Hikari watched her child excitedly shake the glass bottle. Small, colorful cubes of powdery mochi dully resounded against the crowded neck of the bottle and stubbornly refused to leave the narrow exit. The child’s gold, crimson-tipped ears flattened in frustration and nine adorably oversized tails swirled behind their small body. Hikari stifled a laugh, silently commending the confectioner’s choice container. 

     She leaned over and impaled a mochi cube with a sharp, golden claw. "These aren't hard to get a hold of, you know. Least you can do is share." She threw the colorful rice cake into her mouth and kissed her child's forehead. "Haven't I taught you? There is greater happiness in sharing."

    Kasai's mouth was open in horror as they watched their mother lick her fingertips. Hikari hurried away before they had the chance to throw a fit. Behind her, Kasai quietly lamented, "My mochi..."

     Hikari chuckled and made a mental note to thank her close friend, Krista, for recommending the new confectionary shop. As she stepped out of the kitchen, she finally took notice of the pins and needles running from her palms to fingertips. She shook her hands in irritation, keeping her eyes ahead of her. 

    As Hikari walked into the main room, her eyes were assaulted by intense light, as if the sunlight reflected off snow rather than tatami floors. Her overwhelmed eyes squinted and the edges of her vision became tinged with gold. She blinked rapidly. When her vision didn't clear, she moved to gently press on her eyelids. The fine points of her claws shallowly cut through the bridge of her nose. A small trickle of warm, golden blood trailed down to her nostril. Hikari's eyes flew open, settling on the silver mirror across the room.

    In its reflection, golden, slitted eyes stared back in alarm. The thin line of blood trickled down her cheek, complemented her tanned skin. Deadly, golden claws protruded from her fingertips. She couldn't shift back to her human form as hard as she tried.

    Then, she realized what was happening.

   "KRISTA!" she shouted with all her strength. The apothecary would appear soon. She ran back to the kitchen and snatched the bottle from Kasai's small hands. She tried to slow the speed of her movements to prevent harming them, but Hikari's claws cut through her child's palm and the glass bottle shattered to pieces on the marble floor.

    Kasai began to cry, staining their white tunic with bronze blood as they cradled their hand to their chest. Hikari's facial features tightened with remorse as she crouched to her child's eye level. "Gomen, Kasai. I didn't mean to hurt you, baby. Look at me." Careful not to harm Kasai with her claws, she firmly gripped the child's arms and met their eyes.

   "Kasai, we've been poisoned. Remember what we've talked about? How we prepared for this?"

  Young Kasai bravely wiped their tears and carefully cut a strip from their tunic with a bronze claw. Repressed sniffles filled the silence as they tightly wrapped their wound. "But, kā-san, I'm okay. I don't feel anything." Hikari's expression became skeptical. Was the pain of the wound too great for her child to feel the effect of the poison? Or...

    It dawned upon her. The mochi. Hikari cursed loudly. She cursed herself for lowering her guard, for not predicting the enemy's move, for letting her cause of death become a simple, common treat of the kingdom.

    Kasai stared at their mother in shock, wide-eyed.

   A woman with long, dark hair ran into the kitchen. "Hikari, what's wrong?"

  "Bishamon used the raijū essence. They know it's her." 

Krista's eyes filled with sorrow and despair. "No... I'm- it's not ready. I haven’t finished creating an effective counteragent!"

   Hikari tightly embraced her friend in comfort. "It's okay," she murmured. "Kasai is going to be okay. It's only me." Krista tried to push Hikari away to look her in the face, but Hikari's arms tightened. "What do you mean, Hikari? What do you mean by that?"

     Hikari didn't answer. "Tell me what you mean, Hikari!" Krista's voice cracked with hysteria. "Hikari!" Sobs racked her body, shaking Hikari to the core. "This isn't your fault, Krista. Don't ever think it is."

    Krista's knees gave out. Hikari gently set her down. Kasai timidly came to their side and soothingly petted Krista's head. "We both knew this day would come. I’m sorry it came sooner than we expected."

      Hikari rose, nudging her child toward Krista. "I need to go. Stay with Krista."

