Caius opened one eye to peek at the rising sun. Aiya, everything was so wet! The ground! The trees! The people! Aiya, thanks to all the uprooted trees there were rivers of mud! Aiya! Bad rain!
Caius shook out his fur before ordering his offspring to fetch food for his Pretty Birdie. Since they were already out, they may as well bring back something for him as well.
Rahm grumbled as he drew the short paw. Stepping into the cold, wet, muddy earth… he was going to need several baths to fix his fur!
Littlest snickered at Rahm's laments. Curling up beneath his female owl as he watched. Rahm tip toeing through the mud and leaping to the driest platforms he could find. Let Rahm brave the world while he stay dry and warm with his pretty bird.
Caius rolled his eyes. Littlest was about to have to find himself another place to stay dry and warm if he didn't stop all his bragging! Caius used his nose to burrow into his tails. His Pretty Birdie barely glanced at him before closing his eyes to feign sleep.
Caius belatedly realized his Pretty Birdie's eyes weren't blue anymore. They were the striking silver of his beast form. Caius laid his head over his Pretty Birdie's stomach hoping for nose scratches.
Neolani had her warriors carry baskets of fruits, breads, vegetables, and an assortment of condiments. Ashton's tea was still being made. When the fox didn't even bother to unfurl his tails Neolani gave a sharp cough.
Caius ignored the human female. Nudging his Pretty Birdie plaintively. Aiya, was such a big fox not enough? Was he not warm enough? Was he not pretty enough?
Nix half heartedly scratched Caius's nose. Such a young fox, in the grand scheme of things, he probably wouldn't survive another 500 years. Not without protection. He was too impulsive… Not to mention… this young fox was still mourning.
Caius's heart sank as his Pretty Birdie started to hum. It was like the world had become a much bleaker, colder place. Caius felt like he'd returned to the day he'd found his Peach. Dazedly walking to the small fox hole he'd dug so she could birth their kits.
So much blood… the whimpers of his day old kits still alive. Missing limbs, crushed limbs, chunks torn from their miniscule bodies… they'd been left alive for him to see. A warning. A punishment.
All because he'd teasingly asking why Alaina needed an army of beasts. He'd thought something was fishy, but not enough to really care. Now he wanted her to feel his pain. He wanted revenge. To tear Misha's limbs off. Force Misha to watch as he's eaten. Helpless like his kits had been. Though, they at least had been innocent.
Misha was a monster, and Caius didn't say that lightly. Misha delighted in his cruelties. If the cursed wretch didn't hide underwater except to unleash his cruelties Caius would have kept trying to lure him out. Alaina claimed Peach was planning to tempt beasts away from her alliance, then had attacked Misha.
There were no survivors so Caius couldn't disprove the statement, but he knew.
He hadn't dared let any of his kin wander since then. The suffocating despair, hatred, anger… it crashed through him as if it had all just happened.
Nix really listened. Misha… that was not one he was familiar with. Though, considering Alaina had taken up her mother's mantle it wouldn't surprise him if she bore children for the sole purpose of slaying others.
Caius shook out his fur as his Pretty Birdie stopped humming. Aiya… to invoke such emotion… Caius would have to be careful.
Nix glanced toward the dragonkin. Even from here he could hear their displeasure, distrust, desperation. For all their talk, they took little action. Randal, the dragon on the other hand… was swift to action. Nix would have to pay closer attention to the group. Each was wearing an illusion so profound, they fooled themselves… and unobservant gods.
Nix may just barter for the information… then again, Beloved had noticed even before he had. Surely if she wanted the information she would have bartered for it.
A tired smile tugged at Nix's lips, the gaping hole in his heart was healed… yet he'd never felt more alone. Having and losing truly was worse than never knowing.
Nix held his beast core in his hands. The tiny blemish was easily overlooked, yet he couldn't help focusing on it. Reaching through his bond he checked on his ember… frustration, irritation, denial, anger, shame…
Nix silently layered three enchantments over his core. He would accept her feelings, but not indulge in them any longer. Her emotions were like drinking salt water, the more he drank, the worse his condition became. So he would simply not drink.
Feeling the large fox nose nudge him, Nix acquiesced to the offer of food.
Caius hummed in delight as he moved his tails to create a table for his Pretty Birdie. "Aiya! I thought you might hide the day away. You didn't even stir the entire night! Aiya, Pretty Birdie, what would you like to eat?"
Nix tilted his head, "Anything is fine, so long as on mana I dine."
Caius gave his Pretty Birdie a quick lick before showing off Rahm's finds. More mushrooms, potatoes, and of course the basket of mana fruit.
Nix accepted a mana fruit as the rest was quickly baked in fox fire. The poor twin tail was soaked to the bone.
Neolani watched as Ashton's eyes continued to glow silver… He was more distant. Even after regaining his heart… she felt nothing. She could still call on his mana to enhance her spells but… she couldn't enter his reservoir anymore.
Nix curiously lifted Ashton's arm. It was so heavy. It was a miracle humans managed to move at all. Their bones were so… dense. Though not particularly strong. The effort of simply feeding himself was rather novel.
