Promise?

"A fox spirit? Nonsense, that could never exist"

"The nine tailed unifier is just a myth, grow up a little would you!"

Many times have I been forced to listen to these words over and over again and be unable to say anything back for fear of exposing my revival. Correct, a fox spirit shouldn't exist but somehow I'm here so that clearly means nothing. And I'm not a myth, at the very least refer to me as a legend. Who do you think you have to thank for your peace? Never mind that, I am the Nine tailed unifier, Vulpes. The one who nearly ruled the world and united it under nine of the most pristine tails to ever exist. But I was sealed in a stone for many years and when I had woken up, nobody remembered me but a bunch of quack cultists and the very very elite of society. The kind of roch elite you find going 'kukuku' in a dark corner somewhere.

Despite my many complaints, the me who was sitting on a rock was quite content to simply live out the rest of his days fluffing up those at oh-so magnificent tails. But that never lasted forever.

A ball rolled towards me followed by a small boy falling to the dirt next to it with a thump. He looked up and asked.

"Who are you?"

In an excited tone.

Before I could respond, his mother ran over and picked him up. I didn't hear everything she said to him but it was mainly about how I was dangerous and how he should be more careful. She turned and walked over to me.

She was wearing a simple looking black and green one-piece dress. Her hair and face made me wonder just what she did to stave off aging. She didn't look a day over 100, and that's probably quite young for a human.

"Hey"

She sighed.

"Hey princess"

I said and giggled slightly.

She flinched before saying

"Actually, people call me a witch now"

There was a long, awkward silence that felt like it dragged on for hours before she finally spoke up

"Have you... gotten any of your memories back?"

"What memories?"

"Of who you are... I know you have them, they're just hidden."

This again

"For the last time! I don't know what memories you're talking about"

I said, getting angrier.

"Look, Carniv-"

"Vulpes"

I interupted.

"That's just what you call yourself now!"

"Because it's my name!"

I yell again. And it looked like that shut her up.

I saw the dirt beneath her darken with a tear.

She sniffed and mumbled

"No it's not"

And walked away.

She walked over to her child and raised her hand. It began to glow a pale blue and the dirt rose from him and disappeared. I stood up, astonished from the display she had just put on. A wondrous magic that I had never known. Cleaning magic. A faster solution to my constant tail cleaning. I stood up and tapped her shoulder.

"Teach me"

I said.

"Why should I?"

She replied, still tearing up and wiling her eyes.

"I'll try and get this 'Carniv's' memories back if you do"

I continued.

"Really?"

She asked, wiping away at the few tears.

"Yes. And until then, I'll try to treat you like he did. So who was he to you?"

"He was like a father. Far better than my actual one"

I sighed, glad it wasn't one of the many options she could have said.

"Ok, just teach me and I'll try when I'm back from training."

I began to walk away before she grabbed my shoulder and handed me a pendant.

"It's something I found in a dungeon."

She said, finally smiling.

Thats the first time she's smiled at me since the time I had only just woken up and she thought I was Carniv. It's a nice feeling though, just seeing it after so long.

I walked into the bar and there was a small scuffle with a few vigilantes and Solas but other than that and Solas' distasteful jokes, nothing much happened. The interesting stuff never happens in a bar. Only after it. I lifted the pendant to eye level and inspected it. It was cut with sharp corners into an octohedron. It was a dark green and a small lime sphere glowed in the middle. There were no traces of anything stronger than plain old mana on it so I thought it couldn't be important. Of course, I also checked for the power source unique to the gods, chaos, but of course she wouldn't have gotten her hands on something like that.

The pendant only had traces of princess's mana on it so it couldn't be an issue. I do wonder what would happen if I used a little mana on it. I felt a shock run through my hand and into the pendant from the flow of mana, the green glow increased in size and it felt like my flesh was burning and the fur was being torn out. Within seconds, I passed out from the pain.

A large banquet hall appeared before me. Only two people sat at each end of it. I couldn't see their faces because I was watching by peeking from behind the wall. All I could make out was one elderly man and one little girl. They both had dark green hair and abnormally wide mouths. A large silver tray just shorter than the table was layed across it. A maid came up to it and pulled off the lid revealing the contents. It was filled with hands and legs of people with a head in the middle. The maid recoiled at the sight but quickly recovered and began to pour the old man a drink. I felt my stomach churn. The maid's hand shook slightly and a bit of the wine spilt on the table.

The old man raised his hand and hit the maid in the head before pointing to the middle of the tray.

"Do you want to end up like her?"

"N-No"

She whimpered.

He thrust his knife into her shoulder and yelled

"Don't talk back to me"

The maid was curled up into a ball and was repeatedly saying sorry under her breath. Every time her cries made a loud enough sound, he would stamp his foot on the handle of the knife in her shoulder. Sending it deeper.

"Mucos!"

He screamed.

"Yes father"

The child said with a blank expression.

"Use that useless magic of yours and close the wound"

He said.

"May I re-"

"You are to leave the knife in her shoulder when you do it."

He interupted.

He picked up the bottle and poured it on the shivering body. He raised his index finger and a small flame appeared.

"Be thankful I'm kind enough not to cook you now!"

He snapped.

The girl glanced at me before going back to eating, the same expression on her face the entire time. That was when-

a small, weak fist hit me in the nose and I shot up. I rubbed my eyes and looked around at the burning town. Overrun with large wolves and a lone green hooded corpse.

"What happened?"

I said.

"You happened"

She began.

"How could I possibly do this? I've been unconscious for who knows how long"

"It was probably the pendant then"

"The pendant did this?"

I asked.

"Kinda, it was meant to be payback for making me cry earlier"

She laughed and almost immediately went blank.

"You destroyed the entire village!"

I shouted.

"It was only supposed to lessen your ability to control your anger! Tere must've been something wrong with it... or you"

I plucked a hair from my tail and it turned stiff and sharp like a needle. I readied my fingers to shoot it at her but I hesitated. After having such a pitiful dream, I couldn't help but feel too empathetic. A wolf lunged at her from behind and I flicked the hair at it. It hit it straight in the neck and it collapsed.

"What did I do then?"

I asked.

"I don't know, how much mana did you put into it?"

"Was there a limit?"

"No"

"Why isn't there?"

"You wouldn't kill a rabbit with the the same force you'd use to kill a dragon would you?"

I thought for a moment before giving up. She was right. No matter if I intended to just fry the mana circuit inside or to create a bomb, I was in the wrong. I got up and turned back at her before shouting

"I'll be back okay, I'm going to be late"

As I walked away

"Promise"

She said.

I hesitated for a second before saying

"As sure as the sun will rise, I'll be back. I promise"

And with that I ran out of range of the town and threw away the pendant. She wasn't lying when she said she was a witch. I felt like I was getting soft. I just felt an unusual sense of guilt whenever I thought of that girl. After that small chain of thoughts, I began my leisurely stroll to the charred former grassland of the arena where Clams was probably fighting Solas and knowing Clams, if I didn't get there quick then Solas was going to lose an arm.