Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty-Nine: Beasts of a Feather
Hermes returned to Greece as fast as he could. After some time, Ishmael and the rest left Japan as well. Before they left, they chose one human to aide in Inari's duties with the assistance of Inari's many messengers. The human was directly chosen by Inari herself. It was a girl named Mae Tamamo. With the gift of prolonged life and the aide of some of Inari's magic, Mae was tasked with making sure balance was kept in nature. As Ishmael and the rest returned to Greece, they immediately went to look for Gaia. The first place they checked was Ishmael's birthplace. The Foloi Oak Forest. When they get there though, Ishmael found a strange creature who was terribly wounded. It was a beast, but it strangely knew how to talk. Inari and Ishmael helped nurse him back to health, but he had scorch marks over his left shoulder and chest that would leave permanent scars.
"You're definitely not from around here" Ishmael says. "Where'd you come from?"
"I'm from the nords" he says.
"The nords?" Inari asks.
"As in the gods" he replies.
"But you don't seem like a god" Ishmael says. "Something seems a little... off about you"
"Long story..." he says. "But I am no god. I am Fenrir. I got caught up in this war, and I'm just some beast trying to make his way home."
"Strange luck getting there too" Ishmael says. "You somehow wound up in my old home."
"Heh" Fenrir says in an exhausted tone. "What luck. So this is the legendary god slayer? Not much to look at, I'll give you that."
"Is my human form not impressive enough?" Ishmael asks as he slowly shifts into his half form, where he becomes much like a bipedal fox with glowing purple eyes and black sclera.
"Yeah, that's more like what I've heard" Fenrir says with a smile.
"It's strange seeing a beast smile" Inari says.
"It's strange seeing people whom aren't afraid of a beast" Fenrir scoffs.
"It's even weirder seeing a beast talk..." Laibah mentions quietly.
"... You've got me there" Fenrir says.
"Where's Gaia?" Ishmael asks.
"She was hidden" Fenrir says. "Taken to the south-eastern Mediterranean territories."
"The nords took her there?" Ishmael asks.
"The Greeks" Fenrir replies. "There are some Greek gods that have elected to aide Gaia. Surprisingly led by the late Poseidon."
"... late?" Ishmael asks.
"He fell in battle" Fenrir says. "To his own brother, Zeus."
"Who's leading the attack... right" Ishmael says.
"What are we to do now?" Inari asks.
"We move to find Gaia" Ishmael replies. "Know where we can find a boat?"
"You want a human's boat?" Fenrir asks. "I guess that'd be quicker... yeah, I can politely ask for one "
"You're gonna scare a human half to death for a free boat?" Ishmael asks.
"If it works" Fenrir says as he tries to stand but winced in pain.
"You're not getting far with that wound" Ishmael says. "At least, not with all these gods and their wars going on left and right. You'll need an escort."
"Ishmael, the great and evil slayer is going to give some homeless, beastly nobody an escort?"
"Great?" Ishmael asks skeptically.
"Evil?" Inari asks skeptically.
"So..." Kein says as they walk through the forest. "I do wanna know. How does a beast know how to talk? You're rather intelligent and tempered to be a wild beast."
"I was born from a god" Fenrir says.
"Born from a god, but not a god yourself?" Heinnen asks.
"If it helps at all, my mother is Angrboda. The mother of monsters" Fenrir adds.
"Second mother of monsters" Ishmael interrupts. "Gaea being the first. Your mother was likely created by my mother."
"So, you'd be related?" Inari asks.
"No." Ishmael says. "Mother likely made her out of mud. She gave birth to me by taking away a piece of her own body. Angrboda would be more like... a doll she made."
"But, then on to the next problem" Inari replies. "Even under those circumstances, all logic dictates that you should still be born as a god. So... why are you a beast?"
"Because my father isn't a real god" Fenrir adds.
Suddenly, the group stops walking as the rest face Fenrir. "What do you mean?"
"He's not a real god." Fenrir clarifies. "He was... well, a giant. He was shapeshifted by Odin and taken under his wing as another of Odin's many sons. But my father himself, though given power and respected by many as a god, is not a real god."
"But that means your family is lucky" Ishmael says. "The gods are too greedy around here. You're free from those ties."
"True" Fenrir says. "I do enjoy roaming the countryside."
"You should stop terrorizing the humans..." Inari says.
