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Chapter -12- The Spider And The Fly

June 23, 2:05pm, PDT San Francisco, California ...

They crashed against something solid , Karla draped over Chance in the dark.

He lay still in the darkness. He felt the floor flush against his backside, and his shoulder was against a wall. He reached his left hand out, touching another wall.

He felt around and found himself within a small, confined area. Chance pushed at a soft weight on top of him. He felt Karla squirm, pinning his right hand against his hip.

Karla squirmed in an attempt to gain her bearings. "Where in the hell...?"

"Everything feels familiar," he replied in a soft tone.

Karla's lips brushed his forehead. "Is that your face?"

"Yeah."

She opened her arms. "God." Her chin pressed against his cheek. Karla wiggled about, strewn over him in the gloom. She groped around and closed her fingers over something on the floor.

Karla deadpanned with a grunt. "Oh geez." She used her fingertips to analyze the object and chuckled. "I found a shoe. I think I know where we are, baby-boy."

He shifted with a wince. "Ouch," Chance mumbled.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Chance reached up and gently guided her off of his hip.

His hand found something soft and curved ... realization struck. A secret blush crept over his face. "Oh, I uh..." He started to draw his hand back from her bosom. "I didn't mean to..."

He felt her hand move atop of his, keeping it against her chest. "Shut up," she said, her tone formed through an obvious smile, unseen in the darkness of the closet. She guided his fingers, directing him to knead. "Just like this," she added.

Chance swallowed. His heart raced and his throat tightened, making it hard to swallow. Despite shallow breathing, he followed her lead.

Karla guided his attentive touch with the patience of a tutor. She showed him how to grasp, how to kneed, and how to handle her body. "Just like this," she cooed.

The nervous tension began to ebb. His hand relaxed beneath her tender ministrations. Chance licked his lips. "I have thought about this since the night I fetched your robe, before France."

"You've got to do some of the work, too," she whispered against his brow. She eased off of his hip and settled adjacent to him. "I don't care if you're not ready yet, sweetheart. We all have our needs, and I need this. Right now. I need it, babe, You heard the fox-god chick." Karla patted his shoulder, snaked her hand up over his cheek and brushed a finger over his lips. "_There_you are," she whispered.

"I'm glad you found me," he replied, adding, "I don't just mean your fingertips against the corner of my mouth, Karla. I'm glad you found me."

She met his lips with her own.

He surrendered to the kiss. He felt her tongue slip into his mouth without delay. His heart thundered in his chest, making him flush. He felt overheated in an instant. He began to perspire and his breathing quickened.

Karla wanted to tell him to calm down but she didn't want to break the kiss. Instead, she guided his hand down from her breast and placed it on her thigh.

Suddenly, with everything behind them, she decided now was as good as any time for this to happen. She crawled towards him, changing gears. The touch was healing. Everything felt fresh ... different ...right.

Chance's hand, trembling from the adrenaline and sudden rush of blood, moved from her thigh to the outer side of her leg. It felt natural to touch her. His hand slid up to her hip.

He couldn't be sure but he thought she might have been disappointed by the way he moved his hand away from her leg.

He thought better on it and eased his hand back toward her inner thigh. This time, he could easily sense the excitement building in her.

His emotions spiked. His mind became muddled. "I can't focus on your thoughts," he told her in a hushed tone. "I'm trying but I can't ... the details aren't clear because I can't..."

"Shh. Just do what feels good. I'll show you."

X

---

X

June 23, 10:05pm local time Marseilles, France ...

** With a grunt, Nathanial** rolled up his sleeves. "I find it odd that Tamamo decided to let you play ball. She said her leader was being overly protective of you." He cut his eyes over at Sinopa. "Plus, it's not her style. She only cares if a teenaged boy is involved."

"Nathan-sama, please. I only wish to assist you, my friend."

The old man reached for his loose-fitting wedding ring. He tugged on it to keep it from falling off. "Fine. Speaking of teenaged boys, how is Karla and the kid?"

Jasper Cunningham shouted, "Hey! I hate to break up your goddamn get-together, but I'm trying to kill you two pieces of shit!"

