Kasha
A/N: Guys, I don't need more Pat-reon followers for this month. Seriously, I have enough money on my Pat-reon to allow me to live 2-3 months comfortably. 600 usd might not be much when you consider it in your currency, but it is a lot in mine. So please, stop following me there. But if you do, stay on the cheapest Tiers.
Seriously, I'm requesting those who have not followed me to not do so. Next month, maybe. But not this month.
Thank you. Now read on.
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Time Skip: 1 AD:
The Ritual of Ascension, so named by me, its Creator.
The Ritual uses the sacrifice of a Soul of another being(or beings), to take your soul to the next level. The Sacrificed Soul(s) are converted into purely Soul Magic, which is then sent towards the one that goes through the Ritual. In this case, if I go through with it, the Soul Energy of the Sacrifice will be sucked out of the sacrificed being's body and sent to my body.. to my Soul.
My body will then be completely immersed in the Soul Magic, allowing my own Soul to completely absorb it into myself, using it as a Power up, so to speak. The Ritual will make it so that I'm not a human anymore, or even the Sacrificed being. I will be a combination of both, with only my mind at the forefront.
It would have been a useless Ritual if the Sacrificed being's mind was at the front, wouldn't it?
If the Sacrifice is unwilling, then its Soul will fight against the Ritual, fight against ascending me. It won't succeed, but the simple act of fighting against the Ritual will make it so that my Ascension is not that much higher than a normal human, while at the same time making my Soul.. Darker. Doesn't matter if I use a Phoenix or a Unicorn as a Sacrifice, even the purest of Souls sacrificed, if they fight against the process, will make my soul Darker.
Plus, if I use a Being that I am absolutely not aligned to, then our Soul Energies can clash, leading to deformation of my body.
Which is why, the only viable choice for the Sacrifice is something I'm already close to. Something my Soul has already had contact with. A friendly contact.
So either one of my Indigo Dragons, or one of my Animagus forms. And there's no way in hell I'm ever Sacrificing one of my babies, or even their babies. As for my Animagus forms, my White Tiger form won't have any effect on my Magic even after the Ascension, because it is a mundane animal.
Which in turn means that the only viable sacrifice.. is a Kasha. A Demonic Cat that lives in the lands to the East. Japan is the country they're most populous in, but they are found in the Americas, and even some forests of Central Africa.
The Demonic part is not something I'm wary of, because the Ritual will purify the Demonic Soul into pure Soul Energy before it even touches me. But.. the question is.. Can I do it?
Can I sit back and watch a Magical Animal die, while I absorb its Soul and gain benefits from its death?
What kind of person would I be if I do that just because I want to become stronger? What.. What does that say about me? And it is a slippery slope, I know that. I've never killed a Magical Creature purely because I wanted to use it in a Ritual. The Basilisk I killed was because it attacked me. Drugir, the Indigo Dragon, because he was endangering the eggs of a rare dragon species.
Just to reap the benefits? I have never done anything like this, and I never will.
I do have another idea though, although it will make my journey to the future that much longer. I do as Maya did, and live 15,000 years. I know that 2000 years won't ascend my Soul that much. But 15,000? Yeah, I'm definitely matching up to Hela, even without absorbing a single Soul.
I have the Sands of Time with me, I could use it to send myself back to Maya's era. I'll just have to find a place to isolate myself in, visit different places frequently, and just keep getting my Magic stronger and stronger. Maybe I might even find a Ritual to slowly strengthen my Soul over a few thousand years, and I might even return to this time Early!
But.. as much as I know it's possible, it is not something I want to do. I'm already bored out of my mind in 1 AD, what will I do in 15,000 BC?
Sighing in disappointment, I keep the Parchment detailing my Ritual inside Nowhere, and look around the Repository. There were three more people here, all of them studying varying subjects.
The benefit of the Fidelius Charm was that despite knowing that the Repository existed, none of them knew where exactly they were right now. Sure, I already had wards to that effect, but Fidelius had just made it absolutely impossible for anyone to trick my Wards.
