Foxtails and Fairytales: Facades and Fables of the Phantom Prince

[Arc. 4] Ch. 1 Inari's Secret

Watson

What did I do to deserve this?

"Watson, have you seen my long johns?" Holmes asked as he urgently packed his bags.

"Holmes, it's barely the rainy season and Galavan doesn't get snow." I protested.

"That's fine. Where we're going, it's going to be cold, you should pack yours as well." He said as he rushed about but I heard something I wish I hadn't.

"Excuse me, WE aren't going anywhere. I have a job here, I'm a teacher, I can't just up and leave. Besides weren't you looking for the Phantom Prince?" I settle down into my chair and sip my tea.

"Oh already found him." he waved off.

I coughed hard. "You already found him? But he's-"

"Rather interesting, but he's my new favorite client." Holmes said with a spark that I hadn't seen in him for a while.

"Client? So he bribed you out of your last case?" I argued.

"Bribery is such a dirty word, Watson. He never mentioned it once, he only presented me a much more fascinating prospect to prioritize." Holmes grinned broadly.

"How fascinating?" I was compelled to ask.

"Alexandria." He said.

My book fell out of my open hand. "You don't mean the Library of Alexandria, do you?"

"And the greatest mystery unknown to history." Holmes pulled a parcel out of his bag and marveled at it. "Who was the last person Inari tricked?"

"Okay... you've lost me." I answered.

"That's because it's a well-hidden question. One that can only be found by a trickster." Holmes looked incredibly smug.

"Well enlighten me Holmes." I roll my eyes as I picked up my book.

"Everyone knows about Foxgate, and everyone knows that Inari is the Trickster, and tricksters trick. So why does he act as a judge for a gate of power? Before we ask what is behind it, we must first remember that a gate opens both ways, and that the descriptions of Inari's gate fill that requirement. So why doesn't it have any handles? Why must a fox assume it must be pushed open from their side?" He began a line of questioning.

I sighed as I waited from him to continue.

"The requirement for seeing the gate is for a fox to desire nine tails, and to open the gate one must deplete one's magic, presumably so they may be an empty vessel to be filled with Inari's magic. However, there are several constraints that reveal a bit more. One desiring the power to destroy may not open the gate, and there are no handles to pull it open. Then one must consider a phrase, what is the difference between being of noble blood and being truly noble." He seemed to be leading to somewhere.

"Then he marks them with white fur, and they become messengers of the Trickster Inari." Holmes combed his hair with his hand in his excitement. "There is also the fact that Divine spirits won't gift demon eyes to those marked by Inari. Inari the trickster."

"Yes, yes Inari the Trickster I get it." I wave him off.

"Do you? Shouldn't a trickster have a history of all the tricks he had played? Can you name one of them?"

"Well of course there was that time..." I stopped when I realized that was about one Inari's foxes not Inari himself. Actually... I can't remember a trick Inari had played.

"Interesting isn't it? Inari guards the Foxgate and none of his peers will have anything to do with him. That could only mean that the Foxgate and his reputation as a trickster are tied together. And he pulled off a trick so infamous, none of the other divine spirits will have anything to do with him. Now he is content as the not-tricking-anymore guardian of Foxgate." He grinned as my eyes grew wider.

"Are you implying that there is something behind Foxgate?" I asked.

"Not just something, someone! Inari pulled of the ultimate trick that fooled even the gods, but behind the gate is the last person Inari himself tricked. Someone who requires all of his attention, leaving him unable to trick anyone else to this day." Holmes winked. "Someone Inari stole from the world, for better or worse, and that trick is the reason he is called The Trickster."

I try to contain my excitement, there is still something bothering me. "But the library of Alexandria is a myth."

"That is what I thought, but our dear Phantom Prince has been there, met it's keeper, and intends to not only return a borrowed book, but also make a donation." Holmes brought the parcel to me and inside of a carefully wrapped package were two books.

"A book of fairy tales?" I asked.

Then Holmes directed my attention to the tome underneath it.

.

.

.

"You long Johns are in the second drawer in the back." I said as I shot out of my chair. "I'm going to have to find someone to take over my class while we are gone."

"I knew you'd be interested." Holmes said retrieving his long johns. "We must pack light but bring plenty of provisions, we only have until the end of the school year."

"Holmes- you-" I caught my own frustration in its tracks. I didn't have time to get mad, we barely had time for him to expound on the story. "Fine!" I say considering how much of my savings I'm willing to invest in Griffons.

But if the Library of Alexandria did exist...

... Well who really NEEDS that much money?

*

Minerva

No sign of Sebas, but I'm keeping up with my studies. I think that living would be harder if it weren't for my roommates, there were so many things that I didn't know. Cooking wasn't the least of them. Satiri and Gwen were life-savers in that regard.

Nerys hasn't been around much, but I have seen her with that boy who ran away. Henry Jekyll. I still haven't figured out what to do about him. I want to apologize, at the very least. But he was always hanging around that one scary girl and she was one person I wanted to avoid any further misunderstanding with. I've also been brushing up on my dragon tongue as best as I can but learning that language is hard on the throat. And I haven't been able to approach the dragon girl Talisa since she follows Jekyll and Elizabeth like a little puppy.

Satiri is the cook of the house, she loves to cook just about everything but Gwen is really into spicy food. I swear that she smells like spice everywhere she goes. But she is the studious type and is very willing to help me when I'm struggling with some of the conceptual magical theories. Meanwhile Satiri is constantly in the kitchen but her passion extends teaching and if I'm not studying or playing guitar, she pulls me aside for an extra pair of hands in the kitchen. I think I'm even beginning to understand her slang and accent.

Nerys is a whole basket of crazy though. She is really enthusiastic about magic and sorcery. But she's also a socialite like I've never met before. She's very personable, like there isn't anyone that she couldn't get along with. She likes to drag me around and she is always surrounded by boys. Did I mention that she's a natural flirt? With a tilt of her glasses, a flutter of her long eyelashes, and a smirk with her pouty lips and they come in flocks.

This morning Nerys pulled me along to a morning workout. She promised that her brothers, especially Macsen, would be there and wouldn't mysteriously have a reason to run away. I have had a mix of reactions from students at the school. Most had only heard rumors about who I was, any who came from out of country couldn't care less. But there were many that I had scared away from Sudaven to Galavan. There were also many unsavory rumors that floated around about my past temperament. Especially since there was the part about me 'scaring away the Phantom Prince'. Those people avoided me at all costs.

Since physical fitness is a big deal for the Magic Knight training many classes run throughout the entire day and some into the night. That also meant there was a lot of traffic around the training area in the morning before the bulk of the classes were scheduled for. I wore my tight-fitting training clothes made out of some kind of stretching fabric that was sturdy, comfortable, and magic resistant. I strapped a blunted training sword to my back and followed Nerys to the training area.

Completely unaware of how this day was going to change everything.