Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Staring down at the little girl that had manifested within his dreamscape, Vahn suppressed his nigh-instinctual urge to caress her head as he remarked, "Those ears and tail suit you..."

Hearing Vahn’s remark, Enne, who had previously been looking around his dreamscape with great interest, turned to look up at him, cat-like ears twitching as she said, "Thanks?" in an uncertain tone. Then, before the former could supplant his previous remark, she promptly grew from an adorably petite 148cm to the same 174cm she appeared as in the outside world, adding, "There aren’t many men who would attempt to compliment girls with child-like figures. Comments like that remind me of my father...not in a good way..."

Understanding she was comparing him to Gustang, Vahn couldn’t help feeling offended. Instead of trying to justify his compliment, however, he just shook his head and asked, "So? Are you satisfied? This place was specially constructed with the assistance of several members of the Eurasia Family. It should feel pretty comfortable, no?"

Though she nodded her head in affirmation, Enne’s expression didn’t demonstrate anything even remotely resembling comfort. There was even a bit of fear present in her vibrant pink eyes, as, no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to influence Vahn’s dreamscape. Its stability was unlike anything she had ever experienced, and, for a brief moment, she almost thought they were back in the real world.

Letting his instincts guide him, Vahn extended his hand to Enne’s head, gently caressing her silky red hair as he softly assured her, saying, "You worry too much. I’ve told you twice before. Now, let me remind you for the third time that I am, in fact, a God. I possess multiple realities inside myself, so it is only natural that my dreamscape is reminiscent of reality. If I really wanted to, I could create an entire civilization from scratch, and, unless I informed them of the truth, they would regard this as their reality. This isn’t even a unique ability once you reach my level. I even know a cute little fella named Azathoth whose dreams comprise an entire multiverse..."

Rather than listening to Vahn’s words, Enne was more focused on the fact that he had taken it upon himself to caress her head. Even more surprising was the fact that it felt perfectly normal, almost as if it was as natural as a gentle breeze caressing her skin on a sunny day...

Feeling a little unnerved by the expressionless redhead’s unblinking gaze, Vahn eventually retracted his hand, adding, "We should return. I know your ’wish’ is to find a comfortable place where you can sleep as much as you want. I have the perfect place in mind for such pursuits, and, once I reach the higher floors, your mother and the rest of your family will be more than welcome to join you."

Though her eyes had briefly followed Vahn’s hand, Enne promptly turned to meet his gaze while he was speaking. She had been taught to maintain eye contact when important people were speaking, so, until he had finished his explanation, she stared blankly at Vahn’s luminescent aquamarine eyes. It was only when his lips had stopped moving that she blinked, her voice cool and flat as she asked, "How do you intend to address our need for dream energy? Mares cannot consume the energy of other Mares. Without sleeping companions, we will eventually starve to death..."

Having anticipated such a question, Vahn extended his hand to press his index finger beneath the meeting point of Enne’s clavicle. She was currently wearing a skimpy outfit reminiscent of the pitch-black, swimsuit-like, garments worn by succubi in various fantasy settings. This had been somewhat offputting in her ’loli’ form, but, after adopting the appearance of her external self, the fabric had to stretch just to contain her rather voluminous assets...

Despiting frowning in response to Vahn’s actions, Enne made no attempt to stop whatever he was trying to do. She had always been the type to trust in her intuition, so, feeling neither danger nor lascivious intent, she allowed the warm energy flowing from Vahn’s fingertip to enter her ethereal body. This brought her an extreme amount of comfort, but, most importantly, the sinking feeling in her stomach, the result of a long-suppressed hunger, quickly faded away.

Blinking in surprise, Enne was about to ask what Vahn had done when the latter suddenly retracted his finger. Immediately thereafter, a diminutive black dot reminiscent of a beauty spot appeared at the very center of where his finger had pressed. To her surprise, she could still feel the same warmth flowing into her body, suppressing her hunger in its entirety.

Amused by the hint of stupefaction in Enne’s expression, a marginally more prominent smile spread across Vahn’s face as he casually explained, "Though the simplest solution would be to modify your race, I have countless ways to address the problems plaguing Mares. I once gifted someone a set of rings capable of changing their gender with each successive ring. Creating a miniature formation to convert external energy into ’dream energy’ is a simple matter."

Opening her mouth, Enne seemed as though she wanted to say something, but, failing to find the words, she ultimately just lowered her head and traced the tiny dot with her finger. It was difficult to make out due to its position, but, with her eyesight, she was able to discern that the tiny dot was actually a remarkably complex spell circle. This actually scared her quite a bit, as, even if she were to gather every single sorcerer in the Tower, none would even come close to Vahn’s level of mastery...

As he had already repeated himself a number of times, Vahn resisted the urge to remind Enne of his status as a God. Instead, he snapped his fingers, and, as a result, both found themselves back in the real world. This left Enne feeling slightly disoriented, not because the transition had been rough, but because there was no discernible difference between Vahn’s dreamscape and reality. The only thing that had changed was their surroundings, so, despite feeling the warmth of the person right in front of her, she couldn’t completely shake the notion that everything happening was the result of a very convincing dream.

