasn’t I? I was put in prison for something out of my control, this beast was locked away to be a part of some experiment.
I opened my mouth slowly—About to offer whatever further reassurance I could, but a single blink broke the unending gaze of the small beast. It shifted around, standing up on all fours to approach the light breaking through the opened position of the tarp.
Pale white fur was quickly illuminated by the overhead sun, the twin glowing violet eyes of a feline softened as the beast sat in the dim sunlight. Its gaze was filled with expectations and uncertainty, it didn’t trust me… maybe I didn’t trust it yet, but we were both willing to take a chance.
What sat before me was a small fox—No larger than a cub. Three fluffy tails sat behind it while violet streaks ran through its body like lightning bolts. Its forehead was graced by a single mark not unlike a tattoo marking its fur; A spiral of lightning taking the shape of a storm cloud.
“You sure?” I asked with uncertainty reaching my voice. The fox blinked twice before a small sigh broke away from it again. “You’re not… I don’t think I’m sure either—But I’ll make you a promise! No matter what, I won’t let you get hurt, alright? As long as I’m alive I’ll make sure you are too.”
The Fox’s eyes widened, she was surprised by my commitment I was willing to make. A gentle yip escaped her maw before she shifted forwards, laying down and nudging the door gently.
“Alright,” I smiled, turning my gaze to the side. “Sanders! I think I’m ready to let this one out!” I called for the older man to come over.
“Ah, you’ve made your choice?” Sanders asked as he sauntered over. He was in absolutely no rush as he rifled through a key chain in the search of a specific one. “Oh my… the Kitsune accepted you?”
“I don’t think so. I think… I think that we just came to an agreement.” I stated firmly. The Kitsune nodded softly, no longer relying on blinking to get its answers across from the shadows.
“Interesting…” Sanders muttered as he offered a key towards me.
He stepped back as I took the key into my hands. I turned back to the cage with a genuine smile on my face—The Kitsune gave an impatient yip as she stood up, impatiently prancing around as I pushed the key into the socket.
I pulled the cage door out, giving her an open area to walk out from. She glanced at the opening, then towards me.
Slowly, she walked towards the opening—I stood up, backing away to give her enough space to feel comfortable. She walked forwards with shaky confidence, though her confidence swelled once her first paw was placed gently upon fresh soil. No longer trapped by her metal tomb she hopped forwards with a happy yip!
She hopped up and down, prancing around with her trio of tales flicking around wildly. She was small, barely larger than a cat—But she was happy.
Once her excitement settled down a little she wondered her way towards me. She took a seat as I crouched down before her, offering a hand out to her.
“Do you have a name?” I asked happily. She answered with two blinks before pressing her snout into my outstretched palm. A giggle escaped my lips, feeling the dampness of her nose before the rough whiskers and soft fur settled upon my palm.
“How about… Akemi?” I offered as my fingers shifted to scratch under her chin. Her hind leg began to shake rapidly, forcing another series of joyous laughs to escape from me. “You like that?”
She shifted back a little—Giving a thorough shake of her body before her head bobbed up and down in a happy nod. It was just long enough for me to know her answer to both questions.
“Then… Akemi it is. I can’t wait for Tulip to meet you—I think she’ll love you.” I kept smiling as I spoke. My grin felt so wide that my lips began to feel sore, but I couldn’t even try to force it down—Especially when Akemi effortlessly hopped onto my arm. With the balance of a cat she clambered her way up my arm, settling behind my neck. Her legs were swung over in front of my shoulders while her head was settled right next to mine.
“Hey! That tickles!—” I complained as she began to lick my cheek. The rough texture grating against my skin forced even more laughter out from me as I stood up. She finally stopped once I stood up, but I made sure to raise a hand up to give her more chin scratches. “There… Happy now Akemi?”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
A single yip escaped her—It was all the affirmation that I needed.
“Now… where’s Tulip?” I asked aloud, turning my gaze around the piles of cages slowly.
----------------------------------------
Tulip felt a smile cross her lips once she saw Kirin settle before a cage—She had been worried at first, most of the beasts had reacted quite aggressively to Kirin. Most of them seemed almost docile in comparison when Tulip approached them.
“Wonder why…” She thought for a moment before turning her head forwards. “Not the time… Let’s see what we still have here.”
