Illiya's Story

This is the personal story for Illiya. All of the following is canon and may be added to in the future.
== The Legend of The Angel Fox ==
Born an Angel Fox, Illiya had always been special. She understood what she was, what the 
world was, and that what she desired couldn't be obtained. She roamed 
the forests of Kalima for many years before she found above her the 
floating mage city Magicae Draíochta. She roamed around on the ground 
below it always hoping for a way to go up into the city in the clouds. 
One ordinary day she was walking through the forest and she stumbled 
upon a mage in a clearing casting powerful spell. She crept us as close 
as she could but she was caught. The mage was impossibly quick and 
caught her easily using a magical spell that disabled her legs. He 
looked at her and laughed maniacally "You're mine now you damned fox." 
He took her to his personal teleportation spell to his home in M.D. and 
threw her in a cage. He stared at her and told her she now belonged to 
him and that she was going to learn to fight to make him a lot of money.
He went on to try to teach her about magic with little effect. When he 
found that he wasn't able to really communicate with her he decided it 
would be easier to force her to learn magic. Her "owner" performed 
countless experiments on the fox causing her to eventually develop a 
resistance to magic and even forced her to develop her own magic 
circuits. These experiments went on for many years, the spells on her 
mind and body growing and shaping her understanding of the world of 
magic. She even eventually learned to control her own mana and even cast extremely basic spells.
The mage who held her forced his spells on her and had her fight other mage's familiars and summons. Illiya's pure drive for survival and desire to be set free 
pushed her ahead in these fights. She never lost a single one. The mage 
was never satisfied with his work however. After each fight he would 
beat Illiya and begin forcing her to learn to use more advanced magic. 
No matter how hard she tried or how much he wanted it, Illiya as a fox 
could not cast anything more than basic body magic.
It had been almost 10 years since Illiya was taken by the insane man and she had given up on any and all hope of ever being free. He descended into madness and 
despair at his failures. He began exploring unknown and forbidden magic 
to get Illiya to be able to use real magic. It wasn't until he found a 
cursed grimoire in the archives that could be used to make inanimate or 
non human things become a catalyst to cast magic from. This pushed him 
over the edge of insanity and he began the ritual required to activate 
this spell. Illiya was beaten and dragged into the magical circle and he began infusing to grimoire into Illiya's soul. Near the final stage of the ritual, M.D's personal police force, the inquisitors, broke down the door and killed the demented mage on the spot. They then rushed over and attempted to stop the ritual. One minute too late, the grimoire exploded, filling the room with smoke. When it was cleared, Illiya lay there broken and bruised with a now noticeable seal on her face. The 
ritual had finished.
After an investigation, the inquisitors cleaned up the place and took Illiya to 
the nearby hospital where the doctors there used magic to heal her 
wounds. They watched over her for a while before the determined she was 
fine. But the head inquisitor told them to put her down. She was a tool 
in a madman's game and should be spared further tortures of this world. 
They agreed with him and closed in on her to put her down. Illiya looked around and panicked. Desperately looking for a way out she barked as loud as she could. In that moment, something strange happened. her bark had cast a powerful fire spell instantly melting the flesh of the closest inquisitor. Not questioning it, Illiya ran as fast as she could out of the hospital and into the street. She looked around and began to breakdown. She was terrified. There were people all over looking at her 
and questioning what a fox was doing in the street. She closed her eyes 
and just ran as fast as she could. When she reached the edge of the 
city, she looked over the edge. The inquisitors were right behind her. 
She had two choices. Let them capture her and kill her..... or jump. Her choice was an easy one.
=== "Freedom........ at last" ===
Falling through the skies, Illiya accepted her fate. She closed her eyes and blacked out. She was sure it was the end. She awoke suddenly in a strange bed in a 
strange place. She jumped up and looked around baring her teeth for any 
unseen threat. "Whoa whoa whoa.... calm down there girl. Shh shh..." 
said a woman as she entered the room. She was a younger woman in her 
late twenties. "I'm not gunna hurt ya.... I promise" she spoke softly 
and gave a big smile. Illiya backed into the corner of the room and 
snarled at her.
"It's not every day you see a fox fall from the sky. You're lucky I caught you!" she 
laughed. "I don't know how you got up there or what you were doing, but 
it ain't none of my business." the woman walked slowly towards Illiya. 
She backed up into the corner even further. She let out a fierce bark 
and snarled. Cecelia backed up and put her hands in the air. "Shhh shhh 
listen girl, I ain't gunna hurt you. I know you're scared... but you can trust me. Look.. uh I'm Cecelia..."
