Chương 37: Book 1, Chapter 37: Kiku

"Now, let's get a good look at you," Kiku mused before spinning him around in her grip like a doll, forcing him to look at her before he could begin to process her insane statement about her and Yuki once being one and the same. He could see the "family" resemblance between the two; the mysterious kitsune had a motherly figure like Yuki and towered over him much the same, with his head only coming up to her chest, although her colours were entirely different.

She was a mix of rich purples and pinks with a white furred underside, and her tails ended in tips of deep royal purple. Her mane was long, bearing fur almost silver in colour if not for the mild purple tinge, although that was darkened towards the end, too. Even her dress was similarly simple; it was a cream coloured robe, although far thinner.

It was as if her fur had an effervescent shine to it in the light that kept catching his eyes, and it was entrancing in its own way, even if he was so uncomfortable that he wished he could escape from his skin or disassociate entirely. Where contact with Yuki had some element of comfort to it, her self-proclaimed sister's touch made him tense, like he was stepping through a field of landmines.

"Oh, aren't you the cutest little thing!" she cooed, tilting his head up so he had to look her in the eye with strength he couldn't hope to resist. They were a deep, oceanic blue and contained a frenetic energy that didn't reach the rest of her form.

"Now, I'm going to uncover your mouth, and we will have a nice, calm conversation." Her smile seemed gentle at first glance, but it felt painted on, or like an anglerfish's lure in a way that set his instincts screaming. She was dangerous, that much was clear, and she had him right where she wanted him. He couldn't fight out of this; if she had figured out how to stop him from attacking, there were better than even odds she figured out the weaknesses of his warding like her… sister did.

John had to play along; there was no other choice. As soon as he made his choice, the kitsune beamed even brighter and removed her hand. He nervously swallowed. How did Kiku know? Did she have some sort of mind-reading ability? He would have to be very careful with what he said and thought if so.

"Oh, you're just very obvious, that's all," she chimed, ruffling his hair like a disobedient child. Instinctively, he stretched his foot toward his flying disc, only to find it out of reach no matter how hard he tried.

"Go on, ask. I'm sure you are dying to know about me and my darling sisters. I pride myself on honesty." He tried to calm his hammering heart and find the best way forward to steady himself. At the very least, he could pry some information from her that may be useful later.

"You're the one who has been directing the tax collectors and the Nameless, right? They coordinate too well," he tested, eyes narrowing.

"The letter about leaving in nine days was almost certainly you, too. It was too specific. You assumed Yuki was taking the lead, and if you two were the same person at one point, it makes sense that you'd know her well enough to make predictions… especially when she didn't know you were involved."

"Well done!" she beamed, patting him on the head like one might their child. He tried to lean away instinctively, but her tails pulled him closer.

"You're a smart one, aren't you? Yes, that was me." The way she admitted to it carried that same cheerful lilt that everything she said did, causing an aching pit to open up in his gut. How many were going to starve? How many were killed for her to, what, feed some spiders?

"Why?" he spat, anger surging forth.

"Do you have any idea how many people you've hurt? How many parents will have to tell their children that there's no food left come winter? How many will find their spouse not coming home? How many elders will waste away in the cold alone?" Her smile, for a moment, flickered.

"I do not make these sacrifices lightly; this is a matter of triage. Every moment the Celestial Court rules the realms above, more lives are wasted on frivolities. The Nameless are broken to my will and behave better than most armies I've seen. They don't get bored and make their own fun. Individuals don't go behind their commander's backs and try to pillage the local population, nor do they have complex supply chain needs. If I could do this more sustainably, I would."

For just a moment, he saw the same concern in her eyes as he did with Yuki, and that scared him. It was applied to a broader scale, to populations rather than people, but on some level, that made sense.

"You keep not asking the questions you really want to," she mused.

"Wasting time like that is unbecoming." Urgh, she was even more like Yuki than he thought. She said almost the same thing to him a few weeks ago. He couldn't help but let his guard down a bit despite himself. Wait, shouldn't he be… No, it was probably nothing. Why was his head hurting? He shook it off.

"I… did mean to ask about the situation with you and your sister," he admitted, feeling somewhat in a daze.

