Shades of the New World

"Anyway, let's go back to the game analogy for a bit. The rules of the game we have to play will be simple. We have to merge together and you will try to put me under your control. You have to find a reliable method of control by yourself, without depending on me. It would be the best-case scenario if I've never tried or heard of the method beforehand."

"Is this relating to why you refuse to teach me anything magic-wise?" Evin asked after listening to the requirements.

"Yes, when we start the merging process and you try taking over, even without any input from me personally, my bodily instincts would kick in and wrestle back control from you. I know it sounds very weird and implausible to you, but don't underestimate the instincts of a Beast Lord," Kyune said with a hint of pride in its voice, "At any rate, it's best if you try to challenge me in an area that's foreign to me."

"Alright, could you tell me what Worlds or methods should I avoid when searching for a solution?" Evin asked.

"Well, for the World of Thoughts and the Dark World, I'm only outmatched by the Authorities. The World of Emotions, the Heavy World and the World of Fire are a definite no-go, while I'm linearly average at the rest of the Worlds. My biggest shortcoming would be the Luminous World, but the only way you can create a control-method through that World is for you to be a control-freak narcissist who revels in attention and develop a slavery or domination specialty of some sorts…" Kyune said after thinking a bit.

"What do you mean by linearly average, by the way?" Evin asked.

"I should be about as strong as peak lesser-imposers with them."

"You're not really being all that helpful," Evin said with a frown.

"Well, when you get to live as long as I did, you start to stave off the boredom one way or another. In your case, you've started to stalk people, while I practiced magic…"

"But isn't it fine for you to teach me about your secrets?"

Evin found it difficult to see the correlation between Kyune's point and the fact that he couldn't learn anything from her.

"The more you start to be exposed to my magic, the more your chances of besting me slims. Don't ask me why, just accept it as truth. And besides, after we successfully merge, we'll have all the time in the World to make you a proper paragon of magic," Kyune said annoyedly.

"Sigh, alright. I'll start thinking of a method to best you."

"If you find a clue, tell me some general info about it and I'll be sure to steer clear from it. Anyway, I'll come by to talk occasionally, so goodbye for now," Kyune said and let go of Evin.

The fuzzy feeling that Evin was feeling all this time disappeared suddenly as the Vulpine willed herself out of Evin's dimension. He half expected the 50 or so World Sprites that the Vulpine Mother had to stay with him, but sadly, they disappeared alongside their mother.

Evin sighed softly, as he pondered about a suitable method to control Kyune. He didn't really need to think a lot, since the Vulpine Mother had basically cut off his access to the Worlds due to her unparalleled talent, he could only search for things other than that. Methods from Earth didn't really seem all that effective, so there was only one thing left for Evin to try out, which was of course, Soul magic. 

Evin had a few rare memories of when Anna had to cure a patient who were victims of someone else trying to control them through their souls. This was clear proof that the method existed… it was just that Anna only had a very surface level knowledge about it. It was similar to how a mechanic would be able to fix a part in a car, but not quite recreate it themselves.

'Guess I can ask Four about it.' 

He glanced over to the research crew and found them debating about a random combination of two runes of some sorts. The World Sprites were silently sitting on the sidelines, watching the process unfold in silent unity. Deciding that nothing needed his attention for the time being, he accessed the World of Time. 

Inside, Evin looked around the almost colorless world, but weirdly, he couldn't quite feel the eeriness he usually felt inside it. 

'Is Twelve out or something?' he thought jokingly and started shouting for the Authority. The latter hadn't really taught him any specific method to call her, so this was the only thing he could do for now. But a few minutes passed without much happening, so he could only conclude that the Authority was busy with something else. 

'Is that creepy feeling really from Four's stare? Or is it Twelve? What the hell?'

Since he didn't have anything to do for the time being, he could only hope that the Authority would show up later and exit the World of Time.

…

Evin was snuggling in Kyune's tails, listening to the cat and the fox sharing old stories with one another. The three were sitting inside the now dry caverns of the Beast Lord, with only the non-intelligent World Sprites surrounding them. A very comfortable atmosphere indeed, but there was a slight problem that he was currently facing.

"Probably the saddest thing I've seen in Evin's memories as a spirit was him starting hump some girl from the behind, while the latter was having sex with someone else," Kyune's World Sprite was saying.

Evin wanted to cry out in desperation, but the Vulpine's tails made sure to keep his mouth in check, tightly wrapping around his mouth with unsurmountable strength. 

The problem was, Evin was being forced to listen to these stories, as the Beast Lord made sure to keep Evin here without him trying to run away or something else.

"What, seriously?" Rith asked with shock.

"Yeah, and after he tried it out for the first time, he started to do it so often I was actually feeling worried for him. He would be mimicking the position of the man, and would also grunt and moan in a similar way as well."

'Nooo!' Evin screamed internally, but aside from a few muffled grunts, he couldn't quite produce any other sound.

This was another, newly developed form of "getting to know each other better", devised by the two women – sharing each other's embarrassing stories. Naturally, they started with Evin's stories and have been continuing on like this for the past two hours or so. 

"But I guess it's inevitable, right?" Rith asked after thinking a bit, "After all, I can't imagine living as a ghost for so long without trying those things… Would you say that if you were a man, you would probably do the same?"

"Maybe I'd do it in the earlier parts of my spirit career, but I expect I'd grow out of it pretty soon, no? After all, I think I only had sex when I was just a normal fox in heat. But that's just biology in the works. After all, being a beast in heat isn't something so nice and easy as a human feeling horny. You literally feel like you're going to die if you don't go and mate with a partner," Kyune said in her defense.

"Yeah, even we Cosmics feel the same sometimes, and we're considered to be species above unintelligent animals," Rith added, as she paused slightly, "Anyway, how long did it take Evin to, uhh, stop doing that?" 

"He never did… Well, sure, it became a bit rarer, but he still did something similar like once a month or something. Though it did become quite kinky in the end."

At this point, Evin just decided to give up. Life was life. One had to embrace their sad past and move on with their lives. Look towards the future and all that.

"Well, it is sad, but I guess it's natural. Alright, whatever, what's your story?" Kyune asked.

Rith mulled silently over the question before bringing up a story.

"Did I tell you about how Evin once wet his beds and denied the fact that it was him ever since?" 

"No?" Kyune laughed and urged Rith with curiosity, "What happened, tell me?"

'You know what? I shall simply ignore this all,' Evin decided and started thinking of the past week.