A Vulpine Spanner in the Works

Chapter 26: My, What Gold Eyes You Have!


[Ninya]


I found myself waking up to the strong smell of roast pork and potatoes that made my stomach growl and forced me to realize that I was hungry. Opening my eyes, I saw Tuare sitting in a chair at the table in the cabin with Meepo sitting on the table itself next to her. Both had a plate of food that they were busy eating, with a third plate set aside at the table in an empty seat next to the two. Pulling off the bedsheets covering me, I looked down to see that I had barely managed to take off any of my clothes before going to bed.

The most I did was remove the belt holding my sheathed dagger and pouches, my boots, and my cloak. They were in a pile next to my staff against the bed. With a yawn and a stretch, I got out of bed and joined Tuare and Meepo at the table.

"Morning, Ninya. Seems that you were exhausted yesterday considering how you didn't even bother changing into sleepwear when you went to bed." Tuare teased with a poke to my shoulder. I looked at her and gave her a grin in reply, before I noticed that both Tuare and Meepo were looking at me with a mixture of surprise and concern.

"What? Is there something on my-" And then I fully recalled the events of last night. My infiltration of the Magician's guild, the religion of the mages that worshipped Kashia, their elixir made from her blood… The blood they made me drink…changing my eyes.

"Ninya, why do your eyes have glowing gold circles in them?" Tuare asked as she kept inspecting either of my eyes.

I'm not certain how to answer that. How should I tell her about everything that I saw and knew? I doubt that Meepo would be at all surprised since he was Kashia's servant. I just…didn't want to hide something like this from my sister. She deserved to know since this also affected her…and I also just wanted to talk to someone about this.

"T-Tuare, I'm going to try and explain everything to you. But you'll need to promise me to not tell anyone else, okay?" I shakily said, trying to figure out the right way of telling her what I knew while also building up the courage to do so in the first place.

"Is something wrong, Celly?" She whispered out to me in concern using her nickname for me.

"Please?" I asked her desperately.

Her eyes softened when I asked this. Taking my hands in her own, she gave me a simple smile and nod, "I won't tell anyone else. I promise. Now, could you tell me what's bothering you?" She asked in that gentle and protective tone of hers that I remembered from when we were younger.

Taking a deep breath, I began, "Tuare, remember a few days ago when my team and I stayed here with Nfirea?" Tuare nodded, "Before that, we had all almost been killed. My friends had been toyed around with by a sadistic murderer named Clementine while I…"

I couldn't help but glance at my right hand being held by Tuare. My vision quickly shifted to that flesh and blood hand turning skeletal. "…was fighting and losing against this necromancer. None of my spells worked on him, but he kept using acid spells that kept hitting m-me. M-My hand g-got hit and it was m-mostly skeletal with b-bits of flesh remaining. It hu-hurt so much and I-I was so scared." I managed to choke that out before Tuare let go of my hands and pulled me into a hug.

"It's alright, Celly. You're safe. Nothing is going to hurt you here." She whispered into my ear, making me immediately wrap my arms around her tightly. I held her like a lifeline as I felt a few tears fall from my eyes.

"I-I was s-so scared th-that I was g-gonna die a-and lose you j-just af-after I found you…" I admitted back to her.

I tried to avoid thinking about that night for so long. How I was so helpless, so scared, and in so much pain. I hated how I could still vividly remember that moment as my hand was covered in acid as all feeling in my hand melted away with the flesh, leaving only that pure agony behind. It was like a paining in my mind that I couldn't tear apart or burn.

"I'm right here. You will never lose me, Celly. You are going to be okay." Tuare whispered in comfort. I just closed my eyes and listened as she hummed a familiar song in my ear. The same song she would hum years earlier when I felt sad.

We stayed like this for a while longer until I felt myself calm down enough. Slowly pulling away from her embrace, Tuare stopped humming and let me go. But I still held her hand before taking a deep breath and continuing.

"Just before it would've been over for us, Kashia arrived to save us. She stopped time." That caught Tuare's attention, but she remained quiet and let me continue, "After that, she healed our wounds and defeated those two killers. I'd never seen her so angry before, and she seemed like an entirely different person, especially with her golden eyes.'

"Like yours?" Tuare asked to which I nodded.

"Yet, even after she saved us all, I began to suspect something about her. Kashia stopping time with a spell is impossible for any person to do. The only spells like that belong in legends like those of the Six Great Gods, the Evil Deities, the Thirteen Heroes…" As I said this, Tuare began to understand what I was saying.

"Are you telling me that Kashia is a goddess or something similar?" My sister asked in astonishment.

"She's actually a demigoddess, but that probably doesn't mean much in comparison to what she can do." I had the feeling that Kashia's demigoddess status was a lot different in comparison to the stories I heard of the demigods of the Slane Theocracy. If any of them had been able to stop time, then they would probably have taken over the world at this point. The fact that she can do it so casually, along with casting a spell that could be seen miles away, showed that she was probably in a different league in comparison to them.

"How do you know all of this for certain?" As Tuare asked, I looked between her and Meepo, who had been intently listening.

"If I tell this to you two, then you have to promise to not tell Kashia." While Tuare agreed immediately to my request, Meepo seemed hesitant.

After a little internal debate, the red kobold finally answered, "If what Tiny Mistress tells Medium Mistress and Meepo doesn't harm the Mistress, then Meepo will remain silent."

"Thank you." I said in appreciation, which received a nod in turn. "When I went to sleep that night, I had a strange dream. In it, I met a woman on a hill of silver grass. A woman with with the ears and ten tails of a fox. The woman told me that she was Kashia's mother, a goddess named Inari."

"But that could've just been a dream, Ninya." Tuare reasoned which was understandable. It was probably hard to believe that a person who had essentially become a part of our small family was actually a deity, or partially one.

"Tiny Mistress is telling the truth, Medium Mistress." Meepo decided to answer for me. "The Mistress isn't even human to begin with. She is known as a kitsune, magical foxes with multiple tails. They can shift between their fox and humanoid form at will."

