Club Luna

=::= Kaylee's PoV =::=

With a swirl of magic I teleported myself out of our bedroom, and appeared a moment later standing next to my girlfriend. We were out in the woods, knee-deep in snow while even more of the fluffy white flakes continued to fall all around us.

My tails twitched as I asked, "Why'd you want to come way out here next to the road? Now we have a long walk through all this snow. Why not just teleport straight to their cave?"

"We didn't want to drop in right on top of them like that," Cass replied with a shrug, as the two of us started moving. "This way feels more polite? Like they can probably sense us coming, this gives them some warning in case they need to get ready or something."

I frowned, "They can see all over the world. They even said they could see into the heavens. They probably knew we'd be visiting them before we'd even talked to Tess and Amy about it."

"Maybe," Cass mumbled. "This way still feels more polite."

A moment later she added, "Cassandra says it's also kind of symbolic? The journey through the woods helps us mentally prepare or something. Puts us in the right mindset to speak with them."

"Huh," I frowned while my tails swished around behind me.

We were both appropriately dressed, in winter boots and warm clothes. My tails were exposed though and I could already feel the snow trying to stick to my floof, so I continued swishing them around to try and keep them relatively dry.

After walking in silence for a minute or two I decided the quiet was annoying, but fortunately I had another idea for conversation.

"Are you seriously considering getting another car for the club?" I asked my girlfriends. "You only just bought the Lunamobile seven or eight months ago. And you still haven't even got a drivers license, Cass. It's weird that you're going to buy all these cars but never drive them."

Her cheeks coloured slightly and she shrugged again, "I don't know? The minivan was enough when we were all going out and doing things as a group, but it's not as good for days like today. Nina and Sasha and Willow wanted to go out for a day-date together, but Cerys and Melanie wanted the van so they didn't have to walk to and from work while it's snowing like this? So I figured, another vehicle would mean we had more options."

"You and I can always teleport most places," she added. "And I guess Nina could teleport Sasha and Willow, but that's only an option if she can do it without being seen. And the werewolfs can't teleport at all."

I pointed out, "Willow might be able to teleport too. She's powerful enough, right? It's just a question of learning how. And having the confidence, I guess."

Cass nodded, "Yeah. Willow's probably the most powerful mortal alive? If she ever gets confident with her magic there's not much she won't be able to do."

Then she grimaced, "Except that'll probably attract the status quo's attention. So I don't know, for now it might be a good thing that she doesn't use her magic very much."

That made me frown for a few seconds, but I quickly let it go. We were doing our best to defeat the status quo, and after that Willow wouldn't have to worry about it. Neither would any of our other friends.

"So I guess we're going to do more car shopping?" I asked as the two of us carefully made our way down into the first ravine. "When we get back home I can start checking for any good deals online. Are we getting another minivan?"

My girlfriends shook their head, "Cerys actually mentioned something specific, but I don't know if it's practical. It sounded like some kind of antique?"

"Oh yeah? I didn't think she was a car person. What sort of antique?" I asked.

Cass clarified, "I don't know if she's actually into antique cars or if there's something else about it? And she wasn't asking us to get it, she just kind of commented that it would be cool. So I thought it would be a nice surprise if we could find one."

"Anyways the car she was talking about doesn't even sound all that special?" she added. "It's like a black four-door sedan? Uh, nineteen sixty-seven Chevy Impala? So like, more than fifty years old makes it an antique I think? And there probably can't be too many of those around, but maybe we can find something similar. Or Cassandra thinks she could use a little divine magic to come up with something."

I wasn't really a car person either, but something about that sounded familiar. It wasn't until we'd climbed up the other side of the ravine that I remembered, "I think that's from a TV show."

"And if it's what I'm thinking, Cerys will probably be very happy. And Melanie will probably groan and or face-palm," I added with a smile, while my tails twitched happily.

Cass looked like she was trying not to smile as she nodded, "Right. In that case uh, we should definitely try to find one of those."

A few minutes later we were starting to make our way down into the ravine where Chel's cave was located, when another thought struck me.

I glanced at my girlfriends and frowned, "So how come you wanted us to drive to brunch yesterday? We could have just teleported, and left the Lunamobile for the others to use."

My girlfriends grimaced again, "There's nowhere to teleport at the restaurant without being seen. Cassandra could have teleported us both there with her subtle goddess magic, but you always insist on teleporting yourself. And everyone would have seen you appear in a swirl of magic."

"Ah," I blushed slightly. They were right, since they taught me how to teleport myself I almost never let anyone else do it for me.

Then I flicked my ears and frowned again, "Ok but so what? You went public on the internet Friday night, so who cares if people see the two of us teleporting around? That's just spreading more chaos right?"

