Revelations had one hell of a rejuvenating ability. Every bit of hopelessness was gone in an instant, replaced by a sense of determination that seemed to radiate from the people in the room. Hazel walked towards the Watsons eagerly.
"Kitsune are great at illusions, but they'll still leave behind traces of their tampering," she approached Luca. "How did you get the request for this 'migration project' in the first place?"
"It came to us in the form of a missive. The same one you just saw," Luca replied. "Hang on, I still have it here."
Hazel tilted her head, staring at the light red envelope that the man pulled out from a nearby drawer.
"Isn't it supposed to disappear after the message is read?" she asked. "Its colour looks slightly different too."
"Only those harbouring confidential information disappear after they are read. This missive isn't one of them because it's just a proof of the project," Ava said. "As for its colour, it was raining the night we received this, so we just assumed the rainwater had simply discoloured the missive."
Liam stared at the missive for a few more seconds before raising a glowing finger. Orange magic lit up the veins on his fingers.
"Ostendo."
The orange light left his fingers, beaming warmly on the envelope like a weak flashlight. Hazel watched in awe as the missive blurred before her eyes, as though it was a video running on lower graphics.
It transformed into a floating green ball of fire.
"What the hell is that?" Liam put down his hand, staring at the emerald fireball.
"Foxfire..." Hazel breathed, recalling the similar depictions in the books back at home. "You've been tricked. This whole thing must've been the Kitsune's plan in the first place to smuggle itself into America."
Luca shook his head slightly. "That doesn't add up. How would it have known that the cages would be broken by that Jubokko? If the accident didn't happen, he would still be stuck in its cage."
"Except that he never was," Liam reminded him. "Komyo was already out and about by then, which means he was never locked up in the first place."
Hazel lowered her head, trying her best to recall any other details about the night the monsters broke free. The Jubokko was wreaking havoc while Chester and Luca fought it off. But they were losing because their magic simply went through it as though it wasn't there. It wasn't until...
"Dogs..." she breathed. "The dogs didn't scare away the Jubokko; they scared away the Kitsune! My god... There was no Jubokko in the first place; the entire thing was a ploy to free the other monsters. Komyo must've cast the entire illusion!"
Liam reeled at the revelation. "Jesus Christ, he's that powerful? What have we gotten ourselves into? If that Kitsune doesn't like what we have to say, he could very well erase us from existence with a wave of his hand. Or paw, whatever."
"Well, then we better choose our words wisely," Hazel said. "But here comes our biggest problem. How are we going to find Komyo? He just comes and goes whenever he wants."
"If there's someone who can give us a clue, it'll probably be one of these Yokai." Ava looked at the containers. "Too bad they can't talk very well."
Liam exhaled loudly, making everyone stare at him.
"Well, there is one Yokai who can talk well enough." He looked up with a dark look in his eyes. "And she's on the loose as well. Guess I can't give up my duties quite just yet."
A buzzing sound interrupted him.
Hazel fished out her vibrating phone. "Pops? Oh crap, it's almost seven in the evening already!"
Luca snapped his fingers in quick succession, conjuring a row of screens around the room that looked straight out of a Bond spy movie. Red lightning also burst from Ava's fingers, lighting up the screens with glyphs and complicated-looking charts.
"We'll start the search." Ava nodded at Hazel. "Go on home; we'll let you know if we find something. Don't let your family worry about you."
Hazel nodded reluctantly and headed for the exit.
~ ~ ~
"Pops!"
Hazel pushed open her house door with slightly more force than she had intended. Her grandfather usually didn't mind her coming home a little late; something must have happened for him to see the need to call her in the first place—
"Oh..."
The girl relaxed her body as she entered the house. At least he seemed alright. "You didn't cook dinner tonight."
Grandfather was sitting at the dining table with a sober look on his face.
"You're back." He smiled warmly at her. "It's about time."
"Time for what?"
"To return your memories."
Hazel's mouth hung open. "What brought that on all of a sudden?"
"Your involvement with the supernatural world."
Her stomach jumped to her mouth. All of a sudden, she felt like a little girl being caught red-handed in the middle of a prank again. Hazel's limbs jerked around as though she was a life-sized puppet, gesticulating wildly.
"I— Uh— I didn't see the need to let you know—" she stammered. "I'm sorry I kept this from you— I mean, uhm— Oh no..."
Grandfather chuckled again. "It's very alright, Hazel. I had an inkling you were up to something these few days anyway. Well, at least you aren't involved in anything illegal."
Hazel sighed in relief.
"I... I'm sorry, Hazel. All these years, you spent them alone. No parents, no playmates to grow up with. Perhaps that's why you developed a playful nature in the first place. And I..."
He shook his head. "I even kept your memories locked away. You missed out on your childhood because I wasn't brave enough to let you face the world."
Hazel held his hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "Pops, I never blamed you. Thank you. Thank you for keeping me safe all this time."
"I truly am sorry, but we must look forward. The bill is long due and it is time I pay it." Grandfather raised a glowing finger aimed right at the middle of Hazel's head. "Are you ready?"
