Where the Predators Prowl [63, 64]

63. Morning chatter

I fell through a myriad of dreams etched across the infinite abyss.

They weren’t a single story, but a river of lives fluctuating and intertwining, interconnecting with each other like an endlessly vast delta. I felt like a cartographer of my own forgotten lives, each one a universe unto itself, igniting, flickering and dying on the edge of my awareness. 

Each was more alien, more bewildering than the last. Each left me with an unnerving, profound sense of love, sorrow, passion and loss.

Some stars in the delta of dreams were brighter than the others, burned without fading away into the endless nothing. I stayed in them the longest, trying to warm myself with their light.

I felt the intellectual click of fractal mathematics slotting into place, a language of pure logic I spoke with my mind. I was in a sun-drenched mountain valley, a place of endless green forests, glacial mountains and crystalline air. Beside me, her hand in mine, was a girl with white hair, my twin, her blue eyes matching mine. In this strange dream I wove spells not from words, but from elegant, self-replicating equations. I brought a dragon from the sky with a nullifier rocket and coaxed raw mana into the shape of a girl with whom I fell in love. I carried an ancient Astral Virus in my soul and gave her a body. I awakened a long slumbering dryad by singing to her in a long forgotten tongue, and together, we grew a great, vast tree whose branches reached into the Astral, forged a living amplifier for the soul-songs, a connection reaching towards every possible version of myself.

The smell of city smog replaced the pine-scented air. I was a weary programmer, the glow of a monitor painting my face in the pre-dawn hours as I entered my office. The taste of stale coffee was on my tongue, the familiar hum of halogen office lights above me, a mundane melody of my wretched existence. Then, a screech of tires, a flash of headlights, a gut-wrenching impact. Darkness. Suddenly, I was elsewhere. Arx, the city of a thousand Arxkin species, the dizzying marvel of twisted colorful towers beneath an inverted sky comprised from a billion continents. It was on Arx that I found them again—a cheeky fox girl, a living shadow, a dungeon sentinel who refused to die and wanted to be more human. Then, a dragon girl with scales that displayed her feelings, her eyes the color of molten gold and violet sunset, a fierce, lonely warrior bound to an old lighthouse. 

The dreamscape of Arx dissolved into a view of stark, snow-dusted, tall pines. The sharp cold bit at my exposed skin. A great mushroom cloud rose in front of me, bending the trees backwards and I laughed like a villain. I had set their vile compound ablaze, put an end to their flesh research, freed the human souls trapped within cages and suitcases. My uncle’s van was waiting for me. Wendigo Scrutimancers, monstrous abominations capable of peeling back the layers of the human mind, were on my trail. Fear was my constant companion, a gnawing beast in my gut, but I knew how to suppress it, relied on my four-fold soul to deceive everyone, including myself. An academy of monsters where I would pretend to be a monster greeted me. It was there that I met them again. A girl with feathered wings of pure, shimmering rainbows who sang of tomorrows and bent reality with her voice. A clever bird with black, electric wings, gray eyes and a sharp tongue.

The dream faded to another. Then another. Then another. On and on.

So many lives, so many great, terrible, beautiful stories. A thousand different faces, a thousand different loves, a thousand different losses. The dreams converged, voices and images bleeding into one another, a symphony of forgotten selves all witnessing out a single, unifying truth. 

The fractal mathematician, the reborn programmer, the hunted supervillain—they all lost someone special and found love while reaching for a hand in the dark.

All entwined by the endless Astral tree, all connected via the infinite divide with… weaponized love.

I woke with a gasp, the weight of a thousand lifetimes still pulling me halfway under, submerging me between the state of dreaming and being awake. For a moment, I simply lay there, trying to recall where I was and who I was in this dream.

The first thing I registered was the warmth. Not the passive warmth of blankets, but the active, living heat of breathing, snoozing bodies pressed against me. I was at the center of a warm pile, a human anchor in a sea of fur and feathers.

For a moment, my memory was fuzzy, almost as if locked behind a paywall due to how unbelievable and surreal it all was. 

Then the events of last night flickered like a corrupted video file—sensations, sounds, and images that seemed too vivid, too absurd, too intense to be real. I blinked, trying to piece together the fragmented memories.

