Kitsune of the Blue Sun

[Eblana POV]

After splitting off from the others I rushed through the tunnels, raising undead as I went so I could brute force the traps in the way of that room.  Several twists and turns later and I came out of the tunnels in the castle dungeons.  There were several people locked away in them in various stages of neglect. Some chained to walls, others so starved even the rats wouldn’t bother them because they wouldn’t sate them. As soon as I entered, all screams, yells, or pained moans stopped. I felt several eyes on me, but I didn’t feel the scorn or fear I usually felt when I came down here. Instead, the gazes were filled with hope and acceptance.

 

‘It’s like the other night…ah, I get it now. They know they are going to die, and they see me as the salvation they’ll receive once they do.’

 

Making a split-second decision, I asked several of the Death Spirits I knew were around here to take these people and end their suffering.  They hesitated for a moment but relented in the end.  Once their job was done, the silence that was charged with anticipation was replaced with solemnity.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The Spirits didn’t respond, but I got the feeling they acknowledged and felt happy with the praise. I cracked a small smile and began moving on. As I was leading my small horde through the dungeons, I felt a strange feeling in my soul and instinctively looked up.

 

“She’s getting stronger.”

 

I smirked again and started moving faster. I reached what looked like a dead end of the dungeons and punched the wall, breaking the illusion magic placed on it. I then made my undead flood the hallway, triggering every trap along the way.  Several of them when triggered made me feel chills as they cared powerful curses that rotted the undead that triggered them almost instantly while others either poisoned them or crushed them or melted them. The worst was when they finally reached the door and flooded the entire hallway in flames and deadly gas. Thankfully there was a barrier around the entrance that contained all of it, so it didn’t spill out.  Once all of it was gone, I was about to step into the hallway when I stopped.  I sent in a few more undead and the hallway once again burst into flame.

 

“…*Sigh*”

 

I sent in wave after wave and all of them were destroyed.  The good thing about this was that most of the undead could be raised again AND the flames were getting weaker every time.  Finally, after about 20 waves the flames and other magics stopped while my undead were finally reduced to complete ash.  Sending a small skeleton through the hallway first, nothing happened to it, and it touched the door without being destroyed.  Seeing that, I walked through the hallway.  I placed my hands on the door and pushed.  It barely moved, but I continued on.  No door could keep a dragon out when she wants something.

 

Getting annoyed at just how heavy the door was, I kicked it and it bent inward.   I kicked it again and it fell in a crumpled heap of metal.  I stepped inside the dark room, my core and the flame on my tail hardly illuminating the room.  I made several small flames and moved them throughout the room.  Even before they managed to light up the entire room, I saw glimpses of something that nearly made me lose my mind.

 

Once the room was fully illuminated, I saw it…her.  At the back wall, her arms chained up, crucifying her hung the limp body of my sister.  The light of her core and on the tip of her tail long since extinguished.  The body of my sister, who I believed I buried in the way of our people, chained up, missing scales and her horns, lacerations covering her body devoid of blood.  It made my blood boil and my mind nearly break in anger.  I slowly approached her body, gently caressing her cheek.  I pushed her hair out of the way only to notice her eyes and been gouged out.

 

“So, it was you, you useless lizard. *cough* It seems you’ve finally discovered the source of my longevity as well.” (Baldr)

 

“WHAT!!!???” (Eblana)

 

“*Cough, cough* You moronic animal, think.  That corpse tied up there is still full of draconic vitality, especially for one who was so attuned to Life magic.  I know you’ve known I’ve lived for far too long, but never questioned it.  You’ve seen me imbibe that potion.” (Baldr)

 

“…You’ve desecrated my sister’s body just to extend your worthless lifespan?  You took her scales, her horns…her eyes…what else have you taken from her?” (Eblana)

 

“Kukuku*cough, cough, cough* Who do you think ordered her death in the first place?  I grew up hearing stories of the Dragons on Life and Death.  I figured if I managed to capture either of you, I’d be able to do something to live forever. *cough* But those I sent to do so were too…hasty.  They heard kill, not capture.  Once they did so, I had them exiled, only to meet you years later at my doorstep, begging for a contract.  After that, acquiring its body was easy.” (Baldr)

 

I’d heard enough.  I didn’t care about motives, or monologues, or anything.  I just wanted to erase the mongrel off the face of the world.  Gently wrapping my arms around my sister’s body, I destroyed the chains holding her up.  Grabbing the spear Keeno had given me with my tail, I threw it at Baldr.  He smirked and the spear hit him in the stomach.

