Wednesday…
Kyle's ‘car’ if Joey can call it that, is a giant hand-me-down of a sedan that's seen too much use by too many previous owners. The interior fabric is fraying, it smells like a can of Doritos much to the detriment of her advanced sense of smell, and Kyle's accessory plug-ins look like a fire hazard waiting to happen. “You make a ton of money, and you drive this. Why?” she asks after a few minutes of relative silence. The scenic fall colors of red, orange and yellow are interspersed by the hardy evergreens and distant mountains in the late afternoon, and it’s a little bit cloud-covered. A fall day by any measure, and her favorite season.
“Because I spend my money bankrolling my retirement,” he replies with a smile, all while playing an album that is an absolute banger of musical perfection. “Mages gotta have a retirement too, even though yours is much further off.”
“Hey, there's plenty of things that could kill me before I hit three hundred and change. I know when to splurge on a good time,” Joey says with a smile. “Also, where did you get this album? I never heard of Unicorn!”
“It's by some band called Gunship. It's like...new retro, but they are fantastic. Also, I love their sublime track called ‘Kitsune’.” She narrows her eyes at him, even while he grins. “Oh, are you offended? It's a fantastic song. Even though the word doesn't show up on the track. Ironic, that.”
A thought comes up, and she gives him an amused look. “Is that what you're been humming every five minutes at work besides SpongeBob? You know that’s a pretty subtle joke, Kyle. Though, I've worked pretty hard to be incognito.”
“Yeah, that part sucks. It's like sealing half your life away. But it is a catchy song. Here.” He changes the track, and she starts listening. “Joey, I still don’t get the ‘why’ portion, even though I’ve known you for years. Other Kitsune walk around in Veil-free zones. They don't bother hiding.”
“At their own peril,” she answers distantly. She hates that he brings this up every now and then. “People are afraid, Kyle. People are afraid of kitsune because of a lot of things.”
“I heard about the old stories. I even read up on it, with what professors I could trust to be truthful. The older generations had manias, severe migraines, and out-of-control psionics that could hurt people. Kitsunes were forcibly created and molded through some pretty effing sick and twisted experiments by dragons four thousand years ago. That’s not on you. Meanwhile, dragons can turn people to ash, render them into a liquified puddle, or implode objects or bodies with a mini-singularity. Or, they can just slash you to ribbons with their own natural talons. Yet no one raises that up at all. It’s utterly absurd. And I hate how no one is willing to call out hypocrisy. Humankind is also good at killing each other without magic.”
“You know it’s not just that.”
“Then what?”
“People still believe kitsune can control minds. That they can make you do the worst things imaginable to others. Or yourself.” She clenches her fingernails into her leg more than lightly.
“And who perpetuates that myth?” he asks pointedly.
“It’s not a myth, it's been done.”
“By how few, Joey? And how do we know someone wasn’t telling a fantasy about that to further their own interests?” Kyle glances at her briefly and notes her digging her fingernails into her leg. “If I was to hold dragons, wargen, fey, and all the rest to the same level of standard, I’d have too many ‘what ifs’ or ‘they could be dangerous’ notions. Hell, humans are the most dangerous of all, if I had to point a finger.”
“Just drive. I get it, Kyle. But you just don’t let this go. You never have.”
“I won’t let it go until all Kin get treated the same, with humanity. Even though I know you don’t want me to try for that–for you–I’ll still keep trying.” She dares a glance his way--he is sincere. He always has been for this.
“The cure for hatred is bookended by the cure for cancer, and a cure for death,” she says in a biting retort.
“So what you’re saying is, I should help you find those other two first. I give you fifty-fifty odds.” Even though she shouldn’t, she still laughs softly. “Besides, the only compulsion I’ve gotten from you, is to make omelets every weekend.”
“Oh no, that one's all yours Kyle.” Even though he does bring up the touchy topic, she’s glad to have someone truly in her corner. Even if the long-term goal of breaking longstanding stereotyping might take generations to undo.
The trip doesn't take long and they enter the neighborhood adjoining a large swath of forest–there's a large black truck that drives by that she takes interest in. Some young man with blond hair that–
The truck passes before she can finish processing the thought, and she shrugs. They've only got a couple of hours before it gets dark out, and they have no idea where to start when she unpacks the alchemical equipment. They're in normal clothes, no lab coats, just her normal slim jeans and a hoodie that allows a few stray red hairs to drape down. “I can't believe Zameren allowed us to use this side trek as work allowable time. With what we've dug up, he's fascinated, too. I mean are we being too optimistic? Could some of this be a chance?”
