Kalahari was spared from complete annihilation due to the actions of Xinyu Ma, but the fact remained that it lay in ruin from the mere winds of godly power. Even weeks after the destructive battle, it remained a heap of crumbling sandstone walls and broken buildings, unable to rebuild itself. Of the roughly 100,000 people who had lived in the city before, only half remained. Some died during the initial encounter. Some succumbed to injury and disease in the weeks after. Some took the risk of leaving the city and trekking through the desert on foot. Some seemed to just disappear in the endless clouds of sand.
It was those who remained who were left to suffer.
Distraught citizens huddled around fires during the night, afraid and broken. They resided in torn houses, praying that they could scrounge enough food to survive the next day, though that hope waned with each setting sun. In a city sustained only by foreign trade, resources were as scarce as ever.
What little government Kalahari had fell apart the instant the city was destroyed, and factions from around the Southlands rushed in to claim the ruins as part of their territory. Settled around various points of the broken city, spats and deadly fights broke out between the warring groups, leaving the starving and injured citizens even more unsure of their future.
Casualties of the innocent rose by the day, yet few were able to travel out into the harsh desert, as it was almost impossible to gather up the supplies to last a trip out. It seemed Kalahari was fated to be just another lost city in the sandy Southlands.
…
Among the broken city, a cloaked man ran in the night, a sack strapped to his back and a sheathed dagger at his side. Cautiously, he prowled in the darkness, using heaps of rock for cover and avoiding all light. Patrols of armed men and women walked through every street, marked by symbols and uniforms of their respective factions. The clangs of metal and the wind of arrows livened the night as fights broke out every second the moon watched.
It was more dangerous to move than in the day, yet the man was swift enough to avoid conflict. His ears twitched at every sound, his body making each movement count. Often mistaken for a stray cat, he ran all the way to the remains of a shop, which sat broken and crumbling. It was too broken to provide shelter of any kind, and everything within had already been taken. The man looked around to make sure no one was watching, then hesitantly crept in.
Behind the counter, he unveiled a wooden hatch and climbed down the ladder into a secret basement which was lit dimly by lanterns on the stone walls. As he reached the bottom, there sat several other individuals, glancing at him fearfully at first, but reassuredly when he removed his mask. It was Epsilon, Cygnus's second in command.
"How's it looking?" Cygnus asked.
Epsilon shook his head. "Worse. More and more factions are arriving by the day, and the fights have gotten quite brutal. We've got to escape soon and make it back to the Westlands."
Epsilon threw the sack onto the floor, revealing some stale bread, chuncow cheese, and dried dactyl meat.
"Foods looking scarce, huh?" Samson asked.
"Indeed, which you should be grateful for," Epsilon said, sarcastically. "You really could use this diet."
"Now, now," Cygnus said. "At least we've got the means to get food at all. We've got to save every bit. If we don't find the cart within the next day, traversing the desert on foot might be our only option."
"It's probably been taken apart for scraps by now," Samson said. "And even if it hasn't, it's probably broken. It was on top of a building when everything began to collapse."
"Don't underestimate Westland engineering," Cygnus proudly said. "I designed that thing myself. There's no way it'd be destroyed so easily."
"My guess is it's under a heap of rubble," Epsilon said. "That'll make it even harder to find, especially since that giant Southern fellow's the only one who's been here. Even then, the city's too destroyed to be recognized, and it could have been tossed anywhere."
"Then I suppose we'll have to prepare for the worst," Cygnus said. He looked at Brax, who was lying in the corner. His injuries had been patched up, and he was relatively fine, but still had residual wounds from the encounter with the black witch.
"I'll be okay if yer worried about me," Brax said, sitting up. There were bags under his eyes, more than usual. His expression was blank. "I'm well enough to move if we gotta. Don't go waiting around on my account."
"How admirable," Cygnus admitted. "But we really don't have time to get back to the Westlands on foot. We need that cart. Who knows what's going on now that a god has been killed?"
