The New World: Memories of a Forgotten Age (Pt 3)

“Are you sure you want to go?” I heard Mike ask, from behind me.

It was the next day, and I had told Mike that I was going to Janet’s place for a while. I neglected to mention the oncoming transformation. It was after breakfast, and the transformation was scheduled for an hour from now. I had my backpack on, filled with a few resources, just in case anything happened. I knew what I was doing was risky. But I couldn’t let Janet down.

“Yeah.” I replied, walking up to the door. “I’ll see you later, okay?” I said, my tails flicking a little behind me as I smiled softly.

He nodded. “Stay safe, then.” He said. He gave me a slight look of suspicion, and then sighed, turning back to the kitchen and looking over his things.

I honestly felt kind of bad. I didn’t even know what Mike occupied his time with… I sighed, shaking my head, before heading out.

It was raining. I recoiled as the pelts of rain hit my forehead, and grimaced. I should, in all honesty, have some kind of raincoat, shouldn’t I? I began to walk pretty quickly, my tails flicking behind me as the rain droplets entrenched themselves in my fur.

The streets were comparatively emptier than usual, with only one or two others going about their daily business—probably due to their jobs, since anyone with a rational mind that wasn’t immune to rain (or perhaps even enjoyed it) was inside.

The downpour intensified. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to stay out here without catching a cold. Cursing my luck, I began to run, as lightning crashed in the sky overhead.

I flinched, moments before a MUCH louder crash overhead was heard. I fell flat on my face, my ears twitching and flattening on my head as I gripped them, cringing. Oh gods, I could feel the sound reverberating through my very bones.

This kind of weather was incredibly unusual. I retreated to a nearby alleyway that had shelter, my hands still over my ears as my legs trembled slightly, gritting my teeth.
That was when I saw her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the light in the middle of the road nearby begin to refract, small streams flowing around… Something. No, it wasn’t light. It was water. Thin, streams of water, almost beam like in quality. Then, footsteps, padding in the rain. A girl with incredibly pale, almost white skin was taking a leisure walk through the rain. She had flowing white robes, and light blue hair flowing down her back. The rain was hitting some kind of spherical barrier around her, which is what was causing the weird light refractions.

In fact… It looked less like some barrier, and more like she was bending the rain around her, creating rather odd imagery. I glanced at her, my ears still ringing from the lightning, just as another bolt of lightning struck. I whimpered, and cringed, falling to my knees and gripping my ears.

I glanced upwards, my thighs trembling a little, to see the woman looking directly at me.
We locked eyes for a moment, and I instantly KNEW she was some kind of divine entity. I stood, my knees shaking a little, blinking slightly. The woman was holding her hand out towards me.

Was she offering some kind of shelter? I didn’t know how long I could last with the sound around me… There was only so much my ears could take. I knew it was a risky move, but I quickly walked forward as fast as I could without tripping.

I stopped directly outside of the weird barrier she’d constructed around her. We looked at each other for another moment, as if invisible sparks of energy were soaring between us.

The woman raised an intrigued eyebrow, motioning inwards with a finger. I began to move, but before I put my foot down, another bolt of lightning struck—much closer than the others. I squealed a little and stumbled forward, gripping onto the first thing I could find in front of me.

I trembled a little, my eyes closed tightly shut. Then… It was as if the sound of the rain faded around me. A strange, ringing silence filled the air, my ears cautiously rising upwards a little, swivelling around to get the full sonic scope. All the sound from the rain had dulled; it was as if I’d stepped inside of a building.

I opened my eyes, blinking a little as my vision had become rather blurry because of how tightly shut they were. That was when I realised I was resting my head against something soft. I glanced upwards, and saw the woman’s face, looking down at me with a slightly amused expression. Her eyes were vibrantly coloured; staring into them felt like looking into the stormclouds above.

I then realised exactly where my face was pressed against.

My cheeks flushed red, as I squeaked in surprise and embarrassment, letting go of her and falling back, my head passing through the barrier as I did so, the sound of the intense rain flooding back into my ears, as I fell on my rear.

