Schrödinger's Fox

Chapter Two

Trigger Warning: A character experiences a panic attack in this chapter. You have been warned.

All eyes were suddenly on me, and I let out a sigh, before grabbing my bag in my jaws, and slinging it around my neck once more. I jumped from my swivel chair with grace, silence still heavy in the air like smoke. Before I left the meeting room, I heard a cough, which was to inevitably get my attention. I hummed in response, signifying I was listening, not bothering to look back at the culprit. I was a tad bit too short to see then anyways.
" We'll have somebody stay behind once the meeting is over, and fill you in on everything. Just come back to this room once you're finished, and they should be here." It was Enojar who spoke this time. A click of a pen could be heard, and placed on the table. I could almost see the raven-haired being intertwining their fingers together and putting their elbows on the desk, before resting their chin gently on their fingers.
" Noted." I said simply, and passed the slightly nervous, petite woman holding open the door for me. I sent her a nod of gratitude. I sat down a moment, waiting for her to exit the room, and shut the door. She walked ahead of me, and I followed suit. It would be a few minutes until we reached the person desiring to see me, so I decided to be polite and exchange a few words with the woman escorting me.
" Do you happen to know why she wanted to see me?" I asked, running my tongue over my sharp teeth." She knows I was in a meeting, no?"
The small woman jumped slightly at my sudden inquiry, nearly dropping some of the papers she was holding. Oops... I probably scared her a little.
" I-I don't know, sorry miss." She said, reaching up to one of her ears and spinning the diamond stud stationed on her earlobe, which was without a doubt, a nervous fidget." I tried telling her that you were still in a meeting but she told me to fetch you anyways." She said with a slight nervous tone, taking her hand away from her ear and waving it in a dismissive manner.
" I see. She's an odd lady, for sure." I said with a small snort, trying to break the ice a bit with a half-hearted poke at our superior.
I heard a small muffled snort coming from the redhead. It appears it worked, for once. I wasn't really jovial or comical, but I try my best to get a laugh or two out of some of my acquaintances or friends. Often times I'd fail and my joke would ignored, or a heavy silence would soon follow afterward.
As I spaced out for a few moments, my companion stopped in front of a large door and spoke once more;" Here we are. It was very nice meeting you, miss." She turned her head to look at me once more with a small smile.
" It was nice to meet you too..." I trailed off, hoping she'd get the hint.
" Jocelynn, Jocelynn Norsen." She finished, thankfully catching on quite quickly. Moments where people didn't catch on to such implications were honestly, incredibly awkward.
" Well then Jocelynn, I hope we could meet again, perhaps. Have a good rest of your afternoon." I said with a small smile.
" Same to you, miss." With that, the woman was gone, and I was left alone in front of the door, which had my superior's title written on it. I took a deep breath and stood on my hind legs, and using a clawed hand to unlock it, before plopping back down on all fours once more. I swiftly entered and shut the door with a back foot.
" Good evening Cliste." Said a soft and delicate feminine voice, that despite that, implied great power.
I looked over and saw a large, almost towering bird-like creature. She had two pairs of cat-like ears and a long sharp eagle-like beak. A crest of feathers ran between her two pairs of horns, one pair almost like a dragon's while the ones below it curled around her face like a ram's horns, almost like mine, except the tips were bent downward. Her body and neck were slender, her legs thin and skinny, and upon her back was a pair of giant feathered wings. Her tail was long and reptilian, with a long curved blade at the end, two long peacock feathers on either side of it. Her most enduring feature however, were her three eyes, all closed, almost as if she was asleep, when it was evident she was awake, even when not opening them. Most of her body was shrouded in a black silk cloak, which was hard to tell from her dark gray body.
" What is it you called me here for, Death?" I sighed. I half expected her to open all three of her eyes, but then I quickly remembered she was blind, and therefore didn't have the need to open them. I also remembered it would be best if I used her title as well." Lady Death." I quickly added.
She had been laying down similar to how a bird would rest in their nest, her belly and chest on the ground, her slim light gray legs tucked under her belly. Her long neck straightened, and turned towards me, though she couldn't 'see' me. Though she was incredibly old, and one of the most ancient beings alive, as well as among the first living ones, she still appeared young, yet held an ancient atmosphere around her. To put it into perspective, she was there to witness the creation of the earth, and help create it. Her eyes did, after all, become the sun, moon, and earth, respectively.
" Cliste I thought I told you to call me Aunt Rea. We are relatives after all." She said.
On the contrary she did create me, but we werent necessarily blood relatives, as in, she didn't give birth to me. But she did indeed create me. But in technical terms we could be considered relatives, it was just a matter of opinion. If we were related by blood, she wouldn't be my aunt, but a parent. She just didn't like being called 'Death,' 'My Lady,' or both, making it 'Lady Death.' She always thought it made her sound scarier than she really was. But those that came to an end at the expense of her curved blade beg to differ. So she just decided to have everybody call her 'Rea' instead, which she thought was a nice name.
I let out a sigh." Alright. I will from now on, alright?" I could see the muscles under her eyes move upward slightly, as if she was smiling, though she really couldn't, considering she had a beak.
" But that's besides the point, what is it you called me here for?" I quickly added, and the muscles under her eyes relaxed once more. She was silent for a moment, as if reminding herself why she called me here in the first place, before speaking once more.
" Of course. I called you here to assign you a task." She said, slightly lost in thought." I'd like for you to observe the Lessers for any suspicious activity, and find out any information you can regarding... The incident."
I was silent for a moment. What on earth did she mean? I gave her a questioning look, before once again, realising she was blind for the second time today." What do you mean...?" I inquired.
She was silent once more, and after a seemingly long and convoluted period of time, spoke," You weren't told were you? Perhaps I called you in too early. The council would have told you about it by now, though." Rea pondered to herself.
Oh. I quickly realised why she was so puzzled I didn't know," Ah... well, I was late to the meeting. So it started later than initially planned."
Rea was silent for a brief moment, before a noise of amusement escaped her." I wouldn't expect anything less! Just like her old lady." She chuckled softly." Go head back to the meeting you little scallywag. They'll inform you of the situation better than I can, I'm sure."
I gave her a questioning look. Why was she being so vague? What had happened? Usually she was so straightforward, but now she's avoiding a subject for a reason unknown to me. It was frightening me a bit. I would have questioned her, but I know better than to question Death's antics. She is incredibly wise and intelligent, and wouldn't do anything without reason, even if that reason is hidden from us. I know her too well to think she's decieving me.
I hesitated, and eventually nodded. I realized something incredibly unfortunate must have happened for Rea to catch wind of it. If it was this important, I'm sure Father Time himself is aware, as well as Mother Darkness, and Brother Light. Well, Time sees all, hears all, and knows all, but things are more important than others, and I'm sure this is no laughing matter. It would be plain foolish of me to think anything gets past Time unnoticed.
It was then I realized that this task was more than it seemed, and would weigh heavy upon me, and everybody I knew.

