Five years. 

There has been peace for those years. Tenuous at first, but slowly solidifying into something that could truly be called peace. Tsukiko and Lily, both demon class soldiers from the war, had retired to a remote village somewhere in southern Japan, buying a house in the old, traditional style, constructed of wood with screens rather than doors between rooms. Somehow this place had managed to remain rural and true to traditions from centuries past. A place of quiet rest, idyllic landscapes, and a populous that afforded them the space they required after ten years of bloodshed. But much is the old fashioned way of life in this place, suited with two that very same lifestyle also brought about a completely new sets of challenges. It was no secret that Lily was - or rather had become - a nine tailed Fox, also known as a Kitsune to the people of Japan, and that Tsukiko was a Bakeneko; a two tailed cat-woman and the only mythical soldier that was generally faster and quicker than a Kitsune. This knowledge left the local populace caught somewhere between frightened and in awe, as they well knew the stories and legends. Bakeneko's were believed to be able to possess humans, to be able to shapeshift into the human form - which is what the locals believe that Tsukiko had done - and a variety of other things.

Lily, on the other hand, they feared would curse them, seduce the men, bring about misfortune, or a variety of equally silly things. It took the better part of three years for Lily and Tsukiko, to convince them that they were not malignant spirits here to curse, bewitch, trick, possess, seduce, or otherwise do anything but live their lives in peace. But this only changed their opinion of them. While Bakeneko's were most often believed to be mischievous at best and malevolent at worst, it was something else with the Kitsune. They were known to be able to bless as well as to curse, to bring messages to Inari Okami, and bring about fortune. It was an Innocent belief, that nonetheless brought with it another set of challenges. Gone was the fear, and in its place rose devotion. They saw Lily as an emissary from Inari Okami and Tsukiko as her chosen companion. This belief was followed by the idea that appeasing them could grant them favours and Boons; secure bountiful harvests, healthy children, and so on. It was only the steadfast refusal that kept the locals from making their home into a shrine. None the less they still often came with gifts and offerings of food, money, charms and the like. 

Thanks to Tsukiko's insistence that it would be good for their reputation and make people happy, Lily made it a habit to walk into town, from the outskirts where they lived, about once a week to listen to the concerns of the locals and appease them where she could. Things like visiting the local shrine and helping the Shrine Maidens with their daily duties, or blessing a newborn baby, or even farmer's newly planted rice field. She knew that she had no such skills, that would ensure the health of a baby or the bountifullness of a future harvest. They had tried to dissuade the thought, but the villages insisted that they were simply being humble and so continued to believe. 

Sometimes the simple belief that you would be healthy, was enough to ensure that you stayed so. So even if Lily did not possess that power, the villagers still saw the blessings happen. Because they wanted to. 

Still, Lily wished that she [i]could[/i] Bless them like they wished. People who had been so kind to them deserved that much, she thought. But she couldn't. Not yet. 

[hr]

The gentle patter of rain on wood brought with it a sense of tranquility to the two women sitting by the kotatsu, a fresh cup of tea in the hands at each of them as they enjoyed each other's company. Lily had her tails wrapped around the both of them providing an extra source of warmth, wholly separate from the heater underneath the table. There was something to be said about like this, with the cold mountain air so fresh and completely without pollution, and the ever comfortable sensation of a loved one leaning up against you in silence. Today had been one of those where Lily had visited the town and paid witness to the wedding a young man and woman, both among those who regularly came bearing gift to Lily and Tsukiko. The boy brought eggplants when he came by, and the girl radishes. This time Lily had been the one bearing a gift: Brightly decorated envelope and card - or Goshugi as Tsukiko insisted on calling it - containing exactly 50.000 Yen. It was left with the receptionist, a lock of black and white hair tied into the ribbon, but otherwise with no message of whom it was from. They were not friends in the traditional sense, and so have not been invited to the celebration, only the ceremony. It was the first marriage Lily had witnessed performed following Shinto customs, so it had been a surprisingly interesting affair.

Beside Lily, Tsukiko stirred. She yawned and stretched, making a sound surprisingly reminiscent to the purr of a cat. Their eyes met and Lily could not resist the smile that spread across her lips. Tsukiko my not have gained Lily's gift of beauty, but that did not keep her from seeing those dark, soulful eyes, the vibrant smile and dark brown hair, and thinking that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. 

