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Chapter-13- Treats

Friday, July 21, 2049 - 9am District Daylight Time Worcester, Massachusetts, District Coast ...

** Sinopa paced the Hallway of Reflection.** She cut her gaze to Tamamo, and the kuda-gitsune upon her sensei's shoulder, then looked back at one of the mirrors, watching Karla and Wilfred Greg, an old white gentleman with wiry white hair. The two held a conversation on the other side of the portal.

The four-tail kitsune remained silent, watchful. Karla wore her ever-popular attire, despite the dreadful Massachusetts cold. A blouse, a short skirt, adorable shoes and a handbag. The man, on the other hand, was in a sweater with an open zipper at the top. He wore corduroy pants and rubbed his hands together, despite wearing designer gloves.

Sinopa Guillot turned back to Tamamo and approached. The little fox stood up on Tamamo's shoulder. Sinopa placed her fingers beneath the spirit familiar's jawline. "Is this the same kanko you employed to bring Karla to me in late 2023?"

"It is. Karla and the others have taken to calling him 'Kuda' for short. He's ready to stretch his paws, and bare his claws."

Sinopa reached into her satchel and handed a bag to Tamamo, gesturing for her to immediately hide the bag. "I thought I might see him again. I brought these for him. It's called 'jerky.' He loves it."

Kuda leaned into Sinopa's fingernails, loving the touch beneath his muzzle.

"I see he is still delighted, if not completely spoiled, by attention."

"Mm, yes, I blame the lot of you for doing this to him." After a moment, Kuda turned around on Tamamo's shoulder and brushed his nose against her ear, whispering words to his mistress.

"What is he saying?"

Tamamo smirked. "Kuda? He says you say 'desu' too often. You don't always have to be so polite with your Japanese. Even when angry, you're polite. It's obnoxious."

"Mm..." Sinopa glanced back at the reflection portal, watching Karla and Wilfred Greg. With her back turned to her sensei, she casually asked, "What is he really saying?"

"He tells me that you have forgiven Karla Loupe in your heart. He says you understand why the succubus made her decision."

"Has he now..."

"Yes, Sinopa-chan. Kuda tells me that you understand the sex demon's actions. You empathize with her as a mother and as an immortal. Karla-san has apparently learned why not to burn bridges anymore, even if it is with people like Gregory Watson. Ironically, by not burning a bridge with him, she burned one with your daughter."

Sinopa smirked at the portal, keeping her expression hidden from her sensei. "Is that all he has told you?"

Tamamo approached Sinopa and adjusted the bow-like sash at the small of Sinopa's back. The four-tail kitsune felt her sensei's hand, smoothing a stray fabric dune on the kimono. The touch seemed ... too friendly.

With a smile heard in the tone of words, Tamamo added, "He also tells me that you are still angry, but I have observed such simply by gazing at your posture and listening to your words. You disapprove of my growing physical relationship with your grandson. It was not intended, I assure you, Sinopa. It was not done out of disrespect towards you. If anything, it increases your grandson's status. I brought honor to him by giving him status."

"Status is in a title. Your relationship with him is a secret. There is no status; there is no title, and there is no honor bestowed upon him. You cannot trick a trickster, Senpai."

"Perhaps you are correct. Regardless, I wish to send my kanko to look over your grandson. To keep him safe at all costs."

Sinopa turned around, facing Tamamo. She glanced from her teacher to the pet fox and back to her teacher then offered a genuine smile. "You have my gratitude."

"See? We are both concerned for Conner-kun."

Sinopa eyed her sensei for a moment. Silence. She pondered changing the topic then simply asked, "Are you in contact with Aris Falcon?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you, or is Lady Kiko, at least that you are aware of, in contact with Aris Falcon or any of his people?"

Tamamo brought her finger to her lips as if to hush the lesser kitsune's words. "Why, that is absurd, Sinopa. Lady Kiko has been cleared by the court." Tamamo's gesture suggested otherwise. She kept her finger over her lips then reached forward and brushed her fingertip over Sinopa's own to keep the younger kitsune from replying. Tamamo's double-edged words were spoken with a practiced smile. "Lady Kiko is someone I watch very closely. I assure you she does not make a move I do not know about. I assure you that I am telling you this so that you can take comfort in the fact that the situation is well in hand. That way you can trust that I am not your enemy. You and I walk in harmony, Sinopa-chan."

"I shall keep my eyes wide and ears up, Tamamo-sama. But your words bring me solace. I am glad your kanko will watch over my grandson. You should probably know that he has fallen in love with you."

"So I've learned."

"Please do not hurt his heart. He wears it on his sleeve for all to see."

