Shattered Pentacle

Lyra waited while the stranger finished eating. She’d never known hunger that desperate in her life—but she’d felt that craving from plenty of animals.

While she ate, that strange spirit watched Lyra with the same curiosity. It flowed closer to her, circling her in the narrow confines of the cave. Even if they never touched, she felt the awful creeping of death following behind it.

Her Spirit magic wouldn’t affect this creature, not without more knowledge of Death. What would she do if it attacked her?

No Capper to ask, no Bonnie watching her back. Even her friends were outside the cave.

“Human?” Jaqueline asked. “And you made it all the way down here? How’d you even find me?”

She shook her head once. Not because denying her would make this conversation any easier—but she couldn’t change the truth through will alone. Better to be honest from the beginning. “More than just human. Not like you, but I think you can already tell that.” She gestured vaguely over her shoulder, where no variety of creepy ghost was following her.

By some definition, Capper might fill that same role. At least he wasn’t so hideous to look at. “A friend sent me to rescue you. At least I hope she’s your friend. Lot of wasted effort if she was lying to us...”

The thin girl retreated a step, lifting a dagger between herself and Lyra. “If you think you can drag me off to get gutted somewhere, you’re wrong on that too. I’ll make it suck for both of us.”

Lyra sighed, settling onto the cave floor. There was no time to waste on this negotiation—any second might bring who knew what army down on them. But if she couldn’t get Jaqueline to cooperate with them now, they could end up fighting up to the surface with every step.

“Volita sent me,” she said. “Vampire? Said you were a friend. Please tell me she didn’t lie.”

“Oh,” Jaqueline relaxed, lowering the dagger again. “Figured she’d forgotten about me by now. Wait long enough, and you assume...” She gestured around the cave with her dagger. “Guess that means she worked things out with the Infernalists? Not that I expect you to know.”

“Right, I don’t have a clue. But I’ve got a team of good people ready to get you back to the world of the living. Stay close, and we’ll protect you.”

Jaqueline laughed, her voice carrying through the cavern. “The human thinks she can protect me. Like I need it this shallow in the Underworld.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow, attention settling on her emaciated body. She was doing so great she would soon be as thin as some of the skeletons outside the cave. “Alright, great. My friends are outside. We’re supposed to bring you to meet with Volita. After that, it’s between you two what happens next. None of our business.”

The thin girl gathered a few scraps from the cavern floor—bits of cloth, half-empty cans, a few unusual rocks. All went into an ancient-style rucksack, which might’ve been stolen from any of the military ghosts.

Then they were off together, hurrying back the way they’d come. Jaqueline still kept her distance from Lyra, not close enough that she would be within easy range to attack.

“You’re not a ghost,” Jaqueline said. “You’re not a Sin-Eater, but you’re alive. What does that make you? Fairy?”

She giggled. “I have friends who are, but no. We call ourselves mages. Not sure how much more I’m allowed to tell you. Your powers are better for working down here than mine.”

They emerged from the cave into the shadowy gap between two valleys, where Lyra’s friends waited with AJ.

“She’s alive, great,” Reagan said. “Are you strong enough to travel?”

Jaqueline looked between them, drawing her dagger again. She didn’t swing it in their direction, but she did keep it close. “More than any of you people. With her as the possible exception.” She nodded towards AJ. “We’re not that deep. Do you know the way back?”

She did know the way back, as it happened. Not that the journey back to the surface was easy—but with an experienced guide and familiar territory, there was very little chance of wandering too far.

That didn’t mean the escape was without danger, of course. More than one ghost tried to get in their way on the hike to what AJ called a “gate,” where they could pass to the upper parts of the Underworld without making payment at a ferry.

But true to her word, the one named Jaqueline knew how to fight the dead.

Those wounds they did suffer, Lyra could treat almost instantly.

They took another route through the Dead Dominion. But in the end, it brought them to the same graveyard, where Starlight waited in quiet meditation. How she could sit right in the open without being noticed—Lyra would've called it luck, if she didn't already know better.

Pale sunlight shone over the graveyard now, filling the air with a warmth Lyra had not felt since first stepping through the gate. She stumbled onto the grass, spreading both arms and letting it drift over her. She banished her enhanced senses with a little effort of will, in case anyone happened to be watching. If it was day again, there might soon be visitors to this place. The last thing she needed to start her day was a sharp punch in the face from disbelief.

Starlight jerked to her feet, hurrying over to the strange gateway as they stumbled out. “Anyone hurt? I don't see any broken bones.”

“We're fine,” Reagan said. She nodded back at their companions. “I think everyone needs a nice long nap. Can't take our new friend to meet Volita until tomorrow anyway.”

