The Celestial Beings

“I’m the one who gripped you tight & raised you from perdition.”

THE VIRTUE

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how did this cat make the pact with "the other side"? Is the "other side" good or evil?

she does not really consider the being with which she made her pact was good or bad, although others may disagree. you see, she was actually a kittypet before she came across the clans. she was born on the streets of new orleans, louisiana & was incredibly sickly from the second she was born. it came to the point where she could not keep up with her mother or siblings, & was left behind after the family fled a dog attack. injured but left for dead when the dog's owner came and dragged it away, the little kit let out a single, pitiful 'mew'. it just so happened that where she was left was the alleyway beside the home of one of the most infamous mambo's of new orleans; mambo fay was a priestess who would communicate with the voudon gods for one of two reasons. she would either provide healing to those who were unwell, or she could curse someone who had wronged you. she could really do just about anything; for the right price of course. well, mere seconds after the attack, mambo fay came out to the alley to throw out some garbage bags, and stumbled across the little kit just as she mewed. she was a ghostly white & for a moment, she opened her eyes, which reminded mambo fay of fire. the mambo knew that the second she met the little kit's eyes, they were connected, and she took her inside her home quickly. little magnolia did not really choose to make her pact with the voudon gods that saved her life, but instead the mambo took her to her most spiritual room and began her healing ritual; however, it would only work if the little one wanted to be saved, if she had the desire to life. and that she did; almost as though she could understand what was happening at her young age, she met the eyes of mambo fay again and nodded her little head, giving her permission. she felt the second that the power of the gods entered her body; it felt like a rushing fire, taking over every ounce of her being, but she welcomed it, just giving in as her white body fully was enveloped in real flames. as the fire died out, the previously white kitten revealed her new self; she was covered in dark gray markings, both spotting and stripings, that gave her a darker appearance. the beautiful woman smiled as she reached out a hand, stroking the soft fur of her new-found companion; this caused a deep purr to rumble from the kit's throat. "well, i was going to call you magnolia; its the state flower of this bayou you know, and they are this pure white flower that's just so pretty. well, you know what... i still think you look like a magnolia. and i'll give you my last name as well little one; so from now on, you'll be magnolia laveau."

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​what is this cat's curse?/what did this cat give up to get powers?

technically, magnolia's curse is her own life. she should have died, all those moons ago, as a little sickly & deeply injured kit, yet her life was spared. however, she was not just given her own life, she was given her powers over the lives of kits. the way she words it is that she was given the power "to restore innocents who were too pure to meet death so young", thus able to save other kits, similarly to the way she herself was saved. one could also consider the little light bugs that are constantly surrounding her as a curse; she definitely used to view them that way, & technically it is true, as they were a spell done over her by mambo fay, without her own permission really. she doesn't really know what mambo gave up to provide her with the light bugs, but there are two things that she feels she gave up for her life & her powers, two things that really run into one another. she gave up her soul as payment, & thus has spent the rest of her life as a shell of a cat. she has no real feelings; she has learned, over the moons, how she should feel and act during specific situations/circumstances, but she has never actually felt anything within herself. there is only one set of circumstances with which she has ever come remotely close to actually having feelings; when she brings a kit back into this world from a stillbirth.

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Why the light bugs?

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the light bugs are like a reminder for magnolia; she was given her life out of a power that many consider to be dark, and she gave up a piece of herself that she will never be able to regain, but she wants to bring light to this world. she wants to use the loss of her soul & the attainment of her abilities to help those in need. the light bugs serve as a permanent reminder that she is living within the light, living to do good in this world. another thing, is that her appearance has been known to strike fear into the hearts of others, but the light bugs make her appear less threatening & less dangerous. she didn't always have the light bugs; the first half of her life, she just practiced her voodoo within the home of her human, mambo fay. whether it be felines or people, they always looked at magnolia with suspicion, filled with an uneasiness just by her appearance. it did not always bother her, the way that others looked at her, but it slowly caused an anger inside of her. she was helping them & yet they were always scared of her! shortly before she was returned to the streets, her mother mambo fay showed her a sort of pity, & 'cursed' her with the constant companionship of the light bugs. at first, she was incredibly annoyed by their presence, & tried to cast out there light by burying her head under blankets, pillows, etc; but they always followed her, regardless of the darkness she tried to surround herself with. three moons ago, her mambo was attacked in her sleep by a bokor; bokor's were male human voodoo practitioners who focus on black magic or dark sorcery; magnolia witnessed tendrils of shadows creep around mambo fay like a serpent, & crush her as though it were a boa constrictor. however, the light bugs surrounding her own furry-body somehow acted like a shield from the darkness, & she was left untouched. from that day forward, her viewpoint on her little light companions changed, & she saw them as her saviors, like a part of mambo fay left around to protect her.

