Kat jogged forward with Shizuka in her arms hardly noticing the increased weight when after about 30 minutes of running a coppery red started to bleed into Shizuka's fur. *Um, is this a good thing? Shizuka seemed to think she had red hair, but she was also concerned she looked nothing like her mother… Is this an improvement or not?* Kat sighed as she jogged.
*Honestly when I promised to protect Shizuka I didn't think I'd need to protect her from herself. Or maybe I'm the one going crazy… I wonder how the contract factors into that, like if someone tries to compel me to hurt her. No matter just keep running Kat, you can get your answers once she wakes up.*
And so Kat continued her jogging unaware of the passage of time until her passenger stirred in her hands. Carefully placing her off to the side Kat watched as Shizuka slowly woke herself up when suddenly Shizuka's eyes snapped open and she stood up.
"Finally, I'm no longer trapped in her head" shouted Shizuka? with her hands on her hips staring at the ceiling.
"Um, what are you talking about?" asked Kat. Shizuka?'s eyes flashed to Kat before she let out a long sigh.
"It's complicated Kat, really complicated" said Shizuka?
"Soo, are you the same person or not? And am I supposed to be protecting you or is this a problem" said Kat somewhat confused
"Well, it's a bit of a long story, I am Shizuka and she is Shizuka but we are not the same person, or maybe we are? I'm not sure anymore, this wasn't supposed to happen, and it really screwed with her head. Hmmm, ok for simplicity let's call the other one Major and myself Minor, that sounds fun and will help you understand things as I explain them" said Minor
Kat simply watched Minor expectantly.
"Right, right, further explanation. Ok so I died, or maybe she did? Hmm let's start from the beginning. Originally there were two of us, twins, mum had two daughters Shizuru and Haruka. I was one of the two, um I think I was Haruka, I'm not quite sure it's hard to explain.
"Anyway that's not the point. There were two of us until we were attacked, assassins were sent to the palace with orders to kill my sister and me. At the time we shared a room, so they only had one place to sneak into. I'm not quite sure how the snuck in even to this day but clearly something went wrong and my grandmother burst into the room before they could finish us off, so they just used their mana to combust themselves on the spot. The explosion nocked me, or Haruka out and pretty much killed Shizuru" said Minor
"Right, but that doesn't explain" Kat gestured vaguely in Minor's direction "this whole thing"
Laughing Minor continued "Right, so well, sorry I get a bit scatterbrained, it's really hard to hold my thoughts together now that they are so much more free. Sidetracking right never mind. So my Grandmother was already there and she quickly picked us both up and rushed us somewhere deep in the castle and began to set up a strange formation. I woke up, or Haruka did, still complicated, and I mean I am getting there, it's just… right so Haruka woke up and Grandmother explained that she could save us, one of us, and I, I think, decided to save my sister. It was explained that everything that I was would be used in the formula to heal Shizuru's body and soul and that I'd die, but the choice had to be made willing or we'd both die instead"
"Anyway something went wrong, Major, or Shizuru, maybe I think… woke up but she knew something was wrong, she could feel Haruka dying and decided to try and keep me around. Well…. That didn't work quite as well as one might hope, when Shizuru decided to hang on to both of us, we sort of combined a bit but we also split? It's really hard to understand Kat. Anyway, Major seemed to get the biggest parts of both our personalities, sadly I was a bundle of worry and insecurities so Major got most of those, and I seemed to be scraped together from what's left" said Minor. Kat stared at Minor unsure of what to say, mind reeling with the implications of the story.
*What am I even supposed to think about that. What the hell am I supposed to do? Anything? Nothing?*
"What happens now?" said Kat
"Well I didn't quite finish my story Kat, see Major had a few problems, well more than a few problems. Because she took so much of myself with her I was very tiny at the start, hardly a fragment of what once was, and so I couldn't do much at the time, that came later. Major on the other hand was freaking out because she felt like she was responsible for her sisters death, but also that she was dead, and then she had all of Haruka's petty childhood insecurities suddenly thrust upon her and she snapped a little. Just a wee bit.
"Anyway one of the major sticking points causing these issues was my insecurity regarding the fact that I didn't think mum was my mum you know? I looked so different and she always seemed so much cooler than me. Silly in hindsight but it was my deepest rooted fear that all others stemmed from but obviously Shizuru actually looked exactly like her, so one of the major things that was breaking her mind was that inconsistency, so Grandma placed a really powerful illusion on her to make her appear to be me. Plus somehow, we decided to take both names, because using one or the other felt so fundamentally wrong because neither of them were her names" said Minor.
