Miyoko’s face suddenly turns bright red.

Miyoko: “Gabe! Why are you… I mean it’s ok that you are but… how did you… oh yeah I guess I left instructions… but now do you... “

Her words mumble together in a mostly unintelligible blur.

Grace: “You’re really pretty. Do you have any seeds? We are going to grow a garden!”

Miyoko suddenly notices Grace, who is holding my hand. She looks from Grace to me, then back to Grace, and lets out a sigh. Her shoulders droop visibly and she furrows her brows slightly, then kneels down to talk to Grace.

Miyoko: “You like seeds then? Come inside, and let’s see if we can find something that works for you.”

She looks up at me with a mixed expression on her face. I have no idea what is happening but it looks like this might be the right place.

Gabe: “Do you live here? Jade told us to ask for Alexa…”

Miyoko: “Alexa is my mom… and yes, I live here. All of us are still… single… and my family is really close. So we live together even though I work on the other side of the city.”

Miyoko: [I guess he didn’t find me using the instructions I left after all… and to make things worse, it looks like he’s married with a kid. Just like me to fall for a guy who is already taken. Dumb Miyoko. You’ll never learn, will you?]

Miyoko walks into the house and into a room just off the right of the entryway. The house is pretty big, with a huge staircase leading into the upper floors.

Gabe: “Your family lives here? This… this place is huge!”

Miyoko: “Well, it can seem a bit cramped when it’s full. There are ten of us kids, and we all have pretty strong personalities. Well, most of us do.”

Her face lights up for a moment, but then falls again.

Gabe: “And all of you sell seeds in the market?”

Miyoko: “Yeah! My mom and dad met in the marketplace when they were young. She was selling seeds, and he stopped and bought them. So it’s sort of a tradition for us as a family. No matter where we are, or what we’re doing, we make our way back home each Spring to sell seeds in the marketplace. Even Joan comes - she’s an adventurer and it’s the one time during the year when we get to see her!”

Her eyes light up as she talks about her family.

Miyoko: “We have a huge booth, and we sell seeds from all over the country… some are…”

She stops for a moment.

Miyoko: “A-am I boring you?”

Gabe: “Not at all! I love plants! By the way, this is Grace.”

Miyoko: “It’s good to meet you, Grace. My name is Miyoko.”

Grace: “Nice to meet you, Miyoko. Do you know Gabe?”

Miyoko looks at me quizzically.

Miyoko: [What kind of child calls her father by name? Am I missing something?]

Miyoko: “Yes, your daddy and I met a few weeks ago. I helped him get his clothes.”

She looks up at me: “Come to think of it tho… you’re wearing all sorts of different stuff now. What happened?”

My mouth is open. And I laugh as my face probably turns bright red.

Gabe: “Grace isn’t my kid. She’s from the orphanage. She’s… actually my apprentice.”

Miyoko’s eyes light up, and then cloud over as she looks at me with questions in her eyes.

Gabe: “It’s a long story. But Grace decided to become a Pacifist - which is my proficiency - and she has an ability that makes it possible to transfer to another dimension. We’re going to plant a garden there. There isn’t a ton of water, and there isn’t any shade. So we need plants that we can grow that won’t need lots of either of those things.”

Miyoko’s eyes glaze over for a moment.

Gabe: “It might be easier to show you. Grace, is it ok if we take Miyoko to the PAX Dimension?”

Grace: “Yeah! It’ll be fun!”

Grace runs to my side and grabs my hand. I reach out my hand to Miyoko, who looks at it with a trembling body.

Gabe: “If you’ll take my hand, I can show you what we’re talking about. It’ll only take a minute or so. It’s honestly easier to show than it is to explain.”

Miyoko looks up at me with mild fear in her eyes. Then she takes my metalcloth-coated left hand in hers. Her hands are warm.

Gabe: “Transfer to PAX Dimension.”

A golden light fills our vision, and words appear on a screen: [Transferring to PAX Dimension]

When the light dims, we are in the middle of a large, empty field. I call it a field, but it’s just dirt as far as the eye can see.

Gabe: “This is an alternate dimension that Grace and I can visit. We can’t leave anything here, or build anything here, but apparently we *can* brings seeds and other plants. I don’t know if the soil is any good… and we may need to bring water with us since I’m not sure where water is at, but this is what we have to work with. Actually, do you know much about soil or plants? Will a garden here work?”

