Kitsune in the Shadows
Chapter 115 – A Dreamlike Arrival

As we sat there, time just continued to move, albeit very slowly. By the time the sun was dipping below the horizon, it felt like we had been huddled together for what I could only call a small eternity.  The whole time, staying almost completely silent… after what happened between Ava and Cattleya, none of us were able to speak up.

It didn’t help that we had Elenia’s guard standing next to us at all times. There were a few times when some people tried to approach us, but all it took was one look from him for them to give up… More than that, he just never said anything, just hovering behind us silently… at times even making me think that he had left us, with even the sound of his breathing fading into the background.

It did make me wonder a little if it was part of his job to stay silent, but I wasn’t going to ask him about that. I couldn’t even bring myself to ask him for something to eat or drink, even if Elenia told us to, not that I had much of an appetite anyway. My stomach simply refused to settle.

The time also seemed to be getting to the people around us, with some even just falling asleep on the makeshift tables, splayed out and drooling until someone else took the time to wake them again.

‘Little kitsune?’ After so many attempts from me to reach either Ovia or her, Aria’s voice finally came through the pendant, ‘I just wanted to inform you of what’s been happening on our side. I want to reassure you that both Sister and I have been doing our best to find out what has been going on. And we have found something that’s caught our attention.’

‘What is it?!’ I asked immediately.

‘We’re currently reaching out to someone in order to get some help sent your way. That’s all you need to concern your little head about right now. Their name is Rya, I’m unsure if you’ve met before, but they’ll be able to intervene in our place.’

‘Rya?’

I did remember hearing the name somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember anything about them beyond that.

‘Yes, they’re the Spirit King of Dreams, Sister may have mentioned them before… even if I have my doubts about that,’ She said, letting out a barely audible sigh, ‘Now, I’m going to have to put this down again so I can keep monitoring what’s going on. I’m also going to send a message ahead to Celica, just in case she also needs to start making her way over there. Just know that we’re doing what we can up here.’

‘… But what is going on?’ I asked… but got no response; Aria probably had already removed the pendant.

Is it really something that bad?

I thought she said that it wasn’t a dragon?

Why won’t she just tell me what it is?

…

The moon started peeking up above the horizon, its soft light coating the docks in a delicate silver light. It was surprisingly calming considering the situation at hand… not that I was going to complain.

Not long after that, Elenia finally came back to check up on us, although she was looking quite a bit more distressed than before. Most of her jewellery had been removed, and her hair was going all over the place as if it had a will of its own.

“Are the three of you doing okay?” She asked, “I hope no one has given you any trouble.”

“No… It’s been alright…” Ava said unconvincingly, not even looking up.

“That’s the most we can probably ask for in this situation, isn’t it?” Elenia put on a forced smile, “It looks like we’re going to have to continue working through the night. Every time we thought we had a lead, it somehow vanished, so it’s been a little slow going… but that’s better than anything actually happening.”

The exhaustion in her voice was clear to me, but beneath that was a strange sense of determination.  Something I almost felt a tiny bit envious of in the moment.

…

“Did the three of you manage to get anything to eat?” She then asked, before looking up at the guard standing behind us for a moment, “No… I see. The three of you really should go and get yourselves a proper meal then. In fact… just pick a restaurant or pub for yourselves, consider it a treat from me. I imagine you could do with the change in environment right now.”

“… Thank you…” Ava said, not sounding any better than before.

“Look, nothing has happened this whole day. I’m sure you can afford to relax a little,” She chuckled slightly, though I can’t say it really helped in any way.

None of us moved.

…

In that moment, something unexpected happened: a faint haze started to form just in front of me. It was almost like a blue or purple dust with flecks of silver and gold glinting inside, swirling around freely.

That dust then quickly pulled itself together, becoming more and more opaque until it eventually formed the shape of a person. At the same time, I suddenly felt noticeably more tired than just moments before.

The person who had appeared was about the same height, if not a little shorter than me. They had large fox ears on the top of their head and a similarly large, fluffy tail that seemed to have a mind of its own. Her hair and fur were a familiar black, but had bright blue streaks running through it that each seemed to gently pulse with an alien light.

“Alrighty then,” The person said, her voice immediately triggering a memory of mine.

I had heard them before, but it was in my dreams… it was the other nine-tailed fox that looked like Ovia, the one that found me first in my nightmare… although the one I saw in front of me looked nothing like that.