"While that's technically true, it likely would have caused some panic among the other patrons," Cassandra responded. "And panic in the restaurant would probably mean we wouldn't get to eat brunch. Also it would have annoyed Amethyst and Theresa, and considering they both seemed a little uptight to begin with I don't think that would have been a good idea either."

I could tell from her tone and how she spoke that the goddess of chaos had taken over. They were even walking differently, now that she was fronting.

"Yeah ok good point," I agreed.

We were approaching the mouth of the cave by then, so I asked "Did you take over for the meeting with Chel?"

She nodded, "I suppose so. Cass is still a little anxious about our mysterious ally, so I offered to take over and help keep the two of us calm. She's still present though, and I'm sure she'll speak up if she feels the need."

With that we were at the cave entrance, and sure enough we weren't alone. Except instead of looking like Rick Kovaks or the blonde girl in the old-timey dress, we found ourselves facing an old woman. She had to be in her sixties at least, but I'd have believed seventies.

Her back was hunched over and she leaned on what appeared to be a hand-made hiking staff. She had long wispy silver-white hair that hung down well past her shoulders, and she was squinting like she had trouble seeing. Between her looks and the way she was dressed I took her to be an indigenous woman. She actually looked like she could have stepped straight out of the past, like the seventeen hundreds maybe. Or perhaps even earlier, she might have been from pre-European contact.

"Hello Chel," Cassandra greeted the stranger politely while I was still looking her over. "I trust you've been expecting us?"

The old woman responded immediately, and she seemed to have a lot to say. Unfortunately I couldn't make out a word of it. I couldn't even guess what language she was speaking, apart from assuming it was one of the native dialects. My head tilted to the right and my tails all drooped while the woman continued speaking.

"Huh?" I asked after she was finally finished. Then I asked my girlfriends, "Did either of you get any of that?"

Cassandra nodded, "I did."

"Perhaps you could switch to English though?" she asked the old woman. "Neither Cass or Kaylee can speak Potawatomi, I'm afraid."

The young blonde girl nodded, "Very well. I guess you're all more comfortable meeting me in this shape anyways?"

My ears folded back as I tilted my head to the left and blinked at her. I hadn't even noticed her shift from an old indigenous woman to a young pre-teen pilgrim girl until she spoke.

"Why bother with the different look if you knew we'd be more comfortable when you look like this?" I asked. "And why the other language?"

"Also, hello Chel," I added as my tails started slowly moving back and forth again behind me.

She responded with a shrug, "Why not?"

"As for the language," she continued, "The way I communicate is tied to the form I use. When that wise woman visited my cave there were no English speakers on this continent. And greetings to you too, little fox."

At that point my demonic girlfriend chimed in, "Hello Chel. Where's kitty Carlos? Is he ok?"

"Hello Cass," the young titan replied. Then she turned and looked deeper into the cave as she called, "Here kitty kitty, come and see our guests!"

A couple seconds later the small beige cat with the orange and black spots came running into view. He stopped just inside the cave entrance and rubbed himself around the girl's ankles as he purred, and she crouched down to give him some pets and scritches.

"He seems a lot more friendly than I remember," Cassandra commented.

The girl smiled as she continued petting the cat, "Carlos and I have had several months to get to know each other, and he's grown to accept his new role."

My goddess girlfriend nodded once, before she got on with the reason for our visit.

"Kaylee and I tried to go public a few days ago," she stated, "But we had limited success. The status quo was unable to stop us from addressing about a thousand people directly over the internet, but it eliminated all trace of the event after the fact."

"I'm well aware," Chel pouted as she straightened up again. "It was a good effort though, and happily all those people you reached are still alive. And they still remember the experience, so at least there's word of mouth. Then there's all the enchanted toys you distributed, those weren't eliminated either."

Part of that left me and both my girlfriends worried. My ears folded back and my tails twitched as I asked, "Was that ever in question? I mean, about all the viewers staying alive?"

The personification of elemental chaos sighed, "It's rare and extreme, but it has happened at least twice? The status quo has wiped out all the followers of an upstart deity, to disempower them and stop them from spreading their message any further."

"That was a lot easier back when those sorts of things had to happen locally," she added.

The young blonde continued, "Before television and the internet and streaming you had to address people in person. Getting a thousand people to gather in one spot was an effective way of reaching them. You could let them all feel your divine influence, and harvest their faith directly. But it also meant they were susceptible to localized catastrophes, like illness, riots, or flaming rocks falling from the sky, that sort of thing."

Cassandra frowned, "So having my followers spread out around the world helps keep them safe? Or at least, safer than rounding them all up for a big public rally somewhere."

"Correct," Chel nodded. "It doesn't guarantee their safety, but it makes it far less likely for the status quo to try and wipe them all out at once."

