Sora’s mind spun in circles as Nilly pulled her through an expanse of omniverses, forming dangerous vortexes that would eviscerate a 12th-dimensional being and omniversal supernovae at their passing, yet maneuvering safely to preserve the balance of every structure.
Insidious creatures engaged in horrors, heroic civilizations, individuals of virtue, and life developing throughout newly formed systems passed them like atoms of air to a human. The collapsing order of multiple, incompatible omniverses generated colossal waves of compelling force that drew in other energy and matter to form super systems of violent bodies, competing for dominance.
The number of actions taken didn’t happen in the quantum second or multiversal eons since the concept of time was constrained to such limited spheres that no longer had influence over her. Future, past, all was one-eternal-now before her Intelligence, and it overwhelmed her like a newborn waking up to a three-dimensional world for the first time.
Nilly jumped them through Existence with complex, zig-zagging motions that Sora didn’t quite understand, and the soup-like materials floating around Existence fed down to a single substance so fine that it made prions inside 3rd-dimensional universes the size of super multiverses.
How these Existent point particles were paired, positioned, tugged, spun, and pressured determined the outcome of how they would fit into the next structural expanse to generate byzantine arrangements so glorious it was mesmerizing to comprehend.
Interestingly, the first thing to form was dimension-0—the singularity point of such raw energy it was like gazing upon a live supernova as a human. From the start, it expanded instantaneously to the 12th-dimension of the omniverse before imploding again to smash and generate another effulgence of raw power that caused the next, which was the most basic formation.
Nilly giggled, and without Sora’s notice, four more catgirls were skipping, peering, and twisting through various areas of Existence. It was surreal, watching numberless versions of the feline occupying so many places that her fledgling 13th-dimensional mind couldn’t comprehend. Past, present, future—Nilly was everywhere and nowhere—existing and without substance.
Looking up in shock, Sora’s lips fell open upon seeing the broken path her father took through Existence that led behind them to a point beyond her sight. It was like she was in space, spinning around with a hyper-focused telescope, only able to see so much of a small pocket in Existence, but every moment her vision continued to expand.
“Nilly … what are you?”
The cat’s red-tip tail and black fur were swapping between various colors with her outfit as the illusionary outward appearance of the girl flickered, and a mischievous grin lifted her lips. Flipping their positions for Sora to be in front while still propelling them forward, Nilly made a small jump with a playful roar. “He-he-he … I’m Nilly, but not Nilly! I could eat you up, but you’re too cute!”
A cold spiral spun around Sora’s halo as a malevolent undertone radiated out of Nilly’s shifting eyes, and they became blood red. “Not all of me wants to keep you alive…”
The contrasting elements vanished the moment her eyes flashed yellow to be replaced by a playful fervor, and Sora saw fragments of various sides of the cat that transcended what she could see in the 13th Dimension; Nilly phased to her left, right, below, and behind before splitting into two or three different versions.
“I’m a patient kitty, though!”
“Killing things, eating, playing…
“Being petted is so lovely!
“Snuggling, hugging—I love everyone!”
“I hate them!”
“Everything should be fun because I like happy things!”
“Sora’s fun, but sometimes…”
“Sometimes you’re not…”
“Sometimes, she should die!”
“I saved Sora!”
“I kill her!”
“Nu-uh!”
“You’re my muse!”
“Beauty dies…”
“Death is life!”
“Life is death.”
The battles that claimed Nilly’s lives flashed before her eyes, and she could see Existence ripping apart through the scars of its past, yet only two instances were available to witness, which were her seventh and second deaths.
Sora could hardly even twitch, but Nilly was guiding her around terrifying natural phenomena that would require effort to survive through; the cat poked, pushed, and danced her through explosions of energy.
“Nilly … What else did Frankenstein infuse in you to keep you alive?” Sora mumbled, sensing something foreign to their Existence radiating from the cat.
The shifting feline fused into a bubbly woman, weaving back and forth, “I don’t know; I’m just a lil’ kitty cat … that likes to eat!”
The sporadic mannerisms were off-putting, and Nilly was literally everywhere she looked across time; if she wasn’t in a spot, then eventually she’d fill it.