"Humanoid form?" Tuare questioned.

"I haven't actually seen it in person, but she's supposed to have nine tails and fox ears. Or, at least, that's what Grandma told me." I answered.

Tuare's eyebrow rose in question, "Grandma?" I felt a blush grow on my face as I tried to avoid Tuare's gaze.

"I-It's what Inari wanted me to call her." That made Tuare smirk as her eyes filled with amusement.

"Grandma, huh? Guess we have a third grandmother in our family now." Tuare commented, making me giggle.

"It seems so." I said back.

"And that would also imply that we have a second mother now, doesn't it?" I felt my face turn red at the question, earning a smile from Tuare. "Kashia feels that way about us?"

"From everything I've seen and heard, it seems that's the case." I answered for her.

"How do you feel about it?" Tuare asked, making me feel nervous as I hesitated to answer.

After enough internal debate, I finally spoke, "I think I feel the same as well. S-She's always looking out for us, making sure we're happy, gives us more than we could ever need without asking for anything in return. Kashia's always pushing and encouraging me to grow. And I don't doubt for a moment that she wouldn't hesitate in fighting nations to keep us safe. Even with only knowing her for a short time, I see her as a second mother at this point."

Tuare was quiet as she contemplated what I said. And, for a moment, I became slightly worried that Tuare would be upset hearing this. She and our mother had been close before she and dad died.

But unexpectedly, her blue eyes then began filling up with tears as she gave me a large smile, "Then I'm happy that we have another wonderful mother in our lives!" When Tuare said this, I felt immense joy that she agreed with me.

Soon enough, Tuare wiped the tears from her eyes, "Now, all we'll need is another dad to finish out our little family." Tuare joked, making me slightly blanche at remembering what Peter, Dyne, and I heard the first night.

"I…don't think that will be much of a problem." I remarked, making Tuare narrow her eyes in interest.

"Go on…" She pressed with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"O-On the first night of our t-training trip…Kashia and Lukrut went off alone together. Then we heard some stuff…" I said with a red blush of embarrassment.

"Like what?"

"…Lots of moaning and screaming from mo-Kashia. A-And a few other words…" I finished quickly. This seemed to only increase Tuare's curiosity. "B-But that's all I know. C-Can we please stop talking about our mom having sex?!" Then I realized what I said and turned even redder.

"Don't worry, Ninya. I'll stop with those questions. I'll just have to ask mom when I see her again." Tuare teased.

"Tuare, stop being weird!" I said with a laugh while giving her a playful shove. Then, we heard a bunch of clattering and looked to see Meepo pulling items out of his robe until he took out a staff with a ruby tip that glowed ominously.

"Meepo, what are you doing?" I asked slowly.

"Human stick-shooter has mated with the Mistress. Meepo plans to neuter a mutt tonight." The kobold said maliciously while tapping the ruby end of the staff in his hand.

"No, Meepo." Tuare commanded in the same manner that one would discipline a dog.

"But, Medium Mistress…" Meepo whined like a child getting a toy taken away.

"Mom's a big girl. If she wants to sleep with Lukrut, then that's her decision. You aren't allowed to turn Lukrut into a eunuch just because you don't like it." Tuare responded in a tone that left no room for argument. Meepo sat on the table with his arms and legs crossed in sulking silence.

With the chastising over with, Tuare focused back on me once more, "So, you were saying earlier that Grandma told you that mom's a demigoddess. How does it relate to your eyes turning gold?"

"Remember a few days ago when we were walking around E-Rantel together and…mom seemed to just stop moving in front of the Magician's Guild?"

"I remember," Tuare said with a nod, "it seemed like both of you were drawn to something happening there at the same time."

"Well, that was why I went to investigate the guild last night. And what I saw there was just insane. I don't know when or how it happened, but most of the guild is worshipping mom as a goddess of magic known as the Fox Princess!" I spoke.

Tuare gained a looked of both recognition and surprise, "Wait, I've heard a few patrons at the restaurant talking about a goddess at the Great Lake of Tob living by a giant tree in a golden palace! Are we sure that it's Kashia?"

"Absolutely. It's her that they're worshipping."

"Do you think she knows about this?" Tuare asked with a little worry.

"I don't know. Maybe?" I answered with a shrug, "Still, that's not even the craziest part. The ritual they all perform, that also increases their ability to cast spells, involves drinking from a glowing golden water. Water that is specifically filled with mom's blood."

That caused Tuare to scrunch her face in disgust.

"That's gross. How did they even get Kashia's blood in the first place?" Tuare asked.

"I'm not sure. But however they did it, they've been using it to enhance their magic while also binding themselves to her. And, I got a real good view of everything that happened when they brought in some prisoners who were going to alert the church of their activities. Somehow, the priestess leading their ceremony managed to convince one of the prisoners, a girl named Elana, to join their 'Order of the Fox Princess' and drink mom's blood. After that, something happened to her which added gold rings into her eyes."

That caused my sister to look at me in either a mixture of shock or horror as she rapidly put together why my eyes had massive gold rings in them. "Ninya, what happened to you?"

"I thought that I was invisible, but somehow, Evelyn, along with Elana, and a third woman named Mercia were able to see through it. They said I had some sort of aura that they could see with their eyes. They believed me to be mom's High Priestess that hadn't consumed the elixir that was mom's blood. So, they…'enthusiastically' gave it to me." I answered, recalling that strange vision I saw.

"They forced you." Tuare stated while holding my hand. I nodded in confirmation. "We have to tell Kashia. She needs to know what happened, and she might have a way to fix," Tuare gestured to my eyes, "this, if that's what you want."

"I know that I have to tell mom…but I would still want to keep whatever it is that was changed in me." I stated with certainty. "It just makes me feel closer to her and I don't want to lose that."

"This is your choice. If you like this, then I wholeheartedly support it." Tuare said softly while cupping my cheek. But then she became stern, "Yet, these people, they forced it on you. They took that choice away from you. Who knows who else they could've done this to?" I flinched upon recalling Mercia's screaming.

