My first sight was that of a girl’s head, sleeping with such ease that I didn’t think much of it at first. The bed’s softness, the ambient silence, and the subtle, yet comforting atmosphere of security that I thought I’d never feel again was more important to me in those first few minutes of wakefulness. After more time passed, it was only then that I remembered that I had gone to sleep alone.

Not quite together at that point, my first thought that maybe this was a dream. It wouldn’t be the first time I conjured up nonsense. Yet, my instincts told me that this was not it. The girl was real. She was breathing, sleeping, and upon closer inspection, naked. That fact echoed in my mind for a few minutes before I took it as a sign to avert my eyes.

“…Mmm.” The girl stirred, a signal for me put some distance. It was at that moment that I noticed my gear was nowhere in sight. A different kind of panic invaded my mind, a more urgent sense of fear which stemmed from a lifetime of hardship and battles. I felt vulnerable, weak, defenseless; a newborn amongst a pack wolves. I need to get my gear back.

But I must handle the girl first.

Moving as fast as I could without waking her, I slipped out of the bed. I checked the room’s wardrobe, clicking my tongue once I found that they were all filled with fancy, gaudy clothes, the kind that I despised the most. Thinking on how to delay dressing, I became aware of my odor.  I headed for the bathroom. I didn’t linger to enjoy the exquisite décor and various products with obscure effects, opting to instead rid myself of the stench that possessed me yesterday. Once I could no longer smell myself, I came out of the bath and grabbed a towel, making sure it covered my modesty.

The girl was still sleeping while I sorted through the rows after rows of expensive clothing, trying to find one that was not too gaudy and easy to move in. Uncomfortable with the sight, I pulled a large robe and placed it over the girl, who squirmed, but did not wake up. In the end, I settled for a set of copper and emerald clothes. They fitted me well, almost too well. I took a look in the nearest mirror to adjust a few things.

The man on the reflection looked tired, with taut, sunburned skin that was filled with countless scars. His facial hair was starting to grow again, thought it would take three more weeks before they becomes noticeable. I stared hard at the man’s eyes, wishing that the answer to all my problems could be found within its depths. The man did likewise. The standoff lasted for a minute before I sighed in defeat. Neither me or the man in the mirror could find what we were looking for in each other.

I finished my adjustments, and walked away, turning my attention towards the girl again at last.

“Who sent you?” I muttered, not expecting her to answer me.

“Uhm, nobody really. I didn’t know you were here. Sorry about that.” The girl responded with an apologetic tone, which confused me. When I looked at her closer, I noticed a shroud of white energy over her, so thin that it was almost invisible. Once I saw that, the shroud swirled into focus, becoming the girl’s mirror image.

“Nice to meet you, Alex Square. I’m Emily, though you can call me Emi if that’s too long. I’m your guardian.” The phantom girl grinned.

*

“Milady, can you please explain this?” I glared at the Lady sitting across the table from me, pretending to eat some vegetables.

“Alex, it’s rude to talk while eating you know~”

“Please milady, explain to me why she was in my room?” The person in question wasn’t even paying attention to us, gorging herself without a care in the world.

“She didn’t explain to you?” The Lady stared at Emily. The glutton stopped her feeding frenzy, swallowing the food in her mouth before she spoke.

“I did! He’s lying! I did explain. I even snuck in while he was sleeping so I wouldn’t forget to tell him, though I kinda fell asleep-Oh.” The Lady raised an eye and Emily squeaked, shrinking back into her pile of food.

“...I see. I didn’t think you were one to be troubled with such-”

“PLEASE. GET. HER. OUT. OF. MY. ROOM.” I stressed each word as much as I could without outright shouting them. The Lady sighed as she continued her charade, her fork hovering without real intent over food she didn’t need to eat.

“Alex, I can’t really do that. As long as you’re here, I need to make sure that you’ll be protected from any harm. Besides, you’ll hardly notice Emily. She’s one of our finest Stalkers here, appearances aside.” I turned to look at Emily. She was busy dismantling an entire chicken, oblivious to all outside distractions.

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“...I don’t have a choice in this matter, do I?”

“Yes, yes you don’t..” The Lady proclaimed with glee. Despondent, I ate my breakfast, determined to at least enjoy the meal I was given. I took my first bite, and was blown away by how mind-numbingly good it was. My hands moved faster, stuffing my mouth until I couldn’t breathe. I gulped it all down, throwing all notion of basic decency to the wind as I indulged in my gluttony.

“It tastes amazing, right?~” Emily floated into view in her ethereal form. I responded with grunts in between my chewing. Suffice to say, I ate my fill. I cleaned up with some help from the Lady’s invisible servants called sylphs. I was then escorted by them to meet with the Lady. Emily vanished somewhere along the way, which was an immense relief for me.