The temple. The Archangel Queen. The crystalline heart I had shattered with my bare hands. Nessy's memories taken back from the Astral parasite. Nessy-Candace helping me unlock memories of another life. My new pack, all of us returning to the Moonshard Inn. Four girls fusing together into Nessy. And then there was...

The Love.

More memories came flooding back with embarrassing clarity—Nessy's passion, Kristi's intensity, Candace's mischief, Adelle's mauling by… Candace. The surreal, wild pleasure of it all. The soul bond Nessy performed with her blood and magic runes. The liquid mana that had soaked everything.

I glanced down at myself, relieved to find the bed dry. I also noted that I was wearing a pair of loose boxers. Someone must have dressed me after I passed out in the jacuzzi atop of Nessy.

I visually surveyed the tangle of bodies around me. To my right Nessy wrapped herself around me, her black and white mane spilling across me and the sheets, a canine muzzle slightly open in peaceful slumber. Her arm was draped possessively across my chest, her paw curled against my heart. Even in sleep, her face held a contented smile, her tail and paws occasionally twitching as she dreamed. She was warm, warmer than a human.

To my left was Kristi, her emerald feathers and violet scales sparkling in the soft morning light filtering through the thick curtains. Her head rested on my shoulder, raptor’s warm breath tickling my neck. Compared to Nessy, Kristi was much cooler, perhaps a degree cooler than my human self.

I felt a weight on my legs and spotted Candace curled into a silver-white ball of fluff, her bushy tail wrapped around her body, covering her muzzle. The effect would have been adorable if not for a single silver-gray eye staring directly at me. The eye blinked.

Behind Candace, Adelle was stretched out on the couch that had been pushed against the bed to create more space, her orange-furred body draped over the armrest in a position that would have been uncomfortable for anyone without a cheetah's flexibility. One spotted paw reached out and draped over my leg, as if ensuring I couldn't escape even in sleep.

"How long have you been awake?" I whispered to the silver eye watching me.

“Hrm. Hrm.” The fox ball stirred slightly, tail unwinding just enough to reveal a smirking muzzle. "Long enough to invade your dreams," she commented.

“You can do that?”

"Mmm-hmm." Her smirk widened into a full grin, exposing sharp canines. She uncurled, displaying her lithe form and gracefully crawled over me until her nuzzle was facing me directly, silver eyes glittering above me. "Thems the benefits of being soul-bonded to a living Astral tree. You project like crazy when you sleep.”

“So what do you…” I began.

“Oh! I’m there too. One of the two you usually end up with.”

“Two of what?” I asked, trying to recall the fading shreds of my liminal dreams.

“The Song of Entropy and the Chorus of Syntropy,” she replied.

"What does that even mean?" I asked.

Candace's eyes gleamed. "Don’t know!" She giggled softly, chest alluringly shaking over me. "Still sorting out the sense from the cosmic soup.”

“How are your… cravings?” I asked.

“Better,” she commented. “Would still chew off someone’s face for some T, but I’m managing it. Mostly thanks to you.”

“Me?” I asked.

“Immersing myself in your liminality helps,” she said. “There’s a lot of liminality out there in nullspace, but your brand of liminality is particularly soothing. It’s maddening endlessness, yes, but endlessness that I can trust. Plus the liquid mana…”

“What about the liquid mana?” I asked, recalling with a blush how drenched our night-time activity had left the room.

“It’s permeating the local Astral like a shroud, keeping me warm,” she said, offering me a snoot boop with a cold nose. “Maybe one of the girls wished for me to be less… loopy.”

“Haven’t you and Ads been… you know,” I asked.

“Fucking?” She smiled. “Yes. We have. For years.”

“And?”

“And when we… soaked each other, random nice things happened after,” she shrugged. 

“Nice things like?”

“Like surviving the Superstore delving without getting chopped into tiny, tiny cubes,” Candace replied with a shrug. “Like living out in the wilds of the Western Reaches, always on the road. It’s not like we could wish for particular things. Like I told you yesterday, liquid mana is more of a subconscious desire than anything. Pushing it in a particular direction just doesn’t work. Plus, doing dangerous stuff burns it out of the Astral faster.”

