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Chapter 17 - Energy - Part I

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Rena blinked. 

She was careful to keep the chair between herself and the gaze that burned past her own and delved deep into the core part of her kitsune, that place where no one but a life partner was supposed to ever see. 

She struggled to keep him out. "You... want me to--what?"

"To feed off me!" said the djinn. He took a step forward and Rena's ears flattened. "Oh, come, Emberheart! There's nothing to be afraid of here!" 

"Why would feeding off you achieve anything?" asked Rena. "What of the book, the sticks, the crystal?" 

Qariinn waved a dismissive hand at the table. "They are useless unless you can tap into your energy abilities and combine them," he said. "And to do that, you require a boost in power. Five tails will not be enough for what I have in mind, Rena." 

"And... feeding off you will increase that number?"

"Temporarily, yes," said Qariinn. "Think of this as an experiment, of sorts, before we delve into more permanent methods later. Now, come." The djinn attempted to skirt around the chair, and once more, Rena backed away. He shook his head. "There is no reason to be afraid of this, Emberheart! Embrace it! Trust that I have your best interests at heart!" 

Another step of shifted distance. "I'm not comfortable with this. Maybe tomorrow?" 

"We do not have time for luxuries," said the djinn, placing his staff on the table. " But I would not push you if you were not ready." His eyes were backlit, glowing with some inner light that both terrified and thrilled her. "You can feel it, can't you? The energy, just falling off me, wasted. Don't let it be so. Feed off it." 

He said it like she had a choice in the matter with the crystal threat hanging around his neck, clinking beside his own key. Rena fought with herself to keep her eyes off it, to give any acknowledgement of the power he currently held over her. 

The djinn's light burst through his pores, flooding the air with a thick veil of ley mist while a hand reached out towards Rena. 

"Try it," he said, words like silk. "See how it tastes."

He exhaled.

It hit her. 

Every nerve on Rena's body reacted to the sheer amount of energy emitted on that last breath. She was entirely aware of and drawn to his aura that was pure and fresh, crystal clear yet always moving, a pristine river that cut through the land and forged its own path wherever it wished. It was stronger than any hotspot she'd ever fed off, more heady than any of the ley handouts the Order had ever given her, and when the second wave hit her, Rena could no longer resist. 

She stepped over the chair and took the djinn's smooth hand in her palm, curling her fingers around his as she submerged into that brilliant aura. It rushed through her, filling every cell to the brim with that crystalline energy the djinn apparently had so much of that he was willing to just waste it--but not Rena. She was greedy for that power, lusted after it almost as it ran over her skin in a tingle that started from her hand and spread right down to the point where her tails swayed behind her. 

Her fingers tightened on the djinn's as she took yet another step, pulled deeper into his aura, closer towards him. Want was no longer accurate. Need was now closer to her relationship to that energy. 

Qariinn encouraged her as she drank in everything he gave her. Rena clutched his forearms, her five human senses shut down in favour of the single kitsune one that presided over her ley. 

"That's it," said the djinn, pulling her closer. He freed one of his hands from her grip, placing her hand on his shoulder and moving his own to rest on her hip. "Don't resist the kitsune in you, Rena. Embrace the true feeding of the kitsune."

For the first time, Rena didn't have to ask what he meant. The same instinct that stole quick breaths at the surface of her consciousness was in full force, riling it into ripples and waves that knew exactly what she needed -- and what she needed was to inhale every last creators cursed bit of the ley the djinn was extruding. 

Rena's hand slid from Qariinn's shoulder up his neck. "That's it, Rena." Her fingers brushed his jawline as she studied his face, prepared herself. "Don't fight it. Give it what it wants."

Qariinn's breath was hot against her cheek as Rena's eyes fell on his lips. Her thoughts were consumed by the thought of the kiss that would ignite her ley onto a whole other level, the kiss that could drain, the kiss that could control and save and kill if she willed it. Nothing could escape it, not if she didn't want it to. 

Rena aligned Qariinn's head with her own, his hand on her hip shifting to her lower back. 

When she leaned in, the hand cupped the base of a tail.

It sent a jolt through Rena, snapping her out of the instinct guiding her actions and back into what remained of her tangled thoughts. She froze as the djinn's fingers closed around her tail and firmly slid down the length of the fur-covered limb, dragging its tip towards him.

