Arcana's Path

"What the fuck?" She looked back, "You messing wit me?"

Arcana sprang to her feet, and her eyes suddenly became ice cold. The look on her face was one that Kitty recognised from her childhood. The kind of killer her father used to have by every now and then. Someone who wouldn't feel a thing before they cut you down.

The woman flicked her wrist, a stick appearing in it as she raised it in front of her lightning fast. "Eratigan nas!"

"Fuckshitting fuck!" Kitty swore, falling backwards into the table and spilling tea everywhere as a mass of writhing tentacles was ripped from her shadow and slammed up against the wall with a spill of something like black ink.

The creature wasn't just moving around like something out of a horror movie, it was growing as well. Interlocking tentacles rolling out from each other becoming larger and larger as a screaming sound started to emerge from it.

Kitty didn't dare to look away.

---

Arcana twitched as she felt the managuise fighting off her spell, and she tightened her jaw and hardened her soft heart. This one wasn't going to go quietly, wasn't going to slink off to find some other prey.

It had been feeding on the hurt and fear of this woman for too long. It had found something it enjoyed eating, and it wasn't about to surrender its meal without a fight.

She took one last look around her room with regret, and then cast her spell. It wasn't a complicated one, didn't even need a chant to set it loose.

The tentacles stopped moving, freezing up for a brief moment.

The demon let out a final sort of sigh.

Arcana cringed as it suddenly exploded, covering the entire room in a thick and black ichor. She dry-wretched as she found herself absolutely covered in the filthy stuff, as was everything and everyone else.

She looked over at her guest and smiled sheepishly. It was hard to read their expression now that they looked like they'd been bathed in oil, but it was probably one of horror.

"Shower's through that door." Arcana pointed, and then felt her pocket buzzing. She picked up the phone, "Sorry, I need to take this. Go ahead, and then I'll... I don't know. Not much makes up for getting covered in demon guts."

The biker staggered upright, and walked away, swaying and stumbling in her shock.

"Arcana Astria speaking."

"This is the Emergency Response Team, we've detected an unusual spike in demonic energy in your area. We're going to need for you to stay calm and -"

"I blew up a managuise. You can stand down the team and send in the cleaners." Arcana replied quickly, just imagining the cost of someone kicking in the glass windows in an overzealous rescue mission.

"Yes, ma'am. I've got your clothing sizes on file. We'll need to decontaminate anything that got stained."

She winced, "Eh... Everything. Me and my guest got covered. Afraid I don't really know her sizes... Her name is Kitty, I think? Can you run a scan of my apartment?"

"One moment, ma'am. Ah. Katerina de Sheouvre. She's a mundane, convicted of assault a couple times. This sound right at all? We haven't got interference on the line have we?"

"That's probably her." Arcana laughed nervously, "So, send some clothes for her, too?"

---

Even the bathroom screamed expensive tastes. The shower was just a big glass block, where the entire room poured water from the ceiling.

Kitty stripped off her ruined clothes, dumping them outside and stepped into the warm water and felt completely drained. She had no expectations that could even explain a demon, but she hadn't expected it to... Blow up.

Hadn't expected demons to exist, but blowing up was a whole 'nother thing atop of that.

She swayed and found herself on her ass and in pain. It was weird, she'd faced Yakuza killers and arrogant street brats, people with knives and guns... Never once had she gone into shock.

She found herself laughing, and then she found herself crying. She didn't remember the transition, she just suddenly found herself letting loose a full blown howl of tears and hugging her knees. Lying sideways as black something was being washed away from her and down the drain.

"Uh, Kitty? I'm coming in." A voice called, but she didn't acknowledge it. Didn't turn away or move. She didn't know if she could. She was too... Broken... To even be embarrassed by her tears.

"I've got some clothes here for you. The cleaners will..." The voice trailed off.

She flinched as she felt a hand on her back, and then felt someone struggling to lift her upright and turn her so she fell into a hug. She relaxed into their arms, "I look like shit. Feel... I don't know. I just... I don't know, right?"

"It's the ichor." The woman ran a hand gently through her hair, "Takes your head and turns it inside out. Makes you feel everything you thought you had buried. The things you hadn't noticed about yourself."

Kitty looked up at her, seeing a kindness to those eyes. They weren't the same ones as she had seen before. It wasn't a butcher leaning over her, not anymore. She relaxed a little more, "You're hella cute."

