Summary:

The Wrap up of Revelations. Judy and Hugo find out how they kept missing each other in the night. Judy ends up having an ghostly experience. After Hugo finds her, Judy convinces him to teach her about his family religious beliefs, and Hugo agrees to show her the Ritual of Healing.

Notes:

You can find the Ritual Circle mentioned in this chapter over on my Deviant Art account. I'm sorry this took soooooooo very long, but a number of real life factors intruded into my writing schedule. I was sick for a week, and I found that my writing while on Musinex was incoherent. I ended up throwing out 3500 words because of that. And then I had family in visiting from out of town for a week, so my writing time disappeared during that week. So I'm a bit behind. :(

Thursday Morning in the Snowy Hills

"ME?!" Judy sat up inside her blanket in alarm. ***Shit! What did they talk about?!***

"Well, I did ask him to explain the whole Skye situation to me, after the vixen tried a dominance display. But I think I understand the situation better now, since it appears she is your ex."

"Uh… Yeah?" Judy looked confused for a moment, "Dominance? Skye? Wait, when did you meet her? Was this last night?" Damn it! I must have fallen asleep and missed all of this! Judy fumed.

"Yes, when Finnick dropped you off at the Hospital." Hugo explained to her. He reached back to her and picked up his family portrait, placing it back on his dresser. His eyes, tinged with disquiet, lingered on the visage of his Abuela, as his thoughts drifting back to certain things said by the little fox.

"Skye doesn't do the whole dominance thing! It's a turn off for her." Judy objected, as she pointed to his paw.

Hugo chuckled softly as he turned back to hold out that paw for her to examine, "She tried to test my paw strength. It didn't go the way she expected, I supposed. She's a strong vixen, no doubt, but I do a lot of rock climbing in addition weight training so my grip is very strong."

She reached out with both paws, and gently held his paw, tracing her fingers over the wide pads. He continued, "From what Finnick told me of your relationship, in hindsight I can now understand how Skye might react that way, what with the two of you being former love mates."

Judy stopped her exploration of his paw, gripping it with both her small paws as she tilted her head to look at him. As she did so, the blanket slipped back from her head, pooling about her shoulders. She looked up at his face with a frown, "Finnick sure is full of opinions when it comes to my personal life." She opinionated. Her libido chimed in ***Sure, you say that now, except that the annoying little fox is actually right.***

No, he's not! Hot denial echoed through her mind.

***Really? Then why haven't you let go of Hugo's paw yet?*** She quickly looked back down at his paw, a play of hunger, guilt, and embarrassment playing across her facial features.

With the exposure of her fur to the open air, Hugo was hit with the aroma of feminine rabbit, and in light of what he now knew he was smelling, he mentally kicked himself for not recognizing her past body language as arousal. He was simply not as well versed in this aspect of mammal interaction as he should be, and he was still trying to figure out what he was supposed to do in this situation. "He certainly is, but he is an experienced counselor and a fox as well, so I trust his judgments on the matter."

He gently withdrew his paw from her reluctant grasp, and sighed. He took a deep breath, and stepped back. He smiled down at her with a sad quirk to his lips and went to pick up the rest of the blankets from the bed. Turning to leave, he asked over his shoulder, "Would you like some breakfast? I still have some sliced veggies left over from Tuesday night that should be eaten."

She looked down at her empty paws for a moment before looking back up at him, "Sure." Worry and doubt played across her features momentarily in the face of his apparent rejection.

He nodded, and walked back down the hallway. She stared at his retreated back, her mind puzzling through the last few minutes of conversation. Finnick… Wait! Did Finnick talk about my attraction to the Cat with Hugo?! Is that why he's so uncomfortable with me now? ARGH! That little turd! He outed me! He had no right to do that! I hate that little ankle biter! She scowled at the floor as she gritted her teeth.

Oooo... I am so gonna step on his little pecker now! That sudden visual made her burst out in a fit of giggling that trailed off into a sigh. Oh, face it, Judy, it's probably for the best. Getting all worked up about the Cat isn't helping me get along with him, especially since I don't really want to sleep with him. Plus with Skye back in the mix, the two males probably think I've somehow been claimed by the vixen, and Hugo's gonna probably be all paws off now. And the truth be told, I wouldn't mind be claimed by her. I still miss her something fierce.

She looked up from her introspection and realized that he wasn't coming back to the bedroom. Duh! Move it, you dumb bunny! You can't stay in his bed! She laughed at the irony of the situation. Gathering the blanket around her thin shoulders, she jumped back down and followed him out.

