Hello, hello, one and all. I'm sorry for my rather lengthy absence; I kinda lost interest for a bit given how much more complex it is over here than Deviantart. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things over here.

Diabolus Vulpes is my most recent story, an AU fanfiction; don't be too overwhelmed though, as only two characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog series are even going to appear in this story. This story's got a noticeably more...dark and sinister tone to it, if not because the main protagonist is actually a villain. That aside...I'll rate it T up until more questionable content comes up, at which point I'll bump it up to M. Also, be warned, yaoi will be appearing.

Sanctimonia; a mostly grassland-dominated area, a few towns and villages here and there, maybe a mountain, cave, forest, or river here and there. Those who live here are in harmony, happily going about their business in a carefree manner. This peace and security can be attributed to the Famulus, a religious faction that help keep peace and order in the area. Their soldiers can be seen occasionally marching about, their officials overseeing weddings or church gatherings, or generally aiding others in their every day lives. One could say things were almost "perfect" there.

But if things were so perfect, why the need for soldiers on patrol? Not many knew...and those that did were quite afraid of the reason emerging fully. The source of their worry was found further east, where the grass began to take on a more sickly, lighter hue, or die completely. Trees lost their leaves and became gnarled and skeletal. Rivers became tainted and impure. The beasts around here mutated into evil beings, much more dangerous than normal. But the most dangerous aspect resided in a massive castle hanging above a volcanic pit, surrounded on the outside of the rim by a dark, sinister town.

Here, practitioners of black magic resided. The castle was their training place, an "academy" of sorts, who would raise the most skilled of warlocks to become their most dangerous soldiers. This was the reason the Famulus was established in the first place...to ensure that these black magic users didn't turn the entire planet into the region they now resided in. But even the most well-meaning of forces have a limit to their power.

Diabolus Vulpes

Chapter 1-The Sorcerer's Child

The sound of clanking drinks and discussion echoed throughout the room, many figures standing about and conversing. Most were dressed in dark attire, ranging from exquisite robes and dresses, to tuxedos and other surprisingly fancy attire. Those that weren't dressed were, in overall lappearance, already much more different than their companions; occasionally having a twisted or demonic appearance. Despite these monstrous appearances, they seemed to remain in as much courtesy and civility as the others.

The interior also contradicted the sickly outside, red carpets stretching through the building. On most of the walls hung portraits, either of other figures (almost all of them featuring an anthropomorphic fox of some sort), or a rather morbid or dark scene. Further into the building, in the largest room, was a figure wearing a pitch-black cloak and hood to cover their face, currently playing a piano while several others conversed. Several of them were gathered around another figure; an orange fox much like the ones seen on the portraits, wearing a fancy dark blue robe and an eyepatch over his left eye, underneath a tuft of brown hair protruding from his head.

"...and that would be how we managed to bring down the Great Templar. Quite an impressive feat, if I say so myself," the fox remarked with a light chuckle, earning some impressed murmurs from those gathered around him.

"Well, all of the rumors about the great warlock Amadeus seem to be quite true," one of the patrons remarked, glancing at the fox with a slight smile. "Surely, your legacy will serve as inspiration for many generations to come!"

The fox, Amadeus, simply chuckled again, arms folded in the pockets of his robe. "While that's certainly a prestigious honor...I have to say, if anything I hope for my legacy to be passed on to my son. He's shown a lot of promise."

Some more murmurs from the crowd, as another patron remarked, "Most certainly; as your own flesh and blood, he'll most CERTAINLY be just as skilled as you, if not even more so!"

"I certainly expect as much from him," Amadeus replied with a nonchalant shrug. "I forget if it was mentioned prior...but he plans to summon his demon partner tonight."

The patrons seemed to become even more surprised, looking at each other. "But he's merely a child, barely at the end of his toddler years! Are you sure he can do it?"

Amadeus smiled again, lowering his gaze slightly and swishing around the glass of wine in his hand. "I have the utmost faith in my child, don't you worry."

Some more discussion among the patrons, interrupted by the light sound of feet on floor, and they turned to the source. From a nearby doorway, a rather small figure emerged; another fox, not dissimilar to Amadeus, though he seemed much younger, probably at least five. He wore a dark red robe, from behind which not one, but two fluffy tails stuck outwards. He hopped to a halt, allowing his red and white sneakers to be seen underneath, before looking around and taking notice of Amadeus. A smile emerged on the kit's face. "Daddy!"

He bounded over energetically, the older fox chuckling. "Miles, there you are. I was getting worried you wouldn't come down for your own birthday party."

The kit shook his head as Amadeus pat him on the head. "Nope! Today I'm gonna summon my own demon partner, I want everyone to see it! 'Specially you, Daddy!"

Another chuckle from Amadeus, and he turned to the crowd. He raised his hand into the air, and with a flick of the wrist, seemed to darken the room. Everyone turned to him, the older fox announcing, "Everyone...our boy of the hour has arrived."

A faint light seemed to fall on the small boy, Miles, who blushed brightly upon noticing all of the eyes falling on him. Some light clapping went on around the room, Amadeus looking down at his son with a smile. "Now then...do you think you're ready to show everyone here what you can do?"

