"I figured out the problem. Basically, you over-layered spell circles to the point that they were degrading each other bit by bit. I an, it was remarkably stable for having over a hundred of the things, I think, but phew... I’m surprised it lasted this long." Moshui squatted on Kir’s bed, inspecting the shards of his glamour ring.
"Stella, what is she doing here?" Kordia asked, her six tails now taking up a good amount of space.
Having co into the room last, Stella spat out a mouthful of tail before answering, "Hey, I did my job! She interrupted so good, rough fucking because she sensed all the weird magic from his broken ring!"
Kir, who was leaning with his back against the porthole, slightly wet because he’d had to latch onto the side of the ship before sneaking aboard, sighed. "Moshui can stay. She’s harmless."
"I hit on her with a full blast trying to rope her into a threeway and she kept talking about ’mana signatures’!" Stella ranted. "She’s not normal!"
"Who cares about sex when the biggest runestack failure in history just occurred?!" Moshui started to rant about the particulars of the construction, which was surprisingly detailed for how small the shards were.
Kir had suspected Moshui might be demi or asexual, and naturally when she’d showed no interest in him outside of his knowledge, he’d kept their relationship to that basis... But learning that she was immune to Stella’s charms was very interesting. Too bad there was no moral way to test it.
"Anyway, can you get these things out of my face so I can take a proper seat?" Stella whined.
Kordia replied with an "Oh!" before concentrating for just a mont as she reduced the size and volu of her tails down to sothing more manageable, which resembled a single, rather well-fluffed appendage unless one looked closely. "Sorry... I’m still getting used to my, um, changes."
"Yeah, you had three tails earlier... Did you hit puberty or sothing?" Moshui flat-out asked without a hint of wit.
Kordia, sitting on the bed next to her, leveled a restrained stare that held all the confusion of not knowing whether Moshui was being rude or not, before answering, "The greater spirit of the lake invested a great deal of mana into as a reward for helping to save her life... and on behalf of the spirit to whom I am oathbound to return to when she calls..."
"Fascinating... So you’re like what’s-her-na. Katie."
"Keiya," Kir corrected.
"Not so much," Kordia said, her eyes looking at Kir sadly. "Keiya and Nimfi clearly share a mutual relationship... mine is more subordinate, I think. Hence the seal on my mind that kept from ever discussing Silver until now."
"Silver?" Stella asked as she leaned on the wall next to Kir, resting her warm shoulder on his.
"My... I guess you can call her patroness spirit. Back ho she’s formally known as the Morasylvix, the great spirit of the forest. People give her tributes of food and she mostly leaves us be."
There was a sudden wateriness to Kordia’s eyes, so deep emotion welling to the surface.
Prying himself of the wall, Kir sat next to her, his tail coming to rest above hers as it wrapped in a light hug. "You don’t have to talk about it right now."
"I want to, though... I haven’t been able to tell my story for so long..." she sniffed a little, wiping her eyes.
Moshui, seeing this, awkwardly slouched her legs off of the bed before moving to stand next to Stella, who imdiately took her place on the bed with a look of slight disgust at the independent tattooist/enchantress/Municipal Bussing Director.
Kir let the look slide since it was clearly her first encounter with soone who was asexual, but he made a point to talk to her about it later. Stella settled in by hugging up on Kir’s arm with her tits, which thankfully did not co with waves of inappropriate emotions at the contact.
This mont belonged to Kordia, and he gave her an encouraging squeeze at the waist to begin.
"When I was... very young, ten years ago or so, my father was... injured. I was playing around in the library... and I was climbing on the shelves..." Kordia paused to swallow. "I, uh... I rember how bad he looked. His chest was just... broken... there was so much..." Kir hugged her tighter as she started to cry.
"No one could help him... We didn’t have a proper healer available, but everyone was still trying and I couldn’t even apologize without mother yelling at . And she said..." Kordia shook her head. "She asked why it was him and not ... so I ran away. I ran to the Morasylvix’s shrine and then into the woods past it. I know now that no one was ever supposed to find her, or even try. It’s forbidden, but she let do it. I begged her for the power to save my father, and she gave it to . She... changed my mana so that I could heal him."
Kordia smiled a little as she wiped her eyes again. "My father got better. But because of everything that happened... My mother and I just got more distant. I couldn’t tell anyone about what happened, and I couldn’t go back to the Morasylvix for answers... But part of knew, I think. That’s why when Blue said that I was going to replace Silver... I just accepted it."
Her na is Blue? Kir wondered, but didn’t ask, recalling that nas were not really an item amongst the spirits. So "Blue" was as good a na for the lake spirit as anything.
"That is so fascinating!" Moshui said. "I didn’t know spirits could manipulate magic inside of soone like that! Tell , what was-"
"Moshui, I know you’re interested, but please have so respect and keep your voice down," Kir interrupted. "You can ask questions later." Her outburst finally made Kir regret letting her stay during this troubled ti for the constellation, but there was no turning back from it now without risking causing a greater disturbance on the Lakewater Tears.
Moshui looked a bit put out but kept quiet.
Kordia whispered a small "Thanks" before sniffing heavily as she reigned in herself. "That’s... pretty much my story. One day, I will have to return ho to Mora Lake and pay the price for what I’ve gained. It’s the right thing to do by the spirit that helped save my father, and it’s the right thing to do by my people."
Kir nodded, letting Kordia rest her head against his shoulder, though he did shift his head to dodge one of her fox ears. "I wouldn’t take that choice away from you if I could," Kir said. "But if you say the word, I will fight for you." He kissed her on the forehead.
"I appreciate that," Kordia kissed him on the nape of his neck, forcing him to suppress a small shudder at the sensation. "But Kir... I’m worried."
"What about?"
"Why did Blue say your soul is split? She called you ’shatter-soul’..."
Kir tensed.The truth was the first thing that ca to mind, but he could feel Kiryu’s sudden, complete attention.
"Don’t you fucking do it." His other side’s voice was sharp and fierce. "We have an arrangent, rember?"
Kir still needed to answer, so he told a different sort of truth. "I don’t entirely know... I have ideas, but nothing concrete."
"Do you think that has sothing to do with why you can’t reach magiform?" Moshui blurted, then awkwardly backpedaled by saying "Sorry, sorry..."
"Its fine to ask questions," Kir sighed, hating himself for giving in and effectively lying to people he cared about. "I don’t know. Maybe."
"How much did you tell this bitch about yourself?" Stella whispered.
"She had so very thorough questions after letting it slip that she figured out my identity." Kir whispered back.
""I can hear you two,"" Kordia and Moshui said at the sa ti.
"Oh hey! You have your senses enhanced too?" Moshui bead at Kordia.
"Yes, I suppose I do as well," Kordia smiled weakly. "But I’ve always had good hearing."
Even though she was a bit out of place and clearly not on the sa empathetic wavelength as the rest of the room, Moshui’s curiosity had a positive effect on what had been a very weighty conversation.
All of them wound up staying up for the entire night, just talking and sharing, even if Kir didn’t have as much to talk about. Even Stella got into it as Moshui asked her question after question about demonic life, magic, and physiology.
Yet in the back of his mind, under Kiryu’s watchful gaze, the kernel of guilt that Kir perpetually carried about what was going on within him refused to leave his attention for long.
More than once he wound up asking himself, Am I really okay like this?
And the first and only ti Kiryu responded, it was to answer, "No, kid. No we’re not."
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