Curled up in Queenie's arms, Garfield tossed and turned all night, never quite sinking into real sleep.
By dawn, exhaustion finally caught up with him.
He staggered to the bar counter of the High Claw Gold and Exorcism Shop and collapsed face-first into a soft cushion, his entire body spreading out like melted butter.
"Hrrrnnnghh…" A deep, powerful snore echoed through the quiet shop.
At that hour, the store was empty.
Baima and Vivienne had gone to England early that morning. Queenie had taken Rin along with Kumatarō and Kumajirō to buy ingredients.
Izuna, who had been on night duty, was resting. Midnight had already run off somewhere to 'have fun.'
Only Lilith remained behind the counter, alone on watch.
The High Claw Gold and Exorcism Shop was protected by layered formations and magical sensors.
Anyone unrelated to the supernatural world simply could not see it, let alone enter.
It was quiet.
There wouldn't be a single customer for ten days or even half a month.
Garfield slept until lunchtime. Ate.
Then promptly fell asleep again.
By afternoon, everyone had returned one by one.
The group gathered in the shop, each finding a seat, their attention inevitably drawn to the orange cat sleeping soundly at the counter.
Baima couldn't help herself.
She tiptoed closer and looked at Garfield with concern.
"Oh dear… what did Garfield do yesterday? He's been sleeping all day. He must be exhausted."
Queenie glanced at Midnight, curiosity flickering across her face, but she said nothing.
Midnight raised a paw lazily. "Garfield came to my bedside last night."
"…" Rin's mouth parted.
"…!!" Queenie covered her mouth.
"…??" Baima's eyes widened in shock.
"It's not what you're thinking." Midnight immediately added, deadpan,
"I asked him if he wanted to sleep. He asked me who my sister was and said he wanted to find her if he had the chance."
"…Oh."
Queenie looked faintly disappointed.
Rin's mouth hung open.
Lilith and Vivienne exchanged looks of quiet admiration.
Baima fell into thoughtful silence.
Izuna, meanwhile, shot Kumatarō and Kumajirō a sharp look. "Don't comment. Don't get involved."
Under all those gazes, Garfield's face slowly puffed up.
Then…
Smack
Pain exploded across his cheek.
Garfield jolted awake, clutching his face, baring his teeth. "Pandora! What's wrong with you?!"
"Why won't you let a cat sleep?! It's nap time!"
Inside his soul space, Pandora pointed at him furiously. "You shameless fat cat! Do you have no sense of shame at all?!"
"One black cat isn't enough for you, now you're asking about her sister?! And you even want to find her?!"
"You're an underage orange cat! Have you completely lost your mind?!"
"When did I ever say that?" Garfield protested.
"You basically said everything!"
"So what? I'm only an orange cat!"
"Exactly! Just an orange cat and you'll get yourself taken advantage of when you grow up!"
"Damn it, Pandora, are you threatening me?!"
"So what if I am?"
"I don't care about you!"
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
Garfield covered his chubby face, utterly speechless.
Is Pandora insane?
She just followed me for no reason, and now she's acting like my moral supervisor.
In his previous life, he had been a single man to the core… no girlfriend, no romantic experience. Just figurines and pillows. A pure homebody.
I definitely never met a creature like her before.
So why does she keep targeting me? Garfield's eyes narrowed slightly.
Could it be…
In her first life, Pandora was not a monster, nor a god. She lived in a peaceful, ordinary world, one far removed from magic or cosmic war.
There, she loved deeply, trusted completely… and was abandoned.
The betrayal did not break her body, but it fractured her sense of meaning.
Her values twisted, love became suspicion, hope became defiance, and empathy hardened into mockery.
At the moment her despair reached its peak, something ancient answered.
An unseen rift between worlds opened, drawn by the instability of her mind.
She was pulled from her world and hurled into the void between universes, where thought itself can be eroded.
There, she drifted through regions saturated with primordial darkness. a force that does not simply corrupt, but reinterprets desire.
The darkness amplified what she had become.
Her body adapted, reshaping itself into something powerful. Her emotions became volatile.
Her humor turned cruel and chaotic. She survived but no longer as a human.
Eventually, her uncontrolled flight through the cosmos ended violently. She crashed, like a vehicle flipping out of control into the boundary of a mystic realm protected by the Ancient One.
Sensing both danger and tragedy, the Ancient One intervened.
She did not destroy Pandora, nor fully purify her.
Instead, she contained the damage, stripping away most of the dark power while leaving the core intact.
What remained was a being no longer fully corrupted… but permanently altered.
Later revelations suggested a deeper truth. Pandora was not merely a lost soul.
She was the daughter of the Ancient One and Odin, born of balance between magic and order.
In her youth, she fled into the universe in rebellion and emotional turmoil, seeking freedom and escape. It was during this reckless journey that she fell into darkness.
When Odin and the Ancient One finally retrieved her, they saved her life, but could not restore her original worldview.
Her thoughts had already been rewritten by pain and isolation.
This explains everything… why the Ancient One treats her with patience and care
Why Pandora is dismissive, even mocking, toward Odin
Why she exists in a constant state of chaos, sarcasm, and inner contradiction
She is not evil.
She is unresolved.
But?
What role do I play in this?
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream