MUGI-CHAN: CHOOSER OF THE SLAIN
CHAPTER 13
TSUMUGI ILMATAR NAKANO THE CAT
Author's Note Thing: (This chapter marks the story being bumped up to 'M rated'. Things in this chapter go over that line for a variety of reasons. You've been warned.)
"I'm you! I don't want to be you!" Eila, who was now in my body, exclaimed.
"I'm you! I don't want to be you!" Eila, who was now in my body, exclaimed. That was kind of a mean thing to say. I wanted to be me… Had I just seen that twice?
"Let's switch amulets then, maybe it will undo this!" I quickly took off my own, and handed it to her. Her breasts were smaller than mine and that was throwing off my center of balance. Just another reason we couldn't stay as each other for very long.
"Okay, let's try that." She took the necklace from my hand and switched it with my own.
"Okay, let's try that." She took the necklace from my hand and switched it with my own. I held the piece of jewelry with trembling hands, shaking from my confusion. I kept seeing things before they happened and it was weirding me out really bad. Blinking the feeling of unease from my mind, I slipped the sapphire pendant around my neck and waited to be me again.
Nothing happened.
Eila grumbled and laid her head on the table. Sword-chan clattered onto the floor, apparently not functioning any longer with her in my body. She sighed. "One morning our heroine Juutilainen was eating breakfast when all of a sudden a cunning temptress named Tsumugi gave her a cursed amulet and ruined her day."
Eila grumbled and laid her head on the table. Sword-chan clattered onto the floor, apparently not functioning any longer with her in my body. She sighed. "One morning our heroine Juutilainen was eating breakfast when all of a sudden a cunning temptress named Tsumugi gave her a cursed amulet and ruined her day."
"I'm not a temptress!" I retorted, since I wasn't one. Also, I kept seeing everything before it happened, but I wasn't going to continue saying so, because that just took up space. It kept happening, and there wasn't anything I could do about it, or so it seemed.
"You're right." She smiled. "Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen-sama isn't, but Tsumugi Useless-o'buki is."
I growled at her insults, and felt the strangest feeling at watching myself insult myself. This was going to be a long day, I could already tell. Trying to redeem myself, I frantically told her: "I'm sorry, Eila, I didn't mean to-"
She cut me off by shoving her hands over my mouth. "No!" She hissed. "Don't refer to me as that when I'm you. We can't let anyone know this happened! See, we're cursed by a magic item and people who are cursed are oftentimes executed in backwater places like this! Who knows how these yokels will react! Let's just play it safe and don't tell anyone. Not Akiyama, Tainaka, Hirasawa or anyone else whose last name ends in an ah sound. Actually, first names are included, keep Sanya out of this too."
"Alright, I understand. I will sooner become a zombie than tell anyone!" I said when she removed her hand from my mouth.
"Here, take the stupid necklaces back, I don't want any part of them." Eila-Mugi shoved the red ruby one into my hands. I kept the sapphire one on, and placed the other in one of the belt pouches on her coat. Things only got worse when Yui strolled over to visit us.
"Morning Mugi-chan!" She greeted me, oblivious to who she was really talking to. I was still having trouble getting over seeing things twice.
"Piss off Hirasawa, we're in the middle of something right now!" Eila snapped at her…and Yui-chan was going to think that was me who said that. I gasped that, completely horrified that she would say such a thing while posing as me.
"D-Did I do something wrong?" Yui-chan flinched, taking a step back. I saw something just before it was happening…
Eila went to cut me off. "Yes, making me nearly die from a dragon and-"
"No, nothing at all!" I blurted out before Eila could say what she was going to say as me. Then I realized something, I had just foreseen the future and changed it. Being in this body had somehow granted me precognitive powers. I would use these powers for justice! Acting before Eila could, I told Yui-chan: "M-Mugi here is just a little cranky because Pickles the Cat clawed her. He does that a lot. Also, she's Mugi took, and totally not anyone else. Just like me, Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen!"
"Uh…alright?" Yui-chan gave us a confused look and began stepping back. "I'm going to leave you two alone because you're scaring me with your scowl Mugi…I'll, uh, talk to you later when you seem to hate me less."
She turned around and retreated in a full blown sprint. Eila was making scowling faces with my face now! I never scowled!
"Mugi, could you please try and at least act like I do?" I asked her as nicely as I could.
Eila shrugged. "If I'm eternally damned to be you for the rest of my life, the least I could do is have some fun with it. Actually, no, I don't think Sanya would like me as you. We'd better find a way to undo this, and quick. Come on, let's go somewhere else where people can't listen in."
"Right." I nodded, and willed Sword-chan onto my back.
Juutilainen immediately reacted to that, pretty much climbing over me to get the sword into her own hands. She whispered sharply at me: "No, Freyr's Sword is your thing, people will get suspicious."
"Good point, you carry her." I pushed Sword-chan into Eila's hands.
"It's a…her?" Eila deadpanned, standing up. "Let's just go, the longer I stay as you, the less time there is before I just go postal and try killing everyone who isn't Sanya."
"What an awfully misanthropic thing to say." I said to myself as I followed her out the door. We went around the side to stables, where only one lonely horse stood. That horse was Ton-chan, but she (or he, I don't know) wasn't likely to know what we were talking about. As I stepped back there, I couldn't help but think about how by the end of my time in Sakuragyfli here, all of my innocence and purity would surely be gone. Whether it was from committing first degree murder, drinking alcohol, or finally giving in and having sex with someone (like, oh say, Mio), I was not going to ever return to Japan the same. Chances were I would wake up every morning and go down to my living room to watch that one Christian channel where they talked about God all the time. Since I didn't know what they were saying, I would probably just sit there in my underwear with a bowl of ice-cream in my lap and play Slayer's Reign In Blood as loudly as I could from my home's fancy surround sound speakers. Yes, that would be my miserable existence after this. It wasn't too miserable, actually, since the song Raining Blood did have the coolest guitar riff of all time if I did say so myself. Yui-chan's guitar playing not withstanding there.
"So…" Mugi-Eila began. "…obviously we can't be each other for very long before problems arise. We need to act like each other too. I need to be more of a kiss ass and you need to be more kick ass."
"I'm not a kiss a-"
She interrupted me. "Yes you are, kiss ass. If Mio wasn't off playing around in Varyag, she could probably undo this with this some magic. I'll check the library for any tomes and magical books that could have enchantments or stuff to break this."
"What should I do in the mean time, come with you?" I asked.
"No, no, no, you'd get all restless and bored with me just studying." She replied, then shuttered a bit. "Gah, I can't get over being in your body. All my magic is gone now!"
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll make sure not to use any and save it all for you when you get back, okay?" I tried to make her feel better.
"Chance are you're using it right now." She sighed. "I'll just go to the library, and you can hide in my room and play with tarot cards or something. It shouldn't be too hard to find a spell to remove a curse. Mio has plenty of those books laying around."
"Alright, sounds like a sound plan." I nodded. "If anything happens, I'll do my best to be Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. I already know the basics: be all moody because of my role here in Sakuragyfli and Mugitsu, and threaten to stab anyone who looks at Sanya wrong. Or right."
Eila-Mugi nodded. "That'll do. Also remember that people who wear armor are second rate to you too."
"Got it!" I gave her a thumbs up, and began following her up to Castle Sakuragyfli. I think it was a castle, it could have been a fort, and people could correct me if was. I was going to call it a castle though. As we walked, I heard the song Faeries Wear Boots by Black Sabbath playing around us, and I had to wonder just where that music was coming from. Come to think of it, displaced metal music always seemed to play during times of conflict. Nobody else seemed to react to it though. This was the same thing like the cold though, nobody was going to say anything because they just assumed that I knew. So I asked Eila, "I keep hearing music play from nowhere, and it's music I recognize from my own world. Where is it coming from, Eila?"
"Mugi." She corrected me. "I'm Mugi, remember, Eila? To answer your question, they're from the metal sprites that float around. You can't see them though."
"Metal sprites?"
Eila-Mugi nodded. "Yeah, don't they exist in your world?"
"No." I shook my head. For trying so hard to use my name, she wasn't doing a good job covering up our identities with these conversations.
