I close the letter. I sigh. I burn the letter.

I lay down in the bed of death, I feel another body lay down in it as well, “Are you going to sleep with me Shio, it is only mid day. I just need a nap…” I sit up. The door is closed. A girl is in my bed. I am too tired to care. Emotionally and physically. You can only deal with so much rage and mana before you kneel over.

I close my eyes, laying on my side under the covers. I feel the covers lift, a body pressed against mine. The smell of some kind of perfume. Warmth, tender warmth. Than sleep.

~~~

“My dear chosen.” I open my eyes. In front of me is my goddess. Well, it is a continuation of the last dream. My head is resting in her lap. Her mana runs through me and I take a deep breath, like a man breathing truly for the first time. My entire being shakes with pleasure. A large grin plasters itself on my face.

“I am lucid this time.”

“That you are my chosen. Y-you killed for the first time…” She looks saddened.

“Did I do something wrong, my goddess of the stars?”

“Are you not disturbed… In need of council?”

“I am not my goddess. They attacked me. I killed them. I did not know them. They were walking sacks of meat with the faces and voices of people. Disgusting pile of meats. My anger was just. My anger was righteous. My anger made more power for me, in the way of someone to care for.” I reach up and stroke my steller goddess’s cheek. It feels like skin, soft and warm like a warm bath.

“I-I see.. I-I think I understand...My chosen…”

We sit in silence. My frequent coughing being the only breaks in the quiet, “Sleep… Dear chosen...Sleep and awake in your world...One that you own…”

“Will I see you again?” My voice sounded desperate. I reach up and stroke her cheek once more. Her hand grasp mine.

“Maybe...Maybe my dear hero...You have earned me a city full of prayers…” She takes my hand, brings it to her lips and kisses the back of my hand.

I fall asleep, a sense of pride and happiness running through my mind and body.

~~~

I awake. I fall asleep near him. My hell was burned… His harsh fire became warm to me.

I woke from a nightmare less sleep for once in my life. Thanks to him.

My parents are gone. Thanks to him

That house will never welcome or force me inside again. Thanks to him.

Everything that has plagued my life… is gone. Thanks to him.

I will stay by his side till he has no more use for me. I do not care what he does. I am free. I am selfish. I love this Cat-kin, with my entire heart.

Nothing it better than laying in this bed, watching him sleep peacefully with that strange smile on his lips.

I reach over and stroke his cheek. His skin soft. His hair, or fur. Very soft. His tail ended up wrapped around my leg. I do not mind. It is him.

My hero. My savior.

The kind man that killed high nobel’s for my sake.

The kind man that claimed me, as his.

The book changed him. It gave him a drive.

Thank you my ancestor. Thank you for giving him a purpose, a drive in his life. A reason for him to push his energy forth. A reason for me to devote myself to him.

Someone knocks on the door. I knock on the bed once.

“Lady Shio does not want to be bothered.” Marble voice is quite form behind the door. I want to enjoy this.

Ivan sturs around a hour later. His eyes blink open. His pupils narrow till they can handle the light in the room. I smile at him. He smiles back. My heart flutters. My stomach churns. My body too cold to blush.

“Ah, I am sorry Shio. I still do not control my tail very well. I simply put it out of my mind and it does what it likes.”

There is no reason to worry… None at all…

A rumbling sound comes for him. To both of our shocks. He purred? I thought that only house cats did something like that…

His face turns to a grin, than a chuckle. His ears are perked up and alert. I wonder what it is like to have those. Or his eyes. Or his tail.

He sits up, and stretches. He gets up and walks to the bathroom, taking off his leather shirt. Showing off his bare chest. My eyes draw up and down his figure. My body heats up. I hide in the plush covers, “Shio...How do you use the baths?”

I get up from the bed. My body loses much of the heat that it stockpiled form him, and the sheets. I shiver.

I walk into the bathroom to see him only in a pair of undergarments. My mind blanks. “Shio.” I look to where he is pointing. The tub. I walk over to it and press my hand on one of the three runs. I sign out, those weird and wonderful signs that only he and I understand. Only ours.

“H-e-a-t.”

“C-o-l-d.”

