CHAPTER 178: CHAPTER 177: GETTING SETTLED PART 6

"Ki-ko is victorious!" The third-person declaration pulled everyone’s eyes back to her and as they turned she was no longer where she had been, or where the voice was, but sat on her Grandmother Alisha’s lap at the table.

"Okay child, enlighten us, what did you do while you were gone?"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! I won our little... Agreement of course." Kitsunoko answered with smug assuredness, cracking her knuckles before Alisha grabbed her hands and held them down.

"Kitsunoko, if you don’t get rid of that habit I’ll call your Mum back. Now tell us what you did."

---The Children’s Perspective---

"Sibling huddle!..." Kitsunoko shouted as she walked towards them, drawing them into a hushed circle. "...Right first we head to the towers, Razy make sure they can’t see us, it will be a surprise."

Raziel and Tiamutael looked at each other and then after a brief internal deliberation, they did as asked, appearing in front of tower 1-1.

"Okay Ki-ko, now tell us the plan." Ki-ko held up a tablet she swiped with all the required data, then when Razy was done scolding her, she explained her plan.

"So the first thing we need to do, is head to the attendants of the towers where bullies live and explain the bully jail, then the attendant can implement it when we tell them to..."

"Ki-ko, they are going to confirm with the grown-ups so it won’t be a surprise." Raziel said as she tried to be a supportive, but also knew Ki-ko had a reputation with everyone.

’Mums, Dad, I need extra special permission for you to ask the attendants to do as I say for the next hour.’ Kitsunoko asked telepathically, the first time she had actually used that ability.

"WHY!?" The trio’s reply was immediate, nervous and so loud Kitsunoko grimaced.

’Helping, duh, do you not trust me or something?’

’Watch the attitude little fox before I open a portal and spank those tails of yours. Fine, we trust you, but you better not disappoint us with this. If you ever speak like that again you’ll be moving to Archyon. Do you understand?’

’Yes Mum... Sorry Mums, sorry Dad, I just got excited and carried away.’

"Good girl, remember to be polite and lady-like, you’re going to be an example to all the other foxes one day. Now help to your hearts content for the next hour. We just told them.’

"Well guys, our plan is set!" As Ki-ko exclaimed, her siblings flicked each of her ears. "OW!"

"That was for being rude to Mum’s."

"That was for being rude to Dad."

"Sorry guys, but I got permission, so let’s go!"

From there, they headed to the first tower in the list with an issue, tower 3-2.

"Young Master, Tiamutael. Young Ladies Raziel and Kitsunoko. Ladies Kyubi and Klaire have sent word that the towers are at your full command for the next hour, I look forward to seeing the future of the faction in action."

"Thank you Al three-two..." Kitsunoko then want on to explain bully jail, though what she didn’t know, was that the attendants would be relaying every word back in real time to their Mums.

"...So that’s it, you just need to put the room into lockdown and remove all the fun stuff. six hours for a first offence, two days for the second and a week for the third."

"I see, what about the fourth and fifth."

"Well, I don’t really have permission for that. Personally, I’d make it clear that anyone making life here sucky isn’t needed and we should send them back to be with the sucky people that let Grandma Leanna get hurt."

"I see..." The Aegis Legion transmitted that, then upon receiving a confirmation, flicked her forehead and scolded her for saying "sucky" and cleared its throat. "...I was instructed to do so if you behave un-lady-like in anyway. Otherwise, I will confer with the others about the rules of the bully jail."

"No, for today we’re making a show of it, that way word will spread." The Aegis Legion bowed and asked for instructions, but Kitsunoko just grinned and took the elevator to the suite.

Hidden from sight by her use of Laws, she didn’t set of the door sensors, but held her hands out for a few moments and finally hit the button for the elevator to descend

"What exactly did you do?"

"Oh, I thought it was best to send the message with an illusion, if they got mad and tried to hurt me... Well I don’t want nightmares so let’s not think of that...

---Inside the room---

A young man sat on the couch laughing as he messaged over the tablet and watch shows on the vid-display, when the door suddenly hissed open.

"Eric ottoman, you are hereby sentenced to bully jail..."

"Hey! Who are you kid!?"

"I am the second daughter of Carl Bashe-Reaga, the leader of the faction who offered you a nice home and a future."

The boy’s face went pale, he had no idea why the leader’s daughter would be there or why the leader would send a kid to people’s suites to deliver messages.

"...As I was saying, you are sentenced to bully jail, we don’t like bullies in our faction but we do understand that people have a lot of negativity to deal with. That said, this first time will mean lock down and no tablet or display for six-hours, the next will be two days and the third will be a week..."

She trailed off and sent a message asking Tiamutael to gradually increase the weight of his gaze on the boy.

"...My little brother has very good sight, he will see your every attempt to bring negativity to this faction. Please be aware, but just like everyone else, our patience has limits. I suggest you use the next six hours to think about whether you want to stay here."

"Please, I heard all about Carl, he was a big softie." That was his biggest mistake as the full weight of Tiamutael’s gaze nearly crushed him.

"Yep, Dad is very, very, very, very nice. Our Mums, Grandmas and Great-Grandma and us are the ones that handle the punishments and we love Dad lots, so you just got an extra six hours. Insult Dad again and I won’t need to ask my little brother to send you back."

---As Kitsunoko Reached the Ground level---

"So yeah, that’s everything that happened." Kitsunoko explained before asking Tiamutael to take them to the next one.

"One minute..." As Tiamutael finished he changed into his dragon-form and for the first time, Kitsunoko actually panicked a little bit.

