Harry's office was bathed in a cozy twilight, lit only by the soft crackling of the magical torches on the walls. The scent of freshly brewed jasmine tea floated in the air, mingling with the smell of ancient parchment.
After spending an entire day exploring the dimension and watching little Yuki run through the gardens alongside the magical creatures, Shirayuki had requested to speak with him. The elder Kitsune sat across from Harry with an elegance that seemed divine, despite her simple clothes. Her eyes, golden and deep, held a wisdom that is only acquired through extreme suffering.
"Before I was a prisoner, Harry, I was a priestess in the great temple of Amaterasu," Shirayuki began. Her voice was like ancient silk, soft but woven with threads of steel. "I lived in the West Yokai Faction, under the mandate of the Great Lady Yasaka. My life was spent between purification rituals, prayers to the sun, and maintaining the balance between the spiritual and earthly worlds. It was an existence full of light... until I made the most beautiful and dangerous mistake of all: I fell in love with a human."
Harry leaned forward, setting his teacup on the desk. He could see Shirayuki's fingers trembling slightly as she stroked the edge of her robe.
"He was a simple man, a scholar who sought to understand the mysteries of the world without ambition for power. On one of our visits to the realm of men, when spring was at its peak, darkness found us. We were ambushed by a coalition of fallen angels and renegade demons. They were not seeking justice or territory; they were seeking laboratory material. They killed him before my eyes, Harry. They did it slowly, just to see how much agony my heart could endure before breaking. And when they thought I could suffer no more, they dragged me to their underground facilities."
Shirayuki closed her eyes, and Harry felt a gust of icy air sweep through the room, as if the Kitsune's memories were chilling the present.
"There, between walls of cold metal and lights that never went out, they discovered that my womb held a life. I was pregnant. That, which should have been a blessing, became my greatest condemnation. They performed atrocious tests on me for months; they injected poisons and dark energies into my bloodstream to observe how the fetus reacted. They wanted to see if a new life could be corrupted before taking its first breath. The laboratories were not cells; they were slaughterhouses of hope where time did not exist."
Harry clenched his fists under the desk, feeling a dull rage grow in his chest as he imagined the cruelty of those beings who called themselves superior.
"I saw warriors of proud races pass before my eyes, beings who were legends in their own worlds, turned into nothing more than numbered test subjects. Some died screaming on surgery tables, others simply disappeared during the night, leaving behind only the rancid smell of ozone and blood. But the worst... the worst was when Yuki was born. Since their experiments in my womb failed to kill us, they decided she was the key to creating their 'super-demons.' They wanted to distill her mystical essence, force her growth, and mix her pure Kitsune blood with the poison of the abyss."
Shirayuki paused, and for a moment, a lone tear ran down her cheek before being evaporated by the heat of her own magic.
"To see my daughter, so small and fragile, being the center of their twisted curiosity... it was an agony that no flame could equal. Yuki was born with two tails, a sign of her latent strength that only served to make them even crueler. I stayed alive only to be her shield. I became a shadow of what I was, allowing them to do with me whatever they wanted as long as she had a familiar face, a warm embrace among so many monsters. There were nights when I thought about surrendering, about letting the void claim us both."
Harry swallowed hard, feeling that his own past in the cupboard under the stairs was child's play compared to Shirayuki's hell.
"When they finally decided we were a failed project, they discarded us like broken tools. They sold us to the Goblins. And here, Harry, is where something I never expected happened. Although those beings treated us like merchandise and put us in a cage to be auctioned, I owe them my daughter's life. The Goblins, seeing Yuki's traumatic state, whose mind was fragmented by fear, used their mental magic to seal and erase from her memory every second spent in those laboratories. Even though we are merchandise to them, I am deeply grateful. Thanks to that unexpected gesture of mercy, she can once again be that lively and cheerful girl running through your gardens; today, when I spoke with her, she only remembers being locked in the laboratories but nothing more. They saved us from total madness before delivering us to you."
Shirayuki looked up, fixing her gaze on Harry. The intensity of her presence was overwhelming. Harry could feel the gratitude emanating from her, but also a silent warning about how dangerous the outside world was.
"I tell you this, Harry Potter, because you need to know that the world outside this dimension is much darker than your magic books suggest. There are forces that will stop at nothing to get what they want. But I also tell you so you understand why Yuki follows you as if you were the sun itself. You didn't just give us a roof and food; you gave us a purpose and safety. You have returned to us the dignity that was taken from us in blood."
Harry remained silent for a long time, processing every word. His mind traveled through the implications of what Shirayuki had said. The factions, the fallen angels, the experiments... The global panorama was terrifying. But at the same time, he felt a renewed resolve. If his dimension could be the refuge for beings who had suffered so much, then it was worth any sacrifice to protect it.
"Thank you for trusting me, Shirayuki," Harry finally said, his voice thick with sincerity. "I can't promise you the world will stop being dangerous, but I can promise you that as long as I draw breath, no one will ever lay a hand on you again. This place is your home, and here, Yuki can grow without shadows in her heart."
Shirayuki nodded, and for the first time in the entire conversation, a true peace reflected on her face. She stood up with infinite grace, giving a slight bow before heading to the door. As she left, Harry was left alone with his thoughts, looking out the window where the sun of his dimension was beginning to set, staining the sky violet and gold, swearing to himself that he would never let that light go out.