“N-o-r-m-a-l.” I am lacking in words… But it does not matter. He understood. He uses the heat rune, drawing the bath till it is steaming. Such a humble man...He has such power. He can command such terror that royal knights back off and let him have peace. But he draws his own bath.

“Thank you Shio. I will let you use it next.” A small mental picture runs through my mind. Of us in the bath, together. Enjoying the warmth and each other. I nod, trying to flush the picture out. I walk out of the bathroom. I close the door behind me and return to the bed.

I fall asleep again. Tired. Mental exhaustion.

I wake up to a hand on my shoulder and Ivan’s quiet voice, “Shio. You can use the bathroom if you like.” I nod sleepily.

I get up, walk into the bathroom and take off my dress. I fold it, and my undergarments beside the tub. The water is still steaming. I put a hand in it. I clench my fist. It hurts, the heat hurts for a moment before becoming soothing. I step in. I let out a soundless whimper. But the pain fades, and warmth remains.

I fall asleep in the bath.

A knock on the door wakes me up. I have slept so much today… I will not at all tonight.

I stand up out of the bath to answer the door. But I have never taken such a hot bath before, I fall to the ground as the world twirls.

“Shio, are you alright?” The kind man opens the door. I look up to meet his eyes. The world twirls, “Poor thing. You were in there for awhile.” He picks me up so easily. My naked body is pressed against his chest. There is no words for the bliss.

He lies me in the bed, bringing the sheets up to make me modest. Does...he not like my body? I-I hope he does. I hope he likes everything about me…

I hope this kind man loves me...He is the only thing I have left in this world...Do you love me of kind hero? Oh, kind, modest, terrifying hero. Do you love me? A broken, houseless, orphaned girl? At least you care enough to make sure I am ok… Oh kind hero. Thank you for caring for me. You are my world. You, have killed off everything else that was in it.

