Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Fox Tales ❯ Disclosure ( Chapter 13 )

Fox Tales

 

Chapter 13

“Disclosure”

 

(A/N: In keeping with the title of this chapter, Fox Tales takes place in the fictional town of Sonoma Springs, WA)

 

Todd was sitting on the sofa in the den, watching television when he heard the creak of the mail slot in the front door. Mom was off doing a bunch of errands, so he got up, walked across the house, and picked the pile up off the floor. As he filed through the pieces, it seemed to be the usual kind of mail, with ads, coupons, the electric bill, etc. He sighed as he got towards the end…and then he looked at the last piece of mail. It was addressed to him, which was weird because Todd never, ever gave out his address. Only two other people outside of his family knew where he lived: Naomi and Gary. But they hardly ever visit his house, let alone write him letters. And he knew it wasn't written by either of them because it was someone else's handwriting on the envelope, written in permanent marker. Unfortunately, he wouldn't get to find out whose handwriting it was because there wasn't a return address.

 

Todd wasn't sure if he really wanted to open the letter. He held it up to the light on the ceiling, but he couldn't see anything. Nothing shone through the paper. He went upstairs to his room and closed the door. He took another look at the envelope, turned it to the back, and took a deep breath. His heart was pounding in fear for the unknown, and in anticipation for the worst. He inserted his right index finger under the flap in the back and tore through the top of the envelope. He pulled out the letter inside, unfolded the paper, and began to read:

 

“Mr. Reinhardt,

 

I know who you are. I know that you transformed. I know all about what happened that night. Something inside you has awakened, and I am here to help. I will answer your questions and surprise you along the way. But I'm only giving you one chance. To find me, you'll have to weave your way through the `eyes' of Bremerton. You have until 6:00 tonight. I hope you get this in time, so that we can meet.”

 

Todd knew better than to follow the advice and directions of a stranger, but this mystery person forced his hand. After all, someone found out about what happened, and he did want answers. So he decided he would oblige.

 

In order to find out what this person meant by the ``eyes' of Bremerton,' Todd went downstairs, got on the computer, and looked up Bremerton, WA. He then clicked on a satellite photo of the city, zoomed in, and looked around. At first, he couldn't find anything. But then, he saw something.

“Wait a minute,” he said. “Those look like eyes right there.” There were five fountains in a park, lined up in a row. “But where are they?” he said. He looked at the photo and saw the park's label, Harborside Fountain Park. He quickly printed out directions to the park, and looked at the wall clock, which read 5:20 PM. “Shit! It takes 45 minutes to get to Bremerton. Hold it. What good is it if don't have a car to get there?”

All of a sudden, he heard a door open.

“I'm back,” Mom said.

“Oh thank God,” Todd whispered. He folded up the directions and put them in his pocket. Then he ran upstairs to her and said while walking by, “I glad you're here. I've got to go run an errand.”

“Well, okay. But don't be gone too long.”

“I'll try not to be.”

 

With such a time crunch, Todd had to speed a little bit as he drove, which he does normally anyway. But even then, it was still going to be close. When he got to Bremerton, he got lucky on a few lights, and managed to make his way to the park. Todd got out of the car and looked at his watch, which read 5:59 PM. “Shit!” he uttered. He ran along the paved path, weaving through the fountains like a slalom course. He got to the other end and looked around for any sign of whoever he was looking for. He looked down at his wristwatch again, and it read 6:01 PM. He thought he was late, and couldn't believe his luck.

 

“You must be Todd,” someone said. He turned to where the voice was coming from and saw a girl about his age and height in a white sundress standing away from him, looking over her left shoulder.

“Uh, yeah, that's me,” he replied nervously.

“I'm glad you came,” she said as her head returned to looking toward the water. Todd took a couple of steps closer to her.

“What did you bring me here for?” Todd asked.

“To tell you your destiny,” she replied.

“Tell me my destiny? Look, I had a bad experience with a palm reading once.”

“No, Todd,” she said, “we are not talking about pseudoscience.”

“Then what are we talking about?” He was quickly becoming irritated. She turned around and started walking toward him.

 

“We are talking about something that no half-assed street psychic with nothing but a cardboard box and an empty snow globe would ever see coming. We are talking about doing things that you once thought were physically impossible. We are talking about turning your imagination into reality. We are talking about something that will defy most anything you thought you knew.” She paused to let it sink in. “And trust me, you know what we are talking about because…you have already had a taste of it.”

Todd didn't know what she meant until he flashed back to the night of the transformation, when he was running along a brick wall, jumping really high into the air, and firing light beams. But then he snapped out of the moment.

 

“But most importantly, Todd,” she said, “we are talking about purpose.”

“What do you mean `purpose'?”

“Let me ask you something. Do you believe in fate?”

Todd paused to think about that. “No, not really. I think that everything that happens to us is because of choices, either made by us or someone else.”

“Would Satoru say the same thing?”

Todd was caught off guard. “How the hell do you know about him?”

“Oh, I know more about this than you think I do.”

“Just who the hell are you?” he said a little louder.

“I am Alexis, and I am an ally.”

Todd was skeptical, and it showed. Alexis pointed her hand to something behind Todd. “Come. Let's have a seat,” she said. They walked together to a bench that faced the last fountain and sat down.

 

“How do you know about Satoru and I?” Todd asked.

“Because for generations,” Alexis replied, “my family has seen hundreds of cases just like yours around the world, where ordinary people are infused with ancient spirits. And in many cases, they involve ancestor and descendant. Most experience the union for only a short period of time, some for less than a month. But others are together for years, even to this day. It all depends on why the souls are not at rest, and what it will take to put them at rest.”

