The match was soon decided, Tsubaki letting out a faint sigh as she descended from the platform. Her hummingbird-like sylphid couldn’t fly above a certain altitude, so the dragons were able to easily defeat it. Aside from the sylphid, the only troops that were worth mentioning in that battle were the golden sylvans.
At the last moment, the gravity sylvan displayed its ability to send one of the dragons crashing into the ground, while the war sylvan mobilized the troops to control the trees. With the two of them working together, they managed to kill one dragon, while more than ten remained in the sky.
“That was really good for your first go, Tsubaki.” Udona told her in a comforting tone, walking around the platform to put a hand on Tsubaki’s shoulder. “To be honest, that root giant almost did me in.”
“Hey, what about my slime?! It was totally awesome, right?” Aurivy called out, waving her little fists in excitement.
Udona simply stuck her tongue out at the shorter goddess. “It was, but you use slimes so much it was easy to find its weakness. Try to mix it up next time, if you want to win.”
“That was awesome!” The words were accompanied by the rapid clicking of pointed feet against the floor as Kathy rushed towards us. “Oh, oh! Tsubaki, what race was that you used? I totally want to try playing as them some time! That forest, and those big creatures, they’d be really cool to fight with!”
Tsubaki almost answered out of instinct, but found that she couldn’t. Her mouth opened, but no words would escape. Seeing that, Udona took the initiative to speak for her. “Sorry, Kathy, speech restrictions.”
The arachne blinked a moment before nodding in understanding. “Ohhh, that’s fine!” It was clear that she was familiar with these restrictions, which made Tsubaki feel relieved.
“Hey, Kathy, what was with those dragons?!” Aurivy shouted out from the side, looking up towards the much larger woman. “I thought your snake people focused on magic?”
Kathy simply giggled, before shaking her head. “I wanted to mix it up. I found a little feature in their natural development tree. After I bought it, they became able to mutate monsters into draconic beings by letting them drink their blood. So, dragons and similar lizard-type monsters became available for me to purchase.”
“After Udona told me that Tsubaki and your slime were probably both weak to cold, I started making ice dragons to tame.” She puffed her chest out proudly at that.
Tsubaki, having already expected to lose the match, was simply glad that she had managed to hold on as long as she did. The fact that she didn’t surrender meant that she had earned a few hundred points for her Keeper. Although it wasn’t as much as she had earned from her time in the survival game, she was satisfied that she had managed to earn anything at all.
“Tsubaaaa!” A familiar voice called out from the direction of the stairs, and Tsubaki turned her head to see Dana running over. “There you are! Are you ready for the performance?”
Tsubaki blinked, only barely remembering that Dana had promised to drag Tsubaki along to perform with her. With another sigh, she nodded her head, and Dana grabbed her hand with a wide smile. “A performance, huh?” The Goddess of Entertainment asked with a grin.
“Yeah!” Dana nodded quickly. “I’m going to do a song, and Tsubaki’s going to dance for it.”
“Did you guys rehearse already? I think I would have noticed that.” Udona pointed out, glancing between the two, who both shook their heads.
“Nope, but we’re linked. I know Tsuba will be able to dance, no matter what I sing.” Dana seemed proud at that, causing Tsubaki’s lips to twitch into a faint smile.
“Well, I’m definitely watching this!” Aurivy nodded her head firmly, soon joined by both Udona and Kathy.
“Sure! The more the merrier. And who’s the big friend?” Unlike Tsubaki, Dana didn’t seem to have any aversion towards the giant spider girl. She even took the initiative to walk over and extend a hand towards her.
“I’m Kathy. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Kathy seemed… really happy that someone had been so accepting of her in their first encounter. Enough so that she restrained her usual excitement, lowering her body down to shake Dana’s hand.
“I’m Dana. Hope we can get along from now on!” The elven girl smiled wide. “Now let’s go, I think the current show’s just about over!”
I held Ryone’s hand, watching the movie reach its climax. Having thoroughly enjoyed the show, I was just about to stand and leave with her when I saw the next participant running up to the stage. My eye twitched as I recognized Dana, with Tsubaki following closely behind her.
