E15: Daughter's of Nature

It had been another week that had passed, and another picnic that was agreed to be held. This time, though, it would take place up north at Seika's place. Even with Anna, having a picnic outside in winter temperatures was simply too much of an annoyance. Mervana could not make it either, as she was one of the winter yokai that had to work.

Anna materialized the portal in front of Seika's home, snekking through it and burning a patch free of flowers. "Did you remember to send Herveen home today?" She asked Mizuki, seeing her head poke through the portal. "Of course, I am not that forgetful."

"I don't expect you to be Mistress," Anna stated, hearing rustling coming from all sides. A number of Seika's servants appeared from behind the forestry, wielding spears. They approached from all sides in a defensive stance, one of them going the closest to Anna. "Tu Mizuki et Anna?"

"Did you remember the line?" Mizuki asked Anna, pulling herself through while Anna talked back to the servant. "Nos sunt, nescio quid dico in latinis. Frumentum, pedes, aliis mauris quae." The wooden mask over her face and her sudden stillness made it impossible to tell if she had said the right thing or not. That was until she wasn't, giggling behind the mask while leaning on her spear. "Te sonus usus est interpres!" She said, the rest of the group slowly joining into the laughter.

"What, what did you say?" Mizuki asked, confused at why they were all laughing.

"I don't know…" Anna said, being tapped on the shoulder by the girl. "Mizuki, Anna, come. Leader awaits you," she said, the group calming itself down and surrounding the both of them. She escorted them to a temple that rose above the land, the birds and harpies barely flying above the top. She pointed to the top of the stairs, then called out something to the servants behind her. Two each started to lift Mizuki and Anna, but neither needed the gesture.

"No no, I can get up on my own!" Mizuki assured, simply floating herself off the ground and flying up the temple. Anna was a bit more forceful, setting them aside and going to a secluded enough space before shooting fire at the ground and propelling herself up after her Mistress.

They landed on a roofed platform, accessible by the long stairs on each of the pyramid's four sides. Of course, the others were already there, picnicking in the warmth of the tropical climate. Sana was the first one to notice them and waved her wing, her and Namaru scooting aside to give the two some space to land. "Did you enjoy the greeting party?" Seika asked, hiding her laughter in a tight grimace.

"It was very humorous," Anna said sarcastically. "I would love to know what I said if that is fine with you."

"Oh no, it is better without knowing," Seika said, stifling a chuckle. "I am just happy that we can all meet together again. You know, minus Mervana since she is working, and Nabu…" They all looked at Nabu's empty spot.

"Did Nabu say that she had things to tend to?" Sana asked.

"Not that I recall…" Seika replied. "Actually, I have not had any contact with her at all since the last meeting. Even then…"

"Silent right? Just a total shut-in," Namaru said. "Maybe she is having her own character development episode, I don't know."

"There is that word again," Mizuki said. "Episode. What does that mean?" Sana, Namaru, and Seika all looked at each other, then looked back at Mizuki. "You don't know?" Namaru asked.

"Not at all, this is the second time I have heard that word."

"Do not mind it then," Seika said.

"But-"

"Tomatoes!" Namaru yelled, before promptly getting her clothes burned by Anna. She jumped and swore, frantically trying to bap the fire out while the servants came up and pointed spears at Anna. "Non uti ignis in sacrum templum!"

"Non uit ignis your ass," Anna said, blowing the smoke out of her fingers. Seika waved them off, the servants slowly starting to back away. "How did you get so many of these people? It is like they are all one person."

"Well, I have what the mortals call a 'cult of fertility'," Seika said. "To put it simply, many couples, human and mamono alike, wish to bear children, and I can fulfill that wish~" Seika formed a ball of green mana in her hand, and just as quickly dissipated it. "I had to take a few networking lessons from Nabu, but after that, growing my influence was as simple as having a baby."

"Which wraps around back to our original problem," Namaru said. "Mizuki, have you and the pyromaniac seen Nabu?"

"I am sorry, we have just had so many other things going on that we missed out on speaking to her. I do hope she is alright though."

"Probably," Sana said. "She is probably just doing her character episode. Mine was pretty peaceful, aside from the Nureonago."

"So was mine. Although Nabu can't fly and doesn't have any powers…." Namaru said. "I hope she can hold herself if she runs into her. I heard that slime of a bitch has been attacking Yokai left and right."

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"So, that be a room for one," The kitsune receptionist said, writing the information down a slip of paper. "May I ask for a reason for the visit?"

"I have a meeting with the head of the resort~," The Nureonago said, juggling tiny balls of fire behind her back in her hand. She had a polite and cordial smile, but her true attention was hidden behind her facade. The receptionist didn't seem to pick up anything out of the ordinary, however, handing her a key to one of the residential rooms.

