A quiet hum whistled through the halls of a cliffside European mansion, with an emphasis on the cliffside part, as the mansion hung off the side of the cliff and occasionally left towards falling but was forced back up by the suspension-eske supports under it. As the mansion continued to mildly shake, a lone young and newbie anthro catgirl maid wandered the mansion's moonlit hallways while occasionally giving the many windows nervous glances every time she wobbled in her step.

She eventually arrived at a door labelled The Cradle of Knowledge, and the maid sighed in uttered worry and abstract horror of the potential outcomes based on the rumours the other maids uttered amongst themselves. The young maid nervously gulped as she began envisioning a myriad of ways the queen might respond to being disturbed: from being turned into a fish, turned to a solid gold statue positioned in an embarrassing pose, or even...

The maid's frantic delusions of her fate clouded her mind, to the point she didn't even realise she had pushed against the door to the point it was moments from swinging away from her. And with one final push, the door swung open and snapped the maid out of her dazed fantasy as she fell forward. She flopped onto the floor, barreling forward like a ball until she collided with a regal-looking bannister.

The maid lay flat on the floor as she tried to stare at the ceiling in defeat, only to struggle to locate it. She hopped to her feet and glanced around at the circular library. The walls of the room were adorned with bookcases packed to the brim and, along with the wall, endlessly rose upwards and downwards. The maid lent over the bannister of the open book-looking platform and stared down into the seemingly bottomless drop. The maid's cat ears perked up as she noticed the white and blond glints of light rising from below. She quickly jumped back, brushing up her dress and dusting off the nonexistent dust on her as a figure ascended from below on a floating open-book-looking platform.

(Kimmi-Ka is a tall fair-skinned adult humanoid wu-ling[humanoids with wool-like hair], miruku [usually dark grey-skinned kid-looking humanoids with plated mouthed-tendril], and kitsune[humanoid with fluffy kitsune tails and ears]; she has long woolly hair [left half is snow white and right half is blond hair all with lime hair tips], pure gold right eye with pink/lime gradient pupil, a glistening deep blue left eye with the right pupil being multiple concentric white stars, wide hips, nine large and long [tripple her height] blond to snow white gradient coloured fluffy fur-miruku tendril tails with lime coloured tips, glowing fingertips, and slightly curved upwards glowing ram-like horns)

"Yes?" Kimmi-Ka asked with a lax but condescending-sounding tone of voice as her face remained in its rigid grumpy expression. The maid turned red-faced and looked away from Kimmi-Ka upon seeing Kimmi-Ka was only wearing a loose-fitting crop top, leggings and shorts.

"I urm a-eep," the maid mumbled out before slumping her head, "You... yot, ow, a message from your parents.". The maid rubbed her tongue before Kimmi-Ka loudly sighed, making the maid turn pale.

"Is it about the whole heir thing? I told Father I'd just make one with alch... what's with that look?" Kimmi-Ka grumbled as she noticed the maid's pale complexion. The maid nervously waved her hands while saying she was fine. Kimmi-Ka placed her hands on her hips, and the maid awkwardly chuckled.

"Honestly, Your Majesty, I'm fine, but the message from your parents hasn't anything to do with children," the maid stated reassuringly. Kimmi-Ka lightly scoffed in amusement as she glanced to her side.

"Then do pray tell, what might their message be then?".

"They just wanted to know if you're planning on going to that birthday party for Lola and Yokuza's kids.". Kimmi-Ka's eyes widened silently before she glanced around the maid and sighed at the moon being in its full phase.

"Great grandfather beyond... have I really been lounging around in my study for that long?" Kimmi-Ka muttered, rubbing her forehead as her miruku tendril tails hissed at her.

"From what the other maids said earlier you were, and I quote; The queen has gone MIA in her study again for four days now," the maid explained. Kimmi-Ka nodded and sighed in relief.

"Thanks- I mean, I appreciate you for informing me of all that, Lapis, and could you fetch me some lumoney tea" Kimmi-Ka stated professionally, leaving Lapis in a state of awestruck suprise at Kimmi-Ka referred to her by name. Lapis bowed to Kimmi-Ka before taking her leave and closing the door behind her with a spring in her step. Kimmi-Ka pessimistically sighed before the hair on her tails sprung up as she sensed a strange absence of energy nearby. She swung her upwards to see Ester looming over her like a lifeless corpse, his arms and hair dangling past Kimmi-Ka.

