Kitsune are the undisputed hide and seek champions of the world. Between illusions the equal of the Tuatha de Dennan, and a kind of shape shifting that lets them turn into literally anything, when a skilled and powerful kitsune wants to hide, they're next to impossible to find. They can turn into other people, animals, plants, and inanimate objects, though whether it's really shapeshifting or they just use their powerful illusions and fake it well enough that nobody can tell the difference, is a toss up.
Given this my claim to be able to find Kunou easily may have seemed to be overly optimistic. However the key to making this work is 'skilled and powerful'. A nine or ten year old, two tailed fox is neither of these. So with a flat place to work, some bone chalk, and a quick and dirty version of my pressure Script, for the boost to my mana senses, she isn't too hard to find.
We find the girl pretending to be an out of place rose bush. The heartfelt reunion between mother and daughter, is the sort of thing that should have been at the end of a Disney movie. It needs swelling music and a sunset or something. As it is though all it gets is me acting awkward, and trying to not intrude standing as far off to the side as I can without actually leaving.
After all of this, there's no way I'm leaving before I get what I came here for.
After twenty or so minutes of the two fox girls crying all over each other, Yasaka manages to pull herself together. She straightens up and holds Kunou on one hip as she faces me, bowing as much as she can while holding a not so small child.
"You have my deepest thanks Rhostana-san, and my most heartfelt apologies for the way you were received." The sultry quality of Yasaka's voice has increased by a huge degree when she isn't restraining herself from ripping the face off of whoever she's talking to.
"Um... I'm not going to say it wasn't a thing, because it sucked, and almost caused a lot of problems." I let out a sigh, "That being said, I'm just as happy to talk to you about what I came here for and call it good."
"Good." Yasaka smiles, "That's good. Kunou do you have something you want to say to Rhostana-san?"
The little girl is staring at me from her mother's hold with wide eyes, though why... Right, this was the first time she's seen me with my hood and mask down. Before now I was just an empty hood, on a set of armor, doing scary things.
"You're really pretty." I... what? Is this how all the beautiful women that I accused of being angels when I was little felt?
"Thanks?"
Yasaka groans, cradling her face in her free hand, "Would you like to join us for tea Rhostana-san? I feel that we could both use the relaxation given today's events."
And it isn't even noon.
Kunou seems to realize what she'd just said, and turns bright red. She squirms out of her mother's arms, and bows parallel to the ground, "I mean, thank you very much for rescuing me Rhostana-san!"
"You know, tea sounds like a wonderful idea."
###
Yasaka summons servants through some mechanism I can't spot, and moments later I find myself ensconced in another picturesque open pagoda. This one is carved wood, and placed in the middle of a large pond or small lake. It's accessed by a single carved wooden walkway painted, like the pagoda, a bright crimson red. The pond itself is covered in blooming lily pads that are only disturbed by the carp swimming beneath them, and the swans swimming through them.
Swans that have way too much mana to be just what they look like. I'm betting Swanmae, or Russian wereswans. They're a pretty good means of subtle protection, though they haven't always been. From what I remember, Swanmae were a kind of lesser fae, highly sought after by mortals and supernatural's alike, both as brides, and because their feathers are basically cheat codes in alchemy. An art Swanmae aren't unskilled in themselves. It's where legends of Swanmae brides weaving cloth from their feathers come from.
They're so sought after, in fact, that before too long there were maybe a handful of them anywhere that didn't live their lives in iron collars. Then, somewhere, one of them found somebody who was willing to take the entire species'... 'faeness' for lack of a better term.
They lost their fae magic, life span, and ability to navigate Faerie. It sounds a terrible deal, except that they also lost the fae's weakness to iron. Suddenly those iron collars didn't do much to contain them any more. At that point they did what comes naturally to slaves, they staged an armed revolt. They still had their ability to shape shift, either as a negotiated exception, or as something not tied to their fae magic, and used their expertise with alchemy to give themselves physical superiority beyond even what most shapeshifters enjoyed. Given that Swanmae previously had barely been stronger than your average human, their sudden physical prowess must have come as a surprise to their captors.
Their revolt was a complete success, and ended with them removing their entire species from Russia, leaving a trail of broken bodies and hearts in their wake. After the dust settled the Yokai offered to take the Swanmae in.
So yeah, 'innocent' swans, very effective and very attractive low profile guards. Really, I wouldn't mind having the opportunity to spar with one, or just get to know one better, or have one myself. They're supposed to be some of the most beautiful creatures on earth...
Which is exactly the sort of thinking that led to them having to leave Russia in the first place.
