She ca to be in a burst of power as Kordia’s hold on Silver’s mana slipped.
In desperation, Kordia had reached out, her mana surging along the bond she’d held with Kir, but nothing ca from it. Then, when she knew that Kir was well and truly beyond her reach, she did the next thing she could think of. The thing that Silver had done for her entire domain.
She sought connection.
It was, in retrospect, a foolish decision, but reaching out to Lapins and Sin saved her. They were already connected, through the sharing of body and purpose, but to handle Silver’s power, she needed sothing stronger. So she reached out to them, in spirit, asking - begging - to be let in. Praying that love, no matter how uncertain or political it had been, would be enough to bridge the gaps.
And now here She was, staring at herself from three points of view. Wondering who She was as she felt three minds thinking the sa thing.
Kordia’s appearance had barely changed, except for the seventh tail that had ford. A tail of mind, not yet matched by spirit and body, but with two spectral tails added to the mix on either side of her fanned array.
Sin was still red-furred, but the places where her fur had been white had grown more silvery. A third tail sprouted from under her tunic, and her giddy joy at the sight clashed with Kordia’s concern and Lapin’s shock.
And speaking of Lapins... The mont Kordia and Sin saw the rabbit ears atop her head, she saw them through their eyes and touched them, finding they were quite real and very covered in blonde fur.
"This is weird."Kordia, Sin, and Lapins all said at the sa ti while Crimson, unhelpfully, chose to burst out laughing. "Wait... did we all think that? What even is this?"
The part of Her that was Kordia realized it first. She’d reached out, trying to quickly form a connection like the one Kir had accidentally made, only to reach too far in.
"I think we’ve... rged. But our bodies are still separate, so not a complete... whatever this is. More like..." The part of Her that was Lapins finished Her sentence "Thinking in parallel! It’s sothing I was taught to do with rcy. In case we ever had to fight our way out of a situation together. But that was more like making opportunities for each other. Not..." "...this." they all concluded, finally turning their attention to the laughing fox.
"I haven’t been this entertained in centuries! The look on your face when you touched your ears!" his ntal communication was clearly pointed at Lapins, but everyone answered.
"What’s wrong with our ears?"
"Nothing! You’ve clearly got so beastkin back in your family line."
"Do you know what’s happening to us?"
"Not one whit! That’s why it’s so hilarious! But if I had to guess, you’ve just created a new person!"
"How do we make it stop?!" She felt overwheld by emotions, mories, and sensations. Her three aspects blending into each other as they beca rather intimately aware of each others lives and experiences. Only by mutual force of will was She able to stop that uncomfortable interaction.
"You an how do you kill this person you’ve beco?" Crimson snickered with a wicked smile splitting his vulpine face.
She could feel every one of her bodies panicking; parallel minds unable to grasp the existential crisis of being a new person who was also three people. She tried sending her bodies in different directions. Within a few monts, she felt like she was coming apart at the seams, but the jumbled tangle of thoughts snapped back into sync as a mutual migraine struck out of the blue.
"Fuck!" She brought her three bodies together and the pain eased.
"Try it again! Maybe it’ll work this ti," Crimson taunted. "But you may wish to hurry. The mana in this place is behaving strangely."
She looked around, wondering what Crimson ant as she parsed the mana in the air with three sets of eyes. Now that she was looking, it did seem oddly dense for the first floor of a dungeon. She also noticed a strand of mana leaking in from the outside, one that reminded her of the dragon.
More concerning, however, was the crystallization occurring at the other end of the floor.
It was a strange but slow thing. Centered on a tiny hole in the "sky" of the room, which was also likely the way deeper, the very air itself seed to have hardened, growing from red to blue as it neared the cut in the reality of the place.
Just looking at it made Her head hurt, but one thing that was clear was that mana was being pushed through the crack at an enormous rate, which explained why the room seed so dense with it.