"Then where do you get your metal music?" She asked me.
"People make it. Usually big hairy people, who drink a lot of alcohol." I answered. "What are these metal sprites though?"
"People make it?" Eila-Mugi eyed me in disbelief. "The absurdity of that notion aside, metal sprites are the remnants of the gods who died before the establishment of the new kingdoms: Aibureido, Varyag, Canticeal, Hoffenstien, and Lesfain. Legends say that long ago, these 'metal gods' would play songs that were so ferocious and powerful that they earned the worship of humans. They all died when a massive civil war broke out between all the Old Gods, but the lingering remnants of their songs still show up. They only play when something 'metal' is happening. Battle, drinking booze, punching out hookers, stuff like that. Speaking of which, if you see a girl with fishnets, mini skirt and tube top who looks a little raunchy; turn and run. She's still mad at me from hitting her in the face."
"That was an interesting explanation, but are you trying to tell me that while I'm in your body, I'm in danger from the wrath of a 'mistress of the night' that you punched out?" I asked, just a little worried now.
Much to my dismay, Eila-Mugi nodded. "She tried to take my coat…"
"What an awfully misanthropic thing to do in retaliation." I said to myself, then to her, "Is it only metal though? These sprites I mean?"
"Oh no, there are also rock sprites, string sprites, piano sprites, dubstep sprites. There used to be polka sprites, but a bunch of religious fanatics launched a holy crusade against them and now they're gone. We're in Sakuragyfli so it's mostly metal sprites that float around, which is either a curse or a blessing depending on how you look at it. Dubstep sprites ruined my sister's wedding."
"I didn't know you had a sister." I muttered. For some reason, I was unable to feel any sort of sympathy towards anyone with that 'Juutilainen' surname. Eila had ruined it for everyone. Come to think of it, I didn't really feel much sympathy towards anyone who had hit me in the face.
We passed the gates of Castle Sakuragyfli, and Eila-Mugi wasted no time getting straight that library to undo this. I was left alone in her room, which still had candles glowing. At first she told me to just mess around with tarot cards or something while she was gone, but took that back and told me to just lay on the floor until she got back. I asked how long she would be gone, and she replied with, "Probably a few hours". This meant she expected me to just lay on the rug in her room for several hours while she got to read books and do exciting stuff. This was her passive aggressive way of getting revenge towards me after starting this, or at least that's what I thought. What was I supposed to do for hours as her though that wouldn't draw suspicion?
There I was, laying on the rug as Eila. I wished I had some one to talk to, even if I had to pretend to be Eila. Anything was better than just sitting around doing nothing. I was also thinking about what I had been told about those musical sprites that gave battles a soundtrack. Strange that it was only music from my world too. Where those 'old gods' musicians from my time and place?
Wait! That could mean that instead of me being sent to another world, I was actually sent forward in time! The island chain people mentioned plenty of times, Aibureido, could actually be something like post apocalyptic Japan. Maybe a horrible cataclysm had reshaped the world and gave it magical properties! Or maybe-
"Meow." Pickles the Cat said to me, sitting up on a chest of drawers. He effectively diverted my train of thought.
"I know what you mean." I sighed.
"Meow." He pointed out.
"Yeah, but there's not much fun stuff I can do in this body while in here. You really have sharp eyes if you figured out that I wasn't Eila." I commended him.
"Meow." He smirked. Pickles the Cat was a clever feline, I had to admit. "Meow."
While that was a rude accusation to make… he sort of had a point. I stood up, and stepped in front of the full mirror that stood in that room. Looking back at me in it was not Tsumugi Kotobuki, but Eila Juutilainen, and a weird thought crossed my mind. If I was going to be stuck as her for several hours, the least I could do would be to have a little fun, right? Right?
"Right." I nodded to my reflection, altering my voice to match her normal conversational pitch. Gracefully, I skipped over to the door and locked it, then returned to the mirror. Looking into that magical reflective device, I smiled and spoke in my best Eila impersonation. "Gee, Mugi-chan sure is great and wonderful and I don't hate her for making her switch bodies with me."
It worked! I sounded just like her, and looking into that reflection made it look like she was talking right at me. This would be a perfectly not creepy way to pass the time. She would be my very own puppet for a short while. Nobody was hurt by it, and this wasn't any more creepy than imagining friends in romantic situations together. In fact, this would just be like fantasizing…but different.
As Eila again. "Oh, it sure is warm in this room, I guess I'd better take my coat off~"
"Meow." Pickles the Cat rolled his eyes, and hopped down to go hide under the bed. Unable to stop myself, I unbuttoned that blue jacket and let it fall around the two white boots at my feet. A half dozen knives were strapped to the inside of it, which wasn't really surprising.
"Hee-hee, that's better." I giggled, now posing seductively in that loose tank top, admiring how it showed off Eila's midriff so well. Some rational, sane part of my brain screamed at me. It told me this was wrong, perverted, and was far and beyond just fantasy. It told me I needed to stop, put her coat back on, apologize to Pickles the Cat for acting weird, then wait like a good little girl. The problem was, that wasn't any fun. That rational part of my mind could just sit quietly and wait until I was done having my fun. Nobody would find out about this, and nobody would get hurt, so it was all good. Right?
"My feet sure hurt from stomping around in these boots and not being mad at Mugi-chan for anything." I said as her, and yanked those two white boots off. "These stockings are chafing as well, better take them off too~"
I was now down to my underwear, or Eila's underwear now. Possessive wording was getting tricky now that I was in her body. My hands were shaking now, and I knew that doing this was wrong, but I just couldn't stop. Eila's face flushed red in the mirror from my own embarrassment towards myself for doing this. Keeping in character, I spoke aloud again. "It's been awhile since I last did a breast examination on myself. If only someone like Mugi-chan was here to help me… but I guess I'll have to do it alone~"
All inhibitions now gone, I pulled her top off and stood naked from the waist up. I now had a perfect view in that mirror of Eila's small, perky breasts with their rosy pink nipples. Looking at her like this made me feel light headed, and more than a little perverted. Without thinking, I reached up with my right hand and grabbed that corresponding breast. I cupped it tightly, pinching the small, pinkish nipple between two of my fingers. The sensation was enough to make me gasp and shutter. I was not one to touch and pleasure myself often, but I thought a situation like this pretty much warranted it.
Wishing almost that some part of me was strong enough to stop, I slid my left hand into her panties and-
"What are you doing?" Sanya's voice asked from behind me. She had been sleeping after her night shift and I was too pants-on-head retarded to even bother looking to see if she was there.
Oh god why did I do this this was not a smart idea why did I not look to see if she was in the room sleeping why I am I so stupid what part of me made me think this was a good idea why why why?
"Uhh…uhh…" I quickly turned around, which was stupid, and was still groping myself with my hand other hand between my legs. "This…isn't what it looks like?"
Sanya's eyes were wide, and her mouth slightly agape. "E-Eila….w-were you…masturbating?"
My hands quickly let go of whatever they were touching and shot my side. I gave a horribly awkward laugh and looked the other way. "Ha-ha! Of course not you…you silly goose you… what would give that…that idea?"
If the real Eila learns about this, there's a good chance she'll murder me in my sleep. Or maybe she's doing the same thing right now in secret! No, wait, the only person she would do that as would be… Sanya! She's totally in love with her! I can use this to my advantage and get out of this situation without too much awkwardness. I hope…
"You had your hands in your panties and were touching yourself." She answered, still wide eyed.
Okay, just lie, Mugi! Remember that lesson at the end of The Price of Attention? I just have to lie my way out then have Azusa fix this. Yes, that is a sound (and not to mention responsible) plan.
Then I saw my salvation! A laundry hamper sitting in the corner of the room! I quickly bent down, pulled Eila's panties all the way off and gathered her clothes in an arm load. "Today's laundry day, remember? I was just touching myself because I had two embarrassing itches. It's not like I would do some kind of perverted thing like touch myself as… as myself…."
Phwew, nice save!
Sanya blinked. "Oh. My mistake then."
Then to my horror, she began taking her clothes off as well. I gasped. "Sanya-chan, what are you doing?"
