Chapter 5: Family
Trix: "Ah.. I have to tell you something about this... "
"What is it ? "
Trix: "Er.. You will not be able to be Master's second wife. "
"What ?!!! Why not ?!!! "
Trix: "Because I'm the third. "
… t-t-third ?!!! It means.. I'm the fourth ?! It means Allan have another two wives ?!
Voice: " Hello Trix, so you're finally here."
Huh ? Who's there ? A Youko ?!
Trix: "Ah ! Ayumi, I missed you ! Where's Master ? Is he okay ? "
Ayumi: "He's exhausted, so he's resting now, but he'll be fine soon. "
Ayumi: "You're bit late, but I saved one of those candies you like ! "
No, by her behavior she's probably a Inari .
Trix: "Really ! Yeah !! "
Trix flit heading the path from where the Inari came.
Ayumi: "So, you must be Lissa right ? Allan told me about you. I'm Ayumi, welcome to our family !"
"Ah, thank you ! Is Allan really ok ? Can I see him ?"
Ayumi: "Sure, follow me ! "
S-seven tails ! So, Allan is married to a 7 tailed Inari.
Ayumi: "By the way, who's the couple following you ? "
"Ah ! They are Sara and Lionel , we became friends on the way here."
Ayumi: "Looks like they only have eyes to each other and their egg !"
I once saw the power of a 4 tailed Youko, and I can say it's quite impressive ! A seven tailed fox for sure is even more powerful than Trix.
I don't know if she matches Allan in power, but for sure helps to explain his might.
She looks like a 14 or 15 year old girl, just a bit younger than me. For someone so powerful she's quite young. Well, of course I can be mistaken about her age. I would not be surprised if Allan knows a spell to change someone's age .
Hum, maybe Allan prefer younger girls ! If that's the case I may look for a Sabbath branch office later.
We enter a glade in the forest where lies a coach without horses.
Ayumi: "That's our home ! "
"You live in that coach ? "
Ayumi: "Yes, quite charming don't you think ? "
"Er.. yes, it's a beautiful coach. "
Does it means Allan is a nomad ? I was expecting at least a house.. but a wandering life isn't bad either.
As we approach I understand why there is no horses, the coach also have no wheels. Instead it have floating magic devices, the same kind that Allan and Trix were working on few days ago. And one of them is badly damaged.
On top of the coach, a woman is daydreaming.
Ayumi: "Tyra, you're not going to say hi to Lissa and her friends ? "
Tyra: "Hi."
She barely looked at me ! Is she Allan's wife too ? She looks exactly like a human woman on her twenties. Is she really human ? No, it's not possible ! She must be some kind of monster girl that looks like human.
Ayumi open the coach's door. Where's Allan ? We enter in what looks like a normal coach with a orb over a small stand on it's center.
Ayumi: "Place your hands on the sphere. "
I do what she says and she does the same, then the coach around us gradually disappear and is replaced by a large and comfortable living room.
"Where are we ? "
Ayumi: "This is our home. It's in a extra dimensional space similar to the ones created by mimics "
On the other side of the room Allan lies over a couch sound asleep, with emphasis on the sound.
"It's the first time I see him snoring so loudly. He must be really tired."
Ayumi: "Looks like there's someone sawing wood, don't you think ?"
I sit by his side to watch him. His clothes are somewhat damaged and with some small blood stains, but his wounds were already healed.
Ayumi: "He was concerned about you and Trix have to face those bugs, so he did all he could to kill as much as possible."
"He really said it to you ? "
Ayumi: "No, but I know him ! Otherwise he would not strain himself that much, nor focus in the direction you two were coming from. "
Thank you !!
Ayumi: "If you need something I'll be in the kitchen. "
Ayumi, she's really nice ! For sure we're going to get along. Looks like she lives with Allan for a long time. Did she came all the way here from zipangu ? Maybe we can visit that land one day.
