Arcana's Path

Author's Note: This one is sex-light.

---

Arcana couldn't help but burst out laughing as her girlfriend stood on the small pedestal in the middle of the room. The biker looked extremely uncomfortable in the large white dress. It was a gorgeous dress, but it just didn't match with the fast and rough woman inside it.

Kitty tossed her length of hair, holding out her arms to the sides as the tailor tsk'd and muttered to himself.

Arcana was confident that he'd find the right dress for Kitty. They were cheating a little bit. They weren't actually in the room, and Hephaestus wasn't actually circling around Kitty. The god was doing this as a favour, even if he was charging his usual exorbitant prices. If he couldn't make the biker a decent dress, then it couldn't be done.

She pulled out her phone and started re-drafting the message to invite her friends to her wedding, for the umpteenth time, when she spotted a news alert that she should not have ignored, earlier.

It was a press release, from the Witch's Council.

Arcana fell to her knees in awe and shock, "He's really... Dead?"

"Huh? Babe?" Kitty looked over at her, going to move from her position.

She shook her head, "I'm fine. Just... Some surprising news... Not... Other things."

"What's got ya tangled?" Kitty wasn't the least bit reassured.

"My fiance is dead." Arcana said in confusion. "For real. I... I didn't think that was... Possible."

---

A strong hand smacked her over the back of the head, causing Kina to whirl and hiss at the witch. Ardet-lili looked at her pointedly, and then waved a hand, "If he's bothering you, I can take him off your hands. Suppose he's sort of cute."

"He's undead. You can't fuck him." She sneered.

Ardet-lili smiled knowingly, "Oh, I wouldn't say that. He's not dead yet. Promised to be resurrected. A very old magic. Boring as shit, really. But if he's living, I can make him interesting."

"He insulted me. And insulted me. And insulted me!" Kina ended with a wrathful scream, before the witch hit her over the head again. Trying to remind her to stay in control.

"Only an idiot picks a fight with a neko in heat." Her friend pointed out, "And as you just saw her channel enough mana to cause a nationwide drought, would you mind not fucking us all at once? I'm generally in favour of sex, but this feels a little bit raw."

The man looked at her blankly, "Ardet-lili. The love vampire. Aren't you supposed to be at a concert?"

"Did I stutter?" Ardet-lili looked at Kina, "I didn't, did I? Did you hit him in the head, and make him deaf or stupid?"

She hissed, "He was already stupid. Stupid! Stupid! I want to kill him. Strip his flesh. Make him cry! Takes his hands. Make him useless. Show that he's already useless!"

"Shhh." Ardet-lili said knowingly, and surprised her with a brief and calming kiss. The witch scratched at one of her ears as she turned back, "Let go of him, Kina. You and I don't need to punish him. Echo will do that for us, and it will be worse than what we could do."

Kina dropped the man, and then sprinted to the kitchen sink and threw up violently. She stared at the heavy and bright red splatter, and a sense of reality began to descend on her again. "Aw, fuck."

"Ghoul, get out." Ardet-lili ordered.

The neko scratched frantically at the itching on her face, unable to stop herself even when the fur began to fall away. She'd burned so much damned magic, unable to stop herself with the stupid anger of her cycle.

The witch put her arms around her waist and kissed her cheek gently, catching her claw. Kina miaowed angrily at first, before turning into a purr as the witch kept kissing at her, and then began to kiss down her neck.

She shivered, "That's enough. I'm back in control. Probably."

"You did bad this time, girl." Ardet-lili spoke sweetly, continuing to kiss away at her, "Council wants to see you. Put you in a restraining collar."

Kina laughed bitterly, "If that'd fucking work, I'd be wearing a goddamn bell around my neck. Even rebuilding Akihabara after Marduk torched it didn't burn me out. Didn't challenge my limits. I'm as bad as Chelsea, sometimes."

"Must be why you two get along so well."

"Stop it. I don't want to sleep with you." Kina pushed the witch away, and threw up a smaller drooling mouthful of blood. "I hate that fuck. He told me I wasn't worth Echo's time. That I should accept being courted by servants like some damned arranged marriage or something."

"I will consider eating him for that."

Echo.

Kina yowled and found herself inside her bedroom, leaning up against the door and breathing hard. She cringed, trying not to cry, and tried to call out through her choking throat. "D-don't... Go."

She heard his gentle and calm voice, "I was concerned. I expect everyone with the least magical ability would be concerned. There are not that many people in the world with that level of power. I had no idea that you carried that burden, Kina."

