"I thought I told you I..." Lexi was cut off as his breath was stolen from his lungs. His body reacted to Agent's words. He felt the change coming on a bit differently than normal. Almost like the auric magick was similar to Jinx's, but his body was allergic to it. "Stop. Whatever it is you are doing, something's wrong." Lexi tried to reason with Agent as one auric signature summoned another and Jinx's lingering aura joined in the battle with Lexi's own body to fight off Agent's Chaos powers. Ears were trying to shrink and grow back at the same time, arms were re-forming but entirely too short for a tom. And then the bones started breaking and resetting. "Really, please! I don't think it's working right! You can't just tell my body what to be. It is fighting you." The pain was growing so quickly Lexi was seeing white and black spots before his eyes. He felt everything go numb and then some of his parts were bubbling away with the invasive magic like he'd been dipped in acid. The en
In some ways, the ritual calmed the nameless no-fur currently occupying Doll's body and mind. Hearing about it in whispers and not being able to ask Spitfire about it, he had imagined something far worse to come from something referred to as the "draining".In truth, he'd been spoken to with understanding as the one called Ink marked him. It was odd and different than back where he came from. The Orangelo was cooing and soothing as he did his work. He made the small god feel like he had purpose and value. And when Ink showed him the finished Marks in a broken piece of mirror, the nameless no-fur had never felt more beautiful.Then he had drifted off into a blissful sleep and awoken feeling like he was floating in mid-air. Once he realized he hadbonds securinghim, he had no fear of crashing to the ground. The robed tom that was the high priest of the ritual didn't hide behind a hood like the others standing in the circle. Appropriately called Priest, the gra
There was a certain way Priest screamed his name that made Ink run. Instinct said he should be running in the opposite direction, but practicality made him ignore instinct. Something had gone wrong in the ritual because his name was being called from the room set aside specifically for the draining.Ink generally avoided that room, especially when it was in use. While he understood the necessity of the brutality of the ritual, Ink didn't want anything to do with it. Even making the Markings for Priest to use was more than he would have done in other circumstances. But Priest had appealed to his desire to be challenged and before he knew it, Ink was deep into this whole process. The challenge was good,but he was starting to reconsider sticking around much longer. He'd already stayed longerthan he had anywhere else since he left home in his youth.Rounding the final corner, Ink skidded to a stop, all of his thoughts crashing to a halt as he saw Priest carryin
On what had to be his hundredth prowl around the helicopter, Jinx stopped and swore.Where were the other two? Hades had gone off as their ambassador and then Guru had muttered something about needing to go find Hades. He'd taken off too and neither of them had come back. It was close to an hour since he'd seen either and Jinx was starting to worry. Despite his long friendship with Hades, he didn't have the kind of connection that his friend seemed to suddenly share with Guru.Not that Jinx was jealous of that. He really wasn't. But it was weird. Hades didn't get close to anyone. Even Jinx was kept at arm's length, despite their history together. That was fine. Jinx was much the same. It worked for them. Or he had thought it worked. So why was Hades suddenly snuggling with Guru? Purring at him to calm the big tom's nerves? Exchanging looks that Jinx struggled to understand.Hades couldn't be in love with Guru. Not when he was bonded and absolutely devoted to Doll. But then again, many
Being paralyzed had made Hades easy prey for his insane ex. It also made him an impossible burden to move from the field to the wagon where Sight lived. He was dragged, rolled, and finally carried the hundred yards or so to the wagon, where he was left leaning against one of the large wheels while Sight scrambled inside to prepare it for him. The entire time, Hades tried to find the weaknesses in the paralyzation spell. It seemed to be crafted specifically to catch hex magick users. Which made Hades worry about Sight's intentions with getting so good at this particular spell. Had it only been a matter of time before he was going to have to deal with this psycho? Before he knew it, Hades was pulled up the short ladder and dropped unceremoniously into an opening in the floor of the wagon. It was dark inside, but that made sense. A blind tom had no reason to light a candle or leave the door open for sunlight. Hades started digging really deep, trying to find the way he could break out o
Liam knew he had to keep his wits about him in a situation like this. Ambrosia might be willing to go along with everything now, but circus folk were legendary for their subterfuge. He had to remember this was different than dealing with a rival family's don.The codes of the mob had to recognize other families within their city, whereas circus folk didn't have a home city and their code came from a different place. They didn't worry about the politics of multiple families which meant they were more unpredictable and extra dangerous.Sure, Ambrosia might be on the up and up, but he had time powers and might be looking for where to put his throwing knives in each of their backs. Liam ran through his mind what kind of deal they could strike or how fast they could get some leverage if they needed it."Guru, you say? As in 'come on, you can give me just a little more today' ridiculously famous and gorgeous Northern tom, Guru?" Ambrosia tapped his foot. Liam noted the Hare seemed to do tha
