Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 188- The Beginnings of Phase Two

[Keeno POV]

Sitting in yet another meeting room, I sighed at the sight of the insanely in love pair across from me.

 

“Had a fun night, you two?” (Keeno)

 

Freya had the decency to blush as Pram hugged her arm, nuzzled into her neck, and purred audibly.

 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” (Keeno)

 

The sound of Pram’s purring was the only thing to be heard until the door to the room opened and a person I hadn’t seen in weeks finally returned. Mostima stood next to a seat near me wearing a long coat with no sleeves and a hood that cast her face in complete shadow. Her cracked halo hovering above her head as the tips of her horns poked out of the hood slightly. Her thin tail swished back and forth as her shattered wings flickered lightly with grey light.

 

“Sorry for just vanishing like I did. I had some things I had to go from my old home and it took longer than I intended to get there and back.” (Mostima)

 

“It’s all good. Out of curiosity, what did you need to get?” (Keeno)

 

“Some old texts I had, a few outfits made for combat, some pictures of Fia.  Seeing as I don’t plan on returning here again unless absolutely necessary, I thought I’d pack them up and move them to wherever me and Fia move into.” (Mostima)

 

“Whenever we visit Solheim again, you can put them in our place.” (Keeno)

 

“Thanks.” (Mostima)

 

She sat down and asked what’s been happening while she was away. I gave her the rundown and she nodded.

 

“You’ve been quite busy I see. Mind if I join in on the purging?  I’ve got a bone or two to pick with some of these mongrels.” (Mostima)

 

“Feel free. I’m just waiting for Margaret and Sif to arrive so I can let them know what I’m going to be doing soon.” (Keeno)

 

“Hmm.  Oh, speaking of, I think I have something that can help when you have people turn this place into your place of worship.” (Mostima)

 

Taking a stack of papers out of her storage, she rifled through them until she pulled out a thing that reminded me of a blueprint.

 

“Way back when, I dabbled a bit in architecture. When I learned Fia was undergoing trials to become the Sun Apostle, I thought she’d have to have a dedicated temple, so I drafted some plans.” (Mostima)

 

Standing up and walking over to Mostima I looked at the plans she laid out. My eyes went wide at the masterful drawing of what I assumed would be an absolutely MASSIVE cathedral in gothic style that renaissance artists from my old world could only have wet dreams about.

 

{…I…wow.}

 

“…” (Keeno)

 

“Well, judging by the two of you’s reactions, it’s something you’d like.” (Mostima)

 

“Definitely.” (Keeno)

 

“Heh.  Then I’ll bring it up with the two who are gonna be in charge later.” (Mostima)

 

She rolled the plans back up but left them on the table. I sat back down and began gently brushing one of my tails while we waited for the others to arrive.  Time passed as not much happened. I had just gotten started on my fourth tail when Geri and Freki left their realm inside me.

 

“Master, something is strange with the big tree.” (Geri)

 

“The strange orbs are condensing power in the branches and four small spectral animals are forming. Also, where the power is condensing in the branches, a new orb is forming.” (Freki)

 

“There are also signs of a different animal scurrying about. It doesn’t seem to be hurting anything, but every time we try to look for it, we somehow end up back by the roots.” (Geri)

 

“What do the four animals look like?” (Keeno)

 

“Fawns.” (Freki)

 

“Hmm.  Leave them be and let them grow.  They are the Stags of Four Seasons. The other critter must be Ratatoskr, so leave it be too.  It’ll take care of the stags.  But this new orb…keep an eye on it.  If it changes any, let me know immediately. Oh, and watch the roots, unless I’m wrong, you’ll be getting a draconic friend too at some point.” (Keeno)

 

““Yes Master.”” (Both)

 

They went back into the realm after that. Once those two vanished, the door to the room opened again and the two I was waiting for entered.  Sitting down next to one another, they looked over at me, completely ignoring Pram and Freya. Sif did look over at Mostima, but quickly looked away, a look of fear flashing across her face.

 

“So, Keeno, what’s the meeting about, or are we waiting for more people to get here?” (Margaret)

 

“I was waiting for you to. There isn’t much for me to discuss and it’s more just I’m letting you know that I’m leaving the city for a bit to finish putting out the flames plaguing the country.  While I’m away, I want to leave the rest of the purging to you. Mostima is also going to be helping now too, so things should continue to go at the pace they have been.” (Keeno)

 

“Speaking of that, a few nobles are figuring out what’s going on and may start targeting us.” (Margaret)

 

“Wow.  That took way longer than I expected it to.” (Keeno)

 

“Actually, I think I know what’s going on and why it took so long. Not all of them have been killed by assassins or your Death Spirits. A few have died from what seemed to be a curse, according to my new witch friend. Others have died from becoming sick, though no others around those have showed any symptoms of the same sickness. The only connection being they have come into contact with that hair that was cut from you.” (Sif)

 

“…I see.  I should get a spirit to collect it.” (Keeno)

 

“I’m surprised you didn’t do that immediately.” (Margaret)

 

“I was going to, but Ama told me to let it be. Said it would help thin out more if I left it, but hearing this I now understand why she said that.” (Keeno)

 

We talked a bit more about current events before the topic shifted back to my main reason for summoning them here.

