Kitsune of the Blue Sun

Chapter 205- Ruin Time!!!

[Keeno POV]

The next two weeks were full of repetitive walking through the jungle as we dodged monster girls and fought normal monsters. We so discovered that the jungle is very full of vitality. In one of the fights with monsters, I got a bit carried away and burnt a good portion of the place we were in. Shortly after the battle ended, however, the jungle managed to put the flames out and regrow even more abundantly than before in seconds.  Today was no different than any in the past few except that it was darker during the day than it has been.

“Rain.” (Mostima)

“I agree. We should find somewhere that we can wait it out.” (Keeno)

We moved away from the road while marking our path the best we could. Around two hours later we found a cave and walked in after making sure it wasn’t the den of a debaturous pack of monster girls or other creatures more murderous. Just as we entered thunder boomed and rain started to fall in heavy sheets.

“…” (Keeno)

{There are no signs of Phobos meddling, Keeno.}

“Just feels weird, like I’m in a movie.” (Keeno)

“A what?” (Freya)

“Don’t worry about it.” (Keeno)

Stepping further into the cave, some things started to stand out as weird.

“…” (Keeno)

The floor was surprisingly smooth, though there were piles of ash scattered around, showing that, at least until somewhat recently, this place was buried under the ash of the desert. I trailed my hand against a wall, and I could feel unnatural grooves.

“Mostima. I don’t think this is a cave.” (Keeno)

Mostima tilted her head and walked over to me. She ran her hand against the wall and felt the same thing I did.

“Keeno, Pram, Freya feel around until you notice more solid walls.  I think we’ve stumbled into some ruins.” (Mostima)

I couldn’t contain my excitement and small blue sparks began to float off of me. We spent a while slowly combing the walls until Freya called out to us.  We rushed over and three of us pushed, causing dust and ash to fall and form clouds. After several hard pushes with all our strength, the door finally moved and opened slowly with the sound of stone grinding against stone. That is until it fell inward, breaking into pieces.  Outside thunder boomed again, echoing off the walls and making my ears ring.  Making a small fireball float around us, we walked deeper into the ruins. Mostima took the lead as she wound through halls full of ash and dust.

“Hmm.  I think this place is a sort of temple.  Not completely sure, but from what I’ve seen so far it feels like it. Well, either a temple or some kind of priory.” (Mostima)

We walked further in until we stopped at a large chamber. In the middle of the chamber was a symmetrical pattern with the center opening up into a spiral staircase going down. The roof was a dome with carved statues of men and women in various poses.

“Definitely a temple.” (Mostima)

I looked around at all the statues. There had to be at least 100 of them. My eyes finally steeled on one.

{How unflattering.}

The statue of Ama was obscured behind several and had cracks and chunks taken out of it. Her’s wasn’t the only one like that, but it was one of the most worse for wear. Others that somewhat matched the appearance of Fu and Moco, Hresvelgr, and Phobos were in a similar state.

“Either this is just coincidence or someone had a grudge.” (Pram)

“Phobos I can understand, but not the others.” (Keeno)

{Well, we were blamed a bit for the Fiends, though our images were restored after the crisis ended. Guess this place got buried before the end of it though.}

“Hmm.  Tch.  I can’t recall the name of this place from back then. Judging from the size it should have been famous.” (Mostima)

{I wouldn’t worry about it. The…Keeno, love, no need to glare like that.}

“Ama, I love you, but don’t disrespect history like that.  Things like that are important.” (Keeno)

{I know it’s your pride in your hobby talking, but this is a lesson you should learn, Keeno. When you ascend fully and your mind adapts, you’ll come to understand the importance of not saving the names and extreme detail of all this when a civilization has fallen. Sure, keep some of your favorites like I did with the artsy Falheim people, but remembering every little thing will only stress you.}

“Ama, that’s where you’re wrong. This may be because you are the Goddess of Life, but as Goddess of Death, it’s my job to remember them all. I’m supposed to be the one giving people piece of mind when they die, and what most every mortal wants, even if they don’t consciously know it, is to be remembered!” (Keeno)

The others remained silent as we had this little argument. I could tell Ama wanted to rebuke me, but remained silent while mulling over my words.

