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A Tail's Misfortune: B4 — 12. Prison Break
🕑 Added 2020-12-25 07:37:29 +0000 UTCPOV :
1. Sora Moore (Our Vulpes Founder with a new daughter to protect)
2. Tola at the end (the Blue Seat Councilwoman)
Google Document (In-line Comments)
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Sora’s green eyes moved between the council and her friends; every human and Vulpes that Niomie teleported here were back at their original locations. The Indigo-furred Vulpes was still trapped inside the transparent shell Sora created around her while Phebe and Hallaway waited; after the decree, there was nowhere to run and nothing anyone could do.
Taking a deep breath, Sora’s focus shifted to the green seat; Hallaway seemed to be the most stable of the three. Phebe was still trembling, glancing between the others as if they were body snatchers, while Niomie’s expression revealed her fury.
“Okay … let’s all just calm down and talk about this.”
Her focus moved to Ella, the violet-haired Vulpes’ small smile and weaving tails seemingly more cheerful than Sora would have thought they’d be. “I am more than content with listening second hand; if I could get started on the library within Niomie’s district, then we might be able to discover more answers.”
Githa yawned, scratching her stomach. “No need, really … Sora could just use the city’s magic to compel answers from the Vulpes. Done. Easy.”
The thought hadn’t occurred to Sora, but that’d go against her own rule. “I don’t really like that,” Sora mumbled. “I’m really not here to try and take over your Realm. All I want is to figure all of this out, be safe, and leave without causing you further trouble.”
“I like that,” Bethel smiled.
Mofupsi hummed softly, shifting in her yellow seat. “None of this really interests me … I wanna go back and take care of stuff that I got goin’ on.”
“The Festival?” Tola asked with a furrowed brow. “It might not be that important.”
She shrugged. “I like the Festivals.”
Tola’s blue irises darted to her.
“Uh … yeah, I mean, you’re not hostages!” Sora swiftly replied, wanting to bite her tongue as she said it. “Well, I mean … I guess everyone’s kind of my hostage right now until we figure out this Loral business. Yeah … if you want to talk, then just send Tola a message, but I’d like to talk to you, Hallaway.”
“If a Founder asks, I will oblige,” Hallaway responded, giving her a strained smile.
Yeah … that was a jab to the gut…
Sora was a little surprised when Mofupsi, Bethel, and Phebe teleported back to their respective sections of the tower.
Ella cleared her throat. “Ahem, might I suggest we start immediately, Mary, Ashley?”
With their consent, Sora dropped the barrier around Niomie to return to her section of the palace with the three. “... This is a mistake … Founder.” Parting with a scathing tone, Niomie vanished with Ella, Mary, and Ashley.
“Hmm … what now?” Hallaway asked, tight hands folded across the table front.
“... I’m going to try some things,” Sora mumbled, weaving her magic toward the City Core.
“Mmh … not a bad attempt,” Hallway replied with a forced laugh, seemingly knowing what she was trying. “At least you are sure.”
The City Core rejected her effort to draw Loral to their location, reveal where she was, a search for foreign individuals only showed her a mental image of themselves, and shockingly Fen, far off in another village, starting trouble. She’d completely forgotten about the woman, which added another headache to her growing list.
Jin and Eyia were drawn inward, pondering something. Nathan appeared to be in Kari’s boat, waiting for her next move. Aiden was utterly disinterested in the entire conversation, occupying himself with the stars. She’d already returned Brandon and his kids back to the room to play, and Emilia was holding Sora’s left hand with an expression on her face that said all of this was her fault.
This has just spiraled out of control since we’ve gotten here … there is something hidden deeper in this Realm I need to figure out, and it must be older than whatever Loral has to do with … but if a mass-murdering crazed creature is loose, then that affects us, too. If Loral made herself immune to all restrictions using my access, we’re all in trouble, but there’s nothing we can do about it anyway.
She’s won before we even knew what we’re dealing with. I still don’t know exactly what we’re dealing with! Ella is getting some answers, which will take time, but Hallaway can also help jumpstart that process. First thing’s first, though…
“Aiden…”
“Hmm?” His dull eyes darted to her.
“You don’t really want to be here. Do you?” She asked.
“Nothing much I’m good for. I don’t know … I just don’t want any part in messing with this place.”
