After the wedding had died down, and all of Stephanie’s guests went back to the states, it was time for me to spring my next surprise on the girls. I waited until I could talk to Steph and Anabel alone in the drawing room.

“Okay, girls. Remember how I said I’d pay for everything? Well I wasn’t just talking about flying everyone here and hiring caterers. I’m gonna send the two of you on a honeymoon!”

“Oh, Eric. You really don’t have to do all that,” Steph said, “you’ve done so much for us already. We know how you have a lot of planning still to do for your big confrontation with the Devil of Callist.”

“Yeah, Eric. Let us just take care of you for a while,” Anabel added.

I waved my hand dismissively and said, “Nonsense. Nothing but the best for you ladies.

Besides, this honeymoon isn’t going to cost me a thing except your absence.”

The girls looked at each other in confusion and then back to me. I produced my fathers journal. It was a token that once saw use in this house far more than it did as of late. Emily and I had practically memorized its contents and with as much time as I was spending in Callist, the information in it was pretty dated.

However, there was one world that I had not yet visited. The enigmatic seventh world, which just so happened to be the first world my father had ever defeated a Devil in. The world known as Canvas. According to my fathers notes, the world was an amazing wonderland, fit for recreational use when not under the threat of a Devil. Though it had been almost two decades since the last one there was defeated by my father. It would easily be another ten or fifteen years before another would rear its ugly head. In fact, my father had written as much about this world as he had Brasshaven, Bristol, and Callist! According to him, it was the epitome of safety. There was also confirmation of the world's tranquility from when Alabaster’s goon came back a few months ago. He had been sent there to find nefarious allies for his boss and returned empty handed.

I sat between the girls and showed them the pages of the journal. “See,” I said, “Canvas is like a magical playground. My father said there is a galleria of paintings that are like portals to other worlds. Special magic users, known as Craftsmen, had the ability to paint entire dreamscapes that can be visited by outsiders. These mini worlds can serve as places for rest, relaxation, even training! I want to take you two there to investigate things for myself and find a nice place for you to just get away and enjoy each other's company for a while. It’ll be like your trip to Monaco but on steroids!”

“Uhh, Eric,” Stephanie fretted, “you know I don’t like going down the well!”

“Oh, come on! It’ll be worth it. You won’t be going anywhere hostile. Besides, I’ll be with you until we find a good place. My dad wrote that the curator of the Canvas Galleria was one of his and Higgins most trusted allies in all the realms. See…”

I pointed to a section titled ‘Duchess Chanel’. The entry talked about how after the Devil of Canvas was defeated, she was installed as the overseer of the galleria. If ever I wanted to visit, I should seek her out first and get the rundown on things. Everything my father wrote in his entry about Canvas was glowing. It was a far cry from warnings of such worlds like Callist and World X.

“Well, I for one would like to go!” Anabel said. It made sense. She was far more outgoing about inter-realm travel than Stephanie was and she had visited far fewer places than Emily and Arduwan had, for better or for worse. Come to think of it, besides coming to my world, Anabel had never been to another world other than her own!

“What do you say, Steph? Anabel wants to go. And it’ll give you girls a chance to go on an adventure with me for a change. This one won’t kill you…probably.”

She gave me an unamused look and then looked over at Anabel before answering, “Oh, alright. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. We’ll just go for a few days though. A week tops!”

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Splendid! We’ll head out first thing in the morning.”

* * *

The next day, we all met down in the basement. Stephanie and Anabel packed a small suitcase and wrapped it in a trash bag to try and stop it from getting soaked in the well. Wraith, Arduwan, Apollo and Delilah were busy out back playing with Mischief so it was just Emily who saw us off.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go too?” I asked Emily, not wanting her to feel left out.

“No, it’s quite alright. I have this strange feeling that Canvas is going to be a big part of my life in the future. I’ll think I’ll wait until I’m needed before running off there.”