Come to think of it, isn't there some sort of curse on them that encourages that sort of thinking? For a species that's regularly mistaken for angels, both in appearance and temperament, they really got the short end of the stick.
I forcefully drag my gaze away from the peacefully floating swans, and back to my companions. Fortunately, my distraction had been quick enough that Kunou didn't seem to notice it. Yasaka did though, and is giving me a sort of smug smirk, and smells pleased for some reason?
Well, whatever, I'll take all the brownie points she's willing to give me. Even if I don't know why I'm getting them.
Kunou is still there because, quite fairly in my opinion, Yasaka is entirely unwilling to let her daughter out of her sight. For Kunou's part, now that I'm not an empty hood in armor, and her mother seems at least nominally okay with me, has decided that I'm the coolest thing she's ever seen.
"And then you were like, SHING! And your sword just went right through that tree!" She'd seen way more of my fight with her kidnapper than I really wanted her to, "And! And! And then she tried to run, and you were like 'Not on my watch'." The little fox is standing on the tea table, slashing the air with her arms to demonstrate what I had done with Sclamhaire. When she speaks... as me, I guess, she lowers her voice trying to sound adult or something. Thank god I sound nothing like that. From her it sounds adorable though, "And then you jumped between the trees like, SWISH, SWOOSH, HAA!" With each noise she jumps from one side of the table to the other, the servants setting out the tea working around her antics with practiced ease, until her mother snatches her from the air and sits her daughter down next to her, "Can I hold your sword?"
""No!"" Yasaka and I speak in unison. We found out at the same time, in Yasaka's throne room, what Sclamhaire does to people who aren't me when they touch her. The idea of that happening to Kunou is... nauseating.
Her pout is devastating, and while it doesn't have quite the same power over me that little Sarah's had, I'm still not able to withstand it for long, "Later, if your mom is okay with it, and you promise not to touch her, I'll let you take a look at Sclamhaire."
Kunou turns the full force of her pout on her mother, while Yasaka looks like she doesn't know whether to thank me, or curse me. After gazing into the sun of that pout for several moments, she sighs, "Maybe later. If you're good." Kunou sits in perfect seiza, and manifests an actual halo over her head. Yasaka stares at her daughter, then visibly turns all of her attention back to me. Even so, she still has a hand subtly on Kunou's back, "You mentioned a boon you were hoping for Rhostana-san? Perhaps we should start there."
I womanfully keep a straight face through the whole thing, "Of course. Before we get to that though there's a question I need to ask, just to make sure that my request is possible at all." Yasaka nods, regally accepting the question, "You do plan on executing everybody involved with the... Coup. Yes?"
Instantly any goodwill I managed to gather with Yasaka vanishes. She sneers at me, hostility in every line of her body, "I suppose that you wish to do the deed?"
"I..." I have no idea what just happened. Honestly, my initial thought had been that I would perform the executions. At least for the Tengu, it would be the easiest, and most efficient way to get what I want. Yasaka's expression makes me hesitate though, the thought of being an executioner makes me distinctly uncomfortable. I'm getting to the point where killing in battle, or killing things that I know would try to kill me or other innocent people, bothers me less and less. An execution is a different thing though, and that thought brings to mind Sarah. The way she looked at me when she thought I might kill a town's worth of people for the ritual to make my body work again. I never want to be the kind of person that would make Sarah look at me like that. Given the sort of life I set myself up for, that might be a lost cause, but I don't have to jump into that abyss right now, "No. I don't want to execute them. Just take advantage of the executions that will be happening anyway. And only the Tengu."
Yasaka blinks, clearly not getting what she expected from me, "But... how will you ignite their soul without..." She waves a hand at my weapons, "And why only Tengu?"
"I... wouldn't? That's not what I do." Bloody hell, is all the difficulty I've had with her been based on a case of mistaken identity? What is this, a goddamn Shakespeare comedy?
"But..." Yasaka shakes her head, "I fear I must apologize once more Rhostana-san. I have jumped to conclusions again. I think I should ask some questions of my own, and you might need some answers as well, or else this will just keep happening."
I nod, eager to do whatever I have to to stop accidentally pissing off the god fox, "Fair enough. First off, what the hell is a Murder Witch? 'Cause as awesome as it would be to have earned my own title, even if I'd rather a different one, I don't think I've done enough to earn any sort of appellation. Especially not that one."
Yasaka sighs, and rubs her face with a hand, "She doesn't even know what they are. Kunou-chan?" Kunou has, for the entire conversation, been sitting very properly next to her mother, trying as hard as she can to be 'good'. To me, she has the air of a child hoping that the adults will forget about her if she doesn't attract any attention. Probably trying to avoid what's about to happen, "Why don't you go play on the lawn for a little while. Take a few guards and stay where I can see you."