Pulling the warm bundle that was Doll closer, Spitfire nuzzled his face in the back of his neck. Drawing in the scent of the other no-fur helped to ground him, to get his brain working again. The trauma of the draining ritual was still tormenting him and the added knowledge of his lack of bond with Guru made Spitfire want to start crying again. But he had cried enough. Besides, right now, Doll needed him. His no-fur friend was freshly back from the ritual, which hadn't gone as intended. At least that was what Spitfire had been able to pick up from the Hares who had brought Doll back. The orders that the two no-furs were to be caged together told him something was going wrong with the pirates and their fucked up rituals. Hares were running back and forth outside the hold where the no-furs were housed. The no-furs that were already here before Spitfire and Doll showed up were murmuring in distress. This was not normal then. Something was happening. Something bad, he assumed. Craning h
Wound's paw traced the designs on the book that had been entrusted to him. It had been a very nice, quiet few days since he'd returned to the Underworld. Sitting with Gran. Playing board games and sipping tea. Holding his sweet Innehavre while they drifted off to sleep.Time in the Underworld was only so forgiving,though,and blissful ignorance was only tolerated so far. The ancient Demon with a tom’s formcould feel the Underworld pressing upon him to open the book and restart his part in the story. There were things he needed to know. Choices he needed to make. And truths he really,really wanted to ignore.If he didn't open the book soon, life might choose for him. And if that happened, he might not be prepared for what was coming.He sighed. Gran was in the other room crocheting Wound a pair of warm slipper socks, singing along with the record playing. The tired Demonwanted nothing more than to go sit on the floor near the fi
Epilogue - Part 2Shadwell Sebastien Woolsey, also known as Hades, stomped in out of the rain, shaking it off his fur before he went any further into the house than the entry hall.He could hear the commotion in the main room. It was the kind of overwhelming noise only two bunnies, one large Northern Forest tom, a cosmic entity, and ten kits could make. It was the sound of a happy home, one that Hades had never dared to dream he could have. After his own rough upbringing with a sire who was embarrassed to be a Black-fur and an anonymous no-fur father, Hades had long since put aside any thoughts of being a sire himself.But his mates had changed all of that and helped him to realize he wasn't afraid of being a sire. He was just afraid of being his sire. Hades didn't feel shame about his fur color nor that of any of his many, many kits. He didn't think he was capable of feeling this much love. Though, he was grateful to Ink who had given both of the omega bunnies anti-pregnancy Marks. T
Epilogue - Part 1Guru hadn't been back to the Mousetrap since its renovations or since his kits with Spitfire were born. With all the little ones around and a very grumpy ginger-furred bunny to deal with, he'd barely left the mansion where himself, Spitfire, Doll, and Hades now resided.There was definitely a touch of Chaos everywhere he looked. A few booths sat at a slightly less than 45 degree angle and had straps like a carnival ride. No doubt when the bar was open those were full first from the novelty of it. Then there was the tricked-out pie case. Guru salivated a little, having heard from his mate Hades all about the supposedly world-famous pies.Jinx didn't have time to make them anymore so he'd begun to teach his brother Ink. Today appeared to be one of those sessions as Jinx was snatching a knife away from his paler brother and grousing about the proper way to cut certain fruits.The big Blonde tom put a paw around the other bunny in his life, his sweet Doll. Who looked esp
Everything was quiet for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.Spitfire sat down where he was, in the middle of the rubble left from fighting so many automa-toms and Agent's Hares. This part of Atlas City was wrecked. He wondered what it looked like outside of the battle barrier they had erected. Was Guru's mansion still okay? Did they still have a home?A ripple of auric energy told him Cosmo was on his way, having secured the collapsing bridge. Good, that was good. He needed to bond with his avatar mate to recover his god aura properly. But for now, since the battle was done, Spitfire was going back inside to see Doll and the kits. He needed to check on them. Something about this silence didn't feel... natural.Cosmo's voice in his mind assured Spitfire that it was not. Time had been frozen by a god and until it restarted, only the deities would be able to function.Spitfire wondered how long it would be before he knew how to do that. It was a pretty cool trick.He stood, stre
