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Among the kingdom of Regnum, magic makes itself known in small, minuscule ways.
It’s known in the way the lanterns by the binding shop light up themselves at 6:28 am every morning. It’s known in the way the books at the library always open to the page the handler is looking for.
And it’s especially known in the ancient deities that live among the people-- in the shadows, in plain sight but hidden at the same time.
Rarely do they present themselves as such, forever hidden away for they are, at the end of the day, sacred, but every once in a while one is spotted by its antics. Burning down forests with just the touch of a finger-- walking by a stocked food stand and leaving it completely empty without even a single twitch of their fingers.
Usually tentative, the people of Regnum seldom interact; weary of becoming victim to any of the gods’ tricks.
Save for a select few: The Band of Ensis.
The Band of Ensis are high-ranking mercenaries that live among the high powers, in a headquarters within the central castle.
Separate from the common hunter, they are formally sent out on classified E missions under the guise of the most esteemed officials. Free to do what they please, they usually ravage through towns on their tasks, without consequence or worry.
Because of this, the townspeople have named the Ensis hunters loud, obnoxious, arrogant, and cruel.
“Sakusa! Coming with?”
Four men stand next to a large door, palms splayed against it, ready to push it open and reveal the party roaring on behind it. They’ve all been stripped of their gear and weapons, now clad in tunics and cloaks.
Each of them reek of alcohol, the smell so pungent Sakusa can practically smell it from his place 20 feet away.
He scrunches his nose, turning on his heel and dropping a tray of half-eaten food into the trash can.
“No thank you,” he says, curtly.
The four men roll their eyes and push open the door, letting mumbled slurs out that vaguely reference the words “typical,” and “prude,” before they are drowned out by the noise, disappearing into the crowd of people.
Sakusa sighs, opting to make his way in the complete opposite direction of the ballroom— towards the castle apartments to prepare for bed.
He has a routine: get to the showers before everyone else, make his bed, read 40 pages of his current book, perform his hygiene practice, clean his weapons, and go to bed. Every other day he has school work, of which he would attend to at his desk, but other than that he was asleep by around 9:00.
What is not part of his routine, however, is getting pulled aside mid-book read by a general and taken to the solar.
Inside, he’s sat down at the single desk, and told to wait patiently for the marshal to arrive.
Ever so obedient, he complies, though he can't help but wonder in the silence that follows what could be so important that it must be addressed at such a late hour-- and why it concerns him in particular.
The answer comes a minute later, Sakusa now sitting face to face with Marshal Hiroto.
Sliding a paper across the desk the marshal speaks, his voice ever as loud and commanding as always.
“As of recent times, there have been sightings of another deity in the Ignis district. It’s destroying crops, buildings, the streets-- I know we tend to wait a while longer before interference but if we don’t do something soon we fear the chaos will only expand to other districts.”
Sakusa takes the paper, examining it. On the parchment, depictions of a human-like creature runs across the page, splotches of ink adding to the illusion of motion. It seems to be young; around 14 to 16. Underneath it, short retellings of the havoc it’s caused are written.
“The creature seems to be doing it for no other purpose than for its own amusement.” The marshal leans forward, sniffing.
“You’re our strongest mercenary. I was hoping to appoint you, alone.”
Sakusa widens his eyes, lowering the article to stare up at the marshal.
“Alone?”
“Yes. Gifted, as you are, you’re the only Ensis that seems to be around the deities' physical age. We think you might be able to…have an easier time in capturing it.”
“And, if that doesn’t convince you, I was thinking of promoting you if the mission is to be successful. Due time, anyhow. How does General Officer sound?” the marshal adds.
Sakusa swallows, straightening his posture in the chair. A General Officer at 15 is unheard of-- and if he wants to become Marshal one day, to sit on the other side of this desk-- this might be his golden opportunity.
The Marshal smiles at the change in body language, leaning up himself.
“The mission begins due sunrise. I expect it to conclude in, maximum, 3 weeks from now. I await the deity to be brought to the castle dead or alive by then. Do you accept?”
Eager, Sakusa nods his head.
That morning, just as the light begins to shift from dark, cool blues to bright oranges, Sakusa jumps out of bed. He gears himself, making quick work of getting out of the castle as soon as possible, eager to embark on a mission of his own away from the cretins he's learned to deal with over the years.
After this, they’ll be cowering before him.
Ignis is about four districts away from Unda district, where the castle resides. Sakusa doesn’t mind this, as he’d travel across seas for an opportunity of such caliber, though he must admit it’s still a bit of a ride.