“I see.”

“Also, two is nice, but five is better. It's mathematically superior. Four prad girls plus one human tree equals the perfect Dagaz formation." She traced the infinity symbol on my chest with one claw. "Addie and I together don't make a proper Dagaz, see? We're just two horny pradavarians with complementary damage."

"What exactly is a Dagaz, anyway?" I asked, watching her claw draw invisible patterns. "I know it's a rune, but..."

"It's a symbol of transformation," she replied. "The number eight on its side—infinity twisted into itself, eating its own tail. It's liminal space where boundaries blur. A Dagaz is where the past and future meet, where reality bends." Her voice dropped slightly. "Like the Superstore. Like Highway 69. Like the Number Eight. Like the end of time. Like you, my Slayer.”

I shuddered ever so slightly at her words.

“Do you…”

“Know about the Wormwood Star leviathan?” She guessed. “I do. I am the leviathan.”

I opened and closed my mouth, staring up at her.

“And I am not,” she smiled. “Technically, we all are.”

“What the shit is the leviathan exactly?” I asked.

“An entropic singularity stretching itself across a patchwork of worlds like ours,” she said, kissing me. “The last wish of a renegade System Wizard. One that never ends. Love. Friendship. Companionship. Passion. A weapon created to kill a god. Me. Nessy. Kristi. Addie. Us. All of us divided by zero at the end of time, endlessly approaching infinity.”

“Why?”

“To win.”

Her answer stumped me. Was the universe a cosmic game of some kind? Were we all pawns of the greater something? Then, a memory hit me.

"Nessy once told me that she was the Emissary of number Eight,” I said.

"I am,” Nessy's blue eyes were open now, watching us with drowsy interest. 

"And so are you. So are all of us. We're the Dagaz Pack. Bound to the number eight,” Candace commented.

“Not sure if I want to be bound to some unfathomable cosmic entity.” I said.

“So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide,” Nessy said with a smile, licking the right side of my face. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

“The Gandalf-doggo dispenses sagely cinematic wisdoms,” Candace chortled. 

"Mmm, morning," Kristi murmured, her scaled arms and tail tightening around me for a moment. "What are we chattering about so early?”

"The fox here was invading my dreams," I said.

"Not invading," Candace corrected with mock offense. "Just... observing. Making notes. Getting off them. Like a cosmic… voyeur."

"Privacy exists for a reason, fox,” the raptor girl clicked her beak, yawning.

“Don’t acquire a fox and expect her not to nab things,” Candace laughed, sliding off me to paw at Adelle.

“Nobody acquired you,” I commented. “You just showed up at the gas station and glued yourself to me like an invasive species.”

Candace shrugged, preoccupied with licking the cheetah's nose repeatedly. "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, Ads!"

Adelle's response was immediate and violent—a swipe of claws that Candace dodged with practiced ease, laughing as she danced away from the grumpy cheetah.

"I'll murder you," Adelle growled. "It's too early for your shit, Loops."

"It's never too early for foxy fun," Candace countered cheerfully. "Besides, we need to shower n’ breakfast. Don’t you want a hearty breakfast, Addie?”

“Hrm,” the cheetah considered the offer of breakfast. “Fine.”

64. Atomic Cafe

Warm water cascaded over us as we filled the spacious stall. Steam rose all around, fogging the glass walls and creating a dreamlike atmosphere. Nessy hummed contentedly as she worked shampoo into my hair, her paws gentle against my scalp.

"This is nice," she murmured. "Reminds me of our first shower together... in another life."

"I remember," I said softly, leaning into her touch. "You were just as pretty then."

“Aww, what a sweetheart,” Nessy wrapped her arms around me, nuzzling into my side.

Behind me, Adelle made a gagging noise. "You two are disgustingly adorable," she commented. 

Candace’s paws slid around my waist, pressing against my stomach. "Mmhmm. But don't forget about the rest of us."

"As if you'd let us," Kristi snorted, working conditioner through her feathers.

Candace's paws wandered lower, her touch teasing. "Can you blame me? Our Alpha is irrrrrresistible."

I felt my body responding despite my exhaustion from the previous night. "Candace," I warned. 