"I saw it, yet I can't believe it happened," Samson said. "A god's death is simply unbelievable."
"Is it really?" Brax asked. "Xinyu said she was gonna expose the gods' secret, and she did just that. Plain n' simple."
"Hm, yes. I do wonder if she's still alive," Samson said.
"She is," Brax said. "I know that she is. I got faith."
"Faith… faith is all we can have now," Cygnus said. As his words trailed off, the sound of the hatch opening, then closing, could be heard once again. This time, a large, dark body climbed down the ladder.
"Welcome back, Kofi," Epsilon said. "It seems we're all accounted for now. Any luck?"
"No, unfortunately not," Kofi said. "I feel like I've searched under every broken building in this city, and yet I still can't find it."
"Then maybe it's time we split up," Cygnus said. "I didn't want to do it, but it looks as if we've got no choice. Some of us will remain here and search for the cart while the others will part on foot."
"That could prove fatal," Epsilon said. "Do we really have to take such a risk?"
"I don't see any other way out," Cygnus said, scratching his head.
"Wait. Did you hear that?" Epsilon asked, shushing the others. Footsteps could be heard overhead. Footsteps from a stranger. Without saying anything else, Cygnus motioned for the lanterns to be smothered as everyone grew still. The steps stopped for a moment right above them. Then came the sound of the hatch unlocking and its wooden hinges creaking upward. The party members began readying the magic in their bodies, their muscles tensing in the unbearable silence.
A silken slipper came down and placed itself on the ladder's first rail, then another on the second. An odd figure in pristine white clothes slowly descended, one that had a faint phosphorescence around it. The person's robes were too white to be anyone from the city, or more specifically, too clean after how many weeks had passed in dusty ruins. They were from elsewhere.
In the darkness, Kofi, Epsilon, and Cygnus slowly crept towards the ladder as silently as they could, Brax on standby behind them. When the intruder gently placed their feet on the bottom of the cellar, Epsilon threatened a dagger up to their head, and Cygnus manifested a bright star in the palm of his hand, ready to unleash it at any time. It lit up the room brightly, creating a sudden warmth in the frigid basement air and allowing them to see the stranger more clearly.
"Do not fret, I come in peace," a woman said in a calm, nurturing voice. She removed the hood from her head, and a foxy face lay underneath.
"And who might you be?" Epsilon asked, inching the dagger closer. "It's best you remove the mask as well."
"'Tis no mask, I fear," she said. "I am Kitsune, a friend of Arthur, and of Xinyu."
"Kitsune?" Cygnus asked. He dissipated his star and hurriedly walked up to the fox, curiously inspecting her all around. "That's a name only a trusted few in the kingdom know. The name of a spirit deity."
"Is it impertinent of me to ask that you lower your weapons?" Kitsune asked. "I'm not fond of hostility or violence."
Cygnus rubbed his chin, trying to examine every inch of the spirit. "Yes… It's exactly as Arthur told. You may be at ease, my friends. I'm confident she means no harm."
The rest of the group looked at each other and lowered their weapons and magic. They relit the lanterns, but remained subtly wary of the fox. Perhaps they were among the strongest individuals in the city, if not the strongest, but the fact remained that they couldn't waste their time fighting endless waves of depraved factions and bandits.
"You may come down, Musique," Kitsune said, beckoning another from above. Following her words, a short, effeminate boy sheepishly climbed down the ladder and almost tripped at the bottom. He frantically rebalanced himself and bowed, quietly saying something inaudible before averting his eyes.
"As I said, I am the Kitsune, a friend of Arthur and an acquaintance of the one you call Xinyu Ma," the fox spirit said. "And this is Musique, my son."
"So you're the great prophet Arthur was always talking about," Cygnus said. "From what I gathered, he considers you a dear friend. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Cygnus Rift, Constellation Scholar. The pleasure is mine," Kitsune said, bowing.