They believed that the Repository was in another Dimension! Hah!
Master Ayesha knew, obviously, since I was sure to tell her. She's a friend, and I wasn't going to just make her look like an idiot. Plus, if not even the Sorcerer Supreme knows where the Repository is, it would have looked highly suspicious.
I did make some changes to the Repository in these years, mainly that the most dangerous books are hidden. The Knowledge that could bring Demons to this world, destroy towns, nations, or even the planet, allow someone to dominate the will of any beings, anything related to Immortality, were all kept hidden away in another room, only accessible to the Sorcerer Supreme, and I. Other topics included were Time Manipulation, Rituals, Soul Magic, and a lot more.
But, the basics of all these topics had to be kept in the Public Repository, no matter that the Public Repository is only available to be read by the Sorcerers who manage to pass through the Wards of the Repository.
Nodding at Master Ido, a new Sorcerer of Kamar Taj, I start my walk to the outside, my latest success, albeit a useless one, on my mind.
Soul Magic.. 6 years I've studied it, and 4 years I've been practicing with it. The first two years were the only ones where I actually read the knowledge. The next four years were spent practicing using the Magic I had learned, and using some smaller Soul Magic Rituals.
Using normal spells with my Soul, using some Soul specific Spells, and just plain interacting with my Soul. Most of the time was just interacting with my Soul, and going with my instincts.
There are spells, sure, that deal directly, and only with Soul. But they will need me to practice for a few more years before I even begin learning them. Otherwise, I am in danger of just.. killing myself by casting one Soul Spell. Soul Magic is dangerous, and one of the main reasons is that it is easy to mess something up in it, and destroy your Soul.
As for the Rituals, they weren't remotely as advantageous as my Ritual of Ascension. A ritual to imbue a part of your soul into something, a Ritual to cleanse your soul, a Ritual to heal damages done to your soul, a Ritual to use your soul to heal an animal, that's all I've done.
And while the first one does sound similar to a Horcrux, it is not. You pour your soul out into a place you want to protect, granting it a better capability to work with your Magic.
The recently invented Ritual still on my mind, I open the door to the Repository and walk out. As soon as I first step foot outside, however, I feel something happening. I could feel magic gathering underneath me, and it was not a kind of Magic I could recognise.
I look down, and see a simple white circle form on the ground around me. I immediately start jumping up, despite the fact that I don't feel danger from it. But before I can do that, the circle flashes blue as the same coloured flames erupt all around me. I wince and close my eyes subconsciously, waiting for the fire to start hurting me, but it doesn't come.
And it was not because I cast a spell to stop the flames from harming me.
The flames weren't hot, at all. In fact, the flames were just warm.. soothing. Before I knew it, the blue flames that had surrounded me, and blinded me, retreat back into the ground. Only.. I wasn't on Sanctuary anymore.
Fuck. A Summoning.
"Welcome.. Mage.. I have been waiting for you." A loud, but distinctly feminine voice booms from behind me.
I summon my staff to my hand, and spin around, getting ready to apparate back home. Unfortunately, I find that the space here was.. not normal. It was warped, beyond what is normal, and even beyond the expanded space I am used to. It was as if Space had no fixed measurements here.
One step could take me one meter away, and it could also take me a kilometer away. That's how warped the Space here is.
And because of that, Teleportation of any kind is absolutely impossible for me.
"You won't be allowed to leave until our meeting is over, Mage! Worry not, however. We won't be attacking you unless you attack us first!" The being now in front of me says, while standing up on all fours.
I look up at the one who spoke, way up, since the being is literally 30 feet tall. I didn't have to think a lot before I recognise exactly what it is, since I do have it as one of my Animagus forms. A flaming cat.. a Kasha.
The Kasha in front of me was, as I said, 30 feet tall, and blue in colour. I didn't even know Kasha got this tall, since the biggest ones recorded in my time are just 12 feet tall.
Noticing movement off the side, I look around and see that the Kasha wasn't alone. There were other beings, other.. cats. I recognise most of the species here, but some I don't even find familiar. Nemean Lions, Ball Tailed Cat, Nekomata, Bakeneko, Splintercat, Kasha, and Nundu, are the ones that I recognise. There were others that I don't, making a total of around 60 Cats all surrounding me now.
