Chapter 42: Chapter 34 – Fist Bump

“I hope I do not regret giving you this power over me, Katka. I should have specified when replacing the copy of Fullmetal Alchemist I damaged that there are limits to that ‘anything’ I offered.” Odionyx rested her hands on her desk, before moving her finger ever so slightly, a chair rolling in front of said desk for Katka to sit on. Which she proceeded to approach, the portal slowly closing the further she got from it. I saw her shrug and shake her head, a quick huff of amusement escaping her. Even with her back to me, I was fairly certain Katka had smirked. 

“I’m not gonna ask you to fuck me, Odie. My request is of a more…” Katka paused, turning the chair to sit down on it casually. “-professional nature, let’s say.” Those were the last words I heard from Katka, right before the portal closed completely. The atmosphere inside Kyblík was weird without Katka there. Like being invited to a friend’s place but they have to run out to do a quick errand, but you have no reason to join them for it so you just awkwardly sit in their room, patiently waiting. At least I figure that’s an experience people have. I didn’t really get to be invited places. My hyperfocus on studies to avoid dad’s emotional abuse in the form of verbal insults and destroying my self worth had left me quite isolated from my peers in middle and high school. I probably would have figured myself out earlier had I had friends back then, but well, hindsight is 2020. 

 I could hear Khazmiel preaching to Leonard from my phone, about how he spit in the face of god for what he was given, about how he’s disrespecting his ancestry by being a warlock, how he should repent and ask for forgiveness and tell Khazmiel what curse he used to transition. Of course Khazmiel didn’t use the word transition to describe the act, but there’s no need for me to repeat him verbatim.

It’s not like you remember every single villain monologue in anime ever. You know the tone though, and the wording, and Khazmiel was pulling out all the stops. He was going for the fucking Oscar for Cheesiest Villain Monologue. It was honestly impressive, how zealous and assured he was in the bullshit he was spouting at Leonard. But from what I knew of Leonard, that dude’s mind was occupied by the siren song of his wolfboy getting pounded in the ass by like, ten dudes in order, to block out whatever Khazmiel was spouting. Made me wonder how many dick types he had gone through by now. I figured at least three. Hell if I knew which ones though.

At least I didn’t have to end the call to send May a text, to let her know I was currently at Katka’s place, and why. Well, the simple why of it: Khazmiel showed up at my apartment complex, and I ran to Katka’s place. The moment I was finished sending that, I just sat down and stared at the ceiling.

Why the fuck did my life have to get this crazy? Barely a month ago, I was just surviving, getting through my first year of university, living on my own with minimal contact with people, unaware of myself or this larger world that lurked just below the surface of what I knew. Angels and Demons and Fae. Nephilim, Nihilim, Changelings. Magic and Alchemy and the Realms. All of that was thrust upon me suddenly, without warning, with zero time to acclimate before I was in danger. I could only imagine how my life would have proceeded without Leonard’s royal fuckup.

A royal fuckup that was now getting him hurt. That put him in danger, because of me. Because of what I was. Because of who I was related to, and who he was related to. A cosmic ballet of bullshit caused by one specific fucker on a mission.

 

I didn’t really check the time. I wasn’t sure whether only five minutes had passed, or hours. It definitely felt like hours. The soft clicking noise of the cuckoo clock on the wall. Why the fuck did Katka have a cuckoo clock when the rest of her apartment looked borderline like a spaceship that was fancy enough to have wooden paneling. My contemplation on Katka’s interior design philosophy was interrupted by front door opening, May standing on its threshold. Clad in a leather jacket, big stompy boots, ripped jeans and a t-shirt with a number of reddish stains on it. I had an inkling what those stains were from the state of the shirt. They were very old, very spread out, and in fact the shirt had been cut in places, usually the stomach, exposing May’s abs. The moment her gaze fell on me, she slipped the jacket off and ran to give me a hug, holding me close, as if I would disappear if she didn’t. “Are you hurt? Are you okay? Did he get you?” I hugged her back as she asked her questions, and shook my head at all three.

“The window I jumped through wasn’t enchanted so the glass didn’t cut me. Leonard though…” I looked towards my phone on the counter, Khazmiel still blabbering on and on. Oh great he moved onto Leonard’s duty as a woman to give birth to his dynasty. Ughhhh, hypocrite much Khazmiel? You didn’t even want or know about Leonard, and now you want him to do what May had done, what got her on your shitlist? Wow. Just, wow. Sorry Leonard but old members of your gender REALLY fucking suck. Thank fucking christ we got one shining example in you. 

“I am shocked that Khazmiel had sex and it resulted in descendants. Poor Leonard has one of the worst grandfathers in existence...” May chuckled slightly, I felt my cheek getting wet with her tears. “Adds to him being a furry.”

