It was still dark when Azucena woke up. She felt a bit woozy and had to pee. They were staying in a dog house sized apartment not too far from the pub, one she hoped was not too directly connected to her, owned by a friend of a friend. After a few faltering steps, she realised she was still drunk. Fuck. That was a lapse in judgement she could not afford right now.

The bathroom was barely more than a closet with a toilet. That was enough for now. She sat down and heard a small squeak. The creature responsible for the sound lazily lounged into the view – the view being a small window through which the lights of the city shone through. It was a rather petite black and white tuxedo cat.

"Well, hello, there." Azucena smiled.

The cat felt like there was not need for a reply.

She wondered how it had gotten in, as to her knowledge, her friend did not have a cat. It was, perhaps a prime example of the cat distribution system at work. Although as cute as the thing was, she could not drag another innocent life, or nine, to her mess. Having to take care of Anna and Laura was more than enough. As memories from the last night flashed through her mind, she decided they might be a bit too much.

The cat stared at her intensively as she flushed and washed her hands. As she opened the door, the feline let out the cutest little meow.

"There's a kitty in here?" she could hear a very tired Ferndanda groan.

"So it seems," Azucena replied. "I don't know how, though."

"She's not your friend's?"

She? Azucena supposed she could be a she. She was not, as far as she could tell, what a king-of-the-streets tomcat would look and sound. "No, she's not."

The woman got up and dragged herself to the door of the bathroom. "Oh my god, she's cute."

"That she is," Azucena replied, and quickly added, "no, we can't have her."

"Awww, why not?"

"I–" Azucena was stunned that Fernanda would even consider adopting a helpless little animal in the situation they currently were in. "She will be better off by herself. She seems to have done well so far!"

"But… but the cat distribution system!"

"You do realise that's just an old internet joke?"

Fernanda deflated. "You're right. I just get so emotional when I'm hungover."

Azucena pecked a small kiss on her cheek. "Then it's good that I'm here, isn't it?"

Before either of them could say anything else, the cat let out another cute little meow.

"Oh gods damnit," Azucena said. The both laughed, and looked each other in the eyes. She continued, "I'm going to have cat pee all over the van, am I not?"

Another, even more insistent vocalisation.

"Are you hungry, little fella?" Azucena asked.

The cat… shook her head.

"Did… did it just do what I thought it did?" Fernanda asked.

For fuck's sake. It could have been a coincidence, of course, animals often did things that humans interpreted as communication, while they were merely… being animals. But it was also possible that it wasn't the case, right here and right now. "Are you here to deliver a message?" she asked carefully.

The cat meowed excitedly and nodded her head.

"Wait, animal messengers?" Fernanda said. "You mean that shit from the fairytales is true?"

Azucena just shrugged. "Where did you think they got the idea?"

"But– but… dragons!"

"That," Azucena grinned, "is long and complicated subject!" She went to the kitchen and the cat followed obediently. A message with a cat? Like she had told Fernanda, animal messagers were nothing new, though they fell out of fashion during the hayday of the internet. It was just a lot simpler to type a message and have it instantly delivered on someone's phone than to lure, charm and send a raven with a note tied to their leg. Now with the online communication restrictions, the animals were suddenly back in vogue. Except, nobody had a stash of birds just hanging around, and wild animals were notoriously hard to work with, so whatever strays, it was.

"Do we have anything to give to a cat?" she asked.

"I don't know! We didn't shop before we came here, remember?"

She barely did. It had been a long night at the bar. On the dancefloor. Laura and Anna and the douchebags had joined at some point and…

"Where are Anna and Laura?" Azucena said, half to herself.

Fernanda lifted her hands, "I think they went with those guys."

"Oh," Azucena said. "I must have missed that."

"We had much nicer things to worry about," Fernanda grinned.

The guys were idiots, but mostly harmless ones. That was why they were hired: they were way too thick to hatch complex plans, or even carry out ones someone smarter set them out to do. Even if you tricked them with magic, they were completely obvious. The worst thing that would happen was the mental hangover that they'd have after realising who they hooked up with.

She rummaged through the cupboards. It was mostly dry stuff like noodles, flours, some cans of beans, and everything else that preserves well. Her friend didn't seem to use this apartment too often.

"Do cats eat spaghetti?"

Fernanda shook her head.

"I… didn't think so."

"Why are we talking about food? Didn't you just say she has a message?"

