Chapter Eighty Three
"Sister in law! Are you trying to escape to the human world again?"
A man with fiery orange hair ran in our direction, ignoring and approaching the angered Kitsune.
"Sister-in-law!" he shouted again, skidding to a halt beside the Kitsune.
"Ugh... Sll of mortal." The man scrunched his nose in disgust as he finally spared a glance that was basically a look of utter bewildernt, as if he'd found a housecat in the middle of a dragon's den. "What is... this? Did you summon sothing to elope with to human world? Isn't that the robe Elder Brother Noctyrael gave to that Elf High Priest, Sylvester?"
Akira didn't look at him. Her crystalline blue eyes remained locked on mine, glowing with a predatory intensity that made the sweat on my neck turn to ice.
"I didn't summon him. Neither do I care, how he got that robe. All I care about is that my daughter's essence," Akira hissed, her nine tails snapping like live wires.
"... How's that possible? Didn't Elder Brother Noctyrael say she died because her body couldn't withstand the clashing essence of a Spirit King and Kitsune?" The man's words made roots grow under my feet as I stared at the two creatures, reality slowly dawning in my brain.
...Wait. Does that an that Lune isn't the daughter of Kitsune, Akira and Elf King, Noctyrael. But rather, the daughter of Kitsune, Akira and Spirit King, Noctyrael?!
THAT WAS THE FORBIDDEN AFFAIR THAT WAS NTIONED IN THE BOOK???
Oh, Sylvester... You're fucked. So fucked.
You fucker! How do you fall in love with a Spirit King's daughter?!
The realization hit harder than the Weaver's explosion. My brain felt like it was trying to perform high-level calculus while being microwaved.
Noctyrael wasn't just so powerful Elf. He was one of the Spirit Kings. Most probably, the Spirit King of Nature.
And Sylvester, our dearest Elf High Priest, had made adopt a princess of two mythological supernatural creatures, whose parents were by the way were very much alive.
"I'm dead," I whispered, the word lost in the howling wind of the valley. "I'm so incredibly dead. Fuck."
The fiery-haired man let out a bark of laughter. And honestly, it wasn't a friendly sound.
"Dead? Oh, little mortal, 'dead' would be a rcy," he sneered, his eyes flickering with embers. "I am Ignis, brother to the King of Eternal Fla, and even I know better than to touch sothing that belongs to my Elder Brother Noctyrael. But you? You're wearing the High Priest's ceremonial silks and carrying the scent of my dead niece. What. Did. You. Do?"
Akira didn't care about Ignis's posturing. She took a step toward , her delicate, pale human feet touched the earth. The sheer pressure of her presence felt like a physical weight on my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs.
Damn it. Even I'm not a match for a mythological creature.
"The essence," she repeated, her voice a lodic chi that hid a sharpened blade. "It is faint, woven into your very soul-thread, but it is hers. Where is she? Where is my daughter?"
My mind raced.
Sylvester, that absolute lunatic. He must have known it! That fucker kept it a secret on purpose!
"I... I don't know what you're talking about," I stamred, the lie tasting like ash. "I found the robe. I'm just a traveler."
SMACK.
One of Akira's tails whipped out, not hitting , but cracking the air inches from my face with the force of a sonic boom. The shockwave sent tumbling backward into the soot.
Fucking hell! Are these two lunatics going to kill ?!
"Do not lie to a Kitsune, little thief," she hissed. "I can sll the way your heartbeat stutters. You've held her. You've fed her. Her mana has bonded with yours. What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Daughter!?"
Ignis leaned over , his shadow long and flickering. "Wait, Sister-in-law. If my niece is alive, then Noctyrael's grief was a lie. Or worse... he was deceived. We must take this human to Elder Brothers..." Ignis paused, his eyes squinting as he stared at . "I'm still mad at that pesky Human Emperor who hurt our Lord. If only he was alive..."
