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By the light of the blood red moon stalked a feline form draped in shadows. It’s lethe form moving between the trees of the fog filled forest with ease. Sharp, keen eyes, narrowed in the dark. At least the fog was pierced by the many wisps of candle light in the distance. Moving with purpose the cat quickened its pace before coming feeling the change from harsh root riddled grass to soft squishy moss under his paws. The wisps illuminated the shadows that had clung to the cat's fur like a haze.
He was a brown colored tabby with sharp orange eyes and draped in a cloak in the same style as Draculian vampires. As he stepped further into the graveyard the mist continued to swirl around his paws but the scarlet moon and flicks of light allowed him to not strain his eyes hard to see. The further he traveled the stranger things became. Jack-o-lanterns with their cut outs of flame appeared along the path.
At long last there stood before him a mausoleum with vines and moss growing along its frame, forgotten by human hands. He climbed the steps of the mausoleum, at its top was a large blue book that seemed to shimmer and glow. When he came upon it he placed one paw on its binding before hopping off and the blue seeped away giving way to a sickening red color that seemed to pill from the book and slide its way door the stairs. The cat gave no mind to what seemed to be a river of blood pooling from under his paws. Instead he trained his sharp eyes ahead of him. Posed perfectly upon the book he sat up and wrapped his tail around his front paws, though for a brief moment he seemed like the tail disappeared before reforming over his paws.
“Well now, hello there.”, The cat spoke in a calm, yet husky voice as if he had just woken up despite the long journey to arrive. As he faced the graveyard ahead of him, where not a soul was to be speaking to, his canines gleamed in the moonlight threateningly. “Welcome back.”, The cat continued before a devilish smirk appeared on his features, twisting his face in a way that was not normal for a cat.
“Hmph,”, Appearing out of thin air was a handsome young man dressed in regal attire and sporting a pair of dog ears on his head and a bushy tail that trashed around in agitation. “I would say it was good to be back, if it were.”, the man’s tone was dismissive and the looks shared between the cat and dog boy made it clear that there was tension between the two of them.
“Now Merry, is that anyway to speak to someone that holds all of your secrets. I did warn you that the gods of the Summer Lands would come from you. You cannot blame me when they appear.”, The cat’s tone was mocking and his smirk was malicious as the man dubbed Merry snarled at him.
“Silence Raelice. I will destroy those petty gods and make the world perfect. You joined with me because you too love stories, did you not?”, he spat back. “You want to see the world as I do, don’t deny it.”
The cat, Raelice, tilted his head to the side contemplating his words before speaking thoughtfully. “I do love stories. I enjoy cataloging the stories you’ve written and the ones that came before and the ones that are yet to come.”, at these words Merry smiled, pleased, but Raelice continued. “However, in truth, I do not care if it is you or the gods that are victorious. Your triumph or your defeat, both will make a wonderful story to tell.”
Merry growled and took a step forward, but before his first foot had even taken the mausoleum’s stairs Raelice was laughing, catching him off guard. “Come now Merry, certainly you knew when we first met that I would not be on your side unconditionally.”, the cat stood up, all four paws still placed on the edges of the book. “We made a deal and I will see my side of it through.”
This assurance calmed Merry some, but his eyes remained narrowed at the cat. “Very well. Raelice, the lore cat, keeper of my secrets, and teller of all great tales, I hope you continue to look after me. Know this though, if you do not aid me in my endeavors I will mark you as an enemy and come for you when I have killed off those pitiful gods. Is that understood?”, he sneered.
“I understand,”.
“Good.”, Merry huffed and relaxed, fussing with his outfit. “Now, if you would be so kind as to send me back to the land of the living. Also, I understand that the humans celebrate All Hallow’s Eve around this time, but did you really have to make the Library look so creepy?”
Another laugh, this one gentle. “What can I say, I knew your dead spirit would come to me and playing the role of the ferryman seemed like fun. Every so often it’s nice to be in the story, don’t you agree Merry?” Without waiting for the dog to reply Raelice flicked his tail and Merry disappeared back to where he had come from, back to his delusions and his war against the Summer Land gods.
“Mmm,” Raelice laid down on his book, contemplative as the area around him warped and twisted, bleeding at the edges and reforming until he was in a mystic library. All shades of red were replaced with soft hues of blue. Graves gave way to books, candles to glowing balls of light. He was back in the normal scene of the infinite library. “If Merry wishes to fight me…perhaps it is time I gave a visit to Mephisto…”.