“Sorry! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!” I repeated, breathing heavily, my hair sprawled in a mess over the pavement.

“You’re fine.” She chuckled, kneeling down and offering her hand to help me up. “It was a misunderstanding.”

I stared at the hand for a moment, before quickly grabbing it. She helped me back onto my feet, as the weird force field or… Whatever it was, expanded to encompass two people.

“Are you okay?” She asked, not really looking at me, and more at the road ahead of her.

“Uh… Y…Y-Yeah…” I nodded. I was drenched, and the water going through my tailfur irritated me a little, but I wasn’t gonna complain about it. “T…Thanks.”

The girl began walking forward. I quickly began walking alongside her, not wanting to get lost out in the rain again, especially with the thunderstorm intensifying.

“W-Where are you heading?” I said, grabbing one of my tails and running a hand through it to get the water out as we walked.

“A place that is a few blocks from here.” She said, simply.

“Ah… M-Me too…” I said quietly. “H…How are you doing that thing with the water?”

She simply chuckled in response. “You already know the answer to that, little one.”
I tilted my head in response. “…Some kinda… Water deity, right?”

She nodded. “Divine Ocean Dragon.” She said, simply.

“—Whoa!” I took a step to the side, turning around to get a better look at her as we walked. “You guys are rare! Even the non-divine kind!” I exclaimed.

“So are Kitsune.” She pointed out, raising an eyebrow. “Divine Kitsune, at that.”

I furrowed my brow, giving her a bit of a look. “…Divine?”

The girl stopped, and turned to look at me. “…The fabric of your very being vibrates with divine energy. Do you not know this?” She said, with a piercing stare.

“….” I glanced downwards, avoiding her gaze. I only had three tails out of nine—but that meant I was already a third of the way there. I should have expected something like this.

“…So. Either touched by a Deity, or a deity in disguise. But either you play the part of a dullard well, or you are genuinely clueless about what is going on with your body.” She said, folding her arms.

“I… Uhh… Th…T-The latter.” I said, scratching behind my head, embarrassed.

“So it seems.” She turned around and continued to walk. I quickly followed, now curious as to the extent of her divine ability.

“I found an, uh… An ancient artefact, yeah. It’s been doing things to my body.” I said. If she could detect lies; that should throw her on a loop, because it was a mere half-truth.
“I see. May I inquire what kind of things?” She said.

“Well, uh… I used to be a human guy.”

“Fascinating. You seem to have adapted to the change well.”

“T-Thanks, I guess?” I chuckled a little.

We both fell silent for a while. I couldn’t really bring myself to look at her in full, feeling like a nervous wreck.

“Why are you out here in our town, anyway?” I asked.

“A colleague of mine requested me to oversee forthcoming events.” She replied.

“Forthcoming events?”

“Yes.”

She didn’t elaborate further. I leaned back, glancing up at the sky. “Maaan… Why did it have to thunderstorm on a day like today…”

“Who knows? The rain god must have enacted it, or it was some localized event.” She said.
“Rain god, huh…” I slid my hands into my jacket pocket as we continued to walk. “…Wonder what it’s like. Being a god, I mean…”

“It is an experience felt, not said.” She replied.

“…Were you a god, once?”

“…No.” She said.

I blinked slightly. Something about her response felt… Off, to me. “So… You’re just a Divine Dragon, then.”

She nodded. “Yes. Nowhere near god-level in terms of power.”

“…Is… That what I’m becoming?” I inquired.

“…You have untapped potential. There is nothing indicating the heights of power you could attain having a limitation.” She said.

“You’re kidding.”

“I am not.”

“…”

“You are an interesting specimen.”

“…Thanks.” I sighed, lowering my head. I had no idea what she meant by that. I fell silent, my curiosity sated for now as we continued to walk. I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d say if I had anything to ask, anyway.

Finally, we were standing outside Janet’s house in a rather awkward silence.
“…Curious.” The ocean dragon said, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. “It appears that this was both our destinations.”

