Chapter 50

Put the U in Funeral

 

I woke up early the next day refreshed. Miti is already preparing breakfast for me. And presumably a few others, based on the size of the meal.

It's not egotistical to think that she's doing it just for me. With her loyalty-based slave seal, she should have a hard time even caring about anyone's needs other than mine, sometimes even her own. Though helping out my other helpers tops her list.

Loyal. Slaves.. Puppets.. I sometimes need to remind myself that only a monster could really want nothing more than that..

Family.. Friends.. These are a large part of what makes life enjoyable. And with our new Po Puri, my family grew a bit more.

---

Deep within the Echos Of The Void, a weak and tiny voice screams out.
Before being snuffed out, like a cigarette is ground into ashes.

---

My heart feels lighter for some reason, like maybe some unseen burden was lifted from my shoulders. Or my psyche.¹inner demons, also called heart demons, abound in cultivation settings. unlike what you would probably believe from life on earth, demons do abound. and many dwell inside peoples' souls. instead of bestial monsters though, they are made of doubts, fears, anguish, and other negative thoughts. conquering one's own inner demons is as important to a cultivator's long term progress as gathering Qi or tempering their bodies. an inner demon Tribulation is when one or more seem to gain form and begin to influence the person directly. always with lies and/or temptations. If the cultivator fails, he could be stuck at his current Level indefinately. Or worse! He could go berserk, become a devil, or even die.
An example, early in the Nar*to anime series, Sas*ke failed his inner demon Tribulation inside the Forest of Death.

Zo Ro) 'Umm, Kara Karriage?'

KK) "Yes Master?"

Z) 'Why are you fully naked? There's a kid around now.'

KK) "Because you ordered us Puta sisters to be nude in your presence."

Z) *sigh* 'Then I guess I have no choice but to.. Puta Nani and Kara Karriage, I rescind the order for you to be naked in my presence. Now  get a dress or robe or something to wear.'

. .

Z) 'So, Po Puri'

Puri) "Yes.. Lord?"

Z) 'No "lord" nonsense from you. How about you call me brother?'

P) . . *sob*

Z) 'Sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of that.. Maybe cousin instead.'

P) (mumble mumble) *hm?* "I'd.. like to call.. you Brover."²a slight speech impediment. partly from young age. partly from lack of communication, which also contributes to her extreme shyness. a human-ish face with a muzzle on it might also contribute.
"To her shyness or her speech impediment?"
. . . Yes.

Z) 'C'mere, let's hug it out. Kara Karriage.'

Kara) "Yes Master."

My Kara-Karriage holds me at the appropriate height to hug this vulnerable young girl, overcome with conflicting emotions. Deep sorrow from the loss of her brother, her last biological relative. Together with near-boundless joy at finally being accepted by someone as worthy, or even just as a person. These good and bad emotions, along with many untold others, swirling together in a maelstrom of confusing thoughts.
Her tears and snot filling the fur upon my shoulder.

P) "What.. happened to.. the bandit.. who.."

Z) 'I made him my totally loyal slave, along with all the rest.'

P) "Will you.. make me.."

Z) 'NO. Only bad people should be made into slaves. As punishment for what they have done, and to protect others from what they would have wanted to do.'

P) "Why not.. kill him.. like you said.. you would?"

Z) 'Keep quiet about this, but I will. I don't want them to know about this yet, but when I said they will help me with my cultivation.. What I meant was I will soon devour theirs, along with their talent. Then those tigers will be allowed to feast on their bodies, if they wish.'
'As my loyal slaves they should enthusiastically want for this to happen, just because I tell them to. But I'm not sure how strong their slave spells are right now, and they might break free before I can reinforce them.'

'The one who tried to hurt you.. And did hurt your brother..'
'He and his friends will suffer for it.'

Now our hug finally ends, and I look straight into her eyes.

Z) 'Upon my name, so I swear it.'

Z) 'We'll hold the funerals soon, but there's something I need to do with some of the other not-bandits as soon as possible. Stay with auntie Kara's sister Nani, or with the human girl Miti for now.'

P) "Kay."

As soon as she turns away, I use a Barrier to clean out my fur. Works better than a terry-cloth towel.

. .

Kara-Karriage brings me over to the Guy group, chatting with Hu Go. Where I carve a new spell on three of them for their my limbs.

{CHANGE THE SIZE SHAPE AND APPEARANCE
OF THIS FOX ARM TO MATCH ITS NEW BODY}

On Guy Two, then on both Hu Go and Guy Three:

{CHANGE THE SIZE SHAPE AND APPEARANCE
OF THIS FOX LEG TO MATCH ITS NEW BODY}

Z) 'Now Guy Four, we'll have to change your species to something with a tail, like I did for the human that Kara here (she waves her free hand) used to be. I'll consider whatever you want to request for your new body to be, and let you decide whether to change your gender too. I'll give you up to a week to decide. But hold off on choosing a new name until after both.'

4) "Yes, Master, but may I ask why?"

Z) 'Yes, you may ask.'

. .

Z) 'So you'll be unrecognizable to anyone you already knew. To break away your new life with me as your master, from your earlier life without. And to erase any trace of your earlier existance. Plus a human with a fox-tail is a lot more conspicuous than a wolf beastkin with a fox-tail.'

Even without looking, I can feel the smirk on Kara's muzzle at that.
And the wagging of her tail.
My tail.

4) "So you can make me a wolf beastkin like you did her?"

