Chapter 19: A Message From Our Host

“W— Will you let me live if I talk?”

“I won’t if you don’t,” Liam kept his cold glare trained on the monster. “I’m losing patience, woman.”

“Aww shit. Look, I really don’t know that much! I’m a victim in all this too, honest!” the Rokurokubi said. “All I know is that I was minding my own business living in my forest in Japan when I got seized.”

The boy leaned forward. “Seized? By the Union of Magus?”

“No, no. It was a Kitsune, and a nine-tailed one too. Come on, you know they’re basically celestial gods if they already have nine tails. I was taken here against my will; I didn’t even have a chance to fight back. The next thing I knew, I was in some kind of sealed container. Then I was here! You know the rest. I swear I’m just another victim!”

Liam’s lips curled as he stared at the Yokai for a moment. With a swift clench of his fist, the chains around her face tightened considerably. The Rokurokubi wailed in pain as her skin began to smoke and sear.

“Didn’t stop you from killing humans, did it?” he roared. “Remember anything else?!”

“W— Wait, wait, wait! Please stop!” the monster cried out, and the chains loosened a little. “The Kitsune talks to itself a lot. Sometimes, I even hear a different voice. It’s like it’s… arguing with someone else. About responsibility and pranks…”

Her voice trailed away as Liam’s lips began to curl into a snarl again.

“I’m telling the truth!” she exclaimed. “Hang on, there’s something else too! The Kitsune lived in the same forest as all of us; that’s why it took us along with it. It mentioned something about having playmates.”

“What do you mean, ‘all of us’?” Hazel asked.

“I meant the other Yokai also living in the same forest. The Kitsune said something along the lines of going to a place where there’s the most fun, which is why I was drawn there as well. I thought it would protect me, but it masked its presence after it entered your school. That’s why I chose to reside there; I was hoping to stick together with the Kitsune.”

Hazel shot a confused look at Liam, although he was still focused on the Yokai in front of him.

“Was the Kitsune present on the night you broke out of your cage?” Liam asked.

“I… I think so—”

“Do not lie to me.”

“I swear I’m not! Yes! Yes, she was—”

Liam slammed a glowing fist at the Rokurokubi without warning, knocking her out cold. He released the chains, and the disembodied head dropped to the floor with a dull thud.

“Much obliged.”

The boy patted away imaginary dust from his hands before turning to Hazel. “Komyo was there that night too. I’m positive he’s the Kitsune.”

Hazel continued staring at the unconscious head lying on the floor, watching for any sudden movements that might catch them off-guard.

“Oh, don’t worry. The Yokai is just out cold; she’ll be back up just in time to teleport herself back to her body.” Liam waved his hand casually. “I’m just making sure she won’t have time for another snack before she has to return.”

Hazel pulled her eyes away from the ground. “Where did Mister and Missus Watson shift her body to, anyway?”

“The Rokurokubi’s container, of course.”

She roared with laughter and clapped her hands like a little girl, self-consciousness be damned. “Genius move.”

Her laughter continued echoing down the empty building while Liam stared at her, as if waiting for something else to happen.

“So what now?” he asked.

“What do you mean ‘what now’?”

“You’re the clairvoyant; what’s our next step?”

Hazel blinked. “That’s… not how my gift works.”

“How does it work, then?”

The girl sputtered in a pathetic attempt to respond. She didn’t really know how to explain it to Liam, but she was only able to tap into that power because it led her on. Hazel was still in full control when her power was active, sure. But it functioned more like a door that appeared and disappeared at will. And right now, that door wasn’t showing itself.

“Well, common sense says that we should be searching our school for traces of the Kitsune,” Hazel finally managed to formulate something to say. “But we should probably let the Watsons know what we found out first.”

Liam paused momentarily, shrugging nonchalantly and casting another teleportation spell.

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Didn’t see this one coming.

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Hazel’s stomach clenched up at the wrecked state of the tent once the dizzying darkness cleared out from her vision. White fabric and metal poles were strewn all over the ground, and it looked like a hurricane had just ripped through the entire area.

Foxfire littered the forest, while whatever remained of the migration tent lay sprawled on the grass. In the middle of it all stood the five metallic containers somehow still untouched despite the destruction wrought around them.

She scurried over to the unconscious couple beside the containers. Hazel sank to one knee at their side and rolled Ava onto her back. Liam did the same for Luca. Her gut tightened again as she lowered her head so that her ear was just above the woman’s nose.

Hell, was Ava breathing? Hazel couldn’t tell; her body was trembling too much for her to feel anything. She leaned over to the woman and gave her a couple of slaps to her cheek like they usually do in the movies.

Still no luck. Crap.

“Revigorare.”

Two yellow beams of light whizzed past Hazel’s ears from behind, striking the couple in their chest and temporarily illuminating their hearts. The glow spread rapidly through the rest of the body, lighting up their veins as it made its way to their heads.