 

“Kuhuhuhu.  Your puny-guh.” (Baldr)

 

The spear had not embedded itself in his flesh but was enough to pierce whatever defense he had and wind his feeble body.  I walked up to him and, while making sure my sister’s body was secured, grabbed Baldr by the throat before turning my head up.  I built up mana in my chest and shot a breath through the ceiling, nearly disintegrating all rubble in the way.  I let my wings appear and, with Baldr in my grasp, flew up through the hole I crated.  Landing in the throne room, I tossed the old man onto his throne, and I struggled to maintain my humanoid form from the anger I was feeling.  I looked to the sky and roared, causing all the windows in the room to shatter and more of the ceiling to crumble more, opening the entire room up to the night sky.  The light of the moons couldn’t be seen due to rapidly accumulating storm clouds.

 

“Gah!” (Baldr)

 

He was reduced to a mess of coughing, recovering only for his palled form to wither even more when he noticed.

 

“T-the light of the Dead Zone…WHERE IS IT!?  WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” (Baldr)

 

His absolute despair made my anger slightly diminish as a scorn filled smile crossed my face.

 

“My Lady has taken what is rightfully hers.” (Eblana)

 

“So, you DID betray me.” (Baldr)

 

“I’ve been very clear I would one day annul our contract once I found someone more suitable.  I find the Goddess of Death a suitable new master.” (Eblana)

 

“Fool!  There is no goddess of Death!  You’ve fallen to a charlatan!” (Baldr)

 

“True, I am a fool…no, even lower than a fool, but you are the same.” (Eblana)

 

Conjuring my Soul Weapon, I waved it around and several stakes of purple flame appeared and stabbed into Baldr’s arms and legs, locking him in place.  I then received word from Keeno and asked her and the others to hurry here before my anger resurged once again and I killed Baldr.  Luckily, I didn’t have to wait too long since they appeared through the hold in the roof thanks to Mostima’s gravity magic.

 

When they landed in front of me, I immediately noticed the change in Keeno.  The most obvious being a fourth tail was now present.  Another change was the horns of flame present on her head in the shape of a crown and strange, ever-so-slightly glowing symbols engraved in strange patterns on her arms.

 

“We meet again, mongrel who’s claimed my wife’s power.” (Keeno)

 

“The monster from the arena…from those nightmares…” (Baldr)

 

Huginn and Muninn flew through the hole in the roof and landed next to Keeno, causing Baldr to flinch.

 

“Unfortunately for you, we don’t have time to mess with you, so Eblana…nevermind.  I’ll do it.  Pram, get ready.” (Keeno)

 

Keeno the pulled that strange spear out of her ring and walked up to Baldr.

 

“The name Baldr has a lot of history to it, though from all I’ve heard about you, you don’t do it justice.  You bring shame to the name.  For all your crimes against the people of this world, committed intentionally or not, you are hereby sentenced to death.  Your punishment will be carried out by Keeno Fafnir Okami, Goddess of Death.  With Amaterasu as witness, may your Soul be consigned to oblivion.” (Keeno)

 

Some of the strange symbols on her arms shone brighter and seemed to move onto the spear.  She slowly pierced his chest and we all saw the life fade from his eyes.  Almost instantly his soul floated out of his body, and she cut it with her swords.  Just as soon as she did that, the air all around us dropped in temperature.  It became colder than I had felt in years.  In front of me, small snowflakes drifted down.

 

“Hmm.  Like I said, Conceptual weakness.  As long as the one with the name Baldr is killed by mistletoe, then Fimblvintr begins.  Now, Death Spirits, bring me the Spirit Realm.  Eblana, it’s time to reunite you with your sister.” (Keeno)

 

I nodded at her and gently laid my sister down, laying her head in my lap.  Keeno and Pram sat on either side of her while two Death Spirits floated down, a small glowing orb held between them.  Once they got closer, and I got a better look at the orb, my heart skipped a beat.  The feeling it gave off reminded me of her so much I nearly began crying.

 

Keeno took the orb from the Death Spirits and placed it on my sister’s chest.  A golden power then began to flow from Keeno’s body and surrounded her, my sister’s body, and Pram.

 

“I’m starting.  Pram, use all the magic you can, just like last time.” (Keeno)

 

“Alright.” (Pram)

 

The golden power started to steadily flow into my sister, causing the orb sitting on her chest to be slowly absorbed into her body.  On Pram’s side a gold-tinted green magic began to shine, causing the lacerations, missing scales, broken horns, and missing eyes to come back.  When the orb was fully absorbed back into the body, the color of her skin slowly started to regain its glow.  I looked over at Keeno and saw she was sweating profusely as she concentrated on her work.  She suddenly stood up and moved next to Pram, placing her hand on her back and letting her mana and the golden power to flow into her.  The magic Pram was using fully turned gold and I felt the warmth of life to slowly return to my sister.  It was very small at first, but I saw her chest move as she breathed again.

