In Search of Eternity Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Tamamo quickly and efficiently handed out tasks for the Kitsune to do, including a dejected Kamuro. Soon enough, we were alone, causing the Heavenly knight to turn and regard me seriously.

“You have me at a bit of a disadvantage. May I know your name?” The Fox looked at me with her emerald eyes, studying my every move.

“Lothar, my name is Lothar Pendragon. Pleased to meet you.” I decided to be polite.

“Pleasure to meet you too.” She responded absentmindedly.

Then she sniffed me.

Taking in a deep sniff of my surprised form, she pressed her closed fan to her chin, “Hmm, you smell human. I can smell Alice’s scent on you, but that’s it. So that begs the question, how exactly did you know those names?”

She tilted her head, flicking an ear as she asked the question.

I responded, “That is a very long story, as well as one that is very dangerous to casually share. I want to give you the full details, but to do so I would strongly recommend privacy.”

“Oh? Dangerous to share, you say? How intriguing.” She smirked, before waving her fan and conjuring a floating sigil, “There. Our words will stay between us. Now, I suggest you start becoming forthright.”

“Okay…” I took a deep breath, ready for this to go extremely wrong. However, it was the only way to avoid dying.

Eventually, if I didn’t try this, Black Alice would ascend and I would die, along with this world. It wouldn’t matter how far I ran, I would be killed regardless, assigned to oblivion with this entire timeline. It was a long shot, but this was the only way to prevent that outcome.

“Forgive me, what I am about to tell you will make no sense without context. Where I come from, there exists a concept called ‘Parallel Worlds’.” Tamamo’s eyes narrowed at that, but she didn’t interrupt, “The concept is simple, at first. If you woke up and decided to get out of bed on the left side, there would be a world somewhere out in existence where you instead got out on the right.”

“However, the further back you go, the more things change and diverge from what you know. A sea of infinite possibilities. Every story or fiction you have ever heard? All real, somewhere out there.” Tamomo tapped her fan on her palm with an unimpressed look on her face as her tails thrashed.

“I understand the concept. How does this tie into you knowing of the Six Ancestors?” Her voice was sharp now, “I would suggest getting to the point quickly.”

“Very well. Just like how all the stories you’ve ever heard are real, what we are experiencing now, in this reality, is a story somewhere else out there.” She stared at me, unimpressed, obviously seeing where I was going with this, “So, if you know the ending to the story, if you somehow ended up within it, you could use that knowledge to avert a disaster.”

“And so you are saying that’s what you are doing? Here to give me a warning of doom?” She asked.

“I know it sounds insane. But I am being honest. The Goddess has a plan to get around the Six Ancestor Seal and destroy all Monsters.” She paused at that, stilling as she considered my words.

“Oh? You are certainly well informed for this to be merely a ruse. However, this is straining my ability to accept. Have you any proof of your claims?” She was staring at me seriously now, although my words were outlandish, with the severity of what I had just said she had to treat it carefully.

The names I had given her, the names of the other Six Ancestors, belonged to the progenitors of the Monster Girls of this world. They, along with Tamamo, owed their allegiance to Alice the First, the Dark God to Illias’ Light. Of course, neither of them were good or just, each just as bad as each other, but this world was built in shades of grey.

The war between the two was devastating, to the point of almost destroying Humanity. Of course, Illias could have survived this, but the Monsters required feeding on the energies of Humans to survive. So, they negotiated a ceasefire. Alice and her six most powerful lieutenants would willingly be sealed with the Great Six Ancestor Seal, with a safeguard.

If the Dark Energy of the world dropped too low, the seal would fail, releasing them again. Monster’s release Dark Energy just by existing, so if Illias tried to wipe them out, she would only be left with a pyrrhic victory. She would kill the Monsters, due to the Humans dying out, but not before they killed her as well.

On top of that, her two greatest Angels, Lucifina and Micaela, had fallen and dropped out of the fight. So, the war ended in a stalemate. However, Illias created a special Angel that would allow her to circumvent this issue. Promstien, the scientist. She would create artificial monsters, creatures that bred Dark Energy but were fully controlled by the Angels. This would allow Illias to kill off all the natural Monster Girls without breaking the seal.

Of course, Luka and Alice would win in the end, with help from the Kitsune in front of me, but the victory ended up leading to the destruction of the world. Still that tale was even more outlandish than the current one, which already would be difficult to believe.

One step at a time.

“I have no physical proof. I was sent here by unknown means, with nothing but the clothes on my back. The only proof I have is my knowledge.” I tapped my temple, “Alice tried to read my mind once. I stopped her, but here and now I will gladly let you do the same to confirm my story.”

Tamamo tilted her head at that, musing, “The Evil Eyes of the Monster Lord? And you stopped her, you say? I see, you were that human that utilised Dark Energy that Granberia spoke about.”