Z) 'Or a full Beast, or a tiger, or a horse, eagle, camel, pig, deer, whatever. So long as you'll be useful to your Master, and doing so isn't too difficult.'
'So becoming a Dragon probably won't be an option.'

Z) 'Oh, and Two, since you're only at Level 8, you'll need a lot more Qi Stones. Here you go.'

I wave a certain tail towards him, and a good sized pile comes tumbling out from one of my storage rings.

Z) 'The next thing is to clean you all out.'

G) "What do you mean?"

Z) 'That I'll be removing your impurities. All of you lie down together on your stomachs, facing the west.'

They begin taking off their clothes.

Z) 'What? Who told you you need to be naked?'

4) "Didn't you mean for us to-"

Z) 'This is not a brother brothel.'

2) "Everyone knows your impurities come out from your pores."

Z) 'Not the way I do it. Just keep your mouths open. And all of your limbs: arms, legs, and tail, pointed to the east. And cycle your cultivation, that will give you better results.'

. . I continuously ran impurity-Barriers through them, feet to faces, three at a time. A dozen minutes and a few dozen purges later. .

Z) 'Now I'll also reinforce the slave spells for you three. After that it will be time for the funerals.'

{MY TOTALLY LOYAL
AND OBEDIENT SLAVE}

. . .

The first three funerals were headed up by Kara. I had to temporarily relieve her of her Kara-Karriage duties in the meanwhile. This was because she knew Doko and Dare better than any of us. For Po Boi's funeral as well, because his sister Puri, well, she's nine. Though of course she should be given the chance to speak, for as long as she wants to. We learned a lot of the terrible conditions they had to suffer through.

Their fathers never had a chance to abandon them. Because their mother was a brothel worker. Normally she would have regularly had a concoction to prevent pregnancies. However she had a vicious rival, who was also in charge of giving them to her. Their mother never really wanted the kids, but still did not abandon them. She cared for her children well enough, until she caught a deadly disease and was immediately abandoned herself by the brothel. Dying weeks later in a drafty shack with nary a coin to her name.

The five years since saw Boi desperately trying to earn money by any means to feed the four of them.. at first. By any means, including sweeping out bakeries, a lookout for criminal types, fighting dogs in alleys for bets. And often stealing.

Their other brother, his twin, soon died at age nine due to gang violence. And their younger sister starved to death shortly after. Luckily, when he only had one other mouth to feed, the two could just barely scrape by. Until Auntie Kara saved them both, one after the other.

Now for the actual burials, we decide to leave impressively robust markers. At the head of each grave is planted a silver oak tree sapling. At the north, east, and west points in this small clearing.

. .

Z) 'And that is why we are funding the construction and operation of not one, but two orphanages. So others don't suffer needlessly, like Puri and her siblings.'

P) "Brover Ro.. What you.. said about.. Karma. . Do you.. think that.. is why we.. had to suffer?"

Z) 'No. None of you deserved any of what happened to you all those years. Even the bad things your brother did, he only did them to save you. None of that was Karma, that was Fate. And maybe a bit of Luck. What was Karma was when Kara found you both and protected you.'

P) "But why.. did Fate.. want to make.. it all happen?"

Z) 'Some people have good Fate, others bad Fate, and still others have no Fate written and make their own. But no one has the right to ask Fate how or why. Or to make demands.'

Z) 'We have already said our goodbyes to those who are already taken from us. But we still have three more funerals to hold today, for our new friends Hu Go, Guy Two, and Guy Three. Now we will commemorate those who will make this world a better place, by removing themselves, and moreso others, from it. In a sublimely catastrophic fashion.'³paraphrasing the Darwin Awards

. . .

All the funerals done, I have the rest pack up our campsite. Except for Miti who is cooking dinner, and Puri without any specific duties. She spends the time playing with my mom. Who knew us foxes liked playing "fetch"? Then I spend the rest of the afternoon and half the evening catching up on my Beast sleep.
What? You thought I would be worried about my Beauty?
Maybe later, when I eventually find her.

Z) 'Thank you Miti, that was delicious!'

M) "You always say that, Master."

Z) 'It's always true.'

P) "Thank.. you Miss Ti.. de-ishus."

M) "You're welcome, Puri. But my name is Miti."

P) "So..ry.. I.. thought.. Mi.. was.. your.. family.. name."

M) "Oh, no. My full name is Bai Miti."

Z) 'I'm sorry about that, I introduced you as Miti.'
'Anyway, we're all packed up. And we're all fed up.⁴And no one here who heard this got my pun But it's not yet dark enough to travel unseen. So a few last-minute things. Mu Lauhu, Nani, it's time to finish healing your wounds. Hold out your arms.'

{REGENERATION}

P) "What.. is.. that.. do?"

Z) 'It's a magic spell that only I can use. The effect is different depending on the meaning of what is written. This particular spell makes the body heal itself really well. Really really well. Like having a Doctor visit you for a month. You get that much healing in a day, every day. Until the spell runs out, or there's nothing left to be healed.'

Lauhu) 'Why not carve it, to make it permanent?'

Z) 'Because then I might not be able to make more spells permanent later, as the marks could heal before the spell activates. And there are some more spells I intend to use on the both of you.'
'Now, Guy Four. It's your turn for me to reinforce your slave spell.'

. .

Z) 'Now that it's dark enough, it's time to head out to our new home. Wherever that is..'