"Well?" Not-Rick Kovaks gestured towards the demi-god cat as he asked, "What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to finish him off?"

Whoever or whatever he was, he'd finally stopped that slow-clapping thing. He was still staring at my other self and I though, as he sat cross-legged on the ground just inside the cave entrance.

Cassandra and I didn't answer him yet, and I could tell my other half was trying to figure out what he was or what we were dealing with. We were still sort of working together in team-mode, while Kaylee stood by our side. And all three of us were staring back at the being sitting just inside the cave.

Our girlfriend was hugging her injured tail to her chest, but I noticed it was already beginning to heal. The skin seemed healthy where the white and orange floof had been burnt off by Nahuel's lightning bolt, and there was even new fur already beginning to grow back in. Meanwhile her ears were folded back and her other two tails were twitching from side to side behind her.

As for Cassandra and I, we were completely unharmed. Unfortunately we couldn't say the same for our clothes. Our favourite hoodie had been reduced to shreds of burnt fabric hanging from our shoulders, and even our t-shirt was torn and burnt. In fact I was a little worried if we had to do anything physical the rags would just fall away and leave us topless, apart from our bra.

On the other hand our body was positively humming with all the power we absorbed from Nahuel. Even if he was only a demi-god he'd been around for a few centuries, and he'd obviously used that time to buff himself up one way or another.

Not that it did him any good in the end. I didn't know how long it would take him to recover his power, but for now he was stuck in the form of a small cat. He looked like a cute little miniature jaguar though, with his beige fur all covered in brown and orange splotches.

And at the moment we were all pretty much ignoring him. The angry deity who'd been trying to defeat us and murder our girlfriend had become the least of our worries. Which seemed kind of crazy, but at the same time it was a pretty good indication of how our day was going.

So Cassandra and I kept our eyes on the creature in the cave, and finally broke the silence with some questions. "Who are you? What are you? And what do you want with me?"

"And why do you look like Rick Kovaks?" our girlfriend added.

Not-Rick shrugged, "I have no name, and there's no word to describe me. I have no form either, so I borrow the shapes of those who stray into my domain."

"I was starting to think you weren't going to respond to my invitation," he added. "But the wait was more than worth it, considering the performance you put on when you finally arrived."

We frowned at him, "This wasn't for your entertainment. And the 'no name no word' thing isn't going to cut it. Maybe the humans don't have a word for you, but you must. What do you call yourself? Are you some kind of god? Where do you come from?"

He shrugged, "I've always been here. Since long before there was even a 'here' to be from."

Kaylee frowned, "You mean from before this cave formed? It's been here since the last ice age, at least twelve thousand years ago."

"Oh I've been here much longer than that," not-Rick laughed. Then he sort of gestured at the cave entrance and clarified, "Not here-here, but there are caves like this all over the world. Individual locations may come and go, but places like this have always existed."

Cassandra and I were both starting to get frustrated. We stated, "Enough with the riddles, just get to the point already. What are you, and what do you want us to call you?"

He shrugged, "I'm a concept, an idea, a force of nature. I -"

"You don't look like a concept," Kaylee interrupted him. "You look like a geology student we rescued a couple months ago."

The girl stood up and brushed some non-existent dust from her dress as she responded, "Perhaps this will be easier if I use a shape you're not already familiar with."

She looked about twelve or thirteen years old, but she was short enough that she could stand inside the mouth of the cave without crouching. She had fair skin and a pretty face, with long blonde hair and dark eyes. She wore a long black dress with a white apron wrapped around her waist. The leather shoes on her feet almost looked hand-made, and overall her outfit looked like what you'd see in old photos or period movies from the late eighteen-hundreds.

She'd somehow taken not-Rick's place without either Cassandra or I even noticing the change. We were positive she was the same entity though, since we could see that same pale green glow around her.

"Anyways I was telling you what I am before I was interrupted," she made a little face at our girlfriend then continued, "I don't have a shape of my own, nor do I have a name. The best way I can describe myself within the limitations of your language would be..."

The girl's voice trailed off for a moment as her eyes sort of drifted upwards as she seemed to be thinking it over. Then she looked at us again and shrugged, "I am pure primordial chaotic magic, wild and unrefined."

"Like the primordial chaos the ancient Greeks talked about?" we asked.

"Not as such," the girl shook her head. "I don't predate the universe, and I didn't give birth to Erebus or Nyx. Apart from those distinctions though, I suppose there are some similarities? I am archaic, primordial, and separate from the mortal world of life and death."

Two of Kaylee's tails swished back and forth behind her as she asked, "So you're the personification of ancient wild chaotic magic? Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

Without waiting for a reply she tilted her head to one side and added, "You're the one who gave Willow her power right? Is that why it's so hard for her to control her magic, because it's wild and chaotic?"