The kit blinked for a moment, then looked up at his father once again, returning the smile. "O-of course, definitely!"

"In that case...let's begin." Amadeus lifted his hand once again, causing a light to begin forming in the middle of the room. The patrons quickly stepped out of the way, allowing a large, circular formation to be seen encompassing most of the floor. Despite this, the piano player continued with his tune, which seemed to have become all the more haunting. "Miles...you may begin."

A nod from the kit, who stepped towards the circle. Amadeus followed, setting down a slight tray with a few tools on it. Miles proceeded to pull from the tray a bowl with a murky, powdery substance inside, and a dagger. He proceeded to put the dagger to his hand and made a slight incision into his palm, allowing for blood to form and be dripped into the bowl. A faint mist seemed to collect from where the blood was dropped, and Miles began stirring the powder around with a wooden spoon. Once this was done, he proceeded to toss the contents of the bowl towards the middle of the circle, causing the light to glow even brighter.

Miles finally dropped to his knees, running one finger over his bloodied wound and then placing the hand on the ground at the edge of the circle. With the other, he began tracing a design in a blank circle in the circular design right in front of him, beginning to mumble something lowly. "Ex cruor of vinco est fictum vernula..."

The circle seemed to get even brighter, a low humming heard throughout the room. "They vadum exsisto forever iunctus per vita donatus per vinco, quod a donum of vox ex everto senior..." Some faint streaks of lightning, colored a deep violet, crackled across the circle, the humming and light intensifying. As if to accentuate the mood, the piano player seemed to begin playing a much grander tune, louder and more noticeable than before.

"Per illa duos pieces of animus, vernula ero donatus vox. Per idem eadem idem pieces they ero forever sub to order of cruor datum. Per idem eadem idem pieces they mos wield vox of barathrum ut dictum per everto senior animus sedeo in lemma."

More lightning and rumbling, the lights that were still on beginning to flicker and wane; despite this, those collected in the room weren't panicked in the least, instead staring ahead with intrigued glances. "Chaos ero wrought qua iugum vado, Abyssus ero left in suum excito. A vomica super quicumque obviam ire lemma, quod an inaestimandus tool ut everto senior sui; ut repayment pro animus fragminis tribuo, utriusque es forever in suus utor."

The light finally snapped off, Amadeus smiling as the dust previously scattered seemed to begin swirling about, funneled into the epicenter of the circle. "Ego dico super thee, vox of ianus, copiae copie of atrum chaotic duco of everto regnum..." The fox child looked up slightly, his innocent expression betraying the rather malevolent and morbid chant he was uttering. "...addo ut mihi , vernula..."

The lightning intensified, crackling all throughout the room as the light intensified even brighter, forcing some of the patrons to look away; like before, the piano player was unperturbed, instead making his playing much more powerful and rapid. "...bring the servant to me, I command you!"

An even brighter flash of light, bolts of dark energy streaming into the epicenter of the circular marking and forcing everyone to look away; even Miles cringed slightly from the sheer force being exerted. The windows along the outside of the walls seemed to creak slightly, the piano player's song increasing in momentum, unaffected by the immense force being released. Finally, the song seemed to reach a rather climactic ending, the lightning coming to a halt and the light slowly beginning to fade. A few stray bolts of lightning streaked across the room before fizzling out, everyone turning back to the light to be able to see what was in the middle.

Instead of the pile of dust, a new figure sat; it was almost as tiny as Miles, an unclothed, white-furred figure with stubby arms and legs. A pair of long, pointed ears hung down the sides of his face, contradicting the ling, slim, serpent-like tail that protruded from behind him. All of the patrons exchanged comments with curious tones, Miles quickly staggering to his feet and approaching the figure.

"Wh-...where..." the small figure murmured in a light, shaky voice, its body swaying slightly.

Miles finally stepped in front of the figure with wide eyes. "My...my demon partner..." The white-furred creature very slowly looked up, allowing the kit to look at his pale golden eyes. Miles finally smiled. "You're actually pretty cute."

"Cu-...te..." the "demon" seemed to echo, looking up again slightly. "Who...are you...?"

The kit smiled again, then held out his hand. "My name's Miles, and I'm your master! You can also call me Tails if ya like. What's your name?"

The demon looked at the outstretched hand, then up at the fox boy, and gingerly extended his own paw, setting it in the fox's palm. "My...name..." The creature blinked again, the color seemingly beginning to come to its eyes after touching his master's slightly bloody hand. "My name...is...Raiu..."

-8 years later-

"Spellbook...check...emblem...check...ceremonial dagger...check...demon partner..."

The now teenage fox looked up from his sack, turning around and causing his twin tails to sweep along the ground. No one was in the decorative, gray room but him. "Raiu! Where are you?"

A low groaning was heard from a different spot in the room, prompting the fox to glance towards it; a somewhat small bed on the other side of the room, the crimson covers shifting about slightly and allowing a white furred, seemingly draconic head to poke out, a pair of long, pointy ears lopping up afterwards. The figure, apparently Raiu, sleepily rubbed his eyes, and mumbled lowly, "S-sorry, overslept..."