"But moooom!" The girl wines.
Yasaka raises an eyebrow, "This is your idea of being good?"
Kunou sighs in defeat, and heads down the walkway towards the lawn that borders one part of the lake. As she does, one of the swans breaks away from the rest, and paddles over to shore. Upon reaching the shallows, the swan turns into a beautiful blond woman wearing light armor.
Yeah, really want one of...
I shake my head, and drag my focus back to Yasaka. Who's smelling pleased again. I ignore that for the moment, and turn back to the discussion at hand, "So again, what's a murder witch?"
"A murder witch," Yasaka starts, and any positive emotion flees her scent. Her eyes focus on the tea that has been served at some point while I'd been distracted, probably by the swans, "is a practitioner that grows their power through... well murder. They carry a cursed knife that ignites the soul, burning it away, and allowing the witch to absorb the power released. It is an... agonizing way to be destroyed." The fox has an excellent poker face, but her tightening grip on her tea cup, and her gritted teeth indicate a personal kind of pain, "Their artificially swollen power also tends to warp them in body and mind. Not too differently from how a stray devil will mutate without their king to keep their suddenly increased power under control."
"Oh..." There's a certain cosmetic similarity between these historical murder witches, and what I do. I figure that Pua and Vivain didn't mention it because they know what I'm actually doing, and with that knowledge we are actually pretty different, "That's why you were surprised when I pulled down my hood. I still look human, and a murder witch shouldn't."
"Precisely. The fact you are still attractive confused me rather badly." Yasaka admits.
...This conversation is getting too dark, and that's too good of a straight line to let go, "You think I'm attractive?" I ask, letting a teasing smirk crawl across my lips.
Yasaka nods seriously, "Quite, and might I add, very different from your school photos."
Well, that joke fell flat.
They have my school photos?
I guess it's not that surprising, they did say they were researching me, and school yearbooks aren't exactly hard to find.
"Well yeah... It wasn't the first thing I did, but really, what girl wouldn't improve their looks if they could?" I tell her trying to fight down a blush. I don't know why my making myself specifically more attractive is embarrassing, but it isn't something I like admitting to. A change of subject is in order, "Also, to put your mind at ease what you described isn't really anything like what I do."
"What is it you do then?" I really should have seen that question coming.
"Well... I'm not sure how much better it is, but what I do is I harness the energy released at the moment of death, to remove a bit of the soul that defines an inherent trait, and then graft it on to myself. So I don't really gain power from what I do, only new tools." I carefully don't mention the soul of the would be rapist that I scrubbed clean. I'm not really sure what part of what the murder witches do she objects to. If it's what they do to souls, my version of the devil's soul flesh merger might be close enough to cause problems. Besides it isn't something I'm going to keep doing, with luck I'll never have to do that again.
Yasaka stares at me wide eyed, "What happens to the rest of the soul?"
"I don't know, whatever normally happens to souls?" I shrug, "I certainly don't do anything with it."
"Who taught you this?"
"Ah... nobody. I figured it out myself."
Yasaka chokes on her tea, "What?" she coughs, her expression edging towards disbelief.
"Yeah. I discovered World Script and started playing with it. I got experience doing odd jobs and eventually figured out how to do... this." I gesture to myself, "Honestly I was very lucky to get this far, both in the help I found at various times, and just in surviving my experimentation. The first time I used the whole process my eyes exploded. Literally."
Yasaka stares at me, silent for a long moment, "Why?" She finally demands.
"What?"
"Why take such risks? From what my agents could find about you, you have been driven for a very long time. What could possibly have set you on this path? What could have justified it?"
That's a question that is more loaded than it looks. What could have justified what I've done, in my mind, would be a very telling answer. Fortunately I have an answer ready.
"When I was very young, I had a vision. A vision of what the future would be if everything continued without interference."
So I begin, for only the third time, to tell somebody what the future held. Leaving out the parts where it was a TV show I remember from my past life.
I figure that if anybody deserves a heads up as to what's coming, it's the Yokai.
It's happening in their back yard after all.
###
By the time I finish with my story, Yasaka is holding her head in her hands and groaning softly. I think I might have given her a headache, "And this is all going to happen in Kuoh." She asks, and I nod, "I knew, even when I was negotiating with the Leviathan, that I would end up regretting the deal somehow."
