THE MOMENT
[See you there!] Gloria sent her reply, then tossed the node onto her bed to get ready. Then, she thought better about it. The node was practically invisible and light as a feather. She'd already lost track of it twice in the few months she owned it and she decided to grab it from the green paisley sheets to put it somewhere safer. Even though she thought she saw it land, she still needed to pat a small radius to find it. She put the card-sized glass rectangle in one of her jewelry boxes, then headed to the closet.
As she considered her options, Gloria couldn't help but grin and shake her head at the situation. Three months ago, she met a pair of random women. Except, the more they talked, the more she learned it wasn't random at all. They were there to see her. They didn't ask for anything more than just some time to chat. One of the women, Dirge, apparently had a friend that was Gloria's doppelganger from another universe. After she died, Dirge wanted to visit as many duplicates of her friend as she could.
It was impossible to believe at first, but they had no difficulties proving it. They took Gloria to a few different universes to show her around, then they gave her a node and told her it could send messages between universes. They set her up in a group chat with all her alternate universe selves. And her life hasn't been the same since.
She'd never felt so accepted by anyone before. She felt open to talk about anything. Even if there were versions of her that differed in opinions, they all understood her. They had a big gathering every month and she was getting ready to go for the second time.
"What about this one?" A woman's voice startled Gloria. She spun around with her back to the closet and saw a tall horned woman with a lean man standing in her room. She didn't recognize the man, but she knew the woman very well. "May I kill this one, please?" Ballisea asked the man.
Gloria took a slight step back, but she realized there was hope. The man shook his head.
"You're not killing any of them," he said. "Can I get back to Astra now?" he asked. Ballisea sighed.
"If you're going to be boring, you might as well," she said. "But not without a small gift." Ballisea moved her hand up in half-hearted gesture. Oz felt something land in his breast pocket and reached up to pat it. He discovered a black tip of cloth poking out and pulled it. It unfolded into a pitch-black handkerchief-sized cloth. It was as dark as a portal and looked like a small, rectangular hole no matter how he looked at it.
"What's this?" he asked.
"It's entertaining," Ballisea smiled and Oz sunk into the ground. He disappeared along with the hole that swallowed him. Then, Ballisea turned her attention to Gloria. She watched their interaction with interest. She knew who Ballisea was from the other versions of herself. Everyone said she should run if Ballisea showed up, but she had nowhere to run. If she'd had her node she could get an emergency portal; but, it was on her nightstand, on the other side of Ballisea.
"Why are you still here?" Ballisea asked. Gloria had seen enough to temper her fear. She was still terrified, but she had a chance. If Ballisea could've killed he she would have already. Her inner smart-ass took over.
"It's my room," Gloria said. She forced herself to add a shrug to try and mask her fear. Ballisea tilted her head at Gloria and smiled.
"So it is. Your bravery amuses me; you may ask me any one question," Ballisea said. Gloria clenched her fists and bit her lip to avoid blurting out "why?". She tried remembering everything she knew about Ballisea and she realized it wasn't much. The first fact that popped in her mind was that Ballisea was supposedly older than any universe. She was over 15 billion years old. Gloria wondered what there was before, but if she didn't word it the right way, Ballisea wouldn't give her a straight answer.
"What's your oldest memory?" Gloria asked. Ballisea blinked.
"Don't you want to know how I can be stopped?" Ballisea asked. Gloria shrugged.
"I'm not sure you can. So, what's your oldest memory?" she repeated. Ballisea tilted her head at Gloria.
"You're different from the rest...," she said. Then, she nodded. "...I like you. Sit," Ballisea gestured and Gloria was scooped up by a large, comfortable black recliner. When she got her bearings again, she realized Ballisea was seated to; though, she sat on a throne of skulls. It looked comically out of place in Gloria's bright, Spring-colored bedroom.
"Child, let me tell you about.. hmm, shall we say, a different time...."