There were twenty six cages in total—And with the cage Kirin had stopped before, that left nineteen for Tulip to look through. Most of the beasts she was able to turn away from at a quick glance, she already knew a few things from watching the other students find Beasts for themselves.
The most notable was how the students shared the same element with all of the beasts they found themselves with. Lucia found a beast with Ice magic, Erick found one with fire and so on.
“I wonder if that’s a requirement…” Tulip wondered aloud. Her gaze skimmed between a few of the cages—Many of them had been holding similar beasts of different elements. Only a handful of genuinely unique beasts were here. And the only person to pair with one so far had been Anestesia.
A few beasts stood out to her rather quickly—An avian that was nearly identical to Lucia’s kept its curious gaze settled on Tulip whenever she approached it. However it was clearly a different element, its pitch black feathers giving it away immediately.
However she wasn’t interested in just the first beast that eyed her curiously.
“Beasts have a keen sense of mana… any one of the beasts attuned to dark magic will be curious about me.” She reasoned in her head as she moved on. She spared a glance over towards Kirin—But she didn’t otherwise see anything, the shorter girl was on her knees before one of the three covered cages.
She could see Kirin’s mouth moving, Kirin was talking to the beast?—It honestly left Tulip rather curious and partially dumbfounded. But she kept to her own business, Kirin had her way with things and Tulip didn’t exactly doubt that it was possible for Kirin to do something as absurd as that.
With a click of her tongue Tulip turned her gaze forwards again—Examining the cage immediately before her.
Just like the one Kirin was now in front of—And just like the one Anestesia had found a Mind Reaper in, this one was covered with a thick sheet.
“Now… what are you?” Tulip asked calmly as she approached the cage. There was a dull hum of mana from within it, however it was only the thin strands that were able to crawl their way between the magesteel bars.
She reached forwards, placing a hand on the cloth as she was about to try and lift it up—But she quickly recoiled as a bright flash of light met her gaze.
“What the—” She muttered, stepping back as she looked at her hand. Her palm was rather warm now, but she wasn’t burnt. With a sigh she reached forwards again, this time a little slower. “I just wanna see what you are.” She spoke softly.
However, once again she was met with a furious flash of light. But this flash was just as quickly followed by an all consuming blackness—One generated by Tulip.
She had to clench her teeth down, the focus required to use her attuned element was immense. But the cold shadows fought against the burning light, they found an even ground for just long enough so that Tulip could raise the cloth away—Pulling it to the ground, her eyes went round from what she saw within.
Inside the cage was a sort of Avian creature, but it was far removed from the simple Elemental Hawks like what Lucia had paired with. This bird had six wings folded neatly over each other like a heavy robe. Its feathers were pure black up until they ended in white edges. Its head was more akin to an owl with its rounded shape and deeply inset eyes,
It’s beak was rather strange to look at. It took on the shape of a prism with the top part only slightly larger than the bottom—Just above its beak was a speckling of white spots across its black feathers like tiny stars. It held a crown of feathers moving from its eyes to the top of its head that looked almost like horns.
“Wow…” Tulip spoke in awe. The Owl chirped annoyedly, but didn’t produce another brilliant flash of light. Instead its eyes filled with incredible intellect met Tulip’s gaze, golden topaz meeting crimson rubies.
“Well… would you like to pair up with me?” She asked with a confident smile. Her arm moved forwards—She received a curious look from the owl who narrowed his eyes at her, but only a few moments later it let out an annoyed, but agreeing chirp.
“I had no idea phoenix owls were even still alive…” Tulip sighed out. Turning around she saw Sanders approaching her, and Kirin close behind him. “How about Topaz for a name?” She asked as her gaze turned back to the owl.
He was already distracted, lifting his three feathers on his left side to clean himself. He met Tulip’s gaze with a half glare… but he didn’t protect it directly.
“Topaz it is then.” She reaffirmed, relinquishing herself to wait for Sanders to walk at a painfully slow pace over to her.
----------------------------------------
It didn’t take too long after Tulip let Topaz out of his cage for Sanders to get us all gathered back together in one group. Akemi remained planted firmly on my shoulders, the gentle whistling of air that escaped her snout giving me all the signs that I needed that she was still alive. Tulip glanced over towards me, her eyes shining whenever she saw Akemi—Lucia and Anestesia actually gave similar reactions as well.