Arcana went bright red and looked away, suddenly self-conscious about the two of them being naked in a shower. Kitty looped her arms around her waist tighter, "I was hoping to have ya, ya know? S'pose that's not a thing anymore. Blowin' up demons ain't hot."

Everything about the magical girl was hot to Kitty. From her shoulder-length nut brown hair, to her perky little rack that was big enough to play with, but not big enough to get in the way of anything.

Unlike Kitty who had scars from fights and tumbles from her bike, the girl's skin was perfectly smooth. Not a single scar anywhere to be had. The closest thing to a blemish on her flawless skin was a tiny little birthmark by the woman's hip.

It was somewhere between red and purple, and almost shaped like a bird flying in the distance. More like it was a tattoo than an accident of nature.

Kitty tried to peek down further, but the cute thing had her knees solidly closed together. Still a sight of a semi-frenzied bush that the water was trying to tame, the same colour as her hair.

"The side-effects.... The things you hadn't noticed about yourself." Arcana said again, quieter. "You noticed, apparently. I certainly didn't. Um... We should really get clean. Just letting it wash away on its own is too slow."

Kitty grinned and sat up slowly, "Is that an invitation to rub you down?"

"No!" Arcana spun around, "It's... So we can get out faster. And not let ourselves do anything we're definitely going to regret because of some toxic demon blood messing with our heads."

Kitty sidled up and draped her arms around her, "I was already planning on this. You're just so damn cute. Also crazy. I mean, if this is my dream, you're just so perfect for me. Though, sort of expected I'd dream up a guy, ya know? But my tongue will feel just fine."

"It's not a fucking dream." Arcana snapped, pushing away from her and grabbing for the shampoo. "We're not... Doing that!"

Kitty pouted, but let her be.

---

Arcana's head was swimming in pain when she woke up tiredly with a cat batting at her face. She glared at him, "Fuck off. It's too early for this."

"It is six in the morning. You will feed me, slave." He miaowed back at her without hesitation.

She shoved him to the floor as he turned into a whirlwind of claws in response, rolling onto her side tiredly. Which was when she felt something catch on her stomach, stopping her from fully falling out of the bed.

She kicked the blanket back, expecting to see the sheet twisted up around her and instead finding a hand holding onto her. She traced the arm back slowly and blew out her cheeks, "How in the fuck did you get me into bed? I distinctly remember turning you down."

The woman in the bed snorted, but didn't wake up. She was the opposite of ladylike. Even asleep she seemed like a fierce beast. Arcana couldn't help but compare her to a wild dragon. Untamed, crazy to boot, and knowing exactly what it wanted and taking it regardless of the consequences.

Arcana tossed aside the arm that flopped to the bed without the woman even waking, and slipped out of the sheets. She picked her t-shirt off the floor and pulled it over her head, quickly followed by panties up her legs.

Both had been on the floor by the bed.

She really couldn't remember anything after the shower right now, it was all just a fuzzy blur, and a pounding headache. Another side effect of taking hell forged intestines to the face. The worst kind of hangover.

Arcana shuffled out to the kitchen and poured the loud and ungrateful brat a bowl of dried kibble, before using the elevator to head to the roof. She yawned and stretched in the morning sun, and heard the morning growls.

"Assemble." She ordered the waiting dragons, and then began filling their water trough. She pointed at them, "Sit."

One or two hesitated, but they saw the others and did as they were told. Peer pressure didn't just work for getting people to do what you wanted.

She held out her hand as her wand appeared in it, and tiredly redirected the spout to fill the second trough with food. Fist-sized pucks of crushed rock and other minerals tumbled down and filled it quickly, as Arcana tried not to count just how much mana it was worth.

Arcana glared at her brood, "Wait. Wait... And... Release."

The dragons dove into their food, and Arcana turned to head back down when she saw a tired and stretching woman in the doorway. A woman who was suddenly bright eyed and awake as she stared at the scene in front of her.

"Dragons!" Her voice pierced the air like thunder.

One or two of the beasts looked up from their breakfast briefly, before realising that someone else might get more than them if they didn't dig in.

Arcana shook her head slowly, "You followed me up here?"

"The cat showed me." Kitty said in confusion, "Could swear that furball was talking, the way it was carrying on."

"He's a right jerk." Arcana said and shrugged, heading passed her, "Well, they're feeding. Not safe to approach. How about we get some breakfast?"