It took a lot of time but Illiya eventually came to trust and actually like Cecelia. She treated her nice and with respect. Cecelia was a very adept mage, with 
her mastery in Alteration, Therionology, and Geokenesis. It didn't take 
her very long to notice that Illiya had powerful magic running through 
her with a huge mana pool. It took almost a year before Illiya was 
willing to be around Cecelia's magic. After Illiya discovered that magic could be used for good she took an interest in it. Cecelia quickly noticed that Illiya was not just any fox but an Angel Fox. She knew the legends of them of how smart they were and that they could even use magic. She was always patient and made sure to explain everything in great detail.
During Cecelia's studies she some how came upon the inquisitors report about Illiya 
absorbing a powerful forbidden grimoire that would to freely cast magic. She knew if she taught Illiya properly and with patience she could get her to learn real magic. She sat down with her and explained in great detail about the grimoire and what it did and how it was inside her. Illiya didn't really understand until Cecelia mentioned that it would allow her to use magic. Illiya jumped up and nudged her. She wanted to learn as much as she could so she would never be beaten again.
Years passed and Illiya was able to freely cast all sorts of body magic and even some very simple mind and soul magic. Cecelia was so excited that she told 
her 'friends' from her school days. But this was the biggest mistake she would ever make. When she told them, all they could think about was the profit in a magic fox. So they agreed to go with her to see Illiya. When they arrived at their house the small group of men saw Illiya and asked for a demonstration. Cecelia commanded her to perform a few simple spells, and even a large fire spell. This was all the convincing the men needed. They turned around in an instant and killed Cecelia without a second thought.
Illiya stood in shock as her only friend had been murdered in front of her. Two of the four men closed in on the her to capture her, but they didn't take in to account that they were dealing with a fox that had a lot of experience fighting. With all of her rage and might, Illiya jumped on the first man and killed him with a swift bite to the throat. She turned to the next one and used her favorite spell, speeding herself up enough to run straight past him and jump on the third. Biting him in the arm and using soul magic to paralyze him. She bit him again and again until the 
paralysis spread to his heart, killing him. Without hesitation she went 
back on the second and used a basic fire ball and spit it in his face, 
blinding and burning his eyes. She went in with fury and ripped into his chest. She finished him quickly and turned to get the last one... but he was ready. Just as he was about to cast some sort of spell, a shard of rock flew into the back of his head, killing him instantly.
Cecelia called out to Illiya to come over. She rushed next to her friends side and looked down at her. "Hey girl... d-don't be sad..It's okay.... you're strong 
enough to go out on... on your own.." She struggled to say. Illiya sat 
next to her and whimpered. She wanted more than anything to say she 
sorry. As if sensing her thoughts, Cecelia said "Don't be sorry... it's 
not your f..f...fault. Sssh.... I have something for you... one last 
gift. It's something I've been working on that I wanted you to have. 
It's in my desk.... go.. go now and get it." She commanded, seconds away from death. Illiya sat with her til the end. She watched as the only person ever kind to her passed away. A few hours passed and she finally stood up and walked into the house. She found her desk and opened the drawer with her paws and found a small scroll. She did her best to open it to read find a spell. Illiya slowly read it out. She thought as strong as she could each word on the scroll.
When she finished the last word, something incredible happened. A powerful aura swept over Illiya, covering her in a white mist. It blinded her and turned off all of her senses. After what seemed like years, Illiya opened her eyes and found she was laying on her back. She reached up with her paws, only to find in her eyesight... hands! Human hands. She freaked out and screamed. The first sounds coming from her vocal cords that wasn't a bark hurt her throat and she looked down at the rest of her body. She was no longer a fox, but a Kitsune Beastkin.
She sat there for a very long time learning to control her new arms, legs and even her mouth. It took her even longer to stand up and take her first steps. 
Going off just memory of watching humans do it she waddled to the 
bathroom and looked in the mirror. She looked and only saw a stranger. 
She thought to herself but ended up saying it out loud "......is... that...me?" the sound of her own words scared and disorientated her. 
"What... am... I?" she asked herself. She spent the next hour just 
looking at her face. She actually thought she was really pretty. The 
only thing she didn't like was that her eyes had changed colors. She 
practiced talking and saying things to herself. "Ceh... ceh... seeel.. seeel eee yuhhh. Cecelia..." as she said the name she remember her friend laying outside in the dirt. She turned and began walking outside. She was wobbly and fell down a few times, swearing to herself that it 
was easier to walk on all fours. But when she tried it in her new form, it felt wrong and awkward, so she continued walking. She reached her friend and fell to the ground and mourned for her friend. She spent more time at her side before trying to pick her up.
