The next morning, Glad cornered Anino.
No escape. No distractions. Just her, the cat, and a very private cottage.
"Talk."
Anino blinked.
"Don't give me that look. You've been with me for fifty years. You've done things no normal cat can do. You attacked a drone. You stole evidence. You NOD when I ask questions. What are you?"
Silence.
Then, slowly, Anino began to change.
His form shimmered, wavered, expanded. The small black cat grew, shifted, transformed—until standing before Glad was not a cat, but a man.
An old man. Ancient, even. With eyes that held centuries.
"Gladys," he said, his voice a rumble like distant thunder. "It's time you knew the truth."
Glad stumbled backward. "You're—you're not a cat!"
"I am many things. A cat is one of them." He smiled gently. "I am also your guardian. Your protector. Your—" He paused. "Your father."
The world stopped.
"My... my father died. In 1851. When I was turned."
"Your human father died. Yes." The man—Anino—stepped closer. "But I am not your human father. I am your supernatural one."
"I don't understand."
"The witch who turned you—she was not acting alone. She was paid. By someone who wanted you to suffer." His eyes darkened. "I could not prevent it. But I could protect you afterward. So I took this form—a cat, unnoticed, unassuming—and I stayed by your side. For fifty years."
Glad's legs gave out. She sat heavily on the floor.
"You've been with me. All this time. Watching. Protecting."
"Yes."
"And you never told me."
"You weren't ready. But now—" He gestured around them. "Now you've built something remarkable. Now you're ready for the truth. All of it."
"There's more?"
"There is always more." He knelt before her, taking her hands. "The prophecy Lolo Bencio spoke of—it's real. And you are the one it describes. But there are those who would stop you. Who have always tried to stop you."
"Marikit?"
"Marikit is a pawn. The real enemy is older. Stronger. And closer than you think."
Glad's mind reeled. "Who? Tell me who!"
But Anino was already shrinking, shifting, returning to cat form.
"Not yet," he whispered, his voice fading. "Soon. But not yet. Trust what you've built, Gladys. Trust the people around you. And when the time comes—" He met her eyes one last time. "Fight."
Then he was just a cat again.
Curled on the floor.
Purring like nothing had happened.