Each Ensis has their own horse, because of course they do, so Sakusa finds his own in the stable. Starlight. She's a stark black, speckles that appear on her head but not anywhere else. She's also considerably smaller than the rest of the horses, but perhaps just as strong, which Sakusa would never admit played a role in his choosing of her.
He greets her, running his hand along her mane a few times before feeding her and setting off into the rest of the kingdom.
On his trip, he makes it a point to stop at bars, markets, and other service stores to stock up on supplies. Now that he’s not with other members of Ensis, he’s able to realize how reluctant and quiet the townspeople seem to be, and he questions his own privilege. He leaves the bread stand with two credits on their counter, half of the original price.
He knows he’s in Ignis, 13 hours later, when the stone shifts from cool greys to bright brick. Eye catching banners high up celebrating some festival, and yellow and orange trees spreading their leaves across the district.
While beautiful, the feeling in the air feels damper than it normally does. As he trots into town, Starlight growing tired beneath him, he notices the townspeople, or, lack thereof.
The Ignis district is usually lively, children running around and doors to houses wide open, propped with bricks.
Instead, the houses are all closed off and the only people Sakusa can see are the ones manning the goods stands, and even they seem to dread their existence, surrounded by desolate streets.
He can only assume one cause of this, and his confirmation comes not but a few seconds later, in the form of a bright light shooting across him in the sky, on the rooftops.
Sakusa hops down from Starlight, ordering her to lay down next to one of the buildings, which she happily obliges. He turns away, looking back to the light.
The light is more than just that, as he sees when it hops to another roof it stops, only for a moment, and it’s blazing path burns out to leave a simple figure, a human, with nine long tails swirling behind it.
Sakusa only lets himself look on in awe for a moment before cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling out to the deity before him.
“Hey!!”
The figure, of whom was beginning to jump, stops, and turns to stare wide eyed at Sakusa.
And that's when he sees it. Bright, piercing eyes, that of which gleam brighter than the sun itself. Ones that could only belong to beings more dynamic and capable than any Ensis or King could ever wish to be.
It lunges forwards, and it takes everything in Sakusa's body to will himself not to step back.
The being lands on the ground in front of him, feather light, hardly a particle of dust out of place as its feet flatten.
It’s beautiful, as most deities are. Short golden hair, bright hazel eyes, light orange ears and tails. Almost the opposite of Sakusa, who has dark, inky black hair and pale skin, littered with moles. They both stand at about equal height, Sakusa being a few inches taller. They seem to be the same age, too.
Sakusa can't place how, but it’s aura, even without running around rooftops, is radiant.
“Whaddya want?” It speaks.
Well. There goes the illusion of sophistication. What kind of speech is that?
Sakusa's hand twitches towards his sheath the slightest bit, a slow and inconspicuous movement he had learned in training. But the deity's eyes immediately flick to his hand, and Sakusa quickly realizes this mission won't be as one-and-done as he would like. He moves his hand back.
“Word has gone around a god has appeared in this town-- I had come to see it. I’ve never laid my eyes upon a god before. Do you know where I could find it?” Sakusa says, feigning ignorance.
The deity quirks an eyebrow, looking down and around itself, appearing like it’s making sure it still sports its animalistic features.
It then meets Sakusa's gaze again, looking like it can't believe the conversation taking place.
“...Are you stupid?”
Sakusa scoffs, curling his hands into fists at his sides.
“No-”
“You think I don’t know who you are? Ensis? ” It leans forwards, flicking Sakusa's uniform with long fingernails. It reaches underneath Sakusas scarf, tapping a pin stuck to his uniform.
The pin depicts a diamond with a star encased inside of it. Thin iron spirals around the diamond outline. The king's symbol.
“How did you…”
“Forget it. Might as well go back and sacrifice your life to your lord and whatnot, because you’re not coming back with
me
.”
It turns to leave, taking calm steps away. With each touch of the ground a short, dim blaze follows its path.
Sakusa jumps forwards, grabbing onto the deities wrist.
“Wait! I need you, you can’t just walk away--”
Sneering, the fox shakes away Sakusa's grip.
“Typical.”
“Excuse me?” Sakusa follows closely behind.
“You Ensis. All ya know is command and fight. Yer brains are filled with nothin but impulse. Obnoxious and arrogant.”
“How about you then? Destroying towns and districts?”
The deity looks back to Sakusa at this, and they both stop in their tracks.
“Is that what they tell you?”
“Isn’t that what you do?”
The fox's eyes squint.
“I haven’t destroyed anythin.”
“Explain the papers then. The people frightened inside of their homes? Are you saying the people of Regnum are terrified for other reasons ?”
“They’re only terrified cause ya told them to be.”