"I like you little fox," the blonde girl smiled at the small kitsune. "It's easy to see why a chaos demon goddess would be girlfriends with you. And you are correct. Your other friend asked for more power than she could handle, so I gave it to her."

Cassandra and I still felt a little frustrated and impatient with the entity's behaviour. We were frowning as we stated, "We got the message you sent last month, but we've just about had it with all the riddles and puzzles. So please just get to the point. What do you want with us?"

The girl frowned back at us for a few seconds then pouted, "Fine, be that way. Take all the fun out of it."

"Seven hundred and twenty-one days ago a magic circle was cast approximately eight thousand seven hundred meters in that direction," she said as she pointed towards town. "When you passed through that circle, its magic interacted with and ultimately broke a number of crudely-copied enchantments that had been keeping your true nature hidden. The moment that happened I sensed your presence, and I recognized you for what you really are. A union of the demonic and the divine."

"You likely don't understand the significance of that," she added, "But I will explain -."

We interrupted, "I already know what it means. I know the divine and the demonic aren't meant to mix."

The girl slowly shook her head as she smiled, "That's not at all what I'm referring to."

"Anyways," she continued, "I also recognized that your original purpose was chaotic in nature, but the so-called 'status quo' had interfered with your fate and co-opted your existence for its own purposes. So I gave you a little nudge back towards your true calling and severed the hold the 'status quo' had on you."

Me and my other self just shrugged, "We know all this, we figured it out from your cryptic message. So what's the point?"

"I'm getting to it!" the young blonde insisted as she glared.

After a moment she continued, "Once upon a time the divine and the demonic weren't separate concepts, they were one and the same. There's no word for what they were back then, humanity was in its infancy and language and the concepts behind it were still evolving. I suppose you could call them titans, for want of a better word? Although they have more in common with what the Greeks called the primordial deities. The only thing they had in common with the titans of Greek mythology is that they were progenitors of the gods, as well as the demons."

"Those beings of old were intimately tied to the Earth," she added, "Much like their demonic descendants. They were fantastically powerful, and through their existence they shared that power with the world. Magic was much more abundant back then. It was commonly used by early humans, along with other hominid species. Even some of the more resourceful animals took advantage of it."

Kaylee asked, "So what happened? Where'd all the magic go?"

The girl sighed, "There was a schism, about seven hundred and forty centuries ago. The 'titans' destroyed themselves in a great cataclysm, that very nearly wiped out the entire human species. And in place of those ancient beings arose the first of what you now know as demons and gods."

"The demons remained bound to the Earth as their forebears had been," she explained. "The gods however took refuge in the heavens instead. They syphoned their magic away from Earth and took it with them to their new realm, while the demons kept their power here. But over the aeons the gods grew more numerous and drew more magic away from Earth, while the demons' numbers remained mostly static."

She sounded troubled as she continued, "Numerous gods have used demons as scapegoats, made them out to be a convenient enemy of humanity. Demons were forced into hiding, and their numbers began to dwindle. And with each demon's passing, the magic contained within them was released back into the world only to be syphoned away by even more gods."

"The last thousand years things have grown even more dire," she sighed. "A handful of powerful gods spawned the 'status quo' then used it to consolidate almost all remaining power amongst themselves, while the rest of their kind have been abandoned and forgotten."

The girl seemed uneasy again as she finished, "I believe their endgame would see all magic gone from the world, syphoned away to a handful of heavenly realms. That would bring an end to all other gods, demons, and supernatural beings. None would survive, but those few who benefit directly from the status quo."

We were all quiet for a few seconds at that point, while we tried to process everything the strange girl just told us. If she was right about the status quo that was just another reason to fight the thing, not like we weren't already opposed to it.

It also seemed like she may have given us a clue about her true nature. So Cassandra and I asked, "Is that what you are? One of those 'titans' you were describing, a precursor to gods and demons?"

"Sounds like it," Kaylee responded. "Fantastically old, check. Very powerful, check. No word to describe them, check."

By that point the girl's cheeks were colouring and she grumbled, "Fine. I'm the last of my kind, and I avoided the schism by strengthening my bond to the Earth so much that it became my prison as well as my shelter."

That left us quiet again for a few moments, until my other half came up with some more questions.

She addressed the entity, "Thanks for the history lesson, but that still doesn't really explain what you want with us. We know god-demon hybrids aren't supposed to exist. And we've already committed ourself to chaos, but on our own terms. So what is it you want from us?"

The girl smiled, "Your 'cousin' Sasha wants to see magic return to the world, like it was in her mother's heyday a couple millennia ago. That's a good start, but I want to bring magic back to the world as it was the last time those like me walked the Earth."

"Does that mean you want to kill all the gods or something?" Kaylee asked as she cocked her head to one side. Her ears folded back and her three tails twitched back and forth as she added, "A couple gods are our friends. And what about demons?"