What the fuck did I do to piss of Magical Cats?
"I apologise if I don't let my guard down. There's this small matter that you brought me here without my permission." I say, as I keep my eyes on the giant Kasha, while also tracking the movements of all the other Cats here.
The blue Kasha chuckles, and I see some smoke exit out of her nostrils. She takes a step forward, which is enough to make it so I now have to look even more up to see her face, as she says, "My name, Mage, is Matatabi! I am the Queen of the Demonic Cats. My ancestors have been rulers of the feline race for thousands of centuries, and I have done the same for the last 300 years!"
"Great!" I exclaim, as the Kasha keeps walking around me, thankfully far enough that she won't step on me. "What does that have to do with me?"
The Kasha stops at one point, and sits down on her stomach, her flaming blue face just 5 meters away from mine. She then asks, "Are you not one of us, mage? I can feel the flames of my kind within you. Your soul, it calls to me."
Huh, now that she said that, I can feel some sort of resonance like effect happening in my Soul. I doubt that I would have felt it if I wasn't used to how my Soul usually feels. It wasn't anything like how I feel with Maya, but it was similar enough.
"Well, yes. I am what's called an Animagus, which allows me to shift into the form of your Kind at will. Now, as much as I would love to demonstrate my Magical talents, why have you brought me here?" I say, as I lean a bit on my Staff, in a relaxed posture.
The Kasha isn't fooled, and I know that. She knows that I am ready to fight if she tries anything against me. Matatabi.. that's what she said her name is. Huh, either that's one hell of a coincidence, or Kishimoto had one hell of a Sight.
Matatabi scoffs, sending wisps of smoke out of her mouth this time, and says, "We called you here to put forth.. a mutually beneficial offer. You do something for us, and in return, we will grant you something you need."
"And what do I need?" I ask. Pausing, I add, "While you're at it, also tell me what you want, without beating around the bush, so to speak."
Matatabi says, "We are in need of your skills, Mage. skills of a hunter, sorcerer.. killer. We want you to find someone, and kill them. In return.. in return you will be given a flaming cat to be your sacrifice!"
I immediately narrow my eyes, wondering how the fuck this cat knows about my Ritual. I literally invented it a week ago, and perfected it just today. And it all happened within the boundaries of the Repository, which is under the Fidelius Charm. Cat Queen or not, she shouldn't have been able to see the Ritual while it was inside the Fidelius.
And that's not even counting the Anti-Scrying Tattoo on my heart. This Tattoo should have taken care of any blind spots the Fidelius might have left, if that.
I ignore the Ritual part for now, since I had already discarded it in favour of my ethics, and say, "And who do I need to kill?"
"The Kasha!" Matatabi says, and I hear all 60 of the cats there growl, although some sound more like angry purrs.
I blink, look at her in indignation, and ask, "You want me to kill a Kasha? One of your own kind?"
Matatab stands up and immediately pushes her head forward, so that she's just a single foot away from me. Her eye bigger than my head, she glares at me and says, "THAT DEMON IS NOT ONE OF OUR OWN!"
I wince at the noise, and float a bit backwards, keeping a distance of 5 meters between us. I then ask, "Then elaborate, because I am not going to kill someone just because you offer me something I need. I need to know exactly why you want this Kasha dead."
The blue Kasha huffs and sits down, this time on her hind legs, while keeping two legs straight for support. She then says, "The Kasha is a Demon, a resident of the Yomi. It was trapped there by the Shinto Gods soon after the defeat of the Mikaboshi, and it had remained there since then. It, and the other Demon Cats did find a way to return to the mortal plane, albeit temporarily. And their deeds gave rise to us Demonic Cats. Whatever Magical Cats you know, they are either the descendants of Demon Cats from the different Hells, or of the child of Gaea known as Nu. Recently, however, the Kasha has found that he can stay on the Mortal plane forever.. as long as he keeps eating his descendants."
