It was a beautiful day in Nelfim. It was quite busy around the lake. Various races were moving about and cleaning up. An event had recently ended here and the last traces were getting cleaned up. A woman with light blue hair, rabbit ears and 4 tails, wearing a dress decorated with flowers was directing the helpers on how to dispose of materials which could otherwise harm the environment.

  “Hey Yvonne! we completed our tasks! Can we have an autograph?” Three harpies flocked around Yvonne and handed over a card with Yvonne’s image on it for Yvonne to sign.

  “Sure!” Yvonne signed the items and saw the happy harpies off. A loud noise and clattering could be heard in the distance which made Yvonne's ears perk.

  Noelle was holding verbal warfare against some clumsy new Yttroz Industries workers. “We’re sorry! We will fix it right away!”

  “You better! Don’t give construction workers a bad name!” Noelle continued on and was merciless with her words.

  Giana had lifted the illusions that had surrounded the lake and was helpping with cleaning up. “That was rough. I will need coaching on illusions. Cleaning them up is harder than I thought.” Giana wanted to move on to dispel another one when she noticed something. “Noelle, Yv! Continue without me! I need to take care of something!” Noelle didn’t catch what Giana said as she was too deep into an argument. Yvonne did hear her and nodded.

  Giana walked toward the person whose gaze she felt. Giana was unsure how long she had been watched for but she only noticed it just now. “So, we finally meet. You are as gorgeous as I remember”

  “I’m sorry I don’t think we’ve met before. Judging by your ears and tails you are Giana Kahlua I presume?” a voice said as the owner of this voice came out ot hte shadow of a large tree.

  Giana nodded. “We’ve never met but I’ve admired your beauty from since I was a little kid and lived in Hourai. To what do I owe this unusual meeting?”

  Hisui got all her tails out and sent a wave of charm magic at Giana. Giana responded by doing the same. It didn't happen often but this was how vixens greet each other if they are not from the same family.

  “I see your charm magic is quite potent. It must be else it wouldn’t have been able to ward Agnis from mine.”

  “So it worked. I’m glad. I assume you’re not here for a nice chat or a polite greeting.”

  The two faced eachother and unleashed waves of charm magic at each other.

  Giana had moved some distance from the deconstruction site but it wasn’t far enough. Everyone in the vicinity had felt the clash of charm magic. Noelle and Yvonne were busy with keeping order as they had to make sure that the bystanders didn’t get fully charmed. The clash between the vixens could turn into a war between charmed innocent bystanders if no precautions were made.

  “You seem to have claimed Agnis. Very bold. I will have to say that I didn’t expect any vixen to manage to get close enough to him to do such. I am here to challenge that claim. You are younger than me but I assume you know how we vixen do this?” Hisui said as she got ready to jump into action.

  Giana didn’t move. “I do but... Do you know how [Charmed Protection] works?”

  “Oh don’t worry I know how the [Charmed Protection] works.”

  “Then may I ask why there was no [Charmed Protection] on Agnis when I first met him? Aren’t you some sort of big sister to him or at least helped raise him in his younger years? I would have backed off if your [Charmed Protection] was present and strong enough but…” Giana’s charm magic flared. “Neither you nor your cousins had placed one on him. Do you truly care about him?”

  “I don’t know why you’re getting so upset about it. Besides, he isn’t easy to catch.” Hisui responded by flaring her charm magic too.

  “Right, I apologize. I will have to confirm this first. What does [Charmed Protection] mean to you?” Giana asked as she slowly walked over to the lake, stopped and stood still on the water’s surface.

  “It is a prize to show that I have caught and claimed my love interest.” Hisui said as her eyes started glowing pink purple.

  Giana’s charm magic flared yet again. “This is not a game! Do you realize how important that is?”

  Hisui was puzzled. She didn’t sense any deception and Giana was genuinely upset. Was there something she didn’t understand? Hisui partially retracted some charm magic she was exuding and decided to extract information. “Then tell me. what is it’s importance!?”

  Hisui threw several daggers. They flew in an arc and targeted Giana. Giana however had no intention of blocking or evading. The daggers bounced off Giana and showed no sign of her taking any damage.