"Don't we all, right?" The kitsune said. "Unfortunately, it is a bad time to schedule for visitors. Our boss is a bit held up due to her duties, but the second-in-command can handle any issues that you have."

"I understand, it's just a small talk between us though," she said. "Yokai to Yokai, matters that go above a mamono's understanding. You understand, right?"

"I suppose I don't," the receptionist said, sighing. "I still cannot disclose her whereabouts, however."

"There is no need!" Announced Mervana, coming down from the hallway holding a bottle of Sake. "For I am here! Ha, haha."

"Boss you're drunk!"

"So you're the famed yokai of the mountain," The Nureonago said, licking her lips. "Just the lady I wished to see."

"Of course, of course," Mervana said, a drunken blush on her cheeks as she took another swig from the bottle. "Come come! Let us go somewhere that is more private for us."

She is just handing herself to me on a platter! The slime thought to herself, nodding. She could barely wait, but she stuffed her hands in her makeshift pockets, following the drunken kitsune down the hall. Although, she then noticed the number of tails that dragged along the floor. Youko usually have multiple tails, right? She thought, seeing a lonely tail swish along the wooden boards. A deity would most definitely have enough mana to warrant more than a single tail...unless….

"Wait, I wish to speak somewhere more public now," the slime said, stopping her pace. Mervana stopped ahead of her, standing there menacingly while faced away from her. Her aura could be felt damping and becoming overbearing, an invisible cloud of death that suddenly filled the air. Walls of ice rose behind the Nureonago and in front of the kitsune, trapping them both within the small hallways space. The slime backed up, raising her hands and forming gloves of fire around them. "Who are you!?"

"I could ask you the same question…." Mervana said, her hair and features starting to change. Her fox tail became more curly and goat-like, her body enlarging and growing wider. Her long, unkempt hair was shortened to a neater, more uniform cut. She took the blue, flower-patterned kimono off, exposing a green suit underneath. "I prefer to get a name to call you before any action begins," she continued, taking glasses out of her breast pocket and putting them on. "I apologize for the formal look, it is easier to wear these than my usual clothing…"

"I said who are you!?"

"The only person who understands you," Nabu said, turning around and brushing the hair out of her face. She dropped the bottle of sake, the bottle breaking into a bunch of ice, rather than glass and spilling any alcohol. "I asked Mervana for her powers before you came, I figured that if you were going to attack any other innocent people, a yokai with a resort would be your next target."

"I wouldn't call them innocent," she said. "Only mere obstacles in my way."

"And where has that landed you?" Nabu said, "Only Amaterasu knows how many other people have fallen to your powers, and now you have my attention." Nabu extended one hand out, walking towards the slime. "You cannot fight your way out of this, your only route is to comply." The slime stayed on guard, but she put down her arms, the flames going out around her hands.

"I suppose it is the best solution…" the Nureonago said, walking to Nabu and gripping her hand. "Unfortunately for you, you are the one that can't fight their way out of this situation. Ice!" She yelled, spawning a thick coat of ice around Nabu's body.

At least, she thought she did.

"Oh?" Nabu said, still warm and ice-free. The nureonago was baffled, gripping Nabu's hand hard and trying again. "I said Ice! Ice, ice, ice! Damn you!"

"I think you have to do it like….this~" In an instant, the nureonago was frozen in a razor-thin sheet of ice, then swung over the Hakutaku's shoulder. She was sent crashing down onto the floor, unable to use her slime body to avoid taking damage since her outer layer was frozen solid. She was tackled into a hard pin with the wind knocked out of her, Nabu keeping one arm raised, while, pressing her knee into her back and the slime's face into the ground.

"Impossible! I should have, gotten your power….." The nureonago said. She tried to melt her way out of the pin, but each break through the ice was met by it rapidly freezing her back into place.

"You should have, but you cannot do it to another mana-sutiru yokai," Nabu said. She pressed harder, the slime grunting as her frozen body began to crack. "If you are smart, you will start to listen now."

"Nev….eerrr-" The shadows they made in the hallway rose, forming into hands that grabbed at Nabu's neck and body to pry her off.

"Ah, so you have gotten this power as well," Nabu said, the arms appearing to not affect her grip. "What other powers have you, acquired child? Show me!" The nureonago just grunted some more, but with her body stuck in the ice, any other attack was mute against the weight on her. Nabu's hand started to glow, appearing to charge up something point-blank against the slime's head.

"I...yield…" the slime said while trying to wiggle her arm out of Nabu's grasp. She wasn't ready for whatever Nabu was going to hit her with, squinting her eyes as the white glow on her hand got brighter.

"Calm yourself, I am only going to look at your mind," Nabu said as if she was just borrowing a shovel.

"W-wait what, what!?"