Tyra enters the house and heads towards the corridor without saying a word.
But this one may be a problem. What's wrong with her ? She's cold like a Glacies ! And for sure she's not one of them.
Ayumi is a Inari, so there's a high probability that she's a Kitsune-tsuki. A Dhampir also looks exactly like a human. She can't be a Houri, a angel would never behave like that.
I was unable to see her ears so a elf is a possibility, in this case personality matches. A Dullahan with her head in place looks like human too, and she bears a sword.
A Dark Matter after she finds a man is just like a human too, but they are extremely rare. Well, Allan is a extremely rare man and a Dark Matter could explain his power, maybe.
There's also a number of monsters that can transform to look like human.
Ah, this is not going to take me anywhere ! And there's no way I can discern by the aura. Allan's magic can easily block it. I wonder why did he block everybody's auras…
Trix: "Ah ! I'm stuffed ! Master is still sleeping... "
"Trix, that woman Tyra, do you know what kind of monster girl she is ?"
Trix: "No ! And I don't care ! I don't like her. "
"She's always in bad mood like that ? "
Trix: "Yes, always in bad mood. She almost never speaks. "
"Why did Allan marry a woman like that ? "
Trix: "She's not Master's wife, she's Master's friend. "
"Eh ! So, there's someone else in this house ? "
Trix: "Yes. But she never leaves Master's bedroom. I didn't see her yet. "
"Why ? "
Trix: "I don't know ! Every time I ask about it Master and Ayumi get so sad that I gave up. And they are the only ones who can enter that room. "
Trix: "Ah, Ayumi said your bedroom is ready ! Wanna see it ?
"Er... Ok. "
Trix: "It's upstairs, follow me ! "
Trix: "This is Master's and Ayumi's room, this is Tyra's, this is my room and this is yours. "
What kind of secret they hide behind that door ?
Trix: "Ah ! Your room is three times bigger than mine ! "
"Yeah, but don't forget I'm over ten times bigger than you ! "
We are in different rooms. What kind of relationship does we really have ? It's like we're only friends and not a single family.
Ayumi and Allan's secret wife are the only ones that sleep with him every night. What's going on here ?
Trix: "… … … here's the library, over there is Master's lab, we work a lot there, and here is the gym.
We enter in a really impressive gym !! It's three floors high, it have a oval running track that I would take a few a minutes at max speed to complete, a large selection of training weapons and many other devices I have never seem before.
On the far corner of the gym, Tyra is in fighting pose wielding a rapier.
She makes a gesture and over twenty crossbows start to float around her.
The crossbows start to shoot a countless number bolts against her, while she dodges and deflects them.
Her movements are so fast that I can only see her as a diffuse blur for almost a whole minute.
The crossbows stop and descend to the ground while she put her weapon back in the scabbard.
Noticing our presence, she heads towards the exit and leaves the gym.
"She is not even sweaty ! "
Allan: "Ah, there you are. Ayumi is calling for diner. "
"Allan ! I'm glad you're fine. "
Trix: "Hum, I love Ayumi's food ! "
"Hey, didn't you say, I'm stuffed, less than a hour ago ?"
Trix: "Ah, you're right ! I'll get only the dessert then. "
Allan: "Trix, after the dinner we're gonna fix the levitator. We're gonna leave tomorrow morning."
Ayumi was waiting for us with a diner that could almost be called a feast.
"Ayumi, you have to teach me how to cook like that, it's wonderful ! "
Ayumi: "Thank you ! "
"Hum, what about Sara and Lionel ? "
Ayumi: "I was going to invite them, but they were in the middle of something important, and I didn't want to interrupt them."
Trix: "I know what they were doing ! "
Ayumi: "Looks like the baby inside the egg started to move and they were celebrating. "
Trix: "Ah ! I wanna see the baby ! "
Allan: "Give them a bedroll and tell them to sleep in the living room. "
Ayumi: "I already did it."