“Joey, you are unfathomably good at sniffing out the strange and wondrous. Don't second guess yourself. That yearbook picture alone showed me there's something funky going on, along with confirmed Awakenings. Here, I'll lead the way.” He grabs a small drone and syncs it before it takes off in a burst of speed. He looks at the map, trying to find a landmark. “That ridge is unchanged. See it?”
She peers over his shoulder to look at the drone feed, then the map. “Looks about right. And…Kyle, that tree with purple leaves. Zoom in or get closer, it's about…a couple of hundred meters in.”
“You sure that isn't Japanese maple?” Surprisingly, he can identify a tree that would look similar.
“No, it's not. It’s a Findian oak. It's not supposed to be here, it's a mana-infused tree. Look at that, there's more than a few smaller ones popping up around it.” He zooms in, and she can see very, very faint lines of blue in the leaves.
Active mana circulation. It's barely visible now, but there's no pocket plane, no cordons, or mage barriers to keep people out. This is in the open. The tree is young, but it's tall–indicating rapid growth. She taps the screen to zoom in further, to the maximum resolution. “Kyle, let me ask you something. How does a magical tree grow where there's no mana?”
“I…don't know. There are no known deposits of mana in this area. Or, they were dug up and removed. You know I do know plenty about mana crystals, it's like bread and butter for me.”
“Okay, but you don't know how they apply to magical botany,” she points out. “Magical plants require a small amount to germinate for those first few years. After developing to sufficient size, they can generate their mana via biological mechanisms just like every other magical organism. But they need that initial kick. So where's the source?”
“Maybe someone dumped a canister of mana primer?” he proposes, even while directing the drone to hover and have them in its view angle. “This way. Let's walk and talk.”
“No paths. We're roughing it for sure.” She's tempted to take her alternate form and the scratchy branches wouldn't even bother her over her cushioning fur, but there's also a non-zero chance someone like a hunter could spot them. “I'd say that, no. Artificial sources of mana tend to dissipate their energy. Mana crystals constantly emit and convert surrounding minerals into mana-laden material. But it takes a long time, we're talking years or even decades.”
“Right. It also explains why the whole planet isn't encrusted in mana crystals. It takes the right circumstances. Mana primer would…yeah, it's a silly thought. It would dissipate in days. Then you'd need to have a seedling in the same spot. Both happening at once? Not likely."
“Let's check the ambient mana in the air.” She pulls out one of her arcane tools that looks almost like a Geiger counter, but it's designed to interpret mana energy which isn't usually harmful to people. It's typically referred to as an archometer--the proper arcanist name is just too many words for people to say routinely.
Mana crystals rarely grew dense enough to be dangerous to Kin. But, she couldn't say never. Exceptions did exist, there is an area in the Alps in Switzerland that could cause fatal mana poisoning if someone stood next to the crystalline structures long enough. She'd checked before they got out of the car and the concentration was…elevated. Definitely above baseline, which in most places was zero emissions.
What's more interesting is that the further they travel towards the hovering drone, the higher it gets. She nudges Kyle. “I've been extrapolating a gradient on the ambient. It's not just linear, it's a power function of some kind. Not near hazard levels, but...for a place that's supposed to be zero, it's strange.”
“Maybe there were some residual crystals in the soil that regrew? It's a stretch, because crystals don't grow that fast. But over several decades…maybe?” He doesn't sound confident in the theory.
When they get to the tree, Joey nearly loses her grip on the archometer. “Kyle. Am I seeing things, or–”
“Oh I don't know if this is good or bad, but it's something.” The tree in question, along with the nascent grove surrounding it, couldn't possibly be construed as normal. The bark forms strange angles in its silky white coloration and texture, and the purple leaves are a dead giveaway that it’s magical, plus the faint veins of blue mana are evident in all the limbs. Other small magical vegetation is starting to grow, even with the pending winter not that far away.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
But the emergence of light fluorescent mana crystals from the soils that have an eerie translucency is the icing on the cake, with a hazy blue illumination from within. Kyle takes a step forward, but Joey holds him back. She checks the readings. “Kyle, this reading is…getting to the hazard zone for humans, maybe I should go?”
“Hang on. If it's hazardous for me, it should be hazardous for you–”
“All magical Kin can tolerate this level indefinitely. Normal humans or those with minimal mana capacitance need shielding. We didn't bring any protective gear.” This is fascinating and mildly disturbing. “We need data. Get photos. I'll get numbers. Anything I should look for?”