She found him rummaging around in the refrigerator. He pulled out the plate of left over veggies and set it on the counter top. He unwrapped the cling wrap from the plate, and carefully folded it before throwing it away. Judy caught the little OCD display and suppressed a smile. Yeah, he must be uncomfortable, if he's being that neurotic about throwing cling wrap away neatly folded.

She pulled a pepper slice off the plate and before she started to munch on it, she asked him, "So, Skye?"

Hugo, startled from his disquiet, jerked up. "Ah, yes. The vixen. After the whole paw thing, she kind of stalked off, and Marilyn went to talk with her. I talked a bit with Finnick before heading home." Hugo stopped a moment, considering his words before asking her, "Did you two break up before or after you lost your job at Dee's kitchen?"

"Huh?" What the hell? She thought. How does he know about Dee's? "Um, before. She moved back in with her mom about six weeks before." She furrowed her brows before she demanded, "How do you know about me getting fired? Skye was gone! She didn't know that!" She demanded to know. "Were you there?" She was sure she would have remembered if he had been there, of all places!

He shook his head, "No. Not me. Sorry. No, Mork was there."

"Mork… Mork…" That name sounded really familiar, as she struggled to recall who that mammal might be. The scratch of pencils on paper, giggling, and… "The porcupine pervert from art therapy?! " She stared at him, her mouth agape, "Why was he there of all places?"

Hugo nodded, "He was a student at the Gateway Bay Art Institute, working on his drawing skills. He had managed to get a two year scholarship there."

"Really?" She grabbed another cucumber slice and bit into it, "Shit!"

"Yes, and he was on campus when he first saw you on graduation day, but apparently you didn't hear him call out. Too many mammals rushing around in gowns, trying to graduate." Hugo elaborated.

"Oh…" Judy swallowed before continuing, "Yeah. I was there that day, cause my roommate Moni was graduating. Huh. Damn, I missed him. I take it he was there to learn how to draw porn professionally?" She smirked at him around her cucumber.

Hugo shook his head, "No, he had gotten serious about his art. He's since graduated from there, and he's now doing editorial cartoons for a newspaper up north in Redwood City." Hugo leaned on the counter, "Any way, he saw you there, and after asking around, he managed to figure out where you worked. But before he could contact you, he watched you had some kind of altercation with a pair of canines, and run off."

Judy looked away, sheepishly. She grimaced and shook her head. "Yeah… Not one of my brighter moments, I suppose. Kinda blew up in my face."

"Might I inquire as to why?" Hugo asked. He was pretty sure of the answer.

"Sorry, doc. I don't really want to go into it..." Oh, that's the last thing I want to talk about right now. A life no one would remember but me. I don't want him to think that I delusional. "It was a pair of female coyotes, I don't think you know them. Well, you might know one, but I kind of doubt it." She trailed off. "I don't think she came back here after she got married." She shrugged.

"I see..." Hugo did, actually. It had to be Cheryl. She had been talking to Cheryl. His mind started to lurch in another direction, down a path he had not explored since his youth.

Priestesses and their acolytes. Gods and legends. Powerful oaths given and fates decreed. That all sounded so simple in my youth, but now?

The scientific portion of his brain rebelled at that very thought of Fate. For years, he had carefully walled away his past faith, and instead had turned to science to explain life's mysteries. Unlike his friend Emmanuel had found a way to reconcile his beliefs with his medical knowledge, Hugo had turned away from his old beliefs of his youth. This decision had in turn led to many arguments with more spiritually minded individuals, like Cheryl, on the nature of mammal intelligence and the path of the mind versus that of the soul. Good nature arguments to be fair, but it was still something he grappled with in moments of reflection and self doubt.

And now, like Cheryl, I am getting hammered about the head by powers unseen that I have long denied. He sighed.

"Alright. Where did you go afterwards, if I may ask? Mork said you never returned to the school. And I know that you moved out of your apartment, by the way. The landlady said you didn't leave a forwarding address."

Judy nodded, "Yeah, the lease was up and I couldn't afford to stay, certainly not without a job. So I packed up my stuff in my truck and took off." She frowned at him, "Hang on! How did Mork figure out where I lived? Was he stalking me? That's kinda creepy, to be honest. Totally Mork, I get that, but still creepy." She grimaced.

Hugo held out his paws in supplication, "Ah… No, sorry, that was me. I had flown in as soon as he called to tell me that he had found you. I had gone to the restaurant, and after some attempts at gaining information from the management, I was finally given your address by another waitress, an aardwolf. So I was the one who tracked your home down. I'm sorry if that upsets you."