"Chan?" She raised an eyebrow, and then I realized Eila didn't use honorifics. I was messing up left and right! "You said it was laundry day. Are you okay, Eila? You're acting weird."
"W-Weird, what makes you say that?" I forced a smile, throwing all her clothes into the hamper.
"For one, you just dumped all your knives in there after Mikeru has told you countless times not to." She pointed out.
"R-Right, silly me!" I stuttered, struggling awkwardly to retrieve them. Once I got the weapons and other necklace, I dumped them all on the dresser Pickles the Cat liked so much. I realized Sanya was just glaring at me now. Trying my best to keep sounding like Eila, I asked: "Is there something wrong?"
"You're just standing there. Aren't you going to get dressed in clean clothes?" She asked. I realized in horror that this room had three dressers in it, and any one of them could have Eila's clothes in them. She would know something was up if I went through them one by one, completely unable to tell which were Eila's and which were Sanya's.
Looking as casual as I could, I sat cross legged on the floor and shrugged. "Nah, I feel like being naked today."
There. Crisis averted. I'll just wait for her to go back to sleep then redress and act like this didn't happen.
"Why?" Sanya asked.
"B-Because it's very liberating!" I replied. "Why are you asking so many questions Sanya-chan. I mean, uh, just Sanya?"
She gave me a worried look. "Eila, stop trying to hide it. Something's wrong, and you're acting funny because of it. What has you so worked up?"
I shrugged again. "Oh you know, the normal stuff. Mugitsu trying to do… 'stuff'. Uhh, Mugi-chan being annoying because I apparently don't like her even though she's just nice to me and nothing but. Bohemian Rhapsody has been stuck in my head all day too, so that's another thing."
"I see…" Sanya exhaled, then patted the seat of the bed next to her. "Come here for a moment Eila."
Okay, Mugi, this is the ultimate challenge. You're both naked, and Sanya is very beautiful. But remember, even if they're totally in love and probably do romantic stuff all the time, you're not Eila. You cannot touch her in anyway, mostly because she's like 13 years old and you're 18. That's not okay. Love may not have age limits, but the law does. Not to mention, if the real Eila gets word of this, she'll probably rip out your guts to strangle you with. Wait, why am I thinking in third person?
I sat next to her, blushing furiously and wishing I wasn't. Her leg was right against mine, and I could see all the finer features of her naked body. Now my hands were shaking, and she would know something was up.
"Eila, your face is all red." The look on her face showed concern.
"I-"
She interrupted me. "Shh, stay still for a moment."
I obliged, and she began moving her head closer to mine. Sanya raised her right hand too, and I knew exactly what she was about to do. She was going to cup Eila's cheek with her hand and kiss her on the lips! I had seen this very move done in manga before more than once. Now I was stuck in an ethical dilemma. Kiss her when I wasn't Eila? Or not kiss her and make her think that Eila was rejecting her. She was already probably really lonely having to go out at night by herself so much. The last thing she needed was for Eila to reject her in one of the few waking moments they had to go. I WOULD NOT STOP ROMANCE.
I was also a bit happy because I had successfully guessed that they were lovers a long time ago and now knew I had been correct. In my head, I was making a :3 face.
So I played the part of her beloved and met her lips with mine. Her hand didn't grasp my face, but that was alright. Warmth and exhilaration rushed through my body as our lips touched. My heart was beating a million kilometers a minute, and I felt blessed for being able to kiss such a pretty girl. I realized then that this was my first true kiss. Not like the rape-kiss from Mugitsu, but first real romantic kiss. Except I wasn't technically me, so it didn't count. I'm sure I would get a real first kiss on my third try though.
Sanya broke it off quick, and reeled back, staring at me with bewildered eyes. She was trembling all over as she spoke, pointing at me. "E-Eila, w-what did you….why did you… why would you…"
Something told me now that she wasn't leaning in to kiss Eila…but to probably press her hand on her forehead to see if she had fever. A fever would explain why Eila would be acting weird and….I kind of took that the total wrong way and kissed her.
Wow, I'm really not helping ANYTHING today, am I? The one moment I muster the courage to do something like this turns out to be the complete wrong time to do so.
I desperately tried to correct this situation. With an awkward look on my face, I said: "I, uh, couldn't hold back the urge any longer?"
Why did I say that? That was stupid! All I'm doing it making this worse.
Her eyes were even more bewildered. "You…like me like that?"
"Y-Yes?" I squeaked.
So… I had just confessed Eila's love for Sanya for her. This was quite possibly the stupidest thing I had ever done. They weren't lovers and my stupid yuri-goggles had betrayed me again! Before either of us could speak, or before I could make things even worse, Pickles the Cat hopped up on the dresser. Normally I wouldn't think twice about this, but cats liked playing with jewelry, and a rather problematic necklace was sitting up there. The other one was still around my neck. I doubted Pickles the Cat would end up triggering the other so that we switched bodies, but with the way my day had been going so far…
"Uh, hold on." I told her, and went to stop Pickles the Cat from doing anything drastic. "Hey there, Kitty, don't play with that!"
As I made my way over there, he lifted the necklace with a fluffy paw and stuck his head through the loop. A bizarre, troublesome day was made even worse with a quick flash of light. Instead of standing in front of dresser, looking down on a cat, I was now sitting with four legs looking up at a giant naked Eila with a sapphire necklace around her neck. I had switched bodies with Pickles the Cat as Eila. This was not a good thing. This was not a good thing at all.
Everything was warmer now, and was tinted a shade of green like I was looking through night vision. Nothing was happening twice though, so that was good. However, now being covered in fur made everything really warm and uncomfortable.
"Meow!" I meow'd at Pickles the Eila, now incapable of human speech. This was going to be a problem.
"At last…" Pickles the Eila raised her (his?) hands and gave out a rather evil laugh. "AT LAST I AM FREE FROM THIS WRETCHED FURRY PRISON! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! THE COMMON MAN SHALL BOW BEFORE MY MIGHT AND THE WORLD WILL FALL ON ITS KNEES TO A NEW RULER! THE STREETS WILL RUN RED WITH THE BLOOD OF THOSE WHO DO NOT SUBMIT TO MY POWER! AHAHAHAHA!"
Besides either heightening or ruining Eila's relationship with Sanya just now, I have also unleashed an evil villain in her body. I REALLY am not helping anything today.
Sanya saw this, and promptly fainted. That was probably a good thing. Pickles the Eila looked down at me and laughed evilly again. "Well, well, well, the tables have turned, haven't they? I am now the master and you are now the pet, Mugi the Cat."
"Meow!" I gasped in horror.
"I shall have you know that my name isn't PICKLES!" Not-Pickles the Eila shouted at me. "I am Meowlothotep, harbinger of DOOM, SORROW, and other unpleasant emotions such as DISGRUNTLED and ANNOYED! You, my furry slave, shall come with me to witness the end of an era and watch me conquer all!"
"Meow!" I pleaded. "Meow!"
"You're right, even an evil villain needs clothes." Meowlothotep the Eila nodded, the scratched me behind the ear. "Aww who's a good wittle kitty? Who's a good wittle kitty?"
She made kissy faces at me, and… and… getting scratched there felt so good. All my worries about what happened so far today melted at the euphoria of being scratched. I felt a vibration in my new kitty chest that could have only been purring. This was demeaning, but at the same time wonderful. Meowlothotep broke off the petting and began gearing up with Eila's clothes from the hamper. Purring and submitting like that made me feel strangely dirty. No more dirty than kissing someone else's best friend while in their body, of course.
"I'm sure you want to know my plan, don't you, Mugi the Cat?" Meowlothotep the Eila asked me.
"Meow." I answered.
"SHUT UP YES YOU DO WANT TO KNOW!" She screamed at my answer.
Why even ask if you're going to tell me anyway though?
