The problem with using it like she did, aside from how it drained her reserves, was that reinforcing oneself with youki was like artificially pumping adrenaline through the body. It reinforced muscles, strengthening them to unbelievable levels, but left them exhausted afterward. It was like constantly exercising without giving oneself a chance to recover. There was a limit to how far a kitsune could push their body like this.
And Lilian was reaching her limit.
I need to find a place to hide.
Lilian dove through the first door she saw. She closed the door behind her and pressed her back against the wall, prepared to bash whoever tried coming through. Footsteps pounded against the ground on the other side of the door. Her ears twitched as she heard what must have been several dozen feet running frantically down the hallway. The footsteps soon receded, however, and Lilian almost smiled at her success.
“So you’ve managed to escape, have you?” the voice that spoke up, unfamiliar, cold, and rigid, made any smile that might have appeared vanish from her face before it could form.
Lilian turned her head to see a kitsune staring at her. Like most of their species, the man before her was a perfect example of artistry, of beauty incarnate. His short blond hair looked like a crown. Light blue eyes and fair skin were complemented by his regal bearing. His face held a very feminine quality to it, as it did with most male kitsune.
That had always been something that bothered her about her own species—the male side, at least. Every male kitsune was a bishounen, a pretty boy who could make just as fine a female as they did a male. She preferred men like Kevin, whose masculinity was unmistakable and whose imperfections made the good qualities he had stand out. Kitsune were just too perfect for her tastes.
As she continued to stare, her mind paralyzed by shock, Lilian noticed something important, something she hadn’t noticed before, something that caused fear to wash through her gut like a tidal wave.
The eight tails behind the man. Eight. The highest number of tails a kitsune could have without being granted the ninth tail by Lord Inari. The pinnacle of natural kitsune evolution. This man before her, this inhuman entity, was so much stronger than she, had so much more power, that a fight between them wouldn’t even accurately be called a fight. If she fought this man, tried to fool this man, she would be slaughtered like cattle.
She tried to inch away.
“I was wondering how long it would be before you tried to escape,” the man continued, even as four of his tails speared the spot she’d been inching toward. She tried going the other way, but soon found herself trapped when four more tails speared into the wall on her other side. “I’ll be honest here; I hadn’t been expecting you to try and escape for at least another day, though I believe it works out better this way. Father isn’t here right now, which means there’s nothing he can do to stop me.”
Lilian didn’t even want to know what he planned on doing. She just wanted to leave. It was too bad she would never get the chance.
The man’s hand shot out and grasped her by the throat faster than she could react. Ironclad fingers clutched her in a grip that could’ve bent steel. Lilian reached out her hands and clawed at the man’s forearm as her throat was forced closed. Her mouth opened but all that came out was a raspy sucking sound.
She was lifted into the air with ease. Her back pressed against the stone wall as the eight-tailed kitsune shoved her into it. She kicked her feet uselessly. They pounded against his chest to no effect. The person before her had clearly mastered the art of reinforcement, and he had the youki to use it in spades. All she could do was dangle there as she was slowly choked to death.
“Father believes you can bring Jiāoào back from his vegetative state,” the man continued, his tone conversational, as if he was talking about the weather and not strangling her to death. “I do not know if his belief holds any merit, but I would rather not take the chance to find out.” His eyes suddenly narrowed. Lilian’s eyes bulged as the fingers clenching around her throat tightened. “Jiāoào is nothing but an undeserving brat.” The bones in her neck began to crack. “I will not allow you to heal him.”
For one second, Lilian’s struggling increased. Her kicks became more intense. Her fingers grasped at the hand, nails digging into skin. However, as her brain was continuously deprived of oxygen, her struggles began to lessen. Spots appeared in her vision. Tinges of darkness came and went. Her tongue hung out of her mouth as she tried to suck in oxygen, swollen like a balloon. Her legs, rather than kick, began spastically twitching, and her hands began to slacken.
Is this it? Is this how I die?