"They did do it to another. That woman, Mercia. She was the one that led all those people who became prisoners. They forced her to drink it in order to convince her. She screamed for a little until her eyes gained a ring of gold. Then she just became docile after seeing some sort of vision that I, along with four other women had after gaining a ring of gold in their eyes." I admitted.

"What kind of vision?" Tuare cautiously asked.

I thought for a moment on how to explain all those images I saw… "There was this massive white tree with nine branches on it. On the end of each of these branches was an entire world, yet between two of these branches was a collection of leaves, small branches, and leaves that made a smaller world. It was there that I saw the silver hill I met Grandma on, except it had a golden pillar reaching into the sky.

Then, the vision took me inside that pillar where I saw mom in strange clothes along with five golden lights surrounding her."

"Do you have any idea what it could at all mean?" Tuare asked.

I shook my head at that. "I don't know. I also don't know if what I saw was the same as what Mercia saw, since she just seemed so…lost from the vision she received."

"Maybe Kashia could help explain what you saw. This is her area of expertise." I nodded at Tuare's suggestion.

"I think we'll both have a lot of questions for mom when we see her again." I remarked as I continued to think over everything.

"What's on your mind?"

"Just everything that's been happening. It seems like life is just changing so fast for me. A few weeks ago, I was just a regular mage pretending to be a boy while still looking for you. Now; we got reunited, adopted in everything but name by a demigoddess and her goddess mother, revealed that I'm actually a girl to everyone, almost died, learned things about magic I didn't think possible, and now I've been connected to said earlier demigoddess because I drank her blood. That's a lot of change within a single month." I listed out.

"At least it's not all bad." Tuare said with a smile. "A month ago, I was a slave in a brothel. Since then, I got to be with you again, we've gotten a new home, I've gotten a job I enjoy, I'm making new friends, meeting some interesting people…" Tuare listed off with a blush at the end.

I couldn't help but smirk at a chance to tease my sister for once, "Oh, interesting people, huh? Do these interesting people have a name?"

"Saizo's just a customer that's been coming by the restaurant every day." Tuare answered quickly while looking away from my gaze. That made my grin grow even wider.

"Their name is Saizo? Would they happen to be a boy?" I teased further. Though, I couldn't help but find their name to be a bit odd.

"Yes…"

"And what exactly made this customer so interesting? It would have to take quite a bit to get you blushing so hard at the question." I prodded further while giggling.

"He helped me out with some unruly patrons…"

"I get it! He's your knight in shining armor! He must have been so dashing and handsome as he rescued you from the dastardly vagabonds before sweeping you off your feet!" I said with an exaggerated swoon.

I received a playful shove in return for that, "It wasn't like that! He just dealt with these three adventurers that were getting handsy and I gave him a free meal for helping me out." Tuare quickly explained.

"Already making dinner for him? It seems that you like to move fast." I teased with a laugh.

Tuare gave me a look with narrowed eyes. Then, she said, "Just wait until you find a boy you like. I'm sure that our mom would love to help me in teasing you about it." That quickly shut me up. If Tuare's teasing was bad enough as it is, then mom adding onto it would make it unbearable.

"Fine. I'll stop." I quickly conceded, making Tuare giggle in response, before I added, "But just be aware, mom'll probably not leave you alone if she finds out either." Tuare was silent as she heard this. Then, we both broke out into laughter.

"We'll have to do everything in our power to make sure that doesn't happen." Tuare remarked in a conspiratorial tone. I agreed with the idea, unfortunately, the execution would probably be impossible.

"Tuare, it's mom. She'll find out anything." I said in resignation. Especially because I was aware of the kitsune she had protecting us. They'd probably tell her.

"It doesn't hurt to at least try." My sister said optimistically, even if she also understood, like I did, that it was an effort in futility.

Yet, even with the levity of the moment, there was one thing I couldn't take my mind off of, "I'm worried that the moment I tell mom about what that Order did, she'll kill them without hesitation. They're over-zealous idiots, yet they could probably be convinced to change their ways if mom steps in. But…"

"She won't even consider that. Kashia will see that they did something to you against your will and she'll only think about protecting you by killing them all." Tuare finished my thought for me.

Looking over to Meepo, still slightly sulking on the table, I asked, "Meepo, how likely do you think that mom would let the people worshipping her live?"

Meepo took a moment to think before responding, "Mistress doesn't take attacks against her, or what Mistress sees as hers, lightly. Mistress once annihilated an entire guild of beings near her level of power because they wouldn't leave Mistress alone since they wanted Mistress' property. From all the time Meepo has known her, Mistress has only ever used overwhelming retaliation against those who wrong her. Mistress will kill everyone involved and level the Magician's Guild's building to the ground if needed."

Hearing that she fought off an entire organization of people around her level was a terrifying thought. If that giant blast seen miles away outside of E-Rantel was any indication, such a fight could entail kingdom leveling amounts of destruction. And the fact that she'd turn all of that power on the people of the Magician's Guild was horrific to imagine.

"I need to think of a way to convince her to not slaughter all of them…" I thought aloud. Tuare put a hand on my shoulder in reassurance.

"We'll think of a way. I don't wish for Kashia to kill anyone because of us if she doesn't have to." She said in a solemn tone. I gave her a nod in agreement.

I needed to figure out a way quickly, because the moment she saw my eyes, mom would immediately ask questions…


[Nero]


I found myself waking up this morning when I felt something shove me. Since ending up in Tob six days ago, my body had become extremely on edge about any little thing since this forest was filled to the brim with deadly monsters, some of which I didn't even think existed until I saw them.

Quickly rolling away from whatever was shoving me, I pulled out my sword and pointed it at…Yamato. The quiet gray fox gave me a look that almost seemed a mixture between amusement and annoyance. I lowered my blade after this.

"Morning, Yamato. Did you have to be so rough in waking me?" I asked as the fox tossed a piece of 'heavily cooked' meat to me with his tail. I quickly caught it and found myself slightly grimacing at the food I'd been given. It was cooked enough to be edible, but the piece of meat was on the verge of being too charred to consume. Following this, another of his tails threw to me a waterskin that had been filled. Where did he even get that?

