The Six-Tailed Fox

Singapore, Bureau Of Magic, Department Of Records

"William Scott, here to retrieve records of Kenneth Li." William is standing in front counter, behind it is a young man in his late twenties.

"Magus or human?"

"Unsure."

"Any other information to disclose?"

"He's a student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic."

"There no information in our records. Seems that he is human. Please give me a moment while I contact the government to retrieve the information." The young man behind the counter picked up the phone and started calling.

Given the black card by Rosalind, William has nearly unlimited clearance to all services within any country's Bureau Of Magic, the Department Of Records, keeps records of all Magus'. It is also possible to retrieve records of humans in the department, contact must be made with the government first.

Shortly after, the young man behind left his counter and went to a room at the back. He reappeared after a while with the printed documents that William needed.

"Here you go. Kenneth Lim Jun Kai, 19, a student of Ngee Ann Polytechnic's School Of Life Sciences & Chemical Technology. His course is Biomedical Science, all other relevant information including his course timetable are here." The young man hand d over the documents to William and sat back at his counter. "Next please."

"Thank you," William replied as he left. Behind him are other people queueing behind him in a row.

Wilson is waiting outside the department as he does not have the proper clearance to enter it. The department is full of sensitive documents and one needs a relatively high clearance level to enter it.

"So? Did you get it?" Wilson asked curiously.

"Here." William handed over the documents to him. "Let's go."

While they are leaving the bureau, Wilson continued reading the documents. "When are we gonna get him?" Wilson asked excitedly, his eyes were lit up and looking at William.

"We won't be getting anyone, we're just going to talk to him, then erase his memories. Ever use a memory spell before?"

"No."

"Okay, then learn it when I erase his memories."

"So when are we gonna talk to him?"

"Tomorrow, at 4, when his lessons end."

"Seriously? Tomorrow, again?" Wilson sighs, he is dying to see some action. Till now, the most exciting thing he had done was just summoning Cerberus.

"Our job is not all about fighting and killing you know? Despite everything you have heard about the Sicarius guild. Our job requires patience, waiting for the right time to strike, to have the full picture before doing anything." William was sick of his constant whining but was patient enough to advise Wilson on how to be a proper Venator.

"Fine..." Wilson sighed. When will I be able to complete my mission? I should take some pictures of the documents and send them to Henry first. While William wasn't noticing, Wilson took the opportunity to quickly turn around, took out his phone from his bag and took pictures of the documents. All the important information, Kenneth's picture, his address, his school, his schedule and information about his family.

William turned around and noticed Wilson was acting strange, but couldn't see what he was doing as his back was turned against him. "What are you doing?" He asked curiously.

Wilson reacted quickly and purposely dropped his phone. "Oh I was just picking up my phone, I dropped it." He said convincingly.

William stared at him for a moment, "Hurry up, I'm not waiting." He was not suspicious at all.

Wilson quickly picked up his phone and lightly ran to catch up to William. "Here, the documents." He passed back the documents to William.

Thank god I finish taking the pictures just in time. I'll just see how this turns out.

Singapore, Kenneth's Home, 2019

"I'm home," Kenneth said to his parents. It was still around six, his parents were home early today. His mom is cooking dinner in the kitchen while his dad just finishes his shower.

He saw the strangest thing, the strangest he had probably seen these past two days. Again, he sees double images, it was his dad, he sees a creature, very similar to the Qilin he has seen from Chinese temples, but different. It had short and dark black fur all over its body combine with scales at certain parts of it. It is as large as an ox, has the head and mane of an eastern dragon, the most prominent of its features is probably the horn poking out of its head. It is long and thick, curving outwards, a glimpse of intricate patterns could be seen on it, glowing slightly more than the rest of its body.

He rubbed his eyes and the image was gone. It was just like the fox he had brought back yesterday, with the floating flames and the tails.

Yong Ming noticed that Kenneth was staring at him. He too, sensed that Kenneth was different than he was in the morning. His magic was stronger, he's about to be awakened, seeing the strange and confused face he is making, his Eyes Of Truth might have already been activated.

"Kenneth?" Yong Ming called out worriedly from the kitchen. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh uh, nothing, just, got some dust in my eyes." Kenneth quickly ran back to his room and shut the door.

Maybe I'm just thinking too much. He might just have had a stressful day. Yong Ming thought that he might have to tell Kenneth about his past soon, but not now, it's not the right time.