Judy grabbed another veggie slice off the tray and waved it at him, "Nah, you're good, Doc. You're not a pervert like Mork was." Well, not THAT kind of pervert, anyway! She smiled at that thought. "So, Ayan helped you out. Good for her. She was a good kit." She shook her head. "I'm sorry that we missed each other."

How different would my life be right now had he found me then? How much heartbreak would I have avoided had I just known he had been looking for me? She pondered this for a moment.

He broke that train of thought, "Well, I almost ended being a permanent resident there." She quirked her brow at his statement. Hugo elaborated, "I'm sorry, I jest. I had gotten lost in the fog, trying to to return my rental car at the airport before flying back home."

"Oh, the fog is incredible there!" She nodded. Beautiful too, in the moonlight...

"Yeah, that's what I thought. I had to pull off at this biker bar and ask for directions."

Judy's ears went up. Biker bar? No way! "By the airport, you said?" He nodded. "Misty Visions, maybe?" That's too weird!

He nodded, "Big neon sign in the fog, sounded like a dance club?"

"Ah… Yeah..." She looked away as she chewed on her lips.

"Do you know it?" He looked at her in confusion.

She nodded, "Yeah, I know it." She drawled. "It was Skye's favorite night spot. Bikes, babes, and booze." And a bunny… "We went there often." She finished off her slice before continuing, "I went there after my day from Hell and tried to drown my sorrows in beer. So… If you were there trying to get directions, I was probably still inside at the bar." She looked back at him, her expression unreadable. "That's really weird. What are the odds, ya think?"

The scent of passion flowers in the mist...

Hugo wasn't a gambling cat, but he understood what she was getting at. "I didn't go inside. There was this food truck serving Amazonia food, so I got a couple of chicken..."

She interrupted him, "Empanadas?" Now it was Judy turn for her mind to lurch in a new direction. If he had been there, then… Oh… No…! Her ears fell as she drew her paws up her mouth.

He nodded, "They were very good. Very hot too, so I was wandering around waiting for them to cool and looking around the parking lot. It must have been the stress of the day, and perhaps I was seeing things, but I had been sure I saw rabbit ears across the parking lot so I walked over to investigate. Except that instead I ran into a really aggressive jaguar or panther and he warned me off." He shrugged.

Judy nodded, "His name's Frank, and he's a Jaguar. He was the bouncer for the, um, other side of the club. He was walking me out to my truck when he spotted some dude eating an empanada." She gazed across the kitchen at him sadly, "I'm guessing that was you he saw in the mist." So very close… She leaned her head back, her eyes closed tight as tears began leaking through.

Hugo also had the same thought. So very close, except… Wait! A jaguar intercepted him, and warned him off? Why? If he was supposed to find her, as he had alluded to in his conversation with Finnick, then why had he been frustrated at every turn, blocked, turned away, misled, lost? For years, even?! To come ever so close, and yet to always fail?!

For what purpose? He could feel the answer was there, it had to be there, but it was just out of range. It was like he was somehow stuck in sucking mud, unable to move forward except in slow torturous steps. He looked back at her, as she tilted her head back and let the blanket slip from her grasp. He looked at her standing there, tears leaking down her cheeks, as she struggle to control her emotions, dressed in only her dignity and her pants.

Pants. Wait, where were her clothes? Ack! They're still in the garage!

He held up a finger and pointed at her, "You must be cold. Let me go get your clothes." He grabbed his keys from their wall hook, and trotted down the hall.

She opened her eyes to watch him disappear down the stairs. Wait? What? Where are you going? No, Damn it, Hugo, no! Come back here! After all that crap, I really need a hug! Why are you running off now, of all the possible times you could have, you stupid Cat? She scowled after him. You would think that he'd have better bedside manners or something. It's not like he's never seen me naked. Shit. What's got him so twitterpated now?

Leaving the food on the counter and the blanket at her feet, she hurried to follow him down the stairs. But as she turned the corner at the bottom landing, he opened door to the garage and cold air came tumbling down the hall in slow waves, as the heat of the house tried in turn to escape. She shivered in the onslaught and retreated, not back up the stairs, but down the lower hall to the dark room at the end, driven there by the chill.

As she ducked in to the room, the door to the garage closed with a click sealing out the cold, and for brief period she was alone in his house. It was strange unsettling, standing as she was in the dark private grotto of a powerful jungle predator, his masculine scent resplendent through out the space, filling her nostrils. Yes, now that Skye mentioned it, I can smell the jaguar mixed into his scent. She paused as she wondered, Which room is this again? She inhaled. Wood smoke, faint upon the still air. Ah… Sandlewood… Incense… She knew now where she was. She smiled at the memory of that night. Oh, look the light switch.