Their baby started to move. Ah, I wanna have a baby too ! Allan looks ok now, maybe I can convince him.
Suddenly Ayumi stands up with a scared face. With a distressed voice, she says something in a language I can't understand and run. Allan answers in the same language and follow her. They run to the bedroom and lock the door behind them.
"What's going on ?! "
Trix: "I don't know ! "
I strain my ears, trying to listen what is going on the other side of the door, but I can't hear anything.
It seems something really serious ! What is it that makes Allan so sad ? So worried ? So distressed ?
Is it a problem with his secret wife ? What is going on here ?! … … …
Next morning, I wake up with the sound of the door opening.
Allan: "What are you doing here ? "
"Allan, what's going on ?! Is there anything I can do ? Let me help ! "
Trix: "I wanna help too ! "
Allan: "Come in. "
Allan's bedroom looks normal at first, but in the back of the room a hidden door leads to some kind of ritual chamber.
In the center of the room, over a table, lies the immobile body of a nine tailed fox, and by her side Ayumi is holding her hand.
Allan: "Her name is Sayuri, she's my first wife. "
Ayumi: "And my mother. "
Mother ?! That means..
Allan: "My marriage with Sayuri predates the succubus demon lord era."
Predates the succubus demon lord era !! But it started eons ago !!
Allan: "We went through a lot together, good and bad moments…
Allan: "In Zipangu we worked a lot to decrease the conflicts between humans and Yōkai, the Zipangu monsters. So it was a relief when monsters started to change into monsters girls. "
Allan: "Well, it also caused us a lot of problems with that crazy succubus behavior, so we created some spells to avoid them, like that one that blocks aura emissions. "
Crazy succubus behavior ?! What's wrong with it ?
Allan: "Fifteen years ago Sayuri and I were traveling, and found a town scourged by a plague. Many people sick and invalid, many others dead or dying.
Allan: "We started to help, burning the corpses, and trying to heal those that could still be saved."
Allan: "Inside a hut we found a hole family dead, the only one still breathing was a newborn girl, but she was already close to death."
Allan: "To save her Sayuri created a kitsune-bi and changed the girl into a kitsune-tsuki, then we gave her some energy to make her strong enough to overcome the disease."
Allan: "It worked ! The baby survived. After controlling the plague we decided to adopt the baby, and gave her the name Ayumi"
Ayumi: "That's me."
"But Ayumi is a Inari not a kitsune-tsuki ! "
Allan: "Well, let's say we overdid a bit giving her energy. We were a happy family, but 11 years go.. we were living in Kawata … " He lowers his head.
"The first city in land attacked by the Chaos Gods. I heard no one survived ! "
Allan: "Thanks to Sayuri two people survived, Ayumi and me. She teleported us away and ran on the opposite direction, using herself as a bait."
Allan drops a sadness tear, the first one I see on his face, and the last one I hope..
Trix: "If she is dead, why her body is here ? "
Allan: "She's not dead, not completely… The scoundrel that attacked us have a artifact. This artifact can completely drain the life force of any living being and store it. Then it's owner can feed on this energy.
Allan: "Normally a drained soul is completely lacerated, but Sayuri's soul is far stronger than normal and she is still in one piece. If we destroy the artifact, her soul will probably be able to return to her body."
Allan: "To make it possible we have to keep her alive, body and soul. Sayuri's soul still have a faint connection with her body, and we can keep her alive by infusing a huge amount of energy into her body"
Allan catches Ayumi's hand and they start to shine, the light then increase to the point it is almost blinding me.
Allan: "The energies we release here in the process are a bit different than normal, and it's concentration is far beyond anything you can imagine. This energy for sure would hurt you two, maybe even kill.
Allan releases Ayumi's hand and the light fades.
Allan: "In order to bring Sayuri back I have to face that scumbag, and for this I have to become stronger, much stronger ! "
… So Allan is really planing to fight a god ?! May Ares look after us all !