Echoes of Time (Secondary Training - Private: Miyuki/Itori)

Itori raised her eyebrows when Miyuki began to giggle in response to her reasoning that this wasn't a physical realm, but instead a mental one. She wondered why that of all things would make the human girl show amusement. When Miyuki's explanation came forth the fox girl's expression became flat. It was the kind of joke that would make everybody who listened to it groan in sheer frustration at the awfulness. It was only Itori's long, long training in not showing her emotions unless it was beneficial to the situation that kept her from groaning herself. Luckily Miyuki herself already admitted that it was an awful joke and apologized for it otherwise Itori would have to deal with the fact that apparently her current companion had the most awful sense of humour she had encountered in quite a while.

Miyuki's next comment was more curious and less of the awful joke variant. The fox girl watched her companion silently as the human girl closed her eyes, relaxed and proclaimed that if she was indeed inside Itori's mind she didn't have any reason to be on her guard or to resist the effects of this place. Her behaviour suggested that she genuinely didn't believe that being inside Itori's mind, where Itori quite obviously was the superior one, was something she was worried about even the tiniest bit. Yet another strange thing Miyuki did that seemed to directly relate to Itori herself. It was in the same vein as when she stayed her blade once she saw that the intruder was Itori, even though it was clear that she was willing to kill anybody who entered her world for the sake of keeping her secret secure. Yet another clue which indicated that Miyuki had created a very favourable opinion of Itori, one which made her unable to kill Itori even if it was to keep her greatest secret and which made her trust Itori without being given any proof for her safety. It was rather obvious at this point that Miyuki felt like she could trust Itori and that she was admirable. The Kumiho just wasn't sure why Miyuki thought that. She had been trying her best not to draw too much attention to herself. The fact that these days she was just showing off her status as a non-human made not being noticed not an option, but beyond that she had just been doing all the simple stuff and following the siblings and Mashyuu around as they did almost all the work on the jobs. She hadn't revealed a lot about herself other than that she didn't like talking, could use healing magic and spirit flames, and that she could use a sword. Well, that and that she was willing to do all the housework. She didn't see how that exactly turned into a personality that deserved respect and all that.

Itori cocked her head when Miyuki noted that maybe Itori was just feeling the vibrations with her ears instead of through touch now, something which the Kumiho herself had also been thinking of. If she remembered correctly for humans the sense of touch was very strong, although their eyes were still better. For Itori however her ears and nose were the most important senses, with her ears very clearly being in the lead. That was Itori's personal advantage: from birth she had been blessed with ears that could hear a lot more than any other Kumiho, which most likely was related to the fact that she had such a powerful voice and musical talent. If there was one way for the fox girl to sense something as vast and vague as the vibrations of everything that existed it would be with her ears, although she was more inclined to say that everything had a rhythm instead of frequencies. Still she acknowledged Miyuki's suggestion with a nod before responding.

"That does appear to be the case. Before you allowed me to feel the vibrations I had no awareness of them, but now that you have done so I am suddenly hearing a never-ending song, which appears to consist of countless small parts, each contributed by another part of this world. You are also contributing to it. I must admit I find this a curious development. If I am indeed hearing the rhythm of the reality that surrounds me that means you granted me the ability to perceive it for myself by only exposing me to it for several seconds."

She looks up at the sky, studying all the stars that were already visible even though the sun's rays were not completely gone yet, before looking back down at Miyuki.

"Although I am not sure how this world being of the mental kind rather than the physical would explain away the puzzling fact that hearing my voice does not affect you in any substantial way. The only theory I can form for that is that this is not completely my own mental realm. We were relocated to this world after I joined your song, but as you must be able to sense as well our bodies are still back there, and still singing. It seems this mental realm was created by our combined singing."

She frowned. While that was interesting it didn't actually get rid of the problem which was her voice.

"However if this theory is correct it still does not allow me to actually speak with others. I could use this method in your world because you can ensure that there is nobody but you and me, but in the outside world I could not begin to sing together with another every time I wanted to talk to them. Not to mention the fact that most of your kind are in all honesty quite bad at singing. Even if my own voice was not an issue I would not wish to force everybody in my surroundings to have to listen to another human attempting to sing just because I wanted to speak with them."

