Chapter 14: Ch 14: Forbidden Knowledge

“Paula! Look at all this fruit!” Paula, Paul, and I were at this thing the humans call a ‘Market’. I picked up a strange fruit. “Hey, what's this? I’m not familiar with this fruit.” I took a bite out of it.

“Hey! You have to pay for that!” An angry burly man came over.

“Excuse her, she’s not from here and doesn’t come outside a lot.” Paula paid for the strange fruit I had bitten into. It had a strange mixture of sour and sweet. It had a lot of small seeds in it.

“Ugh, it feels like I'm eating fruit with sand in it!”

Paula sighed. “You’re not supposed to just bite into it like that.”

“Hahaha what is that? That animal looks strange!” I ran over to an interesting creature.

“Hey Aya keep it down! You’re such a child sometimes.”

“But look at it’s nose it’s so big!” We were looking at an animal. No, a monster? It looked like a light brown slime but it had an enormous nose. It looked like an old man.

“Hmm, I don’t recognize this monster, do you, Paula?” Paula shook her head at Paul’s question.

“As far as I know this monster doesn’t exist, but I have heard that strange-looking creatures have been found. They might be new species.”

“But it’s so ugly! How has nobody ever discovered this species yet?!” I inspected the old man slime and poked it.

“Hey, sweetie, do something funny for big sis Aya. Come on I know you want it.”

“Stop provoking that creature Ayaru…”

The strange creature freaked out, its normally closed eyes opened wide, and it looked terrified and shocked. It opened its mouth wide and shrieked and tried to run away but since it was a slime thing it was extremely slow. I picked it up.

“Hey, Paula can we keep it?”

“Absolutely not! Beauty is your thing, right? What are you going to do running around with an ugly creature like that?”

“But it’s kind of cute!”

“Hey! What are you doing to Bob!” two human kids came running.

“Oh no! How terrible Aya! I think it already has an owner!” It didn’t seem that Paula was quite honest.

“Hey, sexy lady can you return Bob to us?” I pouted but returned Bob to the children. Personally, I would name it Mixurius.

“Take good care of Mixurius!” I waved at the children who walked away.

“Mixurius?”

“That’s what I would name it!”

“I am glad for that creature that that’s not the case then… Hey, where is Paul?”

“He is your husband, why are you asking me? Maybe he went after Mixurius.”

“I highly doubt it… let’s go look for him.”

We walked around and found some humans gathered around. 2 men were having a sword-fighting duel. One of these men was Paul.

“Oooh go honey! Kick their ass!” Paula cheered for her man. Paul was extremely skilled; he was also very fast. Nobody could match him.

“Hehe, no human can win against him!”

“Didn’t you also lose to him?”

“Well, he could land attacks before my magic circles were completed… he might be a Misha killer! I don’t think he can beat you though, your magic circles complete stupidly fast…”

I smiled pridefully. “Ehehe is that praise I hear? Yes, praise me more!”

“This freedom is affecting your brain!” Paula shook her head.

“But it feels so good to be free! Nothing is holding me down, nobody has expectations! I’m free to express myself and do what I want!” I spun around and attracted attention but I didn’t care. I was free!

Paula had a subtle smile. “I’m glad that you are finally free.”

The crowd burst into a cheer and applause as Paul had bested another opponent. He wiped his forehead with his shirt briefly exposing his abs. Some female humans reacted.

“Hey back off! He’s, MY husband!” Paula instantly reacted, ran towards Paul, and locked arms with him. She shot mean glares at every woman watching.

“That was refreshing, are you two done with shopping?” We showed him our bags full of groceries and clothing and nodded.

We returned to the small house we had rented. Paul put our stuff away while we rested on the couch.

“Whew that was exhausting!”

“But all you did was shopping…” Paul commented from across the room.

“Yes, and you’re a sweetheart for putting our stuff away! Don’t worry I will reward you tonight!”

“Hey you two get a room! And you accuse me for being a succubus!” Paula leaned forward.

“So, what is the plan? We’ve been here for almost a week. Are we just going to pick up a normal life?”

I pondered. I do like researching but I was severely lacking in supplies. I don’t even have my lab. I also need to find someone to share my research with.

“I don’t know…”

“And what about Verruka? Didn’t you say that she was after you?”

I put my hands in my hair. “Oh! You’re right! I completely forgot!”

“You two have mentioned that name before but who is she exactly?” We looked at Paul who just asked a potentially important question.

“She’s a bitch!”

“She is a murderer!”

Paul facepalmed. “I mean something more detailed than that.”

“She is the one who made sure that I got exiled…” We both looked at Paula.

“As you two know, I got kicked out of Witchaven because I stole a secret recipe to extend Paul’s life, right?” both of us nodded.

