A Path Presents Itself

"What do you think?"

Sighing, Gilgamesh looked at Florence with uncertainty in his gaze. She wiped her eyes and nose repeatedly, all while waiting patiently for his response to her question.

"I think," he started, "that you need to focus on what matters most."

Florence sniffled, then turned around to look at the countless storylines flowing around them in the dark. Her eyes reflected their dim light, and glimmered as she tried to push away what she felt. "You may be right."

Gilgamesh nodded, "I am. Plus, if you really think about it, being her flesh and blood gives you a lot more advantages than simply having the identity created for you."

"I know what you mean," Florence breathed, still attempting to steady herself mentally. "I should be able to take charge of everything that exists under her, as long as I can properly access it. Unfortunately, she confined me to the Library, so there's no way for me to get the access I need."

Gilgamesh was about to say something, but his thoughts ran back onto the visions they had seen. "That place... 'God's Domain,' ... It's the outside, isn't it?"

"I... I think so. If what we saw was any indication, then where we are now is some kind of imaginary world, contained within that library. Or something." Florence laughed weakly, somewhat unsure of her own words.

Gilgamesh seemed to agree with her words by nodding, and she felt a bit more confident in her theory.

"In truth," he sucked in a breath, "it makes sense now why the very concept of existence always kept a single theme."

"A theme?" Florence pressed.

"Books, scriptures-- writings in general. It's not just because she made it that way, but because it's all connected to that library. Everything here, is contained within that place, and she lives there, beyond it all." Gilgamesh looked out into the Library, and his eyes briefly lit up in a ghostly shade of red, completely unlike the nature of enlightenment.

Florence was busy wiping her eyes with furious movements, and did not even notice it before he glow went away.

Gilgamesh kept staring out into that layer of the Beginningless Library, past the storylines and out into what he could not exactly see. Anyone else would just see an infinite expanse of darkness and storylines, but to those who knew of the existence of the Canonical Margins, they would begin to slowly discern things in their vision.

To Gilgamesh, with his perfect sight, he began to see the Canonical Margins that existed between this layer and the others. As he watched, Florence noticed that he was staring off into space and moved over to his side.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

Gilgamesh frowned, "What do you know about the Library's layers?"

Florence sniffled, but her nose sounded a lot clearer than it did. "Well," she put a finger on her lips, "I know that there are way more of them than I care to explain."

Gilgamesh let out an amused scoff, chuckling as his eyes scoured the storylines. "This one contains the storylines, and they exist as a result of the Mother of Scriptures' actions. Do the other layers contain similar things?"

Florence shook her head, "The storylines are unique in that aspect. Every other layer houses stuff like foundation elements for the basis of creation and destruction, the necessary components that make up natures, the Well of the Erased- which is where all her deleted ideas go- and so on and so forth."

"Most of those layers just make up the Library's nitty-gritty bits and pieces. With all of them functioning optimally, the Beginningless Library works the way she wants it to all the time."

Gilgamesh raised a brow, and he folded his arms as he made a suggestion, "Then, why not just destroy those layers?"

Florence nodded, closing her eyes with a small smile, "Yeah, I had a similar thought, unfortunately it isn't that easy."

Looking away from the storylines and the Canonical Margins that he could just barely see, Gilgamesh turned to Florence and watched as she massaged her temples.

"The layers may be part of the Beginningless Library, but they are extensions of power that come from God's Domain- well- the outside. Interacting with them is easy; destroying them from here is practically impossible."

"And why's that?" Gilgamesh frowned.

"Because, whatever power we have in here is of here- of the Library. We can't access power that belongs only to... her..." Florence's eyes immediately lit up, as well as becoming wet with tears yet again.

"Oh... oh wow..." She suddenly let out a stifled laugh, as though she was worried about being too excited.

Gilgamesh could already deduce what she had come to the realization of, and he smiled as he shook his head. "I'm guessing those advantages of yours are already beginning to shine through."

Florence's head snapped in his direction, and she flashed a smile that revealed the full length of her beastly canines. Her eyes perked up and twitched energetically, and Gilgamesh eventually noticed some odd fluctuations behind her.

