In the depths of the darkness that clouds my mind, I hear the faint sounds of a young girl’s voice. She seems to be trying to get my attention. “In—” I focus and tune my ears to her voice. “—Mistress aware of this one?”

My mind settles and my hearing returns to normal.

There is a clicking sound as if someone is rapping against a glass vase. “Inquiries: Can the Mistress hear this one? Is the Mistress aware of this one?”

I attempt to open my eyes but find that I cannot. {...Earl? Is that thy voice?}

There is some shuffling around, and then a response, “Confirmation: Who else would it be but the Mistress’s loyal Earl Interface?”

{I am glad to hear a familiar voice, but my head is fuzzy. It feels like I have been doing complex arithmetic for a day straight.}

“Response: The Mistress’s kiln has been working hard, which means the Mistress has been working hard. This one wishes to commend the Mistress for their efforts.”

{I thank thee… I do not remember doing anything, though.}

The squeak of Earls lantern echoes as she says, “Subsequent Response: Whether or not the Mistress remembers, this one wishes to commend the Mistress for their efforts. Celebratory Statement: We are ready to seed the first area on the first floor!”

{I… I am excited but cannot see anything, but huzzah, I suppose. Is it possible for me to see where I am?}

“Confirmation: Allow this one to remove some obstructions from around the Mistress.”

There is a squeaking sound as something moves and brushes against something else—a soft purple light appears in my peripherals. When the obstruction is partially cleared, I notice the violet light is swaying back and forth gently. My vision sharpens, and I can see it is not light but tangled thread enveloped by violet fire.

Seeing this sight, my kiln itches as the sensation of countless fibers squirming against me becomes glaringly obvious. Suppressing my disgust, I feign calmness and say, {...I wish to know where I am, or perhaps I do not, but regardless, tell me immediately.}

“Answer: The Mistress has been transferred between Tenebrous and the material world several times over the past eight days. The Mistress must go where her presence is required, and at present, the Mistress is inside the burning empyrean that hovers above the willow tree.”

I try to look, but there are too many obstructions. {I cannot move, Earl. I seem to be observing things through the kiln, and I wish to gain my bearings.}

My vision shakes and then starts moving. Looking to the left and right, I notice a set of razor-sharp nails seem to be gripping my kiln. {Earl, whose claws are those? ...They seem rather large and intimidating. Pray thee, say those are thy nails, Earl.}

I look out the back of my shell to find a small arm reaching through the empyrean’s strings.

“Statement: This one is in the empyrean as well, and this one will move the Mistress as necessary.” She moves and says, “Announcement: It is now time for the Mistress to remember their map. Time is short, so this one asks the Mistress to think about each area.”

Earl wiggles forward, and then pushes me out of the side of the empyrean. I look down to find I am hundreds of feet in the air, and below, the burning willow tree and the sight of Tenebrous’s marble floor lit in violet light is laid out before me.

Earl begins to slowly wave me from left to right. {This is a bit awkward… May thou just hold me up and not swing me around?}

She raises me so that I can stare out over the whole of the tower floor, and it’s only now that I realize how huge the area is.

Then, when my eyes look off into the furthest reaches of the gently lit space, I see them—the biggest and most titanic set of jagged glass walls that I could imagine. I cannot see how high the walls run from this angle, but they are a beautiful fusion of purple and blue glass. If I had to describe their jagged and spiky texture, it looks as if someone broke a gigantic blue and purple glass jar and then rebuilt the jar with the shattered ends of the glass facing inward.

{...Earl, this is simply incredible.} I remain quiet, allowing my mind to absorb what I am looking at. Glancing at the space beneath me, and then the walls in the distance, I add, ‘...but it seems much bigger than a mere mile like I was told.}

“Rhetorical Query: Does the Mistress expect this one to reconstruct the colossal firmament walls every time the Mistress wishes to expand slightly?”

{I… I mean, I do not know? I just assumed. I suppose I did not really consider the size of the walls and the effort moving them would require.}

Earl taps against the outside of the kiln with her nail, and I can hear a muffled sigh from within the empyrean. “Extrapolation: The firmament walls have been set at a five-mile diameter. It is far more efficient to build it at that diameter than tearing down the firmament and rebuilding it every time the Mistress wants another inch of space. The limiting factor for the Mistress at present is the exanimate ground of Tenebrous, not space. This one marked the true distance using Mistress’s snack.”