Lilian didn’t want to die. She couldn’t afford to. She had too much to live for.
Kevin. Beloved.
She and Kevin had only been dating for a few months, not even a year yet. They had a whole lifetime ahead of them. A lifetime of joy and happiness and passionate love making. She wanted to bear his kits and give him a family. She wanted to be with him and support him, and she wanted him to support her. This couldn’t be the end.
Darkness started to descend.
I’m sorry… Beloved…
A single tear fell from her eye.
“CHAO! Cease this at once!”
Three things happened all at once; the hand on her neck released its grip, she fell to the floor in a crumbled heap, and her body instinctively started sucking in heaping gulps of oxygen.
She heard voices, though she could not see who they belonged to.
“Zhìlì, I had not realized you were still here. I could’ve sworn you’d gone back to North America.”
“Father asked me to stay. He was worried that you might try something.”
“What is the meaning of this, Chao? What were you trying to do?”
“Nothing that you do not want to do yourself, Sister.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Are you not the one who so fervently wishes this girl was dead?”
As her brain became inundated with oxygen, her mind cleared slightly. Her body still couldn’t move, was still too weak, but her eyes could, and she let them flicker around until they landed on the source of the voices. Three other kitsune had joined the man who’d nearly killed her.
“What I want doesn’t matter,” the girl said. She was familiar, but Lilian just couldn’t place her at the moment. “Father has demanded that she stay alive.”
“And do you do everything that Father tells you to?”
“Our father is The Bodhisattva.” Wearing a black and white gothic lolita outfit that rustled as if agitated, the cherubic-faced girl scowled at the eight-tailed kitsune. Her three tails furled and unfurled behind her. “To not obey our father is sacrilege of the highest order.”
“But you want her dead, right?” the eight-tailed kitsune asked.
The girl—woman—remained silent. She hesitated. The man tried to press his advantage, but one of the other men interrupted.
Decked in gleaming armor, the man before her had longer hair than the other two, but it was the same golden color that reminded her of honey. He was tall. However, that might have just been Lilian’s perception from where she sat. A sword of some sort was strapped to his side. Meanwhile, seven tails jutted from a hole in the back of his armor.
“Even if she wants Lilian Pnév̱ma dead, I am sure that she wants to see Jiāoào recover even more. Father is of the belief that Lilian Pnév̱ma is the only one who can do that.” The eight-tailed kitsune said nothing, but from the twitching of his eyebrows, he clearly didn’t like where this conversation was going. The seven-tailed kitsune continued without pause. “If you do this, if you kill her, then Jiāoào will never recover. Father will also be most displeased with you for disobeying his direct order. The result will likely be banishment from the clan.”
“He wouldn’t dare,” the eight-tails hissed.
“Do not be so sure.” The other man, a kitsune with four tails who was decked head to toe in Taoist monk robes, crossed his arms ove
r his muscular chest. “Our Lord is a compassionate and gracious man, but he is also stern and unyielding. Lord Shénshèng will do what is right for the clan over what is right for any one individual.”
“I have more tails than Jiāoào.” Chao scowled. “I am clearly the one he will side with.”
“That will not always be the case, though,” the four-tails pointed out. “It was ordained by Lord Inari that Jiāoào would receive the ninth tail upon his tenth century of life. He will eventually become the Kyūbi and lord of our clan. The safety and well-being of Lord Jiāoào is of paramount importance, and if you do something to jeopardize the young lord, Lord Shénshèng’s justice will be decisive and swift.”
A standoff occurred. Lilian’s body had gained enough strength that she could sit up. She also finally recognized Fan, the woman who’d almost killed Iris and whom she and Kevin had defeated back in Greece. The other two she vaguely recognized, the man in shining armor and the tall and silent monk. They’d also been in Greece, but she hadn’t fought them.
“Tch!” The eight-tails gave them a disgusted look and turned away, his tails retracting underneath his robes. “Do whatever you want. Just make sure she never enters my sight again.”
