And yet here was the forest, scraping the outer gates with its encompassing sprawl. It was not a manmade garden emulating the outside world, and it certainly wasn't well regulated and traveled by the citizens of Magnolia; At least, not beyond the first hundred meters or so.
No, out beyond that intangible line was a world of untamed wilderness and creatures. Any long term human activity within there were likely bandits or the few who chose to separate themselves from the colony, both of which were far too nomadic to settle down and destroy.
The forests trees were thick trunked and tall, canopies encompassing and full. Smaller oaks and adolescent saplings filled in chunks of space, their own leaves helping minimize the amount of light that actually reached the forest floor, and even still the shrubbery and grass grew healthily. The sound of the lands ecosystem going about their business surrounded anyone who entered, and yet it had a calming effect nothing alike the sounds of man and their cities. Birds songs instead of stalls and the sound of carriage. The rustling of branches accompanied by the echoing of dead branches snapping, rather than ambient background frequency of the guards doing their rounds and the murmur of the crowd.
And they watch your every fucking move.
It was the exact sort of place that Tanuki needed to find himself in, especially in moments such as these. The world around him was vividly beautiful, and fully indistinguishable from the hidden layer in which he'd grown accustomed. Demons and Angels, unknown to the annals of time, congregated in his mind in order to take turns in spotlight. Their voices shifted, changes in pitch rather than tone to describe whatever their equivalent to a mood was. The way the sound of their voices slid octaves in perfect monotone took years to grow fully acquainted with, and yet never fully accustomed to.
He could feel it. The sound of its hot breath on the back of his ear and down the nape of his neck. He knew better than anyone how this one operated- As if it was pulling aside the fabric of reality like one would do to the curtain on their window. He knew how dead those eyes would be, opened to the point that he couldn't believe its eyelids had not been long since lost.
He just had to get through this time. He couldn't force the entity away, of course, that much was still impossible. Only by ignoring it completely could he hope it'd get bored enough to leave. It was a shot in the dark, but better than leaving one in the chamber.
It spoke again, slowly rotating around the back of his head and coming to a rest over his opposite ear. Still out of vision, the pace continued to shift up and down, a multitude of voices shifting in a single pitch over the course of three or four seconds whilst it moved.
You have to always remind yourself what you are. One slip up, one of those little meltdowns, and we'll end them all. Right, Tanuki? Right?
It couldn't make up its mind if it were stoic and callous or childish and fiendish. Perhaps it didn't have a personality at all, and simply worked to tune its frequency to the proper trigger for the day. Completely without modus operandi, and wanting only the goal of seeing him crumble like the weak man they both knew he was.
The sound of running water came into existence in a very sudden and explosive manner, as if the volume around him had become unmuted all at once. His face shot downwards in an instant, stopping in his tracks a few feet from the edge away from this stream. His eyes were wide in shock and wonder, dropping to a knee in another rather jerking motion- As if he were hesitating in doubt at multiple points, and stopping for just a second to reassure himself of his decision. He reached his hand forward, letting the cool water run through his fingers.
They're gaining on you, Tanuki! "It sure is beautiful out here." The voices clashed with one another, though only they would be aware of that fact. At least it was only this much for now. He could still distinguish that only he could hear this hellspawn right now. That's how it wanted things to be for now.
"So peaceful."