"Yes." Yamato answered in an even tone before becoming silent once again.

Ripping a chunk off with my teeth, I ignored the burnt flavoring and chewed it down before swallowing. Then, I washed the taste of the charred meat with some water. "Thanks." I spoke. The fox nodded, then motioned his head for me to follow before padding away into the forest. With a sigh, I followed after my silent companion.

Since I first met him yesterday, Yamato had barely spoken. At most, he'd say 'Yes', 'No', 'Rest', 'Wait', and 'Attack'. I think I've only heard him say more than three words at once.

Inari was right when she said he didn't like to talk much.

Since he began leading me, we barely encountered any trouble. I'd have expected a few more wargs to attack us, but none did, making me suspect that Yamato's presence kept them away or he had killed all of them while I had slept.

In fact, we had only ever fought three creatures since yesterday. All three had been more of those giant leeches that I fought before. Yet, every time that we encountered them, Yamato had me fight them myself. Usually, by pushing me forwards with one of his tails.

I quickly figured that he was trying to make me gain more experience in fighting, even if he didn't say anything. I doubt he'd let me die, but he was completely willing to toss me into the fire if he knew I'd survive it.

"Hey, Yamato?" I asked as I caught up and was walking side-by-side with the gray fox. Said fox looked at me with a questioning gaze. "How far is it until we get to where we need to be?"

"A day or two." Yamato replied.

"Where is it that we're even going? I can't think of a single place that we might be going to unless it's the mountains." I questioned since we had continued going west for what felt like an eternity at this point.

"The lake." Was the cryptic answer that I received.

"And is there anything at the lake?"

"…" I was really hating how quiet my supposed 'teacher' was. At times, it was like I was banging my head against a brick wall whenever I tried to get any answers from him.

"So, since we're just going to be walking here, and it's the second day we've done this, mind telling me anything about yourself? Like, why are you, specifically, the one training me? What are you going to be training me to do? I know that Inari made me her paladin, but I have no idea what that really entails."

Yamato was silent, as if he was considering every word to say to me. Then, after what felt like forever, he finally spoke, "You know my name. Lady Inari assigned me as your teacher because of my ability and because I am a paladin as well. I will teach, you will learn. That is all you need to know."

"You're a paladin?" I asked with a little bit of surprise. Paladins were supposed to be rare, so it was a little impressive to actually get taught by one. Then again, Inari is the one who assigned him to me, so I should have expected it.

"Yes." Yamato said, not bothering to elaborate. I couldn't help but sigh, since I wasn't going to get anything further from this fox. At the very least, even if Yamato had an extreme aversion to speaking, having someone with me was still better than walking through Tob by myself.

With that, the pair of us continued to walk together in silence. This went on for what I guessed was an hour or two. It could also have only been 20 minutes and my mind was just so bored that it made our journey seem slower than it actually was.

In an attempt to alleviate my boredom, I spent my time just examining the forest around us. It really felt like a world of trees once we went deep enough. Almost the entire sky was obscured from view by the canopy above. The only light coming through being the beams of sunlight that broke through the branches and leaves.

Even the forest floor had changed. Before, there had at least been flowers, grasses, bushes. Now, it was either fallen tree limbs, moss, leaves, and rocks. The fact that it felt like we entered into another world made me feel a slight sense of dread.

Going even further, I started noticing some strange white lines, almost like thread, going between the tree branches. It was around here that Yamato had us stop by placing a tail in front of me.

"Why'd we stop?" I asked. Yamato used a tail to point forwards. When my eyes followed towards what he pointed to, my eyes went wide with shock and I felt disturbed.

Ahead of us, cocooned in multiple white strings was a warg which hung from one of the tree branches. Except, this warg was most certainly dead. From the parts of it that were visible which stuck out from the cocoon, they looked horrifically emaciated. Almost like something had sucked out everything within it until the warg was left as nothing more than a husk of fur and bone.

"Enemies above us. Do not get caught. Fight and learn." Yamato stated. After he said this, one of his tails pushed me. I might have complained if I didn't see a white line of thread that was stuck in the ground. It would've hit me if I hadn't been moved.

My eyes traced the line up to the trees to see the form of a large spider, the size of a dog, at the other end of the line. Its body was a bloody crimson, while its legs were a dark brown. Four purple eyes gazed at me with what felt like a soulless hunger.

Then, I saw the spider aim its abdomen at me as the spinneret fired another line of silk in my direction. Without prompting from Yamato, I dived out of the way and rolled back onto my feet. Upon doing so, my ears picked up the sound of leaves rustling above me. And I remembered what the gray fox had told me.

'Enemies', not 'enemy'!

I instinctively rolled away once more as another line of silk impacted where I had been moments before. Looking up, I saw another crimson spider greedily eye me as its next meal.

Looking at the first spider, I quickly ducked under a line of thread that passed over my head and tried to consider my next plan of action. I can't just keep dodging since all these spiders needed was one good hit. Yet, how could I do that when they are hiding up in the trees and I have no ranged method of attack?

And trying to climb up the trees to reach them just left me wide open to attack, which didn't even include the possibility of the spiders just climbing away from me to stay out of reach.

Damn. For being a paladin of Inari, I didn't have any of the strength or magic of the paladins from the stories I was told. I need to do something, anything!

Twisting aside from another line, I began to notice the trap being set up. The spiders were slowly encircling me into a cage of silk threads. I couldn't let that happen.

So, with a shout, I sliced a line in front of me which seemed to work except the split lines seemed stuck on my sword, preventing me from pulling it away.

I couldn't further attempt to free my sword as I had to quickly jump back when two lines stuck themselves to the handle of my sword. These spiders were getting on my nerves!

Come on, I'm supposed to be a paladin, yet I'm getting my ass kicked by some bugs! I have to be stronger than this! I just need some power!

Then use it, my paladin…

As Inari's voice echoed in my mind, I had to duck under two more threads before rolling to pick up a rock. I felt a rush of anger and warmth in myself as I stood up and hurled the rock as hard as I could at one of the spiders.

