A few hours later, inside one of the detention cells that was located inside of EIM[1]'s headquarters, the Gray-Eyed Girl noticed that she was longer inside the shrine grounds. She was now inside some kind of chamber that had concrete walls on three of its four sides. Meanwhile, its fourth side was that of a prison's bars.
"W-What is this place...?" The Gray-Eyed Girl pondered. Observing the new environment that she found herself in, the rope-like restrains kept her from standing up from where they had left her. The anger she felt dissipated as she tried to figure out her current location. She felt claustrophobic as she noticed that the room did not have any windows. Her own cell did not have any lighting, the only source of light came from the other side of the iron bars where a slightly bigger room was located. Its light emitting diode-based lighting barely provided enough to make up what was inside her own jail cell due to its distance.
"If I can just free myself somehow..." She clicked her tongue as she attempted to free herself from the binds. However, its durability was too much for her; the resistance caused it to dig into her skin which made her uncomfortable situation worse. Her next course of action was to attempt to use magic on it. However, as she started to chant she heard footsteps that were getting closer to her cell with every step.
"Well, well, well. Look at who is awake." A feminine figure spoke. Her facial features were obscured by the shadow that the light source behind her generated.
"Huh?" The Gray-Eyed Girl was in disbelief. The voice of the figure in front of her sounded familiar, she knew she heard this voice somewhere before. However, she could not recall where or when this was. Her eyes were round as marbles as she realized this, the confusion caused her to stop trying to free herself.
"Oh my, it seems that you know of me? This will make things easy." A feminine voice came from the figure. Stopping in front of her cell, a light chuckle could be heard as the figure stopped speaking.
"Tamamo-no-Mae... Does that ring any bells?" The figure crossed her arms. It showed how seriously she interrogated any criminal that she was assigned. The tension in the room immediately spiked as silence soon enveloped the whole room as the Gray-Eyed Girl continued to have difficulty recalling.
"Silence, is it? You do realize the longer that you don't cooperate; the worse your treatment will be, yes?" The figure frowned. The Gray-eyed Girl felt the figure's cold gaze which made her feel vulnerable for the first time in her existence.
"I..." The Gray-Eyed Girl muttered. She had no idea on what can possibly happen to her nor what "these people" can actually do to her, but these thoughts alone were enough to make her loose her composure. Nor did she understand what the figure meant by "Tamamo-no-Mae."
"Well? There is no use in playing dumb. We have heard you muttering in your sleep."
"There really isn't any other way, is there...?" The Gray-Eyed Girl said. She channeled all of the mana into her arms till they felt agony. She then attempted to break apart her restrains one more time.
Crack! A loud noise came from her arms, a strong sense of pain shortly after could be felt by the Gray-Eyed Girl. Her attempt had failed yet again. More dread filled her mind as she realized what had just happened.
"My, oh my... It looks like you have broken your arms. There is no use in trying to break yourself free, you know? I made them extremely durable in case you tried something like this." The figure grinned sadistically. Amused but what had unfolded in front of her.
"Dammit!" The Gray-Eyed Girl cursed. Her eyes began to glow as the aching became unbearable to her. Her race's natural regenerative ability was not kicking in. As she noticed this, she started to worry about actually dying in the hands of her captors.
"Struggle all you like... You will only cause more injuries for yourself." The figure claimed.
Cruel... These people are the absolute worse. The Gray-Eyed Girl glared at the figure. She was at a loss on what else that she could possibly do in order to escape. Her newly broken arms became a limiting factor on any plan that she could think of.
"Say... How about I make you a deal? How does that sound?" The figure suggested. She was careful not to reveal what she actually looked like till she could trust the threat in front of her. Her briefing regarding this girl made her more cautious than normal due to the SSS classification. The dangerous aura from the Gray-Eyed Girl still lingered in the air even when she had already calmed down, it confirmed what the censors had announced prior to this encounter.
