NOVEL NEXT Chapter 77: The One With All The Answers
\ PoV Onyx /
Despite what one, being wrapped entirely in eldritch tendrils form {The Abyss}, may think Onyx didn’t feel any pain after they inserted themselves into herself.
Instead of uncomfortableness she felt her consciousness slowly growing foggy as she was devoured by the black. Before she even realised it the fogginess of her mind began to become one with the darkness that had consumed everything she could see. This is probably a good thing when looking at the bigger picture; afterall it wasn’t exactly good for one's mental health so look around at the inhabitants of the {Spirit World} let alone {The Abyss}.
Though within the darkness she felt nothing except the titanic amounts of natural energy combined with the fading of time for quite a while. Still, how long she had truly spent trapped within the unceasing dark…
She had no clue whatsoever.
Thankfully she did eventually begin to feel something when the oni finally began to feel her boredom become overwhelming - it wasn’t even a particularly bad feeling. Mind you it felt like her entire body was burning that was especially focused around her ears, top of head and just above her derrière.
More than that pain though was an overwhelming sense of ‘power’ that coursed through every inch of being as she felt her reserves of natural energy magnify massively. Previously it could be said she wasn’t lacking with energy nevertheless [Spiritual Arts] were more like a type of cultivation that how oni got stronger. It required a long amount of time, as well as being location dependent, to gather energy thus she could only be grateful to have grown up in such a ‘pure’ & unclaimed forest like that of the {Forest of Mortality}.
Yet here she was feeling that hard earned power become miniscule before the typhoon that was overcoming her while she was unconscious.
Already she knew that the natural energy here was far richer than anywhere within the {Mortal Realm} including her home. It was certainly surprising that, after getting dragged into the unnatural abyss that all creatures feared, there was such vast amounts of natural energy that usually signified untouched vista of nature. Even beyond that she felt as if her body had somehow grown ‘better’ at filtering these energies in order to improve herself.
Only when the heat - signifying such a change in her body - began to fade did she feel the darkness within her mind slowly vacating. Not only that but she was even able to open her eyes though the pure white combined with the surprising brightness of wherever she was to ensure her eyes stung. Unable to truly see where she was but certainly understood how confusing it was to be dragged into black only to awake in white.
She could feel her body had been bound down on some sort of chair with thick leather bindings that she had no ability to break out from.
“Ah… So you have finally awoken?” <Old Lady>
To enhance her confusion to the next degree she heard the wizened voice of a woman well into the last years of her life. As her eyes adjusted she was allowed to see a white tiled ceiling which was a description that could be used to describe everything around. Onyx took a little sniff of the area to see where exactly that woman was but found her senses to also be enhanced; the clean smell of disinfectant overpowering her making her tails curl up in displeasure.
<... Tails?!>
Feeling brand new appendages caused her confusion to transmute into hysteria as she began to try those 6 tails of hers. Unfortunately her wants didn’t match up with those of her captor as those leather belts kept her securely trapped. It was only then that she heard the old lady let out a long three-staged laugh that ended up being muffled behind some kind of mask.
“Che~hehe~hihihi~ you will not be getting out like that little one, do not worry I will release you, so stop struggling before someone less magnanimous comes across you!” <Old Lady>
Those words did the job they were meant to as Onyx quickly froze making the old woman chuckle once more. The sound of a metal-tipped cane signalled the venerable slowly making her way over to the oni with all the difficulties age brought mortals. Of course, as an oni, Onyx wasn’t exactly worried about her own age since ancestor Ruby literally was born in the oldest recorded era.
Through the corners of her eyes she could see the senior was far smaller than she would have expected based on the angle her arms reached out from. Upon the woman’s hands were also pure white gloves made from some smooth-stretchy material she wasn’t aware of; those hands fumbling with the buckles for a moment. Surprisingly that lady was easily able to free the oni from the belts despite her obviously weakened appearance.
An appearance Onyx took in as soon as she was allowed to freely move her body & sit up upon her once prison.