Nathan cut his gaze back to the man wearing a wife-beater and plain black slacks. "We'll catch up, Sinopa. This guy takes a lot of punishment, though, doesn't he?"

"Hai. And I am glad Tamamo relented." She sheathed her katana and rubbed her palms together. "We need a plan that doesn't involve fire or electricity."

Jasper folded his arms. "I'm satisfied to let the two of you wear yourselves out, first. I will admit, though, I thought it'd be easier to kill the two of you."

Nathan fixed his left sleeve so that it was even with his right. "Yeah, same here. Why don't you tell us why you're guarding that vault? The sooner I can piece this together, the sooner we can all just go home. Nobody needs to die, kid."

"Kid?! I'm a father already."

"That's just the kinda bullshit this world needs more of - kids having kids."

"How about you shut up, old man. I might not have active abilities like you, but you can't hurt me."

"I thought he had abilities," whispered Sinopa.

Nathan shrugged. Speaking at his normal volume, he said, "He heals, but I'll take him apart piece by piece. No worries."

Jasper scoffed. "No, you cocky old bastard. I'm invulnerable." Jasper walked across the room and opened a door leading to an office.

A young girl stepped out, wearing shiny black shoes, white stockings and a black dress. She folded her hands and looked timid.

Jasper motioned to his seven-year-old daughter. "This is Laura. When she's nearby, I can't be harmed. The protection extends to her mother, too. We're not together anymore, but you've probably heard of her because she was a big name in the supernatural community. She's gone by a few names, now. Elizabeth, Carmilla, Millarca. She's immortal, too. And when our daughter is nearby, we're invincible - she can shield her parents."

Nathanial narrowed his eyes, recognizing the woman's names. "You married that psycho, Elizabeth Báthory? You know that crazy bitch has a reputation."

"Don't talk about Beth that way! That's her mother," said Jasper, while gesturing to the little girl.

"Yeah, and she's so crazy she thought her immortality came from blood." Nathanial held his hand out and carefully aimed through his fingers. A powerful arc of lightning started at his chest, raced down the length of his arm, and exploded from his palm. It linked with Jasper's face but dissipated with no effect whatsoever.

The little girl gasped in fear, bringing both of her hands up to cover her eyes. She looked back at her father. Visible relief washed over Laura's face, seeing Jasper unharmed.

Nathanial narrowed his gaze. "That one should have thrown you across the room at the very least." He ground his teeth together in frustration. "Seems we're at a stalemate."

Jasper ushered his daughter back into the office and shut the door. He walked back out into the center of the warehouse and approached a crate full of weapons. He withdrew a submachine gun of Belgian design. "This one looks promising."

Jasper pointed the weapon towards Nathan and Sinopa and emptied the clip. Fifty rounds struck an electric field created by the old man. The field vaporized the barrage of bullets.

"You're going to wear out sooner or later." Jasper ejected the magazine and slapped a fresh one into the top of the weapon. He opened fire again.

The muffled rounds spit from a flash suppresser. Another fifty rounds dissolved into Nathan's electric field.

"I'm old, kid." Nathan smirked. "I've been doing this for so long that it's common place. I could do this in my sleep. Sinopa, here, doesn't even require much sleep."

"Fine. Let's make this more interesting." Jasper tossed the P-90 submachine gun into the crate with several others. He reached for a radio on the back of his belt and thumbed a switch on the side. "All units move in."

The warehouse flooded with people wearing plain clothes. Nathanial looked about. He turned to Sinopa. "Do they have abilities or are they just hired guns?"

"I am not exactly sure, Nathan-sama, however I believe they are normal people," she replied in a soft voice. "Why would they send normal people to fight us? They're not even armed."

Nathan sighed in annoyance and turned back towards Jasper. "Listen, kid, I'm not above protecting myself against mundane people." He thrust his hand into the air.

Lightning struck the roof of the warehouse, channeled in through the grid of I-beams, and then entered the room through the walls and roof.

An enormous spider web of lighting came from all directions and met his palm.

Several wooden crates along the far wall ignited.