"She's been… not the most forthcoming." Admittedly, he didn't press, as that would give her more reasons to ask him about his past, which he would prefer not to discuss.

"Of course she didn't. I would expect nothing more," Kiku scoffed, looking thoughtfully at something in the distance. A tense silence hung between them as she gathered herself, or perhaps she was just letting the moment linger to make him more uncomfortable. It was working. Despite feeling safer than he probably should be, John was still damn near a hundred feet in the air being gripped by a kitsune who had been controlling a horde of spider monsters in the woods.

"Once upon a time, a legendary kitsune walked the land. Fighting against the heavens. Righting wrongs. I was a… champion of the people." The way she spoke was airy, almost wistful, like she was recounting a story from her childhood, before her brow furrowed and red-hot anger manifested upon her face.

"Then, I was betrayed and cast aside into the depths. Stabbed into my spirit and body both were weapons made of impossible materials. Centuries passed alone in the dark, stone crushing me from all angles. I manipulated the dreams of scores of people to try and free me from under that damned mountain, but they were always stopped by the wardens of my prison." She laughed, and it felt genuine, no longer lighting his nerves on fire like her mirth might have before.

"Don't worry. Most of my targets were my wardens after they had to move the city away from the mountain's base. There were too many hardened killers with not enough morals for me to use for their liking. My efforts to free myself were for naught until that army of invaders came along. They were mighty, but unprepared. All it took was a few whispers in dreams of a hidden vault of powerful artifacts, and they besieged the mountain, eventually weakening my bonds enough to break me free…

or at least enough that I could tear myself apart." That frown was back again, causing a twinge of… guilt to form in the back of his skull, like her annoyance was his fault? It was irrational, but he still couldn't shake it.

"Did it hurt?" The words tumbled out of him before he could process them, and he wasn't sure why that was where he went. No, that wasn't right. He wasn't sure where his sudden uncertainty came from. Shouldn't he be showing empathy to her? She had clearly gone through something terrible. What type of person would he be if he didn't help someone in need like that? Sadly, she nodded, lost in a memory as her bright blue eyes dimmed, and he felt his heart ache for her.

"It was terrible; the pain was more than words can convey. Much like the Nameless, I tore my own Shape and Name to pieces… but I didn't destroy what I was. I split it into nine forms that were 'small' enough to slip my chains. Each of us only inherited a fraction of my original power and memories. Of course, that was four years ago now." Realization rocked him, and his eyes widened. How dare Yuki hide something like that from him? Her injury… it was never from her escape, was it?

She had manipulated him from the start! Anger coursed through him, but along with it was a torrent of unease for reasons he couldn't place. She had been loose for four years, and this was her port of last call.

"Oh, you're such a good boy," she cooed, pinching his cheek in a way that made warmth blossom in his chest as his heart fluttered. He didn't fight it.

"Let's get you away from this dangerous forest to somewhere more comfortable." No, he had to… What was he doing in the forest again? It was a blur. Had he wandered off?

"Yeah… you're right. Good idea, Kiku." It was incredible how soft and comforting kitsune were; it was hard to believe he used to be so scared of one. She tutted, gently grasping him by the chin and forcing him to meet her eyes. Her smile was warm as always.

"Not quite, my little pet. Say 'My thanks and good idea, Mistress Kiku.' It's only proper." Right, silly him.

"My thanks. Good idea, Mist—" It hit him like a freight train. One moment, he was in Kiku's grip, and the next, he was in the cold blackness of space… but there was no light, no stars. It was emptiness unto infinity, other than a ghostly moon that he could nonetheless perceive through the darkness, towering over him like a giant. It was a single baleful eye which stared down with anger and such hate, so pure and potent he could feel it soaking into his bones, but it was not staring at him.

No, it stared next to him, at some target that he could not see. Inky shadows swathed him, and it felt like he was being cradled even though he could feel the sheer danger emanating from them.

"You will not have him!" roared a familiar voice loud enough to rattle his eardrums. His vision blurred and warped, and the next moment, he was falling through the air, in Yuki's arms as he snapped back to reality, breaking whatever… that was. What had happened? Despite his earlier misgivings, he felt so… at ease in Kiku's arms. It all came back at once. Rin. The Greater Nameless. Yuki's fight with it. Where he was.

