Darkness unlike any other filled the empty space. 

Thick, heavy. 

Motionless. 

A silence that drowns all. 

Not a sound to be heard. Not even a pin drop could disrupt it. 

Sparks of light could be seen here and there when a new soul arrives or leaves. None stay as long as she has it seems. The light would not reach where she stays. The place she was in wasn’t heaven or hell, at least not a heaven or hell she knew of. Purgatory would be best to describe it, quiet and desolate.

When would it be her turn? No one dared to help the one person begging to be let out; left without thought or care to who she was; or will be. 

There was no use in dwelling what once was or has to come; nothing save for the boundless void around her. Was it a punishment? What sort of cruelty had she inflicted that she’s left to suffer with no way to cry out. Has she truly been forgotten by the Divines? 

She’d curse them if she knew how to.

To suffer in the silence without rhyme or reason; no punishment could be worse than right now. 

To be forgotten was the worst punishment of all to inflict on someone. 

Quiet. Still. Anyone would go mad in here. 

If she was anyone at all. 

How long had she been here? Years? Or was it centuries? Perhaps even longer. It wasn’t as if she could tell time here in the nothingness between existence and nonexistence.

Then all at once there was a noise with a flash of light. It was loud. Like thunder booming for an oncoming storm. 

Obnoxious.

Echoing, pushing away the once dim doubt she held. Banishing the darkness around her with one single motion.

“There you are.” It said. 

Who are you? She wanted to ask, no voice nor sound left her. 

A large hand made of light grabbed her and pulled towards an opening, every now and then she’d snag on something. Hands taking shape in the shadows trying to keep her here. A game of tug of war on her soul, was she truly a bad person that these hands wanted to keep her? 

In the distant a voice cried out, she couldn’t make out the words. The voice was in pain and sounded almost lonely, at least she in her mind, the voice was. Trying to drag her back into the depths of darkness, to not want to be alone. Then the hands let go just as suddenly as they formed.

Shadows gave way to light, cold to warmth and the hand let go. 

She’d blink away the brightness of the room if she could. Her form was ill-suited to even rub her eyes, a small ball of light that shimmered with a rainbow of colors around her (small thin aura-like). 

The place itself was large. Marble columns rose high to the ceiling disappearing into the open sky. Granite flooring that seemed to shine without ever having been cleaned reflected the shimmering stars. 

Purple fabric moved slightly in the wind (that seemed to have come from no where) against the white walls. A blue love seat sat in the middle of the room along side with two other chairs to match with large bookshelves vanishing into the open ceiling, papers laid on a coffee table with a tea set being placed down only to be filled with tea the next moment. 

“Welcome!” A voice beamed. On the chair a puff of pink smoke appeared looking at her while leaning on his legs with his head in his hands. “You seem very confused.” 

How very astute of you. Where am I?

His pink bushy brows were pressed together tentatively thinking of how to answer, wavy pink ends brushing the bridge of his nose. His eyes were what caught her attention, dual-colored: one a bright emerald green and the other a golden brown. Put off by the pupils, a plus and negative within each eye seemed to watch her closely, lighting up briefly, he smiled at her. “Where? Oh!” He clapped his hands. “You’re in my domain silly, I was the one who brought you here!”

Domain?

Glancing around the room once more. It was fancy for domain of a god. Not that she’d been to another gods domain before. If she had, it shouldn’t look like this. More old, ruin with columns and drapes. Maybe tapestries depicting a story of warriors chosen by him. Something that would give her an inkling of who he was. Though, this place fit him well. Especially his outfit. 

A pleated tuxedo white shirt with red suspenders connecting to brown shorts just above his knees. Calf high socks held up with sock suspenders, his shoes although clean were brown ankle high boots tied neatly.

Leaning back just in time to take a cup of tea floating in the air beside him⎯six sugar cubes and honey were place in and stirred with a small spoon that tapped the rim as soon as it was done. 

She’d scrunch her nose at the sweetness she saw if she had one. Who are you?

Though now she realized, there was no mouth for her voice to come out of yet she heard her own voice so clearly. 

Placing a finger to his chin and lifted his eyes towards the ceiling contemplating for a moment. “I have many names, none that you would know of since being stuck in there for so long; so you can call me, let’s see. Something easy…” he paused for a long time humming and tapped his chin “...Ewan. My name is Ewan.” 

Ewan. What am I doing here?

Gesturing with open arms spilling his tea hazardously without a care, “this is but a stop towards your next destination!”

Next destination? 

Ewan nodded, “you’ll have the chance to have a new life! Isn’t that great?”

A new life?

“Mhm. Someone like you deserves that much, don’t you think?” 

I, she paused. Was that true? Being left in that void for so long, she’s forgotten who she was. It was hard to not let anger fester inside her. I was left there for who knows how long, why am I now just being let out? 

Ewan set down his empty cup as it was filled once more, lifting her in his hands. “Of course, everyone deserves a second chance at life. You were chosen for this.” 

Chosen?

“Yes!” He let her go as she slowly floated down to the ground, “I chose you specifically for a quest.”

What quest?

“I’ll answer your questions in a moment,” Ewan waved her off. “Let’s get you into an appropriate body. It’s weird just talking to your soul.”

The soul would blush if she could, feeling more exposed the more she stood there.

With a snap of his fingers, she rose off the ground magic swirled around her in sparks of vibrant hues. Feeling the magic flow through her changing the very core of her. Blinking once, twice the light hurt for a moment as they adjusted. She found herself able to stand. Taking a deep breath, the room had a faint smell of herbal tea and sandalwood. 

Sounds of trickling water caused her ears to twitch. Weird. Was her first thought. Her second was the balance of walking on two feet it took her a few tries to get to the open area where a pond of water was in the far corner. 

