♡ Lucicole ♡ [18+]

1 - The leaflet

Draw thy own blood for this ritual and repeat after me.

Thy shall not harm the body or the soul of a herbivorous comrade.

Thy shall remain as calm as possible to prevent violent outlashing.

Thy shall lay no clawed paw on the herbivore.

Thy shall draw no blood from the herbivore.

Thy shall keep your teeth covered.

Thy shall not hurt.

Thy shall not hunt.

Thy shall not kill.

A crimson red moon in a cloudless nighttime sky. Nicole found herself alone at the gate of the Underworld after just having completed her first and only ritual. Evil. Evil ran through this place of doom and damnation. But Nicole wouldn't have to worry a single bit about this place eventually if she kept her oath. It had been settled centuries ago; every carnivore had to swear an oath to Satan, promising not to harm or kill a herbivore. It's a ritual that had to be done by any carnivore that just turned eighteen, which marked their first steps into adulthood. Once the ritual had been completed, the carnivore was allowed to leave without ever having to worry about the Underworld, as long as... well you guessed it... they kept their oath. The blue feline took one sharp look at the slit in her paw, which she had to cut in order to draw blood for the ritual. What she exactly did is a blur to her for the majority, as the gates of Hell were kept secure by a spell which caused any guest to partially forget the things they did within these walls. But what Nicole did remember is gathering around a large, with flames surrounded marble table and having to press her bleeding paw against the middle of it to seal the oath she took, as well as placing a bloody pawprint on a leaflet she'd have to keep for eternity. After revising the lines that Satan's voice proposed to her, she was free to leave. The ritual was short but impactful. And despite the spell, Nicole was able to remember the most important bits of it even. She was at least glad it didn't erase her entire memory, which would cause her turning into an entirely new person, literally. She took final steps towards the exit of the Underworld, walking through the gate and entering a portal back towards the world above...

24 years later...

It was a cloudy afternoon when the blue feline was busy cleaning out the attic. She sat kneeled on the floor, surrounded by all sorts of boxes and old cabinets, which she partially forgot about even owning. A lot of the stuff had been in the house since the very moment she and Richard bought it and despite most of the stuff being their own, they still didn't remember having most of it. Nicole briefly flipped through an old photo album and could only stare at the pictures of her childhood in awe. Her parents used to be keen on taking pictures during her younger years. If only she had more pictures of them together, as a family. The blue mouser shook her head before closing the album again and putting it away. Of course she was going to keep it, but simply didn't have the right state of mind currently to look through all of it. Her attention then went to a larger box that was stalled out behind her and she opened the top, only to reveal the stuffed animals she kept from when she was young. She smiled and felt a bit of warmth entering her heart as it pounded in her chest. She grabbed her bunny plushie and held it for a moment, trying not to let any tears flow from her eyes as she felt an emotional nerve getting struck. She hugged the stuffy before putting it back in the box with the others. She decided to give them to Anais, her youngest child, who always loved plushies and dolls a lot. The blue feline let out a sigh as she closed the box and placed it near the staircase hatch. She then continued browsing through the other boxes that surrounded her and stumbled upon a small, locked, silver-colored chest.

Frowning in confusion as she didn't know she owned it, she searched for the key at the bottom of the box it came out of. Fortunately finding it in there, she unlocked the chest and opened it after dusting it off a bit with her paw. Her eyes then widened in shock and surprise when she found something she didn't expect finding anytime soon... The one and only leaflet from Satan. She noticed her bloody pawprint at the bottom of it, indicating the oath she swore was sealed for life. Her ears lowered themselves to the back of her head and she told herself she wasn't gonna tell Richard about it, just to spare his potential feeling of fear. Besides, she didn't even care that much about that oath anymore. Not like she used to. Her whole life she went on as a great model carnivore, without having broken any promises. She had always, but always been careful with others, no matter if they were fellow carnivores or even herbivores. She treated everyone as equal and never had doubts about that. If anything, she shouldn't be worried about the oath at all. But she did hate the leaflet as it reminded her of the pact with the Devil, which she had mixed feelings about. Feeling a tad disgusted even, her mind settled on the idea of destroying the leaflet for once and all. So, after putting back the boxes she took out in the attic, she made her way downstairs and entered the backyard.

Flames emerged from the piece of scroll once Nicole lit it on fire with the only lighter she was able to find. Earlier, she feared it no longer had any fuel in it and there wouldn't be any proper way to get rid of the leaflet. She frowned and a slight smirk evolved on her muzzle as she watched the flames consuming the scroll like... predators devouring prey... She shook her head for a moment when that thought entered her mind. She was a model carnivore, right? No time for doubts, she thought to herself and got up from the grass, quickly grabbing a handful of sand to put out the fire. It was just a small fire, so nothing could've happened, Nicole thought to herself as she inspected the pile of ash which once was the wretched leaflet. She knew it was for the best, especially for her mental health to have gotten rid of it. It was haunting her too much and she no longer felt comfortable in her own skin by it even. It's the hatred towards the fact she's born as predator that ties her stomach in a knot. But what she didn't know was the fact a familiar being would soon face her again, since the very moment the leaflet caught flame...