LIMINALITY
Table of Contents
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 56 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 ENDChapter 47
The next morning, after a long journey throughout the dreamlands, the flying aircraft finally arrived at their awaited destination as they began to be ready for the landing. From the captain's room, Janus group stood and watched while they witnessed the outside scenery of their ship.
As the ship landed on the vast field of slime and grass a few hundred meters away from the city, the crew then disembarked, carrying all sorts of shipments to trade and distribute to the locals, allowing for potential resources for the rest of the kingdom and their people.
Where the kingdom itself is made of various colors in shades from green to red built in strange, slimy material as the houses and buildings themselves all made of slime, including the streets and everything else. The denizens of the Kingdom of Ooze are all also made of the same material with unique colors.
By their appearance alone, they all appear as short basketball-sized balls of slime with cute little faces while lacking any limbs. Relying on jumping around to get their tasks done, generally peaceful and friendly folk will gladly provide assistance to visitors as long as it's not a dangerous threat.
Despite the huge city alone, they lack any form of wall surrounding the entire place to prevent any unwanted trespassers that may harm them. Though they appear to not be the best at defending themselves, the slime residents do make up for their own strengths by being able to regenerate and shapeshift at will.
Aside from the people and lack of walls, the kingdom is filled with many vibrant and diverse colors, from the lush green fields to the shimmering pink and blue skies. The buildings and structures are all made of slime, as mentioned before, and come in a variety of colors and patterns.
Even its animals and plants are made of slime, each having a distinct form and shape depending on their role and function. As for the city's layout and design, it seems to be a combination of the city itself with the surrounding forests, providing a lush and vibrant landscape for all to enjoy.
Exiting the ship together, the group of four walked down with Henry, leading them to meet with the people of Ooze and discuss trade agreements and other matters. Although Schrodinger and Saomi had different reasons for coming here in the first place,.
Before Janus friends could talk about the important matters that they were planning to discuss, Green Slime approached them with a smile on his face and said, "Welcome friends!" He said in an almost childish tone of voice, "I hope your flight was pleasant!"
Looking down at the adorable creature, Captain Henry smiled in return. "Thank you, my dear friend," he politely replied, placing his hand on his chest and bowing his head ever so slightly. Then he pointed to the others beside him and said, "This is my good companion," gesturing them to come and meet him.
Bull came first, walking to his friend's side only to receive a terrified expression coming from the slime ball: "Name's Bull." Snickering quietly, he simply ignored the looks from the locals: "If you do anything suspicious to any of my comrades, I will make sure to kick your ass into oblivion, got it?"
The slime creature, who goes by the name Joyun, nodded nervously in response. "Yes, si"yes sir..." Having all his colors drained from witnessing such a tall, monstrous being in the form of an intimidating Minotaur, that would make him want to retreat back to the city itself.
Next was the brooding white feline, "Schrodinger," bluntly stating his name without bothering to even make an attempt to greet him, "Where can we meet your princess?" Straight to the point, he did not bother with such trivialities as greeting or showing hospitality. Instead, he simply wanted to get this over with so that he could leave this place as soon as possible.
"Now, now, kitty cat," Henry frowned at this lack of etiquette that Schrodinger demonstrated, "you're acting impolitely again." Sighing deeply, he tried his best to not sound too harsh with his words: "Mind just a waiting bit? Its only common courtesy after all." Turning towards Jolly with a sympathetic smile, he softly chuckled, "My apologies for such behavior."
Joyun took a glance over at the cat and then turned his attention back to Henry, nodding slightly. "Eh, its not a big deal!" Not finding the rudeness much of a problem, he continued, "Now Mr.Cat—"
"Its Schrodinger," reminding the annoying local of his name, "no ridiculousness of adding mister or miss, because it doesn't change anything," letting out an annoyed sigh, "where is she now?" another reminder of the reason why he came all the way out here.
Hearing this, the slime responded with a slight hesitation in his voice, "She would be in her building; it should be easy to find it though!" Beaming up at him with a huge grin, he added, "The tallest one is where Princess Lime is residing," answering directly without having to ask another question.
Without hesitation, Schrodinger and Saomi started heading in the direction of the city, causing the captain to call out in worry and annoyance, "Hey! What are you guys doing?" Looking around quickly confusedly, "You know its a long way from here?!" Reasoning with these two fools.
"We'll be fine," Schrodinger responded as they continued walking away from the conversation. "I can teleport anyway." Glancing over at his companion, his face softened in seeing her unusual demeanor that caused him to want to say something but had nothing to say in return, so he kept quiet instead.
As they moved through the grassy ground that led them closer to the kingdom, Schrodinger finally decided to break the ice and ask, "What's wrong?" Although he isn't stupid enough to realize the obvious reason why she is feeling like that, it's still polite to ask anyway: "It's because of him."
Saomi sighed deeply, looking straight ahead with an uneasy look in her eyes. "Have you ever lost someone important before?" It was a question that came out of nowhere, but it was clear what she meant by saying this: "Because this is what I'm feeling right now."
The cool air filled the entire space around them, carrying with it the scent of fresh flowers and leaves. The soft breeze drifted in the silence, swirling and dancing around them. It was as if they were standing in the middle of a tranquil, serene world, with no disturbances to disturb the peace and quiet.
At that moment, the two would be enjoying this simple walk to the city. However, this wasn't so much a leisure stroll. They were troubled by the recent events that had transpired yesterday, which Schrodinger and Saomi together shared.