 

“…” (Eblana)

 

The golden power enshrouding the three of them started to dim until all that was left was the light of Life magic.  My sister’s breathing became more rapid the longer the magic was used and soon the flame on her tail lit up.  I could see her eyes moving beneath her eyelids and soon they slowly cracked open.  It was the first time in a long time I saw the pale teal of her eyes.

 

“Loughshinny…” (Eblana)

 

“…E-Eblana?” (Loughshinny)

 

I couldn’t contain my happiness and moved Loughshinny up and hugged her.

 

“Welcome back. *sniff* I’m so sorry.” (Eblana)

 

“Eblana…” (Loughshinny)

 

She gently wrapped her arms around me, and I felt tears running down her face.

 

“Eblana…I…I thought I’d never see you again…I was trapped in this small place all alone…I heard all the whispers telling me to let go…move on…I was so scared…” (Loughshinny)

 

“It’s alright.  You’re better now, you’re back and I won’t ever let anyone touch you again.  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect you back then.” (Eblana)

 

Keeno and the others had made some distance to give us a moment, but that moment couldn’t last.

 

“Eblana, I know you are happy, but we need to get moving.  Things are going to start getting worse out there.” (Freya)

 

Looking over I saw that Pram was being supported by Freya and Keeno was being carried by Mostima.  Huginn and Muninn were watching with keen eyes in case any interlopers decided to show up.

 

“Eblana…who are they?” (Loughshinny)

 

“I’ll explain everything later, Lou, but for now all you need to know is that they are friends.” (Eblana)

 

She nodded and I returned my attention to the others.

 

“What’s wrong with Keeno?” (Eblana)

 

{Even with all that excess Divinity, she used up a ton of her own, so she’s gonna be out for a while.}

 

“…Ok.  Everyone needs to follow me, and I’ll get you where you need to be.  Lou, are you able to walk, or do you want me to carry you?” (Eblana)

 

“I don’t know.  Everything still feels fuzzy.” (Loughshinny)

 

I stood up and picked up Lou.

 

“Come on.” (Eblana)

 

I started to rush out of the castle followed closely by the others.  Since we were all occupied carrying someone, we relied on Huginn and Muninn to defend us for the most part.  There were a few times some knights or shadows came at us, but they were dispatched easily as we ran.

 

“Eblana, we’re probably not gonna see each other for a while after this, so I’ll say this for everyone, but be ready and stay safe.  Don’t make Keeno and Pram’s work tonight pointless, because they can’t do this all the time.” (Freya)

 

“I realize that, and I don’t plan on ever letting someone harm me or my sister like that again.” (Eblana)

 

We turned a few corners and made it out of the main part of the castle.  I saw several servants and other officials of the castle looking up at the sky.  Some shivering due to the rapidly falling temperature, others looking at the snow falling like it was some sort of never-before-seen creature.

 

“Eblana, you keep going.  Find Aslan and do whatever you need to do.  We’re going go where Margaret said we need to meet up.” (Freya)

 

“Alright.  I’ll get Lou somewhere safe and then look for him around here.  I wish all of you luck.” (Eblana)

 

They pulled away from me and Lou, heading toward one of the large gates to the castle.  I made my way to another tunnel entrance that would lead me to one of my safe places.

 

“Eblana, there are a lot of things I missed.” (Loughshinny)

 

“Hehe.  You have no idea, but now I have time to fill you in on every little thing.  For now, though, just rest, there are things that I need to finish, and you clearly need some sleep.” (Eblana)

 

“Nn…Just, tell me everything when I wake up.” (Loughshinny)

 

“Of course, my little sister, I’ll tell you everything.” (Eblana)

 

Chaos Realm:

Luna: …

Something up?

Luna: Doppelganger.

Yep.  You gonna find a way to tell that Reed girl?

Luna: Maybe.  On a scale of 1 to Atmos, how funny would it be?

Three Atmos.

Luna: Then I need to do it yesterday…and get Atmos in on it too.

Atmos: Call my name and I appear!

Luna: …Better entrance this time.  Still loud, but my ears aren’t ringing.

Atmos: Ha ha ha!  Even I can learn eventually!

Stop yelling everything you say.

Atmos: Oki.  Now, why is my name being called?  And why do I have a feeling it’s being relegated to some sort of rating system?

Luna: New joint project by the three of us, get Reed and Loughshinny to meet.

Atmos: Lou-who?  Explain in detail or let me see everything.

On it.