On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“It is hardly for me to say, grandmother, but watching them is unnecessary. After all, the human staff here are most excellent. I hardly understand it all myself, but even Bintara was impressed when she visited to check on them.”

Tamamo-no-Mae let a frown cross her beautiful face at the words of her long-estranged granddaughter, Shinkume-no-Hana. In truth, all my children and grandchildren are distant from me now, the handful that still endure. Even meeting Hana was a minor miracle. Though guided by the whims of prophecy, the hands of Fate.

“You should have gone with Akio and the others on their jaunt to foreign lands.” Hana persisted, in-between swigs of sweet sake from the bottle she held. “It would do you some good, working out your frustrations on some hapless enemies. And you cannot lie to me, grandmother. You would enjoy being with him. After all, you let him groom your tails… all nine.”

The unspoken, teasing declaration that Akio’s spirit groomed her zeroth and truest tail, her very self, hung heavy in the air, and Tamamo-no-Mae narrowed her vivid emerald eyes, crossing her arms imperiously, which caused a great strain to the cloth of the matching green kimono she wore today, her chest rippling. On seeing that gaze, Hana had the grace to look fearful for a moment, her own blue eyes widening, her five golden tails wrapping around her body defensively, before she relaxed, letting out a wry chuckle, patting her own ample chest with her free hand.

“There is no need to be so fierce, grandmother. You brought back bad memories.” She swigged from the bottle again, glancing around the quiet room. The… doctors and nurses, they were called, which Akio had provided for the sleeping Caihong’er and Liena, to monitor the strange, beeping devices, which seemed so magical, but were ordinary enough for even mortals to use, had politely made themselves scarce, though they were in another room, and would return if there were any anomalies.

“But you have softened a little, at least I hope so, grandmother. The past is dead. Even so… your ire quite nearly stopped my heart. Does the truth sting your pride?”

“You know it does.” Tamamo-no-Mae was too proud to lie, and had no cause anyway, for their circumstances were similar. “As it should yours, Hana. Besides, if it is so worthwhile a venture, why did you not accompany him… them?” Speaking her name reminded her errant granddaughter of her already grasped tail, but it only made Hana smirk, showing her teeth.

“Oh, you mistake me, grandmother. Like all foxes, I am proud and flighty, but… I lived long for this day, though despite my many efforts, I never dared hope it would come.” She stroked her fifth tail, the fur gleaming under the cold, artificial lights of this makeshift healers’ abode. They call it a hospital now. Obviously it is not one, being a number of rooms set aside in an ordinary mansion, but the principle holds, I believe. The world has moved on without me…

“Now it is here, I shall simply savour it. I have peace, for the first time in a long time. I am in no hurry, grandmother. Nor should you be now. You have had your miracle, they live. I am sure a second one will be forthcoming. It is a time for miracles. It is as if Lady Seirei is answering wishes with reckless abandon.”

“Hardly.” Tamamo-no-Mae curled her lip into a mocking sneer. “If that little granter of cursed wishes was involved, I would be greatly concerned. Only Nurarihyon can handle her safely. But you are not entirely mistaken. Their survival was miracle stacked upon miracle.” She glanced down at the two occupied beds. In the first, Caihong’er, her face so pale, and not in the porcelain shade that showed she was a true beauty, but the sickly pallor of illness and suffering. She is… sedated, yes. By both mortal medicine, and Akio’s spiritual abilities. It is for the best. Caihong’er… is endlessly proud. It is why I liked her. But… she will not accept her Cultivation being scoured down to the roots. Her fall from Sainthood to ordinary mortal will shatter her. Her suicide is all but certain.

Gently reaching down, Tamamo-no-Mae stroked her dark blue hair, careful not to disturb the wires and machinery. Even though it was an illusion, just her imagination, Tamamo-no-Mae felt the lingering cold, though whether it was the pallor of her deathly slumber, or the remnant memories of the icy coffin Sekka had conjured, Tamamo-no-Mae could not say.

Turning away from Caihong’er, she glanced at Liena. She too was pale as bone, her slightly lighter blue hair framing a face so much like Caihong’er’s, yet with a more youthful mien. Not that Liena was young by mortal standards, but in Cultivation terms, her aging slowed by the Qi within her, she still seemed so to Tamamo-no-Mae. She will rapidly decay, as will Caihong’er, now the ravages of time can again touch them. It may take years, but to a once-Saint, to me… it will happen in a blink of an eye.

“I understand it is folly to expect the dice to land even, simply because they have done so several times in succession.” Hana chuckled. “But then, we are not leaving matters to chance, are we, grandmother? Regardless, you may think me a foolish youngster, but I most certainly believe. As do you, deep down.” Her persistence was rather annoying, but Tamamo-no-Mae allowed her to speak. Perhaps I have mellowed, my long torments and rebirth having calmed me. Or perhaps, like my errant granddaughter here, I am content to linger in this place, in no rush to hurry towards the future. A period of calm, within the turbulence of my life.

“So yes, grandmother. Do not dwell here in solitude all the time. Go, and make merry. Perhaps another round of grooming? Or maybe… more?” Hana smirked. “I know, if you but pushed a little further, Akio would gladly take you to bed. It has surely been long since you tasted the pleasures of the flesh, grandmother, felt the pressure of a thick, meaty…”

She licked her plump, sake-stained lips, and Tamamo-no-Mae felt her own saliva rising, her groin hot. “…manhood inside you. Oh, for me it has been ages too. But…” Hana scratched at herself idly. “…good things come to those who wait, I suppose. And I fear Urakaze’s young kit dislikes me intensely. Though she is softening. The young hate fiercely and yet forgive easily. It takes bitter age and wisdom to become set in our ways, hardened, does it not, dear grandmother?”