"See…" She began, walking back towards me. "My plan is to offer myself to Mugitsu's cause in this body. I could black mail Juutilainen to join as you as well to fool Mugitsu. When Mugitsu is drooling over Juutilainen in your body, I throw the necklace around Mugitsu's neck and take her place. From there, I use her vast amounts of power to kill you two and rule the world. I think it's a sound plan. Of course I'll need to find Foks a human body as well because she is the love of my life and I loves her. Okay, first I need the blade known as the Lover of Ill or Laevatienn, or Sword-chan as you call her. Later I can forge better weapons for me to conquer with. Like taping a chainsaw to both sizes of a kayak paddle. Yes… the carnage I could unleash with such a weapon would be glorious."
I didn't even dignify that last part with a response addressing it.
"Meow?" I repeated. How could Meowlothotep had known Sword-chan's true name. Not even I knew that and I was her best friend. WHAT ELSE WEREN'T PEOPLE TELLING ME?
"That's right." She nodded, and scooped me up under her arms. Meowlothotep The Eila was now fully dressed, and carried me out like I was some sort of prisoner. Being carried under her arm like that was frankly uncomfortable and I wished she would just stick me in her shirt just like how I did with her, I mean him. This was going to get confusing really fast, since I wasn't sure if Pickles the Cat could really be a he at this point while in her body. Shape shifting just made everything complicated. Meowlothotep carried me along with her (I couldn't look at Eila's body and use a masculine pronoun) across the castle courtyard to the library. It was quaint, cozy little place that I liked to visit and read some of the many legends and tales harbored within the hundreds of books. Despite all those books and stories of many foreign lands beyond the city-state of Sakuragyfli, I had never found a basic map of this continent. I had no idea of the size, borders, or basic layout of any where in this word beyond what I had seen first hand.
Eila the Tsumugi (boy is that awkward to read!) was sitting at a small table in a nice cushioned chair. Judging by the two lines in the carpet leading a ways to the wall behind, she had worked to drag it there. From under Meowlothotep's arms, I could see that she was looking through a university text book sized, leather-bound tome. Except, resting on its open pages was a magazine that she was perusing. This was like the students who would hide manga in their text books in class. From what I could see, she was looking through a catalogue of knives.
If someone was paranoid and fearful, they would believe that she had failed to find a way to undo this, and was now looking for a good knife to murder the person who had caused this switch up. That person being me, who thankfully was a cat in this now.
"Meow." I said, so we weren't sneaking up on her. Meowlothotep dropped me, and despite what many myths said, I just landed straight on my face. It hurt, but I quickly pushed myself into a sitting position and looked up.
Oblivious, Eila the Tsumugi turned around to greet us. "I thought I told you to wait in, uh, your room; Eila. I'm just taking a small break from studying here. Everyone needs-"
Too my horror, Meowlothotep cut her off by punching her straight in the mouth with enough force to knock her out of her seat. Meowlothotep gave and evil laugh, and I watched in more horror as Sword-chan floated gracefully into her waiting hand.
"Yes…YES!" The feline foe laughed. While Eila could not have used Sword-chan, Meowlothotep could. My problems just continued to stack and stack. If karmatic balance was true, then I was going to win the lottery or something after all this. Meowlothotep began marching back out, still laughing maniacally and drawing stares from the few other people in the library. Nodoka, the librarian here, quickly rushed to Eila the Tsumugi's aid. Meowlothotep stopped at the door, undid the sapphire pendant from her neck and tossed it at me. Before she left, she parted with a few last words. "Just because we've known each other for a long time, I'll grant you the liberty of finding a new body. Being a cat is frustrating. Let me tell you."
"Tsumugi, are you alright? Did she hit you hard?" Nodoka quickly asked her, helping her back up to her seat. Apparently she hadn't heard Meowlothotep's parting speech before she left. Neither of them had, and that was, once again, probably a good thing.
There was blood running down the side of the mouth of my body. One radish shape eyebrow furiously twitched, and my fingers curled up into fists. If anyone ever wanted to see what Tsumugi Kotobuki looked like angry, now was the time.
"Tsumugi?" Nodoka didn't quite notice that Tsumugi here was quivering with rage.
Eila the Tsumugi stood up and pushed past Nodoka, growling. "Oh-ho-ho, that bitch is gonna die…" She cracked her knuckles and dragged her feet after Meowlothotep. This was going to be another problem.
Nodoka scratched her head in confusion and looked down at me. "You're lucky you're just a cat. You don't have the burden of trying to make sense of the things that go on around you."
"Meow…" I sighed, and quickly went to following after them. I was somehow entirely adept at moving around in this form, as Meowlothotep was with mine. Despite the grace of having motor skills as a cat, there really wasn't much I could do like this. Eila the Tsumugi would probably punt me like an American football if I got within kicking distance, and Meowlothotep could make Sword-chan turn me into Swiss-cheese. I gathered that other necklace in my mouth, awkwardly, and was thankful to have it. I was going to need this to trick someone into switching bodies with me. It was a cruel, heartless thing to do, but I was the only one who could stop Meowlothotep… or at least knew what was going on. In the end we could all get together and use the necklaces to switch back if we planned it right; since switching back seemed to be impossible between the first two people who switched. All this was making my head hurt, and hopefully there was a way to work this out.
My theory was this: I could not switch back into my body while Eila was in it, but maybe I could switch back if someone like, oh say, Azusa was in it. If that were true, this could be undone, but not without careful planning and coordination.
First things first though, I needed to find some poor soul to condemn to the furry prison that was this cat body. Frankly speaking, this was necessary in order to fix all this. I just needed to think of who would be a proper candidate to trick into putting on the other amulet…
Yui-chan? No, something about using her for this felt wrong. As with Ui, like they were both too ditzy and adorable to manipulate to my own twisted ends. I could not, in good consciousness do that.
Mio-chan? She wasn't available, and chances are I would need her magical ability to help with this.
Ricchan? Possibly. Able bodied, and sympathetic enough to understand why I'd throw her in a cat's body. Definitely worth considering.
Sanya? Oh, god no. Not after what I did earlier…
Azusa-chan? Yes! She was perfect for this, and not just because I want to be in her body because she was cute. There were plenty of practical reasons for using her, and not just because she was cute. I was sure she'd fit right into Pickles the Cat's body, and Yui-chan didn't call her 'Azu-nyan' for nothing. That, actually, didn't make a lick of sense, but I was going to try and switch bodies with her. Not just because she was cute either. All I had to do now was find her and coax her into slipping this other amulet on. That couldn't be too hard.
TRICKING AZU-NYAN
"No, Yui-senpai, I think I'll start with a wooden training sword first." Azusa-chan told Yui-chan in a scene I was about to describe. They were outside of town, just near the graveyard. Yui-chan had taken the black haired girl under her wing and was going to teach her how to properly defend herself in case Mugitsu decided to start getting pushy again. I was hoping to catch the girl alone, but I could deal with Yui-chan being drawn into this. In fact, maybe she could even help.
"Don't worry, Azu-nyan, we have Mio-chan here in case I accidently chop off one of your arms!" Yui-chan happily assured her.
Azusa-chan looked afraid. "That makes me want to use a real weapon even less! And don't call me Azu-nyan, it's embarrassing."
"But it's so fitting!" Yui-chan drew her katana from its sheath, and already a light drizzle of rain was beginning to fall. "I remember once when I was training, I accidently cut my instructor in half at the waist. She wasn't too mad and said that accidents happen. Eila-san and Sanya-san had a really scary instructor named Major Sakamoto. She would probably get mad if I cut her in half."
"Of course she would get mad!" Azusa-chan shouted at her. "I would get mad too! Stop acting so cheerful too. A normal person shouldn't be so happy when telling someone that they chopped someone in half once. By the way, what's your rank in the Sentinels anyway, Yui-senpai."
"Azu-nyan, I am happy to tell you that you are in the presence of Lieutenant Commander Hirasawa Yui of the Aibureidon 43st Navy!" She proudly answered, and then made a peace sign with her fingers while sticking her tongue out.
"That means…" Azusa-chan stared at her, wide-eyed.
"That's right!" Yui-chan proudly stuck her chest out. "I'm the commanding officer here. In fact, I was actually supposed to invoke the Sentinel Martial Status and submit Sakuragyfli to Sentinel jurisdiction with me in charge. Ui talked me out of it though, since she said submitting people to martial law wasn't very nice, along with recruiting every able bodied man, woman, and child into a militia. That's probably a good thing too. I'm a terrible leader!"