“We made it,” AJ said, a little louder. “This is where my involvement in the whole affair ends. Good luck, everybody. Especially you, Jaqueline. Feels like you need it more than most.” She turned to go, hurrying through the graveyard towards the street. “Family will be waiting for me. Good luck!”

The girl winced at the sound of her name. She pulled her threadbare hoodie a little higher over her head, covering her face. She glanced nervously to either side and took one step towards Lyra. Even if she didn't have a weird ghost of her own, meeting her first somehow brought her more trust.

Maybe just because she was more open with the truth than the others. Lyra was still new enough that she didn't self-censor as much. “I just hope we aren't staying out in the open,” she muttered. “The sun won't stop them from hunting me. Is there somewhere safe to hide until we meet the vampire?”

Lyra nodded. “If it's okay with everyone. We don't usually host visitors for our own safety, but...

Jaqueline shrugged. “I get that. I don't want much—just something warm to eat, and somewhere I can crash where no one is going to tear out my throat. I'll swear to whatever you want about secrecy. Moire and I are pretty sure you aren't werewolves now or working for them.”

She patted Lyra on the shoulder as she said it, grinning. “I don't care how committed to their deception they were, no one working with a werewolf would ever look like a cat.”

“Not a bad idea, now that you mention it,” Reagan said. As she spoke, her attention remained on the graveyard all around them, watching the distant gate. Few would visit a place like this in the early morning, but it wasn't impossible... “I'm not excited about bringing a stranger into the Sanctum. But if they're an animal while they visit, that's a limit on how much trouble they can cause. And no one would recognize her when we bring her to meet with our Kindred... friend.”

Jaqueline laughed, a little louder now. “I know you people have a few tricks, but there's limits. No way that's possible.”

“Probably not against your will,” Lyra admitted. “But possible, yeah. Quite disorienting the first time, but you get used to it after a while. I guess we would want it to last until tonight.” She ran over the details in her head, going over the Atlantean she'd learned. Not very much of that would help her deal with ghosts—but changing into an animal was effortless. “Not out in the open, there's sightlines to a few of those buildings. Wonder if the bathroom is open.”

It was, with a little help from Tabitha's magic. They all crowded inside. Reagan took a stick of chalk and started scribbling onto the wall for her own teleport. Lyra sat cross-legged across from the girl they'd rescued, smearing a few symbols of her own onto the tile floor with a grease pencil. She'd cast this particular spell so many times now she could recite its every symbol and mudra by rote.

“What happened to that spooky...” She gestured vaguely into the air. “Your friend.”

Jaqueline grinned. “Always with me, you just can't see as well up here. Not surprising, with the way you look. Strange that the Underworld let you down there at all.”

She wrote the last few symbols onto the floor, with only a few gaps. “Are they okay with this?”

The girl lifted the hood away, grinning. “First, they didn't think it was real. Watching you, now she thinks it's... poetic. Ran away from Infernalists, went where they couldn't follow. Now to get back I have to be one.”

Lyra held her knife in one hand, touching it to the diagram. She held out the other, palm flat. “Grab on. I'm gonna try to share my experience with you, so it's not quite as overwhelming. I've been a cat a lot.”

“Couldn't it be something cooler? Vampires turn into bats, and my friends are vampires, so...”

Lyra shook her head vigorously. “The whole point is making it so you can't cause trouble while you're with us. If you were a bat, you could find a window and fly away with all our secrets.”

“Portal's just about ready,” Reagan said. “Hurry up. Only a matter of time until people show up.”

“It's temporary though, right?” Jaqueline pressed. “Sounds like it might be fun to try once, like sleeping with a guy. Don't want to make it a habit.”

Lyra choked back a laugh. “It's not permanent. I can't even permanently change your hair color. This one will last until the same time tomorrow—or sooner, if I turn it off.” It would also get disbelieved violently out of existence if she did anything obviously human around sleeper witnesses—but she wasn't going to tell their new friend about that. There would be no sleeper witnesses in the Sanctum.

“Guess I shouldn't ask for something else if cats are what you know,” she said. “Don't want to end up without a brain, or too many eyeballs or whatever.” She grinned up at Lyra, taking the offered hand. “Just make sure I'm a black cat. I wanna look cool.”

“Already planning on it.”

The spell was far harder when she used it on someone else, even a willing subject. Many in the Pentacle would be upset with her no matter how she cast it—no outsider should witness such powerful magic. But Lyra wasn't telling her how it was done. Besides, the audacity of it gave the spell its own kind of protection. Many groups suspected the truth of magic, but how many would believe she could turn someone into a cat?

