Kitsune in the Shadows

The next few minutes went by in a flash. I quickly forced down a slice of cake, barely having a chance to even taste it, before having the hood of my new cloak pulled over my ears and heading outside.

The three of us ran to the temple, hoping to get there before the town square got too busy. Even using the back entrance, there was a chance we would be seen and start another rumour if it was busy enough.

Strangely, while I was able to keep up with Raynelle just fine, Ava seemed to struggle a little, though not enough to fall behind.

When we arrived at the hidden rear entrance to the temple, the door was already open, with Beni poking his head out, looking around frantically, at least until he locked eyes with me.

“Kierra!” He called out, “Where have you been?”

“I-” I tried to explain what had happened that morning as soon as I was stood in front of him.

“Ah, you just can tell me after,” He interrupted, firmly placing his hand on my shoulder and pulling me in, “The Goddess has been waiting for you…”

She’s been waiting?

I’m not that late, shouldn’t she still be preparing?

“Just go in,” Beni told me, giving me a light shove forward, “I’ll take care of the other two… The Goddess has been going at me all morning.”

All morning?

With how quickly everything was happening around me, I just did as I was told. I made my way into the main room of the temple before walking directly into the darkness, letting it envelop me completely with its familiar chill.

Even the process of arriving in Ovia’s domain felt a little rushed. I barely had enough time to get my bearings before I was pulled into a hug from behind.

“Happy Birthday, K-Kierra,” Ovia spoke directly into my ear, her voice sending a slight shiver down my spine.

“Mm,” I wasn’t able to put any words together in response, so I just hummed in acknowledgement.

Wait!

Happy Birthday?

Was she watching me all morning?

…

I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that. On one hand, I was happy that she was also there with me in spirit, but on the other… I do wish she could have actually been there with me. Especially with everything she had done for me.

…

“How did you know?” I asked even though I already had a good idea of what her answer would be.

“W-Well I- No… We saw your two friends talking about it a few days ago,” Ovia started to explain, “But I didn’t know if you would say yes to their plan… so I was w-watching you… just to see what your answer was… I wanted to surprise you…”

As she spoke, I leaned further back into her embrace, “Thank you…”

Neither of us said anything; we just enjoyed each other’s company for a bit, at least until someone else spoke up.

“It seems you two are having fun. It really feels like I’m interrupting just by being here,” The voice came from Aria, sitting in her usual seat, “Sister, should I just leave our gift here and go back to my domain?”

“No!” Ovia stood up, lifting me off the ground as she did, “It was just a g-greeting.”

Aria let out a little chuckle, “Alright, I’ll choose to believe you. Now, why don’t you bring our guest over here so we can give her our present? Then maybe I can give you two some alone time afterwards, alright?”

“Okay…”

Ovia carried me over before gently placing me down on one of the seats, making sure I was comfortable before taking her own.

“I’m actually starting to rethink our gift now… I think it would have been a better idea to get a sling or even a nice bag so that Sister can carry the little kitsune around with her,” Aria teased.

I’m not little…

…

But… I don’t dislike the idea…

The image of being carried around by Ovia in a cute little bag was already lodged inside my mind just from those few words.

Maybe… being a little small isn’t always a bad thing…

“Oh well, maybe next year,” Aria then pulled out a small box from behind her and held it out, “Though, truthfully, I think you might like what we managed to get for you this year a bit more than that. Now, Sister, would you like to?”

“Y-yes,” Ovia said sheepishly as she got out of her seat and took the box, immediately turning around and presenting it to me, “It’s for you… from… both of us.”

“Sister… that’s not…” Aria let out a heavy sigh, “Maybe I should have spent more time going through this with you.”

Ovia, however, didn’t seem to notice what was said, instead just looking directly into my eyes with the box in hand. I was almost tempted to just reach out and pat her head, but I knew that probably wasn’t the right thing to do.

It feels like I only ever receive things from you.

Slowly, I lifted the lid of the box off, revealing a beautiful pendant. It was a fox that looked like it was made from pure silver, cradling a spherical gemstone that had a soft, almost unnoticeable glow. The gemstone itself looked like the moon, although not a full moon; instead, it was just a thin white crescent with the rest of the gemstone being the same colour as the surrounding darkness. It wasn’t just the appearance of the pendant that surprised me. As I brought my hand closer to it, it was almost like I could feel waves flowing through the air and into my arm. As I lifted it out of the box, the delicate chain the pendant was attached to was revealed, made of the same silver material as the fox pendant.

“It’s… beautiful…” The words simply fell out of my mouth.