“I can understand that,” Sora sighed. He’d messed with so many people’s lives, she couldn’t really force him to stay against his will. “Wanna just go where Brandon is?”
“Sure, but I’ll probably just wander … think more.”
“Yeah, okay…”
With the desire, she sent him to the room, turning her focus back to the others. “Anyone else feel like doing their own thing?”
“Umm … I’d like to go hang with Aiden,” Nathan offered with a short chuckle. “I just don’t feel like he should be alone.”
“Thanks.”
Sending him to Aiden’s side, she looked at each of the others. When no one spoke up, she breathed out a long puff of air, returning her attention to the silent green-furred Vulpes. “Hallaway, I didn’t mean to release Loral, or whatever it is that happened to free her. Can you explain why this is such a bad thing … in a way we’d all understand?”
Emilia’s worried eyes, soft groan, and squeezing hand told Sora her daughter was agitated that she’d taken on the full load of letting Loral go.
Hallaway didn’t respond right away, green irises moving to Tola before moving back to Sora. “Hmm … as you must have guessed, and rightfully questioned, Phebe, Niomie, and I have lived long past our functional years, lacking the means for immortality. We lived on the Indigo planet, Ryominia was its name, and we lived in harmony … not as the world we live in now, but with a familiar tone.”
Eyia’s cool eyes were centered on Hallaway, speaking up at the end of her sentence. “Was the spiritual-linked seal on all of the Vulpes during that time?”
Hallaway shook her head. “No … that was actually crafted by one of the previous Council Members … who of which I couldn’t say. Phebe and I were no older than three and six years old at the time of The Great Purge, unable to even take on human form. It was not so prevalent when we first arrived … however, as time passed, it naturally spread, mother to son and daughter.”
“Convenient,” Jin mused. “An entire population that would eventually do everything requested of them … following the perfect little order you constructed afterward.”
“You couldn’t remove it?” Tola asked with a bit more anger than Sora would have taken the woman for.
“There were … side effects that came as we tried,” Hallaway mumbled. “We don’t know how … perhaps one of your predecessors, Tola, that added things … tacking weaves on that would further spread over the hundreds of thousands of years. You see … Niomie isn’t the most gifted at magic … quite the opposite, as the Nekomata has pointed out.”
Githa snickered.
“I surpassed Niomie’s skills long ago, and still, navigating the level of weave through even a single Oltera Nexus is … difficult. For thousands of years, I’ve slowly been working at undoing the damage within my own part of the city.”
“Sora can do it without a problem,” Jin replied with a windward smirk.
Hallaway’s eyes widened, focus moving to her in disbelief.
“Well,” Sora mumbled, “my aunt showed me a simple trick … she said trying to do all the complicated stuff was way beyond what I could handle, but … simply letting it fall apart on its own inside the Oltera Nexus worked fine, too … just slowly remove it like stitches from a single thread.”
Hallaway’s eyes fell to the table, fingers tightening around each other. “That … makes so much sense … and it’s so simple.”
“The answer is satisfactory,” Eyia replied. “What of this force within the planet?”
“Oh, yes, what about that?” Jin asked, and Githa seemed to be listening intently for this answer.
However, Hallaway just shook her head. “I’ve never questioned it. The force has existed within every planet … or I assume so. I recall it on Ryominia.”
“Huh…” Githa leaned back with a dissatisfied expression. “Seven hundred thousand years, and you guys know squat. Disappointing … oh, how did you live that long?” She asked with a mischievous grin. “Even if you stole bodies, your spirit would have degraded over that much time.”
“... The Sea of Spirits,” Hallaway replied, shifting in her seat.
“The what?” Tola questioned.
“There is a layer underneath the world … only accessible through the tower. It holds the spirits of all the Vulpes that have died within the Realm.”
“It’s a lie…” A tingle shot down Sora’s spine at Githa’s stunned tone. “That many … just beneath…” A lump dropped down her throat, clawed fingers creating dull scraping noises against the table. “The amount of power that could be extracted…”
“Such a construction is … troubling,” Eyia replied, showing a great deal of displeasure.
“Mmh … not really my specialty,” Jin mumbled. “What’s the breakdown, and what do you do with it?”