Giving her another flat, green-eyed glower, this time no fear response from her granddaughter showing, Tamamo-no-Mae sighed, her vulpine ears flickering with desultory irritation and exasperation. “I confess to a certain measure of… frustration… and I concede I would not be averse to… fornication…” The thought of such an intimate joining of their bodies did bring a wistful sense of longing to her. “But you know it well, Hana. He is not a fickle man. To him, sleeping with a woman is laying claim to her thereafter.”

“Yes. Such hypocrisy. Yet… the strong have the right to demand what they will. As you did, grandmother.” Hana agreed with her. “In a strange way, I find his determination beautiful. I have had my dalliances, though my reputation is rather… overblown…”

“At your own hands, no less.” Tamamo-no-Mae grumbled, and her granddaughter giggled girlishly, belying her age and appearance.

“In the Hyakki Yagyō, one must project power, be intimidating, if one wishes to avoid the endless challenges. To be thought of as a lustful, charming Kitsune, as beautiful and lewd as I was strong and deadly, was a tool, like any other. And I certainly am no blushing virgin. Why, I dallied with little Shaeula’s brother, long ago, which is probably why she disdains me, since Eri holds no particular grudge over what the stripling fool who died at Akio’s hands did. I have tasted and been tasted, yet…”

She finished her sake, before retrieving another bottle in a spray of purple sparks. “…I hardly think that can be held against me, when Akio has spilled the virgin blood of as many or more than have made me cry out in passion. He is… a fast worker.” She smirked, amused. “It took me hundreds of years to find as many worthy partners, though… one or two, I admit, were simply me in my sorrows and desperation.”

“Men are not as we are.” That brought to mind the wretch Zixin. If he had simply chased out Caihong’er and her Sect, that would have been tolerable. Though likely Caihong’er would have passed by now, the world too starved of the Qi she needed, and Liena certainly would have. Even so… while they would have grieved and suffered, at least they would have lived. My cheeky granddaughter has wisdom, despite her irritating attitude which I had thought none would ever display to me again. Seizing what presents itself is the way to avoid regrets. Still…

Matching her granddaughter’s smirk, Tamamo-no-Mae continued. “They are very sensitive creatures, not pragmatic like we women. A woman might think of past loves with fondness or regret, while she might feel some competitiveness over the past dalliances of her new lover, she will not be bitterly jealous. Men… they hate the fact others have held us, embraced us, loved us, before them. Such delicate creatures. But they have their charms.” She was the one licking her lips now, and she felt a sudden thirst, and crooking her fingers, a gust of wind snatched the sake bottle from her granddaughter, who sighed, rolling her eyes, and as it landed in Tamamo-no-Mae’s hand, she raised it to her mouth and gulped the sweet alcohol down.

“Yes, they have their charms.” Tamamo-no-Mae repeated. “As do we. I certainly have caught his eye. He is a man of appetites, and also excellent tastes. He knows my past does not dirty me, no more than you can destroy a priceless jewel by tossing it in the mud. A jewel is a jewel, even if it needs a little… care… to restore.”

“And you took much care indeed.” Hana agreed. “It is vexing, but… it is as I have said. I am content. And watching from the sidelines here is never boring. Akio promised you he would show you a world which never left you without joy and excitement. Hence why I feel you should have gone with them again, grandmother.”

“This conversation has come full circle.” Tamamo-no-Mae grumbled, as Hana produced yet another bottle of sake, to replace the one she had stolen from her. “Sake tastes sweeter when it is not our own…” Mae swigged again, swallowing. “…but… for men, and women, that which we drink from is truly that which we cherish.” Her gaze flickered back to Caihong’er, and Hana nodded, tails waving for emphasis.

“I understand. You have too many regrets, grandmother. To take that step. But I believe surrendering yourself would truly be bliss for you. Do not deny… huh…” Her blue eyes widened, and Tamamo-no-Mae spun around, only to see Liena’s eyelids flickering, mouth opening. Then some familiar syllables tumbled from her lips, in the old Kunlun dialect, which was a forerunner to the modern Chinese spoken by such as Daiyu, Akio’s young Dao Companion.

“…Matriarch. No, mother… help me… it hurts, I… don’t wish… to… die!”

***

“I don’t…” Liena cried out. Her mother, the Matriarch of Ten Thousand Flower Throne, a Saint standing atop the Cultivators of Kunlun, was enraged, blood on her beautifully patterned robes, even as she was surrounded by the Hall Masters and elites of the Chained Phoenix Sect, as well as their horde of Tamed Spiritual Beasts.

Liena herself was in a wretched state. It wasn’t wrong to have called her a prodigy, though a prodigy now was a mere wingless snake compared to the soaring Dragons of Kunlun’s past glories. Even so, her mother, her Matriarch, had spared no effort nor expense to push her forward, hoping that one day she too could become a Saint and stand at the Pinnacle.

My Spirit Funnel, which mother, my Matriarch, had crafted by a foremost master of the Six Noble Pursuits, helped push me on, despite the Qi of Heaven and Earth dwindling. I would have succeeded. I would have. But now…

Thoughts scattering, Liena clutched her broken arm, her body churning with hostile, intrusive Qi, which had penetrated her body and organs, disarraying her meridians and acupoints, her Dantians shredded. As she spat blood, she whimpered, her words dying out, as her mother, her Matriarch, so strong, so invincible, was forced to her knees, by the wicked and vile Patriarch Zixin, a predatory, triumphant gleam in his eyes.

Suddenly she felt a tearing pain within her, a violation as if her heart was torn free, and she glanced down and away from her enemies to see a wicked, vile centipede had sank its head into her Dao body, jaws not wounding her physically, but spiritually, and as her strength left her, darkness creeping in from the sides, her cries changed to whimpers.