"When Arthur described you as a foxy figure, I wasn't expecting an actual fox," Cygnus said. "Regardless, while I'd love to exchange formalities further, we simply do not have time, so I must get straight to the point. Why are you here?"
"First, I must apologize because I used Xinyu to help my son retrieve an artifact," Kitsune said. "I never would have imagined things would turn out this way."
"So you were with Xinyu then?" Brax asked. "Where is she now?"
"You already know the answer. She's dead," Kitsune said, quietly, yet firmly. The room grew eerily hushed to the point where the only noise was the persistent flickering candle in the lantern. The faces of the weary group were stricken with a pale despair as they dejectedly averted their gazes. They'd had their sneaking suspicion that was the case based on the Merchant of Joy's final words and the visions they saw, but none of them wanted to believe it. To them, she was much more than a hero; she was their friend and trusted ally.
It was Brax who broke the silence.
"No, that can't be true!" he protested. "I know she wouldn't die… not without achieving her goal…"
"But she did achieve her goal," Kitsune said. "She wished to tell the world that gods could be killed and gave her life so that she could prove it. In doing so, she turned everything on its head, and I fear the situation will only get worse from here. That girl… I don't know whether she's shown us a new path, or doomed us even more than we were."
"We've been unable to leave this city for weeks and haven't heard a word as to what's going on in the world," Cygnus said, his voice low. "Just what has happened while we were twiddling our thumbs in this torn-down place?"
"Not long before Sango descended, a civil war broke out in the Westlands," Kitsune said. "In Wunderdum, a few hundred soldiers and Agents of Darkness attacked before Arthur had a chance to head north."
"No… is Arthur…?" Cygnus asked.
"Arthur is fine, but he currently has his hands full with a rebellion and never made it to the Northlands as he planned," Kitsune said. "As a result, the Northern king, Beowulf, has begun mobilizing his armies, using the opportunity to overtake the Westlands. As far as I know, they've only attacked once thus far, which seems to have been pushed back. Additionally, what's going on in this city is happening all over the Southlands. I don't know why the death of their greatest god incited such violence, but it seems the disjointed South has become a hellish state of factions fighting for territory. Soon, war will sweep across the entire world, sparing none from its fiery destruction."
"By the gods, it's worse than I could have imagined," Cygnus muttered.
"Indeed, and while humanity tears itself apart from the inside, its end approaches fast from the darkness in the distance," Kitsune continued. "The gods have acknowledged Sango's death and are preparing their armies to make their own attack on humanity. Normally, they would've already done so, but they're being cautious this time. The only reason you still exist is that Xinyu proved they could die, and that scares them. 'Tis a fear many of them had no idea existed."
"Do they know that the angels and Sango were corrupted? By that witch?" Epsilon asked.
"Most likely not. Which is why we must stop these wars," Kitsune said. "If we don't do something, everything will come to an end, and it begins with humanity. I've come to retrieve you because we need to meet with Arthur immediately."
"We've been trying to get back to the Westlands, but it could take months without our magic cart," Samson said.
"Worry not, for I know precisely where your vehicle lies," Kitsune said. "I would have come sooner, but Musique had expended too much energy trying to keep this city's people safe and became incapacitated as a result. I need him in good health, for he's a necessary asset in the fight for the future."
"Oho, it seems that luck isn't totally against us, after all," Cygnus said, clenching his fists. "If that's the case, then we're leaving this city immediately."
Chapter 7: Truly Gone
In the night sky, the cart soared over the Southland desert with Epsilon, Samson, Cygnus, Brax, Kofi, Musique, and Kitsune in tow. The rims of the vehicle were dented and dirty, its minokawa symbol faded with cracks in the crown, although the functionality of the machine was usable, to say the least. Each of them took turns imbuing the control orb with their energy so they could make it back as fast as possible and attempt to preserve their vitality while doing so. And while the intention may have been to get sleep and conserve energy, not a single one of their anxious souls could rest. With the first tides of war making their way to the shores of the world and great storms just beyond, what person could?
