Page 19 of Nope, No Regrets
Sota
Iwas so nervous… but not about sharing a meal with these people and answering Rei’s questions about being what she was. I could do that every night of the week. The entire purpose of this arrangement was to keep Rei in one realm and Kudan in another. There were supposed to be precautions in place at the gates that ensured no one could pass through without a passport stamped by one of the kings of Hell.
Kudan should never have been able to leave. Rei was now in Hell, and Kudan was on Earth. The roles had been reversed. Fool me once. I was supposed to trap Kudan in Hell, then fetch Rei. It didn’t go down like that. And if it happened once, it could happen again.
We took education seriously in Hell, but we still had stupid demons. They’d believe anything Kudan promised if he slipped them some money. Greedy idiots existed in every realm, even if the consequences were more severe in Hell.
We threatened the guards at the gate and told them to pass the message on. Even if that message got diluted as it was retold, it still wouldn’t shock me if there was someone present who heard all that directly from us and thought Kudan and the Aether Circle could protect them from a pissed-off wolf, a witch, and me. Bael would unleash Solron to play, just because the idea offended him.
I was so worried about all that, but I could answer all of Rei’s questions, because I was sure she had a million. As soon as they served the food, I knelt at the table and grabbed my chopsticks.
“I’m a Tengu, a type ofYokai, there are several types of us here in various positions of power. We are common to this area of Hell. Every region has specific types of demons that like to congregate in that area. Several demons are common to this area, and have moved to one of our beaches. Some of the tree and water demons can only live in certain climates, as they need to be close to the right PH water source, but shadow and flame demons are living everywhere now.”
“Wait a minute,” Rei said, taking a small sip of her sake. “I tried to read everything I could about Kitsunes. There was plenty of material from Japanese sources, but I read a lot about other Japanese demons. They wrote aboutYokai…there’s all this lore and mythology about them. I probably even read about a Tengu at some point. What I want to know is why there is all that source material in Japan, but I’ve never heard of any of the other types of demons you just mentioned?”
I smiled because she probablyhadread about demons. She just didn’t know it.
“Realm travel wasn’t always restricted. What is now Japan was once a popular place for some of us to live, but you have heard of those demons before, Rei. You would know some of them as Naiads and Dryads. They were so popular, several realms claimed them. The Fae have water and tree spirits in their realm, but not like ours. When the Olympians were on Earth, they were enamored of them, but furious they didn’t fawn over them as the humans did. They tried to create their own by cursing humans, and made several monsters in the process.
“Everyone was called home, even if they didn’t live in the area they populated. They were powerful, un-killable, and they were fascinated by demons. They abused their magic to make all kinds of horrible creations. It would have been ill-advised to wage war, since we couldn’t get into their realm, and we didn’t know how to kill them.
“Even after they went back to their realm, we never went back to freely living on Earth. The Fae left after we did, but for different reasons. They went back, but I doubt we ever will.”
Rei grabbed the carafe, refilled her sake, and knocked it back in one sip. She pushed that beautiful white hair out of her face and looked me dead in the eyes.
“Finding out Zeus is real, and he’s the entire reason Hell keeps to itself now… that is fucked up.”
Itwasfucked up. Zeus coming back into the picture right when I needed to get my fiancé back was also fucked up. Yeah, I knew Barbatos’s daughter was involved and needed help, but Bael didn’t agree to send all that back up because he genuinely wanted an alliance. His daughter, River, wanted to stay and help. Bael was big on family.
Hades had never been a problem for us. If a demon were in the Underworld vouching for him, Bael would have helped form an alliance, but he also would have sent people he trusted. Everyone loved Barbatos. Yeah, Solron got her rocks off slaughtering people, but she could also be counted on to save them when necessary.
As soon as a weapon came into play that could kill an Olympian, every king in Hell would have jumped at the chance to take some of them out. That was before my time, and they taught us very little about them in school. Bael was infringing on my right to rant about not being able to get Rei by going on his own for hours straight, droning about what insufferable fuck bags some of the Olympians were.
“Zeus is dead. So are Ares, Poseidon, and Athena. The rest of them had been plotting against those four and are trying to make things better in Olympus. Zeus probably should have been nicer to his son, Hephaestus, especially since he’s so talented with magical weapons. Poseidon and Athena did horrific things to people because they were mad at each other about something trivial.
“When they used their magic to turn people into monsters for their amusement, they made them immortal and sent them to the Underworld when they left. Hell left the entire realm because of them, and those who they cursed couldn’t be cured of it… though some of them had it coming.”
I hoped someone would teach the little witch how to use chopsticks because she was miserable at it. I thought it was adorable how she just speared her sashimi with one instead of picking it up and putting it in her mouth, but if she did that outside of this bedroom, some people were going to get offended.
Meanwhile, the sphinx was eating with his fingers. The gargoyle and the wolf seemed to be able to manage just fine. I’d just witnessed the witch spear another piece of tuna and shove it into her mouth.
“I was initially offended you didn’t cook this fish before you served it to us, but you know what? It might be my new favorite food. The witches have always known the Olympians are dicks. They got bad vibes from them as soon as they showed up. They didn’t have homes in an entirely different realm, but they left the country. I’m less interested in some assholes who pretended to be gods, and more interested in those adorable tails Rei keeps gaining!”
Every Kitsune in Hell would have roasted her alive for suggesting their tails were ‘cute!’ They preferred powerful, or impressive… though behind closed doors, sexy was acceptable, just never say that where other people could hear. Rei apparently wasn’t the only one at this table who needed an education on Kitsunes.
“I read all this conflicting information once we figured out that was what I was. Some of the lore said age, and some said deeds dictated when tails appeared. One of my tails showed up around my birthday, and I felt like the other was starting after we caused the riot, and I stole Brody’s keys. It popped out in solitary. My fox instincts get stronger every time I get a new tail. IbitFaust!”
“I’m not complaining,” Faust said. “I hope it scars so I can show it off.”
“I noticed her brother had seven,” Rajack said. “Don’t they max out at nine?”
“Nine is ideal, but not every Kitsune earns that many. Rei’s father earned nine tails at a young age, and so is respected by everyone. Kudan only had two when he attempted to kill him. We still aren’t exactly sure how a two-tailed Kitsune convinced anyone to follow him.
“The second tail is a freebie. Every Kitsune gets it at a certain age. Demons love parties. We throw them for every occasion. You didn’t get yours because you were in prison. I’m certain there will be a coming home party, a new tail party, then everyone in Hell will have a party when Kudan is caught.”
Rei’s coming home party would last a week. The celebrations after we married would probably be just as long. I just wish we had Kudan, because a party was the perfect place for him to sneak in and commit murder.
“What about my third tail? It showed up pretty quickly after the second, and now I’m feeling antsy. I don’t know if that is nervousness about a new place… or another tail.”