What I didn't expect to happen was for the rock to now be lit in blue flames as it sped towards the spider and impacted its head, lighting it up in blue fire. It made a horrific hissing scream as it fell from the branch it had been perching on and hit the ground. There, the crimson spider continued its painful screeching as it rolled around the ground.

When its legs began curling into itself, I knew it had died. And that was the moment I rushed to pick up another rock as the second spider was distracted by the burning corpse of its brethren. Then, taking aim with that same feeling of power from earlier, I chucked the rock and nailed the spider's leg, making it combust in blue fire that spread to the rest of its body. It also fell to the ground screeching in pain.

Yet, I looked down at my right hand to see that it was also lit up in blue flame. But I felt no pain from it, just a comforting warmth. Continuing to examine my hand, I took notice that the symbol on my right hand was now lit up in silver light that was visible through the blue flame.

Looking from my hand to the silk threads that held my sword, I smirked before grabbing them and watching as the threads burned away. Eventually, enough threads burnt away for me to pick up my sword once more.

Soon after, the flame on my hand snuffed itself out, and a wave of fatigue washed over my body, causing me to fall to a knee and use my sword as support.

"You finally managed to utilize [Inari's Smite]." The voice of Yamato said as he came out from the trees in front of me. In his tails were the corpses of five more spiders that were quickly crushed before being unceremoniously dropped to the ground.

"T-That's what that was…called?" I said between deep breaths.

"It empowers attacks with [Foxfire] and Lady Inari's divine might. Its only downside is that it needs to be used sparingly, otherwise you will use up all your mana quickly." Yamato stated as he padded up to me.

"I have mana?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. As the paladin of Lady Inari, a goddess who has a domain in magic, it would be absurd for you to not have mana to utilize your blessings." The gray fox answered. I couldn't help but give him a wry grin.

"It's funny how you were barely saying a word to me earlier while leaving your answers as cryptic and vague as possible. Now, you're actually quite the chatterbox. What changed?"

"You were not interesting to me before, boy. You have managed to pique my curiosity. Try not to bore me." Yamato answered with a grin of his fangs.

"Then I'll just have to avoid doing that, won't I?" I retorted while pushing myself back onto my feet. We had a lot of distance to cover, and sitting around wasn't going to change that. "After you, Yammy."

Yamato gave me a raised brow before padding away, leaving me to follow after him once more.


[A Mindful Raven]


Watching and remembering. That is what I perform. That is what I am. Watching and thinking. That is my Other's task. That is who they are.

Our Father sent us to this realm to remember these lands and to think upon its peoples. Yet, Father also has another task for us, to watch upon the Fox as we remember and think upon her and her people.

She drew Father here with the Staff she still carries. So, Father wishes us to watch, think, and remember.

I watched this city of mortals and consigned it to memory. They worship empty gods, yet still receive power. I flew to their church and witnessed their prayers. Belief spread to a great four, before spreading to a weaker more.

Yet, it's empty. Worship to power without mind, soul, or direction. Power open to subsume. My Other is thoughtful, they shall know what to do.

But the Empty Many are not the only gods within this city. I fly off to a hall of magic, yet also faith. There, I witness worship to the fledgling goddess, the Fox. It grows by the day. Each follower takes part of the Fox within themselves.

They forge threads from imbibing the Fox's essence, connecting them to her. Alone, the threads are weak. But they slowly grow into a rope that slowly ties a noose around the city that will grow further still. Her influence may consume the Empty Many.

Father allows this. For with the Fox comes the Fox Mother, the War Mother, and the Trickster. Fighting them gains nothing, only loses. Father plans to focus elsewhere.

Continuing my path, I fly next to the Fox's followers. I find the Druid first. He is strangely connected to nature. Unknown, unnatural. A human growing closer to touching forests, unlike others.

So close to Speaking with great roots. My Other will think upon it.

Next, I move to the Warrior. He traverses the city with a woman. Yet, at his side, I see a shard of the Ending Fire. His influence is also here? Yes, I see him watching the Warrior.

A shadow that watches with interest, but not intent. It lacks the Destroyer's destructive intent. He will likely not change this boy. I watch him kiss the woman.

Is she also connected?

No. Human; but I will memorize it. Flying off to the Mage Daughter afterwards, I find that she is obscured… No, displaced. Gazing further at the absence, I see it. The Mage Daughter is with the Elder Daughter in a realm formed by the Fox.

Yet, even within a realm of the Fox, it is still within the trappings of the World Tree due to her connection to the other gods. The connection made forged a vine, a thin vine, but a vine nonetheless. Because of it, I may see.

I shed away from reality, like one would shed a feather, to enter the Realm Between Realms and view the Fox's realm, no more than a speck in comparison to the World Tree. Entering into the Fox's realm, I see that the Mage Daughter has changed. She has taken the Fox within herself, yet it differs from the others. She is not a thread, but a chain. Not just to the Fox, but to the Fox Mother and Elder Daughter as well.

The chain is slowly changing, from iron to gold. This change is similar, yet far slower, with the Elder Daughter's chain to the Fox. Yet, I see a thread slowly growing towards the Fox Mother. It is an odd thing to watch, this familial connection that shouldn't exist between the mortal and divine.

My Other will understand more. They will know what this all means. If not, they can surmise from my memory.

Once more, I shed away from this realm into the Realm Between Realms and reenter the greater realm. There, I look for the Archer and Lover of the Fox. Upon discovering him roaming the streets, I see wrongness.

Mortal, yet not. The form of a man, yet a growing leviathan within. He breathes life, but an innate poison follows. A realm contained within a man that is contained within this realm. This is a being of contradiction that shouldn't be.

And there are connections that I can see. The Contradiction has two. One is a chain that ties both the Contradiction and the Fox, growing like a noose. The other is dark, made of rotten roots that goes somewhere unknown. Somewhere that even I can't see.

My Other must know immediately!