Of course, that wasn't the only thing that weighed upon their minds. There was something else. Something that weighed on Brax in particular, for he felt like he'd lost something incredibly valuable. A treasure forgone in the sandy winds of timeless eternity.
Brax hesitantly turned to Kitsune, whose faint glow gave the night some white shine. She looked at him, eloquent and divine in foxen-human form.
"Is she… is she really gone?" Brax managed to ask, though his voice was almost inaudible. His fists were clenched, wet on the inside, and shaking. He knew the answer, yet he denied it with all his being.
"Yes. The mortal known as Xinyu Ma has passed," Kitsune said. "I will not dulcify that fact. For your sake, and for hers."
"I didn't want to believe it either," Musique said, a melancholic, yet accepting look on his supple face. "She saved my life, and I never got the chance to repay her. I'm not sure I even thanked her. I didn't know her for long, but she was the first other human I ever talked to, and my first friend."
"You didn't find a body," Brax said. "She's alive. Ain't no way she isn't. She is."
"She's not," Kitsune said.
"She is," Brax said.
"She's not," Kitsune repeated curtly. "I'd grown fond of her as well, but if you don't accept it, you'll never be able to move forward. Do you really want to be stuck in place, unable to see the path to the future she paved? Is that not a direct opposition of what she stood for?"
"Heroes ain't supposed to die," Brax said, slamming his fist hard on the metal rails. "I never read a book before where the hero dies at the beginning."
"This isn't one of your books," Kitsune said. "From the day she arrived in my domain with a smile that challenged the heavens, I watched her run towards death. Though she never stopped grinning, I couldn't help but notice that forlorn stare in the back of her eyes. As the one closest to her, you surely saw it too. The pain she carried."
"So what? We've all got a sob story to tell," Brax said. "She had so much more to do. She wouldn't die without-"
"That's not true. She'd done all she set out to do and ended her story on her own terms," Kitsune said. "She fought against fate and won. Do you get it, mortal? She worked so hard and subverted my prophecy. That itself shouldn't have been possible. Don't you think she deserves to rest now?"
"She didn't have a choice," Brax said. "She was going to die regardless, right?"
"She could have survived, but she chose to die," Kitsune said. "It was my plan to have her escape fate, yet she chose to stay for humanity. No, that's not right. She chose to stay for you guys. She killed a god for you. Can you even begin to understand the implications of that? Not even I, one of their great creations, knew that death was a possibility. I doubt she knew definitively either; she probably just had a feeling."
"You're saying she did it on a whim?" Brax asked.
"Who knows?" Kitsune asked. "But not even my prophecies were capable of foreseeing that outcome. And now, the era of divination is over. It seems she'd somehow steered humanity from its original fate into a timeline of uncertainty. Of chaos. Whether it's for better or for worse, it's up to us, those who are left, to pick up the pieces. The pieces she, the Merchant of Joy, shattered the world into and entrusted to us to rebuild. And the world, mind you, is still falling apart as we know it. Soon, war will encompass all, and whether we brave it or succumb to self-destruction is solely up to whoever chooses to rise up. We can't get hung up on a single death. Isn't that what you've done, all your life?"
As Kitsune trailed off and her words turned to thoughts, Brax didn't say anything. Instead, Musique got up, walked over, and sat beside Brax. He seemed to be weak in nature, but at heart, he was a boy who simply wanted to do what he thought was right. A kind soul.
"I really wish we could have seen a Seren concert together like we agreed," he lamented, looking off into the endless nothing yonder. "Honestly, I don't want to believe she's dead either. Like a shooting star across the midnight sky, she flew fast and burned even faster. In that time, she showed me what courage was. After all, I never would have gotten this if she hadn't shown up."
Musique brought out the golden flute from the underground city. It had a bird engraved as the mouthpiece and perfectly pierced holes going down its body.
