Race proof

Dena had planned on going to sleep early tonight but it looked like that wouldn't be happening as a shriek tore through the halls, the sound of pure terror. She got up in alarm, it sounded rather close. Noodle didn't even look up from whatever he was doing, maybe he hadn't heard the ear splitting scream. Of course he had, he probably just didn't care.
She stepped out of the room and just outside of the door there was a large crowd forming. She was one of the first to get there but was quickly being packed in by cats on all sides. The scream still rang in her ears, she had felt a sense of deja vu when it happened. She felt like she'd seen this all before. She couldn't remember when or where, and she didn't know what would happen, but she felt sick to the stomach. She knew what had happened, she couldn't quite remember but she knew it was bad. Maybe it was something else, maybe she was losing her mind. But this wasn't the first time she'd felt like this since reality cracked, and she didn't think it'd be the last.
Up at the head of the crowd would Haunt, they'd be comforting Hawk who would be crying. But if that was happening, then the bad thing that was on the edge of her mind, it would be real. The cats were whispering all around her and she was tossed around, she could make it through the crowd and see the scene ahead but she didn't want to not when "I think Hawk found the body." and "She was too young to die." also "Who do you think killed her?" Were the sorts of things rushing through the crowd.
Empress was floating in the mass of cats nearby, when she spotted Dena she made her way towards her "Do you know what's wrong here?" She asked, she looked tired, and pain reflected beneath her eyes, like she'd pulled another all nighter and was living to regret it.
"Blossom was murdered! It's really gruesome, you don't want to see it." She blurted out. No one had said it was Blossom, and she hadn't seen the body. Why did she say that? All of that stuff that noodle had said the rift did to her, she just wished she could just understand what was happening to her.
"Oh no oh no." She was muttering over and over again, sure it was sad, but neither of them had known her personally. "Blossom as in Little pea flower blossoming, blossom?" She asked.
Was there any other Blossom? She didn't know but she nodded "Yeah." Why was she saying that, she didn't know for sure. But somewhere in the back of her mind she could see the body laying there, and what he'd done to it. He? She didn't know how much she knew, well supposedly everything but that was too hard to imagine. Did she know who the killer was, maybe she could help but the more she tried to remember the further away the the name slipped from her thoughts.
"Do they know who did it?"
"No, *they* don't." she replied just before Empress keeled over, one of her migraines. She'd probably replace sleep with coffee for too long again. Dena didn't really want to look for the corpse, the image in her mind was getting clearer and she didn't want it burned in her brain forever. So she helped her friend out of the crowd and into her room where Noodle was still hunched over his desk. She lay her down on the bed and told noodle not to let her leave. He grunted in acknowledgement.
A few moments later she returned with water, but Empress wasn't moving so she just set the cup down. Suddenly she gasped and opened her eyes very wide. Their gazes locked and Empress's eyes were solid white, almost glowing. But even though there was nothing where her pupils should be except blankness, there was also a shape. A shape and a word, the word was blazing bright in her mind but she didn't know what it was. There was no reality, only that one word, only it wasn't a word it was a name. But still she didn't know what it was. Her eyes were open but she couldn't see anything. Only when Empress shut her eyes tight was Dena finally free she didn't know how long she'd been in the trance, it had felt like eternity at the time but now it was already clearing from her mind.
Empress was unconscious, like she'd never opened her eyes at all. There was only one proof that any of that had even happened Noodle was staring at her like she'd just screamed "What did you just say." he asked. Finally seeming distracted from whatever he had been doing.
"I don't know, what did I say Noodle?"
"Falensake."
"I don't know what that means, sorry." was all she could think to say. She was still mostly preocupied by the murder. What had just happened moments ago felt like the distant past.

Empress looked unconcious, but it felt like they shouldn't really talk with her right there. What if she could hear them in her sleep or something. Maybe bringing her there was a bad idea. But they descended into the basement where they could talk freely. When she'd asked other's about it no one seemed to know about the broken room, so she didn't even know if anyone else could enter it, the castle was like that often.
"You did this to me." She told him.
He sighed "You know I didn't."
"I know..."
He wanted to change the conversation "So what was that scream?" So he had heard it.
"Someone was murdered, and I know who it is and possibly who did it because of you."
"Well who was it and who did it?" He seemed perfectly calm, the news didn't affect him in the least. But also he hadn't seen the body, he'd probably seen and caused thousands of murders. It was hard to imagine, but from what she knew about him it was probably the truth.
"Blossom. And I don't know."
"You just said you knew." His voice was still calm and smooth, he never got impatient with her. One of the perks of being immortal, you have all the time in all the worlds.
"Well I think I know, but I don't remember."
"Do you think Butterfly or Ant did it?"
"No, I don't think so. Hawk was crying a lot and it was messy, a show of power." She gulped as she thought about it.
"Then what does this have to do with us?"
"A girl was murdered! Younger than I am! And I might be able to remember who did it! I need your help though."
"Why do you want to do that. How does it help you?" He really was heartless wasn't he. And suposedly he was the most compassionate of his people? She was glad she grew up here on earth even if most everything about it was awful and suffering.
"Ugh. Will you help me or not?" She groaned.
He thought for a moment "Well you really want this don't you?" She nodded "How will you proceed with this information once you have it?"
"What do you mean? I'd tell someone and they'd lock him up." He was supposed to be smart.
He rolled his eyes "You'd tell them that their universe was broken, and you have the knowledge of the multiverse." He said raising his eyebrows. "I don't think he'd be the one they locked up."
She frowned, he had a good point but "So you want me to just do nothing?!"
"I mean, yes. If you think you might be a future target then we can find out who it is, you're too important to lose." She didn't know if he cared about her in least, he always acted like she was just an asset. But she'd seen how Ant Farm Man acted, so it was possible for the people from that dimension to feel some form of affection.
"Well, how would I know what his target is? I can't control this you know."
"If you were going to die you'd most certainly know." he could tell she looked upset by the fact that he didn't want to help her. "If you want... We can find out who it is and I can dispose of him, then he can't hurt anyone else." Well, he was trying at least, but failing miserably.
"NO! We're not killing anyone!" She very loudly and alarmed.
"Have it your way, I really don't understand you mortals."