The people caught in the electric field screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Nathanial closed his hand into a fist and the grid of electricity disappeared. "We're not playing around anymore, kid. You're up against professionals. Step aside."

"Again, you can't hurt me." Jasper reached into his crate and put a pair of earmuffs over his head. "Looks like our intel was wrong. I was told you wouldn't hurt innocent people."

"I tazed them, you knucklehead."

Jasper grimaced. "Let's up the ante." He withdrew several grenades from the crate adjacent to him. Jasper pulled a pin and tossed one at Nathan and Sinopa.

Nathan arched his brows and waved his hand towards the incoming explosive. An energy field encompassed the grenade. It detonated harmlessly, contained within the glowing orb of electricity. "We could do this all day. The thing is I'm losing my patience."

Jasper cursed under his breath in frustration. He brought his radio up to chin-height and spoke into it. "Send in the creature."

A lanky, nerdy-looking man stepped from the office door. Within the office, Nathan and Sinopa could see Jasper's little girl, sitting on a chair with a piece of sugar candy.

The rather geeky looking character shut the office door and pointed a remote control at the large metal door against the far wall.

Sinopa eyed the man. Her ears perked up through her hair. "I recognize him from somewhere."

The vault behind Jasper opened and Nathanial squinted his eyes, trying to peer into it. Within, a stasis chamber opened, and a disfigured creature tumbled out. Its gleaming red eyes illuminated and it crawled on all fours from the vaulted room.

The hydraulic door began to close behind it.

"Yeah? We can play Guess Who later, Parker." Nathan reached for Sinopa's hand. "Hang on tight." The two of them turned into a beam of pure energy. Nathanial carried her on a bolt of lightning through the rolling door just before it closed.

Nathan and Sinopa materialized inside a dark room. The vault shut with a hiss of air pressure, which cut them off from the creature and the Jasper, the super soldier.

Nathan turned back towards the door and shocked it, shorting out the hydraulic motor.

"Ha. Now we're in here and they're out there." He opened his hand, palm up, and created an electric discharge. The glow illuminated the vault.

The empty stasis pod was nowhere to be found.

The vault appeared empty except for the odd placement of a toilet mounted to a wall in the far corner.

Nathan blinked. He turned to Sinopa. "Bullshit!! The son of a bitch tricked us into locking ourselves in here! There's no way he was smart enough to come up with that himself. Someone must have been ready for us and he executed some sort of fail-safe plan."

"Oh dear." Sinopa approached the empty spot where the stasis machine had been. "I remember where I saw the lanky man's face before. He can create illusions that other people can see. It's a type of reverse-telepathy, and he works for the council."

"Clever bastards. They sent their big guns to protect an empty vault. I can't believe that trick worked."

"Hai, they are indeed a clever foe. Worthy of appreciation. But for now, we should determine a way we can repair the motor used to open this safe. The door weighs far too much to open on our own."

"Dammit." Nathanial paced the area. "We're cut off from everyone, including Tamamo."

"How is it that you know her, Nathan-sama?"

"It's complicated, and I don't need your honorifics, Parker. We're friends. I don't need the respect bit."

"As you wish, Nathan."

"Much better. Alright. Get that sword back out and let's try to call Tamamo in the reflection."

Sinopa withdrew her blade and spoke in Japanese.

Nathanial held his hand aloft, using the electric discharge in his palm to give proper lighting.

Tamamo didn't respond.

Sinopa frowned. "She may not be in the Hallway of Reflection at this moment."

"More like, the Hallway of Mirror Spying. Anyways, we'll have to keep trying to reach her. If we can get word to your sensei, we'll be in good shape. We need to stop this nonsense here, now, before it starts."

"Before what starts?"

He turned to Sinopa and held his left hand outward, still using his ability to illuminate the room. With his right hand, he took her wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze. "What if I told you that the super soldier is how everything goes wrong? It's just the beginning. The shit hasn't hit the fan yet, but it's going to happen, and it's going to be soon. In about two decades everything is going to go to hell, and that'll lead to a world of shit, fifty years from now."

"How bad?"