Lily blinked and the moment was gone, yet her lover was still looking up at her, now with a pensive look in her eyes. "You're Bleeding still?" Tsukiko asked, reaching up to trace a finger along Lily's cheek.

[i]Bleeding.[/i] Whenever someone was changed from human to one of the Mythics, ask they were called, they always retained a something of their former appearance. Over time, however, what they have become Bled more and more through to the surface, changing the way they look and sometimes acted. In Lily's case, her appearance was changing in such a way that any sign of her half-European heritage disappeared and made her look more and more oriental, in accordance with the origin of the Kitsune legends and Mythics. She didn't mind. Not truly. She would live long enough to get used to it, at any rate. That was another part of a becoming a Shifter, as some called them mockingly, that you gained the lifespan of what you have become. In the case of Lily and Tsukiko, they could both end up living for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

She reached a hand up to the top of Tsukiko's head, scratching her behind one of her feline ears. "I am?" She asked. "I suppose, but I don't truly mind. Even after so many years, the Japanese still doesn't consider anyone fully Japanese unless you look and speak like them." she let go of the one ear much strippers smaller woman's displeasure, which was thankfully cut short when Lily reapplied her fingers to the other ear. 

"You should learn quicker, then," Tsukiko said, closing her eyes and leaning into the touch. "Your Japanese is still halting quite a bit."

"I have been learning the language for only seven years. You can't expect my pronunciation to be perfect." 

"I can and I will," Tsukiko assured Lily, grinning up at her like someone half her age, eyes still closed. 

Lily sighed, yet again incapable of not smiling. To think that, the one who brings out the best in her, is also the one who incessantly teases and annoys her. She emptied her cup of tea and went about the pouring more when there was a knock on the door. 

Tsukiko opened her eyes lazily, glancing over to the thick, wooden sliding doors to the outside. "Did anybody asked to come visit today?" she asked out loud.

Lily shook her head. "No, no one asked to come by. And most would still be busy with the wedding celebration." She stood up, robbing the smaller woman of the furry embrace of her tales, a displeasure she made known with her quiet grumbling. 

The knocking came again, and Lily approached the doors. She quickly put on a pair of slippers, to ward off the cold of the stony ground by the entrance, where the raised floor was no more. It was with some hesitance that she took hold of the door, tails undulating behind her, and opened them only to be met with a thoroughly drenched couple. 

Both were foreigners, a man and a woman, old and young respectively. The woman had brilliant, natural red hair that fell to her waist, and I kindly smile. The man, on the other hand, had one been blonde, but now have far more silver on his head. He was also carrying a strange lantern for some reason.

"May we come in?" The woman asked, speaking English, and seeming not at all surprised that a Kitsune had greeted them at the door. 

By now Tsukiko had approached the divider between their living room and they foyer. Lily glanced back at her, quickly asking her to grab a couple of towels in her best Japanese, to which she nodded and went to fetch them. 

Distractions out of the way, Lily turned back to the new-comers, hesitantly stepping out of the way to let them inside. "You are not from around here," she said. "You have some business here. What is it?" She had survived ten years of brutal war against and alongside Monsters straight out of legends, without being cautious. And alarm bells were ringing with the appearance of these two strangers. 

The man and the woman stepped inside gratefully, the man setting down his lantern on the floor before mirroring his partner and taking off his coats. He picked up the Lantern again, and the woman began to speak. "We are here on behalf of an organisation of sorts. We are seeking volunteers for a sort of... large-scale experiment, if you will." By now Tsukiko had returned with towels which she handed out to the strangers.

They took them gratefully and went about trying themselves. The man went on from where the woman had stopped before. "What she means to say, is that we are from what is known as the Inquisitional College, and we are arranging a tournament to be held in the City of Echoes."

Lily bristled, her tails starting to move at a more rapid pace. "And you come here, to our home, why?" She demanded. 

The woman, having handed hotel back to Tsukiko, took half a step forward and said. "We come here, Lily Stri--" halfway through saying her name and two of Lily's tails each held still in the air, a ball of cobalt blue fire hovering at the tips of each and aimed right between the eyes of the strangers. 

