s̴̜̻͔̣̠͕̺̆̒͐́̈̃ͅͅḩ̶͉̟̳͈̪̻̝̗̞̆͗́͗͛̐̾̏͘e̷̥̘͖̫͇̯̹͉͙̼͒̓̔̕͜ ̴̨̛͓͈͈̼̗̰̫̞͇͕̹̯̞̊̍̌ͅs̸̛͖̰͒̇̄͂̐̃̐̎̀͒̂̄̚ͅͅh̵̢̫̜̓̀̓̃̉̽́͆̒̚͝͠͝ǫ̶̲̲̰͌̓̈́̓̓̏̌̄́̊̓̀͘̚͝͝ü̵̪̣̯͎̗͎͈̘͈̤̓̿̓͊̈́͝l̵̨̼͖̪̣͛͐̀̆̾̅͊ḑ̴͎̝̺̭͙̦̗̦͕̝̉̉́̈́͌̉͝n̸̢̢̢̟͉̱̱̫͈̥̬̬̞̟̟̑̇̆͂͆͌̉͒̽͗̈̕ͅ'̵̨̩̱̬͉̰̹̖̘̥̻̩̥̳̩̟͆̉̓̀ͅẗ̷͖̼́̌̓̑̉ ̸̡͔̞̣̟̱́̈́̅̋̍̽͂̒͜ȩ̷͙̫͇̹̺̱̖̱̖̖̭̏̊͐̌̈́̋̚͜ẍ̵̢̛̮̞͉͕̫̜́̆̂̍̌̀̔͂̾̄͗́̇̃̕͘ḯ̵̲̫̫̝͉͚͓͐͌͂̅̿͘s̷̘̪̰̜͕̄̉̓̓͊͛͋̈͐̑͛̍̋̕̚͝t̴̫̝̆̃̎̾͛́̂

And walk.

s̸̢̛͙̼̙̟͚͇̳͈͍͎̤͊̿̈́̌̇͂̔̃̒h̶͔̪͍̰͕̲̗͌͋͆̈̌̆́̓̍͋̌͌̔̌͘͝͝e̷̡̛̤̤͚̜̯͍̣͈̲̱̽̏̆̀͆͐͘͝ ̵̛̛̝͉̻̘͉̟͇̝̥̳̲͊̎́̑̾̊͛̌̒̚̚ṣ̵̡̡̱̬̠̩̼̣̻͔̀̈́̃̄͑̂̓́͆͌ȟ̷̨̛̗͖͇̱̬̇͛͂̆̏̉̋͋̏̓̅̕͝o̵̝͖̻̼̼̗̥̊́̚͜ų̵̛̛͔̺̝̠͔͎͎̩͉̳̠̹̖̲̭̺̅̃̈͒̐͝l̷̨̢͈̝͎̳͓͔̝̘̍͂͘ͅd̵͚͎̱̦̜̖̳̫̱̝͆̾̈͛̓̾͛̃̏̎̃̌̊́͘͘͝n̵̢̛̛̘̳̭͉̤̻̥̟̤̦̬͗̒̎́̎͐́̓́̉̕͠'̸̧̨̮̻͎̍́̌͌̽̎͘̕̕͝ͅt̶̘̥̲̦̥̹̪̎̂̔́́͒̄͑̔́̽̑̍̿̍ͅͅ ̶͉̟͖͓͔̝̺͇͚̳͓̝̯̆͑̑̃̄̅̕͝e̴͇̪͖͆̍ͅx̶̛̦̘̿̌͂́͋̚i̷̛̹̦͛͌̍̽̍̑͊͆͗̇̾̈̈́̅̚š̵̟͉̱͉͈̥͚̖̹̮̳̜̙͙̞́̐̔͑̂́̏̒͝ͅt̵̡̢̖͈̟̲̜͉͕̤͓̹͈͖̮̉́

And walk.