• ° ● ♤ ● ° •

Carefully pushing the meeting door open, I walked inside once more. The meeting room was completely empty. I scoffed. Enojar promised me he would leave behind somebody to fill me in on what the meeting was about. Sighing, I closed the door with my back paw and threw my bag carelessly on the table. Suddenly a brownish black shape latched onto my face. I screeched in surprise, and I started to grow in size, to defend myself.
I stopped quickly when a childish giggle met my ears, and I quickly relaxed, grabbing the thing on my face gently with my paws, and gazing at it, a scowl upon my features. A little giggly feathered fruit bat in my paws, her big rosy pink eyes gazing at me.
" Cliste!!! O-oh my gosh!!! That was amazing! You got so scared!! You should have seen your face!!! And that girly scream of terror!! That was utterly priceless!" The little winged creature laughed. I gave her a stern look, and she was quickly silent.
" Murni, don't do that again! I could have seriously hurt you, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever did." I said sternly.
Murni's face fell," Oh... I'm sorry Cliste. I didn't mean to scare you that bad..." And just like that, the little bat was back to her usual timid and soft-spoken self. Oh goodness, now I felt bad.
" Murni, all I'm saying is just be careful, alright?"
She nodded silently, and I sigh. Might as well get straight to the point now." Enojar told me you'd fill me in on what happened in the meeting, and why we were called here.." I trailed off once I saw the look on the bat's face. Her face suddenly became almost drained of color, her skin paling under her fur. I instantly realized that whatever this meeting had been arranged to talk about, it wasn't good. Not at all. Murni's face doesn't just drain like this. She's usually the most optimistic person I know.

" Murni... What happened?!" I said with vigor, anxious and scared to know what had even happened.

" Cliste..." My ears perked up as she said my name." The book has been stolen..." 

I felt my body freeze, my blood felt icy in my veins. My heart skipped a beat, then raced, as if it was running from some terrifying monster. I felt ill, like I was about to throw up. I couldn't breathe, it felt like somebody was squeezing my body to make it into a tiny snow ball. My mind became fuzzy, and I could barely see my friend standing in front of me. I willed myself to move, and speak, but I couldn't bring myself to do either. The walls felt intimidating, and black spots started to appear in my sight. Breathe... Breathe. I felt air fill my lungs once more, and I could see Murni standing in front of me, looking like she was about to cry. Her pleas and cries filled my ears and I snapped back in reality. I finally managed to will myself to speak,

" Murni, that's.... that's impossible." I said simply, with an empty joking smile." That's... that's outrageous. How could you even joke about that..?" An empty laugh escaped my dry throat. I tried to convince myself the bat was joking. The book wasn't stolen. That's absolutely impossible. You can't simply steal it.

" Cliste... if it's impossible, then how did it happen?" She said, her voice cracking.

Murni was telling the truth. Though I knew she wasn't joking, I was just... hoping she was. I tried to convince myself she was, anyways. I might as well try." Murni... if this... thief is able to read it..." I paused, feeling fear dig it's claws into my voice and body once more." They'd learn the secrets of everything. The entire universe... Murni there are things in that book not even Life and Death know about-"

" I-I know! I know! Cliste I'm so scared... there are secrets in there, they might even be able to bend the world to their own will... and maybe even destroy the fabrics of reality...!" Murni broke at this point, and broke into tears. I carefully picked her up in my talons, and held her close to my chest, like a mother bat would do with her child." Hasa said one of his commanders might have spied on us, and learned of it's location... the commander even disappeared.." She sniffled and buried her face into my fur. I held her close, and cooed softly to her.

Now, I finally realized the weight upon my shoulders. I was responsible for quite possibly, the most important task in the history of the fabrics of the universe. If the fabric flayed, it would be my fault. I cant let that happen.

No... I won't let that happen.