Spew! The flash grew to stifle the slime's whole vision, leaving her seeing white until her eyes adjusted back down to the semi-dim light of the hallway, seeing Nabu look down at her with regret and pity.

"...what, did you see." The Hakutaku's silence left the air feeling thicker than ever before, The ice around the slime starting to fade.

"What did you see!"

"....enough." It was barely more than a whisper, and yet it was enough to set the nureonago off, her legs breaking through the ice and kicking Nabu square in the gut. It sent her careening into the ice wall, but she only landed on it, her feet dug into the ice while she clutched her gut.

"You don't know me, you don't know what I did, you know nothing at all!"

"Tamiko, calm yourself," Nabu said. "I know how to help."

"You were going to kill me just a moment earlier!" The sl- no, Tamiko said, putting her arms together. She began charging up a glow of her own, except it wasn't a glow; it was a fireball. "I don't need to calm down, I need to take the initiative!"

"Do you not realize what power you hold?" Nabu said, not doing anything to stop her. "How rare your ability is?"

"I know exactly what I hold!"

"No, you do not. Tell me, have you seen any other yokai that was able to take other people's mana as their own? Don't you want to know where you got it from, how you can improve it?" Tamiko's fireball calmed down as she seriously considered Nabu's offer.

"Trust me, what you are doing is puny compared to what you could do, but going around attacking Yokai is only holding you back. You need guidance, Tamiko," Nabu said. Tamiko seemed taken aback that she was called weak indirectly, but stopped putting mana into her fire. "And what makes you think that you are in any position to talk?" She asked. "I don't plan on falling for your tricks again."

"You already have, I am not even here right now."

"What." At first, she was confused, but then she became perplexed as Nabu's form faded to a mere shadow, the same type of shadow that Tamiko had been fighting against earlier. The slime had no answer for this, trying to grapple with the fact that Nabu's real body wasn't even the one she was fighting.

"It was simply easier to just control forms rather than look for you in person. It used up quite a bit of power, but once I had your location, I could be rid of the rest."

"I…."

"I do not have much time left. I was never good at endurance...find your predecessor," spoke the shadow. "With proper guidance, perhaps you could cultivate your abilities for the benefit of all…"

"Wait!" Tamiko said, trying to grab the shadow as it melted back down into the ground. It was too late, though; once Nabu had given up control, it started returning to its stateless form. "I never even got your name…"

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Nabu's eyes returned to normal once she finally let go. She was sweating from top to bottom, having expended mana for the first time in a while. She collapsed in the room she was sitting in, panting on the ground as the world spun around her. "Finally…."

A knock came from her door, giving her only a short moment to react before someone had opened it. "Oi!" Went the man. "You were making a bunch of noise! Keep it down!"

"Yes, I just had a bit of a panic attack," Nabu said, the man coming in to help her up. To him, she only looked like an unusually tall girl, throwing her arm around his shoulder as he pulled her up to her feet. "God, you're sweating like a pig," he complained. "This is the last time I decide to check on a tenant…."

"Thank you again," she said, sat on the bed. "Do you have any water?"

"Do you have any water," he muttered mockingly. "Yeah, I'll go bring it for your arse...don't get paid enough for this shit." He kept complaining through a grainy voice as he slammed the door back shut, Nabu scooting herself onto the bed. She stared up at the leaky ceiling above her, thinking about what she saw in Tamiko's head. "That is the last time I decide to use a lead that takes me to an unkempt place like this," she said out loud. As long as she is with a yokai, I can track her position. Just a matter of figuring out which one she decides to run to…

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"Aww, do you really have to go?" Seika said to her comrades. "But there is still so much to eat!" Seika was the only one that was still half-full, but everyone else was absolutely stuffed, though, all laid down on the ground and clutching their stomachs. Sana was doing the worst, her smaller harpy body not doing well for binging on several courses. A servant was constantly beside her, holding a basket made for her in case she could no longer keep it down.

"Forget eating, I might have to sleep over," Namaru said, covering her mouth as she felt something come up. "Why do you have so much cooked meat at your disposal Seika?"

"Using my mana on followers uses up quite the bundle of mana," she said, two servants bringing another roasted boar for her. "Mizuki sweetie, don't you control the weather? That must be absolutely draining without constant food."

"Apparently not…." Mizuki said, hunched over on her side. "A-Anna, I-I don't like eating anymore….Anna?" The lamia was knocked out, having eaten herself into a food coma one turkey ago. A servant tended to her while she slept, fanning her up and down her tail so she wouldn't burn up.

Seika sighed and lied down herself, being fed slices of boar as she played with her hair. "You all are simply too much, I even had a dessert for us to enjoy…"

"It's almost sundown!" Namaru yelled, "We ate for hours!"