 

“Anyway, I plan on leaving today and getting everything done as quickly as I can. With how fast Volundr is, I say it’ll take at most a month and a half, so I’d like you all to stay safe in that time. I’ll be leaving Muninn here to help out if needed as well while Huginn comes with me. Margaret, you may command the Death spirits as needed.  Sif, I want you to keep the neutral façade a little longer. Things will start to change rapidly once I get back, so shore up any defenses you need to to keep you, your loved ones, and our people safe.” (Keeno)

 

They both nodded. I then turned to Mostima, Pram, and Freya.

 

“Mostima, I know what you want to do, so feel free to do it.  Pram, Freya, if a fight breaks out here, I want the two of you to help where needed or even take charge if necessary.  While I hope nothing extreme happens, Freya, I trust you to protect Pram and seize victory, I know you can.” (Keeno)

 

My words made Freya smile, though I still saw a small shadow of doubt in it. At least until Pram hugged her arm, causing all her doubts to burn away like paper.  I smiled at that and stood up.

 

“I’ll be going then. There are a lot of fires to deal with, and not a lot of time to do so.” (Keeno)

 

Everyone gave me words of encouragement as I left the room as I made my way to the outside of the city once more.

 

[Mostima POV]

 

With Keeno now gone, Margaret and our new ally Sif began talking of plans for the near future. When they reached a point where I could interject, I did so.

 

“I have a suggestion in regards to some things we can do after Keeno gets back and takes the Dead Zone.” (Mostima)

 

Standing up, I picked up my old architecture plans and brought them over closer to the two. Sif flinched when I got next to them and didn’t meet my eyes once while Margaret showed no reaction. I made a note to try and settle this once I got my piece done. Unrolling the plans, the two looked them over and, similar to Keeno’s reaction earlier, their eyes went wide.

 

“This…is extremely ambitious. The time, money, and other resources that would be needed to construct this would be insane.” (Margaret)

 

“But it is a masterpiece. Something I’d like to see made, though I don’t know if it’d ever be finished in my lifetime.” (Sif)

 

“Well, we’re all either immortal, or going to be at some point, so who cares how long it takes. Both Keeno and Amaterasu want it, so it must be done.” (Mostima)

 

“Oh the whims of gods. How unreasonable yet entertaining. Seeing as the Goddesses I’m following want it, I can’t deny it.” (Sif)

 

I rolled the plans up again and passed them over to Margaret.

 

“Can I leave these to you?” (Mostima)

 

“I’ll see to it that they get completed one day.” (Margaret)

 

“Thanks.  Moving on from that, Madam Sif, can you please tell me why you are afraid of me?” (Mostima)

 

Sif froze up completely, her tail puffing up to almost two times its normal size and her ears flattening against her head.

 

“You’re Mostima the Fallen! The accursed traitor of Lokir who sided with the Eternal Flame.  The reaper who, even as a normal angel, killed someone’s soul.  Though I know it to not be true, you were even considered something akin to the God of Death. Everyone in Lokir have grown up with stories of how you’d come hunt us down and devour our souls if we ever did anything bad or disobeyed our parents.  I truly don’t mean to be rude, especially with the things I’ve come to learn over these past few weeks, but it’s still difficult to sewerage you from the stories we’ve all grown up with.” (Sif)

 

“Hmm. So that’s how history has portrayed me here. Interesting. Though, I have to say, greatly exaggerated. I just cracked that soul, not killed it. And believe it or not, Falling is excruciating, so…anyway, those stories, while holding slivers of truth, are mostly false.” (Mostima)

 

“Even the one about betraying the country to go with the Eternal Flame?” (Sif)

 

“One, Fia isn’t an evil person who meant to do that and she regrets it even to this day. Two, in terms of time, I only recently found her again.  Three, the circumstances of the time being what they were, Fia’s flames covering the country helped SAVE it.  Four, please, for your sake, don’t slander Fia any more with such horrid biases.  I don’t want to become the monster people think me as, especially to someone Keeno has her eye on.” (Mostima)

 

“Yes ma’am!” (Sif)

 

I guess I unintentionally used some gravity magic because the second she said that, a physical weight seemed to vanish from her.

 

“Apologies.  When someone says bad things about Fia, I get a bit emotional.” (Mostima)

 

“I completely understand. If anyone said something bad about my wives while I was in earshot, I’d react the same way.  I sincerely apologize for my words as well.” (Sif)

 

With that, Margaret adjourned this meeting. She and Sif got up to leave before Margaret turned back to me.

 

“Mind if we put you to work now?  It’s close to night, so it’s ample opportunity for some more purging.” (Margaret)

 

“Give me names and locations and they’ll be gone before morning.” (Mostima)

 

“Follow us then.” (Margaret)

 

We left the room and headed down a hallway. A long night was starting, and so many nobles would soon face the retribution they so deserved.

 

Chaos Realm:

*Holding Order close as they relax on a large chair-and-a-half*

*Kisses Order gently*

I’ve missed these alone times.

Order: I have too. I love Astraea, Nykuro, Swil and our ever growing number of friends, but it’s good to just have us time every now and then.

I agree.

*Order pulls one of Payto’s innumerable tails around her, lightly hugging it*

Order: You’re getting softer and fluffier.

I’ve been taking Luna’s classes. They are very helpful.

Order: I see. *She smiles as the smell of campfires and leather fills her nose* New oils?

Yeah. Thought you’d like something different.

Order: If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re trying to seduce me.

I’m always trying to seduce my wife.

*Both smile as their faces inch closer*

Order: Well, it’s working wonderfully.

*The shadow they cast shows their faces overlap as they share a tender, loving kiss that is the prelude to a wonderful night of love and passion*