The afterlife is heaven for some, and hell to others. The place remained the same, and there are souls that never want to leave. However, there is a limit to the time that they can stay. Kokoro no Kitsune was built to house the kitsune souls to adapt them once again to a human life. It proved harder for some, as the prolonged stay had morphed their souls and bodies.
The place hovered between life and death, and was placed where anyone could see it, if they proved capable of finding the souls a new home. Years passed and the dimension started to become crowded, it was at this time that Raven found the dimension.
At first, she was clueless as to her find, and took care of the souls. A few months afterwards, some of the souls started to follow her through the dimension and took a corporal shape.
When the kitsune took corporal form, the one they followed would find an orb in their hand. Even those that tried to rid themselves of the orbs found it back with them again, serving as a beacon to the kitsune to prevent them from becoming lost.
Raven found that the kitsune would always end up taking the same shape as their souls, and she started to bring other people to the dimension to help her take care of the souls. She could no longer take care of all of them by herself, and soon, other people started to walk out of the dimension, with an orb appearing in his or her hand.
After the first week or so, the new caretakers noticed something odd. In the other dimension, the kitsune didn’t have any tails when they looked closely. But, with a glance at the souls, they would see from one to nine tails on the kitsune. Added to this oddity, upon entry to the living world, the kitsune would grow one tail.
Raven and several others began to research this oddity and came to a conclusion fairly easily, with the aid of old folklore tales. Kitsune gained tails as they aged, and at the end of one thousand years, they would gain their final ninth tail. Raven and the other caretakers were slightly disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to see their charges grow to that age.
After the first few years, some of the kitsune grew his or her second tail, much to everyone’s surprise
Raven and the caretakers began to investigate, and saw that all of the caretakers for those kitsune played with them frequently. So, there was a chance for them to see their charges fully grown after all.
Added to the oddity of the tail growing, the kitsune’s body would morph after growing their first tail. This confused everyone, until they noticed that it had to do with how they were raised, and the form they had in the alternate dimension.
So began the next life of the kitsune, changed by their long stay in Heaven. Whether or not they would prosper, and adapt, is completely up to those that care for them.
~ story by tbiris ~