“I need the crystal length, and the translucency. Get a sample if you can find a stray shard, it's strong but brittle. Older crystals need a shaped charge to crack apart. These ones look new, but they're huge.” He hands her a geologist's hammer and metal spike, plus a few sample vials. “You're sure this won't hurt you?”
“No, and it wouldn't hurt you for short exposure. Let's not take that chance.” She sets down her nonessential equipment and takes photos. “Zameren is going to blow a fuse when he sees this. There isn't anything hiding this from the world! I need to call Amaranth and the Magical Biological Preservation Services after this, this is absolutely unprecedented.”
"You still keep in touch with MBPS?"
"With the people who cared about the job." She doesn't mention the onerous policies they started enacting, like biological screenings every year.
There was no way in hell she was going to have a Conclave-appointed physician give her a routine physical and confirm in about five seconds that she was a kitsune. That violation of privacy had been eye opening not in its brazenness, but that no one batted an eye or protested.
Kyle takes photos and mutters something she can barely hear, even with her attuned ears. He's worried. He's been worried about her ever since he found out the secret of her origin in a protective way, but he's really worried this time. Crystals don't grow like this. It's unnatural. Artificial, even. But she needs more information to start piecing this together in a way that makes sense.
The counter alerts her that she’s above the normal tolerance level of a human when she gets to the tree, and she traces her hand across the bark. Its silky texture almost feels comforting under her fingers. Reassuring. It's a young tree, maybe under a decade old, but she doesn't have equipment for a core sample. The crystals have erupted throughout the earth, and she measures them with a tape measure. “Six centimeters in diameter,” she calls out. “Internal glow is a very bright, very healthy crystal. It's almost perfectly translucent. For a crystal this large, it should be opaque.”
“Are they all a single crystal?” he shouts out over the distance. She examines the surroundings. They're all separate. But growing at a significant pace collectively.
“Separate. For now. This tree specimen is three years old, tops.”
“Did it grow that much?” He is in disbelief.
“Trees of this species slow down in growth once they've gone past the sapling stage,” she explains while looking at her arcanist field guide. “It's a little unusual, but not unprecedented. Think of it like bamboo--"
She hears a cracking sound, and she looks up. Is it the tree limbs? There's no wind–
Dragons might have that sixth sense down to fine art, but kitsune also possess it, a preternatural awareness of danger. She gasps when that cracking sound gets louder and she feels the earth crumble away beneath her feet--but she's already in motion, and throws herself to the side the instant her danger sense alerts her. She grasps one of the crystals sticking out of the ground and feels that faint but gentle buzz, even while a maw of open earth is right below her. After a few seconds, the collapse stops, and small dribbles of soil fall in and make a piff sound on the bottom.
“Joey!” Kyle screams out and tries to dart over but she hears a few cracking sounds.
“Stay back! It's undermined or something!” With a quick lunge she's back on solid ground, and peering down at the hole in the ground. He breathes out an audible sigh of relief. “It's a three-meter drop, at least I could jump in, but getting out would be tough. Got any rope?”
“What am I, a wizard or something?” he grunts. “Why did that fall apart?”
“No idea. Looks like an earthen tunnel–” she peers down and gasps. “Kyle, this isn't undermined. It's a burrow! I think this is a tunnel that Sardavian moles make, they’re native to the area!”
“You mean those cuddly critters that everyone wants to turn into purses, because of their durable hide?” he asks with a slant of sarcasm. “Do they get this big?”
“I think it just dug too close to the surface. They do make big nests. Room to grow, you know, and they prefer to be next to mana crystals for illumination.”
“Dear Gaia, you really are a walking encyclopedia.” He exhales as if he's been holding his breath. “Can you peer in, and check to see if those crystals go underground?”
“I can? Hang on.” She remembers that she did have a short tether of cord in her pack. In mage biozones, it's prudent to camp off the ground, because Kin are typically not at the top of the food chain in most areas. “I forgot I had this! Forcible habits for the win!”
She tethers to the tree and drops down slowly, using her phone for illumination. She hears the scurry of the industrious moles digging through the earth nearby, they're utterly harmless except to magical grubs and other pest species. It's smoothly carved, and large enough to indicate a permanent residence–the moles even had reinforced it with stubby tree limbs. Maybe a year old or so? A blue shine from the wall gets her attention when she hits the bottom.
