Catgirl Isekai Gone Wrong

[Vadelent]

Hmmm… Can't help but feel that the deceased twin sister is involved with Idir somehow. They're clearly a goddess, greater spirit or remnant. Something. Can probably only connect to Gwen because of their circumstances with their previous life. A loophole perhaps? I imagine that loophole might be the reason why they can only connect to Gwen. That or they're so weak at the moment that they can only support and or be supported by one follower/champion without shattering.

 

[Doomsought]

It might be tricky for the MC to source hearts at her age without telling anyone about the spirit. If I understood it right, Idir is too weak to sustain multiple connections right now and needs to regain strength with only a single person for now.

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Not really, she's hunted before. It will likely be mostly squirrel hearts and the like until she grows older, but that is better than nothing.

 

[vladspellbinder]

I'd tried doodling my just what I thought it was along with all my mixed-up thoughts and words.

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Looks like some word rearranging got forgotten and you have a stray "my" left over.

For some reason, if others besides me knew, the connection we had would break. But, if others knew, that thread would break.

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Is the double "if others know the thread breaks" intentional?

A lot of the conversation scene was somewhat painful to read because it's so obvious to me what's going on and why things are the way they are and the main character just not getting it is, ugh. Characters don't have to be perfect, they should be allowed to make mistake and to not know thing but comeon! This is basic Higher Power stuff!

Personal Update: Holidays freaking wrecked me and my New Years present for my long time teaching at my university was unemployment. Joy.

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Ooof, yeah, two-way loyalty is rare these days. Hope you can land on your feet.

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Kintsugi kitty.
Though if she's supposed to be two colors or is the result of two different deities fusing in to one to save something of themselves is unknown at the moment.

She came out lovely. The two kitites on either side of her are named, and technical minor spoilers, but I can't resist sharing their names: Hiss and Priss, respectively.

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The "respectively" is a bit ambiguous so just to be clear, Hiss is the black one on the left and Priss is the white on on the right?

I hope Gwen can get Idir what she needs to heal after healing herself.

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[HiddenMaster]

Looks like some word rearranging got forgotten and you have a stray "my" left over.


Is the double "if others know the thread breaks" intentional?

A lot of the conversation scene was somewhat painful to read because it's so obvious to me what's going on and why things are the way they are and the main character just not getting it is, ugh. Characters don't have to be perfect, they should be allowed to make mistake and to not know thing but comeon! This is basic Higher Power stuff!


Ooof, yeah, two-way loyalty is rare these days. Hope you can land on your feet.


Kintsugi kitty.
Though if she's supposed to be two colors or is the result of two different deities fusing in to one to save something of themselves is unknown at the moment.


The "respectively" is a bit ambiguous so just to be clear, Hiss is the black one on the left and Priss is the white on on the right?

I hope Gwen can get Idir what she needs to heal after healing herself.

Thanks for the chapter.

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Thanks for the comments! And yeah, I need to go back and issue a correction and update soon because I did overhaul the conversation a bit before release (needed, original wasn't quite right), but I think that overhaul led to the awkward bits you're seeing in this.

And yeah, Hiss is the black one, Priss is the right one.

 

[HiddenMaster]

Minor updates issued fixing some of the repetitive text I missed in Chapter 25.

 

[Karispyro]

Hell yeah, getting to meet Idir was neat. The things in the dark water were very concerning.

 

[Roncy4]

Kitty!

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Buddhahobo]

Hmmm… Can't help but feel that the deceased twin sister is involved with Idir somehow. They're clearly a goddess, greater spirit or remnant. Something. Can probably only connect to Gwen because of their circumstances with their previous life. A loophole perhaps? I imagine that loophole might be the reason why they can only connect to Gwen. That or they're so weak at the moment that they can only support and or be supported by one follower/champion without shattering.

Click to shrink...

Idir is half and half, Gwen is a twin so it's always possible.

I don't think a time loop is necessary for this.

It certainly seemed like Gwen's dad was eaten by the giant sea monster, which means Eliza was likely pregnant before the Gods died as opposed to a post-ship wrecked hookup like she told Gwen. Would also explain how she's the same age they've been on the island and not a year younger.

Following that, it could mean Gwen is special due to being from the Before Era, but because she wasn't born yet was not able to be offered the Choice that all the cat people otherwise were capable of making. By being given her family's Sigil it let Idir reach out to what might be the last eligible being on the planet to ask the same question Eliza rejected.

Kintsugi kitty.
Though if she's supposed to be two colors or is the result of two different deities fusing in to one to save something of themselves is unknown at the moment.

Click to shrink...

Technically shouldn't she also be partly blue?

I would have expected seeing the journal somewhere in the art.

 

[vladspellbinder]

Technically shouldn't she also be partly blue?

I would have expected seeing the journal somewhere in the art.

Click to shrink...

