I stared, openly at the woman who seemingly materialized out of thin air. I had seen a few strange sights over the last few hours, but this was bordering on too much. She frowned, resting her head in one hand, before moving once more, laying Albus in his chair, comfortably, and standing, pacing to me in even, slow strides. I was paralyzed. I tried to move backwards, but my body physically wouldn't move. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck and my arms seemed to stand on end at her approach. The air seemed to fill with static electricity and it seemed to get harder to breathe.
When she was no more than a foot from me, she took my chin in her hand, and looked into my eyes. Immediately, I felt a searing pressure as her gaze seemed to bore into my brain, and the last 24 hours replayed itself in the forefront of my mind, and I relived everything once, twice, three times, slowing down in that endless darkness before she released me, finally, and, partially released from the paralysis, I bent over, panting and drooling, and nearly heaving, unable to do anything else as the pressure began to ease.
"I see..." was all she said as she strode away from me, looking out the window into the streets below, contemplating as I attempted to recover. I stumbled as I stood, grasping at the corner of the desk blindly, trying to right myself and stand, but having little success. There was a grin in her voice as she spoke, "I see... a mere human woman with no distinguishing qualities... and yet, you met his expectations... it's so funny, I forgot to laugh..."
The woman turned back towards me, her face morphing slightly as she smiled, becoming more animalistic as her grin seemed to almost turn feral. "You really aren't a threat. Small, simpering, and barely scratching the radar with your incompetence, but there's power there. You will be a fine tool indeed for my Albus. What fun! I can't wait to see how far you get!" She seemed wild in that moment, animalistic and raw, power and carnage a second away if she so wished.
"Ah! but I want you to remember something, dear," approaching incomprehensibly fast, she was in my face again in less than a moment, standing over my quaking body, almost limp with the effort it took to stand, and her face changed drastically in a moment from vaguely animalistic, to completely vulpine in a millisecond, "If you step out of line and break my toy, I will make your entire life worse than the lowest pits of the Abyss could hope to fathom. It is by far a very bad idea to piss off a god of chaos, and a very bad idea to piss off a Nine Tailed Fox. Don't be stupid, and you'll be safe. Understood?"
She cackled, high and keening, before disappearing into a shimmer of light, as if she was never there to begin with.
Albus stirred slowly, starting to rouse, he hummed in a half asleep grumble, before putting a hand to his face as he regained his alertness, "when did I?" as he pondered this, he sat up in alarm, eyes wide and casting his gaze widely around the room as of looking for someone or something.
His eyes landed on me, shaking and barely on my feet, and as reality faded from my mind and my vision went black from the effort it took to stay standing, he was around the table in the time it took for my legs to give out, and all I knew was blackness once more. Echoing through the darkness was the sound of Albus' voice yelling a name "KARI!!!!"
My mind held onto the name. Kari. Was that the woman's name? My consciousness faded in and out but I remembered that single name.
"--ise..." I heard that same echoed voice as before. Who was that? Who were they calling for?
"El---..." I heard the voice once more. Who are you calling for? Who are you?
"Elise..." The voice sounded a long way off as it called my name. Wait. Why are you calling my name? Where are you? Where am I?
As my mind began to congeal into reality once more I realized I was laying in a rather comfortable bed. The sheets were soft and clean. I peeked my eyes open and was met with mild candlelight as I squinted awake. At the bedside was a man, and it took me a moment to recognize that it was Albus, and that he was holding my hand.
"Atta girl! Easy does it, Elise. Are you alright? You gave us quite a scare fainting like that."
"What was that? Who was that? What did she want with me?" The questions rolled off my tongue faster than I could process them.
He frowned and seemed to glare at the ceiling as he thought on his answer, "That," he began, grumbling, "Was Kari Song. An enormous pain in my and my family's arse. She's been an ever present source of mild to moderate irritation for the last 80 years."
I gulped, "she said she was a nine-tailed fox and that she was a goddess of chaos?"
"Ah, she is in fact a nine-tailed fox. However, she did the fox thing and warped her words. She's not a goddess of chaos. She works for a god of chaos. She has worked for that god for well over 80 years, sowing mischief ever since."
"She... she called you her toy... and said that I was incompetent but powerful."
His displeasure was palpable as his frown deepened into a grimace, "of course she did..." he looked at the ceiling once more and muttered under his breath, "She decided when I was still a Wizard apprentice all those years ago that I was someone she wished to lay claim to. She has no more true claim to me than anyone else, except in her own eyes, but the claim of a Fox is steadfast for them. She won't relinquish what she perceives as hers... to an irritating extent. And there's no way to keep her OUT of my tower. No matter how much I wish I could bar her, I can't." The last bit was aimed directly at the ceiling with a mild raise to his voice.
For my part, I wasn't sure whether to empathize, or be amused at the sheer displeasure he threw her way.
"She's... startlingly, terrifyingly powerful." I finally stated, hating admitting how scared I was.
His eyes landed on mine, "The fact that you stayed completely alert and awake and SANE while she stripped your memories bare, and didn't collapse until after she left speaks volumes of your fortitude and willpower. You are to be commended, because from the residual magic in the area she was putting real pressure on you trying to determine your mental and physical integrity."
"How did you know what she did while you were asleep?"
"Certain spells leave a... residue... a kind of excess energy from the magic used... on the intended target. I was able to determine what class of magic was used and from there extrapolate based on the magic signature. It sounds complicated, and in some ways it is, but essentially I just had to diagnose symptoms versus the magic residual left behind."
I frowned, puzzling through this information, "Was her magic really that powerful? What she used on me, I mean?"
He frowned in thought as well, before a small smile lit his lips, "Magic as we know it can be classified based on the power needed to access the spells. The lowest kind of spell is a cantrip. It is a simple spell that requires only the barest amount of power and ability to cast, and generally can be cast nearly indefinitely, over and over without wearing out the caster. The highest kind of spell is a Class 9 spell. Those are reality bending and the ability to get to that level is nearly impossible except for the most skilled individual. Spells of that caliber take months to cast and a lifetime to learn."
He paused, letting that sink in and seeming to contemplate his next words, "The spells she used on you were Class 4 spells. For a mage with such limited knowledge and experience, you should not have been able to throw off those spells at all. You should have passed out the moment the first waves hit you. But you didn't. You have no idea how potent that is. It's like a fly getting hit with a brick and not being affected. Your talent goes above and beyond what is generally considered average."
He let out a laugh before grinning widely at me, "The fact that she called you incompetent but powerful is quite funny to me, because I've never heard higher praise from her. 'Incompetent' you haven't been taught, of course you aren't aware of what you can do. 'Powerful'... there's the praise. She doesn't say that about just anyone. You, my dear have piqued her interest."
I grimaced in response. "I'm not sure I want to have piqued her interest. At all."
He laughed in a mixture between humor, agreement, and mild frustration, "I can agree with that. Don't worry, she's not usually like that. Usually. Most of the time, it's as I said, mild to moderate annoyance. You get used to her." He stood from his chair, smiling, "Now, get some rest. We have had a trying day, and I'm sure you could use the time to yourself."
"Ah, yes... thank you." The exhaustion on my face must have been telling. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes focused anymore. I was aware of him moving to the door and saying goodnight, but I was drifting off before I could reply. Soon, all I knew was darkness once more.