All things he hardly thought of during that accursed conversation, as if they were forcibly suppressed. Sick threatened to race up his throat as he realized what had happened; that Kiku had burrowed inside his mind somehow. It wasn't like he had often seen in movies or shows, where someone might see themselves as a spectator in their own body, piloted by a foreign force. No, she made him enjoy her touch. Enjoy her. Enjoy obeying. He could still remember how good it felt to give in, and the rush of praise.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. It was almost like his soul felt hollow without her, like a part of himself was scooped out as Yuki broke him free, but what was left in its wake was a deep purple rot that clung to the edge of that gaping wound. His mind itself had been violated in ways he didn't even know were possible.

"—Alright?" He spun to Yuki, shrinking away from the kitsune as she placed him back on his feet.

"What?" he asked, voice weak.

"Are you alright?" she reiterated, eyes full of what felt like tender concern.

"When I turned back, I saw… my sister kidnapping you." The last part was half-whispered, and the kitsune's ears drooped as her tails stilled. He flinched, and he wasn't sure whether he wanted to cry, scream, or curl up in a ball until the elements took him. But there was work to be done.

"Is the Greater Nameless still alive?" he stiffly asked. He could wait until later. His thoughts on Yuki could wait, too. The sound of branches breaking as it barreled through the woods back towards the clearing and the warehouse told him everything he needed to know.

"I'm fine," John lied before she could respond, taking a deep, shuddering breath in which he almost choked on, allowing that bit of weakness as he fought down a whirling maelstrom of emotions that threatened to pull him under. His words came out smoothly. No awkward hitch, no choked sob. His emotions chilled as he buried them once more. It was subtle, insidious, but he could almost feel something snap in his head.

"Do you still have what I loaned you?" he asked. Wordlessly, Yuki handed the magi-welder back to him, and he tucked it away in a pocket.

"How touching," Kiku said, and he snapped to face the terrifying kitsune, who now stood upon thin air a few feet above the canopy. Sadly, whatever Yuki did to break her hold evidently left her completely unscathed, although she made no move to approach the two of them. With a gentle hop, she dropped onto a branch and owlishly perched upon it, eyes on the pair.

"You are certainly intent on keeping him for yourself, sister," she blithely quipped, looking at John like a cut of prime meat. He shrank back under her gaze, and Yuki stepped in front of him, baring her razor-sharp teeth and letting loose a low, rumbling growl that resonated in his chest as her nine tails whipped from side to side." Don't," Yuki spat.

"You are everything that is wrong with our little family." She started to open her mouth to say more, but clamped her jaws shut with a click a second later.

"He knows, sister. I've told him where we came from," Kiku sighed, looking at Yuki like she was disappointed.

"Speak freely or not at all." Yuki stopped in place, unnaturally still as her tails seized in place.

"John," she said, voice quiet yet firm.

"I know you have questions. I promise to explain everything once we're safe." Could he trust that promise? Then again, even if he couldn't, he had no choice. Long, spindly legs reached through the shadowy murk of the trees, and the Greater Nameless stepped into the clearing, no longer unmarred. There were parts where it looked like some greater beast took a bite out of its flesh, and others where it was melted like plastic tossed into a campfire.

One of its eyes was missing, but it seemed strangely unbothered by this. A leg was bent at an awkward angle, too, trailing behind it uselessly. A veritable tide of its lessers swarmed around its legs protectively… but far fewer followed it than there were on that fateful day when John and Yuki had to flee. They seemed more organized, too, not spilling over one another and keeping a pretty tight perimeter. Why?

Those clearly weren't the extent of its forces, and it would probably want more than less given their prior performance. Moreover, why was it here? The men were presumably coming to deliver some of their ill-gotten loot, and he doubted all of them were "read in" to decrease the risk of them blabbing. Being present created an untenable risk of discovery or suspicion for the creature. Eyes widening, a sudden realization struck him like lightning.