She started across to the doorway to reach the switch on the other side, but between the jambs the hackles on her neck suddenly raised, as if to alert her to some hidden menace. Some deep instinct told her that she was no longer alone in room, as a faint cool exhalation, slow and long, wafted across her fur. Her ears snapped up to full extension, swiveling on her head, tracking, seeking, and finally finding the source.

She listened to the sounds of slow deep breaths, as if they were echoing downing a long cavern. There, in the center of the room, something was watching her, she was sure of it. A spike of fear flooded her mind, as she slowly turned her eye to the center of the room. She beheld nothing but impenetrable darkness, ponderous and slow, thick like molasses on a cold day. Her eyes felt the slow movement of the air, ebbing and flowing across their moist surfaces, cooling and drying them, causing them to twitch. She blinked quickly, trying to bring her nervous vision under control. As she gazed back across at the inky expanse, she beheld small pin pricks of light, flashing into existence, streak across the ebony emptiness, and just as quickly vanish. Like meteorites on a clear winter's night.

It was as if Night itself was in the room with her, watching her, stalking her, hunting her…

***LIGHT!***

She stabbed for the light switch, it's orange glow lighting her grasping paw for a brief moment before it blinked out to be replaced by a warm light coming from the walls. Hidden lights set behind conical reflectors of brass mounted to the white walls shone a pale yellow, like a primitive torch set within a sconce. She quickly looked back to the center of the room, but saw no one there.

She was alone.

What the Hell! This is just the room that Hugo was doing his Tai-ji in. Look, there is the fireplace, and all the candles on the stone mantle. But where was the bloody breeze coming from? She walked across the wooden floor, her paw held out as she sought the slow moving chill. Oh, it's the fireplace. The flue must be open or something. Sweet cheese and crackers! It scared the crap out of me.

Geeze, Judy! Getting jumpy again?

She heard the crinkly of plastic bags behind her, and she turned to see the dim outline of Hugo come back to the dark hallway as he carried in all her shopping bags. She smiled as she observed, How very male, to be so efficient and load it all up in one trip. He set the bags down, and riffled through them before pulling out something. He looked up, and saw her standing in the far room. He strode up the hallway to her, and as he came into the room, his white robes and golden fur glowed in the light cast from the brass sconces. Like the rising Sun… She thought.

He held the blue knitted cloth out to her, "Would you like a sweater?"

Ack! Hugo, it's cold! She thought as she took it and shook it out, before quickly pulling it on over her head. As she pulled her ears through the collar, she noticed Hugo loose some of his tension as his stance relaxed. Is he that bothered by my fur? She wondered, frowning, That's depressing. I had thought that after yesterday's shopping, he'd be okay with it all. Guess I fucked that up last night, when I tried to cuddle with him. Way to go, you dumb bunny. You pushed too hard, ran over a boundary, and now you made him uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?" He looked at with concern etched on his muzzle, his whiskers moving forward. She stood nervously in front of him as her paws grasping the hem of her sweater.

Am I alright? She looked up, at him. God, that's loaded question, Hugo. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just got spooked by the draft, thought somebody was watching me or something." She stood to the side and pointed at the fireplace.

He raised a brow as he gracefully glided over to the chimney, "The flue is leaking. It pops open sometimes when there's a pressure differential in the house, like when I open the garage door, or the wind blows just right." He reached behind the screen, and jiggle the flue handle. The draft vanished.

Mildly embarrassed at the thought of being scared of a drafty chimney, she briefly cast her eyes down toward his feet, and then realized that she had completely missed what was painted on the wood floor underneath. Hello! She pointed at his feet as she asked him, "What's that?"

He pointed to the floor beneath his paws, "The symbols? That's my family's ritual circle. It's traditionally placed before the hearth of the home for good luck."

She looked down at the painted circle, actually two large circles, one inside the other. The inner circle was empty, but was joined to the outer circle by a 7 pointed star, and in each the peaks of the star were strange blocky symbols. Outside of the circles were three much larger rectangular symbols. Those aren't hieroglyphs or kanji, she realized. She didn't know what they were. She had never seen those designs before.

"Good luck? You believe in magic, Doc?" She stepped up to one of the outer symbols and knelt to examine it, "I didn't know that! Aren't you Catholic or something?"