 

“How did you know I was infused? I was in Japan when it happened?”

“I was an eyewitness to your first encounter. I saw you transform, and destroy that monster.”

“But there was nobody there. The streets were empty.”

“I was in one of the apartment buildings, visiting a friend of mine. She saw me looking out the window…and that's when I realized an illusion had been used. I saw you fighting, all she saw was normal downtown traffic.”

An illusion makes sense, thought Todd. I remember how at the end, I was suddenly surrounded by people.

“I thought it was odd that there was no one there,” he said. “How come you could see that fight and she couldn't?”

“Because I have the power to see through such illusions. It helps me to identify those who have infused. Thanks to my family's training, my skills are at such a level that almost nothing gets by me.”

 

“You would think that a battle like that one would cause people to notice,” Todd said.

“Well, that's because they didn't know it was even going on. That's the way the illusion worked. You were in a separate reality from everyone else. Whoever your opponent was, he must be very skilled because it takes a lot of experience in magic and talent to pull off what he did.”

All this talk of illusions and magic was starting to make Todd's head spin. “I can't wrap my brain around any of this,” he said.

“I told you that this would defy most anything you thought you knew. And that's not even all of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you can't comprehend what I've said so far, then your head is about to explode.”

 

“While I saw you fight, I also saw your fox ears and tail. That led me to believe that you were together with a kitsune. Does that sound familiar?”

“Yeah, I remember hearing a legend about one while in Japan. Why?”

“I knew about Satoru's legend and had reason to believe he was still out there. I saw your new form, and put two and two together. To be honest, though, I asked you about him not knowing if my conclusion was true. I took a shot in the dark, and luckily, I was right on target.”

Todd just shook his head in disbelief.

“Kitsunes, in legend,” she continued, “are famous for both their shape-shifting and magical abilities, including illusions so intricate and elaborate that they were indistinguishable from reality. Here is the mind-boggling part. In the cases I've seen that are similar to yours, the person obtains those magic powers, or more accurately, rents them.”

“Whoa, wait a minute. If people are getting magic powers, then how come no one has heard about them?”

“Because no one thought it was weird.”

“What?”

“I'll show you.”

 

Alexis stood up and told Todd to do the same. They stood across from each other, about five feet apart. “I want you to look right at me,” she said. And Todd did. She then moved her eyebrows a little closer together, like she was concentrating. After a couple of seconds, she said, “There. I'm done.”

“What did you do, exactly?” Todd asked. “I mean…I don't feel any different.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I'm sure.”

“Lift up your shirt.”

Todd grabbed the edge of his shirt, lifted it up and looked down.

 

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” he screamed.

 

He discovered that his torso, from the breasts to the hips, was gone. Covering the lower part of his body was a layer of skin. Furthering the disconnect was the fact that even though the top half was freaking out, his legs were standing still. And he even saw his foot tapping the ground in boredom. He was now two distinct parts. Then the legs started to walk away from his top half, which was floating in place. Alexis caught the legs and returned them underneath the other part, holding them there. Todd continued to freak out, panting, whimpering in fear, and visibly traumatized.

 

“Here's what I mean, Todd. Look around you. Everyone within earshot reacted to your scream and turned their heads, but not a single person thought that anything was out of the ordinary.” Todd looked at Alexis, still breathing heavily…somehow. “Remember those other cases I told you about? The magic they were using carried with it a spell of normalcy, meaning that no one within a certain distance thought twice about what they saw, as if it happens all the time.” Todd looked and saw that she was right. Everybody was returning to whatever it was he or she was doing. “That's why you never hear about people suddenly becoming superheroes or anything,” Alexis added.

 

She paused for a moment, looking at Todd trying to understand what just happened.

“I'm going to restore you now,” she said. “Stay very still.”

Todd looked at his missing middle. And saw it gradually return to him. After it was done, he grabbed it and held on to it like he had just found his missing child.

“Get away from me!” Todd yelled.

“Calm down, Todd. Have a seat.”

Todd shook his head. He wasn't going to listen to her any longer.

“C'mon, Todd. Hold yourself together. Oh, sorry.”

“That is not funny!”

Alexis sat back down and patted the seat next to her. “It's all going to be fine. I promise I won't do it again.”

Todd reluctantly sat back down.

 

A couple of moments went by before Todd finally had the courage to ask, “Did that really happen?” His voice was cracking in anxiety and worry.

“Yes. It did.”

“But I thought we were talking about illusions.”

“What I did to you really did physically happen to you. It was real magic. What makes it an illusion, though, is that everyone else was under a different impression from what was reality.”

 

She stopped for a moment to gather her next thought. “I said earlier that in cases like yours, people borrow magic powers from their partner of sorts. And just like the rest of them, the fusion of you and Satoru has created a symbiotic relationship, where he needs you to put his soul at peace, and you need his powers in order to do so. Now does that mean that you'll be able to do what I did? No, not immediately. It takes time and experience to perform such things. But I'm sure that you be able overcomes any fears you have.”

Todd just sat silently.

 

“I also said earlier that we were talking about purpose. You may not have wanted any of this to happen to you, and I'm sure Satoru didn't see this coming either. But the fact of the matter is that the two of you were purposely brought together. And because of that, you now have a purpose.” Alexis got up and took a couple of steps away from Todd. She turned her head and looked at him trying to keep himself together emotionally.

“Whatever your purpose is, it will not be easy to fulfill,” she continued. “But I will be there to help you. We will meet again, Todd. Take care.”

 

Alexis walked away while Todd still sat on that bench in fear, doubt, and disbelief. The whole ordeal lasted only about ten minutes. But it was ten minutes that shook him to the core.

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