"What's wrong?" Angeline asks.

"Nothing, just a little worried about Kenneth."

"Why? Has he found out already?"

"No, I don't think so, but we're gonna have to tell him soon. His powers are becoming unstable, I can sense it, he's awakening."

"But how? The seal should still last for a few years."

"I don't know. Something must have weakened it. Did you notice anything strange about him these past few days?"

Angeline thought about how strange Kenneth's been acting these few days. The way he talks is more awkward, he always tries to change the topics, like he was hiding something. Then, she remembered, he was really abnormal yesterday, the curtains on his shelf, the mess he made, there must be something hidden in his shelf.

"You notice the curtains over his shelves?" Angeline asked.

"Uh huh."

"He just hung it up yesterday, he must have hidden something in there, can you sense anything?"

Yong Ming closed his eyes and whispered, "檢測 (Detect)". He released his magic all around him, spreading it throughout the whole flat. It went over and under and through everything in the flat, like a sonar. He sensed a low magical resonance from the lower right corner of the shelf. it was a spirit beast. The resonance wasn't strong, but it was there, either the spirit beast is really weak, concealing its magic, or it was injured.

Kenneth who was in his room, squatting down and checking on the unconscious fox could sense something was wrong. The Mana around him was moving abnormally, it was moving faster and spreading out to the right side of the room, they were also a different colour, silver in fact. The Mana were forming waves as it moves, the most unusual thing he sees is that Mana was spreading out from the fox, like the Mana in the room, forming waves of halos dissipating out, they were also silver in colour. He moved the box out and was about to carry it out of the box when its eyes suddenly opened.

Yong Ming sensed the spirit beast was moved slightly, the magical energy although weak, was stable, it must be asleep. Then suddenly, its magical energy surged, it's awake! He opened his eyes, shock.

"WHAT'S WRONG?" Angeline asked in a grave voice. She could see the expression on his face, something's wrong.

Yong Ming didn't answer her and quickly rush to Kenneth's room. Angeline, who has no idea what's going on, followed suit. Knowing Kenneth's door would be locked, he quickly grabbed the keys to the various rooms in the house, from the ledge at the top of the door to his room. He inserted the keys into the keyhole and 'click', the door opened.

He entered the room to see Kenneth with his back facing him, standing and slowly backing away towards him. Angeline was tiptoeing to look over his shoulders to see what was going on in his room. What she saw, was a fox, facing Kenneth, it had a full coat of white, it doesn't seem to pose any aggression, it was just standing there on its fours, looking towards him. Even though it was just standing, it still looked elegant and divine.

What Kenneth and Yong Ming saw though, were a little different from Angeline's. They saw what Angeline sees, except, it had an additional five tails and a golden six-petaled lotus mark on its forehead, with six purplish blue flames floating and moving in a circle around her. Kenneth sees something more, he sees a large amount of silver Mana emanating from her.

"Kenneth, come closer to me." Yong Ming said to his son, as he raised his hands out towards him, beckoning him to come closer.

Kenneth turns around to find the same silver Mana emanating out from Yong Ming, the moment he saw that, he backed away to the left of the room, away from his dad and the fox.

"What's wrong?" Yong Ming asked, worriedly, he had an inkling of an idea why Kenneth was backing away from him, the Eyes Of Truth.

"You're the same.....as...as..that thing....." Although Kenneth had always been fascinated by the magical and supernatural, all these, was still too much for him. As he finished speaking, he felt light-headed, everything turns to blur. Then he fainted from being overwhelmed by the magic the two were emanating.

"KENNETH!" Angeline pushed pass Yong Ming and ran towards her son. She held him up from the floor and into her arms. She was worried and don't know what to do.

"Angeline, bring him out of the room, I'll deal with this."

She followed his instructions and brought him out to the living room, laying him down on the sofa.

"你是谁? 为什么会在我家? (Who are you? Why are you in my home?)" Yong Ming knew that the spirit beast was a Qingqiu nine-tailed fox, so he used mandarin to talk to it.

"我对你们没有恶意, 是你儿救了我. 说以我私自立了契约, 守护你儿, 为了报答他. (I have no ill intentions towards you all, your son saved me, so I made a contract, to protect your son, to repay him)" The voice was that of a female, though the way she speaks seems ancient, the voice was that of a woman in her early twenties.