His eyes glowed with enlightenment, and he began to see into the secret that was being hidden. Behind Florence, growing out of her behind, was actually a puffy fox tail, covered in pure red furs except for the end of it, which was white.

She had become excited, and it was wagging around rapidly, showcasing her excitement.

"You have a tail?"

Florence, who was about to explain the cause for her excitement, suddenly flushed red and grabbed at the empty space behind her, causing the fluctuations to stop. "No I don't!"

Gilgamesh would have been confused by this, but now that he was looking, he saw that her tail was actually being obscured. If he hadn't noticed the odd behavior of the space behind her, he would never have thought to look for it. 

"But I clearly see that you do..." He pointed with a straight face.

"Shut up! I don't have a tail, okay!?" She pointed right at him with her finger, a threatening, embarrassed look on her face.

Gilgamesh stared at her face and gave a weak, twitching smile. "Okay, okay, you don't have a tail. No need to get all cute."

Those last words were meant to taunt her, and taunt they did. Florence stomped down onto the empty floor and scowled, "You're a nosy fucker, aren't you?"

Gilgamesh raised his hands in surrender as he laughed, "Yes, yes, I'm very nosy. You're right."

"Tch!" Florence turned away and cleared her throat. "Anyway, back to what I was about to explain."

"Mm," Gilgamesh nodded and his eyes reverted to their normal selves. As they did, Florence's tail vanished from sight.

He wondered why she hid it, but didn't think he should ask just then.

"I was confined to the Library through my soul, meaning that it was probably the only way for me, a being born in The Outside, to get stuck here. Normally, I should be free to come and go as I please, since I'm not of this place."

Florence folded her arms behind her; Gilgamesh could tell that she was covering her tail- now that he knew it was there. 

"In theory," He nodded slowly, "but it's also possible that you're only able to exist within this Library and have an actual presence here because of that, aside from it keeping you trapped here by default."

"Hm.." Florence fell into thought. "That might make sense."

"I say that because the Mother of Scriptures brought me out of the Library completely when I met her. If she wanted to, she could have spoken to me here, but she didn't. Maybe it's easier to take something out of her creation than to enter it herself."

Florence seemed to come to some conclusion, and she pounded down on her palm with a fist. Gilgamesh noticed the fluctuations running wild behind her; she was wagging her tail again.

Perhaps she could not control it.

"When I first destroyed a Book Collection, and I felt a wave of emotional power rush through me, I had no idea whether it came from the Book Collection or if it was a result of my connection to the Library."

"Later on, I came to think that, by being connected to the Library, anything I did to would have an affect on me as well. It became a lot easier for me grab hold of the Story-Hearts, and it also became easier for me to sense the things hidden under the surface."

"Like the Canonical Margins," Gilgamesh mused.

"And the storylines-- or at least this layer." Florence lit up.

"My point is, by continuously doing those things, I was able to develop a clearer and clearer sense of the elements that make up the Library, like the layers and how they work. I thought it was a result of my connection to the Library, but what if it's actually because I'm her..."

"Her daughter," Florence coughed.

"What if, by integrating certain aspects of the Library, I can develop a clear sense of how her power works, and take charge of it."

Gilgamesh leaned forward, realization in his eyes as his smile widened. "If you can do that, then you'll be commanding a power that's not of the Library."

Florence nodded enthusiastically.

"But will she let you? I doubt she'll sit back and let you use her power. She'll definitely try to stop you." Gilgamesh noted.

"What then?" He asked, although there was already a knowing smile on his face.

Florence giggled, "Then only way she can, is by taking me out of here. None of her creations will be able to stop me at that point."

"If she knows what's best for her, then she won't dare to intervene."

Gilgamesh laughed heartily, and clutched his stomach as he threw his head back. Tears of joy ran from his eyes and he wiped them as he managed to catch his breath.

"You sure are confident."

Florence held her waist and twisted her body, striking a sexy pose that gave Gilgamesh reason for pause. He gulped audibly.

"Of course I am," Florence winked.

"Well come on then," Gilgamesh looked around at the layer they were in, "this is the best place to start."

"Let's see what happens."