Chapter Forty-Six (Secret of the Blue Water-Kenya)
Somehow, I wasn't surprised. Nadia had always been an eccentric individual, but this topped even her. It was a large and bizarre gathering of various bits and pieces of houses, all connected together with what could only be described as crude handiwork, and which yet managed to keep it all steady. There was even a retractable plane launcher, coupled with a giant rubber band. This monstrosity of architectural design stood in the middle of a beautiful savanna, a nearby crystal clear pond of water shining like a sparkling jewel as countless wild animals drank near it, or rested in the shade of taller shrubs.
I neared the door made from what looked like an airliner, and as I rang the doorbell by literally pulling up and down a piece of rope, a bell that definitely had to be the size befitting the bells of Notre-Dame rang deeply. The animals by the nearby pond weren't even scared by the noise, perhaps because they had grown used to it. I hummed nonchalantly as I patiently waited until I heard a swift pit-patter of steps.
The door swung open, and just as it did the figure on the other side of it froze in fear.
I definitely wasn't who she was expecting to see. I smiled as gently as I could as I felt Yukibey stir from the top of my head, his crimson eyes glinting with joy.
"Is your mother home?" I asked, even as Yukibey began to swish his tail joyously, standing up on my head. The kid looked like a spitting image of Nadia, but as soon as her thoughts came to the surface, it was clear I had missed the shot by quite a few decades. "Your great grandmother," I corrected myself. "You great-grandmother, Nadia, was supposed to meet with me a few days ago, but she didn't come," I grinned and inclined my head to the side. "Would you let me in?"
The little girl looked kind-of worried at the idea, but I smiled a bit more as Yukibey hopped down to stop right in front of the young girl. "Hi!" Yukibey said sweetly, "I'm Yukibey! And this is the Grand Master! Touch my fluffy tail!" he added, swishing his tail right in front of the child. "Someone with such a cute fluffy tail can't be scary," Yukibey added, his voice warm as he slowly began to purr and snuggle closer to the little girl. She instinctively grabbed hold of the soft fuzzy thing and hugged him awkwardly, looking up at me without saying a single word.
"I'll cook you something," I said politely. "I'm one of your great grandmother's friends."
Her stomach took that as the cue to grumble, and she stepped back from the doorway to let me in while still clutching on to Yukibey. She found courage in clutching the warm toy-like creature, which she believed was simply a talking dog.
I swiftly glanced around the entrance, taking in the photos that seemed to cover every wall, and the top of every desk and drawer. "I guess she likes taking pictures," I remarked as I glanced at the photos showing her smiling, not one year over thirty, by the side of men and women, children and newborns. "I once told her it was meaningless," I said as I tapped the glass of a particular photo. "For only the dead will eventually rest within the frames, and then, only the unknown for the strangers to come. That is if you don't end up finishing the space sooner than later."
The little Nadia didn't even bother listening to me, and headed with determination in her young heart towards the kitchen, nervously hopping on a straw chair and placing her arms around Yukibey to pet its soft fur. She looked at me with her two wide eyes, her childish and innocent expression twisted with a bit of fear. She didn't dare ask me where her Granny had gone, and she hadn't the presence of mind of asking after her parents, since they had gone missing a few days earlier too.
I furrowed my brows. "Your parents died?" I asked, my eyes narrowing suspiciously as the girl held her breath, a tiny nod leaving her shaking frame. I hummed thoughtfully, opening the fridge and sighing as I realized it was empty. A second later, and I had summoned from thin air a large platter of lasagna. The little girl realized only then that she hadn't told me where the plates were, but at the same time, she realized I had summoned forth food from nothingness and couldn't help but liken me to a magician like her great grandmother.
She would have wanted to ask me a lot, but she couldn't remember how to speak. Since her parents' death, a terrifying car crash, she had been unable to...they had left her...
I hummed as I tapped with two fingers her forehead, her eyes ceasing their watering as she blinked, before smiling and beginning to eat the warm lasagna with delight. I took a seat in front of her and began to eat silently, the Sliver net extending over this world seeking out the trails of Planeswalking across the Blind Eternities. She had received quite a few visits, and had visited quite a few worlds in turn.
"Hey," Yukibey said suddenly, swishing his tail. "Do you want to make a wish?"
"Yukibey," I said sharply, making him turn to look at me with wide eyes. "No."
"As you wish, Grand Master!" Yukibey said as he shook his tail, even though his ears dropped down sadly and he lowered his gaze. "What Grand Master wishes is absolute!" he looked up at the little girl, his spirit having already lifted itself back up in a split-second. "The Grand Master is awesome little human girl! He is the savior of the whole universe! The fabulous destroyer of Entropy! He who froze the suns! He who suffocated all life so that they would cease creating entropy! Without him, why! We would only live countless billions of years rather than eternally without him!" he turned to loo at me with wide, sparkling eyes, swishing his tail rhythmically to his cheering. "Grand! Mastah! Grand! Mastah! Grand! Mastah!"
I calmly brought my hand to cover my face as Yukibey's tiny paws rose in the air while his body moved right and left.
The little girl had no idea what was going on, and thus simply giggled at Yukibey's funny and clumsy motions.
The Slivers pinged, having found a trace that I did not recognize from the countless others.
I stood up and, with a silent gesture, Yukibey easily snuggled out from the girl's embrace, hopping his way back on my head much to the girl's slightly anguished cry of surprise.
"We found a trace on where your grandmother might have gone," I said as I watched the little girl hop down from the chair and reach to grab hold of one of my legs, looking up at me afraid I'd leave her alone forever just like her grandmother had done. Well, forever was a lofty word, but the child didn't know any better after all. "I should leave someone to take care of you though," I tapped my chin, and then shrugged.
A massive towering Sliver sprouted from my back, countless tentacles and talons intertwined with fangs and deadly spikes ruptured across my skin as it slowly fell on the ground, the slithering of a powerful tale replaced with the gentle patter of naked feet. The beautifully crafted woman stood with light blue hair and shining golden eyes, a candid smile on her face.
"You take care of her while I'm off recovering her grandmother," I said to the creature, who simply smiled daintily before kneeling down in front of the little girl, smiling so brightly it would have warmed the heart of an undead Lich in a split-second. A pair of cat ears twitched atop the young woman's head, and as she pried gently the child off my leg, I waved them both goodbye before disappearing across the Blind Eternities.
The girl was in good hands.
Nyarla Slivers were, after all, the most caring and loving of my creations.
The Nya of cats, and the madness of Nyarlathotep in a single package.
I regretted nothing.
Absolutely, I regretted nothing.