As the eight-tails left, the door slamming shut behind him, the trio walked over toward her. One of them, the seven-tails, made to help her up, but she batted his hand away.
“I can walk by myself,” she mumbled, while pushing herself up on shaky legs. She almost spilled back to the floor, and only sheer grit and determination kept her upright.
Rather than be offended by her harsh throwback, the seven-tails looked amused.
“So it would seem.”
Lilian pressed her hand against the wall, fingers splayed, palm pressed flat. Her shoulders heaved as she struggled for breath. Her throat was sore, raw. Acid dripped down her esophagus. Her chest, lungs, and diaphragm felt like they’d been compressed and perforated by the mighty, clawed hand of an ancient dragon. Yet still she refused to let the seven-tailed kitsune touch her. She still struggled to walk on her own.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” the seven-tails tried again. The glare she shot him made the much older kitsune rock back on his heels. As the grin on his face widened, he brought up his hands and held them out in a defensive gesture. “Woah, that’s quite the glare. I’m only trying to help.”
“You are not my mate.” Lilian huffed, ignoring the pain that just speaking brought. “No man but my mate will touch me.”
“If you say so.” The seven-tail’s chuckle made her scowl, though she said nothing. “This mate of yours is one lucky guy.”
Lilian didn’t deign him with a response. She ignored him, Fan, and the bald monk and instead tried to make her way back to her quarters. Lifting her left foot, she took a single step forward…
And fell flat on her face when all of the strength in her body fled.
***
In the end, Lilian needed help.
The seven-tails, Zhìlì, tried to help her but got his hand bitten during the attempt. Li, the four-tailed kitsune in monk robes, had also tried lending his aid, but she had bitten his hand, too. When he’d used his technique and turned his hand into celestial energy, she had channeled celestial energy to her teeth and bitten down harder. In the end, Fan was the only person who could help.
“I can’t believe they forced me to do this,” Fan grumbled. “Why do I have to be the one who drags your sorry ass all the way up here?”
“Shut up…” Lilian rasped. “I didn’t… ask for your… help…”
Fan rolled her eyes, but she didn’t bother retorting.
“That was a very stupid thing you did, you know,” she said instead. “Honestly, what were you thinking? Did you truly think you could escape from our palace that easily? We’ve got a barrier surrounding us, you know? Even if you did make it out of the palace itself, you’d never get past the barrier.”
Lilian didn’t answer. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to. She was simply too tired and talking hurt too much. Fan was practically dragging her now too. Her legs had given out long ago and now scraped uselessly against the stairs.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Chao had actually made the guards lead you to him,” Fan added thoughtfully. “He has never liked Jiāoào. Ever since Lord Inari proclaimed that my youngest brother would become the next Kyūbi instead of him, Chao has hated my beloved younger brother. I believe he’s jealous because Lord Inari realized that he was ill-suited to becoming the next Bodhisattva, and that my beloved younger brother had all the makings of an amazing Kyūbi. Hmph. You really don’t know what you discarded when you chose to mate with that disgusting ape of yours.”
“...” Lilian muttered under her breath.
Fan leaned in closer. “What was that?”
“I said… shut up… brocon.”
“W-w-w-what the hell?! I am not a brocon!”
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Lady Fan,” Li spoke up from behind them in his unapologetic way, “but you kind of are.”
“I am not!”
“Biggest… brocon… I’ve… ever…seen,” Lilian agreed.
“I’m not a brocon!”
Li nodded at Lilian as he ignored Fan’s vehement protestations. “I’ve never met someone with a bigger brother complex, either. It would be one thing if she just wanted to mate with him, but… Ha. While I have dedicated my life to protecting and serving Lady Fan, I must admit that this obsession she has for her youngest sibling disturbs me greatly.”
“Listen to me, dammit!” Fan wailed ineffectually.
***
Kevin and Iris awoke early the next morning. After a quick shower, and an even quicker breakfast compliments of the hotel staff, the two found themselves standing outside of the building they’d spent the night in, waiting.