[Ester is a lanky sixteen-foot humanoid with ash-grey skin; he has knee-low bleach white hair with a bold cyan outline that obscures his eyes, six large symmetrical curved horns protruding from his head, azure blue roots protruding from the back of his head which constantly grew leaves that instantly fall of their branches, bold azure blue rings on their wrists/elbows and base of horns, and a flat football-sized ball of light on his chest]

[Ester is wearing a pitch-black feathery knee-low kilt-like piece of clothing around their waist]

Kimmi-Ka mindlessly blinked at Ester, and squinted her eyes as she tried to locate Ester's eyes in his mass of hair; however, despite constant repositioning of her head, she could never quite get a good angle to see Ester's eyes. Kimmi-Ka unamusedly sighed and stood up straight as she waved through Ester's hair.

"If it isn't tall, lanky, and decrypted," Kimmi-Ka remarked snarkily as she turned to face Ester. Ester remained motionless for a brief moment before slowly arching up to an upright position, his body chinking and making crystalline cracking noises as he moved his body.

"One would suggest... The Kimmi-Ka ends the employment of less than flattering descriptions for one," Ester uttered with a deep male voice accompanied by an echo effect. Kimmi-Ka amusedly hopped onto her tails and cheekily stuck her tongue out at Ester in a somewhat bratty manner.

"Well, sorry for my surface-level description when you refuse to indulge me by explaining what you are in any practical way," Kimmi-Ka stated as she subconsciously used her tails to adjust her crop top to be less loose fitting.

"How more practical can the phrase 'a the metaphysical embodiment of a concept' be?" Ester asked, monotone leaking out of his voice like a waterfall. Kimmi-Ka groaned and huffed as her tails made clicking noises.

"But that's so vague, that's like me asking what a dog is and getting the response 'it's a mammal that's good at sniffing'," Kimmi-Ka stated while putting on a dumb voice when she said her example, "You see why I'd be unsatisfied with such a bare-bones answer?". Ester showed no response and glanced up at the warped space at the very top of the library.

"Your application of spacial manipulation has...," Ester said but trailed off as he felt Kimmi-Ka poutfully glaring at him.

"You're changing the subject... but to answer your statement," Kimmi-Ka announced as she struggled to stifle a cocky smirk, "It wasn't that difficult when you have a cousin in possession of a portable multidimensional cube to use as a blueprint.".

"Despite what you might say, One believes your first attempt caused the-". Kimmi-Ka's face turned red, and she quietly muttered the phrase "Ayayaya" as her expression remained in its grumpy mode. Kimmi-Ka cleared her throat as her complexion returned to normal.

"Not everyone can be perfect," Kimmi-Ka remarked cheekily. She glanced upwards and at The Eye of Revelations embedded into the wall above the entrance door.

(The Eye of Revelations is a snow white silverwood [silver wood from the ancient silverwood tree] magnifying glass with a thick waterly-like lens that has nine crystal marbles inside it[maroon, pale yellow, dark green, pale red and orange, pale beige, pale cyan, chestnut brown, pale purple, and orange])

"Now, why are you here?" Kimmi-Ka asked lazidacally as she half-heartedly waved her fingers at Ester. Ester remained silent before raising a hand to catch the falling book.

"Try to recall the only times One ever appeared before The Zalroth," Ester stated before handing the book he caught to Kimmi-Ka. Kimmi-Ka rolled her eyes and skimmed through the book before abruptly slamming the book shut. A wicked ear-to-ear grin formed on her face, and she deviously chuckled before it morphed into an echoing cackle.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Phew... that gave me a good laugh, but seriously, why are you actually here?" Kimmi-Ka asked as she wiped a tear from her eye using one of her tails. As he remained silent, Kimmi-Ka continued to stare at Ester before her smug tone fizzled away before she reopened the book, "Wait... are you the one who sent Great Grandfather to other realities? Or the one who's in charge of that card-obsessed plane of existence?".

"The first one," Ester stated without a hint of passion in his voice. Kimmi-Ka went silent closing the book in her hands, and dropped it into one of her tails before restoring her expression to its grumpy mode.

"Any why am I being chosen to go on this other reality adventure, and not the daughter of the previous person you had doing it?" Kimmi-Ka asked with a business-like tone.