I shrug, "That is how deals with devils usually work out," I comment, prompting Yasaka to glare at me. I just meet her gaze, utterly unrepentant. It occurs to me, after a few moments of thought, that if Yasaka hadn't let Rias and Sona set up shop in Kuoh, the entire plot never would have happened. Either Issei would have died in that park to the fallen angel, with no devils on hand to resurrect him. Or he would have lived a normal life, never activating his Sacred Gear, probably spending much of that life in prison of sexual harassment.
A lot of events would no doubt have happened, but the plot of Highschool DxD as I knew it stemmed from this one choice. How much could I have changed? How much could I have prevented, if I'd just sent Yasaka an email or something a couple of years ago, and somehow convinced her to tell the devils to take a hike?
It hardly matters now, but it's something that I should keep in mind. Who knows how much safer I might be able to make my next world if I just act early enough.
Yasaka sighs again, jerking me back to the present, and out of my musings. I look up at her, and quirk an eyebrow in question.
"I think I will need some time to consider what you've told me, and decide if and how to act on it. Assuming that what can be verified in your tale, is. No offense." I wave her apology off. I certainly wouldn't believe my story without proof. I'm amazed that Pua took me at my word. Though she likely had all sorts of tricky Kahuna methods to check things, and see if I was telling the truth, "Back to where we started, your request of a boon is to take advantage of the upcoming execution of the traitors?"
I nod, "Yes, you can tuck me into a corner out of the way while it's happening. I just need a few hours to prepare the area and to be there while it happens."
Yasaka nods slowly, "What do you hope to gain may I ask?"
"Talent. I've told you about the sorts of enemies I expect to be fighting, and I can barely beat a Tengu my own age. People that have been fighting for millennia?" I shake my head.
"With the cumulative talent of so many Tengu you will be formidable indeed."
"Eventually." I tack onto the end of Yasakas statement, "I'll be formidable eventually. Hopefully this will make it sooner rather than later."
"Very well. I must think on what I have learned, but I will grant your boon. You may stay here until the executions, and I will ensure that you have time to do what you need to in advance."
###
It takes two days for the Yokai to round up everybody involved with the Coup. I'm not entirely certain how they go about it, but the one time I see Mia, she looks like she's forgotten what sleep is. So I'm guessing she's, if not leading the charge, heavily involved.
Yasaka and I speak a few more times. Short conversations that mostly consist of her asking questions, to clarify something that I told her during our first talk, and me trying to dredge up answers. Not sure how well I do, but she seems satisfied. She's still not entirely comfortable around me, but she isn't hostile and seems to be dealing with whatever her issues are. Still, she very clearly would like me to finish my business, and leave. Which I don't really blame her for.
The person I see the most of in those two days is Kunou. The little fox has none of the issues with me that her mother does, and continues with the attitude she showed during tea. Which means she mostly follows me around whenever I leave the rooms I've been given, and peppers me with questions. Things get really interesting when she follows me into the dojo I've been given permission to use. She watches me practice for a little while, then goes scampering out of the building.
I don't think much of it, until fifteen minutes later she reappears with a stick about the right proportional size for a two handed sword like Sclamhaire, and starts trying to follow along with me. Not wanting her to develop bad habits, I correct her when she makes a mistake, and somehow I end up spending a good portion of those two days, teaching Kunou the beginnings, of the basics, of European two handed swordsmanship.
Just like when I'd been forced to take care of the village kids, I find that I like teaching. Kunou especially is a great student. She's eager, and excited, even when I don't let her spar or do anything 'cool'. Just watching me work, and seeing Sclamhaire is enough to keep her going. So I have her doing the same things I had done when I was physically too young to really use a sword, but insisted on learning anyway. She moves through stances, practices blocks, practices the six cuts, and runs footwork drills. Kunou goes at what I give her to practice with enthusiasm, if not grace or ability. It's fun to watch her slowly start to get things right.
While Kunou is a joy to teach, what I have problems with are her guards. Swanmae, each and every one of them. They aren't the prettiest women I've ever seen. They're beautiful, no doubt, but no more so than any other supernatural. They are the most attractive though. Something about them draws attention, and inspires obsession and possessiveness. Which would be the curse I heard about. The effects of the curse never lessen, the sight of them hits me just as hard every time I see one. With exposure, and copious amounts of meditation though, ignoring the thoughts and urges inspired by the curse gets marginally easier.
At the end of those two days though, I'm summoned to what will soon be the execution grounds.
It's nothing like what I expected.
Possibly showing my western bias, I had expected gallows, or a fancy chopping block in a dry sandy area surrounded by high walls. What I get is an open grassy field, bordered by cherry trees, and backed by another part of the lake, pond, thing that takes up a portion of the palace grounds. On the edge of the lake, a large wooden platform has been built. At regular intervals are square, flat red pillows, of the kind that traditionalists in Japan kneel on, instead of using chairs. In front of each cushion is a pad of white cloth three inches by twelve. In the middle of the grass field is another wooden platform, this one raised several feet into the air with Yasaka's throne-like chair set in the middle of it.