Believe? Ah… What did he believe? That was a difficult question for him to answer. "No, I'm not Amazonia Catholic. My family is pagan, mostly. My father was excommunicated by the Church for marrying my mother. He's mostly an atheist these days. Mother, on the other paw, is very superstitious and believes in most everything. And my Abuela is a shamanist; a priestess, if you will, of a very old cult." He smiled down at the curious rabbit, "It made religious discussions at the dinner table very interesting growing up."

"Your Abuela? Your grandma, right? Didn't she raise you? Uh… Can I ask what cult?" She looked up at him expectantly.

He nodded, "Yes, she did." He took a deep breath before telling her the rest, "El Orden del Señor de los Muertos Infinitos."

Judy eyes opened wide as she straitened up and her paws flew to her lips. She knew what that was! That's so cool! "She was a priestess of Death? Lord Jaguar, right?"

Now he was curious as he looked down at her, "You've heard of it? It's not all that common, even in Amazonia. Practically unheard of here in Zootopia. In fact, I'm probably the only..." Believer? Practitioner? Priest? What are you, Hugo? Those are excellent questions; exactly what do you believe, Doctor? "She taught me the circle, and made me promise that I'd always have one where ever I lived. I painted this one when I move in here."

"Oh." She looked down at the circles, and then excitedly she turned back to him. "Do you know how to use it?" She hadn't known that he practiced magic.

"The rituals? Yes, I suppose… Although I haven't done one in years, not since I moved in."

"Could you show me? Please?" He looked dubiously down at her as she implored him, "I know so little about you, and this..." She pointed at the circle, "This is so… strange..." She reached down to touch the paint. "But it's really important, right? To you? To your family?"

As Judy was touching the circle, he was struck by the memory of his conversation with his Abuela Monday night. ...Have you done your rituals today, Gatito?...You need to go! You will meet somebody who needs your help, somebody nice! You'll see! Promise your Abuela you will go, por favor?…

Rituals. He sighed and shook his head. How does she always know? Simple, you stupid doubting feline! The same way Cheryl knew about Judy and Tundra Town. She was told by the Divine Aspects. And as much as you've tried to ignore that part of your past, it keeps coming back, only this time, this time They made sure to get your attention in a way you could no longer ignore.

In his mind, he heard her cackling laughter as she scolded him.

Gatito! Gatito, t e estás estancando! You're stalling!

Si, Abuela. Sé que lo soy, porque tengo miedo. Yes, I know that , Abuela. I am afraid.

Afraid of what this means. Afraid of what this will change.

Nonsense, Gatito! There is nothing to fear! You walk with Death now, and He will protect you. So do your rituals now, so that you may commune with him and learn from his wisdom. He will tell you what you need to know! Have Faith, little one!

...

Yes, Abuela. I will do my rituals.

"I suppose I could. Although I am puzzled by your interest. I didn't think your family believed in other, less conventional faiths. I know that your parents are Bunny Baptists." He walked to a trunk sitting in the corner, and opened it up. He started taking items out, and beckoned her over.

She followed him, "They are. As for me, Doc, well… You'd be surprised what I believe in." It was one thing to believe in the Divines, she knew, and quite another to have actually met one of their Aspects. Of course, she had been dead at the time, but still, it had been a unique experience. Yeah… You'd be surprised, alright.

He turned to meet her knowing smile, "I can see that. Here." He handed her a small tea pot. "Please fill this with water. There is a mud room next to the garage with a sink in it." He pointed down the hall.

She took the little ceramic pot, just a plain little gray stoneware thing, and carried it by the handle out of the room and down the hall. She found the door, half way between the garage and the stairs and opened it. It swung open to the right and she gingerly stepped into the dark space. She had only taken a couple of steps inside to search for the light switch when the overhead lights came on automatically.

She stopped, momentarily dazzled by the brightness. What? She blinked. Why the automatic lights? There aren't any in the rest of the house. She looked back at the door. Oh, Duh! I suppose if you have dirty paws, the last thing you need to do was slap around the wall for a light switch. That would get your walls all dirty. She saw that the sink was a deep mop sink, but sized for a small mammal like her. She turned on the water moment, just to get it running steady, before she put the open pot under the trickling stream.

While she was waiting, she looked back up at the nearly empty space she was standing in. There was a toilet next to the sink, and beyond were connections in the wall for a washing machine and dryer, but there weren't any hooked up. In fact, there was nothing else in the long room except a couple of totes, and a door at the far end.

What's down there? She wondered.

"Did you find it?" He called out of the other room.

