New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Seeing as Chronos wasn’t denying it, or even remotely trying to laugh at his own joke, Astaroth understood he wasn’t kidding.

Looking down at the cat, he frowned a bit.

The cat was passing through his legs affectionately, seemingly more excited to see Astaroth than Chronos.

Astaroth kneeled, looking at the little feline. The strange pelt’s moving colours and the deep black eyes of the cat gave him slight vertigo, as their eyes locked.

The cat stopped sauntering around him and suddenly jumped up toward Astaroth’s face, its own maw splitting into four, as a bottomless chasm appeared instead of his mouth.

Astaroth reacted immediately, catching the little monster before it reached him, and throwing it at the opposite side of the room. The cat landed on all fours, face returning to normal, before licking its front paw and grooming its face.

“What the ACTUAL fuck?! Are you trying to murder me?! What kind of fucking monster did you bring to see me, Chronos?!” Astaroth shouted, keeping his eyes set on the beast.

But Chronos was just as confused as he was. He hadn’t known the cat could do such a thing, and was at a loss for words.

“I didn’t even know it could do that… If I had, I would have left it in the woods, instead of carrying it here in my arms, so close to my body…”

Astaroth kept a healthy distance from the cat as he moved toward the door, trying to signal for someone to fetch Aberon. But a voice interrupted his train of thought.

“I apologize for my uncouth behaviour, friend. Far from me the intention of assaulting you. My instincts to restore the time web just kicked in momentarily. It will not happen again, I assure you.”

The suave, masculine voice made both Astaroth and Chronos jump up in surprise as they realized who had spoken.

“You can talk?!” both of them asked simultaneously.

“Why, of course, gentlemen. Just as eloquently as either of you. Or even more, if I believe my ears until now…”

Astaroth wasn’t sure if he should feel insulted by the words given their source.

Chronos, though, felt wronged.

“If you could talk all this time, why did you meow at me instead of using words? Were you making fun of me?”

The cat turned its head toward Chronos, a smile stretching on its lips as its eyes squinted closed.

“I assumed you would find it easier for your feeble mind to bring with you a simple cat instead of a highly intelligent being. Was I wrong?”

Chronos clicked his tongue at the insult.

“I am not feeble-minded…”

The cat tilted its head to the side.

“Then why did you jump up in fright when I spoke?” it asked.

Chronos looked at it, aggrieved.

“You are a talking cat. How else was I supposed to react… You know what? Nevermind…”

“Back up, here. Back up, back up, back up! What the fuck?!”

The cat turned back to look at Astaroth’s confused face.

“Is that all you can say? Your level of volubility is disappointingly low…” the cat said, shaking its little head.

Astaroth couldn’t care less that the cat was implying he was stupid or uneducated, though. He was still mind-blown that the animal could talk so well.

It was not the first talking animal he talked to, so it shouldn’t affect him so much. But the same animal had just acted so innocent and simple.

The difference was shocking.

“Whatever! Why are you here? And why did you try eating my face off?!”

The cat sauntered a few steps forward, watching as Astaroth took a step back for every step forward he took. Until he jumped on the small table between the sofas in the room.

“May we have a civilized conversation, gentlemen? I promise I won’t bite again.”

Astaroth glared at the creature, unsure he wanted to trust it.

But Chronos saw no reason not to. So he sat down.

The cat nodded at Chronos before gazing at Astaroth.

The Ash Elf took a few moments of staring before stepping forth, an enormous sigh escaping his lips.

“If you try anything funny again, I’m having my companions eat you. Capice?!”

The cat smiled again, its cute face disconcerting to Astaroth, who had seen its maw open a foot and a half wide just moments earlier.

“I will be most careful containing my instincts,” it replied.

Astaroth sat down, pulling the sofa back slightly as a precaution.

“Good. Now, before we continue. I would rather you call me something else than ‘cat’, or ‘you’, if possible.”

Astaroth winced in response. He knew what he wanted to call it.

Monster.

But he kept the words for himself.

“Do you have a name, my feline friend?” Chronos asked, respecting its wishes.

The cat looked at him pensively.

“I do not. I believe our common friend would have wanted you to name me. So you can call me whatever you wish, as long as it suits my tastes.”

Chronos didn’t need to wrack his brain for long before blurting out a name.

“How about Nebulae? Your fur reminds me of the gas clouds in space, so I think it’s fitting.”

The cat pondered for a moment, before grinning widely.

“I shall accept the name you have given me. Please call me Nebulae from here on out.”

Chronos smiled back, a forced smile since he still had trouble showing genuine emotions. But it was enough for the cat to accept it.

“You still haven’t answered my question, Neb,” Astaroth spat.

Nebulae looked at Astaroth, hissing lightly through its teeth.

“I’ll accept Nebulae. But not Neb. It sounds so uneducated and unrefined.”

Astaroth waved his hand dismissively.

“Whatever you say, Neb. Just answer the question. Did you come here just to eat my face? Or did you have a goal?”

The cat was already learning to dislike this temporal anomaly called Astaroth. The lack of respect it showed for a superior entity such as itself rubbed him the wrong way.

“I do indeed have a goal. But maybe I should just eat your face and be done with it. This young Fey can help me do my job. I don’t need you.”

Astaroth smirked back in response.

“You can try, fur ball.”

Nebulae’s tail swished in anger before he breathed in deeply and calmed down. He turned his back on Astaroth, looking solely at Chronos.

“I have come here to verify the extent of the temporal shift of the time web, and start making fixes, before it tears. I believe you can help me, so long as the fool behind me doesn’t keep making bigger changes to it.”

Chronos now understood why he had found the creature. It wasn’t looking for him, but for the biggest change in the timeline.

He just happened to be in the same dungeon.

He just found the cat first, as it was napping, when they left the dungeon.

Eyeing Astaroth with curiosity, Chronos leaned in closer to Nebulae.

“Do you know where, or who, is the root cause of these changes?” he asked.

Nebulae nodded slowly in response.

“I know the who. Not the where. I intended to follow the fate threads tied to this one, here, to find out the where. But I don’t feel like staying near him any longer.”

Chronos chuckled a bit, his first bit of natural laughter ever since he came out of his coma.

“I understand how you feel. He seems to infuriate people around him, from what I saw.”

“Hey!” Astaroth cried.

“I’m right here. I’m not that infuriating!” he rebuked.

Nebulae glared at him for a second before ignoring him again.

“I am sure we can cooperate and find the person I am looking for. Your talent will most definitely benefit from allying with me. I am from the root of them, after all.”

Chronos smiled.

He pushed his hand forward for a handshake. Nebulae looked at his hand before smiling.

Chronos looked at his own hand and coughed.

‘He’s a cat. Of course he won’t shake my hand…’

Astaroth looked at their interaction, slightly insulted that he was being ignored.

“I can help,” he claimed, trying to feel useful.

“I doubt you can, pointy ears,” Nebulae responded, jumping down the table and walking towards the door.

“What? You have pointy ears too — What the f—I can help. I know who you are looking for!” he shouted at the cat, as it was about to leave the room.

Nebulae halted his steps before slowly turning toward Astaroth.

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care if you do. I know who you are looking for. I can tell you where he is. Or better yet. I can force him to come here. That way, you could laze around here while you wait, and not have to chase him around. After all, Khalor is quite the traveller.”

Hearing the name, Nebulae’s gaze sharpened.

“How do you know this?”

Astaroth grinned.

‘Bingo.’

He had guessed it right on his first try. Now he had the damned feline’s attention.

“Doesn’t matter how I know. I do. That’s all that matters. And I can get him here.”