"Then how did you get that high of a rank?" Azusa-chan asked, looking skeptical. Meanwhile, I was trying to get over the fact that Yui-chan had the power to take over Sakuragyfli, if I heard that right. They hadn't noticed me yet, or were ignoring me since neither of them particularly liked Pickles the Cat.
That was understandable. I didn't think anyone liked Pickles the Cat.
"Oh, I sacrificed my emotions to beat a powerful demon overlord who was trying to attacking Mikomi, the capital of Aibureido." She replied, rather nonchalantly. "Next thing I know, I get showered with awards, medals, and promotions. I don't know if I really deserved all of it, I was just trying to protect Ui, since she was living there. That rank is only useful in the Aibureidon military though, because Sentinels don't have official ranks."
"That's…awfully noble actually." Azusa-chan remarked.
"Why thank you." Yui replied with a slight bow. "I guess all I needed was some good motivation to get me going. If Mugitsu threatened Ui, then I'd probably march all the way through the wastes to kick her butt."
Azusa nodded. "I understand. I'd probably do the same for someone too."
Oh, what was this? Azusa-chan had a special someone?
Yui-chan's eyes brightened at that too. "Really? They must be really special since you aren't a Sentinel and everything living out there could break you in half without any effort. Plus there's a lot of lightning too. Who is it though."
"N-Nobody…" Azusa-chan blushed, playing with her fingers and looking the other way.
"Tell me! Tell me!" Yui-chan began shaking her by the shoulders.
"F-Fine, but only if you promise not to tell anyone!" She finally gave in.
"Not even if I die and Mugitsu turns me into a Yui-zombie!" Yui-not-zombie assured her. I didn't find that statement at all funny as I sat watching them in the grass. It wasn't funny because that was something Mugitsu would probably do. I had contingency plans for a lot of things, and zombies were not one of them. The last thing I needed was HTT turning into The Dead Music Club.
Azusa took a deep breath, and then answered. "Mugi."
Yui-chan's eyes went wide. "Mugi? You like Mugi?"
The twin-tailed girl blushed furiously to the point where it looked like her nose was going to start gushing blood. "Y-Yes." She stuttered, her small fingers forming into fists that's gripped at the edge of her tunic. "S-She saved my life then carried me back and offered me shelter when her friend, Ritsu, wanted to leave me for dead. Not only that, but she's so fair and beautiful, and must be very wise to carry Freyr's own sword. Plus, in my short time here, I've learned about all her heroic deeds with your Sentinel friend, Juutilainen. I know it's embarrassing, being in love with a celebrity…"
B-Being… In love… with…
My mind was having trouble formulating thoughts. Not only did she consider me a celebrity, (which was the highest rank of honor in Japan short of being an anime or JRPG character) but she also said she was in love with me! Part of me was overwhelmed with joy from hearing that, but another part of me pointed out that I couldn't have both her and Mio. I really liked Azusa in my world and here, but Mio had claimed a special place in my heart. I wasn't sure how to deal with this, and almost wish I hadn't heard her say anything. This was going to be a problem. The one time I did have luck with romance, the timing couldn't be worse.
Well, enough dawdling…
"Meow." I got their attention, cutting Yui-chan off before she could properly react.
Azusa-chan gasped. "There's that awful cat that Mugi-senpai keeps around. What if he tells her what I heard?"
No need for that, sweetie. Trust me.
"Aww, he's not awful~" Yui-chan stepped over and scratched me behind my newfound cat ears. I immediately began involuntarily purring by the overwhelming pleasure it brought. I was quickly getting distracted by this, and needed to focus. It just felt sooo good though.
"M-Meow!" I told her, and moved over to Azusa. About as awkwardly as possible, I dropped the other amulet in front of her after carrying it all the way here with one paw. The claws had helped me drag it along immensely. I needed to get out of this body quickly, because I was starting to get urges to hunt birds and pee on people's sheets.
"H-Hello, Cat." Azusa looked down at me. "What's that you have there, jewelry?"
"Meow." I nodded.
She looked at me, stunned. "You…you just nodded! Or, at least I think you did."
"Maybe he's a magic cat?" Yui-chan suggested, closer to the truth than she realized.
"Meow." I nodded again, pushing the necklaces towards her across the grass.
Azusa looked down at it, still looking stunned. "Is this for me?"
"Meow." I nodded a third time.
"Is it a peace offering?" She asked.
"Meow." I nodded a fourth time.
"Wait, I've seen these. Don't they belong to Mugi?"
"Meow." I nodded a fifth time."
"And you're giving me this one, o magic cat?"
"Meow." I nodded a sixth time.
"Mugi's okay with this, right?"
"Meow." I nodded a seventh time.
"Okay…" Azusa reached down and picked up the necklace. "Oh, it's so pretty. Yui-senpai, look at this!"
"Oooh, it is pretty!" Yui-chan swooned. "Put it on, Azu-nyan, put it on!"
Yes, Azu-nyan, put it on! Put it on, ahahahahaha!
She did so, taking a moment to fasten it around her neck. The moment she did so, there was a brief flash of white before my eyes and I was now human again.
"Meow!" Azusa the Cat gasped in surprise.
"It looks great on you!" Yui-chan complimented.
I quickly tried to explain everything to her, without really thinking. "Yui-chan, these amulets are cursed and make it so whoever wears them switches bodies with the other person. You're not talking to Azusa-chan right now, but actually Mugi… and wow, this body is really light around the chest and I just said that out loud."
"Meow." Azusa the Cat stared in disbelief.
Yui-chan just blinked. "Azu-nyan, is this your passive aggressive way of trying to tell me something? Because if so, I'm not getting it."
"No, I'm not Azusa, I'm Mugi right now!" I desperately tried to tell her. My mind worked quick, and I thought of something only Mugi would know. "Uh, look, I'll prove it. During that fight with Poshkt, he summoned a twin of himself to fight us. We hardly ever mentioned that part of the fight, just the climactic part where you got stabbed. Remember? Eila punted me off a cliff. Azusa-chan wasn't there for that, she wouldn't be able to know. Eila and I were talking about using Sword-chan to shave, nobody else would know that!"
"You're… actually Mugi-chan!" Yui gasped, finally getting it. "How did you…" She looked at Azusa the Cat. "Does that mean Azu-nyan is a cat now?"
"I'm afraid so." I gave our new kitty friend a sympathetic look. She promptly clawed at my shin, not caring what happened to her body. "Ouch! That hurt, why would you do that?"
"Meow." She deadpanned.
"Oh right, I guess I kind of deserved it."
"Meow…" She sighed, then asked. "Meow?"
"I heard it all." I told her, biting my lower lip. I wasn't really sure how to approach her about that. It must have been hard enough for her to admit her feelings towards me to Yui-chan, and to learn that I heard everything. I couldn't say that I envied her.
Yui-chan, oblivious to the situation swept up Azusa the Cat in her arms and rubbed her against her face. "Aww, Azu-nyan is so cuuute~"
"Meow…" Azusa the Cat looked just about ready to die.
I gently took her away from Yui (who was just making this situation worse), and held her in my arms. "Sorry I had to do this to you Azusa-chan, but the real Pickles the Cat stole Eila's body and is now trying to defect to Mugitsu's side so she can steal her body via magic and rule the world. Eila's in my body, and out to kill her body because Pickles the Cat punched her in the face in my body. Also, Pickles the Cat is now Meowlothotep the Eila and has Sword-chan. So we need to find Meowlothotep the Eila before she finds Mugitsu. Also, we can't switch back, Azusa-chan, the amulets don't work that way, so you're stuck like this until we can find a way to undo this."
Yui-chan just kind of looked at me.
"Uh, did you get any of that?" I asked.
She nodded. "Okay, I think I understand… Someone named Meowlothotep turned you into a cat using those amulets and then you punched Eila in the face and then Eila became Mugi who became…. Mugitsu defected and… and… I don't understand any of this!"
I patted her on the head. "It's okay, just be thankful you're still Yui-chan for right now."
"Okay, Mugi-nyan." She smiled. I already liked that nickname. "What should do though? Find Eila and make her switch back with the cat body?"