"Yes, do you think beans would be ok?" Azuena said holding a can of refried beans.

"Not sure about those ones. You didn't answer my question." her voice was getting exasperated.

Azucena opened another cupboard. "Coffee? It's customary to feed the animal before receiving the message."

"That's… nice, I guess. Inconvenient, but nice."

"Oh yes, a complete pain in the ass! I suppose not soy sauce, either."

"No, don't they have any meat?"

"I don't think so."

"And we can't get the message before we feed the cat?"

"We can, but it's rude. I suppose."

"You suppose?" Fernanda was sounding a little angry at this point.

"I don't know! I've never received a message via an animal before!" Azucena had to admit. It wasn't like she had been born in the Victorian – Or second Elizabethian – era either.

"What?!" Fernanda was more shocked than angry now, which Azucena counted as a small victory.

"They weren't exactly popular when things like text messages and social media were around. We move on with the technology too." She said and sat down on one of the small wooden stools in the kitchen. It creaked ominously.

"So, uh, does the animal know to expect a treat?"

"It's a cat, Fernanda, they always expect a treat." Azucena said flatly.

Fernanda looked at her and then at the cat. The cat let out another very insistent meow. Fernanda started laughing. "What if we check the message now, and promise to get her a nice little snack afterwards?" she said after calming down. "Would that do, kitty?"

For cat owners, Azucena supposed, it would not have been surprising to hear their pet express complex emotions in a single, short, meow, but for her it was an unreal moment. "Well, if you insist," the cat sounded to have implied, "but let it be known that should you break that solemn promise, me and my kin will hunt you to the ends of the earth. Also, it better be a very yummy snack."

The women shared another compassionate laugh and crouched to examine the feline more closely. It stayed put and didn't resist when Azucena turned it around.

"Where's the message?" Fernanda asked.

"I don't know. Like I said, I've never done that before. I always assumed it was like notes attached to ravens."

"That's Game of Thrones," Fernanda said flatly.

"Based on real history. Kinda," Azucena offered.

The both ran their hands through the cat's soft fur, and she let out a soft purr. There was nothing. No notes, no places to hide the notes, either. The cat didn't even have a collar. How was it supposed to deliver the message? It was not like it could just sing it. Or could it?

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Aren't there, like magical ways to carry the message on the animal?" Fernanda asked. She been thinking along the same lines, but making animals talk, or indeed, sing, was one of the types of magic that was generally considered fairytale-y and gimmicky. It lacked real function, and was apparently supernatural to any an observer. It was also considered painful, or sometimes even actively harmful, to the animal in question, and any a Corrupted with a shred of empathy steer clear of such magic.

"We don't do things like making animals talk. It's cruelty," Azucena said coldly.

"But what about writing a message in magic ink, or creating a hidden pouch or something?" She had no idea what she was talking about. Bless her. There was no magic ink, no way to make a magic pouch without immensely hurting the animal. Of course, there were other options, but narrowing them down…

"Damn it," Azucena said under her breath. "Who sent you?"

Fernanda looked at the animal. "Maybe you know someone who is a cat-lady?" she suggested.

Azucena shook her head. "I know one in Japan. I doubt it would be her."

The cat was still purring. "Is it possible that it's not a messenger? Maybe it was just a very weird coincidence. Is there a way to tell that would be 100% sure?"

"Like, with magic?"

Fernanda nodded.

Azucena considered this. There was no "detect magic" spell that you could cast and everything magical would glow nicely. There were some substances that reacted with ambient magic and that could be used to detect a long running spell such as one required to convince an animal to perform postal duties. Unfortunately, those substances were not ones you could expect to find in a normal kitchen either. Or a convenience store. And there weren't magic supply stores on every corner. She shook her head.

"What if, you somehow, I don't know, channel magical energy to the cat, would it react with the energy that's already there?"

"That… That is possible. I'm not sure what would happen?" Azucena said thoughtfully. The cat did not seem opposed to the idea.

"How can you not be sure? That has to be like Magic 101!" Fernanda gasped.

That was, of course, a very common misconception. "We don't go to a magic school in some British conservatives' wet fantasyland!"

"But you said, you have to be mentored? Or boom goes the wizard?"

Azucena nodded. "Those who survive are taught to control their abilities, yes. But it's not like we go to classes about the principles."

"Someone must know these things, right?"

