Both versions of Kahli were immediately met with an alarming warning from their system that overlayed their vision and struck fear into their multiple hearts.
[WARNING]
[You have multiple timelines presently overlayed at full timeline opacity. You are currently equipped to handle one timeline layer per present moment. As such, you are at risk for extreme degradations in system performance and indeed also in your normal perception. Along with this, your timeline scenario may become unstable, or otherwise experience a number of anomalies that impact your regular timeline experience. This will exist in tandem with your normal scenario processing until such time as that you rectify it, either by one scenario ending or by using your time manipulation abilities to modify the flow of time.]
What? What exactly did that mean?
Future Kahli was being choked by past Taubitha, and past Kahli by future Taubitha. Past Froufrou was leaping up to try and protect future Kahli, and indeed future Froufrou was leaping up in a similar attempt to protect past Kahli. All that said, it seemed to be happening all at once in a kaleidoscopic fashion wherein both Kahlis and both Taubithas were occupying the same space in reality, and yet in the same way they indeed were not. Through each of Kahi's eyes - well, indeed, both Kahlis' eyes - a minute difference in the appearance of space and time did exist therein where in one eye, the world looked slightly purple, and through the other eye indeed the world appeared to be somewhat bluer. Sometimes, the two images of two realities would indeed completely overlay one another, however at that time they would somehow appear to be a bit of a light pinkish hue.
Regardless, it was clear to both Kahlis that their consciousness had seemingly both merged and split, it was as if they were experiencing both realities at once in tandem with one another in such a way that time itself seemed and illusory object, and as it was their only separation now cleft in twain it felt as if they were but staring through the eyes of a mirror. It was a terribly troubling experience that brewed up so many questions within Kahli's mind that she dared not think too hardly about at risk of getting a headache.
Wait. She was still getting a headache. A terrible headache!
Was it future Kahli or past Kahli getting the headache? Or had they all kind of merged into one, disoriented, miasmic... present Kahli?
No, this was past Kahli. It was obviously past Kahli, future Kahli realized, she'd just been suffering from a temporary bout of heightened empathy on seeing her past self's head explode.
Wait. Her past self's head explode?
Indeed, it was true, and Taubitha was cackling evilly. Well, future Taubitha, who had somehow found herself in past Kahli's [checkpoint] scenario!
Thankfully, at least in part, Kahli found it a little easier to focus on her own scenario. This was because the scenario suddenly ended for past Kahli and future Taubitha, both of whom found themselves back in the void. The past void.
So it was that Kahli, for whatever reason - that reason being, she suddenly saw not only her scenario but indeed the past void overlaying her vision - became incredibly confused and indeed frustrated with her system. Here she was being choked out by past Taubitha, and... Wait a second. She wasn't being choked out by past Taubitha!
And why was that?
Well, it just so happened that past Taubitha was horribly confused at to what was happening. Sure, future Taubitha indeed too had been confused as to how the entire scenario overlay issue came into play, however, past Taubitha was not even accustomed to the idea of going back in time via a scenario. With that, past Taubitha was freaking out in an even more extreme manner than indeed it seemed that future Taubitha had back when she first encountered a timeline scenario.
It was on realizing this - for indeed, it seemed that past Taubitha was undergoing such a state of shock and confusion that indeed it seemed like her psyche may have been altered, possibly permanently, in a negative fashion due to it - that the past and the future were becoming, in a way, irrevocably divorced. That is to say that Kahli started to wonder whether the past Kahli and past Taubitha were indeed the same as herself in the past after these changes. It was the kind of thing that she would've seen fit to ask the Supreme Time Protector about, in more convenient times.
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"By the gods themselves, this is an awful mess, isn't it?" said the Supreme Time Protector in the parallel experienced timeline that future Kahli was beholding through the split perspective of past Kahli.
"I am, like, so totally confused," said future Taubitha with a plentiful helping of vocal fry.
"Me too," said past Kahli with a shudder.
"Oh, well then, like, I'm totally not confused!" spat future Taubitha.
"Well, I'd be happy to explain it a bit, if you would oblige," said the Supreme Time Protector. "Of course, it will be a little confusing, what with all these dual timelines running on the same layer of time, however I'm happy to go into it if you're up for the task of listening to me."