The little kitsune grew even more agitated as she added, "If you want to make the world like it was before gods and demons existed does that mean you want another huge cataclysm or something, like you said happened way back when?"

"Not at all," the young blonde shook her head. "I'm not advocating for the end of civilization or any abrupt catastrophic changes. Nor do I want to eliminate all gods or demons."

She looked at Cassandra and I again as she added, "I know all of this is going to take time. Your goals may be achieved in decades, mine might take centuries. Millennia even. There's only so much I can do to help at the moment, as I'm currently unable to leave my domain. My senses can reach almost everywhere on Earth and even into some parts of the heavens, but it taxes me greatly to interact with anything beyond the confines of my subterranean realm."

Hearing that, I couldn't help feel a little sorry for the ancient entity. I frowned, "You must get lonely being stuck isolated underground forever."

Before she could respond I got an idea. With a burst of demonic speed I turned and scooped up the kitty Carlos, then moved right up to the cave entrance.

Without entering the cave myself I pushed the surprised cat into the bemused girl's arms as I told her, "Here! Have a kitty, he'll keep you company. Just promise to look after him and give him lots of pets and scritches."

Kaylee looked like she was trying not to smile as she asked, "You know that's not really a cat, right Cass?"

"He's a cat right now," I replied with a shrug. "And I'll bet miss primordial-chaotic-magic can make sure he stays that way, as long as he's in her domain. Right?"

Then Cassandra asked the blonde girl, "Speaking of which, 'miss primordial-chaotic-magic' is a bit of a mouthful. Is there any chance of a simple name we can use to refer to you?"

The ancient primordial chaotic magical entity in question was still standing there with the cat in her arms and a mixed expression on her face, like she wasn't quite sure how to react to any of that.

It took her another couple seconds before she finally responded, "Cass, thank you for thinking of me. I'll make sure Carlos is comfortable and happy, and gets all the headpats and earscritches he wants. And Cassandra, I really haven't had need for a name before, but I suppose I understand the convenience when communicating with others. So you may call me Chel."

"Chel?" our girlfriend asked as her tails swished around inquisitively. "What's that mean?"

The blonde shrugged, "It's just the first word that came to mind. Regardless of whatever shape I borrow, you may refer to me by that name."

Cassandra replied, "All right Chel. I suppose we'll be in touch then? Right now I think Kaylee and I should probably get back home. I know the rest of our friends are going to be worried, and they're going to want to know what happened."

"Can we tell them about you?" I asked. "Or do we have to keep this conversation a secret?"

Chel answered, "You may tell your friends, but beyond that it would be best if my existence remained a secret for now. It would be especially unwise to share the recording you've made of this conversation."

"Oh yeah!" Kaylee exclaimed. Her body-cam became visible as she pulled it off her jacket and added, "I totally forgot I was wearing this!"

We grimaced, "Ours got fried thanks to Carlos and his lightning bolts."

Then we carefully took the recording device from our girlfriend and turned it off, but we made sure it saved everything it had captured up until that point.

"What was the plan for those things anyways?" the little kitsune asked.

My other self smiled, "We'll go through the recording and clip out the best parts, then send those clips on to a couple catgirl reporters we know. I have a feeling they'd be happy to do an exposé about a secret society that's been hiding magic and the supernatural from the general public."

"In fact," Cassandra added as her smile got wider, "We'll be taking body-cams with us on our trip to Madrid as well. I'm sure we'll get more interesting videos there, to share with our reporter friends."

Finally we looked over to the young blonde again and said, "It was interesting to meet you, Chel. We're going home now, but we'll visit again soon. And in the meantime we'll think about what you've told us, and try to figure out how you can help us with our plans."

She nodded, "Very well. Thank you for the conversation. And the cat."

Kaylee smirked at that last point, then rather than hike back to the Lunamobile we just teleported there instead. It took a minute or two for our girlfriend to get the seat adjusted and everything, then she climbed in behind the wheel while we sat in the passenger seat.

As we set off for home I spoke up, "Hey Kaylee? I'm sorry you got hurt. How's your tail?"

"It healed up while we were talking to miss ancient wild magic," she replied with a smile. She tried to swish her tails at me but being in the mini-van made it a little too awkward.

Then she added, "You don't have to apologize for that Cass, it wasn't your fault. And I know I distracted you and Cassandra by sticking around, it's my fault you had to spend so much time protecting me."

She was probably right about that, but I wasn't going to say it. Instead I told her, "I'm still sorry you got hurt, but I'm glad you stayed. Having you there helped us focus. I'm not sure we could have beat him without you."

"Thanks Cass," our girlfriend replied with a smile.

That became a hopeful grin as she added, "I'm still invited to go with you to Spain, right? So I can watch you take down the rest of the council?"

Cassandra and I smiled as we answered together, "Of course."

~ End of Episode Twenty ~

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