Following their guide once more, he continues to relish in the calm forest that is filled with wonderful green leaves from its trees and grass. The chirping of birds could be heard all around, giving everyone a relaxing moment of peace and quiet.
But with all of the serenity this world is showing, Janus knows not to completely trust it after having witnessed being affected by whatever magic the dreamlands possess. Permanent death is now a possibility for someone like God himself.
"Schrodinger, was it?" Being behind, he decided to take this time to learn more about the one who was helping him get around through this strange place: "those vermin...you called them Zoogs? Mind giving me the details?" Questioning about their sudden encounters with them.
Still staring head, the white cat sighed while his eyes gazed forward. "They are our sworn enemy," coldly explaining how the Zoogs came to be from their perspective: "Eternity ago, we found their primitive ancestors digging holes around our home. We tried to communicate with them, but they seemed to lack any intelligence at that time," began his story.
"Until one day, our kittens mysteriously disappeared without trace," she said, walking down the dirt path with Janus following. "Not before long, they had a taste of our children's flesh. And because of their unspeakable role in the killing of hundreds, if not thousands, of newborns after we found their deceased bodies within their underground tunnels, Our entire species declared war against them."
Janus was intrigued, although not bothered by it. He had witnessed every cruel and sadistic act humanity has ever committed, so it was not an issue for him to even discuss such a heartbreaking topic. Not that he felt much empathy for anyone in particular.
"And what transpired next?" Asking Schrodinger to continue what happened afterwards, he said, "I inquire for the details, if it's alright with you," expressing that he wasn't forcing the feline to explain it if he really didn't want to, but it was nonetheless interesting.
Vesta, being the empathic out there, spoke in a sad tone: "This is not easy for me to listen; my heart feels pain from hearing of it," clearly sympathizing with the cat kin who were attacked by these terrible creatures; "I hope they will find the peace necessary to—"
"Come on already!" Culsans suddenly interrupted the female voice, "Aren't there anything more entertaining to talk about?! Why did it have to turn into that!? Bleh! There's no punchline here!!" Voicing his utter displeasure at this story, "Come on! Give me some action already and less of these tears and drama!! Hurry up! HURRY UP! HURR–!!"
Wham!
A reverberating sound echoed through out his head, forcing the host to stop for a brief moment as he placed his hand over his forehead and said, "Cut it out, all of you," annoyed at the fact he's experiencing headaches because of their bickering, resulting in the cat also stopping and turning.
"What's the matter?" Schrodinger eyed him with a curious expression, tilting his head aside at the sight of Janus covering the side of his face with his palm. "You seem to have a headache for some reason. Was it something I said?" Worried, the cat wondered if he had said anything wrong.
Removing his hand from his forehead, he shook his head. "Don't mind it, I'm just relieving of something is all," he awkwardly stated before slowly gazing down at the cat. "However, as much as I would like to hear more, it would be best to save it for later. In case something else pops up on the way,
Nodding in agreement, "fair enough. The trek could take less than an hour, and as much as I would like to share those memories that seem like forever ago, it isn't time for this." Returning back to the direction, waving his tail to signifying the newcomer to come along.
Shaking his head, Janus silently complied and followed his guide from behind, now forced to hear Vesta and Culsans arguing among each other about what happened a few moments ago. It is then that he questions if having them around was such a good idea in the first place.
"How could you find any of these humorous?" Vesta angrily replied to the indifferent Culsans, who scoffed at her answer: "Have you any idea the horror that they experience?!" Demanding that he take it seriously, "there were innocent kittens who were found dead, and their families are now grieving! Isn't there any shred of sympathy within you?!"
Being the carefree fellow that he is, he nonchalantly responded, "Eh, if it makes you feel better, I've seen plenty of parents losing their own children to others." Snicker then grew louder before he let out a brief laugh, "Funny enough, those little rascals also enjoy hurting one another; isn't it amazing how people of all ages are capable of such cruelty at their own kind? I wonder what goes on inside their minds, really. Probably playing a game of 'who dies first', if I could guess."
Expressing contempt and disgust at his answer, "Why, why must you find everything so funny and enjoyable?" Baffled by what he sees as incomprehensible humor within this subject, "you are unbelievable and unrelatable; your inability to even understand or comprehend the most basic of empathy has left me deeply disturbed."
Seeing this communication, Quirinus stepped into the fray and answered, "Cut it out, both of you," bluntly interrupting their heated exchange of words, "can't either of you see that you're bothering our host?" Pointing out their host, who appeared to show a level of headache, the two finally realized that what they're doing is rather distracting.
"Just shut up already," Janus irritably told them in hush, "all of you..." He is starting to think that having them around is a bad idea as it is, but having them bound to each other was the last thing he wanted to hear in the beginning.
Interested in this dilemma, Portunus asked, "It seems that the people in your head are quite rowdy, aren't they, host?" Playfully chortled at the scene, "then again, I am rather interested in your take of this," wanting to see the reaction coming from the likes of him.
Scoffing at the question, he answered, "I don't care," was the only thing the God of beginning and end said. "I just don't care," he couldn't help but look down at the ground where he walked, "now stop talking before I do something horrible to make everyone quiet down permanently."
As they complied silently, Schrodinger decided now was the time to ask something else peculiar. "Janus," he asked, not daring to turn his gaze nor stop his tracks, "who were you talking?" I wanted to know the identity of the person that was spoken to.