She sniffled, "It hurts."

The door creaked gently as she felt someone lean up on the other side of the wooden object. "Even your friend seems frightened of me. She ran. I don't mean to be. It is part of who I am."

"I... I don't..." She winced, trying to find the words. "I'm sorry. About this. And all of it. I shouldn't be afraid of you. But I am. More than I know how to explain it."

"I'm afraid of you, as well." He said reasonably, "I have little magical ability. Most of what I can do is more natural. The horrible poison of a basilisk. I can kill, I can't create... But you... How are you still alive after touching that much magic?"

She looked at her hands, "I'm... Not. Not really. No one can do that without immortality, Echo. It's a fucking curse. Chelsea has no limiter, so she's going to die. Burn out. I still have my limiter, I won't die from a single spell... But when someone else uses magic, so do I. I make every spell around me bigger and better and nastier. Can't help it."

"I'm sorry. It was me."

"No shit." She said angrily, "What were you even doing, asshole?"

"Killing a bunch of demonic nazis." He said simply, making her feel guilty for accusing him. "Hoping I've discouraged them. Maybe not. But I've made my presence felt."

"Demon... Nazis?"

He laughed, "Yeah. You'd think the racists would realise that they're not the oppressed ones, eventually. But they don't. They really do think not being able to spill their bile, not being able to treat others as less, is oppression. They believe themselves to be the victim."

She sighed, and scratched at one of her ears, "But... You do kill them. Right?"

"In a manner of speaking. I eat them."

Kina's eyes widened and she remembered that morning. He'd made her breakfast, cooked for her... But he hadn't made anything for himself. Was his diet only made up of... Actual evil things?

He laughed, "Yeah. Most people freak out at that one, too. Probably should have tried to hold it back. Or say it in a less creepy way or... Something."

She scratched at the floor, "You want to date me, don't you? So you're being honest?"

"Yeah."

She found herself repeatedly scratching the shape of a heart into the floor as she tried to work out decent words to say. Anything to explain what she wanted to say.

"I just came to check in on you. I will punish him for upsetting you. Once I extract the full truth from him." Echo said after a time, "He was my friend, once. For what it is worth. I wouldn't trust your protection to just everyone. But I failed you. He wasn't up to the task."

Kina smiled sadly, "Maybe don't send someone with a hero worship complex next time. He loves you like you accepted the title of divine. I didn't like the way he spoke to me and I... Overreacted. Eugh. I'm in heat! I can't... Talk to anyone. Can't be normal. I'm supposed to be locked away."

"So, it was just your cycle?"

"I wanna fuck you."

Kina clamped both her hands over her mouth and kicked the ground in frustration. Her stupid bloody hormones. There was no way that what she had said wasn't offensive.

He might be male, but he had emotions.

"I would prefer not to simply be a booty call, sorry, Kina." He said with mirth in his voice.

She drooped her head, "I'm awful."

"I'm a world eating snake that can kill with a look, and is destined to end the entire world. By comparison, you're a cupcake." He said bitterly.

Kina felt her heart race, "End... The world?"

"Mmm." He sighed, "I don't like talking about it, Kina. In much the same way I doubt you enjoy speaking about your destiny. Our prearranged destinies that we were born to. I wasn't born to be a god. I was born to kill them all. Doesn't matter how much I run... I was always supposed to be the villain of this story."

She turned and looked at the door, "That's... Not fair."

"They're the gods. They never play fair." His voice was more tired, and more pained, than she had thought possible. She had thought he was polite and happy and floating. Just a kind heart living through a shitty world.

She reached out tentatively, claws gently touching the surface of the wood. She wished she could open the door, say what she meant. Do what she wanted to do.

"It is still not fair." She sniffled, surprised by a tear of her own. "None of this is ever fair, is it?"

"No."

She laughed and bumped her head up against the door, "I like this. Talking to you. But you really should have found a way to tell me this earlier. Even if we couldn't."

"Huh?"

Kina smiled sadly, watching her tears drop to the floor, "I know my fate, too. Not really my fate. I'm supposed to be someone's bride. That's it. All this magic, and the stupid mirror shit... Eos made me, so that I could be someone else's bride. I'm nothing but a cum dumpster dressed up as a gift."

"Kina!" He exclaimed, "That's horrifying! No. No, I won't accept that's your fate. You're divine, too. That means you can tell the goddess to go fuck herself."