It must have a tight range limit on controlling their puppets and the Lesser Nameless! Yuki had said it could control them from quite some ways away, but it also didn't possess the ability to look through the eyes of the regular Nameless, which she suspected it had at first.

Perhaps the Lesser Nameless could just follow previously given orders once they left range, but the puppets would probably be awful at appearing to be regular people; he saw no reason the small spiders would be miles smarter than their animalistic cousins. The lack of complex attacks rather than waves of meat might be due to that, rather than "only" playing with them. More pressingly, that meant it likely couldn't access all of its forces, but only what was in range of the warehouse.

"Nameless," Kiku cooed, "consider this a test of your ability to command. Kill my sister. Restrain the mortal." The kitsune leaned back, resting her back against the tree. The spider monster said nothing, but reared up and let loose with a two-toned and bone-shaking roar he could feel rattling the back of his mind, triggering a primordial fear that nearly drove him to flee on the spot. Recognizing it as an effect of Presence, he manually toggled his warding on rather than letting it be automatic.

Thankfully, it had more than enough time to recharge since he was sent flying through the tree, but he was on a timer now. It was still better than finding himself panicking. The spiders surged forth, and both he and Yuki acted as one, although independently. Whatever rapport the duo had established enough to keep them at least passably coordinated, even though no more conversation passed between them.

Yuki surged forth, skirmishing with the initial waves of the hordes as their commander plodded steadily from the back. John readied his gauntlet and fired a quick burst at the monster to take advantage of the fact that Yuki evidently weakened its Aegis enough to injure it. Unfortunately, before he could, some of the swarm at its legs surged up in a protective shell, using their own bodies to take the scorching heat for their master.

Webs burned and smoking corpses fell as they were burned through, but they acted as effective ablative plating, and he didn't land a single heavy blow on it despite his best efforts. Cursing, he glanced at Yuki, trying to ascertain her status. She cut through the front line, great clawed blows occasionally augmented by a flash of light or draught of abyssal darkness, cleaving through the monstrosities as they tried to overwhelm her.

Soon, the Greater Nameless pulled close through the tide, and as it raised up a leg to crush her. He didn't need to warn her, and she dodged back, out of the way… but he didn't miss the wince as she did. No, she was slower than she was at the start of this fight; there was no mistaking it. She was tiring out, but thankfully, so was the Greater Nameless.

That blow didn't come down nearly as hard as it would have at the start of the fight, only scattering dirt as it plunged through a few feet of earth rather than the spear-like limb coming down like a meteor. Worse, Kiku still sat on the battlefield, refusing to act. The flame-aspected mana was getting low, but his gauntlet's lightning had regained useful amounts of power from harvested mana. Still, he kept that in reserve, instead swapping out to his cold focus.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and he pivoted to see a small flanking force of Nameless coming up on his side, clearly trying to take their master's orders to capture him seriously. A few twitched fingers were all it took to freeze them on the spot, reducing them to freeze-dried sculptures with some bits of ice clinging to them in short order. Unfortunately, that was when he was smashed face-first into the ground by one from behind, the distractions having done their job.

John's vision swam, and he heard Yuki say something but couldn't catch it. Eyes unblurring, he saw a Nameless standing over him and tried to aim at it, but he couldn't move his arm. The creature's eyes were wild, and it hissed and chittered through its all-too-human mouth as it seemingly fought the urge to lunge at him, far too close to his liking. Its breath was as cold as the grave against his face, and bits of dark spit dripped down on his face as he winced.

Below, a quick glance confirmed that it was spinning another thick glob of web to dump on John to well and truly contain him. Grabbing at his pocket, he hurriedly drew the magi-welder, dialled it to maximum, held it under the creature's chin, and pressed the button. When he told Yuki it didn't work correctly on flesh, he spoke of its ability to repair something. After all, wood didn't care that it was melted and put back together slightly differently. A creature's eyes, flesh, veins, and brain all did.

Meat melted like everything else. The dark entropic beam tore through its Aegis like tissue paper, burrowing a hole straight through its vitals as its half-ethereal insides poured out like a disgusting, thick stew. The corpse collapsed on top of him, and only with herculean effort was he able to reach over and cut his gauntlet free. It was too heavy for him to move off, no matter how he grunted and strained, but his arm was free enough to get to his levitation focus and free himself.

