“Where are they?”

An impatient woman clicked her tongue as she stalked the streets. She lurked in the shadows, hid behind shrubs and walked alongside guards as she noticed blue-suited personnel arrive in town.

“Those Witches need to move. Now. Time Reverberation is here. Tsk.”

The woman in question was the same who had tried attempted to hit on Frost, only to fail spectacularly. Those eyes Frost possessed caused her stomach to churn with envy. She had spent the last twelve hours trying to find her in hopes of acquiring an eye or two.

If that did not work, then selling her off was an equally lucrative option.

Anything to fuel the prospects of White Midnight.

She retreated into an empty alleyway, turned various corners, ducked through a hammock, and arrived at a stash of open crates. Bottles clinked as she sifted through vials of faulty Mana Potions.

Since she no longer had her Sisters to help her, it was up to her to follow through with the ‘plan’. The plan was simple. Capture the town’s Healer during the chaos and leave through a hatch within the clinic’s basement.

“Pickle haze. Bone displacement… enough stock to leave a quarter of the town half-fused with the walls.”

The potions were designed to inflict as much damage as possible to a population. It wasn’t like the weapons Scarlet Logic used for ‘Depopulation Events’ but were rather used as either major distractions or a method to weaken a populace.

Modern Witches relied on specially brewed potions and prohibited magic, compared to the technical Witches of the old. While the past had steady heads on their shoulders, the newer generation Witches were often crazed or motivated by pure vitriol.

“But Moons… I wouldn’t make it far–!”

“Meow.”

The purr of a white-furred cat startled her. It sat on the hammock, its crimson eyes watching her.

“Where did you…?”

It wasn’t alone. There were many cats crawling in this space, either thin and starved, or licking wounds. But this cat in particular was eerily pristine. It did not act like how one would expect a cat to.

Meaning it didn’t rest on the hammock, lick its paws, or react when a mouse fell from a roof and bounced beside it.

The cat simply stared.

“A Witch’s Familiar? No, I would’ve seen a glyph or a mark on you. You must be a stray. Shoo. Shoo!”

She waved it off. When it did not move, she sent a flaming whip to carve it in half. It split into two even pieces, and it splattered against the ground as it fell with a dull thud.

“Tch. I don’t have time for distractions. I need to sort this. Timer… Twenty minutes.”

The woman slid a lid onto one of the crates and hauled it away.

“Now to move it to the clinic.”

“Meow…”

She heard the same cat meow again. When she turned, the spilled organs of the cat were still there.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“… I’m hearing things. Agh…”

She could not afford to stop for minor distractions. Her legs took off before she knew it. The network of alleyways took her to the river that flowed straight from the clinic. She eyed it from the darkness, her hand reaching for a poisoned bottle.

But then, she heard the same meow.

“Meow…”

“Nothing’s there. Nothing’s there. Nothing is…”

“Meow...?”

It came from above.

She froze instinctively.

The air around her suddenly became warm. Moist, even. A foul scent washed over her as the sound of panting echoed above.

“Meow.”

It was no longer the purr of a single cat.

What she heard was a horrific cacophony of many cats purring at once.

“… Who… is it…?”

“Meow.”

Globs of saliva dripped over her shoulders. They were heavy enough to dislocate a shoulder. Parts of her scapula were shattered, but she was still unable to move. Nor was she able to scream as the saliva burned into her body.

The reason being was because something was inside of her. She had only just noticed it, thanks to a shadow, that she was impaled on a thin spike. Her innards churned. This time, the purrs came from inside of her.

“Get out… Get out… GET OUT:!”

Her mouth pried open, and furless cat emerged.

“Meow.”

Its lower body was attached to the end of her intestines, and it clawed its way out, dragging along the entirety of her digestive system.

First came the large intestines. Then the small. Her liver. Pancreas. Stomach…

Until finally, the spine embedded into her back began to spin. She was tugged around like a slab of meat caught on a lathe. Her death was eerily silent, punctuated by only the sound of sloshing blood and meat slapping against the brick walls of the alleyway.

When all that was left was a contorted coat of skin, the spine disappeared, and the body was left to fall.

“Meow…”

The living organs slipped back through her mouth.

And then, her body was reinflated. Blood pumped through her squashed fingers. Bones snapped as she rose from death. With a small twist, her head was reorientated with a hideous snap.

“I read that Witches loved cats. But she seemed to be allergic to me.”

The woman spoke to herself, a hand on her chin as she pondered on why she was so afraid of the cat.

Her eyes, which were once green, had become blood-red.

“Nothing in her memories suggests a phobia. Was I not cat-like? Humans are strange beings.” She tilted her head moments before cracking a smile that ran from ear to ear. “But that’s what makes humans so fun. She was delicious. Witches have a unique burnt flavor. Good to know.”

“I bet I wouldn’t taste burnt.” A voice murmured from the darkness.

Bloodied boots scraped against the cobblestone path to rid itself of gore.

The person who arrived was none other than Abigail.

“Healers are not a part of my diet. To devour a Healer is to betray myself.”

“Not even a nibble?”

Abigail poked at the gore.

“I have standards.”

“If you did then the Director herself wouldn’t be getting involved.”

Indeed. The creature that had assimilated into the body of the woman was Acedia. She had stalked the woman as a cat in hopes of uncovering information. But alas, the easiest method was simply to devour them and take their memories.

Acedia wore a blank face. It was a futile attempt to put on a bubbly expression.

“I’m not on a technicality, am I? This girl, from an objective lens…”

Acedia grabbed a nearby rope and tied it into a knot. She then wore it over her neck like a scarf and tied the other end to a protruding beam.

“… took her own life, didn’t she?”

“It looks that way to me.”

Abigail agreed.

“How do you explain the blood?”

“By slurping it from the walls. It is good etiquette to clean up after your pet’s mess. Or, I shall leave it for the Moons to clean up since they’re here.”

“They should learn to tie up loose ends themselves. I hate wasting my bullets.”

“I prefer they handle it in whichever way is the most human.”

Acedia tilted her head to the side as her eyes widened larger than humanly possible.

“It makes it organic. Have we charted course for H10?”

Her lower half broke free as she hung from the rope. That lower half then morphed into a white-furred cat.

Abigail scooped her up into her arms and let her rest on her shoulder.

“I’ve prepared the Leviathan for Icara. She’s the only one who knows how to operate the machines. Codename ‘Skoll’ was the name I saw printed on the paperwork. Namesake…”

Abigail tried to remember the name of the next Repenter as they left the body to hang. Once in the light, they crossed paths with various Moons who recognized Abigail thanks to her uniform and hair color.

“Namesake Raoul.”

She uttered the name and continued:

“I didn’t find much on him in the paperwork. But he’s apparently related to the Three Heads of Security. An Ex-Star of the Nexus.”

“The Amalgam’s personal bodyguards. Which Sin have they associated him with?”

“If he’s an Ex-Star, then he would have betrayed the Nexus–

–Therefore, his Sin is Treachery.”