Fox 16

"So this is them?" Merula questioned as she stared at Levi and Alistair who were standing behind me. True to her word as soon as we stepped foot inside the clearing we were met by the strange couple. The air around us was charged with some sort of magic and I could remember feeling it the last time I came to see them.

"Yes, this is Alistair and that is Levi." I introduced them each. She took a few steps closer to get a better look at them causing Alistair to squeak and Levi to pull him close into his side with a little snarl. It was clear they were afraid and I couldn't blame them. The last time they met the pair Levi was injured.

"I like them already." She grinned. "And sorry about attacking before. I wasn't sure who you were before but now I can see that you're important to Tae. So we won't attack anymore."

"That's fine." Levi replied sounding genuine enough.

"No it's not. We shouldn't have been so rash. To make up for it how about we answer any and all of your questions."

"That would be great." I replied as she plopped down on the ground, her black dress spreading out around her. Her hood was still up and covering a great part of her face as she motioned for us to sit before her as well. As I sat down a few feet in front of her I scanned the area, I didn't see the bird anywhere but I knew he couldn't be too far away.

Alistair was partially dragged towards us by Levi, who sat down beside me pulling Alistair into his lap. He wrapped his arms around the young mage who relaxed back into his chest. They were cute together it was obvious and for a moment I caught myself dreaming of something that I knew would never happen.

Levi reached down and rested just his pinky over my own and when I looked up at him he refused to look back down at me. I had to bite my tongue to keep from smiling too hard at his actions. My heartbeat thudded in my ears at the gentle touch.

"How sweet..." Merula cooed.

"Wha-" I was about to question when she cut me off again.

"Listen Pet, you don't have much time out here. Let's get this thing going. So who's first?"

"I have a question." Alistair whispered.

"Go on..."

"Was Helion a bad guy?" He asked.

"No. He was the best mage a familiar could have." She replied sadly.

"Is he dead?" Levi questioned.

"Hmmm...." She hummed looking up into the sky before looking back down, directly at Alistair. "I think he can better answer that question for you." She smirked. "But later, I'm sure we have much to discuss."

"How did you know?" Alistair squeaked in surprise. Clearly whatever he was hiding from us had to be about Helion and I had a feeling that after this talk with Merula we would finally have to discuss what it was that he was keeping from us.

"I don't like that question." She sighed. "Another one."

Alistair sat back against Levi's chest once more, pouting. I did mention to them that she might not answer every single question but that the answers we got were going to be useful. I guess he was just realizing that I wasn't kidding. I stifled a laugh as I watched him pout even more as Merula twirled a strand of jet black hair around her finger.

"Why does everyone think you two are dangerous?" Levi questioned, sounding like his more serious self.

"Why, that's because we are, dear fox. We are quite dangerous but not to everyone. We're only here for Tae, we're not here to cause any trouble." She explained.

"What do you want with Tae?" Alistair questioned.

"What do we want with Tae?" She questioned herself. "We're not too sure yet. We know he's important but all we know Is that we should help him out with whatever he needs."

"Do you two have a new mage?" I questioned.

"No. We cannot have another Mage until this is all settled." She hummed.

"Until what is settled?" I questioned.

"The trouble we have with the Mage Council." She replied.

"You mean the Magical Council." I corrected.

"No. I know what I said and I know what I meant. They don't think we know that they're still operating in the same way as they were before. They just keep it quiet." She hissed.

"Why do you hate them so much?" Alistair questioned.

"I don't...hmmm...I don't know. I can't remember." She sighed, her hands fisting the dark fabric of her cloak tightly.

"Don't worry, don't stress yourself about it." I quickly interjected, remembering how sad she was the last time she couldn't remember something. Levi and Alistair looked at me and I simply shook my head at them. They would just have to trust me on this one. "Where's Marcus?"

"You mean Cano?" She questioned brightening up immediately.

"Oh...um...yeah, Cano." I corrected myself.

"He's here somewhere. Oh! Do you want to meet him? He's awfully friendly!" She bounced up onto her toes and twirled around looking in the sky for him. Her frustration at forgetting her memories all gone now. "Cano!" She called.

"Who is Cano?" Levi leaned over to me and whispered.

"Her soul mate."

