“Always go too far, because that's where you'll find the truth”

― Albert Camus

I wonder what's inside the clouds?

Ven squatted down, about to launch himself upwards and find out, when a voice interrupted his attempt.

"The clouds are a boundary, little fish. Once you get deep enough in you'll just run into a wall."

Ven jerked, his leap transformed into a faceplant as Kalina continued.

"My internal world isn't big enough to have no limits, but I'd say it's the largest on this planet." She plucked Ven from the ground like a midnight carrot and rotated him so his vision panned across the landscape. "I've made something almost the same size as the oceans of the main world, you know?"

Kalina puffed her cheeks, eyes begging Ven for praise that he failed to give.

"Jeez!! You shouldn't sneak up on someone like that!" Ven said, one hand on his heart. "Your pets have the same bad habit, Kalina, it's not very polite."

He straightened his clothing and dislodged a few errant blades of grass. I'm sick of getting snuck up on, this world is full of ninjas... In his last life, nothing was capable of sneaking up on him, at least not while he was in his prime. Although Ven could bend his past self into a pencil, he found himself outclassed at every turn.

"Sorry little fish but, once you're at the top, being polite isn't a big concern, you know?" Kalina said as she struck a victory pose. "I just do what I want, when I want, and have fun along the way!"

Much like in their first meeting, the woman's impish nature left Ven at a loss for words. In his mind, something with her level of power should be a bit more... I don't know, majestic? Certainly, they shouldn't be so casual.

"Well, that's as good a philosophy as any to live by, I suppose. I imagine you must give the other Earth Deities all kinds of headaches with that worldview."

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Ven laughed on the inside, the thought of the woman as she ignored a bunch of stuffy cultivators who huffed impotently filled his heart with mirth.

"Ah, those idiots are all obsessed with reaching the next level and escaping beyond the sky barrier." Kalina's small face distorted with scorn. "They don't have time for an old lady like me, who's satisfied with her immortal life. I'm the oldest of all, you know?"

She puffed up her chest, a glint in her eyes.

"I remember this world before it was sealed away by the Gods," Kalina balled her hands into fists and shook them in the air, as if the other Earth Deities could see her rage. "Unlike those foolish buffoons, I know better than to poke my nose outside!"

The mention of the others, which Ven had only done in an attempt to gain a bit of information, seemed to set her off on a tangent.

"I've spent the past one hundred thousand years living a relaxing life, but every couple of years, one of those shmucks comes around looking to drag me into their schemes!"

She paced in a weaving circular pattern with him at the center. Kalina stomped her feet as she continued her complaints.

"They can't be happy with sitting at the top of this small pond, and keep eyeing the greater universe like it's not full of frog-eating monsters!" Slowly spinning herself down, Kalina eventually stopped her pacing. "The second the seal comes down, we're all doomed, you know!"

Her attention turned back to Vendak, a suspicious squint. on her face.

"But that doesn't matter, little fish. What matters is, now you're inside my internal world." A wicked grin spread upward and combined with her eyes to create a terrible look. "I can more clearly see inside that strange body of yours."

Her hand flicked out, and seized his chin in a vice.

"You have an extremely unusual biology, unnatural, artificial." She released his chin, but her hand clamped onto his arm and hefted it up. "I created all the species you've seen since entering my waters, even the Fallasi and the Myki are designs."

Ven opened his mouth to speak, but Kalina twitched a finger, and the sound halted in his throat.

"I made them to manage the ecosystem and take care of any visitors, but they kind of evolved on their own." When she spoke of her creations, some sadness shone through her carefree facade. "I'm pretty proud of them, you know!" Kalina proclaimed as she slipped her hand under the corner of Ven's mask.

"Hey now! You should buy a man dinner before you start sliding your hands under his clothing!" His hands pressed firmly against her attempt to unmask him. 'I've told you before, I don't know much of anything about my origins, and my biology is as big a mystery to me as it is to you. Now stop that!" Ven said, grasping her smaller hands with his own in an attempt to trap her roving fingers.

"Come on now, don't be stingy! I'm a mother to thousands," Kalina said as she squirmed free with ease. "You've probably got nothing I haven't seen before, you know?" She gave him a hard look. "Now sit still, I want to figure out why your energy feels so weird."

Her finger flicked again, and Ven was frozen in place, his now unmasked face locked in an aggrieved expression.

This woman doesn't take no for an answer...

Ven gave up his struggle and closed his eyes while the woman probed and prodded his body. He ignored Kalina's actions and thought about her words.

If this world has been sealed, there's a larger stage beyond this oversized planet.

However, it was filled with beings that could trap Earth Deities like goldfish in a bowl. Kalina said she was over a hundred thousand years old... A life span of this length was beyond extreme, even for a sentient coral reef.

"Kalina, how does my strength match up to the powerhouses of this world?"