“Well, that’s actually not the full truth. They went with that story because it was convenient for them. The real reason was that besides that, I broke into the secret section of the library and memorized 43 volumes in it and I also had stolen 12. It was in search of the potion to extend Paul’s life but I didn’t just stop there.” Paul came over and sat down next to Paula and held her hand.

“Most were forbidden spells and techniques. Strangely enough it had some research about shadow magic which was extremely useful to me. But that also is a problem.” Paula waved her wand and [levitated] her bag toward her. She put her hand in the shadow of the bag and pulled out a book.

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“This book is about shadow magic. It wasn’t written by a Misha…” She handed it over to me. I took a brief look and it had a small section where the author talked about himself. The library only holds literature written or curated by Misha. Very rarely does it contain literature from other races and if it does it has a special section.

“But that is just rare, not strange right?” I returned the book to Paula. She pulled another book out of the shadow of her bag.

“This book and a large portion of the books in the forbidden section are not written by Misha.”

She handed me another book and it also had a male author. I hypothesize that at some point in history, other races were allowed to live in Witchaven and do research but at some point, it got forbidden and all their work got moved to the forbidden section. Most of these books and papers don’t have any content that earns them the title of being forbidden.

“Do you think my research paper is there now? They did label it taboo.”

“Possibly.”

Paul spoke up. “But if they don’t contain forbidden content why not make a separate section for them?”

Paula took another book out of the shadow and something seemed special about it. “Because while most don’t contain anything forbidden. There are some that have information that is… invaluable. You might like this one Aya.”

I accepted the book and it felt as if the book was holding some strange power. I opened the book and I froze.

“What? How? Wait? She was in Witchaven?” The book I was holding didn’t have a title on the cover, not even the name of the author. But the first page clearly stated who the author of the book was.

“Yes, it seems that Edea Hourai had spent some years in Witchaven. I don’t know when or why since this short book doesn’t state it. But it does contain some shocking information.”

I flipped through the pages but I didn’t recognize the language that was written down. Every character seemed like it was a living flame, it was pleasantly warm. I inspected the pages. How is this paper not burning?

Paula stretched her hand out to take the book back. I returned it. “It is written in Phoenexian, it took me 3 years to translate it.”

I got excited. “Tell me what does it say!”

Paula’s face became serious. “As I said it took me 3 years to translate it. I finished this translation half a year ago. I wish I had known this earlier. Make yourself comfortable,”

I levitated a fluffy blanket over to cuddle while listening to Paula.

“As you know Edea is a phoenix and nine-tailed spirit fox hybrid. She is mostly known for her feats as a phoenix though and that’s what most people know her for. We both know that she had a rough youth but this talks more about her race and the races surrounding her.” Paula paused.

“Uh huh go on.”

“First and foremost, she states that she is planning to create a subdimension and bring all the legendary and mythical species that want to go there. Despite their strength, humans and gods alike are swiftly depleting the numbers of their population. It first started as an idea but it gained a lot of traction and the idea got out of control. A large group of legendary and mythical beings banded together and decided to call the new place ‘Hourai’ and have her become their empress.” Paula took a sip of some Mistflower tea.

“Hey! Where did you get that? You didn’t make any for me?” Paula pointed at the small table next to us which had 2 cups of Mistflower tea. One cup for me and another for Paul. “Oh, did you make this Paul? Thank you!”

“So, the reason why our idols have disappeared is because of this. They have retreated to Hourai and live their own life. Most if not all of the Phoenix race went, a large group of dragons, unicorns, you name it. Edea describes that it is probably easier to name those who didn’t go. But she didn’t name them… Anyway, most of the mythical and legendary beings have disappeared and went into hiding.” Paula took another sip.

“She goes into detail on how she doesn’t want to be the empress and that it was just an idea. Also, about how she had made a plan to shirk the responsibility and hand it to someone else. I don’t know how successful those have been. A lot of races see her as an idol she is unlikely to be able to shirk the position of empress.”

“So, they have their own place now. I am happy for them. I will miss tales of their adventures though…” I felt sadness and happiness at the same time. I know how rough it can be to be different. Just as how I’m free now, they must be too.

“This book isn't dated but I suspect that it had been here for a while. Certainly, from before we were born. Now there is one part that concerns me. She talked about the role of the nine-tailed spirit fox and how she tried to escape it because she felt that she was tied down to a duty just because of her race. And just as this is the case for the nine-tailed spirit fox, it’s the same for Nadila as a three-tailed Shadowcat and Felicia as a six-tailed lightning tiger.”

Paul interrupted her. “Wait so mythical beings have a role? What does that mean?”

“It means, sweetheart, that what the gods and humans have done. Killing them off for leisure. Is actively hurting the world. She didn’t go into the details of what Nadila and Felicia’s roles are but as a ninetail spirit fox, they need to keep gods in check. She also mentioned something about ‘Dimensional Integrity’ but I don’t know what she meant by that. “

I almost dropped my tea. “Is that why they keep fighting the gods?!” Paula nodded.