I nodded for the eighth time in ten minutes. "Yes, and then I'll switch back with my own body, then Eila and Azusa can switch and that should undo everything. At least I hope it will. If not, we can just live the rest of our lives with each other… and the ramifications of that…"
Yui-chan bit her lower lip. "I don't know if the Eila could keep being a Sentinel in your body though, because she needs her magic to fight."
"Then we'd better find a way to undo this and fast!"
QUELLING REBELLION
Yui-chan told me about how Mugitsu took her horrible flying lizard monster for a 'walk' every night by riding it across the wastes and back. She and the other two Sentinels had tried to use that knowledge to stage ambushes, but Mugitsu always flew out of range, and Eila's mechano-bow couldn't pierce the scales of that monster. Shooting a moving, flying target wasn't easy either. Meowlothotep would surely be waiting at the valley that fed into The Wastes. The one I had fought Poshkt and all those giants at. It made sense for her to go there, mildly, since Yui-chan said The Wastes were extraordinarily dangerous to cross on foot. Lightning storms and monsters were only some of the worries and dangers. At the mouth of the valley, I could see The Wastes beyond. Swirling mists, distant lightening storms, jagged pillars of rock that almost looked like decrepit skyscrapers; it was all so very awful. Beyond that invisible line, the sky seemed to blacken immediately, making The Wastes seem even more intimidating. It was a good thing I wouldn't ever have to go there for any reason ever.
"…and then these orcs run in screaming WAAAGGGGHHH and Murasame is missing-" Yui-chan's story was cut off when we both saw a figure standing in the distance of the valley. It was right at the mouth where The Wastelands began. It didn't take much to see that it was Meowlothotep the Eila standing there. She was standing on something that made her look a little taller. I couldn't quite tell what it was.
"Oh, sorry to cut you off, but there's Meowlothotep." I pointed at our target. "You're the commanding officer here, Yui-chan, what's the plan?"
"Hmm…" Yui scratched her chin for a moment, then answered. "We just beat her up and then switch all the necklaces back. Even from what you said, that she has all of Eila's magic, she couldn't possibly beat you and I together."
"Meow." Azusa the Cat said.
"Aww, don't worry, I'll make sure nothing happens to your adorable little body." I assured her, still carrying her in my arms.
"Meow." If cats could have blushed, she would have.
"Anyway," I began. "I'll try to get Sword-chan away from her, then you can knock her out with the flat of your blade, maybe. Can you do that?"
"I've knocked out plenty of people that way. Sometimes even on purpose!" My air head partner boasted, drawing her katana. A light drizzle began around us, bringing with it the scent of autumn leaves. I didn't really want to be wet, but the smell was nice and reminded me of home. I felt a small bit of nostalgia as we walked through here, remember that battle with all the dead and demons. Funny how far I had come since then, but at the same time how little I had progressed. How long ago was that? Just over a month? It felt like much longer.
"Put your sword away, you're getting us wet." I told Yui.
"Oh, right, sorry!"
We came closer, and I saw with just a little bit of shock what Meowlothotep the Eila was standing on. It was me, or the real Eila as me. She had tried to go through with her threat of 'that bitch is gonna die', but had apparently failed. That was good for someone, probably herself, since killing your own body while in another sounded outstandingly stupid. It looked like Meowlothotep had roughed Eila the Mugi up pretty bad, and I wasn't looking forward to switching back and dealing with those bruises.
"Ah, it looks like you brought friends, Mugi the Cat." Meowlothotep the Eila greeted us with crossed arms.
"Wrong, I'm now Mugi-nyan!" I corrected her. "And this is Azusa the Cat. We're here to stop your evil plans and get everyone back in their bodies. We don't want to fight, so please be complacent so nobody gets hurt, okay?"
My attempts at diplomacy failed and she just laughed in our faces. "Ha! You fools think I would go back to being Pickles the Cat? I laugh at your foolish notion. See, look me laugh. AH. HA. HA. HA. Do you see me laughing, Mugi-nyan? Do you see, do you see how I'm laughing at you?"
"Yes, I see." I replied through gritted teeth.
"What about you, Yui, do you see my laughter?"
Yui-chan nodded. "Yes, but I don't think you're being very nice by laughing at us."
"HA!" She laughed again. "Eila the Mugi thought she could subdue me as well, but she fell before my awesome might and newfound magic. Although, I did something foolish. I gave you those amulets, Mugi-nyan, instead of keeping them to go through with my plan to take Mugitsu's body for my own. I'll have them back now, thank you."
"Never!" I bravely cried. "I cannot let you take something just to use it to hurt other people. That's being a bad kitty!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT I HATE IT WHEN YOU CALL ME THAT I AM NOT A BAD KITTY!" Meowlothotep screamed at us with enough vigor and force to make me and Yui-chan take a step back. She calmed down quickly, but was still breathing heavily. "No, Mugi, I won't be subject to your tyranny any longer."
"T-Tyranny?" I gasped. I had been accused of being many things. A misanthrope, a traitor, a sister, and even a bitch. But never a tyrant.
"Yes." She growled, making fists. "Think about it for some second you selfish little man-child. Remember how we met? You found me in Tokyo as a kitten. I was but a small thing, and I strayed from my siblings and found you looking for the Yui of our world. You saw me and I saw you. I was young and naïve, and thought you were like the human who gave my family food. No, you weren't, instead you took me away. I fought, clawed, and protested, but you never let up. Then I had to be dragged with you into this miserable fucking little place called Sakuragyfli only to ride around in your shirt and watch you bungle from place to place and nearly die over and over like a god damned retard. No, I'm sick of it! I'm not going to live the rest of my life that way. I'd sooner kill the three of you then go back to what I used to be. Let it be known that I fucking hate you, all your stupid little friends, your stupid little music club, and this stupid little place you brought me to."
"I…" Was all I could manage to say.
What was I supposed to say to that? I hadn't even known Pickles the Cat detested me so much. I remembered that Tokyo trip, and how he had seemed so willing to come with me. He purred and cuddled against me, and I had watched him grow into a fine young little cat. Sure he clawed, bit, scratched, and tore people up. Plenty of cats did that, and he showed equal amounts of affection as well. The worst part was his insults, and how utterly loathsome they had been to me and my friends. My breathing quickened, and I felt my eyes beginning to water. The urge to cry was becoming harder to contain.
"Meow!" Azusa the Cat cried out at her.
Meowlothotep smirked, ruining Eila's fine features with his evil. "Sticking up for her even after she tricked you. How pathetic."
Yui-chan stepped forward, making a fist. "Don't say bad things about my friends! Mugi-chan is a good person, so everything you just said is wrong!"
"Pickles the Cat…" I said, and took a step forward. I let Azusa go, and wiped my watery eyes with the back of my hand. "…I'm sorry if you feel that I've wronged you with what I did. However, you never once expressed these kinds of feelings towards me before. How was I supposed to know if you didn't like me if you just now tell me this? I never kept you in my house by force, and you were free to leave whenever you wanted. Nobody forced you into any of this, and I'm just as much a victim of Sakuragyfli as you are. If you weren't so… so damned passive aggressive, you wouldn't have these things to complain about. Instead of trying to fix what makes you unhappy, you just complain about it later!"
"Go Mugi-chan!" Yui kindly cheered me on.
Meowlothotep the Eila just stared at me, like she was trying to hate me to death. In a low, snarling voice, she growled. "Give me those amulets…"
"No." I denied her.
With one quick motion, she yanked Eila in my body's hair and brought her to my knees. Previously silent throughout this, she cried out in pain. Meowlothotep drew one of Eila's many knives and placed the blade against my body's throat. "Give it to me and Eila dies, and you lose your body for good."
I gritted my teeth in both fear in anger.
"Don't do it, Mugi-chan!" Yui shouted.
I turned to her and shouted. "Then what? Be stuck like this forever and have a friend die?"
"There has to be another way! We can't let her get away with this!" Yui-chan cried out. I felt awful for having to give in to a bully's demands, all while my friend's watched. This really was like junior high all over again.