"Yet it is the strongest heart I have seen in a mortal man since Konoe. Did you know that Conner is two persons in one body?"

"Hai. The mortals refer to this genetic rarity as 'Chimera.' He is both a Parker and the reborn leader of the people of the First Age of humanity." Sinopa paused then side-nodded to a bamboo pipe up against the wall, nearby. "I brought what you've asked."

"Excellent." Tamamo walked over to the large hollow cylinder and picked it up from between two reflective portals. She opened an end and held it aloft. Kuda crawled into it, wiggling down into the tube. Tamamo closed the end. "I will send him to Conner soon. I'm glad it will ease your mind."

"Knowing he will be safe eases my mind. Knowing he is far from other humans, and protected by a family member eases my mind as well. Knowing he is not gallivanting on an adventure, knowing that he is not unsupervised, and knowing he is not standing at gunpoint has also served to ease my mind. It allows me to focus on the task at hand. But know that I am placing my trust into you. If he is harmed, I will blame you."

"If harm comes to him, I will blame myself. And do not worry, Sinopa." She grinned. "An adventure. Please. He his young. He has just become honest with his emotions. He has just met his uncle. He has just discovered fascinating things in that island fortress owned by Jonathan's ancestors. Every day is a new 'adventure' for him, Sinopa. I promise you I will watch over him as he experiences each daily adventure in the days to come."

Sinopa eyed her, disliking the way she worded her statement. Neither spoke. After a moment, Sinopa sighed and said, "Keep him alive, Tamamo-sama."

"I shall, little one I confess I am growing feelings for him as well."

"Hai, that is what worries me."

Tamamo shook her head with a grin. "I will keep him safe, you have my word. Now, go. Join your friends when you are ready. I have things I must attend to." Tamamo carried the bamboo pipe, with Kuda inside, and walked away from the four-tail kitsune.

Sinopa watched until Tamamo was gone. She sighed and turned back to the mirror portal, watching Karla Loupe and Wilfred Greg speak. She moved close to the reflective surface and listened closely to the conversation between the two humans.

Wilfred offered his coat, but Karla denied the offering. He rested it across his lap and adjusted his sweater, sitting on a bench of an abandoned shopping mall.

"No, Wilfred, dear ... by all means, enlighten me."

"Karla, we've known for a while that the human body has more than one DNA code strand, and we are only now beginning to truly understand how they work. We're only now really beginning to understand epigenetics. Yet we've known about these discoveries for years."

"Your point, old man?"

Wilfred grinned at her. "My point, old-er girl, is that we as humans have some gall to think we can genetically manipulate organisms with no adverse effects. What Aris Falcon has been able to do is concerning. Even more-so if it actually works."

Karla shrugged and put her hands on her hips. Her skirt bounced with each step - she paced in front of the bench, standing in the illumination of a skylight above. "Yeah, well, humanity likes getting ahead of themselves. We've learned how to split the atom and make a bomb before we knew diddly-shit about nuclear science. We didn't know enough about isotopes, and tried to make a 5-megaton hydrogen bomb. Whoops, it went off at fifteen megatons. Castle Bravo or something like that. Bikini Atoll, right? Biggest the US ever detonated for testing kicks. Must have scared the ba-Jesus out of our scientists, because we haven't blown up anything since then."

"Karla, you're talking about their misunderstanding of Lithium-6 Deuteride in juxtaposition to Lithium-7 isotopes. You're right, it was almost three times more powerful than intended. And you're right, it raised new concerns about the forces of nature we're too immature to handle. You give an excellent example of why I'm concerned about what Falcon is toying with."

She looked around the mall with a frown then back to the old man. "Lord knows, humanity was playing with fire before realizing it's hot enough to melt our goddamn face off. So what does that tell us?"

"How do you mean? In regards to genetics or in general?"

Karla smirked and folded her arms. "Both."

"It's your conversation, you tell me."

She glanced down at her nails. "It means that for Falcon to have created the Parker Twins the way he did ... he had the help of someone who knew what the hell they were doing."

"You're a smart girl. You go out of your way not to act like it, but you have a great deal of potential in that brain of yours. So, Sire wasn't the brains behind Falcon's master plan, then, hmm? So who is it?"

She folded her arms again. "My money is on Lance Patterson or Steven Milford. They're smart enough to be that dangerous, and that's why I still don't trust either of them. Better safe than sorry."

"I've been working as a sort of student of Lance Patterson. He clearly seems passionate about making the world a better place. Right now, he is concerned that Falcon's coastal rip caused enough damage and pressure that Yellowstone may erupt during your lifetime. Certainly not during mine. But you should be worried, Karla."

