"Please tell us, Lady Lohky; what shall we do to make our favor worth your time?"
Lohky smirked. Her green eyes stared deep into Ciel's soul, at least Ciel felt like it. She then circled around Ciel, her heavy boots clicking on the ground with each and every step she took, as the only ever noise in the cave before she let out a chuckle.
"Well, you are asking one of the most valuable things in the entire earth from me. You need to provide something in return. You of all people should know this best."
Ciel swallowed hard as he looked to see Lohky circling around him, but then she disappeared and when he turned back around, she was sitting down on the rock alongside her black cat.
"Lady Lohky, if you don't mind my asking... How do you know of us? Especially me?"
Lohky forcefully took her cat and set him on her lap, the cat was visibly angry about it, but he couldn't do much to fight back. She then started to rub his head slowly.
"Well, simple, really. I know of enough soul magic tricks to make things work my way." She traced her fingers delicately around her own lips, but she was petting the cat increasingly more aggressive, which the cat was struggling with.
Ciel's gaze drifted to the black cat sitting on Lohky's lap and watched as he reached his paw outwards to try and escape, which was in vain.
"Wait, you know soul magic? How so? I thought that was the Voldrald's specialty and all."
Lohky let out a small scoff. "Oh, darling, I am a witch, remember? There's nothing about magic that I cannot do. And I mean it literally."
"Yes, I've heard so. But I have a hard time believing it. Humans aren't physically capable of doing "everything about magic", our mana structures can't handle that."
"Yes, yes. I can see you're quite knowledgeable in terms of magic, Ciel. But how did you come to the conclusion I was a human? It is correct that humans can't handle what I can do with the flick of my fingers."
Ciel's jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. "Wait, you're a god? Like a god of magic or something?"
Lohky let out a small laugh as she pet the cat just as aggressively as before. "Oh no, I'm sorry to inform. I'm not a god, much less a god of magic. I'm more of a something in between..."
"Well that changes many things! If you're not a human or a god, then what the hell are you?" Ciel exclaimed, his voice was louder, but not necessarily aggressive. He sounded more curious than anything.
"Dear, I already told you, I'm something in between. Could you stop asking questions to me? As I'm growing tired of having to wait before kicking both of you out of here."
Ciel stood still for a second. "Both of us? Oh, yeah. Could you... unenchant my friend? I kind of need him to be conscious." Ciel's gaze drifted over to Kou, who drooled a little and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I have not done anything to your friend. If anything, he seems to have done something to himself. He's rather passionate about it, too..."
Ciel stared at blankly at Lohky for a second, as if saying "What the hell are you talking about?" Before turning over to Kou. He weaved his hand over Kou's face a couple of times and snapped his fingers, when that didn't work, he punched him right in the face.
Lohky let out a sigh as Kou fell on the rock hard surface of the cave. She got up, but instead of walking, she floated over towards Ciel. With a purple burst of energy, Kou was lifted high above the ground, just as Ciel. She pulled Ciel closer to himself, whereas Kou drifted around the cave, trying to stop himself.
"Enough, I've decided! You both are out of here, this instance! You're wasting my valuable time." Lohky weaved her hand towards the exit of the cave, so Ciel started flowing towards the exit as if inside a river.
"Wait, Lady Lohky! Please, give us a chance... give me a chance. I need this, please..."
The flow towards the exit seemed to stop, as Lohky started rubbing her chin. "So you can't come up with a way to make your favor worth my time. Yet you're so desperate... You're lucky I like it when people beg."
A cruel smirk lit up on both Lohky and Ciel's faces at the same exact time.
"Lady Lohky, I beg of you, please let me have the Eternal Flame Shard. The entire life of me depends on it, please have mercy on me..." Ciel looked up from the corners of his eyes while speaking.
Lohky turned Ciel upside down and pulled him close, directly in front of herself as she stared at him with her lips curved at the corners of her mouth.
"I'll tell you what, Ciel Voldrald, I'll do you your favor. But you have do to me a favor as well. Get it? It's all transactional."
