...Hi!

How's it been?

It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Let's try and wrap this story up :)


Ray

It was maybe three days later when the Masters and Mai decided what to do with the artifacts. After some pushing by Raja, it was decided the artifacts they had now would be given to trusted Titans for safe keeping. The Choten didn't know Raja had the sword yet, and he would be hard pressed to steal it from her with how well it had been hidden. Now they just hoped the other Titan leaders would hide their artifacts just as well.

After reading Mai the riot act for taking an apprentice, she was allowed to accompany Master Kimora to the nature realm to give the Shield of Unity to the Great Stag. Being Mai's apprentice, I was welcomed along, which he hesitantly accepted now that the entire temple was angry with him… especially Allie and Gabe.

They had been asked to go with Jaha and Nadia to speak with Nightmare King and Arachnos about the growing conflicts in the realm of darkness. I had offered to come with, knowing how shaken Allie was when Ahri had gone missing in in the Darkness realm, she gave me a look that could freeze over hell when I mentioned it and, so when Mai offered to take me to the Nature realm I wearily accepted.

After summoning Bob and Mighty Shouter, Kimora banished our little group to the heart of the Nature realm.

"The Great Stag had taken refuge in the Grandeur Wildwood. It isn't far, but unless we stumble across a rebel we'll have no luck in finding the titan." Shouter explained as they began their trek.

"Celeste might know those woods." Mai offered. "I'll see if I can contact her."

"How? Phones don't work well out here." I asked.

"It's another Guard technique." Mai explained, kneeling down and placing her palm flat on the forest floor. The black ink from her arms pilled out of her skin and flowed down her arm, forming a strange pattern in the dirt. I could sense her activate her mana slowly, the ink turning red from her influence and spreading away from her palm.

It took a long few moments, but then a small section of the outer rim of the pattern turned green. "She's heard me."

Mai shifted the pattern into an image, and it took me a few moments to recognize the profile of Mighty Shouter in the pattern.

Not two seconds later, we heard a voice call for Shouter and a veil breach open next to him. He seemed wary, but Mai nodded in encouragement. He jumped in, and the veil closed. Then, he was banished back with Celeste Chavez standing right by her side.

"Long time no see." Celeste greeted them cheerily, but then seemed to read the severity of the group's mood. "What's happened?"

Kimora gave Celeste the rundown of all that had happened as they walked to the Wildwood, while Mai hung back in complete silence. I hated that this had to happen again. I thought everyone was finally going to get along, but Mai and Kimora had barely said more than ten words to each other… They were mother and son for Pete's sake!

But I still kept my mouth shut. Now wasn't the time. Now was the time to find the Great Stag and give him the Nature artifact for safe keeping.

Allie

I was anxious to return to the Darkness realm after everything that had happened. This would be the first time seeing Nightmare King since I became more Kitsune than person… and also possibly my only chance to find out what happed to my mother. My stomach was tense and I felt borderline sick following Gabe and Jaha into the veil breach. Hero kept close to my side, and I allowed myself to draw a little strength from his presence.

Despite being his partner, Nadia stayed behind in order to work on figuring out where the Choten was hiding with Finbarr and the rest of the council of Logos. The rebellions were getting worse, and the Masters believed that by giving the artifacts to the rebellion leaders we could be starting even more conflicts within the civilizations in the future, but they were risks that needed to be taken.

If the Titan leaders were all they decreed they were, having the five civilizations under the control of the Titans might be helpful in the future.

Instead of taking my kitsune form, I stayed human and kept my hand against Hero's shoulder. His soft fur provided me a little comfort, and when Gabe noticed we had fallen behind a bit he slowed and walked with us.

"You alright?" He asked, his brows furrowed.

"Great." Allie tried to say it with a laugh, but it was awkward and hollow. I gave up the charade quickly. "What… what if she's dead?"

Gabe didn't have an answer for that, but Hero surprised us both.

"Then she is dead." He spoke with such a calm certainty in his voice. "You survived her loss once, you'll survive it again."

Somehow, that was exactly the thing I needed to hear, and when Gabe placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, I gave him a genuine smile in return.

We headed directly to the Guard castle and found Arachnos and Nightmare king waiting for us on the cliff near its entrance.

"You have the cloak?" Arachnos asked without any greeting.

"Yes, I do." Jaha pulled the cloak from a bag and offered it to the Titan.

Nightmare King snorted and walked up to Jaha. She offered him the cloak and he took it in his warped teeth before turning and trotting back up to Arachnos. Arachnos took the cloak and inspected it as it grew to fit her monstrous size.

"This shall help solidify Darkness. You have done us a great deed." Arachnos said as she balled up the cloak and hid it un her dark black hair before inclining her head towards me. "Welcome back, little fox. I trust you are well?"

"Very well, Arachnos, thank you." I replied with a small smile, but there was so much I wanted to ask and say. She seemed to know that, too.

"Nightmare King shall take you to his lands. You mother lies on her deathbed, but she has held on for days. Perhaps knowing you are safe shall give her the strength to recover or the peace of mind to die in peace."

It… it wasn't what I wanted to hear, and immediately tears filled my eyes.