Sora took a deep breath and forced a smile. “So … You saved my grandma once…”
Nilly grabbed her hand, and in an instant, they were at the edge of a colossal vortex of collecting mass; a singular version of the cat emerged with a soft smile on her lips. It was her 2nd incarnation—before she sacrificed herself to save several of the 1st Generation Founders during the War.
“Hello, Sora! Hmm, well, aren’t you a little snack!”
It soon became apparent that this would be the Nilly she stuck with for a while; finding the courage within herself, Sora returned the welcoming greeting. “I … suppose you’re one of the real Nilly … versions?”
“I am!” Nilly chimed, creating a copy of herself while pulling up on her black, close-fitting sweater neck in a playful gesture. “Oh, don’t I look pretty?”
Sora let the past chaos slide by, focusing more on the present cat while circling around her excited clone, waiting to be praised.
Nilly had black hair, but instead of red tips, she had more of a gradient black to faded black theme going for her hair. Her yellow eyes were bright with life, and curiosity was infused into her lovely expression. The blue jeans were a nice touch, but Sora knew it was mainly to be more appealing to the fashion she most understood.
“You really are … So, you wanted to show me Fenny’s grave?”
“Hmm? Fenny is a funny name,” she giggled, removing the clone as they both waved to each other. “Bye! Fenrir, huh?”
She followed Sora’s gaze to the vortex, tone turning somber. “So … that’s where I am now? It’s so hard to tell sometimes.”
Silence ensued as the two of them studied the fathomless depths of the colossal dimension that dwarfed anything Sora could imagine; it was practically the size of a galaxy to her when omniverses were no bigger than a marble.
It was magnificent, mysterious, and unknowable to Sora; there wasn’t color or shape but an emotion of loyalty, courage, and determination that filled her Core with strength. An unsung melody was on the edge of her consciousness radiating from the place, and Sora couldn’t help but follow the connection through the cosmos.
Sköll and Hati were peering through Existence, looking for her but keeping their distance from where she’d been with her mother and aunt; the shock of her appearance seemed to have caught them off-guard, and her ascension too unknown to appropriately intervene once leaving the Realm.
Of course, they weren’t the only ones to respond in that manner. Thousands of creatures had a stake in the game surrounding her, hovering around various places while watching her 3rd-dimensional body and little group, monitoring the situation. She confirmed a few things from that focused glance, allowing her to peer back into her grandmother’s Realm.
Jin is a Founder, but she doesn’t know there’s more to her than that … She won’t learn until her next birthday … So many things will come from that … Kari is … not 100% Fenris Wolf.
“Mmh?” Nilly’s eyes darted to her. “Discovering little secrets, are we? Alva was a bad girl; even Gloria couldn’t see that little fun thing, but I saw it … Well, not me,” she mumbled, playing with one of her locks, “but a part of me.”
Sora gripped her left arm, rubbing it as her skin prickled. “How is it buried in the 13th-dimension … How can Gloria not see it?”
Nilly snickered. “You and I can because we’re not entirely of this Existence, silly. Gloria, despite all her power, has some lacking traits, as small as that may be, which frustrates her to no end.”
“Is it … good?” Sora asked, unable to examine her friend’s inner Oltera Nexus past the unsettling truth. “I mean, she’s mostly Fenris Wolf, but that small bit … seems unusual.”
“Mmh, oh, it is,” Nilly mused. “Good? Hard to say, really.”
The cat generated a copy of her friend, spinning the lifeless copy in a circle to fan out her hair. “Defender or attacker? Only the future will tell … So, want to go in?”
Sora hissed; she wasn’t breathing air but generating a substance that allowed speech in the 13th-dimension on pure instinct. “Sure … I’m kind … ugh…”
Nilly gave her an apologetic grin. “Sorry! Did I make you lose track of your little universe? It is super-super-small.”
Rubbing the back of her neck, Sora shook her head. “It’s fine … I’ve already seen all of it anyway; it just helped to focus when I was looking at it. So … Fenrir?”
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The cat held out her hand. “Let’s go to the real Asgard!”
Not knowing how to even begin to penetrate the colossal barrier surrounding the sphere, Sora accepted, fingers closing around the woman’s hand. An unusual folding shift twisted in a manner that had her thinking she’d turn inside-out.
Without warning, she was looking up at a fantastical land of mythical light that she’d never seen. She couldn’t describe the magnificence of the crystalline peaks, rich hews of impossible to imagine radiance.