“What?” She grinned. “You don’t want some friendly pawage?”

“I do, but I feel that if we start this carouselle again, we won’t be able to stop and are going to miss breakfast,” I pointed out. “And lunch. And dinner.”

“What’s wrong with that?” She purred. “We have the day off school. We could stay in the hotel and just paw at each other. Mmmrrrr.”

I considered her offer. It sounded… tempting.

“A day of pawage would be fantastic,” Nessy grabbed Candace’s arm. “Buuuut… the storm gathers. And I feel that it would be more appropriate to face it in public, rather than having them all barge into the room while we’re all naked.”

“Spoilsport.” Candace let go of me with a sigh.

I looked between the husky and the fox. “What? Do you two know something that I don't? Who's barging into rooms?”

Nessy sniffed the air. “Trouble.”

“What kinda trouble?” Addelle asked. 

“Social trouble. Not the kind that you can just punch away,” Nessy replied sniffing the air. “Family trouble. We've all been avoiding our parents.”

“Feh. Social obligations are lame,” Addie huffed. “I say we get on that fancy-ass Nemesis glider and fly somewhere nice and not deal with any of that shit.”

Kristi seemed to consider the cheetah’s words.

“Won’t help,” Nessy shook her head. "That’ll only piss off our families, make the situation worse. I spent my last life with Alec running from the Lynx and died to her hand. This time, we're living first, fighting second.”

.  . .

The shower ended with minimal further teasing, though Candace managed to "accidentally" brush against me several more times, each touch accompanied by an innocent expression that fooled no one.

After drying off, we gathered in the main room, wrapped in hotel-issued plush bathrobes.

"Alec," Nessy said, her fur sticking up in wet spikes, "could you brush me? Like you used to... before in our RV?"

She handed me a brush with an expectant look, and I couldn't refuse those big puppy eyes. I sat on the edge of the bed, and she settled between my legs, her back to me, tail thumping contentedly against the floor and me.

I ran the brush through her damp black and white fur, working out the tangles gently. She practically melted under my touch, leaning back against me, a soft, happy whine escaping her throat.

"That feels so good," she murmured, eyes half-closed in bliss. "I missed this."

"Hrm. Your fur is even softer than I remember," I said, working the brush through a particularly stubborn tangle.

“Less entropy in reality this time,” she breathed out. “This inn has really nice conditioner too.”

“Only the best for my packbaes,” Candace commented.

"Lower back now please," Nessy murmured, and I complied, sliding off the bed and working the brush through the thick fur at the base of her spine. "Oh, yeahhh, that's perfect."

Candace slid in front of Nessy, handing her a brush. “Oh! Oh! Do me!”

Nessy began to brush through Candace's silver-white coat while I brushed her. The fox made appreciative noises that were verging on the edge of lewdness.

“Oi kitty cat,” she voiced, spotting Adelle. “Grab a brush and join the brush train.”

"I can brush myself," the cheetah grumbled.

“Since when?” Candace asked.

Adelle stared at her and then went into the bathroom to acquire a third brush and flopped in front of Candace.

"Das’ right. Shut up and enjoy it," Candace commented cheerfully. "Your mane is a disaster."

Adelle opened her mouth possibly to throw a biting retort, but fell silent and then started purring once Candace began the brushing.

Kristi stood by the window using a magitek dryer to dry out her feathers, shaking her head at us with a smile. 

Once everyone was groomed to satisfaction, Candace clapped her paws together. "Time to dress our Alpha," she announced. "Can't have him running around naked all day, as much as we might enjoy the view."

She retrieved a large case from beside the bed—the one storing the armor she had ordered for me. Opening it revealed the gleaming hexamesh suit and the various reinforced plates and flexible joints.

Stand up," she commanded. When I did, she pulled off my bathrobe and pulled on the hexamesh suit. The others dressed in their casual outfits and watched with interest as Candace began to outfit me piece by piece.

Each piece clicked into place, the hexamesh adjusting automatically to my form. When the final piece, a sleek chest plate embossed with an intricate spiral design, was secured on me, my stats jumped up once again, making me feel like I could run a marathon without tiring.

"Looking good, Alpha," Adelle commented.

