"Care for some saki?" Julio asked constructing some out of atoms in the air.
"Nice try." The kitesune Keiko smirked.
"It's -really- good."
"I was sober my entire time as a human male, a foxy blow up doll, and I figure being dry
as a kitesune would make it a three in a row streak."
"You can't blame me for trying, turn about IS fair play."
"Granted."
"Care for a soda instead?"
"HA! Don't try to trick a trickster. You'll always end up tricked."
++++++++++
Tamthis felt odd, and had felt odd for the majority or entirety of the day, distant feeling of
his spare body being out there -somewhere-, had just up and -vanished- it wasn't like his
spare body had died, or been destroyed, but had simply ceased, to exist! That should have
been impossible. Unless the evil dijinn had destroyed her. Well, just one more reason for
Tamthis to deliver justice to them when the enemy came to their gates. Tamthis was
already thinking of some rather clever ways to punish the dijinn came storming their gate
and walls. The idea that the dijinn might destroy his city at a distance didn't even cross his
mind. Not that it was likely anyway, with djinn being more than willing to get onto the
hands on approach when needed to deliver the hurt to those they were allowed to vent
their frustration on. Blasting someone to atoms, turning them to glass then hitting them
with a really big hammer, or turning their flesh into Earth worms, was just so much
satisfying when done face to face.
Tamthis however would see none of these evils visited upon his city, the capital of a
kingdom of the desert kitesune reborn again seeking to claim only what was taken from
his kind several thousand of years ago. Grudges do NOT fade. Humans should feel
honored that Tamthis was seeking to uplift them to such a superior state rather than
chasing the trespassers off his land. He was justified.
++++++++
'Justified? Of course we are justified. How could we not be justified? We are bringing peace
and brotherhood to the entirety of the arabian world, and we're allowing these people to
remain and live within the land that was historically ours to begin with anyway...'
Alexandra thought seeing Samir's family become just another bunch of foxes in the city of
Karthis happily carrying out their programmed roles. And she had said as much to her
sister who now insisted her name was Kyriel.
Kyriel herself, turned away from Alexandra in disgust. Her own person Alexandra may
have been becoming, but Alexandra had brought Kather's propaganda hook line and
sinker. 'Another small fact,' She thought, 'There's no way she's going to think something
negative about the man of her dreams.'
Of course the real 'man of her dreams' was a social outcast who found short term solace
in the art he skimmed from a glowing screen in a dark room shifting through the yiff and
yaoi for artistic nudity in all it's form. An underachiever who had no one to blame but
himself, and dearly prayed for the inspiration he needed to leave his life of short term self
indulgences behind but never came. Yes, Alexandra was very very happy that those
nightmares were not real.
Alexandra didn't know if her master would truly appreciated her devoted service or not,
she had obeyed his commands to the letter and had returned with forces to dethrone the
usurper Tammia.... She only hoped he wouldn't be mad that she failed to bring the aid of
the 10,000 dijinn army as instructed. She would accepted any punishment he gave her if
that was the case. It was her favored dream to be his new queen, but if she could be
besides him even as a lowly servant, that would still be better than being without him.
Kyriel looked at Alexandra a second time, and this time, looking at her with her spiritual
senses, and saw Alexandra for what Alexandra's situation truly was... Alexandra wasn't
evil, or controlled, not anymore, she had simply lost her way. And Kyriel realized looking at
Alexandra's spiritual aura... Alexandra did honestly want to save Karther.
'Though it's not really the kind of saving that Karther needs.' Kyriel thought. 'I'm not sure
if Karther -can- be saved. T' saw Karther as having made his own choices and would need
to face the consequences of those choices. Janice of course had been Karther's slave and
wanted nothing short but the greatest punishment possible for him.' Kyriel however...
looked at these memories with a odd sense of objectivity. 'Still... aren't I supposed to save
anyone that I can? Isn't that the point of what I am? I wonder, -can- you save someone
like Karther? Then again, I won't know unless I even try... maybe this situation will have
made him more able to appreciate what he's done to others... okay maybe not... but
maybe it'll at least have trained him in being not so reckless and greedy. I can hope, no,
PRAY.'
Of course, all of this was meaningless.
For in the harem, there was no Karther or anything that even remotely resembled him.
Alexandra had been confused about that, then her entire world came crashing down
around her ears.
Two tailed kitesune had Karther's female forms face and shape... but that was all. Her
body language, her expressions, her style of speech, her attitude, -and if Alexandra had
the sense for it- her spiritual aura, bore no resemblance to the prince of all desert
kitesune.
++++++++
"So how is it?" 'Shaykh Abu Isa' asked Kyriel looking down at the city that seemed to be
expanding in size as it devoured more people before their very eyes.
"They're all like drones in an insect colony. Or maybe even figures in a painting, this place
is growing larger but... everything feels frozen, I'm wondering if anyone here is even going
to age! Everyone here reminds me of how Tammy and the others where when Jake was
transported to Karther's harem. UGH! It's all so confusing, it's like the spiritual impression
left by Karther or Tammy was that of a totally deluded lunatic."
"Er, ya, that too, but I kinda meant how does it feel to be, well, to be you."
"Huh? Oh. Right. I don't feel weird in the sense that my soul feels unnatural. This body's
arms and legs are -just- a pair of arms and legs, like T' saw them, unlike Jake/Janice and
most other mortals who can't separate between their bodies and themselves. I can think
things rationally and logically like Jake/Janice, but like T I can recognize the limits of my
own perceptions."
"Whole greater than the sum of it's parts eh?"
"You could say that I guess. I have this sick feeling of dread though, Jasmine pushed the
clock foreword a lot farther than was really safe, thus resulting in the need for me to be
born... I just have this awful feeling something that something going to happen to cause
our hour to become three minutes. And I'm going to need every second of this hour to
prepare... to save Tommy, and Karther."