{*Sigh*Keeno, I still don’t think it’s a good idea for YOU to be the one to remember it. Push that responsibility to someone else like on if your Valkyries. Eblana is a dragon, so she should be good at that.}

“I’m also a dragon.” (Keeno)

{…Wha-}

“And so far all the other Valkyries are more combat oriented. Maybe I’ll find someone in the future who can fill this roll, but for now I’ll take the roll. I understand that you have my best interest in mind, but until I find someone suitable IF I find someone suitable, let me do this.” (Keeno)

{Fine.}

I could tell Ama’s mood wasn’t very good, but I decided that it was best to let her calm down before I tried soothing her. My ear and one of my tails twitched in agitation and to get my mind off he topic I started walking down the stairs.  The others filled shortly after, Pram and Freya’s faces full of concern.

“Keeno, is something wrong?  In all my years of knowing you, you’ve never had an argument with Amaterasu.” (Pram)

“I wouldn’t say that was an argument. It was more a difference of opinion.” (Keeno)

“I’m surprised you’d want to know the name of these people considering the condition of the statue back there.” (Freya)

“This and that are different, Freya.  If I knew them in person, I’d tear them to shreds and rip their souls apart piece by piece over the course of months, but I’d at least make sure they were remembered, even if it was with infamy. As a lesson not to mess with my Ama. Hehehe.” (Keeno)

Stepping off the last of the steps, we found ourselves in a rather well preserved communion hall. Small bookshelves were placed along the walls, their contents there, though their condition unverifiable at the moment. Pillow-like objects lined the middle of the room, covered in ash and dust.  Windows lined the upper parts of the walls, but the only thing outside them was the darkness of underground.

“A ritual room?” (Keeno)

“I’d say it’s closer to a prayer room.” (Mostima)

I walked over to one of the bookshelves and could sense some extremely faint mana coming from them.

{Preservation magic.}

“So they won’t turn to dust if I touch it?” (Keeno)

{No.}

“…Ama, there’s no need to pout like that.” (Keeno)

{Hmph.}

I turned my attention to the books while leaving half my thoughts to cheering Ama up. Looking at the spines, I understood nothing.

“Mostima, care to come translate?” (Keeno)

She stepped over from her place observing the other random things in here. She looked over the spines of the books in front of us before reaching out and picking one up.

“This one is about the basics of something called meditation.” (Mostima)

She flipped it open and began flipping through the pages skimming it quickly.

“Hmm.  Apparently people who did this could make their magic more potent or understood their bodies better which overall improved their abilities.” (Mostima)

{…I don’t remember that being extremely effective, but it’s also a practice from before the Fiends. You should all try it.}

“Ama…” (Keeno)

{Hmph.}

“…Fine, if that’s how you wanna be.” (Keeno)

I moved over to one of the pillow things and picked it up.  After waving it around, a lot of the dust and ash came off it and it thankfully didn’t rip due to the preservation magic placed on it. Sitting down, I looked over to Mostima.

“Cross your legs, close your eyes, and empty your mind. After that, focus on your mana, feel its flow, and focus only on its flow. Apparently if you do it right, you should find yourself becoming more in tune with your body and mind.” (Mostima)

I did as she said and tried focusing inwardly. I felt the flow of my mana, the fiery pulse of my dragon core, and the slow, steady pulse of Divinity. I felt a strange pull when focusing on my Divinity, but decided to ignore it for the moment. My Divinity didn’t like that and before I knew it my consciousness seemed to have slipped away.

Chaos Realm:

Luna: Payto, this better not hurt Keeno.

It won’t.

Luna: And she better make up with Amaterasu after this.

She will.

Luna: …You’re being quite concise today.

Trying to focus.

Luna: On what?

Feeling waves in the Sea of Chaos. Something in one of the layers is getting disturbed, but it’s just small enough for me to have trouble finding it.

Luna: That sounds bad.

It isn’t really. Just some arrogant god somewhere is trying to do something stupid. They’ll be dead when I find out their exact location. Happens more than you know.

Luna: Alright. Just let me know if you want help.

Nn.!  Order is coming home soon…yay.

Luna: Fufufu.