“Um,” I voiced. “Why am I wearing full delving armor? We're going to a cafe, not a dungeon."

"Because I’m not done,” Candace said. She pulled  the laurel out of nowhere with a whisper, put it on her head and placed her paw on my chest, silver fractals dancing around her claws. "Bind armor to nullspace, access point: wrist bracer."

A surge of magic flowed from her paw, enveloping me in silver light. The sensation was strange—like being unmade and remade in an instant at the edges. When the light faded, the armor was gone, leaving me standing in just the hexasuit mesh. The only armor piece remaining was a slim, metallic bracer on my left wrist, decorated with the same pattern as the chest plate.

"What the—" I started, staring down at myself.

“Shhh.” Candace quickly dressed me in a casual outfit of jeans, green sneakers, a shirt that said “Foxsome Bae” and the reinforced biker-style jacket.

"Bind outfit to nullspace, access point: wrist bracer,” she muttered again, and the casual outfit vanished too.

I blinked.

"Aiiight. That does it. Now. Tap the bracer twice." Candace instructed, looking extremely pleased with herself.

I did as she said, and immediately the silver light returned. In the space of a heartbeat, the armor reappeared, fully assembled on my body.

“Damn,” I said.

"Binding magic, baby," Candace preened proudly. "I've tucked your armor away in a pocket of nullspace—a little folded corner of the Astral that only responds to us. Tap twice for armor, once for casual clothes."

I tapped the bracer once, and found myself once again dressed in casual clothes.

"How does this even work?" I asked.

"Conceptual manipulation," she explained eagerly. "I've bound the concept of 'Alec's clothing' to exist in a state of both presence and absence—a liminal state, if you will. The bracer acts as an anchor point, a bridge between our reality and nullspace."

"Can you do this with anything?" Nessy asked.

"Most inanimate objects, yes," Candace nodded. "Though size and complexity matter and it relies on me being near Alec for it to work, since it spends my mana to fold and unfold the outfit from the Astral. The more complex the object, the more binding energy it takes to maintain the link."

"What about living things?" Nessy pressed. "Could you hide someone in the Astral too?"

Candace's expression darkened. "Absolutely not," she said firmly. "Nullspace isn't a nice place for living beings. The lack of linear space and time would... fuck you up. And not in a good way."

"Fuck us up… how?" I asked.

"The Astral feeds on consciousness and calcifies souls," Candace explained with a serious expression. "It's hungry in a way that's hard to describe. Leave something alive in nullspace too long, and it comes back wrong—if it comes back at all." She shuddered slightly. "Trust me on this one."

“Could you banish an enemy like a wyvern into nullspace?” I wondered.

“I could,” Candace said. “But it would eat all my mana and would probably fail horribly. Living, linear things don’t want to sink into the Astral.”

“Can you bind everyone’s outfits like that?” Nessy wondered.

“Eventually,” Candace shrugged. “Maybe when I level up a bit more. For now, I’ve only done Alec since he’s the most fragile of the group as a human.”

“I’m not fragile,” I huffed.

“Yes, yes,” Candace waved at me. “Blah, blah, blah, I’m a human who can’t die. Irrelevant. Your reaction time still sucks compared to that of a higher level prad. I’d rather you be safe and not chopped in half. Like which half would you grow from? Would we get two Alec's? Are you like a worm?”

“Fine,” I conceded with a chortle. "No, I'm not like a worm, the Reconstitution point begins somewhere in my chest.” I paused, considering her powers. “Okay, so like, how much stuff can you store in nullspace?" I asked. 

"I could store an entire house in there if I wanted to. The energy cost would be prohibitive at my current level, but it is theoretically possible. For now, I’m storing everyone’s little things there." 

"She’s handy for shopping trips," Adelle commented dryly.

"Or smuggling," Candace added with a mischievous grin. "Not that I would ever do such a thing."

"Of course not," Kristi rolled her eyes. 

"Are we going to breakfast or not? I'm starving." Addie said.

"To breakfast!" Nessy declared, hooking her arm through mine. "Atomic Cafe date awaits!"

"How are we getting there?" I asked.

"We could take your car," Nessy suggested.

