"So if we go back we could maybe talk to her and we could teach her how to get the fox under control and—"

A single grain of dry rice finds its way to Taharqi's forehead at a prodigious speed.

"—ow."

“You will not be going anywhere near there anytime soon, Mr. Already-Got-Memory-Blasted,” Akiho agrees, very firmly, in a no-nonsense tone. “That is how you get your soul overwritten by a fox demon or something, which would ultimately make this a bigger problem, which helps no one.”

But she softens a little. “…. If you stay far, far out of it, though, then the idea itself is possible. Maybe.” Maybe because she wants it to be, though. She wants to save this ghost of a girl that could have been her. Now how to make that possible and safe…

She swishes her tail thoughtfully, then looks at Annika, clearly the more sensible one of this duo.

“How’d you get him out? Or could he walk out on his own power?”

"Teleported. But I don't have a bead on the cave and I think the spirit would block me if I tried."

“I was actually considering exit strategies for if this slightly unhinged plan goes south! Teleporting in is likely to alarm her even more. Or do you think that the spirit could block you from teleporting out?”

"It could be a contest if she tried, but I'd win."

"...it's a hundreds of years old spirit—"

"I'd win," she repeats, confidently.

Considering she’s won before, and clearly back out here, Akiho believes her. She nods, agreeably. (And finishes a second seal, passing it to the Mother to mollify her.)

“Okay. And hopefully in those circumstances I could help. I’m a - the name in this dialect is soul linker. Strengthening the force of my allies’ souls is rather my area of expertise.”

"—you trained in Amatsu?"

“Yes?”

"I did not realise Amatsu had a tradition."

“Oh! Yes, though the sealing parts of it are the proper ancient tradition. Soul linking was introduced more recently, by adventurers looking for a pretty retirement home. I apprenticed under a retired adventurer named Mikael. Vested interest in getting good at this sort of thing, and all.”

Annika nods along with that. "So what are your thoughts about what to do?"

She hums acknowledgement, getting started on a third seal while she puts her words together.

“I think… I can make a seal for sealing off just the fox demon side of her. I’ve done it with my own, and we seem similar enough that the practice can transfer. From there, she’d have more ability to reason properly, and I think we could just talk to her, and convince her to move on. It’s not like being sealed in a cave is comfortable, after all. Direct physical confrontation is to be avoided entirely. But if we can’t, we bail, and wait for more reinforcements. I don’t think we could take her in a fight with just the two of us. Just getting to her might be difficult.”

"I'm coming with."

Rice grain.

He's expecting it and intercepts it before it can hit him.

"You are not."

“So I think the hardest part with just the two of us is going to be getting through the chaff in front of her,” Akiho pointedly says to Annika, “But I have some healing capabilities, if you can keep them away from me we might be all right.”

"I should be able to keep most things off you—"

"I can definitely help with that."

"—but if you have any offensive capabilities they'd probably make this easier."

"It'd be a lot easier with me."