The girl nodded firmly. "Ready as I'll ever be, Pops."
"This might sting a little; it's been ten years after all." Yellow light flickered in Grandfather's eyes as his fingers trembled slightly. "No matter what happens, focus on my voice. Alright?"
His lips thinned with concentration.
A loud crack split the air as though thunder had just cracked just beside Hazel's ears. A moment later, pain roared in her skull. The girl gasped, clutching her head immediately.
Did I just get hit by lightning?
A second blinding pain thudded through her whole face, crackling down her spine. It was only then that she realised she was indoors and there was no way in hell she could've been struck by lightning.
The third impact in her chest felt like some maniac had decided to drive an electric drill through her heart after shooting her in the chest. Someone screamed in the distance. Someone familiar. A woman... And a man.
Mum—
Hazel fell to her knees, trying to crane her neck to the source of the sound. She tried to call to them, but something else seemed to be playing her vocal cords like its own guitar. For a moment, she was floating, weightless as a leaf. And the next, she found herself on the ground again, her limbs heavier than lead.
Images flashed before her eyes like a bad film reel, bathed in emerald light.
"Let me go! Mummy, Daddy! Someone help me! Please, anyone!"
"Keep her still, dammit! I can't extract her magic if she keeps struggling!"
All around her were unfamiliar adults. She wasn't sure what she'd done to deserve this, but they were all glaring meanly at her. Tears streamed down her face as she begged for mercy through distressed babbling. What did she do wrong? Why were they punishing her?
"Ugh, this will have to do. Her body is too damn small for this to work properly!"
She screamed in fear as one of them raised a stake-sized nail above his head. Pain shot through her entire body as he plunged it into her chest.
Another bomb shook her head. The memory changed.
She was flying this time. But instead of clouds, she was soaring through a stream of rainbow-coloured rain.
Foreign sensations brushed through her formless being, tastes and smells forming cloud-like trails all around her. She couldn't feel any of her senses, although there was a vague sense of awareness growing within her. Someone or something was ferrying her somewhere.
Another blow struck her whole body, sending her crashing onto the ground. Distantly, she could hear herself wailing— in the present, that is. But it was quickly drowned out by voices of both past and future; some of them familiar, some of them foreign.
"Curse you... Curse you, Union! Hazel... Oh, my dear, sweet Hazel... Forgive me."
"Komyo isn't the Kitsune? What's going on? Hazel, HAZEL!"
"Ngh..." Hazel convulsed on the floor, green light leaking out of her orifices as millions of visions flashed uncontrollably in her mind's eye.
The stress contorted her body. Her lungs clamped up. Her fists clenched up involuntarily in her seizure. She could see everything, and it was quite literally crushing the life out of her.
"Hazel, focus on me. Don't let it possess you... Focus on my voice."
The voice felt familiar, although she couldn't remember who it belonged to. But it felt comforting, and something from deep within her knew she could trust it.
Hazel steadied her breathing, directing every mote of her concentration on the voice. Someone was holding her hand tightly too, and she knew the voice belonged to him. So she gripped on like a drowning child clinging to a life buoy.
The fog clouding her sight began to clear as her house slowly came back into focus.
"That's it... That's it. Pops is here; focus on Pops' voice..."
Hazel blinked slowly as the emerald lens lifted itself from her vision. She looked at her grandfather blankly, panting like she had just sprinted a whole marathon. Grandfather stared back with worry-filled eyes, still holding her in his arms.
"Thank... you, Pops." The girl got to her feet gingerly. "That was... intense."
She touched her temple, closing her eyes. Her mind felt like it had just been beaten by a dozen sledgehammers, but it never felt clearer. There was no longer any vague sense of loss in her memories. She recalled everything now, from the magical journeys her parents brought her on to the day her life was snuffed out by those 'mean-looking adults'.
There was also another sensation within her that could only be described as familiar yet alien. Familiar in the sense that it was related to her innate clairvoyant abilities, yet alien in the sense of how much detail she could now take in. Hazel was still hesitant to tap into that power, but she felt as though she could see a lot more than just the future if she did.
Something stirred in her mind. Hazel paused momentarily, deciding to listen to what it had to say.
Unfortunately, it must have changed its own mind, because the feeling evaporated the moment she focused on it. All that was left was the memory of one of her visions. That made no sense either. She must have remembered them wrongly in all that chaos. After all, she'd already figured out who the Kitsune was, didn't she?
"You alright, dear?" Grandfather asked in a concerned tone, putting his hand to her forehead. "Oh thank the heavens, your body isn't burning anymore."
Hazel nodded slowly.
"Look, Pops. I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything earlier," she began. "The truth is, I found out that two of my classmates were Magus only two days ago because they saved me from a Yokai attack. But I—"
A beeping sound interrupted her. Hazel pulled out her phone and opened the text message. It was from Liam.
"We have the Yokai's location, but she may not linger. See you in the tent soon?"
Hazel closed her phone with a resounding snap as she turned to her grandfather. That was some rotten timing.
"I'm sorry, Pops. But I have to go. I promise I'll tell you everything when I get back."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ73j3NQS5Tc
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