Yong Ming thought about what she was saying, as he had the abilities to tell apart lies from truth, he knew that the fox was speaking the truth.

"我知道你是只獬豸, 所以应该清楚我说的, 句句属实.(I know you're a Xiezhi, so you should know that every word I just said, was the truth.)"

"堂堂青丘狐族,怎么需要人类救? 况且, 魔界已被封, 怎么你还会在人界? 除非...（A dignified Qingqiu fox clan, why would one need a human's help? Also, Alium is already sealed, why would you still be here? Unless...)" Yong Ming is aware that Alium has been sealed for nearly two decades, there shouldn't be many spirit beasts and magical beings still be on Earth except for humans. The only nine-tailed fox that he is aware of that is in the human realm would be the fugitive, Su Yi...

"你想得不错, 我就是魔法协会再找, 并且被他们定为犯人的素祎. (What you are thinking is correct, I am the one that the International Federation Of Magic sees as fugitive and hunted down Su Yi)" Su Yi boldly declares. "可此事不简单, 你可听说的可不是全部的真相. 一位堂堂獬豸, 呆在人界十九年, 想必此事也不简单. (The situation is not simple, what you heard is not the whole truth. A dignified Xiezhi staying on Earth for nineteen years, the situation must also not be simple.)" Su Yi said, half teasingly, half seriously.

"不要扯开话题,回答我! (Don't change the topic, answer me!)" Yong Ming was afraid the truth behind Kenneth's birth would be revealed, so was angered by her teasing.

"实不相瞒, 这是十九年的记忆, 不知什么缘故, 忘了. 简单的说,我失忆了. 这第六只尾巴从何而来, 我也不清楚. (Truthfully, I don't know how, but I can't remember the memory of the past nineteen years. Simply said, I have amnesia.)" Su Yi wants to gain his trust, so revealed as much as possible without revealing anything she knows about Kenneth's past.

Yong Ming, through his abilities, were aware that everything she said was the truth, there was not a single lie in everything she said, yet, he still feels that she is hiding something. Despite that, he still decides to trust her, since she could better protect his son with the contract set in stone and his abilities will be able to tell her lies from the truth, but the most important reason of all, he too knows something about the situation that led to the sealing of Alium years ago that nobody else knows. not even his wife.

"你很有可能是喝了失忆水,我会想办法帮你弄到解药,到时候你再和我说说,究竟是怎么一回事.(You might have drunk an amnesiac potion, I will think of a way to help you get the antidote, then, you will tell me exactly what's going on.)"

"解药还是不用了,我有一位朋友,他的天赋是制作魔水,我这失忆水,很有可能是她给的,我喝着失忆水应该有缘故,不记得比较好.但你怎么一说,代表你相信我了? 让我留下? (Forget about the antidote, I have a friend whose magical talents lies in making potions, the amnesiac potion I drunk might have been given by her, there must be a reason I drank it, so staying amnesiac is a better option. But hearing you say that, must mean you trust me? Allowing me to stay?)" Even if she is to remember everything about the past nineteen years, she doesn't want anyone else to know, so she came up with an excuse to get her out of this dilemma.

"你说的全都是事实, 没理由不信.况且你和我儿子已经立了约, 不能违反契约. 有了你怎么一只强大的妖兽保护他, 也不算是件坏事. (Everything you've said is the truth, I have no reason to doubt you. Also, you and my son have a contract which you can't go against. With a strong spirit beast like you to protect him, might not be such a bad thing after all.)" Although he won't be able to get the secret she is keeping, out of her, having someone strong to protect Kenneth is a huge advantage. Sensing the coming dangers about to enter Kenneth's life, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

"那我该谁那儿? (So where should I sleep?)" She asks nonchalantly.

"啊? 额, 客厅? (Ah? Er, living room?)" Yong Ming was stunned by the unexpected question and don't know how to answer, this is a four-room flat, a kitchen, Kenneth's room, Megan's room and his and his wife's room, there was no more room left.

"嗨...也罢, 还好我天赋是空间魔法, 我在房间外的那墙造个房间应该没问题吧?（Sigh...nevermind, luckily my magical talent lies in spatial manipulation, letting me construct a room on that empty wall outside the bedrooms should be no problem right?)" She sighed as she said. She walked out of the room and point to a wall at the end of the corridor leading to all the bedrooms.