Nightmare King moved towards us again and knelt so we could climb upon his great back. The saddle and reigns didn't appear like they had for Nadia, and so we held onto each other as he cantered down a darkened tunnel and to the fields covered in glowing blue-green moss. Many Nightmares watched their King ferry the three of them and Hero deeper into their territory,

But as we continued on, I began noticing some creatures that weren't nightmares. They were watching them intensely, with bone crocodile-like masks over their faces and long, furless bodies that resembled the bodies of ferrets.

"What are those things?" Gabe asked Jaha.

"Bone eaters." The Darkness master hummed. "Usually not friendly with nightmares, but times do change."

They came across a large, stony pillar in the smack center of the underground field and Allie could see it was spotted with caves and climbing pegs along it. There was a pool of water surrounding it, and bone eaters were climbing and dozing or chewing on bones all over the place.

Just like the few they had seen on their way over, the bone eaters all paused whatever they were doing and looked to them.

Just as Allie began feeling thoroughly uncomfortable, Nightmare King stopped and pawed at the mossy ground, signaling them to get down. Hero helped Allie jump off of the stallion's back, but as her feet hit the ground she heard a jarring shriek from a fast approaching bone eater.

Hero quickly jumped between me and the creature as Nightmarer King snorted out a warning. The bone eater skidded to a halt before Hero and made a strange clackering sound at him.

He bowed his head, sinking to the ground and refusing to look at the bone eater, and immediately I felt angry.

I let my disguise drop in an instant and growled at the bone eater, who stumbled back in surprise.

"Back off!" I snarled, stepping between the now retreating Bone eater and Hero. "You're not gonna bully him in front of me!"

The bone eater regarded me in shock, it's eyes wide behind the white mask.

"You're marked…" A silky voice that I did not expect slipped through it's thin lips.

Then, the bone eater's shape warped into something familiar. Black skin grew orange and furry, and the bony mask turned sleek and foxlike.

All around us, more bone eater's approached and also changed, one in particular coming up to stand next to the young red creature standing before me.

"I am Myuri Kitsune, blood-daughter of Holona Kitsune, foster-daughter to Ahri Kitsune." The newly revealed Kitsune stared intently into my eyes, which were the exact same green as my own. "Who… who are you?"

Hero came to my side when I was too shocked to speak. "She is Allison Kitsune, daughter of Ahri Kitsune."

"Were her marks given or…" A salt and peppered Kitsune that was next to Myuri asked.

"Inherited. They developed a few shades ago." He responded.

"Forgive me, child, I am Eyal Kyuki." The larger Kitsune gave me a small bow. The name felt eerily familiar though. "I have no honorable family to mention, though I doubt you'd recognize any of our names. The Nightmare King says you only learned of your lineage recently."

Dumbly, I could only nod in return.

"Ahri was never one to be alone," Eyal let out a sad huff. "I have no anger towards you, child, nor your mother. Come, see her. See her and tell her you are here."

Myuri backed away and allowed Eyal to lead me back towards the caverns in the pillar.

Suddenly, the memory struck me. "You're Eyal. Mom's…"

"Mate? Yes. Gregoria kept me in prison for many years, and Megaria misled all of Darkness with the rumor that I had died." Eyal explained as he led me up to one large cavern at the base of the pillar.

He looked down into the small tunnel leading away from them, and I could just make our my mother's form in the darkness.

A strange whimper crawled up my throat and I hurried to her side. Her wounds were deep and many smelled and looked infected. The strong scent of herbal medicines choked the cave, but her chest still rose and fell rhythmically. Maybe a little too fast, but she was breathing all the same.

"Mom?" I touched her face lightly. "Mom, I'm here."

She didn't move or respond, but just speaking to her made me feel the slightest bit better.

Without another thought, I twined my tails together and laid down behind her, being careful not to put too much pressure on her battered and sick body but just enough to hopefully be noticeable while she slept.

Eyal watched from a distance as Myuri entered the cave.

"Your friends are leaving." She said, almost expectantly.

"I'm staying." My voice was thick and weak.

The young Kitsune made her way to Ahri's other side and laid next to her as well, making sure to watch me the entire time.

I knew she was angry at my arrival. Maybe even jealous, but whatever happened next, I was staying by my mom's side. Mom had done so much to protect me- no matter how that turned out in the end. now it was my turn to try and take care of her.

Ray

The meeting with the Great Stag went well enough.

He accepted the shield and in return gave Master Kimora his titan ring.

Just as we were leaving, the Great Stag called out to me.

"You with shadows at your back, a fist of fire, and eyes that seek knowledge," His voice bellowed. "Come forth and speak with me."

"Uhh, okay." I approached the stag and gave an awkward bow. "What can I do for you?"

"Answer me this, child, what earns you the blessings of the elders?"

"Couldn't tell you." I answered honestly. "Kyuubi Kitsune, Dragonturtoise, and Phoenix all just seemed to take a liking to me. They marked their respective Masters too."

The Stag leaned in closer to me, and then took a great big breath. He held it in for a moment, and then released it. "I sense you are like us. You mana is that of a creature rather than a human."

"Is… that a good thing?"

"Perhaps." The Great Stag stood to his full height. "Perhaps it is a sign of things to come."

Again, I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but that was all he apparently wanted to say as he hid the shield in his teeth and turned to disappear further into the forest.