The water trickled from a pitcher that seemed to never end. A figure of a woman holding it in her hands ears a sharp point and a small smile. Beautiful was the first word to come to mind upon seeing the statue.

The lost soul thought, was it a statue of someone important?

Casting her view down into the water. A small round face and pink nose, cat eyes of vibrant blue hue stared back at her. Black slick fur tinted blue when she moved in the middle of her forehead was flame. Lifting a hand⎯ a paw⎯touched her ears. It flicked under her touch, shocking was an understatement she felt in this moment. Snapping her head behind to find two-tails that faded to blue at the tip wiggled behind her.

This can’t be real. She was a cat! A cute black cat, but a cat nonetheless! That would explain the unbalance she felt when trying to walk. “Hey! Ewan! What gives!?” 

Curiosity overcame him as he stood behind her. His own face reflecting in the water, floating high above the ground with arms behind his back head tilting in question. “You don’t like your new form? Would you prefer another one?” 

“How could anyone like being turned into an animal! Why not a human body?” Letting out a frustrated huff, “I’m human!”

“Are you sure you were human before?”

“Wha⎯” she found herself speechless at the moment. It was true she couldn’t remember anything before that void but still, how could he say that? That’s just cruel. If it was true then how could she talk to him in that soul form? 

Shaking her head, “that’s not what we are discussing and for your information, I was definitely human prior to being turned into a cat.” Pointing a paw at him. 

Ewan shrugged at her comment⎯or rather brushing off what she was saying. 

“I think you are cute. Besides, there were already too many humans being born in the world.” He gave her a snide smile moving towards the middle of the room motioning with a finger pulling her with him, “humans are destructive beings. Always starting wars over nonsense. Pollution, famine, you know just hurting the planet without a care.” With a wave of his hand appearing out of the ground was a gyroscope surrounding a globe, “there’s only one of you, your kind to be exact.”

The globe was surrounded by large metal wheels that twisted and turned as if following the rotation of the sphere inside. Magic swirled around him floating inwards towards the sphere inside. Lands and oceans formed, small letters appearing above kingdoms and cities alike, two moons appearing in succession⎯teal and red. Forests and animals jumped and danced. The world felt alive within the globe. 

She couldn’t deny that it was a fantastical sight to see.  Jumping up onto the table to get a better look. Missing her back legs she struggled to get up. Letting out a breath, cat’s always land on their feet, right? I hope that’s true. She didn’t want to test that theory. The cat swore she could see people walking in the tiny the kingdoms. “My kind?”

“Yup!” Ewan nodded, “you are the first and only of your kind. Felis Major. A special being of the feline descent, a species unlike any other!” He sounded excited, “you can do anything humans can do! You can talk, do magic, interact, etc.”

“So, why not a human?” Countering his explanation. 

“Because I get to choose and I chose this,” placing a hand to his chest with a bright smile. “Plus I really like cats and humans are so boring.”

She was already exhausted talking with him.

Quickly changing the topic,“what is this place?”

“This world is called Senahone, a world rich in magic, technology, and magic crystals..” Ewan moved his hand, the lands moved fast before stopping on a kingdom. “This is the capital, the Kingdom of Luceras, under the protection of the Divine Lucera, known for it's farming, military, and technology advances, though if you ask me they really are known mostly for their magic.”

“Is it that grand?”

Ewan tapped one of the outer rings staring at the red moon. “Out of all the kingdoms, they are the ones with the most magic, I’d say it's grand.”

The cat clicked her tongue. Whether he wouldn’t say anything more because he refused to or he didn’t know anything annoyed her. Were the divines always so secretive or just him? Sighing she continued her questions, “what about this place?”

“Oh!” He was back to his cheerful demeanor, “this is the place you will be living from now on.” 

“If it’s under divine protection, why did you bring me out of the void? What even is the void?”

Ewan stared at her. “You really don’t know much, huh.” 

The cat glared at him. 

“The void in a sense, is a prison world meant for those who the Divines put there that are a danger to the world. The sentencing can differ depending on the crime committed.” He gave her a one-sided shrug. “Like I said I needed you for a quest.”

She stared down at her paws. If the Divines put me, then that means I did something horrible right? Sighing in annoyance. “A quest, right. Am I some royals pet or something?”

He snorted, “no. That would be to easy. You will be sent to the outer cities to begin your quest.” 

Not easy indeed, she thought. “Why the outer cities?”

“Not every quest begins in the city. This particular one, you need to first learn the world.” 

That makes sense. The cat thought to herself. Why brings someone new into the world only to watch themselves get killed the next because they said the wrong thing to someone or misused a spell.

Her eyes lit up if she could do the same thing as humans does that mean she could use magic? Maybe she wouldn’t mind being a special cat. Learning about the world would be nice. Considering how long she might have been stuck in that void. How much has the world changed? At the very least, she was a new person. This was a chance to be something brand new.

Grinning to herself Ewan watched silently tapping her head to get her attention back to him. “Someone seems excited.” 

Her tails flicked behind her in annoyance having gotten lost in her thoughts. “What’s this quest you have for me, oh divine being.” 

He chuckled with a clap sending the globe away. Booping her nose. “Haste make waste young kitty.” 

Rubbing her nose with a scrunch her ears pressed against her head. “You’re the one who pulled me out of the void, a prison world.” 

“Touche,” he answered. “Alright then. Your quest is to find the next hero of this world and kill them before they master their magic.”

Ewan’s smile was devoid of emotion to her it seemed fake; a smile that never reached his eyes. Trembling at his words, was he really asking her that because he knew more about her previous life? 

Did he have plans of his own to make her into a weapon?

Swallowing down her fear. Was her voice trembling as she spoke? Ah, i can’t stop shaking. “W-What?”