381. Of necessities, familiarity and a little invitation

Cassandra Pendragon

Animals. Magnificent, breathtaking, magical animals had been… I didn't have the faintest idea what the goddamned worm had actually done to them. All I could say for sure was that they didn't move and that I had never before seen anything comparable in its slightly eerie, frozen beauty. Every piece of furniture, every rug, every item in the room was a living being, although I wouldn't have been willing to bet that they were actually breathing. 

A huge, aquamarine thunderbird gently embraced the opulent fourposter bed, its wings a protective baldaquin to keep the nightmares at bay, its shimmering, arctic blue eyes a comforting light to guard against the encroaching darkness. A majestic, perfectly white unicorn, reeling on its golden hoofs, served as a hatstand, its silvery horn sparkling in the flames of a curled up salamander whose smouldering heat filled the fireplace with warmth. An unimaginable long but fragile double headed crimson serpent had been turned into a carpet, its soft coils covering the cold, hard, wooden floor while a young griffon, its plumage still flecked, served as a table, the proud neck craned to the side to support a writing board. Several butterflies, their wings covered in iridescent, arcane markings, filled the room with a soft, fluctuating glow, the shadows dancing to the mute tune of their frozen song, while a towering, emerald bear stood vigilant guard against the back wall, its paws and arms hung with Indigorath's garments.

"I don't know whether to be disgusted or impressed," I mumbled as I moved deeper into the chamber, my eyes darting from a grotesque, almost white ape with two sets of arms, turned into a gun cabinet, to a finned, pariah like, deep dwelling sea creature whose fluorescence had become the ceiling lamp. "They are still alive," I breathed while I returned to my original size and allowed my wings to gently slither over every creature in my vicinity. "How… why…"

"It's a larder," Ahri spat. Apparently she had gone with feeling sickened to her core. "And it's even worse. They're either pregnant or carrying eggs."

"Are you… is this a damned farm," I breathed as I allowed my perception to deepen even further. Yes… there were other, weaker creatures, hidden beneath the frozen flesh.

"Probably. Why bother with hunting when you can just as well grow your food? And it obviously has some other perks as well."

"Unbelievable." Hesitantly I extended my hand and brushed across the soft, silky fur of the unicorn. This close I could even feel the faint, almost imperceptible traces of its consciousness, or rather hers. "Is he depraved or simply practical," I added without expecting an answer.

"Both, I'd say. There are no sentient species here, though. That's something, at least, and more than Viyara's father ever managed."

"He also killed them straight up and preserved their corpses. Those… why does he keep them alive?"

"To protect the clutch and restock whenever it becomes necessary." There was so much loathing in her voice that my fur bristled. Oh boy, if she had been here the worm's life expectancy would have taken a severe hit. As for me… I was torn. On one hand I appreciated the ingenuity but this… of course I knew that the creatures were animals and probably not even aware of the torturous existence they had been forced into, but still… as hypocritical as it was, I wouldn't have minded if he had kept a few chickens around but seeing those magnificent beasts, who had been born to roam this world freely, reduced to nothing but breeding stock and furniture felt painful, wrong. Like a fiery, noble stallion left in the stable to rot.

"Look at the ape," Ahri said, desperately fighting down her urge to lash out. "Those aren't the same pistols we've seen on the guards. Grab one. We should know what we're in for before we make a decision." As in, before she was going to ask me to burn the whole ship to cinders. For a moment I puzzled over why she had to battle her more bloodthirsty impulses and I didn't but the answer was obvious enough. I had been born and raised in a palace, a society. She had spent her youth in nature. The hunt, the struggle for survival, the respect for other species was as deeply ingrained in her as my loathing for etiquette and formality was in me.

She knew my thoughts, of course, but neither one of us wanted to comment, so I simply did as she had asked and approached the whitish ape. Up close she was quite tall, standing at my height with about thrice the girth, every finger, every nook and cranny used to display a firearm of surprising quality. "Twisted barrels can't be produced with the kind of steel we have" my lily white ass. Pistols and guns in every size, form and shape glowed in the multicoloured light while a box of cartridges of varying calibres had been carelessly shoved between her legs. Carefully I bent down and fumbled one of the shells from the box.