"I do not care about that brother of yours, Ignis!" Akira scread, her composure finally breaking. The sky above the valley darkened as storm clouds gathered, responding to her grief. "He's dead to . How could he not feel it? I kept telling him our child was alive. We must go to the human world, Noctyrael. He never once believed . If only it was as easy as human world to break marriages I would have left him long ago! All he cares about are The Lord's Rules. Not our kin."
Was this how a mother cares for a child? Hah... What would an orphan like know.
I scrambled to my feet as I sighed.
"She's safe." I mumbled, the words tumbling out before I could check them. A part of hoping it would calm down Alisa's nerves.
Both ancient beings froze. Akira's tails stilled, hovering like white flas.
"She's safe," I repeated, my voice steadier now that the truth was out. "She's currently living at my ho. You can check my mories if that would ease your mind."
"Sister in law, I don't trust this human one bit. You must not get any closer to him. He's dangerous! He is probably luring you to harm you, sister in law!"
Ignis's warning hung in the air, thick with burning charcoal. He stepped between and Akira, his hands igniting with a low, pulsing crimson glow. "Look at him, Sister-in-law! A mortal draped in the silk given by Elder Brother to High Priest, claiming to be a traveler? He could be a trap sent by that Demon Empress. You know she's taken almost full control over the humans!"
I felt the heat radiating from Ignis, a dry, blistering warmth that made the soot on my skin itch. But Akira didn't flinch. She pushed past his flaming silhouette, her gaze never wavering from mine.
The predatory sharpness in her eyes had softened into sothing far more terrifying. It was a desperate gaze filled maternal hope. Her lips were trembling.
Haah... What is this feeling that's bubbling in my chest?
"You are really willing to offer your mories to a Kitsune?" she whispered, her voice trembling like a plucked string. "Do you have any idea what that entails? If I find that you lied to . I will not just kill you. I will unravel every mory you have ever held until you are a hollow shell, wandering the void for eternity."
"Sure. Shall we begin?"
Ignis let out a sharp, indignant hiss, the flas licking his shoulders turning a jagged, violet hue. "Sister-in-law, stop! This is madness! A mortal offering his mind so freely? It's a lure. The mont you bridge your soul to his, he could trigger a curse. So foul human art left behind by the Old Empress's remnants! There's no way you can't sll it. His blood reeks of her lineage!"
But Akira didn't even twitch.
Her focus was absolute, a silver-white vacuum that pulled the very air toward her.
"Silence, Ignis," she commanded, her voice dropping to a low, resonant hum that vibrated in my marrow. "If there is even a flickering spark of her essence left in this world, I will walk through hell to find it. Even if I must die. A curse is a small price. I must find my daughter."
She stepped closer, her scent of intoxicating fragrance of crushed jasmine and ancient cedar hitting my nostrils. As her pale, slender hand rose, the long, black claws of her true form shimred montarily over her human skin.
"No! I cannot allow this! I'm calling Elder Brother! Stop, sister in law!"
"Call him, then!" Akira's voice wasn't a scream; it was a low, vibrating growl that shook the very foundation of the valley. "Call Noctyrael. Let him witness the mont I prove his 'certainty' was nothing more than false calculations!"
Ignis recoiled, the violet flas on his shoulders sputtering. He had clearly never seen the Kitsune this unhinged.
"I'm sorry, Sister-in-law," Ignis muttered, his face tight with a mixture of fear and duty. "But I won't let a mortal destroy what's left of our family."
"Freeze." My eyes witnessed as Ignis froze in his place. "It seems like you forgot the boon given to by our Lord."
"I am accepting your offer, little thief," she whispered, her face now inches from mine. "But know this. Once I enter, there are no secrets. I will see the dirt under your fingernails and the shadows in your heart."
"Just get on with it," I muttered, bracing myself. "There's nothing worth hiding from a mythical creature."
I could feel the sweat freezing on my brow as she pressed her palm against my forehead.
Her skin was ice-cold, yet the mont contact was made, a jolt of pure, white-hot lightning scread through my nervous system. My vision shattered. The blackened valley, the scowling fire-spirit Ignis, and the heavy grey sky.
All of it vanished.
"My daughter... Wooo..."
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