The ten of swords was not a magick to use lightly. Jinx had never actually cast that card before. He had been warned, repeatedly, that there were cards in the deck he was given that took as much as they gave. The pinnacle of the swords suit was one of those cards.Clutching his bleeding paw against his chest, Jinx drew one long breath after another. Everything smelled awful, the air was so thick with blood that he could taste it. He was certain that there was screaming all around him, but he couldn't hear it over the roar in his ears.He'd finally managed to end this stupid battle. He was the undisputed God of Chaos now. Jinx could feel it in his bones, right down in his soul. The power was flowing out of Agent's body as quickly as the blood that was pooling under both their paws."The kits..." Jinx's enemy was croaking out a few last words. "Are they safe?"Jinx's eyes followed Agent's weak attempt to reach out. There was a wavering shield, made up of th
Liar.The word kept echoing in Agent's head and in the air around him. The Demon was lying to him. They were made of lies and deceit, after all. There was no way King had pined for him for all those years. Tricksy had made a huge mistake when he'd tried to create the Innehavre bond. He'd killed a young no-fur, but it wasn't just any no-fur. He'd killed the oldest of his and King's litter. Stripped his soul bare and left the tom who loved him to take the blame.King had to know what happened to their kit. Both of them kept an eye on the three no-furs who were theirs. They couldn't help it. They were parents, after all. They worried.But throwing himself into the reincarnation cycle was the only way to make sure that the Innehavre bonds continued. Tricksy needed to sacrifice time and his own connection to King to the ancient powers that gave him his powers as the God of Chaos. Those beings, older than any god who now walked the earth, had changed who he was. Made him the God of Chaos an
*****Author Note - be warned, this chapter has the loss of a newborn in it ********If Priest so much as suggested movement, Doll growled at him and threaten his life. Ink seemed to be less in a hurry to take the small bundle from his arms.The no-fur cooed and cuddled the tiny, tiny form. "Hush, my kit. It will be alright. Your Daddy is right here and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."In his head, Doll knew the smallest of his kits was gone. In his heart, he couldn't part with the sweet grey and white striped tom kit. He heard him release one small, strangled cry before Ink started swearing and Priest turned to try to revive the poor little dear before handing him to Ink and not turning around presumably so Doll didn't see his tears.Ink had said words... Sorry and hold him... Doll didn't really hear them all over the roaring in his head as he was handed the still kit.He kissed the babe's forehead, his tears unchecked. "I'm sorry, little one. I didn't get to let you grow. I tho
Lexi was enraged. At his clever attackers and at himself. He had headed straight back to the bar when he caught a glimpse of tufted ears and the skin of a no-fur neck.Deciding rather than join the fight against the automa-toms, he would capture and defeat the one controlling them, the Demon began to stalk Agent. As he'd gotten closer, the image of Agent began to fade away.A bolt of what had to be Chaos magick slammed into him, sending Lexi flipping end over end. When he'd started to push himself off the ground, Lexi was in his least powerful form, that of a green tom.Having no idea what auric power his tom form had as it wasn't a glamour any more, Lexi could barely summon any energy to mold and was no match for a trio of Tawny-furs that had thrown some kind of aura-draining net over him.Now he struggled to escape the net while the Tawnys had just fucked off.Muttering to himself, Lexi considered what the trap had meant. "Does Agent think I'm so easily beaten? No, he's like super s
Hades found himself alone with Doll again and he wasn't sure what to do. He was holding his hand, muttering encouragement, but that felt like nothing.Spitfire had experience with this stuff and Guru was able to ease Doll's nerves with his singing. Ink and Priest, though they were practically strangers, were doing more for Doll than he could manage. Maybe he should join Jinx and Spitfire outside. He was good at fighting. But that meant leaving Doll and Hades wasn't sure he was ready."Look at them, pretty baby," Hades whispered, nodding his head towards the line of bins where their kits were bundled up and mewling, an occasional wail comingfrom one of them. "It's hard to believe that this is really happening.""I can't wait to hold each one in my arms." Doll let his head fall back on the soft blanket. "Or see all of you cuddle them. Although I will be glad to rest, I still feel there's a somebody or two in there. But they seem quiet for now." His no-fur's
Arriving after three of the kits had been born, Spitfire took a moment to check on them before he grabbed Doll's hand and leaned close to talk to him."Look at how good you're doing, sweetheart. Three of our kits are already in the world." Spitfire stroked Doll's sweaty hair. "I know, this is awful. It feels like it will never end, but you are nearly done."The new Black Devil turned to look at Ink, who was acting as the birthing doctor. "How many more are there? He is nearly done, right?""There's at least one more. But without an ultrasound, I can't say for sure." Ink replied, already coaxing out a fourth kit."Little one so big." Doll sounded exhausted. He leaned his head against Spitfire. "But he looks just like Guru, my beloved. Only completely White-fur and with my copper eyes. He's gonna be trouble. This one is kicking a lot but much smaller.""They're all going to be trouble, I think." Spitfire nuzzled the side of Doll's face. The thundering sounds of battle from outside were