.^^ Cat-Scratch ^^

— James —

All around me, Stone monoliths broke through the soil, cracking through stone and packed dirt, and the scenery changed. I stood now in the center of a desert, and the two elves I held in my hands were nothing but sand, spilling through my fingers.

As the last stone rose, I leapt up onto the top of one of them, and knelt, gazing at the other pillars. One by one, sand blew on each of the obelisks, and collected into beings, each tall and dangerous-looking, or perhaps only mysterious.

When the sand collected behind me, I calmly placed my dagger against the being's throat, before it was fully formed.

She blinked slowly, once fully formed, and hummed, the glowing gold feline eyes a bit off-putting, set into the night-colored face. "A warrior... good. We get so bored, testing only scholars..." She grinned, speaking in an Ancient Egyptian dialect to the man to our left, who had a Jackal's ears.

"A Test requires my consent. I'm returning home, unless you have something to offer me for my participation, and an explanation for why I'm here." I growled in the same language, pressing the knife closer, to make sure she understood I was serious.

She raised a perfect eyebrow, and snapped her fingers casually. My dagger burned white-hot in my hand, but I looked her in the eyes, and held it still to her throat, ignoring the burn.

"I said... that I want an explanation." I snarled, leaning closer. Her sweet scent distracted me for a second, but I shook it off, and growled.

She blinked again, surprised. "He withstands pain very well, also... not exactly arrogant enough to be one of my chosen, but it will do, because he is beautiful." She stroked my cheek gently, and my knees folded in shock at the euphoria inducing sensation of her skin.

I gritted my teeth, standing slowly, and stabbed her in the heart, before she did anything else to my body, any more tricks.

She hummed, seemingly interested at the frost around the wound, which then bled a little frozen sand, not blood. "Not too impulsive... but incredibly strong-willed, and somewhat prideful... yes, he will do as one of mine. Child, stabbing a physical manifestation of a metaphysical goddess really doesn't do you any good." She focused on me, as all of the creatures but three lounged on their pedestals, apparently just spectating now.

One of the few that remained standing had the eyes and talons of a Falcon, while another reminded me of an Ibis, and the third was the Jackal-man.

I grinned, and looked at who must be Bastet, goddess of Beauty, Pleasure, and War. "God's aren't metaphysical. You're a Spirit, souped up by at least ten millennia of Faith and Sacrifices, but you're still a Spirit. Ethereal, not Metaphysical."

The Ibis, or Thoth, god of Knowledge, chuckled. "I told you he was one of mine. A Scholar."

"No, he's a Warrior and a Mage, and as such is solely the territory of The Mighty Horus, God of Magic and Warriors!" The Falcon god Horus snapped his beak rudely at the others.

I snorted. "You call yourself Mighty Horus? I know you're the King of the Egyptian Gods, but goddamn you're an arrogant piece of work, you know that?"

He snarled at me, and Bastet smirked, pulling my face to look at hers. I remained standing, this time, ready for the euphoria. "Exactly. You are of my own, child, and perhaps my lover Ptah's, but no other. Now, to answer your questions, every Master Mage is given Patronage from a God... you have been chosen by me, Bast, Goddess of War, Beauty, and Lust. From this day forth, you will call upon me in your times of need, and I will whisper knowledge into your ears, or power into your veins. In return, when you die, a very long time away from now, I will give you a place by my side in the afterlife." She nodded.

"I'm an Ancestral Mage, so that won't really work..." I hummed.

"Oh don't fret. Your Soul and Spirit Are separate things. When your soul passes into the afterlife with your ancestors, it will lack your full sentience, and instead take the shape of a sort of semi-sentient version of your Grimoire, while your mortal spirit will become ethereal, and will be called to me, to live with me forever." She nodded.

"And I don't get a say in this?" I asked dryly.

She grinned, and my knees wobbled against my will, before steadying. "Of course you do! You may choose any who will have you! Not just amongst the Gods of the Nile, but other cultures that participate, as well... I believe Vishnu is the only Eastern God who would give a Mage his patronage, and the African Gods might bless you, because you bear their mark, along with the marks of the Nile, the Mediterranean, and the Far North... yours is a very traveled soul, I will admit." She giggled, and I clenched my thighs to halt the shaking of my knees.

I pulled my knife out of her chest, as an afterthought, and sheathed it. "Sorry, I guess... but what was with the Lavender Field? Some sort of Test?"

She blinked, and tilted her head. "What Lavender Field?"

"That, my boy, was my doing." A flash of lightning struck the sand in the middle of the ring, turning it to glass. In its place was someone I knew had to be Thor.

Towering, even with the monoliths, and built like a true Viking Legend, he stood casually amongst the other gods, the glass under him slowly spreading, almost unconsciously. Unlike the Egyptians, he wasn't a Golem made of Sand. He was real, and he was here.

"And I suppose you'll be explaining yourself?" I asked, refusing to show respect by speaking his language. If the legends were half-true, he was a bloodthirsty monster, and not worthy of my respect, power-that-be or no.

