Beneath the small Order Clock, only a few thread-thin blue fragnts remained. These were left intentionally by Rita.
After creating the ti loops, she hadn't rushed to collect them. But as her writing in the World Sigh accumulated, a sharp clarity erged. She realized that once she claid all of these fragnts, the beings trapped inside the clock would awaken sooner than expected.
Even so, she knew it still wouldn't be enough. Even if she stripped every accumulated piece of power, how could she ever hope to surpass the centuries of accumulation spanning nine entire epochs? Each ti she considered it, her chest tightened. She felt no fear of hardship or danger, yet rationally analyzing the situation brought a distinct sense of powerlessness. That combination of fearlessness and helplessness was strange, but not conflicting.
Rita returned to Cat's Ideal, taking Nivalis, B80, and the six deputy captain cats with her, leaving the tiline she had just been working in.
Her goal was clear: she needed to seize as much "fuel" as possible from the Order Clocks of other tilines.
Beyond that, she needed to understand herself better.
Previously, when she used her talent ability to exploit the ti-looping load function, she only altered her own tiline. During that period, other tilines had continued to move forward. Over a hundred days had passed in those tilines while her tiline repeated.
Her first stop was the tiline of Undead Wildfire. Thanks to the effect of World Sigh, all tilines had entered a state of complete pause. The world was unnaturally quiet. No wind rustled leaves, no insects chirped—absolute silence reigned.
But what Rita cared about most were the worlds she had brought along using World Sigh.
She had succeeded.
It was a signal, proof that she had crossed a boundary she had long suspected existed.
As long as she could bring a world with her, she could seize the authority of that tiline entirely.
It took her nearly half a month to strip the majority of mysterious fragnts from Undead Wildfire's tiline. Only after completing that task did she begin walking through this tiline, accompanied by the reawakened Nivalis, B80, and her six deputy captain cats.
Nivalis tilted her head. "So… what are we doing now?"
"Exploring," Rita replied casually, grabbing a at pie from a nearby stall and handing it to both Nivalis and B80. She dropped a few coins for paynt. Turning to the cats, she said, "If you get bored, feel free to wander around. I'll call you back when I leave this tiline."
Then she handed each of them a large bag of coins.
The six deputy captains cheered, but still followed her closely. They occasionally leaped onto nearby rooftops or walls to run, refusing to stick to the main path.
It was a strange kind of journey—both lively and eerily quiet. The world seed to respond to nothing. Only a dragon, a small robot, and six cats accompanied her.
Stories from other tilines appeared to follow a similar pattern. As Foolishness had said long ago, even if there were minor deviations, the ambition and nature of each being drove them back to their intended paths.
Rita's favorite part of these explorations was encountering familiar faces in other tilines: Lightchaser, Maple Syrup, Mistblade, Cicada, Smoke Tune… even Maple Cang. She enjoyed observing whether any small details had shifted.
Nivalis described the experience as chilling: "Exploring for too long feels like wandering through a wax museum."
Rita chuckled softly. "Do you want to see Undead Wildfire's Nivalis and B80?"
Nivalis' eyes lit up, but she hesitated. "She t Nivalis too…"
"Seriously?!" The little robot punched her gently, flipping her in surprise. "I need to see!"
So Rita led them to find Undead Wildfire.
Just as she rarely stored Nivalis and B80 in a pet space, Undead Wildfire did not either. That's why when Rita had "summoned" her before, only Undead Wildfire appeared—her freely roaming companions had stayed behind.
After a brief search, they finally found her atop a Mu tree.
Undead Wildfire perched on a thick branch, carving a blue gem with her [Carve Error].
Her Nivalis had shrunk small, resting in front of her on the branch, fast asleep with its round belly facing upward. Limbs and wings hung naturally, completely relaxed.
B80 sat behind her, back-to-back, playing on a handheld device.
The six cats circled Undead Wildfire once before expressing slight disappointnt. "She doesn't have a Cat's Ideal."
Rita smiled faintly. "Perhaps because she has nowhere safe to dock, she doesn't dare set sail."
The gem in Undead Wildfire's hands was half-carved—a deep blue sphere with faint outlines of continents visible on its surface.
Rita looked at her lowered gaze and silently wondered: What went through your mind when you learned there's another version of you nad BS Rita?
And when you saw that even a version of yourself who hadn't been reborn could reach such heights, what did you think?
Rita whispered softly, "It's an honor."
She waved her hand, lifting the pause on this tiline.
Undead Wildfire's presence imdiately radiated extre danger, but she quickly regained calm. She did not lift her head but continued carving the gem, concentrating intently.
Nivalis and Nivalis stared at each other in silence, while B80 and B80 exchanged glances before instinctively starting a multiplayer ga.
Rita said, "I ca to see you, and also to give you a gift. I'll give you a little extra ti."
Undead Wildfire finally t BS Rita's gaze. Her gem-blue eyes, usually filled with lancholy, carried a sharp frostiness when her expression hardened. "What do you an?"
BS Rita's words sounded provocative, but Undead Wildfire sensed sothing more—an unidentifiable nuance. Was it sympathy? Encouragent? Comfort? Or perhaps a subtle plan?
Rita replied evenly, "You haven't entered the Quiet Mountain ga yet, right? Once you complete the [Graveyard of Bones] ga, I'll co find you."
Undead Wildfire grabbed BS Rita's sleeve, her voice cold. "And what secret plan are you hiding this ti?"
Rita only had a vague idea herself, nothing fully ford. This "gift" was primarily ant to honor the other version of herself. She didn't want that version to stop here.
She didn't elaborate, knowing Undead Wildfire wouldn't trust her explanation anyway.
Rita simply teleported away with her lively entourage, continuing her journey through the tilines.
After checking in on familiar faces, she began visiting one world after another, passing abandoned docks and observing the lifeless ruins of floating worlds.
Occasionally, she would find a quiet spot, cross her legs, and write the World Sigh for that tiline—recording an alternate possibility for each world, a different path each could have taken.
This was her way of walking through ti and reality, exploring not just the worlds themselves, but the infinite possibilities and stories they contained.
User Comments
0 comments from readers