[Kashia]


It was almost late-afternoon, nearing dusk, when I teleported back to my room at the Hero's Respite. I found myself smiling in amusement at how Momo and I had gotten really enthusiastic about our fishing competition. He won, I lost. I blame the amazing fishing rod he had. Still, we agreed to do something similar like that again soon enough.

Upon arriving at my room, I found myself surprised to see both Tuare and Ninya sitting at the table in my room instead of in the sanctuary. Almost like they were waiting for me…

Additionally, my nose picked up something odd about Ninya. Almost like it was myself or an actual blood relative. The hell?

"Hey, girls. Interesting to see the two of you sitting here and not in the sanctuary." I remarked while approaching the pair.

"That's because we were waiting for you. We needed to speak with you." Ninya said as she turned to face me which completely shocked me. Her eyes! Why were the blue irises of her eyes halfway covered in rings of gold?! I immediately moved over to Ninya and leaned down and rested my hands on her shoulders to get a better look at her eyes. Those golden rings were slightly glowing, and why did they seem so familiar?

"Ninya, what happened?" I asked with worry. Did something horrible happen to her? Was she in danger? My heart was thumping at this point as multiple possibilities were running through my head, and I was about to start casting spells to uncover what was happening when Ninya put her hand on mine.

"M-Kashia, I'm fine. But Tuare and I need to talk to you privately about a lot of things, my changed eyes included." Ninya said in reassurance. I could feel my heartrate start to slow down and I gave her a nod.

"Alright. Let's talk." I said in agreement, as I straightened back up. Tuare and Ninya then stood up and I followed them into the sanctuary, closing the door behind me. Then, we made our way to the cabin. All the while, I couldn't help but wonder what it might be that the three of us needed to talk about? Was there something wrong?

They should know that they can come talk to me if they are having any problems. But what if they actually have a problem with me? Are they upset with me? Oh, God, don't let them be upset with me.

As we entered the cabin, the anticipation of what they might want to talk to me about was really starting to get to me. My thoughts were starting to consider the worst possibilities imaginable, and it seemed that both Tuare and Ninya had noticed, and were somehow able to read my thoughts on this.

"Kashia, you look like you're about to jump out of your skin. Do you think that we're upset with you?" Tuare asked, making me try to avoid meeting her gaze as my face started heating up.

"Maybe…" I admitted.

Ninya giggled at this, "Don't worry, we'd never be upset with you." I felt a wave of relief rush over me as she said this. "But we do have a few things to talk about with you. One of which is that Tuare and I know."

When Ninya said this, my eyebrow rose in a questioning manner. "What do you mean that you two know?" I asked.

"Kashia, we know about your furry little secret. All nine of them." Tuare said with a giggle, making my jaw drop in surprise. How? How did they know?

Tuare and Ninya both began laughing at my expression, and it took me a few moments to recover from that revelation. "How did you two find out?" I asked slowly.

"We'll get to that in a bit." Tuare answered before an odd gleam filled her eyes, "But can you show us? Ever since I heard about this, I've been dying to know what you would look like with some cute tails and ears!"

I found myself laughing at how adorable Tuare looked as she asked this. "Okay, okay, I'll show you." I conceded. That was when I dropped my illusion and let my ears and tails, earning looks of amazement from my girls which filled me with a warm happiness.

Putting my hands on my hips, I asked with a smile, "So, girls, what do you think?"

"They look so cute on you! Could I touch one of them?" Tuare asked excitedly. Moving a tail to her, I watched as Tuare stroked the fur of my tail, causing another of my tails to traitorously wag in happiness. "Your fur is the softest thing I've ever felt."

Ninya looked at this with a smile before looking back to me, "You look a lot better when you aren't hiding yourself." I tousled Ninya's hair when she said this compliment.

"Thank you, kiddo."

"Hey, Kashia. Does Lukrut also know? From what I've heard, the pair of you have been taking quite a few 'romantic excursions' with one another." I felt my face heat up as Tuare said this. Ninya definitely told her… Did she also tell her about how loud I was?

"Yes. He really likes them." I answered before staring down Ninya who tried to avoid my gaze, "How exactly did you know about that?" I asked Tuare while my gaze continued to remain on my guilty-looking apprentice.

"Ninya told me quite a bit. I'll probably have a few questions to ask you after we finish our discussion." My blonde kid responded with a mischievous glint in her eyes before she let go of my tail and took my hand. "Let's get started, shall we?"

I nodded and let Tuare and Ninya lead me to the table which we all sat down at. Looking around, I noticed that Meepo wasn't around. Why was that since he'd likely be here to immediately greet me upon my arrival? "Uh, girls, where's Meepo?" I asked.

"We asked him to give us a little privacy for our talk." Ninya replied.

"And that just increases my curiosity." I remarked as I gave the two a look, "We're here, sitting all together. Could you please explain all of this? Why your eyes have gold rings, how the pair of you knew about my actual appearance, everything?"

Ninya took a breath before she finally spoke, "So, to begin with, I've suspected that you weren't exactly human the night that you saved our team and I. Normal humans shouldn't have the ability to cast spells like you could. From there, I had a dream that night where I was told that you had nine tails and ears." My eyebrow rose in question when I heard this.

"A dream told you this?" I asked. That made me a little suspicious. Could Mother be involved?

"Yes, a dream. It just told me about what you actually looked like. That isn't as important as what happened afterwards." Ninya said, moving us on from the topic of her dream, "It was after this, when the three of us went walking around E-Rantel that I felt this pulse from the Magician's Guild. Something that you also seemed to feel since your eyes changed to gold and you didn't sound like yourself."

I remember that day. That pulse from the guild seemed to just send my instinctual side into overdrive until Ninya pulled me back to my senses. "I recall that. To be honest, I'm a little embarrassed about that due to what I was going through around the same time it occurred." I said with a wry smile.

Tuare and Ninya looked at me curiously, "You mean your time of the month? I mean, you were slightly different, but all woman go through-" I held up my hand to interrupt Tuare.

