A few songs later and we all find ourselves thoroughly jammed out, or at least, Coyo and I are. Bomba and Niamh continue plucking at their strings, carrying a sweet little tune with each note and giving us two some ambient noise to chill and vibe to. Thus, I find myself lazing about on the raggedy couch down here with the chimera by my side, proud of them for being this comfy so close to me considering how tense they’ve been about it in the past. Nah, now we’re just relaxing, scrolling through our phones and sharing stupid memes with one another.

“...I do not get it,” Coyotl whines, prompting me to ruffle their staticy hair (then shake the static out) and drape my arm over their shoulders.

“Honestly, there ain’t much to be got,” I explain with a wink. “The evolution of humour over the past decade has been…a sight to behold, to say the least.”

“I’ll say…”

Man. I could almost forget about everything else going on in the world sitting here. If you told me I’d be this cozy with Coyo of all people a month ago, I’d slap you, but hey, here we are. It’s kinda fun having someone I can explain weird internet shit to as well, like, with Sue and Zee I can talk about this stuff, Fox doesn’t really get it or care much about it (though she’ll still listen, bless her heart), but Coyo? They’ve got this glint in their screen when I start telling them about some obscure franchise and all its lore and history, something we both have a strong appreciation for.

“Remind me to tell you about the odd series of events that worked their way into signing Azathoth into a contract, i-if you are interested of course,” they propose, seeming to waver in resolve by the end of the proposition.

“I’d love to hear all about it,” I assure them, giving them a wide catty smile that seems to do the trick, making their face glow and tail wag, as much as it can tucked between them and the couch.

“...Could I…tell you something else as well?” they ask quietly, looking around as if to make sure no one but me (and my rat) heard them. “Something…personal.”

“Well, duh,” I chuckle, shaking the chimera from side to side gently. “You can talk about anything with me!”

Despite the lack of a mouth visible on their screen, their smile is soothing after the slight rise in anxious tension.

“Well you see…this is about…pronouns.”

“Oh, of course you’ve got green hair and pronouns.”

They tilt their head, prompting me to wave my paw dismissively, urging them to continue in spite of my interruption.

“Well, yes, I have pronouns, that being ‘they’ and ‘them’, as well as ‘she’ and ‘her’. But…”

They trail off for a moment, seeming to try and compose themselves with a deep, staticy breath.

“But I…I have been thinking about ‘he’ and ‘him’ as well.”

As much as I want to joke about his phrasing, I’d rather not risk rattling their resolve.

“Oh yeah? Like, ‘Coyotl, he’s my good pal, love to spend time with him,’ or somethin’?”

Aha, that seems to do the trick, his antennae sparking and twitching while his screen brightens and becomes a tad fuzzier.

“Y-yes! Yes, just like that…” he stammers out, controlling himself with another deep breath. “I…yes, I would like that but…I am worried a bit, since I am not trans…”

Uh oh, sisters.

“Gonna stop ya right there, Coyo ol’ buddy,” I say, holding up my paw. “Y’ain’t gotta say you’re trans if y’ain’t wanna, but being nonbinary is technically being trans, since your gender ain’t the same as that which’d been assigned at birth.”

“Really…?”

A nod and a thumbs up from me seem to ease his worries somewhat.

“W-well…that is going to take some time to get used to, I suppose, but…okay. So it is fine for me to use ‘he’ and ‘him’ then…?”

“Absolutely, Coyo. Pronouns don’t define your gender,” I begin to explain further, happy to see the chimera listening intently and nodding along, “you get to choose what they mean to you.”

“I-I see…!” he exclaims with a subdued excitement, brimming with a newfound confidence. “Then I shall now be using all of the pronouns!”

“All of them?” I inquire, Coyotl turning to face me and nodding assuredly.

“All of them.”

“It/its too?”

“Eh?”

Heheh.

“Neopronouns as well?”

“Eh?!”

Ohhh, maybe I’m being a bit mean, but seeing him overloaded for a moment is really cute. I make sure to comfort him after, of course, giving him a firm side hug and a wave of my paw to dismiss all of that, the chimera whining and pouting in response.