"You're complaining now..." Fenrir says as he walks ahead of the group and exits the forest into a clearing just up ahead, where a port was visible. "But it's my terrorizing that's going to get us a boat!"
Just outside of Pilloa's castle, in the forest where they could still be watched by the security team, the kids were training with Athena, Loki and Thor. "I get why the other two kids are joining Silas" Athena says to Ali, "but why are you here? You barely have any magic."
"Because I still don't trust you" Ali says. "Someone's gotta be here for the kids."
"Just... don't get in my way" Athena says with a sigh.
"You can use debuff magic similarly to how you might use clairvoyance magic" Loki says to the three kids. "Deploying a field of debuff magic can help you sense certain kinds of magic within your field. However, you may also combine certain magics to develop entirely new traits. With enough luck, you may even end up inventing a new type of magic yourself. Before you try to learn buff magic, I want you to try to learn debuff magic."
"How do we know when it's working if it just removes or senses magic properties?" Carl asks.
"In most cases, you won't" Loki answers. "But sometimes you'll see the difference if you pay close attention. But then there's Silas... when he's too close to me, he just naturally saps away my endo. We need to teach you how to turn that off."
"Okay" Silas says. "But... it would help in a fight, right?"
"Sure it would" Thor interjects. "But if you control it, it goes from a minor help to a full blown weapon. On the other hand, if you don't control it, it can get in the way of your friends."
"Control... a full blown weapon, huh?" Silas says as he thinks. "I think I've got an idea for a new type of magic."
Meanwhile, in America, Holly, Tanya, Robin and Blake are climbing down into the deep abyss known as Dead Crater. "I was right" Tanya says as she sticks a climbing pick into the rocky wall of the crater and adjusts the hooks and rope embedded on the side of the crater so they can climb further down. "This totally sucks!"
"Better than getting into a reckless situation" Holly says. "Like being arrested or shot on site by trying to dig the answers out of the American government. Or perhaps, did you want to try asking the gods?"
"I feel like if we could've asked Athena to check this for us, it would've been much easier" Tanya complains. "Just saying."
"Yeah, well" Holly says. "The gods don't know what to look for, or what answers I'm trying to collect here."
"We don't know what to look for or what answers you're trying to collect here are!" Blake complains.
"I hear an awful lot of crying for a former gang leader and former professional hunter" Holly retorts.
"I wasn't a gang leader" Tanya says. "I was the right hand!"
"And Hunter isn't the most professional career position out there" Blake replies.
"Excuses!" Holly replies. "Besides, I know what I'm looking for."
"And what's that?" Blake asks.
"A seal" Holly says.
"A... what?" Blake asks.
"When Siran told us about his past" Holly says, "he mentioned seals. Or rather, he thought he was placing seals that summoned more endo, but rather, it was undoing a seal."
"I don't remember that" Tanya says.
"I do" Robin says.
"That fits the description of what I mentioned a few days ago" Holly says. "About the streams being simply released and not opened."
"So you want to compare the two?" Robin asks. "But if the seals are there, wouldn't that debunk your theory?"
"Not quite" Holly says. "But it does put us in a bind."
"Man" Tanya complains. "It's an extreme kind of dark down here." Robin casts a spell of blue fire that didn't produce much heat but lit up the area around them really well. "Thank you" Tanya says. "We've been climbing all day. Can we take a rest?"
"How can we even take a rest?" Blake asks. "Is that possible?"
"We could use our guns to blow a hole in the side of the crater walls" Robin says.
"Too risky" Blake replies. "No guarantee that the rock won't crack and our hooks won't come out of the walls. Plus, we'll need the wall to climb back up too."
Without saying anything, Holly pulls out a pen and holds it up. The rest look at her as she maintains eye contact with them and then drops the pen. After about 15 seconds, the pen hitting a surface could be heard. "We continue down" Holly says.
"Why so stiff about not taking breaks?" Tanya asks. "We've been at it for... I dunno, like 12 hours?"
"It's been 14 hours" Blake says. "With no breaks. We can't even see the top of the crater anymore."
"It's perpetually night" Robin replies. "Even if we weren't far from the top, you still wouldn't be able to see it."
"Plus" Holly adds, "the longer we stay here, the more we're at risk of Endo-Poisoning. If we get really sick while down here, how do you suppose we get out? Do you want to climb while vomiting for 14 hours?"
