Hallways, hallways, and more hallways.

Kisaki had been expecting the wonders of the universe to lay beyond her mother’s chambers – enough so that a single step would have fueled her imagination for years to come.

The seemingly endless maze of corridors she found herself in wasn’t exactly boring, but it was certainly a bit anticlimactic following her interactions with the quill-sword.

After a while, she began to suspect that would be the only memento of her trip. Yes, the passageways were quite opulent, lined with beautiful fineries such as vases, chalices, and suits of armor. There were massive, finely-detailed statues at some intersections, depicting beings she didn’t recognize but suspected to be some of the great heroes she’d read about in her lessons.

Nevertheless, exquisite as everything was, it was nothing out of the ordinary compared to what she’d seen in her own chambers. If this was all that lay beyond her mother’s abode, then she had surely risked a great deal of punishment for very little gain.

Soon, she began to consider returning. If she was back home when her transgressions were discovered, she could potentially minimize the damage, claim that she’d only visited her mother’s chambers. But she quickly dismissed those thoughts. To return now would be cowardly, especially after all this time planning and dreaming of visiting the outside.

Besides, she realized with a laugh, she was no longer certain she could find her way back if she wanted to. This place was truly vast and, in her haste to explore, she’d turned down several corridors with abandon, never bothering to note the way she’d come.

She had little choice but to continue forward.

Now to only hope she found something interesting before Shitoro found her.

♦ ♦ ♦

Kisaki let out a whoop of joy. She couldn’t help it. The little youkai standing at the far end of the corridor and staring back at her had been the first sign of life she’d encountered since leaving. Best yet, it was someone she’d never seen before.

Movement had registered in her periphery upon turning the last corner. At first, she’d thought it was a trick of the light, for it seemed that she was staring at nothing more than a shadow.

But then it had turned toward her, its glowing blue eyes staring widely over a mouth full of needle-sharp teeth. It was some kind of animal demon, a ferret perhaps, and the darkness she’d mistaken for a shadow was some kind of miasma, perhaps meant to conceal it. It certainly couldn’t have been an offensive weapon, for the creature inside the shadow was even smaller than Shitoro.

“Hello,” she said, bending down so as to be closer to its level. “I’m Kisaki.”

The youkai cocked its head to the side but said nothing.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” She took a step forward, then realized she was being foolish. The youkai gave no indication he was afraid of her. Also, it was quite likely older and wiser than she, thus there was no reason for her to be talking to it like a child. Yet, it was so cute, despite the miasma, that she couldn’t help herself.

The youkai muttered something, although she wasn’t certain if it was to her or not.

“Do you live here, too?” Kisaki asked, continuing to approach. How wonderful would it be if she could make a new friend. Even if nothing else came of her journey, it would be marvelous to know there was someone beyond her mother’s doors that was thinking about her ... who could potentially visit her and relay stories of what lay in other parts of the palace.

“I live in...” She paused as she realized she had no idea what directions to give. Instead, she simply hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “I live back that way somewhere.”

Again the ferret demon opened its mouth, this time seeming to ask a question. Kisaki was close enough to hear it utter a single word. “Who?”

“Like I said, my name is Kisaki. I live with my mother. Maybe you know her. Her name is Lady Midnite. There’s also Shitoro and...”

“Midnite?” it chirped in response.

“Yes. You know her?” Excitement started to build in Kisaki. If this creature knew her mother, then that made it all the more likely it could maybe pay her a visit from time to time.

“Mother?” the ferret asked.

“Yes. She’s my mother.”

The ferret demon lifted its head, the miasma dispersing around it. Kisaki’s heart soared as it took a sniff of the air, then abruptly crashed back down as the creature bared its teeth in a snarl and backed up a step.

“Wait, did I say something wrong?”

“Hanyou,” it snarled.

“What...?” But Kisaki was too late. The ferret youkai hissed at her, then turned and took off running down the hall. “Come back! I didn’t mean ... whatever I did.”

Kisaki chased after the ferret, but it was quick and apparently knew these halls much better than she. Several minutes and many more corridors later, she realized she’d lost it.

With a heavy heart, she stopped and wondered what she’d done wrong. The little demon hadn’t seemed overly friendly at any point during their brief interlude, but he’d only turned hostile at the mention of Kisaki’s mother.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Was it possible the little youkai was less than a friend to her mother? But why would an enemy share the same palace? Surely that made no sense.

But then, neither did a sword that turned into a feather quill.

The truth was, Kisaki was in uncharted waters. That she expected anything to make sense, based on her sheltered existence alone, was the height of naivety. Assuming she knew anything about this place or its inhabitants was foolish, something likely to only result in disappointment or worse.

She resolved herself to stop assuming and to start listening. If only Shitoro was here, he’d surely appreciate the irony that she’d finally accepted it was time to study and learn.

♦ ♦ ♦

“What is this place?” she asked herself.

Whatever it was, it more than made up for the endless corridors she’d walked down, doubled back on, and gotten hopelessly lost in.

This was more like what she’d hoped to find, something new amid all the sameness.

The octagonal room was large, bigger than her mother’s audience chamber, with expanding circles of polished metal inlaid into the floor. They started in the middle and grew larger as they moved further away from it.

The floor was certainly interesting, but it was the walls that caught her attention or, more specifically, what was in them. Multiple recessed shelves ran the length of each wall at varying heights. These shelves were filled with crystals of different hues, spaced a few inches apart, encircling the entire room.