"Like, oh my gods, you sound so smug!" said Taubitha with a wide-mouthed gasp.
Meanwhile, future Kahli was struggling to understand what was happening in past Taubitha's mind. She had wholly released her ex-friend from her grasp and was presently rolling around across G'athoong's scaly hide, giggling incessantly.
What is going on? thought spoke G'athoong in a deep confusion. Is someone giving me a massage or something?
"Not intentionally," said future Kahli with a sigh.
Although the threat of past Taubitha seemed all but neutralized, Princess was still looming, and indeed it seemed she was looking at past Froufrou - and it bears to be said that future Kahli was, at the same time, a little concerned about the whole Froufrou swappage having happened - with a glittery glare that said she was out for blood. Or, possibly, head exploding, although it remained to be seen whether Froufrou indeed had a head at all with which to explode. After all, Froufrou had successfully protected Kahli from such sinister attacks in the past.
With a squelch of determination, past Froufrou let loose yet another blast of [Putrefy] that coated Princess in green goo. Future Kahli tried and indeed failed not to laugh at this joyous display as she watched the dreaded fony get quite bogged down and off-balance. With that, she summoned up her big rock and kicked herself over to the foe - which was a bit of a tall order what with all the turbulence and the mismatched timeline overlays, but indeed she somehow made it over there and before much more than a moment had passed Kahli was using her [Barrage of Blows] to land punch after punch on the sinister yet indeed fairly beautiful fony.
"Smugness has nothing to do with it," said the Supreme Time Protector smugly from the other overlayed timeline. "Indeed, I have experienced things such as this before with..." They paused, looking to Kahli for guidance.
And so it was that past Kahli nodded slowly, hoping against hope that the Supreme Time Protector would not give away to Taubitha what her [class] truly pertained to.
"I've seen this happen before with people who have the [Duplificationer] [class] interacting with people who have the [Dimensional Wizard] [class]," started the Supreme Time Protector. They nodded in a way to signify to past Kahli that, indeed, none of this had anything to do with future Taubitha's [class] - but misleading her further was a boon more than it was an inconvenience. "That is to say that, in all my times as a Supreme... Duplification Protector, I've run into quite a few wild experiences here and there. One of them being the ability to mistakenly operate a system so that two timelines are duplicated in tandem. Now, that said, it's a very amateur mistake, and at the same time an indicator of immense power and potential indeed. That is to say that only the most powerful of [Duplificators] would even have a chance to do such a thing, whereas at the same time the fact that it has happened in such an uncontrolled manner indicates clearly that it was performed unintentionally by a novice of the [class]. All that said, Kahli, this hints at amazing potential for you. Now, as for you, Taubitha, I am not wholly certain how or why this is, as I am more tied to duplification than I am to your illustrious dimensional wizardry, but I believe that you indeed do possess certain passive and active [attributes] that could easily be contributing to this experience?"
"Like, probably," said future Taubitha with a scoffing gasp. "But, like, oh my gods. Did you really say that you are a duplification Protector? As in, like, you are a part of Kahli's [class]?"
The Supreme Time Protector groaned and sighed. "I... er... by the gods, I did say that, didn't I?"
"You sure did," said past Kahli with a bit of a groan. "You sure... did."
"Well, the writhing horror's out of the handbag now," said the Supreme Time Protector with a sigh.
"Hey!" said Kahli as she looked at future Froufrou, who was indeed clambering and writhing out of her handbag, with admiration. "Don't you dare call Froufrou a horror! Unless, um, unless she asks for it. Well, squelched for it."
"...Okay," said the Supreme Time Protector with a groan of their own. "Look, I wasn't even trying to talk about Froufrou, it was more that I was just saying a turn of phrase that-"
"Sure you were, Supreme Duplification Protector. Sure you were."
"Like, oh my gods, are the two of you just going to keep arguing or are you going to finally finish talking about... well, whatever the hell you were talking about?" spat future Taubitha in a rage.
[WAARNING]
[TIMELINE MERGE IMMINENT]
"What?!" said past Kahli in unison with future Kahli.
"Aw fuck," said the Supreme Time Protector.