Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 67 – Stop Talking Over M-

[Ellaria POV]

“How did Celica get herself drunk?!”

The little light spirit that had just conveyed the news to me just continued to bob up and down slowly.

Just how much did she drink?

…

Was nobody watching her?

…

I let out a deep sigh.

I can’t blame anyone for that.

I didn’t even notice what she was busy doing myself.

“Can you ask one of Sister’s spirits to tell her Emissary about this? Celica really needs to be kept inside one of the temples until she sobers up.”

The spirit promptly vanished to hopefully do what I had asked before things got out of hand down in the mortal realm.

The last time this happened…

I shivered slightly as I recalled the memory.

…

Maybe I should ask Sister to tell her Emissary directly…

Right at that moment, I felt someone enter my domain, but just before I was able to see who it was…

“Ellaria! Help! It stopped working! But now it is working! But she isn’t talking! Help! I don’t know what to do!” Sister shouted as she ran towards me.

It doesn’t seem like this is the right time to ask her.

“Alright, just calm down a little,” I shifted over in my seat to make space for her, “Come sit, and then we can go through whatever has happened one step at a time.”

Sister hurriedly came and nuzzled in next to me, where I wrapped my tails around her. She immediately latched on to them, hugging them tightly.

“Now, what’s happened to get you all worked up like this?”

There was a brief moment of silence as I assumed Sister was busy trying to slowly put together the right words.

“T-The necklace… it just… s-stopped working,” She spoke slowly, squeezing my tail ever so slightly whenever she paused, “I was watching K-Kierra… then a man sat next to her, and the necklace just d-didn’t work anymore… I-I couldn’t even hear what was being said by the man… e-even just trying to watch her… I d-don’t know what happened.”

It stopped working?

That doesn’t sound right…

“Do I need to ask the Goddess of the Moon for help? If there’s an issue with the necklace-”

“No!” Sister shouted before quickly quieting back down, “I-It started working again… but… now s-she won’t respond…”

…

Did it really? Just like that?

If it stopped working like that, we should probably make sure it won’t happen again.

Do you just not want the cute little bunny to come over again?

…

Maybe I should test it myself.

“Do you want me to try talking to her?” I asked as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder to touch the necklace.

Before she responded, I brought up a panel showing what the little kitsune was up to at that moment. From what I could see, the sun was just beginning to poke over the horizon while the little kitsune was climbing back into the wagon.

It doesn’t look like anything bad has happened to her at least.

“… P-please do…” Sister looked towards the panel as she spoke, “I don’t know what to do…”

I pulled her in a little closer, even though it wasn’t really needed.

‘Little kitsu-’

Sister immediately moved my arm away from the necklace.

“Name… use her n-name instead,” She said before placing my arm back down on her shoulder.

If that’s what you want.

‘Kierra?’

‘…’

No response.

‘Is everything okay?’

‘…’

‘Sister is a little worried about you. Can you at least say something? Just so we know you’re alright.’

‘…’

No matter what I said she just wasn’t responding, even when I brought up Sister… nothing. That just wasn’t like her. I couldn’t even remember a time when the little kitsune had ignored Sister. She had always responded, even if it was nothing more than a quiet hum.

“Can you try saying something now?” I asked as I brought the panel that was currently showing the little kitsune a bit closer.

‘K-Kierra?’ Sister asked, ‘I-Is something wrong?’

‘…’

As Sister spoke through the necklace, the little kitsune’s ears started to twitch beneath her hood. She could definitely hear us, yet she was choosing to remain silent despite that.

Something must have happened to her…

…

Sister mentioned a man…

But she couldn’t hear what he said to her…

…

To be able to hide from Sister like that…

“Sister?” as I spoke, I guided Sister’s head into my lap in an attempt to keep her calm, “You said the necklace stopped working when a man sat down next to the little kitsune.”

“Y-Yes,” Sister responded.

“Was there anything special about this man? Something that stood out?”

There was another brief pause as Sister collected her thoughts.

“H-he just appeared,” She said, “From out of the trees… he left the s-same way.”

So he wasn’t part of the group?

“He was… I d-don’t really remember… ” She seemed to struggle as she spoke.

“That makes things a little dif-”

“A coat!” Sister suddenly interrupted me, “He was wearing a shiny coat! With all these different colours on it!”

…

As soon as the coat was mentioned, I knew exactly who it was. There was only one person who both had such a… unique fashion sense and could interfere with the necklace.

I see what happened.

He did exactly as he said he would in that note.

“Okay, Sister, that must have been-”

“ME!”

The man in question had arrived at the perfect moment, causing Sister to immediately tense up in my arms.

“-John,” I just finished my sentence as if he hadn’t interrupted me.

It seemed like my entire domain had changed colour as the light was being reflected off his coat, tinting everything in oh so many gaudy colours.

“The very first!” John shouted as he pranced around the place, “You two are just great! I love this domain, it really brings out my jacket, don’t you think? Not to downplay the other twin’s domain of course. It’s also absolutely INCREDIBLE! But if the three of us were going to meet there, I would have had to wear my glow-in-the-dark jacket instead. I haven’t brought that out in decades. It just needs the right place for it to really shine you know?”

“Could you-?” I tried to speak up.

“No!” He interrupted me again, “I chose this jacket specifically because I was going to visit the two of you. You two just wouldn’t understand it. There are so many different fun-looking Deities up here. Some have funky hairstyles, some have markings all over their bodies, there are even a few skeletons up here, and even ignoring all of them just look at the two of you! You have those fluffy ears and oh so so so so so so so so so many tails. If you ask someone what features I have all they’ll tell you is that I’m called John. If they’re really dedicated, they’ll specify the importance of the ‘h’. Granted, that is still an incredible compliment, but is that really it? You know, it’s not my fault I don’t have ears or a tail. But then, at some point, I realised. Some people up here wear fun clothes; even one of you two did. Those gloves with the claws, BRILLIANT! Though you stopped wearing them a little bit ago. Truly a shame… But this jacket! When I wear this jacket, everyone notices. Yes, that there is John. John is the one with the fantastic coat. Makes me fit in perfectly with the crowd up here.”

“John, please s-”

“I’m very sorry,” He stopped everything he was doing and bowed deeply, “It’s a hard habit to break. When you know what’s going to be said, you can’t help but just want to reply. You already know what you’re going to say. I already know what you’re going to say. I already know what I’m going to say. So I might as well say it and save us the time. But as you were going to ask oh so nicely, I will do my best to stop talking over you.”

…

“Can I-” I stopped myself, completely expecting John to interrupt again, but thankfully this time he didn’t, “-talk now?”

“Go ahead. I expected you might have some questions,” He put on this exaggerated grin that made even me feel a bit uncomfortable.

“What were you doing down in the Mortal Realm?” I asked, “I’m particularly interested in why you decided to talk to a certain kitsune. I’m sure you know who I’m talking about.”

He waited for an excessive amount of time before speaking.

“I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit after being sealed. Even if I wasn’t sealed wasn’t for very long, it just does something to the joints, you know? And you just want to get out there and move, not that either of you have experienced that of course. And you already know that little council that stops us can’t do anything to stop me. Just think about it, they use me to find out if anyone else is planning on making a trip down there. Without me to tell them, they’re none the wiser to my little excursion… Actually, you know what? I just remembered! I’m actually the head of that council! Of course they wouldn’t be able to stop me from going on a nice little stroll. I am them!”

At this point, Sister was completely frozen except for her heart, which I could faintly feel as it was pounding away against me. I could only imagine what was going through her head right now.

She came in here panicking, and right as I got her to calm down…

John just had to show up…

…

“John, you know that wasn’t what I was asking you about. Why did you talk to the little kitsune? What did you say to her?” I asked, making it clear that I was expecting an actual answer this time, “This isn’t like you. You don’t normally interfere with the Mortal Realm like this. Not in person.”

Once again, John waited an excessive amount of time before responding.

“That’s not for you to know,” John’s response caught me off guard; he’s not exactly someone known for being very direct, “What you can know is that I’m very grateful that you decided to take that one in. She’s a very special person. More than you could even know. I just wanted to give her my regards. It was due course with everything that’s happened. You two just wouldn’t understand it. Everything is just how I wanted it to be.”

What has that little kitsune gotten herself involved in?

…

What have we gotten ourselves involved in?

I ran my fingers through Sister’s hair, both to comfort her and to try to calm myself down.

“Oh, and don’t worry about this happening again… all too often,” John added as he came closer, “As of this current moment, at the very least, I don’t plan on repeating this stunt in particular. Oh, on that note, I actually had a request for the two of you. I need the two of you to keep doing what you’re doing. I thought it would be better for me to tell you in person to avoid a certain meltdown that might have happened in the future. With that, I think I’ve finished everything I had planned to do here. Next time we meet, I really want to go to the other domain instead, the dark one. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but I really want to get that glow-in-the-dark jacket out, and there simply isn’t a better place for it, not here or in the Mortal Realm.”

With that, John spun around, letting his jacket drag in the air before slowly back fluttering down.

He really just does whatever he wants…

…

And almost no one can stop him…

I let out a sigh as I started to prepare myself for Sister’s inevitable outburst, although it turned out that I was just a little too slow.

Sister suddenly shot up out of her seat and ran over to John, tripping just before reaching him.

“Wait!” She shouted as she latched onto his arm and pulled back herself up, “I-I have a question…”

“Go ahead,” John said as he turned back around, immediately locking eyes with Sister.

“Is… is Kierra going… t-to be okay?”

John once again paused; however, this time, he felt just a little different as a smile slowly crept its way across his face.

“I have no idea.”

What?

Isn’t it your job to know?

With that last comment, John managed to free his arm from Sister’s grasp before promptly disappearing. It only took a moment for it to be as if he was never here in the first place.

Sister crumpled back down onto the floor, completely speechless.

I quickly got down next to her and pulled her into my embrace, holding her tightly.

That kind of question can wait until later.

I’ve got an adorable Sister who is in desperate need of being doted on.