Y'know for what it's worth I agree. Kat'd make an incredible villain, because she knows how to have fun. Plus she's got experience being an evil army so it's not like it'd be entirely uncharted territory, right? Unfortunately it's just not meant to be. It's not even a question of contemplation, or choosing a path in the first place.

Kat is exhausted. Really that's putting it too lightly. Between all of its various phases she put more than everything she had into this fight. She ran deep enough into debt that even Actia and Cyanis can't pay it back for her, not that they would (being foxgirls and all). When anger seeps away into the quiet release of victory and a body who's been pushing and pushing and pushing gets to the spot where they're allowed to just look at the dawn breaking across the top of their very beautiful planet? 

They do say the most difficult moment in any adventure is when you're finally allowed to rest. And so it is here. Kat's grip loosens on her sword. Just a teeny bit at first, only enough to make it shift down slightly. Then more, as her head nods once. Then more again, until it's trying to float free. She makes to grab for it and that's when she notices that her arm's not moving right. That's when she notices how much everything hurts despite all of the magical power she'd built up to make it not. That's when her view of the gorgeously lit up earth gets cloudy. And then dark.

And then all she can see are the backs of her eyelids. After that, one quick flash of something more precious than an unguarded can of tuna. And then nothing at all. The winds around her body die down to nothing, and she drifts limp and dangling just on the edge of outer space. Not even really seeming to breath, just drifting helplessly wherever gravity decides to take her. 

"It's ok sweetie, I've got you. You did such an amazing job, you know that?"

She doesn't shrink in my arms, just like she didn't grow before. But she does diminish as I'm looking at her, all of those fancy tails dissolving off her form in a green and blue glitter to go back where they came from. I hold my brave warrior close to me and float quietly while balanced on the flat of my sword back to the one place we've got up here for standing. The space elevator. Space Elevator? I dunno. Another tail leaves her for its rightful owner, and that hard edged maturity falls back off her face. Sleeping like she is, she looks so innocent I'm reminded of the day I first found her alone in the woods not far from my little cottage.

I hop down off of my sword and whistle once. And then one more time because I screwed up. This is hard, ok? The third go around I hit the note right and the blade obeys me and floats back into its sheath as I plant my feet on solid ground. I guess Actia really schemes on another level. She got pushed into this whole thing and she pushed herself right back out of it, with an extra tail to...

I stop, and tilt my head to watch Kat a little more closely. She's not glowing anymore, and her body is flopped so awkwardly in my grip that if we were anywhere other than where we are she'd be worse to hold than a sack of potatoes. And I can tell right away that something happened. At first it seems awful, because she looks so much worse for wear with her fox magic so depleted and sent away. But I can feel them brushing up against my legs, just well enough to count them. One, two. But then three? And a fourth tail, too.

"Hmph. Is that all I managed? I must be going soft."

"Saber?!"

I turn on the spot and find her lying there in a pool of blood. That gorgeous wreck of a shark-toothed giant. She flashes me a grin and tosses her head back to laugh, though it pains her. Already her body is breaking down into Spiritron particles, just motes of golden light that mean that the ritual binding her is past over, and all her grudges and oaths that were keeping her pinned down have finally let her go. It'd be lovely if it weren't so sad. I really hate goodbyes, y'know? 

"Hold on! Hold on hold on hold on, what'd you do? What have you done to my Kat?"

"I simply, nnnf, gave a reward to my vassal. Though I meant... for it to be bigger. Fox magic is known to me. It is a thing of raw Want. In this moment where their pact came to a close, it is a matter of, mm. Would you say it 'splitting the check?'"

"Uh, no, can't say I'm familiar with the expression. Is that a Viking thing?"

"No, it's... never mind. The three of them, their magic, it is a contest in the final moment to see who wants what the most. That is the power they use to grant wishes to themselves, after all. Little Fluffybiscuits is not good at wanting things. She is not good at being hungry. Left alone, those two useless rats would have tried to take even her original tails."

Yeah. I believe that. Actually maybe I don't believe that about Actia, because I think she's better about avoiding trouble where it's bigger than the gain. She'd only go for the greedy play if she thought she could get all ten of those tails to herself. But Cy? I can see Cy reaching just 'cause she can. 

"And you, what, punished them for that?"

Saber grins at me, barely visible through the haze of golden light consuming her body.

"I am a King, demon swordswoman Yue. No one in this world seems to understand what that means anymore, but I can lust for things with far greater zeal than any silly foxgirl. And I do wish to punish them both, but not for being what they are."

"What, then?" I say it before I can stop myself, but it hits me before the words are even forming on my lips. [i]Oh[/i], I think, [i]Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.[/i]

"My grudge may have been artificial to start, but I will not suffer to be used like that. My last unfulfilled oath. The pledge to harm Actia. When the pair of them come to you screeching about unfairness and vengeance, tell them. Tell them Ivar the Boneless took her price."

I laugh, in spite of everything. Because what else can I do? That's the single most fox-pilled argument I've ever heard! I'm gonna start calling sharks the foxes of the sea. They're not gonna get the joke, but so what? I will!

"Sure," I giggle, "I'll let 'em know. I owe you at least that much. For listening. And for keeping my Kat safe."

She turns her head, and brushes off the compliment. Her left arm has completely vanished by now, as have most of her legs and parts of her torso. There's little left to her beyond a face and a long, feminine braid.

"Hmph. Promise me this, demon swordswoman. If there is ever another time where we heroic spirits are needed... be sure to summon me yourself. I would... very much like... to try my hand at conquering your Princesses. And you are... the furthest thing I have met. From a monk."

With a laugh and a burst of light, she's gone, and I'm left with goodbye still unsaid. Ah, darn it. Darn it! It's always like this, isn't it? This adventure wasn't even mine, why does it sting so much to see it end?!

I have to control my breathing. I have to keep steady, 'cause if I start crying I'm going to wake up Kat and I'd rather not go answering her questions about what I'm doing here in the first place. I walk carefully to the controls, and fumble less carefully around with them until I feel the descent begin. I turn my head to take one last look at Berserker's mad fortress and the remains of what had been a factory of horrors and see it, too, fade into golden mist.

The doors close, and it's just me and my girl. Just like it was before any of this started. Tears fall down my cheeks, in spite of everything I told myself about how important it was not to feel this. But don't worry. I'm very steady. And I look down at Kat, still sleeping in my arms, and I flash a very wet, very small, and very grateful smile.

I shift my fingers so I can stroke her minty green hair off of her forehead.

"Next time, sillyhead? Let's go on an adventure together."

...I think, if I make it that far, I'd like to brew a pot of tea before she wakes up. Some Xue Yue, maybe. I think that'd be a funny way to say hi. And welcome home, my brave, wonderful little hero.