Chuckling to myself, I returned to my seat to watch their show. Next to me, Ryone had an amused smile on her face as well. “Now this is interesting…”
“Hello, KeeperVerse!” Dana’s voice transmitted out across the stands. “First timers here, but I hope you’ll enjoy our little show.” After she said that, she snapped her fingers.
I was immediately reminded of Irena’s previous performance, spiritual mist surging through the stage. Dana’s clothes were transformed, shifting from a maid uniform to a much tighter pop idol outfit. What surprised me, however, was that Tsubaki had been completely enveloped by the mist, vanishing from view.
Dana closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before her voice echoed out in a lovely, yet sad tune. As she sang, the spiritual fog around her seemed to darken.
“I always heard a fairy tale,
A story that just couldn’t be true.
A life beyond that, without fail,
Would let me be with you…”
Shadows began to shift within the dark fog, and Dana’s eyes darted left and right fearfully. Sharp claws seemed to emerge, mere inches from her body before being pulled back.
“What I learned in my darkest hour,
My story starts at the end.
Born again, with accursed power,
But the cost was a friend…”
One of the shadows stepped out from the fog, looking to be a young elven girl roughly Dana’s age. Dana stretched her hand out towards the figure, only to have it yanked back into the fog as tears formed in her eyes.
“There’s no such thing as a happy ending.
That’s what I came to believe.
If we all lived in a fairy story,
Then why can’t I be free?!”
“I roamed the darkness, looking for home.
My heart was fading, what could it mean?
The greatest monster left alone…
Could it be me?”
Suddenly, the darkness of the fog seemed to fade around one of the shadows, and I watched Tsubaki stepping forward. However, the current Tsubaki only had one of her nine tails, while eight other shadows danced within the fog.
“There’s no such thing as a happy ending.
That’s what I came to believe.
But you came to me in my darkest moments,
And you set me free!”
“If there’s no such thing as fairy stories,
Then let’s write our own!
I’ll share your love and share your glory,
And you gave me a home.”
Dana held her hand out for Tsubaki, who walked closer and wrapped her in a warm hug. The fog surrounding them suddenly scattered, revealing eight identical Tsubakis, each with only a single tail.
“I always heard a fairy tale,
A story that just couldn’t be true.
But now, I’ve got my second chance.
And I want to spend it all with you.”
Each of the eight kitsune walked up, one after the other, wrapping their arms around Dana before merging into the first Tsubaki. Each time they did so, Tsubaki grew another tail, until she was left with all nine once again.
As the song came to an end, I found myself smiling, nodding my head. I knew just how strongly Dana cared for Tsubaki. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Tsubaki was her entire world. After her first death, and then being left alone in the monster side of the underworld for so long, Tsubaki came to offer her a home.
More than that, Tsubaki offered her a family. Something that Dana hadn’t had for so long. She once told me that she couldn’t remember her mother. That the memory was lost after she became an aeon. But… she said that if she could remember her mother, Dana would want her to be like Tsubaki.
That was why Dana could always be so happy, no matter when I saw her. Even when she was working for months or even years on a project, she would do it with a smile. She wasn’t alone anymore, she had friends and a family, people who loved her.
I watched as Tsubaki guided Dana off of the stage, and Ryone’s hand gripped mine a bit tighter. Nodding towards her, we stood up together and began making our way down the steps. By the time we reached the bottom, the two of them had already left the building.
As we left, I saw Tsubaki holding Dana, who was wiping her eyes with her sleeves. The tears she shed during the song weren’t in any way faked. She could still vividly remember the pain of losing her friend and her father, the pain of being alone in that hell for so long.
“Your song was beautiful, Dana.” I spoke in a gentle tone, walking over and putting my hand on her shoulder.
Her back stiffened, and she looked up at me in surprise. “You were there?” Even Tsubaki seemed surprised by my sudden appearance, her cheeks darkening a shade after realizing I saw her performance.
I simply nodded my head, smiling towards her. It wasn’t important to ask how much she had gotten from the performance. That was the furthest thing from my mind. I leaned down, and wrapped my arms around her. Her shoulders began trembling, and I could feel her small arms holding my back.
“If you ever want to talk about anything, don’t be afraid to do so. We’re all a family.” When I said that, I felt her cheeks becoming damp against my shoulder, and she nodded her head.
“Whatever you say… boss.”