"Well, there are scholars. My friend is one. But the thing is, magic is a farcry from physics that are made of rules and equations. It's wild and unpredictable, and manifests in different ways in different people. There… there have been some individuals who have sought to unlock the deeper mysteries of the arcane, but those… uh, let's say curiosity with magic almost never fails to kill the cat."

"Meow?"

"So, what you're saying, is that if you'd just try to somehow magic the cat, it would die?"

"That… is unfortunately a real possibility."

"MeOW!"

"That cat sure sounds like she understands," Fernanda sighed. "Kitty, whatever your name is, how can we get the message?"

The cat beeped and pointed her finger at her mouth.

Fernanda looked at Azucena. "The snack!" they both said, bolted up and frantically set to searching the kitchen. Cats ate something else than meat too, right? Azucena remembered hearing at some point, that even hypercarnivores, animals most into meat, only ate around 70% of it. Rest was some kind of vegetables or mushrooms or whatever. Wait, didn't I see… she thought and rushed to the big cabin near the door, but Fernanda had beat her do it.

"Champignons!" the lovely, lovely, woman said.

"That must work," Azucena huffed and grabbed the can. She didn't have the patience to look for a can opener and just concentrated her magical energy on the tip of her forefinger. The metal gave in under the force and bent, creating a cut between the edge and the lid.

"Oh-kay, that's a new little trick!" Fernanda gasped. Azucena always forgot her new girlfriend had barely seen her use magic. Few people actually had, and even fewer who were not Corrupted themselves. Too eager to feed the cat, she disregarded the comment and went on to uncap the can. A minute later, she poured a bunch of slimy mushroom on the floor.

"Really, this shit?" was what the cat's face was telling her. She just shrugged.

Funny thing was, both her and Fernanda held their breath waiting for the cat to eat. It was doubly ironic, as they both very well knew waiting for a cat to east anything was as much as of a "don't hold your breath" thing as anything. But, lo and behold, the kitty opened her mouth and licked one of the mushrooms. Seconds later, she swallowed it and moved on to the next one. The two women breathed out in relief.

"Now… we wait?" Azucena said, hoping that she could have sounded more certain. She had barely ever been in a situation where she had to spend time with someone who was not Corrupted and knew about her powers – and this time it was a person she had very strong feelings for. There had been plenty of magicians in the past who had had a urge to show off their cursed ability to the mundane people, but it had never ended very well, and she had been certain that she was not, and would never be, one of those people. It was true, to an extend, as she had never boasted about her abilities, or even shown them in any real sense. But now, as her knowledge of the supernatural had been questioned by her paramour and she'd had to face her shortcoming regarding her knowledge about the theory of magic… she felt more unsure that she ever had in her life.

Fernanda sat down on the floor with her legs crossed. "Waiting for a cat to eat to save my life… Not exactly the high point of my day," she said.

Azucena followed her exampled and lowered herself. "Well, the day has barely begun."

The cat was completely concentrated on her meal, and had no reaction on Azucena petting her. "I… alerted some acquintances from the past at the pub, when I went to the chatroom," she said. "Hopefully, they are available to help."

Fernanda looked unsure. "How quickly can you except them to read the message?"

Azucena shook her head slowly. "I can't even trust them to read it. We haven't been in contact for years, and I'm not sure how actively they… well, even visit civilisation."

"So, we might be waiting for a while?" Fernanda's voice was calm, but tinged with sadness.

"At least we have a cute little furball," Azucena said, trying to cheer up her lover.

The cat puked.

* * *

Laura wasn't sure if it had been the tequila talking, last night, or the vodka or the – did one of the drinks have whiskey? – whatever else they downed, but now, as her head was pounding more than that jock ever did last night, she terribly regretted agreeing with Anna to come to the facility where Azucena had left the asshole who had kidnapped them. She still couldn't even think his name without somehow vomiting the whole of it, so she tried not to. And, right now, the main reason to her misgivings was that Anna was on fire. Literally, in flames.

She realised she was shouting, but no voice was coming out of her mouth. She suspected it was the lack of oxygen the fire was causing, although even in her rather incomprehending state, she doubted she would be doing anything else either, if that was the case. But the scene was rather chaotic.

She was in one of the rooms the guys had called "the barracks," a small space barely larger than a walk-in-closet with a sad little cot set in. It was, barely, enough room to have sex, but certainly not very enjoyable sex. She and the man – she still had no idea what his name was – had scrambled for an hour or so, before the strange noises had started. He had panicked at first, but quickly calmed down, pointing that he was not the one in duty tonight, no matter what the problem was. He was still of the same opinion, even after the place had become an inferno with all the clamour to match.

Obviously, it was all Anna's fault. Laura might not have been the most educated or intelligent specimen of the human race, she'd had enough teachers tell her that, but she did know how to put two and two together: what Azucena had told them about contracting magic and how dangerous and explosive the first moments could be, and the fact that Anna had been suspiciously keen to come to the place where they kept the only other magically-infected person other than the one who had saved them.

The fact that, after going through all the trouble of kidnapping them, José fucking Ignasio had not even tried to lay a finger on any the girls had been somewhat puzzling to Laura, until she learned the truth about acquiring magic. Then, it was clear that the last thing their captor wanted was to enable them with powers similar to him. It still didn't answer the other important question: what did he expect to get out of the girls?

Although, she had to admit, going through these thoughts while inside a building literally on fire, was not the best way to carry out, you know, living. But, it was not obvious what her next step would be, as there was the definite existential need to exit the building, but also the weird obligation to her fellow kidnappeé to try to save her.

She tried to remember what she had been taught about extinguishing a person on fire, but not having ever taken a first aid class made her knowledge base limited. To be honest, she did not even know if that was the sort of thing they taught at a first aid class. For her, first aid had been something other people did.

There was a fire extinguisher in the room, and Laura knew for sure those things were pretty essential in putting down fires, but whether they were supposed to be used on people, well, that was another thing.

On the other hand, Anna was on fire, and would probably not object to any means of putting out the flames, whether correct or not.

She punched the glass in front of the fire extinguisher. It hurt her more than the glass, apparently.

"For fucks sake," she screamed. "A little help here?!"

The guy, who had been surprisingly unworried about everything going on around him, got the small table that was sitting next to the bed and crashed it through the glass. Glass shards scattered over the small room, but at this point, that was the least of her worries.

She grabbed the fire extinguisher and ran to the corridor. It shouldn't be too hard to use one of these things, should it? It wouldn't make any sense to make life-saving equipment too hard to handle for a layperson. No sense at all!

She pointed the hose towards Anna and squeezed the handle. The lever didn't budge. "What the fuck!" she yelled as she tried again, but to no avail.

"Pull the pin, babe!" the guy shouted.

"Don't call me b–oh," even in the middle of a flaming hallways, she could feel her cheeks warm up. She had just gotten instructed by… him? This was not going to be a good day, she decided and pulled the pin. She took the hose and squeezed again. The foam shot towards the German girl. It was hard to aim the extinguisher, and only a fraction of the extinguishing agent fell on her target. She was shouting in frustration.

Sheet fell on Anna. The flames went out almost immediately. Laura turned and saw the guy wave at him. "Hey, come help me with that," he said and pointed at the fire near the girl.

She did as instructed and managed to put down most of the flames, while he picked up Anna and ran towards the exit. She followed.

"How– how did you–" Laura said.

"I'm a volunteer fire fighter," he said.

"Oh." She might have underestimated him a bit. "Why– why didn't you help earlier?"

"I was looking for the extinguishing blanket. I, uh, might have used it for other purposes," he said, blushing with a smile and scratching his head. "Oops, right?"

"Oops, indeed," Laura said, rolling her eyes. She pulled the blanket from top of Anna, expecting a gruesome sight, but only saw a girl with some darkened skin and barely any clothes.

She saw his face, and quickly replaced the cloth. "Not a word!"

He laughed. "I was just going to say, it's pretty normal this happens. You know, that they're on fire but not really on fire."

"This is familiar to you?" she exasparated.

"It's what this place is – was – for. Safehouse for the newly Corrupted."

"Oh. I thought it was a prison or something."

"No, no, that was just a temporary arrangement until the mage dudes – and dudettes – figure out what to do with him. I don't think they have like an Arkham Asylum or something," he tried to explain.

"You'd think something like that would be pretty damn useful, given what those people can do."

"Yeah, I guess they're like, pro-death sentence," he shrugged.

"I suppose they are," she said, quietly. Only now, as the adrenaline died down a bit, she realised how tired she was. They had barely slept, with all the sex and everything. Tired, but also rejuvenated. "Where the hell do we go now?"

"Don't worry," he said. "I sent the cat already."

"You sent what?!"