He grinned easily, unconcerned. "Well it's mighty simple! Had to know you were worthy of my axe! You passed with a flying of colors, I believe is the phrase, and so you may keep it for now! And, of course, my patronage would be far superior to these old dust-bags, seeing as you're already full of the same Energy as I am! You're practically my son!" He laughed, slapping his belly.

I growled softly, and looked at Bastet. "Please tell me you can top his power? I don't want his patronage, but power is power, and I'm sorely in need of it at the moment. And I'd be happy to accept a contract, if it included you replacing all the magic in my body and weapons with your own, instead of his."

She smiled savagely, and nodded. "I don't usually accept contracts, but I, too, find him unappealing. I also do not appreciate being called an Old Dust-Bag. You may have your contract, James, Son of Ireland and Greece. My power is yours, as your spirit is mine." She plunged a hand into my chest without warning, and gripped my heart, squeezing it tightly.

Magic flowed into the crystal ventricle I'd implanted a year ago, and began flooding my body, drowning out the Electricity of Thor.

He growled softly. "You would deny my patronage so rudely? My Axe does not belong in the hands of a Desert-Dweller! It is Jarnbjorn, Fiery Scourge of the Icy Isles of Jotunheim!"

Bastet grinned, and kissed my forehead, pulling her hand out of my chest, then gripped the Axe. "No... not anymore, it isn't." The Axe shivered, shrieking as the Metal turned in on itself, and suddenly I was holding a golden khopesh with black inscriptions, though it still held the same weight as the axe.

When the fire came alive, at my command, it burned so hot that the monolith under us started to liquify, but the heat didn't bother me at all. I grinned slowly. "Very Interesting..."

She nodded, and pressed a hand to the hilt, where two sets of hieroglyphs appeared, with the same phrase that was on my wand, 'Control the Power', and 'Claim the Power'. I grinned as the Runes on the Hilt and blade changed from gold to bone, almost as an afterthought, giving the weapon a beautifully savage look.

She smirked at the look of awe on my face, and patted my head gently. "You now possess the Sword of Bastet, Cat-Scratch. While it is yours, my power will flow through you as if you were my own flesh and blood, and you will have my blessings, as well as the blessings of my Love, Ptah, Egyptian God of Craftsmanship. Now go forth, my child, and we will speak again, after I am done dealing with this Lumbering Oaf." She growled at the Giant.

Thor roared in rage, and reached for me, only for me to fall into a rift of Bastet's creation, and land in the courtyard of the Greek compound. Father cheered, I guess celebrating my return, but I interrupted, roaring a challenged at Thor, when he looked through the rift.

He growled and jammed his hand through the rift, and I grinned, stabbing his hand, and ripping a piece off of his Spirit, pulling it into my bone dagger. One of his fingers blackened, like frostbite, and I cut it off with two harsh hacks at the knuckle-joint.

He ripped his hand back out of the portal, roaring, and it slammed shut. I grinned, and stabbed the finger again, draining it of blood, and storing the blood in some glass jars, in my bag, then the meat was ground into a thin paste, removing the rest of the blood, and stored as well, and the bone entered my bone dagger as well, merging with the Fire-Giant bone, and amplifying the power of the Runes a thousandfold.

The skin was last, and I separated some of it into pages, tanning it in a few seconds, and placing those pages in my Grimoire, where they populated, copying everything in the Grimoire and absorbing the old pages. The rest merged with the old sheath that I had altered a bit, so it held both daggers, and subsequently the leather merged with the shield the sheath created.

I grinned and sheathed the weapons on my waist, where they turned, slowly, into twin images of my bone dagger, both now with Golden Runes, a reverse of the sword. I hummed. "I'll have to watch out for that... no more quick changes, it seems." I nodded, and looked at Athenos. "Hi everyone, sorry about that. What were we doing?"

Athenos laughed and hugged me. "Which god did you choose, child? Tell me! I'm so curious! Not many Gods would be interested in you, because you're a Mutt, but those that would still want you-"

"Wait, you knew about the whole Desert and pillars thing? Council of Egyptian Gods?" I asked.

"Hmm? Egyptian, you say? Not Greek? Damn... well, when you become a Master, you usually get contacted by the pantheon that wants you the most, and I guess the Egyptians wanted you... curious." He hummed.

"And I'm guessing Athena is your Patroness?" I sighed.

He nodded. "She is, Yes. And you?"

"Bastet, also known as Bast, who is the Egyptian Goddess of War, Beauty, and Sex. Also, Thor was the one trying to kill me, because I did this to his axe and my Sword, with her help." I showed him the new sword.

He blinked, and gripped the godly relic, then grunted at its weight, barely keeping the handle off the ground, while the blade laid in the dust.

I picked it up and twirled it through my fingers, smiling. "It's still just as heavy as before, though. And more powerful, by far." I ignited the fire, and the air itself froze and then melted, creating ozone and plasma that dripped through the air like rain on a windshield.