"The bird?" Alistair questioned and I simply nodded as a raven's call called out in the dark of the night. Cano landed on Merula's shoulder and she stopped twirling to look at us.

"This is Cano and he's my soul mate. Play nice Cano, darling." She cooed as he flew off towards us.

"Does he shift?" Levi questioned as he landed right on my shoulder. His head butted against my cheek as he greeted me. It was strange to think that this bird that fit on my shoulder was also a grown man probably twice my age.

"He does." She nodded her head as she sat back down.

"Will he?" Levi questioned again.

"He won't." She answered.

"Why not?" Alistair questioned just as Cano leapt from my shoulder onto his.

"He's not ready to show himself to you three just yet. He knows that as soon as he does all of our secrets our out." She giggled as we sat there in even more confusion.

"What secrets?" Alistair couldn't help but ask.

"Well if we told you then they wouldn't be secret anymore." She answered him in a 'duh' tone as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I suppose that makes sense." He whispered in response.

"You do know that there are people looking for you right?" Levi questioned. "It's not safe for you to stay out here."

"He's right. The Magical Council came to our school to speak about you two and they reminded the school how dangerous you are. I think they're waiting for all of us students to go on break before really coming in here and finding you." Alistair spoke up.

"Aww Cano! They care about us." She cooed jumping up from her seated position on the ground. The bird fluttered over to her shoulder and sat there as she twirled around, careful not to dislodge him.

"If you ever need a place to hide out you can stay in our dorm. We have an extra room or two." Alistair whispered.

Judging by the look on Levi face, that I'm sure mirrored mine, he wasn't expecting that either. We didn't know these people, other than the fact that they were Helion's familiars and that they were most likely good people. But we sure didn't know them enough to live with them.

'Are you insane?' I shout over the link and I know that he hears it because he flinches back into Levi's chest.

'But they're not safe out here.' He whined.

'So you invite them into our living quarters? What if they turn out to be exactly what everyone thinks they are?' Levi questioned.

'Well Tae thought they were safe enough to come meet up with them a second time. I just assumed it would be fine if they really needed a place to stay.'

'Yeah and you guys were pissed at me the first time I just made a decision on my own. Weren't you? So then why would you just go ahead and invite them over without speaking to us about it?' I growled over the link.

"Now, now children. No need to argue." Merula sighed and we all focused our attention back on her.

"Can you hear thoughts too?" Levi questioned her.

"Nope!" She shouted while plopping back down on the ground a foot or two away from us. "But when you scrunch up your face and glare at each other without speaking it only made sense that you were arguing about his offer."

"It's not that we don't trust you but...um...we don't really trust you." I replied, awkwardly.

"Good!" She shouted, startling us. "Don't trust anyone! Well except each other, that is. Any and everyone can be against you and you'll never know until they turn on you. You three can only rely on yourselves and each other until you figure out what's going on."

"So don't trust you? Does that mean we can't trust whatever it is that you told us?" Alistair questions.

"No, you can trust us." She laughed.

"But you just said-" Levi began but was quickly interrupted.

"I know what I said and I still meant it but then again I didn't because if you can't trust me then you would have no one else to trust." She replied.

"I'm so confused." Alistair groaned.

"She can do that to you." I laughed.

"I'm still here!" She whined. "Cano, tell them they're being mean."

As soon as the words left her mouth Cano squawked at us and it didn't sound friendly. His wings spread out past his smaller frame as they flapped furiously. It certainly shut us up quickly which made her giggle.

It was strange interacting with the two of them. Although I had never seen Cano in his human form it was obvious the type of love that was held between the two of them. It was clear that he would do anything for her and she for him. It was something that I wanted. More than ever.

"Well it seems like it's time for us to go." She sighed as she stood back up. "We will see you next time you have a question."

"Wait! We still have more questions!" Levi shouted and it was true. There was so much we wanted to ask them. They were there when everything went south. I wasn't sure why any of this mattered to us but it did. There was clearly something special about the three of us and even the Magical Council had realized that. I'm sure that they might have the answers we're looking for.

"All questions shall be held for another time. Besides, you three need to talk and then find out things on your own. Don't rely solely on us." She chided us as she continued to walk off with Cano on her shoulder. Once she was far enough away from us she shifted, merging with Cano to transform into the creature we met in the forest before.

"Well that was certainly interesting." Alistair muttered.