Scrambling back to his feet, he saw Yuki beginning to get surrounded as she duelled with the Greater Nameless, and a spike of terror filled his heart, but she jumped clear, sailing through the air… and bringing down a crushing aerial kick onto the damaged leg of the Greater Nameless, severing it clear from the body in a spray of inky black with a single brutal blow.

The echoing shriek was otherworldly, like a chorus of damned sinners being fed into a furnace, harmonizing in their agony as Yuki landed on the ground and rolled away. The Lesser Nameless hesitated as their leader writhed in pain. He saw his opportunity. John slotted the lightning focus into the gauntlet. He knew putting this much stress on it was not a good idea. He readied it anyway, abandoning any presence of restraint and curled his fingers so it was at maximum power. Aimed. Held his breath.

Nameless swarmed over it as armour. It wouldn't help. The lightning would keep going straight through them. Closed his eyes. Fired. It was weaker than the previous bolt. It was still like being at ground zero for a missile as everything went white, and the only reason he didn't go blind and deaf was because of his warding. Thunder roared in his ear like a titanic monster declaring its dominance over the world.

His gauntlet burned, searing his flesh as he shouted out in anguish, lost like a raindrop amongst the storm. Hurriedly, he unlatched it, discarding it before he could come to his senses, cradling his burnt flesh, feeling the cracked, warped skin like he was meat left too long in a microwave. Cradling his arm, he blinked the spots out of his eyes… and beheld the monster in a heap.

His aim was off, but he had still almost cored it, leaving a hole the size of a telephone pole straight through the right side of its torso lengthwise, the scent of cooking rotted meat wafting from the wound. Nearby, the Lesser Nameless spasmed, convulsing on the ground as if trapped in terrible seizures. Elation soared in his heart, a wide grin spreading across his face despite the pain pulling at his mind with a thousand barbed hooks. Yuki stood off to the side, growling with tails lashing and still…

staring it down? The creature twitched, trying to rise on unsteady legs. No, it couldn't be! There was no way it could survive like that! He instinctively raised his hand, trying to make sure it stayed down, only remembering that he was disarmed moments later. Glancing down, he looked at the smouldering remains of his gauntlet and cursed.

"Well, that was disappointing," a husky voice said, and his blood ran cold. Kiku. How the hell did he forget about her? The kitsune hopped off the branch, a gentle, controlled frown on her face.

"Well, sister. I think we have to declare this round a tie. I'd prefer not to lose this particular follower quite yet," she sighed, looking at the barely living Greater Nameless disappointedly.

"Perhaps I was a bit too confident in it." Yuki growled, tails whipping behind her as she stared down her sibling, and John started edging toward where he had left his backpack to get at least some form of weapon for this upcoming fight.

"So be it," she hissed. His eyes widened.

"What the hell do you mean by 'so be it'?" he half-shouted.

"We're almost there, we have it!"

"John…" Yuki murmured, walking over to him. He stepped back before she could get too close, and fresh hurt flashed across her expression.

"We're both exhausted, and my sister hasn't even stepped in yet." He… couldn't disagree. Kiku shot him a warm smile, sending a shiver up his spine.

"Don't worry. I'll be back for you soon, but a lot of training went into this one, and I'd prefer to keep it. If Yuki killed it now, I'd have no reason not to finish her off and then claim you here and now." Cold terror bloomed once more in his chest.

"Fine!" he hissed at Kiku, forcibly tearing his eyes away to look at Yuki instead. It still felt like he was looking away from a tiger in the wild.

"Fine." To Yuki, his voice was a weak whisper.

"We'll deal with this back at the fort." Cautiously, he walked around the now battle-scarred area and gathered up his items, carefully avoiding looking at the corner of the field where he… fought that man earlier, and kept an eye on Kiku and the Nameless the whole while.

"John, I promise I can explain." Yuki raced over as he finished, and he had to fight not to flinch. Her stance was tense, her shoulders hunched, and her voice tight, like it was played on a single string about to snap. He took another breath to steady himself. His voice still wavered.

"When we're safe, you better tell me everything."