Eyia was the one to respond. “It has been done within Asgard's history … the power of a spirit without form to mediate can be great, and if one had a pool that trapped every dead human in a purgatory, more importantly, Vulpes with high spiritual capabilities, then the energy output would be enormous.”
“How long has it been in use?” Githa quickly asked.
“... We did not construct it,” Hallaway replied, showing mild surprise at their outburst.
“No, of course, not,” Githa sighed, scratching her twitching left ear. “Did no one know about it before the big whatever event happened?”
“I don’t know…”
Githa groaned. “Useless … so much power. If it’s been in operation since the start … oh, that’d be bad.”
“What?” Sora, Eyia, and Jin asked, everyone now focused on the cat.
“... You’re kidding?” Githa asked, eyeing Eyia and Jin in disbelief before turning her serious color speckled eyes to Hallaway. “How full is it … is it on the other planets, too? No, it’d have to be … the power leaking out of the planet needs a source to fuel it. How full is it; you said it was a sea?” She demanded.
“It’s near the entrance to get into the area? We had to raise the platform and craft our own bathing font since it has risen over time.”
Githa’s tails were stiff with alarm. “That’s … of course, a Founder’s Realm would have such a massive holding capacity, but … for what purpose … stupid, stupid foxes…”
“What?” Sora asked.
“We don’t know how to utilize it … only Loral knows,” Githa whispered with irritation. “Do you realize what that stupid fox did?” She asked Hallaway.
“Niomie?”
“Yes, who else is so stupid?” Githa growled. “This entire Realm was designed to be a reactor … a First Generation level reactor, and it’s nearing max capacity!”
Hallaway’s eyes were defocused. “Oh…”
“My grandmother built it?” Sora asked, vision shifting over to view the enigmatic statue that changed depending on who looked at it.
“Probably,” Githa grumbled. “I can’t imagine the Second Generation building something like this that long ago … accelerated time, spirit gathering … a Realm of spirits reaching its breaking point … no wonder those jerks outside can’t get in. If it blows, then … the shockwave will ripple through all linked Realms to Earth … an apocalypse level event for countless Realms that use the Earth Realm as a stabilizing point.”
“Inari wouldn’t let that happen, though, right?” Kari’s questioning amber eyes darted to her. “Is that why she told you to find this Realm’s secret?”
Jin waved her hand dismissively. “You can’t count on Inari to save the Earth; something like this wouldn’t affect her since she doesn’t need to use Earth as a stabilizer. All of her Realms are independent of any others; the same for all the big names. They might have a gateway open, but that would only disrupt the access point; it wouldn’t hurt their Realms.”
“Indeed,” Eyia replied. “This would have no effect on any being powerful enough to weather the attack and could work in their favor to flush out their opponents. Allowing this Realm to collapse would provide the opportunity for good strategic maneuvering for eons to come.”
“Wonderful,” Sora sighed, scratching her temple with her free hand. Emilia had been listening to everything with growing dread that all of this was her fault; Sora squeezed her fingers to let her know she was fine.
The strength hidden within this Realm is so strong that the Fenris Brothers can’t brute force their way in, which means they need to somehow find a loophole to bypass the Red Gate. At least we know we’re safe … in a soul reactor about to go critical, but…
“Umm … how long until it breaks down? I mean, it’s been doing fine for ages, right? Can’t it last another thousand or more years?”
Githa shook her head. “Probably before we came, but with someone like Sköll pounding at the gate … just a tiny crack from a wiggle in the Realm could disrupt the pool, then,” she threw her arms out, “boom!”
Sora licked her lips, puffing air through her cheeks. “Okay … the spirits are used for something, right? Does that destroy them?”
Eyia shook her head. “No, they are currently in a state of stasis, purgatory within the guarding walls of the well.”
“In other words,” Jin butted in, “they’re in a space that grants spiritual immortality at the cost of complete inactivity. However, that doesn’t mean they stop generating energy to be used … it’s a complicated type of magical machine that requires, well … yeah, Founder level magic and know-how.”
Githa shook out her hair with a low groan. “So much power to themselves … and they waste it on repairing their long-term spiritual damage?! It’s maddening!”
“That’s how they’ve lived for so long?” Tola asked with a soft frown.
