425 Hecatomb - Kitsune - Dandelionlily - Original

[dandelionlily.livejournal.com]

Title: Kitsune
Fandom: Original
Prompt: #425 - Hecatomb
Warnings: None
Rating: PG
Words: 551
Week: 1
Summary: First a mystical fox-spirit started living in our basement. Then things got kinda weird.

Part II

Ko was waiting for me outside the high school as usual. He looked much better than he did three years ago when he moved out of the basement. His pale skin had a bit more color to it and he no longer looked like he was starving. He had the same haircut as mine, but somehow made it look much cooler without even using gel, which was patently unfair. As I approached, I noticed the way he was hunched into his favorite suede jacket as if seeking comfort and felt a jolt of worry.

“Methods of increasing power,” he demanded before I could ask him what was wrong.

“Binding a spirit or demon,” I answered quickly. With Ko glaring at me there was no way I was forgetting that one. “Requesting aid from a god or elemental. Artifacts imbued with power. And, um… sacrifice. The one where you kill a lot of spirits or animals, the, um…”

“Hecatomb,” Ko supplied.

“Yeah. You said it elevated that one sorcerer in the Mongol empire to god-like powers. At least, until those powers dissolved him from the inside out.” That was an unpleasant image.

Ko nodded, satisfied with my answer. “There is another method to power whereby a sorcerer creates a malicious spirit. They are almost always spirits of avarice or vengeance.”

“What’s avarice?” I checked. It sounded like one of those PSAT words my mom had started grilling me on.

“Greed.”

“Okay.” I’d try to remember that one. “And we’re walking downtown because…?”

“Something’s off. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a malicious spirit. It’s in this direction.”

Crap. “Any idea how far in this direction?”

“Not more than ten miles,” Ko reassured me in that way that isn’t at all reassuring.

I stopped and waited for Ko to notice and spin around, bristling and annoyed. “That could take all night, Ko, and I have to get home in time to work on my science project.”

“It would be faster if you ran,” he spat.

“I’m not running half a marathon just to find a stupid spirit! If it’s really dangerous, I’m sure we can locate it later.”

Ko glared at me, but there was something behind the annoyance and genuine anger. He held himself poised on the balls of his feet as if ready to run. “Only if it doesn’t find you first.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Ko, what’s got you so wound up? I’m sure we can deal with it—“

“Not if it gets more blood.” Ko turned away and I had to jog around him to get a look at his face. He actually looked scared. “It’s already killed. More than once, I’m pretty sure, and its been growing more powerful each time.”

That was—shit. That was bad. I knew spirits were dangerous, of course. Just last month I’d warded off a crow spirit that had been hunting in the California Children’s Hospital, preying on the spirits of weakened children. Still, it hadn’t been powerful enough to kill, and the thought of one that was… “You don’t think we’ll be able to fight it tomorrow. That we aren’t powerful enough.”

Ko snorted. “It’s not power that you lack, it’s knowledge. Experience. The kinds of things a sorcerer who creates a malicious spirit has plenty of.”