"It certainly was." I sighed. "Time to go."

It didn't take much to make it back to our dorms and just like before Alistair managed to levitate us to our room and for the life of me I couldn't stop the excitement at seeing him use his magic. To me it was always a treat but he seemed to think that it was boring and plain compared to what we could do.

He was talented, gifted and quite cute but it always seemed like he doubted his every action. I felt bad whenever he did that and all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and hug him tightly.

"So did you get a read on them Levi?" I questioned as soon as we were seated inside the main bedroom we shared.

"It was strange. I caught flickers of colors like pink, red and bright flashes of pure light but other than that it was as if they were nothing but shadows. Which isn't bad at all. I still need a little work on reading auras but there's were good. What makes it strange though is that their auras were connected. Even when Cano was by us his aura was connected to Merula's and when hers changed so did his."

"Well they are connected in some weird way so it's not too strange is it?" I asked.

"I guess you're right." He sighed. "We did get some good advice from them though. We need to look into things ourselves and not rely on anyone else."

"I agree. So where do we start from here?" I question.

"Bath time!" Alistair shouted interrupting the serious moment. "Being outside for that long made me feel icky." He grimaced as he walked towards the bathroom leaving Levi and I out in the room. I stretched before walking over to the bed and just falling on it. We certainly had an eventful day and I was tired.

The bed dipped to the right of me before a warmth touched my right side. It didn't take a genius to know that it was Levi who had just laid down beside me on the bed. Before I could say anything I was lifted onto his chest, where he wrapped his arms around my waist holding me on top of him.

Just his scent alone was intoxicating and I couldn't help myself as I nuzzled my face into his shirt. His chest rose and fell quickly as he laughed at my actions. I pouted but stilled as he stopped laughing. He shifted me so that I was lying a little higher on top of him and our faces practically centimeters apart.

"What are you doing?" I grumbled, keeping my eyes closed. His warm breath fanned over my face as I laid there, not really struggling to leave his tender embrace. The shower turned on in the bathroom and cautiously I opened my eyes to look down at him. His golden eyes burned brightly as he stared up at me.

"Can't I hold you?" His question sounded innocent enough but the smirk that played at his lips told a completely different story. He was definitely up to something.

"I don't think that's a great idea." I replied quietly, unsure of his actions.

"Why not?" He questioned looking genuinely confused.

"What about Alistair?" I questioned.

"What about him?" He answered my question with a question.

"Aren't you two...you know...together?" I questioned already knowing the answer to his question.

"It's kind of complicated." He sighed.

"So that's a yes. I can't and won't help you cheat on him." I snapped as I pulled away, shifting instantly into my fox. I scurried off the bed and ran from the room, hiding in one of the other rooms, inside a closet as quickly as I could. A few minutes later he shuffled out of our room and into the other extra room we never used looking for me.

The door to the room I was hiding in was thrown open and I could hear the door knob hitting the wall behind it. My entire body was tense as I waited patiently for him to finish searching the room. As the door to the closet was opened I held my breath and dared not move as the shadows cloaked me as I made myself as small as possible in the corner.

Once he left I relaxed and my tails curled around me as I sat there waiting until the sound of the shower stopped. It was obvious that I wouldn't be able to sleep without them as we had already tried that but at the very least I wouldn't be alone with Levi. After about five more minutes of Levi searching the shower stopped.

"Tae!" Levi called throughout the dorm room.

"Where did he go?" Alistair questioned from outside the door.

"He ran away." Levi sighed.

"Where could he have gone? Do you think he's hiding?" Alistair questioned.

"He could've left the dorm again. You know he's good at sneaking out."

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing! I swear." Yeah, right.

"He wouldn't have just run away for no reason Levi. You must have done something to scare him off."

"I just wanted to cuddle with him." Levi whined.

"Well maybe he didn't want to cuddle with you." He hissed.

"If you heard his thoughts you wouldn't have thought that. His whole aura and thoughts were throwing me off. He wanted to cuddle and probably do so much more but then he just kind of went cold and ran off after mentioning something about you." Levi explained.

"What did he say about me?"

"He was asking if we were in a relationship and I told him it was complicated."

"We talked about this. I know you felt the same thing I did the first day but we don't want to overload him. He's still new to everything and we said we would wait until he actually started to show interest himself."

