Reborn as a Demon Hat [A Monster Evolution Isekai LitRPG]

Tara found him at the edge of the Hopla children's fireworks stage.

He was staring out at the deep dark of the underground – his eyes tracing the crags, the rough edges of stones, and the toils of those who were working down below. In his hands he held Jun'Ei's cask, and though she couldn't read his thoughts, she could take some guesses at what he was thinking of doing here.

She ambled up behind him, keeping on her toes and maintaining a respectable distance. Yet, even so, he turned his snout and let out a sigh.

"Tara."

She stiffened as he said her name. All at once she felt like a bumbling, blushing kitty trying to deal with her first crush.

Get a hold of yourself, girl! You've killed men for Archon's sake!

She tiptoed a little closer, gradually coming in step with him on the very edge of the craggy overlook.

She'd looked on this sight dozens of times - the city of Sanctum from on-high. She'd sequestered herself here during her first few days, after Jun had found her cold, bloody, and shivering in the woods outside. At first, she'd trusted no one. She'd clung to her self, her daggers, and this height. She preferred to watch the hybrids from on-high, and for some reason nobody could understand, she seemed to shy away from any of her own Minxit kind that came near her.

And then one day, a bulky, slightly awkward-looking Lycae man came lumbering up the peak to ask her if she'd come down with the others. She scratched him to pieces, of course, and sent him on his way.

And yet, the very next day, he came again.

And he did so for the next few days, leaving her scraps of food and little more than a grunt in her direction.

Eventually, she'd got wise to the game. He was here on the orders of his mate - who, for some reason - had decided that he was the one who'd be able to coax this wild new kitten down. At the time, she didn't know what the prophet ever saw in the mangy, sanctimonious mutt who kept on bothering her.

But over time, she followed him a little further down the peak. Just a little further every day, towards home.

Now, here she was, in the role-reversal she never thought she'd be in.

It was her turn to coax him down.

With a mischievous smirk she asked him, "What gave me away?"

"I'd recognize your step anywhere," he replied, heaving another heavy sigh. "The lightest feet in all of Sanctum."

She was glad that her newly charred fur hid the blush that came into her cheeks and didn't feel like leaving.

For a few minutes she watched the goings on of the underground with him – seeing their brothers and sisters salvaging what they could from their broken homes, repairing what could be repaired and mourning the lives that had been lost in the Angel's assault. It was a strange sight. Ever since Ethan's arrival, Sanctum had been in a state of flux. The markets had a new energy. The Geomancers had discovered new tunnels and advance teams of Lycae warriors had led further expeditions into the depths, intent on discovering new habitable zones to expand their meek city. But they had all secretly known that they were only one day away from devastation if the humans took their Archon from them as they always had. Still, they had all fought to defend what was theirs until now, when, for the first time ever, they actually had a future that they might not even have to fight for.

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The future, Tara thought somberly, turning then to look at Klax.

He stood proud, fur torn and twisted in places, but still thick and heavy – like a great coat that would weigh down even the hardiest kitten. His mane still had traces of blood flecked in its threads, but he paid them no heed. Just like Ethan, his eyes were fixed forward. Even if his mind was still wandering in the dust of the past.

He seemed completely mute – a silent sentinel that would look over this realm until the day his body simply collapsed of its own accord. She suddenly had the crazy thought that if she didn't say or do something soon, perhaps that's exactly what he might do.

So, steeling herself and issuing a little hiccup of trepidation, she thrust out her hands, grabbed his paws, and looked into his eyes.

"It's time," she said.

He was at first taken aback, and for a moment she thought he might actually just shake his head and lumber right back down to the city with Jun'Ei's remains in toe.

But she slowly saw the pain and lust for vengeance die in the whites of his eyes. Like her, he was realizing something right now. She couldn't be sure if it was because of Lamphrey's vision or not, but she knew – he was starting to see that all that hate wouldn't serve them where they were going, now.

And they were going together. Of that, Tara the Minxit had no doubt.

He squeezed her hand back after a time, and she felt the warmth of his heavy fur travel down her arm and touch her beating heart. Then, with a final wheeze, he closed his eyes and nodded, once.

"I wanted to do it somewhere that was important to her," he explained. "Been wandering these streets all day until I ended up here. I don't even know how, exactly. But when I got here I just thought, well, this city and everyone in it – she did everything for them. She barely lived a day of her life thinking for herself, or what her own heart wanted…so she deserves to rest here. To see the new dawn that's coming."

Tara caught the odd twinge of hesitation in his eye. She smiled up at him as she noticed that he was blushing, now.

"It's just – I need to get it right," he muttered. "Do you think this is what she'd want?"

"I don't think anything," she replied. "I know that she's still with us – all of us. No matter where you let her go, that'll never change."

She almost couldn't believe the words were leaving her lips. A year or two ago, she'd have balked and spat out a flaming furball if some berk had told her she'd say something as soppy as that. Come to think of it, this whole damn situation up here would've turned her stomach if she'd even dared to dream of it happening before.

And yet here she was, feeling her chest heave like a damn little girl. Looking at him. Noticing that his tail was wagging in a way she hadn't seen before.

Finally, he opened his eyes.

"Alright," he said, and opened the lid of the urn.

They both watched as the ashes of Jun'Ei left the dusty object to swim over the black skies of sanctum like a cloud of magic dust. As every particle left, Tara felt Klax's whole body loosen, as though each and every tiny piece of her was leaving his soul. His mouth gaped as he watched her go, a tiny stream of atomized pieces trickling down on the city that she loved, sprinkling every street, every bustling alley and every broken shop being repaired with a little piece of herself.

For a time they simply stood there together and watched the last vestiges of the woman that had meant so much to all of them finally leave this world behind. When it was over, Tara could feel Klax's heavy breathing on her neck.

In a barely audible whisper he said, "thank you, Tara."

She caught the glimmer in his eyes before squeaking out some pointless reply. She didn't even know what. She just knew that it made him smile before he lumbered away back to help the others.

"Klax."

He stopped, turning to face her while she contemplated what the hell she actually wanted to say next.

"You're going with him, right?" she asked.

His smile only grew. She'd feared that with everything that happened he'd consider staying behind. Ethan didn't need them this time. And he wasn't ordering them to stay behind. He was asking them to be there, with him, at the end of this world and the birth of the new one. And that bore thinking about.

But it seemed that she'd miscalculated, because Klax didn't even hesitate:

"Well, what the hell else am I going to do?" he asked. "Sit on a council and collect taxes while our Archon conquers the world? Not exactly my style, don't you think?"

She ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head and cursing herself for ever believing otherwise.

And then when she looked back, she found that he was holding out his hand.

"I could use some company on the journey," he said, and this time she could see the slight blush through his mane. She knew what he was really asking.

She gave a little chuckle, slicked back her singed hair, and fixed him with her roguish smile.

"Did you have someone in mind?"