"Oh yes, Lady Lohky, what shall I do for you? Anything, really, so long as you please so." Ciel smirked the same way at Lohky's face, both knew what they were doing.
"I need you to take care of something for me," Lohky flipped Ciel back and put him down on the ground. This caused Kou to fall on the ground face-first. "I need you to take care of someone for me."
"Who is this particular someone? And, if you don't mind my asking of course, why do you need me to take care of this someone? I'm sure you could easily take care of them on your own."
Lohky floated back to her position, as soon as she did so, her cat ran away from the spot, which she scoffed at.
"Darling, it's not that easy. I wish it was that easy. You see, this particular someone cheated on me. Not in a literal sense, I never had a relationship with him, no. But more so, he cheated on the contract that we both signed with our blood."
Ciel gritted his teeth with a look of despair in his eyes, as if he was about to watch a couple breaking up with each other in a drama show.
"Technically, he didn't break our contract. That mischievous, dishonorable little bastard, he took advantage of a loophole in our contract. Which means I can't directly harm him... so I need you to take care of this."
"I... see, Lady Lohky. Why not just break the contract, then?"
Lohky let out another sharp laugh, however this one wasn't as sharp nor laugh as the previous one. "Nonsense, child! Break my contract? I signed it with the contract with my blood!"
She weaved her hand around, dismissing the idea completely. "You would rather I stooped low enough as to tarnish myself instead of using you as a loophole? Besides, this contract isn't just a piece of paper. Think of it as a runic seal, if you will, because it is deadly. The consequences of breaking the contract is lethal."
Ciel lifted one of his eyebrows. "Deadly, huh. Even for you, Lady Lohky? I would've thought you would have been immune to such things."
"Well, I'm not immune to it, now you know. I can dance around the conditions of the contract, but I can't break them. Which is why I need you to kill that mana weaving little prick for me."
"Mana weaving? Wait, who is this guy?"
Lohky let out a small sigh, but from the corner of the cave, the cat responded. "His name is Darian! People like to call him Mana Weaver."
"Oh yes, whatever they like to call him. It's definitely not something he made his workers spread around to look cool." Lohky scoffs. But then a cruel smirk curves up to her lips once again. "Since you can't find him, Arthur will take you two to his lair. He's a great guide, trust me."
The cat yells from the corner of the cave, yet again. "Wait, me?! Why do I have to take them to him? I already brought them here for you!"
Lohky elegantly weaves her fingers and the tension in the room increases once again. Ciel holds his hand over his face. While Lohky keeps weaving her fingers, Arthur is lifted off the ground and pulled towards Lohky.
Arthur fights back, holding onto small ledges, pulling himself away with his tail. When all else fails, he tries to hold on by clawing on the walls of the cave. His claws dig deep. But it's not enough. And so, Arthur levitates in the air right in front of Lohky's face.
"I'm asking politely, Arthur dear. Why don't you do me a favor and take these two gentlemen to that stinking rat?" Lohky smiles.
Arthur, however, sweats entire buckets. Fear is written over and across his face, all he can do is nod silently.
After the silent confirmation, Lohky drops Arthur down to the ground, which he lands on all fours. "Speaking of rats... I think I might turn him into a rat as punishment. That way, Arthur gets a meal too."
Arthur grounds himself and gags up after hearing Lohky, imagining himself in the situation.
Ciel lets out a small sigh. "Great. So do we leave now, or what?" He looks at Arthur with a slightly concerned look, as Arthur coughs a few times. "Yeah, just follow me." Arthur says while walking, but he seems to be shaking with each step.
Ciel walks over to Kou and starts dragging him by the back of his shirt. While walking, Lohky waves them goodbye. She mutters to herself as they leave the cave.
"So, Whiskers, where do we go from here?" Ciel says while dragging Kou with himself.
Arthur licks his paws before responding. "You just follow me and do what I say until we get there, coal-head." Arthur turns around to glance back at Ciel while talking.
