Kyubi opened the portal and they walked through, finding themselves at the entrance where Carl had arrived previously.

"Lady Kyubi! Konnichiwa Kyubi-sama." A young woman approached with haste and kneeled down with her head to the ground, Carl and Klaire turning to look at Kyubi as she blushed.

"Please stand up and speak the common language, I would hate for anything to get lost in translation." Kyubi knelt down and pulled her gently to her feet by the hand.

"Lady Kyubi, you seem in good spirits, I'm very happy to see you so well."

"Please, just Kyubi now... In fact, could you escort us to the meeting hall? I think we should simply make an announcement to everyone to save time."

"Of course, would you like me to show your guests to the guest room..." She looked at Carl and the others and then recognised Carl. "...You're the one Kon brought before, aren't you? Thank you for bringing the sacred fox back looking so well."

"It's my pleasure, she's very important to us and I never want her to be upset again." Carl answered with a bow.

"Agreed, I think her smile is much more pretty than her frowns, but they're still cute." Klaire added, making the girl tilt her head to one side as she thought about the words.

"I'm happy, you should all follow me." The woman turned and led the way as gracefully as she possibly could, but it was obvious she had many questions and everyone who spotted them moving towards the meeting hall joined her in leading them.

Everyone tried to respectfully walk in silence, but eventually Klaire couldn't help but fill the silence. "Kyubi, she's wearing a kimono like yours, did you make it?"

"Maybe, it does look old and I have made clothes for my favourites among them over the years." Kyubi replied thoughtfully.

"Excuse me, but it is indeed one that you made, it has been in my family for three-hundred years, our pride and joy."

Kyubi looked at the way Klaire and the other girls were eyeing the beautiful kimonos and chuckled. "When we are done with our meeting, please take the girls and get them dressed, it seems they wish to try them."

"Of course Lady Kyubi, we have some spares between us, but we are running low on the silk you gave us." One of the elders who had joined the procession stated, but it was clear that Kyubi didn't have any idea what she was talking about.

When they arrived at the meeting hall, everyone who had seen them heading their way was gathered and kneeling with their heads to the ground as the girl had done. The whole display left Kyubi feeling incredibly self-conscious.

They were all in uniform rows, except for one man apart and closest to the others.

"Konnichiwas, Kyubi-sama." The one at the front said, without raising his head, as embarrassed as she was, Kyubi was still very much herself and had no interest in repeating herself.

"Please gather everyone, I wish to make sure everyone is aware of the current state of affairs."

The elder raised his head and told one of the others to sound the gong, an intricate metal plate that hung between two redwood posts, which they had passed on their way in.

"Lady Kyubi, would you like us to prepare food and refreshment for you all?"

"Yes please, Carl in particular has had an exhausting day."

"Carl?..." He scanned his eyes over the boys, then focused on Carl. "...You are the boy Kon brought back, aren't you?"

"I am, but..."

"Please don't call him a boy, it makes me feel weird about the age gap..." Kyubi muttered, making them all chuckle as the crowd just blinked. "...I mean, don't worry about it yet, I'll tell you in a bit."

"Don't call me a girl then, that might make her feel weird about the age-gap too." Klaire added, earning a playful tail whip from Kyubi who was hiding her blushing face.

When they were all gathered, apart from those who had been tasked with preparing a feast, Kyubi stood before them all and made her announcement.

"First of all, I want to apologise to everyone, you cared for me through centuries of vile rampages I have no excuse for. I see now that I was holding people responsible for something they played no part in.

Secondly, I am engaged to both Carl and Klaire and will be staying with them permanently. We already had every intention of inviting you all to join, but now with my wedding on the horizon, I think you should come to our faction.

Finally, while I have asked you to join our faction, I would actually like you to become the caretakers of a particular world called Archyon."

"Lady Kyubi, if I'm not mistaken, Archyon is a dead world under the rule of the mother of demons. Is my memory failing me, or has he simply acquired it somehow? Either way, you have my apologies, but we are not prepared to terraform a world."

"Actually, she gave it to him when she joined the faction. Well, she says that, but I think she was just doting on him a bit. He's her grandson, but he's not a demon, he was adopted by her chosen heir..."

The situation quickly devolved into story time and before they knew it, it was getting out of hand, Kyubi asked some of the women to get Klaire, Scylla, Sophie and Grenda dressed for dinner and she, Carl, Gillian and Blanc had the honour of staying and answering the thousand questions.

"...You'll love Archyon. Carl reshaped it to perfectly capture the essence of my sanctuary here. I know, I'm asking you to abandon your people's homeland, but it is simply too dangerous for anyone to stay behind."

"Could we see it please? Forgive my caution, but if I'm to ask them to do so, I must be sure they are not trading home for a hell."

"Sure..." Kyubi said before grumbling. "...I can't see it, Carl, can you try please."

Carl opened the portal and the elder put his head through, gasping as he withdrew it. "You, made that place? Wait, Kon said you're a human, how did you even make a portal?"

That led to the ascended human conversation and then one of the women in attendance spoke up.

"Excuse me, Kyubi also said that she wanted us to help raise "the children". Are you expecting?"

"No, we can't have children that way, but I will be restoring the kitsune before long and after a couple of months raising one..." Carl shook his head like he was delivering bad news. "...Well, let's just say raising more than one is a losing battle on our own. From what I understand, Kyubi wants our daughter Ki-ko to be their priestess and guide them, but she's still very... youthful."

"That's a generous way to put it, isn't she planning a prank on Tiamat right now?" Gillian interjected, ensuring that no lies of omission were spoken.

"Please don't remind us. We're hoping that she has forgotten because of the evacuation of SATS"

"SATS was evacuated!? What happened, please my children are there!"

"I'll explain in a bit, but did they not message you somehow?"

"We don't have slates here, we knew something was happening when the portal was destroyed and the security left, but they didn't tell us anything."

Carl looked up towards the variants, along with Kyubi and together they stared at the table of variants, half of which were entirely disillusioned with events.

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL : KYUBI, DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? ]

[ PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT FROM KYUBI : IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, DIVISION. I'M GOING TO STIR THE POT A BIT THOUGH. ]

"When will you cowards stop playing puppet masters in the shadows, gain some honour and self-respect and stop stabbing others in the back? You are all the most pathetic creatures I have ever laid eyes on, I truly pity those to scared to fight in the open."

With Kyubi's "pot-stirring" finished, they both stopped looking at what Kon's people, Gillian and Blanc couldn't see and then Carl asked them to write up a full list of names and give it to blanc to confirm their safe evacuation.

It didn't take long and they were able to confirm the safety of all of them whilst Carl explained exactly what happened as well as the revelation of the committee's true nature.

Some of them seemed to have already come to the conclusion that the committee they had been told about were simply figureheads and nothing more than a public face of something lurking beneath the surface, but it still came as a shock to many others.

When Carl had finished explaining everything, he said that they couldn't show anyone in the towers differential treatment without causing an incident, but at the same time assured them that it wouldn't be long before they were reunited if they chose to join them.

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