Miyoko is still holding my hand. She kneels down to the ground and puts her left hand in the soil, lifting some up to watch it fall.

Miyoko: “The soil looks ok. Not too much clay, not too much sand. I don’t know about the nutrients inside, but Mother might be able to tell…”

She looks up at me: “Where...where are we?”

Gabe: “We’re in a place called the PAX Dimension. It’s a mirror image of the real world. Coming here, and going back, is something that Grace and I can do. And Lucia I guess.”

Miyoko: “Lucia?”

Grace: “Lucia is our friend!”

Miyoko looks at both of us quizzically, then carefully lets go of my hand to inspect the soil more closely.

Suddenly the air around us begins to blink red and a status screen appears in the air in front of me.

[Warning! All visitors to PAX Dimension must remain within the range of [touch]! Any visitors outside the range of [touch] will be forcefully ejected at cost of [100% of current points] after 30 seconds!]

Miyoko reads the screen, turns bright red, and takes my outstretched hand.

Gabe: “Is it ok if we go back?”

Miyoko: “Oh. Yes.”

Gabe: “We need to stand exactly on the footprints to go back home.”

Miyoko: “H-home?”

Gabe: “Yeah. Back to our dimension.”

We stand on the footprints.

Gabe: “Return from PAX Dimension!”

[Returning from PAX Dimension. Reminder that all* items taken from the PAX Dimension or left behind will be destroyed. *Excluding plants and seeds]

We’re back in the side room of Miyoko’s house. A little boy - maybe 8 or 9 years old - comes running into the room and hugs Miyoko’s legs.

Little boy: “Miyoko! Miyoko! Where were you? I heard you but I couldn't find you! I looked everywhere! And who are they?”

Grace: “I’m Grace.”

Little boy: “I’m Tyler!”

Miyoko: “Tyler, is Mom home yet?”

Tyler: “Yeah! I told her you were home but she didn't believe me! She said you work too much.”

Miyoko: “Well, that's just because I love my job.”

Tyler: “Yeah but you hate your job and your mean boss… you told me that you hate your job.”

Miyoko’s face turns red: “Could you just go get Mom?”

Tyler runs from the room: “Mom! Mom! Mom! Miyoko wants you! Mom!”

Miyoko: “I guess you've met my youngest brother now. There are ten of us. Like I said before, it can get pretty busy here.”

Gabe (smiling as I listen to Tyler yelling in the background): “It sounds like it.”

A few minutes later a short woman walks into the room.

Woman: “I’m Alexa. Miyoko, are these friends of yours?”

Alexa is a short woman with distinctly Japanese features. Dark eyes, pale skin, round face… except for one thing. She has short, shockingly red hair.

She notices me staring at her hair and laughs.

Alexa: “The red hair is from my father’s side.”

Miyoko: “Gabe, can we take my mom the same place we just went? I think it'll be easier to easttexplain to her if we can show her.”

Gabe: “I think so. I'd just have to leave Grace here… is that ok?”

Tyler (who has returned to the room): “Yeah I can take care of her you know.” I'm pretty sure he’s only a few years older. Lol.

Alexa: “Going somewhere? What do you mean, Miyoko?”

Miyoko: “Just take Gabe’s hand, and don’t let go.”

We transfer to the PAX Dimensions.

Alexa: “This… this… this is the city, isn't it?”

She subconsciously removes her hand from mine as she kneels to the soil. Red lights and warning signs shout at us, and she looks around in slight fear. I take her hand again, and the warning lights stop.

Gabe: “Just don’t let go of my hand.”

She kneels down again to inspect the ground.

Alexa: “W-what is this place? I recognize the soil… but this is impossible!”

Gabe: “I think this is an exact recreation of the city area, before the city was built. There aren’t any basements or foundations, so maybe this is what the world looked like, before plants or animals or people were added to it. At least that’s my guess.”

Alexa: “This soil is the same soil that we have in our garden. Fountain City is an incredible place to grow crops - almost anything will grow here… but somehow no one realized that until after all the buildings were built. Do you know if there’s a water source?”