"I have it on good authority that if we can't change things from going sour in two decades from now, then in five decades, everything will go nuclear. Literally, metaphorically - both, whatever. I'm trying to stop this crap before it spirals out of control."

The kitsune frowned. "Who are your sources? What Oracle told you this?"

"I don't mean to be the guy that keeps secrets but I need you to trust me. If I tell you my source, things may get even more complicated."

"Nathan, please..."

"No, Parker. My source needs to stay confidential."

"Very well. I won't ask the identity of your source. But I need to understand what we're up against. What do you know?"

"I know too much, how's that?"

"That is hardly a convincing..."

Nathan smirked and spoke overtop of her. "I know your secret, Sinopa."

She eyed him in the dim lighting, keeping a hand aloft to protect her eyes from the glow of electricity in his palm. "I surely doubt you know the secret of my kind. It's forbidden for humans to know such. So what is it that you think you know?"

"I know what the kid telepathically learned from you on the day of his accident. The reason that Tamamo tried removing his memories."

"I highly doubt that you know..."

"Sinopa, I know that the gods are created by intense faith from a significant quantity of human souls - believers. The more human faith placed in the deity protector, the more powerful that god becomes."

Sinopa swallowed. She stared at a nearby wall in silence.

Nathanial continued. "I learned that The One True Creator made things this way so that people could create their own localized protectors. I know that many deities don't believe in 'The Great One God' but quite a few do."

"What else do you know of us?"

"I know the gods became notorious for creating wars and drama to increase their influence and power - I expect no less from beings created by the imagination of human beings. So your kind has thesae little political power plays to try and increase their followings."

Sinopa licked her lips in apprehension but remained quiet.

Nathanial continued to speak. "I also know the Esoteric Council has been around for a long time. One of the first councils, thousands of years ago, decided to ban the gods from walking amongst humans."

Sinopa nodded. "Hai, the council was said to have sought out all the human Specials around the world - anyone with supernatural or mythological abilities. When all were assembled, they fought the deities in a war. Some of the gods agreed it was better for them to stay in the Celestial Realm. The Japanese deities, for example, did not partake in the war against supernatural humans."

Nathan shook his head. "You heard wrong, Sinopa. Supernaturals were bred to push the gods off of Earth."

Sinopa tilted her head. "What else do you know?"

Nathan shrugged. "I know it happened a long time ago. I know there is no mention of it in recorded history. I think the first wars against the gods happened ten thousand years ago."

"Little is known of those times, as many deities from that far back have been forgotten. Only rumors persist. Deities created on Earth in more recent times were simply pushed to the Celestial Realm. Please, continue."

Nathan nodded. "Alright." He looked down at the glowing orb above his palm. "I know that there has been a treaty for a long time. Deities have to stay in the Celestial Realm, but the treaty allows messenger spirits, so long as they're not overpowered."

Sinopa nodded. "Yes, correct."

"I know it also allows occasional miracles from deities. They benefit and protect humans now and then. In return, the treaty allows humans to believe in whatever they see fit. But only the oldest of immortals know about that clause, because if people learned they could come together and create gods to suit their needs, war cults would pop up, followed by people killing each other to destroy opposing gods."

"Some humans already kill one another over beliefs."

"Yeah, true." Nathan grimaced. "But if people knew that the soul was a creative force, things would be a lot worse, because people would create weaponized gods for the sake of wiping each other out."

"Hai. Such is a shame, is it not? That ancient treaty bars deities like Zeus from starting trouble on Earth."

"Yeah, exactly. And it keeps gods like Thor from leading groups of humans into 'glorious battle.' It keeps Hachiman, the Japanese god of war, from deciding to invade North Korea for his personal amusement."

Sinopa licked her lips again. "Hachiman is not a warrior god in the way that you are thinking. Susanoo would be closer to..."

"Yeah, I know." Nathan lifted his hands and shook his head with a sigh. "Maybe that was a poor example, Sinopa. What I mean is, Hachiman is a strategist, prayed to by leaders of warriors. But if Hachiman decided that Japan needs to invade Korea, well, let's face it - a deity knows how to pull the right strings to plant ideas in the hearts and minds of an entire nation."