“…Matriarch. No, mother…” The centipede seemed to shrink into her, entwining and coiling around her spiritual self like a constricting snake, just one with dozens of barbed legs which flensed at her spirit. Worse, it had a second head, which ripped into her mother’s lower back as she was distracted battling Patriarch Zixin and his lackeys. Even so, her mother did not cry out, biting her lips so hard her teeth clashed through them, her gaze resolute, despite the dire circumstances.

“…help me… it hurts, I…” Everything was dark now, her vision lost. Sound seemed gone too, the cries of battle, the wicked and ribald taunts of their enemies, the roars of Tamed Beasts, all fading into a numb, comfortable silence, that which all Cultivators feared. The end. Death. Our Qi returning to the Heavens and the Earth. Our Dao continuing on without us, eternal, as we sought…

“…don’t wish… to…” Even moving her lips was an effort now. The feeling of the wretched centipede becoming one with her spiritual Dao body was vile, far more terrible than what her mother, her Matriarch, had told her of men and their predations. Now she could hear again, some strange noises. Trying to reach for anything but the bleak expanse of death, which felt so cold, so terrible, unfathomably cold and… slow, somehow… she strained her hearing, and realised it was words. What is this language. I don’t… understand. Though one voice…

It felt strangely familiar, and there was urgency there, even if the words were strange. Struggling to move, to get up, to fight, to not cease, fade away like the dying embers of Qi after a Technique, Liena struggled, her eyelids feeling heavy, even as her lips twitched and moved, opening up.

 …die!” Her cry came out hoarse and brittle, as if she hadn’t spoken for a long time, which was of course a nonsense, as the storming melee had only continued for a brief time, the treachery of Patriarch Zixin and those who had stood with him swift and overwhelming. There was light beyond her eyelids, but it seemed an odd shade, not the kaleidoscopic shine of destructive Qi, but a cold, sterile white, like captured moonlight. Trying to open her eyes was an effort. Everything felt so heavy, like she was prisoned in her flesh.

No, I can’t die here! I won’t! Mother… don’t leave me! Don’t leave us! The Ten Thousand Flowers will wither without you, plucked untimely!

“Hah… ah…” She panted, her eyes finally snapping open, only for her mind to almost collapse under the confusion. Gone was the battlefield, the struggle, her mother, and she was lying in a bed, strange cords and cables trailing from her but not chaining her, several strange women, hiding their faces with odd masks covering their noses and mouths but not their eyes, wearing unusual white coats which didn’t resemble Cultivator robes, standing around her, fussing in their incomprehensible, foreign language.

An… illusion? My Qi should resist such, but… I was gravely wounded, my Dao body shattered. It is not unheard of that I could be thus trapped. But why? I was… dying… It filled her with despair to admit, but it was true. Her mother, her Matriarch, she too was on the brink of death, none around them but enemies. So why… why show her a peaceful, if strange, illusion in these dire circumstances? Unless… no, it couldn’t be that. Surely not…

Liena had been injured so terribly, that vile centipede crawling into her body, so it seemed like they were trying to kill, since subduing an unwilling warrior was a much more dangerous proposition than simply slaying her, but if the situation had changed, and instead… No! I don’t want to die, but… that disgrace, I can’t endure it! Mother, help me!

Her body felt so heavy, so immobile. She twitched her fingers and toes, and they responded, so painfully slowly, so weakly, as if she was made of mud and clay, not flesh and Qi. Grimacing, she tried to force her Qi active, knowing such would be excruciating with her damaged Dantians, and likely cause her permanent Qi Deviation and great harm to her foundations, but she had no choice.

Only to realise, in a rising tide of panic and dread, that nothing responded, that she was entirely inert, her Dantians silent, or perhaps… as if they never were. This illusion, it is powerful then. The work of someone of at least the Nascent Spirit Realm, to overwhelm me so. One of that vile bastard’s Hall Masters perhaps…

Tugging at the strange chains around her, hearing odd beeps and hums she couldn’t place amongst the chaos, Liena realised that they were not meant to keep her restrained, though one tugged at her pale arm painfully, and she realised a metal needle of some sort had been inserted into her arm, and that it stung.

I was close to forming my Golden Core. Such meagre pinpricks should be as nothing. No, this illusion, if I cannot break it with Qi, then with…

Mind made up, though even in an illusion, the thought terrifying her, Liena made to bite her tongue, fleeing this transient, illusory safety, returning to the pain, the fear, and the despair. But my mother, my Matriarch, taught me that only reality is a place we can dwell. Sweet dreams are but that, dreams…

Pain bloomed, as did a metallic taste, only for a surge of elemental energies, not Qi, but the wilder, unrefined form used by outsiders, held her jaw in place, her arms too. Now even more confused and disorientated, Liena was then astonished as a familiar, if somewhat worrying, voice spoke up, in Kunlun dialect.

“Do not be so foolish, little Liena. If you kill yourself now, after the great efforts I went to, what I paid to save you, I will feel so furious and pathetic I might have to listen to my granddaughter and throw myself in his arms for some solace.”

I don’t… understand. But… I am saved?

The familiar, beautiful yet vaguely threatening visage of Tamamo-no-Mae, greatest of foxes, and the only Spiritual Beast who could walk Kunlun free of the threat of being forcibly Tamed, or Refined for pills or a majestic Spirit Stone, entered her view. She then turned and spoke to the strangely dressed women in white, not that Liena understood.

They seemed to argue back, which shocked her, as other than her mother, her Matriarch, few would dare, but Tamamo-no-Mae spoke emphatically, and they hurriedly backed away, a wise move, and instead started staring at something odd. Liena moved her neck a little, jaw and tongue aching fiercely, only to feel a cooling sensation within her, Tamamo-no-Mae’s…  aether, I think it is, not Qi… enter her without the usual stern resistance her Dao body should have provided, and her small, bleeding wound subsided.

