The week after Shoko and Jiao started school, and at the end of a very long day, Paul was carrying a soundly asleep Shoko back home, when Inari met him at the bottom of the steps up to the temple. She was perched on top of the stone Torii gates, in Shoko’s favourite spot, waiting. Inari waved and hopped down as light as cherry blossom on the breeze.


    Softly she spoke.


    “I’ll carry her if you like Paul. Little fox cubs grow heavier the longer you hold them.”


    Paul nodded, a smile on his face.


    “That’s a universal truth Inari. They had band practice today and she’s worn herself out having fun.”


    Carefully they transferred Shoko to Inari, tucking her in Inari’s obi so she could carry her piggy-back fashion despite her being a limp heavy bundle. Once that was done, they started up the long climb.


    Paul eyed Inari for bit, wondering why she was wearing traditional robes when normally she preferred modern clothing. Raising an eyebrow he sent a questioning look at her. Inari smiled slightly.


    “I received a delegation of priests earlier. It seemed… inappropriate, to grant them an audience wearing jeans and a turtle-neck sweater.”


    Paul chuckled quietly.


    “Yeah, that might just rattle them a bit. I would’ve though. Some of them need to get out of their temples a bit more often.”


    Inari snorted but didn’t comment. She was well aware that in Paul’s opinion she herself didn’t out often enough. It was something she was working on...slowly.


    “So, what did the priests want anyway?” Paul asked after a moment.


    “That’s what I wished to speak to you about. They’ve asked for our help with a problem, or rather a potential problem.”


    Paul sighed.


    “Somehow it’s always that.. nobody turns up just to say hi, how are you? So what is it this time? Some kind of dispute between yokai and humans, or between two different yokai? Or are dealing with another wild yokai causing issues?”


    Inari shook her head, then paused checking if she’d disturbed Shoko. Reassured that her small and precious cargo was still asleep, Inari continued in a hushed voice.


    “Neither, they’d like us to travel to the shrine at Nasu, in Tochigi Prefecture. The Sesshōseki ... Killing Stone in English, has split.”


    Paul looked quizzically at Inari.


    “Killing Stone? That’s not one I’ve heard of. Enlighten me oh wise and wonderful Goddess.”


    Inari tried to stifle her giggles with her free hand, not quite successfully, as she produced a most undignified and rather-less-than divine snorting sound. Mock glaring at Paul she continued.


    “I shall pay you back for that later... but to ‘enlighten’ you my Herald. Sesshōseki contains, or at least it was said to contain, the spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae, transformed and bound within the rock.”


    “I take it Tamamo-no-Mae wasn’t one of the good guys?”


    “No… she was a nine-tailed fox spirit, a distant cousin of mine, who meddled in human politics far too much. The rumour was that when she reached the end of her thousandth year as a spirit, instead of ascending to the Celestial court she ate a powerful demon’s heart, gaining his powers at the cost of corrupting herself and becoming evil.”


    “Hmm… that’s possible?”


    Inari shrugged carefully.


    “Perhaps… although if anyone could, it would be her. She was a skilled sorceress even before she became a nine-tail. I do not know if she became evil though. She was...odd, even for a fox spirit long before then. She liked to play with the mortals, but she could be compassionate too. We lost touch soon after she gained her ninth tail, and over a thousand years is long enough that even we may change.”


    Paul sighed, nodding.


    “So, to sum it up… there is possibly the spirit of a nine-tailed fox spirit loose somewhere in Tochigi Prefecture. She might be evil and demonic, or she might not be, but she likes interfering in human affairs… I’m guessing she ended up in the stone because backed the wrong political side in her meddling, right?”


    Inari sighed, nodding.


    “That is one of the reasons we’re not supposed to. Her method was to pose as a concubine or wife of a King or Emperor and enchant him, sending him mad. To my knowledge, she has brought down several dynasties that way, the Shang dynasty in China, the Banzoku of India and others in the last three thousand years. But she met her match a thousand years ago in Emperor Toba, who threw off her charms at the cost of his health, and ordered her killed. She supposedly tried to escape the warriors hunting her by possessing the boulder at Nasu. But the emperors men bound her spirit into the stone so she couldn’t leave it. All she could do was make it emit poisonous gas, so it became known as the Killing Stone.”


    Paul frowned.


    “Nasu? That’s known for it’s volcanic hot springs isn’t it? Are you sure the Killing Stone isn’t just a volcanic vent with a boulder on top of it?”


    Inari shook her head.


    “I think not… it could be yes, but that still doesn’t mean the story about Tamamo-no-Mae isn’t true. If I were her, cornered and trapped, I would look for a defensive position. Such a natural phenomenon would serve very well indeed. But according to the legend, she didn’t anticipate the Emperors chief Exorcist sacrificing his life in order to bind her.”


    Paul sighed, nodding.


    “So, I need to head up to Nasu to check out what’s going on, and see if she really was there and where she went if she was.”


    “Yes, I think it would be best to start there and work towards to Toyko. If she is once more abroad, she’d head towards the city. There’s not that much distance between them, and she would be attracted to the crowds and the fact it’s the seat of government nowadays.”


