Hazel waited impatiently for the glowing glyphs to retreat from the walls. She walked forward, using her hand to shield her eyes from the blinding bluish-white light still flashing around her surroundings. The boy beside her did not move for some reason.
"Oh, it's you."
She blinked, staring at the couple sitting on a pile of sealed boxes. Except for the five containers still bolted to the floor, everything else in the room was already packed up neatly. Luca and Ava, on the other hand, looked like shit.
"What're you two doing here?" Hazel asked.
"Waiting for the Japanese branch to pick these monsters up, along with whatever fine they want us to pay for losing two of their monsters," Luca replied dryly. "We've already sent them our official withdrawal from this project, so they should be coming over any time soon. With any luck, everything will be over today."
The girl gasped in shock.
"Today? Oh no, we don't have enough time!" she exclaimed. "Please let us talk to the Kitsune first; it's our only hope at bringing Chester back."
"What are you talking about?" Ava tilted her head slightly. "What do you want with that Yokai?"
"It's a long story, Missus Watson," Liam said. "I promise we'll explain after this is all over, but we need to speak with this fox spirit urgently."
He hurried to the largest container and muttered an incantation under his breath. The couple stood up in shock as the dark blue chains wrapping around the container shattered like it was made of glass.
"Apologies for disturbing your peace!" Liam pulled on the container handle, preparing to pull it open. "But please hear us out—"
The doors swung open. Everyone froze.
"What the hell...?" Hazel tilted her head in confusion.
"Where did it go?" Ava breathed, staring at the empty container in front of her. "We lost this one too? When did that happen?"
"That's impossible... The seal wasn't broken at all," Luca said, stepping forward to examine to cage as well. "How could it have escaped without leaving behind any trace?"
A stray breeze hit the back of Hazel's neck, and she turned around along with everyone else.
There was a dark red missive sitting innocently on top of one of the packed boxes. It was roughly the size and shape of a postcard, and a Japanese flag was stamped clearly in the centre.
"Oh bugger, what more do they want?" Luca groaned. "Can't they just send their guys over already? Why'd they send another missive?"
Red sparks crackled around his fingers, and he flicked it towards the piece of paper. The missive dissolved as though it was a piece of tissue dropped in water. Silver letters trickled upwards, forming a simple message in the air.
"NO YOKAI WERE SENT TO THE BRANCH OF AMERICA. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. PLEASE INVESTIGATE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH."
"What the hell? Are they taking the fucking piss right now?!" Ava exclaimed with a considerable amount of indignation. "Where'd all these monsters come from, huh? Oi, my son died for this!"
The magic message vanished comically into the air as if scared off by the woman's yelling.
"Calm down, Missus Watson." Hazel fanned her hands, trying to placate the woman. "They sent an ambassador, didn't they? Let's speak with Komyo about this."
Confusion overtook the anger in Ava's face. "What ambassador? Who's Komyo?"
"The Asian-looking guy," Liam said. "White hair, green eyes? He was standing beside you two on the night the Yokai broke free. Don't you remember?"
Luca furrowed his eyebrows. "Ava and I were the only ones assigned to this project. Everyone else was part of the research team, and we knew all of them by name. We've never even heard of this 'Komyo' guy before, let alone seen him standing so close to us."
Hazel's eyes darted to the empty container again, her mind working furiously. Nothing made sense. How was it that she remembered seeing him, but Luca and Ava didn't? It was as if Komyo was only invisible—
Everything clicked.
Oh my god...
The light bulb above her head could've blinded everyone in the room. She glanced at Liam and he met her gaze, eyes gleaming with the same conclusion. The power to hide its presence from even the most skilled of mediums belonged to—
"Komyo..." Hazel whispered, and Liam nodded knowingly.
"Komyo is the missing Kitsune."
~ ~ ~
Hazel's grandfather greeted the day by drawing the curtains of his room shut. Dull thuds echoed around the empty house as he hobbled down the stairs to the living room. The evening sun was already setting.
Grandfather opened the fridge and cast a cursory look. Not like he needed to, though. He was in charge of getting food and he always made sure there was enough food to last at least a week. He always enjoyed preparing and cooking meals for his family, after all.
A pang of exhaustion hit him as he bent down to reach for the eggs sitting inside the refrigerator.
Ever since Grandfather used up his magic ten years ago, his body had been perpetually running low on energy. Coupled with his age and the mental strain of keeping Hazel's memory lock spell active, twelve hours of sleep felt less and less with each day.