“Don’t worry about it,” I tell him, shaking my head. “There’s lots to learn, but we don’t have to take it in all at once. For now, it’ll be he, they, and she for you?”

The chimera recomposes themselves and nods.

“Correct. Though...I would still like to be considered your ‘sister’, if that is fine.”

Aw yeah, love a little gender fuckery like this.

“He’s my sister, gotcha.”

It’s also fun seeing all the funky feelings whirl around in his head, especially since he seems to be enjoying it so much.

 

“...Ah! There was something else I wanted to ask of you, actually.”

I tilt my head at the chimera as he reaches into his cloak of holding and retrieves a rather hefty tome, slapping it down on his lap with a resounding thud and throwing open its pages many.

“What’s up, sis?”

“Well...this is perhaps somewhat more serious than the previous matter...” Coyo admits, but remains resolute as he finds the page he’s looking for and points at the text within. “You recall I have been researching the ghosts underneath Monorise, yes?”

“Mhm!”

“Well...this is because I had a sneaking suspicion that they are related to my bloodline,” he explains, his claw trailing along the words of the page below. “I recall glimpsing at such texts in my younger years, and lo and behold, I find my answers here.”

Leaning over, I peer at that being beheld, squinting and trying to parse out not only the fruity language being used, but the scribbles they’re written with.

“You see, sister,” Coyo begins, raising his index claw up very matter-of-factly, “the use of magic within our reality, while carrying the same basic principles between each matter of being, affects each species of differing aetheric composition in varying forms.”

“Ah, so like, humans, Ascended, and Radiants, right?” I guess, earning me a proud nod from the chimera.

“Quite so! All of it revolves around the manipulation of an aetheric energy, one which goes by many names, but for simplicity’s sake, we will be referring to as ‘mana.’”

I nod along, recalling the mention of this ‘mana’ from Niamh a while ago.

“It is quite simple for Ascended and Radiants. Ascended are a meeting of light and dark, so while we lack the nigh boundless reserves of mana Radiants are known for, our ability to manipulate it is much more robust and complex, working within the constraints of the ‘Ends by Means’ to balance its own mana usage. Thus, we produce it ourselves, but only so much at once, meaning we must allow our energy to recharge over time.”

“So like a video game.”

Coyo snaps a claw and points at me affirmatively.

“Like a video game! Radiants, on the other hand,” he begins once more before looking at his palm and flexing his digits for a moment, “err, claw, I should say, are born of the light, and, as mentioned previously, have access to a vast wellspring of mana. You could say they are made of magic, but as such, they are limited to their own composition. More magic, less variety, though, some work around this in their own ways.”

“Alright, magical beings are magic, makes sense,” I think aloud before looking back at Coyotl. “That just leaves humans.”

“Yes, surprisingly, the most complicated of the three,” they say, taking a deep breath before letting the explaining take its course. “Humans have no innate manner of manipulating mana, and, in fact, have very little of it within them. However, they have no natural constraints to control mana were they able to...such as, through the use of magical items, something which gives ‘Ends’ to their ‘Means.’”

“Which explains why your family needs all of those contracts and artifacts, they wouldn’t exactly be ‘mages’ otherwise,” I muse, leaning back into the couch and staring at the ceiling as all these magical thoughts bounce around the confines of my kitty head.

“Just so. Long has their mission been to prevent magic from entering the hands of humans en masse, obviously to prevent it entering the wrong hands, but also...the danger it poses when misunderstood.”

Coyotl flips the page of their tomb, pointing to a diagram of a human body, various metrics being recorded around it.

“When a human body manipulates mana, it takes on ambient energy from the magical item, filling the soul wherein it is shaped to the user’s desires. However, this process does not leave the soul unscathed, for the mana layers itself atop the soul, forming a residue unregulated by the human body. Over the course of a mage’s life, this will build and build, allowing for greater magical manipulation, however, that is only after it ‘cools,’ so to speak.”

