I landed on my feet in a silver-blue field of grass. In the distance were children running around, and there were trees and plants everywhere. It was like a forest that surrounded me, except every single branch was laden with fruits and flowers, and the whole area was like a kaleidoscope of colors.
Tina appeared next to me and then came Bee with Panda on her shoulder.
“Are we going to have to fight?” Bee asked. “It said it was a level 99 dungeon.”
“I’m kind of wondering the same thing,” I said.
“Don’t worry about that,” Panda told us confidently. “Absolutes can’t just pop into the Great Game, since their very presence would tear apart the fabric of reality and cause a dimensional and logical collapse of everything.”
“I’m worrying more now,” I said.
“If you’d let me finish,” he replied sternly. “Dungeons are a way to encapsulate their boundless power, so it doesn’t affect your world. But I don’t think it works like the dungeons we know.”
Tina looked around with a strange expression on her face. “There are a lot of children here. This might be a good place to bring Irene and Adam.”
Behind where we’d landed was a path of pearl-white stones leading up a hill. At the crest was a small wood-and-stone hut and a large weeping willow shading it with its canopy.
“I think that’s where we have to go,” Bee said. “I have this weird feeling pulling me there.”
We started walking up the path, and I shared a worried glance with Panda.
“If it turns out to be a trap, I’ll do whatever I can to protect you,” I said. “No way I’m losing you a third time.”
“Nina says we can trust the All-Mother,” Tina said.
“Didn’t seem so sure before,” I remarked.
“Not like it’s simple to predict the intentions of an Absolute,” Panda commented.
Despite Tina and Panda’s assurances, as well as what Breezy had told us, I couldn’t help but tense up as we neared the top of the hill with the willow and hut.
Past the hut the hill led straight down into an orchard with a steep drop, and on that edge teetered a round wooden table two chairs in front of it. Seated in the chair on the right was Bee. The one from my original dimension.
In the other chair sat a tall woman with pale-grey skin, long silver-blonde hair, and large antler-like horns growing from the right side of her head. A long ethereal blue wing hung down from her back and draped along the ground. She wore an armored suit of gleaming-white bone.
New Bee, the one standing in front of me, looked across the hill at her other self. Even though she had the appearance of a humanoid moth, it was clear she recognized herself in her.
“You didn’t tell me I turned into an insect in your world,” Bee said.
“I guess I forgot,” I muttered.
Moth Bee got up from her chair and ran towards us. The tall horned woman got up as well.
“Oh shit,” Panda whispered.
Before I could ask him what was wrong, Bee threw herself forward with a buzz of her moth wings, slamming into me with a hug. Thankfully, my Silver Skeleton made me unable to fall over.
[‘Silver Skeleton’ x ]
Passive
Become highly-resistant to Crushing and Impact damage, at the expense of your body getting five times heavier than normal, requiring a lot more Strength and Vitality to move around.
Warning: by accepting this Skill, you grant the GREAT GAME and its employees the right to repossess your skeleton after you die.
“You came back for me!” Bee exclaimed.
New Bee took a step away, clearly surprised to encounter her other self. I imagined it was quite weird for her.
I peeled the moth girl off of me with a grin and said, “So, ehh, I went and found your other self from the new dimension I went to. I couldn’t beat the Queen of the CPS, so Panda sent us back in time to a different dimension.”
Moth Bee looked at her other self. “Nice t-shirt,” she said.
“Thanks. Are you supposed to be a Xylocampa Areola?” New Bee asked.
“I think so.”
“This is very confusing,” I said.
“It’s a beautiful reunion,” Tina remarked.
“You’re really not meant to meet your other dimensional self,” Panda explained. “The timeline really doesn’t like that. It gets all paradoxical and stuff.”
The tall woman strode over to us. Seeing her face, she reminded me of an elf in a way, although the antler horns and strange wing were obviously different. Still, she was otherworldly-beautiful.
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Panda swallowed hard.
“Thank you for bringing this lost child to me, Gambit,” the woman said, and I immediately recognized the voice.
My Appraising Eye activated on its own, and I felt sparks fly around inside my eyeball while my vision flickered, which was kind of unpleasant.
[Appraisal x ]
Level ????? — ‘All-Mother’ — Absolute of Sustenance and Fertility
What the…
…
I’m sure I’m not reading this right.
…
…
No, you really are standing in front of the Absolute herself.
How the hell did you manage that??
Well, if you wouldn’t mind, my wife and I have been trying to have children for quite a while, but we’ve been unsuccessful. If you could ask the All-Mother for her blessing, we’d really appreciate it.
Anyway, whatever you do, be kind to the children in her care, and eat anything she gives you.
And try not to get killed, I suppose. You never know with these Absolutes, although I hear she’s one of the nice ones.
She wants you to do something for her.
“Your majesty, we’re so sorry for intruding in your domain,” Panda started, immediately supplicating himself to the Absolute, bowing his head where he sat on New Bee’s shoulder.
“Why did you want me to bring Bee to you?” I asked the All-Mother, refusing to imitate Panda’s pathetic display.
“I wish to safeguard all children in my garden,” she replied.
I frowned, realizing she wanted to keep Bee and New Bee here.
“I’m not a kid,” both of them replied simultaneously.