"Coal-head? Me? Look at yourself in the mirror, buddy. You're literally the stereotypical witch's cat, all black everywhere. You know, people still think seeing a black cat is bad luck."
"Alright, smartass. You don't have to elaborately explain things like that." Arthur said as he scoffed. Ciel smirks at Arthur's reaction.
After a bit of walking, Ciel stops dragging Kou with him and Kou starts walking by himself. "You know, you could be more talkative while we make our journey to this Mana Weaver guy."
Ciel said, but Kou interrupted him before he could get a response from Arthur. "Now you know how I feel during our walks! You should really take a lesson from this treatment, Ciel."
Ciel stares blankly into Kou's eyes, then he shrugs. "Fair enough, I guess. Still, my point stands. If anything, this goes further to show that because we're being persistent, the talking cat wants to stay silent."
"Yeah right. But also, why is he a talking cat anyway? Hey Arthur!" Kou yelled from behind.
"Could you guys keep it down! I have to sniff while we make it there, which means I can't talk!" Arthur didn't even look behind himself.
Kou lets out a sigh. Arthur was worse than talking to Ciel, mostly because he had more unanswered questions for Arthur. "Hey, don't make excuses. We're curious, you know. Just tell me, how is it that you can talk?"
"It's because I'm a human, alright?! Now leave me alone, you brats." Ciel looks at Arthur with a questioning expression, he seems offended ever so slightly.
"You're clearly not a human. Did we combine species with cats?" Ciel looks at Kou, raising an eyebrow.
Kou adds, "I think he might be confused. Maybe he's been brainwashed? Maybe he's been taught how to talk, so he thinks he's an actual human."
Ciel rolls his eyes at the thought. "Dude, how many movies do you watch?" Kou shrugs in response.
"Explain." Kou demands, leaning closer. "What do you mean you're a human?"
Arthur's ears flatten. "Drop it."
"Drop it?" Ciel echoes, a mischievous glint in his eye. "We've got nothing but time, Whiskers."
Kou starts rapid-firing questions. "Did you actually get brainwashed? Or are you a magical cat spy?! How long have you been a cat? Can you change back? Do you want to change back?"
Arthur continues walking, not even turning his head. His ears remain perfectly still, showing zero reaction to Kou's increasingly absurd speculations.
Ciel watches Arthur's non-response, then glances at Kou. "He's not even listening."
Kou clenches his fists in frustration. "Damn it, I thought I was cutting it close!"
Ciel smirks while looking at Kou, clearly amused.
"Maybe you're born of a different kind of cats! Maybe his species is specifically being bred by Lohky for them to be able to talk and act like humans! And then she tricks them into thinking the are humans..."
Ciel puts his hand on Kou's shoulder, stopping him. "Let me try too."
Arthur lets out a sigh, his steps getting quicker as the two of them keep talking behind his back.
Ciel's smirk lingers on his face. "I think he was raised by Lohky, or worse, Lohky took him away from his home. Considering she's the witch with the access to any and all magic, I wouldn't be surprised if she taught him how to talk."
Kou gives Ciel a skeptical look. "I don't think you're close, Ciel."
Arthur turns around, his tail wiggling behind his back as he looks straight into Ciel's eyes. "You two want answers?" he seems to get angrier by the second. "Fine, I'll give you answers."
Ciel looks back at Arthur, his expression remaining the same. "Finally, spill the beans kitty-cat." He then rubs his chin for a second. "Or maybe spill the fish, considering your situation."
Arthur's tail curls around himself. "I was ripped away from my home." He explains, but before Ciel starts celebrating, he adds. "But not in the way you think."
Arthur then makes a turn, he keeps walking as he explains to the curious duo behind him. "I was born a human, royalty, in fact. I was a renowned and beloved king! My kingdom was the Navapur Kingdom..."
Ciel shuts Kou's mouth before he can react or laugh. "The Navapur Kingdom still exists, though."