  “The [Charmed Protection] is important because as you know, the men of our race have absolutely no resistance to charm magic. A vixen needs to place the [Charmed Protection] on them so that they don’t bond with the first woman that throws charm magic at them.” Giana said as she took attack after attack.

  Hisui sent an onslaught of nature and poison elemental attacks at Giana but Giana could either defend against them our cure the poisons. None of the attacks that Hisui sent at her hurt or did damage.

  “That is strange, these attacks should damage you... and if that’s the case Agnis should have fallen for me a long time ago!” Hisui used [Nature Viper] and the large green snake coiled around Giana but Giana didn’t bother to defend or evade. Hisui was aware that no nine-tailed spirit fox ability would work.

  Foxfires or fire was highly ineffective against other spirit foxes, as was spatiotemporal magic. The few fights that members have within their race are personal specialties because of those reasons. Hisui couldn’t find out exactly what Giana’s specialty was. What could she do besides healing? There must be more. Hisui pressed the attacks and flung charm magic at Giana.

  The only method of retaliation from Giana was the charm magic that she was sending back. “It was brief but I’ve seen how Agnis reacts in response to charm magic. I would say you had a good influence on him in that aspect but it requires him to not get overwhelmed instantly. You and I could easily overwhelm him if we wanted to. But other women possessing charm magic could too. Which is the problem.” Giana waved her hand and a cold blast erupted from her and got rid of all magic and nature energy in the area. The lake froze over and Giana walked over to Hisui.

  “What?! You can use that too?!”

  “It seems so but this is not mine. This is from the mana Agnis gave me when he saved me…” Giana stomped on the ice, freezing Hisui to the ground. Hisui had gone in close and personal with daggers ready but she was frozen to the lake and face to face with Giana.

  “How…”

  Giana held Hisui’s chin and made Hisui look into her eyes. “Please listen. This is important. Without [Charmed Protection] it’s possible for succubae, demons, witches, and any race that can produce charm magic users to steal him away with just a well-placed wink laced with charm magic. Even humans seem to be able to use charm magic. This is the one weakness they can’t fight, Give that rock over there charm magic, and the moment it’s successful, Agnis would bond with it. Is that what you want?! You do know that our race bonds for life and that the bond is important enough that it could dictate his life, right?! You want a random human woman to come along and bond with him? Or even worse, a succubus? There are so many races that can use charm magic but don’t use it to bond. That’s why I’m upset!” Giana made a motion to slap Hisui but she controlled herself.

  “I…I didn’t know that. But even though I would hate that, there shouldn’t be problem if he bonds with someone like that right?”

  Giana shook her head. “Our race… is one of the few that needs intra racial bonding. Vixens will eventually succumb to their own charm magic if they don’t have an efficient outlet… this is one of the many reasons our race is doing poorly. It only works if a vixen has a 9t male… a nine-tailed spirit fox male as they are limitless pits for charm mana.”

  Hisui racked her brain to find matching information. Her tails also came up with nothing. “I’ve never heard of that. How do you know all this?”

  “My mother… she remembered fragments from her life before the Great Eraser. She was a member of a team that had to investigate why our numbers are so low and intra racial dynamics.”

  “She remembers? So…” Hisui tried to take this information in. She always thought that Agnis was too weak to charm magic because he would otherwise be too busy to bond. But was it so that he had a higher capacity to receive charm magic? “Wait… something isn’t adding up. If that’s the case then it should be us vixens that are low in numbers!”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “Correct. My mother had found out that a male nine-tail fox is likely to self-destruct when not bonded. They will focus on the things they need to accomplish regardless of how it affects them.” Giana’s face filled with sadness. “My mother’s findings weren’t pleasant. They take the maintenance of the dimensional fabric and the role of our race very seriously. Many had closed dangerous dimensional holes, sacrificing themselves to make sure those close to them would be safe. Fending off gods and luring them into dangerous traps. All the reckless behavior you would expect from our race. But the most important problem was [Foxfire: Soulburn]. Our male counterparts, tend to tear everything down if they fight something they can’t beat.”

  Memories of Giana’s mother flashed through her head and she tried to stay calm. Giana’s mother had placed importance on teaching her everything she knew about their race. [Empathic Bond] was the first thing her mother had thought her as its extremely effective in creating interpersonal bonds.