The fox placed his hands on his hips with an unimpressed glance, lightly brushing at his dark red robe. "Fortunately, we've still got about an hour or so before we're considered late, so please, hurry up and get ready."

Another slight groan from Raiu, who literally crawled out of bed on all fours. His very lanky, unclothed form mades its way lithely towards the nearby door, stepping inside for a few moments as the fox continued to pack his things. Finally, he stepped out, now wearing a rather small, black vest that only came down to the bottom of his chest, leaving his belly and a little more than half of his back completely exposed. A similarly colored and equally as revealing pair of shorts were also added, showing off a fair bit of thigh. A red collar with a golden-colored medallion around his neck finished off the set. The fox glanced at him slightly. "If you were trying to dress as immodestly as possible, you surely succeeded."

"But it's more comfortable like this, Tails," the figure responded, stepping towards the fox and peeking down at the bag as he closed it. "It decreases wind resistance and reduces sound."

"Yes, yes, I know," the fox, Tails, responded, slinging the pack over his shoulder. "I didn't say it was a BAD thing."

Raiu tilted his head to one side. "Then...what WERE you saying?"

"I'm simply saying that if your goal was to dress as immodestly as possible, then you succeeded," the fox repeated as-a-matter-of-factly, both walking through the deceptively large building and entering a somewhat large front hall.

"But that kinda sounded like a negative comment," Raiu responded, passing by two figures in tuxedos, each carrying what looked to be a somewhat large metallic box. Tails and Raiu both took a hold of one, as two more stepped forward with a small basket of what looked to be rolls of bread.

"Nah. Just a statement," Tails responded, accepting the basket as they walked out of the building, into the rather gray and colorless street in front of them. The ground was gray, as were many of the buildings around them. Several people went by, either dressed in a bland or dark colored robe or similar clothing, or having slightly more monstrous appearances; the difference in the warlocks and their demon servants was as plain as their appearances. At least, most of them were.

"If you say so," Raiu mumbled blankly, Tails taking a roll form the basket and biting into it. The fox then held the basket back to Raiu, who began ravenously taking several of them into his mouth at a time before chewing and swallowing, during which time Tails snagged another one to eat.

After several minutes of walking, the duo arrived at a somewhat large stairwell, stepping up to the top and bringing them onto a large, stone bridge overlooking an even larger lake of lava. At the end of the bridge sat a large, dark, forboding castle; at the very top was a purple crystal that occasionally gave off purple lightning streaks. "There it is...Pravus Academy."

"We've been here lots of times," Raiu responded, arms folded behind his back as he leaned over Tails' shoulder. "You're talking like we're here for the first time."

Tails shrugged. "I feel in a narrative mood today." He smiled slightly and began walking down the path, taking note of several others, dressed similarly to him, talking amongst themselves. "Something tells me things are gonna go over well."

Raiu chuckled slightly as they entered through the main doors, being brought to a large hall, several doors on either side and a staircase in front of them. Even more figures wandered about in here, some of them walking back and forth between hallways. "Let's see..." Tails began looking around slightly. "Reporting Hall is...that way."

The duo proceeded to head down a different corridor, going through a few halls before arriving in a larger room with several different walls separating it into portions. On each side of the wall were several mirror-like extensions, with a number and slot on the side. Tails and Raiu wandered through for a moment before coming to a mirror numbered "0814". The fox reached into his bag and pulled out the "emblem" he had packed in earlier, an "x" shape on a red medallion. He pressed it against the slot on the side, a faint clicking heard and causing the mirror to jump to life.

On the other side was an ominous, black figure, noticeably wearing a similarly dark cloak with piercing yellow eyes. "Good morning, Mr. Prower," he spoke in a deep, foreboding voice.

"Headmaster," Tails murmured, he and Raiu both bowing respectfully. "We have arrived and are ready for duty."

"Good," the figure responded with a slight nod. "Tact and to the point, just like your father."

A blush flew across Tails' face as he looked up, Raiu mimicking the motion. "Y-you flatter me, Headmaster...I'm not as experienced as my father was just yet..."

"Regardless, let's get back to the topic at hand," the dark figure responded, regaining Tails and Raiu's attention. "Your mission today is to head to the Aquilus Atrium; we've found a rogue demon wandering about, disturbing the flow there. Take care of it."

Tails nodded once again. "Yes sir. You can count on us."

With this comment, the mirror went blank, Tails and Raiu glancing at each other. "Well, you heard the man. Aquilus Atrium, here we come."

Raiu nodded in response to this, the duo wandering through a few more halls before arriving at another large room, several multi-colored spots on the ground. A black robed figure waited at each one next to a console, a few others coming and going through each spot. Tails and Raiu approached another, the robed figure glancing at them. "What is your business?"

"Aquilus Atrium," Tails responded, hanging his emblem to the robed figure. "Sent to exterminate a rogue demon."

The emblem was scanned on the console, then surrendered to Tails again. "Your mission's been verified. Good luck."

Tails nodded as the duo stepped into the colorful spot, suddenly being whisked away in a bright light.