Giving up, Illiya sat next to her friend and began to dig her a grave. She didn't have any knowledge of tools or instruments to use so she dug it with her bare 
hands. It was nearly night time by the time she had finished. She looked at her friend one more time and said "Thank you" before she pushed her friend into the grave. She cried and cried as she covered Cecelia with soil. Saying a short prayer, Illiya turned and wobbled back inside the house and went to her bed and crawled in it, falling asleep quickly.
=== "All alone now..." ===
She woke up, expecting it all to be a dream. She stuck her hand out in front of her 
and sighed. She had also expected to be a fox again. She struggled and eventually managed to crawl out of bed. It was only then that she realized that she was naked. She remembered that humans an beastkins like to and were often wearing clothes. She walked over to Cecelia's closet and picked out an outfit. She spent almost an hour trying to put on clothes, swearing to herself "This would be so much easier if she was here to show me this... I don't know anything about clothes!" Learning to speak was a fun experience for her. Any time she found a word she liked to say she repeated it over and over, enjoying the way her mouth felt saying it. She spent most of the day trying simple things that she could never do. She played with the sink faucet, she opened and closed doors, she picked things up and threw them, she even brought herself to use the toilet like a regular person.
She walked into Cecelia's room and sighed she knew she couldn't remain here any more and she knew she had to leave. So she packed everything her new body could carry into a backpack. When she finally left she realized just how tired she felt, it was a sort of exhaustion she had never felt before. She didn't know at the time but remaining in her Kitsune form was incredibly draining on her mana pool and her physical body. She kept telling herself she was fine, she just had to go a little bit further. Her goal was to make to a major city.
Any city would do, but her goal was Gilda. As she was walking she collapsed as she was no longer able to stand. She closed her eyes and took a quick nap. When she woke up, she looked at herself to find she had returned to her fox form laying in the clothes she was wearing. Completely drained of mana, she felt exhausted beyond measure and so tired. She shook off the clothes and stood up and walked to her backpack. 'Oh great... how am I supposed to open this without those hands?' she thought to herself. Illiya then thought that she could just cast the spell that had transformed her the first time again and it would work. She thought of the spell carefully 
and thought it as hard as she could. The cost of the transformation cost her more mana than she had, causing her to black out.
She woke up several hours later, feeling much better. It turned out that her mana 
regenerated very quickly. Feeling strong again, she cast the spell, once again returning to her Kitsune form. "Hah! It worked! I knew it wasn't just luck... so... what went wrong?" she asked herself, shivering suddenly realizing she had no clothes. She walked over and put them back on. She picked up her backpack and continued walking towards Gilda. As she walked she practiced talking "Hello my name is..." She stopped suddenly realizing she didn't have a name. "Oh... what do I call myself?" She reached in backpack, pulled out a small mirror and stared into it. "I don't have a name, do I?" she sighed and kept walking thinking of all sorts of things to call herself. Focusing on only what to name herself, she ran into someone on the road. "Oh... I'm so sorry!" she immediately said. The person turned to her and glared at her "What is a dirty beastkin doing out here?" the man said with hate in his voice. Illiya went right on the defensive "Excuse me? I... I'm not a beastkin. I'm a fox!" the man laughed at her "I don't give a fuck what kind of mongrel you are. You're still trash." he then spat in her face. Illiya took a step back.
She hadn't been insulted like that since she was prisoner to the insane mage. She turned her kindness to fury in an instant. She channeled as much mana into her arm as she could and let loose a powerful punch. It caught him dead in the chest, and the force of the blow and the magic impact stopped his heart, killing him instantly. He flew backward into a tree with bone crunching sound. "whoa..." Illiya gasped. She had no idea how strong she was in her new body. As it turned out, she was standing right outside the gates of Gilda, and two guards came rushing over. "Halt beastkin, one more move and we will strike you down!" the first threatened, readying his weapon. The other one rushed over to the man's corpse. "He's dead... she killed him in one hit!" he gasped. The first guard took a step back and nervously said "c-come with us.. i-if you resist we will k-kill you!" Illiya looked at them and was unsure of what to do. She didn't want to kill them, but she would if she had to. She put her hands up in the air like she had seen Cecelia do all those years ago "don't want to hurt you. It's okay, I'm not a threat." she said, remembering her first moments with Cecelia. The two guards looked at each other and walked slowly over to her "Do you have any weapons?" the guard asked. Illiya looked at them with confusion. She showed the approaching guard her hands and her very sharp nails. "No? Unless you count my claws?" he shouted. "Put your hands back up!: Illiya stood perfectly still as the first guard grabbed her backpack off and tossed it to the other guard "Come with us, Astor is going to want to see you...."
== The Golden Gates ==
The guards walked her in the gates of Gilda and Illiya gasped. She was impressed with how beautiful and clean the city was. It was like nothing she'd ever seen. 