  “We all know by now that Agnis has fought a deity. Fortunately, he was successful in fighting her off. But it could have ended very differently. He would have a 78% chance to kill that goddess at the cost of his own life. Anything that is targeted by [Foxfire: Soulburn] will perish, including the user. Strangely only the men can use this and this has been reflected in history. Many gods fell to [Foxfire: Soulburn] as did a large part of our population. They care more about the wellbeing of those they leave behind than for themselves.” Giana said as her eyes teared up.

  Thoughts went through Hisui’s head. She didn’t want to believe it but she didn’t sense any deception. She recognized some of these traits in Agnis. Also reports of his life as the Silver Torrent, the rumor that he was a tragic hero. The countless disappearances, the reckless fight he had against the Sarian deity Biian and there must be many more she didn’t know about. “So… he’s going to die without [Charmed Protection]?”

  Giana wiped her tears. “No… that is only to make sure another race doesn’t steal him… a bonded vixen can mitigate [Foxfire: Soulburn’s] lethality. It needs a skill that has been lost in time, unfortunately. If a bonded vixen would cast [Thalia] on her partner, their bond will deepen and feed [Foxfire: Soulburn] and ensure it won’t be lethal to the user. It will turn a hopeless situation into a very powerful weapon as a fully charmed 9t using [Foxfire: Soulburn] is going to drop deities left and right. Us vixens also become way stronger if we can keep our charm magic flowing.“ Giana said as she thawed Hisui.

  Hisui continued the assault with shadow magic and daggers. “So without that skill there is no way to save him?”

  Giana responded by blasting Hisui away with charm magic.

  Hisui was flabbergasted. She was considered to be a prodigy under the Mikazuki branch working under her father but nothing she did could harm this vixen. Her charm magic seemed to even surpass hers.

  “There is. Make sure he never uses [Foxfire: Soulburn]. I’m sorry Hisui but I’m not leaving him to you. I have decided to stop taking the passive approach. I have noticed that a lot of my fans are able to use charm magic. It will only be a matter of time before another race takes him away or he self-destructs if I don’t step up and for this I need to win this exchange.” Giana started to sing and buff herself. Giana didn’t had anything that could deal substantial damage but battle between vixens are mainly won with charm magic.

  The song echoed and filled the whole area. Hisui released her charm magic in response.

  “You’re not from some small family, are you? Kahlua is your fathers last name, right?!” Nothing Hisui did seemed to be able to do anything to Giana. Giana didn’t seem to have any offensive spells but her charm magic was the real deal.

  Giana shifted to a dance to boost her charm magic. “Family names don’t matter much anymore. The Mikazuki aren’t as numerous as they used to be, The Hifan aren’t as powerful as they were and the Oures family has gone extinct.”

  “The Mikazuki are still numerous! I don’t know much about the Oures family though.”

  Giana had been talking to a shadow clone and the real Hisui dropped out of stealth to land a charm-laced backstab but the dagger broke as she tried to land it on Giana.

  “What the? I assume you’re not a Mikazuki since you’re not blue or pink. Don’t tell me you’re a Hifan?” Hisui backed off. “What monstrous hybrid have they created? I know that sapphire merfolk are tough but this is ridiculous!”

  “How rude!” Giana sent pink charm laced [Water Jellyfish] at Hisui. “But yeah… my mother was Elena Hifan, the next in line to become the head of the family… she disagreed with many things and left, But that was before the Great Eraser. You could say that my real name is ‘Giana Hifan’ but I like ‘Giana Kahlua’ more.”

  Hisui got frozen again. The magic signature was of someone she knew really well. “He really did give you that mana did he…”

  Giana capitalized on the brief moment that Hisui hesitated and bombarded Hisui with the charm laced jellyfish. It didn’t deal damage but she did successfully [Charm] Hisui.

  “I…I lost… You’re not going to deceive or disappear on him, are you?”

  “Why would you ask that? Of course, I won’t.”