Rena snatched it from his grip and staggered backwards. Her heel caught on the leg of the chair behind her and she stumbled, only to knock the piece of furniture over with her flailing limbs in her retreat that continued until her back hit the smooth surface of the pillar beside the balcony. 

"What in the name of the nine families did you do to me?" breathed Rena, splaying her fingers against the pillar behind her, like somehow it'd help ground her. Her breath came hard through her nostrils. "What did you do!" 

"Exactly what I promised to do, Emberheart," said the djinn. "I helped you get in touch with yourself, to unlock that potential you refuse to acknowledge!" 

Rena shook her head. "That wasn't me."

Qariinn spread his hands wide. "But it was, Rena! That feeling, that drive, that is your kitsune, crying out for what she needs! Feeding off excess energy has stunted her growth, stunted your growth, and you need to embrace what it means to be a Mythic!" 

He held her key out to her, though its chain remained around his neck. "Without your key, you don't have that human part of you to anchor your mind to. Without it, you can let go, become the kitsune that you were truly supposed to be when you were attached like nothing more than a parasite to that human at birth!" 

"I already am a kitsune!" 

"You're a kitsune that thinks like a human!" said the djinn. There was no anger in his voice, but even that would have terrified her less than the frenzy tinting his words. "You unbound at a young age, Rena, and I don't think you realised for a long time. And so, you grew up believing what the Order had always told you: that you were the human side."

Rena tried to find the words to insist that he was wrong but they refused to come out as the djinn rushed on, sweeping her away with him. 

"That story you gave me was a well fabricated lie. I might have believed it, had you not told it as you did, but you gave yourself away when you placed yourself as the active consciousness." He stared at her. "When a Mythic becomes Unbound, they rise up. They push past. They claim what is theirs, and yet, you mention none of that, which only makes you all the more interesting.

"But!" said Qariinn, gesturing to the table with enough confidence to make Rena flick her gaze. "The energy, it must not go to waste! I had hoped you would achieve nine tails through the true kitsune feeding, but the conscious decision to feed off the excess alone was enough to boost you to seven, which only confirms my theory that you are held back only by yourself. Please, leave the pillar and approach the table." 

Rena didn't risk turning to count them. She forced her breathing to slow, struggling to keep the urge to flee under control, something the djinn seemed content to give her as he placed his hands flat against the surface of the table and clicked his tongue at the contents strewn across it. 

If I just go along with it... Rena swallowed, inflating her lungs until they felt like they'd burst. Just go along with it, get my key back, and then I get out. He's crazy, but he doesn't want to hurt me. She exhaled. I think. 

"What do you want me to do?" she asked slowly, yet to leave the pillar. 

The djinn held out a hand. "Your sceptre, where is it?" 

The sceptre's weight on her belt increased tenfold under his attention. Rena closed her hand around it and drew it, one foot leaving her established zone of safety to carry her further towards Qariinn's waiting hand, into which she placed the head of the sceptre, nearly dropping it as she flinched away from the movement of his fingers. 

He gave her a disapproving look. "Really, Emberheart," he said. "Anyone would think I'd just attacked you." 

She didn't reply, watching with wide eyes as he took the crystal and, after careful examination, carved graceful lines into its surface with his magic. He then lifted it, sliding the crystal into the tangled branches that formed the head of the sceptre. The carvings matched the branches perfectly. 

"The sticks you chose before were from the same tree which your sceptre was carved," said the djinn, turning the sceptre over in his hands to ensure the crystal would remain unless pulled. "An ancient being, that tree. It gifted my Unbound partner a branch, and it is the only one it has ever shed. When my partner left, he left that sceptre, and I placed it in the armoury hoping that one day, some one that could sense its potential would emerge, and so you have." 

He held out the sceptre and its newly seated crystal towards Rena. 

"Now," he said. "Claim it." 

Rena held out a trembling hand and allowed the wood to fall into her palm. "How?" 

"The same way you do for your illusions. Imbue your energy into it." 

With a deep breath, Rena focused her energy into the wood. 

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A/N - Show some love and vote/comment please ^_^ Also, long ass A/N at end of next part => Please read it, important info (especially about Indigo)