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<div align="center"><div style="width:400px;"><table><tbody><tr><td><div style="width:400px;float:left;"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/8YTWW5q.jpg?1"style="max-width:100%;"></div></td></tr><tr><td><div style="background-color:#000000;padding:10px;font:11px georgia;color:#ffffff;text-align:justify;"><div style="height:20px;width:20px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:10px 5px 0px 5px;margin:0px 6px 3px 0px;float:left;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;">[size=18]M[/size]</div>[size=13]iyuki




[/size]<div style="padding:15px;"><div style="width:80px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:5px;font:8px georgia;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;margin-left:30px;float:left;">[size=13]WC: 289[/size]</div><div style="width:180px;background-color:#cc0000;padding:5px;font:8px georgia;color:#f8f8f8;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;margin-bottom:5px;float:left;">[size=13]TAG[/size]</div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="width:400px;text-align:center;font:10px georgia;">credit to <a href="http://adoxographyv2.boards.net/user/15">nat</a> of adoxography and <a href="http://gangnam-style.proboards.com/user/4292">gangnam style</a>.</div></div></div>

Itori nodded when Miyuki called her voice beautiful. There honestly wasn't denying that fact. It couldn't really be seen as an act of arrogance if your voice was literally beautiful enough that merely speaking could allow you to effortlessly enthral pretty much any living creature. If you had a voice like that acknowledging its beauty wasn't arrogance, it was acknowledging what was an observable fact. She also agreed with Miyuki's second statement, albeit for different reasons. She was pretty sure that the girl resting on her lap just thought that it would be sad if nobody else could hear Itori's voice without being influenced by it. Itori thought it would be sad if she had to spent her entire life having to be very careful about using her voice. She had gotten used to it over the thousands of years that she had lived, but that didn't change the fact that quite honestly she just wanted to be able to speak. And more importantly, to be able to sing. She loved singing. She loved music. She wanted to be able to sing her songs without having to worry about making a village descend into madness. She wanted to be able to sing and have people acknowledge and admire her musical talent instead of turning into mere dolls which could do nothing but listen to her. She wanted to be able to talk and communicate with people without having to rely on such things such as writing her thoughts in the air.

And now there was one person who she could talk to. One person who wasn't affected. Together they had discovered a way to bypass the effects that her voice would otherwise have. However that method wasn't one she could just use all the time, because it was very limited. If she was singing together with somebody their voices would combine and allow them to communicate through a mental realm where Itori's voice didn't have its usual effects. However that only worked if the two of them were alone together or if everybody in earshot also began to sing. That wasn't an actual solution to the problem. It was merely one way of coping with it. It wouldn't allow Itori to actually sing when she wanted to sing. It wouldn't allow her to talk with people and communicate properly. The Kumiho had been dealing with this problem for longer than any human could imagine, and for most of her life she had learned to accept things as they were, to just tolerate the problem even though it was an obstacle every single time she encountered another living being capable of speech, every time that she wanted to sing to herself but couldn't because she couldn't be sure if there was anybody else around who might by accident hear her voice and get enthralled.

The Kumiho narrowed her eyebrows. She had been able to tolerate it when she thought that there was no way to get rid of it. But now Miyuki had suddenly shown her at least some way to work around it, and suddenly the idea of living the rest of her life as a mute was a lot less tolerable. She wasn't sure if she should be angry or grateful towards Miyuki for having that effect. She couldn't show it if she was angry, because she still wanted to make sure that Miyuki would allow her to leave her world after all of this was over. Which was part of the reason why she was letting the girl rest on her lap, but at this point Itori also just didn't see why she shouldn't. Miyuki was showing absolutely no signs of planning anything malicious towards Itori, or even having anything but a good opinion of her. And Miyuki herself was rather cute in her shrine maiden outfit, and was acting quite polite and friendly now that they had gotten past her minor breakdown at encountering somebody inside her world who she couldn't kill. That and showing her past, which was in itself pretty traumatizing. Besides, she had already revealed her own secret to Miyuki. At this being hesitant about allowing something as simple and minor as letting Miyuki use her lap as a pillow would have been silly.

