Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Having wrapped things up in the North, Vahn's manifestations decreased to a meager three. There were usually around nine of him walking around at any given time, so his mind felt sharper and more focused than usual as he watched various versions of Xysteria dig an enormous cavity in Silva's outermost Layer.

Without any external prompting, Krona, Silva, and Xysteria had concluded that it was 'safer' for the forthcoming residents of their world if the latter's chaotic influence was contained to a single location. However, as neither Silva nor Krona wanted to completely isolate their sister's creations, they arranged for Xysteria's 'nest' to be located on the Surface.

Though it took a considerable amount of time and restructuring, Silva was able to shift around her Continents so that Xysteria would have a circular island, roughly 800,000km2, to do with as she pleased.

Of her own volition, Xysteria concluded that it would be better if she dug down instead of letting her creations roam freely within the island's basin. A colossal mountain range encircled the entire island, but Xysteria didn't believe that would be enough to prevent her 'children' from escaping. She also wanted explorers and adventurers to be able to visit in the future, so her solution was to bore a massive hole, nearly 700km in diameter, before asking Krona to place a temporal barrier over it as a type of lid.

While he didn't entirely agree with the trio's intentions, Vahn permitted his children to do as they pleased. Their solution reminded him of quite a few anime with massive dungeons, sky-piercing towers, and abyss labyrinths, so he simply concluded this was the natural progression of things. At the very least, it was the path that Krona, Silva, and Xysteria had decided for themselves.

Breaking Vahn from his reverie, Xysteria 'prime' used one of her ruby-red talons to prick the base of his chin as she petitioned, "Papa, want to make something with Xysteria?"

Raising his brows, Vahn calmly asked, "What did you have in mind?" with a faint yet perceptibly wry smile.

Sensing the subtle change in her father's mood, Xysteria's oversized ears drooped pitifully as she shrank within his lap and muttered, "Nevermind..." in a sulky tone.

Before Xysteria could fully retract into her 'ball form,' Vahn wrapped his arms around her and buried the lower half of his face into the inordinately thick fur atop her head. Her body was incredibly warm, almost hot to the touch, and her coat had an aroma most people would compare to freshly-baked bread. She could change it at will, but, as she liked being cuddled quite a bit, Xysteria, much like Fenrir, put a lot of effort into ensuring she was as fluffy and pleasant to hold as possible.

Though she didn't immediately relax, Xysteria eventually unfurled her tails and became lax in Vahn's embrace. A minute or two later, she appeared to be 'melting' within his arms, as, even when he wasn't making a concerted effort, Vahn was very proficient in the art of petting.

"Funyaaaaaa~."

Playing off the audio cue, Vahn exhaled a light chuckle before squeezing the semi-amorphous ball of fluff firmly and inquiring, "Now, tell me...what did you want to make?"

Becoming discernibly more solid, Xysteria hesitated for several seconds before answering, "Xysteria wants to make people..."

"Hmmm..."

Though he didn't think Xysteria was at a point where she could oversee a group of people, Vahn didn't immediately refuse her request. Instead, he absentmindedly fluffed up the hair around her ears and caressed the base of her chin as he considered various possibilities.

To get a clearer understanding of Xysteria's actual request, Vahn paused for a moment, asking, "What kind of people? Humans? Therianthropes...?"

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Xysteria raised two of her arms and shouted, "Bug people...!" in an enthusiastic tone. This left Vahn more than a little speechless, not because he had anything against Insectoids, but because insects were Xysteria's favorite food...

Smiling wryly, Vahn couldn't help asking, "You're not planning to eat them, are you...?"

Tilting her head to the side, Xysteria didn't immediately respond to Vahn's question. When she did, he felt somewhat guilty as she curiously inquired, "Why would Xysteria eat them? Did they do something bad...?"

Instead of answering the adorable fluffball's questions, Vahn changed the topic to something more pertinent, asking, "Have you thought about what you want them to do? Creating people from scratch isn't particularly hard, but ensuring their survival can be challenging. Without knowledge, power, and purpose, they will need constant protection and guidance..."

"Muuuu..."

Feeling a little annoyed, Xysteria began to flex her claws open and closed. She had been spying on the various communities Vahn brought back from the Actualized World of Runeterra. Their culture and society caused her to feel things she typically only felt around her Papa, so she really wanted to have a 'people' of her own, not just monsters and copies of herself...

Saving Vahn the trouble of having to pry directly into his daughter's mind, Loi-chan materialized out of thin air, her form identical to Xysteria as she leaned against his back and whispered into his ear. Her words caused the smile on his face to cramp, but it returned to normal a few moments later as he asked, "Have you been feeling lonely...?"

Nodding her head, Xysteria admitted, "It's lonely without Papa. Xysteria tries to keep herself busy, but she's only good at breaking things. Brother Krona and sister Silva are very nice, but Xysteria knows...she knows she is only causing them trouble..."

Though she didn't appear sad as she was speaking, Vahn could sense the deeply rooted melancholy within Xysteria's heart. Her aura was a pleasant shade of gold, reminiscent of sunlight, but he had learned long ago that a person's aura wasn't a true reflection of their mental or emotional state. It might sound paradoxical, but it was more than possible for someone to be outwardly happy despite harboring profound sadness.

Shaking his head, Vahn wrapped his arms snugly around Xysteria's body, whispering, "Krona and Silva would never say that. You also aren't going out of your way to cause trouble, so you're innocent of any wrongdoing..."

