The room I was in wasn't much to look at. The symbols looked sort of like wards, that through my link with Keru, I was actually able to discern were meant to hold spirits and ghosts in a specific area. It made me think that the cannon had been a bluff and they had some other means by which they were going to bond the spirits and powers of dead Kitsune to me. All with the intention of turning me into a nine tailed Kitsune to serve them and their crazy revenge/conquest of all Kitsune, though I really didn't how it would work or if it would work. Keru had made mention that it was possible to turn humans into Kitsune, but that it required a nine tail to perform the spell and the human would only become a one tail as a result. What these wizards were doing seemed to border on necromancy to me, but I wasn't an expert on magic to be sure. Still, I figured there was the prospect that these wizards would fail and I'd end up a mundane fox or some disfigured freak with nine legs or arms. And that left me fearful, hence my question to Keru.
Some of it was strange, how I thought over things. I had never had real luck with regard to my love life. I'd had girlfriends, but they didn't last long. Some because we were simply too different and we parted on relatively good terms. Some where because of circumstances beyond our control. Some had been rather nasty. I dumped one of them after she found out I was a video game programmer and commented, "why don't you get a REAL job." I liked my job and had done well at it. It wasn't her place to decide what job was worthwhile and which was not. And at first when I'd heard from my parents that I had been set up to marry Keru, I figured things would go along much the same path. But, despite learning that she was a two tailed, blue furred Kitsune, things had been fairly different. Despite being over two hundred years old, she was interested in many of the same things I was interested in, as I had learned at our brief wedding reception. Keru was someone who I would be interested in dating and would probably be someone that I could truly come to love her as we dated. The oddness of the whole situation was that we had been set up to marry out of the blue, but I did want to get to know her and be with her... but given what might happen to me... I had to know if she loved me or not. If she did, I might get some help. If not, I'd disappear and give her her freedom. In theory our link should have provided me with an answer, but Keru was surprisingly good at disguising her thoughts.
And in my mind... I could see myself standing in front of her.
"Please Keru... despite all the odd things that have come about... you are the best thing to ever happen to me," I said to the mental image of her in my mind, "you're beautiful, you're smart, and you like many of the things I like..."
She raised her and and softly rubbed the mental image of my cheek.
"Why are you asking this...?" Keru asked me, her face looked understanding.
"Because I don't know what I'll become, those two wizards could be totally wrong and I'd end up some misshapen freak," I told her...
"And you're afraid I wouldn't help a misshapen version of you?" Keru asked.
"I'm afraid I'd make you unhappy or burden you... and you said you wanted your freedom..." I answered her.
Keru gave a soft smile, and I thought I saw a tear go down her furry cheek, matting her fur a bit as it did so. "I am a Kitsune... a woman... of my word. I promised to let you help investigate this and I will share the consequences regardless of what they are..."
I then felt my mental image being pulled toward her mental image. Despite being alone in the room, the feel our minds hugging through out link made me feel warm and loved.
"And you have been quite helpful," Keru answered, "you pointed out what these wizards had done to my family's shrine... you found their written plans... you've responded to my being a Kitsune that isn't dominated by fear or resentment..."
"Huh...?"
"Just because I was predominantly raised by a human and have largely lived my life like a human does not mean that I do not know what I am or the eccentricities of my kind," Keru answered, "I've tried dating in the past... but many who found out I was a Kitsune assumed I was playing a prank on them or had ideas for me to help them gain things they didn't deserve... you... you've been curious and understanding. You've been eager to help and very polite... and you seem to have this habit of thinking about me more than yourself..."
I looked into the mental image of her eyes and said calmly, "because... it it's own strange way... I've come to love you. I love you, Keru Maida... I'd do anything for you..."
That seemed to break whatever mental barriers she had up. Her eyes began to mist up and she clutched me tightly to her.
"I love you too, Richard Williams," Keru spoke, "and I promise you... regardless what you become... I will always be there for you. It may take us a while to get there but we will rescue you and deal with these barbarians that took you from me..."
She held me tightly to her and then continued, "Or, if they're right and you do become a Nine-Tail... you'll be more than powerful enough to punish them both at the same time."
"You're sure...?" I asked.
"Rick... a nine tail has near god-like levels of power, a human wizard can never hope to generate that kind of strength or power... and more often then not they depend on inanimate objects to enhance what they have," Keru answered, "they likely had an army of ghosts involved in their covert operations to poison Kitsune and steal the spirits of their ancestors for this. They couldn't have done it on their own."
"But I don't know the first thing about Kitsune magic," I protested.
"You personally... no you don't... but remember our minds are linked," Keru reminded me, "if you become a nine tail... you can easily access my mind and use it to control your own magic to cast the spells that I know... and punish those two for their crimes... and then we'll have centuries to get to know each other and for you to learn..."
Keru's mental image was about to say more when a window on the door opened. I immediately put on a sort of dumb and vacant look, to give the impression that I was but a brainwashed slave to Saul and his partner.
"It's time," Saul spook from his side of the door, "Time for you to ascend and become our weapon..."