Itori began to think of methods she could possibly use to use what she had learned in here in the outside world. Now that she no longer felt like living the life of a mute her mind was suddenly vibrant and filled with ideas and theories. However most of them were reiterations of what she had already been thinking of in the past, so those she mostly dismissed. There were a couple of new ones that she focused on, although in truth she was once again beginning to feel the depression of realizing that every idea had a flaw in it, something that would prevent it working. However she kept going, since inside this world there wasn't a lot to do but think, and she had renewed her resolve to at least try. She knew that her voice was so dangerous both because it was just that beautiful and because there was some form of magic involved. For her voice to be safe for others to listen to she'd have to find a way to both dampen the magic and alter her voice so it wouldn't enthral anybody. Both of these tasks were rather hard. Itori could change the pitch of her voice and all those other tricks you needed as a talented singer, but so far her attempts at changing her voice to such an extent that it wouldn't enchant those that heard it had not yielded any useful results. The Kumiho frowned. The other approach was dealing with the magic. But how could she do that...

She twitched her ears as she remembered Miyuki's voice. Now that she could hear the song of everything even Miyuki's voice contained a lot more information than it heard before. It was interesting how suddenly she could hear these things, even though the only thing that could have caused it was that the girl lying on her lap had allowed her to sense the vibrations of everything that existed for a couple of seconds. It was strange, since that indicated that she already had the ability to hear this song that now was continually filling the background, and merely had needed Miyuki's help realizing and becoming aware of that ability. But that wasn't what she was seeking right now. Right now she was focusing on Miyuki's voice. She could hear what Miyuki said, but also her voice and every aspect of it. Pitch, tone, volume, all kinds of things. Itori furrowed her brows as she concentrated, remembering everything Miyuki had said to the smallest detail and picking it apart in her head, identifying each component of her voice. Miyuki had quite the pretty voice for a human, even though it couldn't compare to Itori's. And now Itori could actually figure out how Miyuki's voice worked. And she had also heard her own voice, and could now hear more components of it than she could before. Maybe she could figure out how to alter her voice enough to...?

Miyuki wouldn't hear anything from Itori for several minutes as the Kumiho seemed to be concentrating on something, lost in thought as she stared into the distance. The girl would most likely be surprised when the first words she would hear wouldn't be from Itori but from herself. Or at least, would sound exactly like herself.

"I think this should be correct..."

Itori tilted her head to the side as she listened to the voice she herself just produced, nodding to herself before once again speaking with Miyuki's voice.

"Yes, I am pretty sure this is how it goes. Miyuki, can you hear a difference between this voice and your own?"

Itori's ears twitched when Miyuki spoke, allowing her to compare the girl's voice with the one she used just now. It looked like she had indeed managed to get all the harmonics correct, as Miyuki herself apparently couldn't distinguish between the two either. From the undertones in the girl's voice she clearly was somewhat surprised and uncomfortable by hearing somebody else use her voice so casually. Which was to be expected. After all, people were supposed to have their own voices which could be used to identify them. Hearing somebody else suddenly speak exactly like you, down to the most intricate of details, would unnerve almost anybody who wasn't prepared for it. Itori would have to keep that trick in the back of her mind. She couldn't use it all the time, as people who were unnerved tended to not be completely sensible, but if she had to disguise herself as somebody else being able to imitate their voice would be a huge advantage to her deception skills.

And while Miyuki was uncomfortable with hearing her own voice get used by another person she was hiding it rather well. The Kumiho was able to pick up on it, but that was only because Miyuki had somehow allowed her to begin hearing sounds which were usually hidden. She could now hear the sound the world made around her, she could hear how every part suited the whole but was still very clearly its own part, and she could hear more in Miyuki's voice than anybody else could. That was the reason why she had been able to imitate her voice so well: she could hear every single aspect of the girl's voice, and not just the aspects which could be heard with normal ears. The ability to hear beyond the usual limitations was also why she could tell that Miyuki was slightly unnerved. She was pretty sure that if her hearing hadn't suddenly reached a new level she would have been unaware of the fact. Well, maybe not entirely... Itori also knew how to read body language. Miyuki was good at hiding how she felt, but subtle signs could already tell a lot. Granted reading body language required you to be able to see the person you were trying to read properly.

In response to Miyuki's request to know how Itori had managed to change her voice like that the fox at first stayed silent, tilting her head to the side as she considered the request. On one hand, it wasn't like she had actually used magic for that. It was just the result of her being born with supernatural talent so far as both her voice and hear hearing were concerned. It wasn't like what she had done was that unique. If you looked in the right places you could find a lot of people who knew how to alter the way they sounded so they could be confused for somebody else. It mostly required talent and training, and while Itori was honestly somewhat lacking in the training part she had enough talent that together with the fact that she knew a whole lot better than anybody else what exactly she was trying to imitate that she was still remarkably successful. If she trained some more she would become even better at it, and create new voices instead of merely imitating them. Although that wasn't her primary focus right now. Right now she was testing her ability to alter her voice to find a way to use her own voice without it enchanting others. It was a unique opportunity to try it out, and it looked like it was working.