Ashton's one arm was heavier than his original body. Being a being of almost pure mana, inhabiting flesh was strange. It didn't change to suit his needs, nor was it impervious to even the gentlest of winds. A small breeze caused goose bumps to rise.
Nix layered Ashton's skin with mana. It was invisible to the average eye, though most mages would notice. Nix quickly lost interest in flexing his fingers. Glancing up at the still gloomy sky. Nix sighed, allowing Ashton's body to sink back into the fox tails.
Ashton… another loss in so short a time. After the body burned away, he would take his time to find the family of three a land to reincarnate in. Hopefully Thomas and Samantha would fall in love again, he could only provide the opportunity.
Nix opened a rift to his bookshelves. Three new journals sat beside Alphonse's. It was interesting to read life through their eyes. Even when they shared a body, their perceptions were more influenced by him than the other way around.
Thomas and Samantha had the least influence, so reading life through their eyes was an entirely new perception. Nix decided to read through Thomas's journal first. Thomas may have remembered, or simply been observant enough to recognize the changes. Now Nix would know which.
Caius watched as his Pretty Birdie settled in to read… a book? Adjusting his tails so he could peek over his shoulder Caius's brain started to hurt… what language was that? Aiya, he could read! Caius thought back… when was the last time he read anything? Ten years ago? Most of the time he pulled information from minds. Words were so… wordie!
Nix gave a sad smile, "Tis only the journey, one that ended too soon, I doubt would hold much interest as least to any, only a select few." Thomas was perceptive indeed. Having noticed the change in Ashton within days. After a few weeks, he'd noticed changes within Samantha and even himself.
Nix closed his eyes, Thomas had always suspected they had died. It was not entirely wrong. Apparently Samantha woke from nightmares. The trauma had been soul deep for her as a mage.
Weak as he'd been, he barely recalled Thomas leaving for "market" at irregular times. Thomas had found the sacrificial ceremony site. After months of investigation, he'd pieced together that they had been kidnapped. Suspicions had been rampant, more than a dozen people had gone missing.
Nix sighed, Thomas may not have found concrete evidence since Ru had destroyed even the souls of the priests, but he'd known deep in his heart. Sometimes seeing Nix's influence. After a year of observation, Thomas had accepted Nix as their savior. To be fair, Nix had been mostly dormant, only peeking through Ashton's soul in dreams for the first several months.
Nix smiled as Thomas saw Nix walking around the potato fields aggrievedly. Ashton had always been a hearty meat eater, yet overnight even the smell caused him to make faces. Ashton had been so hungry he'd snuck out in the middle of the night to tend to the fields.
Nix's song encouraging the fields to have a full harvest had laid Thomas's concerns to rest. Thomas had suspected that Nix was a body snatching beast, slowly eating Ashton, then would eat the rest of them.
Thomas had almost exposed himself watching Nix mournfully plead with the fields to grow lots of potatoes. Nix smiled as Thomas recalled seeing Nix arguing with mice eating their very limited stores. Thomas even recalled seeing Nix bartering with the mice to go steal from villagers who'd taken advantage of the family.
Thomas had also taken note of Ru. The tiny golden eagle that showed up at least twice a month, always bringing sunny days, teasing Ashton and Nix.
Thomas had noticed the changes in all three of them. Less sleep, stronger, none of them falling ill. Thomas had half suspected Nix was a necromancer borrowing Ashton's body. Resurrecting them as a cover. Ashton and Nix's aversion to any who "betrayed" them was instantaneous.
Thomas suspected they made a deal with Nix, or the eagle, for a second chance. When the emperor showed up, he'd thought they'd been caught.
The last few months away from Ashton… his body had started to change the moment Ashton left for the capital. Their bodies were heavier, they were sleepier, they ate less. The moment they left the empire… Thomas had started to get flashes of his memory back.
Samantha started having more nightmares. She would wake up screaming. Her screams haunted his soul. How she would beg for mercy, promise anything to make it stop. Not just for herself, but for Ashton.
From what Thomas could recall, he'd been dealt with quickly. Both heels sliced through, legs broken, chained to a wall. He'd been forced to watch as child after child was mutilated. Mage parents forced to drink the blood of their children. Some had limbs cut off, those were the lucky ones. Samantha… had her ribs cracked open. They had been taking her still beating heart.
Even at four he'd fought. Biting so they took his teeth. Scratching so they cut off his fingers. Kicking so they broke his legs. Learning spells so they pulled out his tongue. Glaring so they gouged out his eyes.
The priests had laid mother and son beside each other. Slicing open their stomachs, breaking their ribs… and all Thomas could do was scream. He cursed the priests, the dragons, the emperor. Then he prayed to the beast gods he'd only heard about in legends.
Thomas offered up everything. His body, soul, anything the gods could take. Just when Thomas was about to pray to the devil… a god answered.
Thomas didn't remember what deal had been struck… but more than vengeance, more than blood, more than his very soul… he begged for his wife and child to be saved.
Thomas vaguely had visions of the golden eagle approaching his son… then nothing. His memory skipped to waking up in his bed. Holding his wife, getting up as if it were just another day.
Well, a day the village learned that more than a dozen people between three villages had gone missing. The chief had even questioned him repeatedly where he'd been for the last two weeks…
With a sigh, Nix closed the journal.