Calamity Mandate

Even upon hearing the name of her old friend, Yuzu did not let her guard down.

"Paper Prince," Yuzu repeated, musing over the name to herself. This was the first time she'd heard Argus' title, but somehow it fit him well. "And you are?"

"I am the Wanderer Between Realms." The demi-girl said casually, not seeming to mind that she was tied up in a net, "Cassius the Red."

"That isn't right." Yuzu frowned as she heard the titles, somehow recognizing them from somewhere. Information bubbled up in her mind, "The Wanderer Between Realms is the name of a ship, not a person… And Cassius the Red died in the War of the Five Kings."

"Oh?" There was a glint in the demi-girl's eyes, "Then I must be the Okuron, the Seraph of Thieves."

"Okuron is Argus' father, the dead God of Knowledge." Yuzu shook her head. "Are you even trying?"

Yuzu didn't know where this conversation was headed, but having a conversation in the first place was a positive thing. At the very least, Yuzu was still in control of the situation and her captive was talking. For now there was no harm in playing along.

Hearing Yuzu's response the demi-girl's eyes widened in a surreal, unnatural manner, two giant orbs beaming at her expectantly.

"The Seraph of Thieves is Coal…" Yuzu's mouth spoke the words even as she failed to understand where the knowledge came from, "Famously, he's known to be rather averse to games and trickery… Given your current conduct, I sincerely doubt you are him."

Coal… Yuzu lingered on the name as she felt that there was something connected to him that was important. Her mind started to whir as it tried to connect the dots.

"Is that so?" The demi-girl's giant eyes were now accompanied by an exaggerated Cheshire grin. The gray fur on her legs darkened to black, fur sprouted on her face and torso.

Yuzu fought the urge to back away from the demi-girl's monstrous transformation, keeping a straight, unenthused expression. She quietly used her spiritual intuition and her connection to the golden sphere to check that the cage was still keeping the demi-girl imprisoned.

Thick, black saliva dripped from the demi-girl's mouth, "Then I must be Dina the Hermit."

Yuzu instantly recognized the name. This story was a folk tale, but it was not one that she had ever heard in her childhood. The dots finally connected as she realized that the most of the names that the demi-girl spoke of were famous figures in history. This knowledge was part of the stream that was imparted to her when she woke Renshu from his slumber and he gazed upon her.

The tale of Dina the Hermit bubbled up in her mind.

~

In the deep green woods of ancient Byran, there lived a hermit woman who wanted nothing more than her little garden and her fat, happy chickens. She tended her turnips and spoke to her hens as if they were her dearest friends, and they clucked back as if they understood every word.

One bright morning, a magpie came calling—sleek and bold as you please. "Beware, beware, good woman!" it chattered, ruffling its black and white feathers. "Kill your chickens quick, before they bring about your ruin!"

Well! The hermit had never heard such nonsense. She flapped her apron and shooed the creature away. "Off with you, you harbinger of ill fortune!"

But magpies, as anyone will tell you, are persistent creatures. The very next dawn it returned, perched bold as brass on her fence post. "Beware, beware!" it cried again. "Kill your chickens and drain their red blood into the well!"

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Before the hermit, the magpie dropped a gleaming dagger. The woman's blood ran cold at being delivered such a wicked weapon. She chased the magpie with her broom until it flew cackling into the treetops.

Fearing for her beloved birds, she hammered new boards onto the chicken coop and wound wire tight around every gap.

But when morning came, half her chickens lay still and silent, their feathers scattered like fallen leaves. The magpie sat atop the ruined coop, preening as if it had done the world a great service.

The hermit woman chased the wicked bird with her broom, shouting and cursing until her voice was hoarse. But as the magpie took to wing, it turned back with eyes like black glass.

"Ungrateful old fool!" it shrieked. "I came to warn you, and you ignored me. I gave you a gift, and you rejected it. Still once more, I deigned to help, and this is how you repay my kindness? So be it—face your fate with your precious birds!"

The woman's heart grew heavy with dread. Something terrible was coming, she could feel it in her bones. So she gathered up her remaining chickens—all six of them—and brought them into her little cottage. She made them nests of straw by the hearth and barred every door and window tight.