There was a long silence before Tanya finally says "Down we go."
Ishmael and the rest spent several days on the Aegean Sea. They headed to what would later be known as Alexandria, Egypt. When they get there, they say farewell to Fenrir as he leaves and heads west. They reunite with Gaia finally, and Gaia meets Inari and her grandchildren for the first time. Gaia exstatically inspects Ishmael's children. Looking at each of them from head to toe. Until she finally got to Laibah. She stopped when she saw the rhombus birthmark on Laibah's stomach. "What's this?" Gaia asks as she pokes at it.
"I was born with it" Laibah says, embarrassed. "It's my birthmark."
"Oh my" Gaia says as she gently touches the mark. "Much more than a birthmark... this is a shard."
"A shard of what?" Inari asks in a panic.
"Of me" Gaia says. "A shard of my own body. A shard of Gaia is within her. When I made Ishmael, I made him out of my own body. Hence why I am with only one arm. Ishmael is my right hand, literally speaking."
"And a piece of that... moved to my daughter?" Ishmael asks.
"She's inherited something special" Gaia says with a smile. "Granted, all you kids have. Mortal bodies and immense magic, plus inherited knowledge on shapeshifting. Gifted with talents by a God Slayer, but a true demi-god through and through. Yet, you possess even more special traits, the three of you. You're granted bodies that can reproduce with humans or human-like figures, due to my changing of your father's biology. On top of that, not only do you have knowledge on shapeshifting magic, but can use it without charms. But then there's the daughter." Gaia pats Laibah on the head. "You carry a shard of me. A sign of life. I'm not sure what a small piece of it may do for you, but I'm sure it'll help you someday."
They were well hidden for a long time and spent many years on the outskirts of Egypt. Eventually, the family grew even bigger. Kein and Heinnen both found human women that they fell in love with. They had more than a dozen children combined. Kein with 7 children, and Heinnen with 6 children. Laibah, however, hadn't settled down. Ishmael and Inari were pleased with their many grandchildren, but at the same time, Ishmael was being too protective of Laibah. He didn't want many people around her because he wanted only the best man to be with her. He loved his family and was tough for their own good. Especially with their grandchildren being half human and half fox hybrids, whom had less magic capabilities and were generally weaker.
There eventually came a day where a nomad, a common traveler stumbled upon this family by chance. Though, most people get scared and run away, this man became fixated on Laibah. He was in love. Laibah, though she liked him, didn't love him and didn't reciprocate his feelings. The nomad had traveled for a long time through many countries and picked up on many languages. When he learned of Laibah's name, he thought it was more than fitting. "In some Middle-Eastern tongues" the nomad says, "it means a woman of true beauty. The prettiest woman."
"That's sweet..." Laibah says. "But I'm not really..."
"They should name all of your race after you" the nomad says.
"Please no." Laibah says.
"That's not too bad of an idea though." Kein says. "Think about it. Now that some of us have families, our kind spreading and expanding is inevitable. We have names for our children, but we don't have a name for our kind. And since you don't have any children yet, let us do the honor of naming our kind after you."
"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Inari asks.
"Whatever" Laibah says with a scoff. "You're only doing this to have an excuse to tease me!" Kein sticks his tongue out at Laibah as he smiles.
"I like that idea" Ishmael says. "Naming the entire race after Laibah. They're now the laibah race."
"That's wonderful" the nomad says.
"You're still not marrying my daughter" Ishmael says.
"I understand" the nomad says. "I can't make her do what she's not comfortable with doing. But, I did carve this for her. I would like her to take it before I continue my travels."
"What is it?" Laibah asks as the nomad hands her a necklace with a small circular pendant. The pendant had small but precise carvings that represented balance and life. The carvings included a sun, with a crescent moon carved into the sun. Within the gap in the crescent moon, was an hourglass.
"It represents balance" the nomad says. "And life, as well as our time spent in life."
"Wow" Laibah says in awe. "I really like it. It's beautifully crafted."
"I'm glad you like it!" The nomad says. "In my weeks I've spent with your family, I thought it would be a fitting gift."
"I knew I was right to like a human like you!" Laibah says as she hugs the nomad. "Good luck on your travels!"
"Hehe" the nomad says, very pleased. "Maybe you'll reconsider declining my proposal then?"
"Don't push it." Laibah says sternly.
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