NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENS IN THIS TOWN ♦ job

Running, but from what?
She had been running for well over a month by now, possibly two, yet nothing was changing for the youthful wizard. The Bakedanuki could only feel the darkness loom over her, and in her mind, continuously grow stronger. She could not bring herself to accept that the black-colored aura seeping from her spirit was very much a part of her, and even made up her natural, physical body.

Black blood would flow forth from any open injuries, and transformation would be risked if she had any darker emotions to empower the aura. That, and the encroaching madness of her secondary set of magic pushed her further and further to the point of turning into a monster; going berserk and leaving behind what made her a person. She was not human, but she could at least live peacefully among them in the past.

Right now, the young guildmaster was simply tired. She was tired of running, tired of leaving her friends, family, and guild behind, tired of the solitude and isolation, tired of her past memories, and most of all, tired of the fear. Of rejection, of herself, of what could happen if she lost control. She had unconsciously destroyed and cursed an entire region, killed off a large organization of hateful humans, and endangered many of her own kind while at it.

It had not been her choice, and presently she begrudged the one who had taken the one thing sealing the effects of her memories away. For many years she lived in ignorance of it, though when she thought back to the time it was removed, the thing that threw her into this living hell, the details and story the stranger had told her all were blurred.
Eventually, Izayuki grew tired of her travel for the day. She had gone many long periods of time without sleep, and without a solid rest for many days, her mind grew hazy, as did her thought process. In a way, such a thing was preferred. If her mind was jumbled, she had no day terrors to haunt her. Sleep brought something back, however; something she wished she could have stayed rid of forever. While the terrors of the day were intimidating and irritating, the nightmares much worse, by far.

Though she no longer feared the ice deity, the torment she had experienced in her younger years with Yukionna was brought back. Suddenly uncovered, she recalled the horrid methods of training the goddess of ice used while stoking the glacier god slayer powers within Izayuki. If the unholy ice were not enough, the deaths of her past loved ones returned, striking grief into the heart of the young adult. Followed by memories of the monster, Alice, who had promised her power in turn for her eventually falling into madness, the treachery of Storyteller, her death by Lucius, the destruction of the old Black Rose, and so much more… she was left without peaceful rest.

Stacked with the haunting words of Kim freshly ringing in her mind, the Bakedanuki feared what would happen if she approached her loved ones in her current state. The witch had said she was nothing but a husk of her former self, and would die soon either from her own power or at the hands of one she mindlessly attacked. How could she ever face them again. The once bright eyed and bushy tailed tanuki was gone; replaced by a timid beast who could transform into a reckless, terrifying monster at a moment’s notice.

Eventually the tanuki girl fell over, against a tree, lost in her imaginings and worries. Sleep would soon find her as she rested her back against the giant oak tree, sitting upright with her hands folded over her abdomen. Though her snooze felt light, no sound or echo in the forest would stir her slumber. Her body was simply too tired, enough that she could not even revert into her silver-furred raccoon dog form to curl up properly for sleeping.

It was said to be bad luck if someone disturbed a sleeping person. It was also said that the bad luck could be avoided if the one who did the waking offered to buy the one who was awoken a drink, while the awoken one listened to a proposition from the one who did the waking.
Of course, that did not apply here, as the brown haired mage dared not stir a sleeping tanuki, and wisely so. Had she been startled awake, there was no telling what could have happened. However, it was almost guaranteed that the result would not have been a fortunate one.

While still continuously on edge, being startled awake would have pumped adrenaline through her, which was far worse than coffee when it came to being energized. It could have been an active and violent reaction, with her lashing out or simply bolting away. That, or it could have been passive, without much for her body to do except allow her mind to freeze up and become unresponsive.

What did begin to stir the youthful Bakedanuki was the ever so familiar scent so close once again. For the first time in a while, was she actually having a good dream, with something to remind her of ‘home’? Or would this vision that sleep brought her eventually turn sour, with some misfortune befalling either her or one she loved. Would it be another scenario of her harming someone she cared about? Such a thing had almost become an expectation when it came to the terrors of the night.

Despite sleeping so deeply, the familiar, comforting scent and gentle music invaded the yokai’s slumbering mind. It provoked thoughts and memories of music, something she was fond of, even though she had not many encounters with guitars. Her favorite string instrument was undubiously the violin, which was easily recognized by its unique sound, usually heard in the treble clef. Elyx formerly was seldom seen without it, especially on the battlefield, which was where Izayuki had become familiar with it. The distinct blend of magic and music was intriguing to the once impulsive yet always curious Bakedanuki, and her exposure to it quickly made it her favorite.