"I know but he's just so...perfect." Levi sighed and I couldn't believe my ears. Were they talking about me? Were they talking about us?

"Yeah but once he comes back you have to tone it down a bit." Alistair admonishes him.

"I'll try my best but it's kind of hard. Especially since this is the longest I've gone without kissing you in months." Levi all but growled.

"Wha-What are you doing?" Alistair squeaked just as a heavy thud against the wall shook my tiny hiding space.

"I'm getting my kiss goodnight." Levi chuckled lowly.

"We're meant to be looking for Tae." Alistair whispered.

"He'll come back to us if he wants to sleep. You saw how badly it affected us the last time. I doubt he'll do it again and if he's not back soon then you can just summon him back."

"But I want him to come back on his own." Alistair whined but any and all whining noises that he was making was silenced by what I assumed to be Levi kissing him. Shifting back into my mortal form I remained crouched inside the closet, completely naked as I waited for them to move.

As I sat there staring at the blank wall in front of me my heart clenched. They didn't need me and I should have known that. For the first time since I met them I missed my home, my room, my bathroom and all the comfort that it hid. I clenched and unclenched my fingers as I thought about the cool blade against my warm skin and for a second I missed it.

It wasn't a perfect solution but it worked for me and I stupidly thought that I could get by without it. I left everything behind and I would have to find some way to get my hands on a razor here.

I thought things here would be different but they were just kind of worse. My life was constantly changing and developing in crazy ways and I wasn't sure I was capable of dealing with it by myself. In truth all I wanted to do was run back to the room the instant I heard them talking. What was going on with them? I knew they were together but Levi told me it was complicated and judging by the way Alistair was speaking then it might have been true.

What was I to do?

The sound of shuffling caught my attention as they finally moved. A soft sigh echoed in the hall as Levi and Alistair moved back to the room. I would have to leave the closet eventually because I did need sleep. It wouldn't do my any good to try to hide out in here for the rest of the night. I waited about fifteen minutes later until I was sure that things had calmed down and I could slip back into the room unnoticed.

Carefully I stood up and pushed the door open. The door leading out to the hallway was already open and I shifted back into my fox form before gingerly trotting back down the hall. I stood outside the door just staring at it. With a soft snort I slipped in between the door and the door frame and tip toed into the room. They looked cozy cuddled up together and I didn't want to disturb either of them.

Levi's arm was draped over Alistair's midsection as he spooned him from behind. His face was buried in the little blonde's neck as he breathed deeply. Alistair's eyes were closed as the both of them faced the door. As I continued to carefully walk further into the room the blanket that was barely covering the both of them shifted upwards as Alistair's eyes cracked open slightly.

"Come on Tae. We're tired." Alistair sighed.

"He came back?" Levi yawned as he peered over Alistair's head.

"Of course he did. Now come to bed Tae." Alistair repeated, his voice a bit firmer. Without any more coercing from my mage I sprinted to the bed and jumped up, barely reaching the edge of the mattress and pulled myself up. Instead of lying where Alistair had indicated for me to lay I crawled over him and settled right in between him and Levi.

It felt right and that was where I wanted to be. Alistair lowered his hand and rolled over so that he was now facing Levi and I. Levi's hand was still draped across his midsection practically caging me in and Alistair's hand was gently running up and down my spine. If he really wanted to sleep I should probably tell him that he was doing an awfully good job of keeping me awake.

"Stop thinking so much." Levi muttered and I panicked. I forgot to keep my barrier up after I shifted. Since I was still so new to it all it took a lot of my energy to shift from one form to another and doing that while trying to keep up my mental barriers were near impossible for me.

"We'll talk about everything in the morning." Alistair replied.

'Everything? ' I questioned knowing he would know exactly what I was talking about and I felt his body tense before he let out a sigh.

"Yes. Everything." He answered. I know he wanted to hold on to his secret a little longer but with Merula practically outing him before he was left with no choice. If this whole mage and familiar thing was going to work we would need to discuss everything and leave nothing out.

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Hmmmm....What is going to happen next chapter?

What do you think Alistair's secret will be?

Will it be enough to break up the boys once and for all?

Tune in next time for the startling continuation of "LE RENARD"!

And as usual please vote and comment. Thanks!