“Are you sure we can trust these people, Stud?” Iris asked as she stared up at the sky. She was still wearing her previous outfit. Her sleeveless t-shirt was scuffed and the skirt that she wore had dirt smudges all over it. She was lucky her clothing was black.
They only had one extra set of clothing and neither had a clue about when they would be able to get more. He imagined she was being conservative, waiting until the one she wore now became unusable before changing clothes.
He’d not been so fortunate. His clothes had been ruined, thus he’d been forced to change into his spare set. He really hoped these clothes wouldn’t get destroyed either.
“I think we can.” Kevin caressed the fabric of his black Fate/Stay Night t-shirt, which featured a rather beautiful drawing of Saber on it, with his thumb and ring finger. “I scared them pretty good, and made it seem like I would come after them to exact my vengeance if they didn’t help us. I don’t think they’ll try to run away.”
Iris gave him a glance that was rife with amusement. “And will you reap vengeance on them should they not help?”
“If an ass kicking counts as vengeance, then sure.” Kevin shrugged.
“Right.” Iris giggled just a bit. “I should have known you’d say that… nerd.”
“Whatever.” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Just so you know, this nerd is dating your sister. And if I am a nerd, then your sister’s a super-nerd.”
“Oh, I know.” Iris slinked up to his side. “I didn’t say there was anything bad about being a nerd, did I?” She grabbed his arm with the tenderness of a lover. “In fact, I quite like nerds.” Her left index finger slowly trailed up and down his arm. “You nerds have such incredible imaginations. I just imagine all of the kinky things you two think up and I get. All. Wet. Down. There,” she finished by whispering into his ear.
Rather than get aroused or blush, Kevin gave her an incredulous look. “Did you just call your lady parts ‘down there’?”
Iris’s grin made words unnecessary, though she spoke anyway. “So what if I did?”
Kevin deadpanned. “Don’t use that term again. Ever. This isn’t Fifty Shades of Grey.”
Ir
is’s chuckle was pure sensualism. Seduction made manifest. Kevin had grown so used to it these days that he just ignored the sexual overtones. It was simply how she rolled.
“Whatever you say, Stud.”
Just then, the sound of screeching tires reached their ears. They turned their heads in unison. Out of their periphery, both of them saw the beaten up little Volkswagen Beetle chugging their way.
Piece of crap didn’t even begin to describe it. Several pits and dents in the hood made Kevin think a mallet had been smashed into it. Scorch marks stained the roof black. Several places looked like the aluminum had been partially melted by scorching hot fire. The tires were clearly out of alignment, as it drove along the road like a drunken hebi (snake yōkai) trying to ride a unicycle. The car doors were different colors, with the left being bright blue and the right neon green. The trunk had also clearly been replaced, its brown color reminding Kevin of this turd he once saw a horse crap out. It pulled up alongside them and then stopped.
Three familiar figures were inside.
“Are we really supposed to get into this?” Iris gave Kevin a look that suggested any answer but “no” was the wrong answer. “Please tell me we’re not getting in this.”
Slick honked the car’s horn as the one that Kevin had dubbed Nerd rolled down the window.
“Come on,” Nerd said in his nasally whine. “Hurry and get in. The boss will be really angry if we leave for too long and he realizes we’re missing.”
“You heard the man,” Kevin said as he hefted his ammo bag and squeezed into the back.
“I hate it when I’m right,” Iris sighed as she, too, crawled into the back of the vehicle. As she bent over to get in, the man, Nerd, tried to cop a feel of her ass.
“Touch her butt and I swear to all eight million Shinto gods, I will shoot you in the face,” Kevin threatened the yōkai.
Nerd couldn’t jerk his hand away from Iris’s rear end fast enough.
***
“I knew you loved me,” Iris teased Kevin as the tiny beetle drove through the congested streets of Van. A glance out the windows would have revealed hundreds of people walking down the sidewalks and just as many cars stuck in traffic. “Go on, you can admit it. I don’t mind.”
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