"Mmm..."

As Vahn's warmth permeated her body, a faint smile naturally developed across Xysteria's face. She always felt the most 'complete' when he held her close like this. She didn't know if her feelings were the same as those between Krona and Silva, but she believed they were similar. If she didn't know it would burden him, she would want them to stay together forever...

Smiling affectionately, Vahn reached up to place his hand at the center of Xysteria's chest. She was a little surprised by his actions but offered no meaningful resistance even as his hand sank into her, disappearing up to the wrist. Her trust in him was so great that, even if he were to tell her the sky was purple and that the ocean was filled with caustic acid, she would accept it as the gospel truth.

Despite Xysteria's inordinately fluffy, four-armed, five-tailed, seemingly mammalian appearance, she was still the daughter of two True Dragons. The veins running through her body had a crystalline appearance, and the trio of hearts pumping rainbow-hued blood through her body had enough energy within them to destroy the arm of a galaxy if unleashed all at once.

After ensuring there wouldn't be any issues, Vahn removed his hand from Xysteria's chest, revealing a visibly pulsating crystal roughly the size of a plum. Upon seeing it, Xysteria couldn't help feeling confused, an anxious frown marring her face as she poked the crystal and questioned, "Are you taking a piece of Xysteria...?"

As it would have been understandable if Xysteria had freaked out, Vahn couldn't help exhaling a chuckle before answering, "Don't worry. I left a piece of myself where your heart used to be. Now, even when I'm away, you'll always have a piece of me with you..."

Blinking in surprise, Xysteria ignored everything else, using two of her hands to pry her chest open. It was an extremely gruesome sight, but the blood-stained fluffball didn't even flinch as she verified there was a near-identical gem where her heart used to be. The only difference was that it emitted an energy signature identical to her Papa's.

Realizing she would always have a piece of Vahn inside of her, a nearly crimson hue colored Xysteria's face as she used her bloody talons and paws to clutch and massage her cheeks. Her actions caused her usually white fur to become stained with blood, but Vahn quickly cleaned her up while also healing the rather ghastly hole in her chest. Then, as Xysteria watched him with unblinking eyes, he absorbed her crystalline heart into his palm, allowing the luminance to show through his skin as he directed it to the center of his being.

Unable to contain herself, Xysteria slipped under the nearly indestructible fabric of Vahn's tunic, eagerly pressing her head and ear to his chest. She couldn't distinguish between his heartbeat and the tiny pulsations coming from her crystal, but the notion there was now a piece of her inside of him caused her to feel fuzzy.

Without thinking, Xysteria began to 'nuzzle' against Vahn with a lot more force than usual. Since he let his guard down around his children, it didn't take long for one of her horns to pierce his body, creating a rather vicious gash that became the subsequent focus of Xysteria's nuzzling.

Though he was briefly taken aback by Xysteria's reaction, Vahn stopped Xysteria's apparent attempt to burrow into him by grabbing her scruff and phasing her through the fabric of his tunic.

"Ah..."

Seeing the wry smile on Vahn's face, Xysteria realized she had crossed a line she shouldn't. However, before she could think to form the words for an apology, Vahn dematerialized the excess blood from her face and fur coat as he mused, "I understand you're excited, but you're going to make your other-selves jealous if you burrow inside of me..."

Though she was momentarily confused by Vahn's words, Xysteria quickly understood when he turned her around and showed her the thousands of reflective eyes staring at them from a distance. She was the 'original' that dictated the actions of her offshoots, but she didn't have absolute control over them. She was more like a queen ant, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for versions of her to break off and even rebel against her self-comprised colony.

Disregarding the fact Vahn was still holding her up by the scruff, Xysteria spread her four arms in a threatening posture and hissed. Some versions of herself were 'very' powerful, but they had no hope of defeating her in battle. If they got close or tried to attack her, she could directly reabsorb them back into her body, so her hissing was generally enough to daunt all but her most obstinant offshoots.

With most of the eyes turning away from her, Xysteria ignored the rest as she turned to Vahn and asked, "Can we go somewhere else?" without her usual inflection. Vahn immediately noticed this but decided not to inquire as he replied, "Of course," before teleporting them to a small cottage he had materialized in the mountains.

As it was her first time in the cottage, Xysteria took a moment to take in her surroundings before asking, "Will this be where you stay during your visits?"

Though he had initially intended the cottage to be a temporary dwelling, Vahn nodded his head and replied, "Sure, why not?"

Returning a nod of her own, Xysteria momentarily liberated herself from Vahn's hold and began crawling around the floor, walls, and ceiling. She was using the scent glands within her tails to mark virtually every surface, so it wasn't long before a heavy aroma similar to freshly baked bread and pheromones permeated the entire residence.

Satisfied with her results, Xysteria crawled back over to Vahn, climbing onto his lap before circling around a few times like a cat attempting to get comfortable. However, instead of curling up like she was going to take a nap, she eventually turned belly up, using two of her paws to conceal her breasts and the other two to rub her abdomen as she demanded, "Rub my belly..." in a serious, almost commanding tone.

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(A/N: I got severely sunburned when I went fishing with my brother, so I was out of commission after catching a fever. On a far more positive note, today is MY birthday. A friend of mine got me some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and Tales of Arise, but I'm going to put the latter on the backburner for the time being. I'll also be doing triple releases for the rest of the month(starting tomorrow), so look forward to it~!)