   Kasai bit their lip, tears rimming their eyelids, and nodded. "I love you, kā-san." Hikari smiled, slowly emotionally detaching herself by focusing on the fact that her eldest child was becoming more fluent in the imperial language.

    "Okā-san?" a voice called from behind. Hikari turned to see her second child, Kagami. Hikari felt something break in her.

     "Okā-san, what's going on?"

  "Everything is fine. Go back to sleep, little one." Her voice did not falter in her lie.

   Kagami let out a soft sigh as she yawned and mumbled something incoherent before walking back to her room. When she was gone, Hikari turned to Kasai. "Kasai, from now on, you will be your sister's sister and father's daughter. Do you understand?"

  Kasai's features softened as they nodded through unshed tears. Her ears flattened on her head before vanishing along with her tails. Her hair became golden along with her eyes. The wound on her hand disappeared. Her appearance became identical to Kagami's.

     "This kingdom is going to change, and you must change with it. Do you understand? Look after your sister."

  Her innocent eyes were uncomprehending, but she nodded anyway. This time, failing to hold back her tears.

     "Kagami and otō-san will forget what you are, but don't you ever forget," Hikari spoke harshly to push down the sob lodged in her throat. She brushed back Kasai's hair and firmly pressed her lips to Kasai's forehead.

   Krista's tear-stained face lifted to Hikari. "Go. Do what you have to do, Hikari." Her once-bright, hazel eyes were now dull. Their eyes met, and in that moment, Hikari knew her own resolve would not break. She would do what she needed to do to ensure a safer future for her family and kingdom.

        "Thank you, Krista."

  The apothecary drew Kasai into her arms without another word and left the house.

     Go. Do what you have to do.

   Hikari's fingers curled into a fist, her claws drawing blood. She walked to her twins' room and found a sleeping Kagami. Letting a drop of her blood slide down from her claw to the child's forehead, she gave her daughter new memories. She did the same to her husband. They both forgot that Kasai was a kitsune. They forgot that Hikari was one too. But they would never forget the power and majesty of the divine blood that ran through their bloodline.

     Hikari's sight shifted once more and her illusion dropped completely. Nine tails danced behind her as she gazed down at her husband. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Softly pressing her lips to his, a tear fell down from her cheek to his.

      Go. Do what you have to do.

   She inhaled deeply until her lungs burned, and headed to the place she never thought she'd return to alone. This time, she would kill them all.

   Hikari ran. Through the woods. Trees and bamboo forests flew by. Miles and miles of green life and unyielding mountains passed. The air changed as she left the pocket of space her kingdom resided in and the forests thinned until she came to a stop in front of the stone palace. 

        Her foxfire heard her call and surrounded her as she burst through the front door. Before they could react to her presence, she burned the two shikigami at her sides. Her fire returned to her once they were dust. Chaos erupted before their remains hit the floor.

     Hikari lost count of the lives she extinguished and the enemies that surrounded her, but her thin hakama began to weigh her down as it soaked in blood and ashes. She torched shikigami and humans alike, carving out their hearts as she fought further into enemy territory. The blood in her veins thrummed with adrenaline and the joy that came with war. She didn’t think of the ones she killed as individuals. She didn't care about their identities, their relationships, their hopes or dreams; they were affiliated with her peoples’ abusers and they stood in her path. She only cared about the numbness going through her veins and the slow cramping of her muscles.

     Fury fueled her. All that stood between her and the god-king died in a violent manner.When she finally arrived at the heart of the place, she swung open the double doors and grinned maliciously. "Found you."

      Bishamon, the fallen protector-god of warriors, turned and faced her. His red eyes seemed to grow darker when he saw her. "Hikari, a pleasant surprise. Came to express your gratitude for our gift?"

      She stepped inside the cold, stone room and with a flick of her fingers she sent drops of blood flying from her claws. They splattered onto the god-king’s. "Guards, mercenaries, subjects- I was sure to thank every single one outside of this room," she responded in a humbled tone.

