Contrary to my expectations, the cliff face wasn't torn apart. On closer inspection, the rock on either side seemed to be made for one another. I admired the artificial nature of these rocks. While doing so, thoughts about the Lady surfaced in my mind.

Was she the one who did this? Was I going to my death? To either be enslaved to an unreachable beauty, or to become sustenance for the forest and its beasts? Was this my fate?  Questions floated like foam in my mind, but no answer came to disperse them.

Lost in my thoughts yet again, I stopped when I saw something blocking my way. It clarified itself as a stone gate. Somewhere along the way the path led entered into a cave. Illumination came from the same type of mushroom I saw back on the forest canopy. Unfamiliar scripts were written on the door's surface.

One touch told me that this was not a door that strength alone could open. I contemplated on turning back facing this dead end, but where do I go? I sighed. No use complaining about things you can't change. I could wait for the Lady, or set off on my own. An unpleasant decision either way.

"Going somewhere?" Honey-laced words slithered into my ears. A pair of slender but powerful arms embraced me from behind. I stopped breathing once I felt the Lady's modest bosom on my back. I'm trapped. Her breath carried an intoxicating sweet and spicy scent that made my will waver. I forced myself to remain calm in spite of her tempting scent.

"Where are you taking me, milady?" The Lady ignored my question, and traced a finger down from my stomach to my chest. Using her sharp nails, she drew something on the hardened leather surface. She finally stopped once she reached my neck. Satisfied, she released me and walked into view, the dim lighting enhancing her esoteric appearance.

"You were thinking of leaving, weren't you? Well, I can understand the feeling. But, I can't let you go yet. Not when you've come so far already, Alex." She snapped her fingers. The strange words on the stone door shimmered. They combined to form obscure symbols. Tar seeped out of them, covering every inch of the door until it was similar to a silhouette.

The Lady then walked towards the door, beckoning me to follow as she entered the murky surface. I followed suit. The tar was thin. Total darkness reigned. I felt weightless. I could've mistaken the other side to be an empty room. Over time, my senses returned to me.

A magnificent tree entered my view, radiating power. Spirits, fireflies, wraiths and things I have no names for crowded the air around this tree in swarms. As more time passes, the sight before me becomes more vivid. So surreal and fantastic that perceiving it got painful by the minute. Before it became too great, a familiar sensation of strength entered my body. The pain was gone, but the shock remained.

I felt the grass on my hand, and my mouth was bitter and sour. The Lady's thought-tendrils enveloped my consciousness, supporting it. I did not expect it, but I welcomed it nonetheless. I reached out for something to hoist myself up, and a firm hand obliged.

"You're holding up better than I expected. Most people would've died by now, and the rest completely mad. What do you think about my home?" The Lady was once again talking in a carefree manner, beaming with enthusiasm. A part of me wondered why she acted this way.

I turned my attention towards the sight that almost killed me; the garden forest, which regarded me with a palpable wariness. The great tree was still there at the center, but now I can notice other things about it. Stairs, doors, windows, balconies, and countless other minute details adorned the tree. These gave it a fortified but elegant look.

"It looks wonderful, milady." I looked at the Lady with a rare show of admiration, but the Lady did not respond. Her face was lovely as always, but I can't help but feel like a dejected aura had fallen upon it. She also seemed to be muttering something, so I moved closer to hear her better.

"...Why are you going with that? Why can't you just ... never mind..." Completely at a loss on how to respond, I steered my sight away from that awkward scene.

I then looked back, half-expecting a similar stone gate to greet my sight. But only trees were in view. They were surreal, multi-colored trees, with fantastic features, but still trees. I took the view with little interest. While doing so, I caught sight of something looking back at me. Before I could see what it was, it had vanished.

"? Is there a problem?" The Lady's peculiar atmosphere was now gone, and she looked at me with a curious look.

"No, it's nothing." I averted my eyes from her inquiring gaze.

"...As you wish. Don't wander off." She began walking on a path which revealed itself out of nowhere. Not keen to stay, I followed suit.

The great tree was even bigger than I expected, one of its smaller doors alone towering over me. The Lady led me to a large double door, an arching edifice that that could only giants could have used. But, after a closer look, I noticed that this door, as well as the others, had no handle and hinges. Seeing that the Lady was not stopping, I decided to do the same.