"What kind of deal?" The Gray-Eyed Girl wondered. She had no interest in what this figure had to say. However, if this person in front of her offered to make that seemed fair then she might consider agreeing to this opportunity.
"Well, our sensors have labeled you as an SSS-class threat and we cannot let you wander outside where you could possibly harm any humans." The figure declared. She tapped a pointed finger over one of her arms repeatedly as she spoke. She was careful about her way of phrasing, she knew that angering this girl this dangerous is never a good idea. She thought about what she was going to say next and looked at a wall clock that was hung on the wall behind her, its ticking noise being the only other noise inside of the chamber. She breathed in and continued: "So I'll cut to the matter at hand: Why were you trying to take the artifact at that shrine? What are your intentions with such an object? And who exactly are you?"
"I do not know why that mirror is in the human world but I must retrieve it and take it back to the Divine Realm. I cannot allow it to fall into the wrong hands! It is far too dangerous to remain here." The Gray-Eyed Girl answered. She had the image of the mirror in her mind this entire time ever since she had woken up. She had no intention of giving up on her recently-found objective. She locked eyes with the figure, her legs strained as she struggled from sitting on the cell's concrete floor.
"Is that really why you went down to the Human Realm? We have some witnesses that have testified that they saw you materialize in the forest between Tokyo and Saitama. Only fox spirits that have come from the Divine Realm could've done such a thing!" The figure's eyes narrowed. She found this allibi suspicious, this fox was not in the EIM[2]'s well-guarded records of all the fox spirits that dwelled within Japan or any other countries. The figure saw the Gray-Eyed Girl as an Undocumented, as classification given to those supernatural beings that haven't been entered into the Earth's Immortal Management's database thus far and nothing else.
"I do not know why I am here. I only know that I had to take that mirror back to the Divine Realm the moment I set my eyes on it." The Gray-Eyed Girl shook her head. She had no intention of hiding her intentions regarding this matter. However, she thought that this question was unnecessary. She did not know why she was being interrogated. She had only attempted to do what she felt was necessary. She did not mean to bare her fangs at the High Priest nor change the weather conditions around her.
"I respect that strong sense of duty that you have. But we couldn't just let you take it. It is an important historical heirloom that has been at that place for centuries." The figure explained. She couldn't help but sigh at the Gray-Eyed Girl's answer, the importance to the history and culture of the whole prefecture surrounded the shrine as well as the shrine itself would be affected if the Gray-Eyed Girl took the mirror away for safe-keeping.
"Then these negotiations of yours are now null. I have nothing else to discuss with you." The Gray-Eyed Girl felt infuriated. She knew the dangers of such a powerful tool all too well. She has seen many others that were like it. They were exploited by many ill-mannered humans and the devastation that resulted from it was not something she wanted to think back upon as they were not pleasant to see nor experience. The great number of deaths, atrocities, and conflicts fought over such objects could easily make someone lose their grip in reality.
"You are not in a position to state such a thing! We are trying to protect many lives here! We cannot let you take it nor let you use the power that you have as you so please here in the Human Realm, it posses as a danger to its denizens. So please, cooperate with us. We will make sure that your treatment will be better." The figure's voice echoed around the room, she could not believe what she had just heard. She was shocked that the Gray-Eyed Girl had the courage to decide on how this questioning would conclude. She had been put into quite the predicament, this was the first time that she had to deal with such a highly classified and stubborn individual. There were not many ways of dealing with the Gray-Eyed Girl either when the rarity of the SSS-classes were to be put into the figurative equation.
The Gray-Eyed Girl did not respond. It was no use to try and negotiate with her captor if she isn't going to get what she wanted in the condition that she had found herself in. She tilted her head downwards in order to break eye contact with the figure, this pointless conversation had been a waste of her time and remaining strength. The cell had a talisman stuck to one of its bars and it was slowly sapping away at both her mana and strength and she had spotted it as she was lowering her head, it emitted a dim white glow which told her that its effects were currently active. Which caused her to start considering what other options she had in the exchange with the figure, despite what she had just uttered. The Gray-Eyed Girl knew what the juju could do to her body if she were to be exposed to such a thing, she did not want to take such a risk if it meant that she would be in greater danger.