"Right, but your hair appears to be red again now? I thought you said that was an illusion" said Kat
"Well, my hair, Minor's and Haruka's is red, when Major is in control it will go back to being blue. I guess you have true sight or something because nobody else noticed" said Minor
Kat felt a powerful headache coming on pressing against her skull. "So what am I supposed to do in this situation?" said Kat
"Well good question dear, Major's not dead, you've just taking a sledge hammer to the little box she keeps all the nasty memories in when you told her that she looks like her mother. Honestly, I'm just as stumped as you are in regard to what we should do. Honestly, I don't really want to be in charge. It's weird. I mean sure being in control is kinda nice but I really hope this means she will talk to me and besides, Kitsune have a pretty simple cloning technique we can learn off Grandmother and that should let us have a proper conversation, until then I'm really not sure…
I also don't know how long I'll be in control for. See I call her Major for a reason, this is still her body not mine, just at the moment she's in a few too many pieces so I'm the more put together one at the moment, I expect that to end somewhat eventually… hopefully" said Minor
"Right… soo should I tell Major about what's going on when she wakes up? Will you still be around?" asked Kat
"Um, hmm, well depends? I mean, in the ideal scenario when she wakes up Major will be in control, but she can still hear me. If that isn't the case then I don't know if it's best to tell her or not, our minds are already really fragile as they are and I'm not sure if taking another hammer to Major's would be ideal, especially considering the stress she's been under" said Minor
"Ok. What do we do now?" asked Kat
"Well, in the long term we continue on to meet Grandmother, we need her for a few things now, sanctuary from the Beast King, the cloning technique and maybe a little bit to stop our combined minds falling apart rendering us comatose and unable to think. But I mean no rush" said Minor
"Well, in the long term we continue on to meet Grandmother, we need her for a few things now, sanctuary from the Beast King, the cloning technique and maybe a little bit to stop our combined minds falling apart rendering us comatose and unable to think. But I mean no rush" said Minor
"Minor, that sounds like a very good reason to rush" said Kat
"Eh, I say we take a nap right now, come, sit next to me and wrap me in your wings, I bet that's nice and warm" said Minor
"Minor focus, you just outlined all the reasons we do need to rush" said Kat
"Kat, we are hours, days, weeks maybe from Grandmother's house. We cannot run for that long. Plus, I'm very tired, piloting the body is hard and it was already tired when Major collapsed, it's really not easy for me to stay awake here" said Minor
"Fine, I understand" said Kat as she sat down. She placed Minor on her lap and wrapped her tail and wings around the pair of them.
"I could get used to this…" said Minor as she drifted off to sleep.
*What sort of problem have I found myself in. What am I supposed to do about this. Is any of this my problem? I get the feeling that breaking a contract is really bad for everyone involved but how does it work with Major and Minor. The Queen contracted me to protect 'her daughter'. Does this count? Does Shizuka count as one daughter or both now?* These questions rattled around Kat's mind as she to drifted off to sleep enjoying the fluffy tails that surrounded her.
When Kat awoke, she felt extremely refreshed but in need of a good stretch. She refrained however on account of the sleeping girl on her lap. Kat managed to hold of the urge to snuggle into Minor's fluffy tail until the girl began to stir.
"Who do I have the honour of greeting this fine morning" said Kat
"Still me of course, I think when Major takes over again my hair should go back to being blue, I said that already. And who boy if it was Major you asked that question to, I worry over what would happen" said Minor
"Of course, I'll take that into consideration" said Kat with a grin
"Anyway, let's get moving Kat, we have no food and no water, now I don't know how long demons can survive without it, but I'm going to need some soonish. And sadly I don't have Major's ice powers so I can't conjure up water" said Minor
"Um, is conjured water safe to drink?" asked Kat
"Nope. But Major is smart enough to pull it out of the air and get it that way which is safe to drink" said Minor as she started marching along, swinging her arms and legs wide
"Um, Minor, is fine to generate so much extra movement as you walk, you will tire more quickly" said Kat
"Bah, tell me something I don't know. Moving the body is hard Kat. I was hoping it wouldn't be this bad but it is. I guess that's what happens when you're a disembodied voice inside your sisters head for a decade but who's counting" said Minor. Kat sighed at Minor's back with a wry grin
Not even five minutes later Minor spoke up "So Kat, let's talk as we walk, do you have any questions for me. We have hours to kill and I'm going to make the most out of having a mouth for the time being"
"Hmm, a few things I suppose. Why is it that you only think you are Haruka?" asked Kat
"Well, I'm not sure how it is for Major, remember she boxed a tonne of this stuff, where as I was the box so it wasn't really an option. Anyway, despite the fact that I have most memories from both of us somehow Haruka's memories sort of feel like mine, you know? And the name as well. It feels like my name, like it belongs to me. Though of course not as much as Shizuka, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms to open up" said Minor
"Well since you brought it up" said Kat
"Yup, I did, I was hoping you'd ask. So remember how I said that Major was a little broken after the ritual, well one of the things that really helped stabilise both parts of Shizuka was actually taking that name. Despite being Haruka and Shizuru before, whatever we were afterwards it wasn't either one. We were both so changed from the experience even though we did actually both stick around nothing was correct.