    “Oh yes, we do not want her picking up where she left off again. Ohhhh… Dammit! You know we might be partly responsible for this? The Tokyo main mana generator went online a week ago, and when did the boulder split?”


    Inari looked appalled as she said.


    “Four days ago, the priests said. You think that it might have given her enough strength to escape?”


    “It’s a bit coincidental if not… the mana generator is in Tochigi Prefecture’s National park, on the outskirts of Toyko, which is not that far from Nasu. Give her three days to build up her strength and the timing is about right.”


    “Just so… I..I will go with you Paul-san.”


    Paul blinked, and looked at Inari, as she bit her lower lip.


    “You sure? I mean you’ve made great strides in overcoming your fear of crowds, but this is Tokyo, and unlike last time, we’ll have to spend a lot of time mingling while we search.”


    Inari gave a single determined nod in reply.


    “I have to. Tamamo-no-Mae is family, even if she is only distantly related. Also, she won’t believe you represent me unless I’m there. She’s been sealed under a rock for a thousand years after all.”


    “Yeahhh… she’s going to be just a touch out of step with modern society. Heck, did people back then know that us ‘round-eyes’ even existed?”


    “They did not, there were rumours of demons that lived far away at the edge of the world… but she wouldn’t know anything about the Western world.”


    Paul nodded slowly.


    “So… the quicker we can get on her trail the better. She’ll learn and adapt, get better at blending in and hiding in a crowd the longer she’s allowed to roam free.”


    Inari sighed.


    “Agreed… and once this crisis is dealt with, I shall compile a list of those things long forgotten that might reawaken now that magic is once again quickening.”


    Paul nodded.


    “Yeah… should’ve thought of that myself. I should probably send out an email to the other teams around the world building mana generators, warning them to watch out for that. We do not want Gogmagog waking up under London for starters.”


    Inari looked questioningly at Paul, who shrugged.


    “An unkillable giant of English legend, supposedly butchered and beheaded, then buried under the South gate of the old City Walls. Which would put him somewhere under the heart of modern London now. He was supposed to have been bound in iron so he was unable to put himself back together. But iron rusts, and when the team at the University of London bring their mana generator online, it might be enough to revive the giant, if he actually exist. Blast it.. it’s like dealing with radioactive waste this is. Stuff gets buried and forgotten but it’s still dangerous for thousands of years.”


    Inari nodded.


    “I remember that problem! Long ago ways were sought to bind dangerous spirits that could not be destroyed. Even the Elder Kami could not find a satisfactory solution for this… they knew that every thousand years or so someone would have to renew the seals and bindings.”


    Paul sighed.


    “Let me guess… it’s been about a thousand years since anyone checked up on those?”


    “At least that and more, yes. I think we need to tell the Emperor and warn people. Perhaps assemble teams to go an examine the old sites and see if anything else is stirring or has escaped.”


    Paul muttered, mostly to himself.


    “Who you gonna call… us, apparently. Ok, I’ll start making plans and sending emails as soon as we get Miss sleepy-head washed, fed and in bed. You work on compiling that list.”


    Inari nodded.


    “I’ll do that Paul-san, where were you up to in her bedtime story? In case you can’t join us in time.”


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Paul nodded.


    “Chapter twelve, Maid Marian rescues Robin from the Dungeons of Nottingham Castle. Don’t forget to do the voices.”


    Inaril chuckled, fondly looking over her shoulder at Shoko’s sleeping face.


    “I shall try to perform to your standards oh master story teller, and only hope not to fall too short of them, as I’m sure my audience will be hard on me if I do.”


    Paul huffed in amusement.


    “I’ve had harsher literary critics, but not many. Good luck.”


    --------


    It was several hours later that Paul felt a soft weight across his shoulders, and looking up from where he was sitting in front of his computer, saw Inari’s smiling face leaning over him. He smiled back, and moved to stretch, wincing at at the stiffness of his upper back and shoulders. Inari made a slight ‘tch’ noise and proceed to massage his shoulders as she asked.


    “How goes it my Herald?”


    “Ugh, slowly. I’ve sent a warning email to the other research teams and posted a copy to the mana generator builders forums. Probably everyone will have got it by tomorrow. Not long after that though the Emperor himself emailed me, asking me to compile a list of potential hazards to be passed on to many


    Inari gave his shoulders a slight shake.


    “them


    Paul sighed, leaning back into Inari’s massage.


    “is


    “Do you not have some apprentices Paul-san? They are not that far behind you surely?”


    “


    “


    “that


    Inari laughed, skipping away from Paul as he turned to glare at her.


    “Now you’re learning, oh Herald mine…”


    “In-ar-i ! Ooo.. you just wait until I catch you!”


    ---


    In the pre-dawn’s light Chiyo’s ‘fairy’ wings glimmered with a soft golden glow, partly refracted light from the transparent hardened keratin, partly a side-effect of the mana engrams impressed into their surfaces, the dense mana field refracting the light.