From the hole in the chest, that is sort of hard to see if you don't zoom in a bit and it looks like just more black fur instead of a proper hole, this image is from before Idir started absorbing the journal and healing the hole in their chest with it.

 

[Ardvark]

You know, funnily enough I used to have nightmares about huge and malicious seals. Glad to see someone else has recognised the latent menace in those malicious flesh tubes. As bioweapons these seem kinda half baked, so I reckon they're either created by whatever killed the gods or as a spiteful rebuke of whoever rejected their pleas. Wonder what else is lurking out there? One would think that with a few dozen woomera/crossbows an organised force could easily bait them out and fill them with poison tipped death - hardly fitting of our horrible death world

Really like the post apocalypse island shipwreck premise and its slowly unraveling mystery, though the loss of prior "self" could've been handled better. From a reader perspective Gwyn slowly stops referencing it as much - which makes sense - only to suddenly bring it up again and announce that her prior life has apparently been fading for quite some time. I feel like if this was meant to be a minor part of the overall story, less emphasis should've been placed on it to begin with/it should've been shelved organically earlier on. As it stands, it kind of feels like you half embraced the concept and then gave up part way through.

Or maybe this is just some plot point related to the spooky time twisty island or something >.>

 

[HiddenMaster]

You know, funnily enough I used to have nightmares about huge and malicious seals. Glad to see someone else has recognised the latent menace in those malicious flesh tubes. As bioweapons these seem kinda half baked, so I reckon they're either created by whatever killed the gods or as a spiteful rebuke of whoever rejected their pleas. Wonder what else is lurking out there? One would think that with a few dozen woomera/crossbows an organised force could easily bait them out and fill them with poison tipped death - hardly fitting of our horrible death world

Really like the post apocalypse island shipwreck premise and its slowly unraveling mystery, though the loss of prior "self" could've been handled better. From a reader perspective Gwyn slowly stops referencing it as much - which makes sense - only to suddenly bring it up again and announce that her prior life has apparently been fading for quite some time. I feel like if this was meant to be a minor part of the overall story, less emphasis should've been placed on it to begin with/it should've been shelved organically earlier on. As it stands, it kind of feels like you half embraced the concept and then gave up part way through.

Or maybe this is just some plot point related to the spooky time twisty island or something >.>

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the comment.

A little bit of that awkwardness in the sense of self loss might be attributed to me taking the story more comedically early on, but by about chapter three I was treating the story seriously and had a lot of the world building setup. There's been a lot of views on what it is, but my intended take on what happened there is that the baby brain could not fully sustain the consciousness of the previous life, so it ended up mixing/merging into something new as bits and pieces were lost and reformed to make Gwen who she is in this life. Reading it might read abruptly is that there is a four going on five year time skip in the earlier chapters from infancy to Gwen being about five years old when she first looks into the mirror.

 

[HiddenMaster]

Chapter 25.5 Interlude: Dark Thoughts in the Fog

Warning: Some thoughts about suicide in this chapter.


Eliza had been in a few dark places in her life. These weren't places like not having money to make rent, or struggles with a job, relationship, troubles in the classroom whether it be kid or university level, or anything like that. These were more like standing on a thin, glass panel above an endless abyss below and knowing the slightest movement, the slightest vibration, whether from the world or from yourself, would make everything shatter and send you below with no way back.

Once, as the rain pelted down, Eliza stormed out of her grandfather's estate in a furor. She'd cooled down many hours later and tried to return only to find the gates locked. It was here in the pouring rain she learned he had been serious when he said, "If you step out there, you aren't coming back."

Walking back to the city, uncertain where she'd even sleep that night, drenched and shivering as cold water pelted down like frozen tears with no money to her name, not even her identification papers, was one the worst moments in her life. It was here, with the words of her grandfather echoing in her head, that she found herself in that dim place above the dark, separated by such a thin film of restraint built on fear and hope.

The second time, Eliza awoken half sprawled on a hatchway, surrounded by peaceful corpses, with the absolute conviction she'd failed her goddess. That was, coincidentally, when the alarms began blaring. How Tomas had it together enough to drag her up to their combat stations, she would never know.

The third time, the dark had been so close she could feel it in her skin as she held a small, utterly tiny form on the stone floor she'd collapsed on. Her little girl had been born so weak, barely able to latch on, barely able to cry but now she was terribly still no matter what Eliza did. It'd only been the cries of her other daughter who prevented her from taking option she'd always known was there no matter what she did.

She'd been very close to slamming her foot down on the glass above that abyss in her mind and letting herself fall.

Now she was back here.

Again.

Gwen was in danger, again.

She had failed as a mother. Again.

Of course, Gwen wouldn't be prepared for exposure to other kids. She hadn't even considered it, but she should have. Another failure on her part, like so many others. Like Celia.