"I did. Now, I'm dying." She said bitterly, and then cringed and punched the floor. "Damn it. Didn't mean... To... Tell you that. You make me really talkative, asshole. Pretend you didn't hear?"

"I created the Emergency Response system, you know."

Kina rolled her eyes, sniffling, "We're not in a bar. You don't have to throw pick-up lines around."

"I did it because I'm supposed to become the next Demon King. Can't be the king if you kill them all. I'm a selfish bastard. At least my way of fighting back doesn't make me feel guilty. Hasn't doomed me to die, yet."

She smiled and sat back, looking at the blank door, "Are you trying to be sympathetic, or hit on me, s... Snake...?"

"Little bit of both, if I'm honest."

Kina took a deep breath, "You should go. I'm not saying we shouldn't do this again... But... Maybe we can talk again when I'm not in the middle of my cycle."

"I'd let you use me, if you wanted."

She scratched the floor loudly, "I really, really, really want to. It wouldn't be right. And I can't say I wouldn't run if I saw you."

"Can't tell if you don't try."

Kina licked her lips, and shivered, "Oh... I'm going to regret this. It is going to feel like I used you, in the morning. Really."

"I don't mind being used." He replied gently, "Especially not by such a cute little cat."

"Oh... Fuck it." She gave up.

The door opened and she pounced into him. Trying not to let one set of instincts get in the way of another set. She shoved Echo's shoulders into the hardwood floors and her tongue into his mouth. His arms practically rippled with restrained strength as they circled around her.

She moaned and lightly bit at his lower lip, "More. Show me. Show me who you are."

The neko alternated between kissing and biting at his neck as she felt his glamour slip away. He expanded around her, circling her. Skin turning into hardened black scales that resisted her easily. Her claws came out as she felt her hormones hitting fever pitch.

He filled her entire kitchen, leaving her trapped and intertwined inside a giant bundle of black scales. She could see distant black leathery wings, wrapped around the both of them, giving her a sense of safety and security.

Lightning burst through her as his eyes found hers, and simultaneously she felt him pressing in against her, between her legs. She shredded her clothes and found him penetrating her before she could finish a quiet and hungry purr.

Kina cried out loudly as she was stretched out by him.

---

The crick in Echo's neck was a painful reminder to him that if he wanted to keep doing this with the neko, they needed way more space, or he needed to stay in his glamoured form.

He had, in the end. Just for practicalities sake. She, on the other hand, had felt more than free enough to show off her inhumanity. Not just by revealing her true self to him, but in the kinds of things that she had enjoyed.

He was also grateful that his scales had protected him from her own teeth. Trying to disinfect the practically invisible marks that they would leave behind would have been extremely irritating. As it was, his servants were touching ethanol to the ten parallel lines on his back and thighs.

Echo had made the choice to leave in the morning before she saw him, to not have a repeat of her terror. He had taken the time to leave a hot breakfast with a detailed letter indicating his intent to ease her into it.

That he intended to become a part of her life, if she'd allow it. Even if the only connection that they could share was once a month, at the height of her cycle, he would take it.

Now, however, he was concerned with exploring what she had told him. She had referred to herself in such a crass way, it had made him uncomfortable.

It had also angered him that she was sentenced to death for denying her fate.

For the cruelty of refusing a marriage arranged by Eos.

"Have you determined who the groom-to-be was?" Echo demanded from his servant.

The butler inclined his head, "I have, sir. Again, I would caution you to break ties with Miss Aki."

"Go fuck yourself. With a metal rod. Preferably through the temple of your idiotic skull." Echo replied stiffly.

"Apologies, sir." The butler sighed with resignation, "Miss Aki was promised to Dyeus. A symbol of the new generation accepting the old. She has earned his wrath in rejecting him."

Echo laughed, a growling noise, "I was not aware that Dyeus gave a single care to the consent of his partners."

"He has not changed, sir."

Echo's mirth evaporated. "Explain."

"The damage done to Miss Aki, that forces her to mirror and enhance the magic around her, occurred because Dyeus forced himself upon the neko, once. It was only by the intervention of Chelsea McGibbon that the neko survived at all." The ghoul said emotionlessly.

Echo felt his heart fracture and shatter.

The woman that he cared for so deeply had been used by the god of gods, repeatedly. Forced to live with the trauma of being truly powerless, and given daily reminders that he could do it again whenever he wished.

If she did not hate all that was divine, then she was a more reasonable woman than he was a man.