    It had taken almost a month to rebuild her wings, a quirk of genetics inherited from a yokai great-grandfather, after they’d been mutilated by Section Three of the Special Police divisions Department, aka the Monster hunters. In the end Inari and Kiko had managed to trick her body into molting and regrowing her wings. But it had been at her behest that Paul had used gold and silvered steel wire inland into the still soft new tissue to create a series of built in spells, activated and powered by a special harness she would wear.


    Chiyo fidgeted as she stood between the other two girls, Akio to her right and the older of the three gave her a sharp glance. Chiyo stilled with a sheepish grin. Although not without rolling her eyes, causing Dorothy, or Dot as she preferred, to giggle.


    “


    Akio took a step forwards and saluted.


    “1st Special Wands and Talismans Platoon reporting for duty, sir!”


    Paul raised an eyebrow.


    “not


    All three girls nodded, Dot had a grin that was distinctly Cheshire cat like. Akio spoke up, trying to put on a serious face.


    “


    “


    just


    needed


    “Very well, squad leader. Form up and prepare to be inspected.”


    Akio saluted and took two steps backwards, to stand in line with the other two.


    


    


    Akio he studied a moment longer, from the tip of her leather witches hat, to the shiny toes of her ‘Doc’ martin boots. He noticed the holster at her hip, identical to the ones carried by the the rest of the trio and nodded at it, holding out a hand. Akio unsnapped the strap and presented Paul with the wand butt first.


    He was surprised at the weight, then recognized the Damascus pattern of the iron unique to Inari’s mine. Holding it up, he sighted along it, studying the clear crystal tip and the deep blue tourmaline ball at the butt end.


    “Your work Akio?”


    A proud grin flashed across her face almost too quick to be noticed, and she nodded.


    “Sir, yes sir. All three wands sir.”


    Paul leaned back fractionally, peering back along the line to where Dot stood with staff taller than she was leaning against her shoulder.


    “I take it Dot made the staff though?”


    Dot took one step forwards, snapping her staff to attention.


    “Yes sir! Heavy weapons specialist sir! The staff is a channel for my portable mana generator plus some heavy duty mana batteries.”


    Dot swept her cloak side to reveal what looked like at first glance a pair of bandoleer cartridge belts slung criss-cross across her chest and held in place with bejewelled belt buckle. However, upon a second glance each of the ‘cartridges’ was in fact a mana battery, and the buckle was a miniature mana generator, converting kinetic energy into piezoelectric and thence into mana. With every breath Dot took and every movement she made, it would generate a small amount of mana which would be stored up. Given time, it would amount to some serious magical firepower.


    Dot despite being youngest, or perhaps because of, had shown a capacity to channel mana somewhat beyond the others. The staff would allow her to sling high powered magic that would otherwise overload and melt the wands. Paul only hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.


    Paul handed Akio’s wand back to her, and she holstered it with a precise movement. Taking a step or two back he addressed the trio of witches turned technomages.


    “Alright, you’re probably wondering what the hell you’re doing here at this hour. Well, I’m trusting you three girls with a mission of the utmost importance. One that will require you to use your skills, knowledge and most importantly your brains to achieve. You’ve made great strides in the past weeks, and I am trusting you to operate independently. Apart from Maaya, who will be with you to provide adult supervision as required by law. She has my phone number of course, but you three will be on your own, without guidance, representing both Inari and myself. Do you understand?”


    Akio answered, as oldest and group leader.


    “Yes sir! You can depend on us.”


    “


    The trio of young girls shared a brief glance and then Akio, eyes forward again, nodded.


    “As crystal Paul-sama!”


    “wasnotI not


    The girls shared a look, then shook their heads. Paul grinned broadly.


    “Alright then.. Maaya is waiting with the minivan at the bottom of the mountain. Off you go.”


    “


    “


    All three nodded, then turning on their heels, Dot and Akio took off at a smart run, while Chiyo activated the spell engrams in her otherwise only decorative wings, and as the spell lessened her weight, she took to the sky.


    Returning inside, Pail gently slid the door shut, and then slid down to the floor with his back pressed against it. Sitting curled up with his head between his knees. After a moment he felt the vibrations of Inari’s bare feet, silent against the floorboards. He looked up as she knelt in front of him, placing her forehead against his as she embraced him.


    “


    “I know that Inari, I know… I still have a horrid feeling about this.”


    Inari sighed.


    “not


    Paul shuddered.


    “You know.. I appreciate the thought, but that isn’t helping. It just makes me want to keep them safe from harm even more.”


    Inari sat back, and gave Paul a gentle shake.


    “wantalsowant


    Paul sighed, and slowly stood up, nodding.


    “I know, I know… but it doesn’t make it any easier. I worry, not that I would tell them that.”


    Inari huffed, half-way between laughter and exasperation.


    “What makes you think they don’t already know Paul-san… and love you all the more for it! Now, come along, we need to make our own preparations.”


    Paul nodded.


    “Still... firearms training at their age? Is that even legal?”


    Inari shrugged.


    “Apparently so, they are something called ‘air-soft’ guns. I am told they fire pellets, which your apprentices have crafted out of compressed powdered herbs, infused with magic to turn them into powerful sleeping spells.”


    Paul shook his head.


    “Those three never cease to amaze me. Magic stun guns no less… whatever next?!”