Vita rushed across the floor of one of the Great Library of Alexandria's many research rooms, balancing a precarious stack of books from waist to chin. The load swayed with each step, and each wobble met with vampiric quickness and a subtle smile.
And how did she get here in the library? Ren had told her about it. After a brief talk, mostly fists, growls, snarls, and biting. Another kitsune interrupted and scolded both of them. This isn't the way to be nice. With bowing heads and false, pitiful looks, they apologized. The other kitsune knew a false apology when she heard one. But she just huffed and ported out. Ren told Vita of all the ins and outs of the library. After all, her mother had told her to be nice to her... not that nice... but nice by her father's definition. And so she was being nice. She gave her a choice: a tour or another beating. Being a battle fiend and a knowledge freak who had already taken part in a battle, Vita made the answer quick. She had three days, remember? A quick tour of the garden and then the library.
Ren reserved a room and showed her how to use the library. Thus, in our current situation, she has a glowing list of the various subjects she wanted to research hung by the entrance and a magical system that materialized the book with just a word.
The room she reserved was made for research. It was vast and stark, with high ceilings and bare walls offering nothing to distract the mind. Windowless, allowing its users to focus on their subjects. At the center, a massive table and no chairs, an invitation to stand, pace, and be fully immersed. The white walls begged for notes to be scribbled over its smooth surface. It was pure heaven for a certain vampire.
"Slow down," came a calm voice from across the room. It was Ren, the kitsune, with pristine white ears and a bushy tail swaying idly behind her. Truth be told, she was another battle fiend and knowledge freak. She was standing near the wall on the other side of the room, one hand on her waist, another hovering above the wall's surface. It looks more like graffiti sprayed across the white wall. Her sharp eyes flicked from one text to the next as she traced her fingers over the glowing Japanese characters. Paying little attention to the chaos behind her, a couple of books hovered near her as invisible hands turned their empty pages, filling with script plucked from her thoughts.
"You've got to be kidding me," Ren muttered, her fox ears twitching as she scanned the unfamiliar texts. "Mechanical machines that can fly?!" she sighed softly, her tone undercutting the marvel she couldn't entirely hide. The sound of magical quills scratched her words across the pages.
Vita slammed the books onto the table, sending them skittering across the table. Several collided with others along its length. Ren quickly snapped her fingers without interrupting her reading, and the books about to tumble off the edge froze mid-air and slowly rose back onto the table and neatly stacked themselves in a perfect pile.
"Oh, please," Vita scoffed, rubbing her forehead. "You use portals that whisk you across the gardens in a heartbeat." She paused, glancing across the room, then back at the books hovering lazily near Ren. "and can connect to other realms...how can you be so impressed." She asked.
"But that is nothing more than magic," Ren answered. These are ideas taken from thought to paper to reality." Her eyes gleamed at the thought, and she suddenly thinned her eyes, peering over her shoulder. "Something... is... coming," she warned.
Vita shivered as a chill crept up her spine. Something was wrong. Her vampiric sense came alive as a chill rolled over her like a thick morning fog. She looked over her shoulders towards the only way in or out of the room. There was a presence coming closer, and then she heard an annoyed, familiar growl—a sense of overwhelming frustration creeping into the room. The growl turned deathly. More than just a warning. This is where you have been hiding, it seemed to say. She caught her breath, her pulse quickening. "MISTRESS?" she looked with a deer in the headlight's expression.
Before Vita could finish, the temperature in the research room dropped several degrees. Even Ren's pristine white ears flattened against her head as she sensed the approaching presence. She looked at the ground, seeing the shadow growing in the hallway, and then.
In the doorway stood Mikoto Misaka, the Vampire Queen herself, her aura crackling with electricity and vampiric energy. Like a scene from an old black-and-white horror film, arcs of blue-white electricity danced between her fingers, skipping across her bare skin, fluttering the fabric of her dress, giving her entrance a touch of theatrical melodrama she'd never admit to enjoying. Her crimson eyes locked onto Vita with predatory intensity. The total weight of a day's silence crashed over her at that moment. Somewhat undermining her attempt at menace was the dramatic backlighting from the hallway. The irony of stumbling upon Vita here, of all places, only sharpened her irritation... She bit down on her lip, bearing in mind that a certain avatar was rolling on the ground, laughing at the fact that she resembled a classic movie monster right now.
