Epilogue

Two weeks of electric torture had left him incapacitated, his body weak and mind frayed. The storm crashed down on them, ripping the boat to pieces in the high winds and waves. It was pure luck that he ended up atop a large enough piece of drift wood after the ship was destroyed.

He washed up on the beach of an uncharted island days later at death’s door. A shadow was cast over him as his body was tugged and pushed by the gentle waves and a voice hummed in consideration.

“Yes, you’re the fateless one. It took some finagling to ensure you landed here but I doubt anyone noticed. This is a rather backwater universe after all,” the voice mused out loud. It hummed once more in contemplation.

“Well, I can’t let you die after all that work to get you here. That spiteful little spark did a rather large number on you, didn’t he? Yes…” if Jay had been coherent he would have seen the owner of the voice look off into the distance. “I suppose you will eventually want revenge, let’s make sure he lives then.” A flicker of blue light could be seen as the voice made a shooing gesture.

“Now then,” the voice regarded him once more.

“A little bit of life infusion to start the healing, a little bit of blood to keep you stable, a dash of water for hydration, a dash of earth for nutrients...” the voice mumbled for a few minutes, flashes of various colored lights occasionally bursting from his hands before sinking into the still slightly floating and shifting body.

“A bit of air to carry us, or should I use gravity? I certainly can’t be seen walking or I’d be the laughingstock of the multiverse. Keep it simple, air; gravity might be noticed, can’t have that. It’d ruin all of my fun. Vacations are fun, can’t have party crashers dropping in, then it’s no longer fun. It would be work, and it’d be a real tragedy to start another war, especially in such a backwater.”

The voice kept mumbling to itself as it and the now restored form of Jay floated off the beach and into the jungle, and then into the cave, down, down, down, deep into the earth before spitting the two out into a truly massive cavern.

“Now then,” the voice said once more, as Jay was gently laid on a bed of spongy mushrooms. “You should wake up momentarily, and I’d truly like to stretch my true form. Presentation and first impressions are everything, after all. Or at least that’s what people on your world like to say. You humans have some of the most humorous little quips.”

~ ~ ~

Jay slowly, reluctantly crawled his way from the abyss of blissful unconsciousness. Recent memory was seared with waking moments filled purely with pain. The longer he could fake near-death, the less pain there would be. Or at least, that was what he had come to expect. His mind very suddenly noticed a complete lack of pain. No aches, no pulsing, searing agony from left over burns, no spasmodic twitches. His breathing was quiet and even, heartbeat calm and strong in comparison to what had come to be normal, wet, wheezing, and constant painful palpitations.

“Ah! You’re finally awake!” A voice boomed. It was deep, and the undercurrent of power was palpable. The jig was up, so Jay simply rose to observe his surroundings, his dead eyes flicking around the area only to find himself within a cave. The only notable feature within sight being the massive, flaming sphere; a miniature sun hovering slightly above him and illuminating his surroundings. Jay’s previously dead visage shifted slightly in surprised awe as his breath caught.

“Good, you at least recognize perfection when you see it. You’re not completely hopeless.” The voice was gruff, but distinctly pleased. “I manipulated the events of this mortal world, pulled you to me, and then removed you from death’s clutches, all for a singular purpose.” The glowing sun cut right to the chase. Jay stared on in confusion, before confusion morphed back into breathless fascination as the sun vanished then reappeared moments later. Light flickered around the area as Jay’s focus slipped from the orb, the eye, of the massive beast perched before him.

“Yes, boy, that’s right. Take in the glory that is my true form.” It was a proud narcissism, however, Jay couldn’t find the words to disagree either. Light in the cavern slowly increased until the muddled darkness gave way to slowly undulating waves of golden fur, all of which rose and fell in rhythm to the massive fox’s breathing. Jay’s eyes traced over the grinning teeth, the arch of the back, the relaxed haunches of the entity’s back legs, to rest on the nine flickering tails dancing, waving, and shifting as if with minds of their own at the far end of the massive cave.

“You recognize my form. Yes, boy, I’m a Kitsune. The pinnacle of perfection in our multiverse, and I’ve come to adopt you.”