"There now, my dears," she whispered to her feathered friends. "We'll weather this storm together."

When dawn broke, she woke not to the gentle clucking of her hens, but to a sound like thunder made of a thousand tiny wings. The sky had turned black—not with clouds, but with locusts. They fell upon her garden like a living carpet, devouring every green thing in sight. They stripped the bark from trees and gnawed the very fence posts to splinters.

The woman huddled in her cottage with her chickens, listening to the horrible buzzing grow louder and louder. But locks and bars meant nothing to creatures so small and so many. Through every crack they came, under the door, down the chimney, between the roof tiles.

By evening's light, the cottage stood silent and empty, picked clean as a bone bleached white in the desert sun.

~

"Dina the Hermit…" Yuzu's eyes brightened as she recollected the story.

"Have you heard my tale?" The demi-girl gleamed.

"Yes." Yuzu said. A soft smile formed on her lips as she gazed upon the demi-girl, a name bubbling up within the imparted knowledge. "But you're not Dina the Hermit. In that tale, you're the magpie."

The demi-girl's form had turned nightmarish by this point. Her whole body was covered in short, black fur. Her face elongated into a bestial, caprine form, her eyes huge and glowed with an inner flame. Her small horns were growing out and curling in a constant spiral motion.

She licked her lips as a toothy grin widened across her face as she spoke in a sing-song tone, "And who might that be?"

"You're Pix, the Harbinger of Misfortune."

Pix was a monster that existed in many ancient legends, a half-goat, half girl demi-god that appeared before major disasters. She was known by many names, the Trickster, the Shadow Thief, Skin Stealer. Her stories were particularly popular across the Altic Sea, but in modern Kumin and Huan those kinds of stories were less common, and Pix was not part of the popular folklore.

She an agent of Chaos, not affiliated to any God or ideology or location. She roamed the lands, and wherever she appeared disaster was sure to follow. Whether or not it was caused by her directly or whether misfortune simply followed in her wake, it wasn't clear.

Chaos is directly opposed to Fate. Yuzu pondered quietly. Char Char, Firuzeh and Kai are all low level Chaos Exalted, and because of that their threads are difficult for me to read. Since Pix is a demi-god of the Chaos domain, it makes sense that she's completely invisible on the Tapestry of Fate.

"Ooooooh, I'm impressed!" Pix laughed, her goat-like legs swinging back and forth like a child on a swing, "In that case, I've decided I won't kill you… Today, anyway"

"And why would you kill me?" Yuzu asked, crossing her arms, "Surely that would make Argus sad."

"Oh yes, yes." Pix nodded enthusiastically, "But Argus' tears are just so pretty when he cries. Almost makes the guilt worth it!" She hummed a little tune under her breath, the melody discordantly cheerful. "Besides, your kind's powers sting me something awful."

"My kind?" Yuzu frowned, "You mean, Fate?"

"Yes, you're all itchy and icky and boring. Fate is the worst domain of all of them!" Pix stuck out her tongue.

Even though Yuzu knew these words were clearly meant to incite her, she still found herself riled up by them. Jun Yi Kong takes enough pot shots at me, I don't need you to join in!

"This cage is irritating my fur. Since I'm being so nice and not killing you, let me go?" She batted her doe-like eyes innocently. "Pretty please? I promise I'll only maim you a little bit."

"As appealing as those terms are to me…" Yuzu said, "No."

Pix's grin widened, showing off her mouth of sharp pristine teeth. "Aww, that's disappointing. I was really hoping we could be friends."

"Bring her under the shadow of my statue." Jun Yi Kong's voice rumbled, "I can ensure she doesn't bother you anymore."

"Oh, look who's brave enough to show his face now that I've caught her and tied her up." Yuzu remarked sarcastically, "What are you going to do, mock her to death?"

"I have known many chaos beast-kin... they think themselves so unpredictable, so untamable. Yet they all taste remarkably similar when the screaming stops." Jun Yi Kong rumbled with a dark chuckle.

"If you eat me, I hope you choke on my bones!" Pix's playful demeanor shattered in an instant. Her eyes flared crimson as her lips twisted into a vicious snarl.