When they heard her speaking in Japanese, they were not so concerned. It was a longing for her past or something, they rationalized, and it was not hurting anyone. When they saw her reading a book in Chinese, the same could be said. It was only a sad – perhaps even pitiful – longing for an era long since passed. However, when they heard her speak in Russian, this sentiment quickly changed. As far as they knew, she was not familiar with the language in the way that she spoke it – as if she had lived in Russia her whole, immortal life. There was even an odd, unnatural intonation in her voice which was even more off-putting. Then, she started speaking Greek.
Something was definitely wrong.
No one was quite sure how to handle the situation, as when they attempted to speak with her, she would reply in a language they did not know. Worry began to manifest and grow in the hearts of her people. What was happening to Taiwan?
It only became worse from there. About a week into the strange behavior, she began switching languages more frequently. In fact, nearly every other word she spoke was in a different language. She would greet them in Japanese, ask how they were in Russian and English, alternating with each word, and then continue the conversation in this horrid combination of Greek and Latin.
Then came the outbursts, which were random, unpredictable, and quite frightening, to say the least. They were highly uncharacteristic of her, and they were akin to those of a mental patient. She would get hysterical over the smallest, most insignificant things, such as the temperature of the room. She had once cried and wailed for a full hour due to this reason alone.
The country was at a standstill and a complete loss. Every high-ranking official, including her president, met in secret and away from her to discuss her concerning behavior. That was when a pattern was found, and an odd, yet somehow convincing, theory was formed.
“Every time she greets us, it’s in Japanese. Do you think this has something to do with Japan?”
“I don’t know what it has to do with, but it isn’t natural. It’s… It’s supernatural.”
“You must be joking. There is no such thing as supernatural phenomena.”
“I don’t know, but I think getting Japan up here is worth a try.”
Japan had just settled into a nice warm bath. His beloved shiba inu, Pochi, was resting by the tub, nearly snoring at this point. Both of them jumped as his phone rang, frightening them out of their relaxed stupor. He had to be quick; this call must have been important – he could feel it somehow. He was right.
On the phone was Taiwan’s president, who explained the situation as calmly as she could. It was clear that she was panicking; her voice was tremulous and she would occasionally pause to think about what she was saying. Time was precious here, and she had to convey everything in the proper manner. The call ended with Japan agreeing to help, draining his bath, and boarding the next flight to Taipei.
Once there, Japan was led to the last place Taiwan had been seen. Luckily, she was still there, and she smiled brightly upon his approach. Japan’s Taiwanese escorts moved away, almost as if in fear of her, leaving him to continue his approach alone.
“Kon’nichiwa!” she said brightly. “Kak dela?”
Japan studied the features of her face. Once more delicate, they now appeared angular and animalistic somehow. She appeared almost catlike, or perhaps she appeared fox-like. Her teeth even seemed sharper than before, but perhaps he was imagining the small, triangular points in her mouth, some of which seemed to lightly graze her pastel lips. No, his – whatever it was – was real.
It was such an odd phenomenon, but a vaguely familiar one as well. He could faintly remember this happening frequently many centuries ago, but why was this? He then surmised that there must be something about it written within the old tomes of one of his libraries. With a promise to return, Japan flew back to his own country to do his research.
It took five and a half days of constant reading before he finally found something that matched. The description lined up with Taiwan’s odd behavior, but… weren’t these just myths? Myth or not, Japan decided that it would not hurt to attempt an exorcism of sorts. Boarding a flight to Taipei once more – this time with Pochi in tow – he set out to free his fellow nation.
The book said that they were called kitsune, and that they were mischievous fox spirits who sometimes possessed people. It never said anything about them possessing a national personification, but this was to be expected. They caused their hosts to understand other languages and act erratically, and they sometimes altered their physical appearance. The fox spirit took the form of a small lump on the host’s body which would move when they felt threatened. Kitsune apparently perfected to possess poor women, which Taiwan was not. Due to this small fact, Japan believed that this one was attempting to send a message.
The safest, most painless way to exorcise a kitsune was to introduce it to its natural fear: the dog. Japan’s loyal companion Pochi was perfect for this job. He might have been small, but he liked Taiwan quite a lot and was never stingy when it came to giving her little puppy kisses. This was the entirety of his plan, and if it failed, he would have to resort to more dangerous methods that he did not even want to consider. Often the other methods included attempting to physically harm the kitsune, which usually killed the host.
Taiwan’s reaction to Pochi was all Japan needed to confirm his suspensions and quell his skepticism. As the dog bounded forward innocently and happily, Taiwan pressed herself against the wall. She attempted to make herself appear as small as possible, hoping that the horrifying creature would not notice her. However, Pochi had already set his sights on her and was pattering forward to show her some doggy affection.
To her great dismay, Pochi began licking her everywhere he could reach; her face, her hands, even her shoes were not safe. Japan wondered if he could sense the foreign presence within her. He scarcely had time to ponder the thought, however, as the kitsune quickly released her, revealing itself to him.
It was a beautiful creature with golden fur and nine tails that flowed gently behind it. It stood like a human, dressed in a traditional white kimono adorned with cyan leaves and flower patterns.
“Get it away from me!” it shrieked in an ethereal female voice. “Get that thing away from me, please!”
He was not sure why, but Japan complied. He lifted the wiggling dog into his arms. Pochi gave a slight bark of protest, but did nothing more to indicate his dislike of his master’s decision.
“Why did you do this?” Japan asked gently, still uncertain of his own actions. He did not know why he was being so kind to the creature which had possessed his friend. Perhaps it was this odd sense of familiarity that continued to haunt him.
“I just wanted to speak to you,” the kitsune answered, voice still slightly tremulous, “but you could never see me when I appeared to you alone. There used to be a time when you could see me; you could see me and many other yokai. We lived among your people for many years. However, as generations passed, the humans began to forget about us. They stopped believing in us, and, in turn, so did you.”
Japan closed his eyes. Was this true? His memories of such things seemed so fuzzy, but her words slowly brought them back to him. Kappas, noperra-bõ, otoroshi, komainu, zashiki-warashi… All of these creatures used to call his land their home, and while not all of them were friendly, many of them simply coexisted peacefully with his people.
There was so much he wanted to tell the kitsune. He wanted to thank it for opening his eyes again, for not harming Taiwan, for speaking to it. He wanted to ask if he had been friends with it in the distant, foggy past. However, all he could manage was two words.
“I am, too,” the kitsune said calmly. “I just did not want to remain forgotten. Please… Please remember us. Please don’t forget us again.”
“I do,” Japan said with a nod, “and I won’t.”
The kitsune bowed respectfully as a brilliant golden light surrounded it. “Arigato.” With this simple word which reverberated around the room, the otherworldly being vanished, leaving Japan and Pochi alone with Taiwan.
Taiwan stood slowly and looked around, eyes falling on Japan. A small smile crossed her lips and she approached. “It was so strange,” she said after a moment. “It was like I could hear and see everything, but nothing else…”
Japan nodded, matching her smile with a smaller, tired smile of his own. “It is over now,” he said softly. Though it was truly over, Japan had vowed never to forget the incident or the yokai, and he knew that he would not.
“I should thank you for this,” Taiwan went on. “Come on, I’ll buy you a drink or two.”
“There is no need for that,” Japan stated, studying her delicate features. It seemed that no damage was done at all and she was truly herself once again.
“I insist,” she said simply. Then, in one swift motion, she moved forward and planted a small kiss on his cheek. After this she turned away, walking out of the room in hopes that he would follow… and he did.
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