"Hai. I suppose." Sinopa fidgeted with her kimono. After a moment to compose her thoughts, she said, "Your source of information is incredible. Why is it that Tamamo, or another god has not removed your memories of such?"

"Oh, they've tried." Nathan grinned. "Blocked memories don't stay blocked very long. With the right amount of electric current fed into my hippocampus..." He trailed off with a grin. His pupils illuminated. "Well, let's just say I have secrets, too."

"Ah. I see. Perhaps that is why my people have an unusual infatuation with you. They have nicknames for you."

Nathan scoffed.

Sinopa continued over top of him. "The current revision of the treaty was penned over a millennia ago. To my knowledge, the last of the gods were banished from Earth during the Viking Age."

"Nicknames huh?"

"Yes."

Sinopa licked her lips. "I am uncomfortable with the fact you know so much. I cannot understand - you are not one of the immortals. You age. Albeit slowly, but still - you age. How did you learn all these things, Nathan?"

Nathanial smirked. "That's for me to know, and nobody else to find out, Sinopa. That's the kind of information that your people would use against me."

"I see. You do not trust many deities, do you?"

"Hell no," Nathan said with a smirk. "Especially the ones born in the Celestial Realm, who were never created from the faith of human beings. Basically, any deity born without power or influence over humans."

"I was born under those conditions, Nathan."

"You're a messenger spirit. Your race was created and revered by the Japanese. The kitsune place honor above their nature to trick people - you serve Inari, who is a fantastic deity."

Sinopa nodded in silence.

Nathan sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if I insulted_you_, but some of the people born in the Celestial Realm, who have no influence over humans, because they weren't born from faith ... they're devious assholes. They make political moves and pull little stunts and keep secrets from one another. They turned the entire Celestial Realm into a world of self-serving politicians, Sinopa. Now the gods, old and new, work hard in order to try and gain favor with groups of humans, to have more power. Deities will inspire cults to spring up. Deities will inspire human missionaries to go around the world and convert people, because they need to maintain enough human faith to remain powerful."

Sinopa nodded quietly and frowned. "Then you also know that a large portion of the population believes only in The One True Creator. There are three surviving variations of Abraham's teachings left in the world today. Islam, Judaism and Christianity."

Nathan approached the vault door and tried creating a reverse magnetic polarity to force the door open.

However, the heavy door remained sealed firmly in place.

The older man grumbled under his breath. He lowered his gaze to the floor and sighed. "It would take an enormous projectile to penetrate this bullshit." He turned back to Sinopa with a dejected expression. "So ... if the mainstream religion has no demigods, then your realm must be fairly empty, huh? I know the oldest and most powerful of your kind disappear if they are forgotten."

"No, Nathan-san. It is the angels, saints and profits that now clutter the Celestial Realm. Only a few Asian cultures still have a large enough belief system to support my kind. I am proudly Shinto and serve the Japanese people, for they give me life."

"Yeah, I understand all of that, Sinopa. And I also understand that you're not going to remember this conversation one day. Not sure why just yet, but here's the truth: by the time shit hits the fan in two decades, you're going to be clueless."

She looked back at him with a puzzled look on her face. "What do you know? Please, just be forthwith in your information."

"I'm not supposed to tell you all this. It could change shit."

"If my memories leave me in the future, as you've suggested, then the loss of memories will keep a paradox from occurring."

"Not if you tell everyone, first."

"Nathan, please. Talk to me."

He sighed in frustration. Nathan grumbled to himself for a moment. He looked back up at Sinopa. "There's going to be a small war between your people in about fifteen years. And you'll be needed to fight in that war."

"A war between the Celestial beings?"

"Yeah. You're going to survive and you're going to be even wiser afterwards. But I don't know what the hell happens to make you forget everything. Trust me, kiddo ... you won't remember me."

"Nathanial..." She trailed off with a frown. "Promise me if that does happen, you will seek me out."

"Sinopa, you'll be a warrior, whose mind will be reprogrammed to stay focused on a year-long battle."

She turned to Nathan and firmly clasped his shoulders. It was an endearing action, yet it was seemingly out of character for her. "Please."