“Ahh, so you slowly build up a tolerance to the ‘heat’ of the mana, but there’s always a limit to how much heat you can take at one time,” I extrapolate, feeling my heart warm at how proud of me Coyotl looks.

“Yes, yes! This, of course, leads us to the question: What happens when a soul ‘overheats?’”

“Nothing good, I’d imagine.”

The chimera nods, flipping the page once more to reveal…

 

“...Oh Goddess.”

The depiction I gaze upon is something akin to a biblical throne, a whirling mass of power and might in an incomprehensibly inhuman shape.

“An Aspect,” Coyotl dubs the entity. “The soul is overtaken by the mana and becomes an aspect of that magic, an almost mindless being with the sole purpose of producing the magic which they were born from. A slight semblance of who they were before remains, but it is not known if it is enough to ever be restored...”

“...Goddess above, that’s terrifying,” I murmur in horror, looking up from the page to Coyo. “And this is what those Ghosts are?”

“Adjacent,” he states, turning to the next page, which has a more human shape scrawled in ink upon it. “If a human soul is not consumed by errant magics, it will instead persist as a Ghost, burning up the cooled mana around their soul to pursue a final purpose, being as sentient as the accumulated magic will allow.”

At last, Coyotl closes their tome, stuffing it away and standing up, offering me a claw which I gladly take. The chimera then turns to...nobody. Nodding? It’s only as particles of light begin to amass and gather that I realize he was motioning to somebody, that somebody manifesting as a specter of light before us, in the shape of a cloaked lizard woman. Bomba is immediately put on guard, however, Niamh…

“...Valhalla take me, there’s no way...”

The cleric woman turns to the snake and smiles, spreading her arms.

“Sorry I’m late, my slithery friend.”

Niamh leaps into the larger woman’s arms, her wings wrapping around her as well while her head wings cover her own eyes.

“Oh, you are simply the worst!” the snake cries, smiling wide and sniffling as the lizard pats her back. “Making an old woman cry in front of all her friends!”

While those two hug it out, Coyo looks back to me, his claws gesturing to the ghost.

“This is Penny Inkton. My ancestor, and she who helped Broila achieve godhood.”

Huh?!

“W-wait, first of all, oh my Goddess?! Second of all, how can she be a ghost if she’s Ascended?”

“Ah, well,” Coyotl mumbles, turning to see Penny and Niamh still wrapped around each other, the serpent even more so with her tail now, then looking back to me. “She was a mage before Ascending. Thus, the accumulation of mana had still occurred, and persisted into Ascension.”

“Alright, alright...” I hum in thought, tapping my foot paw against the floor. “But...how did the Inktons go from that, to imprisoning Yom and despising her?”

“It is...not a simple answer,” Coyotl admits. “Even with Penny’s attempts at guidance, times changed and the Inktons with them, moving from the Guardians of Magic, to the Keepers of Secrets, hiding it from the world along with other families around the world, and their ideals morphed and corrupted in a manner Penny could not combat...”

Yikes…

“So...those are the ghosts,” I answer for myself. “Souls corrupted by hatred and malice, building up over thousands and thousands of years...following their lineage until taking up residence in the Subterfuge Subway...”

“...The most spiteful of all being the Ghost Train,” Coyotl finishes, sighing and closing their eyes. “That is what I wished to ask for your help with. Not immediately, but in the future, I wish to right the wrongs of my bloodline, and wipe the slate clean of their bubbling fervor. A base from which a brighter future can be built.”

Phew. That’s a big freakin’ task, but I get why it’s something Coyo would wanna follow through with.

“...You’ve got yourself a professional on the job then, sis,” I tell him with a thumbs up and a wink, the chimera smiling wide back at me.

“I could not have asked for a better sister than you. Thank you so much, Cat...”

“You can count me in too, darling~”

We both turn around and find Niamh’s arms wrapped around Penny’s, her tail swishing from side to side while the lizard to her side chuckles awkwardly.

“I will be there too, of course. It’s something of my duty to ensure things go right this time.”

“Anything for love~” Niamh tacks on cheesily, followed by Bomba tacking herself onto the conversation, standing ready to battle at any moment. Coyotl looks on at all the support he has and sighs with relief, eyes looking watery on his screen.