She didn't blame Zenn. Gwen had never been around kids her own age. Eliza had just been happy that Gwen was finally getting contact with another kid. Sure, three- or four-year age difference, but it had warmed her heart to see Gwen acting like a kid with another child, to socialize, to just be the kitten she was.

Now, Gwen was dying of a common cold that everyone in the party except her could endure. And Eliza was in the wilderness with people who didn't understand what she would do for her daughter.

"You…you can't go on alone. I know you are frustrated with our lack of progress, but…" Jonas tried.

"You said the spire's territory should be a week's journey, right?" Eliza asked. Sandy translated. Eliza understood him, but her tongue kept trying to trip over itself trying to pronounce things right. She didn't have time for that right now.

They'd been traveling southward when Gwen fell ill, along overgrown roads, occasional animal paths, and a river. Yet, they'd come to a small range of steep, rocky hills bordering on small mountains. They weren't the majestic peaks of Cenna Eliza knew, but they were, according to Jonas, rough enough to be difficult to go straight over, and they had enough food to take the long way around, so they had no reason to risk it.

It was smart. The world was dangerous even before the gods died, and now? Worse. Why add onto that danger with a perilous shortcut when it was avoidable? They could take it safe and slow on their path back to civilization, or what amounted to it in this damn world. Eliza no longer had that luxury.

Gwen. Was. Dying.

She tightened a leather strap down, thereby securing Gwen to her back. She'd last been awake an hour ago before finally falling asleep. She'd said nothing, barely took some cold broth, stuck in the haze of her infection.

"Yes, but the fastest route is through the Kimble Valley, and it isn't safe. The old village was bombed, and the old quarry you will have to cross is flooded. This isn't even accounting for beasts in the town, among other things, at a bare minimum. There's a reason we're going around and no one else is volunteering to go with you," Jonas said. He sighed. "I understand. We all do. We've seen enough death to last a thousand years. All of us lost family in in the North, and—"

"Then you damn well know why I am going, and Sandy, don't sugar coat it," Eliza snapped. "I've lost everything, too. If I lose Gwen, I'll…" Eliza cut off the thought with a snarl.

In the back of Eliza's mind, three words rang out: Casacht, Fiabhras, Tinneas. Three medicines she knew could help with fevers, cough, and more. She had none of them. The crew, those who survived landing on the island, used up most of them trying and failing to endure the lung rot. Eliza knew that wasn't what Gwen had. If it was, she'd be gone already. But she cursed herself, even her past comrades. She knew it wasn't logical, they'd been desperate, she'd been desperate, but they'd used up all the medicine to mostly no effect. Medicine that, even if it had dwindled in effectiveness with time and exposure, would have been something she could have saved for the infirmary and given to Gwen.

The remaining cure alls she did have did nothing. She might as well have given Gwen fiber pills for all the effectiveness they had.

Eliza hefted her pack of supplies and worked a rope through its straps, tying it around her waist. Awkward, but she needed those to have any chance of making it.

"…you are resolved, then?" Jonas sighed.

"I was resolved a while ago. I ask again. From here, it's a week's trip directly to the outermost settlements of the Spire?" Eliza asked. She shouldered her thrower, checking its ammunition stock and finding it full. Charge was about half, but she had another three mana batteries from Sandy's ship form, so that shouldn't be an issue. After that, she had no idea when she'd be able to charge the damn things, but that was a future problem. Shards were also a problem, but those were, at least, far more plentiful.

Jonas let his claws fall to his sides as his shoulders slumped and ears folded. "Yes. I haven't made the trip personally, nor have our hunters, but we have maps and know — knew others who had, albeit by different routes and a few years ago. Shipborne down the coast was more common because of the rough terrain."

Eliza didn't respond. She didn't have a ship anymore. Just herself and Sandy.

The issue Eliza had with the refugees wasn't really their fault. They were cautious. That false seal wasn't the only danger, just one of many. Some Eliza knew of. Wild animals, predators. There were places even in the Illiana she knew that people only went to with a heavily armed escort because the monsters of the old world still roamed, folk eaters. Others, foreign to Eliza but assured to her by Jonas to exist, stalked the ruins and were to be avoided. The refugees with Jonas wanted to take it slowly and carefully with their food supply mostly guaranteed and so close. particular, they were avoiding the places they thought more dangerous in favor of the safest route.

Taking the path carefully and safely would see her only living daughter dead.

That dark place in her mind's eye never seemed so close, nor the glass so cracked.

Jonas said it would take a week? Eliza would make it in three days.

"…I don't suppose there is anything further I can say to convince you?"

"No," Eliza said.

"Very well. I hope this doesn't mean your end, Miss. Mor. I have enjoyed our talks. Please wait a moment, I have something prepared for you," he said.

Eliza was mildly tempted to take off right then and there and stop wasting time, but she gave Jonas a minute of grace. He returned in short order, surprisingly, with the gunpowder firearm wielding woman. Where she got that antique at, Eliza had no idea. Or maybe it wasn't an antique anymore?. Too much could have changed. Her shard thrower had a better rate of fire and penetration, though.