"Say, I think that voice called this thing a phoenix flute," Musique said. "And if I'm not mistaken…"
"Yes, it can bring back people from the dead," Kitsune said before he could finish the thought. She turned her head and began gazing out of the cart, languidly looking at the desert that was dark as the ocean at night. The stars may have shone from above, but below, there was only dunes of black.
"The voice said it had one use left, so maybe…" Musique started, then paused.
"Musique," Kitsune said. "I know you'd figured its purpose and were looking for a chance to suggest we use its last usage on her."
"If you knew, then why did you wait so long to say anything?" Musique asked. "It's rash, but doesn't using it to bring back the only one who could slay gods back to life seem like our best option?"
"We can't because it's not an option at all," Kitsune said. "Brax, you know best. What kind of magic did Xinyu use? She told you to keep it a secret, but it's okay to reveal it now. The dead don't have any secrets worth protecting."
Brax hesitated, but realizing all eyes were on him, he gave in. He thought she'd hardly care if she truly was gone.
"She used god magic," Brax said. "Stolen magic from Eastland gods, I think she said. I s'pose that's why she was so strong. When she told me, I wasn't sure if I believed her for certain, but I can say that I didn't think she was lyin' either. Course, after seein' what she'd done, I know for sure now."
"That's the type of magic she dabbled in?" Cygnus asked in astonishment. His eyes were wide with that wondrous, curious stare. "I never would have imagined a mortal could use god magic! I knew something was strange about it, but that's not what I was expecting. If I knew, I would have asked many more questions, like how she was able to do such a thing and-"
"Mortals can use the same magic of the gods if they are taught," Kitsune said. "Musique has his own form of divine magic, but it's not any more special than humankind's fire spells or physical enhancement magic. The difference between the magic of humans and gods is the quantity and quality of their magic. First of all, gods have virtually limitless magic compared to humans. Secondly, the feel of divine magic is different. It's similar to how humankind's magic is different from nature's inherent magic."
"If you're that versed in the magic arts of gods, then you should have known that the gods held destructible bodies, no?" Cyngus asked.
"No, I never could have imagined," Kitsune said. "I always thought of them as inherent properties of the world's infinite magic, not users of it. Magic properties that could be rebuilt no matter what. Many of them held elemental powers, so it would not be so odd to consider them embodiments of such. It appears that the theory was wrong."
"Still, that doesn't change the fact that there ain't no one else with the power to fight them," Brax said. "Dragons and ants can both be killed, but ants don't really got a chance of killin' a dragon. If there were an ant that could, wouldn't it be a good idea to bring them back?"
"Would she really want to be brought back?" Kitsune asked.
"Does it really matter? She's the only chance we've got, isn't she?" Musique asked.
"I'd be inclined to agree, had I not known the truth behind her," Kitsune said. "She did not have magic of her own. She alone was the only living being in history to be born without innate magic; a genetic mutant, if you will. That defect should have rendered her the weakest, yet somehow led her to become the strongest."
"A being without magic?" Cygnus asked. "That should be impossible. All living things have magic. It's our very life force. If that's the case, it would demolish many modern theories on biology."
"It's strange, but true," Kitsune said. "The odds of something like that happening are so marginally small, yet it was bound to happen someday."
"I never knew she was fighting against such odds," Kofi said.
"She had an ability that transcended all of us," Kitsune said. "And now her story is done. Even if we brought her back, we'd only end up soiling her legacy and wasting this one-shot item on a fleeting emotion."
"How can you know that for sure?" Brax asked. "Isn't she the one who said she'd return if we needed her?"
"Not long before Sango arrived, I had a personal conversation with Xinyu," Kitsune said. "And it's for that reason that I know reviving her isn't in our interests, or hers."
"Just what're you tryin' to say?" Brax asked.
"See the visions of my own memories, and you shall see why Xinyu Ma is not the chosen one to be resurrected by the flute's song," Kitsune said, her prophetic magic seeping into her allies' minds with a recollection from several weeks prior.