It was almost as if the crystallization was displacing the dungeon. If this was true, then it was a phenonon none of Her aspects knew how to explain. Yet the more she looked, the more she was sure there was so pattern to the slow expansion of-
"Hey! Sothing’shappening," Crimson’s warning snapped Her out of her reverie.
"What’s happening?"
"You were staring at the thing for hours. I sense that sothing is coming through."
Hours? How could She have lost track of ti?
She didn’t have long to wonder as the crystallizing crack rippled, filling in completely as it closed while a lone figure fell from its center.
At first, She thought they might be under attack, but the massive pulse of mana was not coming from the individual but rather from behind them.
A high-pitched scream grew louder as it neared, and She wasted no ti casting as she congealed the air in front of the falling person, slowing them until with a final push of wind, She righted them enough to let them land on their feet.
Or rather on their butt as they collapsed the mont their feet touched the ground.
"Oh thank the kami. I thought I was a goner!" the woman exclaid as they tore off a helt, revealing pointed ears, chocolate-colored skin, and crystalline white hair. A stone elf.
"You almost were," She said as soon as she arrived with all three of her bodies.
"Aah-ah!" the elf exclaid before suddenly kowtowing before Her. "Please forgive miss onmyoji! I was unaware of your presence! This humble mage thanks you for saving her life!" Based on their voice, they were likely female.
Onmyouji? Whatever that was, it was clearing giving Her so authority, but She felt uncomfortable lying. "I know not what an onmyoji or kami are. Please do not bow. I am... new, but we are also Kordia, Lapins, and Sin." She brought forth each of her bodies as she said their nas.
"Kami are spirits... but an onmyoji with three bodies? I’ve never heard of such a thing," the mystery elf said. As She took a closer look, she noticed the elf was dressed in red-painted splint armor of a type more popular on the eastern continent of Retha. Suddenly she snapped to a stand and bowed almost ninety degrees. "Apologies for the breach of decorum!" she exclaid. "I am Amanogawa Akane of Sahin! I am... close to the Daimyo. He would be most grateful if you could escort ho!"
"Do you always have to shout? These ears are sensitive." She said, mostly on behalf of Lapins, who was unused to beastkin levels of sensitivity.
"I-!" Amanogawa Akane caught herself. "I apologize. There were shrieking beasts on the floor before this. My hearing has suffered as a result of that battle."
"Battle?" She asked, wincing a bit as she realized that Amanogawa Akane did not seem comfortable with Her speaking in chorus.
"A monster of the deep dungeon, Lady Onmyoji. My people and I were making our escape when it attacked us, forcing us into a branching floor where the shriekers lay in wait... As far as I can tell, I am the only one who has survived." She looked down sorrowfully for a mont, before steeling herself. "But our mission was accomplished. If you but escort to Sahin, I am sure the Daimyo will let you shelter with us through these harsh tis."
"I’m afraid you are as far from your place of origin as I am," Crimson said, suddenly appearing next to the stranger as he sniffed.
The mont he said so, a mory surfaced from Lapins that in Retha the family na often ca before the personal na, aning the girl’s na was Akane.
"A kyubi!" Akane bowed instantly.
"Raise your head child of Amanogawa. You stand before Crimson, once kyubi-kamui of Akai Harbor. Now guardian of the Queendom of Gra’Rhuel."
"Th-the Demon Fox?!"
Crimson chuckled. "When I had but seven tails, I worked with the demon lord Kainur Satanos once, but I am no demon, and my only interest was to protect my domain. For that, I was driven out. Yet I see ti has not erased the falsehoods of history. Perhaps I should arrange a visit to your... Sahin. It did not exist during my ti."
"F-forgive , honored Crimson! I ant no disrespect or challenge!" Amanogawa Akane shouted, bowing again and again.
"There is nothing to forgive. But neither can we take you ho."
The look on the elf’s face drooped, along with her ears. "If you can provide directions, I might make it on my own."
Crimson chuckled cruelly, and all of Her aspects had the sa thought as the facts of the conversation clicked into place.
Akane’s not going to like the answer.
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