Chapter 5

I quickly dressed and tried to sort out the odd mixture of emotions that were slamming around inside me. Had I just lost my virginity? With a girl? What should I do? Should I tell someone? Did I even WANT to tell someone?

I clenched my fists and shook my head violently. How could I tell someone something so embarrassing? Much less, how could I tell her brothers about it? Come to think of it, I didn’t even know the name of that vixen... Somehow I’d been too distracted to ask.

I labored over the questions for several more minutes, sitting on the bed and furrowing my brow in consternation. It wasn’t really rape, was it? It had been good at the end at least... maybe I should just keep it to myself after all. I didn’t want to get her into trouble, but I didn’t know if I liked the idea of her doing that to me again. I shuddered, but it wasn’t a shudder of disgust, much to my personal annoyance.

I was broken from my thoughts as I heard a knock at the door. “Come in!” I responded, relieved for the excuse to shake my thoughts away.

“Good, you’re dressed,” Ozcar stated as he entered. His face was sporting a wide, silly grin. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who’d “gotten lucky.” “Did you sleep well?” He asked me.

“Er... yes, I did.” I replied, turning beet red. “Absolutely nothing happened. Perfectly quiet!”

“HAYF’s house is a great place to relax,” he agreed, yawning and stretching his limbs. “I won’t say what I was up to last night, but damn, I feel great today!”

“Did you talk to him?” I asked, grinning back despite myself. “He showed me a special scroll last night.”

“Yes, that was already agreed upon,” Ozcar said, nodding and motioning for me to come with him. I got up and left the room, following him out into the hallway. “We’re ready to set out, unless you have anything else you’d like to do.”

I caught a glimpse of a familiar fox-face in a doorway as we passed by it. When I shot my head up to check again, it was gone. Equally familiar giggling could be heard on the other side.

“No,” I said curtly, my face blooming crimson again. “I’m ready.”
“Good. I’ll be sad to leave, but the sooner we set out the better.”

He led me through the maze of hallways all the way out of the house. HAYF was standing outside in one of the gardens, squeezing a few grapes in a small vineyard. He waved and came trotting up to us as we exited the front door.

“Leaving already? How unfortunate!” He cried in dismay as he reached us.

“Unfortunate for whom, I wonder?” Ozcar laughed. “You or the sex beasts?”

“Both,” HAYF replied gaily. “I’ll miss you, brother! And I’ll miss having the lovely Maus in my house as well,” he added, taking my hand in his paw and kissing it. “You’re both welcome to return anytime no matter the circumstances. My home is your sanctuary!”

“Thank you,” I replied, smiling at him. “You’ve been a gracious host.”

“We’ll be back from time to time, I’m sure,” Ozcar laughed, scratching his head in an embarrassed sort of way. I wasn’t sure if I should be pleased or concerned by the prospect of returning, but at the moment, I was beginning to get excited enough about my mission that I didn’t care. “In any case, I’ll be sure to bring her back to you when we have finished. Then we can REALLY celebrate!”

“I’d like that,” HAYF laughed. “And what a celebration that will be! Drunken revelry until dawn!” They both laughed and slapped the paw of the other. “Until then, you two be careful, and be victorious!”

“We will!” Ozcar called back as we started down the long, winding driveway. HAYF waved, and we both waved back at him. “Thanks again!”

“Well, I hope you made the best of our stay,” Ozcar chuckled at me as we reached the iron gates, which swung outward as soon as we reached them. “We won’t have such inviting living conditions for a very long time.”

“Well, my house isn’t as extravagant, but it’s not a hovel either,” I laughed. “I’m pretty sure I could convince my parents to let me ‘keep you,’ as long as you need to stay. I don’t intend to tell them what we’re doing though.”

“About that,” Ozcar replied, talking slowly as if he had to choose his words carefully. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to stay at your house. You have a family, right?”

“Yes,” I replied, staring at him and frowning. “My mom and dad. It’s just us three now that my grandparents are dead. Why do you ask?”

“Say the sex beasts somehow get wind of where you live,” Ozcar explained, casting his eyes downward. “I wouldn’t put it past them to abduct your parents in an effort to get to you. Although they avoid open contact with humans other than their prey, there’s no telling what sinister methods they’ll use when they realize they’re the ones being hunted. Are you willing to take that risk?”

I stopped walking and gaped at him in astonishment. “I... I hadn’t thought about that,” I cried. “I mean, of course I can’t let them touch Mom and Dad! It’s for them, and for my friends at school, and all of the rest of Japan that I vowed to do all this!”