"Baby-Brother, it’s okay!" Tiamutael ignored her and tapped a claw carefully against the window to the suite, then a few long seconds later, he reverted back.

"Sorry Ki-ko, I don’t think I like bullies."

"Good, they aren’t good people." Ki-ko cooed as she gave him a hug and patted his head.

After that, they moved on and done the same thing at all the bullies, then they moved on to the theft where the attendant was waiting for them with both parties.

"Well, this one’s all you Razy." Ki-ko said with her usual abundance of energy that contrasted Raziel’s lack of it in a way that made her seem almost ominous.

"Did you get stolen from?" She asked the accuser without any context.

"What? Who a-"

"This is the leader’s daughter, Raziel, accompanied by her siblings Tiamutael and Kitsunoko. Raziel is an angel and can detect lies like all her kind, now answer her questions so we can be done with this."

"Yes." The girl said as she looked at the little girl of pure light.

Raziel then turned to the other girl and asked if she had stolen it. "No, I didn’t, she only thinks I did because I was behind her in line while we were on SATS."

"She’s telling the truth, get a description of the item and ask attendants to search all the rooms and ask the residents. There’s a good chance someone picked it up and the current restrictions in movement are preventing the keeper from returning it."

"Of course Lady Raziel." The attendant bowed slightly and the two girls followed suit.

"You guys don’t need to bow! The Aegis Legion bow because we’re their creator’s children." Kitsunoko explained. "I’d rather just be friends when we can."

"Me too." Raziel said shyly.

With that Ki-ko demanded they get on with their final task and went to the infirmary to speak to the suicidal patient, where Lydia was waiting and ready to interfere.

"Hey Lydia!"

"Hello, I have been told to give you room to work, but I will step in if you push too hard."

"Thank you for your assistance Ly-ly."

"It’s Lydia, Ki-ko, you can’t just give out nicknames like candy."

Kitsunoko ignored the last bit and went to the patient.

"Hey there, I don’t really get it, but I want to understand it. Can you tell me why you did it?"

The man was middle aged, eyes sunken and skin pale, he was a bit out of it but the little fox’s energy made him feel like he should acknowledge her.

"Simple. I gave my life to working on SATS, trying to nurture the next generation, but then they simply threw us all aside and I decided I didn’t want to live without my job."

"Tiamutael, send Ly-ly outside please."

"Wha-" Lydia suddenly disappeared as she tried to protest and Tiamutael both looked at each other wondering if they were about to be accomplices to something serious, but they couldn’t help but have faith in their sister.

Kitsunoko took the man’s hand. "I’m gonna get in trouble for this Mister, but I think it’s worth it. You’re a dummy..." The moment she said it, the man himself wasn’t sure if he’d heard correctly and her siblings suddenly lost all faith and just prepared for disciplining.

"I’m sorry Little One, but I think you’re-"

"Ugh, I do understand and you’re a dummy. Some people said you aren’t worth keeping and you took it to heart, but you didn’t even consider that everyone in Dad’s faction was happy to have you. You don’t understand..." Kitsunoko asked the attendant to make the walls transparent and gestured to all the surrounding towers. "...You have all these towers filled with students and us all working hard to make everyone comfortable. Why doesn’t that mean anything to you!?"

The man became enamoured by her grand, albeit forceful, sincerity. He followed her gesture and looked at the hundreds of towers. He stood and turned on the spot wordlessly and both Tiamutael and Raziel were wondering if he was going to try and run through the wall because it was see-through.

"How many?"

"One-hundred and Nineteen thousand... People who need all the familiar faces they can get, people you tried to turn your back on because you were too worried about the ten, maybe less, who didn’t want you."

"You made your point child, but maybe you should run before Miss. Cambion returns."

"Nuh uh. First, I’d be stupid to leave you unattended, daddy taught me that dummies are stubborn. Second, I don’t run just because things get tough."

"Ki-ko, you literally played concussed earlier because sister Omy threw you into the wall..." Raziel said as she shook her head, making the man laugh so hard he had to lean on the bed.

When Lydia got back through the door, she was red-faced and the angriest any of the children had seen her. The rage died in her when she saw the man laughing, but it didn’t stop her glaring at the suddenly timid fox slinking towards her.

"Whatever you did seems to have helped a bit, so no lecture now, it ca-"

"No, I was irresponsible and put somebody’s life in danger regardless of how sure I was I could help..." She looked back at her siblings briefly. "...I deserve to get in trouble, but I was the ring-leader, so just me."

When she was done talking, she turned to face the man, then took a deep-breath and turned to face her punishment.

"Tiamutael, Raziel, wait outside, let her fall on her sword like a good fox..." The moment they disappeared, Lydia gave her a very serious scolding and brought the girl to tears with her intensity before sending her to meet the others.

"Carl is raising fine children...." The man said as the door closed behind Kitsunoko.

"Yes, he is, but maybe a bit too desperate to make the world a better place. The path to evil is paved with good intentions and those kids have so many good intentions and so much power, that if we don’t guide them every step of the way, then they will inevitably cross lines."

"You mean like we all did? I studied an ancient parchment once Lydia, it read something along the lines of "an eye for an eye makes the world blind". I see the truth in that now, but that little fox just opened my eyes a little, I forgot how bright the world can be."

"Don’t get all poetic on me yet Mr. James. I garuntee you the girl’s dad will have his own thoughts to share with you when he’s back."

"Back? Did he go somewhere?"

"Sorry can’t say too much until you’re contracted I’m afraid, believe it or not, the committee is the least of our concerns..."