‘My snack?’ I look off in the distance, where I can just barely discern what looks to be a coffin, reflecting the violet light of the empyrean back at me. This coffin contains a Kiln that seems to be stuck or dead within it. Terra is meant to give me the key once I leave here, and Earl calls it my snack because she wants me to eat it at the first opportunity.

I eyeball the distance from the burning willow and the coffin, and then reluctantly say, {...But it still looks bigger than a mile to me? Is it not more than the standard 5,000 feet (1524m) per mile?}

“Statement: Apologies, Mistress. This one neglected to inform the Mistress that they now have more than a two-mile diameter of space around the leeching willow tree the Mistress may now seed. This is thanks to the number of fleshies Mistress and her devilish acolyte attracted to the Domain in the material world.”

{Why is Terra my devilish acolyte?}

“Response: It is because I see a speck of this Interface in that gaze of hers. The girl has high potential as Mistress’s retainer in the material realm, and further, she knows her place and has no qualms with the Mistress’s inherent Kiln nature and unquenchable need to devour. This one commends the Mistress’s foresight and charm displayed while acquiring her loyalty.”

‘I shall ignore the last parts… So Earl believes her to be both devilish and an acolyte… Still, that is the most positive thing she has ever had to say about anyone other than me.’

I return to staring at the floor. {So more than two miles? That’s a lot more space, Earl. I guess I can just make everything bigger and fill everything in with more vegetation… But do we have the seeds for so much land?}

“Response: It may seem that way to Mistress, but it is still only a fifth of the first floor’s available area. Furthermore, the Mistress’s retainer supplied many boxes of the varieties of seeds this one believes the Mistress wishes to use.”

‘I did ask for these seeds specifically, but she gave me so many extras?’

“Inquiry: Is the Mistress ready to begin?”

{Aye, I do feel a bit woozy, so I would not mind the distraction.}

Earl draws her arm back, moving me closer to the empyrean along with it. “Explanation & Statement: Mistress is still working; the Mistress won’t be able to maintain cognizance for much longer. So Mistress, just imagine the map the Mistress drew to the greatest possible extent. It is also a good idea for the Mistress to imagine the intent of the floor and the creatures that may inhabit it.”

{I understand. I am eager to finally do this.} I peer down at the nightmare that is the sterile wasteland known as Tenebrous. {Let us turn this empty Hell into a garden.}

“Response: It is not this one that the user should tell.”

The wiggling ropes of burning violet extend from the empyrean and attach themselves to every side of my shell. Only when there is just barely enough room for me to see the floor below do they cease.

“Statement: The empyrean and the willow hear the Mistress. They listen to her in the only way they are able, and they have but a single question.” The empyrean pulls me closer as if it is hard of hearing. “Query:” I can hear Earl as if she is whispering directly in my ear, “What does Mistress desire we make of the corpse of this realm?”

Everything goes totally silent; it feels as if the universe itself is waiting for my response.

I think back to myself sitting in the cave with a piece of paper and surrounded by books. The only things on it are the willow tree, the hill, and the words, “The Fairy’s Pantry.” It was a quiet night in between the first video and the awakening of Dr. Jäger.

It was just Terra and me, and I was having a difficult time deciding on what to do because of the limitations and the attention we were getting.

I looked up and found Terra writing down the names of plants. “I am not sure what I should do,” I remember saying. “I want my first floor to be one thing, but most people shall want something different.”

She stopped and thought for a moment. “When things were slow, and the Cosmic System was taking its time, I used to do a bit of writing for my students.” Terra points at her lap-top where someone is criticizing the design of the arc suit as too whimsical. “Your suit was designed by the best New York had to offer. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to satisfy everyone, but it doesn’t matter because that person isn’t our target demographic anyway.”

“Then I shall make it how I want… and I think I would like thy help in weaving a tale to help me remember.”

“Fine.” She smirked and then asked me, “So if you were a knight and wanted to go on an adventure in a foggy land, what would you imagine it looking like, and what would it entail?”

The empyrean wiggles.

{...I would imagine it being a land of plenty and ripe for adventure.}

After I answered Terra’s questions we spent some time discussing what makes a good adventure while weaving a knight’s tale around a map together.

I believe now is the appropriate time to run through that conversation.

{An adventure should begin with an inexperienced knight with an ultimate conclusion that is vague and cryptic at first. Yet when the journey is done, and the wise knight has returned home, they shall think back and wonder why the obvious questions and clear signs were so hard to see in the beginning. Finally, though the knight’s ultimate destination may not be clear, the knight should still have clear milestones.}

Pushing at the confines of my kiln, haze begins to spew from the kiln’s shell and encircles me. When my body is partly reconstructed, I tip myself forward so that my front is parallel with Tenebrous’s floor.

