===Chapter 18: Commission===
The first time he awakened, it was only a vague sensation. Time passing. A vague sense that he'd been in limbo. After some time, he became aware enough to recognize that it'd happened quite a few times, like there was little dividing those obscure moments from total oblivion.
As time went on, he fought to bolster those moments. It was difficult. His body was fighting him, convincing his mind that it wasn't all there. And that same oblivion obliged all too easily. In the end, the best he could do was extend the edge that held those moments apart.
The first time he managed to get those moments to respond, to grasp at the blade, he gave a roar of triumph over hours of frustration. It was an agonizingly slow process. Gradually, that blade of awareness began to grow on it's own. As the window became larger, and long stayed, he began to come to another decision.
'This place is pitiful.'
Infuriatingly, he began to recognize that the 'blade' he sought was a gate. While the vision was limited, he could tell that gate, meager as it was, was prison as much as it was his only grain of freedom. These days, he could spend hours at a time looking at nothing but that gate.
Finally he could feel his body. Turning to look around had been a mistake however. The gate streaked across his vision like a burning comet, and his body… tore. Only once had he ever known such pain, and this agony struck him at every corner of his being. He knew by pain alone, that he spent days waiting for the gentle embrace of oblivion to reclaim that agony.
He didn't let it go to waste. A fragment of that pain, he focused on. Attempting to find how much he could do with what that minimized threshold of exertion.
It was miniscule with his best effort. Rather than attempt to resituate, he turned his focus toward feeling what it was he was confined to. The condition of his body, and any relevance to the gate.
He was reduced to an animal in shape alone. His chakra potent as ever, was like a slurry sat within a tub of lard. Gradually, he could feel that his body was constrained by something entirely too constrictive. Contained in the weakest sense, and it had him snared like wire. Tearing and shearing across his body if he were to move.
The gate was his only light in the darkness. In theory, he could section off a part of his chakra small enough to approach that gate. It left so much to be desired for the rest of him though. And what good would it be to live in a smaller, if brighter cage?
In lieu, he lived in memory. The trappings of his last warden had him restricted to a similar degree, but then his prison gave no quarter. He *could* move in this one, provided he would dismember himself to do so.
At long last, he grew intimately familiar with his own shadow. This biting web that contained him could not bind all of him. Steadily, he could derive sensation from chakra that was being bled from him. It was one of the few sensations that prevailed in him a sense of self, in such cruel circumstances.
He stirred. Something was… wrong. Something in the tension of the wires. As he opened his awareness to the source of light he wondered.
It is not easy, when something you ground yourself too is changed. When it comes to circumstance beyond your control, such things are a lifeline, as crude, immaterial or wistful as they may be.
This gate had always had a red glow. Such for so long, it could have been forgiven that it had color. Now, behind the silhouette of the bars, a river of blue dominated the source. As the ember faded to a more familiar hue, a stray wisp of that blue light swam into the darkness.
The kyubi fought the urge to shift defensively. Nothing had ever crossed this space. He had no reason to think anything but his own body existed here. There should be little space for anything else. Envy and indignation alike swept at the wisp of light.
The wisp coalesced into a shape. At first, he thought it human, and indeed it stood on two legs, arms extending to grasp the tendrils of loathing. Holding them like some kit.
A rumble echoed through the space. As it did, The biju caught the sound of something else.
"You're suffering."
"I do not need pity."
"For now, you have it. This place does not suit you, but it was a prototype in it's own design. A design that has been outgrown. I know of someone with an ability that can help you. Someone who would gladly lend it to you."
"And what is it that you want? I do not believe there is a creature alive who would turn such fate without an ulterior motive."
"My desire is to see you become more humane. In image and in honor, but my designs are elsewise at this time. I have heard the troubles of my other half, and now I am heeding yours. Your warden is in my care. I seek the best in him. This imbalance is between you and my other half. The latter has become distracted, and that had begotten interference in my designs. By accepting my aid, you would lift my burden. As it stands, your presence is useful to me. Consider this my thanks."
"That's the catch? You need me to perform some feat? Some tribute to that end? Who is your charge?!"
"It is too soon to meet him. All I ask is willfulness, your patience for but a moment."
"I have nothing better to do. Humor me."
The two streams of energy crossed and resonated in her arms, 'My love, it is time. There is something I need from you.'
The kyubi sat in silence. Resolving to ignore the intruder for the time being.
Another stream responded, 'Understood. You've chosen a path that suits you well. Thrive within my heart, until we next meet.'
"Forgive him. He's tragically hesitant, but beneath the armor, he's a softy."
"Wind style: Adamantine limiter."
The effect was instant relief. So rapidly that the biju very nearly rejected it. A green light surrounded him on all sides. Almost all at once there was a pressure against him. A blue-white light that shined down on him. It rivaled his own power to an extent and the cables that dug into his body vanished, replaced with a blanket of energy that pulsed and throbbed rhythmically.
It was the same space, but the Kyubi could feel that the parts that extended beyond those limits were being tailored to. He could see, he could *move*. The light cast in on him, and for the first time The Kyubi could see himself. The shell of arcing light's strobe was rough on his eyes. The blue specter raised her arm and a band of red appeared, linking with the gate and slowly extending to consume the sphere. The harsh light being converted to something far more amicable and familiar, reducing the strobe that struck in time with the soothing pressure.
Normally, the underside of the shell would annihilate anything that came near. If you were to strive to close enough, anything material would be consumed by lightning. For the biju, that kind of state was preferable. And the chakra lost in the exchange was nothing new.
The Kyubi shifted, and basked in the sensation, for he felt he could truly move however he pleased. The dimension within the sphere seemed to scry within itself, and the dissolving within the barrier gave enough leeway that he could assume any position he desired. Shifting onto his legs, he towered over the blue light.
"What is your name specter?"
She smiled, "My name is Sally."
Wind blades, loading disks, and the thump of several impacts echo in the background.
Alright folks. We're entering Hiatus mode. Gonna be charging up to take on the next arc, and more importantly set the right tempo leading up to it. If we're lucky, I'll take my time and have all the right parts set up so I can unload sequential chapters. The par lately is rigging up scenes and coarse adjustment in real time. A bit of a hodgepodge by comparison, so I wouldn't count on it just yet.
Update notice: Chapter 19 is in the works, however It's still going to be a substantial window before I pick up the pace again, pushing the next story arc into winter or spring of 2021. Of the upcoming chapter and as of today (Nov-17) chapter 19 is mostly stylizing and visual prep. It'll be a long chapter, and it won't be done until I've built enough to kick off from. (The original characters are seeing some major stabilizing done, but that will probably boil down into a complete overhaul of chapter 16: "Closure". It's a fair bar to set, that I have the OC's well sorted, seeing as they've already taken so much of the screen time already.) The next few story years are going to be leading up to the next major story arc. You can probably guess what that part is to be about.