“Where are we?” Sora breathed; it was like an Existence unto itself.
Nilly put a finger to her lips and winked. “Shhh! We’re above the Primordial Plane … We’re not supposed to be here.”
An invisible cloak separated her from everything around her, giving her a look at things as if through a paneled glass; Nilly motioned for her to follow away from the impossibly large city of grandeur to a storming area of monstrous energy that released calamitous noise.
Every step, Sora felt what it was like to be Nilly, folding through upper-tier space and time, splitting, rejoining, and scattering into numberless pieces. It was the most unusual sensation she’d ever experienced.
She was a little stunned when Nilly took them into the fog, dodging blasts of force that would instantly vaporize her and arriving in a ring of light extending across an entire valley. Below them was the monstrous black-furred wolf of Fenrir. His jaw had been split in two and the crimson liquid pouring out of the wound created the fog that surrounded them.
Sora shivered, feeling the intense urge to consume everything around her, but a part of her mother’s side calmed the ravenous beast within her. “If … If this is the real Asgard … Eyia doesn’t come from the real place … No, it’s in a dimension far below … connected to every universe in Existence…”
Nilly sighed, lowering them to the ground; a single hair of Fenrir was so large that Sora couldn’t put it into perspective. The cat stroked the side of a single strand. “Fenrir didn’t deserve this … It was his death that showed us how powerful the higher-tier Primordials are … Yes, Eyia is a descendant of the Primordials—as are all the Asgardians … Ýmir’s creation.”
With a bit of trouble, Sora peered through the dimensions in the murky landscape to spot Eyia’s homeworld. “So … When Fenrir died, it was the first great destruction of the gods … The Primordials fighting the Founders?”
“Heh,” Nilly snickered. “As if anything down there could even see Fenrir … No, their little tales come from legend, passed down through their feasts and gatherings. Ymir was the one that was killed by Fenrir at the start … creating an endless loop as a curse to his kin,” she spat with a smirk.
Sora’s eyes widened upon seeing what Nilly referenced. “Odin … was killed by the phantom of Fenrir … an imprint on Existence, and every cycle a new Odin is fashioned and slain … He sent Eyia away to try and break the loop … Aiden’s influence brought her to my universe,” she mumbled, following the threads of time back.
Nilly points up at the sky, shifting the energies around them in a manner for her to see a massive moon. “The thing that killed my best friend was not Ymir or his son … It was one of the four Primordial Gods, and she watches Fenrir bleed like this for amusement … retribution … a symbol to the Founders that we are not invulnerable, and that she weakened Fenrir enough to be ripped apart.”
The animosity Nilly felt for the celestial object above them couldn’t be measured to Sora; Nilly had died for the ninth time in the heart of this bloody War that spanned Existence and had brought that with her; what was sobering was that this was just the Nilly that could put all the pieces together and not her final incarnation or the one that witnessed Fenrir’s death.
“So … this is why Gloria hates the Primordials so much?”
“Mmh-hmh-hmh-hmm,” Nilly took a deep breath, obstructing the sky, “Gloria is … a mixed bag of emotions amongst the Founders. We are in a ceasefire with the Primordials because both sides have discovered challenges within our own areas, creating factions … The Primordials started the War by invading our Existence … He-he-he…”
Walking beside Nilly, Sora put her hand on Fenrir’s fur and closed her eyes, feeling the courage and raw power within him flow into her like a magnet. “He’s so warm.” She smiled. “Caring … His sons lost heart when he died … They lost their way without his strong presence.”
Nilly folded back her ears while studying her, eyes growing big. “Aww … That’s so sweet, Sora! Thanks for coming with me…” Her vision fell to the floor, sadness shifting her gaze. “This is the first time anyone’s been to Fenrir’s grave with me—besides Frankenstein.”
Sora reached over to hug the Founder of the Cats, experiencing the pain leaking from her Core. “If you ever want to come back … I promise I’ll come … If you need help, I’ll do what I can, too.”
Nilly’s hands tentatively closed around her back, unaffected by her Null-Void. “Thank you … I may ask for your help in the future … I just hope you will answer that call,” she whispered.
Sora’s lips pulled in as Nilly phased out of her arms, and suddenly they were outside the barrier to Asgard with the cat smiling at her, hands clasped behind her back. “Are you ready to meet Gloria?”