They looked at each other, which was kind of bizarre, since they were like reflections of themselves, but one with a goth aesthetic and the other with a moth cosplay.
“We’re not letting you keep Bee or New Bee,” I told her.
The All-Mother fixed me with her emerald-green eyes. I felt a shudder run through my entire system. With her standing before me, it was easy to forget that she was at least as powerful as Messimer, if not more. Absolutes didn’t have to play by the rules of the Great Game, because their sheer cosmic influence could just allow them to walk right through any barriers in their way.
“I will allow my children to accompany you in exchange for two favors,” she said.
“Shit,” Panda muttered.
“But first,” she started, raising her right hand. In her palm lay two translucent-orange berries, similar to gooseberries. Without asking what they were for, Moth Bee took one. Then New Bee copied her and grabbed the other.
I didn’t even have time to ask what they were for, since both of them popped the berries into their mouths and bit down.
A floral scent filled the air.
Then New Bee and Moth Bee glowed brightly and walked towards each other. Their hands met like they were touching each other through a mirror, and then their bodies started to fuse together. Panda quickly hopped over to my shoulder before he was pulled into whatever was happening.
It only took a few seconds, but it was really trippy and kind of disturbing to imagine what they were combining into. I also wondered what would happen to their personalities and memories, since they had not been exactly the same.
Children had run up behind us and were standing a few feet away, watching the transformation. There was an astounding amount of different species represented amongst them, with humanoid insects like beetles, ants, and even cicadas, as well as orcs, goblins, and other elf-like kids similar to the All-Mother. There were also humanoid animals, like bears, owls, squirrels, and so forth, not to mention creatures that looked like they belonged in the ocean, such as jellyfish, crustaceans, and colorful sea slugs.
The light died down and I looked at what my friend and this dimension’s version of her had turned into. She looked more or less like she had before, taking most of the traits of her human self, i.e. the black hair, round face, and apple cheeks. However, her skin had become pale-grey like the All-Mother’s and she now had small white horns poking out from the left and right sides of her head. A large purple and translucent wing also hung down from her back.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“I feel weird,” Bee replied. “I have memories of two different lives. They’re mostly the same, but still, it feels… weird.”
“Do you remember what happened before you came here?” Panda asked.
She nodded.
“I remember the previous dimension, as well as everything I did with Gambit in this one.”
I grinned and ruffled her hair.
“You have horns now though,” I told her.
“So do you,” she replied.
“Horns are cool,” Tina whispered.
“Indeed,” the All-Mother agreed.
I looked at the Absolute, and asked, “What are the favors you wanted?”
She pulled out a black envelope with a golden wax seal. “I need you to bring this to the man who resides in the Fleshcrafter’s Abode. There is a portal in front of the asylum.”
“What’s inside?” I asked, turning the envelope over in my hand. It was clearly a letter of some kind.
“That is private.”
“Can you tell if we open it?” Bee asked.
“Yes.”
“Why would you ask her that!?” Panda scolded her.
Bee reached over and patted him on the head, immediately placating him. “I missed you guys.”
“Me-ow!?”
“And you too, Lordie,” she added.
“Oy!” Brock squealed.
“And you, Brock.”
“Don’t ever leave us again!!” he pleaded. “Gambit is not the same without you!!”
“What are you talking about?” I asked him.
“My second favor,” the All-Mother said, cutting off the exchange, “is for you to bring down the Child Protective Services after the First Game Event has concluded. You will use my weapon to ensure that the liberated children find their way to me instead of the new moon. I will take better care of them than anyone else.”
The way she said it, and the fact that she wore a suit of powerful-looking bone armor, made me realize that the All-Mother was more than capable of protecting her realm and the children within. Also, as I looked around after the kids quickly dispersed, I realized that the Children Zones aboard the CPS hive ship were no doubt modelled after the All-Mother’s Garden to some extent.
“I’ll make sure this numbskull fulfills those two favors,” Panda assured the Absolute.
“If not for the fact that my intervention would spell the doom of your world, I would already have dealt with that vile queen-pretender,” the All-Mother said. “Alas, I must resort to relying on you.”
Panda stiffened on my shoulder and even I felt kind of intimidated. She wasn’t using me as her errand boy because she wanted to, but because she needed to, since her power was so great that even her weakest attack might obliterate Earth in the process of defeating the Queen of the ants.
“When we free the children from the CPS, will you take good care of my Adam and Irene?” Tina asked the Absolute.
“Of course. All children will be able to play and have fun in my care. They shall never know hardship and trouble so long as they are within my embrace.”
Tina looked like she was on the verge of tears at the response, but I supposed it was quite a relief for her to know. I could imagine how distraught she felt, because I’d been searching for my Kevin this whole time as well. I just hope he was doing well, wherever he was.
Panda sighed. “That’s not the same,” he told me.
“You should be on your way now,” the All-Mother said. With a simple gesture, she opened a portal in front of us. I hadn’t even realized the other one had vanished, but I guessed it didn’t make sense to leave an open hole to the cicada-filled Achievement Narration offices.
“Take good care of my precious child,” the Absolute said to me.
Then with another gesture she sent all of us through the portal.
WARNING!
Now exiting ‘The All-Mother’s Garden’!