"Sinopa..."

"Nathan, please. Promise me you will find me and you will show me friendship again. You introduced me to Jonathan. You've been my friend for decades. I wouldn't want to lose such an honest, true friend."

Nathan nodded. "Okay. I'll find you when you get back to Earth. I promise."

Sinopa lowered her voice and added, "Please, though ... tell me how you know Tamamo?"

"Please trust me, Sinopa. I can't. If I go into detail about everything ... the knowledge might ruin things that are supposed to take place in the future. I've gone through a lot in the last century, just so I could find out what I now know. And now that I know it, I realize that I can't tamper with it, even though I really want to."

Sinopa frowned. "You can trust me to keep it between us."

Nathan shook his head. "To use that word from earlier, there could be a 'paradox.' I can't explain things right now, maybe not ever. But you've known me for a long time. I need you to trust me."

"I ... I trust you, but you shouldn't carry a burden of things to come by yourself. What about changing how things happen in order to make everything better?"

Nathan fidgeted with the loose wedding band on his left hand. "Trust me, if you try changing things, you just end up making them worse."

Sinopa frowned. She watched the way he tended to his wedding band, which was now a size too large for his finger.

"So are we good, Parker?"

"I still have questions, Nathan. Why haven't other oracles spoken of this future you've seen? Most of them are consistent in what they predict - nothing earth-shattering has been foretold."

"Just trust me ... everything is going to get crazy. If I do nothing, the future I just mentioned will come true and everything will turn to shit. If I do too much or if I tell everyone about what may happen, then there will be a ripple effect and I might make things ten times worse."

"I see. That is why you cannot be around the telepathic boy?"

Nathan nodded firmly. "Exactly. It's also why I can't let anything happen to you. If it was just me in this damn vault, I'd blast my way out at the first opportunity I get. But I'm not going to chance hurting those babies in your belly. Fox and Topaz are pretty important."

"Again, how do you know what I'd planned to name them? I've only recently told Jonathan the names I've chosen."

Nathanial grinned. "It's all part of the 'future prophecy.' Trust me. I know how it plays out and it isn't good. I've got to make certain changes without creating some sort of..."

"Paradox," she interjected.

"Exactly. So can I trust that you'll help me?"

"How long have you known that you need to change the future from this point?"

"A few years before the goddamn Esoteric Civil war in 1908. Trust me, Parker, that battle in Tunguska changed everything for me. I realized what I was supposed to become by that point. But ... I already knew about the bullshit that's going to happen in the 2020's long before that blast leveled Siberia."

Sinopa arched her brows. "You met Karla-san in December of 1906 and you've been grooming her to prepare for..." Sinopa trailed off, connecting some of the dots. "You've known of this prophesized future since before meeting the succubus?"

"Yeah, sure did. It just didn't become clear for me at first. But what I found out began to click in my head as time went on. I started connecting dots, and I started grooming Karla and a few others to help me save the world." He began walking along the wall, occasionally shocking it to check for weak points. "God."

Sinopa watched him test the container for a way out.

Silence.

Sinopa frowned. Her eyes lowered. "It seems we are trapped. It also seems I was not very clever, despite my reputation."

Nathan finished circling the small vault. He looked back at her in the dim room and offered a weak smile, seen in the light of his left hand. "No, it was my fault. I grabbed your hand and zapped us in here. It's my bad."

"Ah. I heard you mutter the word 'God.' I thought you were frustrated about our situation, for which I feel ashamed. I should have seen the trap."

"I said, 'God,' because I was just thinking to myself that I really miss those days in the early 1900's."

Sinopa tilted her head.

Nathan trailed his fingertips across the metallic walls. "Tesla, Tunguska, all of it. I hate the fact that all that mess caused Nick to veer off the deep end."

Silence.

Nathan kicked the door. He wrapped his knuckles against it.

Sinopa said nothing.

He walked along the perimeter a second time, tapping against it to check for consistency in the armor plating. "So, you're going to trust me, right?"

"Hai. I trust you, Nathan-san. You've always managed to live up to your special name, given to you by Sigyn-sama." Sinopa pronounced the queen spirit's name to sound like 'Sagan.'