The fox exhales, kneeling down to the ground.
“This has been a great, pointless conversation. Now please, go back and enjoy yer life of sippin’ tea with the royals.”
And with that, the fox jumps off the ground, blazing once again into the sky. In a matter of seconds it’s out of sight, ducking behind the buildings and disappearing. Starlight walks over, nudging against Sakusas arm in comfort.
Taking advantage of his 3 weeks, Sakusa sticks around Ignis. For the days following their interaction, he watches the deity from the shadows, although it’s very clear he must not be doing a good job, as they both make eye contact multiple times throughout the hours.
The deity isn’t calm, by any means, but it’s not destructive.
It grips the trunk of a bright, green tree, setting it aflame. Sakusa is about to grab his sword when he sees the fire continue to flow up the tree and into the leaves. It doesn’t burn anything. Instead, it turns the leaves colors to beautiful reds, yellows, oranges, and then dies out. Sakusa walks away.
He watches the deity pick up a dog running around the streets. Worried about what harm it could cause to the small creature, he steps forwards, but then the god turns, walks up to a house, and knocks on the door. Meekly, a woman peers out, grip on the wood tight, but the fox simply holds out the dog to her. With a shaky “thank you” she takes the dog, and then walks back inside.
Sakusa learns the fox's name is Atsumu, and his species is called a kitsune.
On day 5, Sakusa approaches Atsumu again.
“You haven’t destroyed anything.”
Atsumu is making a ball out of soil.
“No. I haven’t.”
He looks up, holding the ball in his hand.
“Your lords tell you lies. And you believe them, like sheep.”
“...”
One of the ears atop Atsumu's head twitches, and he holds the soil out towards Sakusa.
Sakusa takes it, forcing himself not to grimace.
Atsumu blows into his palms. Now glowing a soft yellow, they reach down, and tap the soil.
The dirt convulses in Sakusa's hand. It switches between shapes, almost like liquid, before it solidifies, and is revealed to have transformed from a mound of soil to three bright red berries.
Sakusa looks on in wonder.
“You capture deities in the name of justice but all yer accomplishin is instilling more fear into your own people in exchange for power over em. There's a reason we don’t come out all that often.” Atsumu says.
“Then why are you here now?”
Atsumu shifts his gaze from the berries and to Sakusa. His eyes crinkle as a smirk cracks along his face.
“I ain’t scared of ya, like the rest of em’.”
“You should be. I'm in line to become a General Officer.”
“Humans and yer silly titles. That means nothin to me.”
Atsumu plucks a berry out of Sakusa's hand and holds it out, calling Starlight over. Sakusa doesn’t say anything as she runs to him with no hesitation and eats it. Atsumu smiles.
“You haven’t caught me yet, have ya?”
Three weeks isn’t enough time.
Sakusa has opted to step out of the shadows and watch Atsumu walk around by his side. Alongside him, he watches in awe as Atsumu brings dead plants to life, heals animals injuries, and cleans up the litter along the streets of Ignis.
Atsumu doesn’t destroy. He fixes. And Sakusa is starting to question his own motives as time passes.
Atsumu doesn’t need to sleep, but he indulges in the activity anyways. He has a small stick hut in the depths of the woods that he sleeps in.
On day 12, he invites Sakusa in.
Sakusa accepts the offer, even though he knows the guest room he’s been staying in is more comfortable than the ground. Starlight stays in the towns stables.
At night, Atsumu tells Sakusa about his mother and brother. He tells him about how they live many kingdoms away, and how he hopes to get back to them one day, once he’s able to spread his knowledge along Regnum.
“Won’t that prove difficult? People shy away from you,” Sakusa says. “They’re scared.”
“They’re scared of you, too.” Atsumu replies.
Day 18 Sakusa receives a letter by bird.
It orders the capture of the rogue deity. It says he only has a few days left, and that they expect it back soon, if Sakusa would like to keep the promotion.
They read it together, in the hut, next to the light of the fire.
“They want me back.” Sakusa whispers.
“I can read.”
“...What do I do?”
“...”
“If I come back empty handed, they’ll send someone else.”
“That’s okay.”
“If they send someone else, they’ll try to kill you.”
“That's okay.”
“...If I stay here-”
“-you’ll be on the run.”
A beat of silence.
“That's okay.”
Sakusa learns how to hide in the shadows, in plain sight but hidden at the same time. He learns how to disguise himself, and he learns how to throw his Ensis pin into the running stream by the big oak tree.
Watching it flow down the water, disappearing into the distance, Sakusa sighs.
“I'm a criminal now.”
“Ya okay with that?”
“..Yeah.”