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SOLDIERS

phiroza didnt have the easiest start to life; he was born into a tight-knit rogue group that was known to outsiders as being very cruel and strict. his father, omar, was the 'boss' or leader of this group, and so he expected a lot from his son from the very start of his life. while his mother, esta, was known as being the soft-spoken kind one, the singular ray of light shining in the darkness, phiroza never had a chance to experience his mother's love. esta had a particularly difficult labor, and shortly after phiroza was born into the world, esta had passed from it. perhaps his future would have been different if he had had his mother growing up, had her to support him when his father would tear him down, but that was not the life that the fates had planned.

from a young age he was taught to be the stereotypical harsh and cold rogue who radiated an aura of masculinity that said he was not going to be walked on or pushed over. omar had very specific beliefs that he bore down into his son and heir. one of the very first things that he was taught was to completely close off his emotions; not only was he not allowed to show how he felt (since that was very much seen as a massive sign of weakness) but he was raised to push down anything he did feel until he just had this numb void where feelings would normally have been. another thing that his father taught him was that, especially as the future 'boss' of the group, was that there was no such thing as having real friends. the cats around them, everyone that they knew, were simply objects or tools that they had to know how to perfectly manipulate to get what they wanted from them. it was a very lonely way to view the world, and phiroza often found himself longing for even a single companion that he could just talk to without having to carefully think through every word he said, the tone of his voice, and the movements of his body.

however, phiroza was barely an adult at twelve moons old when two-legs found their home; they had been living for many moons in an abandoned building in a deserted part of town. little did the rogues know that the plot of land that their home was on would be part of a construction revamp project that would bring a large number of two-legs and their monsters straight into the heart of their camp. many cats were killed in this first 'attack', but omar refused to allow those who remained to leave, determined to somehow fight the monsters when/if they returned. but when the two-legs returned a second time, it was a different situation, and they came with cages and catch-poles; anyone that was still alive from the first attack was captured by the two-legs and dragged off to local animal shelters. phiroza doesnt know how he managed to get away; he chalks it up to being the youngest/smallest cat in the group and was able to slip through tight spaces that the two-legs couldnt follow. phiroza wandered the streets for about a week before he snuck back into the warehouse building to see if anyone from his group had also managed to escape; there was no one there. all he could smell was the rusty metallic scent of blood, and he knew that he had to truly leave this place. he had know idea if anyone else from his group had survived like he had, but if any of the captured cats had made it to wherever they ended up, he never saw them again.

he spent almost twenty moons on his own from that moment, finding temporary company in various clans and small groups of loners. but he never fit in, never really found his place or actually made a single friend. he came across the celestials really by accident; he had scented he had crossed into a clan territory but he had truly almost given up on ever having a place to call home where he fit in or had friends. he came across a splitting river and slowed down to stop at the edge of the water, lowering his large body to gulp down the cool refreshing liquid. little did he know there were a few other cats making their way towards his location. it was normal for the soldier whitespring and her mate mouflonclimb to go on walks when they had finished their morning tasks, before they were assigned to any evening patrols or something. but lately they had been including one of their clanmates, another soldier mallowsun, on their daily walks. the other molly had been in a bit of a funk lately, and so they were trying to get her to talk about her feelings and figure out what was wrong. finally, mallowsun had begun to rant about feeling a bit left out and lonely lately; she loved her mate flareblood with all of her heart, but he had recently had a litter of kits with his other mate, so he had been spending more time with his four kits still in the nursery rather than her, which she understood. but then she had tried to turn to her own four children, but all four little toms were cheribum now and were 'too old' or 'too busy' to spend time with their mom. the blue smoke tom looked up as he heard the feminine voices approaching, his blue eyes locking on the trio who also seemed to have spotted him quickly.

while immediately the two soldiers were on edge, puffing up their fur and baring their teeth, the fluffy messenger allowed her former leadership skills to take control of the situation, greeting the stranger with a soft friendly smile. after a brief conversation, they decided to bring phiroza back to camp to meet with the archangel satinstar and seraphim smogwhisper. the chimera tom was given the opportunity to stay in the clan for a few weeks to see if he would grow to feel comfortable there. for the first few days he just sort of kept to himself, slowly meeting some of the clan cats and exploring the territory; no matter what he tried though he still felt a bit like an outsider. until one day, when the same three mollies who had found him by the gihon river approached him, this time with the flame point soldier in the front. "good afternoon phiroza. we're going for a walk and we'd like for you to join us, if you'd like that is." the large tom couldnt help but feel confused by her request, but also a bit excited at the prospect of someone else wanting to spend time with him. he rose from his seated position along the shade outside in the church's shadows with a slight nod of his head.