To say the one opposite of her was dressed weirdly was an understatement as she wore some kind of black tuxedo with a white dress shirt. A nice burgundy vest sat upon her buttoned up shirt where a black tie slipped under in quite the smooth fashion. Bellow she truly followed the theme as a pair of dress-pants & shoes gave her a dapper appearance; upon her dark greyed head there was even a top hat.
Sadly it seemed the aged elder had suffered some damage to her eyes as thick bandages stained with blood were wrapped around her hollowed sockets. Still a strange black ‘beak’ mask covered her lower face as a hazy mist of some kind occasionally leaked out from around her nose & mouth showing she was breathing some kind of gas in through it. In her gloved hands was obvious a quite beautifully crafted cane which she allowed to take her weight.
What was strange about her appearance though was she wore some kind of long, loose fitting, white coat that only just managed to stop itself from touching the ground. Compared to the rest of her rather stylish outfit the coat certainly left some things to be questioned however Onyx was not like her second or fourth sisters. She at least understood there was a time as well as a place with this clearly not being either for her to question the unusual fashion choice of her saviour.
Said saviour merely nodded upon seeing her standing up before slowly beginning her jaunt down the bleached hallways despite having no senses to seemingly rely on. Seeing the little 5 foot back grow smaller in the distance did allow for Onyx to admire just how propper the senior’s posture was despite her declining physical ability. Though more than that she was curious about the rather ‘stubby’ tail that appeared to have been chopped in half based on the scar tissue.
“It’s rude to stare, little one~.” <Old Lady>
That voice brought her out of her daze to blush slightly at being told off; partly because she had only just remembered she had tails of her own now!
Turning to see them she saw six puffy appendages that looked very huggable but upon seeing them her bewilderment only grew stronger. Turning to look at the senior once more who seemed to understand the girl's thoughts despite there being no way to realise she was even being looked at.
“Munzumira unlocked the latent kitsune bloodline inside of you; we can only hope that it’s the right bloodline for now.” <Old Lady>
Blinking, she couldn’t help voice the obvious.
“How?” <Onyx>
“Che~hehe~ is it not obvious child? While the foxes were once the undisputed rulers of the spiritual arts the spirits came to usurp that, although the fox were born with the talent required for them, the spirits were born from the spiritual energy. Moulded by it till their very souls had become one with the concept of nature itself - it is hardly surprising that the be all and end all of spirits would thus be able to help give you a lil’ bit of a boost girlie.” <Old Lady>
Once more Onyx was caught remembering something very important but this time it was a little more scary than simply another tail. Remembering how easily Munzumira took her down made the oni tremble while biting her lip fiercely; a fire lit in her eyes as she looked around. Still there was no apparent sight of the spirit who brought her here nor of her many powerful servants that would likely be able to easily deal with her.
“You worry too much girlie; Munzumira is busy and none of those foolish birds would dare step foot anywhere near me unless they wanted my cane across their backside!” <Old Lady>
Although the woman’s words sounded domnearing they hardly instilled confidence when she flexed her malnourished arms to show off her strength. Not like there were any better options so she could only follow the lady - if anything she was curious as to know who she could even be as she had never heard of any being like this. It was hardly reasonable to assume she was actually a mortal thus couldn’t help thinking that maybe it was the {World Voice} or it could even be the mysterious {Dealmaker Tyrant} who vanished from history at random one day!
Thus the foxy oni followed behind the elderly lady with sparkles in her eyes, her ears twitching and her tails swaying.
When the bleached hallways finally came to an end a large mechanical door let out a *pff* of air as it slowly unlocked in the presence of the little old lady. Soon enough the door whirled open to reveal a black rocky surface with many fresh graves all around; the elder didn’t bother with any of those as she walked to the end of the ground. It appeared almost as if someone had precisely cut the edge of the world off as a sheer drop was presented to the pair with potent undead & demonic qi wafting upwards. Before she could even question the woman she wasted no time in her explanation.
“This is {Cliff Hanger} which intersects the {Underworld} with the {Spirit World}... Also known as the place where we’ll enter the {Demon Realm} nyahaha~!” <Old Lady>
With that she hit the butt of Onyx using her cane, causing the girl to lose balance and fall in with a less than calm reaction, as for what she found at the bottom?
Well…