Well, Goddamn! Can't believe I'll be saying this, but that's worse than just cannibalism! This Kasha is literally eating his own descendants?
Matatabi continues, "He has been killing my kind for a century now, and the only reason this place has remained out of his reach is because of the Magic woven here by our ancestor, Nu. For each Magical Feline that he kills and eats, the Kasha increases his strength. If he manages to kill all the Magical Cats that are not inside this Splinter Space, then he will be strong enough to break through the spells protecting this place, and come here. If he kills us all too, the Kasha will be strong enough to challenge the Hell Lords for their thrones. He needs to die, Mage. Otherwise he will be a threat to not just me, but to you also."
Yeah, I know that. It won't be long until this.. Kasha comes after me too, and comes after my Kasha Animagus form.
Rubbing my face, I say, "Look, I don't know how you found out about my Ritual, but I won't be going through with it. It is.. immoral, forcing someone to kill themselves just for my sake. And I won't allow you to order anyone to do it either." That out of the way, I take a deep breath, and say, "That said, I will agree to take a look at this Kasha Demon. If he is as Evil, as Dangerous as you say, then and only then will I kill him."
The blue flamed Matatabi chuckles, which is really odd when it comes from a cat, and says, "We are not honourless, Mage. Demonic we may be, but we are the children of Gaea. I will not force anyone to kill themselves for your Ritual, nor will I ask as a Queen. The only one who will be joining you in your Ritual is a completely willing cat. There is no persuasion, no convincing. The cat is ready to sacrifice their soul, but only if you kill the Kasha."
I stare at her, wondering many things at once. Firstly, if that Demon is called Kasha, what is the current name for the flaming cat? I have no doubt that the flaming cat that I know as Kasha will be known as Kasha in the future. But now?
Secondly, should I do it? Agree to the Ritual? I am still not over the fact that despite so many preventive measures, someone still managed to spy on me and tell this fucking bijuu about my Ritual, and what it entails. It is definitely not a coincidence that I invented a Ritual that uses a Kasha soul, and I just find myself being summoned to a warped space on Earth with a Kasha as a Queen.
But.. if I hope to defend my animals.. then I will need some sort of enhancement, and the Ritual is just the fastest one.
Hela and her band of merry idiots have been killing any Re'em they manage to come across, with none of us able to do anything. They're trying to lure the Elves out, I know that. Which means I need this, if only to help my Elves get back to their self-given purpose.
And I also can't let this Kasha Demon keep killing Magical Cats, if it is actually doing that. There's a Demon out there, free to roam the world, killing Magical Cats wherever it goes. And it is highly likely that it will succeed in becoming strong enough to get to Sanctuary, despite the Fidelius charm. Because I have no doubts that the Fidelius will not be able to make the higher tier Demons forget about my Island.
Which means.. I need to take this job.. this Quest.
Sighing, I nod up at Matatabi, and say, "Very well. I will go and look for the Kasha. But I won't be your Assassin. I will see if this Kasha is actually what you say it is, and then and only then will I kill it. If not, then I will return here, and kill you. No questions asked. Is that understood?"
If.. by some chance.. she is lying, I won't be using her, or anyone else's Soul in the Ritual anyway. As I have repeatedly said, I only need a willing, Volunteer Sacrificial Soul.
Matatabi nods, and says, "Of that, I have no doubts." She then offers her paw towards me, and says, "Are we in agreement then? A Soul for a Soul. You kill the Kasha, and we will grant you a willing Sacrifice suitable for your Ritual. The Soul of the Kasha, for the Soul of a Flaming Cat. If you don't deliver, neither will we."
I look at it, somehow knowing that she wants a Magically binding agreement, and without any hesitation, I turn my entire forearm into that of my Kasha form, and bump my smaller white flamed paw on top of Matatabi's larger paw.
As Magic recognises our agreement, shown with strings of our own flames surrounding each other, I drop my hand back down, and say, "Now, if you don't mind, show me the way out so I can begin tracking the Kasha."
