327. The Floor of Desire

The great nothing.

That’s what resided within the Floor of Desire.

A black expanse was all it was, and yet there wasn’t a place that felt more claustrophobic. Frost’s instincts warned her of the darkness, and the Alter Frosts were similarly on edge. The Star Child on the other hand didn’t seem to mind this place as she drew all manners of images, symbols, equations; everything one could think of was drawn like the world was her chalkboard.

“Hey, um, isn’t this just like the inside of the black sphere?” Anna brought up.

“It is.” Frost stated, tracing her hands along the equations written by the Star Child, unable to begin to grasp what they meant. “The place they kept the ‘Captured Star’, huh. GEN-00.”

Her voice trailed off as she watched the Star Child, astounded by how similar they looked. The Star Child unquestionably represented the ‘Captured Star’ or was at least closely linked with it. While Frost knew that she was that same light, there was not enough information to fill in the gaps.

“The Star Child could be an Alter Frost. A primordial you, closely watched over by Lailah. It would explain why she’s so fond of Nav.” The Arbiter responded, causing Frost to wince at the thought of a ‘primordial’ her.

“Please don’t call me primordial. I’m just someone that got caught up in an unlucky chain of events. Hell, I don’t remember anything about being inside of that black sphere. Let alone my time outside of it.” Frost muttered, following it with an exacerbated sigh.

To begin with, she still considered herself to have originated from Earth. No matter how skewed the timelines, or her memories were, Frost was as deeply rooted with Earth than the old Elysia. Still, from the memories she had lost, there was evidence that she had ‘grown’ in the city of the old world, and perhaps had also undergone through the numerous cycles Elysia subjected it to.

She wasn’t the only one who followed this train of thought. Jury and Ber were aboard as well, all the while Nav sat in deep thought, allowing the Alter Frosts to playfully surround her – the Hired Arm included.

The Hired Arm at times hovered by Anna like a guard. She was the closest representation of Sinder, after all, and they wondered if some aspects were carried over.

“Soooo. Let’s get this straight. More than a thousand resets happened. Each reset would have played differently since maybe the fake Jury would’ve tried to fix what she broke.” Ber began unexpectedly, vocalizing the thoughts of Frost, Jury, and a few others.

She suddenly picked up the Star Child, and with her tail, controlled her hand to start drawing a constellation.

“Fake Jury. I like that.” Cer approved.

“Where are you going with this?” Res wondered why everyone seemed to be so absorbed by what she thought was Ber’s shenanigans.

Instead, it was another one of her bouts of geniuses.

“That the Little Frost and the Hired Arm are renditions of Frost from different times or aspects from her! Think about it! This Little Frost is the small her obviously. And the Big Frost is closer to Sinder!” Ber exclaimed, the Star Child drawing smiling faces above the heads of all the Alter Frosts.

“I’ve always felt like they took after different aspects of me, not that they’re from different reset points.” Frost corrected but found Ber’s explanation interesting enough to become food for her thoughts. “What’s weird is that there isn’t anyone else that has Alter them. Just me, but…”

Identity.

The Attribute of the Amalgamation Affinity. Considering Sinder was the first Amalgamation Corrupted, who also happened to be in a way an Alter Frost, she wondered if other Amalgamation Corrupted were also in some way a part of her.

Or at the very least created by her past and present sorrows, traumas, and vices.

There was no real way to confirm this, and looking back, the Vengeful Red-Hooded Assassin was a Vigor Corrupted.

Although, ImpulseWorks’ classifications on the Corrupted were dodgy at best.

Could that Corrupted be an Amalgamation Corrupted as well?

She hoped to one day find out.

Or better yet, have ImpulseWorks personally bring the Corrupted to her.

Could there be other Amalgamation Corrupted out there too?

Frost could only imagine what they’d look like.

And speaking of this, she could not wait to unravel The Crowned, which had been added to her Collection. Nav just needed to regain her powers again and everyone would soon be able to see their newfound changes.

That being said:

“More Alter Frosts…” Jury melted at the thought of being surrounded by dozens of them. “Demi-human Frost. Sleepy Frost. Energetic Frost.” She catalogued them like she was reading out a dinner menu, unable to choose what to eat.

It caused Frost to laugh a little.

“Angry Frost. Mother Frost. Hungry Froooost.” Cer joined in, nudging Frost in the side.

“That’s the normal me.” Frost answered, tapping and rubbing Cer’s head in response.

“Then why aren’t you salivating yet? I don’t stink. Or maybe you liked me better with my suit on? Hey… stop it already. A Demi-human’s ears are their life, you know!”

“Huh? I thought it was their tail?”

“You get the point. But I guess this isn’t so bad. Heh. What’s with that look Res? Looking to get scritched too?”

“I’ll have you know I’m not as easy to sway –”

Before Res could finish, Frost also placed a hand onto her head. She glared at Frost, but her ears pleasantly rubbed against her palms before giving in.

“Urgh… Well, maybe for now. Not really the side I want to show in front of the Arbiter or a Beholder, but since it’s you then I’ll make an exception.” Res said, taking pride in her professional side.

After all, being a Moon was more than just possessing abnormal strength, although her sisters begged the differ.

“Ber? You too?”

“As much as I’d love to, I think I’m at a point where I’m just dying to give headpats out than receive them. Didn’t know it felt this good being so high up! I feel so powerful~ Ahaha!” Ber claimed, setting the Star Child down beside Nav. “NAV! Hello~! Do you want a headpat?”

“Is it worth rubbing my head like it’s a plasma globe? Will that really satisfy you?” Nav, like Frost initially, didn’t understand the need or use of giving out headpats.

It seemed so needless. However, that didn’t stop her curiosity from allowing her to present herself to Ber with slightly parted arms, like she was asking for a hug.

“Fine. Oh…? This sensation. You’re using too much pressure. Are you trying to injure me?” Nav questioned.

“Really!? So like this? Better?” Ber readjusted her hand.

“Too little pressure.”

“Huh!? Grrr. How about this!?”

Nav took a moment to interpret the sensation, causing Ber’s tail to wag wildly, believing she had finally conquered Nav.

However –

“Too perfect. Not enough deviation to be pleasant. Snap. Please demonstrate how to properly make one comfortable.”

“Brrrr~!”

“WHAT THE –!?”

Somehow, this dark world became a place where they could indulge in their cozy desires. They indulged for a short while, laughing, and cherishing the moment before they finally left the floor.

Unfortunately, there was little else on the Floor of Desire.

However, the next Floor promised to hold many compelling facets that would serve them in the future.

This Floor was of course, the Awakened Floor of Civilization.