The woman dropped an arm around her, "Sounds awesome. So long as I get to see some wicked magic stuff after. Like the dragons. I can't believe you actually have pet dragons!"

"Not pets." She opened the elevator and stepped inside, "Morning."

"Miss Astria." The man said stiffly and glared, "Miss de Sheouvre."

Kitty's face twisted into something ugly and she leaned back, glaring at the man. "Huh? What was that?"

"Drop it." Arcana ordered the both of them, "Too early in the morning for this shit."

Kitty spat on the floor of the elevator, and turned her head, still leaning on Arcana. "Tch."

The ride down was as quick as ever, but felt more than a little bit awkward.

---

It was hilarious fun, messing with Arcana's mind.

The woman was obviously convinced that something had happened last night, but she didn't have Kitty's experience with being hungover. Even if it was hungover from a mana-whatever exploding.

Kitty could remember Arcana getting dizzy, claiming she despised how itchy her clothes were, stripping off and falling into the bed and passing out. After that, she'd gone and found the couch to pass out for herself.

Without sleep clothes, Kitty had just stripped before crashing.

The crying had woken her.

She'd just followed it to tell Arcana to shut it. Pity and kindness weren't the kind of street she was used to walking down, but when she saw Arcana lying there covered in sweat, crying and shaking in her sleep, she didn't feel like she had a choice.

The woman had settled and stopped crying with a hug, but every time Kitty had gone to leave it had started up again. She gave up and held her until that darn cat had started making a racket.

Now, she was sitting at the weirdly low table, that totally wasn't some Japanese fetish, trying to pretend that bacon she couldn't even chew through was somehow not the worst cooking she had ever eaten. Could she even call this eating?

"So... Wanna order in?"

Kitty looked at the sheepish woman, and laughed, spitting onto the plate. "Where the fuck did you learn to cook, witch? Third circle of hell?"

"My mum is the witch. I'm the dragon trainer." Arcana said as if both those things weren't insane, and then a pamphlet appeared in her hand and she tossed it over. "Uhm... Anything under twenty five."

Kitty glanced at the menu and raised an eyebrow, "What's with the weird symbol instead of a dollar? You magic guys have your own kinda cash?"

"... Yeah." Arcana nodded sheepishly, "Turning stuff into gold is high school wizardry, so its sorta... Pointless? We have to have our own. It's not really money though. Its raw magic. Mana."

She made her selection, "How about an English Breakfast? That's sort of what you were tryin' ta make, wasn't it?"

"I know. I suck at cooking." Arcana made a hurt face and tapped the menu in a couple places and snapped her fingers to make it disappear.

Kitty couldn't help but grin at it. Magic was real. Actually real. Screw her bike, she might love the thing, but what she wanted to do now more than anything was to learn to ride a dragon!

"You're looking at home." Arcana said suspiciously.

She grinned at the woman and shrugged, "You're just so homely. And I mean, after all the promises you made me last night... Did you not mean it?"

"What the... Hell?"

Kitty burst out laughing and thumped a fist on the floor, "Your face! Ah, so good. Nuttin' happened last night. You were just cryin', dat's all. God, you're such a sucker."

Arcana glared at her, "Why wasn't I wearing clothes!?"

"Don't ask me. You're the one who said you didn't want them itching." Kitty shrugged, and pointed a thumb at the couch. "I didn't try nothin'."

"Oh." Arcana looked down sheepishly.

She smiled and leaned on the table, "Wouldn't mind taking advantage of you, though. We passed by the whole you'll regret it shit, right? Wanna fool around?"

Arcana spun around, "No."

Kitty burst out laughing and flopped onto her back, unable to contain herself. Arcana was just so pure and innocent at times. Being able to instantly make her face go red was entertainment she'd never get over.

---

Being endlessly teased by some stranger she'd only run into because of an out of control youngling dragon was beginning to wear a little thin. Or that's what Arcana wanted to believe.

Problem was, she felt comfortable around a complete and utter stranger. She felt safe around someone she'd been told had been convicted of assault. She felt happy with someone who had been so depressed a managuise was feeding off them and not starving.

On the topic of food, Kitty seemed infinitely disappointed when theirs came in paper bags, delivered by the doorman in the elevator instead of magically appearing. Arcana didn't have the heart to tell her it was delivered by car, as well.