"... ... ... ..." The Lady used the Unheard Speech. It was what I've decided to call the incomprehensible language she used. With a thunderous groan, the door moved forward. It shrank while doing so, until it was finally human-sized, another candid display of power by the goddess that I could never get used to.

We entered. The interior was plainer than I had expected. Every furniture looked more like it was grown rather than built piece by piece. There was a mild, bitter tinge to the air that felt familiar, like a drink I hadn't tasted in quite a while. I found myself feeling a bit confused at the sensation. Like I had forgotten something very important. Only after smelling this air that I remembered that I had forgotten something.

"What is he doing here?" An oppressive aura pressed down on me as I took another step. It came from a deer. Upon further examination, I realized that it was the same deer I had met several hours before. It was resting in a depression but stood up when it saw me. It snorted and stared straight into my eyes. Not keen on agitating it, I averted my eyes.

"You two have met already? Interesting." The Lady looked back and forth from me to the deer with inquisitive looks. The deer remained silent, and I as well. With slow, deliberate steps, the deer approached me until I could feel its tepid breath on my face.

"I don't like you. Only two fates await humans here, but you have not suffered either one. If you're not gone in one day, I will kill you. Now, look at me." A strange sensation compelled me to face the deer. They were not "hollow" like the Lady's eyes. Instead, it had an understated maelstrom of fury waiting inside. This fury invaded my mind in unassailable waves of distress and fear.

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"Alright, that's enough Hegha. Can't you act more like your namesake?" The Lady clapped. The deer's mental chokehold did not stop, though. The ominous atmosphere lasted for a few more minutes.

Something else entered my frayed mind. It pushed aside the deer's killing intent. It felt cold and serene, like a perfect summer night.

"... ... ... ... ... ... .... .... “The presence used Unheard Speech to address someone. I looked around to see who had helped me. Yet, a new face did not appear. Only me, the Lady, and the spiteful deer. It was then that I felt a frigid wind pass through me. This was no ordinary wind. There were no open windows or doors. It passed through me again, the cold sensation clearer than before.

It was while I became entranced with this sensation that it revealed itself to me. Transparent to the point of invisibility, it was something I never saw before. It floated in the air as though it was water, with fragile tendrils that expanded into fans as it moved. The "body", I assumed, reminded me of the way that ribs juts out from a spine. Instead of ribs, though, said tendrils bundled together into knots. These knots were then attached to a crystal of some sort, the only part of this creature that looked solid,

"You can't ... do that ... Hegha. He's ... a guest. Be ... nice." A distinct shrill voice came out from the creature's core. It reminded me of a child's voice, though I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. For once, I saw the deer's hostility fade, changed into contempt. It seemed that "Hegha" respected the words of this creature. More so than the words of the Lady, which intrigued me.

"...Fine. But my warning stands, human. Stray far from the paths, and you're dead." Hegha walked away. I breathed a sigh of relief once he was out of sight. I then noticed that the Lady was looking at me with a bemused expression on her face. It disappeared when she noticed I was looking back. Her eyes was still unnerving, so I turned my eyes to the intriguing creature that had saved my life.

"Greetings. I am ... Missfit. I serve ... the Lady ... as her ... Illusion Master." Missfit bowed, or at least, that's how I interpreted what it did as bowing.

"Given the ... precarious nature of ... beings like ... us, the Lady ... has seen fit ... to make .... most of ... everything here ... hidden … so as to be ... tolerable to other ... living things. It did not ... seem to ... work, though, until ... you arrived. I am grateful ... for that. Thank ... you." Remembering what Missfit did earlier, I held out a hand to stop Missfit from bowing. I felt awkward that a magical being was thanking me for not dying to something it devised. I then looked straight into the Lady's eyes, resisting the urge to avoid those esoteric orbs.

"Milady, how much further? I don't want to waste your time pandering to the likes of a simple traveler." For a moment, I swore something appeared in the Lady's "empty" eyes.

"It's better if you leave it up to me what a waste of time is like, Alex Square. I hate preconceptions." Her words cut close, and I shut my mouth. She moved again, Missfit bowing as she passed it. Another thing I noticed about gods and goddesses. Identifying them by gender is a nightmare.

Taking care not to walk alongside the Lady, I gathered my scattered thoughts. I pondered about the nature of Hegha, Missfit, and the Lady in particular. Judging from the way Hegha addressed the Lady, it seems that she's not well-liked. And put in a difficult situation with my existence. Missfit seems to tolerate me with its loyalty to the Lady, but Hegha ...