"The quiet treatment, huh? This is going to take a while... The hard-headed kind always does. But I wonder if the talisman would hold for long enough to give me enough time to finish this?" The figure thought, pacing back and forth in front of the cell's bars as she slowly grew impatient with trying to obtain information. She found the lack of cooperation to be unacceptable. There was no way she could end this catechism with nothing useful, she knew that her superiors would not let her hear the end of it.
The door to the room suddenly opened without warning which startled the figure. A female kitsunē[3] with white hair entered the chamber, there were no words exchanged with the figure. However, the figure knew what it meant when the kitsunē had opened the door: she had wasted too much time interrogating the SSS-class girl. Which also meant that she was going to get chewed out by her bosses on a later date due to her own incompetence.
"Did she tell you anything?" The Unnamed White-Haired Kitsunē inquired. Her gaze was cold as she looked at the Gray-Eyed Girl then slowly moved it to the talisman. She did not feel any sense of familiarity with the subject as she thought of the many questioning methods that she could implore in order to get answers much faster.
"She was insisting on taking the mirror back to the Divine Realm with her and told me that she wouldn't cooperate when I told her that doing so was not be possible." The figure answered.
"We do not have much time. That talisman will lose its power soon and when that happens... You know what will happen, don't you? It is still in its early development so there isn't any guarantee on how reliable it will be." The White-Haired Kitsunē warned. She had no intention in letting the talisman be the reason why the Gray-Eyed Girl escaped this facility, she cannot let such an event happen.
"Y-Yes! I am well aware of that, Ma'am."
"Then make sure that we get results before the inevitable happens!" The Unnamed White-Haired Kitsunē leaned on the wall next to the door that served as the exit of the room. Her sharp glare steady on the figure who was now trying to convince the Gray-Eyed Girl to re-consider her decision, pressuring her to not waste any more time. The situation had now turned into a ticking time bomb. All the white-haired kitsunē can do now is to observe the result of this dialogue and decide on what the next course of action would be depending on its outcome. She knew that she can't go toe-to-toe with the Gray-Eyed Girl if things go south even if she was the same kind as the inmate especially without reinforcements as it would be too dangerous. The extent of the abilities of the Gray-Eyed Girl was still unknown to the EIM[4] which significantly increased how dangerous she could possibly be.
"Why now...? We never got a SSS-class threat. Why now of all times...? I thought it never went this high!" The Unnamed White-Haired Kitsunē pondered. She recalled the incident caused the whole organization to be put on high alert when the PA system had announced that a SSS-class had showed up a few hours prior to this interrogation taking place. She also remembered how everyone around her was rushing to get to where they needed to go in order deal with the plight as all the indoor lighting inside the building turned from white to red which helped to indicate how urgent this state-of-affair really was.
The fact that the Gray-Eyed Girl only had three tails and had so much power had sparked countless debates and theories within the walls of the organization. One of the things that were mentioned in their discussions was the legend of the kitsunē when the number of tails was mentioned during conversations. With part of the legend that mentioned the one-tailed being the variant with the least magical power and the nine-tailed which was the one with the most, which a lot of the talks were mainly focused on. Along with the fact that the Gray-Eyed Girl came from the Divine Realm directly which some used as a basis to label her as one of the revered "tēnko[5]" classification of kitsunē; which they used as a basis on why she had so much power. However, some claimed that she was from one of the other revered types: "kūko[6]" instead due to how she was able to manipulate the weather when they reviewed the video footage that recorded what had occurred at the shrine after things have calmed down a little inside the EIM[7]'s headquarters. Though, they won't know what her actual categorization will be until the extent of her abilities are learned and documented by the EIM[8].
