The Dark Mage

Chapter 28: Reforms

     But because the universal day off Vixie imposed was Sunday, the last day of the week on the Kitsune civil calendar, the aristocracy's media lapdogs attempted to slander Vixie with the false idea she was trying to force everyone to become Christians. And this was all in spite of the fact that if Vixie so desired, she could have done so a long time ago when she was first chief executor and executor over a very important region. But Vixie was not the type of person to force people to believe things like the aristocracy who incorporated the different cultic practices of local Kitsunes into outlets for their greed and vanity. After all, if it could not be commercialized and used as a means of control, it had no purpose to the aristocracy. To this, Inari was disgusted, because unlike the aristocracy who's idol was themselves and used the various cultic practices to enrich themselves, Inari genuinely believed in the spirits that supposedly inhabited these various shrines and their importance to their communities. Hence, Inari never intentionally committed sacrilege to local shrines and never destroyed any churches and rather simply sold them after they had been abandoned for long periods of time. Hence, Fr. Victor's monastery stood even after it had been abandoned for decades.

     Inari also knew that Vixie was no ideologue and that she would leave for the Tanuki clan every week in the twilight hours every Sunday morning to attend the liturgy when there were no more churches in the Kitsune clan. And to this Inari never had a problem other than the resentment that it was in the Tanuki clan out of all places. She had also gone about thinking about what it means to be prosperous ever since she lost the Keys of Prosperity and whether greed was really any prosperity at all. And after some intense questioning of her brother Fr. Victor, she came to the conclusion that being prosperous is about manifesting what is good in the world and benefiting from such goodness. And now it was just a matter of manifesting what that greatest good would be and benefiting from it. And that was the new question on her mind that needed answering. What is the greatest good to be manifested and benefited from? And it seemed the answers the priests of okami Inari gave her were no longer satisfying.

     And when Inari was inquiring into Christianity with her right paw-hand man Blondie accompanying her, she had questions about the highest good. And to this Fr. Victor answered, "The highest good is God as the source of all good things. And to benefit from God, we must manifest His likeness. A truly prosperous person is someone who lives in the presence of God and makes that presence known in their whole person. Idolatry is not merely the worship and sacrifice to created things but placing lesser goods in the place of the ultimate good which is God. Therefore, the goodness of material prosperity, wholesome communities, and having a country are not evil, but when taken out of their proper place, they become means of destruction rather than means of life." And to this answer, the fox queen was satisfied.

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Titania's Graduation

     After everything she went through, Titania was now 18 years old and completing her senior year of High School. And everything, she did her last musical theater performance, she made her last bow playing her role as Titania in Midsummer's Night Dream by Shakespeare. She then enjoyed her senior ball even though she didn't have a date. And after she took her final exams, she got her grades and did everything well except math and science where she barely passed those classes and would have failed if it wasn't for her super nerd partner Gary.

     But now her school life was over, and it was time to approach the stage one last time and receive her diploma. And everyone who had been a core piece of her life was there except for Fr. Victor who was in the Kitsune clan and queen Ariana who was busy rebuilding her queendom. And when she had her picture taken with her diploma in her hands, she felt as if a new moment had begun in her life.

     And then her godfather Jeremiah gave Titania a beautiful hunting rifle as a graduation gift. Natalia then asked Titania, "Now that you've graduated high school, why don't we enjoy the moment while we can and accept the good things life has to offer?"