Chapter Text
“I call on you voices of the afterlife! I wish to make a deal with you!”
Alastor’s heart was beating a mile a minute as he felt a surge in the air around him. Finally! After countless hours of research, and multiple attempts, he managed to breach the barrier and allow his call to extend to the world beyond!
Anticipation prickled along his skin as he waited for whatever entity he managed to catch the attention of to speak through the radio he set up on the altar. After what felt like ages, one more final surge of magic filled the room coming from the radio itself. Alastor had to close his eyes to protect them from the bright light, but his ever present smile grew. He was moments away from having his greatest wish being granted, and he was more than happy to part with his soul to achieve his ambitions.
Just as suddenly as the light appeared, it dimmed, allowing the creole man to see what kind of demon he managed to summon. When he registered what he was looking at, his smile nearly vanished. It was only through extreme self-discipline that the corners of his mouth remained slightly upturned.
There, on the altar, sitting right where his radio used to be, was a cat. A tuxedo cat with one ruby eye and one sapphire eye. The black in its coat was darker than the night sky during a new moon, and the white was as pure as freshly fallen snow. The creature looked around the room lazily, as if it were only mildly interested in its surroundings.
Alastor blinked, brows furrowed as he tried to understand where the summons went wrong. Surely this was some kind of joke, right? He was certain he followed the ancient instructions to the letter! Then again, there might’ve been something lost in translation? It might behoove him to look through the old texts once more just to double check.
“You wouldn't happen to be a demon in disguise, by any chance?” He couldn’t help but ask on the small hope that whatever entity he called out to was messing with him. That this was just some prank they liked to pull on random mortals who were desperately trying to establish their reputation in the afterlife before they even died.
The cat stared at him with its unnerving eyes before getting up from its sitting position with a big stretch. It then proceeded to jump down and gracefully made its way over to the corpse of the old racist he killed for the failed ritual.
“Right. Of course you aren’t.” He sighed, and bent down to grab one of the open tomes he had on the floor. He looked through the sigils depicted in the book and compared it to what he had drawn on his living room floor.
“I don’t understand. The sigils are identical! I spent hours practicing just to make sure! Maybe the altar wasn’t right? The flowers perhaps? Then again, the books were pretty insistent on roses. The wrong color then?” He mumbled to himself as he paced and flipped through the decaying book in his hand.
The sound of loud purring pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned to see the cat was now chewing on part of the corpse, the open mouth allowed the purr to reverberate through the room as the animal feasted. Alastor laughed despite himself.
“Partillay eaten by a cat. What better way to dishonor the body of such a horrid brute.” Alastor closed the book and made his way over to the cat. Slowly, giving the cat ample time to duck away should it not want to be touched, he reached down, and scratched the top of its head gently.
“Good, kitty. That man was one of the leaders of a local klan. It took me weeks to hunt him down and a full month to get in his inner circle so I could get him alone. One of my more satisfying kills if I do say so, myself.” He shifted to a kneeling position as he talked to the cat who stopped eating and appeared to be listening to him. Deciding to humor the strange behavior, he kept talking.
“We’ve lost too many in our poor little community thanks to monsters like him. So I took it upon myself to put an end to them. In fact, I have another member of their group in my crosshairs as we speak. I’ll be hunting him down tomorrow.” He continued to gently scratch behind the cat’s ears as he talked. Once again the creature appeared to be listening intently. He knew he was talking to a cat, but something compelled him to keep going. Maybe it was the disappointment of another failure despite being so close? Thinking of his near success, he let out a deep sigh.
“As you can see, I used his body for a ritual. His blood is what I drew the sigils and summoning circle with. I was hoping to catch the attention of a high ranking demon so I could secure myself amongst the most powerful in all of Hell.” He explained, and the damned cat tilted its head. Like it was wordlessly asking for clarity.
“I have no delusions of Heaven in my afterlife. I’m a serial killer. I relish in hunting down the scum of society, you know. The rapists, the murderers, the abusers, so on and so forth. And once I have them, I like to make them feel the terror of being a victim, satisfying my bloodlust in the process. I enjoy the screaming and torture too much to have a pure enough soul for heaven. So, knowing which afterlife I’m destined for, I wish for the power to continue my fun on the other side. Hell is full of all kinds of depravity, so I know I would have an eternity’s worth of entertainment right at my fingertips!” Alastor couldn’t help the dark chuckle as he finally stopped petting the cat, looking at the fire dancing in his fireplace. It was all too easy to imagine it being the fires of Hell, and hearing the agonized screams of his chosen victims filling the air.