This new instrument was much different, though not unpleasant to listen to. Remarkably, there were two of them playing. The sudden confusion of the realization began to softly stir the Bakedanuki from her slumber, as her delicate, clawed hands reached up to rub her sleepy eyes. She had not encountered any sort of intelligent being since that one feline, who had shared his cooked meal with her, and Kim, who had confronted and provoked her. Since then, she had been even more desperate than before to avoid anyone with a conscious mind, for fear of what they could do to her, or for fear of what she could do to them.

When it came to disturbing a sleeping person, while the gentle approach would not require one who did the waking to buy the one who did the sleeping a drink, it was usually recommended that the one who did the waking to not be two people that were the same person. As crimson eyes began to open and the haze of sleep wore off, her senses became crystal clear. There was not one of Elyx in front of her, but two, each holding a guitar with one playing melody, and the other assumably rhythm.
Her magic sensory told her that this was no illusion; the magic presence of Elyx, though ever changing in shape, was still mostly the same. Her soul sense could also tell her that Shima was near, even if not visible, and that one of the golden-eyed brunettes was not the real Elyx, but merely a clone whose only purpose was to assist in the music making. Regardless, it was not the fact that there were two figures of her husband right in front of her. It was simply the fact that he was there at all.

Suddenly feeling cornered, with her instincts still overly on alert, the tanuki girl teleported herself from the tree to a few meters nearby, where she was not backed up against the tree by two guitar players. The silver fur on her ears and tail were standing on end, while she narrowed her red eyes at the sitting figures warily, wishing she could question her senses for once. She made no mistake knowing that it was really Elyx there before her, along with a clone he had generated, though for once she wished it was not him. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her like this, and it took every inch of her self control to force herself not to run away, far from where he was.

She vividly remembered how they parted; she had proven herself in a battle, far from winning, but had barely shown she could hold her own against his strength. After that, he left a key known as ‘promise’ with her before fading away to his Utopiasphere, with the raven-haired woman’s words of discouragement likely weighing on him. All she had wanted to do was help.
Yet in her pursuit of him and Shadelle, she had fallen on the path when her Wonderland magic began to grow in its effects on her, and while unconscious, she was captured by the anti-Ayakashi Onymouji group. Blinded and helpless, it was only with much unwanted ‘help’ from a stranger that she managed to transform and break free, while killing, cursing, and endangering in the process.

Ever since then, she had not been the same, and thus refused to continue pursuing her husband even after Aiyana rescued her. The better option was self banishment into the wilderness, where she would not hurt anyone, be it her guild or family or random strangers, for once. Why was he here now, after staying away for so long? She thought she had hidden herself away well enough as to not be discovered, so how had he found her?
And why did he bother?

“Why are you here?” Izayuki asked, unable to pick proper words and doing her best to maintain a steady and even voice. No cordial greeting, no running into his arms in relief. She could feel no happiness for seeing him again, for the first time; only fear for what could happen while he was here. With her unstable condition, would it end in him being attacked, or simply rejected? She could not so easily return to civilization once again, nor would she be forced. It was too dangerous.

Eyeing the clone, Izayuki snapped her fingers and summoned one of her Familiar Spirits; a ghostly runelike rabbit that shone with a pale blue light. In less than a second, it dashed for what was deemed the fake and aimed to dispel it. Upon doing so, the familiar would vanish. Her power had grown exponentially since she had broken free from the House of Lost Souls. Currently, she was in no mood to deal with two sets of familiar eyes looking at her; it was hard enough to bear the presence of one, and words were failing her, so she dare not ask that the replica be removed. She would much rather handle it herself with magic that would not too greatly provoke the dark aura already raging inside of her. Once the deed was done, she gazed back towards the ground, hands folded behind her back while she avoided his eyes. If only she could disappear; that would solve all her problems. "There is nothing for you here; you should go."

Perhaps some time ago, she would have found amusement in his comment, and had thought up her own witty response. Now, however, words were few and far between when it came to the suffering Bakedanuki. She did not want to speak unless absolutely necessary, but judging by her partner’s response, he was likely not going to leave her alone anytime soon. She watched Shima with unseen disgust, still unhappy over the previous encounter and her discouragement towards Elyx, rubbing a draw as a nonexistent loss at him. The hated deity evidently did not understand the difference between a human and a yokai of the same rank, and used their fight against them both, emotionally.