After considering it for a bit longer Itori finally decided to tell Miyuki, still using the girl's voice.

"It is not magic, in case you were thinking that. After you allowed me to feel the vibrations of the world I have begun to hear new sounds, sounds which I believe allow me to sense the same things that you can feel through the vibrations. While listening to your voice I noticed that I was hearing a lot more in your words than before, so much that I could figure out almost every single part of your voice. Basically I knew all the aspects of your voice. While I do not use my own voice often I still have been blessed with a lot of vocal and musical talent. Combining this newfound knowledge with that talent I was able to alter my voice to imitate yours. Of course seeing how my voice is not entirely normal it might be that some magic is involved, but I know of others who can alter their voices, and it appears to be a skill you can practice and learn rather than a trick you can only achieve through the use of magic. I am testing it right now because I believe I might be able to learn how to use a version of my voice which is like my usual voice, but toned down so it no longer enchants all who hear it."

After she said that Itori frowned as she noticed that something felt off. The song of the world around her was fading away. Or maybe not exactly fading away, but growing distant. Looking around the Kumiho tried to figure out what was going on, blinking when she realized that the beautiful world that they had found themselves in was no longer there. They were back in Miyuki's world. Itori cocked her head, trying to figure out how that had happened, before noticing that neither she nor Miyuki was singing any longer. She had already created the theory that rather than creating a world by herself without noticing she and Miyuki had temporarily created a mental world for the two of them while they sung together, and this affirmed that theory.

Having figured that out Itori once again concentrated on her voice. She could imitate Miyuki's voice to a level where Miyuki herself could not tell the difference. That was good. Now she just had to figure out how to use her own voice but get rid of the parts which made it so enchanting. Of course the whole voice contributed to that, but she didn't mind having a beautiful voice. She just had to tone it down to a level where it was still beautiful but no longer supernatural. Closing her eyes the Kumiho concentrated, comparing the voice she had used while imitating Miyuki to the voice she had used while talking as herself inside that mental realm, where somehow Miyuki had been unaffected. Using her newfound knowledge and awareness regarding sound she reduced each voice to its basic components, comparing them, classifying each component, and figuring out which parts she should keep and which she should get rid of or alter. Eventually Itori opened her eyes again, parting her lips as she spoke once again.

"I believe this should be comparable to my own voice, but no longer enchanting. Am I correct?"

Itori's new voice would indeed no longer enchant, although Miyuki might notice that Itori had gone a bit too far in her attempts to make her voice more normal. She could tell the fox that it was all right to make this new voice a bit more like what it used to be. Or she could decide that she preferred it when Itori sounded more like a human.

Itori tilted her head to the side when Miyuki mentioned that she may have strayed a bit too far in her attempt to make her voice more mundane. Focusing on what she herself had just said Itori had to think about it before she thought she understood what Miyuki meant and what she could change about it. Her latest words had indeed not been enchanting, but she had been too careful in her attempts to get rid of the enchantment. While a voice which couldn't be used because anybody who listened to it got enthralled was a nuisance, the enchanting effect was a part of Itori herself, being a Kumiho. She might not usually act like it but she was still a member of the species which was best known for deceiving, enchanting and playing. The most common interaction a Kumiho had with a human was that the fox did whatever they felt like, pulling the human along on a string the human couldn't even feel or see, and then either disappear without a trace safe for the memories or kill the human and devour their soul. A creature like that would always have a voice which wasn't entirely normal. She had been so focused on no longer having to fear her voice bringing disaster that she had forgotten that in the end it was still a part of who she was and what she was. Instead of trying to eliminate the enchanting effect completely she had to hint towards it but not actually release it...most of the time.