"You win, Meowlothotep." I growled through my teeth. Stepping forward, I pretty much shoved those two cursed necklaces into her evil little hands. As she smiled over her victory, I added in, "Just remember that even though you spilled more of my blood than anything else in any world combined, I still loved you."
I turned around.
"N-Now what?" Yui asked me.
"Meow." Azusa contributed.
I sighed, then smiled at them. "Time for plan A."
"You mean?" Yui's eyes lit up.
"Yes." I nodded. "ATTACK!"
I spun around as quickly as I could, just in time to see the surprised look on Meowlothotep's face; I mean Eila's face. She insulted me, my friends, and threatened to kill both me an Eila at the same time. The timid, polite demeanor that defined me in Japan was gone now as I swung my fist at her face as hard as I could. My knuckles collided with what was Eila's nose, and I felt it crunch under them. She reeled back and nearly fell over, and blood was pouring out of the wound I had just caused with Azusa's small body.
I could hardly believe that I was capable of doing such a thing. Meowlothotep clutched her ruined nose as Eila and Yui pounced on her. Using my body, Eila kicked her between the legs and Yui-chan grabbed her by the arms. Within seconds, Meowlothotep was pinned on the ground by them. However, another threat still remained, because she could still control Sword-chan.
And she did just that. My trusty blade, which had been on her back, came flying straight at me. Using all my will power, I tried to stop Sword-chan from impaling me. The sensation was like trying to imagine Sword-chan just stopping, or being pushed back. It was hard, and I was instantly assaulted with a headache. Although Meowlothotep the Eila was beaten and pinned down, she was still trying to will Sword-chan into killing me. All I could do was fight back against it, and think about how stupid I was to actually believe that a floating sword had a some sort of sentience. No, Freyr's Sword just acted for whoever happed to be able to control it. Meowlothotep and I were both gifted by some divine circumstance to use mentally use it, and now here we were locked in a mental battle.
I couldn't see her face with Yui-chan in the way, and couldn't tell if she was strained. Me, I was gritting my teeth as this headache developed into a crippling migraine. Sword-chan remained floating in mid-air, pointed towards me, not moving at all. My muscles tensed up, and I struggled to keep standing as the mental pain intensified.
"Mugi-chan, should we switch the amulets back?" Yui-chan called to me.
Eila answered before I could. "Yes, let's."
"I…" I struggled to say something, but the sheer amount of concentration and mental power I needed to exert to prevent from getting impaled was too much. My nose began to sting, and I felt something warm and wet begin to drip from it. I began to taste blood, and assumed I had a nosebleed as well. There was no way I could take more of this, and my friends weren't doing more than just holding Meowlothotep down. Couldn't they just knock her out or something? Sword-chan was still in one spot, not moving at all, but at the same time pressing towards me.
"Wait!" Meowlothotep the Eila shouted. "I give up! Stop, I give up!"
Sword-chan fell to the snow below. Instantly that awful pain was gone, and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. They still held her down, and I stepped forward, trying to catch my breath.
"Are…are you telling the truth?" I asked while cautiously approaching.
"Yes, I am, just let me go. I'll put the amulets on, I just can't take that mental strain anymore!" Meowlothotep was pretty much pleading now. I could see her face, and tears were running down them. Yui-chan let her go, but Eila was still firmly latched to her body with mine. To me, it looked like our adversary had truly given up. She sat up, bleeding at the nose from either my punch or the mental strain.
"Mugi-chan, I'm so sorry I did all this." She sniffled, reaching her hand out to me. I took it with my own, or Azusa's own, or whatever, and held it. "I got caught up in the excitement of being human and thought I could be like the villian of one of those anime's you watched. I didn't mean those awful things, I was just stuck in the moment. I'm so sorry I hurt your feelings, I don't hate you. In fact, I feel the exact opposite. Switch those amulets with yourself, I want to hold you. The real you before I go back to being a cat."
Eila the Mugi let her go, and nodded at me. "Do it. Being you is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Just, take your time or whatever so your damn cat is content and won't ever pull something like this again. Ever."
"Oh Eila, how you have fouled my lips with your vulgarities. Thou ireful tongue hath wounded my image." I let out my inner samurai with that sentence, and took one amulet from Meowlothotep. Eila took the other and we did the switch.
And after a long day of pain, romance, confusion, and being a cat, I was wholly Tsumugi Kotobuki in both mind and body. I felt weird though, like someone had adjusted my bra and wait… I was wearing a bra! Eila, in my body, had so kindly gone and found one for me! This was great, because…. I didn't even need to list off the reasons. Eila who was now Eila-nyan traded place with me, and looked down at Meowlothep still sitting there.
"Just give me one moment with you, even if I have to be in the body of another." She said and reached out with her hand again. I took it and kneeled down next to her.
"Being a cat is frustrating." I said with a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry you have to live as one now that you've tasted what it means to be human. It…I can't imagine what it must be like, so I won't chastise you and say I understand. Cats are meant to be cats though, and humans are humans. I'm sure some people want to be gods since gods are given quite the respect around here, but they can't change that, can they?"
Yui-chan, being Yui-chan, had to ruin my speech. "Um, actually, some Sentinels can become angels, and most gods used to be humans. B-But, you have a point!"
I glared back at her and gave her a you-and-I-are-going-to-have-a-talk-later look. Oblivious, she smiled back, and had Azusa the cat in her arms. Turning back to Meowlothotep, I gave her another sympathetic smile. "Maybe she's right though, maybe you won't be a cat forever. Who knows how long we'll be here, maybe some kind of magic can give you your very own human body. Only if you promise to be good though, and not punch people in the face, steal their swords, and then try to kill me."
Meowlothotep blushed. "I promise I don't do any of that. Oh, Mugi, you're so good to forgive me after what I did, and what I could have done. I can see why Mio really loves you. I'll say it right now, Mugi, I do love you. I love you a lot and I get so mad because of it. That's why I've hurt you so many times, because I'm…"
"Say no more." I could see the tears were beginning to flow more. "And don't worry, I love you too, Pickles the Cat. I think, though, that Eila the Azusa is getting impatient. I'm sorry, but I think you have to go back now. Switch Eila, then switch with Azusa, and all of this should be undone then."
"The sooner the better, really." Eila the Azusa agreed.
"Meow." Azusa the Cat added.
"R-Right." Meowlothotep the Eila then stood up. "I guess this is goodbye, Mugi."
I shook my head. "No it's not. We'll be together like we always are."
She didn't reply, she just grabbed me into a tight hug and pressed her lips against mine before I could react. It was just short, quick kiss to show that she really did care for me, and wasn't just bluffing all of this. I felt light headed and just a little giddy from it, and at the same time a little embarrassed because of it.
"Hey, hey, hey! Huggy kissy time is over now!" Eila the Azusa was clearly not happy about what her body was doing with mine. "Let's just switch around so I can go home and beat my head into a wall for a few hours so I forget this ever happened."
And here I was reeling over the fact that I had kissed two people in the span of one day. One as myself, one as another, and one with someone who was in the body of someone else. So maybe my fourth try would be the one true kiss. The one where me and my love kiss passionately under a starlit night after admitting our feelings. Oh who was I kidding, chances are I end up awkwardly making out with someone after a spin-the-bottle game goes awry.
I undid the magical necklace from around my neck, turned around, and handed it to Eila the Azusa. She eagerly placed it around her neck, then frowned.
"Nothing happened." She said. Her frown looked mean enough to kill, and looked out of place on Azusa's soft face. I turned back around to see Meowlothotep slowly walking backwards with the necklace just above her head, like she was ready to drop it and make the switch at any time.
"W-What are you doing?" I asked, now worried that I may have been duped here. The smile on her face was not a nice one, but a mischievous one.
"I had an idea." Meowlothotep said, now pacing around me and Eila the Azusa. "I don't want to take over the world or anything silly like that, and I know I couldn't. However, I am not going to go back to being a cat. I'm staying in this body for good, and you and I are going to be best friends, Mugi."
"Uh." I uh'd. "No, that wasn't our agreement. I'm touched that you feel so strongly towards me, but it isn't fair to both Azusa and Eila."