     Bishamon let out a ferocious growl, roughly smearing the thick, black blood with a linen sleeve. A small piece of bloody flesh fell from the cloth to the floor. His red eyes burned brighter at the sight of it. Hikari felt a sick sense of satisfaction and growled back with a ferocity that matched his. She circled him, wiping her bloody claws on the royal banner that hung over the wall. Fire erupted from her claws’ trail.

   Bishamon’s smallest movement caught her eye. Her tail narrowly dodged his dagger and she returned it with a ball of foxfire. They clashed, fire and sharp objects, and fueled by hatred for one another. Despite Hikari’s thirst for the fallen god’s blood, she was the first to tire; if she were to take her life, she needed to end the fight quickly. She saw her opportunity as he swung his dagger at her abdomen and left an opening for her.

       Do what you have to do.

  Hikari allowed the dagger to pierce her middle, using the opportunity to set the king on fire. His screams filled the room and his movements became sporadic as he frantically tried to smolder the flames. But Hikari's foxfire could not be put out so easily and she would not let her prey escape. She fought the urge to whimper as her body drowned in pain. The poison neared the last, beating heart left in her body.

    The will of an empress, wife, and mother triumphed over the pain. Hikari gripped the throat of the burning god-king and held him against the wall of his throne room. His screams turned into mangled, inhuman sounds. "You end here, a failure. My heir lives and your legacy ends."

    The fallen god's red, bulging eyes widened further filled with inexplicable fury and hatred. Hikari's golden claws sank into his stomach. Her fingers closed around his heart and tore it from his arteries. Blood gushed from the wound, drenching Hikari's tunic. The organ continued to beat in her hand until she crushed it before the god's eyes. His entire body shook from loss of life force. With the last of her strength, Hikari tore out his last heart from his chest.

   Her knees gave out then, and she fell to the floor along with her half-dead enemy. The joints in her hand stiffened and the king's heart slipped from her grasp. Stars filled her vision and she began to wheeze. The heart lay only inches from her fingertips, beating a song of desperate survival. She needed to destroy it. If she failed, he could be resuscitated and Kasai would be at his mercy.

     Move, she commanded her fingers. Her stiff muscles accomplished the slightest of movement. Foxfire, she called out to her spirits. The heart. Burn it. She held a desperate, unrealistic hope. Hikari, they breathed her name in response and surrounded the rapidly beating heart. Nothing happened. His hearts were immune to her magic. Tears began to fill her eyes.

   Kasai. Her child's name echoed in her mind. She finally allowed herself to grieve. She grieved for the choices she’d taken from Kasai. The burden she's placed on her family. The consequences of her last decision.

       She grieved because her duty forced her to die alone in enemy territory.

    There was movement at the corner of Hikari's darkening vision. Moments later, a young boy stood before her. Her thoughts were silenced as he crouched down beside the god-king's limp body, still aflame. 

     His voice held the remnants of a higher pitch and his limbs were long. He was only skin and bones, the serrated edges of his spine pronounced through his clothing. Bruises of a variety of colors and sizes blotched his fair skin. Hair as white as the winter mountaintops fell past his shoulders and knotted at the ends. Who...? Hikari's thoughts became faint.

     Bishamon's eyes snapped open. "Father," the boy spoke in the tongue of the Lands. Dread filled Hikari's being. She didn't know the fallen god had a son; all the Lands knew he lacked an heir. And she'd tortured the boy's father in his presence. The cycle would be repeated. Kasai would continue to be hunted even if the current god-king did not survive.

    The king gurgled in response to his son. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth only to be burned away. The boy turned away and reached for his father's heart. No!, Hikari thought weakly. She couldn't die yet. Her claws slowly elongated with the last of her energy.

    Before her claws could pierce it, the boy's bare foot stomped on the heart with such excessive force, the stone floor cratered under his heel. Black blood splattered onto Hikari's arms and face.   

    She stared into the boy's face in shock. Hatred sharpened his young features and hardened his brown eyes. He met her frightened eyes. "No," he said. "This cycle will not repeat itself."

    Relief flooded Hikari's selfish, poisoned heart. Bishamon was dead, killed by his very own son. This boy helped finish what she had to do. Thank you, she thought and her body began to spasm. She gasped as her lungs collapsed and her heart stopped.