ŝ̴͍͑͒̈̾͆̈͝h̴͈͗́e̶̠͒̏̋̉͗̀͘͝ ̸̨̰͓͚̼̮̏̈́̃̀ͅs̸̝̥̥͛̔͐͂ẖ̷̢̘͖̪̺͖͝ọ̸̢̢̹̺̘́ú̴̢̲͕̯̜͔̗l̵̨̨̙̪̈͗̓͋̌d̷̛̝̯͓̺͔͂̅͒̋̐̑ͅn̸̦̝͎͖͗̅͋́'̸̨̬̦̱͓̈̈́͛̽͝t̷̰͚͗̈́̍̄͝ ̸̧̣̹̬̭̦͌͗͂̎͊͊̒e̶̫͒̐̿̎x̸̥̟̥̆͝i̸̛͍͈͗̎́͛͠͝s̵̞͈̩̗̭̪̺͖̈́̇̇͘͝t̵̩̥̥̱̖͔̩̓͑̈́

And fight, and walk, and fight, and walk.

s̷̡͝h̶̗̫͑͌é̷͙͗͜ ̸̱̤̓͝d̸̪̂ò̷̭͠e̵͇̯̚͘ş̵͔̊n̸̼͑'̸̰̃̄ṫ̵̇ͅ ̸̳͊ė̵͇̏x̸̧̹̆́i̵̟̰͘s̴͎͌̌t̷͈̠̍

There's the sound of bells.

t̴h̷e̸y̷ ̶d̵o̷n̶'̶t̶ ̴e̴x̶i̷s̸t̷

"She's close."

no one exists

no one should exist

she's all alone, and it's her fault

she made everyone not exist, including herself

it's Akiho's fault

Akiho did this. it's Akiho's fault. Akiho did this. it's Akiho's fault. Akiho did this. it's Akiho's fault. Akiho did this...

Ack. Ack ack ack. It’s not her, it’s not her, it’s talking about the actual fox demons, of which she is not one…

“Okay, now we’re maybe about to start arguing a little,” she informs her party, shivering a little and scrunching her eyes shut.

I’m not a fox demon!

and neither are you!!!

she doesn't exist

none of them do

There's a feeling of vertigo that slams into Akiho like the hammer of Thor as she realises that that's right. She really doesn't exist. None of them do. It's a lie, they've never existed. They dreamed it, they thought it was real but it wasn't. She can see it clearly, right? The rock beneath her feet is real, but she can't feel it. The air is real, but she can't breathe it. The light is real, but she can't see it. It's because only things that exist can touch, breathe, and see. And she isn't one of them. If she ever was one of them, that stopped being the case a long time ago. But that's unlikely. She most likely never existed. Maybe someone else did, that was like who she thought she was, and she thought she was her? But she wasn't. She wasn't her, because she just wasn't. She—

"She's projecting."

"...that's not news."

She can barely hear them, they're so distant. Except, she can't hear them at all, because she doesn't exist, and hearing is for—

"I mean that's what she's feeling. The, the thing where we don't exist. She's not saying that we don't exist. She's saying that she feels like she doesn't. It's her own feelings, amplified, that she's making us feel as if it's us. It's not on purpose."

...no, that makes no sense. She doesn't exist, she is the one who doesn't exist, Akiho doesn't exist, it's not someone, it's Akiho—

"That doesn't help."

"Yeah, it does. Because it can't be healthy for her, thinking she doesn't exist, and having the fox demon part of her able to twist everything around her so that it's true."

It's not true. It couldn't be true.

Could it?

“It’s true!!”

She flares her blue soul fire, her eyes opening and her tail swishing behind her.

“You’re like me!! You exist, and part of you feels like it’s, it’s wild and raging and untamed and should be worshipped, and that is something else. What’s your name??”

There isn’t any kind of manifestation to slap a seal on, yet, but she thinks they can get there soon enough.

An impression of a nine-tailed fox, more like an optical illusion than an actual entity in a location, jumps in front of them out of nowhere, and then flees back into nowhere.

"Moonlight Flower," Taharqi responds, after a beat of silence. "That's her name. It's Moonlight Flower."