Hello all, Meadowlark here. So this started out as a darkness versus light thing with the idea of magic as law and deception incorporated as well. I'm not really a fan of first person myself, but I like how this one turned out. I like the "high story telling" style, which I used for the italicized narration as much as I could, but I can't write a full story like that it takes too much reworking, so when Quaxo came and said "hey, let's tell it from my perspective" I went along with it. When the Magic started talking to me that was a bit unnerving.

Please drop me a review and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I only own the idea for this story. The characters are not mine.

The Magics

Every cat has magic; it is part of who they are. Among the Jellicles, however, there are those who are given a greater magic. Those born under the light of the Jellicle Moon are the most powerful, followed closely by the New Moon Kittens. New Moon Magicians are one of the most dangerous types of magical cats. They are born when all is changing, and stand opposite the light of the Full Moon. They are not inherently evil, as the New Moon indicates the change from waning to waxing, but they are not innately good, either. A New Moon cat, caught in the middle of this powerful magic, is one that constantly must guard against his own magic. Then comes The Mistoffelees.

The Mistoffelees is the name of the magic that chooses one New Moon Kitten every third generation. It is the magic that stands in opposition to the powerful Jellicle Moon Magic, and its draw is nearly as strong as the light it hates. It only ever appears to the Magician it takes, and it has never failed to completely control said Magician in all of its long centuries of existence. But this Magic may finally have met its match in the form of a small tuxedo kitten by the name of Quaxo…

I look out over the scrap yard I call home, my white paws drumming on the seat of the chair I am curled on. The white tip on my tail twitches around the slat on the back of the chair. I am the Magician, I am the bearer of The Mistoffelees, but I am also just a cat. Today I wish to simply be Quaxo. Not the performer, not the Magician, simply the shy tuxedo tom. You want to what? Apparently there is no hope of that. The contemptuous voice ringing in my mind and my ears is evidence of that.

My innocent exterior conceals the darkness within me. I came of age two months past, but it has grown no easier to bear this burden with experience. The darkness that wishes to destroy all that I and my kind hold dear haunts my very pawsteps, whispering in my ear at all hours.

You are weak. You have no chance to overcome me. Give in now and I will let them live.

I don't believe it. I can't believe it. This monstrosity with which I have been cursed will never show mercy. That is not what it does. Every legend ever told regarding The Opposition states that the only reason the Jellicles survived was because of the rise of one cat with the Jellicle Moon Magic itself. I know that there is no such cat here now. To give in to this darkness is to condemn my tribe to death.

I will control you whether you wish it or no.

I try to block out the sound of its voice. It has been doing this since I was a kit of eight months. That is when I knew what I had become: that which haunts the nightmares of many a cat. I will not allow myself to give in to the magic of The Opposition. I roll over; turning my back on the clearing I am overlooking. As I turn my eyes fall on him. He looks just like I do, except there is not a single hair of white on his coat. The golden eyes that stare at me have no heart behind them, only cold cruelty. This is what I fight and this is what I will fight daily until the moment I breathe my last. He smiles viciously as he sits down, his black tail curling around his jet paws.

"Hello, Kitten. A bit lonesome up here is it not?"

Not by choice am I up here alone. The Mistoffelees was especially strong today. I didn't want to risk it coming out where it could immediately hurt somecat. I learnt when I was very young that the most basic weakness of The Opposition is its need for its host to be alone. I try to avoid situations where I will be completely isolated, but today I simply couldn't be around others. "No, actually. I was thinking that it was nice. It's a good place to be able to see the other cats."

"But not be seen by them. You fear they will reject you if they know your secret. It is true, of course. No Jellicle would want to associate with a cat in possession of The—"

I smirk as the black apparition before me growls. It is no longer able to say its name because the name no longer belongs to it, but to me—I took it. I am still in control. I know its name, but it does not know my true name, nor shall it ever if I have my way of it. "I don't fear them. They know me."

"But they would not trust you if they knew."

"Then it's a good thing they don't." I hate keeping this secret, and the Magic knows this. All the cats know I am magical, but none know the weight I bear. How can they? How can any cat know what it is like to live with a darkness of this sort inside of them? Battering at self-control. At love of life, light, and family. There is only one cat every three generations cursed with that burden. Every cat before me has found their fate lay in succumbing to the darkness. I intend to change that. I will not lose myself to this creature.

"You have already lost to me."

I growl, glad no cat else is around. They would see nothing. That is another aspect of the Magician's curse. Only the one with the Magic can see it, unless they are incredibly in tune with the patterns of energy around them. "I have not. You don't control me."

"But you fear I will. And that is enough for now. Enough to gnaw away at your defenses and leave you at my mercy."

I rise. I cannot deal with this any longer today. I came up here to think, but it is easier to do so with the kittens screeching than with my own personal demon haunting my thoughts. Ignoring anything more it might have to say, I relegate The Opposition back into the dark corner of my mind where it resides.

I have no choice but to do as he orders. This little cat who thinks himself a Magician has no knowledge of what he is truly facing. Even knowing that, I can do nothing to him. He is my only chance at this world for another three generations. That is far too long to wait. I must wear away at him. If he fears not only me but also himself there is some chance of control coming into my grasp. I pace relentlessly in this cage he keeps me in. I am trapped in his mind, but he is trapped here with me as well. The only way to be rid of me is to be rid of himself, and he is too compassionate to do even that. He knows how it would hurt those he loves most. His compassion keeps me alive.

Ha! Compassion. That is a weakness that a Magician can ill afford and it will be his undoing. His desire to protect those dear to him will be my way out. Of that I am certain. Once I am free he will have no chance to regain control. This naïve little cat who believes himself capable will be the one caught in this cage, watching as I take what is mine.
His life is mine by right.

There is no Jellicle Moon Magician to stop me, not in this tribe. Likely it was born across the globe, although my luck has not held with that for the last six thousand years. First, in ancient Egypt when Bast banished me to the darkness of the mind and the frailty of the body. Later, in the Inquisition where my host was killed because of its affiliation with a witch. I saw that Anubis-cursed white cat sitting opposite and watching me triumphantly. The humans didn't see him. If they looked all they could see was a small gray and white tabby, but that hated Magic stared at me, glowing with pride as I burned, powerless for another three generations. The last time he managed to get me run over by a car. And they call me evil.

Is it so wrong to desire the power that I rightfully possess? Some would say that if it is at the harm of other then yes it is. One day I will beat that white spirit that haunts me. That ghost who stood at Bast's side as she banished me for the torment of the cats she held in high esteem. It will be a sight to behold the day I come to power and he is the one to fall.

I stretch, trying to touch my host's mortal Magic, but it is always just out of my reach. I resign myself to haunt his mind until he is alone again. I look out of his eyes, as I am always forced to do. These eyes that should be mine. He is playing with those stupid kittens again. Does he not see he is so much greater than they are? Perhaps he knows the truth. He is no greater than they. If I can deceive him into thinking he is, though, then the Magic will really begin. I will regain my name and he will be trapped.