Meanwhile, his own teasing behavior was something to be missed; she had last seen him stressed, upset, and eager to get away from her. Her pursuit had brought her into her current situation, one that she hated. She refused to blame anyone but herself and the ones who had done the deed-- the Onmyoji, the tiger ayakashi, Bandersnatch, and Alice.
Izayuki’s uneasiness at the talk of the job was visible, and she refused to catch the paper flicked towards her. Both out of childish pride- unwilling to give in to what he wanted- and out of concern. Was the paper enchanted in any way that would obstruct her will to just be left alone? It was not unusual for sleeping spells, seals, and more to be hidden within humble papers. In reality, she was simply jumpy and untrusting, even of the person she so dearly loved, sitting right in front of her with the stringed instrument.

Fortunately, he went onto explain the job so she would understand without looking at the paper. Something about a utopian town of sorts, but with knowledge that they even needed to hire a mage to begin with, they likely were anything but utopian or perfect. Something really wrong would be going on, and they would need a mage of S rank or higher to fix their problem for them. Jobs were always the same, with little diversity. People needed help solving their issues, and would hire other people to do it in turn for money. Though she was a wizard within a magical guild, the process was becoming quite old. Presently, her focus was on anything but money or a vacation. Did her own self banishment not count as one already, technically? She did not expect Black Rose to grant her two leaves of absence.

“Forget it,” she responded at his explanation and comment on not leaving until she decided to join him. She observed the chocolate on a nearby tree stump. The treat was tempting, as the tanuki had a fondness for sweets and junk food; it would beat the little bits of scraps she had eaten for the past few weeks. Even so, she was still not ready to trust just anything yet. The chocolate appeared almost too good to be true. “In the state I’m in, I’d only be a hazard.”
Did he not sense it yet, or was he simply intentionally ignoring the fact? Her own agitation was stirring the mess of darkness within her, leaving traces of a shadow aura to flow from her body.

“When you vanished and I went to look for you, my magic knocked me out,” she began, daring to explain her situation to one of the few people she trusted. While she would not yet trust going near him or touching anything he gave her, she at least felt comfortable enough to explain herself. Her Wonderland magic had grown exponentially, and Bandersnatch specifically had knocked her out to ‘show’ her something she had not asked for. The history of the monster behind the magic, Alice. The invasion of privacy had not been received well, and Izayuki was blinded by the Daemon as punishment. But, details. The last thing the Bakedanuki wanted to do was guilt trip her partner. “While I was unconscious, I was captured by Onmyoji-- a cult of humans that seek to erase anything that they deem ‘nonhuman’.”

Izayuki recalled waking up, blind, in the underground dungeon of the Onmyodo users. With only sightless eyes and keen senses, she could sense the magical bonds that sealed her strength and power in the cold stone prison. A stranger had met her there, and had told her a short story of a certain noble tanuki-- Rika Riyoshi. The Bakedanuki Yuurei was none other than the mother of Izayuki, and had sealed herself inside of the silver tanuki in order to shield her from the trauma of her more unfortunate memories. Explaining this to Elyx, however, would prove to be hard. Both the musician and the mononoke preferred things to be simple, so she would do the best that she could.

“In that prison, I met my father… he removed a seal that I was unaware of that had been placed on me long ago, to protect me from the memories of my past. My past village, Yukionna, Azalea, all of it,” she explained, straining to keep her voice steady. Along with lack of use of her vocal chords, the material in itself was heavy to talk about, and not something Izayuki so willingly shared with just anyone. How her husband was to receive it, she did not know, and only continued to avoid making eye contact with him. “With the seal gone, I received access to all my my memories, and my full power. But it was so fast. I lost control again, worse than last time, and destroyed the stronghold of the Onmyoji.”

The Bakedanuki closed her eyes, refusing to acknowledge any reaction from Elyx. The last time she had lost control, she had almost killed Lucius and Astrid. In turn, Elyx had almost killed her for it, had Seika not talked him out of it. This time, however, she had completely transformed into a monster, a fact she wished to imply, but not outright say. The reaction of her partner could be something she truly did not wish to see; a negative reaction of rejection or disgust. Knowing him, however, she could expect an unmoved and calm expression, slowly taking in and coming to terms with the information he had given to him. Which one was more painful, however-- how could he bring himself to trust her again and again with her unpredictable patterns?

“My body keeps trying to transform into a monster. If I lose control again, I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t want to hurt you,” she explained, voice low and concerned, close to trembling. At the same time, there was a trace of a threat in it; she was serious, and wanted to stay as far away from harming anyone at all costs. “I’m stronger than I was the last time you fought me. You can make no promise that you won’t get hurt.”