"Given the manner of the assignment The Singularity wishes to assign, you have been deemed the best one to carry it out.". Kimmi-Ka rolled her hand, signalling for Ester to continue. Ester nodded as he snapped his fingers stopping the world, aside from Kimmi-Ka and the Eye of Revelations, in time cand coating the world in an azure blue hue right as Lapis was about to reenter the room with a tray of lumoney tea.

"The Singularity sensed a new reality formed within the sea of fragmentium," Ester stated. While her expression remained unchanged, Kimmi-Ka's eyes lit up at hearing Ester mention the sea of fragmentium.

"Sea of fragmentium?".

"Knowing what it is is irrelevant to the mission.". Kimmi-Ka pouted at having info withheld from her. Ester glanced upwards before sighing.

"The Singularity informed One if The Kimmi-Ka completes her mission they'll bestow upon you with a book containing knowledge about the many realities that reside inside the sea of fragmentium," Ester stated. Before another word could be said, The Eye of Revelations shot out of the wall and slammed into the floor next to Kimmi-Ka with its handle now the length of Kimmi-Ka's height.

"I'm game," Kimmi-Ka announced with a blazing passion engulfing her eyes as her expression remained grumpy. Ester itched one of his horns before turning away from her to avoid direct eye contact.

"So, what's the mission?".

"Your mission, as proclaimed by The Singularity, is to head to the previously mentioned newly formed reality to learn about and comprehend the reality's unique set of metaphysical manipulations," Ester explained. Kimmi-Ka excitedly bounced on the spot as her mission sunk in. A grumpy smirk formed on Kimmi-Ka's face as she grabbed The Eye of Revelations.

"Alright! So, I get to experiment with a magic system completely unknown to me, what a joy." Kimmi-Ka proclaimed as she threw her arms outwards, "And I'm being rewarded with even more juicy knowledge... it's almost too good of a deal for me.". Kimmi-Ka lowered her arms before shooting Ester an apprehensive glare.

"There is no catch unless you count having to study how the, as The Kimmi-Ka puts it, magic system affects human society," Ester stated matter of factly.

"Human society? Actually don't answer, if I had to guess, you specify it as a human society means it's a world of only humans, right?". Ester nodded.

"From what One could enquire from the branches of the Aether Tree, One saw the other reality's denizens are solely human with a few exceptions," Ester stated.

"Exceptions?". Ester didn't respond but simply pointed at Kimmi-Ka. Kimmi-Ka placed her hands on her hips, waiting for Ester to respond, but deep down knew he wasn't going to since he didn't give up the info straight away.

"Turn yourself into a child," Ester stated sternly. Kimmi-Ka puzzledly blinked at Ester as she let his order sink in.

"Huh?" Kimmi-Ka muttered.

"Is there a problem? One was certain The Kimmi-Ka altered their form in such a way on the regular," Ester said. Kimmi-Ka unamusedly rolled her eyes and huffed as she recalled herself altering herself into a child so she had more bed space.

"I didn't say I had a problem doing it; I just didn't expect that request out of nowhere, especially from you," Kimmi-Ka muttered as she rubbed the back of her head. A red lighting-like seeped out from Kimmi-Ka's raised hand which coiled around her body and encased her body. Kimmi-Ka's glowing red silhouette illuminated the platform as her form began to gradually shrink. Once she reached the height of a small child, the energy bursted off her body like a cloud of dust and revealed her in a child form with her tails being the only thing unaffected by the alteration.

"I'm ready when you are," Kimmi-Ka stated as she grabbed her now oversized shorts to stop them from falling off. Ester lowered his hand slightly as he gathered azure blue energy at the tip of his finger. Kimmi-Ka dismissively waved her hand at Ester before she lifted her shorts up again.

"Don't waste your time. I'll fix my attire later myself," Kimmi-Ka stated. Ester nodded before he flipped his hand around and snapped his fingers without making a sound as the gathered energy dispersed.

Within a blink of her eyes, Kimmi-Ka found herself in an endless expansive void with the area far above full of star-like objects. Kimmi-Ka pressed a finger against her clothes enveloping them in the red lightning energy before they morphed together and formed into a simple plain form-fitting grey jumpsuit. She haplessly floated in the endless void of the Aether Realm as she glanced down at the many different manifestations of realities. She focused her attention on the reality represented by the cluster of various-coloured/sized intersecting energy rings, commenting on how the rings got smaller the further they were from the centre of the cluster.