Each seemed to shimmer with its own power, illuminating the room with myriad colors that seemed to be ever-changing as they danced on the walls and reflected off the circles in the floor. It was the most beautiful thing Kisaki had ever seen.

Despite her earlier despair at the botched attempt at befriending the ferret demon, Kisaki found herself glad this room was currently unoccupied. Something about this place made her want her first experience within it to be all her own.

She gingerly stepped inside, laughing as the lights danced against her skin.

Within moments, she found herself in the center of the room, standing within the smallest of the circles. It seemed as if the power of this chamber were converging upon her. She held her hands out to her sides and began to slowly turn in place, drinking it all in, marveling at what she’d found.

She would need to ask her mother about this room. What purpose it served. What the crystals were made of.

But perhaps that would best wait until after whatever punishment was in store for her came to pass. Kisaki’s mother wasn’t cruel, but it was wise to know one’s boundaries around her. Angering her further when she was already incensed seemed a poor idea.

That was for later, though. For now, this place was all hers.

After a time, she stepped away from the center and approached the walls and the prizes contained within. She walked along, following the outline of the room, her eyes drawn to the rows of crystals she passed. Soon she began to see a pattern, how the colors repeated themselves – thirteen crystals of unique hue, then they would start again, over and over. There had to be hundreds of them, maybe more.

Surely a few wouldn’t be missed.

Though she didn’t expect to get away with it, the thought of hiding them beneath her pillows, taking them out and marveling at them at night when the servants were either asleep or tending to other duties, was a compelling one for someone aching for new experiences in life.

Taking one of each seemed too risky to her. As many as were in the room, she felt that number might be too great to go unnoticed. But one or two ... maybe three of them? Surely, she thought, that wouldn’t seem out of place.

She spied one, black as night, the same color as her mother’s throne, and decided to start with it. She reached out, preparing to grab it, but then remembered what had happened when she’d first touched the sword in her mother’s chamber.

Kisaki hesitated for a moment, but then laughed at her own foolishness. This was nothing like that had been. A tiny pebble didn’t compare to a weapon. Besides, she wasn’t standing on top of a chair, practically begging to be overbalanced.

Nevertheless, it would be foolish to not exercise at least a little caution.

Finally, she agreed upon a compromise between the warring opinions in her mind. She reached out slowly to the black gem, holding her finger above it. Then, fast as she could, she placed it upon the crystal and just as quickly removed it.

Nothing.

She laughed at herself. Was this how it was going to be for every new experience she encountered? Some bold adventurer she was turning out to be. If the heroes from her scrolls were present, surely they would have laughed at her timidity.

That settled it.

She quickly snatched the black crystal from the shelf, braced herself, then laughed when again nothing happened. She opened her hand and found the gem sitting in it, looking no different.

A fitting souvenir of her adventure. She next decided on a greyish crystal. At first glance, it appeared drab and boring, but when she got closer, she could see it was multi-hued – the coloration more that of a stormy sky, or so she guessed. She’d never actually seen a storm in person, just through the imagery Shitoro sometimes conjured during their lessons. The thought fascinated her, though. Rain, wind, and lightning. Such an exhilarating change of pace from the normalcy of her life.

As those thoughts swirled through her mind, she felt the black crystal in her hand seemingly grow warm, but she dismissed it as nothing more than the gem taking on the warmth of her body.

She continued to stare at the grey crystal, letting her mind wander. Yes, this one reminded her of adventure, braving the high seas upon a ship, standing on a beach after a storm, battling enemies as lightning crashed overhead.

That one would do nicely for her new collection.

The crystal in her hand pulsed, shaking her from her reverie. For a moment, it had almost felt as if it had a heartbeat.

Kisaki shook her head. For all the wonders of this place, she wasn’t quite ready to believe that a rock could be alive. It must have been her imagination.

That reminded her she’d probably tarried long enough. Certainly someone would be along soon and, while she loved the thought of meeting new faces and possibly making a friend, she didn’t care to be caught in the act of selfishly purloining the contents of this place.

She grabbed the grey crystal she’d been eying and a red one sitting next to it, then quickly stuffed them into her pocket.

It was time to go.

But perhaps one more look at this wondrous place, so I can commit it to memory.

Glancing at the doorway to make sure no one else was in sight, she stepped to the center of the room again and slowly spun in place, taking it all in.

Marvelous as it was, though, her mind was still drawn back to the fantasies she’d conjured a few moments prior.

Yes, she thought, indulging herself. I am a great general and this is my secret treasure room, won after many hard battles against mighty warriors. She remembered the great celestial wars she’d read about, but it was the smaller, more intimate conflicts that truly fascinated her. The ones where victory was decided by the swing of a sword as kings battled each other one on one.

As she thought, she continued to turn in place, enjoying the multicolored hues of the many crystals. So caught up in her fantasy was she, that she didn’t notice that the circle she stood within had started to glow.

Battles, storms, lightning, the high seas, Earth itself. Though Shitoro had dismissed them as a low people, the humans fascinated her. For some reason, she was drawn to them and their history.

Truly, she thought, if there’s only one place in all the multiverse I could visit, it would be Earth.

The black crystal still in her hand pulsed again and then cracked open in her palm, releasing its energy.

Kisaki had only a moment to panic as a flare of white-hot light erupted from the circle on the floor and engulfed her.

And then she was gone.