This specific Kumiho, also known as the Vulpine Siren, was one with a very functional mind. In fact she was intelligent enough that she could be described as a genius. Which was why while she didn't have any of the talent for special abilities that her sisters possessed, she had been the one who had continued to develop and improve the basic abilities each and every Kumiho had access to until she could achieve great things even with those simple abilities. Because she had taken these abilities, the only ones she actually had any talent with even if they weren't anywhere as impressive and promising as those that the other two of the triplets had adopted and made their own. She had taken the illusions, the soul manipulation, and studied them thoroughly, immersing herself in learning everything there was to know about these simple techniques. Talent was something which you were given at birth. You might be able to train and improve, but in the end you couldn't change the fact that you were born with talent for a particular skill or not. Itori might have been born with a brilliant mind and the voice of a siren, but she hadn't been given any special talents regarding what she could do with her magic. If she didn't want to fall behind and become insignificant, if she wanted to be able to face her sisters with pride, she would have to overcome that difference in talent with the intelligence she had been gifted with. After all, intelligence was another type of talent, one which had as special ability that it could be extended to make up for the lack of other talents.

Illusions to deceive, souls to manipulate, find out the exact limits of what you can and can't do, and use your intelligence to figure out the best way to use what you have. That was how Itori had decided to make up for her lack of magic talent. However all this time she had been gifted with a particular talent. It had been a talent so great that she had been unable to control it, and thus it might as well not have existed, seeing how it only ever caused grief and misfortune. But now Miyuki had somehow been able to help her gain control over that talent. The way it happened was strange, but Itori couldn't argue with the results. She could now hear and figure out how her voice had the enthralling effect that it had, and she also knew how to suppress it. Which meant that instead of a burden it now was her personal ability, a talent which had been out of control ever since she was young, but now Itori finally had been given the reins. Which meant that while she could now make her usual voice only hint at that enchanting quality, she could also use the enchanting effect it had to full effect, deftly controlling both herself and anybody who happened to be her target to achieve the outcome she desired. Granted, the ability of enchanting speak wasn't the same as an ability which directly allowed you to overpower and defeat an opponent, but Itori wasn't a fighter. She actually preferred this talent now that she had realized that it was possible for her to control it. This talent might not be as powerful in a direct fight, but she could already think of ways to utilize it, to deceive, manipulate, and do much more than just that. After all, her voice didn't need to only have negative effects. One of her most regretful moments in life had been when she had used her voice to induce a level of euphoria in a group of kind villagers that it had led to them slaughtering each other in glee without ever realizing what they were actually doing. It was still a memory which she wished she didn't have to remember, even though she knew that she couldn't ever get rid of it. However what would happen if she induced euphoria with her voice, but with more control so that the target wouldn't lose their sense of reason? After all, she of all people knew that there was a whole lot more to a living being than just the power of their physical form. She already could use her power of spirits and souls to enhance and support. If she added her voice...

"Understood."

After that she listened as Miyuki made her request, the Kumiho wondering what the girl wanted from her. And what it was that Miyuki had done that made her sound so sad and resigned. This girl was clearly struggling with quite the load, but so far she had been giving the impression that she had got a hold of the situation and would be able to improve her control even further in the future. For her to ask for something as drastic as the promise to kill her should the need arise made the fox girl raise her eyebrows, but she nodded as she waited for Miyuki to show her the last memory. Which was a rather impressive one. It looked like the world was being ripped apart and set ablaze, as if an angry god was destroying all beneath the heavens. Hearing Miyuki's words Itori blinked, then slowly nodded. So that's what happened. That would explain something about how it all went wrong. Life was not an easy thing to create. After all, it was one of the most complicated and inconsistent things you could ever encounter in all of existence. It didn't have to make sense, it didn't have to follow rules, it was a really strange concept. And as Miyuki had found out, it wasn't something you could just learn to control in a week or two, no matter what powers you might have been given. Itori doubted that she would ever have to go through with that promise, but she understood that Miyuki would feel better knowing that there was at least someone there to help her should things go wrong. Even if the way to help was to eliminate the source of the threat.

When Miyuki removed the world Itori blinked several times before looking around, noticing that she was now back in the forest where she had been searching for the source of that immense magic pulse. Before being swallowed in Miyuki's world. Speaking of Miyuki, the girl was nowhere to be seen. Itori looked up, closing her eyes as her ears twitched. The song of Miyuki's world was no longer there, but this world also had its own song. Every part of it had its own melody, and it all together flowed into one of the grandest pieces of music Itori had ever heard. And she didn't think she would ever hear anything grander. Standing up she dusted off her skirt before setting off, beginning her journey back to the guildhall.

She wondered how they would react if she greeted all of the guild members with their own voices.