I rubbed behind the back of my neck, chuckling a little. “I guess so…”

The woman walked up to the door and knocked on it. A few moments passed, before Janet’s mom opened the door! “Ah, you’re here! Come in, come in—Oh, you bought Naema along with you too. Fantastic!” Janet’s mom stepped aside, letting us through.

I took a deep breath once inside, the lack of cold air comforting. “Thanks.” I said, shivering a bit at the temperature change as the ocean dragon offered a handshake. “I’ll be your mediator today.” She said, with a smile.

“Of course.” Janet’s mom said, inclining her head respectfully before heading into the kitchen that was connected to the living room. “Feel free to have a seat. Would you like anything to drink?” She asked.

I walked into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. “Ah, some tea would be fantastic, thanks…” I said.

“Do you have any coffee?” The ocean dragon said, sitting on the opposite couch.

“Yeah, I can do that. So… Two teas and one coffee, coming up!” Janet’s mom said, getting to work. “Oh, before we get started, may I know your name?”

“It’s Lya.” She said, leaning back and relaxing her shoulders.

“You said you’d be mediating. Am I to presume that the events will occur as I had requested?” Janet’s mom asked.

“Yeah. The favours helped in securing the transformation. She should be here in a couple minutes.”
“Fantastic.”

I tilted my head. I felt like asking if they’d arranged something special, but the answer to that was obvious.

The sound of footsteps in the doorway behind me signalled the arrival of Janet, hair still wet from a morning shower. “Oh! Hey!” She said, smiling a bit.

I waved a little. “Yo.”

She came and sat down next to me, looking fairly nervous, but confident. “And you’re the one who’s changing me, right?” she said to Lya, who shook her head.

“No, she’s on her way.” Lya said. “I am but a simple observer.”

“How come?”

“These matters require an impartial record-taker. That’s my job. To document.” She said, simply.

“Ah, I see… May I ask who’s coming, then?” Janet said, shifting a little nervously.
“Your mother wishes it to be a surprise.” Lya replied.

“…Huh… Wonder who it could be?” Janet rubbed her chin a little, before sighing, turning to me and giving me a look over.

“…You smell like wet dog.” She said, bluntly, before smirking.

“Wet tails can do that.” I chuckled. “But they’re mostly dry now… Thanks to Lya’s magic earlier. Or—whatever that was.” They’d been out of the rain long enough to where they were only damp.

‘…This energy.’ Illaena spoke up.

‘Good morning, Illaena. You’ve been quiet lately.’ I replied, casually.

‘I have been focusing on other things. Sorry for the bruise on your shoulder.’ She said.
I was about to ask ‘what bruise’, when running a hand over my right shoulder revealed a bruised spot that was beginning to form, causing me to wince in surprise.

‘Ow! What the—‘

‘No time for that. We need to get out of here. Now.’ Illaena’s tone was urgent.

‘I can’t leave. Janet’s depending on me.’

‘Are you serious? I’m telling you to go! Now! Before she—‘

‘Before WHO?’

‘…’

Illaena fell silent.

I shook my head a bit.

“Naema, is there something wrong?” Janet asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No, just--… Didn’t get enough sleep last night.” I said, sighing a little.

There was a knock at the door. A loud knock, causing me to jump a little.

“That would be her.” Lya smiled, standing up and walking over to the door.

“Oh man, you guys are gonna LOVE this. You never thought you were gonna see a real god in person outside of school, yeah?” Janet’s mom grinned widely.

“…Real god?” I said, my ears flattening a bit, just as Lya opened the door.

A foreboding feeling swept over me, my legs turning to jelly as I realised just who was standing at the door.

The woman smiled softly, stepping into the house. “Ah, Kara. It has been a while, has it not?” She said, her voice angelic.

Though her body shimmered white, I knew that this being only meant trouble.

“Myria.” Janet’s mom nodded, smiling as she walked over to her, offering a handshake. “It has been a long time indeed.”