The entire set up is beautiful in a way that seems inappropriate for executions, but that really isn't my call. Which cushions will have Tengu placed on them are pointed out to me along with where I will be during the proceedings.
With that information I set to work.
Under each cushion that a Tengu would die on, I draw a Script circle to seize the energy released by their death, and use it to rip free their sword talent from their souls. I draw connective Script, subtly, to the edge of the platform and from there a Script fuse runs to the back corner of the second platform, where I'll be seated. There I simply draw two small circles for me to place my hands in, so it can connect to my tattoos. All in all, it takes me almost five hours to finish it all, which surprises me as I'd lost myself in the repetition and mindlessness of the work.
There are a lot of circles to draw.
###
The executions are to begin at sundown.
After finishing my work I return to my rooms to shower and dress in the appropriate formal clothes loaned to me by Yasaka. Too many layers of cloth wrapped around me, held in place by a wide cloth obi wrapped around my stomach, that I end up needing help to tie. Unlike the rest of the viewers, I don't put on the makeup, or do anything fancy with my hair, instead wearing it tied back in a simple ponytail that falls to the bottom of my shoulder blades.
Returning to the execution grounds, my walk stutters for a moment upon seeing the grounds. The setting sun paints the lake a very appropriate bloody red, and the wind that comes with the setting sun fills the air with cherry petals. Each cushion that I saw earlier has a traitor in a plain white kimono kneeling on it. On the white pad, laid in front of each of them, is a tanto knife without guard or hilt. Several pieces of rice paper are wrapped around the bare tang to provide a place to grip the knife. Standing next to each of the condemned is another person, dressed in black, holding a katana.
They aren't just being killed, they're being offered a chance at ritual suicide, so that the dishonor of their actions won't be passed on to their families. If they succeed, whatever that means, their second, the person standing next to them with the sword, would take their heads off granting them a quick death. If they screw it up, they're left to die of whatever wound they'd managed to inflict on themselves.
I shudder at the idea of what's about to happen, but force myself forward. I take my place on my own cushion at the back corner of the observer's platform, and wait. I'm the last person to take my seat on the platform, which is filled by people of high rank in the Yokai faction, so I'm largely hidden behind them all when the rest of the people attending are let onto the field. People made up of the families and friends of those about to die, and the guards to keep them all under control.
I note, somewhat pleased, that Kunou is not in attendance. Though I do see Mia moving through the crowd. She looks about as happy to be here as I am. After everybody has arrived and settled, Yasaka stands and delivers a speech that I don't listen to.
As soon as she finishes speaking, the pair at the front and all the way to the right from my perspective begin to move. The second draws his sword, and one of the servants, also dressed in black, approaches with a gourd. The katana is rinsed in clean water poured from the gourd, the servant steps back as soon as she's done. The second flicks the sword, flinging any water still clinging to it off.
While the second and the servant ritually clean the katana, the condemned man pulls open his kimono exposing his stomach and chest. Carefully he picks up the tanto by the rice paper, and places the point of the knife against his stomach. The second lowers his katana so that the edge rests against the back of the man's neck, then pulls it back to a ready position.
The two of them ready, silence descends over the field. Even the wind stills, the world holding its breath.
I close my eyes.
I can't watch this. I don't know why this bothers me so much more than any of the people I've killed, and I've killed a few by now. For some reason though, it feels like I'm back in the alley way just after having fought and killed the would be rapists. My stomach clenches, my eyes squeeze shut, as much to keep tears in as to keep the sights out.
I just...
The silence is broken by a pained grunt, followed by a shaky exhalation of effort. A moment later the sound of steel cutting through bone and flesh, a sound I know quite well by now, followed by a thud.
...can't watch. All I can do is lean forward and plant my hands on the Script I already prepared.
The feeling of something flowing through my tattoos and settling into my soul, the odd feeling of the new piece overlapping and melding with something already there, keeps me from totally checking out. Instead every time it happens, that new piece growing stronger and stronger, it jolts me back to being aware of what's happening outside my own head.
Again and again come the sounds of suicide. Most succeed in their task, and the sounds of their efforts are again followed by the sound of steel passing through flesh and a thud. Others do not, and I'm left with the sound of them groaning in pain echoing in my ears. Again and again my tattoos activate, delivering to me what I came for.
I don't count how many times my tattoos do their work.
I don't want to know.