Jonas handed her a small, cloth wrapped pack. Eliza idly opened it and was s surprised to see white slices of fat.

"Seal fat, dried as we could. Won't hold as long as jerky, usually used for oil, but I suspect you will need energy in the coming days. Some more jerky as well to supplement what you have, but that is all I can offer," Jonas said.

The woman, Holly? Eliza thought her name was, reached to her side, unstrapped a large, curved knife still in its sheath and offered it to her without a further word. It was bigger than her standard issue utility knife from the ICM navy.

Hesitantly, she took the blade. It couldn't hurt, and she shot her a grateful look. Holly said something, but Eliza didn't catch it.

"Good luck. Try not to die. Would be a shame," Sandy translated dutifully.



Eliza nodded gratefully to the woman, who turned and stepped away without another word. Odd lady, but Eliza was happy for what she could get. They had their own lives at stake too, after all.



"One more thing. Assuming you make it, I would strongly, strongly suggest you hide Lady Sandra. I doubt most common folk will look at her as more than an idle old-world curiosity, but certain scavengers and members of the Spire itself will know her value. I will be frank: I do not know how they might react to her, or to your unique situation. They may welcome you. They make take her forcibly believing you to be a hapless herder who doesn't know the value of what she has. It would be foolish, but, well, I have learned plenty about fools in my time," Jonas spat.



"I would appreciate not being stolen by someone and getting their grubby claws all over my orb," Sandy helpfully added.



"Your best bet for care would be an apothecary in one of the outer villages. They may be suspicious of a lone traveler, but I suspect Gwen will act in your favor. Most I have met are kind souls, and if you are lucky, they may well have some medicine to lower her fever or… ease things," Jonas said.



Eliza glared. She damn well knew what he meant by that, and he paled and backed up a step.



"Noted," she said.



With that, she double checked Gwen was secured to her back, stowed the knife on her belt on her left instead of her right side, checked her supply pack, and marched away from the makeshift campsite under the watchful gaze.



Surprisingly, she felt a claw on her back pulling on her. She nearly snapped but looked down to see Zenn.



Zenn looked lost and so confused. "…is…is Gwen okay?" she asked, haltingly. Surprisingly, it was in Illiana, not her own dialect. Had she been listening and learning from Gwen and their back and forth conversations? Impressive.



Eliza didn't say anything for a long moment. Then, she said, "No, but I'm going to get her help."



Of course, Sandy translated…a second after the blank look on Zenn's face told Sandy she needed it.



If anything, Zenn deflated a bit more, but then an odd determination made its way into her eyes. She reached into her pocket and withdrew a small stone. Eliza was surprised to recognize it.



It was an old spirit stone, often deposited at shrines and carried by pilgrims on journeys. The curved celestial sigil was cracked. "My lucky rock, hope helps! Found with my pa while digging back home," she said, again in broken Illiana rather than her own language, albeit with some of her own language's words mixed in. With that she hugged Eliza's side, and then, before another word could be said, darted off back to Jonas.



Eliza wasn't sure it would do anything, but every bit helped. Besides, she was touched. Zenn had to have very little but the clothes on her back.