Setting that aside, Liena blinked at the strange devices. In a way they seemed like Tags of crystal, only far larger and set into what might have been metal, or some unknown material, displaying odd, wavy lines which pulsed green at regular intervals, and made the soft beeping noises she had heard. A strange use for them indeed, unless… perhaps, Life Candles?

“Yes.” Tamamo-no-Mae chuckled, and Liena was instantly wary. She was indeed a friend of her mother, her Matriarch, but she had made no secret she wished to, as she put, it, eat her up. “They do indeed tell me you still breathe, Liena. I find the beeps soothing now.” Her ears flickered to illustrate the point, but Liena suddenly realised what mattered.

“Saved? Do you mean you rescued us from that wretch Patriarch Zixin? Mother… where is she?” Doubts forgotten, fear that this was all an illusion set aside, she clung to hope desperately.

“Rescued? Yes. Here, little Liena.” Tamamo-no-Mae manually turned her head for her, Liena still struggling to control her dull, insensible body, and she saw her mother, her Matriarch, sleeping in another bed, hooked up to more of the strange Life Candles, as well as a great many more cords and thin wires. Even so, Liena could tell she lived, the Life Candles beeping and displaying the same green, jagged lines which came and went with regularity.

“Mother…” Liena struggled to reach out with an arm, the metal needle pulling free painfully. Tamamo-no-Mae wasn’t finished speaking, however.

“As for whether it came without cost…” Tamamo-no-Mae shook her head sorrowfully. “I was in time, but also… far, far too late. Even the Saint of Brilliant Flowers could not survive such wounds. Have no fear…” Liena, listening with rapt and confused dread, momentarily forgot everything else, captivated by Tamamo-no-Mae’s charms.

“…I waded in blood. Even one of Zixin’s wretched personal Disciples died to my fury. Yet even I was helpless in some ways. After all, your time was short. Even with the aid I could provide, you would die. Every second was precious. So I bluffed, and won a retreat, carrying you both.”

Liena was filled with amazement at that story. She then remembered the cruel Spirit Beast, and her hands moved jerkily, touching her body. Tamamo-no-Mae understood, as she grinned, though there was no humour in it, her canines showing.

“The centipede. Foul thing. I was not even aware of it, the Yǐngzidúyè Centipede is ingenious and cruel. Rest assured though, its life, if one can call it that now…” Several of her red-golden tails stood up behind her, fur seeming rather stiff suddenly. “…is less pleasant than yours will be. Though Zixin will envy it, when I have my revenge. I am sure he still endures, within Kunlun…”

“Still endures?” Liena managed, confused, everything beyond her understanding, the shift from being surrounded, tortured and nearly murdered, to this strange, quiet place, throwing her off, and her mind was slow, dull, unbefitting of her mother’s, her Matriarch’s daughter. She also felt cold, a chill soaking not just to her bones, but to her spirit, and as she shivered, a second Kitsune, this one with five tails, marking her as a fairly powerful specimen, came over, and draped another blanket around her gently.

She said something in a language that sounded quite similar to Kunlun’s, and she understood most of it. “Turn up… heating? Maybe… a fire?” Liena mused, and the newcomer fox, who was doubtless one of Tamamo-no-Mae’s kin, judging by the shared appearance, chuckled, shaking her head, perhaps also understanding some of what Liena spoke.

“Yes. I have no doubts he endures.” Tamamo-no-Mae ignored the interplay and the newcomer, her gaze straying to Liena’s mother, her expression wistful, yet also full of a fierce anger within the jade of her eyes, which made Liena instinctively drag the blanket around her shoulders. “But… that was long ago, Liena. You have… slept long. So very, very long.”

“I don’t… understand. Wasn’t the battle just moments ago… no, that was my recollection of it.” Even sluggish and dull, Liena was quick to think. Still, it proved impossible to wake her Qi. It was as if she was an ordinary mortal, not a Cultivator at all, and seeing her struggle, Tamamo-no-Mae sighed.

“I fear your Cultivation is completely shorn from you, Liena. Root, branch and crown. It was the only way to wake you.” As Liena’s mind tried to process that horrific, ghastly revelation, Tamamo-no-Mae then delivered another wicked blow, leaving her eyes wide with shock. “As for how long it has been… for you, little time has elapsed at all, but for us, for the world… it has been some fifteen hundred years. I do not know the exact amount. I was seldom concerned with what day it was, back then…”

Wait? Fifteen hundred years? Then… Unable to comprehend it, Liena found herself listening dumbly, as Tamamo-no-Mae explained…

Spoiler

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***

“So yes, Caihong’er is a Saint no longer.” Tamamo-no-Mae finished, the tale, of seeking out the famed Sekka, manipulating the same master of the Six Noble Pursuits as made Liena’s own Spirit Funnel Formation, now long lost to her, of course, the decline of the world and the retreat of Kunlun, Tamamo-no-Mae’s own imprisonment and torture, and subsequent rescue, and finally, their desperate struggle to survive, which left Liena and her mother, her Matriarch, stripped of all that a Cultivator was, a shocking one. And one I am not eager to tell. It hurts my pride in so many ways, and triggers my sense of shame, which I had thought all burned away by that wretched monk. It seems even the ashes of such can sprout new growth,

“Mother… Matriarch…” Liena’s thoughts were surely in turmoil. To lose everything she had built up, taken pride in, all her Cultivation… it would be a great impact, and indeed, she seemed lost, though much was surely confusion. Liena clenched her fists, only to pause, as Hana handed her a drink.

“Here.” she managed in a passable imitation of Kunlun dialect. “It is good, and the sugar and… caffeine… will help you clear your head.”

It seems she is a quick learner. Though Kunlun dialect is indeed the forerunner of modern Chinese, so while many modern words have no equivalent, the basic grammar and many words are close enough.