Matatabi puffs up, and says, "There is no need for that, Mage. We already know where it is."
And then, Matatabi blows flames out of her mouth, that surround me in a circle, similar to what had happened when I was brought here. When the blue flames retreat, I find myself in a tundra forest, sparsely surrounded by trees and shrubbery. Tibet, I recognise the place as.
I immediately float a couple feet into the air, and let all my senses open to their strongest, for the first time since I got the enhancements in them thanks to my Ascension as an External.. My ears become even more sensitive, allowing me to listen to even the tiniest sounds, for hundreds of meters all around me. My nose becomes sensitive enough to smell around the same area, while my eyes manage to see the minutest detail a couple dozen meters around me. I could see hundreds of meters farther too, but it won't be as clear as looking for tracks close to myself.
Feeling my nails and my canine teeth grow, I grin to myself, embracing my Animal side after a very long time.
I don't think Matatabi directly sent me next to the Kasha, so I have no doubts that I will have to track it first. And my Animal side hasn't hunted in decades. I will definitely enjoy this, whether this Kasha is Evil or not.
---
It takes three days of careful tracking to gain even a whiff of the Demon's scent. And by Gods, was it disgusting. It smelled as if a Flaming Kasha had been covered in rotten eggs and bathed in the sludge formed by melted corpses. It was definitely a Demon, that much I am now sure of.
A couple more days of following the scent, and I find the Demon itself, in the Himalayas, and I have to say.. it does not look how I expected it to look. The Kasha was bipedal, and even if it was sitting right now, I could tell that it was at least 8 feet tall. Its face was cat-like, with red eyes, and orange leathery skin covering its body. Surprisingly, there were no flames on it, but I already expect it to be at least somewhat competent in using some form of Hellfire.
The Demon was sitting on a tree stump, two corpses of Snow Leopards, no doubt of the Magical kind, sitting in front of it. A third corpse was in its hand, already halfway eaten. Blood leaked down its mouth, but other than its mouth and hands, it was completely spotless.
Magical Snow Leopards, they look absolutely the same as normal Snow Leopards, but this one's name is literal. They live in the snow, and they have an ability that allows them to decrease the temperature in their vicinity low enough to conjure snow. Absolutely magnificent animals, and I failed them.
I growl in disgust and rage, as I float in front of the Kasha, looking down at it.
"You needn't have come here, Mage. Kasha would have come for your Soul soon enough." The Demon says in Old Japanese, which I already know well enough, without even looking at me. And in third person, this is a different kind of narcissist, it seems.
Instead of answering, I conjure a ball of white Kasha flames on top of my palm, and throw it at the Kasha. The ball of flames explodes, and expands, covering the Demon, and the Snow Leopards. The flames burn the corpses of the Snow Leopards within a second, but as expected, the Demon remains unharmed.
As the Kasha glares up at me, angry at the loss of his food, I say, "I wasn't going to kill you immediately. I was going to see if you were actually as bad as they said. But now.. I have enough proof."
The Kasha stands up, as dark red flames cover his fists, and says, "So be it. Killing and eating you won't be as satisfactory as an actual Cat, but your Mage Soul will serve to be a change in taste."
Taunting done, I fly towards him, Glamdring in my hand, and try to cut into his neck. The Demon leans back, and slaps his hand towards me, the hit causing me to stop in my flight. The red flames covering his hand burn me a little, but my Glamdring cleanses me of the Dark Magic immediately, while my Healing factor heals me back up.
The flames.. I could tell that if I didn't have the benefit of my Light Magic, then it would have burned me very badly. So badly, that I have no doubts that any normal man would be dead within seconds.
Thankfully, while the Kasha is strong, it has nothing on Hela's strength. It is just a little bit stronger than me.
That doesn't mean that I would be able to use my Magecraft against him. It is still useless, since this is an actual Demon I'm fighting.
Even still, I am not afraid. The strength difference is not high enough to make me afraid. He is not strong enough to challenge me, but strong enough that I won't be able to win easily if I fight fair. And it is a Demon I'm fighting.. I won't be fighting fair.