"by the goddess!" little misaka fell to her knees and roared with laughter. Her body shook with each imaginary breath, her eyes were wet with tears, and her cheek flushed. "Okay, Bela Lugosi!" she slapped the ground hard enough to wince. The attractive woman emerged from the darkness of the surroundings, dressed in a nurse's uniform. With you should know better than to do that expression. She dropped to her knees, gently taking Little misaka's hand while she laughed, and neatly wrapped it with a bandage.
All the while, Aikko observed the scene with measured glanced over at her sister. A hint of a smile appeared on her lips, and her eyes became mischievous in their gaze. A fight, maybe? Her sister just smirked and slowly shook her head.
Vita's carefully cultivated image of scholarly focus shattered. All thoughts of research slipped from her mind. Quicker than a snake, she launched herself across the room with vampiric speed, books scattering in her wake, and flew into Mikoto's arms, her face lighting up with unbridled joy at the sight of her queen.
"Mistress! I was just—" her excited explanation cut off in a wheeze as Mikoto's arms tightened around her. The embrace, while appearing tender to observers, carried an unmistakable message. Where have you been? With each passing second, the pressure intensified, a sensation that only an ancient eight-hundred-year-old vampire could endure.
"A day." Mikoto's voice was silk over steel. "You've been gone for over a day, Vita."
She squirmed in the crushing embrace, her trademark sarcasm emerging despite her discomfort. "If I had known you'd be this happy—" she gasped, "—I would have just... knelt."
Mikoto eased her grip but made sure Vita stayed put. "What was so enthralling that a certain annoying-she coughed and cleared her throat- dependable subject forgot to find me?" Her eyes swept across the scattered books and glowing texts, taking in the evidence of Vita's academic obsession.
"might as well be catnip to a cat," little misaka whispered.
"Yep..." knowing her weakness to everything she didn't know.
The research room's magical lighting flickered, casting shadows across the covered in Japanese characters. Vita remained still in Mikoto's arms, knowing better than to move until explicitly permitted. Though the slight quirk of her lips suggested she wasn't entirely repentant about her academic distraction.. tiny bluish-white sparks crackled in the air, quickly moving around her as if looking for a place to strike. The little hairs on her body slowly stood on end. Goosebumps rippled across her arms, and a familiar thrill ran through her body.
The sensation triggered memories of the other realm, the four kingdoms, and Academy City in Tokyo. Where she first experienced Mikoto's power. She had always loved it when her mistress got angry enough to release the electricity. The frequency of these electrical attacks specifically affected her and all the vampires and wolves that served Mikoto.
Time to change your panties... she thought. If you wore panties, others would answer. Many of the wolves would set up ambushes and attack. Others patiently waited and would quickly grab one's arm or leg into a lengthy chain for the electricity to run along. It seems the particular frequency of her electrical attacks had a rather orgasmic result.
"Not here. Mistress? Not here," seemed to radiate from Vita's eyes. Mikoto slowly exhaled and let her go." Explain yourself, " she said, stepping into the room.
Vita slowly exhaled, relieved but hoping for a change of panties later as punishment. Yes, she was and is a pervert; she straightened herself, her eyes lighting up with that familiar scholarly gleam that often preceded her diving deep into explanations. " You won't believe what I've discovered here," she began, her earlier discomfort forgotten in her excitement. "I've toured the entire garden—"
"The entire garden?" Mikoto interrupted, one eyebrow raised. "In a day?"
"Oh yes," Vita nodded eagerly, gesturing toward Ren, who was now paying more attention to their conversation. "The portals make it possible. It would have taken weeks otherwise. The gardens..." she paused, collecting her thoughts, "are not just beautiful. They're functional. The way every path, even the placement of the fountains–they're all part of a massive magical circuit board."
Vita's hands moved animatedly as she explained, "The entire planet generates a magical field, Mistress. The twin suns' daily journey from east to west creates one current, while the moon's north-south rotation generates another. It's brilliant, like having two massive dynamos powering a planetary-scale generator."
