"An Offer of Mushrooms"
by:
Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD
"Are you serious? Nana there is no way that you can go up against that." It was her friend Sora saying this. "We have legends about him in my country , the way that he rendered the world in half and healed it."
"I have to give you guys time to escape. I might survive this. But only if he remembers me."
"Remembers you?" Wooyeon chimed in , the tall girl looking down at their leader. "How do you know a thousand year old being Nana?"
"896."
"Excuse me? 896?"
"He is just 896 years old."
"How do you know someone centuries old?"
"Because in that distant past we used to...uh....Date."And with that Nayeon was forced to reveal the 9 tails that she had hid from her members all this time , white tails with red tips as if they were dripped in blood.
"You are a Gumiho?" Minseo , the youngest of them asked dumbfoundedly.
"It always did make sense to me that she was." Lucy said. "How easy it was besting all the other trainees , how fast she moves and heals."
"You are still no match for the Kaibyaku , He is the foundation of this world."Sora showed so much fear on her face that she looked distorted in Nayeon's eyes.
"I know a thing or two about him. So please leave. I will be with you all soon...I hope."
There was a brief moment when all 5 of them held each other but Nana broke free , otherwise she would not want them to go. Facing him after all these years. Too many unknowns. He could feel his menacing energy from beyond the tunnel. she could hear that he was walking , unhurriedly as was his way.
And so she made the first move , hitting the entrace of the tunnels with her tails to collapse it and hopefully trapping him in there but in an instant his face was close to hers.And the near impact made her jump back.
"I haven't seen you in what , 200 years and the first thing you want to do is bury me in a pile of rubble?"
"Isn't that what you tried to do to me the last time we spoke?"
"Well yes but I made sure that you would have all the things that a Gumiho would ever want , a large area to roam and even worshippers. You didn't kill all the priestesses did you?"
"Why would I do that? I just let them be , after a few decades of not appearing they gave up and moved on with their lives."
"Them of little faith then. Not waiting for the Fox Goddess to return. Were you lonely in the forest?"
"I had time to grow."
"I can see, I can also sense it. Are you going to try and kill me once again?"
"I never wanted to."
"Good because I hold nothing but admiration for you."
"Of course if you pursue my friends I would have to change my mind."
V gave a sad smile. "And here I was hoping that we could sit by an Inn somewhere and have some fried mushrooms together. You still like those right?"
"I still do. Don't distract me though. I am serious."
"Well , your members just need to return what they stole and I will be on my way."
"And what is it that they stole?"
"One of my scales. One that was living out a rather peaceful life. They managed to return him to his original form. I can still save him , give him back his memories so he could go back to his wife and child but I have do it soon."
Nana's eyes were filled with sadness. She could not believe that her members were that foolish.Well one of them was foolish enough to do this. She had sensed this item from among them and V was never one to lie about such things.
She threw a silver scale the size of her fist to the ground.
"Please let them live."
"Be careful of them. They know how to do this. Now that they know what you are they can do it to you as well."
V touched the scale and she watched as it turned to be a plain looking middle aged man.
"Master V? what am I doing here?"
"You are still dreaming. Tend to your garden when you wake up." With a wave of his hand V sent the man away back to the safety of his house.
"What happens now?" Her pretty eyes were all that V could drink in.
"The offer for fried mushrooms still stands. Maybe a long conversation will be good for us."
Nana smiled and reached for the hand that V offered. Some things felt natural even if decades had passed.