the beginning of the walk was relatively calm and mostly silent, with the only conversations occurring being small talk type things. after walking for a bit they had made their way to the gihon river, and the cats laid out on the smooth riverbed, sprawled out comfortably to soak in the warmth of the suns rays. after just existing in the comfortable silence for a bit, the calico molly spoke up, her voice warm and welcoming. "so, phiroza. i want to start this off by telling you that i consider myself to be an empath by nature; what that means is i'm very good at reading others feelings and i tend to feel with them. which is how i know that you've been through some hardships in your past and thats why you find it hard to connect. is that safe to say?" the tom's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, his maw opening slightly as he was about to snap out a response, but he forced himself to breath deeply; this molly was not attacking him, she was trying to understand him. "yeah, you're correct. i was raised a very specific way which makes it hard for me to befriend anyone or trust them."

it was then that for the first time the muscular, scar-covered pure-white molly spoke up; in the time that he had been staying with the clan, he had known whitespring to be the strong-and-silent-type. "i used to be a lot like you, phiroza. you could say that i still am at times. i was born in a clan that no longer exists; the shadowed kingdom was a very strict group with many laws and regulations that had to be followed or you would be severely punished; these punishments ranged from physical beatings to being chased and banished from ever returning. i was a soldier in the kingdom, the very first soldier under the ruling of the high lord blackstar, along with my twin brother that is, and due to this i was highly trusted by the royal family; so much so that i was given blackstar's daughter as an apprentice to train. i had to be cold and hard and cruel; show no weakness or lose everything. well several moons ago our clan fell apart and i ended up here; the shadowed kingdom bordered the celestials but we were always on negative terms. the clan was initially very uncertain about my joining because of this, but i managed to prove my intentions just a moon later during a rogue battle. i finally felt at home, and then just a moon or so later, mouflonclimb came to join the celestials as well, and she quickly became the love of my life and my reason to try to be good."

after she finished talking, they sat in silence for a bit, allowing her story to seep in to phiroza's mind, before mallowsun opened her mouth to speak next. "i also came to this clan from the shadowed kingdom; i joined the kingdom about ten moons after whitespring did, so it was far more established by the time i entered, and i was assigned to the rank of stormguard. well i fell in love with flareblood, a tom from the celestial beings, and we had to keep our romance a secret because of our clans mutual dislike for each other. well i fell pregnant and had a litter of four handsome boys, but it felt like everyone was judging me because i would not share the identity of my kits father. flareblood actually risked his life once and snuck into the nursery of our camp to meet his firstborn sons, and he took one of the boys, tangkit, to live with him in the celestials. i soon realized that being a mother was my calling, that caring for my kits was everything that i needed, and the opinions of my clanmates didnt matter anymore. when the kingdom fell apart i was able to fully reunite my family by joining the celestials. and since then my family has continued to grow; my mate flareblood is polyamorous and so he has two other mates, both of whom have birthed kits in the last three moons or so. even though i didnt carry them myself, i still love them as if they were my own."

phiroza was truly starting to feel something by the stories these mollies were telling him, and he had to look away sharply to hide the sudden tears that threatened to leave his eyes. finally the third molly raised her voice to speak, mouflonclimb's words much more soft and gentle than anyone elses had been. "i used to go by a different name; areli. i was the chieftess, or leader, of a clan known as evanora's reach. we existed for a full year before everything sort of just fell apart...i couldnt protect them, couldnt hold everyone together the way that i had promised; the gods had abandoned us, and so we each traveled down different paths to find our new homes. i was the last cat to leave the reach, wanting to make sure not to leave anyone behind before i left to find my new place in the world. when i came across the celestials i was still wracked with guilt, feeling like a failure to evanora's reach, that i just didnt know if i would belong anywhere again. but not only did everyone here welcome me with open arms, but i found love in the form of whitespring. and now i couldnt think of my life being anything but where it is now, with the friends that i have like mallowsun. what we're all trying to tell you phiroza is that if you give the celestials a chance, we will grow on you, and we will truly become your home, if you let us." it was at that moment that phiroza finally let his walls down, the tears erupting from his eyes as the three mollies came towards him, engulfing him in a group hug of sorts, holding him close as the sobs racked his body; he really, truly was home.