Jolted out of her wandering thoughts, she called back, "Yeah! Just a sec!" She turned back to the sink, where the water was now overflowing the pot. She turned off the water, and drained out the excess water. She pulled the pot out and turned to take it back to Hugo.

She stepped back into the room just as he was laying out two small mats in the middle circle. His ears swiveled back as she walked in, and he turned to take the pot from her, "Thank you." He pointed to the mat closest to the fireplace, "Please, take a seat." He put the pot down on top of a little brazier, next to a carved wooden box set in between the two mats, as she sat down cross legged across from him. He knelt on the other mat.

He started with, "I'm going to show you El Ritual de Mil Lágrimas as taught to me by my Abuela. It's her most common ritual, used to help grieving relatives find peace. I've watched her do this particular ritual many times as a child."

"The Ritual of a Thousand Tears?" Judy asked him. "What do I need to do?"

He quirked his head at her. "You speak Amazonia?"

Judy nodded, "A little. My capybara roommate back in Gateway taught me some. Moni like to talk about her paintings, and in the process of explaining them she taught me a lot about her culture and language."

"Ah!" Hugo was enlightened. So, she does have some knowledge of this then. Good, it will make explaining it easier. He told her, "Relax, and seek peace." Hugo stood and walked over to the fireplace. He lit a thick beeswax candle with a match, and set it on the diamond shaped symbol behind her. "Matza' - The Northern Star. Our steadfast guide and companion in the night. She will show us the way."

Judy looked back at the symbol, at the four little rays coming of it. Yeah, it does look like a star. These must be really old logo-graphs then. Judy felt a thrill run down her spine as she stared at the candle.

Hugo lit the next candle from the first and took it to the next symbol, more than halfway around the circle, walking counter-clockwise around the circle. The symbol was a low slung box with one rounded corner and twin connected spirals inside it. "Nas – The Earth. Our home and hearth. To which we must always return." he intoned.

He set the candle down on the earth symbol, and returned to the mantel to lit a third candle. He took it to a symbol just to her right, next to the star symbol, a double nest box with three dots in it and a slash in the corner. "Suw – The Sun. Our warmth and light. The herald of truth unto the people." He set down the candle in the middle of the symbol.

The forth candle he took around the circle and stood before a symbol just to the left of the earth. It looked like a box with three horizontal stripes across it, and a short diagonal strip behind them. "Tzap – The Dawn wind. Bearing the joy of a new day. A promise of things yet to come."

As he returned to get the fifth candle, Judy sat bracketed by candles on either side of her. She looked at the symbols painted on the wooden floor, A star, the sun, the dawn, and the earth. It's all very pleasant, and not at all morbid. I would have thought they were representations of demons or demigods or something. But they're not. They're just every day things, I suppose.

He stood before a symbol next to the sun that looked like a table with a table cloth draped over it, and two dots on the cloth. "Tuj' - The Evening Wind. Guardian of the storm. Provider of the rain that nourishes us all."

The sixth symbol that he went to next was just to her left, and it did look a mammal's skull with two eyes and an upper jaw, or maybe a tombstone. We've gotten to the evening, so is this finally Death than? She wondered. But that wasn't the case as he intoned, "Poy'a – The Moon. The sage of truth. Showing us path of wisdom through the darkest night."

The final symbol in the circle that he put a candle on was a rounded box with a circle in the middle of it. "Nu'pin – The Sea. The cradle of life. She nourish us body and soul."

He stepped back inside the circle to stand on to his mat. He raised his paws to the ceiling and roared, "Máako' Báalam! Lord Jaguar! I stand before you in humble entreaty! Hear my plea, I beg of you! I, Hugo Carlos Júnior de Mérida y Montaña, Acolyte of your Priestess Aracilia Montaña, petition you for your wisdom and your understanding!"

He swept his down to point at Judy, "Lord Jaguar! Before you sits Judy Laverne Hopps! This humble mammal seeks your peace in her time of need. She is beset by pain and suffering and begs you to lift her burdens from her shoulders!"

Hugo dropped lightly to his knees. Opening the wooden box, he pulled out a small stone bowl with a small paint brush and a plastic bag of brown powder in it. He dumped the powder into the bowl, and added a measure of water from the steaming pot. He stirred the powder with the water using slow strokes with the paint brush, evenly mixing it before setting the bowl aside. Judy leaned forward to look at it, and as she did she smelled a familiar scent. Oh! It's henna. That's interesting. I wonder what that's for?