“I do not deserve such kindness, but for that very reason, I am all the more grateful.”

Ain’t this just the sweetest thing. With that, I’d say we’re just about ready to pack up for the day, maybe go grab something to--

 

Squeak!

 

“Okay. That is a plan for the future,” Coyotl states, walking towards the stairs up and looking back at all of us. “Why don’t we all--”

“--Head over to Jaspers...”

Coyo looks at me, slightly surprised but nodding.

“Yes, exactly what I was thinking. I am not too familiar with where else there is to go to eat around here, of course, so if anyone else has any suggestions...”

“Well~” Niamh begins, looking pointlessly flirtatious at everyone in the room besides Bomba, who would be too short to meet her gaze anyways, “I could always take us all on a very special trip--”

“--To Bacchus’ Bar and Grill, premier food place in the Radiant World...”

It’s at this point the entire room is staring at me with befuddled expressions, especially Niamh.

“...Darling, how did you know that…?”

“I-- I don’t...”

Oh.

Oh Goddess.

“I gotta go.”

Like a spark, I flicker and I’m gone, storming up the stairs and out of Jam’s place without another word, only to find Coyotl catching up and grabbing me by the shoulder, my good one thankfully.

“Cat! What’s going on?!”

“I-I’m not sure!” I admit, distress plain to see all over my face, “I suddenly remembered the events of the next half hour in crystal clear detail, a-and I’m pretty sure that can only mean one thing!”

The chimera tilts his head at me before shaking it from side to side, looking at me fiercely.

“Whatever it is, you should not be tackling it alone. Tell me what’s going on.”

I’m frozen in panic for a moment until a sigh of resignation escapes me, and I shake my head at myself for acting so brashly.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. The reason I’m so freaked out is because the last time something like this happened...it was because of Janus’ time reversal. The rat Liz left with me reminded me of everything I’d forgotten from the last loop around, and the only person I know of that could have anything to do with time stuff is...Sue-Zee.”

“My Goddess...” Coyotl mumbles, throwing open his cloak and letting loose the Amazing Mirror, its golden wings flapping and keeping itself in place before the chimera. Taking a peek inside it, I see...Fox. She’s in some kind of arena, bound to a cushioned seat sitting before a giant robotic eye, who I’m presuming to be Hal. The way he speaks really doesn’t give any other options to guess at.

“Wait, what is all this?”

“Ah,” Coyotl ah’s, “Well, before Fox and Violet went out on their journey to the Radiant World, I promised them my aid through the Amazing Mirror, the crown emblem on their scarf allowing me to interact with the world around her. Like so...”

He taps on the cuffs binding Fox to her seat, only for Violet to waggle a finger at her to stop, Coyotl complying.

“I see...then...”

A pained hiss escapes me, fighting against my will to fight through the shuddering within my arm, prompting Coyo to place a claw on my shoulder reassuringly.

“Don’t worry about this. Whatever happens...I won’t allow harm to come to anyone there. Please, take care of yourself.”

Dammit…he’s right. I should put my trust in him anyways, he came to the rescue once already, I’m sure he can do it again.

“...Alright. I trust you. Please, keep them all safe…”

“Every last one of them. I promise.”

“Including yourself?” I add, catching the chimera off guard.

“...Including myself.”

“Good,” I conclude with a smile, ruffling his hair once more. “Please, come find me once you’re done.”

Coyo gives me a nod and runs along with the Amazing Mirror following close behind, heading off in the direction of his house, leaving me to hope for the best as Niamh and Bomba scramble out of Jam’s house…along with Penny, who seems to have stuck around.

“Kitten, Kitty, Catty, Darling, Dearest, what seems to be the matter?”

Rolling my eyes at Niamh, I give her a boop on the nose and watch her tongue flick out at me playfully, forgetting my paw was charged with static and watching her head wings poof out suddenly, getting a little giggle out of me.

“Nothing, nothing, just…had a bad feeling all the sudden. C’mon, let’s grab some grub, I’m starving.”