"And if you don't get that hour?"
"We quite simply, ****ing, dame LOSE. No questions asked. Then the dijinn come in and
bring down the thunder, possibly turning Mecca into glass in the splash damage, and
humanity continues living in ignorance and fear and being basically sheep for wolves with
the shepherds wasting half their energy keeping the wolves out of the sight of the sheep."
"Well then... count on this kitesune to pull out every trick he has to make sure you GET
your hour... you can count on me... sister."
"All right... brother."
+++++++++
It had been voted on before running into Samir's family that two sisters each would deal
with saving Lucy and Natalie. Vicki and Erica would deal with Lucy, while Luna and Lisa.
That was assuming they got to pick and chose their enemies at any rate. The shiva vixens
together would still be no match for match for one Angel, even a crash course trained one
and would only prove deadly if they took advantage of a nasty distraction. Jasmine and
Kyriel would deal with Tamthis (and Karther as Jasmine would continue to say on the way
over).
However, the spiritual senses of the four sisters, all told them that someone had beaten
Jasmine to the punch. Jasmine herself was not dim to this fact, and her senses instantly
went into overdrive trying to find Karther's real self that so obliviously hiding underneath
this bubbly and perky persona, only to find nothing underneath except more of the same.
A cheerful, somewhat ditzy, utterly innocent but utterly devoted to Tamthis kitesune
vixen.
"Hey." Kathy said looking at the six vixens still in their concealing arab dress opposed to
her utterly revealing harem attire. "You guys look kinda familiar, have we met?" She asked
without a trace of suspicion.
Vicki moved first, almost a blur for a split seconds she was right next to Alexandra and
applied her padded fingers to a pressure point on Alexandra's body (her nervous system
still mostly primate), this was enough that Alexandra yelped for a moment but didn't say
what she was about to say.
Jasmine stood in front of the others and said, in a voice that almost forceful, "No. I am
very much certain that you madam, have never met any of us." In spite of what T' had
thought of her, Jasmine was fully able to comprehend and grasp the facts when need be.
"Whao. Okay!" Kathy nodded bobbing her head up and down almost.
Thankfully the Shiva vixens had been rendered too automaton like to find anything about
this odd. And Tamthis was pleased that his woman was quick to make friends with the
wives of the sheik.
No illusion spell had been placed on Alexandra to really hide her appearance, since after
all, she had been planning on quickly making contact with Karther this whole time. But
thankfully the veil hide her face well. And the four sisters had been transmuted so much
from their species change and crash course, that idle minded Kathy could not be certain
she recognized them. Even if she had spiritual senses she'd have been hard pressed to tell
it was them without a close up look. As Jasmine was a new comer here, so thus had
nothing to fear about being identified.
Alexandra keeping her veil on, and barely listening to the angels saying Alex' was keeping
hers on for health reasons (she'd be killed possibly if she was identified after all, which
was very unhealthy). Jasmine endured Kathy's games of playing with Jasmine's head hair
with grinding teeth and clenched paws. Kathy was totally oblivious, and chatted on and on
about how cute Tamthis was and how pretty the city was, and asking questions how cute
their husband was.
The four sisters, seeing the one they knew was once Karther but was now nothing at all in
any way Karther, felt a slight sense of satisfaction, they wondered if Karther had been able
to appreciate it. But while they weren't sorry for who it happened to, this change unnerved
them, the persona wasn't buried, recolored, or covered up... it was just... GONE! Proof.
'And... Tammy could do the exact same thing to us? No! We're angels now. Angels. No
matter how much power she's absorbed she now powerful enough to screw with our souls
now!' Luna thought.
Vicki keep looking at Alexandra... and felt sorry for Karther's fate, ONLY because it hurt
the poor vixen. 'Karther you... You escaped... a part of me is sorry I wasn't here to see it...
another part is sorry that Alexandra's love never had a chance to save you.' Saving
Karther... Vicki was surprised by her own thoughts. Then again, Karther was no longer the
enemy. And it was improper to speak ill of the dead in the presence of their loved ones.
Jasmine was angry, as far as he was concerned, this poetic justice meant nothing, as far as
Jasmine saw it, Karther had escaped punishment perfectly, by taking the coward's way out.
That SCUM! How dare he! How DARE he?! How dare he rob everyone he had wronged of
personally delivering unto him -justice-?!
Alexander sat in shell shock. Looking at this one who had to be her Karther, and yet was
nothing like her Kather... 'She... she's happy... therefore... therefore this is right... but...
but... Karther isn't... no! Karther is still in there! So he is the one that's happy! Of course!
But... Karther would never act like...' Alexandra felt sick to her stomach.
"Can you undo the curse on him?" She finally asked desperately of Lisa in a very VERY low
whisper even fox ears couldn't pick up. Lisa very very VERY much wished she had asked
anyone but her. Lisa didn't like hurting others, in any way, even with the truth now
ingrained in her you couldn't always escape it, she still didn't like it.
"There's... nothing to undo... Karther is just... not there... there's nothing to bring out...
there's nothing to invert... she's not even a female version of Karther's personality or
mind... she's... a completely different person inside what was once Karther's body... he's
just.. gone."
"No..." Alexandra whispered... she breathed in deep... Erica reacted faster and knocked her
out quietly and swiftly and cleanly before Alexandra screamed 'NooooOOO!' at the top of
her lungs.
"Oh! Is she okay?"
"She's okay... she just... fainted... too much excitement seeing the big city." Vicki covered
up.
"Oh! Okay!" Kathy nodded content with the answer utterly.
+++++
'Kyriel.. Karther's dead.' Kyriel blinked, she hadn't expected that telepathic message from
Vicki.