“Turning Hell into my playground sounds like the perfect afterlife for me, and I’m willing to try these inane rituals over and over again for the rest of my mortal life if it means I can secure that fate for myself.” He finished, turning to look at his audience of one. It was then that he remembered who it was he was spilling his guts to, and cleared his throat to push away some of the mild embarrassment he felt.
He was about to get up from his kneeling position when the cat stopped him by reaching up to place one of its front paws on his cheek. Its claws were sheathed, but he could feel the tips of them grazing his skin. Confused, he watched as the cat leaned towards his face, its eyes peering deep into his own as if searching for something. After an awkward moment of just sitting there, the cat finally brought its muzzle to the tip of his nose and gave it a gentle lick.
Alastor’s body seized and his vision went white. The moment the rough texture touched his nose, an intense power coursed through his whole body, reaching deep into the very essence of his being. It surged through him like electricity, but it wasn’t painful. Just overwhelming. It took far too long for the power in his system to start settling.
When he was able to view his surroundings again, he realized he was toppled over on his side in the middle of the floor. He didn’t even remember falling over, though he didn’t blame himself for not noticing. He was a little preoccupied with whatever that cat did to him.
With a groan, he sat up, and realized that his living room was back in presentable order. The summoning circle and sigils were all gone, with no traces of them ever existing. The corpse of the old racist had also vanished, as was the blood and body fluids that had previously been staining his floors. There wasn’t even a trace of decaying flesh in the air. All he could smell was the burning wood and soot from his fireplace as well as the scent of the bayou outside.
In fact, the only hint that there had been an attempt at a ritual that night was the fact that his radio was still gone from when he first summoned the cat. Even all his old tomes and books were put back in their proper places on his shelves. At least he was saved from clean up time. Bodies and summoning circles were fine for the evenings he tried to contact potential otherworldly benefactors. But he needed his home presentable for potential guests during the day.
He brought a hand up to touch the tip of his nose, right where the cat licked and questioned everything he went through that evening. Was the cat really from the afterlife? If so, why did it, of all creatures, answer his call? What did it do to him? Was his wish granted or did he have to try again?
Feeling a migraine coming on, he decided all his questions could wait for another time. He had a busy day of hunting ahead of him tomorrow, and he would like to be well-rested for it. With a heavy sigh, he got up off the floor, and headed towards his bedroom to try and sleep off some of the craziness he had just experienced.
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As it turned out, the cat might’ve done something to him after all.
How ironic that he was killed the very next day after he managed to successfully summon a creature from the other world to grant his wish. One moment he was in the bayou, hiding his most recent kill, and the next he was in an alleyway in an unknown city with a red sky and glowing pentagram covering the expanse above.
It took him far too long to realize that he died and that this was Hell. It took even longer to realize that he was no longer bipedal. It was only after his fourth failed attempt at getting to his feet that he realized he was now a quadruped. His hands and feet were replaced with tiny back paws at the end of red legs. Not just any paws, however. Cat paws.
Feeling a frustrated growl forming in the back of his throat, he realized that he could feel movement at the top of his head. If he had cat paws, he could only assume he had cat ears as well. A quick turn of his head confirmed the existence of a red and black tail. His growl got even deeper, as his frustration turned to anger.
Just what kind of sick joke is this?!
He wanted to yell, but all that came out of his mouth was a highly irritated cat yowl. His lack of communication abilities only further enraged him. He was a radio host dammit! His voice was his greatest asset! How dare that damned cat rob him of it! And he just knew it was the cat’s fault! He could feel it in his soul! Had he died before summoning the cat, he would be humanoid at the very least right now!
Ah, there you are. I figured you’d manifest somewhere in hell.
An unfamiliar voice filled his head, snapping him out of his rage induced haze as he searched for the source.
Where-?
Up here!
He looked up and saw the same cat from yesterday lounging on a window sill. It was looking down at him with mild amusement. The audacity of the cat’s attitude brought his anger back to the forefront.
You! What the hell did you DO to me?!
He tried speaking like he used to, but all that came out were the angry shrieks of a cat. The one on the window flicked its ear, looking unimpressed with Alastor’s highly justified tantrum.
I granted your wish. You wanted your afterlife to be a playground where you can do whatever you wanted. Now you can. You’re welcome.
How is turning me into a cat an answer to my wish?! I wanted power! Not to become someone’s pet!
The cat gave a lazy stretch before moving to a sitting position.
I know you were only a human not too long ago, but I thought you were researched enough to realize what I was.
Alastor’s anger shrank exactly one iota in the wake of his utter confusion. What was this cat talking about? It seemed to be implying that being a cat was extremely powerful, but he was failing to see how that was even possible. What was he missing?