Father shielded himself from the heat, and I shut it off. "Sorry." I hummed.

He laughed and shook his head, incredulous. "Sorry?!? My boy, you've no reason to apologize! Come on, we're still celebrating, as soon as Zetre comes back." He drew me over to the adults, and I looked over as a rift opened.

Zetre tumbled out, puffing for breath, clothes ruined by scratches and burnt patches. I stiffened at the sight of his skin, and the damaged binding underclothes underneath, then darted over, covering him as he fixed his clothes magically.

He smiled. "Thanks... that was a bit awkward, wasn't it?"

"No, you're fine, no one saw anything." I assured him softly, and helped him stand. "Now, are you alright? You looked pretty banged up."

He nodded slowly, and shook his head to move his hair out of his face with a casual air. "I'm fine. Just a bit of lava from the Roman God of Fire, Vulcan."

I grinned and switched to English. "So you've got Vulcan as a Patron, huh?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Bast, Egyptian goddess-"

"Of War, Beauty, and Sex, yes, I know. Hell of a day when you're tying to educate me on magical history." He raised an eyebrow mischievously.

I grinned. "Yeah yeah, knowitall. Anyway, let's get to the Food! I'm STARVING!" I laughed at the immediate response, where food seemed to magically appear.

—

The Teagan's has shown up around halfway through the celebration, which was hilarious, as the Elders went even crazier than normal, demanding that the new children, (all with lean Elf-Body types,) stay for dinner, as well. Now they all snored peacefully on two of the couches, passing out just after eating.

I lounged across another couch, and sighed contentedly. "You know, I've had worse days." I said easily.

Zetre laughed, seated behind me, then groaned, holding his bulging stomach. The grammas has learned he was 'small for his age', and had instantly began feeding him. "Yeah... Yeah, I agree. I've definitely had worse days. This was a fun one."

I sat up with a sigh, and stretched, opening my Grimoire carefully. The new pages pulsed regularly with power, and the Runes written on them were just barely contained. I drained their power into the crystal sliver that ran the length of the spine of the book, and smiled when it calmed down.

"God-Leather for your Grimoire, Huh? Planning to try to kill one, too, become like Merlin?" Zetre asked.

"If Thor comes back for a piece of me, I may have no choice in the matter." I grumbled.

He hummed. "Yeah, you're right... well, I'd be happy to help. Sounds like fun."

I snorted. "You say that, but I think it won't exactly be fun. More like terrifying."

"Probably. Either way, I'll bring the popcorn." He smirked.

I laughed, and shook my head. "Of course you would."

—

The pair of swords were weighted differently as I practiced with them, which was annoying. The best I could do was pour as much magic and metal as I could into the Bone Dagger, and it ended up about half the weight of the sword, by the end of it, so I left it in its dagger form, and practiced with the sword/dagger combination.

It didn't exactly feel right, and the shield was entirely unused, which was an issue.

Then I paused, and looked at the shield and the dagger. "Hmm..." I grinned, and then began carefully re-tooling them both.

The dagger could now turn from wand to shield, with the bladed edge of the shield both intact and sharper than ever, while the sheath did nothing except conceal the energy that was constantly thrumming around the powerful Relics. In this way, I kept both weapons, but also merged the uses of one of them, in the event I needed a sword and shield, instead of two daggers.

I also toiled over the weapons for a few days, carefully giving both the same ability to take souls into themselves, and use their power. Next, countless different spells and Runes were engraved into the metal and bone over the next week or so, using Thor's Blood to Amplify them, like the sheep's blood on the warding's.

I was enchanting them in the manner of the Old Weapons, such as The Staff of Merlin, the Sword Of Perseus, and so on. Those weapons were nearly all-purpose, giving their users the ability to cast Talisman Magic just as easily as normal magic, and therefore cut down on the things they needed to carry to do their magic.

Finally, with one Ice weapon and one Fire, both with all the magical enchantments I could think of for their elements, and that magic connected to my own, even if I wasn't touching the weapons, I decided I was better balanced, now, and ready for just about anything I could be ready for.

If I wasn't ready, after all, with all these preparations, I honestly didn't know what else I could do.

I sparred Warren, several times, with and without my weapons, and grinned at the look of shock on his face as I destroyed golem after golem, and eventually began fighting his real body as well, with devastating results for him, and his Ego.

—

I finally relaxed, and hummed at the sight of new people in Qin Long's Office. "Who are these people?" I asked.

"New detectives, boss... seems they take your offer to protect them much more seriously, now. Also, that lady in Damascus called, and said she had something for you, some tidbit she didn't trust me enough to say unless it was in person." She answered disinterestedly.

I nodded. "Alright... I'll go talk to her. Might be something useful."

She snorted softly. "Doubt it."

I smiled and stepped through a portal, into the office I'd been in last time. "Hello?" I called out, and hummed at the echo.

A soft skittering sound began behind me, and I turned, slamming my shield into the head of a massive arachnid. "Well fuck, my one phobia in life, and here they are attacking. Just great." I growled.