Turning to the cat, the host of these voices says, "Oh, you mean them?" Tapping at his head, "Yeah, they're...other voices," nonchalantly speaking of it, "what of it?" Finding nothing strange with having another voice in his head, which made the cat baffled at this answer.
"Are you okay?" Stopping once again, he quickly turned and looked up at the newcomer with great concern over him. "Is your head broken or something? I didn't realize that I was bringing retards with me." Scratching his ears, he felt uncomfortable and anxious about what he saw as weird by people's standards: "did that Nyarlathotep do something to your head and leave it broken?"
A flash of redness appeared on his face. "W-what?! I am not crazy, I think?" Looking away, this is the first time he ever received that question: "I wouldn't say that it is broken, but I would say it is between." He nervously tried to explain while looking to the side, "Listen, it's fine." He was trying to convince the cat of his being mentally healthy.
Taking this opportunity, Culsans let out a roar of laughter and snorts of hilarity for the oddity of his answer: "You guys are surely having the most retarded conversation ever!" Enjoying the moment, he found it enjoyable to watch it unfold.
Frowning to his outburst, Janus sighed once again, "Forget it," shaking his head, "let's continue our merry way." Squinting his eyes, he senses something within the bushes around him as if it were following them the whole time.
"Give me a moment."
Turning around to the source, where a wavy ordinary bush would be, he intently stared at it for a brief moment before quickly raising his spear and throwing at it with complete precision, moving through unmatched speed before hearing the sound of flesh and bones pierced by the metal, letting out a yelp of pain from whatever that is.
Schrodinger had feared for the worst: "no, not again." Already exhausted by all options and lacking the necessary energy to use his abilities, there could be only one thing, and that is that more of them are coming their way.
Without a word, Janus moved and went around the bush to see no other than a vermin laying down with its small head pierced by the spear, dying as it gargled its blood from the wound. "How I never sensed him earlier is shocking to me," expressing distaste for being followed without his knowledge.
Moving to where the newcomer is currently standing, he went and stopped at Janus side before disgust appeared on the cat's face. "They have a habit of exiting and entering outside of causality itself." Not to mention that the Zoogs possess the ability to be at multiple places at the same time across the space-time continuum.
"Nice shot," Quirinus remarked, referring to Janus skill of being able to throw a spear with ease. Although he expressed disappointment in knowing that the small creature had died rather quickly, "fast death is the dishonorable way to go for weaklings like them."
Walking near the corpse, he pulled his beloved weapon before turning to the cat. "How are they near undetectable at times?" Incredulous by the notion, finding the concept of it ridiculous when he himself is the God of time altogether.
Nodding in agreement, "I felt the same way," Schrodinger said as he turned back to the corpse, "unlike my kind, entering to whatever spot or place existing outside of causality makes them temporarily untouchable and imperceptible unless they physically manifest themselves to our reality," in which the god hummed deeply with contemplation.
"That would explain why I was able to sense him at this moment."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud mixture of wheezing laughter came together along with several whistles while emitting sounds akin to crying babies combined. They appeared all around the trees and nearby foliage, causing the unfortunate duo to widen their eyes and say, "Their here!" Shouted the cat as panic began to take hold of him, "quickly, we must get out of here now!" He urged him, while Janus nodded in response, knowing what it meant.
Before either could react, dozens of Zoogs instantly appeared from the trees and other hiding spots, moving their paws and claws with a fast and efficient rhythm to produce that lullaby, a luring call used to drive their prey into madness and insanity until eventually the poor victim would succumb to the maddening noises.
Schrodinger tried to shake himself of the overpowering numbers, but to no avail. It was everywhere—inside him, surrounding him, penetrating him. He couldn't escape. He looked around and saw Janus struggling too as they crawled over them like starving rats.
They felt their flesh being rapidly drained as the zoogs gnawed on their bodies hungrily, trying to devour their limbs, organs, and even their heads. They were powerless against them. The cacophony of vengeful screeching was too much to bear.
And yet, Janus knew he couldn't let it end like this. Not when he's so close to reaching his destination—his one true desire—to find something meaningful in the new world that has become his. He opened his eyes and focused, concentrating all his strength on a single point.
His whole body burst with swirling nebula that gradually enveloped him in a brilliant, starry aura. The zoogs that were attacking him were flung aside like ragdolls, landing on the grass with scorched bodies. He was filled with an incredible power unlike any other, an almost unlimited potential that could level mountains and sink islands if desired.
Janus stood up and began to walk towards the nearest group of Zoogs that were currently devouring his guide. With one inaudible whisper, the entire group felt their heads explode from within as their brains were shredded to pieces by a barrage of immense sounds akin to untold numbers of exploding stars entering into their ears.
Seeing this, the other vermin retreated back into the forest, frightened by the mysterious newcomer's sheer might. Leaving himself and the mutilated cat alone in the woods as his body then returned back to its normal state, "Schrodinger?" A look of pity entered inside of him as he bent down and inspected the grievous wounds.
The cat's entire body was a bloody mess. His fur had been ripped apart, and his tail had been torn off. His hind leg was twisted at an impossible angle. He was missing one eye, and his nose was a mangled heap of broken cartilage and bone. His throat had been torn open, and his neck was stained with crimson liquid.
Janus could see the poor guide dying from loss of blood, knowing well that this would only result in leaving him clueless again without someone native helping him get through this place, knowing there was no other choice than to go on forward.