The Kasha runs towards me on all fours, his flames causing the snow underneath his steps to melt and steam,and I take a step back, leaning away from his swipes. His hits are slow enough that I can easily dodge them. I keep dodging, while taking steps back.
Meanwhile, my mind is busy navigating through the maze that is a Demon's mind, my skill allowing me to remain unnoticed.
"FIGHT BACK, YOU FILTHY MORTAL!" The Kasha yells, as flames shoot out of his feet, sending him propelling towards me. With a wave of my hand, I conjure a gateway to the Mirror Dimension between us. The Kasha hits the gateway with a crash, and lands inside the Mirror Dimension.I follow him before he can try and escape through the open gateway, and immediately return to dodging.
"You know.." I say, while repeatedly dodging his swipes. "You're pretty weak for a Demon. The last two Demons I fought made me actually fight. You.. you're just boring me."
The Kasha jumps back, and conjures a pair of dark black daggers in his hands. He says, "You will rue the day you underestimated me."
"That's it.. Kasha." I say, and suddenly, swipe my sword to my left. As the Kasha looks on in confusion, the sword connects, and his head separates from his body, thanks to the Portal I had opened up right behind him. As his body falls down, not able to stay upright anymore, I say, "I had actually overestimated you."
A quick death.. far better than what the Kasha deserves for what he's done. He has caused massacres against humans, Mages, and animals alike. And most Mages don't have much in the way of Physical skills, and so, when their Magic had no effect on his skin, they lost. Same for most Magical animals.
A flesh eater, the Kasha had fed on millions of humans up till now, and his memories told me that he reveled in it. He had embraced his identity as a Demon. Which is why.. he had to die. Even if Matatabi hadn't offered me the Sacrificial Soul, I would have still killed this Demon whenever I encountered it.
Suddenly, however, I feel something rising up from the Kasha's body, making me smile.
"Trying to escape, are we?" I mumble, looking at a spot just a bit above Kasha's corpse, seeing nothing visible. But something was there, something that was trying to find a way out.
His Soul. It was trying to escape back to Yomi. Where.. given enough time.. he would have managed to return to physical form, and return here once again.
Closing my eyes, since I couldn't see his Soul, I sense it, and immediately appear before it. The Soul startles, and I feel it turn back, but before it can start going the other way, I stab my hand into it.
Soul Magic. A Branch of Magic that allows me to interact with the Soul. And this one, as Dark and Evil it is, is a Demonic Soul. Just stabbing my hand into it has shown me how much Power I can gain if I let it into my body.
Hela? Odin? Thanos? Knull? Even other Demon Lords won't be a challenge to me if I allow the Soul entry into my body.
The temptation… is pretty weak, the Demon's Magic not able to influence my Mind too much.
"By the Might of the Phoenix! BURN!" I chant, as my hand turns orange. A Phoenix erupts out of my hand, and immediately starts devouring the Soul, sending its Energy back into the Universe.
The flaming bird hovers there for a few seconds, and trills a beautiful song, removing whatever minor Magic the Soul had tried to corrupt me with. I smile in gratefulness, and say, "Thank you.. Phoenix."
The Phoenix trills once more, and then disappears in a flash of orange light. Turning towards the body of the Kasha, I point my Sword at it, and shoot an intense beam of Light Magic. The Beam slams into the corpse of the Kasha, and the Light Magic within it immediately makes the Demon disintegrate.
My deed done, with just the Head of the Kasha remaining, I pick it up in my hand, and create a portal. This time, nothing stops me from coming to the Land of the Demonic Cats, and I am greeted by the majestic sight of the Cat Queen Matatabi.
She looks at the Kasha head in my hand, and in a disappointed voice, she asks, "So it escaped back to Yomi?"
I snort, and say, "HE.. tried to. But I killed his soul with the help of the Phoenix. His… essence has returned to the Universe. He won't return, ever. This head I brought was just to show you the proof of the deed done. And now that you have it.."
