🏡 Hestia Familia — The Morning After
Tsukihana woke to the sound of birdsong, an unusual thing in the tightly packed stone corridors of Orario. Her window was only partially cracked, but even that tiny slit allowed a soft breeze to carry in chirping from the branches of the single tree in the shared courtyard below.
She lay there for a moment, motionless.
Nine white tails coiled loosely around her like a silk cocoon, gently swaying with each exhale.
She was dreaming.
Still dreaming.
Still hearing something…
A whisper beneath the world.
"You do not belong here, Queen. You were never meant to sleep so shallow."
Her eyes opened.
The world was too quiet.
And then—
Knock knock knock!
"Tsuki-san!" Bell's voice called, muffled behind the paper door. "You awake?"
The room snapped back to reality.
Tsukihana blinked. Her tails slowly retracted into her form, fading until only two faint outlines shimmered behind her like heat waves.
"Yes, Bell," she said. "Come in."
The door slid open, revealing the boy in his usual gear, white armor polished and clean.
"Breakfast is ready. Hestia-sama made sweet miso tofu."
"Ah," she said, stretching lightly. "So today will be blessed by indigestion."
Bell flushed. "She's trying!"
"I respect the effort. I question the execution."
She stood, long white hair cascading freely, and dressed herself in an elegantly casual yukata patterned with foxfire blossoms. Bell, ever the gentleman, turned away even though he knew she cared little for modesty in her own space.
Still. She appreciated the gesture.
At the breakfast table, Welf had already slouched back with a full stomach. Lili was checking a ledger while sipping her tea. Hestia herself was bouncing on her heels with an eager expression.
"I've submitted the request!" she said brightly. "The Dungeon Guild approved us for a deeper expedition license — Floor 24!"
Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "That's a steep jump."
"We've got the power," Welf said, nodding toward Tsukihana. "She could probably solo half the floors below thirty."
"I could," Tsukihana agreed, "but that wouldn't help Bell grow."
She looked at him.
He straightened.
"I want to fight by your side," he said quickly, then blushed. "I-I mean—not just hide behind you."
"Good," she said. "Because the Dungeon is no longer sleeping."
Everyone paused.
"What does that mean?" Hestia asked.
Tsukihana swirled her tea.
"The Dungeon… remembers me."
🌀 Deep Dungeon — Floor 15
The descent was uneventful—at least at first.
The monsters scattered in Tsukihana's presence. Bell noticed it again: they didn't flee in fear, not exactly. It was as if they paused. Waited. As if they were listening.
Like Tsukihana was speaking in a language only they understood.
On Floor 15, a large open space filled with skeletal serpents and root-covered ruins awaited them.
The team moved cautiously, weapons drawn, Tsukihana gliding silently behind them.
Bell slashed through a bone-fanged crawler with swift precision, but his eyes flicked to Tsukihana with each movement.
"You seem distracted," she said.
"I'm trying not to be," he admitted. "But… this floor feels different."
"It is."
He swallowed. "Because of you?"
"No," she said.
Then paused.
"Yes."
They reached the center of the chamber, a natural courtyard wrapped in dark stone, and Tsukihana suddenly halted.
"Stop."
Everyone froze.
Then they heard it too.
Whispers.
Not words. Not language.
But intent.
The very air shimmered.
The stones vibrated faintly.
And from the cracks in the wall, mist poured — not magical, not poisonous.
Remembering.
Bell stepped closer to her. "Tsuki-san… what is this?"
She turned to him slowly.
"I think… it's calling me."
🕯️ Flashback — Long Ago, Before Sealing
There were no walls in that place. Only stars. Oceans of light. Planes of memory.
In a realm older than the gods, Tsukihana once danced.
A Queen not of people, not of beasts—but of threads.
Threads of destiny, karma, memory.
Nine tails flared like burning comets as she weaved through timelines, guiding and twisting the strands of possibility.
The gods had no dominion there.
Not yet.
And when they came?
They brought walls.
Locks.
Chains.
A war not of weapons—but of forgetting.
And Tsukihana—
Tsukihana lost.
🏛️ Present — Guild Records Room
Eina Tulle was not easily rattled.
But this time, she held a scroll that refused to make sense.
"Another unregistered shift?" she asked.
"Yes," replied the analyst beside her. "The mana drift on Floor 15 spiked when that fox woman entered. The monsters reorganized. And then… the Dungeon gave her a clear path forward. Again."