Nothing happened—

Ava gasped loudly as her eyes flew open.

Luca did the same and almost hit Liam as his fist extended upwards involuntarily. The knot in Hazel’s stomach loosened a little. Thank the heavens for magical resuscitation.

“Oh, thank Christ.” Hazel overheard Liam mumble to himself and hid her surprise. She didn’t take him to be a believer, given his magical heritage.

“No lasting injuries.” The boy’s eyes glowed an intense blue for a few seconds. “Whoever did this wasn’t trying to kill you, at least. How’re you two feeling?”

Luca rubbed his temples gingerly. “Feels like I’ve been kicked in the head by a centaur. Bugger it all, we didn’t even stand a chance.”

“He was too fast for us.” Ava winced, pushing herself up to her feet. “We couldn’t even get a proper look at him.”

“What happened?” Hazel asked.

“To be honest, we don’t even know. After securing the Rokurokubi’s body in her container, we stayed in the room to wait for you,” Luca said darkly. “And then we felt a gust of wind from the tent’s entrance. We thought that you two had come back, so we headed for the doors.”

“That’s when it struck us,” Ava continued. “Something white forced its way in and knocked us off our feet. Felt like a car rammed into me too. By the time I found the energy to stand up again, that ‘thing’ had already destroyed most of the tent, leaving behind these balls of light.”

“I blasted it with the most powerful spells I know, but it practically had no effect,” Luca said. “The next thing I know, it slammed into my body and I lost consciousness.”

Hazel’s expression darkened. She didn’t want to believe it, but the foxfire surrounding her was firm proof otherwise. Whatever the reason, Komyo seemed to be mad at them now. Never mind seeking his favour; staying safe from him was already going to be a big problem by itself.

Saving Chester was becoming more and more of a pipe dream by the minute.

She turned behind. “Liam, what do you think—”

Liam wasn’t there. Hazel looked around, before spotting him emerging from the Kitsune’s empty container with a crumpled piece of paper in hand. She narrowed her eyes; the paper looked like it came from her Yokai journal.

“Please don’t tell me that’s another ransom note,” Luca groaned. “We have enough to deal with now.”

“No idea.” Liam shrugged, still staring at the note. “It’s in Chinese, but it’s probably addressed to Hazel, though. That’s the only word in English.”

Hazel received the note and stared at it. She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly before glaring at Liam.

“It’s in Japanese, dumbass!”

“Oh…” The boy put his hand on the back of his head sheepishly. “Can you read it? What’s it say?”

The girl cast her gaze back to the paper in her hand again. Now that she got a closer look, she was sure that this piece of note was torn from her Yokai journal. Hell, she could even still see her own handwriting on the back side of the paper. Komyo must have taken her journal somehow and placed it in the tent, although she didn’t recall ever showing him the book before.

She scanned the note for a bit and decided to just translate it out loud for everyone to hear.

“Hello Hazel, my good friend. You don’t know me yet, but I know you,” Hazel began. “Word has it that you’re looking for a favour from me. However, your kind is cruel and undeserving of help. You lock us in cages, denying us our freedom to roam free. Under normal circumstances, I would never help a human like you.”

Her heart sank, but she read on.

“But I am magnanimous, so I will grant you one chance to prove yourself otherwise. Come to Starlight High and rescue your grandfather. If you impress me, I will grant you your wish. If you don’t, you’ll be my plaything forever. Do not spoil my fun again.”

Hazel’s hands trembled as the note slipped from her grasp, and her lips moved before she knew it.

“No. No way…”

She fished out her phone, pressing hard on a button on the keypad. Speed dial kicked in as the phone dialled her grandfather’s phone. Come on, please pick up…

The call redirected itself to voicemail after a few seconds of ringing. Hazel flipped her phone shut as cold sweat broke on her forehead. Her gut curled up, and she felt like she could throw up there and then.

Oh my god, it’s all my fault. I brought trouble with my gift—

“Hey, Hazel.”

Hazel felt a pair of warm hands pull her up to her feet; she didn’t realise she had crouched down. Liam’s face came into view, although it still looked blurry. Hazel wiped the tears off her face; she didn’t realise she was crying.

“Hey, hey. Focus up,” Liam said in a comforting voice. “It’ll be alright. Everything will be alright, okay? We’ll get your grandfather back. Come on, pull yourself together. He needs you. They still need you.”

Hazel nodded slowly as she stood up. He was right. This was no time to be afraid. Chester needed her. Pops needed her, dammit! She wasn’t going to let them down. She couldn’t let them down.

“Yes. Yes,” she repeated firmly to assure herself. “Komyo has saved us the trouble of looking for him. This calling card may be a trap, but I don’t have a choice now.”

Liam nodded, holding her arm tightly. Hazel looked back at him with a determined look.

“So let’s give him what he wants.”