"We are not getting anywhere with this prattle." The Unnamed White-Haired Kitsune muttered under her breath. She had run out of patience after a few minutes of watching. She slowly approached the cell's iron bars as the figure was still in the of coercing the Gray-Eyed Girl to cooperate. And with little effort she started to conjure a spell, which released a kind of limiter-like enchantment on her body which was concealing her true power.
The Gray-Eyed Girl immediately noticed the change on the Unnamed White-Haired Kitsune's magic power in an instant, which caused her to lift her head up in order to investigate the sudden change in the kitsune's power. And with an intense glare she inquired: "Who exactly are you?" Her tone of voice sounded monotone to her two jailers. It was clear that she meant business when she looked at the White-Haired Kitsune straight in the eye.
"Oh! That got your attention, huh?" The figure spoke up first. A smug grin crept in as she noticed the sudden change in attitude of the Gray-Eyed Girl.
The Unnamed White-Haired Kitsune immediately ordered her companion to keep quiet, she did not want anyone interfering in this crucial moment as she got close enough to the iron bars for the Gray-Eyed Girl to reach her through them and grab the Unnamed White-Haired Kitsune by the collar if she had not been restrained. The potency of the talisman had gotten a lot weaker now, with its that glow had gotten fainter. It was clear that the Gray-Eyed Girl will be regaining her abilities a lot sooner than they had anticipated which escalated the hazardous scenario. This was what the Unnamed White-Haired Kitsune was afraid of happening when she had heard that the talisman was incomplete.
"I heard that my companion had refused to let you take the mirror. Is there anything else that you want?" The Unnamed White-Kitsune stood unmoving. The look in her eyes relayed to the Gray-Eyed Girl that she could easily kill an army of S-class beings by herself with ease.
"Anything else...? Are you a fool?" The Gray-Eyed scoffed. Her eyes started to glow once again, they looked ominous in her low light corner of the room. She was unhappy that someone this powerful had shown up in front of her, which she made sure was obvious in her tone.
"Fool? It's been a long time since someone had called me that." The Unnamed White-Haired Kitsune mused. She was used to others referring to her in unpleasant ways. However, the word "fool" had always been something that she associated with individuals that had little to no knowledge about the ancient arcane arts which she had always been something that amused her. She found this SSS-class danger to be a lot more interesting than those uneducated imbeciles. She snapped her fingers and the Gray-Eyed Girl's restraints slowly tightened; digging into her flesh a lot more than they did before.
"You fascinate me. Now tell me let me ask again, will you cooperate with us?" The Unnamed White-Haired Kitsune's eyes were cold. She did not show any hesitation towards utilizing the "alternative ways" of handling uncooperative individuals which earned her the ire of her peers.
"Damn you... I will never forget this!" The Gray-Eyed Girl cursed. The intense pain from the restraints along with her previously-injured limbs were oppressive. This caused her mind to go blank as the sensation of the torment prevented her from thinking about anything else.
As all of this was happening, all the figure could do was stand and watch as she too was afraid of the White-Haired Kitsune's approach. While at the same time she feared what the Gray-Eyed Girl would do in retaliation the moment the talisman had stopped taking effect.
[1] Earth's Immortal Management
[2] Earth's Immortal Management
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune
[4] Earth's Immortal Management
[5] "The Inari Shinto liturgical text Inari no hiden (意根利之秘伝) (1780 colophon) lists five types of foxes to be revered, mainly the three: tenko (celestial), kūko (空狐; 'sky'), chiko (earth), plus byakko (white)."
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune#Classifications)
[6] "The Inari Shinto liturgical text Inari no hiden (意根利之秘伝) (1780 colophon) lists five types of foxes to be revered, mainly the three: tenko (celestial), kūko (空狐; 'sky'), chiko (earth), plus byakko (white)."
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune#Classifications)
[7] Earth's Immortal Management
[8] Earth's Immortal Management