Killed with such malice. For my sake. Kind hero. Scary hero. But mostly kind. No matter what. I will stay by your side...I do not care if I even have to kill, to keep my place by your side I will do anything. Anything.

~~~

The poor girl fainted getting out of the bath. Well, fell. Form the heat I think.

She has freezer burn scars all over her body. Almost every inch of her milky skin has some sort of scar. Well besides that parts that everyone would see like her face, neck and hands. I think she might have some nerve damage as well. Just a guess form how bad these scars are.

I will ask later. It might be part of the family secret to handle ice as well as they did. Selective healing, leaving the nerves that sense heat dead? Something that leads to a better focus and understanding of the ice?

Do mages have those moments of… well... eukira?

Things to think about at another time. I have my whole life ahead of me to think and ask. The no is more important.

“Hero Ivan Mercer, the Headmaster ask for you in his study.”

“Thank you Marble. I will head there now. Make sure Shio is not bothered, she must be tired for today.” A smile Ivan.

I look to the mirror. An eerie smile on my face. An upturn of the corner of the lips. A disturbing smirk showing the tips of sharp carnivore teeth. A face I am use to seeing in the mirror, but so many differences. Enough to forgot that I was once human. Have I lost that little, special thing that everyone called humanity? Why am I not bothered if I had?

I straighten my god gifted outfit. Every single bit of it fitting perfect, every inch of looks like it was made to be put on my body. I sometimes forget I am wearing it. It feels like a second layer of skin that breaths with me, moves with me.

I head out of the door. I know the path to the headmaster’s office, study area. I was escorted quite often to it.

A few minutes of walk pass. My bare feet quietly tapping on the marble floor. Something else, I only recently noticed that I had no shoes! I will have to fix that at some point.

I open the door and walk inside. The headmaster is sitting behind his desk, a cup of a some sort liquor is in his hand, “Yes Headmaster?” I tilt my head and look him in the eyes. It startles me how easy this comes to me. The smile, the small tilt of the head. The relaxed poster. The wide eyes that show off my dark brown eyes. My unnatural slitted brown eyes. How I know they are as thin as they could be? I am looking at him, and a large window is behind him.

More light, the narrower they get. The less, the wider they get. Cat eyes are awesome.

“Ivan… I will cut straight to the point. The noble assembly wants your head on a pike. The King wants you arrested and tried in a rigged trial to appease the posh idiots with no survival instincts. I am the only one in your corne-”

“You're trying to keep the idiot nobels alive, inbreeding finally caught up with them?” The Headmaster looks me in the eyes, for a moment. In those eyes I see a iron will. Someone who will not be broken by regular people, by battles, by pain. I am not sure why my first instinct is to test that will. I know I had anger problems, I am cruel and vindictive, but I do not hand out random and impulse torture.

...Since when could I think of things like that without breaking a smile? How much did Fata Stele chang me. Changed me for the better, I think. I do not think I could do stuff like I did to those two ice wielding twats. I was too kind, and she culled that kindness. Would I thank her before this? Maybe not. Good brainwashing is making them realized they have been brainwashed, and is thankful for it.

I am thankful.

No need to change.

“Ivan...Are you paying attention?”

“No, not really. I was thinking how being reborn as a Cat-kin has changed me.”

A flash of interest passes through his eyes. I wonder why, “Enlighten me, Ivan.”

“I lost what most would call their humanity, I think. I do not think I actually ever had it. I look at you and see a walking mass of flesh held together by a wondrous unity of bone, muscles, and blood. I look at Shio, and see a girl that the world has abused. A kind and sweet girl that felt so alone, and was alone.”

I walk up a few steps, “So I acted. It could've been anyone. It could've been the fire headed girl. It could’ve been the elf. It could’ve been your granddaughter that I would of burnt the world down for their happiness. Not love, but attachment. I lost that little part that would’ve had me care for those that I am burning. Sympathy for those who I do not know the names of.” I smile at him. A bit too wide I think. His eyes tell. They show fear. Not for his life, but that creeping fear that you have when you realize you are in the room with a predator.

I am the biggest cat in the room. I have the sharpest claws. The loudest roar. Get all the cat analogies? Because I am a cat? Eh, same feeling. I am stronger, and both of those strange instincts are telling us that is the truth. Why am I putting on this display even though he wants to help me out of self interest? Because there is something that gets my heart pumping when I see their eyes go wide with fear.

I want it.

I crave it.

It makes me smile.

It makes me feel good about myself.

I am scary.

Fata Stele is their only hope to sleep at night.

A boogie man would feel nice...Maybe that is what I would be. This world’s boogeyman.

“I want you out of this city.” He spoke up. A man willing to act through fear. The real hero between us.

“I was planning on traveling. I do not want to be bound to a single city. The world is wide. It is beautiful. Am I am finally thinking I know just, barely enough about myself and my magic. Instincts rule it. A sourcer is the name I think I like. Sourcer Hero of Fata Stele, that does sound epic.” I smile at him and chuckle.

