Kitty's Keeper/No Clean Blades

V

Shrinking was an uncomfortable sensation. To sink while shrinking even more so. Every blade of grass became the tallest tree, then every speck of dirt a mountain. When said mountains swallowed up the sun, Kitty instinctively held their breath and slipped into the depths of Terra's inky embrace. They closed their eyes as well, and for a moment wondered if this is what ascension felt like.

All that's missing is the creeping coldness every writer mentions when describing the eternal end. The frost of the final winter.

The ground was also missing, but Kitty didn't notice until they were already freefalling in a blue void.

A lot of falling today—I used to despise these kinds of dreams, but now... They smirked. They're rather dull. Lost your touch, have you, John? What happened to being 'richly rewarded by chaos'?

As if in response, their back hit the water with an audible smack. It was also the first to plunge below the surface, followed by their legs and head. The sting of salt punished their eyes and dried their tongue, but Carum persisted, curling, then finally turning into a position fit for swimming. They straightened, then began to tread water, hoping to gain their barings. Not even John would permit them to suffer the hopelessness of being lost at sea, would he?

Kitty sighed with relief when they nearly completed a circle and noticed an island in the distance. No, no he wouldn't. Besides, T.B. said 'the octopus' would help them find the siren, and where else would the octopus be but in the sea?

They started swimming toward the shore. It was slow going, but in Kitty's experience, swimming was more about endurance than speed. The body had to move in tandem with the breath, and the breath with the mind, or one could easily grow tired. Fatigue meant death in the open water.

"And who are you?"

Kitty paused. They turned to find, to no one's surprise, Ringo, the siren cecaelia, sunning his upper half on a large flat rock while having an aggie.

Kitty swam closer. "I, good sir? I am Kitty." Then they hoisted themself onto a partially submerged rock nearby. "Who are you?"

The cecaelia took another drag, resting one hand behind his head. "I...am the octopus."

At last! And yet, something nagged them. "But you aren't an octopus."

"No, I am not. I am not an octopus, I am the octopus."

The familiar prickle of annoyance traveled up Kitty's spine. "It's just a bad dream, Carum," they muttered. "Malus somnium..."

Ring—The Octopus overheard. "Having a bad dream? Then why not wake up?"

Kitty laughed bitterly. "You've never had a bad dream, have you? They're the one kind of dream you can't wake up from, not until they've had their way. Then they spit you out in your bed."

"Then it seems you are powerless."

"Yes, so it seems."

He took yet another drag. "Why have you come here, Kitty?"

"I have come seeking John."

"Based on how you arrived I would say you already found him tenfold."

"Not them, not a John. The John. He is responsible for my bad dream. I want to find him so I can wake up."

"The John? No, I can't say I've heard of such a John before."

"But T.B. said you could help me!"

TB's head popped out of the water between them. "I said 'might'!" Then he disappeared under the waves.

Kitty blinked in disbelief, then continued. "Right. Might. Are you sure, good sir?"