Magic was something people learned in school. For most folk it had little to no bearing on their lives, it was too difficult. People like Arcana's family stood out as the odd ones, the nerds, because they managed to make a profession out of it.

"You got pancakes?"

She bobbed her head as she began pouring the syrup, "So, after this I need to head to the police station. I expect sorting out last night and getting my dragon back is going to take most of the day."

"Eugh. I hear you on that." Kitty said angrily, giving her a taste of her criminal past. Again.

Arcana's hint, however, didn't seem to have gone anywhere. She gave up and offered the only thing she could without seeming to be rude. "No need to lock up when you go, at least. What with swipe cards and elevator codes."

"Mind if I tag along? Didn't like the way that pig was talking to you. Arrogant bastards, the lot of them." Kitty sneered as she made an offer that was more punishment than reassuring.

She paused and put down her fork, "That sounds sweet of you, but it really isn't. Tom is... An ex. He's really not that bad, once you get to know him."

"Are you friends with your ex?" Kitty jerked upright, expressing more confusion than she had at seeing that mythic creatures were real. "That is... Wild. I usually have to beat mine off with a bigger stick than they're threatening me with."

Arcana shook her head, "Yeah, don't take this the wrong way, but that's easy to believe."

"I think you just called me a bitch." Kitty laughed at her, completely uninsulted.

She shrugged, "So... I'm going to be talking to my ex on my own. Sorry. Not something I'm dragging a virtual stranger into."

"Aw, even after last night?"

"Stop with that!" She snapped, "I hijacked your bike and dragged a demon out of you. Look, I know I'm your only link to magic, and I'm not saying we can't talk now and then but... It's not like you're moving in, okay?"

"Chill, sexy." Kitty was unmoved by the tirade, "I'm just messin' wit ya. Gotta get to work soon, anyway. Just offerin' to back you up. Do it for any girl. Not just the cute and magical one."

There was a non-zero chance that Kitty would turn up on her doorstep again. Arcana had hoped that once she realised that magic was mostly trouble that she'd leave it be, that maybe some shred of the woman had a survival instinct.

Seeing a managuise torn free and blown up didn't seem to be enough to dissuade her from the excitement of discovering a new world. Heck, the danger was probably an encouragement.

Arcana flipped onto her feet, waving her wand to grab her coat from the wall, "Sorry. It's just... This stuff. It's dangerous. You saw the dragon last night. I don't like watching people get hurt."

The woman rolled her jaw, glaring, "And I don't got magic. I'm just going to get myself hurt, that it?"

She shrugged, "You're either born with it or not. Most people learn to walk away from it. I chose to train the most dangerous creatures on earth. Not like I'm immune from seeking a little thrill."

"Go fuck with your ex." Kitty nodded, "And uh... Thanks for breakfast. And pullin' a mana-whatever out of me. Feels lighter. Weird."

Arcana knew she should probably talk about that, but she really didn't have the time. She knew that the DA would be waiting by the time she got to the station.

---

She snuggled deeper into her bed, feeling comfortable and warm.

It wasn't often that Rin woke up feeling so at peace. Her head must have been filled with good dreams, for once. She was content to lie here in a perfect cocoon, for the rest of the day.

Except she had a nagging feeling like she was supposed to be going somewhere or doing something. The anxiety made her fidget beneath the blanket, unable to re-settle, despite being absolutely determined to stay where she was.

She brushed at her nose, feeling itchy, and then froze up. If she'd left the stove on or something, she'd be smelling burning. Not... Pancakes. Why was she smelling pancakes?

Rin made an upset face at having to get up, and shuffled out to the kitchen, wrapped in her blanket.

"You have got to be kidding me."

The waitress smiled at her and waved with a spatula, "Good timing. I've almost finished your breakfast-in-bed. But it might be a little messy. You want to sit on the couch?"

"You broke into my fucking house, again!?"

The woman glared, "No. I have never broken into your house. Your door is still locked. I didn't go movie star and break any hinges."

"I really think you're missing the point." Rin glared at her, "It is not okay to... You're supposed to knock on the door, and maybe get invited in. Maybe."

The waitress frowned, "But you'd say no. And then I couldn't surprise you with a pile of perfect pancakes, and iced peach tea."

"That's kinda the point! This is my house. You don't live here. Bloody... How... How are you an adult with a complete lack of a sense of ownership or privacy!?" Rin seethed.