Despite what she saw of Nilly, and the horrifying insanity that was her fractured Core, held together by Frankenstein’s creation and an unknown binding force, Sora couldn’t help but feel for the Cat Founder.
She’s lonely and scared of so many things … furious—raging on the inside … abandoned by all her friends as Nilly fractured … Only a creature outside of her Existence offered his hand to her … Why?
Knowing she wouldn’t get the answer from the short time she had left in this state, Sora waited for her final transition as her growing power reached a new lock.
Sora floated away, closing off the world while releasing her projected body as her chakram took on another change. “Nilly … I want to be your friend.”
She couldn’t hear the cat’s response, energy erupting around her into radiant waves of Null-Void that would have echoed across Existence had Nilly not pulled her somewhere to protect the system.
Rough parts of herself broke apart to spiral into a raw mix of power, collecting and fusing her very essence into something complete … unifying with the foundation of her very being.
Tinting black and gold with ruby-like gems from beyond this Existence, Sora’s chakram took shape into a complete form representing who she really was; life through death—the null of the end and the expanse of the void.
In its center was an eight-pointed pattern, surrounding a sun formed at the heart of her chakram before edges cut out of the sides in a full circle that could be further condensed into a gripping weapon to use in close-combat if she wished, and at its point was the symbol of life with the binding stone of unity before falling into the pointed arrow of death.
When Sora opened her eyes, her human form had rematerialized again, and in her hands was the proper form she’d inherited from her father. Her fingers tightened around the obsidian grip, experiencing the tingling sensation of having someone holding her waist.
Letting go, she allowed it to float in front of her before reverting to its ranged attack form, losing the grip and transforming into a sawing, circular shape with the same symbol in the cardinal positions.
Look at me… she snickered. I’m an almighty chakram.
Nilly appeared beside her; they were in the Null-Void, and without direction was her Existence; within this space, directions meant nothing, which was why creatures of Existence found it so difficult to comprehend, but everything was in order to Sora’s very nature.
Speaking of her father, she saw his exit with her ever-expanding consciousness as Existence pulled away, and finally, she got her first glimpse of his true form … An unusual ax.
Intricate curves and weaves flowed around the shaft that fused to a sleek, wicked angle at the end, and a sharp gnarled point at its butt would allow for penetration. It had the same gold and black theme yet held no jewel, like Sora’s.
She couldn’t track his movements outside of Existence because of her inexperience but knew he’d left to a place unknown.
Did he return to where he came from … or was it to a mission he had to fulfill?
“Sora! Sora!” Nilly giggled, spinning around her; she couldn’t randomly touch her anymore without being careful.
“Hmm? Oh, you’re going to take me to Gloria.”
“Ready? Or still lookin’ for your dad?” she asked with interest. “He went super far away! I don’t even know where he went … not close to any of the Existences around ours or further beyond them … Way, way, way far out there!”
Impressed that Nilly could still communicate with her in the Null-Void, Sora sighed. “I don’t have long … My ninth tail is just about complete. Let’s go.”
This time, Sora took Nilly’s hand as the Null-Void tried to swallow Nilly, and the cat pulled her into an artificial Existence that she hadn’t even detected. Inside, Sora found three figures in the expansive floral world that held monitoring mechanics to identify minute details in their surrounding Existences.
“Sora,” Gloria mused, sitting on a bloomed flower; its stem was as glorious as its petals and impossible colors. “I was expecting you sooner, but Nilly happened to interfere. No matter—although, I would rather you not call me Goaria…”
To her right was a shifting cloud of liquid that shimmered rays of heat that could harm the fabric of Existence had he not restrained himself; oddly, she got the distinct feeling he was more closely related to a male, but not entirely.
The thing standing to her left was a horrific creature of pulsating organs, dozens of legs, three mouths, and budding flower-like appendages around its core. It was surprisingly small, compared to the cloud, and only double the size of Gloria.
In comparison, she was fairly small, yet Sora could expand to be roughly any size she wished; this was comfortable, though, and she was only three feet shorter than the Fairy Queen.
Nilly hummed a short tune Sora didn’t recognize, two tails spinning around her core as she surveyed the place. “Goaria? Why would I call you … Oh!” her ears twitched as she snickered. “I get it! He-he-he, clever me! Okay! Okay! Don’t get angry!”
