Cerberus cocked a sardonic eyebrow towards Luna, who was still napping, and Noctis, who now appeared to be batting his right paw at some nonexistent flies buzzing in front of his whiskered face.

He muttered darkly, "Did I not tell you, Cora dear, there was something not quite right about these dotty flea-bitten dregs? Was I not the one to suggest the witchy ones could have—"

"Sent them to us?" Cora supplied with a grimace. "Yes, yes, you did, Cerberus, and I suppose I should have listened to you then, but it is a bit late now to point fingers, is it not? The three of us—you, the little one on your back, and I—are stuck with Luna and Noctis. I think we ought to focus our efforts on how to proceed under these new circumstances instead of bickering over inflexible matters. We must try to avoid the Fat One and her sister at all costs!"

Noctis' ears twitched with interest. He spoke up with a purr, "Oh, Cassandra, I would not worry about the Thin One or the Fat One unless, of course, you plan to leave this charming little eld of memories. They simply cannot come in."

Cerberus glared at the black feline with suspicion. "What do you mean by, 'they simply cannot come in?'"

Noctis mewed, "I mean, the uninvited must wait for us at... the Circumference. They do not have permission to enter."

"The Circumference?" Cora repeated in confusion. "What is that? And what bars them from using their magic to cross over? I thought they could move freely through the In Between. Why would the Fat One and Thin One, as you call them, need permission to enter memories that exist in a realm of their own making?"

Noctis cast her a look of condescension. "Must I explain everything to you, Corinne? Your level of ignorance astonishes me at times. There exists a natural order to realms that must be obeyed even by the most powerful of beings! How have you managed to survive for as long as you have with so little knowledge over the way things work around here?"

Cora noted there was a sharpness to the black cat's tone that hadn't been present before.

Cerberus growled at Noctis and bared his fangs. "Show some respect to my gatekeeper, you half-wit puss, or else I shall snap you up in one bite and guzzle down your snowy, three-footed companion for a snack!"

Noctis arched his back and hissed at Cerberus. "I do not fear you, you fiend! If you dare sink a single tooth into my beloved Luna, then I shall not hesitate to—"

"No one is going to sink teeth into anyone under my watch," Cora insisted as she glared between Cerberus and Noctis with a stern, schoolmarm-like expression. "Noctis, please, tell us more about how the Circumference works. You are right in that I am very clueless about how everything functions in the In Between. If you could help shed some light on my lack of knowledge, then I would be ever so grateful!"

Noctis sniffed. "At least one of you possesses some semblance of decorum."

In response, Cerberus lunged towards the feline angrily. Cora blocked his way and pointed at Little Cora, who was still resting on his back. "Do not act rashly, Cerberus. You might harm the child!"

Cerberus grunted and scowled but heeded Cora's reminder like an amenable dog with his mistress.

Cora turned back to Noctis and murmured in far more delicate tones than she had used on Cerberus, "You were saying, Noctis? About Circumferences?"

Out of spite, it seemed, Noctis continued to preen haughtily at Cerberus as he replied to Cora, "Ah, yes! Circumferences, mind you, are the barriers which prevent one reality from crashing into another. These thresholds can only be circumvented by those who are threaded, by fate, to the realities that exist inside a barrier. Mortals must stay within their Circumference until death gives them permission to penetrate the spirit realm. But, sometimes, Circumferences may be manipulated by magic if a particularly powerful being finds a thread that ties two realms together. Threads may be tugged and distorted to create openings that should not exist..."

"Yes, yes," Cora murmured. "That much I figured! What I wish to know, however, is why the Fat One and the Thin One were able to manipulate the Circumference that guards between the mortal realm and the In Between. Yet, you claim they cannot step foot inside this tiny well of memories belonging to only one woman? With their powers combined, surely, the witches can find a way to break through this particular Circumference?"

"On the contrary," Noctis corrected, "it is actually easier for them to find threads to manipulate in larger realms, such as the mortal and spirit worlds, simply because there are an infinite number of beings and souls to pluck from. However, in a realm as small and finite as this one, belonging to only one individual's memories, it is rather difficult for them to gain a foothold when the pickings for threads are so slim and... specific."

Again, Cora couldn't help noticing how much more intact the cat's stream of consciousness appeared to be than before. His sudden clarity of mind both astonished her... and worried her. His demeanor and mien kept shifting as though he had multiple personalities. Could Noctis be trusted? What if he was being controlled by Circe like some magical puppet who had been sent here to misguide them?

"How did the witches manage to help you and Luna pass through the Circumference, then? You are also 'intruders' in these memories, are you not?"

"Yes and no," the cat replied in a most cryptic manner. "I suppose, we are not exactly intruding as uninvited guests. In fact, one might say that Luna can claim some of these memories as her own. Perhaps that is why, with a bit of sorcery, the Fat One and Thin One were able to smuggle us here."

Cerberus frowned. "You are not making any sense, you talking hairball."

"Let me be clear, then," Noctis harped in a startlingly deliberate and sensical manner. He sounded absolutely nothing like himself. "These feline forms we currently embody are merely vessels for several different passengers. In truth, we are Noctis and Luna and Theodore and Lianna with teensy, tinsy bits of the Thin and Fat Ones all rolled together. One could say that we are something of an ungodly abnormality. A Frankensteinian masterpiece, if you will."