"Impressive," I stated as I held the small iron piece against the light. It really was. I wasn't as knowledgeable as I had once been but even I saw on first glance the immaculate, tiny seal, pressed into a perfectly round cylinder, narrowing towards a pointed, dully black coloured tip. And the thing was heavy. Surprisingly so.

"Ammunition made from arcane ores," I mused as I weighted the cartridge in my hand. Following an impulse I pressed the very tip against my tongue. It tasted sweet and somewhat earthy, almost like herbal candy.

"Bon Appetite," Ahri commented dryly, "I hope it's to your liking."

"No more moping? I thought you'd be plotting your dark revenge against the defiler of nature. Persephone would be oh so proud." Another sister of ours. A rather ghastly beast, come to think of it.

"This isn't the moment to tease… Cassy, duck!" I didn't think twice. I had been so engrossed in the surreal ambience and the sophisticated technology that I hadn't paid much attention to my surroundings. My eyes flashed silver and I dropped to all fours, my tails fanned out, my wings crackling behind me. The fraction of a heartbeat later my ears rang and a shower of splinters rained down on me, torn from the fist size hole that had appeared in the panelling. 

"Nice reflexes. I'd still recommend not moving if you value your hide. Who'd have thought that the mighty Cassandra Pendragon was hiding in the shadows like a common thief?" My vision zeroed in on the smoking barrel of a gun, unwaveringly pointed at my forehead, but I quickly lost interest as I saw the flowing, shimmering wall of tails behind the newcomer. Four snowy white tails, a lithe, catlike body, barley concealed underneath a slinky, blood red dress, the face hidden behind a curtain of platinum hair and the distinct smell of ozone, clinging to her every limb like a cloak. Another kitsune and from the looks of it:

"Ahri, do you have a twin you forgot to mention?"

"No, only a younger sister, as you very well know. But…," she didn't continue since my assailant nonchalantly lowered her aim and brushed her shimmering tresses behind her fluffy, white ears. A mocking smile tugged on the corners of her lush, pink lips while her vermillion eyes sparkled mischievously. 

"Oh my," she continued, her voice similar to a clear, cold brook in the mountains, "did I just almost kill the greatest sorceress our race has ever produced?" With the adrenaline slowly subsiding I realised that she didn't look like Ahri's twin. She wasn't an immortal, this much I knew at first glance, but she was still beautiful, even by the standards of our race, and there was an uncanny similarity, just like between me and my mom. Who the hell was this girl?

"No clue," Ahri replied, "but you'd better find out. As far as I'm aware I don't have any long lost relatives. But then again, I also didn't expect to ever meet your grandmother."

"No, but you almost killed yourself," I retorted, my voice only slightly taunt and higher than usual. I didn't bother dismissing my wings, but I did stand up straight warily. "If that bullet had hit you'd have turned into a torch a moment later." Unfazed she continued to smile and even walked closer, her hips swaying from side to side mesmerisingly.

"Bullet? So you know what these are," she shook the gun lightly. "I should have expected as much. But how? Boseiju wasn't renowned for its battle oriented artisans and craftsmen. Have you seen one during your travels?"

"You could say…," I bit my tongue, quite literally. Why had I even responded? I didn't intend to be interrogated, quite the opposite, actually. Something must have shown on my face for she paused immediately and tilted her head to the side:

"Ah, have you gotten over your surprise? That was quite fast… for a child. Well then, your Highness, allow me to welcome you to my humble abode." She bowed elegantly, copying Boseiju's customs perfectly, while I only stared and even felt my mouth drop to the floor. Her abode? "You must be quite overwhelmed by my words, Milady," she purred, "but there is no reason to panic. I do have a good explanation but to answer your most burning questions: Indigorath and I have fallen in love, decades before you were born. I'm sure you can now puzzle together some of the pieces. As for the rest… why don't you sit down?" She gesticulated towards a set of chairs, or rather immobilised silver wolfs. When she saw my hesitation she fluidly turned and pointed add the bed to add: "if you're feeling uneasy we can also make ourselves more comfortable but I didn't want to appear presumptuous. I can't even begin to fathom how often someone must have tried to trick you into their bed." My mind was reeling, the shock from the sudden scare already forgotten, and Ahri didn't fare even a smidgen better. Which meant she was utterly honest and simply spoke the first thing that crossed her mind:

"If she so much as touches your leg, you will break her fingers, won't you?" I was still too perplexed to voice any kind of reply and simply trotted after the kitsune like an obedient lapdog.