Unlike normal memory-locking spells, the one in Hazel's mind taxed its user's life force even after it had been cast. The Kitsune's breath of life within her soul still maintained an eternal connection to the celestial dimension, so the spell also had to constantly work against it.
But if it meant keeping his granddaughter safe from harm, he'd gladly endure this until the day he died. He had already kept this up for ten years, after all. What's ten, twenty, or even thirty more?
There was a light tap on the door.
Grandfather set the eggs down and smiled in relief. Hazel was finally back, and just in time for a nice, hot dinner too.
He knew that she was somehow involved in some kind of activity behind his back, even though she clearly did not want to tell him. But as long as she did not have her gift active, trouble shouldn't be able to find her. Still, he couldn't help but worry for her, now that she was aware of her powers.
The man opened the door with a big grin. "Welcome home, Hazel—"
He stared at the dignified-looking man standing in front of him instead. It had been a good ten years, but there was no way he wouldn't recognise someone who had served his family so loyally in the past.
"Alden?" Grandfather gasped. "How did you get this address?"
"Linus will do, my good friend." Alden flashed a polite smile. "I am no longer serving your House, after all. And unless I'm sorely mistaken, we are still on a first-name basis. Aren't we, Mister Hubert Adams? May I come in?"
Grandfather broke into a chuckled smile. "All these years and you're still such a gentleman. Of course, you may."
He led his ex-butler forwards, drawing up chairs for the both of them. A decade ago, the roles would've been reversed. But Linus Alden was a guest now, and he was the type of man to respect formalities over anything else.
The chair creaked as Grandfather half-dropped his weight on it, eager to give his constitution a rest from standing around for a little too long.
Alden eyed him with creased eyebrows before breaking into a polite smile. "The years haven't been kind to you, have they?"
"Are you using your mind-reading magic on me now?"
"Do I need to?" Alden replied, gesturing at Grandfather. "That memory spell is draining your life, Hubert. Anyone observant enough can see that."
"Is that what you're here for?" Grandfather's face hardened. "Did Hazel ask you to talk to me?"
"She had some fine memories, aye. Don't worry, she doesn't know about this. I apologise for probing around in your granddaughter's mind, but I had to be sure," Alden said. "Twenty years ago, I was sworn in to serve the House of Adams. To protect them; to keep them safe at any cost. And ten years later, I failed in my duty. I'm glad to see both of you safe and sound. That's all I ever wanted."
Grandfather avoided Alden's gaze. "The House of Adams is no more, Linus. And we don't want anything to do with the Union of Magus."
"Do you know why we do what we do?" Alden said. "We put our lives on the line not for what is in front of us, but for what's behind. We do what we do to protect what's in here."
He jabbed his own chest with his finger.
"We do it for the ones we love, not just because we're duty-bound to a faceless organisation," he continued. "They took a lot of things from us, yes. But this? That's something they can never take away."
"Not for us," Grandfather muttered bitterly. "We have lost everything— They took everything from us. Our gift brings us nothing but pain. Our magic is nothing but a debt we're forced to pay."
"If that's truly what you believe, why do you still fight to protect your granddaughter?"
The old man faltered, before closing his eyes painfully. "Why are you really here, Alden?"
"A servant's duty never ends. Though I may no longer serve your family, it pains me to see both of you in such torment. A girl, who is denied all memories of her parents; and her grandfather, who kills himself every day shielding her from danger. Nobody deserves that."
"Enough, Linus." Grandfather slammed his fist on his knee. "You know who did that to us? Our own people. Those at the top who were supposed to take care of us. We'd always believed in our cause, but look what it cost us. I've already lost my son. And if there's even a fraction of a chance that my granddaughter can come to harm, I'll take that as an absolute certainty. Sorry, Alden. Trust is a convenience I can't afford anymore."
The two men stared at each other.
"I'm not here to tell you what to do, but Hazel deserves better," Alden said. "And if you don't already know, she's already tangled with Japanese monsters along with my young Master Davies. It might serve her well if she had her gift's full power to protect herself. You can't insulate her forever, Hubert. Sooner or later, she'll have to face the fire."
Grandfather pursed his lips. "The bill always comes due..."
"The new generation of Magus really does have a knack for getting themselves into trouble." Alden stood up. "They don't need us to protect them from the world any longer. They need us to love and support them while they protect it."
He made for the door.
"We're all a little broken. You, me, your children, even the other Houses." Linus Alden turned back with a small twinkle in his eye. "But I reckon we still have the strength to stand behind our children in times of trouble. After all, a Magus lives to serve and protect those in need, remember? It was nice speaking with you, Master Adams."
The door closed gently.9Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUuVUdaOOV
