I was conscious of the various looks the three of us received as we walked. The human seemed to babble about a bunch of things I found uninteresting and not worth remembering, and whether the vampire agreed or not, he didn’t ask her to stop. So she kept going. She seemed super focused on talking about something to do with magic circles and how it was affected by the moon. But, my magic wasn’t in circles, and the magic in my room wasn’t in circles either.

The three of us walked past the throne room, and I couldn’t help but look to the Queen’s throne, wondering if she was there. She wasn’t. I turned back to the hallway and caught the vampire watching me from the corner of his eye. I couldn’t help the soft growl, though I wasn’t sure why I needed to. He turned away.

We walked for quite a while, the hallways seeming endless, and the ones I recognized quickly left behind. Instead the hallways grew larger, and filled with more of the mini suns I’d seen before. More and more creatures were in the hallways, and though they gave us a wide berth, I could smell them. Vampires, humans, and a few I didn’t know. One creature smelled of death itself. Even more than vampires did. Our eyes caught, and the depths of blackness in the eyes caused a shiver to rake down my spine.

The vampire seemed unconcerned by the creature, and so I followed cautiously after it. But the human grew quiet. Her fingers in a tight fist and her gaze fixed on the ground. I watched the creature as we walked past. It looked like a human from the front, but as we passed, I saw that instead of human legs, it had legs like an insect and a large tail that shined black in the dim light.

Then I felt magic reaching from the creature to me. Instinctively, my tails stood at attention and I turned my full body to the creature. The human muttered “shit” under her breath and stepped behind both I and the vampire who faced this creature.

“Doctor, please stop whatever you are doing. It has put Lady BeokSongHi on edge.”

A wide, dangerous smile slid across the creature's face. She spoke slowly, even as her magic withdrew. “I simply wanted to greet one seeped in death as much as this one is. I’ve never seen her like that.” While everything about this creature screamed danger, her voice was soft and calm.

The vampire turned a suspicious eye to me at the creature’s words. But I ignored him, and stared at the creature. So much of my instincts screamed at me that this was dangerous, but it didn’t smell like a predator. The creature's body language was relaxed despite the fact that mine was poised to attack. And I was confused.

The creature's dark eyes bore into my own. She whispered words to me then, and I knew that no one else understood them. “May the goddess protect you.” Whether she knew what I had said or not, I couldn’t help my nose scrunch at the mention of a goddess. A word slipped through my mind and I suddenly knew what she was. A priestess. I knew this. I had seen this before. Though I didn’t know why. But I could suddenly recognize the clothes draped over the creature as ones worn only by the servants of religion.

“Which goddess’s blessings do you give to me?” I asked, and I felt my memory twinge. I had said this before. And it felt like many times. It felt like a ritual of sorts.

The creature’s face flickered in surprise before she smiled again, her tail lifting higher as she bowed slightly to me. “I follow the goddess Serket in all things, as it is her magic that has blessed me such.” I was disappointed when the name of her goddess sounded unfamiliar. But my body moved, my muscles remembering something my brain did not. My front paw touched my forehead and then my heart. The creature looked surprised again before mimicking my actions. “Should you need protection, Death’s blessed,” the creature continued. “You may call upon me, Priestess Halima.”

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Then the creature turned and continued on her way down the hallway. The vampire wasted a mere moment before growling and turning angry eyes at me. “What the fuck was that? What the fuck did you two say?”

“I...” I stopped. Why couldn’t he understand what I said? Why had my magic not shared my words with him, and only with the creature. I turned to the human and as though knowing my question, she shook her head. She had also not understood. “My magic did not... I don’t know why.”

“Fine. But what did you talk about?” He took a threatening step toward me, and I glared up at him.

“Her name. And her goddess.”

He glowered down at me, but then turned away and continued down the hallway. I had no doubt he would tell the queen, but I had done nothing wrong. Though, I now realized I had spoken twice without thought. Twice did I say something more complex and almost without thought. Since waking up in my den, I hadn’t cared much to remember the past. But now, the mystery of who I was pressed against my skin and made me itch.

My thoughts swirled around, trying to find clues and hints as to what I was. But there was nothing. We arrived in a room filled with creatures of all types, and after scenting the air and knowing that there were no predators here, I returned to my thoughts.

I finally gave up with a growl of frustration and realized I was sitting against a wall with a plate of meat in front of me. I looked up to see the vampire and human sitting at a nearby table, both of their eyes on me even as they talked. I didn’t care to hear what they said, so instead I turned to the meat. It was raw, bloody and my mouth watered instantly. I sniffed at it, and the stink of sickness was absent, so I dug my teeth at it. I was frustrated when the meat wouldn’t rip the way I knew it should.

Absently, I called my magic to my mouth and the taste of the meat exploded, and I felt the meat begin to tear the way it should. But as I let the taste of the blood soak into my tongue, I knew it was wrong. This wasn’t what I wanted. This was... trash. I spit it out and looked up at the vampire. “Not right.” I told him.

Before he could do anything, magic wrapped around the meat and pulled it away. I thought about grabbing at what was my only source of food, even if it wasn’t right. But then the food disappeared. I turned to the vampire, worried. But he just glared at me and continued to watch me. I turned to the human, what if she had taken the food. But she just watched as well. A moment later, meat appeared in the air near me.

I grabbed it and began to use my teeth to tear at it. It wasn’t right. But it wasn’t wrong either. I slowed down, drinking in the blood of the meat, which was right. But the meat tasted empty, bland. But I ate it anyway. And I ate the second and third portions that appeared after.

When I finished, I began to clean my paws of the blood, and looked at dismay at the blood that had seeped into the clothes I had worn for the queen. The human must have noticed my face because she stood from her table and walked to me. “Do you want me to remove the blood?” She lifted her stick. I nodded. She began to mutter about liquids to dissolve and plants to remain. It was very strange. But then her magic reached out and pulled the blood from the clothes and they vanished.

I nodded my head in thanks, she smiled at me. But then the vampire started to herd me through the large room and back into the hallways. Before I knew it, we passed the still empty throne room and I was deposited into the little room. My stomach satisfied, I let them leave and curled into a ball on the edge of the bed and fell asleep quickly.