“Wait, where is-?” She turned around to face me, “There you are!”

I was immediately drawn to her eyes… or eye, as one was covered by an eye patch. It was a dull silver, with a hint of blue only noticeable when it caught the moonlight in the right way.

“Rya?” Elenia questioned first.

“Oh, who’s this now?” The person spun around in an instant, “Oh, I remember you! It’s been quite a while, though… did you ever manage to actually fill a pool with gold coins? It seemed like quite a fun time when I caught you fantasising that one night.”

“Wait! That’s-” Elenia paused abruptly and cleared her throat, “Rya, what are you doing here? This is a long way from your shrine at the village.”

“Oh, that’s right. My Goddess sent me a message; she wanted some help sorting out a situation in the mortal realm. She asked me if I could send help, but it’s not like I was doing too much anyway. So here I am. I’ve just been pointed in a direction and I’m on my way there.”

“The Goddess?” Elenia furrowed her brow before mumbling to herself, “Is this really something that dire?…”

“Kierra?” Ava leaned in and whispered to me, “Is this something your friends have done?”

“Mm,” I hummed.

Rya then made a show of stretching, reaching high into the air as her tail straightened out briefly.

“Now, I’ll just be on my way then. It shouldn’t take me too long to fix whatever it is,” She then started walking away, but when she was no more than ten paces away, she froze and turned back around to face us, “It seems that I’m going to need a little help.”

“… Alright, what do you need?” Elenia asked, “I’ll do whatever I need to get this over with as quickly as possible.”

“Hmm…” She made a show of thinking for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the whole area, before pointing at me, “You. You’re the one who’s coming with me.”

“No!” Both Ava and Elenia shouted at the same time.

“If you have to take someone, I can send any number of able-bodied people to assist; there’s no need for you to take her with you,” Elenia continued.

“Hmm… no… That just wouldn’t work for me,” Rya said as she slightly lifted up off the ground, seemingly sitting on the air, “Her mana is by far the most compatible with me; the mana left in the air around here just isn’t enough for me to stay materialised like this. So I specifically need the fluffy one with me at all times.”

“I still don’t like the idea…”

…

Do we have a choice?

Rya had been sent by Ovia and Aria to help us… If all she needs is for me to be nearby… Then didn’t I have to go?

‘Ovia?’ I tried the pendant again, but once again got no response.

….

“If she has to go, then I’m going with her,” Ava stood up, moving in front of me.

“Oh? Hmm… I don’t really mind. The more the merrier, as they say,” Rya responded, floating a little closer to us, “Although I would prefer it if I didn’t pick up too many more, I only have so much time here and I’d rather not be interrupted.”

A strange thought then came to mind.

Why has no one else said anything about her?

Glancing around the place, no one seemed to be paying us any extra attention.

“Even if you go with her, I’m still against the idea,” Elenia said, “We don’t know what’s going on in there. I can’t in good faith send you out there like this.”

“I-I will go with too!” Cattleya finally spoke up.

“… That’s not going to make me change my mind.”

“It’ll all be fine,” Rya said as she leaned back in her invisible chair, “All we need to do is go into that forest and give whatever’s in there a little scare. It’ll get the message and move along, no problem. It’ll be no more than a little stroll for the… I think it’s four of us now.”

No one said anything, instead letting the sound of the few people still running around take over.

What’s actually going on here? Why am I being left in the dark?

Is it really that bad? But then why does Rya want me to follow her? What would I be able to do about something like this?

It doesn’t make sense…

I… don’t know what I’m supposed to do.

“Good chat!” Rya broke the silence, “But I’d really like to get on the move now. If I let all of this sit for too long, who knows what kind of earful I’d get once I get back up to the Divine domain.”

“No. No, you’re not going now. I’m not changing my mind about that,” Elenia interrupted, “… If you really have to go… at least go in the morning… Get a good night’s rest… then I’ll send someone else with you… But I still don’t like it… If I could afford to go myself, I would, but there’s too much I need to do here.”

“Tomorrow? But-” Rya started to float towards Elenia.

“I agree,” Ava interrupted, at the same time nudging Cattleya in the side.

“M-me too!” Cattleya yelped.

“…” Rya pouted, “Fine… but, Kierra? I can call you that, right? We’ve known each other long enough. You’ll have to put in a good word to you know who so that this doesn't come back to bite me.”