I’ll explain then, since you seem to have failed to research a vital piece of information.
The cat jumped down, and gracefully began to walk towards Alastor. He was tempted to ignore whatever this cat was going to say, and make this creature regret ever crossing him! But he couldn’t ignore his growing confusion, and this cat clearly knew something he didn’t. So in the spirit of figuring out what the absolute fuck was going on, he decided to let this thing explain itself before he attacked.
You were summoning creatures from the otherworld for ultimate power, right? Well, you accidentally summoned one of the most powerful, and respected, creatures in all of creation.
Alastor blinked, still not understanding the situation. How was a cat, of all things, one of the most powerful creatures in all of creation?
Have you ever looked into why so many religions revere us as deities? It’s because we’re the Guardians of the Afterlife.
Guardians of the Afterlife?
Alastor tilted his head to showcase his confusion. His research consisted of demon summoning. He never researched the whys of any religion. Just the hows. His goal was power, not to understand. Though it seemed he underestimated an old saying: knowledge is power. Maybe he should’ve reconsidered some priorities when he was still alive.
It’s just as it sounds. We guard the afterlife. As such, we are allowed to roam the three realms as we wish. We can go to any ring of Hell, travel to Heaven, and even visit Earth. We can come and go as we please, and nobody has the power to stop us.
Some of Alastor’s anger died at the revelation of free travel. He doubted any sinner would be welcome in Heaven, and it would probably take a bunch of power to get to Earth without being summoned. Knowing he could do things so many others couldn’t mollified him a bit, but it still wasn’t what he wanted deep down.
I wanted the power to take down any demon I saw fit. The travel is nice, but I wanted my name to strike fear in the hearts of sinners!
You can still do that.
All of Alastor’s anger vanished at his utter confusion. How was a cat supposed to take down powerful demons? It made no sense to him at all!
As a Guardian of the Afterlife, you are allowed to pass judgement on anyone you see fit. That includes the ability to punish the cruel. Since it was something you already enjoyed doing in life, I knew you’d be a perfect addition to our ranks. Especially since punishment isn’t a job most of us prefer doing.
Alastor knew he was already smiling out of habit, but that smile grew more genuine by the second. If he understood what this cat was saying, he could take on any demon he saw fit for judgement.
So I get to continue my fun after all? Is that what you’re saying?
Yes. Having you judge the denizens of Hell takes the load off of the rest of our collective backs. Sera’s been annoying all of us recently with our apathy towards that part of the job, and ignoring her is getting harder to do. Especially with that cursed spraybottle of hers.
The cat looked mildly irritated at the mention of “Sera” whoever that was. Alastor laughed as he began to understand the parameters of the power he was bestowed.
So when you say I can pass judgement on anyone in Hell, does that include the highest ranking demons?
Yep! Anyone from a sinner to one of the Sins can be subdued by your power. The only ones you can’t overpower are Lucifer and his family since they were already judged by Heaven.
Alastor felt a mild disappointment hearing that he wouldn’t be able to take on the Devil. Despite that, a part of him still wanted to try. After all, how was he to know what was and wasn’t possible if he didn’t push his limits.
I’m still going to try.
He gave the cat a look that dared it to challenge him on that. Much to his surprise, the cat merely flicked its whiskers in utter apathy.
You’re a cat. Do what you want.
The other cat yawned and stretched luxuriously. Alastor’s smile grew even more, understanding now what it meant when it said “nobody could stop him”. As a cat, he seemed to have special privileges that others didn’t possess. While a part of him was still miffed that he had to change species for this power, he felt that the sacrifice was worth it. He could subdue any demon, and if he wanted to fight Lucifer, nobody would get in his way!
If you need me, you can find me in Heaven with the others. We love napping on the soft clouds there.
Wait! How do I travel to other realms?
He might be preoccupied in Hell for a bit, but he wanted to try out his ability to go to other realms at some point. At the very least, he wanted to see how his poor Maman was handling his death.
Follow your instincts. They will tell you how.
And with that, the cat strutted to the opening of the alley, and walked around a light pole, disappearing in the process.
Alastor sat in the alley, alone with his thoughts as he processed everything he’d been told. His summon was successful afterall. He now had ultimate power, and was viewed upon with respect. So long as he stayed away from this “Sera” and her spraybottle, he would be treated with dignity. His wish was granted, but in a way he never expected.
He shook himself, and began to walk towards the sidewalk with a renewed purpose. Not just Hell, but all of the afterlife had become his playground. And he was going to start by fighting the Devil himself!
Oh, this will be fun!