She then stepped up towards me, her fan disappearing before I could catch where she put it, reaching up and holding my cheeks wit her small, soft hands, “Very well. I’m not great at using these, so I apologise for being a bit rough.”

Before I had a chance to respond in any way, her green eyes flashed and I was pulled in with her. Unlike the focused, straight lance that Alice had used, Tamamo was like a spreading root system, dancing from memory to thought to memory without being able to dwell for too long on any one in particular.

I almost reflexively fought the intrusion, but relaxed and merely went along for the ride. I could see what she could, the opening screen of Monster Girl Quest on a screen, then flashes from my life. Cars, sprawling cities, an aeroplane in flight, a ship coming into harbour, a train, an industrial press.

I felt her focus her probe with effort, focusing specifically on my knowledge of her world. Images flashed, Illas laughing, smiling maniacally in triumph. A dying Alice, killed by Luka. Angels and the fight between them, the monstrosity that Illias turned herself into at the end. But there was one image, that upon her seeing it, she severed the connection.

It was not from the first Trilogy, but Paradox instead. Black Alice, the Goddess of Chaos, devouring the world.

“So it was true.” Staring into her green eyes, I could not see her emotions at all, hidden with the ease of long practice.

Honestly, I would have preferred to have never admitted where I came from, but that just wasn’t feasible.

“I came to you, because you were the only one I could trust with this.” I spoke, my voice soft due to our proximity, “I need your help to stop that.”

She let go of my face, the warmth left from her hands tingling on the skin, “Well, count me flattered. Those things I saw there… There was way too much to be a fabrication, even for the most vivid of imaginations.”

She unfurled her fan, once again appearing in her hand as she stared at me over it, a burning sense of curiosity emanating from her words, “What if I just killed you? Did you have a plan for that?”

“Then I died.” I shrugged, “Whether it’s now in some time from now, the only difference if I did nothing was the time of my death.”

“You are surprisingly calm about the prospect. And if I controlled you? Made you my puppet to drain all that knowledge from your head?”

“I would likely try to escape and failing that, cause as much chaos as I could until an opportunity presented itself to do so.” Of course, in doing so I would likely lose my life, but as I have said, that is not the worst fate this world contains.

Tamamo seemed surprised at my answer, her eyes examining me over the spread out fan. I could understand why, After so long in this world, I had come to a realisation of the humans here. They had never controlled their own fates. Ever since they could remember, the Angels and the Monster’s were stronger than them, in an insurmountable way. Thus, they never developed the sheer stubbornness that the human’s from Earth did.

After spending time with Luka, I deduced what made him different from the rest of them. He had drive. A goal he wanted to achieve, that he would do anything and everything to bring into reality. It was a rare enough trait on Earth, but here it was practically non-existent. So, for an ancient monster like Tamamo, being told by a human that he would go that far just to spite her, to her face, must have been a novel experience.

A guess that was vindicated as she spoke behind her hand-held barrier, “Well, you certainly are unique enough for your origins.”

She turned, moving towards the cave entrance, “Come, follow after me. I am here on business after all. But while we walk, I want you to tell me more about this plan of Ilias.”

I moved after the Nine-tailed Kitsune, falling into step to her side, “Certainly. After the war, Illias created an angel by the name of Promstien, whom she tasked with studying genetics in order to create…”

I was glad to have finally found someone I could inform about the coming end of the world, however this was only the start. Even after I told Tamamo everything I could remember, there was still a long way to go until the crisis was averted.

Still, this was a very important first step.

---XXX---

“Are you really still sulking?” Alice asked, huffing at his demeanour.

“I’m not sulking.” Luka denied, very unconvincingly.

Alice rolled her eyes at his response, “Lothar did say he was only joining us temporarily. You should have been ready for this.”

“I know that! But still, to leave in the middle of the night without a word…” Luka mumbled, but he was heard by his companion anyway.

“Some people are not comfortable with goodbyes. You shouldn’t take it personally-” She stopped, suddenly paying attention, “I smell a Monster Girl ahead.”

Loka sighed, readying Angel Halo, but was surprised when Alice instead of disappearing, started to slither quickly towards where her nose was leading her.

“Don’t you want to hide?” He asked, confused at her anomalous behaviour.

“There would be no point.” She spoke back, unbothered by the pace despite him having to almost sprint to keep up with her.

Luka soon saw what she meant.

They had arrived at a grisly scene, a dead Roper collapsed in a muck of purplish, congealing blood. The Monster Girl, despite the large pool of liquid, had no visible wounds. That was until Alice lifted her head, allowing Luka to catch sight of the ravaged appearance of the Roper’s throat. It appeared that she was killed with a single strike, the blade severing the spine.