“Oh, absolutely not just that,” Jin hummed, seemingly still pondering other matters. “If I’m following, they’d still need a new body every twenty to forty thousand years.”
Tola’s vision narrowed, glaring at Hallaway. “The Council Artifacts only grant us longevity for thirty-five thousand years … that’s what the last Blue Seat told me.”
“Not a lie,” Hallaway replied, returning the scowl with a mournful tone. “You could live twice that if you took another body before needing rejuvenating at the Sea of Spirits. Our attendants are groomed for the task and accept it as an honor to keep stability within the Realm … at least, that is how I have done it over the eons. I cannot speak for Phebe and Niomie. Their spirit is removed and placed in the sea with the utmost care.”
It was better than forcefully sealing their forms, but it did repulse Sora a bit that the person she was looking at was once a Vulpes that had a different spirit and Intelligence inside it.
“... So, if I’m following this,” Kari mumbled, “we’re in a big nuclear spirit reactor that’s got a lot of juice, and it’s ready to blow because of whatever Loral … or maybe, Niomie did that killed all the previous Seat members that knew how to function the reactor. Right?”
“Basically,” Githa sighed, slumping to the table. “Which means Loral’s the only one that can tell us how to make this thing function.”
“No,” everyone turned to Tola as the blue-haired woman continued to glare at the green council member. “There must be another way we can learn about how this Realm operates. You three have hidden so much from so many members of this table. What else aren’t you telling us?”
“... There are great libraries on this world. I cannot say if the others were destroyed on the other planets, but a vast repository is located here.”
Sora’s left eyebrow lifted. “Uh … okay, but what about Loral’s … dang it!” She growled, mixing up the names again and causing Eyia and Jin to chuckle. “What about Niomie’s library?”
“Yeah, I’d see her keeping all the good stuff close by,” Kari nodded.
“I can’t say,” Hallaway sighed. “Niomie has a difficult time with a lot of the books in the library since they are for advanced Vulpes magic … at least, that is what she told me long ago. It was a place where the great Vulpes of old would gather to do research on new weaves of magic.”
“A magical college?” Emilia squeaked, eyes lighting up to learn more.
Eyia snickered. “You must learn to squirm before running, my cute little Sleipnir.”
“I-I know…” Emilia whispered, cheeks darkening as everyone smiled at her.
Sora was a bit surprised by the Valkyrie’s use of a pet name and had no idea what a Sleipnir was. “Yeah … we’ll get you there,” she encouraged, leaning over to nudge her daughter. “You can’t go passing me up that quickly; I’m gonna need to do a little studying up myself!”
She fell silent as Tola continued asking Hallaway questions about the past that didn’t really interest her. Eyia and Jin got into a conversation with Githa about what the reactor could be used for, and Kari simply watched her, puffy black wolf’s tail flicking with agitation.
I must have the needed knowledge and resources to do what Inari planned … which means this library will be an important part of my learning process. Perhaps it is the best option.
Her gaze shifted to Emilia; her daughter had been a lot more agitated by something than Sora thought she should feel. She’d told her it wasn’t her fault; it wasn’t like she had much of a choice, but it might have been something else. One particular scene popped up from the memories she’d seen from her daughter’s encounter with Loral, and the woman’s lilting voice played in her mind as she magically forced the memory to return.
… Oh, Dear, I’m afraid that won’t be possible. Even if you tried, I can tell you with certainty that the attempt would kill you both with your untrained hands. Your mother is far more talented than you, it pains me to say, and even she is unable to utilize such magic without the system’s aid. Now, hurry up!
… Loral seems somewhat preoccupied with the talent and skill someone possesses. She even mentioned it to Niomie to taunt her. The statement about the council being dimwitted, unable to tell a seal from an embargo is another point to consider.
“Yeah…” Sora’s statement to the room cut everyone’s conversation. “I’m gonna need to see this repository for myself, and maybe … yeah, it’ll be a good time to help my daughter with her magic, too! We can go to school together. Sound, fun?”
Emilia’s eyes sparkled. “Mhm! Mhm! Real magic?”
“Well, it seems Loral taught you how to stabilize your magic…” Saying it out loud put a bitter taste in her mouth, like allowing another woman to teach her baby how to walk while not even being allowed to participate. “... Yeah, let’s learn some fun magic together!”