Eliza waved back, once more checked Gwen's straps were secure, patted her feverish cheek, and started her long march into the valley beyond.

~~~~

​

The fog consumed Eliza.



One minute, she was traversing the lightly forested valley, and the next she was engulfed in fog so thick she could barely see her own claw in front of her face.



Eliza knelt in the pine needle litter looked over her shoulder to check on Gwen with a finger to her throat. Her breath was small, but steady enough given her illness. A glance around confirmed that yes, the fog did, indeed, still exist in front of her, beside her, and behind her. Eliza sniffed the air and besides the scent of pine, could pick up what smelled like water, so that was at least something.



Still. Fog, and lots of it.



"Well, that's unsettling. Sandy, don't suppose you have sensors that can see through this fog?"



There was an extended silence. Sandy cleared her nonexistent throat. "Eliza, I will remind you I am a ball."



"...oh."



Right. Sandy wasn't meant to be outside of a ship for extended periods like this. Probably lucky she could talk and see anything at all.



The fog was a problem, though. Hazard, if nothing else. She'd need to take her steps slowly and steadily, which she frankly didn't have time for, but falling and snapping her own neck wouldn't help Gwen any.



Eliza took out her mana compass to check her bearing. Always aligned with the local leyline which could generally be trusted to follow a consistent, northward pattern. Command tried introducing some magnetic compasses a while back, but eh, Eliza preferred these. More reliable, at least outside of a major battle or industrial levels of thaumaturgy.



Taking a few steps to orient herself, she moved further into the fog.



Without good sight lines, it felt as if she was not moving at all, but she most definitely was. Her footfalls told her as much, particularly with how the soft padding of boot on earth and crunch of old pine needles gave way to rockier and grittier soil that left harsher footfalls no matter how she stepped. The scent of water had grown stronger, and in fact seemed almost like the tang of ocean water?



"Sandy? What are the chances we accidentally rounded back to the coast?" Eliza asked.



"Unlikely, given you were pretty good about keeping a steady path the last day or so. Why?"



"I ask because I'm smelling what seems an awful lot like ocean water or, I guess brackish water? But it sure doesn't seem like fresh water."



Sandy hummed thoughtfully for a moment. Sometimes, Eliza almost forgot Sandy could literally be carried in a pocket with how catfolk she sounded. "Just a guess, but we are still close to the coast, relatively speaking. Possibly salt water contaminated the quarry, assuming we are close to it?"



"Maybe," Eliza admitted, sniffing the air further as she walked and the familiar scent grew stronger, hints of sulfur intensifying with every step.



In fact…



Eliza's hairs stood on end. That was way too strong.



Very, very carefully, Eliza crouched. She reached around in the leaf litter for a moment before finding what she was looking for: a small rock. Nothing too big, but still bigger than the omnipresent pebbles everywhere. She tossed it in front of her and heard it land without fanfare a couple meters in front of her, albeit she couldn't see it that far in the fog.



"Eliza, what are you doing?" Sandy asked from her pocket.



"Testing something," Eliza said. She hefted another similar sized rock, tossing it in the air for a moment before throwing it harder, about four meters.



There was nothing for a long, long moment, and then a distant splash.



Sandy was the first to speak. "That could have been, er, bad."



Eliza pursed her lips. "How far down do you think that was?"



"Fall took about two and a half seconds, so about 30 meters?" Sandy said quickly.



Eliza winced. Definitely bad, although she'd already gathered as much. "Guess we're going to have to go around."



Eliza froze misstep as a much louder splash echoed as something entered the water.



She knew it was something. In her youth, she had a trip to a zoo with a friend back in Illiana's capital where a captive sarco had been kept from the southern lands. The massive reptilian had been sunning itself on a white, rocky perch with massive, oversized mouth hung wide open before it evidently tired of all the catfolk kittens gawking at it when it practically flung itself into the water of its enclosure with a tremendous splash and displacement of water.



This? This sounded similar, if not bigger.



Eliza cursed, vividly, and at length, under her breath.



"Right, so that's a new concern," Eliza said.



"Better to know now, at least?" Sandy commented.



"Right." Far better to know something might be in the quarry than to stumble on it by chance, or even worse, to be ambushed.



Gradually, Eliza made her way along the cliff she found herself on. At one point, she broke off a decent sized branch to use to feel out the ground in front of her given visibility was nonexistent. It did require slinging her shard thrower which was not what she wanted, but the branch was both longer and falling down there with whatever was down there would be worse. This let her identify multiple missteps that would've seen her plunging off the cliffside as it meandered because the fog was thick like an enveloping curtain. She might as well have closed her eyes for all the good they did as she made her way forward.



This continued for a time.



If Sandy hadn't been there, it'd have been worse. They didn't speak much, the shipcore's presence was soothing, the knowledge that it wasn't just her in this screwed up situation with Gwen kept her paranoia in check. Traversing this alone in a safe place in civilization was the sort of stuff to give her child self-nightmares, nevertheless here.



The only silver lining to Gwen's illness at this point was her being unconscious. She probably wouldn't remember a single thing of the trip.



Eventually, they came upon a standing structure. Eliza didn't see it until she was within five meters of it, but its presence seemed to make the fog dissipate ever so slightly. Of course, she couldn't see much beyond it was indeed a structure, but it was made of stone and rusted metal trailing up further than she could see.



"Odd. This may be part of the quarry infrastructure, but I thought we had a town to move through. Possibly we inadvertently bypassed it and came straight to the quarry? If so, we are further along than we thought."



"Maybe," Eliza said as she worried her lip. There was supposed to be a town on the way, but they'd found nothing of the sort. Not even a raised heap of soil. Another mystery. Or maybe Jonas was wrong; not like he'd been through here himself given he was operating off of secondhand information. Maybe the town was long buried and reclaimed by whatever forsaken things amounted to nature in this horrible dream she'd found herself in.



With nothing else to do, Eliza made moved around the structure until she found a doorway. The door had mostly disintegrated long before she came by, so she just stepped over its remains as she drew her N23 shard thrower, just to be safe.