"Are you perhaps the one The Concept of Stability mentioned?" A sheepish-sound boyish voice asked. Kimmi-Ka tried to turn around but struggled to turn in the direction of the voice and only ended up wriggling in place. A cluster of pale grey particles in the shape of a humanoid child floated in front of her.

"By concept of stability, are you referring to Ester?" Kimmi-Ka asked as she began rotating upside down, from her previous attempts to turn around. The particle boy gasped in sheepish surprise before helping Kimmi-Ka to an upright position.

"To be on a name basis with One such as them... how envious," the particle boy stated with a hint of disappointment.

"I don't think it's much to brag about, I mean my great-grandfather called them by their names," Kimmi-Ka remarked. The particle boy placed a hand on the part of his body which resembled a face and hummed.

"Does that mean I should.... no, now's not the time," the particle boy stated. Kimmi-Ka raised an eyebrow at the particle boy's remark.

"And here I thought the Aether Realm was a timeless void," Kimmi-Ka remarked.

"It's just a figure of speech... I think; or would it not since anything outside of the realities, time doesn't exist?" the particle boy uttered puzzledly, "Oh, and on the matter of names, I'm the Alterous Union Link Network, but The Singularity informed me to tell others they can call me Partraious.".

"I would ask what that means but you probably function in a similar way to the being in charge of that place, right?" Kimmi-Ka asked as she pointed at the ring cluster reality. Partraious jolted slightly before scratching the back of his head.

"In some senses, but mostly in the sense I just act as a manager or maintainer," Partraious stated before offering out a hand, "Shall we head to Alterous?". Kimmi-Ka nodded and took Partraious' hand before he floated the duo towards Alterous: the cluster of glowing pale grey spheres orbiting in a ring around a slightly larger sphere simulating the appearance of a planet with a ring around it in the distance.

In literally no time at all, the duo floated above one of the many car-sized grey spheres orbiting the central one.

"Now, before I send you in... I'll need to...". Partraious stopped mid-sentence as he heard the sound of lightning and a red glow emanating behind him. He turned back to see red lightning-like veins coursing across Kimmi-Ka's body as she held her hand on her chest. Her face became redder and redder, mostly from the act of holding her breath, as the veins continued to spread across her before the veins and energy dispersed from her.

"What was... that about?" Partraious uttered as he watched Kimmi-Ka breathe heavily while retaining her grumpy expression.

"Nothing, just using alchemy to... modify my body to be able to utilize Alterous' magic system," Kimmi-Ka stated.

"But... I could have done that for you...," Partraious uttered deflatedly as his particles turned a light shade of blue.

"In a matter of speaking you did, given I used you as a blueprint for how to modify my body," Kimmi-Ka stated. Partraious' colouration returned to its original colouring at hearing Kimmi-Ka's remark before he gave her a quick visual check-up.

"Well, it seems you did what I would have done, so now all you need to do is float into one of the many spheres around you," Partraious explained. Kimmi-Ka nodded before she retracted her miruku-like kitsune tails into her body.

"Got it, but before I go, how come you aren't referring to yourself as one?" Kimmi-Ka asked. Partraious tilted his head as a question mark-shaped cluster of particles formed on his head.

"Like the Concept Embodiments?". Kimmi-Ka nodded her head, causing Partraious to scratch his head.

"That's something I wouldn't know; you'd have to ask them or The Singularity.". Kimmi-Ka bowed and thanked Partraious for his help getting her to where she needed to go. Partraious remained quiet for a second before he sheepishly said it was no problem. After a few seconds of silence, Kimmi-Ka remained in her bowing position making Partraious turn a faint shade of purple.

"Could you give me a push?" Kimmi-Ka requested.

"Oh, right, you can't fly here," Partraious uttered before he lightly pushed the top of Kimmi-Ka's head. Kimmi-Ka began drifting backwards before sinking into the energy sphere behind her. As she sank further and further, the duo waved at each other until Partraious and the Aether Realm faded from Kimmi-Ka's vision. But as she continued to sink, she began to feel a drowsiness overcoming her body which made her tiredly chuckle.

"Perhaps I should... have let... him do it... for me after all," Kimmi-Ka mumbled before she completely succumbed to her drowsiness.