Her lips parted in astonishment, hopping around while pointing at a massive purple orb in the sky. “Ooh! By the way, you’ve gotten so much better, Gloria! No one could make something like that when I was alive—oh, I like that touch,” she purred.
“We need to get on with it,” the horror rumbled, voice low and gravely. “She has little time.”
The Cat Founder twisted her nose while staring at the creature. “Really … A Mecroaf wiggly-thing, Gloria … You must be desperate, and you even brought one of those Transcendents! Is this what you’ve been up to? Do you like them? Hmm?” she teased. “C’mon, you can tell me!”
Gloria closed her eyes and waved her hand. “We’ll talk later, Nilly…”
“Sore loser!” Nilly huffed, sticking her tongue out before vanishing; Sora couldn’t sense her exit at all, showing her inexperience.
Sora knew she was mainly here to listen to the godly figures, and her new essence was to be scanned by the fog-like creature who had more unique senses than the Fairy; time would soon be up for what the Founder wanted to confirm, which meant Nilly had bought enough time to rush Gloria for whatever she was planning.
Gloria folded her arms under her considerable bust and looked down at her with a critical eye. “You owe me for using me as a teaching lesson for that Seedling girl ‘Apollo,’ so don’t skimp out on me.”
His voice was rich and pleasant to Sora’s ears as countless shimmering waves and intricate gems formed and disintegrated within his liquid figure as it swirled into riveting designs around her. “I would never dream of it, Gloria.”
The Mecroaf growled a guttural clicking sound that withered a few of the plants around it. “Null-Void touched … A union of Existence and Null-Void … Unprecedented … Untraceable.”
“We could, though, because of her mother’s side. Yes?” Gloria asked.
“Possible…” The Transcendent returned after analyzing her; Sora’s own Intelligence was reaching, searching for answers that she could bring back to her sealed state, yet it was like wading through a dense fog in this space. “I’m certain. Yosumika can use her as an anchor.”
The horror moaned and laughed at the same time. “I will get in contact with her … I had my doubts, but your plan just might work, Gloria … We are out of time.”
Sora’s ninth tail reached its entire length, and in that split second, she could see it; a beacon in Null-Void. She didn’t know where, but something was there calling for her, and her father had followed it.
Gloria smiled. “Well, Sora?”
The Fairy’s expression became a bit forced as Sora gave the woman a slight smirk. “What prize are you offering me for my compliance with coming to you?”
Gingerly rising from her flower, Gloria breathed out a tired sigh. “You will become quite the handful in the future.”
“Hmm? Only if you don’t hold your end of the bargain; we both know what it is I want, and you want something that’s very out of your reach.”
The Transcendent chuckled. “She wants your dust, Gloria? Have you ever even given that to your own daughters or sons?”
“Never…” she mumbled.
Sora shifted her hips to the left, tails flicking to the right. “If you want my help, you’re going to have to deal with the backlash of your own actions … It’s about time, Goaria.”
A hint of frustration crossed her lovely features. “Nilly can turn everything on its head…”
“She has her own needs,” Sora defended. “She’s frightening, yes, but that unpredictability is what gives her presence spice! Do we have a deal?”
Gloria lifted a hand and created a jar out of her own Existence, filling it with the unique powder that would solve the issues her aunt and mother were unaware of. “I am breaking a Founder’s Law in doing this, Sora … A Law I espoused.”
“Desperate times, Gloria,” the Mecroaf screamed and cried. “Light for Light.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” the Transcendent mused. “Understanding for all, and a bond of united purpose once the transition is complete.”
The Fairy Queen shot a sharp glare at the cloud. “It is not you that must sacrifice your morals … I have become rather pathetic,” she snarled, reluctantly maneuvering it to Sora. “So be it—perhaps that obnoxious girl was right—I did have to give up ground, in the end.”
“Much appreciated,” Sora laughed, taking it out of the air and fusing it inside of her chakram.
It’s done! Everything needed is complete … I get my family!
The overwhelming force spread within her, and at the exact same time, all that was open before her ever-expanding vision faded, and she returned to her sealed chakram body. With Gloria’s guiding hand, she was brought back to where Mofupsi had fallen; not a photon had moved since her departure from the Realm.