"When Major took Shizuka as her new name something shifted in both of us, like an out of alignment puzzle piece had just slotted in. Somehow, we both knew that Shizuka was our name now. So in the order of names, Shizuka ranks the highest for both me and Major, Minor is my designation, or at least that's the one I gave myself for now, Haruka feels like it was me, but wasn't, and Shizuru feels like it definitely isn't me and never was despite having quite a few of those memories"
"I see" said Kat. *Though I'm not entirely sure I do. Well I guess I must because I could actually say the words, but even still, how can you just think of yourself as a minor addition, and yet she's so cheerful. Minor even says that she wants Major to get the body back in the ideal scenario. I wonder if that's all talk or if she really prefers being a passenger*
"Do you really want to go back to just being a voice in Major's head once she wakes up?" asked Kat
Minor stopped "Honestly Kat, yes, yes I do" turning around Minor had tears running down her eyes "I'm not supposed to be here you know. She sacrificed so much of herself to keep me around, and honestly I'm not even sure I want to stay. I'm somewhat glad to be able to talk to a person for once, that's been a great joy to me, but it all feels so wrong.
"This fur may have turned red but it isn't mine and I can feel it, the wrongness of it all. I hope, that if Major creates a clone, I can move my mind into it for short timeframes. I don't quite like existing for a lack of a better term. Not that I want to go away completely, I'm not ready for oblivion, I refuse to go that far, but this isn't right" Kat ran up and wrapped her wings and tail around Minor, releasing her calming aura into her as she sobbed.
In between chocked sobs Minor continued "Please, keep the aura on" said Minor as she came back to herself "I can already feel it calming me, and it seems to help with the wrongness I was describing" Minor tried to pull away to keep walking but Kat tightened her grips
"It's ok Minor. It's ok Shizuka. It's going to be alright" said Kat as she stroked Minor's head
After Minor had calmed down Kat reasserted her grip on Minor before speaking "Now, I'm really sorry I have to ask this after what just happened, but your… episode… reminded me of a question that needs to be asked. What is going on with the enchantments and why are we stuck in a straight tunnel"
"Oh, that's actually easy Kat, and no worries the crying helps. So, um, I think Major was completely wrong. I think the real reason is because Major didn't want to go to that prepared house in the city. I'm not quite sure what she wants, my thoughts aren't quite her thoughts and vice versa but our subconscious might be, or at least I think they are more closely linked then are, um main minds, I guess, are.
"I have two guesses, one is that she wanted to go to Grandmother, not the house, and the other is that she was trying to find me and the tunnels, maybe they did something to help with that, I'm not sure if they are advanced enough for that but if they are I think it's the more likely option of the two" said Minor
"What do you mean she was looking for you?" asked Kat "I thought you said she locked those memories away and she couldn't hear you"
"Well, those things are both true, but she hasn't completely lost her memories just, let's say put them in long term storage. I think her subconscious must know I'm still in there, I mean it must be, considering I think mine and hers chat quite a lot, noisy buggers they are, and that because she wasn't wholeheartedly set on the fake house, I prepared so things went astray. The enchantments on these tunnels are powerful and very old, I don't know how they work, but I can almost believe they wanted to help us" said Minor
"If that really is the case, and the tunnels help us go where you subconsciously wanted to go, would that at least mean we aren't likely to starve to death or run out of water" said Kat
"Yes, I think that it is likely, but that is only if my gut feeling is correct, I have no proof and no real knowledge of enchanting. It used to fascinate me, still does but obviously Major dictated what we read so I didn't keep up. Honestly Kat, even if it's a 95% chance we don't starve I think that's still a risk we don't take, might as well continue as fast as we can, and hopefully major wakes up soon so that water doesn't become an issue. How much do you need Kat?" asked Major
*Good question*
USER KAT REQUIRES AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF WATER PER DAY, FURTHER STUDY IS REQUIRED
*Perhaps you can make a guess? What about normal demons*
DEPENDING ON HOW USER KAT DEFINES NORMAL, THE ANSWER CAN EITHER BE ALMOST EXACTLY AS MUCH AS A HUMAN, OR ALMOST NO FOOD AND WATER. GLUTTONY DEMONS HEAVILY SKEW THE DEMONIC AVERAGE OF FOOD CONSUMPTION, HOWEVER THE D.E.M.O.N.S WOULD LIKE TO INFORM USER KAT THAT USER KAT HAS NOT YET COMPLETED AWAKENING. D.E.M.O.N.S ADVISES YOU CONTINUE TO CONSUME FOOD IN THE NEAR FUTURE
*Good to know, good to know.* "No idea, Minor, I have no idea at all" said Kat as they strode of into the continual darkness
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