Her an the guards arrived at a rather large house. The guards escorted her in, keeping their weapons right to her back. She wasn't totally experienced in her new body, but she was pretty sure she could turn and kill them if she needed to. "Where are you taking me?" Illiya demanded to know "Shut up. Don't speak again unless you are spoken to!" The first guard said, jabbing her in the back with the sheath of his sword. Illiya sighed and kept walking until they brought her before a man sitting in a throne. "What is the meaning of this?" The man named Astor stood up, giving his guards a terrible glare. "We...uh, found this Beastkin girl out of the gates." The first one said. The second quickly jumped in "Yeah yeah, and she killed a dude in just one punch! Come on boss, you said you was looking for some strong peoples to fight for ya!" he said with a snort.
Astor walked up to Illiya and looked her up and down. The man towered over her. He was nearly 7 feet tall and was extremely well built. "Hahahahaha. This little thing killed someone in a single punch you say? Ridiculous! Why would you lie to my face, in my own home?" Astor turned to the first guard awaiting a reply "No sir... what he says is true.. she punched this man in his chest and he flew nearly 8 feet into a nearby tree." the first guard said, making sure not to make eye contact.
Astor sighed and shook his head. He walked right up to Illiya and stared at her "So is what these men say true, or perhaps they are just making trouble for a young lady." Illiya looked up at him and answered honestly !!"Yes it is"!! she said. "Whoa! This girl's a killer and she admits it! Hahaha." Astor laughed and got really close to her face. "Do you know who I am girl? I am the law in this town. It looks like I'm the one who decides if you live....or die.."
As he spoke the word 'die', Illiya's body tensed up and she balled her fists. "Whoa... look at this girl. I mention executing her and she turns into a ball of fire! How adorable." Astor chuckled, walking towards his men. "You two can leave. I want to see what this one is made of." The two guards looked at each other and ran out of the room. Astor walked back over to Illiya and stood in front of her. "Hmm... what are you?" he asked. The question caught her slightly off guard. She hesitated, but said "I'm a fox..." Astor nodded in response "Ah, a Kitsune. The most elegant of all the Beastkins.... Listen up. If you can land a hit that so much as hurts me, I'll let you live."
"Do you swear to keep your word?" Illiya looked up at him and squinted her eyes. "Why of course! I am a man of my word. Hmm... I'll tell you what. I'll let you have the first hit for free." he took a few steps back and held out his arm, waiting for her to punch him. Illiya took a deep breath and focused. She drew as much mana from her pool as she could and dumped it into her right arm. She then cast a small enchantment on her bones to double their density. Astor looked at her and asked "Come on little fox, are you going to attack or-.." but before he could finish, Illiya swung as hard as her little body would allow. She moved her fist moved through the air with such force that on impact with Astor's massive chest it caught him off balance. The punch hit him so hard it broke a few of his ribs and knocked the wind out of his chest. He fell to his knee and gasped for breath.
Illiya felt satisfied that she had won and turned to walk out of the room. Astor gathered his breath quickly and called out to her "W....wait!" Illiya turned around and looked him in the eyes. He stood back up and took a few breaths "You're the first person to ever be able to knock me down like that." "Huh? Did you just call me a.... person?" she asked, slowly walking back over to him.
Astor gave her a look of utter confusion "Uh... yes I did... why?" he asked. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." she shook her head. "Uh huh.... Anyway, what do you call yourself girl?" Astor sat down in his throne. Illiya opened her mouth to answer, but remembered she hadn't come up with a name. "I don't have one" she answered honestly instead of saying 'Cecelia' like she wanted to "You have no name... huh.. interesting....." he stood back up and walked to over to her "If you come work for me. I will give you a name" Astor held out his hand.
Illiya sighed. She had finally made it to Gilda and was going to start her own life. Her start in the city wasn't too great, but she was now being offered a place to call home, a job, and even a name. She thought only for a second about declining. But she shook her head and asked herself where else she would go. She wasn't sure what his gesture but she stuck out her hand like he did. He laughed, grabbed her hand and vigorously shook it. "Welcome to Gilda friend!"
"So... do I get a name?" Illiya asked hesitantly. Astor nodded "Right right. Hmm.... how about Illiya?" he asked her. "What does it mean?" "It means 'The Hand Of God.'" He said with passion. "God?" Illiya asked, she had never heard the term. "Call me king, call me God... This city forgets the name of the dead. But together you and I will make a name for you, nameless fox. Do you not like the name?" Illiya shook her head and smiled for the first time. "No no.... I love it"
=== Gilda, The City Of Gold ===
Category:Story