"Oh well. Nothing I can do to stop it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

She grimaced then scrunched her nose a bit. "Wilfie, the only reason these super-volcanoes haven't caused an extinction-level-event already is because supernatural people have been able to stop the catastrophic ones. These sorts of things are watched and carefully studied by surviving First Age scientists like Lance. Lance and Steven, the last two surviving people from the First Age, are very smart. They're the ones who invented humans with abilities, the Esoteric Community, in order to protect humanity from our own deities. But the EC was used to stop extinction level events and cataclysmic tragedies, too."

"Really? That explains why he wants to increase the population of your kind again."

"Yup. But let's face facts, babe. Our kind has been wiped out. So it's only a matter of time before some big catastrophic drama happens. And who's going to save the day? Oh, right, NOBODY."

"You're so optimistic."

"Wilfred, why are you sitting here in War-Chester studying the new Global Cooling pattern?"

"It's pronounced Worsh-tsher, Karla. Two syllables."

"Don't even get me started on the South Boston dialect."

"Then don't." Wilfred grinned. "What is it you expect from me? Do you know what happened to this region? Vermont and New Hampshire are a broken bridge leading into Iceland, now. Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; pieces of Newfoundland - they're all a jumbled mountain at the south tip of Greenland. This section of the United States moved northeast and..."

"Fuck, babe, I know what happened. It's my fault. I didn't stop Falcon; he did this shit. It's my fault. So yes, I know what happened to the region."

"I don't think you do, else you'd know how important my work is, studying the area and the stability of the climate."

Karla scowled. "The district coast broke off of North America. It steam-rolled Bermuda. It moved northeast. Now Bermuda is a mountain on top of Myrtle Beach. And the new beach at the base of that mountain is the Azores Islands. Now half the hicks that lived in the Carolinas speak fucking Portuguese."

"Well, the people of the Azores had no choice but to head west into the Carolinas. After that chain of volcanic eruptions in 2026, they..."

"I know," Karla interrupted. "Lance once told me the Azores used to be mountains that towered over his birth city. It was a natural defense against hurricanes. Now it's a bunch of underwater volcanoes that heat the Atlantic Ocean, which ironically causes more hurricanes."

"Tragic. Under the direction of Albert Gore, I was on the science team that studied the climatic shift. I was there mostly so I could report their findings to Lance."

Karla sighed and dropped down onto the bench besides Wilfred. "I remember his father. Albert Junior. He ran for president. Were you even born yet?"

"Yes. I was young, but yes. He was Vice President for William Jefferson Clinton."

Karla chuckled. "Yeah. It's Bill. Nobody called him by his full name."

"That's how it's written in history books."

Karla shrugged. "Back to Gore. That guy was on a crusade to help the environment. Look at it now? It wasn't human pollution that ruined it. It was Aris Falcon causing what people think is a freak-accident natural disaster. Seems only fitting that Albert the Third would take up the mantle of studying the changes."

"Have you ever met them?"

She shrugged. "Nah. Although I could have if I wanted to. I used to live in DC in the 80's. Hell, I remember in the spring of '89, reading about Albert the Third getting hit by a car. It was just a little blurb in the paper. Now, all these decades later, he's an old man on the cutting edge of trying to understand just how screwed up our climate is becoming. Heh, and you worked for him. Ironic, huh?"

"Yes, and this is one of the coldest northern summers on record. The Arctic Ocean is full of ice this year."

Karla frowned. "Yeah. It's July, and this area is about to get snow tomorrow."

"And you're wearing a skirt."

"I usually do."

"Why?"

"Because I like them."

"That's a horrible argument. Chinese women invented pants so when they worked in the fields, they didn't have to hold up their garments in one hand and work the rice in ankle-deep water with their other. And then women stole the coin purse from men and called it fashionable. I see you've got the handbag. But no pants? Why not wear what women invented?"

"Really? That's your argument for not wearing a skirt?"

"Did you want me to say, 'because it's cold' and make it sound like you can handle the chill?"

"Sweetheart, I could eat a bowl of Alphabet Soup and shit a better argument than that."

"Please don't." He looked away for a moment then frowned. "Classy as ever, Karla."

"I usually stay away from the bathroom humor but Reno seemed to like it, and you were close to him. Look, Wilfred, enough small talk. Let Gore study the region. Let Lance get his information from someone else. You're needed elsewhere."

"Oh I am, am I?"

She nodded firmly. "Shouldn't you crawl out from beneath Lance's thumb and fly to Paris? We need minds like yours at work on getting Reno to wake up. We need him, Wilfie."

