On her route to the exit, Mikimi came to the fall; she went down; looking up at it as if it would be a hassle. With one silent breath, she settled herself.
From one massive leap, Mikimi launched off in the air, the surroundings shaking for a split second from the force disperse of air; shattering the sound barrier. From the lower levels, to the top she reached in a few seconds. At the top, Mikimi landed sloppy, wobbling on her feet momentarily before steadying her body.
She was heading back in the same direction, so she knew that there remained the horde of demons she had run from prior, likely awaiting her.
With the horde of demons in mind Mikimi tracked forward one step at a time. Her movements were stiff, the lifting of her feet, heavy unrefined for the Kitsune Highest.
An unknown amount of time went by; eventually drawing closer to the hostile area, Mikimi activated her skill [[-Phenomenon-]], her presence becoming concealed from all senses.
Even with this, Mikimi went to the area with great care; it wasn't in her handbook to be careless especially considering her current condition. Scanning the passageway before she dared venture further in, Mikimi couldn't pick up on anything unnatural. With the horde consisting of only demons, it would be beyond easy for her to pinpoint them down.
⟨Were there any that capable...?⟩ Was the single exhausted thought Mikimi had. The only thing to really consider was whether a strong enough demon was present to hide the others, but with [[-Perfect Memory-]] there's no one of such significance she could remember among the crowd. With her assessment down, Mikimi went in, passing the wall the first demon she killed created and where the horde came from.
⟨Perhaps they returned there.⟩ Mikimi though, which was highly likely. Though her mind promptly switched; up ahead she hadn't forgotten the demonic bear she had simply dodged and ignored last time.
Close to two hours of dragging her feet later, Mikimi saw what she had expected to see the demonic bear. She stood observing it with a heavy lidded expression, her eyes batting sluggishly.
The body of the creature puffed up from each breath it took. and motionless it remained.
*
On the outside of the barrier, the leaders waited with great worry, but patience. Kemono stood with a hand resting on the barrier, and his weapon in his other hand.
Down the steps made into the cliff, a Dark Devider hurried to the group of leaders. Vunaru, Imuru and Collon glanced over their shoulder; as the Dark Devider came to a kneel.
"Forgive my interruption!" The Dark Devider expressed his head held low. "Please, Lord Imuru, may I have a moment of your time. I have something important to report."
Seeing the concern on the Dark Deviders' face, made Imuru feel the same; worsened by the tense atmosphere. He marched over to the Dark Devider instructing him to stand.
In a whisper the Dark Devider spoke. Imuru listened intently, his expression shifting to mild confusion, at the Dark Devider's words. Imuru replied, with firm instructions, sending the Dark Devider on his way before he returned back to the group.
"If you don't mind me asking. What was that about?" Collon was forward with his Inquisition; holding back enough to not make it seem like he was probing.
"Someone was demanding my attention...strongly." Imuru huffed.
Collon squinted with suspicion, 'demanding' was quite the strong word after all...even more so knowing who Imuru was, and the importance of their meeting.
"If they're demanding then it must be of grave importance."
"... Maybe." Imuru replied. "Right now I have to be here… It will have to wait."
Not pushing any further, Collon faced forward to the dark passageway, looking out for the Kitsune Highest.
Coming to Kemono's side, Vunaru glanced at his hand on the barrier. "What the heck are you doing? Don't tell me you're trying to figure out if you can brute force it... because that would just be wild..."
"Tch! Not at all," Kemono replied, a smile of longing anticipation playing on his face. "Here we stand close to divine power. A measurement for me... I have much to grow."
"Divine power. Is that admiration? If I couldn't keep my emotions in check, I would despise any and all demons. When did you even become one? Did it occur to you when you decided to turn my people against me?" Vunaru questioned, unlike before she was very calm—minimally accepting of the situation.
"A little further before... Monster Phoroled recommended the path to me."
"Him…? One of your Hands. You've got to be kidding me."
"He did. A demon himself. Phoroled taught me how to access this path."
Vunaru's gaze faulted to the ground. "Do what must…just…don't become a monster Kemono. I would hate to have to kill you."
"Aha!" Kemono grinned. "My mind and Will, will not be fractured down this path. In fact it will be a pleasant challenge to see it try. AHHH—Aha Ha Ha Ha!"
"On second thought…" Vunaru glanced at him from the corner of her eyes like he was a dingbat.