It was simply impossible not to say something after being presented with it. Especially knowing that it was a gift that two Goddesses had gone out of their way to pick out for me.

“Well, Sister, since you missed your chance before, why don’t you put it on her now?” Aria suggested, crossing her legs.

I would like that…

Despite what I was thinking, I didn’t say anything; instead, I chose to just look into Ovia’s eyes once again, hoping that would be enough for her to understand.

“C-Can I?” She asked, blushing slightly.

I nodded before untying my cloak and letting it slide down my shoulders just enough so that Ovia could get to my neck. As soon as I did, Ovia took the pendant from my hands and moved behind me.

“Can you hold your hair out the way for m-me?”

As she asked, I pulled my hair around in front of me so it wouldn’t be in the way. Ovia then brought the pendant in front of me, draping the delicate chain over my shoulders.

It really is too pretty for someone like me…

Just as I was about to bring my hand up to touch the pendant, I heard the gentle click of the clasp being fastened behind me.

“It looks good on you,” Aria said as she got up from her seat and walked over to me, “Now, I actually have something for you to do as well.”

Aria placed another small box in my hands. I immediately took the lid off, revealing another pendant. It was almost identical to the one that now hung around my neck. However, instead of being silver, it was black with little white specks through it that almost looked like stars. Just by seeing the pendant, I knew what Aria was asking me to do.

I turned around to meet Ovia face to face, “May I?” I asked, holding the pendant out in front of me.

“Mm,” She hummed in response before showing me her back, her hair already being held out of the way for me.

I carefully placed the pendant in front of her before bringing the two ends of the chain together; however, before I fastened the clasp, I froze. It was like the realisation of what I was doing hit me all at once.

I can’t believe it…

Just by looking at the back of Ovia’s neck, I felt my face heat up.

…

I immediately fastened the clasp before quickly bringing my hands back into my lap.

“W-what do you think?” She asked as she turned back to face me, her face still a little pink.

“…”

I was left speechless. There were just no words that I could think of to describe what was in front of me.

I need to say something…

But I don’t think I can do her justice…

…

“Stunning…” I accidentally whispered under my breath.

“I would have to agree,” Aria came up behind me, “Both of you look stunning.”

“Thank you…” Both Ovia and I replied in unison, which only served to make me blush even more than before.

“Well, you two are quite welcome,” Aria smiled, “Now, Sister, let’s get back to our seats, and maybe we can explain a little bit about what we got for our guest. We wouldn’t want all that effort you put into picking it out to be forgotten.”

“Oh y-yes,” Ovia practically leapt up from the ground, immediately making her way back to her seat.

Aria, on the other hand, gracefully walked back to her seat, where she sat down, being careful not to crease her robes, “Now, what should we start with? I think it would do well to start with how you ended up with those necklaces.”

“Mm,” Ovia hummed in response.

“Do you want me to tell her? Or would you rather tell the story?”

“…”

“I’ll have to take your silence to mean that you want me to tell the story,” Aria giggled, “I guess you want to be the one to tell her about the ‘special feature’.”

Special feature?

I glanced over at Ovia, but she didn’t say anything.

“Well, to keep a very long story short, Sister asked another Goddess for help,” Aria clapped her hands, “In her own way at least.”

In her own way?

Wait! Another Goddess?

I found myself looking down at the pendant again, realising that even more deities were involved in the gift than I had initially thought.

“She needed some help when it came to the ‘special feature’ she wanted to add to the pendant. It just so happened I knew someone who could help out, the Goddess of the Moon,” Aria explained as she pointed at the gemstone on my pendant, “I also thought it would be easy for Sister to get along with her because she’s just an adorable little thing with these large rabbit ears. She’s normally friendly as can be… Unfortunately, this time, the little bunny was a bit scared, so I had to act as the intermediary… But it all worked out in the end, and she offered some assistance with making the necklaces.”

Another Goddess was scared of Ovia?

I had never put much thought into how other Gods and Goddesses might see Ovia. The only other Goddess I had ever spoken to was Aria, and she clearly wasn’t scared… Thinking back, I was a little scared when I first met her… but she’s only been nice to me… too nice to me…

I don’t think I could ever be scared of her now…

“With the story out of the way…” Aria turned to face Ovia, “Would you like to show our little guest what the gift you put all that effort into getting for her can do?”

Ovia slowly turned to face me again, taking a deep breath before locking her eyes with mine.

‘H-Hello Kierra… Is this working?’

Her voice rang inside my head, yet… her lips didn’t move.