"Oh really? That's good to know." Arthur says, without looking back. Ciel takes his hand off of Kou's mouth and wipes his hand on his shirt. "Continue, don't let me stop you there."
Arthur glances back at Ciel, his eyes narrow. He then continues. "It was prophecised that my kingdom would be under attack, in my 18th year of ruling over the kingdom. I didn't think much of it at first, but when I was told that our former enemies would unite together to attack us, I was scared..."
"Prophecised, huh? So you kingdom was stacked." Ciel commented, but Arthur ignored him. "I was scared, not for my own life, but for my kingdom. So I went looking for a witch, for the witch that you also came looking for."
"Lohky. How many years ago was this?" Ciel added, pointing into Arthur's monologue. "I've never heard of a Navapur king called Arthur. In fact, the only King Arthur I've ever heard of is from Britain."
Arthur's tail wiggled dismissively. "I've lost count, I can't even remember what it was like back then. My own wife, or my son." Arthur responded. He then added. "I was forced to sign a contract with Lohky, that is if I wanted to keep my kingdom alive. And so I did."
"Another contract? Lohky likes her contracts, doesn't she." Arthur glanced back at Ciel's comment.
"Yes. The contract was to save my kingdom, but I had to surrender myself completely and obey to Lohky for an eternity. After I had defended my kingdom," Arthur's breath hitched. He swallowed hard. "Lohky turned me into her cat. Took me away from my kingdom."
Ciel's expression changed, as he noted Arthur's actions and the way he spoke. "So you became a pet, in order to save your beloved kingdom?"
Kou wiped a tear off his face. "That's actually so sad, and so sweet at the same time. Your affection for your kingdom was so big that you gave yourself up to Lohky!"
Ciel looked back at Kou and narrowed his brows, as if disgusted. He turned his attention back to Arthur. "I don't believe it. No king has affection for their kingdom. In fact, kings are selfish. Even now, the Navapur Kingdom is ruled by corrupt kings, they've always been."
Arthur glanced back at Ciel, his expression unreadable. "Believe it or not. I couldn't care less."
Ciel scoffed. "Well, that's a great way of trying to earn sympathy. Or empathy."
"I don't want anything from either of you two, pal. Now move on with it." Arthur's tail curled around his body as he spoke. He then continued to walk, so the other two had to follow him.
Kou lightly punches Ciel in the shoulder. "How could you say that?" He says, as if disappointed in Ciel. He then adds, "Not cool man, not cool."
Ciel looks at Kou, who walks past him, with a confused expression on his face. He then ignores him and continues to walk.
They walk in silence for a long while, making it out the woods. Arthur, then breaks the silence. "Now, when we get there, you two do as I say. You should try convincing Darian first, not confronting him."
Ciel looks down on Arthur. "Okay, Halloween pet, I'll try talking before fighting. That's a nice strategy!" He said, mockingly.
Arthur growled to himself. "Fine, genius! Do what you will, but don't come crying when it goes wrong. Because I know for a fact that you're gonna get your ass kicked. Both of you will."
Kou looks at Arthur, offended, but he doesn't say a word. But suddenly, in front of a large structure that seemed to appear out of nowhere, Arthur stopped walking.
The structure loomed ahead, a massive glass sphere balanced precariously atop a plain stone foundation. Moonlight caught its curved surface, making it shimmer like a suspended droplet against the dark landscape.
Arthur stopped first, his tail twitching. "We're here."
Kou squinted. "That's... unusual."
Ciel said nothing, studying the building. Its architectural strangeness suggested something more than a typical establishment. The glass orb seemed almost unnatural, reflecting fragmented images of their approaching figures.
"No guards," Ciel muttered. "That's suspicious."
Arthur's ears flattened. "Not everything is a trap." Then Arthur's tail started moving once again, around his body. "Everyone likes this place. Trust me, you will too."
"Everything is a trap." Ciel retorted.
As they approached, the glass sphere seemed to pulse subtly - a trick of light, or something else? Wind whispered around the structure, carrying a faint scent of something metallic and unfamiliar.