“I didn’t think so,” Ozcar sighed. “In that case, we’ll have to find a different place to live. Come on. I think I know a good place, centralized and well-hidden.”

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted, paling as another thought occurred to me. “I just realized that I haven’t spoken to my parents since yesterday before I went to bed. It’s been over a day now. They’re going to be frantic, wondering where I am. I need to call them and let them know I’m all right.”

Ozcar didn’t look at me directly. “I’d advise against it,” he replied slowly. “They’re liable to ask you why you can’t come home, and where you are. Can you swear beyond all doubt that you could remain firm and only tell them that you’re alive and well, and that you won’t be able to come back home for a long time, maybe even for years?”

I groaned and leaned up against a tree as I covered my face with my hands. “Years...” I groaned. “What have I done? I’ll never get into a good high school now. My grades sucked enough to begin with. What’ll I do for money? What kind of skills do I have? I can’t just put ‘sex-beast exterminator’ on a business card!” I laughed sardonically and shook my head. The full reality of my situation was finally beginning to dawn on me.

“When this is over we’ll find something for you to do,” Ozcar replied, morphing into human form and patting me on the shoulder reassuringly. “Who knows? You may even be able to go public with at least the fact that you killed the sex beasts. That in itself could prove lucrative to you and your family.”
“I don’t want that kind of attention,” I growled, shaking my head emphatically. “Besides, what would I tell people? That I got magical birth-control clothes from a spring goddess and was helped by kitsune? They’d have me put away!”

We looked at each other for a moment and then suddenly burst out laughing. It was a welcome release from the tension of the previous moments.

“Oh well,” I sighed. “I guess I won’t call them. But I’m not going to let them wonder if I’m alive or not. I’m going to send them a telegram. I’ll just give them enough information to know it’s really me, and that I won’t be able to come home for a long time. They won’t understand, but they’ll know I’m alive.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Ozcar agreed, smiling at me. “Now then. That’s settled, so let’s move onto business. How much do you know about sex beasts?”

“Huh?” I asked him, startled by the sudden change of subject. “What do I know about them?”

“Yes,” he replied patiently. “Tell me everything you know about them. I need to make sure you know exactly what we’re up against. To face an enemy without knowing its capabilities is foolhardy, and too risky for our operation.”

“Well, I know that they aren’t from this planet, and that the only ones that survived their landing were the males. In order to continue their race, they’re forced to mate with other species. Namely, us.”

“What else?” He prompted me.
“Er... well, I know that they have a lot of tentacles, are slimy and gross, and apparently have a single penis.”

“That’s all?” He asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, yeah!” I exclaimed. “I only just met my first one yesterday, for cripe’s sake!”

“We’ll need to work on your understanding first then,” Ozcar sighed. “All right. Pay attention. We’ll take the opportunity to discuss it as we walk through the woods. I’ll teleport us to our new dwelling when we’ve finished.

What followed was nothing less than an entire course on sex beasts. Ozcar seemed to know everything about them. And it amazed me just how little I knew.

“First of all, you must understand their history on our planet,” he explained. “It’s true that they landed on this planet and only the males survived. And it’s true that they chose human girls as their mates. But that isn’t the only activity from them since they landed. Before they had chosen humans, they had ‘tried out’ a number of other species, all of which rejected them so violently that they eventually retreated into the sea to reconnoiter. Their first attempts were with the lesser animals of the area, which were not strong enough to bear them children. Then they discovered the more powerful, magical creatures, such as kitsune, tanuki, and oni. Our races were more than powerful enough to destroy them completely, but we didn’t.”

“Why not?” I asked curiously. “And why not now? You’re obviously doing something about it.”

“We didn’t destroy them then because we didn’t view them as a great enough threat. When they landed, there were less than fifty of them, and not one could stand up to a full-grown kitsune or oni. Most of them couldn’t even beat a tanuki. Our way is not to eradicate those that annoy us. If such were our methods, there would be very few humans left alive in Japan.” He eyed me and shot me a sly grin. I understood his meaning and chuckled.

“Now that I know that you actually exist, I can see why you’d be a little annoyed with us,” I commented. “It’s probably harder to find places to hide now that we’ve taken root.”

“We don’t wish to be used like your horses and oxen,” he replied. “If humans knew of the great power we possess, they’d fear it, and even worse, they’d want it for themselves. That is the way of your kind.”

“So why are you supporting this now?” I asked him. “I thought you didn’t want to eradicate things that aren’t a threat to you?”