Yong Ming nodded his head. He is speechless at how carefree and nonchalant she was acting after declaring his trust in her. The way she naturally treats this as her own home, letting her stay here is not a choice he will regret, right?

Su Yi transformed into her human form. She long hair, as white as snow, touches the floor, her eyes were a brilliant sapphire blue, with a purplish glow to it. On her forehead was the six-petalled lotus mark, which Kenneth also have. Her skin was pale, which not only did not make her appear sick, it pairs with her hair, making her appear otherworldly. She lifted both her hands, palms facing the wall, and whispered, '開 (Open)'. A small fully filled circle with a deep purple colour appeared on the wall, as she concentrates and channels her magic, the circle got bigger and bigger. She started channelling her foxfire and insert it to her spell, surrounding the circle with it, the circle circumference of the circle became a ring of purplish blue flames, inside of it was a deep dark purple colour.

"What is she doing?" Angeline asks. She was sitting at the end of the sofa, with Kenneth's head on her lap, she looked over to see Su Yi spellcrafting. She has no idea what went on between Yong Ming and Su Yi the whole time as she has been taking care of Kenneth in the living room ever since he fainted. Although she hasn't seen Su Yi in her human form, from the elegant and otherworldly aura Su Yi exerts, she instantly knew the beautiful woman was the fox. She has seen and experiences enough weird things in her lifetime, so the sight before her unfazed her.

"She's um, creating a room?" Yong Ming answered and smiled bitterly. He had no idea how to answer her, how could he? A fox living in the house with them, someone they both only just found out Kenneth harboured since yesterday and only knew about literally just ten minutes ago? His wife is going to be furious, he knows it. It took her nearly a year for her to accept and forgive him for not telling her about the magical world and that he is a spirit beast. She got used to it over their years together though after Kenneth was around two, she banned the use of magic in her home to give her children a proper childhood.

"So, you are saying, that she's going to live here?" Angeline asks, trying to contain her anger. She was not worried about the fact that a young, beautiful fox, notorious for being seductresses living in her home, but angrier at the fact that a spirit beast is about to live in her home that she knew nothing of and her husband not discussing this with her. Tried her best to calm herself down as the fox is still in her home. "So?" She smiled, the coldest smile Yong Ming had ever seen, the most furious he had ever seen her. He doesn't even need his ability to detect malice to know, one wrong word and he'll die.

"She made a spirit contract with Kenneth, to protect him. He needs that, so please, Angeline let her stay." Cold sweat was dripping down all over him, did he say anything wrong? He had no idea, he just stood there nervously waiting for her reply.

"Fine." She said. Although she was furious and uneasy about the decision, she knew that the choices that her husband made are almost always right, so she decided to trust him, but, with one condition. "But, you stay in the room she creates, she sleeps, with ME." She can't let the fox out of her sight, she doesn't know what danger she poses, though she's just a human with no way to defend against magic, she has always been brave enough to confront anything.

"Sigh...okay..." Yong Ming was relieved but at the same time defeated by his wife, as usual. How can he ever defy his wife?

Just as he was about to translate what she said to Su Yi, she said, "Okay, sure, I don't mind."

Yong Ming was shocked, standing there stunned. "You know how to speak English?"

"Why? Can't she know how to speak English?" Angeline asks curiously and jokingly.

"Well, nine-tailed foxes are a proud clan, they are one of the few spirit beasts race that refuses to conform, so at the time when English was recommended by the Federation for all supernatural creatures to learn, nine-tailed foxes refuse to do so." Yong Ming answered, trying his best not to offend Su Yi.

"I wasn't able to speak English nineteen years ago, must have learned it during these nineteen years. Done!" Su Yi has just finished her spell, now a door just like all the other doors to the other bedrooms appeared on the wall.

"That's it?" He asked. The room wasn't exactly what he had expected.

"Why? Do you think something big and magical is gonna appear? I camouflaged it to look like a normal door, in case any humans come to your home, they won't notice a difference.

"Makes sense." Yong Ming replied.

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Translation:

魔法协会 refers to IFOM, International Federation Of Magic, but if translated directly would be Magical Association.

魔界 and 人界 refer to Alium and Earth respectively, but if translated directly would mean the Magical world and Human world.

魔水 would be the word used in mandarin to refer to potions.