"Wonderful, I can actually see," Eliza muttered as she stepped inside to find the fog mostly dissipated. She found herself on an elevated concrete entryway with rusted railing overlooking a tall interior with rusted machinery dominating the center. The ceiling was very high up while the room itself appeared to slope at the end to a further structure beyond. One side doorway was collapsed in on itself. What looked like a pockmarked and rusted conveyor belt came over the slope to deposit rocks into a rusted metal depression in the stone.



"Possibly part of a mixing system, or some sort of sorting area?" Sandy inquired curiously.

Eliza didn't respond because she had no damn idea. It wasn't her area. She'd been in a lumber mill before, and this place gave somewhat similar vibes, but without further inspection or a guide she couldn't say more; particularly with how everything looked broken down, looted, or collapsed in here.



She checked a side door to see what looked like a rising tower interior with large, blocky stone walls forming a circular interior. There was a path upward with metal corrugated stairs, but they were so rusted she didn't trust the first one to support her weight, nevertheless going all the way up. Whatever its use was in the past, it didn't help her here and now



"Well, the conveyor leads down, so that might be something. No idea how far the quarry extends, or even if the terrain on the sides is passable." She didn't mention that it might be, but the time diversion might be too costly.



Or it might cost Gwen her life anyway by not exploring the sides.



Eliza ground her teeth. Her claw tips bit into her palms pads as her paws clenched. Gwen. Was. Going. To. Live.



That's what she kept saying to herself, and by the dead gods she'd make it true.



The sloped conveyer did have steps leading down, again, carved into the stone itself. Made sense, might as well use local materials if it's there, she guessed. This meant it was stable at least.



At the bottom she found a vast processing warehouse of sorts. Most of what had been here had long since disintegrated leaving little but the metal of the conveyor and the stone it once transported, but there were a few gates with grand piles of stone. Beside them there was something that made Eliza tilt her head.



"Golems?" she said with a squint. She'd thought of majoring in automaton thaumaturgy but had ultimately gone into resonance theory instead. Some very minor overlap, admittedly, so she did know the basics. Large, imposing, and brownish gray, they were catfolk like in the vaguest sense but lacked any distinct features. They didn't even have ears or a tail, and their 'claws' were stubby and unsuited for fine manipulation, but she supposed they didn't need them. They were meant to move heavy stuff, break heavy stuff, and obey orders like other automatons.



These models were clay, but Eliza wasn't surprised; everyone knew clay golems were the cheapest due to the cost. No need to reforge or re-carve with a tiny mistake. Each one was slumped over, some with large rocks at their blocky feet like they had continued working long after the fleshier workers left. One had shattered when it fell over, scattering clay and bits of crude, runic channels all over the floor.



"Golems!?" Sandy said excitedly.



Eliza blinked. "What's got you so riled up? Just golems," she said. Not exactly a new invention, used when brawn more than brains was needed. Anything more complicated than moving rocks was generally beyond their capabilities. Not to mention the power issue, but that wasn't as much a problem with a good mana network in place.



Sandy paused. "… I just think they're neat, okay?"



Eliza smiled and patted Sandy through her pocket.



She did check their back panels for mana batteries but found they were uniformly empty. Shame. She could jury rig a charging system with them and silver wire for her shard thrower. It'd be inefficient, but at least it'd be something. In fact, it looked like whoever had taken them hadn't even known what they were doing. The panels were cracked and battered like someone took a hammer or prybar to them, completely ignoring the manual release trigger that'd eject the batteries right out. Sure, it was small, but it wasn't that hard to see. Eliza shook her head bemusedly.



The far side of the warehouse sloped down once again. Here she saw the structure had faired much worse, with part of the ceiling caved in. At the lowest level, she saw the ground floor was lightly flooded as the structure opened out into what looked like a foggy body of water beyond.



"Not as if we needed confirmation, but I bet that's the very flooded quarry," Eliza commented.



"Unfortunate. How are you intending to get across?"



Eliza frankly didn't know. Swimming with Gwen was a no go. Swimming with Gwen when there was something large in the water was a definite no.



She didn't venture into the flooded section of the warehouse. In part, this was because the water was muddy and she couldn't see very far, but also because she didn't see a point. The elevation seemed to keep dipping, presumably into the quarry itself, but with it being flooded the water would just get deeper and deeper and eventually lead her back to her first issue.



With little else to see, she found another disintegrated side entrance and froze.



Miracle of miracles, there was a boat. Old, peeling white paint, looked abandoned, but dry enough given where it'd been pulled ashore. Even had an oar. The problem was the dark stains all over it, and the very torn up earth nearby.



"…I think we found the one who took the mana batteries," Sandy quietly observed. "Or what's left of them"



Eliza knelt and looked at the disturbed earth, careful to keep her distance and ready to spring if necessary.



"Hard to say how old it is. Blood is dried, nearly black. Boat looks old but maintained." She glanced inside and saw brown sacks, including a fishing pole and the unmistakable silhouette of a cylindrical mana battery with its bronze tips. There was a trident as well. The tips of the metal were rusting.



"Where do you think the others are?"



Eliza glanced at the disturbed, darkened earth, and sniffed. Water, cold stone, and old iron wafted to her nose. "If I had to guess, whoever this was tried to load up and then whatever is in the water got to them."



Eliza felt mildly bad that her first thought on a very probable fellow catfolk's death wasn't sadness at the loss, but frustration at missing more resources. Those mana batteries could be useful.



Eliza shook her head. Now wasn't the time for introspection.



"…morbid, but likely, Eliza. I doubt I need to tell you just getting in the boat with something like that on the loose is a good idea?"



Eliza snorted. "No, but…"



Eliza worried her lip more. Gwen needed to get across. This was the most direct route. Jonas said the quarry was huge. It'd take her all day to backtrack and try to get around.



She'd be more than open to just shooting whatever was in the water, but she didn't do that. For one, she had no idea where it was. For two, if it was a sarco, or something similar, then she needed something bigger than her N23. Hell, she didn't want to bet on her ability to kill any of a dozen similar river monsters she knew from her bestiaries and folk tale with just a shard thrower. Most were the type to get angrier when shot with infantry weapons, if anything.



Then, an idea hit. It wasn't the nicest idea, but it felt like the most plausible one to work in the meantime, if she could pull it off.



Resolved, she explained her idea to Sandy as she made her way away from shore.