Gazing out over the barren ground the map from the knight’s tale overlays the blank expanse of Tenebrous and they become one and the same.

The empyrean’s threads unravel and stretch all across Tenebrous. I point and as if my finger is a quill I trace a big circle around the big willow tree beneath me. This shall be the location of a barrier that is dense with thick briers and tall, thorny hedges. Then just a few hundred feet north of the willow tree, I trace a second line running toward the west.

My map now looks as if it is a compass with an off-center needle that points west. With these barriers, the inexperienced knight shall be at first limited to the confines of the circle.

The strands of the empyrean descend downward, form a circle, and adhere themselves to the floors of Tenebrous. The violet flames ignite the cold marble surface. Everything beneath me turns into a fiery purple furnace as the flame takes the shape of a ring and then twists itself to resemble tall bushes as vines begin to rise.

It is as if Tenebrous is being softened and then rebaked into a new form.

Lost in the whimsy and lacking a fear of heights, I kick my legs so that my body tilts forward. Despite me being almost perpendicular to the floor, the empyrean manages to keep a firm hold of me.

Pointing straight down, I move my finger a distance away and then circle a smaller area around the grand willow tree. I continue running through my past discussion with Terra.

{All good adventures have a forbidden area that either has whimsical creatures or a monster within. Who knows what lurks within, the secrets it holds, and with it at the center of everything, it teases the knight at every turn!}

I move my finger as if I am shading in the smaller circle around the old Roanoke hill. Here is where an old forest of sequoia trees, ferns, moss, and lichen shall slumber. I then use my finger to draw a barrier to the east and west of the willow, leaving only the forest’s front and back accessible.

Tenebrous surface creaks as flames heat its marble surface. A high flame grows upward and around the area that encircles the grand willow. A forbidden forest for creatures of whimsy takes shape with the flames as small seedlings sprout within it.

{A good adventure begins in an unfamiliar place.} Looking to the west, I point at an area that will have a much bigger forest of redwoods and sequoias. {The knight must only have hints of what creatures may lurk around a corner because the forest is ancient, and creatures that were thought lost can nestle themselves in their lairs and breed new horrors.}

This forest is more scattered and easier to move in than the forbidden forest around the willow. The lesser forest is an excellent place for the knight to learn. Starting from the south, I use my finger to shade in everything from the west until it hits the barrier of briers. At first, in the most southerly point, I make the redwoods sparse, but the closer the forest migrates toward the brier wall in the west, the thicker it becomes.

Veins of purple light spread along the surface of Tenebrous. The violet flames leap from the veins and create a massive forest of lush fire.

In this ancient forest, I search for a place for the two gates. {Here, in this grove of towering trees, is where all adventures must begin. It is an alien place, a mystical place where even the air that the knight breathes seems old and experienced.}

The first gate, a gate for the people, I place in the most distant westerly corner where the two walls of briers meet. Then the second gate, a gate for the rich and destitute, I place in the southwest of the ancient forest. This will allow more experienced knights to skip the forest, but the second is for novices that are not ready for what is ahead.

There is a shimmer at the locations I specified. I shake my head. {The gates must be welcoming and surrounded by the beauty and the bounty the forest may offer those who wander it! It should resemble a hidden place a magical creature might inhabit and play tricks upon those that are gullible enough. It should evoke a sense of wistfulness like the knight has entered a land long forgotten by the kingdoms and people of man. This way, the knight may get a sense that they are experiencing something rare and special!}

With the ancient forest good enough, for now, I look toward the southeast.

I point and begin to trace the area with my finger. {Leaving the ancient forest, the knight will come upon a second forest. This one shall be full of cork and oak trees. It is a respite from the alienness of the first, but it is just as lush and full of its own dangers. Here the knight looks upon the old trees, flowers, small bushes, blackberries, bayberries, and fruit trees and breathes a sigh of relief as she shoves a handful of the berries into her mouth. She then drags herself forward.}

My eyes drift around the southeast and up to the northwest. This will be a location of a place I read about in the ecology book—one known as a cloud or fog forest.

{After the short respite the knight shall stumble upon a place of persistent fog with vegetation that consists of stalky trees, ferns, mosses, flowers, air plants. The huge amounts of short and green vegetation shall make it seem as alien a place as the ancient forest. }

Plants in cloud forests sustain and thrive in fog alone. They would be high up in the mountains where the clouds are slow, but according to Earl, the empyrean will create a continuous mist and fog around it. That is why I believe the nearby environment will be similar. Though I am not sure how many varieties of trees and other plant life I have for this area, I shall use everything that qualifies.

