Unlike many of her distant relatives, Circe was not a war goddess. As a matter of fact, she tended to avoid feuds altogether. There was very little to gain from them if they were over petty reasons. Now matters of great importance were a different thing. She agreed with Lilith that the balance between light and darkness needs to be kept even. Unfortunately, Lilith has always been too unyielding to do things any way other than her own way. Yes, that kistune needed to be stopped before she turned Jack into her kit and death may have been inevitable. But crushing her head in front of her parents was way too far.
While Yomi had obviously violated clan law and most of her kind will see her as deserving her fate, that wasn't going to be the case for all of them. The Japanese were notorious for following a very strict code of honor and yokai are infamous for holding grudges. There would be someone who'll be wanting to avenge Yomi's death, which will probably cause more retaliation. Circe was just starting to get her kingdom set up, she did not want a war to ruin it.
Circe had to think carefully of how to deal with this situation. The most sensible thing to do would be to go to the kitsune clan and work out a treaty. However, yokai are known to be rather touchy and a small mistake could lead to direct war. And they may be less than willing to bargain with a foreign goddess. What she needed was an ambassador that the kitsune would be more open to talking with. But who?
Just then, Vixi walked in, wearing a risque toga. "My lady goddess, the flume ride is almost ready. Is there some particular kind of transformation you want to enchant it with?" she asked.
"I'll think of it later," said Circe, "I have more immediate things to think over. I need to talk peace with the kitsune before they start a war on us."
"The kitsune? Aren't they the fox people from Japan?" asked Vixi.
Circe paused and looked Vixi over. She was an anthro fox, very loyal to Circe, charming in a bubbly sort of way. But was she a reliable ambassador. "Vixi, what do you know about Japanese culture?" asked Circe.
"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that, mostly trivia stuff," said Vixi.
Circe sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Even goddesses can get stress-induced headaches. "There are other foxes, right?" asked Circe.
Vixi looked hurt. "You mean you don't want me?" she asked, sniffling a bit.
"Well, I really need someone who can talk to the kitsune for me and-" started Circe.
"Oh please let me do it," begged Vixi, "I'm your most devoted servant. It would be the greatest honor to go on a mission for you. Please let me do it. Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please..."
"Alright already!" snapped Circe. She could feel the ichor pounding in her head.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" said Vixi excitedly, "I'm so grateful to be able to anything meaningful for you."
"Then shut up for ten minutes!" snapped Circe. Vixi's muzzle immediately snapped shut. Obviously sending Vixi to the kitsune as she was now would start a war faster than you can say 'Carthaginian'. It was a pity that Circe couldn't just cram an ambassador's knowledge into Vixi's skull. There was more than enough empty space for it. Perhaps she could talk to Athena for some help. Surely she still wouldn't be ticked about the Odysseys thing.
But even Athena couldn't provide what Vixi would need to know about Japanese culture. The trouble with being a goddess of a particular area was that cultures outside of her domain couldn't be accessed as easily. Vixi needed to study with someone who was from Japan and knew the kitsune customs. "I wondered what happened to that Hikari kitsune?" muttered Circe. She had been helpful with stopping her sister, perhaps she could help with securing peace with her kin.
Calling up her magic mirror, Circe searched for Hikari. Quite puzzling, she couldn't find her in this world. On a hunch, she checked the next timeline, the one Merlin and his daughter crossed over to so frequently these days. While Circe lacked the means of actually crossing over, she could at least observe the other timeline. She soon found Hikari, significantly younger than she should have been. The taint of Lilith's magic was quite obvious to her. "Dammit, Lilith!" snapped Circe, "Must you really start fights with everyone? Eris is more agreeable than you are!"
But at least Circe could tell where Hikari was. She was apparently in the home of that timeline's Mika and Claudia. At least she was in safe hands for the moment. Circe was curious how the kitsune had managed to get there, but now getting Vixi her cultural training was going to be even more of a problem. Perhaps this timeline's Mika would be another way to get that cultural training. It seemed a bit of a long shot. At the very least, she could have Mika arrange for Vixi to visit the other world.
Taking a parchment, she wrote down a letter explaining her need for an ambassador to the kitsune and what she was wanting to barter for. She conjured up a small flag made of white silk with the kanji for 'peace' written on it. She turned to Vixi and said, "Vixi, this is very important. I want you to go to this address. When you get there, ask for Mika Tozawa. Make sure she sees your flag and give her this letter." She put a note that had the Tozawa's address on it next to the letter and the flag.
"So why am I going to this Mika?" asked Vixi.
"Because you need to know more about Japan than just trivia," said Circe, "Now go."
"Death itself will not keep me from completing your mission, oh most generous of goddesses," proclaimed Vixi.
"Just...go..." groaned Circe. Vixi bowed before leaving. Circe sighed to herself. She must desperate to pick Vixi. She really hoped Athena would be in a generous mood. But first, she needed to treat her own headache. Her head felt like Athena was trying to pound her way out.