  “I can tell you this since it seems you care for him as much as I do… maybe even more… I had a dream. It was on the night he was born. Someone close to him is going to disappear on him and it’s going to break him. I thought it just a dream at first but it’s persistent. My father told me that tailed beasts get dreams like that and that they turn out to be real.” Hisui hesitated. “I saw how he looked at me. We used to be so close when we were young but now, he looks at me in fear and terror. I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it a bit but… I need someone to keep an eye out on him until I fix this relationship…”

  Giana readied more charm energy. “I’m not handing him over to you!”

  “Greedy vixen! I saw him first! But…you seem to know better how to handle the situation of our fragile population count. Just understand this.” The air got heavy as Hisui put on an intimidating look. “If you hurt him or break his heart you will regret it.” Giana stepped back, steeled herself and nodded.

  “So, what’s it going to be? You charmed me so how long do I need to stay away from him?”

  “Act like a normal vixen for 10 years, then we will have this fight again. You are part of his life, for better or worse but I’m also not na?ve enough to think that I should keep him to myself forever…” Giana said in multiple voices, returning some intimidation.

  “Oho, very interesting. I like it! He is not going to like that though. He finds dealing with just one more than enough.”

  “I know… And I’d like to be the only one it’s just… there are not many of us left and especially you, your charm magic is potent. I don’t know how long it will take for it to affect you. We’re all the same race and from Hourai, we need to look after each other…” Giana said, realizing that it might be a bit naive.

  Hisui exhaled audibly. “The burden of a vixen, eh? Very well I will do my best to act like ’normal’ whatever that means. Just 10 years! Don’t blame me if you didn’t make any progress in 10 years!”

  “Thank you Hisui, I expected this to fold out differently but I’m happy it turned out like this.” Giana said with a bright smile.

  “Well, I’m not! Your hybrid combo is unfairly strong. Can you even die?” Hisui said while retrieving her daggers and cleaning residual poison in the area with nature energy.

  “I can… I did die…”

  “I see. I will have 10 years to figure that out then. Let’s… not cross paths again.” Hisui turned into a blur and disappeared.

  Giana exhaled and looked around. She looked at her hand which was circulating Agnis’ pure mana. It had saved her again. She went to the lakeside, sat down and looked at the sky. This was the first fight she had actively won. She had no offensive capabilities. Everything had to happen indirectly.

  She inspected herself on places where she had gotten hit. Nothing, not a blemish or a scratch. She pinched her arm which just felt like flesh but she still was tougher than anything.

  “A monster, eh?” she tried to remember of all the experiences Agnis had gone through. She couldn’t remember any. She did ‘remember’ them by feel. Would all those have happened if she was there to be his shield? She didn’t know the answer.

  Giana's ears perked as she heard a sound, the sound of Noelle and Yvonne approaching. “Are you alright?”

  “Of course, she’s alright! Nothing can hurt our lead singer!” Noelle said as she put her hands in her hips. “So, what was that about? Our fans turned into lovestruck zombies. I had to knock them out cold. But wow you beat Hisui!”

  “It’s the beginning of me taking being a vixen seriously. I had put a charm on Agnis. The charm declared war on anyone who would attempt to charm him. It should send some of his charm using opponents to look for me.”

  “Wait so lil’ bro survived an encounter with Hisui?”

  Giana nodded.

  Yvonne and Noelle sat down next to her. “We couldn’t help but overhear that you told Hisui, was that a good idea?” Yvonne perked her ears after asking that since she didn’t want others to listen in to their conversation. “Nobody is nearby”

  “I think its fine. Some of her words bothered me. someone would abandon or disappear on him and it will break him… She surely doesn’t mean me, does she? I don’t intend to abandon or betray him but I’ve not told him everything…”

  “Our encounter with lil’ bro was short and he was too busy in keeping us alive. You didn’t do that intentionally.” Noelle said while shaking her head and rubbing Giana's back.

  “But he might think I’m after him because his hybrid nature when he learns that I’m from the Hifan family, and next in line to become the head nonetheless…”

  “You never told us about those families and does he even know about them?” Noelle asked as she played with a crystal.

  “It doesn’t matter if he knows or not. But…” Giana looked at her dearest friends who she considers her sisters. She covered the area in illusions since she didn’t feel comfortable talking about this topic in this environment.?