Gabe: “We saw a lake up on the mountain when we came here before. But I don’t see any water here. Do you know if there is any water nearby?”

Alexa: “Fountain City was named that way because of 9 natural springs - fountains - that were here in this area.”

She draws in the dirt with her free hand.

Alexa: “One is at the center, and the other eight are in the eight cardinal directions. North, Northeast, East, etc.”

She marks the locations of each of the fountains.

Alexa: “If you go to one of the places where there is a natural fountain, you’re sure to find water. And that would be a perfect place to plant. What are you planning to grow? Fruits? Vegetables? Flowers? Actually…”

She stands up and looks up to my eyes.

Alexa: “Who are you?”

Miyoko: “Mom, meet Gabe. Gabe, this is my mom. Mom, I met Gabe at the clothing shop a while back. He somehow showed up in the city…”

Her face turns bright red and she begins to cough.

Miyoko: “I-I helped him find some clothes when his… um…”

Gabe: “Miyoko was really nice. She gave me clothes and was a friend to me when I didn’t have anyone else I could rely on.”

I turn to Miyoko.

Gabe: “I actually tried to find you using the directions you left. But it was really late at night. And I couldn’t figure out how to read them. I was trying to use them as coordinates, or radial coordinates, but I wasn’t sure if you were going from the city center or the edges…”

Her face looks at me questioningly.

Miyoko: “What do you mean? I gave you the number, right? You just go to the Adventurer’s Guild office, give them that number, and they send a message that arrives on the device here at home.”

Wait. Really?

I was 100% sure that she had told me to find her using the piece of paper.

Oh well. Now it’s *my* turn to have a red face and feel stupid.

Alexa: “Well, if you young’ins are finished, I’m ready to go back to my house please. This place is interesting… but it’s far too lifeless for me. I feel like the mana is being sucked out of my bones!”

Gabe: “Sure thing! Return from PAX Dimension!”

After we get back, Alexa turns to me.

Alexa: “Miyoko seems to trust you. And you could have done whatever you wanted in that dimension of yours. What you are about to see, you must never mention, to anyone, ever. Under any circumstance, do you hear?”

Gabe: “Yes Ma’am.”

Alexa: “If the crown princess threatens you under penalty of death to tell her what you see, what will you do?”

I begin to sweat nervously.

Gabe: “Um… try to convince her not to kill me? I’d probably transfer to the PAX Dimension honestly at some point, but that would probably be a problem since I don’t have unlimited points… Maybe I should start stocking up points to prepare for something like that…”

Alexa is staring at me: “Would you tell her?”

Gabe: “No. When I make a promise, it’s a promise. I’m not going to break it. You have my word.”

Alexa (sighing out): “Alright. Miyoko? Get the drapes.”

Miyoko closes the drapes and locks the front door. I feel a bit nervous.

Alexa places her right hand over a massive armoire on the center of the wall and quietly whispers words I can’t understand. A brilliant green light emanates from her palm and thousands of tiny runes spread out along the wood like vines. The same green runes wrap around the back of her hand, go up her arm, and cover her face. Her eyes glow green, and her hair changes from brilliant red to vibrant green… then she suddenly disappears.

Miyoko: “Quickly! We only have a few minutes!”

She quickly opens the armoire, and there, standing on the shelf, is a small dryad.

I had always expected dryads to be… human sized. But I can definitely tell this is a dryad. It looks to be made of exceptionally smooth wood, has long brown… leaves? Needles? Leaves? For hair, and eyes that look like jewels.

The dryad speaks. The voice reminds me of what you would expect from a tiny elf. High-pitched, shrill, and very angry.

Dryad: “Who dares to wake me from my slumber during the heat of Autumn’s gaze? Shall I visit you with famine or with disease, you insolent wench?”

Miyoko: “Oh great Seed Spirit, I seek forgiveness for my folly. I have brought a gift.”

She opens the first drawer in the armoire and pulls out a small seed, then holds it in her outstretched hands with her head bowed.

The dryad takes the seed and speaks: “This seed… it was plucked from the mountains far above the coastline, in a place so barren that the tree had given up all hope. You have given this seed hope… and so I will forgive you.”

She turns to me: “But you! You I will not forgive! How dare you wake me from my slumber!”