“Well, alright then. Don’t let the others burn the place down while I’m gone. Should be back in a few hours.”

“Eric!” Anabel screeched, “Don’t say things like that! I’ve had to put out one of Arduwan’s fires before!”

With that said, the three of us climbed into the well with the bright green stone from Canvas. The girls held on tightly to each of my shoulders as we sank to the bottom and disappeared into the void.

On the other side, we came up to a bright glowing sunny day! The sky was blue, there were white fluffy clouds. The opposite side of the well was up on a steep grassy hill that overlooked a lovely string of classical architecture. It had an almost Greek or Italian look to it. Directly behind us was a rockwall and in the opposite direction was the coastline of a beautiful ocean.

“Wow, not bad,” I said, “and this isn’t even what’s supposed to be impressive about this

world.”

I climbed out of the well and gave each of the girls a hand to come down. That’s when I realized, it wasn’t a well at all! It was like a large, green pipe! Something about it seemed awfully familiar. Anyhow, we followed the journal's instructions and went down the hill towards the buildings. You could see tiny stone paths that lead to and from the buildings from all directions. There weren't a lot of people around, but in the distance you could see scatterings of travelers on the paths.

We took a moment to dry ourselves off before making our way down the hill. That’s when I noticed something peculiar. “Stop,” I said, as I held a hand up to get the girls to halt for a moment, “Do you two hear that?” They both listened with me for a moment.

“It sounds like…music,” Anabel noted.

“Right. But where’s it coming from?” I asked, as we all looked around in every direction. The faint sound of a nostalgic tune permeated in the air. It was like light string instruments and keys accompanied by a basic drum beat. Very odd indeed, but strangely comforting. It added a lot to the vibe of this world.

After standing perplexed for a moment, we decided to continue down the hill towards the apparatus of buildings. Clearly, this was the galleria. My fathers notes mentioned that there wasn’t much too this world away from this location. The people were all peaceful and few in number. Most of them lived in the countryside or off on smaller islands. The real attraction was the galleria, where the uniqueness of the world shined.

As we got closer to the building, the architecture became more outstanding to us. It was an indoor/outdoor array of coverings that reminded me of pictures I’d seen of places like Santorini or Pompeii, but of course without the ruins. Everything was well sculpted and maintained. The floor even looked like it could be eaten off of, despite it being outdoors in some places. The walls were made of marble and stone and the floor was tile except where carpet laid.

We found an entrance and followed the pathways into a hall that took us to a much more indoor type of setting. The walls were lined with large paintings that draped all the way down to the floor. The artwork was intricate. So much so that it looked like you could just step right into them. And from what the journal indicated, you could!

Our instructions led us down the corridor and to the right where we eventually found ourselves in the rotunda. It was large and there were many paintings in this room. At the center of the room was a woman waiting for visitors. She was beautiful! She had silky smooth, ebony skin. She had bushy, curly hair that flowed out to both sides. And she wore an elegant pale blue and white halter top maxi dress.

“Greetings,” she said, with a smile and gave a little bow, “I am Duchess Chanel. I’ve been expecting you.”

I turned and looked at the girls. We were all confused. How could she have possibly been expecting us?

“He-hello,” I uttered, “My name is Eric Noble. You may remember my father.”

“Of course I do,” she replied, “the journal he left you surely mentioned me. Did it not?”

“It did!” I assured, “But it said nothing about how you would be expecting us. Do you have some kind of psychic powers?” Anything was possible I suppose. After all, the Oracle of Vale always joked about how he was expecting me and my comrades.

Chanel laughed a little and replied, “No. Nothing of the sort. It’s just, your father told me a day would come where you would likely come to visit. He expected it would be long before another threat arose here in Canvas. You must be oh so tired from your many battles and adventures.”

“Well, that’s true I suppose. But why did he tell you to expect me? It kinda feels like you’ve almost been anticipating my arrival.”

“Of course I have, Eric. You see…technically…I’m your stepmother.”

“My what?!”