Aikko nodded approvingly from behind Mikoto. Vita continued, her words coming faster now: "Anyone can access it through magical devices, but the kitsune—" she glanced at Ren and Aikko—they can tap into it naturally. It's why they can effortlessly manipulate the portals and library systems."
Suddenly, Vita's expression shifted to one of remembered purpose. "Oh! And speaking of the library system—" She reached behind her and pulled out a small book, roughly the size of a light novel. The cover was elegant but simple, bound by what appeared to be shifting materials that caught the light strangely. "I have this for you."
She held out the book, her earlier sarcasm replaced by a hint of pride mixed with uncertainty. The book seemed to hum with a subtle energy, resonating with the library's ambient magic.
"The book is just for reference," Vita explained, her voice taking on that tone of barely contained excitement she got when sharing a significant discovery. As Mikoto turned the small volume in her hands, Vita's fingers moved through the air with practiced precision as if conducting an invisible orchestra.
In response to her movements, a complex diagram materialized in the space between them, formed of shimmering magical light. The illumination brightened the room and cast shadows across their faces as a massive mechanical structure took shape–a cosmic engine suspended in miniature. The image was breathtaking in its complexity: a perfectly aligned series of celestial bodies arranged like the camshaft of some divine machine.
"You see, Mistress, the realms aren't just parallel worlds or separate dimensions," Vita's words excitedly said. "They're arranged along a special camshaft." The image rotated slowly, showing the intricate dance of these cosmic gears. Each realm manifested as a distinct lobe on the shaft, "Like the ones in a car engine." She added.
"Some realms were massive, while others were barely larger than moons. Each moved with its own rhythm, some turning lazily while others spun with remarkable speed.
The light from the magical projection reflected in Vita's eyes as she gestured to one of the medium-sized lobes. "This is Earth," she said. Her tone carried a weight of significance that couldn't be missed.
Mikoto leaned closer to the rotating model, her usual composed demeanor giving way to clear disbelief. Her eyes tracked the movement of Earth's lobe, watching how it interacted with the surrounding realms. "This is Earth?" she tapped the image. "And where are we now?" she asked.
Vita smirked, hearing her mistress's question she'd been waiting for her to ask. But first.
"The book," Vita continued, her fingers brushing the volume in Mikoto's hands, "is a key to understanding how these realms interact. Each chapter corresponds to a different realm, and—" she paused, noting Mikoto's intense focus on the spinning model—"this is just the beginning of what I've found."
The magical light filled the research room with shifting patterns, making the room feel as vast as the cosmic system it depicted.
"The time differentials are fascinating, Mistress," Vita said, her fingers dancing through the projection to highlight various lobes. The magical light shifted, now showing streams of temporal energy flowing between the realms like currents in a cosmic ocean. "Each realm's temporal rate is determined by its mass relative to the others. The larger the realm—" she gestured to one of the massive lobes, "—the slower time moves within it. Conversely, the smaller realms experience time more rapidly."
Mikoto's eyes narrowed with recognition. "Where one hundred years pass for each Earth Day." She thought of the other realm created by Katrina, the daughter of a dragon; one hundred years in the other realm; one day passed on Earth. She loved going there with Anastasia. Being a vampire had benefits, considering she no longer showed her age. It is a world like the earth hundreds of thousands of years in the past.
"Exactly!" Vita's excitement peaked at Mikoto's connection. She manipulated the projection, zooming in on the small, dense realm that spun with remarkable speed. "Katrina's genius was creating a realm with precisely calculated mass and rotation speed. She essentially engineered time itself." But truth be told, Katrina had another reason. A promise. To protect her step-sister, Anastasia Von Alucard. She needed a realm that allowed her access to earth. And because of its position, time was quicker. One hundred years in the other realm meant that one day would pass when she returned.
The projection shifted to show the temporal flows between that realm and Earth's lobe, demonstrating the dramatic difference in their time flows.
"But what makes it even more remarkable," Vita continued, her scholarly enthusiasm building, "is how these different time streams interact at the boundaries." She traced a line between two realms, and the magical light coalesced to show a complex pattern of temporal currents. "When realms connect through natural or constructed portals, they create what I've started calling 'temporal cusps'–points where the different time flows meet and negotiate a balance."
The surrounding air hummed with magical energy as the projection adapted to show these temporal cusps, points of light where the realm's boundaries met. Each cusp pulsed with its rhythm, marking the complex tango of time between worlds.