Hugo pulled out two stone cups out of the wooden box which he set next to the brazier. He took another plastic bag, this one filled with dried herbs, and dumped it's contents into the little pot. Placing both bags back into the box, he set it aside. He reached over, and picked up the stone bowl with his left paw, and with his right paw he grasped the paint brush. He sat back on his haunches for a moment and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and let it out.

He opened his eyes, and taking the brush, he smoothly drew a circle on the wood floor in front of his mat. Dipping the brush back into the pot, he then drew a horizontal through the middle, cutting the circle into two equal parts. He filled the lower half with henna, and left the top half empty. Reaching across, he set the bowl next to Judy. He sat back up and gestured down at the circle in front of him, "Names are important, for they are given to us by those who love us, but they are not all that we are. Much of what we are as mammals is hard to describe as just a name, and for that my ancestors would also use symbols to describe themselves. This is the symbol that I have chosen to describe me."

He traced the circle with his paw, "I am a feline of dual natures. As a margay, I seek the light, found in the highest branches of the tallest trees." He pointed to the open space on the top part of the circle, "My heart sings in time with the dance of sunbeams through the leaves. I yearn to slumber in the morning light. And as a jaguar, I seek the dark quiet places, found deep underground." He pointed to the bottom half of the circle. "My pulse quickens as I stalk the hidden shadows. I desire nothing more that to chase my quarry through the undergrowth."

Judy shivered as he spoke the last statement. Cats, silent murder in the night… Unabashed predators, proud of their killing nature. She looked back up at him. And yet, here and now, I have never felt safer to sit in front of one. Why is that?

Hugo caught the ghost of a shiver through her fur and was amused by her reaction. Well, she wanted me to show her a death ritual. Careful what you wish for, conejita. He pointed at her, "Your turn."

"My turn?" In confusion, she looked back at him. "Am I suppose to draw something? What do I do?"

"Yes. No words or letters. Paint a symbol that represent for you your essential being, or what bring joy in your life, if you will. It can also include things that another mammals used to describe your essence." He paused for a moment before clarifying, "In truth, this is a very subjective symbol for every mammal. But by including it in the ritual, you place that essence before Lord Jaguar as your identity, your personal meaning, that you are bringing to this ceremony. Rest assured that there are no wrong answers." He tried to reassure her. The symbols he was talking about were deeply rooted in his home culture, and he wasn't sure she understood what he meant.

Judy paused as she considered this, before she reached over to pick up the brush. She stared at the brown stained bristles, trying to identify the last time she had felt joy. Huh. Not a whole lot of that lately. Certainly not on the streets. Or anytime in Dawn's company. Maybe some of the times I spent with Lance, but that was more contentment, not joy.

No, I was at my happiest when I was with Skye. Skye… Oh! Wait! Skye! She painted my surfing logo on the side of the Beast. Yeah…

Judy's mind drifted back to her experiences surfing on the Big Sur. The smell of salty sea air, the roar of the surf, the sensation of warm water on her fur. The exhilaration of riding a long tube, the racing board beneath her feet running the razors edge between control and wipe-out. Even just sitting on a rocking board in the gentle ocean swells, watching the morning sun rise was enough to make her heart soar.

Joy.

Judy leaned forward and quickly painted a representation of her short board on the floor, just like Skye had done, two broad arcs meeting at a point on one end and the other end capped by a short chevron. She considered adding in the bunny head, but paused. That's my family logo, but that's not really me, not any more. Well, not all of it, anyway. Maybe the ears? Skye always loved my ears, because they defined my bunniness to her. And they are the most expressive part of me.

She smiled at that as she dipped the brush back in the henna, and then reached over the surfboard to draw two ovals representing her ears, the tips angled out to signify relaxed contentment. She sat back and considered what she had drawn, tapping the end of the brush on her lips. Hum… Do I need to add anything more to the surfing motif, maybe some waves or something? It really was the best time of my life, at least in this one. Wait. Time! The best time to go surfing was in the morning! That's it!

Replenishing the brush, she added in three more line straight lines, one vertical line between the ears, and the other two at a forty five degree angle on either side of the ears. It's not supposed to be literal, right? It's supposed to be an abstract symbol. She frowned.

While she had been busy with the henna, Hugo had prepared some tea for them, and had poured out two cups. Setting one cup beside the henna pot, he turned to look at what she had created. "Interesting. Are you done? May I ask what it represents to you?"