I need to watch out for him.

*

Even more hours later, the Lady finally released me from her endless touring of her house. She kept deflecting my questions about her supposed "answer". I suspect she never wanted to in the first place. Which means I'm trapped in the nest of monsters.

Luck has abandoned me.

She gave me a spacious room, with all the amenities one might find a capital city. I tried sitting on the bed and almost sank out of sight. Still wary of hidden surprises the Lady might have for me, I kept my gear on. I placed myself facing the door, with my back against a large window. I paid no heed to the view at first, but a chance glance forced me to take a better look.

The night was not dark. It was alive with pale lights. The trees were alight, the streams were glowing, and the air was shimmering. It was then that I realized that this tree was higher than the forest canopy. I could see the sky. Invigorated, I stood up and strained my eyes for the horizon. But it was no use. The twilight shade was even throughout, which made me doubt if up was up and if down was down.

"Enjoying the view? It's night now, though. Not much to see if you're a human."

The Lady's sudden appearance surprised me. I almost drew my sword. She chuckled.

"Alex, I'm sorry you have to wait this long to get some answers. Things here are not as clear cut as you thought them to be." Her words confirmed my suspicions.

"I didn't know gods practiced politics." I tried to joke. The Lady's face stayed serious.

"I'm not here as a ruler, Alex Square. I'm a warden, with far too few enforcers. Not enough for the kind of things I oversee anyway. Hegha is proof of my vulnerability." Silence reigned before I spoke out.

"What do you want from me, milady? I'm a simple adventurer. A human one at that. What can I do against beings of great power?"

"You can kill one."

"How? Whom? Wh-" The Lady put a finger on my mouth, stopping the stream of questions pouring through. She then grabbed hold of my chin, bringing her face closer to mine.

"Do you want to get out of here or not?" Something flickered in her eyes when she spoke those words. I could've sworn it was an emotion. What emotion it was, though, I didn't know. All the things I wanted to say died in my throat.

I nodded. A smile was on her face as she stepped back. That smile was not like the others before it. It was evil. A force that brings ruin to any it encounters. And it's interested in me.

"Oh right. Your answers. What do you want to know?" My mind failed as I try to register what she said.

"Excuse me, can you repeat that again?" I tried to contain my growing excitement. The Lady seemed capricious by nature.

"You said you wanted information about Azeol. Well, I have them. Not a complete picture, but better than yours anyway. Sit with me." She sat on a chair. So did I. I wasted no time asking the most important question.

"Where is he?"

"In the Demon World. Your guess is as good as mine to what he's doing there." I frowned on hearing her answer.

The Demon World. I've scoured every book I could find on the subject. None was convincing, buried in endless speculation and the author's imagination. Some religions have identified it as the titular Hell. Others deny it exists at all. They all agree in one point, though. It's the source of all Evil, home of Death and its agents. How else would people describe the home of beings so against their existence?

I can understand their concerns. A bit too well. Personal loss tends to cloud people’s better judgment, revenge moreso, if only because it’s such an empty thing. It neither fills or widens the void inside. I understood that after many decades. But the fact stands that I got wronged. If life is not for the things you love, what's it for?

I loved my family. A demon killed them. So that demon must die. I could die here now, or a week, or a month, or a year, or a decade later. That doesn't matter. I'll find a way back. I must find a way back. I'm nothing if I don't.

"Want to know how to get in?" While lost in my thoughts, the Lady's thought-tendrils intruded my mind. They were different from before, not seeking to take, but to give instead. All I had to do was to open myself. It was more tempting than any seduction. Do it, I heard a part of me whisper. Once can't hurt.

"Milady, please don't." The whispers stopped.

"Your reasoning is strange even for me, Alex Square. But it is interesting. I'll ask you again. Do you want to know how to get into the Demon World?" It didn't take a mind-reader to know what I wanted then. But a verbal confirmation erases all doubts.

"Yes."

"Alright then. I'll leave you alone now. Rest. Don't open your door. Sleep. See you in the morning." The Lady stood up and left. I watched her until the door closed. The exhaustion that I had kept at bay for so long finally broke through. I stayed awake long enough to take off my gear before I went under. The bed smelled nice. At least that'll help me face my dreams.

Good and bad.