Taking a shuddering breath, Liena put her hands around the cup, and taking a sip, her eyes widened, before she coughed and spluttered.

“What… what is this? Not poison…” Liena grumbled, and Hana chuckled.

“I would be tired of living indeed if I tried to harm you in front of grandmother here. Besides, Akio would hate that. He went to a lot of trouble to keep you alive. No, it is cola. Fizzy, sweet and restorative, if a little fattening, not that it affects us much. Alas…” She paused, and Liena, curious, took a smaller sip, and found it palatable indeed, once she had grown used to the carbonation, and soon she was easing her parched throat.

“…well, take heart. Your despair only wounds dear grandmother, even if she expected it.”

“Despair?” Liena’s black eyes hardened. They had a touch of azure to them, and shone quite beautifully, Tamamo-no-Mae had always thought, though now they were like jewels which had lost their lustre. “How can I not be despairing? Yes, I live, my mother, my Matriarch, too… but everything is in ruins!” Her tone built up heat. “Our Cultivation, destroyed. Soon mother and I will age, wasting away, our Dao lost to us. Our Sect, my sisters-in-Cultivation gone, no doubt to a dreadful fate… even… even you…” she spat, suddenly vehement, and Hana smirked, perhaps enjoying the spectacle. If so, I shall punish you later, dear granddaughter of mine. Not too cruelly, for you do not belong only to yourself now, but… enough to make you understand I am still not to be mocked.

Hana rolled her azure eyes playfully, as if she guessed Tamamo-no-Mae’s thoughts, and perhaps she had done it to lift the mood, as futile as that was, so the punishment would be lightened. But Liena’s next words shocked Tamamo-no-Mae to her core.

“…Tamed by some young master, a pet to roll and lap at his feet. Mother, my Matriarch, she said your beauty was in that you could never be collared, that you would always be your own master. She would grieve… though, only for a moment. Mother, my matriarch… no more, I suppose…” Now her tone was grief-stricken, though Tamamo-no-Mae felt it a good sign that she was continuing to drink the cola.

“…simply my mother now, she cannot live like this. I… apologise. But neither shall I. I will follow her into death. I am out of time, out of place, out of…” Liena cried out as Tamamo-no-Mae backhanded her. It was a gentle motion, but even so, Liena’s head rocked back. The medical staff overseeing the patients cried out, chattering at Tamamo-no-Mae, but she silenced them with a few barked words.

“Enough. I am chiding a fool who wishes to throw away what I, what we saved…”

“I understand.” the military doctor in charge of their care managed, speaking Japanese, of course. “To prevent suicides is our aim as physicians. Even so, to physically chastise a frail patient…”

“Nonsense. Liena is not so frail. Not even with her Cultivation lost. Her mother has trained her well. Besides…” Tamamo-no-Mae did not speak it out loud, but she was irritated about how Liena spoke of Akio. Her zeroth tail twitched, and the Connections they shared thrummed, and had indeed been growing ever-so-slightly stronger recently, a minor difference only someone as potent as she could discern. Turning away from the shocked Liena, whose hand had gone to her cheek, she stared at her granddaughter, until she shifted uncomfortably.

“What is it, grandmother? I am being perfectly helpful, I swear…”

I suppose you are. “I was just thinking that your insight is keener than you imagine. Perhaps that is why you survived so long, and passed safely through Uranai’s prophecy?”

“I… thank you?” Hana tilted her head, ears flickering, and Tamamo-no-Mae dismissed that line of thought. It hardly matters. Liena is first.

“Indeed…” Tamamo-no-Mae moderated her tone. “…I understand the urge. I advised Akio it would be the case, when he wished to awaken you both. It is why Caihong’er is so heavily sedated, both physically and spiritually. Her pride is as towering as Mount Tai, and… to lose your Cultivation is a tragedy, Liena. To lose hers… why, the Heavens should weep, and the Tribulation Lightning fall, and the Chaotic Winds blow. Reclaiming such would surely be impossible…”

Liena nodded, crying silently, even as her hands clutched the cup, now empty, knuckles white.

“But do not despair.” She reached out, and Liena flinched, only to be stunned at Tamamo-no-Mae tenderly stroked her hair. “That young master has hardly given up hope. Nor should you.”

“Sweet words mean nothing to the useless.” Liena spat bitterly, though she didn’t resist as Hana handed her a fresh cup. After gulping more cola, she frowned. “If it was just a case of starting over, maybe I could, but… I can feel it. My body is worthless. As wretched as a talentless servant in the Sect. Even if I could bring myself to Cultivate from nothing once more… what would I reach? Perfection of Self? No, probably not. I am not so young anymore. Accumulation. What even is the point?”

“The point, my foolish little Liena…” Tamamo-no-Mae was frustrated but expected it. Caihong’er would not even entertain me. She would have swallowed her tongue by now, forcing me to intervene. These soft-hearted fools here… she included the women in the room in that, as well as Akio and all his companions. …do not understand the grief and loss that Caihong’er and Liena feel. Cultivation was their everything, and now… all destroyed. And worse, their enemies still surely prosper. The only thing worth dying for is destroying one’s enemies. A Cultivators’ way for certain. Almost a Dao…

“Don’t you laugh at me!” Tamamo-no-Mae hadn’t realised she was smiling, and Liena stared at her bitterly. “I’m a fool, I know. I lost. Mother… mother lost too, and all the Flowers are surely withered now after fifteen hundred years. But I won’t be lectured by just another trophy on a Patriarch’s bedpost. Not even from you! You say you lost all your strength but reclaimed much of it. If you couldn’t…”

“How amusing. She thinks Akio a mighty Cultivator…” Hana giggled, in Japanese, of course. “She is not entirely wrong, but his Cultivation itself…”

“Is that of a barest neophyte.” Tamamo-no-Mae agreed, before sighing, talking to Liena once more.

