Chapter 962: Ancient Rumors
Chapter 962 – Ancient Rumors
"Maybe not your current clan directly," Yue said. "But your lineage? Yes. Nine-tailed foxes were not merely charmers or illusionists. That is the modern simplified version."
Sira leaned back. "Of course modern history turned terrifying foxes into pretty seducers."
Fiera shot her a look.
Sira smiled innocently.
Yue continued, "Nine-tails carried spiritual authority. Illusion, fate-thread manipulation, dream-walking, memory distortion, emotional resonance. Some were worshiped. Some were feared. Some advised kings. Some ruined them."
Fiera went quiet. "So... my ancestor should be one of them?"
Yue tilted her head slightly. "Maybe."
Fiera’s fingers curled together in her lap. "But I never heard about this kind of powerful ancestor."
"That is exactly why it may matter," Naomi said gently.
Fiera looked at her.
Naomi’s expression was serious. "The most dangerous family secrets are rarely the ones everyone tells at dinner."
Gula nodded. "Unless your family is Gluttony. Then they tell it at dinner but between two desserts so people think it’s a joke."
Sira stared at her.
Gula shrugged. "What? It works."
Yue’s gaze moved next.
To Rava.
"You too."
Rava looked up.
Her blue eyes had already grown darker, as if something deep beneath her blood had stirred.
Yue’s tone turned older. "Kraken were among the most powerful sea monsters in the past."
Rava did not speak immediately.
The room seemed to feel the sea for a moment.
Not literally.
But in the memory of deep pressure. Ancient water. Something enormous moving beneath ships before nations learned maps.
Yue continued, "Before modern ocean treaties, before sea borders and mortal shipping lanes, there were monsters beneath the water who did not care for kings. Kraken were not merely large beasts. Some held abyssal territory. Some controlled storms. Some sank fleets without rising to the surface."
Rava’s lips parted slightly. "My family records mention old sea territories," she said. "But mostly as inheritance claims. Not beings."
"Because families prefer inheritance over truth," Sira said.
Rava nodded slowly. "I can ask for old ledgers. My father’s private archive has maps no one uses anymore."
"Good," Naomi said. "Old maps may show sealed places."
Gula finally ate one small sweet. "Or missing places."
That made everyone look at her.
She swallowed.
"When Gluttony wants to hide a pantry, we don’t put a lock on the door. We remove the kitchen from the map."
Yue’s eyes glinted. "Exactly."
Then Yue pointed again.
This time at Naomi.
Naomi blinked. "Me?"
"Yes."
Naomi straightened slowly.
Unlike the others, her bloodline did not come with claws, tails, dragon power, or ancient monster status. She was human. Rich, yes. Influential, yes. Brave, definitely. But human.
Yue looked at her carefully. "I once heard about a powerful human who tried to become a goddess."
The room went silent.
Naomi’s brows lifted.
Mira leaned forward. "By cultivating?"
Yue shook her head. "No."
Mira frowned. "Then how?"
"By mastering the magic elements."
Naomi’s face changed.
Not fear.
Recognition? No. Not quite.
More like her mind had found an old locked drawer inside itself.
"A wizard?" she asked. "A sorcerer?"
"Some kind of that," Yue said. "Titles were different then. Humans changed their terms often. Mage. Witch. Sage. Elemental sovereign. False goddess. It depended on who was telling the story."
Sira murmured, "False goddess sounds dramatic."
Gula nodded. "Good branding."
Naomi ignored them, eyes fixed on Yue. "What happened to her?"
Yue’s expression became distant. "I do not know."
That answer was somehow worse.
"She was said to have mastered fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, light, and shadow. Some claimed she tried to build a human path to divinity without worship. Without bloodline. Without being born special."
Naomi was very still now.
Rava looked at her with quiet concern.
Yue continued, "Others said she disappeared before completing it. Some said gods killed her. Some said demons made a bargain with her. Some said she became a tower."
Fiera blinked. "Became a tower?"
"Ancient rumors are strange," Yue said calmly.
Sira pointed lightly at Naomi. "Do you have any weird towers in your family holdings?"
Naomi opened her mouth.
Stopped.
Then slowly frowned.
Lux would have loved that expression.
It was the look of someone remembering an asset she had not considered suspicious until this exact cursed conversation.
"There is an old property," Naomi said.
Everyone focused on her.
"It’s not a tower anymore. More like ruins under one of the Delacour estates. My father said it was useless. Too old. Too unstable. We never developed it because the land survey always came back... strange."
Mira’s eyes sharpened. "Strange how?"
Naomi’s voice became quieter.
"Compasses don’t work there. Electronics fail. Local workers say fire doesn’t burn right in certain spots. Rain falls upward near the inner stones sometimes."
Gula stared.
Sira slowly sat up straighter.
Fiera whispered, "That sounds like something Lux would absolutely walk into."
Lullaby nodded sleepily. "Mm. With coffee."
Naomi’s face tightened. "I never thought it mattered."
Yue looked at her. "Now it might."
The room fell into heavy silence again.
But this time, it was not helpless.
This was different.
This was the first ugly outline of a map.
Ely with the first elf.
Fiera with the nine-tail ancestor.
Rava with old kraken territories.
Naomi with a human who tried to become a goddess through elements.
And possibly more.
Sira’s Pride archives.
Lullaby’s sealed Sloth rooms.
Gula’s missing pantry maps.
The pieces were scattered.
Old.
Buried.
But they were pieces.
Naomi looked around the room again, and this time the concern in her eyes had hardened into purpose. "Then we all search."
Sira smiled slowly. "Lux won’t be the only one working tonight."
Gula groaned. "Work after dinner. Tragic."
Lullaby hugged her pillow. "Work while sleepy."
Rava nodded. "I’ll request the old sea maps."
Fiera exhaled, tails curling behind her. "I’ll ask about forgotten nine-tail names. Quietly."
Ely pressed one hand to her chest. "I’ll search my family’s ceremonial records. Maybe they mentioned about other beings."
Naomi’s gaze sharpened. "I’ll look into the Delacour ruins."
Yue watched them all.
For the first time since Lux left the room, a faint smile touched her lips.
"Good."
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