I conjure Light Magic in my hand and cause the head to disintegrate too. There's no need to let a Demon's genetic sample remain. Even I am not stupid enough to experiment on this one branch of sentient beings. That will always lead to my destruction, I don't need to be a genius to know that.
Matatabi nods, and says, "Very well. Your words speak the truth." She then looks around at the other Cats, and yells, "WE ARE FREE! THE KASHA WON'T RULE US BY FEAR ANYMORE! GO OUT THERE! SPREAD THE NEWS!"
As the Cats start jumping around, and running towards the inner forest, I ask, "He was weak. Why did you not fight him yourself? I doubt he would have been in much trouble, excluding the fact that your flames wouldn't have worked on him."
Matatabi laughs heartily, and says, "I am a descendant of Demons, and Elder Gods, Mage. I am not a true Demon, nor am I a Goddess. I am just a Demonic being, a being of Demonic descent. And there are Laws that prevent Demonic Beings like myself from attacking the Demon kind. So even if I could have killed him myself, even without my flames, I was not allowed to. The Laws prevented me from attacking him without him attacking me first."
Well, you could have bloody stood in front of him, waiting to be attacked, and then acted in self defense.
Sighing, I shake my head, and say, "I understand." I don't. "Now, about our bargain. You don't need to find a volunteer. I will find some other way to increase my strength."
Matatabi chuckles, and says, "Our agreement is a binding one, Mage. There is no turning back on it now. Besides.. I am not going to seek other volunteers. I will be doing it myself."
…
…
…
"What?!" I exclaim, not having seen this coming at all.
She's a Queen! What is she doing Sacrificing her life for a Mage? For a human?
Matatabi turns around, and climbs on top of a giant rock that was hidden behind her. As she sits down on it, she says, "I have been the Queen for 300 years. It is time for my children to take the reigns."
"But still.. Sacrificing your own soul? That's.. that's.. stupid!" I say, running out of excuses.
I thought she was going to ask some poor old Kasha to do the job for me, a weak one so my strength increase is not too high. I expected it even, which is why I refused. But.. the Kasha Queen herself? The Effects after the Ritual would be.. phenomenal!
Matatabi says, "What sort of Queen would I be to ask one of my subjects to sacrifice their life for a Mage? Do not forget that your people have already killed thousands of my brethren in this millenium itself."
Yeah, I know. That's why I fucking created Sanctuary you cunt!
She sniffs, and says, "The only reason I am agreeing to this Ritual Sacrifice is that I know what will happen if I don't. The Gods will drop down one day or another, after one of their more embarrassing losses, and to take their anger out they will hunt Magical animals. Mages, and even Sorcerers, won't be able to defend all of us then. My Soul will ensure that there is at least one defender for the Magical creatures and I have no doubt that you will try."
In a very twisted sort of way, this makes sense to me. I know that Asgard will be looking for reasons to drop down here and cause a massacre. And while I know that Earth will survive, that Magical Creatures will survive, I cannot say for sure that this Massacre won't happen first.
I bow to Matatabi, having gained a bit of respect for her, and say, "I thank you, Queen Matatabi. This Sacrifice will be highly appreciated. And I promise you that it won't go to waste."
Matatabi bows back, and says, "I just request you to give me a few days to celebrate our new found freedom, and to say my goodbyes."
Nodding, I ask, "Will you be able to make your way to the Sanctuary?"
Matatabi shakes her head, and says, "I will summon you here once again, Mage. When it is time for me to die. Thank you, once again."
---
A/N: Sorry for being late, I had to change a few things. This chapter may have felt fast, but that's because I didn't feel like lengthening this arc more than it already has. Hope you understand!
The Kasha is an actual Demon in Marvel. He is relatively weak, at least compared to other, higher tier Demons.
It will be revealed later how Matatabi found out about Mason's Ritual, but I guess some might already know. And no, it's not Mason's Kasha Animagus form that told her.
Matatabi, obviously, is the name I've stolen shamelessly from Naruto. She looks the same, but isn't as tall as the Two Tailed Demon Cat.
Any questions? Criticisms? Advice? Feel free to comment on them all!
Thank you for your support! Tata!