He briefly closed his eyes, contemplating deeply while gazing at the surrounding scenery that lay beyond them. His thoughts wandered, drifting through the endless possibilities of his next sentence, "I have lost many," a simple statement that said too little but enough for him to say anything further than this.
The young woman stopped; her melancholic display turned to one of curiosity and sympathy: "Lost to who?" A fair and obvious question to be asked in the first place is, "Just how many people have you lost, Schrodinger?" Turning to stare into his eyes, she searched for answers that lay beyond his soul.
Pondering for a while longer, he thought carefully about what to answer to such an innocent query, "countless of them," an ambiguous but true response. Its not like Schrodinger could remember them all or knows who they are in the first place.
Just like any cat, he deeply values his own people above all else and would rather die than allow them to fall into the hands of others. However, most of them experienced the deaths of those who wished to see harm done to them, especially when it came to evil monsters.
"With my ability to be everywhere and anywhere, it would be a matter of time before I decided to seek an alternative version of myself where I once had a lovely family."
"Once?" She furrowed her brows, gazing at Schrodinger as he appeared lost in thought. "What happened?" Trying to understand the feelings of this cat, "did they..." Pausing for a moment, she said with a hushed whisper, "They didn't die, did they?"
His eyes flashed open, then he returned her gaze with a long, silent, and dead stare that lasted for mere seconds before shifting back to the road ahead. "Every single one of them had the same fate, meeting death. " Continuing their trek up, "death that is far worse than you would imagine" immediately caught her attention.
"What happened?!" Saomi desperately asked, "I want to know..." Deep down, she isn't sure if this is the right thing to do in trying to relate her pain to someone else; however, she at least wants to share her temporary loss with someone whom she considered a close friend. "Tell me what happened!"
Schrodinger sighed deeply, releasing a breath that he was holding. Then he stopped and turned to look up at her. "I saw a version of myself," eyes widening in horrifying gaze, "a family that I wished to have only just to have them kidnapped by a monster in human form while leaving him dead as a kitten." Terror rose from the pit of her stomach as she heard these words.
"And you know what that disgusting waste of human life did to his parents?" Anger flared in his chest. "He placed them in the microwave as I witnessed them from outside of reality, where his and my own parents let out the horrifying sounds I could ever witness done to my own kind." Tears threatened to fall from the corners of his eyes, his breathing becoming erratic.
"It is why I hate mankind deep down in my heart," the cat whispered, turning away from her so she wouldn't see the despair that shone in his eyes. "I accept some humans to be decent; I cannot forgive the entire race in general for what they've done to my own people."
Long, silent moments passed before he finally managed to regain his composure. He drew in a ragged breath, steeling himself against the emotional tide that threatened to overwhelm him, and began to speak again, "Answer me," turning around to meet her gaze, "What do you know about suffering, human? Where you lived your entire life free while we had our freedom stolen away from us by monstrous species that call themselves'man.'"
A tear slowly rolled down her cheek. The young woman choked back a sob as she covered her mouth in shame. "I know humans can be evil, but to imagine..." She can't imagine the terrible things men can do that would cause the cruelest animals to blush, "but still," wiping away another stray tear that trickled down her face as she approached him and knelt with one leg.
"I believe in my heart," she said, placing her hand on his small head, gently caressing it while smiling kindly, "that there are many good people who would care for you like no other," lifting his chin to meet her gaze, "who would love you no matter what you do or who you are because you are yourself."
Her words brought a wry smile to his lips: "Perhaps you are right," finally feeling comforted, "though there's a slight problem in that regard." Taking a step backwards, he firmly answered, "The memories still haunt me still," averting eyes on the distant horizon for a brief moment.
"You and I can overcome them; I know we can," she said, extending her hand towards him. "Were friends, aren't we Schrodinger?" She asked while waiting for him to reach back, "There is always a person out there to support you when you're down; it's never too late to feel better about yourself."
He was hesitant at first, his hatred of humans still consuming his heart like poison. But she did not waver in her stance, and just by her actions alone, he knew this woman was a good person to trust. "I..." A smile then graced his lips. "I believe you," he said, placing his paw on her palm. He looked up at her and said, "As long as I have your company, then maybe that'll help me move on from this traumatic event that happened to my family and so many others."
She happily nodded, smiling gleefully at this. "See, it wasn't too hard?" Her voice was kind and compassionate: "Your also such a good, adorable cat," and with that said, she suddenly embraced him, giving the feline a hug. "Please, if ever you feel unsure or afraid of what to do, remember to seek out a trusted loved one, for they'll be willing to listen to whatever problem or problem that is plaguing your mind," pulling him closer.
In any circumstances, Schrodinger would angrily deny the very idea of him being hugged, but now he was willing to let this happen. "You're a good person, Saomi," he replied in a low, comforting tone. "Out of all the humans I witnessed, I am beginning to think that you would be a great cat owner." His words made the girl beam brighter.
"Is that so?" She giggled, a delightful sound that caused her whole body to shake ever so slightly. "Then, I guess, I could keep you as a pet!"
This only caused him to deliver an irritated response after hearing this embarrassing answer: "Don't you ever think about that?" Schrodinger cringed and grumbled in embarrassment. "Just who do you take me for, a mere housecat?"
Laughter erupted from her throat, followed by a joyful grin on her lips. "I'm joking, silly kitty," she said, squeezing the cat tighter in an attempt to stop him from leaving. "I just can't help but know your beginning to grow attached to me." This immediately caused Schrodinger to roll his eyes in annoyance as she continued giggling from this wholesome moment.
"Best friends, forever?" She sweetly asked only to receive another anger look.
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