“So cute!” Anestesia exclaimed. She tried to get closer to Akemi, however her own beast growled uneasily as it tried its absolute best to stay away from Akemi.
“She’s so soft…” Tulip muttered as she gently ran her hand along Akemi’s flank. Topaz, her “Phoenix Owl” as Sanders had called it, remained planted on top of her head. He gave only a mildly annoyed glare at the loud noises from Anestesia, but otherwise didn’t do anything. He was as lively as a brick.
Lucia actually looked like she wanted to come closer. But she refused to admit it, any time she so much as came close to meeting my gaze she answered it with a hate-filled glare.
“Now!” Sanders spoke, clearing any idle chatter that remained. “I’m not just giving you, a bunch of students, beasts. You are expected to take care of them, they are a part of your own family now.”
“Now, there is a goal for these eight months in which you will have your beasts—Your goal is to assist in their ascensions,” Sanders raised a hand as muttering began between the students. Exclaimed questions of confusion that broke free from the silence. “We will be doing this primarily during our expeditions. This weekend in fact we are to leave on our first one for two days. So be prepared for that!”
“How are we supposed to help beasts ascend?!” Erick asked the instant Sanders fell silent.
“That is up to you to figure out. Every single beast undergoes ascension in a different way—However, you are all lucky enough in that they share the same attuned elements as you.” Sanders answered, turning his gaze to Lucia next.
“Where are we going for this expedition?” Lucia asked quickly.
“To a region near the Infernus ranges. There have been reports of groups of beasts razing villages. While it is above your grade to deal with something like that, it is an opportune time to study beasts. And I am more than capable of handling them if it comes down to it.” Sanders once again answered easily. His voice never shifted away from its monotone beat that reflected practically no emotion to speak of.
“Is there anything written on how beasts ascend?” Anestesia asked. She turned her gaze to her own beast, a worried look spreading across her face.
“For those of you with more ‘common’ beasts? Yes, there is. However for the more unique creatures such as what you have there is little to no information on them to begin with,” Sanders paused for a moment, sighing softly “All of these beasts are the result of years of effort to find and collect them. I could very well be the only person alive in this era, outside of the eight of you, who has seen these beasts alive.”
Anestesia’s lips narrowed as Sanders finished speaking. I could feel a bit of worry rising through my body as well once my gaze turned to Akemi—If she was a rarer beast then I now knew I had even more work cut out for me.
Everyone fell silent as the bell began to toll in the distance. We were so far from the school at the edge of the island that it was almost quiet—especially when compared to how deafening it was inside of the school itself.
“Are there any other questions?” Sanders asked. But when no hands were raised he nodded, satisfied. “Then I shall see you all tomorrow, have a good evening.”
A small huff escaped my lips as I turned away, looking at the school as the echo of the bell faded away slowly.
“You still have lessons with Miss Carmine don’t you?” Tulip asked as we began towards the school in unison.
“Yep… honestly I’m more than a little worried about what she’s going to be putting me through after everything Levi has…” I answered with dread. Akemi shifted around slowly, woken by the tolling bell—Even she seemed a little uneasy.
“You’ll be fine, Kirin. Carmine is a lot of things, but she isn’t like Levi. She’ll probably give you some of the best teaching you can ask for.” Tulip said reassuringly. A small smile crept across my lips again—A giggle soon followed when I felt Akemi’s rough tongue licking my cheek again.
“Fine—I’ll stay hopeful for now. But I should probably run… I don't know how strict she is with timing.” I sighed out, giving Tulip a defeated gaze soon after.
“Have fun! I’ll see you at the dorm tonight.” Tulip gave a soft wave—After returning it for a moment I took off in a jog, heading for the school in the distance.
----------------------------------------
Smoke.
Yet more smoke and cinders arose from the distant horizon, the scent of ash and death reached her nose and she took it all in with joy. A laugh escaped her lips as she skipped along, a sing-song tone escaping her lips.
“Tear down the bridges, burn all their homes. Shadows crawl inside, all the lights go out.” She found herself laughing even more as she walked towards the next town. Sure, her followers all looked at her nervously—But who cared! She certainly didn’t.
She was in charge of this mission. So she got to have some fun! And they were only a few days out from their next stop. The dozens of bodies following her all began to walk in unison, some with two legs, others with four and even a few with none at all.