"Or," Candace interjected, "we could make a dashing entrance in Kristi's Nemesis glider."

Kristi sighed.

“Lighten up Kristikins!” Nessy grinned. “We need to celebrate!"

"Celebrate what, exactly?" Kristi asked, pulling on her sweater.

"All the things!" Candace exclaimed, throwing her paws in the air. "We defeated a parasitic Archangel Queen, reinforced our pack bond, fused, unfused and had mind-blowing sex! If that doesn't deserve pancakes and fancy coffee, I don't know what does!"

. . .

As the others gathered their belongings, I noticed Candace and Nessy huddled in the corner of the room, whispering intensely. Their heads were nearly touching, Nessy's black and white ears twitching with excitement while Candace's tail swished in barely contained glee.

"What are you two plotting?" I asked, approaching them.

They immediately separated, both wearing identical expressions of unconvincing innocence.

"Plotting? Us?" Candace pressed a paw to her chest, silver eyes wide. "I'm wounded by your accusation."

"We're just discussing... breakfast options," Nessy added. "Very important decisions about syrup-to-pancake ratios."

"Uh-huh," I said skeptically. "And that required whispering and giggling like you're planning a heist?"

"The syrup industry is cutthroat," Candace replied solemnly. "Corporate espionage is everywhere. Can't be too careful."

"They're definitely plotting something," Kristi muttered, slinging the dimensional bag over her shoulder. 

"Just accept that we're doomed to deal with two of them now and move on,” Addie added. "Honestly though, as long as it involves food, I don't care what they're scheming."

Twenty minutes later, we were soaring over Ferguson in Kristi's Nemesis glider. I was once again sitting in front of Kristi. The other girls were inside the dimensional bag worn by the raptor.

"There it is!" Nessy pointed excitedly, head and one paw sticking out of the bag. "The Atomic Cafe!"

I followed her gesture to a chrome-plated building with a distinctive 1950s retro design. Neon signs in the shape of atoms and rockets adorned its facade, pulsing with electric blue and pink light in the morning sun. The circular structure resembled a flying saucer that had decided to land and serve coffee instead of abducting cattle. A large, red logo featuring a mushroom cloud in the shape of a stylized heart hung above the entrance.

Kristi circled once, surveying the surrounding area. "Hmm, no designated glider parking. I'll have to land in that empty lot across the street."

"Actually," Candace spoke up from the bag, "I have a better idea."

"Whatever it is, no," Kristi replied automatically.

"You haven't even heard it yet!" Candace protested.

"I don't need to. Your ideas usually end with property damage or public indecency charges. They're the reason why I never hung out with you or Adler at school."

"Rude but fair," Candace conceded. "However, this is a practical solution. Why park your fancy glider where anyone could mess with it when we could just..." She pulled out the dimensional bag with a flourish. "Pop it in here?"

“In where?”

“In the bag.” Candace answered. "Dimensional physics at its finest. I’ll expand the bag to fit it again."

"That's... actually not a terrible idea," Kristi admitted reluctantly. “However, if the bag explodes while I’m wearing it, I’ll be very mad at you and pluck every hair from your tail.”

"Shush. It won’t. Also, I have good ideas sometimes!" Candace preened.

"Sometimes being the operative word," Adelle muttered.

After landing in the empty lot, we stood around the gleaming black glider. Candace placed her paws on the bag's opening, silver fractals dancing around her claws. "Bind expansion, threshold magnify!"

The bag's mouth stretched wide, growing until it was large enough to accommodate the glider. 

"Quick, quick!" she urged. "Shove it in.”

We scrambled to push the glider toward the expanded opening. 

Candace released her binding with a gasp, the bag's opening shrinking back to its normal size. "Ta-da!" she announced, breathing heavily. "One glider, bagged and tagged."

"If my grandfather's glider comes out with so much as a scratch—" Kristi began.

"Yeah, yeah, tail plucking, I got it," Candace waved dismissively. "Put the bag back on and stop hostiling me. I know you love me.”

The raptor rolled her eyes and pulled on the bag.