"Eh! Mikimi! Fox!"
Everyone's attention diverged toward the heavy darkness of the tunnel, until a slow moving, small and familiar form finally became clear in the dim light.
Mikimi pressed her hand gently against the barrier, breathing out a deep sigh before her body melted away. A second later, she rose on the outside of the barrier.
"Greetings, one and all," Mikimi teased, offering a dainty, theatrical bow. "My objective is complete."
"All on your own?!" Vunaru barked (she is a cat...half), her eyes wide in near disbelief. "What are you?"
Kemono beamed gleefully, his booming laugh echoing off the cavern walls. "Small and yet powerful! Kitsune Highest—truly worthy of your title!"
"What splendid news." Huln's head lowered in a manner that screamed pure mental exhaustion. If the undead King still possessed the functionality to sign, he undoubtedly would have.
Collon let out a deep, long breath of relief, placing a hand firmly over his chest as the crushing tension finally left his shoulders. On the other hand, Imuru felt a surge of insurmountable joy wash over him, the dark clouds of his anxiety parting at the sight of her safe return.
Unlike the other Great Forces, Murk's expression was far from what one would expect. His blue skin seemed to fade out to white; his jaws and eyes wide open in bemusement and utter disbelief.
Mikimi smirked from behind her little hand held fan, subconsciously trying to hide her smugness. She went to move, lifting one leg forward, but her body failed to respond in the way she wanted, buckling underneath.
Imuru moved to her assistance swiftly, catching Mikimi in his arms.
"A-Are you okay?"
"Uh... Yes, yes." Mikimi hurriedly removed herself from Imuru's hold. "I tripped."
"Details! What happened down there?!" Vunaru demanded information. "We thought we lost you for a second."
Mikimi snapped her fan shut, tashing it away, a causal self-pleasing smile displaying on her lips, as if saying 'if only you knew'.
"I suggest we return to our seats and have some tea. Imuru my dare, you wouldn't happen to grow any of the autumn mixes would you? A kitsune has very refined tastes, see?"
Imuru lifted an eyebrow at Mikimi's question… uncertain of how to answer. To not drag their meeting to trivial matters Vunaru butted in, "Does it look like he lives near the eternal autumn?" She clicked her tongue, "can we not waste any more time? You're going to tell you what you saw down there…anything of importance preferably."
"Oh." Mikimi's ears drooped slightly. "In that case, you have no interest in the bugs in my sightings; well to be clear, there were mostly demons."
"That's not surprising," Vunaru mumbled with detached fatigue of their whole existence.
"Only natural. It would be best in the future; if possible, to eradicate them," Huln commented. To which the others strongly agreed to this settlement.
"I'm glad for your accomplishment Mikimi. We thank you for this, deeply," Collon bowed earnestly. "But, while it would be good to hear what Mikimi has to say, if it's not of grave importance, I suggest we all return to our homes. If the gate is closed, Zazarah's allies are very likely to make a move sooner than later. I would also suggest you all hold a hint of suspicion toward everyone; Zazarah had a human appearance, his presence was concealed enough that it was rather my intuition that led me to believe he was a demon."
They all listened intently at words. Behind Imuru heard the delicate whisper of his name, from the voice of his secretary Yosho. Looking over his shoulder, she stood there with Arken at her side; Imuru could already guess what it was about.
Imuru quietly stepped back from the Great Forces over to the duo.
"The demander, I presume?" Imuru asked with confident certainty.
"Yes. The woman," Yosho confirmed. "An oddly dressed woman, Great Imuru. She's unlikely to be from the Sacred Forest, and unwilling to speak with us. 'Bring me your leader. This is a matter of urgency' she said."
"Hmph." Arken frowned. "Rude outsider! If only I knew," he stared at his open palm, "I would've…"
"Hiya~Hiya…" Imuru fanned off Arken's building aggression dismissively. "If she's not from the Sacred Forest, and if she's demanding my attention then it must be important. I didn't want to leave the meeting like this, but it can't be helped."
"Great Imuru! May I accompany you to this woman?" Yosho inquired, a heavy pleading look in her eyes.
"I Superior Arken, will accompany you to this mysterious outsider as well," Arken said as more of a demand than anything else.
⟨Last time I checked weren't you a outsider Arken?⟩ "Okay-Okay. Just remember no aggression towards her," Imuru moved off back to the Great Forces, "that's for you Arken."