Gabe: “I-I too have a seed…”

I fumble in my pocket and find the Haruka seed, place it in my hands, and follow Miyoko’s lead by stretching them forward while bowing at the waist.

I feel a brushing against my hand, and a faint sound after a few moments. I look up, and the dryad is crying.

Dryad: “This seed… this seed… this seed is from a mother’s heart. Hope for a lost child. Love for a community. Love of nature. A plant that gives hope and light and fresh air to all those around it…”

She turns to me.

Dryad: “Why did you wake me? I know it was not to give me this seed. But thank you for allowing me to see it.”

She places the seed back into my hands. Phew! I didn’t want to give her the Haruka seed! I want to grow it!

Gabe: “Um… well…”

Miyoko: “Great Seed Spirit, he requests seeds for a garden.”

Dryad: “A garden? But it is in the midst of Autumn’s gaze! The seeds I give must be planted in the early boughs of Spring! If you plant seeds before Winter’s bleakness, then all of them will die!”

Gabe: “The place to be planted is free from Winter’s bleakness, oh great Seed Spirit. It knows only Summer’s heat. And I promise I will water them and care for them.”

Dryad: “Then I shall meet your request. Put forth your hands.”

Miyoko hurriedly grabs two small bags from the armoire and hands one to me. She opens it and bows her head toward the ground, the bag reaching toward the dryad. I follow her lead.

After a few seconds, I begin to hear light tinkling sounds. I steal a peek upwards towards the dryad, and she is looking directly at me. Off the edges of her fingers hang tiny seeds, which are falling into Miyoko’s bag and mine. A minute or two passes, and Miyoko’s head is still bowed. I stay in the same position. Then there is a small flash of green light, and Miyoko suddenly jumps up. She slams the armoire shut and locks it with a small green key.

Wait. Did anyone unlock it beforehand?

The green runes on the armoire shift and flow back toward the key, which shines in a green light. Then, slowly, the key changes, and it becomes… Alexa?

I’m not sure how that worked. But Alexa is standing there, the green runes going from her body back into her hand, and the armoire returning to its original brown color. When the last green rune disappears, she slumps to the ground.

Miyoko rushes to her side: “Mom!”

Alexa: “Did she give you seeds?”

Miyoko shows the small bags of seeds and Alexa continues: “I was afraid she would be angry… your father is the one who can sweet talk her best…”

She passes out on the ground.

Miyoko lays her against a cushion set on the ground next to the armoire.

Gabe: “Does this happen every time?”

Miyoko: “Not every time… but we don’t usually call upon the Seed Spirit except in Spring, when her power is strongest. Any other time of year…”

She looks at her mom.

Gabe: “Well… thank you.”

Miyoko: “Here are the seeds for your garden. Make sure to plant all of them today. Seeds touched by the Seed Spirit are enchanted with little bits of her soul, and she won’t regain the energy she used until the seeds are safely inside the earth. And since Mom is the key to contacting the Spirit…”

She looks at her mom again, then up at me.

Gabe: “Ok. I’ll go plant them right away. I’m thinking that the garden will probably be near the church. Well, in the PAX Dimension, near where the church would be if it was in that dimension. Oh, you know what I mean.”

Miyoko laughs: “Yes. I finally understand what you mean. And thank you. I’d come with you but… someone has to take care of Mom. And I can’t really leave that to Tyler.”

Grace and Tyler run into the room at that moment.

Grace: “Gabe! Can we go now? Tyler showed me his stuff but he said the PAX Dimension is boring! I want to plant the garden!”

Tyler looks sheepishly at the ground: “But it *is* boring! There’s nothing to do there! Just dirt!”

I laugh.

Gabe: “Yes. For now there’s only dirt. But soon we’ll have a garden. Let’s get going Grace. Thank you Miyoko. And thank you, Tyler, for taking care of Grace.”

Tyler’s face turns red. And so does Miyoko’s. She stands and walks me to the door.

Miyoko: “If…” she stutters: “If you want to come back sometime, sometime when you don’t need seeds, that’s ok!”

Gabe: “I’ll do that! I still have to get your help finding better clothes, remember?”

Miyoko: “Yeah!”

Grace and I make our way back to the church.