"So get out of my body already!" Eila growled, then lunged at her with both hands. Meowlothotep easily side stepped her, and tripped her with an out stretched foot. Poor Eila landed straight in her face in the snow with an oomph!
"This little ability you have to foresee attacks is really something, Juutilainen." Meowlothotep taunted her, stifling wicked laughter.
With one large step I placed myself between the two of them so they couldn't fight anymore. Yui-chan, the only one with a weapon, just stood and watched. She didn't have to go slicing limbs off, but a good smack with the wooden sheath of her weapon would probably set Meowlothotep straight. I raised my fist in a hollow threat towards the body jacking cat and said, "Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? What happened to all those nice things you said just now?"
"I don't want to go back into a cat, Mugi!" She answered, going from nearly laughing to almost growling in anger. "Why do you even care what happens to Juutilainen anyway?"
"Because she's my friend!" I was surprised I even had to answer that.
"We've been friends longer though, so you should pick me over her!" She shouted back at me.
"That's not fair and you know it! Just place that thing around your neck already so we can finish this and go home!" I commanded with a shout matching the intensity of hers. The tension in the air was thick, and the other two didn't dare intervene. My frustration was building in ways it hadn't ever done before. I couldn't think of any instance in Japan where I had been so frustrated that I just wanted to scream and hit things like how I was now. This place was changing me, and not for the better.
"So you don't love me then." Meowlothotep growled. Behind her, Sword-chan was slowly moving again towards us. I kept my eye on the weapon just in case anything happen.
"Stop it!" I shouted again at her. "Now you're twisting words around and trying to make me feel bad so I won't make you switch back. It's not going to work, and it's making me think that everything you just said was a lie."
"It was a lie." She confirmed with a wicked smile. "Almost worked too."
That hit me hard. I had fallen for her bluff, right in front of everyone too. She had just been playing off my good nature and general willingness to accept people. Now she had both amulets again and was out of our grasp. We caught her once though, so we could do it again. I wasn't going to fall for her tricks anymore though. This was only a minor setback. Sword-chan was still right behind her, nothing was happening though. I bit my lower lip and said in a disappointed voice to her, "Well, I'm glad you'll leave me with that final thought. I know your true colors now, and things will be different. Do the switch. Don't even try any thing with that sword either, it won't work."
"If I don't get this body, well, nobody does. Ha!" She gave one last insane laugh before leaping backwards into Sword-chan's waiting point. The expression I had was the epitome of shock and I couldn't even react vocally. Her hands let the amulet dropped around her neck as she impaled herself, and I realized in pure horror just what she was trying to do.
Meowlothotep, formally known as Pickles the Cat, decided that nobody got Eila's body if he didn't. Sword-chan went straight through her with almost no resistance, impaling her straight the through the chest as Eila was returned to her body. I quickly willed Sword-chan out of her, and onto the ground. Warm, red blood splattered across my cloudy, gray tunic. I saw Azusa bolt towards the wastes, and realized it was Meowlothotep in her body now.
"Get her!" I screamed at Yui-chan then quickly dropped to Eila's side. She had a horrible bleeding chest wound and was breathing in short, quick, painful gasps. That shocked expression was no doubt on my face, and all I could do was stare at her laying on her back with a red puddle spreading beneath her.
I knew little first aid.
I didn't know how to tourniquet a wound.
She was bleeding all over the place.
I was effectively useless.
With a bloody hand, Eila shoved the ruby necklace that had been around her neck to me. I hadn't seen her take it off, but here she was giving it to me. Without a word I took it and just keep looking at her. I had no idea what to do, what to say, or if this was even all real. One moment there had been a cat in her body, and in the next she was laying in the snow bleeding everywhere.
"I'm...I'm so sorry..." I choked out. My eyes began to burn with tears. Her and was still out stretched, and there was a look of disbelief on her face.
"Meow." Azusa the Cat made herself known from beside me. Right, I thought, she still wants her body back, of course. I tossed the amulet at her direction, and she could do the rest.
"It's funny..." She said in a breathless voice, "I always considered people who needed armor to be second best to me... because of my magic. T-Then I g-get killed b-because a c-c-c-cat stole my body and j-jumped on a sword."
"Don't say killed!" I shouted at her, an grabbed her out stretched hand with both of mine. I held it tight, and couldn't hold back my tears. I was fully crying now. "You'll be alright, we just need to get Mio-chan, she can heal you like she did to me!"
From behind me I heard Yui-chan call out triumphantly. "I got her pinned down!"
Good, at least something was going right for us. Even if it was too late.
Eila cracked a smile, like she was entirely unafraid or unaffected by this. "Don't worry, Mugi-chan... Sentinels are s-special. We take our f-fights to next level w-when we die...become angels...fight for Heaven and different Gods, ones worshiped far away... but as long as Mugitsu is here I still have a duty, so it means I still need to fight her here..."
"Does that mean...?" I felt a sense of relief at her words, like this wasn't a true good bye.
She gave a nod. "I'll be back soon... new body... getting hard to talk..." I felt her hand go limp in mine. "...Just tell Sanya that... tell her that... I didn't... didn't die like this. M-make something up... tell her... wait for me..."
Eila closed her eyes and her breathing slowed.
"E-Eila? J-Just hang on!" I let her hand go, then crawled a few steps through the snow so that I was kneeling at her head. "Eila, come on, you're stronger than this!"
No answer. I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.
Gently, I grabbed under her arms, and pulled her close so that her head was resting on my knees. "Stop it, you're just trying to play a joke on me! You Sentinels are supposed to be the best of the best, right? Yui-chan took more than you did and she's still standing!"
"Mugi-senpai." I felt Azusa place her hand on my shoulder. She was in her body again now. "There wasn't anything you could have done."
"No!" I shouted and shut my eyes closed. "No, she can't be dead! This can't be happening!"
Next I heard Yui-chan's voice. It had the same tone it did when I first met her. Flat and nearly emotionless. "It's just... what happens when you're a Sentinel. She knew it when she became one, but it's not really the end for her yet. I said that some Sentinels become angels, remember? I'm sure Eila will be one of them."
I opened my eyes and looked down at her body resting its head against my knees. Her features were glazed with all the blood, and it was hard to believe that she could possibly be back after being like this. She looked at peace though, but at the same time entirely sorrowful. Oh God, what was I going to tell Sanya when we got back? Everything felt so surreal that it made me light headed to the point where I thought I was going to faint. I wish I had, because then I wouldn't have had to face this. It had happened too quick for me to handle. One moment she was there, and then she was gone. That whole day had been strange and if anything, a bit whacky, and then lead to death. I didn't know where Pickles the Cat was now, and chances were he ran off into The Wastes. I hoped the little bastard got what he deserved for this.
I fell forward against her and let myself cry. Maybe in this world, my tears could bring her back to life or something silly like that. Of course, they didn't. The worst part of this was, she had died by my weapon. She died because of the amulets I took. She died because of my pet. There was no denying any of that.
Afterwords, I sat back up and looked at both Yui and Azusa who each gave me a saddened, sympathetic look. This probably wasn't anything new to them, people dying. In a world so violent like this one, that wasn't surprising. I could understand being desensitized to violence, battle, and sex; but death? I prayed I would never become used to something like that.
Out of the corner of my eye, up at the highest reaches of the valley to the left of me, I saw a lone figure standing there looking down at us. Behind it was a larger figure, like a kind of serpent. Mugitsu, who once had a sister who shared my name, watched us silently. She never came close though, and disappeared almost as soon as I looked the other way.
"Let's go, you two..." I said in a hollow voice, feeling more out of body then when I wasn't in my body.
TO BE CONTINUED
o this is my THIRD attempt to write this little Author's Note part because I do this on fanfiction last before uploading a chapter, and FF refuses to save this part for some reason. So, the two little monologues to you, the reader I wrote were deleted. Here's my THIRD attempt: Thank you for reading this story blah blah blah I hope this chapter didn't suck blah blah blah character development blah blah blah chapter with Mugitsu getting a bigger role blah blah blah.
Please don't refer this story to people on 4chan. I appreciate the gesture, but they're guraunteed to hate it. In fact, that's just what they did.