"Yeah. Sigyn. What a piece of work that one is."

"You know of her?"

"I know she created the fox spirit species. I know she was killed in the first war against the supernaturals, before the treaty was drawn up. I know that she was reborn in Scandinavia, and that she married an asshole." Nathan paused, watching Sinopa's silent expression. As if to add levity to the situation, he added, "You never told me the nickname she calls me."

"My kind refers to you as The Great Anomaly. There is something that we, the gods, cannot understand about you."

"Yeah ... that sounds about right. I'm an anomaly." He offered her a wan smile.

"Hai. You've been a curiosity of our kind for nearly a century. But please, my friend, you can never tell anyone about faith and the deities. If humans knew they had control over us by means of their faith, it would cause grave problems. There would be unfathomable religious wars; governments forcing people to believe what they're ordered to believe at gunpoint. It would create chaos beyond measure."

Carrington smirked. "Honey, humans have been doing that to one another since the One True God was a boy and dirt was new. That's never going to change. But I see what you're saying. It would make things a thousand fold worse, and there would be wars between both sides in both realms."

"So you will keep that secret?"

"It's always been safe with me. It took me this long just to tell you that I already knew about it, so you can stop worrying." Nathan sat down on the bunk in the corner. "I'm not the talkative type in my old age. It ruins the mystery, you know? How about you try calling Tamamo on your sword reflection again. Maybe she'll answer this time."

"It is possible she is spying on Sigyn and her husband."

"What's their deal anyhow? Isn't that slob supposed to be in a prison?"

"He is tied down by a hot springs pool. A giant serpent was placed over him by the gods, to ensure he would not escape. Its venom drips down and touches his skin, which burns like acid. Sigyn is a loyal wife to him - she has mounted a bowl above his head to catch the acidic venom. When she visits him, she pours the venom out. They often speak of their plans to rise up against all the gods of all the religions."

"Tamamo spies on this broad, huh?"

"Hai, Nathan. My sensei believes that they are harmless. However, someone once told her that they will escape one day and cause chaos in the Celestial Realm. So, Tamamo amuses herself by listening to Sigyn speak to her husband. If that man manages to escape, Tamamao-sama will be the first to know."

Nathan sighed through his nose. "I told her."

"You told Tamamo?"

"Yeah, a long time ago. Those two Norse idiots may cause the Twilight of the Gods. That's all tied in to the crap I mentioned earlier. It's one of the things I need to change about the future. That's our secret, Sinopa. You got it? Nobody can know."

Sinopa frowned in silence.

"I mean it. I've been working to change the future for the past century. It can't be done with sudden actions. It has to happen nice and easy, slow and steady. Else, nasty side-effects cause more problems."

"I will keep your secret, Nathan-san."

"Good deal. For now, let's try contacting Tamamo again." His voice was bitter.

"Why do you harbor such ill-will towards my sensei?"

Nathan scoffed. "Jesus Christ, where do I start? A hundred 'n twenty million Shinto believers call her a fairy tale villain, so she isn't capable of being a good person. She's a terrible sensei, she insults you, she keeps secrets, and she's a cougar."

"I fail to understand your euphemism, Nathan."

"I meant she needs to get over her obsession with teenage boys."

Sinopa replied with an expression of disgust. "I ... I believe she sees young men as emotionally un-intimidating."

"Tch. Sinopa, it's been nine hundred years since her boyfriend died," said Nathan. "She needs to get over the kid."

"Please do not speak disrespectfully of Konoe-tenno," said Sinopa, pronouncing the name to sound like, 'con-no-way'.

"Tamamo's ex-boyfriend had her hunted down and shot to death with an arrow nine centuries ago," said Nathan. "She really needs to get over him. He's been dead three times longer than you've been alive, Sinopa. You're right, I neither like nor trust Tamamo. I know what she's capable of. She deceives people."

"She is likely our best chance of escape."

Nathan nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's goddamn insulting. Now, try calling her again."

Sinopa sighed softly. "Very well."

---

Next Chapter: https://www.sofurry.com/view/595227