"Tuare, you and Ninya both know that I'm not human at this point. That also means that your monthly time as a human is different from my monthly time as a kitsune. Namely, humans end up bleeding. Kitsune, due to being closely related to foxes, end up very…promiscuous." I explained with a blush that Ninya quickly shared. Tuare on the other hand began giggling.

"Wow, that explains so much about why you seemed on edge all the time!" My blonde kid exclaimed, making me hide my face in my hand.

"Y-Yeah… How about you continue with your explanation, Ninya. Please…" I said while trying to ignore how much I wanted to cringe at explaining this to my daughters.

"Ri-Right. So, I didn't exactly know what it was that you or I felt that pulse, or why it affected you so much." I couldn't explain why Ninya felt the pulse that I did, since it was definitely didn't feel like something that a regular human mage would feel. "That is what led to me trying to investigate the Magician's Guild last night under an invisibility ring that Meepo gave me."

My eyes noticed Ninya thumbing a simple gold ring on her finger, making me smirk. I remember using that magical item years prior since I didn't have the ability to cast [Greater Invisibility] at that time. It was extremely helpful due to it hiding me from a lot of fights that I couldn't handle. It eventually ended up in my adventuring hoard once I didn't need it anymore. I'm happy to see that it's gotten new use.

"Using it, I snuck into the Magician's Guild by following a few mages inside and heard them talking about a new religion that many of the guild members had joined, one that is worshipping you." Both Ninya and Tuare gave me a knowing look that told me that they also knew about my divinity, "Before I continue, did you know anything about this?"

"A little bit. A quick summary of events before it happened is that I had gone to the Great Lake of Tob and was convinced to help out the lizardmen there. To prove my ability and claims, I created a giant stone tree in the lake which was discovered by the Magician's Guild. When they hired me and I discovered the destination of our expedition, I had to both protect the lizardmen while also keeping my cover.

That led to me creating a magical duplicate of myself that would act as a divine persona of myself. She took it too far and, through a series of cascading events, ended up handing some of my blood over to the Magician's Guild as a way to prove my 'divinity'. Theo Rakheshir, the guildmaster, figured out my identity, and offered his servitude in exchange for knowledge. I agreed, both to keep him under control and to gain a strong political connection to E-Rantel, by giving him a simple tome of a single spell I knew."

"Kashia, I have a quick question for you." Ninya began.

"Go ahead and ask." I replied.

"What exactly do you think a simple spell tome is?"

Ninya's question confused me a little bit. What did she mean by that? "Isn't it just filled with regular information on how to cast a spell? It's pretty much like the tome I gave to you, except only consisting of one spell instead of multiple. I'll admit, it was a slightly more advanced spell of the 4th Tier called [Greater Slow], but that shouldn't change it too much." I explained.

Ninya's jaw seemed to drop a little before she recovered and spoke, "M-Kashia, I'm still working on the first spell from the spell tome you gave me. I haven't read ahead at all, yet the concepts you explained and used for just a 2nd Tier spell would literally change the way mages of the entire world would learn and cast fire spells, and I bet a few of the concepts you used could be added to other spells as well. And let me remind you, this is just for a 2nd Tier spell. You gave them a tome for a 4th Tier spell."

"Oh… Oh, shit… That actually explains so much…" I remarked.

"What do you mean that it explains so much?" Ninya quickly asked.

"Well, for the next two days, Theo seemed to have gotten a little obsessed with the book I gave him. It was on the second day that he convinced me to allow him to start a religion around me, with a few of his subordinates already seeming to be worshipping the Fox Princess, as they referred to me, since he hadn't revealed my identity to the others. They also spoke about some revelation that Theo had shown them. Now that I think about it, that tome I gave him is likely said revelation." I answered while thinking aloud.

"And you just let him start a religion around you?" Tuare was the one to ask this time.

"It wasn't exactly something I wanted. I just realized that Theo and his friends would likely start some religion about me without my consent, so I just agreed so that I could have some control over it. Aside from that day, I haven't really interacted with the Magician's Guild or that religion. I just told him to keep it under control, other than that, I've been very hands off." I replied.

"Okay, I'll just need you to listen and remain calm for what I say next." Ninya said slowly to me.

"Ninya, the way that you're telling me to remain calm is kind of doing the opposite. What happened?" I said while trying to consider all the possibilities. Please, do not tell me that they are doing ritual sacrificing in my name.

Ninya took one of my hands in both of hers before speaking once more, "When I followed those mages inside the guild, I also followed them to the underground labs where they had set up some kind of chapel in one of the labs. It was completely packed with your worshippers. Their sermon was being led by this woman named Evelyn who was wearing a strange white outfit. She also had golden rings in her eyes." Focusing back onto Ninya's eyes that had gold rings, I couldn't help but wonder what happened.

"There was some silver bowl by Evelyn that was filled with a golden water, a water mixed with your blood. And from what I found out, the people in that room had been drinking it." I couldn't hide the revulsion I felt at hearing this.

"Ew. Why are they even drinking my blood? That seems disgusting."

"From what I found out, it apparently enhances the mana and casting ability of any who drink it. But continuing on from this, during their sermon, a few of their members brought in a group of mages that were chained up. From what I understood, they were planning to tell the Church of the Four Great Gods about their religion, likely invoking an inquisition upon them." As my kid said this, I became horrified.

These mages were already getting involved in religious conflict, aside from sounding very culty to begin with! What the fuck was going on with them? It seemed that Ninya saw my worries since she gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "Evelyn managed to convince the prisoners to drink your blood which was enough to convert them all to worshipping you."

Okay, at least these worshippers didn't kill anyone. And they convinced their prisoners to join them without any conflict, even if said method of convincing them was to drink my blood like a weird cabal of vampires. I just needed to head over there and try to get them to be less creepy about this worship and maybe there-

"Then, they dragged in the leader of the group of prisoners bound and gagged. Her name was Mercia. Evelyn seemed to be unable to convince Mercia to join, so they forced her to drink your blood, which caused her to have some sort of vision that ended her resistance. Golden rings formed in her eyes when this happened." Ninya said, causing my heartrate to start speeding up.