The walk to the Atomic Cafe was short but lively. Nessy clung to my arm, her tail wagging steadily, occasionally pointing out various local landmarks. Candace skipped ahead, stopping to admire her reflection in storefront windows, binding her hair into various styles. Adelle walked alongside Kristi, the two of them engaging in what sounded like a serious discussion about combat techniques.

As we approached the chrome-plated diner, Nessy's grip on my arm tightened, her excitement palpable.

"You have no idea how many times I dreamed about coming here with you for years," she said softly. "Even when the temple tried to make me forget, some part of me always remembered us hanging out in this place a lifetime ago."

The interior of the Atomic Cafe was a perfect homage to mid-century Americana with a pradavarian twist. Chrome and red vinyl booths lined the walls, while a jukebox in the corner played classic doo-wop. The black and white checkered floor gleamed under the fluorescent lighting, and the ceiling was painted to resemble a starry night sky, complete with constellations that occasionally shifted position. Magitek pill-shaped drones moved about, dispensing drinks.

Behind the counter, a lynx pradavarian in a pink uniform and white apron took orders. The air was rich with the scent of coffee, bacon and pancakes.

"Table for five?" a chipper raccoon hostess asked, appearing before us on magitek glider-skates.

"Yes, please!" Nessy replied. "Could we get that corner booth? The one under the orbital model?"

The hostess smiled. "Of course, follow me."

She led us to a spacious corner booth beneath a slowly rotating model of the solar system. As we settled in on the red couch, Nessy practically vibrated with excitement, sliding in next to me and pressing against my left side.

"This is perfect," she sighed contentedly. "Absolutely perfect."

Candace slid in on my right side, while Kristi and Adelle took the seats across from us, Kristi carefully placing the dimensional bag containing her million-dollar aircraft on the floor beside her.

"So what's good here?" I asked, scanning the menu.

"Everything," Nessy replied instantly. "But their chocolate waffles are transcendent. Oh! And the cosmic hot chocolate is baller! You have to try it."

"What makes it cosmic?" I asked.

"It's got star anise and cinnamon and this special shimmer dust that makes it look like it's full of galaxies," she explained. "Plus it gives you a mana boost that'll make your toes tingle."

"Mkay, I'm sold," I concluded.

"I'll have the Supernova Special," Candace declared, not even looking at the menu. "Extra hash browns, extra bacon, extra everything."

"Where do you put it all?" Kristi asked, eyeing the petite fox with suspicion.

"Nullspace, obviously," Candace replied with a wink. "I bind all extra calories to the Astral and let some cosmic horror get fat instead of me."

"Pretty sure that’s not how binding works," Kristi commented.

"Maybe not," Candace conceded, "but I prefer my explanation to 'crazy fast metabolism due to conceptual Binding overuse causing my body to burn energy at four times the normal rate.'"

"Fair enough."

A shark pradavarian waitress approached our table, notepad in hand. "Good morning, folks! What can I get you all started with?"

We placed our orders—Nessy's chocolate waffles, Candace's Supernova Special, Kristi's protein-packed "Delver's Breakfast," Adelle's stack of pancakes with extra syrup, and my cosmic coffee with the "Atomic Sunrise" platter.

As the waitress departed, Nessy snuggled closer to me, her paw finding mine under the table.

"Eeeeee! I still can't believe we're actually here," she said. "After everything..."

"Yeah," I squeezed her hand, feeling her pink paw pads. “It’s nice.”

Candace leaned into my right side, eyes closed in content.

The bell above the cafe door jingled, announcing new arrivals. A family of dog pradavarians entered—a tall and wide, dignified gray and black Siberian husky male in square glasses in a tailored suit, a slightly shorter female with elegant black and white markings and curly hair, and two younger huskies who appeared to be in their early teens.

The moment they crossed the threshold, the father froze, his nostrils flaring. His eyes scanned the diner until they locked onto our table—or more specifically, onto Nessy.

The mother followed his gaze.

"Nessy?" she uttered. “Young lady, where have you been! We've been worried sick!”

Beside me, Nessy’s tail paused mid-wag.

“Is that your…” I said, seeing the inescapable resemblance between the husky girl and the older woman.

“My parents, yes,” Nessy said, ears tilted back as the husky woman rapidly advanced towards our table like the Titanic approaching the iceberg.