“If I could not, then I would simply do as I wish, as always. You think me Tamed, young one, and perhaps indeed I am, but… Akio holds no whip over me. We have a… give-and-take… relationship. Why…” She smirked then, showing her teeth, and Liena shivered. “…he has not even taken me to his bed, even when I was wet and gushing, ready to be dominated.”

Liena paused. “He surely sees you as a beast. Though many perverts will fornicate with such… oh.” She flushed, her pale skin seeming healthier for the first time. Her anger and shame were good though. It is apathy, fear and regret which will lead her to her death, unless I act.

“So Caihong’er is a pervert, is she? How she will punish you, when she hears. And she will hear…” Tamamo-no-Mae insisted.

“No, you are obviously different, greatest of foxes, but…” Liena backpedalled desperately. “…you have to admit, it is seen as quite perverse, and only for pleasure or taboo, and many eschew such.”

Tamamo-no-Mae ignored her. “…Caihong’er shall hear, because we intend to give her news that will stay her urge to leave this world.”

At those words, delivered with conviction, Liena fell silent, awaiting Tamamo-no-Mae’s answer for her. I have not one, but many.

“Firstly, to die before Zixin, and every traitorous wretch who stood with him, is spitting in the face of the poor Flowers who were left behind. Indeed, even shorn of her Sainthood, you were mistaken earlier, little Liena. Caihong’er still is the Matriarch of Thousand Flower Throne. So she should see this war to the end. It was long delayed, fifteen hundred years in coming, but… the Heavens are patient, even if we are not.”

Liena nodded, eyes distant, likely remembering the battle, which to her was merely days ago. “Even so, that will not help her grief, the emptiness. I feel it myself. I am… pathetic. A shell. My thoughts move as if through thick honey, my body as if wrapped in invisible strands of toughened silk. My perception is so limited, so colourless. I can’t live like this, Tamamo-no-Mae! I can’t!”

“And indeed, for Caihong’er, the contrast would be a hundred times worse.” Tamamo-no-Mae agreed. “Yet… I am not defeatist.” Now was the time to drive home her point. “Little Liena, listen, and listen well. I…” Akio has told me not to do such as this, for it damages the Boundary, yet… to save Liena, and later Caihong’er, I can feel his permission within my zeroth tail, my very self. I may not be a Cultivator, but I have slain enough for the Heavens to take note of me, and blood from them has watered the Earth below…

“…swear to the Earth below, and Heavens above. Liena, not only will you and Caihong’er recover what has been stricken from you, you shall both go further. Not mere Sainthood, but… Earth Immortal and beyond. This I swear, on behalf of myself, and on behalf of Oshiro Moonstone Akio, he who proved to me it could be done!”

She felt her words reach the Heavens and knew in the Boundary there would be turmoil. Even here, the sky began to cloud over, and a sudden downpour struck the streets, water turning icy and to hail, a rare thudersnow event as lightning flashed above. I had not expected it to be so grand. Well… Tamamo-no-Mae’s lips curled into another smirk. …I am Tamamo-no-Mae, the nine tailed fox, am I not? And I survived my Tribulation, even if I had help. The Heavens surely recognise my quality, and if they do not, then I shall simply bulldoze them, and build a newer, more compliant one. After all, if I wag my tails, and a little more, the tender fool will answer me earnestly. And I find I do not hate it, not at all. But first…

Her gaze strayed to Caihong’er. …but first, I must also reclaim what is lost. This world is not boring, and Liena, Caihong’er, I will show you it has justice too, even for those of us who do not perhaps deserve it…

***

The shocks had just kept on coming to Liena. She was struggling to process it all, though she told herself it was simply due to her loss of Cultivation, her lack of sharpness caused by that void within her. Even so, for Tamamo-no-Mae of all beings to swear to the Heavens… and for it to accept so loudly, in a world so devoid of Heavenly Qi… obviously, a humble Qi Refiner or Foundationalist so swearing would almost certainly, barring some Heaven-defying vow that touched on Fate itself, have little sign, but for a Saint, such as mother… my Matriarch, yes… I can’t abandon all hope… at least was, the Heavens would answer. It seemed that the legendary Kitsune, the only one to have reached nine tails, was a being the Heavens took notice of.

Even with the snow outside, it is so warm here… no, that is hardly what matters! It was indeed comfortingly warm, not that Liena had considered that much for several years, as her Cultivation left her inured to the ravages of winter, but now the unexplained heat was welcome. A woman was combing her hair rather luxuriously, some sort of humanoid Spiritual Beast like Tamamo-no-Mae, only more bestial, this one resembling a weasel, wearing strange, maid-like clothes.

Speaking of clothes… what everyone was wearing was strange. Not Tamamo-no-Mae nor her granddaughter, it appeared, no, they were wearing traditional garments which, while different to what was worn in Kunlun, certainly at least seemed familiar. But following the physicians who had been attending to her, and were still watching mother, her Matriarch, there had been four more visitors. And then a fifth.

The fifth was wearing a similar cloth to Tamamo-no-Mae, only in black, and her vividly coloured horns curling out from her head made her appear potent and regal. This was Bintara, supposedly, the legendary healer who Tamamo-no-Mae had first turned to. She was tutting as she frowned at Liena, her eyes glowing a brilliant green, and even shorn of Cultivation, Liena could feel the prickling of unnatural energies flowing through her, as she made silent observations, aloof from the others within the room.

