Kitsune of the Blue Sun

[Keeno POV]

I walked up to one of the moving shadows and stuck my hand in.  After waving it around for a minute, I felt something mildly solid, grabbed onto it and pulled.  What came out was a shadowy figure that slowly morphed into a silhouette of a person. It looked at me with its eyeless face and I could somehow tell it was overjoyed. I let it go and the shadowy Death Spirit that was about as tall as my knee started to run around me before jumping onto my leg like it was a child hugging its parent.

 

“It’s adorable in an odd way.  Bit creepy too, with it not making any sound at all, but overall adorable.” (Emma)

 

“They are cute, aren’t they.  Hey little one, would you mind leading us to the Core?” (Keeno)

 

It hopped off my leg and performed a cute little salute before turning and skipping off.  I chuckled and started following the spirit, Emma not far behind. It went slowly which allowed us to look around as much as we pleased.  It was all extremely pretty.

 

“Hey Ama, if you love this place so much, why haven’t you somehow brought it to your place yet?” (Keeno)

 

{Dead Zone aside…I don’t know. Guess it was just laziness.  Always thinking I can figure it out at some other point in time that never really got to it.}

 

“Then how about you go figure that out while we take care of this and once we’re done you can bring it there?” (Keeno)

 

{Might as well. Hey Moco, watch over them for a bit, I’ll be back in a bit. Gotta see the gods of transportation for a bit.}

 

“Okay.  Oh, this is gonna be fun to watch…aaaaaaaaand, my blessing is gone from everyone but Keeno’s people.” (Moco)

 

“Sounds interesting, but this first.” (Keeno)

 

We continued following the spirit until it faded through the wall of a building with thousands upon thousands of small fox pictures carved into it. They were all doing different things from playing to sleeping to any number of things that I found absolutely adorable.

 

“And I think I found my favorite place here.” (Keeno)

 

{I figured it would be. It’s my favorite as well, though not for the same reasons you.}

 

“What’s the reason you like it so much?” (Emma)

 

{You’ll see.}

 

It took us a few minutes, but eventually we found the entrance to the tower. The door was quite big and it was an elaborate one that looked like two multi-tailed foxes blocking the entrance with their tails. When the door opened, it made the foxes look like they were bowing down to the one entering the building.  The inside of the tower was dark, but there was enough light coming in from the door for me to see some spots to light some fires.  I snapped my fingers and the spots I saw lit up with blue flames that started to spread up in spirals.

 

“Is there anything these people made in a non-artistic way?” (Emma)

 

{Nope.}

 

“Weren’t you going somewhere?” (Keeno)

 

{I’m about to, I have to make myself presentable, it takes time.}

 

We started walking up the stairs following the fire. It took quite a while to climb all the stairs, but we finally made it to the top, and once again we were amazed.  It was like a meadow in full bloom, like the gardens in the castle down below, but much more spacious and with a lot more to see.

 

“How is it possible to have so much in here when there wasn’t nearly as much space on the outside?” (Emma)

 

“My guess, some kind of space magic.” (Keeno)

 

{And you’d be correct. But now I’m really off.  I’ll be back in a little while.}

 

“Have fun, Ama.” (Keeno)

 

Observing the whole garden, there were several things that confused me, like how there was water flowing up from underground when there were no signs of any kind of pipes to transport it, or how there was a slight breeze blowing when there was no opening that I could see for it to come from. During this observation, I saw the small Death Spirit sitting on a rock while looking around. I walked over to it and it looked up at me before pointing in a direction. I looked that way and couldn’t help but start smiling.  Where the spirit was pointing was the shining core of the Dead Zone.

 

“Is that what you’re here for?” (Emma)

 

“Yep, now watch.” (Keeno)

 

I walked up to the core and stuck my hands into it. The Divinity’s pleasant heat washed over my skin as I started to absorb it.  During the process the heat began to increase and it felt like my soul was becoming the sun itself.  As the core began to decrease in size, I felt the weight at my lower back increase a small amount.  Once it was completely gone, I felt somewhat intoxicated.

 

“Hehehehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!  I LOVE this feeling!  AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!  I feels so bubbly.” (Keeno)

 

“My Lady, are you alright?” (Emma)

 

“I’m more than alright, my lovely Valkyrie.” (Keeno)

 

I walked up to Emma and gave her a big hug.

 

“Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever had the chance to properly thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Emma.  For taking care of me when I was small, to the help you’ve given me since I came back here. Honestly, I need to treat you better…and I need you to meet Red.  You’re going to love her, she’s adorable like Ortlinde and so fun. She really likes pats, so be ready for that…and…” (Keeno)

 

As I was losing myself in rambling, the intoxicating feeling vanished and I noticed something.

 

“Huh.” (Keeno)

 

I looked at a tree a little away from where we were standing and walked over to it.  Walking around it for a moment before jumping up to one of the lower branches and climbing up a little, I found a tiny orb about the size of my palm. I picked it up and hoped down from the branch.

 

“Why are you acting like you’re holding something?” (Emma)

 

“You can’t see this?” (Keeno)

 

“No.” (Emma)

 

I lifted the small object up to my eye and peered in. I couldn’t really make anything out in there, but I could tell that something was in there.  Figuring it couldn’t hurt, I channeled some mana into the orb and was immediately the scenery around me changed, though it was weird. I could tell I was still holding the orb, but I was also inside it, and after looking around, I noticed a familiar presence.

 

“Well, well, well, today is just full of twists and turns one after another.” (Keeno)

 

“I quite agree, though this visit is unusual. Did you cause all of that shaking?” (Fafnir)

 

“Probably, but this is also good. You’ll never guess what I found.” (Keeno)

 

“Oh?  Don’t leave me in suspense, my descendant.” (Fafnir)

 

“Your reverse scale AND your skeleton.” (Keeno)

 

“!!!!” (Fafnir)

 

“And with your Spirit Realm in my physical possession as well, resurrecting you is going to be even easier now. I hope.” (Keeno)

 

“Then what are we waiting for!?” (Fafnir)

 

“Me to leave the once Dead Zone.” (Keeno)

 

“Alright then, I shall wait a little longer.” (Fafnir)

 

“See you in the flesh in a bit then, Fafnir.” (Keeno)

 

I cut the mana connection and my consciousness returned to my body.

 

“Well, that was an experience. Don’t worry about not seeing this, Emma, you might gain the ability in the future, but I’ll tell you about it all later. It’s time to go and finish the day off with a bang!” (Keeno)

 

“I don’t really get it, but I’m liking this personality of yours right now, so let’s go.” (Emma)

 

“Go for it, you two. Things are getting interesting and I want to really see things evolve when you get involved.” (Moco)

 

With that, Emma and I waved to the small Death Spirit and left the tower and made our way back to the others.

 

Chaos Realm:

Atmos: Ahahahahahahahahahahaha!  This fool!  AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Luna: What are you watching?

Atmos: That stupid Prince.

Luna: Kill.

Tamamo: Kill.

Kill.

Atmos: Yes kill, but come look, it’s hilarious how red his face is. It’s like looking at a tomato, a red apple, and a festering wound at the same time. Like, how has he not popped yet?

*Everyone present turns to see*

Everyone: Pfft.  Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Atmos: RIGHT!? It’s hilarious!