~~~~

​

​

Her idea took some doing. Mostly, she had to find the tracks first. Which took a good four hours. Fortunately, the fog did dissipate as the day went on, albeit not fully. Something kept it over the water, but wandering away did let her actually see.



The delay in getting Gwen across burned, but aside from stopping to give her water and a little bit of already masticated seal meat she barely swallowed, she had no choice. Going back at this point would take far, far more time than she'd spent here. Still, she was helped in that, for all that something called the quarry's waters home, all life needed water. Sure, the quarry itself was brackish, but she found a stream nearby that fed into it.



There were a few false starts to her search but eventually found a good trail. It was a bit away from the water, but that was fine. Sneaking as quietly as she could, Eliza eventually spotted her quarry under a secluded great spruce surrounded by lesser foliage.



Standing, munching on pine needles, was a small trihorn deer. It looked up every so often, scanning the environment with red tinted eyes, but resumed eating the lower branches or nosing the pinecones around. It'd do so until it spotted something only it could see, and then nip the edges of the cones, but never crunching the full thing. Seeds, presumably.



It was rather cute, frankly. She'd always liked trihorns, especially the little ones with their nubby little horns. She'd even had one eat out of her hand in the capital parks, a long time ago. It was something she hoped she could share with Gwen someday.



Eliza breathed in. Took aim. Exhaled. Shot.



The soft swoosh of the shard was echoed by the scream of the trihorn as its right leg was shot out from under it.



Eliza sprang fourth. She used her sigil's speed enhancement to propel her forward. It was stumbling to its three hooves by the time she was on it, and it was too late. She stomped down, hard, on its extended leg's knee. A wet crunch filled the air and its cries intensified as bone protruded from its leg.



Its red eyes dilated and it thrashed on the ground as she maneuvered around it. She grabbed it by the horns and began dragging it to the water. The poor thing brayed in agony. Whether it was for help, out of sheer pain she had inflicted on it, or something else, Eliza didn't know. She tried not to think about it.



This took a few minutes. Most of her tracking had been in just trying to find the thing. It had meandered in and out of the same area multiple times.



By the time she got back to the shore a ways away from the boat, its braying was somewhat quieting down as it seemingly gave up. She dragged it partially into the water with a splash. Eliza winced as she realized it wasn't making enough noise. She raised her boot and slammed back down another leg with a visceral snap. Its screams, high pitched, settled in her.



She knew this sound was going to follow her into her dreams. She didn't want to be cruel, but it was necessary. She needed to cross the water.



She took off sprinting along the shore as the trihorn's screaming continued.



She leaped behind the boat and waited. Then…



SPLASH



"Just as predicted," Sandy said, quietly.



"Yes," Eliza whispered, trying not to think about the sounds she was hearing. An errant question from a dark place in her mind sent a chill up her spine.



What if you hadn't found a such a convenient trihorn? What if the boat owner was still alive, injured, but alive. Would you have done the same to a person if they were the only living distraction available? Would a stranger's life equal your daughter's?



Eliza didn't know.



SPLASH.



"…oh dear," Sandy said.



"Fuck," Eliza agreed, but began rowing with renewed fervor. Hopefully, both were preoccupied.



The screaming continued to the sound of the oar in the water. She'd settled Gwen gently in the bottom on the softer part of her pack, with her jacket as a blanket. She was feverish, pale, sweating, and more, but she was at least still breathing.



After a few minutes, the trihorn's screams cut off. A deep, powerful rumble Eliza felt more than heard echoed across the water, followed by another only another with a slightly higher pitch. This was followed by heavy splashes and then the void of silence.



She rowed faster.



Despite her fears of the boat capsizing and giant teeth clamping around Gwen, nothing happened. The fog stayed thick, but she got to the far shore quickly enough, fortunately one without a sheer cliff to block her path this time.