“No wonder their numbers seem to be low…” Paul added.

“She continues to say that they also have other obligations but that she forgot them because she didn’t care much for those…”

I laughed. “Classic Edea! Forgetting things, she doesn’t place importance on.”

“So, each of the nine races of the tailed beasts series has a role like this. Their roles directly impact the health of the world. This world isn’t doing so great according to Edea…”

“Huh? I don’t know how things are from the perspective of the Misha, but to us humans it seems things are going better than ever.”

“I don’t know Paul. I don’t know what she meant with this but it’s clear that mythical and legendary species have a wider perspective on certain subjects.”

“So, what’s the role of gods? Don’t they have a role?”

“I don’t know Aya, she didn’t write anything about that. She did state that gods are petty, arrogant, naïve, indecisive or stupid and she doubts that they have any important role. She and other legendary races don’t think the gods have a specific function other than to bully the other races.”

“Sounds in line with what I have experienced.”

“Oh right! How was your fight against that god!”

“He wanted me to become his concubine, he was unfocused, he wiped out about 35% of his own army, he did seem like he was holding back and was afraid of something other than me. I exploited that and kicked his ass. I don’t have a good impression of him.”

“Hmm, well your tale sounds similar to those of the fights the Calamity trio had against gods.”

“How strong are you actually Ayaru?”

“Hehe, you really want to know Paul? I’m strong enough to fight for my freedom!”

“That’s not a real answer Aya…”

“Well, I don’t know how strong I am, apparently enough to kick that god’s ass! But continue was here more about that story?”

“Most of it was complaining that she doesn’t want to become an empress, she wants to continue adventuring but realized this separate space was important because the world would be doomed if the major legendary and mythical races got wiped out because they wouldn’t be able to fulfill their role and the world will meet its demise. She admitted that even though she didn’t want to fulfill that role she had done it whenever an issue appeared in her face, she didn't go out of her way to fulfill it.”

“So that’s good, right? They are safe and because they are safe, we are safe!”

“Yes… there is just one thing that might upset you.” I was quite happy to hear this so I can’t imagine anything that would upset me.

“They didn’t only bring legendary or mythical races with them; they brought a large group of Brown Warbears for example. Edea had personally visited Witchaven, even lived here for several years, and then asked the council if they wanted the Misha to come too. The council unanimously declined.”

Disappointment and rage welled up in me. I got up and my hair slowly turned into water-like. “Why?! Paula! Let’s go back! I have a [Meteor] with the council's name on it!” Paula and Paul restrained me.

“Aya calm down! I know that you would have loved to live in Hourai but there was no merit in it for us Misha! We get treated quite well!”

“I know! But still…” I lost my energy, calmed down, and sat back down.

“Now why this book is in the forbidden section? You know that one of the nine-tailed spirit foxes traits is that they like pranks, right?”

“Ooh! Did she write down what pranks she pulled?” Paula shook he head and left me disappointed.

“Paula, if spirit foxes like to pull pranks, wouldn’t that the reason be for the council to reject her offer?”

“That is possible Paul… But as we know they like to put their egos above what is good for our race.”

Silence fell as we thought about what Paula had just told us.

“Wait! I asked about Verruka how did you 2 end up talking about your role models!”

“Oh, well I didn’t steal the paper Verruka had written but I did read it. She had written a research paper almost 1500 years ago about the connection between the hat and our hearts. It was also specific in that it was possible to transfer skills from a Misha’s hat to another Misha. It did mention that this was hypothetical because of the issue with the heart and that link. Transfer of skills was impossible as long as this link was still present and this link didn’t seem to just disappear after death.”

I stood up. “Is this why she needs to eat the hearts of the Misha?”

“I think that must be a component, I don’t think it is that simple, there might be a magic at work that allows for the link severance by eating the heart. I’m sorry Aya, if I had stolen that paper, you could have a look at it, I’m sure you would be able to find something to counter it.”

“It’s ok Paula, there was no way you could’ve known. But it makes sense that a research paper like that is in the forbidden section.”

“So, because she was afraid that you had read her research paper, she exiled you?”

“Probably that and more but she seemed to be the most vocal about my exile.”

I sat down and finished my tea. “Either way, that bitch needs to die. What do you say Paula? How about we attract some attention, lure her to us and kick her ass?!”

Paula also finished her tea. “Yeah, I have a [Dark nova Pulse] with her name on it!”

Paul finished his tea. “I will assist wherever I can!”

“Oh, I know!” Paul and Paula started acting a bit intimate so I removed myself from the living room and went to my room.

So, the Calamity Trio didn’t just randomly disappear. That is good to hear. How I would have wished to also live In Hourai. I spent the rest of the noon attempting to braid my hair but I was unsuccessful. I wanted to ask Paula but I heard strange noises from their bedroom so I decided to just go to sleep.