{When the knight moves through this foggy land, she will be able to feel it in her very bones. She knows that this place must hold some exotic secrets and she will search for them. The knight’s resolve shall be tested, however, and she will come to understand what it means to have a strong will.}

Finally, I trace my finger from the northwest to the west. This shall be a breadbasket for those that made it through the fog forest.

{For the knight that makes it, a reward: blueberries, exotic naranjilla and pineapples, bayberries, plums, figs, and beautiful flowers in abundance. The knight will recognize that it is an excellent place to camp and count her spoils.}

As I use my finger to pretend I am drawing in fruit trees, I continue the novice knights tale,

{Here, the knight cannot help but feel disappointed. The secret was not here, and she is still unable to brave the forbidden forest. Has she just been wasting her time? What has it all been for? The journey itself was a wonderful experience, but deep down, it feels bootless.} [1]

My eyes drift toward the opening between barriers at the north. I scrub away a small piece of the wall and add trees around it.

{The knight will sigh and fall onto her back. It is then the knight looks toward the break in the thorny hedges. Her eyes go wide when she sees an opening between two giant redwoods. It was hidden just out of sight. She cheers, waking her companions. The secret is still there; the reward was not superficial, but what could possibly lie beyond such foreign lands? This is uncharted waters. She had never heard mentions of an area beyond this point! So she will leap to her feet, turn, and yell at her companions, ‘Everyone, look, it’s an opening in the wall!’ Her companions will look over in disbelief. They will glance at one another, and together they will ask the same question, ‘What could possibly be beyond the central region of The Stained Tower’s first floor—the Fairy’s Pantry?’}

Below me, the whole land is enveloped in the violet flames. The flames take the shapes of trees, bushes, hedges, and everything I had described.

{Nay, adventures also reward those that remove themselves from the beaten path! There must be things to discover, places to drink to, and things to know that others do not! Half the fun is bragging about those sorts of things!}

I add the details to the map: hidden areas with the rarer of treats, places of rest or retreat, a grove of medicinal herbs, thorny blackberry bushes around the willow tree, more flowers for butterflies, redwoods near the entrance to the north as signposts, lighter grass or briers to goad people in particular directions, and numerous other small locations.

{This is what makes an adventure special!} I admonish the empyrean. {When the adventure is done, the knight shall wistfully remember the grove of flowers they discovered where there should have been none! Reminiscing is half of what knights actually do! Hast thou never spent a whole childhood thinking of these sorts of things!? I am surrounded by novices!}

“Warning: The Mistress must return to hibernation,” Earl’s muffled voice says.

My mind becomes more muddled. {But… but I wish to continue! I want to hide more pineapples, and I only finished one flower grove!}

“Declaration: Mistress has done well. The Mistress’s will shall be done to the extent that it is possible. There shall be many floors in the future, and we run low on all cloud forest seeds, so don’t fret; there is not much more that can be done.”

…

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......

...

My vision goes from dark to dim, and I can hear the sounds of water drops thumping against plant leaves. For a moment, I think I might have just woken up from my dream of New York and Tenebrous, and this is the sound of rain on the trees outside my Roanoke cottage. Except everything that has happened is beyond what my mind can dream up, so I know it cannot be so.

I am lying somewhere, but I am not sure where. ‘Every time I am unconscious, I wake up to something ridiculous.’

While lifting my head, I push off the ground and into a crouching position. I run my gaze across what is before me. What I find is that I am surrounded by a thick fog and trees so high I cannot bend my neck enough to see the top.

‘...Where am I?’ I stand and then look to my right, finding trees with trunks so big it would take twenty people to wrap their arms around it. I look to my right and see ferns thick with vegetation with tiny drops of dew on their leaves. ‘...’

I turn around. Behind me is a hill with rows of thorny bushes that are thick with blackberries. My gaze follows the towering figure of an enormous willow tree that is draped in violet flames.

‘I am in the center of Fairy’s Pantry?’ Looking higher, the empyrean is wreathed in clouds. ‘Fairy’s Pantry is real! It actually became real!’

The Mistress’s Interface:

The Mistress’s Interface detects a new fleshy champion!

Please, wait while the Tower’s Mistress assembles relevant information regarding the current floor.

Reminder: Never forget to give thanks to the Mistress, fleshies!

Seeing the wall filled with information, I push it away and then spin around in place, asking, ‘...Earl? Where art thou? Tell me what this is and why I am on it!’