Yo, yo, yo, dawg! (That was my Randy Jackson impression.) Here's the next chapter! Sorry it's taken so long. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own CATS. If I did, I would have given Cori and Tanto a bigger role.
Coricopat's thought-speak
Tantomile's thoughts (and thought-speak)
~*~
Tantomile's POV
"Run!" Jemima screamed. I needed no instructions as the trademark barking of Pollicles got louder and louder.
"C'mon, Jemima, you can make it!" I encouraged, thinking of the ghostly whisper I had heard on the wind. No matter what happened to me, I had to protect Jemima.
"I can't do it, Tanto," she groaned. The Pollicles- a Rottweiler and a Husky- were beginning to close in.
"Yes, you can," I stated. "We just have to get onto that fire escape; then we'll be safe…" We struggled to the old, rusted escape ladder. I nudged Jemima to get her moving up. Once she was safe and away from where the Pollicles could reach her, I began to climb up. The ladder trembled as I slowly made my way up. I could almost feel the Pollicles' breath on my flanks…
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" a familiar voice screamed. A bright blue bolt of lightning came from nowhere, hitting the Pollicles on the rump.
"Nice timing, Misto," I said, grinning. The Conjuring Cat and his little brother, Quaxo, popped their heads over the edge of the roof.
"Hey, Tanto; hi Jemima," Quaxo greeted. "Where's Cori?" I felt a lump in my throat at the mention of my dead brother.
He won't be dead for long- Misto will be able to help…
"There's no time for questions now," Misto told us somberly. "It isn't safe here. Come with us." With that, he turned around, his long black cloak swishing behind him as he left.
We followed him into the basement of an abandoned library, where he conjured up a fire. I was finally able to properly look at him since he left the Junkyard.
He no longer had that naïve, cheerful look in his eyes, though his body was still youthful. I could tell that our once optimistic Mister Mistoffelees had seen some terrible things happen…
"Where are Jenny and Jelly?" Jemima asked.
"They're with a Scouse tribe, in Liverpool," Quaxo answered happily, just glad to see us. Then a frown crossed his face. "Why isn't Coricopat here?" I took in a deep breath.
"He died," I said flatly. "Macavity killed him. He wanted information on the Resistance, and Cori wouldn't give us away…" My voice cracked on the last word. Straightening myself before I could have anyone get all soppy on me, I turned to Misto.
"That's where you come in, Misto," I declared. "Do you… do you know a spell that can-"
"Raise the dead?" Misto questioned. "No, Tanto, I don't." Softening at my expression, he added, "But there might be something in here. There are lots of dusty old tomes that you could search through, if you'd like. Why did you leave the Yard?" The sudden change of topic threw me off.
"Because I'm going to have kittens, and I don't want them to be raised in Macavity's Yard," Jemima replied. "I want them to be free and happy. It's what their father would have wanted."
"N- Ndebele, near, nearby, neat…" I murmured, running my hands along the entries in the log of all books in the library. "Nebular hypothesis, necessitate, Neckar, necklace, neckpiece, necrosis, nectarine, Nebraska, nebulous, necessity, neckband, necklace tree, necktie- aha! Necromancy, 133.35." I quickly walked along the shelves, looking at the titles of the books. I stopped once I had reached the shelf I was looking for.
"Alright, Tanto, let's get to work." I jumped, and glared at Jemima.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" She ignored me.
"I brought pens and paper, so I can make notes on what we find. Pick out five books and find a table. Here's your writing kit." The small queen handed me a pen and a piece of paper. I placed them on a table and selected a few books- "Study of the Magical Arts: Necromancy, Books One, Two, and Three" "Those Who Dared to Disturb the Dead" and "So You Want to be a Necromancer?" Jemima grabbed five books to look through on a separate table, and I started on the first book.
"Necromancy, dear reader, is a dangerous art, and should be practiced with care…" I struggled through the difficult, medieval wordings and complicated text. We worked at the books for who-knows-how-long. Quaxo apparently came in and gave us more paper when we needed it. I never noticed- I was too absorbed in my work.
"Tantomile, Jemima, I have some dinner here if you're hungry," Quaxo whispered, trying not to give us a fright. I stretched and blinked to clear my vision. Words were swimming in front of my eyes.
"After this, you two need to get some sleep. You've been working for six hours." I looked at Quaxo, then back at Study of the Magical Arts: Necromancy, Book One. I hadn't even gotten halfway through it! I quickly tidied up the forty-four pages of notes I had made before tucking into the mouse cakes Quaxo had brought to us.
"Do you like them?" he asked. "I made them myself- Jenny taught me how before she left."
"They're excellent, Quaxo- thank you," Jemima replied. I nodded, and yawned. I didn't want to fall asleep and smudge the ink on my carefully-written notes, so I pulled my coat closer around me and lay on the floor to sleep.
~*~
Jemima's POV
Tantomile and I studied all of the books that the library had on necromancy. It took us a month to get through them. I had trouble with some of the more technical phrases, and had to have Tanto explain them to me. Once we had finished our note-taking, it was time to get to the real work.
"Okay, Jem. I'm going to go out and find the things we need for these experiments," Tanto announced. I nodded.
"Be careful," I warned. She just smiled and walked out the safe doors of the building.
Luckily, she came back an hour later, lugging a bag full of various objects behind her.
"What's the first thing we need?" I checked our notes, painstakingly recorded and edited. We had decided not to try the things involving cannibalism.
"The ancient Greeks believed that you could tempt souls from the Underworld with fresh blood. We agreed to combine that with some of the runes from that old grimoire. Here are the different pentagrams." I showed her the copied designs. Tantomile stared at them, incorporating them into her memory. Then she grabbed a piece of chalk and drew the five-pointed stars, enclosing one in a circle of herbs and wood shavings, after she had placed the contents of a Scrabble game inside. Once that was done, she carefully poured a mixture of rat's blood and milk into a bowl, setting it inside one of the stars and drawing a circle around it. Tanto stepped into the last star and enclosed herself in a circle.
"Spirits of the departed, I offer you this gift. I call forth Coricopat, son of Synske and Magi, brother of Tantomile, mate of Jemima, daughter of Demeter and Munkustrap." Tantomile's voice seemed to echo off of the walls. "Spirit, please, grace me with your presence." A chilly breeze swept through the air, and I watched in amazement as the Scrabble pieces slowly began to move. There wasn't a sound to be heard as the pieces shifted positions to spell out words.
The pieces stopped moving, and whatever presence that had been there quickly disappeared.
Tantomile scuffed through the lines she had made and turned to me, her face flushed.
"It was him," she whispered. "It was Coricopat! And there were other voices- so many people talking at one time- but I could see him!" I walked over to look at the position of the pieces. They spelled out a message.
CANT SPEAK
GET M AND Q
MAKE CLAY GOLEM WITH EYES AND FUR
SACRED TRIANGLE
USE THE RAT BLOOD AND YEW
Some seemingly nonsense words were spelled out next, but I could tell that it was an incantation.
NEED TO TALK
LOVE U
CORI.
~*~
And there we have it! There's the next chapter! Please review and tell me how I did.