[Keeno POV]

It took us what felt like a month of moving through tunnels after our first day in the capital, though in reality it was only a week according to Ama. We had stopped at many small rest spots and cellars along the way while every so often running through other intersecting tunnels and some of these ‘shadows’ as Eblana called them. Every time we fought them, just like the night with Eblana, the notes of a pipe organ played. At first, we thought that it would blow our cover, but Ama let us know that it was a minor blessing from the Goddess of Music and only those involved in the battle or major event could hear it.

 

Luckily, the times we ran into the shadows were minimal and they were only ever in groups with small numbers. Eblana had taken the initiative and done most of the work in an attempt to show off her skills and impress us. On the night of the sixth day, we had also started to run into a lot of Death Spirits ferrying souls in the direction of the Dead Zone.  They had stopped when we arrived in this area and bowed to me to the best of their abilities before getting back to their work.  Eblana was also quite shocked at how they treated her now, with almost equal reverence as me. According to her they’d hardly ever acknowledge her before, but now all she had to do was ask a question and several would nearly line up to answer.

 

All that aside, all of us were relieved when we finally made it to our destination and found we could see some actual sunlight instead of my makeshift sunlight in the tunnels when we got a bit too antsy. Eblana’s base here came complete with windows, however small and high up in the walls they were, several beds, and so many books it was like a small library.

 

“It’s nice to be home again. Or as home as this room can feel at least.” (Eblana)

 

I went and sat on one of the beds, carefully stepping over a small pile of bones.

 

“Sorry about the mess, I’m not used to visitors and have never been good at organized rooms.” (Eblana)

 

“It’s fine. I’ve lived with Keeno and Fia, so this is nothing.” (Pram)

 

“We are not that messy!” (Keeno)

 

“Says the one that had a room full of poetry laying everywhere but her desk and bird feathers laying around in piles.” (Pram)

 

“It’s not my fault Huginn and Muninn leave those everywhere!  You know how may feathers I find in my tails every day!?  Too many!  I don’t even know why they molt so much!  It’s not healthy for them, but somehow, they don’t ever seem to look less feathery!” (Keeno)

 

“That really does sound bad.” (Freya)

 

“I mean, they haven’t been in them for a week but watch.” (Keeno)

 

I waved around one of my tails quickly and several feathers flew out and stuck into the wall.

 

“…” (Eblana)

 

“…That shouldn’t happen, right?” (Keeno)

 

I got up from the bed and walked over to the feathers. I poked one and my finger instantly started bleeding.

 

“Why are they like this?  When I pet them, they don’t cut me.” (Keeno)

 

{Interesting.  Keeno, I know you are tired, but help me out here, I want to see one of those feathers.  Eblana, time to learn an important skill for Apostles; coming and going from the Divine Domain.}

 

“Eh!?” (Eblana)

 

{Don’t ‘eh,’ just imagine a door and walk through it.}

 

“It’s that simple?” (Eblana)

 

{For Apostles, yes. And gods, though that only applies IN the Divine Domain. Otherwise, we’d all have space magic.}

 

I plucked the feathers out of the wall by the spine with some slight trouble and handed them to Eblana who had covered her hand with scales.

 

“Tch.  How do these even cut through dragon scales?” (Eblana)

 

She closed her eyes and a shining door appeared after several minutes.  She took a hesitant step forward and disappeared into the light, followed shortly after by me trying to go through as well, only for me to bounce off of a barrier-like film.

 

“Tch.” (Keeno)

 

{If that would have worked, we’d have done it a long time ago, Keeno.}

 

“I know, but I still needed to try.” (Keeno)

 

I went over and sat back down on a bed where Pram walked over to me, healed the small cut on my finger and hugged me.  I wasn’t expecting the show of affection but accepted it all the same.

 

{And here she is.}

 

“Woooooooow.  Everything is so pretty.  It’s been so long since I’ve seen leaves of this color.  The reds, oranges, and yellows are so vibrant. Though it’s a bit warm.” (Eblana)

 

{I was actually kind of cold, but that’s beside the point. Feathers please.}

 

“Here you go.” (Eblana)

 

{Thank you.}

 

After a few minutes of silence Ama spoke up again.