There is no way I will let him touch me. No, it was the other four guests which had perturbed her. One was the young master who had caught Tamamo-no-Mae, dominating her. He seemed at first a rather innocent young man, around the age Liena appeared, though she was rather older than that, due to Cultivation slowing her aging, but Liena knew beneath his benevolent exterior, lurked vile possessiveness and lusts. He tried to touch me, even if it was for medical care, so he claimed…

Liena had screamed curse words and thrashed, and if she was still a Cultivator, she would have blown him apart, but alas, all she could do was cry out and wave her arms frenziedly. Even so, without her Cultivation, she could still feel the aura of power about him, the weight of his existence, and he certainly was above her. Nascency, or perhaps even Sainthood. He is dangerous. And I am helpless. Tamamo-no-Mae might protect me, but… she is infatuated with him, or dominated, most likely. I can expect no aid there.

Apparently, this was his mansion, so she was at his mercy too. Worse, while he came with Bintara and an older woman, he also came with two others, who seemed to be his lovers, and from what Tamamo-no-Mae had said, just a mere portion. One was a Cultivator, young too, though probably not anything of note. She was rather beautiful, though Liena didn’t think her own looks lost, not at all, and at the wary, somehow jealous gaze in her black, onyx eyes, Liena felt a little spark inside herself reignite.

Yes, that is how Cultivators should look at me, look at Su Liena, the daughter of the Saint of Brilliant Flowers, and a rare prodigy in these modern times! Know I am… no… her pride suddenly dribbled away. …know I was your superior. Now… I expect even if she is Foundation or Accumulation, she could easily crush me.

She wasn’t wearing Cultivator robes, or even what Tamamo-no-Mae and her granddaughter were, but clothes the same type as the other two women, and a bit similar to the man, honestly, very immodest and unusual. Tight-fitting around the legs, showing them off, and also a separate fluffy top. I shall never wear such. Indeed…

Clothes had been brought out for her, and she’d thrown another tantrum, as she would not dress in such a manner. Not in public. That, however, had not been the most mortifying thing. On seeing the two women, one young, with eyes that shifted between metallic hues, and an older woman, she had cried out that they were jiāngshī, even if the younger’s hair was a pale, rose-gold, rather than dead white.

The young woman fortunately hadn’t understood, and when it was explained, she had smiled, and then shocked Liena by speaking in flawless Kunlun dialect. Looking to Tamamo-no-Mae, she had been told it was a gift the young woman had, the Dhampir, as they called her, to understand many tongues quickly. Tamamo-no-Mae had also said that only the young Cultivator, Zhou Daiyu, was the young master’s concubine, though from what she could see, Tamamo-no-Mae and her granddaughter were mere tamed dogs, coming to heel, and the younger Dhampir was eyeing him hungrily, so they were simply trying to fool her, make her let her guard down.

“I find them strange too…” Ileana spoke, that was the Dhampir’s name. She had quite a captivating smile, Liena had to admit, even if it was too late for her. Once a young master got hold of a woman, he would either treasure her, or tire of her, and then… well, the worst would give her to his subordinates to have some fun with, the best might send her away, with a little wealth and resources, to start anew, but… few men wished to be second. Poor woman. Now I have talked to her, she seems earnest. And… we have much in common.

“…immodest, but… times have changed.” She plucked at the thin, silky white cloth which clung to her body, not caring her arms were bare, even in this pleasant warmth. She crossed and uncrossed her legs, clad in the strange, durable-seeming blue fabric, heedless of the young master’s sly stares. I knew it. They are fooling me! She is clearly his concubine too. Though… I believe Tamamo-no-Mae is doing it for my benefit. She seems oddly earnest.I always avoided her where I could before, but now… having someone I know here is comforting. If I awoke to strange people who did not understand me, my Cultivation shattered, my mother, my Matriarch comatose, then indeed I would have ended it all. Why suffer? It is simply rejoining the Dao, becoming one with Heaven and Earth.

“When I went outside, I saw men and women alike wearing many stranger outfits, and… morality has changed over the centuries, while I slept. We have a similar history, Liena…” she finished.

“Yet you were not reduced to this…” she snapped back bitterly, then wished she hadn’t, as turning down kindness and repaying it with disdain was unbecoming of her. Fortunately, Ileana seemed not to mind it, or to understand, as she merely smiled, her canines showing, as she handed over more of the… cake. It is good.

“No, but I was starving and gravely wounded. Fortunately, there are safe places to seek, and this… this is the safest.”

“If you say so.” Liena swallowed some more cake, revelling in the sweetness. Is everything so sweet here now? If so, it will become cloying in time…

“I do say so.” Ileana added. Even their names were similar, though Roșuluminel, her family name, was a far-cry from the elegant simplicity of Su, even if it had a poetic meaning, apparently, anyway.

“And she is not mistaken. I am here, as is Akio, and even Taṇhā.” At Tamamo-no-Mae’s words, and that name, Liena paused, cake forgotten.

“Taṇhā, Goddess of Thirsting Flames?” she asked, and Tamamo-no-Mae snorted.

“Not anymore. Call her She Who has Quenched Her Thirst. Yet yes, you have it correct.”

“Impossible. One of the arbiters of the Heavens…” Liena began and was shocked as Akio spoke in perfectly understandable Kunlun dialect suddenly.

“Times are changing, Su Liena, and have changed more than you can know. Now then…” He smiled, and she was immediately wary, in case he tried to grab her again, and he shrugged, expression rueful. Though it is likely his sly wiles at work!

“…I know Mae will have told you…”

Liena’s neck turned reflexively, as she had to see just what Tamamo-no-Mae would do, being called by such a familiar name, only to be stunned as she was completely unbothered by it, her ears flickering slightly, perhaps even displaying a hint of liking for such endearments. No, this isn’t right. Even my mother, my Matriarch, she had to tread warily around the fox and her moods, so she said…

Bemused, she listened, despite her disdain for the predatory young master, who had no regard nor respect for women.