Eina frowned.
"That's the fourth time."
"She's not bending the Dungeon. It's welcoming her."
Eina stared down at the scroll.
She didn't say it aloud.
But one word screamed in her head.
Sovereign.
🌑 That Night — Dreams of Beyond
Tsukihana didn't sleep.
Not in the way mortals did.
She meditated, letting her form drift above her bed, tails curled in a lazy spiral like a celestial shell. Her soul wandered… further than most ever could.
Tonight, it reached beyond the Dungeon.
Beyond Orario.
Beyond the sky.
Into a fracture.
A rift.
And on the other side…
She saw herself.
Another version. Another her.
Golden-eyed. Nine tails, but burning like wildfire. Her hand rested on a throne of bones.
She turned.
And smiled.
"We were never meant to stay in one world, you know."
"I know," Tsukihana whispered.
"So why do you?"
"Because here… I'm loved."
The other Tsukihana's smile softened.
"Then stay. But don't forget. The multiverse is fragile. And soon… it will call."
Tsukihana reached out.
The vision broke.
🌙 Back at Home — Morning
Tsukihana stood on the roof of the Hestia Familia home, watching the city wake.
Her tails flowed behind her like morning fog, unseen by most.
Bell climbed up beside her, carrying two cups of tea.
"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked, handing her one.
"I don't sleep," she said. "I… remember."
They stood in silence for a moment, sipping tea.
Bell finally asked, "Why do you help us?"
She turned to him.
"To remember who I was… I needed to feel what it's like to choose someone."
He blinked. "Choose?"
"Yes. I wasn't always a Queen. I was a wish. A trick. A reflection of what others wanted me to be."
She took a deep breath.
"But this time, I choose."
Bell smiled.
"Then I'm glad you chose us."
Tsukihana smiled back.
"Don't thank me yet."
"Why not?"
"Because something is coming," she said. "Something old."
🛕 Elsewhere — Ganesha Familia Observation Post
A scout ran into the war room, breathless.
"Sir! Dungeon shift detected—Floor 25!"
Captain Shakti frowned. "What kind of shift?"
The scout hesitated.
"It… grew."
"What?"
"The floor expanded. Overnight. And a statue appeared in the new chamber."
Shakti stood quickly.
"What kind of statue?"
The scout unrolled a parchment sketch.
A nine-tailed fox, eyes closed, seated on a throne of vines.
Shakti swore softly.
"Get that to the Guild. Now."
🧠Dungeon — Floor 16, Later That Day
The expedition resumed.
Tsukihana, Bell, Lili, Welf, and Mikoto stepped carefully into the sunless ruins of Floor 16.
It was unusually quiet.
No monsters. No traps. Just the wind.
"Creepy," Welf muttered. "Like a graveyard."
Bell nodded. "It's like they've all… left."
"They haven't," Tsukihana said.
"They're just watching."
At the center of the floor, a great pit yawned open—previously undocumented.
New.
Raw.
Bell peered in. "That wasn't here last week."
Tsukihana stepped closer, peering down.
No light touched the bottom.
Then a voice echoed upward.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Just knowing.
"Welcome back."
Bell jumped.
Tsukihana didn't move.
"I accept," she whispered.
And stepped in.
🌀 Tsukihana's Descent — ??? Floor
She didn't fall.
She drifted.
Like a leaf on water.
Light wrapped around her. Symbols. Glyphs. Forgotten prayers and false names. She passed through memory — of a hundred lives she never lived.
And at the bottom?
A door.
Carved with her mark.
A sigil of nine tails.
She placed her palm upon it.
It opened.
Inside: silence.
And a mirror.
Another one.
This Tsukihana was blindfolded. Bound. Sitting in a shrine-like cage of roots and gold. Her body shimmered like moonlight trapped in amber.
"Who are you?" Tsukihana asked.
The figure smiled.
"I am what they tried to bury."
"And I am what returned," Tsukihana replied.
They touched hands.
The room dissolved.
🌌 End Scene — The Dungeon's Heart
In the deepest part of the Dungeon, the crystals pulsed.
Slowly.
Steadily.
Then, faster.
The Dungeon was not alive.
Not in the way people understood.
But it remembered.
And now… it was remembering Her.
"She has awakened."
"The Queen walks again."
"And soon… the others will follow."
đź“ś End of Chapter 10