My goddess girlfriend continued to frown as she asked, "So how can I keep my worshipers safe? And my friends too, I need to protect them."

The ancient preteen shrugged, "The easiest way is to take things slow. Like we discussed before, your goals may take decades, mine could take centuries."

"You are far too weak to try and challenge the status quo directly Cassandra," she stated in a warning tone. "You would need to increase your numbers by a hundredfold at the very least, before you even consider the option. A thousandfold increase might even give you a chance at success."

Cassandra sighed, "I've got barely seventy-five hundred now. You're saying three quarters of a million might get me into the ring, but seven and a half million is the minimum that might give me a chance at success?"

Chel nodded sagely, "As things stand now, yes. The gods who's power props up the status quo count their numbers in the hundreds of millions."

Then the small titan added, "Of course making yourself stronger is only one path to victory. It's just as important to undermine your foe and make it weaker. Which you're already doing, bit by bit, every time you bring a little more chaos into the world."

"Think of it like an infection," she continued. "Each new demi-human is another crack in the status quo's armour, and they go on to shake the belief of every other person they meet. Their family, their friends, their coworkers and neighbours, right down to the person who delivers their groceries or serves them their morning coffee in the drive-through. All those people see a glimpse of the impossible, and their world-view is challenged."

My tails twitched as I frowned, "Except that's not what happens. I've been a three-tailed demonic foxgirl for three quarters of a year now, and people don't look at me and wonder how I did it. They look at me and wonder why I'm wearing a costume, or where I got the cool fake ears and tail."

Chel replied, "I never said mortals' worldview would be shattered whenever they saw a demi-human, only that they'd question things. Telling themselves you're in costume is the easier answer, it's the answer the status quo encourages. But they've still had to question the situation in order to reach that conclusion. And not everyone will accept the safe simple answer, because it's clearly wrong."

"Ok," I nodded slowly while my tails relaxed back into a gentle swishing back and forth. Then I asked, "So if all this stuff is weakening the status quo, maybe it's ok to keep doing those live interviews? Even if they get erased afterwards? Just make it clear they're one-time events, viewers either catch them live or wait for the next one."

My girlfriend shook her head, "Not if it's going to endanger my followers. Or the RSS crew."

"Speaking of them," she said as she looked to Chel again, "They offered to become prophets or disciples of chaos. I still haven't made any decisions on that, but I was wondering if you had any advice? I'm sure they could help our cause, but again I don't want to put anyone at risk."

Chel shrugged, "Turning worshipers into disciples isn't new, but to my knowledge it hasn't been done in some time. It should ensure their safety, but it would involve granting them your blessing, along with some of your power. What they're able to do with that power is something you'd establish when you gave it to them"

"What about me?" I chimed in. "Could I become a disciple of chaos too?"

The titan seemed almost amused by the question, "If you were any other demon and Cassandra was any other deity then the answer would be a firm no. But because your demonic nature came from her demonic half, and because her nature is both god and demon, yes."

"What's the catch?" Cassandra asked warily. "And what do you mean exactly, when you say I'd be granting them some of my power?"

The young blonde replied, "It's similar to how angels are created, but much less taxing. You'd be taking a tiny fraction of your divine essence and merging it with the supplicant's soul, along with your blessing. That fragment of yourself would keep them safe and mark them as yours."

My girlfriends were already shaking their head, "Not an option. Angels are completely obedient to their creators, at least at first, and there's no way I'd ever do that to anyone."

"It's not like that," Chel insisted. "Angels are created entirely from their god or goddess, literally a piece of you given form and independence. As such they're no more able to disobey you than your own hand or foot. They do eventually develop free will of their own, but that can take centuries. Humans already have free will, and becoming a disciple does not rob them of it."

Then she added, "However that doesn't mean there isn't a catch. For the process to work, the person must truly and honestly have complete and utter faith in you. They have to trust you and believe in you without any doubt or hesitation. Otherwise their soul won't accept your essence, and the process will fail. Likewise should a disciple ever lose their faith later on, your essence would be rejected and they would lose their status as disciple."

"Or in other words," she summarized, "Becoming a disciple doesn't force a person to be your faithful obedient servant. Only your most faithful devout worshipers can become disciples."

I could tell Cassandra was still wary of the idea, and I was positive she'd have to think about it. I would too, but I was still interested. Although it did leave me with another question.

"If Cassandra gave up some pieces of her self, wouldn't that make her weaker?" I asked.

Chel shook her head, "The amount in question is tiny in comparison to the whole. And the power isn't lost to her, it's merely stored elsewhere. On top of all that, at the rate she's growing even if she took on a dozen disciples she'd likely regain that essence in a week."

"Alright," my girlfriend finally stated. "I need to think this over. Thanks for your time Chel, I'm sure we'll be in touch again soon."