"I have never heard of your college, never heard of such a tournament. You two are strangers, coming to my home, and without even introducing yourself asking if I want to be a guinea pig. So you better have a [i]very[/i] good reason for knowing my name," Lily said very quietly, her entire body tense and ready for a fight.

At the same time as Tsukiko laid a hand and Lily's shoulder, so too get the elderly man rein in the younger woman with a hand on her shoulder. She bowedd deeply and through the motion forced his partner to do the same. "I apologise for my partner." He straight and back up again, smiling wryly. "She may have gotten the looks, but she ofton blunders in social interactions." He bowed briefly again. "My name is Jonathan O'Connor, and this-" he gestured to the woman "-is Guðrún Eva Mínervudóttir. Please forgive her." 

Lily snorted, but let the flames disperse after a look from Tsukiko. "Okay. You have introduced yourselves. Why are you here then? And how do you know my name?" 

Guðrún - it sounded like God Run - opened her mouth to speak, but Jonathan none to subtly placed a hand over her mouth. "Where we've come from, we have encountered a sort of machine that has claimed to be able to grant any one wish. However, in doing so, it also sets the requirement that the person whose wish will be fulfilled has to become the victor in a tournament style trial. Some time after it make this announcement, there appeared a ledger with thirty two names, and a detailed profile of each person mention." He gave Lily a nod as if indicating her. "Your main was among those on the ledger, under the alias of 'Inari'." Having said his piece Jonathan then went silent, awaiting the response of Lily. 

Lily snorted audibly, almost laughing. She could buy that they had found her and knew her name. She was, after all, among a relatively small portion of soldiers on the planet, who had gone from human to something more. Rise sufficiently high in rank and information about her and her whereabouts could feasibly be procured. But this? A wish granting machine. That was simply laughable. She turned to head back inside, calling over her shoulder. "Fat joke. Alice was better at jokes than you are. Feel free to see yourself out." 

She reached all of three steps before the woman spoke up again. She asked a single question, but that question was enough to make both Lily and Tsukiko freeze on the spot.

"Don't you want Max back?"

Hardly had her lips finished forming the words before Lily was upon her, fingers wrapped around her throat and held up against the all to be outside. Guðrún gasped and clawed at Lily's arm, fighting to break free and breathe again. Lily's other hand extended towards Jonathan, sparks of electricity jumping between her extended digits. 

"I'm going to give you exactly one chance show explain how you know [i]that[/i] name!" Lily hissed. Even Tsukiko looked on with a certain amount of disbelief and anger, and none of it directed at Lilly.

Jonathan took a step back, both hands raised in a defensive and placating gesture. He slowly, very slowly, reached for the inner pocket in his discarded coat, and pulled out a single sheet of paper which he had to Tsukiko. 

Lily then reduced the pressure around Guðrún's make enough to allow her to breathe, but only let go when Tsukiko gave her a hesitant nod.

"What's it about?" She asked, stepping over to also read the paper.

"It details much of your life, who you are, what you can do, and supposedly your greatest wish." Tsukiko looked up at Lily with concern on her face. "This is exactly as you have told me. The one regret you have. The one thing you want change." She looked down at the paper again, pointing near the bottom of it.

And there it was, just like Jonathan have claimed. It detailed her wish to bring back the one man that had ever been remotely similar to a parent to her. She had never told anyone about it, not in so great detail as it was written there. 

She looked at Jonathan, eyes flicking to the Lantern he still held. She looked at Guðrún who looked in pain and was rubbing her throat. She looked at the paper again. She then met the eyes of Tsukiko, who smiled tentatively and gave a very small nod.

And then it was there. A small kernel of hope flickered to life in her chest, pulsing inside with her heart. Growing, swelling. 

She could get Max back.

She could get him [i]back.[/i]

She turned to Tsukiko, grabbed her by the cheeks and kissed her full on the lips. "I'll be back soon," she whispered, their foreheads touching. "And when I do, I'll introduce you to my Dad." 

She put on her coat and turned to the two strangers, who had promised her I hope to bring back someone long lost. 

She followed them out into the rain without hesitation.