“Beast. Get out of my city. You want coin? I’ll get you enough to live comfortably.” He finally dropped the act. He saw though everything, but how long ago? Dumb hero types, didn't kill me.

“Alright. I will be in my room for a bit. I got to tell Shio we are leaving.” I smile even wider. A smile that goes up to my eyes. I see his shoulders shiver. Sharp teeth are quite scary.

“Was that kind, and quiet man I first meet an act?”

“No. It was how I use to be. Overly kind, too shy. I am still a bit shy of course. Nothing much has changed. I just know much more. Just a week or so I lived here. And I saw a world I hated. I saw people I hated. That man is standing in front of you. Just knowing he is too powerful to be stopped. That joy of magic is still there. The kindness is being shown to Shio. I just do not see most people here as worth it anymore.” I leave the room.

I walk to me room. I open the door and see Shio laying in the bed. Sleeping still.

I walk up to her and pat her face lightly, speaking in a quiet and warm tone. I find it amazing I can switch like this. The predator prowling in a room, to a close confidant mixed with lover closeness. Too much for a lonely and attention starved girl to deny.

I am quite manipulative… bluntly now… What will the future hold?

She stirs and rises up from the sheets. The fabric falling off her small chest showing scars over her breast and parts of her stomach, “We are leaving soon. The headmaster is banishing us form the city. The nobles find our acts unforgivable. We are pawns in the king's eyes, to be hanged to ease those who have power. They hate us, so we must leave.” I stroke her cheek. She leans into the touch. Her face blushed. No effort to hide her body. I wonder how alone she felt to act like this to the first person to show her affection.

It is sad.

I retrieve her clothes. She puts them on. Just some type of panties, and a white sundress. She has lost all of her claim to wealth. But she still smiles, refusing to leave me side.

The headmaster daughter walks in at some point while I am teaching Shio more words in sign language.

“Wow, Ivan. The heads of a high noble family, AND walking off with their daughter. You are going to be the talk of the capital for years.” She sets a small sack on the table. A map, and a smaller map of the city, “Go their. A wagon is waiting for you to leave. If any guards stop you, tell them that you have business with the crown. Or magic your way out. This city could use a bit more craters.”

“I will not. By myself? Maybe. But not with Shio, not with her life on the line.”

“Her life is not in danger!” For the first time, I heard the maid scream, “Just do it! Burn this wretched city so I can leave it and start somewhere else where I am not called a whore’s child, a bastard spawn! I don't want to be picked by my grandfather who only keeps me around to care for these up tight nobles who treat me like a piece of furniture!” Her shoulders rise and lower, over and over as she lets out the fumes of her anger at her life. So many people that are unhappy.

“Why not come with us?” I tilt my head. This… seems to confuse her. All the anger, the rebellious spirit, the passion tripped over itself in confusion, “I do not know how to cook or clean without a pan or a washer. Shio… Might.” She shakes her head, “Nevermind. She is too pretty for that.” I chuckle. Shio tilts her head.

“Where are you going?” Oh, I got her attention. It might be helpful to have someone who knows the world that can actually speak and barter.

“West I am thinking. I heard about demons and I wish to see and speak to one. After that I am going to spread the word of Fata Stele. I will sleep under the night sky and just see this new world. I have only been here a week or so. In that time I have killed, I have used magic, I have walked longer than I thought i could in my body.”

“...I will come. Only to see the world. I heard rumors. They are calling you a villain masquerading as a hero.” There is a look of conflict in her face. But the hatred for this city seems to have won out. Has she hated this place that much? Jumping on the first way out? Well she could of just left I think.

“Alright, will you guide Shio and I down to the wagon...I also have no clue how to guide horses. Do you Shio?” She nods, “Ok we are not hopeless than. Let us head out. I have nothing besides the clothes on my back… and I doubt Shio could go home. About you Sylvia?”

“Nothing I would like to keep. We can get clothes in a town we stop by, unlike you Mister Villain. Shio and I would like clothes to change into for a bit of verity.”

“Alright. Lead the way.” The now ex-maid. Well, I think running away is a pretty good resignation letter. Well, the ex-maid leads out of the room to the center staircase. The one look I got outside showed the sun was almost completely hidden behind the horizon. We walk and walk.

Magic. Just fucking make elevators already. You’ll have more likeable elders with poofy white beards. Just how many wise old men have kneeled over climbing you shitty stairs?

We arrive at the bottom. The halls are empty except for the hero of the sword. He is dressed in armour, shining white armour with a new sword. His eyes hold fear and determination. Behind him are a number of knights, “Did the Headmaster arrange for this?” I flair my magic. I chuckle as the tower groans from the shifting pressure on it. The two girls are now behind me.

I take a deep breath. I feel my ribs expand, move and flex to fit my expanded lungs. I feel how the simple act of breathing changes the mana around me. How breathing in causes it to swirl. One part moves, but that part moves another, and another, and another. By the end, a star is above me. A dark purple ball of plasma breathing by itself.

The knights almost seem to have their spirits broken but the hero of the sword looks at the star with the eyes of a traumatized soldier. The act, they fight.