"Um… I used to go surfing a lot on the west coast, even when I was dating Skye. We'd go camping on the coast, and before she got up in the morning I would go surfing. And when she left, she gave me her truck and painted something like this on the side, to show that I was a surfing bunny. The board, with my initials under it, and over the board was my family's farm logo. I haven't talked to them in years, so I kinda abstracted it into just the ears. And the lines represent the sunrise, since that was my favorite of day for catching the waves."

"Do you want to add anything else?"

"I don't know? I guess? I want to include something of Skye into this, for some reason, but it's suppose to be about me, not her. That's funny, you know?" He raised an eyebrow. She explained, "Skye used to call me her surfing queen, which was ironic since she was terrified of the sea. She hated watching me surf, cause she was sure I was going to drown. But she never stopped me." Judy shook her head. I miss that vixen...

"Queen?" Hugo asked. Judy nodded in affirmation. He held out his paw, "May I add something, then?" She shrugged and handed him the brush. He dipped it in the henna, and drew a long box under the surfboard, followed by two little boxes under it. He put the brush back into the pot, and sat back.

"What's that?" Judy asked, pointing at the three boxes.

"It's a throne. The symbol of royal authority among my ancestors. Does that work?" He asked her.

Judy furrowed her brow as she concentrated, but she nodded in affirmation after a moment.

* * Somewhere Else * *

Lord Jaguar chuckled softly as he stood in the dark hallway behind Hugo. He found the thoughts of his little priest-cat deliciously ironic. His voice rumbled low and deep, tumbling down the hall, shaking the the very foundations of space time even as it stayed unnoticed by mortal ears.

"Oh, gatito, how little you understand what you have wrought for your conejita… You sought to impress her with your knowledge of pagan magic, even as you doubt it very existence... But your lack of faith matters not, for I have faith in you... You gave Me your oath thirty years ago, and have never been released from it… So to Me, and My purpose, you are still bound..."

The Master of the Infinite Night slipped out of phase with their reality as he slowly stalked to the room, and paused at the threshold as he continued to chide Hugo.

"You have called me, bade me come hear your plea, and so it is by the power of faith I have come… But not your faith, little cat… No, no, this here is not what your Abuela meant when she asked if you had done your Rituals, for those are the Rituals of the Acolyte, which are for you and you alone… This Ritual of Healing that you have wrought is only for a Priest or Priestess to enact, never an Acolyte… And so under the most ordinary of circumstances, you should have failed... Failed to summon me, for you lack the training, the experience, the oath of priesthood, and most importantly, the faith to accomplish this…"

Invisible to their eyes, he slowly walked around the circle, and as he passed each candle it flared briefly for just a millisecond before settling back down. He paused behind Judy, and leaned over her shoulder.

"No, it is not by your faith that I was called here, but by hers!… It is that very faith that has sustained her all these long years, an indelible faith that there is far more to life than just suffering… For she knows the truth having died once already, and having met Our Lady she found faith… No, little cat, it is by her faith that I am called to this Ritual of Healing… Through her, you shall regain your faith, and through you she shall regain her sanity… And together, you shall find a new calling, a new purpose…"

He continued around the circle, and knelt behind Hugo. He leaned into whisper in to a little ear.

"You should have remembered your lessons, little kit… Remembered that Names are profoundly personal, and if you change another mammal's Name while inside a working Ritual of Power, you have Changed their Name, and hence Changed their very Nature…"

"You have forgotten that magic, born of faith undying, always works…"

"Always…."

He sat back down on the large symbol behind Hugo, the one with a spiral and four dots. He folded his powerful ebony legs under him as he relaxed and let his power flow into the Circle.

"Hugo Carlos Júnior de Mérida y Montaña, I accept your petition!..."

"Know that in enacting this Ritual of Healing, you accept My Power!... Know that in accepting my Power, you accept My Purpose!... Know that in accepting My Purpose, you accept My Priesthood!..."

"Know that through My Power, though My Purpose, though My Priests, Judy Laverne Hopps shall know healing!... She shall know change!... She shall find peace!... She shall find meaning!... She shall find purpose!... She shall find her destiny, as it has been foretold by Our Lady!..."

"She shall became your anointed Queen, just as you shall become her sanctified Priest… And together with those that answer her call, you shall work wonders untold even in the oldest of legends."

"You must..."

His voice dropped to a tense whisper, tinged with notes of urgent concern, "For if mammals are to have any hope to survive that which is to come, RABBIT MUST LEAD!..."

Notes:

From Wikipedia "In religion and theology, Revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities." There had been some confusion from some of my fans who equated revelations with confessions. That cannot be the case, since Confessions is the name of the next current day chapter.