“Yeah. Yeah it does. It’s ridiculous that being a furry is genetic. His fursona’s a fucking wolfboy.” I leaned out of the embrace, looking right into May’s eyes. Red and puffy from crying, still wet with tears. “We need to save him.” May nodded in reply, letting go and standing back. She wiped her tears away, grabbed her jacket off the floor and put it on.

“We need a plan.” I could only agree with May’s assessment.

“We don’t have long to make one. We have until sunrise to show up, before he starts hurting everyone. I can’t begin to imagine what he’s planning to do to Félicie. And Mrs. Fahrenheit, she’s completely detached from magic, she’s just a sweet old lady that serves tea and provides therapy.” I stood off the chair, pacing around the room. “I can’t let them get hurt for my sake. I WON’T let them get hurt for my sake.” 

May gave me a soft smile, and grabbed my shoulder. “I’m proud of you for that.” Fuck, that one hit like a glass of water after spending a week in a desert. 

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“Yeah I’m sure you have a lot to be proud of Lily for, May.” Katka was stepping through a fresh portal, coming back home.

“Meassael, I wish I had done more back then. I have no right to ask for forgiveness, even though I hope for it.” Odionyx was speaking from her seat, as she heard May’s name. “Katka… I think I’ll let you keep the favor for later use. This is a family matter, and I should be involved without coercion.” The portal closed, Katka stretched, and sat down.

“So, why did you visit Odionyx?” I turned to face the friendly witch, who met my gaze with hers.

“I needed her to get in touch with someone for me. Back up, let’s say. With that out of the way…” Katka walked to another empty part of the wall, with a door stretching out of the floor, as if it had been squished down into it this whole time. It was a heavy door. Thick steel, engraved with many flowers. Roses and Nightshade. She opened the door, and beckoned me and May to follow.

The room on the other side of that door was vast, to say the least. A tower structure, circular in shape, with a spiral staircase on the center, from which a cross of paths always lead to an outer ring. I could count at least five floors. And each and every one was covered in weaponry. Mostly swords. Right next to the staircase, suspended in midair, was a longsword. The blade was simple, unadorned. The handle had a set of ribbons in the colors of the trans pride flag tied onto it. Touche. Outside of that touch though, the sword was unremarkable. Katka stepped towards it and gave the pommel a pat. “This here’s Marshmallow, my personal weapon. We’re gonna make you a magical girl, Lily, so you have something to face Khazmiel with.”

I tilted my head, raised my fist and set it aflame. “Katka. I have these.” I noticed May was walking around the room, observing the collection.

“That is true Lily, yes, you have access to fire fists. Those are gonna work on lesser stuff. I’m personally certain I could shrug one of your punches off.” To demonstrate, she walked right up to me and grabbed ahold of my fist, the fire not phasing her at all. “I’m the granddaughter of a being that has existed for as long as forests have existed, so I’m not a fair test of magical resistances. Buuuut, I’m fairly certain I have some knuckles or gauntlets to enhance your punches.” Katka let go of my fist, shook her hand and blew the fire on it out, as it had gotten at least set on fire, and proceeded to walk up to the floating sword, grabbing its hilt. “Marshmallow’s a smart girl, she knows where everything is stored. Uhuh. Uhuh. Uuuuuuhuh. Alright.” Katka let go, flew up four floors, and shortly thereafter descended with a pair of gloves. A pair of gloves that had paw prints on the palms.

“Does it have to be cat themed? I love being a cat girl as much as the next trans girl, from what I’ve seen online, but this is getting too much.”

“I said we’re gonna make you a magical girl. Just put them on and do the move that comes to mind.” She shoved them into my hands, and I rolled my eyes, which let me catch a glimpse of May off to the side, turning around to look at me.

The message I got in my head the moment I had slipped the gloves on made me cringe. They couldn’t really be expecting me to activate them with such a spell. With a sigh, I balled up my hands into the classic catgirl paw pose, put them to the left and right of me, and trying not to cringe into nonexistence, I uttered the phrase. “Kitty Paw-er Activate Nya-ow!” Okay I was a weeb but not that much of one. Or maybe I just felt awkward doing something this explicitly feminine. Either way, ribbons, lights, sparkles, you know the deal. By the end of it I was wearing short shorts, a bell collar, a top that was like a long coat, through which my tail poked out. The shoes looked like sturdier versions of those paw slippers you could buy, and had thigh highs snaking up my legs out of them.

“Lovely, they work. Now you’re armored up and are getting a triple boost to your power, which is already boosted from you being a succubus, compared to a baseline human.” Katka patted me on my shoulder, and handed me a pin. “Just get this onto Khazmiel during your fight so the backup can join you. Now go, you have a fool of a furry trans guy warlock to save from his deranged ancestor.”

I gave Katka a nod, as May and I left her place, running for the exit to Wisteria Way, and the door to Chertovice.

Time to face the nightmare.