"Are we… do I know you," I finally stammered.

"I hope not, not yet at least" she chuckled while she rearranged a few heavy furs into something resembling a circle on the bed. With a coquettish smile she patted the place to her right and continued: "but I do know you. Only because I haven't spoken to another kitsune in years there's no reason to assume that I'm not trying to stay informed when it comes to my own people. And lucky I did, otherwise I'd never have known that our race is finally venturing out to conquer the world. Even though the circumstance have been far less than ideal. Now, is this what you want to hear first or should I begin with explaining who I actually am? You must have realised that I'm of Ahri's tribe." My apparent confusion was only rewarded by another chuckle. "Oh yes, I know of her, but even though we might share some blood ties there's not much to tell. I was too young to even remember when I became lost."

"Lost," I mumbled, while I carefully sat down, as far away from her as possible without making it too obvious. "Of Ahri's tribe? Who are you?"

"Well, my name is Aglaia, or rather it's the name I've chosen since I can't remember the one given to me. Where to begin? My first clear recollections stems from a time about 120 years ago. I was… alone on an uninhabited island, safe for the broken up wreckage of a sky ship. It has taken me quite a few years to figure out what had happened. I hadn't been abandoned or cast out… my parents had simply taken an opportunity to fly and show their newborn a bit of the world. It didn't go quite as planned and when they crashed I was the only one who made it out alive. The rest is history, as they say. I fended for myself until a trader vessel spotted me and took me in. Living as a kitsune amongst humans wasn't easy but it wasn't bad either and it definitely wasn't remarkable. That only changed once I met Indigorath. Now, does that answer some of your questions?"

"Is it possible," I immediately asked Ahri. "Do you know of a lost family in your tribe?"

"I… maybe. Unless she's an extraordinary liar you would have caught her anyways. But… Cassy, you know how old I was when I left, don't you? I'm by no means well versed in our history. It's plausible enough… I just can't wrap my head around why she should have fallen for…"

"An oversized slug? Love is blind, as they say. Do you believe her?"

"Yes, but that's because you do. You could make sure, though, if you wanted to, couldn't you?"

"Read her? Probably. I'm just not overly comfortable with…"

"By all the gods! Is that really the moment to worry about her privacy?"

"Privacy? It's more than that. Your mind should be yours and yours alone. I don't…"

"Grow up," she hissed. "I know what you're trying to say, how could I not, but it doesn't matter. Just imagine for a moment that you're going to misjudge her and someone else will pay the price. Reia, for example." I immediately stiffened and she added: "there you go. Get over yourself and do it. You can always apologise afterwards." Better to ask for forgiveness than permission… wherever had I heard that before?

Sighing I leaned back, the heavy brocade tickling my sides. "Aglaia," I began but before I had even managed to wrap my head around what I wanted to say she nimbly rose to her knees and extended her hands.

"Sure, I don't mind. I'd just ask you to stay away from my feelings for Indigorath. That's personal and has nothing to do with us."

"I… you know… how?"

"For a creature blessed with more magic than I can imagine you can be surprisingly dull. First off I expected to have to pull down my pants the very moment I asked my husband to set sail for Free Land. Secondly, I'd much rather get it over with in a minute than having to painstakingly explain everything that's happened and lastly… we do need help. If that's all it's going to take, by all means, look around in my mind. Of course there are a few things I'd rather not share, some shameful, some embarrassing, but we all have our little skeletons dancing in the closet and I don't think you're someone who'll hold my mistakes against me. Also… a door opened once can be stepped through in either direction. I know I won't be able to see your past but I'm sure I'll get at least as concise an impression of who you are as you'll get of who I am."

Flabbergasted I stammered: "do you always invite strangers into your mind on the first date?"

"No," she smiled, "but I'm also not in the habit of inviting them into my bed but yet here we are. So… can we get started or do I have to make myself bare first?" Her eyes were sparkling teasingly but when her slender fingers wandered towards the straps of her dress I still reacted. Without a second thought I reached out and took her hands in mine.

"You know, if your partner is anything like mine you're balancing on a deadly thin edge."

"Oh, I think he is," she laughed, "but he isn't listening. Which is going to make this so much more entertaining for me than it is going to be for you."