“…but we had to completely rebuild you from scratch to keep you alive, Su Caihong too. And that means you have no functioning Chakras, no Dantians. And we can’t simply rebuild them, as… what lies beyond, your Truesoul, the damage has seeped through. No, calling it damage isn’t strictly true. Perhaps it’s a different issue, but in any case, we can’t just redrill your Chakra network and Dantians. That centipede, the damage you sustained, and the strain of being frozen for so long, even with time drastically slowed… it’s not so easily fixed. But…”

His tone was inappropriately cheery now, Liena thought, even if she knew he was only trying to reassure and cajole her.  I shall let you convince me… for my mother, my Matriarch’s sake. And for our revenge on that scum Zixin and all his allies. For that… that is all I would sell myself for now. I am no longer a Cultivator, but… I am my mother’s daughter…

“Those are good eyes. I like them…” the young master changed the subject, complimenting her, and Liena’s gaze hardened, but he only chuckled ruefully.

“I mean, I like the determination. I’m sorry, but Mae fought too hard for us to let either of you die. And besides, I think there needs to be redress for all you’ve suffered. After all… I saw it. Some, at least.”

“How could you?” Liena scoffed, and he didn’t get angry, doing an admirable job of leashing his male temper.

“I can see why you’d doubt me, but… I saw Mae’s memories of it, during our shared Tribulation. So I’ve marked him, have no fear…” At the sheer anger and rage coiled into his voice now, a contrast to his easy-going prior speech, Liena reflexively moved away from him in the bed, and he moderated his tone.

“Sorry if I scared you. You must be wary, a strange world, strange people, no way to defend yourself. But… for every wound you suffered, your mother suffered, and Mae suffered, I’ll exact repayment in kind, don’t worry about that.”

“Not alone. I need my share of vengeance…” Tamamo-no-Mae giggled wickedly, and he nodded.

“Oh, I’m not going to deny you your own satisfaction. But unless I get a good punch or ten in, I won’t feel calm. He’s everything that I loathe in a man…”

“And he perhaps has more women than even you do…” Tamamo-no-Mae bantered, forgetting her earlier attempts to make him seem less dangerous. I knew it. He’s collecting women like we collect Spirit Stones…

“Yes, but all mine are willing, and I treat them right!” he insisted, and Liena held in a snort.

“Oh, I felt the same…” the older woman spoke up in Kunlun dialect, another shock, though she rubbed at her temples as if she was in pain. “…damn device. I grow used to Japanese and English, this new language is more painful than ever. No, forget that…” She gathered her thoughts. “You worry he is after your body, yes? I worry for my little light here…” She patted Ileana’s shoulder gently. “…she’s a beauty, like you, girl.”

“I am Liena, not girl.”

“To me, you’re still a girl, even if you don’t look your age. And I’m Valeska. Anyway… where was I? Oh yes…” She glanced over at the bickering Tamamo-no-Mae and young master Akio. “…I feared ulterior motives. That he doesn’t have them is somehow worse. Isn’t that right, my little light?”

The pale Dhampir flushed, her fangs showing, the colour shocking due to her pale features. “I… suppose it makes a lot of sense. His blood is what I need to grow stronger. And he’s been nothing but kind…”

“See?” Valeska rolled her eyes. “My little light has fallen under his spell already. She may not be my blood granddaughter, and she in fact calls me her child, quite the folly, but… I know what it’s like to see my own child fall in love…”

“Valeska, it’s not… like that…” Ileana protested. “…but if I am the Princess of Demons, it’s fate, isn’t it? I can’t fight it.”

“You could at least try.” the old woman snorted. “But I suppose it is a fight we Strigoi can’t win…”

“I told you, we’re not wicked spirits…” Ileana protested, only to be shut up by her next words.

“Just don’t try and see what his other fluids taste like yet, no matter what the other youngsters tell you about how good and satisfying they are. If he’s having you, he should at least court you properly and work for it!”

Now Ileana was scarlet, hiding her beautiful, shifting eyes with her hands. Liena felt her own cheeks heating up. She didn’t fully understand, but she knew that it was a very… lewd… topic, certainly.

Then she suddenly snapped back into focus, as the young master was staring at her again. Defensive, she glowered back, only to be confused as he turned to Tamamo-no-Mae, issuing an order she didn’t understand.

“Okay, she hates the clothes we’ve brought. Daiyu has some robes, and Shaeula plenty of yukatas… no, Shaeula’s too short, and… Liena’s quite a bit taller than you, Daiyu…”

“I may still grow.” the Cultivator chuckled, confusing Liena.

“In that case, Natsumi’s family will have suitable clothes. Fetch a modest set of yukata and kimono for now, and…” He switched back to Kunlun dialect. “…we need to get you out of bed and seeing the world. After all… if you need to find a reason to keep on living, other than reclaiming what was lost and revenge… you need to see that the world itself isn’t so cold.”

At his strange words, Liena blinked, and Tamamo-no-Mae, the only link to her past life, which seemed to end in pain and despair mere moments ago to her, smiled, an unusually solemn one, which Liena had never seen from her.

“Indeed. I too have a promise from him.” She turned, her smile now fond, and Liena blinked. That look. It is… how she looks at my mother, my Matriarch sometimes. It does not seem like Taming, though a true Master like that scum Zixin can certainly shape minds to feel emotions they otherwise wouldn’t. I had best be more wary…

“That this world would be worth me enduring for. That the two of you would wake, and… that this is not the end of your dreams, but… the start of newer, better ones…”

As Liena gazed into Tamamo-no-Mae’s jade-like eyes, she nodded, despite her doubts, misgivings and inner pain. I… don’t believe. I can’t believe… tearing her gaze away and staring at her sleeping, ordinary mother, she clenched her fist under the thin blanket. …not while she has lost everything she has fought for, But…

Making up her mind, she let a little, faint, almost pathetic smile curl her lips. …for a little while, I can endure. To see if there is any hope at all…