“Holy Gaia.” All the crystals above the ground are part of one networking formation down below the earth, a twisting ribbon or even a vein of mana forming beautiful fractal patterns through the soil. Her counter is clicking upwards and she feels a tingle on her skin. The mana exposure is definitely higher down here, but still not harmful. She taps the crystal gently and feels that subtle hum…even hears a crystalline chime. People had claimed in the past that the mana could 'hum' or even 'sing' to them. Whether it was superstition or an actual, undocumented phenomena, she didn't know.
“Well, old girl, what secrets are you hiding I wonder?” she ponders aloud. A clink of something by her boot gets her attention when she shifts her stance.
A perfectly sized specimen of mana crystal is at her foot. It's still glowing, too–it probably fractured when the moles excavated their burrow. Up above she sees lightly exposed tree roots, going in every direction. The faint veins of mana illuminate the grotto with an otherworldly light. I'll never tire of the infinite being converted to the finite and wondrous, she thinks in a play on the motto of her Alma mater, London Arcanist Academy.
Her first true home. Asqualia is now her second home. It may not be that way forever in the physical sense, but it will always be a home at heart.
“Joey? You okay?” Kyle shimmies down the rope while she's been reflecting on the strangeness of this situation. He rubs his arms. “Yeah, I feel that tingle, a lot of mana in the air. It's one continuous crystal. This growth indicates decades of maturity. Centuries. Joey, I don't know if we stumbled on some small deposit that was just buried deep enough to not have an impact till now, or if we're on the cusp of something spooky weird. But we've found something truly crazy.”
“Do you hear that ringing sound?” she asks.
“Nah, just my heartbeat going at a near-record pace. You know that's the second time you've said that in a day, you alright?” he puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I know you have far more sensitive hearing than me, but…”
“I feel fine. Nothing really out of the ordinary. The migraines come and go–a minus to being a psionic, I suppose.”
What's strange though, is she had a light migraine since this morning, but now it's completely gone. It could be a coincidence. Or maybe something to do with her mana circulatory system getting a boost? She reaches down and feels her chest. Outwardly in her human form, she passes flawlessly, well, minus the lavender eyes that some people can see.
But inside, the internals are just different enough to be noticeable. And that extra organ next to her heart that connects all the mana filaments in her body and acts as a big circuit breaker…that's decidedly not human. And she feels a tingling sensation deep within.
I hope I'm not getting mana poisoning, I don't want to have to purge my body of that over the next few days. Those chemicals suck to ingest, she thinks with a sigh. “Kyle, take photos. We can't linger, I might be able to resist this, but you need to leave in two minutes, max.”
“Then let's get to work.”
They stay longer than two minutes, but they get as much data as they can on the roots, crystals, and even the burrow. The annoyed trilling of the moles indicates they should leave, otherwise the little animals might abandon the little grotto. Joey practically pushes Kyle upwards, and then climbs up with grace. Technically she could make the jump with her springy legs, but it's always wise to keep that agility in reserve. When they get topside, she looks at all her notes. They got a lot, even a few samples.
A theory is forming. “I think there's an artificial source. Something is making these crystals grow. They're too translucent to be this big already. They're growing, but not mature. I remember that from my academy classes.”
“So you and I agree then. Definitely not normal.” Kyle rubs at his beard before pointing to the small grove. “So this is not by itself abnormal. The root cause–no pun intended–is the crystal growth. If this keeps growing geometrically, it could also trigger mana storms in this area. Spooky.”
“No. We're past that point. It should already be doing that at these concentrations, and maybe it already did. But what is making the crystals grow? Only Gaia can make a crystal grow–as the saying goes.” Kyle peers at her curiously.
“I didn't take you for a follower of Gaia.”
“I'm not, actually. I'm more interested in the theory that she's actually a real entity. I mean there's some evidence past thousands of people claiming they met her. Lots of people claim to meet gods, and…well, they're just crazy,” she adds with a soft laugh. “Also a bit of Groundhog Day there, too.”
“I totally missed it,” he adds with a smile. “But seriously, I'm drawing a blank on what this all adds up to. Or how it could be related to dragons Awakening, let alone drakensouls.”
“Maybe there isn't, and it's a coincidence,” she says when she looks down at the crystal shard in her sample vial, along with a few samples of the dirt adjacent to it. A chemical analysis of the composition of the soil, along with Kyle’s metallurgy skills, might give them a baseline.
Her gut instinct is telling her that there is a connection. And it isn't just that crystalline chime she swears she keeps hearing, either. “That's the research pivot I want to get to. We've got a ton of work to do. I think they’re connected. Cause and effect. But…drakensouls…that’s the big link I don’t know yet.”
And she’s going to find out any way she can.