"Yeah. I heard Reno was back, but in a coma. How is he?"

Karla offered a thin smile. "He's starting to grow hair. We've been trying to stimulate his body muscles using these little vibrating thingies, but he's losing body mass all the time. We need to wake him up soon or he'll wither away and be useless."

"I'd hate to consider that."

"If I offer treats, will you come with me?"

"Treats?"

"Nevermind. I used to have this pet a few years ago. He'd do anything for treats. To the point where all you'd have to do is say the word and he'd come running. Say, how hot does lightning get?"

Wilfred tilted his head due to her sudden change in topic. "Plasma in lightning can reach fifty thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Why do you ask?"

"Because we need someone who can generate something that hot, so we can burn Falcon's ass off. I'm told Aris is fireproof now. But fire doesn't burn that hot, right? How hot does fire get?"

"A flame can go anywhere between nine hundred degrees Fahrenheit when it's dim and red; it gets up to just shy of three thousand degrees with something like a Bunsen burner."

"There you go," said Karla with a smile. "Aris Falcon can withstand fire. The bastard thinks he's tough because he won't melt like metal. But he's not indestructible. Unless we find a way to launch that piece of shit into the sun, our next best bet is to melt him with the plasma in lightning. So let's do this."

"You think Reno can fight him?"

"Why not?"

"What if Falcon has stolen his power and can absorb it?"

"If that were possible, he'd have stolen it from Nathan Carrington. The last person to throw a bolt of lightning. He couldn't. So he found away to kill Nathanial, instead. But he couldn't even manage that until Nathan was an old man. And when I say old, I mean ... really old. So please, Wilfred, please help me wake up Reno."

"Okay, Karla. Alright. You've sold me. I'll study Reno's situation. Get me back to Paris."

She grinned in delight. "You got it, babe." She stood up, took Wilfred's hand and guided him off the bench, then walked him over to a beautiful, albeit dirty mirror against a wall, where a fancy clothing store once operated. "Sinopa! We're ready!"

"What's going on?"

"Didn't Reno ever tell you about the Celestial plane?"

"If he did, it wasn't something that really stuck with me."

She stared at him for a moment. "Well, if you had learned about it, you probably had that particular memory erased. They're pretty weird like that."

"Excuse me?"

Karla beamed brightly. "Bear with me, babe. What's the most interesting thing you've learned this year?"

"Because of the changes, the magnetic north and magnetic south poles have lined up for the past two years in a row, making them antipodal. Who knows if it will last, but two years in a row they've been polar opposites. And for both years, they're lined up within a few feet of the Geographic Poles. No one is really sure why, but I find it fascinating."

Karla smiled and put her hand on the mirror. She kept her other hand in Wilfred's right. "Huh. Didn't know that. But I can promise you that you're about to learn something far more 'fascinating' than that."

"Why are you holding my hand so tight?"

Karla felt fingers interlace with her hand against the mirror. "You're about to find out. We're taking a shortcut to Paris." She felt herself being pulled into the reflection. "Here we go, babe!"

X

X

Four hours later Celestial Realm ...

Kuda brushed his nose against something hard then drew his head back. The hard surface dangled from Mistress Tamamo's fur-less ears. He leaned in again and sniffed at the piece of metal then darted his tongue outwards. It was cool in temperature but had an icky metallic taste.

He crawled over to her other shoulder, feeling the force of gravity as he neared the edge. The cloth in which she wore shifted beneath his feet. He turned back about, keeping his backside towards her shoulder and his center of balance towards her face.

She turned towards him, her smile was radiant and her tone was a gentle balm. "Why are you so worked up, hm? What has you pacing?"

Kuda moved back to her other shoulder and looked around at the Hall of Reflection then turned back to her once more. There was the dangly earing again. It shined from the wetness of his saliva glistening on it.

She canted her head back the other direction, looking at him from close. Her soft white hair shifted away and her nose came close to his face. He leaned down and sniffed at her lips but her breath didn't smell of any recent food. He licked her lips to be sure. Nope. No food.

"Aw, are you giving me kisses, my little angel?"

Best to be sure, he licked her lips again. No. Still no food. All at once he felt her human-form hands on his body. Her fingers encircled his small torso - he felt immediately ill-at-ease until another hand came beneath his rump, supporting his weight. He relaxed.

Kuda was moved around in front of Mistress, coming face to face with her. He looked down, through the top of her gown, at the ground so far below. It felt like a mile, but he knew he could make the landing if he had to.

"Kuda, eyes forward. Are you looking down my chest? You devious little fox."

