Vol.6 Ch.0 – Prologue: Night Parade

Prologue: Night Parade

“Felix, Syr, this is my mother. She has gone by many names over the centuries but she is most commonly known as Tamamo-no-Mae.”

The gorgeous fox woman in front of us gave a shallow little bow at the introduction. I had gotten used to Yume's beauty over the course of the last year and a bit, but even compared to her this woman was radiant.

Yume's mother was tiny, all of five foot tall if she jumped, but that height didn't matter. The kimono she wore was white and made of the finest quality silk, tailored by a master. The woman herself had a delicate beauty, her features even finer than Yume's. It made sense. After all, Yume's father had been from our realm and she was of mixed heritage while her mother was a purebred Southerner.

The woman also had eight voluminous fox tails fanned out behind her like a sunburst, all of them a soft pink color and tipped in white. Her hair was long and silky and just as beautifully pink, with two adorable little fox ears poking out the top of her head. But despite her adorable appearance there was a quiet dignity and power radiating off her.

I would say she held herself like royalty but compared to this woman Queen Emilia seemed almost lax. I would compare her to gods but most of the gods I had met were too arrogant or petty to appear dignified.

No, the person Yume's mother reminded me of the most was Odysseus, the Great Hero we had met on the Elysian Fields. There was a dignity to her, yes, but there was also a quiet confidence that she could handle whatever life threw at her, whether it be danger or tragedy. And, of course, the thing that reminded me most of Odysseus was how jaded she looked.

It was subtle, really. Her demeanor was aloof, yes, but it was also friendly and welcoming. But her gaze was a bit too dead, her smile a bit too lifeless. This was a woman who hadn't truly felt things in a very long time. It fit perfectly with everything Yume had told me about her mother. But what I noticed the most was...

“That name is a bit of a mouthful,” I said. I'd said it without inflection, not trying to sound rude, but clearly Yume had understood it that way.

“Felix,” she hissed in panic.

But Yume's mother just chuckled. “Oh, I like this one, Yume. Polite but not meek.” She turned to Syr and me and said: “Just Tamamo will do.”

I inclined my head in thanks, the way I'd seen Yume react to concessions, and noticed Syr doing the same. Was she emulating me or had she picked up cues I hadn't?

“Mother, why did you summon me... us... here?”

“Can I not simply want to catch up with my darling daughter?” Tamamo asked with the most fake smile I had ever seen outside of Anna's dealings with nobles.

Yume simply regarded her mother. Apparently social calls were simply not a thing with the two of them.

But Tamamo didn't acknowledge the awkwardness. “How have you been? It has been a year since we last spoke, hasn't it?”

“Nearly two,” Yume said quietly and I could only hear the anger bubbling in her voice because I had spent so much time around her.

Tamamo, again, didn't acknowledge the outburst and simply waited for her daughter to continue. Did she simply have nerves of steel or was this a cultural thing?

“In the time since we last spoke I was enslaved by servants of a Northern god, dragged across the sea to the Northern realm, brought before this god and then given to a Destined Hero who used me for his satisfaction.”

Tamamo's lips pressed together into the thinnest line, the first true emotion I had seen from her. “Given that your mate is not currently disemboweled I assume he is not the one who enslaved you.”

“He saved me from this Hero,” Yume said. “Or rather, he gave me the opportunity to free myself. The Hero is currently in the worst afterlife of his faith.”

“What about the god?” Tamamo asked, her voice deadly calm.

Yume shook in quiet anger and I took over: “Once we caught up with him he died four times that night. The first time Yume disemboweled him and tore out his heart. The second time he was killed by another god. The third time Yume cut off his head. And the fourth time...” I looked down at my hands and balled them into fists. Gods damn Wilhelm. “He got away before we could truly make him pay.”

“I will not claim this is enough to settle what he owes you,” Tamamo said to her daughter. “But you did well.”

“We didn't,” Yume hissed. “He betrayed us.”

“I should say so—“

“No, you don't understand, mother,” Yume insisted. “He betrayed the world, betrayed us to the gods from beyond the stars.”

“Which. One?” Tamamo growled. Her tails stood still while her body vibrated with anger. Her previous display of anger paled in comparison to this.

“The Dark Mother,” Yume said, using their name for the Black Goat.

“And what was this god's name?”

“Ares,” I said.

“I see,” Tamamo said, then closed her eyes and made an effort to relax first her tails, then her body. When she was outwardly calm again she opened her eyes and said in a crisp, clear voice: “Should I ever meet this god I shall show him the error of his ways. And I cannot put into words how much I regret what happened to you, my darling daughter. I should have contacted you sooner.”

Yume shook with anger and I could all but feel her swallowing the angry reply that yes, she should have. When she had herself under control again she said: “Why did you contact me now?”

“I truly wanted to know how you have been,” Tamamo said. “But yes, I also wished to tell you what has happened to me.”

“Have you found something to catch your attention?” Yume asked. It didn't sound like a barb but the way Tamamo's tails paused she had clearly understood it as such.

“I have,” she finally said. “After well over a century I have decided to get involved in matters of the state again.”

Yume's tails paused and stayed still. “What realm are you in?”

“In your and my home realm,” Tamamo said. Us Northerners tended to think of the 'realm to the south' as a single kingdom but according to Yume's stories there were three realms beyond the volcanoes, each with their own culture. Their home realm, if I recalled correctly, was ruled by a man called the Tenno.

“That place was never my home,” Yume said bitterly.

“And that is what I wish to change,” Tamamo said with conviction.

Yume regarded her mother with an odd expression.

“The realm is ruled by humans, still,” Tamamo said, “but the current Tenno seems less averse to change than his predecessors. There is none of the hatred for the yokai in him that we have grown so accustomed to.” Yokai?

“You have worked your way into the Tenno's inner circle?”

“His trusted advisor,” Tamamo said, with a hint of pride in her voice. “Though I am sure his courtiers see nothing but a pretty concubine when they look at me.”

Yume inclined her head, then said: “And what of the yokai? I doubt their resentment is so easily quelled.”

“It is not,” Tamamo said. “Centuries of hatred are not healed in a single spring.” She paused, then said: “That is why I wished to contact you.”

Yume stared at her mother.

“Do you remember the old ghost stories I told you?” Tamamo asked. “Do you remember when I spoke of the Night Parade?”

“I do, mother,” Yume said, her voice as quiet and meek as I had ever heard it, the voice of this woman older and wiser than me reduced to a frightened child.

“If I ever yearn for Hyakkiyako,” Tamamo said, “I want you to end me.”