He charges. The knights follow. I grab the star with my bare hand. It is about the size of a snowglobe. I breath on it. I feel it grow. It grows. The stone under me reflects the purple light bathing this hall in a eerie glow. I toss it, underhand. Like a softball pitcher.

The knights turn and run. The hero stands his ground, dodging the ball of fire. I smile at him and wave, “Goodbye wielder of odd metal.”

The star goes supernova.

Unlike fire which is a transfer of heat across atoms, plasma is actual matter in another state. This, well. I told her I wanted star grenades.

The knights are cooked alive like pieces of meat in tin foil. Little, tiny sand sized parts of plasma magic peper them. Most stars go supernova very shortly after they fuse iron, but in that short time they fuse every single element as well. I smile, a very wide smile. The heat seems to be the main killer. The sword hero is on the ground, sobbing. His arms crushed by the shockwave, his sword shattered with the pieces all over the ground. His armour literally red hot and fusing onto his skin as he cries, “Gods...Have Mercry…” Syliva has never seen my magic much has she?

I walk up to the hero. The actual hero of this story. He was not wearing a helmet. I step on his neck and smile at him, “You dumb little shit. You tried. Again. Now your life is forfeit. Came form a farm? Should of stayed there shoveling cow shit. Because now you are going to die. You are going to die here, in pain. Burning and choking alive with my foot on your neck. And I am going to enjoy every moment of it. If there is some sort of afterlife, you better hope my god is judging where you go. She is beautiful, kind, and gentle. She took in all the qualities that I left to become what I needed to be in this world. To become what I wanted to be but was too weak spirited to be.” His struggles are dying. Time to finish my little rant, “Well, some people call us her-”

A thump is heard through the wall. The sound of something piercing flesh is heard. I turn to look at what happen and see Shio on the ground, blood soaking her white sun dress. Form the other entrances are knights with ranged weapons.

I walk over to her. The world just...stops becoming important. My eyes grow blurry with tears as I bend over to take her hand, “S-shio? H-how do I heal you?” She isn't moving. She isn't breathing. Her eyes are wide and the crossbow bolt went through her heart. I think the shock killed her. I hug her close and rock her a bit. Heat blooms in my chest.

She wa, “s MINE!” I let the heat out. The tower groans once more. The crossroad path with the archer. The walls began to melt. Outside the sun sets. Stars reign the night sky. And I rip a part of the night sky out and summon it here. Stars, countless hot stars fill the halls. All of different colors, “You fucking animals could not let me have the ONE fucking thing I claimed in this shitty city. The one girl that was going to help me so much, the one girl that actually got some sort of feeling BESIDES the urge to rip out your throats and burn this country and salt the land.”

Her body turns to ash. Falling from my hands. The children in armour began to scream as it starts melting onto their own skin.

“You provoked me. I was offered a way out, and you provoked me!” This part comes out as a scream. Not a rageful roar of a battle hardened warrior. But a cracky scream of a man going under a panic attack.

I force the stars together. They collect, and collect. I walk outside, past the burnt corpses covered in molten steel. I hold a ball of starfire. I hold a star larger than myself. I hold my revenge against this fucking country. I look to the palace, and I throw it. I look up and see part of the night sky is blank. A empty blackness. I literally ripped stars form the sky. Is that where my magic comes from? The actual stars?

A barrier of magic effects around the palace but the star does not care. The star burns through it and hits the palace. Then it goes off. I have to look away form the brightness of the explosion.

Over the course of a few minutes I let out a few calming breaths. I liked Shio. Not love, I liked her. I liked her. I liked her. She is replaceable. There are countless with traumatic past, all that stuff. But...It hurts to be loved and failed that source of affection.

I look back at the palace and see a husk of marble that is on fire. Most of it is gone but the ruins have literally caught on fire. Nothing lived. I start to walk toward a gate. I do not feel faint yet. I look up and see the empty patch of sky has come back. Do I borrow it?

“Ivan...Oh gods Ivan what did you do!” I forge another star. I turn with it in my hand. I see Syliva, her hand over her mouth.

“We are leaving. I already cremated Shio by accident. This country shall end, they have provoked me.” I continue to walk. Sylvia, being a smart girl walks after me, holding her hands in her skirt.

Shio comes to mind. I squeeze the star in my hand. Everything around us bathed in purple. Every star I make is giant. Large enough to be purple. Comparing it to the yellow ball in the sky is like comparing the sun to the Earth. Simply too large to properly imagine. I need to make it bigger. Have enough power to prevent something I like being killed or destroyed. They are mine. They belong to me. I am selfish, I do not like to share.

After a while of walking Sylvia stops in front of a wagon left on the side of the main street road on the lower level. I toss the star to the towers and watch as it explodes, taking out the towers and most likely killing those inside. There power is gone. There leadership is gone. I just wiped out a country.

It might go by the same name. But it will not be the same.

Sylvia gets the horses ready, and I get in the back with the supplies where I try to sleep this nightmare day away.