He sniffed. It even smelled high up. The floor reflected everything and he saw himself, a tiny little creature as though far away, in the mirrored floor tiles. Kuda looked up, his golden gaze meeting her own amber eyes. He sniffed again as she brought him close to her face. Was there food? He was pretty sure he already checked. But at a distance so close to her face, it couldn't hurt to check again. He sniffed then licked her lips. No. Still no food. Damn.

He felt warm breath against his ear. "Listen closely for what I am about to tell you, my little one."

Kuda stiffened up. Everything was business. Food could wait.

"You were with me when last I spoke to Kiko. You were with me when last I overheard Kiko speak to her husband. You heard her plans, as I did. Heed my orders, little kanko."

He looked up at her face brushing his muzzle against her cheek then lowered his head, again allowing her to speak into his ear. It tickled, causing his ear to flicker a bit.

"Use any means necessary to insure Kiko's plans do not come to fruition." He listened to the words. It made no sense to him why the woman called herself 'Kiko.' That was the name of a lower rank of kitsune. Perhaps her way of tricking recently joined nogitsune into relaxing in Kiko's presence? He couldn't be sure. Mistress continued to speak. His mind snapped back to the here-and-now. "Spy on her. Listen to her plans. Whenever you are able, I want you to bring me news of her. Then, you will go back to Earth and chew a hole in everything she wishes to accomplish, figuratively. She must not succeed."

Kuda looked around then drew still again. Mistress continued with her calmly spoken orders.

"My little boy, I have another mission of even greater importance that you must balance. I will be sending you to Earth immediately. Sinopa's grandson, Conner Parker, is about to set off on an adventure that is dangerous to his health. He must survive at all costs. Watch over him. When it is safe, and when he does not notice, return to spy on Kiko. Never stay too long. Return to Conner often. Protect him as you would me. And, finally, bring me news if he even so much flirts with another female. Watch him. Protect him. And make sure he stays faithful only to me. He is a teenaged human boy. I care not if he flirts to complete an objective or to distract another. But if he has eyes for any other female, you will tell me every detail concerning the matter."

Again, Kuda sniffed and looked about. Suddenly he felt himself being drawn close to her right shoulder, held there with one hand. He felt safe and perceived a heartbeat against his hindquarters.

All at once he felt something brush the end of his muzzle. Something smelled delicious. He felt the softness of her fingers against the bottom of his lips and opened his mouth to ... salt? Meat! A treat! Yes!

He quickly snagged the morsel off her finger and thumb then tilted his head back. It rolled along his tongue. He clamped his molars down, chewing into the small meaty bit. He chewed with his mouth partially ajar, but kept his head up so that it wouldn't fall out. Delicious, salty, meaty bit. Was there more? He swallowed and sniffed then looked around frantically.

Treat? Another treat? Where could it be?

"Oh you little pig," she said with an endearing tone. He loved that tone, especially after a treat. It usually meant another. He looked down and saw her hand disappear into a satchel.

His eyes widened and he salivated. His nose twitched rapidly, moist from excitement. His whiskers shot forward, straight out of either side of his maw. His heart race quickened, spying another treat pinched between her fingers. Yes! Success! A treat! Another treat!

She brought it up until it brushed his nose. It smelled so good he could practically taste it; the remnant of the last still lingered on his tongue.

Kuda, still held against her chest, lunged his head forward. Oh, god yes, another delicious, salty, meaty morsel.

"My heavens, Sinopa was right. You love this earthly creation they call jerky."

He didn't care what she was saying. She could talk all day at this rate, just so long as he got more. He tossed his head up again, feeling the meaty, salty bit roll down his tongue. He caught a bit between his left molars, then tossed his head to the right, trying to get it over to his right molars. All the while he chomped at the deliciousness of Mistress' treat.

He felt his body weight shift once more. Kuda looked around as he lifted him and moved him about. A bamboo pole was placed in front of his face with the top missing. He reached out with his forepaws and bucked his hind legs as if trying to swim through air to reach it.

As he wiggled about, the pipe came closer. He brought his front paws together and felt himself slide into it. Kuda extended his vulpine claws to grab for purchase on the inside of the bamboo. He smelled something interesting ahead.

His hind legs met pipe and he wiggled his way into it. Yes, something interesting. Another treat? God, if only it was another treat, he would be in heaven - he scampered forward, pulling himself through the pipe.

His eyes adjusted to the gloom within. He continued to climb forward towards the smell - one he recognized. What could it be? It was food. Definitely food. God yes, food. He continued to wiggle forward. His nose brushed the food...

Berries. It was freaking berries. Dammit.

X

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next chapter: https://www.sofurry.com/view/691646