After I, Lyney's Younger Brother, Fled the House of the Hearth

New story now serializing: Deep Abyss IF: Starting with the Bloodstained Knight Diluc "Pepe! Clervie! I'm done being human!" After killing the previous Knave, fleeing the House of the Hearth, and abandoning his battered human body, Maine Coon, a half-breed monster, declared from this moment on: he would stop being human... ...and become a cat! Being a cat is way better than being human! A silver-gray giant cat caught prey and brought it to the homeless magician siblings. "Why?!" Young Lyney stared helplessly at the dead bird in front of him. "Lynette, have we really fallen so low that even a cat feels sorry for us!?" "Come to think of it, with that level of intelligence... Um, Mr. Big Cat, could you help us out as an animal assistant in our magic act again?" "Ta-da~ Your reward is catnip." The silver-gray giant cat was caught and lectured by Neuvillette time and time again. "Hunting purple gold herons is forbidden in the Palais Mermonia. Sir, I know you understand me." He was taken to the animal hospital. "You're covered in wounds beneath all that fur, and your tail is broken too... Sigh." He was adopted by the Palais Mermonia. "You have the ability to think, so you need guidance and instruction. No skipping school, and no whining for affection, either." With his front paws resting on the Duke's chest, Wriothesley couldn't see through the silver-gray fur to the half-demon's true form. "I once had a family member who looked kind of like a cat... Oh, right. Pretty much like you." He stroked the cat, lost in memories of the past. "One of my younger brothers had golden slit pupils just like yours, and cat ears and a tail... He was so strange and beautiful that he left us far too soon." That's right, Brother. It was because of that strangeness and beauty that those beasts sold me off when I was little, and the House of the Hearth took me away afterward. The half-demon replied in his heart. But the adults had all forgotten. Besides a nimble tail, that child also had long, black, pointed claws. Besides soft ears, that child also had a mouthful of sharp fangs. And so, they all left this world forever, killed by the monster who should have been the victim. The gentle, affectionate giant cat and the infamous killer were one and the same! His past crimes were laid out one by one, and fate chained the strange young man, with fangs and claws, cat ears and a broken tail, to a chair in the opera house. "Fontaine has no precedent for putting someone with monster blood on trial." Neuvillette looked at the half-demon youth with pity. "But unfortunately, as the Iudex of Fontaine, I must rule that your existence has seriously endangered Fontaine's order, and your actions have crossed the line that safeguards the survival of civilization. Without further evidence for mitigating your sentence... I will sentence you to..." "Wait!" "Why don't we all take a look at the images from the ley lines?" The wise young god rose from among the audience, smiling as she produced an improved Akasha Terminal. "Let us go through this half-demon's first half of life, frame by frame, and then pass judgment before the world." "Is he truly an irredeemable villain, or yet another victim of this chaotic world?" * "Let's interview the most terrifying criminal of the century... So, Mr. Lynx, what crimes have you committed?" [Me? Too many to count.] The cat blinked slowly. [I forcibly abducted the father of the young lady from the Spina di Rosula, tied him to an operating table to treat him, and kept him imprisoned for days just so I could hear her furious cries as she searched for him.] [I concealed my identity as a killer, took the form of a beast, and cried on the Chief Justice's lap again and again, using my tears to win his affection.] [I refused to be captured by the prison warden. When he reached out to me, I spat out the cruelest rejection I could, provoking him into punching me himself.] [I went to smash the Oratrice, held a knife to Furina's neck, and seethed with anger because she'd once ignored my prayers... Heh, that was the greatest and saddest turning point of my life.] [As for Furina, there's no need to say more. I used her little cakes to give some to Focalors, and ate her canned food for free, too.] "That all sounds pretty harmless. Anything like bringing a nation to ruin?" [All right, all right... I took the head of Sumeru's Grand Sage, broke the law with my strength, crowned myself king, and held the Dendro Archon hostage to command the sages. Is that enough?] "...Wait, what?" [Still not enough? Fine, then I tampered with the ley lines of six nations, angered all of Teyvat, and made gods and mortals join forces to capture me and throw me in prison. Is that enough?] "Huh? Wait, you're not making this up, are you!?" [Who knows? In any case, I...] [committed all those crimes with joy in my heart, and not a hint of regret.] Coming soon: Deep Abyss IF: Starting with the Bloodstained Knight Diluc Content warnings: 1. An ensemble story about Fontaine, with Maine Coon playing both a villain and a cat (?). In cat form, he's a lovable Maine Coon that everyone adores. In human form, he's extremely antisocial, taciturn, and a problem child. 2. Nonhuman fiction: Maine is a hybrid of a human and a cat demon, in short, a half-demon (the kind that can't eat chocolate). His mindset is 30% human and 70% cat. 3. Prepare for angst. 4. Maine is a huge Wriothesley fan. These are the content warnings for now. More may be added... Theme: Love for family