-=[Ash Sparks]=-

I took one nap! Just one God-damned nap and everything became turned on its head. As I groggily descended from the whale down to the ground of the Manning estate, the Magistrate went mental and had Celes shot with a volley of arrows.

“What is wrong with you all?” I yelled, not knowing what else to do as Celes bled out on the ground from numerous arrow wounds, held down by ghostly hands. Arianna fell to her knees, holding her chest.

“Your granddaughter made a pact to protect Celes Rada!" I screamed. "What are you doing, Magistrate?!”

“There is no Celes Rada!” The Magistrate said, bending down to the body of Celes.

“What?!” I yelled, desperately rushing towards my dying best friend. “She’s right there… my Celes… how could you?!”

I glanced at my grievously injured bestie.

[Celes Rada]

[Geisha of Boundless Chorus LV 49]

[Human female spawn] - [Age - 19.99 years old]

[Primary weapon - Serenity Field LV 39]

[Secondary weapon - Servitor Phantom Knipz LV 17]

“Celes Rada does not exist,” the Magistrate announced. “Observe!”

The shimmering fractal snippers formed in his right hand as he touched Celes.

“Don’t you dare!” I yelled, aiming the disruptor ring at him.

Copperpenny slammed into me, redirecting the energy released by the ring.

Damn it! Why does this keep happening? Why does Traetorius keep finding new ways of betraying me?

“Let go of me, Avidius!” I cried, fighting to free myself from the Reaper’s arms. “He’s going to kill my Celes!”

“This girl has already been dead for fourteen years, Ancient,” Traetorius spoke. “Look.”

I glanced at Celes once again. The text was swimming in my eyes filled with tears.

Lord Manning has done… something. Snipped something important within Celes…

I squinted at the blurry text, blinking. The chart had changed, gotten bigger.

[Celes Rada] - [The Nameless Dreamer]

[Kitsune Tardigrada] - [Age - 14’741 years old]

[Geisha of Boundless Chorus LV 49]

[1st weapon - Concealment LV 98]

[2nd weapon - Trust Field LV 79]

[3rd weapon - Serenity Field LV 41]

[4th weapon - Servitor Phantom Knipz LV 17]

My mouth dropped open. I froze.

“Geishas do not emanate Trust,” Traetorius remonstrated. “They emanate Serenity. This creature has been deceiving you, Ancient.”

“No… no, no, no.” I tried to crawl towards Celes. “She’s Celes…. She’s my Celes!”

Celes rasped from the floor, blood flowing from her mouth. Her gold eyes filled with red tears blinked at me.

Tick tick tick boom.

I had grown to trust Celes far too quickly. I thought it was just a side-effect of her serenity field, but it was something else entirely, another weapon, another effect. Like the Arachnia-Loxx, Celes was a creature of the deep, a thing from another world that forced trust between itself and whoever was nearby. She had used the trust field to get High-Administrator to become her best friend. She had used the trust field on me, to make me instantly like her.

Arianna inhaled, colors returning to her face. Her grandfather had cut off the thread that held our pact to Celes. My fiancee no longer had to protect Celes Rada.

“Let go of her, you sonofabitch!” I yelled, kicking Avidius who held me down. “She needs medical attention!”

“She’s not human.” The Magistrate shook his head. “The protection ward I activated is designed to hold creatures from the deep, not people. Occasionally, monsters like her emerge from the catacombs, infest the city and have to be put down.”

“It doesn't bloody matter what she is! Let go of her, now! She’s my friend!” I yelled, biting Copperpenny’s hand.

“This… abominable kitsune has been radiating trust so that you would like her more. She pretended to be your friend so that she could eat your heart. I can smell how these deep abominations work. They kill their human prey, consume their organs and become their victim, walking in their shoes, searching for new humans to devour.”

“You asshole!” I growled. “Do you think I give a shit if someone’s human or not!”

The Magistrate shook his head. “I’m sorry. You’ve been tricked, misled, fed a beautifully packaged lie. After my mother died in the night, I’ve dedicated my life to seeing the future with my Qi so that I could not be betrayed or deceived. I’ve helped cultivate the same talents in my children, including Arianna. She is my best pupil by far.”

Arianna stood up, panting. “I’ve never fully trusted Celes. She smelled… a tiny bit off. Like she was a geisha, but also… something more. Something very old and very different.”

“You can let go of Lady Sparks now, Avidius,” the Magistrate said. “Let her see the creature for herself.”

Copperpenny stopped holding me down and I got closer to Celes. She looked like she was dying. Her breath rasped.

“Celes…" I whispered. "...Why are you a fox?”