“Yay! Thanks, Mom!”
Sora smiled as she scooted her chair to the side to hug her, eight long tails wrapping around her chair back to entangle her Sora’s. “Hehe … yeah, it’ll be fun. Auntie Kari will be joining, too!”
“Of course I’m going,” Kari huffed, lips pushed to the side.
“Auntie Jin and Eyia, too?” Emilia pushed, trying to squeeze her to death.
“Of course! Okay, okay, take us there, Hallaway.”
Tola swallowed. “Umm, Sora…”
“Yeah, you, too, Tola. That’s fine, but uh … can you sense the others if they reach out?”
“I will.”
“Great!”
The green-furred Vulpes cleared her throat. “... I’m afraid I’m currently blocked from leaving the Capital.”
“Oh, right, right … there, we’re good to go.”
Hallaway’s magic encompassed them, and they were taken to a massive hall that seemed to stretch for eternity, volumes lining the walls, reaching high into the sky with multiple levels that could be seen further up.
Sora stood in stunned silence, spinning around to see the colossal library. “Wow. … it’s so large.”
Only Hallaway didn’t react to the large space of learning, and Tola gasped, “The wisdom that you’ve hoarded to yourselves … why?”
“To not repeat what happened in the past.”
“The thing that you don’t know about?” Githa snickered. “Stupid, stupid.”
“Agreed,” Tola mumbled, moving to a table to study the books and scrolls lining it. “... So much to explore. There must be answers here! Hmm … is it alright if I search for answers, Sora?”
Sora released a long groan, watching the woman pull back her light blue hair with a questioning gaze. “I told you; you’re not my slave.”
Tola giggled. “Right … I’ll go on ahead. I want to see what other levels and how things are organized.”
“... I could…” Hallaway’s voice trailed off as Tola vanished, seemingly not wanting any help from the elder Vulpes.
“Umm … how do you figure out where anything is?” Sora asked, feeling more than a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume before them.
Eyia, Jin, and Githa were already scanning through books.
“Sweet, it’s automatically translated,” Jin mused, “... and yet, complete gibberish at the same time. Impressive…”
“Most impressive,” Eyia returned, deep blue eyes scanning a scroll on a table.
“Blah, boring, stupid, weak … oh…” Githa grumbled, shoving books aside while scanning between covers before stopping on a thick scroll. “Hehe…” She picked it up and scampered over to a chair to unfold it in her lap, tails weaving back and forth. “Mm-hmm-hmmm.”
Kari was doing a bit of her own exploring, but the various architectures and furniture were what caught her eye.
Hallaway ushered Emilia and her to a different table. “If you ask for a subject, the magic fused into the repository will give you the closest thing to your desire.”
“Oh … real similar to my own magic,” Sora commented, asking for a book on helping Emilia with the Outer Body Technique.
A rather thin book flew down from above to stop in front of her, and Sora opened it up to find picture diagrams and words.
Oh … is it that basic and easy … Vulpes kiddy books? Great … guess we can start here to speed things up in the long-run.
“Okay, Emilia,” she held up the book. “We’ll start with the Outer Body Technique, which is super useful to practicing safely in your Core!”
“Aww, I thought we were gonna learn real magic, though,” Emilia pouted, glaring at the book.
“This is real magic!” Sora returned. “Remember how I got all the clothes for everyone? I couldn’t have done that without this.”
“Yeah, but … you used different magic to make them from all those sheets.”
Taking Eyia’s line, Sora winked, “You must learn to squirm before running, my cute little Sleipnir!”
“... Okay, Mom,” Emilia sighed, sitting down on a couch beside her to go through the book. “… What is a Sleipnir?”
“Whi-donno … ask your Aunt Eyia,” Sora whispered with a weak shrug and forced laugh. “Probably some Norse mythological creature.”
“... Is it cute, though…”
Sora simply shook her head, unable to answer while directing her attention to the book. “Let’s get studying; maybe I can learn something new, too!”
* * *
Tola appeared in a remote village at the base of the Diamond Mountain Rough, causing a shocked stir among the inside of a house; the two single-tailed black-furred Vulpes inside quickly dropped to their faces, bowing before her.
“T-The Blue Seat!?”
“Lady Tola!?”