Wandering back over to the Great Forces, Imuru had to deliver the unfortunate and uncomfortable news of him cutting the meeting short of his presence.
"Uh!" Vunaru eyed him, partially offended. "Now who the hell is more important than us?"
"Erm, following what Collon said, isn't it basically over…" Imuru replied, awkwardly scratching the back of his head; Collon nodding in response to back him up.
Kemono clenched his fist. "Imuru, I thank you for this day, and I look forward to the future developments of our relationship, as Kings Of One Pride. Until then."
"Come Vunaru let's move quickly, our towns will not fortify themselves!"
"Pfft. 'Our towns' he said," Vunaru mumbled underneath her breath if not spitefully, but yet she moved at Kemono's words, as he held a point, on her Vunaru gave her final words to Imuru, "keep it up kid!" She strongly waved him goodbye.
"Hmph." Mikimi's ears drooped. "How disappointing. Does no one wish to congratulate me on my achievement? Achievements, a matter of a fact?"
"Please pardon us Mikimi, we're on a tight schedule, just please bear with us for the time being okay," Collon pleaded in a half bow, hands clasped.
"Imuru, I'll be on my way…" He held Imuru's gaze for a moment. "Please take care."
On his way to the cliff steps, Collon spun around his sister Yosho playfully, grabbing her by the shoulders from behind. "Bye-bye, dear sister. Remember no; self appointing yourself to positions of power, eh?"
At Collon's final words Yosho's smile fell right off her face, and her brother scurried away before she could say anything in response. At the barrier now left Mikimi, Imuru and Murk; the Lizard King seeming much more casual and laid back despite the others' hurry… perhaps due to geological reasons.
"What an abrupt end." Mikimi held the edges of her yukata, taking a bow. "Imuru, Murk, I look forward to our next meeting…a peaceful one."
In a sudden swirl of starry black flames, Mikimi was consumed, vanishing instantly into her [[-Spatial Movement-]].
Unceremoniously, she dropped out of the void, landing roughly on the hard earth and sending a flurry of crisp, Autumn leaves dispersing in all directions. Mikimi sat up and looked around, momentarily confused. She had successfully made it back to her region of the Eternal Autumn, but certainly not the exact part she ruled.
"My..." Mikimi let her muscles relax, laying her back flat against the ground. "...that was tiring."
Safely out of sight from the other Great Forces, she was finally free to let her guard down, even if only slightly.
Back in the depths, the grand gathering had dwindled. What remained of the active Great Forces was now solely Murk, alongside the former; Huln.
"You're oddly calm," Imuru pointed out, his eyes narrowing in intense, sharp suspicion as he looked at the lizard.
"Too calm," Huln agreed smoothly, his hollow gaze locked onto the man. "Why may that be?"
Murk simply shrugged his shoulders, a sneaky, subtle gesture meant to taunt Huln's scrutiny. "I have no fret, why? Did you forget my location? What benefit would it serve them to come for me first; if at all? With that said, my right hand Crun will be carrying out an operation to lend quiet assistance to the others. Their people aren't all natural fighters like mine."
"Oh! Really. That's a good idea," Imuru said, his suspicion dropping promptly at the pragmatic offer.
"How generous of you." Huln's tone dripped with a dry sarcasm, making it quite clear that he was still holding onto suspicion without shame.
"Well I guess we'll be counting on you. I have someone to meet, if we get the chance we can meet later for the details." Imuru was off as he said this, his allies Huln, Yosho and Arken following behind him.
Alone, Murk turned his head toward the darkness of the passageway. In his sight he could've sworn he saw a figure standing there, but in a blink it was gone the next.
As they reached the outside, like clock work the two twins Keeny and Keeni made an appearance, in a low bow. They held their heads up, and Keeni spoke first, "Lord Imuru… Superior Arken sir, please forgive us. The creepy lady found us out sir."
"We were hidden so well too, how could she have known?!" Keeny finished.
"Step into my shadow warriors. I, Superior Arken, shall personally educate this woman on the power of us Dark Deviders!" Arken proclaimed, receiving a collective sigh from Yosho and Imuru.
" " "Yes sir, Superior Arken!" " "
The twins replied in unison, entering Arken's shadow with their skill [[-Shadow Gate-]].
"If I were to guess you'll be leading the way?" Imuru inquired.
"Indeed," Arken confirmed. "Follow me."