“My grandfather… bb… bound a spirit….” Celes coughed, sounding like a broken record.

“She’s lying, Ash,” Arianna said.

Grandfather Manning smiled victoriously. He expected me to agree with his assessment of the monstrousness of Celes.

“Damn it, Celes! You don’t need to hide yourself from me!” I yelled. “Just tell me the truth! What’s a Tardigrada?”

“A creature of the Dead Sea…” Celes muttered. “From the depths of Lord Prodigious Desiccator. They lie in wait in the dunes amidst the ruins… dreaming for thousands of years… until a host is found.”

“See? She lied to you,” Lord Manning declared, thinking that I was convinced. “I don’t think that the arrows alone will do it. I can smell that it can survive even if the host’s heart isn’t pumping blood. Cut off its head, Copperpenny.”

“Ludj! Protect Celes!” I screamed as Avidius swung his steel sword.

A long, ghostly body unfolded from the gold medallion inside one of the pockets of Celes. Ludj grabbed Avidius by the hand and a silver jaw with far too many teeth flashed. The sword snapped at the handle.

“Throw Copperpenny that-a-way! Help her! Bite those feelers off!” I pointed at the ghostly hands that were crushing Celes into the ground.

The gardener obeyed. He chucked Copperpenny away like the man was just a piece of paper. The Reaper flew into the bushes with a yelp. Mr. Murr grabbed the arms holding down Celes, pulling them away. Enormous jaws snapped. Ghostly blood, shaped like swirling smoke silently bloomed from the cut-off appendages.

“Damn it, Ancient! What are you doing?!” The Magistrate paled. “You can’t let her live!”

“She’s my friend.” I shook my head.

“This creature deceived you!” The Magistrate repeated. “It’s over fourteen thousand years old!”

“It doesn't matter. I don’t care how old she is. I don’t care if she’s not human to begin with. She saved my life. I’m not letting you kill her,” I said.

“Archers!” The Magistrate yelled.

I stepped in front of Celes. “No!”

“Wa-” Traetorius tried to command the house ward to push me aside. My thumb was already up in the air.

“Get fucked.” I activated the disruptor ring. He flew through the air backwards, colliding with Copperpenny.

“Ash?” Arianna stepped close to me. “Are you sure that Celes is… really your friend?”

I shook my head. “As much as you are. Everyone deserves a chance. Every sentient has dreams and hopes. Your grandfather might have snipped some of yours away, but I will find a way to bring them back or give you new ones. I’ll show you the stars, Arianna. Please, help me. Help Celes.”

Arianna nodded. She pulled Celes out of the half-ruined ghostly cage.

“You’re not looking too good, geisha… or should I say Tardigrada?” Arianna said.

“I...” Celes whimpered. “Mind pulling... the arrows out? They… really hurt.”

Arianna expertly grabbed at the arrows sticking out of Celes, broke off the ends and pushed them through. Celes gasped loudly, making me wince.

I pointed my thumb at the Magistrate and Avidius who were trying to untangle themselves from the bushes.

The ginger highborn tore pieces of her dress off, expertly tying them around the wounds on the kitsune's body.

“I… I’m sorry… Ash… I’m… not really… this body...” Celes rasped out. “...is just a shell.”

“Don’t care. You’re my Celes,” I said. “I’m also a spooky twin-souled ghost piloting a bunch of human meats. What else is new? Are you going to be okay?”

“I… I’ll live… need to eat… Qi-infused blood…”

“What are you, a fox-vampire?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t… know what a vampire is…” Celes groaned.

“Will Arianna’s blood do?”

“Hey!” Arianna yelped. “I didn’t sign up for this!”

“So much for that noble sacrifice.” I rolled my eyes and offered Celes my hand. “Bite away.”

Foxy chompers closed over my hand. I winced, expecting pain. None came. Instead my arm became numb with pleasure, nerves tingling.

“This is nice,” I said, watching Celes clinging to my arm. “You should try it, Ari. It's like a blood donation, but with more magic.”

“I’d rather not.” The highborn squinted at us. "Uhhh… it looks like she's literally drinking your Dantian."

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “Be a miser. It’s no worse than a mosquito bite, honestly.”

Lord Manning and the bodyguard finally untangled themselves, approaching us.

“You are feeding… it?” The Magistrate raised an eyebrow.

“Her. I’m feeding Celes my Qi, yes… because some idiot shot her full of arrows.” I squinted at the Magistrate. “Don’t do that again.”

“You do realize that she’s a monster from the deep?” Traetorius asked.

“So is Ludj,” I pointed at the tall ghost that loomed over us, snarling at the Magistrate.