“Oh, but they are a threat,” he replied darkly. “A threat that crept into our line of sight the very day they chose humans as their mates. Do you know anything about the offspring of a human and a sex beast?”

“Only that the mother doesn’t fare well,” I replied. “I don’t hear much about what happens to them after they’re born.”

“That’s because they don’t stay around to be studied,” Ozcar replied. “The moment the half-breed leaves his mother’s womb, he is endowed with all of the instincts and memories of his father, and can hunt and think for himself. And he is always male. When he is born, he always leaves his mother to make a life for himself. Such is the way of their kind.”

“Wait, they’re always male?” I asked. “Why is that?”

“We don’t know,” he replied. “It is unprecedented. They never got a chance to mate with us, but we suspect the result would have been the same. We think it has to do with the fact that they’re breeding outside their species.

“Since then, they have been breeding like mad, and there are hundreds of sex beasts roaming this country. Maybe thousands. I haven’t counted the figures on HAYF’s scroll here, but they’re increasing by the day. It takes a full two years for a sex beast to develop inside a human womb. Just the same, there have been enough offspring born to increase the sex beasts’ numbers many times over. And because the offspring retain their fathers’ memories, each generation is more cunning than the next. You were fortunate, in that Gnozo was only a second-generation sex beast. He had only two beasts’ memories and techniques in his consciousness. On top of that, he wasn’t one of their brightest.

“So now you know more about their history. Now you must understand more about their anatomy. A sex beast is composed of a vast network of muscles and internal organs, but interestingly enough, they don’t have bones. They use a strange chemical reaction just under their skin to toughen themselves when in battle. The reaction produces a material that’s harder than steel, and just as deadly when used with force. They can form it and dissolve it at will. Each sex beast is made up of a main trunk, which is covered in tough, leathery skin. The base of the trunk has many short, thick tentacles that only serve to propel them forward. Protruding from the trunk are a multitude of tentacles, used for ensnaring prey – for mating as well as eating. They have five sets of eyes, arranged in a circle that surrounds the top of the trunk. They can see in all directions, as you should know. They eat fish and small animals, and a variety of seaweed that’s usually too foul and repugnant for most sea-dwelling creatures.

“The creatures are well at home in the sea, where gravity doesn’t affect them as much. But even on land, they are a terrible force to be reckoned with. And what’s worse, most of them know very advanced forms metamorphosis magic – even more effective than kitsune or tanuki magic. They can change their shapes at will, and it is due to this fact that so many of them go unnoticed in your society. Many of them pass themselves off as humans. Although their speech and mannerisms can be a bit strange, most humans don’t suspect a thing when they meet them.”

“How will I be able to recognize them?” I groaned. “I always thought their shape shifting was a myth. I had hoped it was, at least.”

“Don’t forget about the scroll,” Ozcar laughed. “I’ll help you discern the real ones from the humans. Most of them won’t be so difficult, though. It’s hard for them to control themselves when they see a girl as pretty as you in clothes like yours.”

“I see,” I replied with a grimace. “I guess I should be flattered, but I’m not.”

“As you’ve already been told, the only way to kill one is to cut off his phallus, or penis, near its base. If you don’t cut it close enough it can regrow, but only after several painful months. If you sever a small bit of a sex beast’s phallus, he’s not likely to forgive you easily.”

“And it won’t be soft enough to cut until after they climax. I remember that,” I continued, fingering my dagger bracelets and scowling.

“Yes. That’s pretty much all we know about them, aside from what your human history tells you. The real pity is that at heart, they are mostly gentle creatures; they dislike violence, and really only wish to live peaceful lives and reproduce. Their methods are disturbing and gruesome, and they won’t stop, however, so we regrettably have no choice. For every new sex beast that is born, dozens of young girls lose their lives, along with other people trying to protect them. For this, your race will never forgive them. And we kitsune fear them, for the day when they become collectively too powerful for even us to fight off. It is because of this that we, and the other magical races, have decided to destroy them now before it’s too late.”

“I never realized so much went on without our knowledge,” I remarked. “It kind of makes me feel sorry for them. I still want to destroy them, but morally, it makes me wonder if it’s the right thing to do?”

“Right or not, it has to be done to protect our respective species,” Ozcar said gravely. “We either submit and allow them to take over, or we destroy them and continue as we have been. Our people decided on the latter. And knowing what I know about humans, yours would choose the same.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” I sighed. “And I agree with them. I won’t let you down. We’ll destroy them until not a single one remains!”