Chapter 22: Chapter 22

“Well done, you barely stuttered. Now explain” Queenie demanded, glaring down at the young Kitsune.

“…You know, I’d love to but I’ve got some-” Kiko tried, and then the rest just died on her tongue when Queenie turned up the glare from irritated to horrifying eldritch monstrosity. Though, maybe she knew, or suspected, but Kiko wasn’t quite brought to hysteria this time. It was still terrifying, but decidedly less so.

 

“Fox hunting is cruel, you know” Kiko grumbled, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to the uniform. From there she let out a deep sigh and looked to it. “I can’t tell you the specifics because I was unconscious at the time, but I…went to see my mum” Kiko said. She was aware of the oxymoronical nature of the statement, but that was part of the levity. “And got that while I was there” Kiko finished. There were a lot of details she had just never really bothered to work through in her head, and so they just floated there, waiting. The short, choppy explanation was clearly not enough for Queenie, but she seemed resolved to seek out the rest of the answers elsewhere and just shook her head softly.

“So Yeni has Shadow tails. Tsk, that’s all we need. The renegade Kitsunes are not to be trusted, Kiko. They are sneaky, conniving tricksters” Queenie would drop the whole demon form and go sit down next to Kiko.

 

“Are you just saying that because you and mum don’t get along? Because you were crushing on Drax and then mum got him instead and then left him? For some crappy but kind of understandable reason given the whole apparent brainwash culture thing that they got going on” Kiko asked. It gained an eyebrow raise from Queenie.

“How much do you know?” Queenie asked. In response, Kiko flopped down on the bed and stared at the celling.

“To preface, I get a lot of frigging hallucinations and strange dreams and shit like that. Met Drax the other week” she spoke. It was surprising for Queenie, since Drax was decidedly living-impaired at the present time. “And yes, he’s dead. Apparently magic hallucinations are a racial Kitsune thing. He told me about the left hip spot you have and everything” Kiko looked to Queenie who was blushing at the mention.

“Shitster. He found that out totally by accident as well” Queenie grumbled.

“He kissed your hip by accident, huh?” Kiko asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It was a complex situation, hard to really put into words. But, yes” Queenie was adamant that she was going no further than that, so Kiko blew out a breath and continued.

“Tai’Zian. I heard Yeni say it because she was bringing me back to SIR when you saw her. It didn’t mean anything to me and I tried to forget it so as not to accidentally say it. But, that day I passed out with the sword, I had a dream in the night. Or a memory” Kiko stared at the celling, trying to make some sense of her mind. “In the dream there was this guy called Za. The, hero of the Great War, I am assuming. Given he was using my sword. His sword. The sword. He fought a woman called Tari’Zian, and beat her with great effort” she more voiced words than spoke to Queenie at this point, who was shocked into silence upon hearing the words.

 

“And I’ve got a God in my head. Vanaet knows a lot, and while she kind of does overshare at times, she seems to know that half the stuff she knows is something that would mean nothing to me. Eteria says that Gods are nothing beyond us, but just really good at what they do” Kiko finally finished and just let all the tension go from her body and collapse properly onto the bed. Queenie, Tai, just stared at her for a few moments before coughing.

 

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“Well, I can see why you haven’t said anything about this. If it had been to anyone but me, you’d have seemed deranged. And with what you have been through, that is a real worry. But, this is not something that is wrong, everything you have said is precisely accurate. From the hip to the demon that fought in the Great War. Can’t say anything about the God though, I’m not really that kind of woman” Tai sighed and stood up, picking up the uniform and smiling. “You wanna keep it?” she asked.

“Would be helpful if I go visit her again. Though, I don’ actually know where she is given the whole being kidnapped while I was unconscious and sorta frigging teleported back here through secret Kitsune shit” Kiko replied, nodding. “Though, more pressing matters. What is a Goetia? It seemed to really mean a lot to Za and his men” Kiko continued, asking the only question that Queenie could really answer.

 

“Ahh. Well, they are a group of Demons far beyond their kin. A very long time ago, the Demons were led by a man who was a being of immense power. Something something, acknowledged by The Beast. We’ve lost what that actually means but apparently it was good. And he looked over his race and decided he wanted to branch out into the whole of existence, and so instead of one being that was very powerful, he decided that a group would do better than a single being. Reference to something happening that gave him this thought but we have also lost that.

 

So, he learned from a…crab…how to split his soul up into 72 pieces, and made what is now known as the Goetia. These demons then spread out to the twelve clans, and each clan made use of them how they wished. Some were independent, others were clan assets to be used to further their own goals. We’ve got entire library stacks of the fights they have gotten into. Which is kind of a shame because we don’t have a lot of more important stuff like where we have come from or the context required for stuff like the crab. The, priorities of people seem a little messed”

 

Tai’Zian finished her deep, lore-rich explanation to Kiko, who looked mostly asleep by that point.

“Hey” Tai said, nudging Kiko, who woke up with a start.

“Ahh! Sorry. So much bloody studying, it’s a tax on the brain” Kiko replied, shaking her head gently.

“Well you are eighteen. You should be studying. Only, school stuff not magic and combat tactics. I am grateful you came to us, though” Tai replied, moving over to kiss Kiko’s cheek. It was a gentle, tender thing, but Kiko felt something grow inside her. It was nice, that she had finally got her Kitsune mentality working on that bit of trauma. Not being with Tai was not something that appealed.

 

And so, to show her newfound appreciation for the woman, Kiko returned the kiss and decided to make the night one to remember for the both of them.

‘Kiko, I got…..ohh……you are busy……I’ll come back later’ Vanaet seemed almost abashed at the idea, which would have been amusing any other time. But right now, she was a bit preoccupied with a more preferred method of spending the night and didn’t have anything to reply to her little Goddess.

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