There didn't seem to be anything really left to say, so they headed back upstairs. The crowd was gone and all that remained of the scene was the blood staining the bricks, but that would magically clean just like everything else always did. When she got to the room Empress was gone, and so was the water. She must have woken up and seen they were gone then went to her own room or something, hopefully not the library again.
She could finally sleep, sure it would be filled with swirling chaotic emotions and images that she din't understand in the least. And she'd feel even less rested than before, but after the events of the day, just the word sleep sounded appealing. SHe could imagine it'd be like how it used to be, even though she knew it wouldn't.
She lay down and drifteded off rather quickly.
She was cold, everything was cold. Not the usual bone chilling cold but more like an emptyness, like something was missing. But what was it? Everything was wrong, the long castle halls seemed to warp and stretch, darkness crept at the edge of her vision and everything was tumbling, collapsing in on her. There was nothing she could do, the faster she ran the faster it happened. She couldn't get away, but it never caught her. Panic was rising in her throat like she couldn't breathe. She wasn't breathing at all. There was no one in the halls, nothing but the moth eaten carpet. Her mind slowed down, there weren't any moths. What had happened to the carpets?
She didn't know, she didn't know anything other than she had to get away. She thought she saw a doorway that she recognized but when she entered it just led to more inescapable halls. So many bricks, they were all the same and they went on forever. There was a white mist, a cold air it was curling around her trying to trap her but it couldn't. It was screaming, everywhere it touched her it burned, it burned her and it burned itself, recoiling in a hiss of steam. The burns didn't hurt her, she was too cold, too empty.
She wanted to call for help, but that would just attract more monsters. She wanted to cry but if she stopped... she didn't know what would happen if she stopped she only knew that she couldn't. Her eyes stung and she sped through the frigid air, but she couldn't feel it.
She didn't have a choice, she couldn't run forever, but when she opened her mouth only a gentle croak came out. Nothing that could be heard over the crashing and crumbling and ultimate destruction that followed close behind her. She took another doorway. But inside of it there was nothing but an empty void, she was standing on something. She looked down, or was it up? Was there a difference, she couldn't remember anymore. Whereever she stepped solid ground appeared. ANd she ran, ran into the darkness, the stone dissappearing as she stepped off of it. It was larger than the ocean, larger than the world itself, the darkness went on and on and on. She could run straight, diagonally, up, down. Everywhere she could imagine. Was square a direction, was despair? Because she run there too.
There was nothing chasing her anymore, because nothing existed anymore. She could slow down, she could rest but when she tried her feet kept running. She didn't know what there was to panic about anymore, but the panic didn't fade. She took gasping breaths, but couldn't seem to catch her breath at all. Like not even all the breaths in the world could give her the oxygen she needed.
Finally she could call out "Help!" She shouted over and over again but her voice was lost. Lost in the emptyness, the darkness. There was no one else, she didn't know where she was, she didn't knwo what she was only that she was alone. All alone, nothing but alone in the emptyness. She wanted to slow down, to go back, to restart her life and not make the same choices that led her here. But her legs only sped up and the memory of light only seemed to fade away like she was trying to hold water.
Then there was something, it was only a spark. She stumbled, falling, falling down and down and down. She tumbled down stairs, the spark was no longer in sight. Nothing but crashing, crashing and falling.
It stopped.
She lay on the floor breathing heavily. She could see again, but still she was alone. There were walls, and a doorway. She didn't want to do anything, all she wanted was to cry. And so she did, but it wasn't tears. She looked down at her paws, it was blood, it was filling the room. She had to get out. She slammed the door open expecting to face another monster even worse than the last. But there was nothing wrong. There was the plasant murmer of chit chat as she stood in a ballroom.
Everyone was dressed up, she was at some sort of a party, there were pristine white gowns, fancy suits, shiny shoes. No one looked up at he, she was on a balcony of some sort. She slammed the door behind her. SHe was dripping with blood, what would they think of her, but they didn't notice her at all. She walked between them completely unseen. She tried to be careful, to sneak out unnoticed, what if these were monsters too.
She stumbled into a woman, smearing her dress with red, but all she did was chuckle "Oops! I must have spilled my wine!" This was wrong. Everything was wrong.
"HELP!" She shouted, but no one heard, not one person turned to look at her. And then it started raining, the blood was leeking through the door. It fell down upon the party but still no one noticed. Then the door burst open it was flooding. It was faster than she could have ever expected it to move, the guests, they were drowning, choking on it. But they didn't try to get away they continued talking, their conversations not changing in the least as one by one they died.
She made it out of the room, she could see freedom, she could see the outside world, pristine clear beautiful, cold snow. It would soon be red but she didn't care in the sleast she leapt out of the archway but instead of landing in the refreshing powdery cristaline blanket she was standing. Standing where this had all started. She was shaking like a leaf, completely free of blood. SHe called out one last time.
"Please, somebody help me!"

Dena jumped out of bed, it was morning. She looked herself over, there was no blood at all. But why would there be blood? She'd just been sleeping. Noodle was watching her but he didn't make any motions to help. "We need to save blossom!" She gasped before forgetting the whole dream completely.