The second she was close enough to half wade, half run through the water, she did so. She grabbed Gwen and her supplies in her arms, even the battery, and took off running.

She really shouldn't have looked back.

~~~~

​

The house, really, more a small cottage, was secluded in its own space in the woods, a clearing in a great glade. The heavy scent of herbs and rich, floral scent of flowers filled the air, nearly bordering on incense in strength.



Eliza practically kicked in the door. Red eyed, vision wavering, she held a terribly still Gwen in her arms and looked upon the startled woman mix pose as she stocked shelves with dried herbs.



Eliza held her only reason in her arms and, despite the exhaustion, despite the pain of screaming muscles that needed rest a day before, despite the countless scratches, the gnawing hunger from pushing herself so far with her sigil and running out of meat she'd used to fuel the strength needed, she uttered the two words she needed.



"Please. Help."

​

​

Chapter 25.5 Interlude: Author's Note

I may need to adjust my schedule. I took a breather week to get my head together and it helped, but I have been struggling to keep up a weekly pace of a chapter a week. Not sure yet, but it's been rough and that extra week really did help.


This chapter got a little bit away from me, but my earlier world building did in fact pay off here. Had this place in my notes and it worked out well.



This is also quite a bit darker than even my usual stuff in a very real sense, but this is something I keep in mind with Eliza. She is not well. She needs a team of therapist and a full, loving family to get remotely okay, and, well, she does not have that.



I am curious how people think I managed this portrayal of suicidal thoughts here. It's something I might want to work on as I want it to be genuine and done well, not some edgy or poorly done BS like I've seen elsewhere. So, feedback is welcome, and this chapter might see some heavy alteration if necessary.

~~~~

​

Obligatory author plug because I'd love to write more but society sadly says I need monies to keep living (and support my growing addiction to commissioning catgirl art).







Support me on Patreon, Ko Fi, or Subscribe Star. Check them for advance chapters uploaded every weekend, too. Or check out my website for links to my other author accounts, contact, socials, etc. Anything is appreciated :3



I am also hosting writing commissions at $0.1 USD (10 cent) per word, but offer discounts on memberships on my Ko-Fi, so be sure to check it out if you'd like me to take a crack at a fic of yours, eh?



Also, I have a discord now! Check it out. I would love to chat with fans. :3

​

 

[Karispyro]

...oof. That was a rough chapter. Poor Eliza, has not had an easy few years. That poor deer too, gosh. I understand the necessity of that but boy was it hard to read. It's amazing how hard hitting you're making a story that starts with the premise of "guy dies and wishes to reincarnated surrounded by cat girls." Which is what makes this story so good, so thank you for that.

 

[Roncy4]

Eliza the supermom!

Excellent chapter! You've been really nailing the eerie atmosphere these past chapters, it's honestly one of my favorite aspects of this story.

For the suicidal thoughts in this chapter, while I can't claim to be very knowledgeable on the subject, I do think you did well. Bringing up her darkest moments and portraying those kind of thoughts as something that's lingering at the edges of her mind felt natural and not-forced.

Also, maybe consider skipping a week every month for your release schedule. I know of another author that does that.

 

[vladspellbinder]

I sort of like how Eliza uses "claw" instead of "hand".

She rowed faster.

Click to shrink...

We can't stop here, this is bat county.

I may need to adjust my schedule. I took a breather week to get my head together and it helped, but I have been struggling to keep up a weekly pace of a chapter a week. Not sure yet, but it's been rough and that extra week really did help.

Click to shrink...

Working at a pace you can keep up without it being too much is important. Find out what you can do and do that.

I am curious how people think I managed this portrayal of suicidal thoughts here. It's something I might want to work on as I want it to be genuine and done well, not some edgy or poorly done BS like I've seen elsewhere. So, feedback is welcome, and this chapter might see some heavy alteration if necessary.

Click to shrink...

As someone who has more than once called a help line to not do something that couldn't be taken back this is fine.

Everyone is different.

Having had to talk a friend of mine off a literal edge their suicidal thoughts were more deep water, the feeling of drowning, the exhaustion of constantly swimming, to keep their heads above water.
Mine are more of a dullness, depression, the thought of "Why bother?". Why bother eating, drinking water, living? It's just so much easier to lay down and do nothing. Become nothing. The promised tomorrow will never be the glorious today. Thankfully it's been many years now since I have felt that bad but, well, times are rough and I've thought about making a call but haven't reached that point. We press on.

Anyways, you did fine.

Thanks for the chapter.

I'm going to go grab a glass of water now.

Spoiler: Edit suggestions

identification papers, was one the worst moments

Click to shrink...

"one of the"

her from taking option she'd always

Click to shrink...

"taking the option"

the startled woman mix pose as she stocked

Click to shrink...

I think this is supposed to be "mid".