“Hrmm….” he inhaled. “That… servitor… doesn’t belong to anyone. It’s barely tied to that lantern. How does it obey you?!”

“Exactly.” I nodded. “He’s my friend. Just like Celes. Just like Arianna. Anyone can be befriended with the right approach. Even deep monsters. Even bound servitors. Even haughty princesses! I’ll make a proper friend out of you yet, Magistrate.”

The Magistrate blinked.

“Grandfather, please tell the archers to stand down,” Arianna added. “I’m exhausted and I’d like to go inside now.”

We were sitting on a set of rather fanciful couches in a gothic lounge facing the awe-inspiring view of the Gold city covered in clouds.

Celes was curled up and nuzzled into my shoulder looking sunken and gray, but at least she wasn’t bleeding anymore. I was feeling very dizzy from blood and Dantian loss but I was fine with this - I didn’t plan to go anywhere tonight. Clint would have to defeat the best defenses in the Gold city to get through to me. Arianna told me that not a single person died in this fortified castle when the Stormweaver knights attacked. The place was literally covered in servitor wards upon servitor wards.

“Soo….” Arianna began.

“Shh, let her rest,” I waved off the ginger princess.

“It’s fine. I’m okay now. Thank you, Ash.” Celes opened one gold eye and gave me a small, shy smile.

“What are you?” Arianna continued her incessant line of inquiry.

“I’m a geisha,” Celes answered. “For fourteen years I’ve been a geisha.”

“Great and what were you before that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Uh-huh.” Arianna tapped an ornate wooden table with her finger. “What sort of a deep monster are you?”

“I don’t know..."

“How can you not know these things?! Ash can see what you are! Kitsune Tardigrada!”

Celes curled into me, shivering. I gave her a pet. “Lay off Celes, Ari. If she doesn’t want to tell us, she doesn’t have to.”

“Grandfather said she eats people! How do I know that she won’t eat me or you in the night?!” Arianna demanded.

“Ari, shut up and listen. Out of everyone in the Gold city, Celes was the nicest person to me. I didn’t have to bind her with promises. I didn’t have to force her to follow me. She did it on her own accord. When you cut me with the celesteel knife she was the one to help me. She’s a saint compared to you. You might be a lot more human on the inside, but she is a lot more human on the outside!”

“I’m sorry I lied to you, Ashy. I…” Celes muttered, sniffing.

“Celes, you’re awesome. Keep on being awesome and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” I hugged her. “Please don’t cry. I don’t care if you’re nineteen or fourteen-thousand-something-years old. You’re still my Celes. You’re still my best friend in this crazy, freakish world of insane cultivators.”

“Did you kill Celes Rada to acquire this body?” Arianna demanded.

“No…” Celes blinked tears from her eyes. “I… I don’t think so.”

“Hrmpf,” Arianna hurrumped. “Then how did you get into… this body?”

“I… she… she fell from an airship,” Celes sobbed into my shoulder. “I… she was dead upon impact with the rocks, rolled into my dune. She was just six. Someone pushed her... I think. I don’t know… it’s hard to remember. The body was very damaged. I found a ticket in her pocket. A skywhale ticket to the Gold city. The Gold city cultivators welcomed me into the compound... offered me to become a geisha. Han Ceptimer liked me… he gave me the name Celesteel Radiance is Eternal because of my black hair and gold eyes.”

“Hrrm… the Tardigrada is telling the truth.” The highborn nodded.

I glared at her. “You suck. I told you that Celes is a nice person. I don't see her murdering anyone.”

“I… murdered a desert fox to repair this body… the Dreamer fused the two together,” Celes whispered. “I have a beast core inside of me, Ash. I… It’s really hard for me to talk about this… The Tardigrada part of me wants to hide, conceal itself… It was in the state of half-dreaming until you woke it fully when you pushed all that Qi into me from another core.”

“Big whoop,” I shrugged. “I expected something like this anyway. The fox-ears were kind of giving it away. This is a far more interesting background than inheriting kitsune DNA from your family. A murder mystery on an airship! A creature of the dunes from another world! Wowza. You’re cool.”

“Really?” Celes wiggled her ears.

“Really.” I nodded, petting her.

“Are you going to eat us?” Arianna demanded.

“I… got enough life out of Ash to repair the worst of the injuries. I should be okay from here,” Celes muttered. She didn't look okay.

Arianna glanced at me and then at Celes, her eyes shimmering with emerald Qi.

“Wait just a heartbeat… she ate most of the Dantian I gave you!” The highborn huffed. “Just freaking great!”

I started to laugh.