“No, no, please rise,” she replied with a warm smile, but it was hard to keep the annoyance from her voice.
The fact that such a vast collection of wisdom had been hidden from everyone for so long was more than a little vexing. She might have been able to free everyone from this curse much sooner had she been privy to such knowledge, and she was beginning to understand why Loral was so critical of Niomie.
Helping the two Vulpes to their feet, Tola sent them out, assuring them she would only be a moment and not to let her presence be known to avoid a commotion.
She sighed, using her magically enhanced perception to study the relatively small village. This area was designated to the bodies of those that were born spiritless, lacking an Intelligence and spirit to direct the living cadaver they were born to. It had been extremely rare at first, but over the ages, the process had continued.
It had been the first place she’d thought of after hearing Hallaway’s explanation of using their aids to keep their youthful appearance; the process sickened her when there were other options available, and perhaps she would be able to remedy the issue with the repository’s help.
For now, though, she had something to fulfill in this remote area.
“How … amusing and sad this Realm has become in my absence.”
Loral’s voice echoed through her Core, sharing her body with the deal she’d made with the creature shortly after being released from the City Core. She fully intended to inform Sora of her actions, but first, she had to fulfill her side, giving her a body, and with this method, no one would be harmed. In fact, it would be one less body for the villagers to care for.
Opening up a path for the Vulpes to travel through, Loral entered the body of an 834-year-old gray-furred Vulpes woman. This was the eldest vacant body in the Realm; it was a strange process that Tola hadn’t figured out yet. They naturally grew into their human form but didn’t gain any more tails, yet could live the full Vulpes lifespan.
The moment Loral’s spirit entered the body, blinding white light flared out from her tail-base, extending into fully developed nine-tails, and she opened her silver eyes. Lying flat on the bed, she smiled up at her, licking her lips.
“I … ah … ehamu … gah … ahem … there we go … just needed to alter the vocal box a little,” she whispered, stretching out her bare chest and limbs before rising. Loral’s tails weaved to the side stretching and twisting as she tested her new body. “You kept your end of the bargain … smart. Hmm … it will take some time before this vessel can be adapted to properly accommodate my power, though…”
“The answer,” Tola demanded.
“Hmm … yes,” her teeth flashed, straightening and whitening by the second to better fit Loral’s image of herself. “Seeking after immorality is not a sin, Tola. The method I sought to accomplish would have benefited the purpose of this Realm and all of my sisters on the Council. However, that talentless brat … Niomie ruined everything,” she growled. “… Did everything within my power to help that girl.”
“The event she talked about?” Tola swiftly interjected, trying to stay on topic.
“Ah, hehe … yes, I brought the death upon her interference, all while knowing the side-effects. It was a trivial price, in the end, the only method available to me. Did it cause that cataclysmic event? Yes. I did. Was it for a purpose? This very one! If I didn’t, all was lost … what a stupid girl.”
Tola’s vision narrowed. “Explain.”
“Hehe … so impatient. In time,” Loral grinned, “there’s much work to be done.”
Loral vanished, seemingly without utilizing magic at all, or it had been so advanced that Tola couldn’t sense it.
She released a low sigh, staring at the spot the ancient Vulpes councilwoman had been; the woman had explained to her a part of the civilization, shown her what the Vulpes Realm had once been. It was breathtaking, a golden age of magical advancement that made Tola feel she was playing with sticks and stones. It was free for all Vulpes, and even humans learned the mystical arts; so much had changed since then.
Loral could be tricking her; she was not unaware of the possibility. However, someone with the proper knowledge of how this Realm operates was better than a weak fool who would keep all around her blind out of what Tola could only assume was fear. Githa had not been wrong; Niomie was anything but competent, and if she wanted to rebuild the Vulpes Realm, she needed the aid of someone that had the vision and means to do it.
She explained that she had taken the body to the caretakers and returned to the hidden repository to explain herself to Sora.
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Comments
Martynas Samsonas
You know all this power, the words from your newest chapter in oscillation would fit her :D. Power without knowledge and wisdom to utilize it is limited and weak. They have a reactor with so much power that it's going critical but no wisdom to utilize it so it would go back to stable levels
Eyes wide
Yes
Frostbutt
Oh Tola, so cute but naive