Lyra could, in fact, turn someone into a cat. If she was going to the effort to create a specific animal, instead of just easing the tapestry into “the person you'd be if you were a cat” as she did on herself, she might as well get a little creative.

A few seconds later, the girl across from her had been replaced with a black cat, with tufts of fur on her head growing blue instead of black. She made her small too—small enough that a cat Lyra's usual size could carry her with ease.

More effort than it was worth? Almost certainly. At least this way no one could mistake Jaqueline for anyone else.

“We're ready.” Lyra scooped her out of her clothes before she could run off, tugging with two fingers against her neck. She went limp in her grip, helpless to escape. “Someone get her clothes.”

Starlight did, following her to the portal. “Can't believe we're really doing it this way. Are you going to keep her in a pet carrier the whole time?”

Though she was too disoriented to say anything, the cat still watched them, ears folded back and eyes wide with shock. Even being a ghost who traveled into the Underworld and back wasn't enough for her to easily accept magic. But she wasn't human enough for disbelief, and that was what mattered. “No way. One time was too much. Besides, she's as tired as the rest of us. I'll get her some real food, then somewhere warm to sleep. Capper and I will keep an eye on her.”

They passed through the portal together, and into the Sanctum's protective walls. Lyra kept her feline friend calm as best she could, at least until she reached the kitchen.

Capper was already waiting there, sitting up on the counter. His eyes locked on the one she carried. “Who's this?”

“Jaqueline,” she answered, turning the animal in her arms. “Please don't run off. I've still got some salmon in the fridge. I don't want to chase you.”

“You're so... big...” the cat muttered, still dazed. She didn't run when Lyra set her down, just stretched out and stared in her direction. “And smells. Awful smells.”

“Underworld, I think.” She washed both hands, scrubbing until the last of grime ran into the sink and she felt safe handling food.

The standards for animals were far lower, of course. Few cats would get sick because a piece of meat got a little dirty before they ate it. It felt a little like sharing her favorite movie with someone—Lyra wanted to make sure Jaqueline had a good experience, even if she was never an animal ever again.

She brought a pan to low heat for herself with a little herb butter, then cut plates of thin slices for her familiar and her guest. She set both in front of them, along with a bowl of drinking water. “Here.”

Jaqueline sat up, glaring up at her. “You didn't cook it yet. Do mine with yours.”

Capper laughed, pawing at his own plate. “Student, I question the wisdom of this choice. Though I find the situation very amusing... even more so when you bring her to the vampire.”

In the time it took him to say that, Jaqueline stood up on shaky paws, and started sniffing at her plate. Then she took one of the little pieces and started to chew.

“This isn't because I like it,” she muttered, speaking with her mouth full. “I'm just starving. You try spending a few months in the Underworld and see how you react.”

Lyra put up both hands. “I'm not judging you! Besides, humans eat raw fish all the time.”

As she said it, Reagan poked her head into the kitchen, eyeing the pan. “Was gonna ask if you wanted some pizza. Looks like you're good.”

Lyra nodded. “Did you see Bonnie? Is she...”

Reagan shook her head. “She's at the excavation with Akiko, if you can believe it. Offered to help with... something.”

“Oh.” She fished around in her pocket, holding out the spell she'd made a few days before. “Could you make sure this makes it to our meeting tonight?”

The mage took it, and her eyes went wide. “Damn, Lyra! What kind of spell did you put on this?” She stepped all the way into the kitchen, holding the stick under the bright lights so she could read the runes. “Did Akiko help you with this? Kinda looks like her work, but in your handwriting.”

“You know she didn't. No one can get her to set foot outside the excavation for more than a few minutes. She's not gonna spend all day helping me.”

Reagan tucked it away into a pocket. “Why do you want me to carry it?”

In answer, Lyra switched off the stove, and set the rest of the fish up onto the counter. “If Bonnie's not here anyway... you've never slept through the day until you tried it with them.” She nodded towards the two on the counter. “Something to wear too, please?”

The orange-haired mage folded both arms, expression going stern. “You want us to bring you to see vampires like that? Remember what I said about...”

“I remember.” She sliced the remaining fish into thinner pieces, easier for the size she was about to be. “That might be true for most vampires. But you saw how Volita acted. I think I'll be safer than you.”

Reagan laughed. “Maybe. Can I trust you not to run off on some adventure across town? If I call in a meeting and we don't show, I don't think the Kindred will be understanding about it.”

She nodded. “Do that mind thing on me when it's time to go. I'll bring our new friend.”

Reagan sighed, then held out an expectant hand. “Go on and give me what you're wearing, then. I don't want dirty clothes on the kitchen floor.”