"I don't care in the least, she is nothing but a ghost in my mind, the black city is the perfect place for her. I also don't remember giving you permission to enter my domain."

Nergal chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Yeah I know and offer my deepest apologies for the intrusion, but for what it's worth I think we're all making a big mistake with everything at the moment. I need you to do your duty as my sister's subordinate and warn her."

Tsukuyomi twitched, but couldn't behave rashly if he had truly come to pass on some kind of warning. "What is it?"

"Gilgamesh is making moves in other realms. He has now killed more of our pantheon than I ever did and he's managed to assassinate several of Zeus' children and also tried to make a move on your cousin. I barely made it in time."

"What!? Apologies Ginrei, you and Kyubi must go now. Amaterasu, Tenko, visit every member of the family and warn them. I'll go and speak to Lady Ishtar, she and Margo need to be made aware."

"Ginrei, was it? You should let the other foxes know."

Ginrei looked to her lord for approval and the moment he nodded she bowed and made to leave, but as she reached for Kyubi's hand she dashed off and kicked Nergal in the shin.

"That's for making Lord Tsukuyomi mad..." She then bowed respectfully. "...Thank you for warning us, not that I understand."

Tsukuyomi and the others burst into laughter. "Who would have thought a baby fox would be the first in millennia to land a blow on the first son of Death?"

"I guess I should be lucky she isn't an assassin, either way I'll leave whilst spirits are high." Nergal bowed back to the little fox and then to what were technically his step children and left as Ginrei opened a portal and left with Kyubi.

Upon their return, she was of course punished for her in-decorum which persisted whilst Ginrei attended to the task she had been assigned, but was given the chance to ask the questions she had when Ginrei returned.

"Who was the fox there?"

"Ugh, that was Tenko, the first of our species and the perfect example of what not to be when you grow up. He was once Tsukuyomi's favourite and used his position to seduce his sister and shamed all fox-spirits in the process."

"Who was that strange man I kicked?"

"That, sweet child, was Nergal. He is the most hated elder-god in existence and one of the most powerful."

"Why is he hated?"

"He killed most of his family, his sister is Lady Ishtar despises him above all which would be reason enough for our lord and us to hate him, but to make it worse he also married our lord's mother after she went mad and tried to kill her son."

"Okay..." Kyubi fell silent until her mother told her to spit out whatever she was thinking. "...Schools going to be weird tomorrow after all this."

What Kyubi didn't expect however, is that that unexpected debut into immortal society would be what she needed to break the ice with Illerion.

When they arrived in Obelix's realm the next day, Illerion made the usual greeting to Ginrei and then headed to the classroom, then Ginrei sent Kyubi to follow her whilst she spoke to Obelix.

A conversation that went on long enough to make Illerion grow impatient. "Argh! What's taking so long?"

"She's probably passing along Nergal's warning, perhaps I should tell you? I don't know, maybe Obelix should decide."

Illerion stood and slammed her hands on Kyubi's table with absolute excitement. "You really met the kin-slayer!? I'd love to meet him someday and see how strong he is, all those elder gods he killed were super powerful..."

Illerion rambled off into a flustered daydream. "Sorry to disappoint you, I think you'll be stronger than him by a lot when you're all grown up. Even I was able to kick him in the shin, not that he even felt it."

"Wait, what!? Hahahaha! Tell me everything!" Illerion howling with laughter and renewed energy made the learning hall feel significantly more alive in a way that Kyubi didn't fully understand.

'Is this how Tsukuyomi feels about the fox-spirits, like they bring empty halls to life?' The thought came to Kyubi suddenly and made her realise suddenly that she was denying her lord this very feeling by denying her nature.

With no idea how to rectify it however, she decided instead to simply tell Illerion everything that had happened.

When Obelix returned and caught wind of the topic however he sighed clapped loud enough to make sure they knew they were in trouble.

"Illerion, you should know such discussions are overstepping the terms of your restrictions. Kyubi, such information can be dangerous, you must never repeat such things without explicit permission or instruction."

The girls apologised together, but then Obelix shrugged and took his position in front of them. "Since Kyubi has already told you. You should reiterate the warning she was gracious enough to give you to the other Elven-gods. Now it's time for class to start and the topic today will be humans and variants."

"I will pass the message on, but why such a boring subject?"

"It's quick and also increasingly important."

"It has something to do with the warning as well, doesn't it? Nergal mentioned something about "the humans", but what are they?"

Illerion was about to grumble and interrupt, but she seeded the spotlight to the teacher and he began immediately.

"First of all, Variants are similar to the evolution that species like yours undergo, the difference being that they become something different. Tenko, who you met yesterday, is an example. His ascension to celestial fox was affected by his lust for Amaterasu."

"Is that why he's golden and not silver like the others?"

"Exactly, it also changed his abilities and and affinities, though divulging his secrets would be a transgression. Variation can be brought about in several ways, whilst normally random it can be made more likely if a creature acts in contrary to the rest of their kind, has a personality that is more prominent than their nature and extenuating circumstances can also prove variation."

"Can I have any other examples of variants?"

"Lady Illerion for starters, The dragon-gods Tiamat and Bahamut are variants designed by Lady Ishtar, the final vatiant I think discussion would benefit you to know and also lead us into the next topic, is Pandora."

"Pandora? I don't think I know that name."

"She is the first human variant to offer her assistance to the pantheon observing her people and not simply use it to further their own goals and interests."

"Okay, I think I get it..." Kyubi considered everything for a moment and then a dread fell over her. "...Wait, if denying nature and personality can cause variation, then does that mean I could end up becoming one and what would it mean for serving Lord Tsukuyomi?"

"Wise indeed. First of all, yes you are at risk of becoming a variant and doing so would render you unable to reach your goal." The words left Kyubi shocked and confused, with a thousand more questions that were ultimately pointless, she simply decided that she needed to ensure she didn't become a variant.

"Thank you, Sir. What about the humans?"

"Ah yes, the uncreated. As you know, all things in existence, both in Thingness and Nothingness were created. Usually by Elder-Gods, Aspects and sometimes by exceptionally talented chief deities and beings further down on the hierarchy.

Humans however are a singular existence, creatures of finite and incredibly limited life which evolved naturally as the result of infinite coincidences and in the face of unfathomable odds."

"So who is their leader? Why are they something that needs to be discussed?" Illerion laughed at her naivety, barely able to remain silent.

"They have no single leader, they form independent societies alongside each other and vie for dominance. Some of these societies become bastions of peace which could be seen as an example to all species and others become bastions of malevolence that even caused Samael to turn his back on God.

The reason they need to be discussed is because they technically have no rights to anything and yet they destroy what they have no right to simply because they can scarcely perceive the true owners.

Most importantly however is their racial adaptability, they not only take tremendous leaps with every new generation and have proven compatible with the essence of anything bearing divinity that wishes to reproduce with them, but they also produced an obscene number of variants which brings about further issues."

Kyubi analysed the information that felt like it was being forced down her throat, trying not to jump to the conclusion that any of it was bad just because that's how it was being portrayed.

"Sir, we skipped over something, what makes variants such an issue?" Kyubi couldn't help but notice that Illerion suddenly turned away and that her ears looked a little redder than normal.

Obelix started clapping slowly. "Nothing my dear, excellent work. Variants are a means by which entirely new species come into existence and it is easy to see that as a bad thing when some species such as Demons and Chaos-Elves are incredibly powerful and prone to destructive tendencies."

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