As Kyubi finished telling her story, the others were surprised to say the least, finding out that she actually had little in the way of memories was tragic. Klaire and Carl, rushing to comfort her as any dutiful lovers would.

Then Illerion appeared out of nowhere sobbing...

"I'm sorry for all that happened Kyubi, but selfishly I'm a bit glad. I thought you were playing down our friendship because you were angry I didn't interve-"

"Illerion, I'm sorry, I couldn't risk telling you in front of individuals I either didn't know or didn't remember at the very least. Please, if you can tell me more about my past..."

"Sorry Kyubi, I'm bound by contract not to talk of anything that happened in the time I knew you. Ishtar made it the condition of saving my race from extinction and saving you. I thought she died before any of it happened, but I see now that she had made good on her promise..." Illerion looked at Carl, with what could only be described as vicious envy. "...I'm glad you don't like her much, because Ishtar was a monster to make me the sweet girl I appear."

"Illerion, can you do me a favour?" Carl asked with gritted teeth, furious that his mother might have sworn Kyubi's best chance at knowing herself to secrecy.

"Depends human, speak and see."

"Can you please send a message back to a past self with a recollection and tell her just to let her know I despise her.

"I'd rather not if you don't mind, that might make her tweak her plan and end up causing you to never meet Kyubi."

"Fine then, I'll find a way to make sure she knows even though she's dead."

"Sorry, Carl. As much as I would love you to myself, things simply don't work that way."

"Things change as often as people, Infinity was born of Creation, it might not be possible but if I can change it, I will."

Illerion started laughing suddenly, tears still falling slowly down her face. "I like you human. Make sure you two make Kyubi happy, or I'll reduce you to skin in my collection."

"Not really sure why you like me, but I promise to make her as happy as I possibly can."

"Kyubi, I can't tell you how to feel, but these years without you have been the loneliest I've known. I would like to be your friend again, if you'd allow me."

Kyubi stood and hugged her. "I remember enough to know that you wouldn't be crying unless we were far closer than I remember. I would like to reclaim that some of that connection, but it stops at friends, I won't lead you on with false hope of earning my love."

"No matter, the times I was close enough for you to break my heart were the happiest in all my life."

Kyubi then added the additional caveat that she was not allowed to seduce any of their children until they were fully developed, more as a precaution than genuine concern, but her reaction made it feel far more prudent than overcautious.

"How long does a dragon-god even take to develop?"

"Oh, wow. You actually had your eyes on our baby boy..." Klaire shuddered a bit, then looked to Kyubi. "...I mean, we have no idea, but that's the condition."

"In his case there is another..." Kyubi said immediately before a final agreement could be made. "...If you did end up coupled with him, you would need to give up your position and join us, we can't risky our son ever being used as an asset for or violence. Not that I think you would, but others might if they think they have leverage."

"Kyubi, trust me. If things get that far with someone, I'll give them everything I am, I won't ever let it slip away again."

The look that was in Illerion's eyes could only be described as agonised.

Kyubi didn't understand why, but she knew it was her fault and accepted Illerion's word. As impromptu as it was, Illerion found their reunion healing and was finally ready to move-on after all that regret.

"I promise to take things slow and not force the issue. Losing you once was enough and I won't risk it again, but I have to say one thing that you will not want to hear. Your priority should be liberating Amaterasu, she is the only one who can tell you the truth and you owe her more than anyone."

"She is already a priority, but thank you for the insight."

After that Illerion hugged Kyubi again and left.

When she had gone, Clarrise scratched her chin and sighed. "Have you spoken to Mum about your memories? Pretty sure she kept tabs on you after you helped with Faylorna."

"I have, unfortunately she said the same as Illerion. She was on good terms with Nergal and owed him a favour, which Ishtar used to swear her to secrecy. Carl, I don't want you to be angry about her making my memories unattainable. I don't know why, but I feel like my memories were mostly bad, getting our family in exchange for them was a good trade."

"Sure, I can't be mad about something that happened to you, if you yourself aren't mad about it. Still though, I want to get your memories back, so you can make up your mind with all the facts."

"I intend to, thank you."

As they all spoke Sentinel suddenly started bellowing, a deep, booming, guttural growl that echoed through the settlement and accompanied by a telepathic warning message.

Sentinel himself wasn't able to give much of an idea however and so those that could use farsenses, done so. The result was simple, a true horror from the realms of Nothingness, a Death-Walker, was standing on the ground that Carl had only just renovated for Gaia.

It was immediately obvious what was happening, especially to Clarisse, who had investigated the area after Blanc and Gillian killed what must have been its subordinates. With that in mind, Carl went out to meet it with the other immortals, leaving the mortals behind to prepare the humans for evacuation.

As they approached, they could tell it was studying them, but they were not an easy being to read.

They were much the same as the lesser-walkers, except rather than being blacker than shadows, they were monochromatic entities. A completely white body for the most part, but covered in dozens of faces, the eyes and mouths of them as black as the lesser walkers.

The entities were of malleable form, able to shrink, grow, stretch and retract and at present this one was standing about eight feet tall, a physique similar to Marsian's.

Crowning its head was a crest that simply looked like skin be stretched upwards by invisible hands.

"The walkers?" The words sounded strange, more akin to heavy wafting of thick smoke escaping a contained space, each word seeming to come from a different one of the mouths covering its body.

"Dead, they were trespassing on Lady Gaia's territory."

"I see. Who killed them?"

"We did."

"What are you Bright-Soul?"

"Human."

"Human. Celestial-Fox. Dragon. Demon. Vampire. Other presences unknown."

It was clear he was trying to establish his odds of enacting his reprisal, so the others thought that the best choice was to simply state their race and help him paint the picture.

"Humand and Crimson-Banshee."

"Were-Chimera."

"Bluecap."

"Chaos-Vampire."

"Human. Celestial-Fox. Dragon. Demon. Vampire. Human and Crimson-Banshee. Were-Chimera. Bluecap and Chaos-Vampire. I will leave."

"Wait. I want to know what you intend to do."

"Where I walk, Death follows."

"Then I have to stop you walking, don't I?"

"A human alone poses no threat. Are you challenging me?"

"I am."

"Fine. Kill me and our wrath dies. Fail and Death will walk these lands."

No one was happy about Carl's impulsive decision to engage, least of all because of how uncharacteristic it was for him. Unfortunately the challenge had already been issued, so there was nothing anyone could do without making the situation far-far worse.

"I'm perfectly okay with that, but the challenge should happen where no collateral damage can occur, we are only guests of Lady Gaia and this land is her territory."

"We owe no fealty t-"

"You owe fealty to Nothingness and Death. I could simply ask Primordial Chaos and Nergal to come and mediate diplomatic resolutions, but how well do you think you'd fare after your unpermitted nesting?"

"Your insight is keen..." The Death-Walker stopped and clearly assessed the legitimacy of Carl's claims to know Elder-Gods of Nothingness and Death, which it found in the possession of their wedding gifts. "...I see and how does a human have such acquaintances."

"I never said I was a mortal, you simply assumed without bothering to confirm."

The Death-Walker tried to quickly assess and reassess the position he was in, coming to the conclusion that he was simply out of his depth and was in a no-win scenario.

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