I remember Mercia being our initial guide during the expedition. She'd also been against Theo's idea of a religion, which was completely her right. And then, they forced her to drink my blood, causing her to gain golden rings in her eyes. Just like…Ninya.

Cupping my daughter's face with me free hand, my mind was quickly beginning to understand exactly what happened to her, increasing my horror and worry. I slowly began to ask, even if I already knew the answer, "N-Ninya, please, tell me why-"

"Only a few people who drank your blood gained golden rings in their eyes. Somehow, this allowed these people to see me, even while invisible. I had to reveal myself, and they claimed that I was your High Priestess because of that. They said that I needed to drink your blood to increase my connection with you and they…forced me to do so…" Ninya trailed off quietly at the end while my heart began thumping like it wanted to jump out of my chest.

After hearing Ninya say that, all I saw was red. First, they forced Mercia, someone who obviously didn't want anything to do with their religion, to drink my blood. Then they forced MY KID to do it!

They forced my Ninya, MY DAUGHTER, to do something that she didn't want to do!

They could have their vampiric blood chugging ritual with my blood since they technically weren't hurting anyone. It was fucking creepy, but it was their choice. I was fine in being hands off with this entire religious business. But they touched NINYA!

Fuck that. I'm dealing with this now!

I stood up from the table without a word and made my way to leave. If they want a goddess then they'll get what an angry fucking goddess really looks like! Divine wrath and all!

"Kashia, where are you going?" Ninya asked from behind me.

"I'm taking care of a problem." I answered tersely.

"You're going to kill them, aren't you?" She asked in worry.

"Like I said, taking care of a problem." I replied. I felt Ninya grab my hand at this point, but I kept on walking. Ninya tried tugging on my hand to stop me, but I was stronger than her and could just keep moving without effort. I would take care of everything.

"Just stop and listen." Ninya said with desperation beginning to leak into her voice. That was painful to hear, but I had to nip this in the bud right now. She'd thank me when it was over. I needed to keep both her and Tuare safe.

"Please, just stop, mom!" I stopped walking and tried to process what Ninya had just said. Then, I turned my head to look at my kid breathing heavily, either from high-strung emotion or the effort she made trying to physically stop me.

Yet, my eyes just met her eyes ringed in gold.

"W-What did you just say?" I asked with disbelief.

"Mom, don't go. You don't need to kill anyone. Please." The moment she said that, I just felt the rage drain from me as my heart just pounded in my chest.

"Yo-You called me mom?" I choked out.

"She did, mom." My eyes flickered to Tuare who had moved to stand beside Ninya. I could feel tears stinging my eyes at this point as I looked between the pair.

"You two called me mom. Y-You r-really think of m-me like that?" I asked as it became harder to speak.

"We truly do. And that's why we don't want you going out to the Magician's Guild to do something that you might regret. You don't need to kill anyone for Tuare or I. We're safe, mom." As Ninya said that, I pulled both of my daughters into a hug with my arms and tails as they wrapped their arms around me. I found myself openly crying with a smile on my face.

"I love you, girls. I love you both so much!" I said between sobs as I held them and didn't want to let go. My instincts were going into overdrive as they had been validated. These two are my daughters and both my instinctual side and I would protect them to the very end.

"We love you, mom." Tuare said warmly, making me feel so happy that I could just burst.

We spent what felt like a wonderful eternity like this as my daughters kept calling me mom and giving reassurances that they loved me. I just wished that this moment could never end! And yet, I had to eventually separate from my daughters while wiping away the tears from my eyes and face. Then, they each took one of my hands in their own and led me back to my chair, as my tails wagged behind me, before gently sitting me back down. Not that I resisted.

Quickly, Tuare and Ninya pulled chairs over until their chairs were right in front of me, no longer separated by a table. Sitting back down, they held my hands once again and I felt absolutely content.

Ninya was the first to finally speak, "Mom, I understand that you're upset about what your followers did, but there is another way to handle this besides just killing them. They worship you, after all."

"O-Okay. I can get them t-to change. That would li-likely be the best option." I told my daughter in agreement as I tried to calm myself down, "I was just so angry at what they did that I couldn't think of anything but making sure that you would be safe. I have a little bit of a problem trying to control my emotions at times, especially when my loved ones are involved."

I received a nod of agreement from Ninya as both of my daughters began giggling at my admitted shortcoming. "I'm glad that you aren't going to kill them anymore. They're overzealous, but I think part of the problem comes from the fact that they don't know who you are or what you want. They're just interpreting what they think it is that you want."

"Then I'll just have to tell them what it is that I actually want, whatever that may be. I haven't focused on this religion thing except when I've needed to, so this is a bit of an eye-opener for me." I then looked at Ninya and asked, "Are you sure that whatever it is that drinking my blood may have done to you is what you want? I could try and find a way to fix it for you."

"I'm fine with this, mom. I like having this connection with you, even if it wasn't initially my choice." Ninya answered which made me elated. "So, what is it you plan to tell your followers?"

"For one; to stop forcibly making people drink my blood. From there, I'd have to figure it out." I answered. I really hated that I needed to get involved because these cultists couldn't keep themselves from going overboard. And honestly, if my daughters hadn't been here to calm me down, I actually would've killed all of them.

It was weird how I didn't find the idea of killing all of those people a problem. At most, they have been overzealous. Yet the moment they touched my daughter, I was already planning to teleport down to the Magician's Guild and butcher all of them.

Was this wrong? I…didn't think so. They touched Ninya, which meant that they had to die. But did I really have to kill them all for it? Maybe I should just ignore this since both of my daughters managed to change my mind on that issue.

Now, I just needed to get them all in line which wouldn't be that tough of a task.

But if they ever did something like this to either of my daughters again, not even they would stop me from annihilating the cult.

"When do you plan to do this?" Tuare asked.

"Tonight. I have to take care of this sooner rather than later, and they'll likely have their little ceremony tonight. That gives me a lot of their group gathered together who I can speak to at once." I confirmed.