With Enne clinging to him in a daze, a wry smile spread across Vahn’s face as he proceeded to softly pat her back. This wasn’t enough to completely restore her sensibilities, but, at the very least, it was enough to get her to stop sniffing his body. Then, with a perfect poker face, she invariably released his body before commenting, "You smell nice..." in a soft monotone.

Rather than refuting the assertion, Vahn offered a curt nod in response before manifesting the Little Garden and explaining its basic functions. Shortly thereafter, he invited her to tour the interior, and, as could be expected, she was quite taken with both the First and Eighth Layers. She was especially fond of forest serving as Xerneas’ habitat, so, after a quick round of introductions, Vahn prepared a small cottage to accommodate her stay. He also privately encouraged his cuddle buddies to spend some time with her, so, even if she was a natural introvert, he didn’t have to worry about her feeling lonely...

With Enne safely stowed within the Little Garden, Vahn spent a number of days investigating the interior of the Frozen Waterfall to confirm that the Colorless December, the most infamous of the 13 Month Series, hadn’t been sealed within. This meant, alongside the Rainbow Undecimber, White February, and Dark September, four of the 13 Month Series couldn’t be accounted for. The Law of Identity was able to transform into each of them, but, as could be expected, she couldn’t disclose their location due to the restrictions imposed upon them by Jahad and the Workshop.

Fortunately, even without any direct action on his part, it was only a matter of time until the entire series came into Vahn’s possession. Fate had a way of ensuring such things, and, even if it ultimately failed him, he could always petition Gluttony to teleport him near their location. The eldritch rabbit might not be able to disclose the information, but, so long as the request didn’t violate the terms of any existing contracts, he could transport people to virtually any destination within the Tower. Even the Ascension Nexus and Jahad’s Imperial Palace were no exceptions to this, so, if he really wanted to, Vahn could depart the Tower whenever he wanted.

As tempting as the thought was, Vahn was content with ascending the Tower, and, at the very least, seeing what each of the Floors had to offer. He also had a number of promises to keep, so, at least for the time being, the Realms beyond the Tower would have to wait. How long was uncertain, but, at the very least, he wanted to deal with both Jahad and the Workshop before installing one of his Templates as the new Caretaker of the Tower.

With such thoughts on his mind, Vahn emerged from the Frozen Waterfall to find that less than a millisecond had passed since the time of his departure. In that time, the Ancient Odd-Eyed Giant Cobra had finally noticed his disappearance, but, due to the inordinately short period of time that had passed, it hadn’t even finished flicking its tongue a single time.

Though he was tempted to tease the snake a bit, Vahn ultimately decided against it after seeing the resentful glimmer in the monstrous cobra’s green and gold eyes. Instead, he took advantage of the fact that time had effectively stopped to reseal the Frozen Waterfall and removing the formation he had superimposed onto it. He had little interest in making things easier for Jahad and the Lo Po Bia Family, so, prior to departing the ordinarily secure region, he erased all traces of his existence. Then, moments before the flow of time returned to normal, he gave the enormous cobra a light pat on its snout before evaporating like a wisp of smoke in the wind.

Briefly sensing Vahn’s presence, the Ancient Odd-Eyed Giant Cobra recoiled backward, eyes wide as it looked around the area for any traces of the former’s existence. Almost immediately thereafter, it felt a persistently ticklish sensation on the tip of its nose. This gave it a tremendous urge to sneeze, but, fearing it might destroy the Frozen Waterfall, it managed to uncoil itself from the giant crystal before descending into the massive lake of Shinsu below. Unfortunately, despite its best efforts, it was unable to do anything about the itching sensation until an entire hour had passed...

Finding Pram in the exact spot he had left her, Vahn ignored the chaos of their surroundings as he extended his hand towards her and said, "Let’s go. I’ve finished my business here."

Though she was starting to get used to Vahn’s way of doing things, Pram couldn’t help but blink in surprise when she heard his words. Despite this, she still extended her hand to grasp his, a curious glimmer in her silvery eyes as she mused, "So soon? After our previous encounters, I expected you to take a little longer~."

Understanding the innuendo she was trying to make, an amused chuckle emanated from Vahn’s throat as he pulled her a little closer to him. Then, before teleporting away, he directed his gaze to the remarkably attractive feline person that had been eyeing them since his arrival, saying, "Inform your superiors that I will be arriving on the 113th Floor in approximately three months. Also, unless he wants to invite destruction upon the feline people, you’ll inform your Elder to behave. That man is already on my shit list. If he attempts to use this as an opportunity to suppress or eliminate some of the weaker families, he and his cohorts will pay with their lives..."

Hearing Vahn badmouthing her family’s elder, the raven-haired beauty adopted a venous glare, but, before she could offer so much as a word of censure, Vahn and Pram had already vanished into thin air. There wasn’t even a minute spatial fluctuation to mark their passage, so, for a brief moment, the feline woman found herself at a complete loss for words. This was followed by the notion that their family should never oppose Vahn, but, due to the pride they had cultivated over hundreds of years at the time, this was quickly replaced by a feeling of indignation as she hurried to report his words to her superiors...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’The real question is...which form is her true form?’,’Boop the snoot~’,’Play stupid games and you’re bound to win stupid prizes...’)