 

{Interesting. The feathers are taking on aspects of divine metals while also keeping the flimsiness and flexibility of normal feathers.  Not strong enough to pierce anything harder than stone but cutting power enough to cut dragon scales…Ah!  That’s why. Keeno, it seems a small sliver of your Divinity has seeped into Huginn and Muninn, making them divine beasts, though on the weaker side for now.}

 

“Oh?  Interesting, very interesting.” (Keeno)

 

“Will that effect them down here somehow?” (Mostima)

 

{No. Divine beasts are governed by a different set of rules than gods are, so as long as they don’t grow too big while in the mortal world, things will be fine.}

 

“Define too big.” (Pram)

 

{As big as a castle. While it’s different for every divine beast, those two in particular are definitely going to grow that size now that I know what I’m looking for in them. Though on the bright side, it will take thousands of years for that to happen.}

 

I nodded at Ama’s words when an idea struck me.

 

“Ama-”

 

{Sorry to burst your bubble, Keeno, but they won’t grow big enough to ride before you ascend.}

 

“Aww.” (Keeno)

 

{I said I’m working on a spell just for you, Keeno. It just takes a while.}

 

“I know.” (Keeno)

 

Almost another hour went by while Ama analyzed the feathers and Eblana basked in the ambiance of mine and Ama’s home, much to my chagrin. Ama, on the other hand, kept praising the feathers for their properties in all the magic tests she was running on them. Some of the things she said about them also gave me several ideas for uses beyond being pretty and sharp. I also decided to try an experiment of my own and held a feather up to my cloak. The feather was promptly absorbed into it and the other feathers that made up the cloak took on a similar sheen to the one that was absorbed.

 

“Oooo.” (Keeno)

 

Next, I took a golden scale out of my ring and then picked up another feather from inside my tail. I then poured a pinch of Divinity into the feather which started to glow a faint shade of gold and black. Pitting the tip of my makeshift quill into the scale I carved a small Rune for making light and nearly blinded everyone in the room but myself.

 

“So, using it as a tool to carve Runes makes them more effective by a slight margin.” (Keeno)

 

“A warning would be nice.” (Freya)

 

“Sorry.” (Keeno)

 

I cut the scale with the same feather and the light vanished.

 

“So, note to self, collect or burn any of Huginn and Muninn’s feathers that drop if we notice them. I don’t want them falling into the wrong hands.” (Keeno)

 

{I agree. They burn like normal feathers, so even a candle will work. I’m going to keep these here, Keeno. Eblana…where did she go? Oh.  Eblana!  Go back, there are still things that you need to do!}

 

“Yes ma’am!” (Eblana)

 

Suddenly another shining door appeared and Eblana was back. It wasn’t that long of a time, but she looked a bit sunburnt.

 

“Lady Okami, your home is beautiful.” (Eblana)

 

“Thank you.” (Keeno)

 

I got up from the chair I had commandeered at some point and moved over to a bed, only to find everyone else had fallen asleep.  It was then that the tiredness also hit me, and I yawned.

 

“Eblana, tomorrow we need to plan out how we are going to meet the two people we need to meet.  And though you’ve told us that it’s normal for you to hole up in one of these places for months at a time, but I think it’s time you head out and see what the king is up to.” (Keeno)

 

“Understood.” (Eblana)

 

I laid down on the empty bed and the small light I conjured blinked out, making the only light in the room the faint beam of moonlight, mine and Eblana’s cores, the flame on the tip of Eblana’s tail, and my eyes.

 

“Oh, and though I should have told you before, feel free to call me Keeno while we’re in the company of allies that know.” (Keeno)

 

Though her face was obscured, I could tell she was happy due to the movements of her tail’s flame.  While watching that movement, I drifted off to sleep.

 

Chaos Realm:

Luna: I would think they would have planned that out while on the way there.

Tamamo: Well, you saw that they didn’t really have much chance to.  Sure, they can use telepathy, but there is the angel problem, and they can’t keep that spell that blocks that up constantly.

Luna: It’s just, I can see so many ways I would have handled this to this point, and it makes me antsy.

Tamamo: Yes, but by this point in your own journey, you could have single handedly conquered the country in a day, gotten the Dead Zone gone, and been on your way to the next destination without breaking a sweat.

Luna: …

Tamamo: Ufufufu.  But I also know your journey was about the journey itself.

Luna: *silently wraps her arms around Tamamo’s and snuggles up to her, their tails intertwining into a giant mass of Fluff*

Tamamo: *Smiles and starts snuggling Luna back*