"Please find me something to kill. Immediately." Echo ordered, and stood up to pace, forcing those treating his wounds to scamper around him. "I also wish to speak with Chelsea."

"Impossible, sir." The ghoul shook his head, "Miss McGibbon is isolated from the world at the best of times. We do not know when she might interact with it, or where to find her. It is a closely guarded secret."

"Guarded by who?"

"Miss Violet Waterhouse."

Echo winced and scratched at his cheek, "Well, that witch is unlikely to assist me. Ever. Have you located me something to kill?"

"There is a strange anomaly in the flow of magic beneath the city. It seems to roughly coincide with where Marduk rested, before his removal." The ghoul suggested.

"Roughly?"

"Several tens of meters below where he rested."

Echo rubbed at his stiff neck, and felt his scales flaring as he attempted to contain his rage. "I will investigate."

---

Kina stretched lazily, happily.

She rolled onto her side, before her face fell and she pawed at the empty bed beside her. It wasn't even warm anymore, barely any scent of him left behind.

She burst into tears and hugged her pillow.

Kina sniffled and padded slowly into her kitchen, her tail wrapped around her back leg. There she sprang up into a chair as she found a meal waiting for her, and a letter beside it.

Her fangs quickly sank into the food, causing her to kick happily as she found it was mana-infused. She didn't know how he did it, but she loved the fuck out of it.

She slit open the letter and quickly scanned it, grinning to herself. It might suck to wake up without him beside her, but she was looking forward to him inserting himself into her life. And between her legs. Repeatedly.

"Oh, you're up." Ardet-lili said from where the witch was lying nearby lazily, "How's my favourite neko?"

"Over her cycle." She growled through a mouthful of food, "So no screwing around."

"Aw."

Kina shrugged and pressed her nose into the letter, filling her nostrils with his subtle scent. Dangerous, dark, and too damn weak to ever be satisfying.

"That's you, over the cycle?"

"I want to mate with him." Kina shrugged, "So, yeah. I can be over my cycle and still obsess. Shut up."

The witch laughed at her, "You are so broken, kitten. He's a basilisk. You really want to mate with the Great Devourer?"

"I'm supposed to be the Bride of Dyeus. Anybody would be insane to want to have a relationship with me." Kina's ears drooped, "So maybe we're both insane. Don't care."

"Did you tell him it was Dyeus?"

Kina's ears flattened even further, "Uhm... Sorta? Maybe forgot to say who I was supposed to be a baby factory for? Just that it was a god... Fuck."

Ardet-lili laughed at her.

She rolled her eyes and chewed with annoyance on her breakfast waffles, trying to let the mana rolling off her tongue calm her. Instead it just made her remember sticking her tongue in his mouth.

Her claws extended involuntarily at the memory, and she dug into the tabletop.

Her heart went mad at the mere thought of him.

"Well, if you're over your cycle and safe to go out, you're going to have to front the Witch's Council." Ardet-lili reminded her, "Need a friend to come with?"

"No." The neko sighed, "Can't they ever get over the fact that nobody in this entire world can control me?"

"Sure. When you're dead."

"I'd wear a freaking collar if it would actually work. I'm not exactly trying to be difficult about everything." Kina pouted, "But it won't work. Because I have the power of a real god."

"Don't say that to them, sweetie." Ardet-lili sat down beside her, patting the back of her hand. "The witches aren't exactly adapting well to this whole... New generation of gods, thing. They put Arcana through hell, and then when they found out there were more... Didn't go over well."

Kina giggled, "Even though every single one of us has rejected our fate."

"Not... Entirely true, sweetie." Ardet-lili said, sitting on the table and crossing her legs with deliberate slowness. "The Cursed Child, did not. Though, if I was to be the new god of trickery and not just sex, then I could understand embracing the role."

The neko nodded slowly, "Oh, that bastard. What's Hero up to, these days? Still trying to pick up guys in seedy taverns? Or did Rasputin finally give in and agree to date the fucker?"

"Raz is dead." Ardet-lili's face dropped, "Council finally confirmed it. I... I didn't want to believe it. He might have been a prick, but he was still one of my closest friends."

The waffle fell from Kina's open mouth, "Actual dead, dead? Rasputin!?"

---

Hero lay on a girder with his phone lifted in front of his face where he could read the screen. There wasn't much interesting news. A few big production houses promising things with pre-orders that were clearly lies, and a few more indies promising even more.