“It appears she went after prey that bit back.” Alice spoke, her voice and expression impassive.

“Are you… Okay with this?” Luka asked, worried about her reaction, “I know you don’t want any Monster Girls to be killed.”

“It’s natural, those that are prepared to kill should themselves be ready to be killed.” Alice spoke, her face carefully blank, “Besides, this was done by someone we know well.”

She bent down and picked up an object off the ground, bringing it up to Luka to show it to him. It was mottled and corroded, the metal having been eaten away with the exposure to the acidic blood of the roper, but still it was recognizable enough.

“Lothar’s dagger?” He asked in surprise.

“Yes.” Alice replied, “He came through here for some reason. Odd, seeing as how we just learnt about Poseidon's Bell.”

“So if he doesn’t know about the Bell, why would he be out here?” Luka mused, “Perhaps he got the Monster Girl he was looking for?”

“Not impossible, I suppose.” Alice muttered, glaring down at the weapon she held, “I knew that he was comfortable with violence, but this method of killing… It speaks to familiarity.”

“What do you mean?” Luka looked at her with surprise.

“Lothar has likely killed before. The strike was clean, considered. There was zero hesitation. So unless he just doesn’t experience things normally, this was not the first time he has taken a life.” Alice declared, “If it was, you would expect it to be messier, with several attempts to make sure the job was done. Not the single stab. That speaks to a confidence in the lethality of the act.”

Luka was silent. He realised now, much too late, that there was still a lot they didn’t know about Lothar, that they never bothered to ask him. Thinking back to their conversations in camp, he started to view them in a slightly different light. Lothar was very good at redirecting whenever his past came up, always turning the conversation back around so that they spoke more about themselves than him.

“Still.” Alice spoke, dropping the knife, “It doesn’t change what we are here for. Let’s go fetch that Bell and if we run into him on the way, it will be a happy coincidence.”

“What if he’s in trouble?” Luka was torn, “He was already attacked once, and without his knife…”

“He made his bed.” Alice was uncaring, “It is up to him to lie in it.”

That didn’t sit quite right with Luka, but he didn’t argue. They started to move on again, following the map to the suspected cave that held the passage into the cove of Pirate Captain Selene. Along the way, they encountered many different Monster Girls. Spiders, Rafflesia, Meda. Even a mimic.

They even ran into one that soured Alice’s mood even further. She refused to admit it, but Luka suspected that there was bad blood between her and the Kitsune clans. He didn’t know what that was about, but he detected an embarrassing story just waiting to be uncovered.

Still, saving the little two tailed Kitsune turned out for the best, even despite Alice’s protestations. The fox led them through the maze, allowing them to reach the centre a lot faster than if they had to map it out themselves.

When they arrived, they were greeted by one of the direct subordinates of Tamamo, the Heavenly Knight of Earth. Nanabi, the Seven Tailed Kitsune and Tamamo’s personal Guard. She refused to negotiate, set in her duty to protect the inner treasure hoard and her master. Luka fought her, but despite his best efforts, it was not enough and he was put to sleep by the Seven Tails.

He did not know what happened next, but when he awoke, Nanabi was sealed and the door to the vault was opening. Stepping out from the newly open portal, was a small figure, wreathed in golden fur and hair. Swaying behind her were nine incredibly fluffy tails, and her slitted green eyes quickly took in the situation.

“Sorry you two. The Bell was harder to find than I thought.” She spoke to the sealed Kitsune, before leaning down as the silver fox that had led them here apparently communicated to her.

Straightening, she fixed Luka with a look that pinned him into place, “It appears that I have you to thank for Kitsu’s life. You have my gratitude. Now tell me Adventurer, why are you here?”

Luka straightened, trying to rise tall and set back his shoulders, “I am here to acquire Poseidon’s Bell to travel through the storm blocking the way to the North.”

“Interesting. You must be Luka then?” Tamamo surprised him with her knowledge of his name, but the fox was not finished, “You can stop hiding as well, Alice.”

“I’m not the only one hiding.” Alice appeared next to Luka, startling at the suddenness, “Fancy meeting you here, of all places, Lothar.”

To Luka’s absolute shock, a sheepish looking Lothar did indeed emerge from the vault, dubbing the back of his head, “Hello again, Luka. Alice.”

Luka’s mouth hung open like a fish, but he still had the faculty to hear as Alice complained, “Really? This is the girl you were so smitten by? Tamamo, of all people?”

“Well well, this is the first I’ve heard of this. Is that true Lothar, are you smitten with me?” Tamamo turned back, smiling teasingly at the uncomfortable man.

Wait, did that mean that the Monster Girl that Lothar had been searching for all this time… Was the Heavenly Knight Tamamo?!