"That's why," she added, glancing at Mikoto with a hint of her usual dry humor, "some of us can spend hours in one realm and return to find only minutes have passed in another. Or, in my case, spend what feels like a reasonable amount of time in a library, only to discover my queen has been looking for me for a day." She paused and added softly, "Though I suspect you'd have found the time differential equally frustrating, Mistress."
"Oh, that is so... Vita!" little misaka interrupted. She burst into laughter. She walked over to a large monitor and tapped the screen. "Fear not..." she said, "We are still in the same realm? But still.. a nice one... excuse that is."
Mikoto's eyes narrowed, a spark of electricity dancing briefly between her fingers as she closed the small book with a decisive snap. "Let me be clear, Vita," she said, her voice carrying that tone that made even ancient vampires stand straighter. "I have not been looking for you for a day."
Her expression became menacing as shifting lights and shadows crossed her face; she continued, "I simply was touring the library with Aikko when I sensed a familiar annoying presence." She paused, letting her words sink in. "And do not attempt to use temporal mechanics, no matter how fascinating, as an excuse for not looking for me."
Standing proudly during her scientific explanation, Vita seemed to shrink slightly under Mikoto's gaze. However, she couldn't entirely suppress the glimmer of intellectual excitement still dancing in her eyes. "Of course, Mistress," she said, sounding both contrite and slightly defensive. "Though I still have several more volumes of research to share about the realm mechanics that might make up for my... oversight?"
Vita's eight hundred years of experience did not keep her from sounding like a scholar caught up past curfew in the library stacks, with a wave of her hand and a growing smirk across her face. The cosmic engine display dissolved. Her scholarly enthusiasm gave way to something more calculated as one of Mikoto's royal guards and head of her own household—that familiar mix of confidence and subtle mischief that spoke of her centuries of experience. "Mistress," she said, drawing out the word with just enough sarcasm to dance on the edge of propriety. The scattered books and papers faded into the background as a new magical projection materialized. This time, a detailed topographical map of the gardens bloomed into existence, buildings rising like crystal-like structures from the magical light. The Library of Alexandria towered above the other structures.
"I have always known where my mistress is," Vita said, her tone carrying pride and a hint of smugness. She gestured to the glowing red dots pulsing on the map's surface. "You and I are here." Her finger hovered over their location in the library, the dot pulsing slightly brighter at her touch. Then, she moved her hand to another spot on the map where a third dot glowed near a serene body of water. "And here is my little Mariam by the lake." She paused, tilting her head slightly. "Though what she's doing there, I have no idea." Her eyes turned much like a predator, " and these other pale blue dots," she said, "are the rest of our little army mixing with the others living in this garden.
The map shimmered with magical energy, showing real-time movements and changes in the garden's landscape. Each red dot pulsed with a subtle rhythm, like heartbeats on the magical display, marking their respective vampires and others. She swiped her hand over the map, and it shimmered, "And yesterday, you were over here." She pointed to two red dots shimmering at the other end of the garden. "Where you were having tea with Kuro," she said with a smile, showing her fangs. "Since Kuro said no harm would come to you... I mean us. I was just a little uneasy at not being by your side. But..." She sighed, "You have always been under my watchful eyes."
"Okay... that's for sure... just a word," little misaka spoke, quickly pointing to the monitor with Vita displayed, "Stalker!"
The room seemed to hold its breath, waiting for Mikoto's reaction to discovering that her supposedly distracted servant had been maintaining such careful surveillance all along. Mikoto crossed her arms over her chest and glared, a glare that dropped the temperature in the room a few more degrees. "And what of my questions have you not answered?"
Vita waved her hand over the images, and another, more straightforward version of the spatial engine appeared in crystal-like form. "Here," she leaned over the table. "It's called the fixed point; it is a stationary anchor for this and the other realms." She said, tapping the center. It was then Mikoto realized it wasn't spinning. "The other realms rotated around the shaft." Her expression came alive with surprise. And what does that mean? She looked over at Vita. "We are here at this fixed point, and time is stationary here."That smugness came to life as she nodded. "In theory, this means... we could return. The decades we have spent here might translate to a mere moment there."