The Lady was waiting in a study room of sorts, sitting with a look of contemplation. Before her was a large basin suspended in mid-air, filled with water clearer than air, She noticed my presence, motioning at me to sit beside her. I pulled up a chair and sat opposite her instead. She frowned, but it couldn’t be helped. I’m not like her, free to do as I pleased.

“Alright, now that you’re stuffed for the day, let’s go straight at it. Do you know what this is?” The Lady gestured towards the basin. I shrugged, knowing that she’d answer that question on her own anyway, regardless of my reply.

“This is the Seeing Basin. It allows me, or someone with my permission, to perceive any area under my control. It can’t be fooled by any power, and will always reveal the true nature of whatever it’s looking at.” I looked at the item with some doubts, not because I wasn’t assured by the Lady’s claims, but more to the point that she presented it as though it had no drawbacks.

“How does one use it, milady?” A wry smile appeared on her face when I asked.

“That’s easy. Just grip the basin’s edge with both hands and think about the place you want to look at, and don’t let go. Give it a try now.” With no reason to deny her, I touched the basin. It felt like cold metal, which was odd since it was made of stone. The water on the basin shifted, churning abstract patterns and colors at a pace I couldn’t keep up. I realized that I was letting my subconscious dictated what I was thinking about, hence the chaos before me.

I took a deep breath and focused on myself, etching the image of the man in the mirror. When I looked at the basin, the water was still again, but only my face was reflected on it. Everything else was blurry. Now that I was set, I pondered about what place to look at first. Memories of distant places came into focus, but they were shady, unreliable. I finally settled for something more recent; the stream where I last cleaned myself.

I observed the water once I had the image firm in my mind. It had stopped churning without purpose, and was settling down. Soon, the sight of a stream was reflected on the water’s surface, the remains of fire I had built still visible by its edge. Not satisfied, my mind tried to recall the cliff where I faced off the tree monster, but a strange headache assaulted me. It felt like a piece of my memory was missing.

Confused, I let go of the basin. The image whirled into oblivion as soon as I did, the water turning back into its former clear and calm state. A sudden wave of fatigue hit me, but I stayed firm. The cost of using this Basin was lower than I had thought, but at least now I know it’s cost now. Nothing is free in this world after all.

“I’ve used it milady, but why are you showing me this? What is it you want me to see?”

“Oh, can’t I just want to show you one of my beloved artifacts? Can’t I?”

No.

“Tsk. You’re so stiff Alex Square.”

No, I’m not stiff. You were unreasonable.

“Fine, if you’re going to be that way-”An eerie feeling crept into her voice.”-then I’ll be serious too.” The complete change in atmosphere was unexpected for me. The Lady was still before me, still beautiful, still elegant, but now a sinister quality had infused itself into every part of her. My body stood up on instinct, telling me to run away and never look back. But my legs wouldn’t listen, rooted in place by overpowering fear.

“Do you know what my domain is, Alex Square? Do you? It has to be something related to animals, right? I mean, why else would I look like this? Or maybe I control the plants, and these are just displays for irony’s sake? What do you think Alex Square? I mean, you have opinions, right? Come on, tell me. It’s alright, it’s fine, I’m not mad. You can speak your mind here, no problem. Let’s hear what you have to say.”

“...forest?” My voice came out smaller than I expected.

“Oh, the forest? Nice try, nice try, but wrong~ That’s not it at all. Not that at all….” Her voice trailed off, leading to an unnatural silence that made me more tense than before. My eyes met hers by accident, but what I saw was more shocking than everything else. They were sad eyes, eyes that were out of place with her behavior.

In the next second, all of it was gone like a memory, leaving only The Lady I thought I knew staring at me with hollow eyes. I knew deities were mercurial, but this was beyond that. It was like…

I stopped my train of thought before it could go further. I didn’t walk into her domain to save her from the ghosts of the past. I had enough problems already without getting too involved with a goddess. Only one thing mattered to me, and that was the destruction of the demon Azeol.

“Alex … Square. I’m sorry … but … can you … please leave … now?” Missfit appeared at some point before I knew it, and guided me out. I was left with a strange mixture of feelings; relief, fear, anxiety, curiosity, disgust, and empathy. Not keen on staying close anywhere near the Lady at that time, I started walking to whatever looked more interesting than the rest. The doors had the very bizarre property of always opening to another place, even if their positioning made no sense.

After going through a dozen doors and twice that amount in rooms, I found myself in a public bath of sorts. The air was thick with steam, making it difficult to tell what was ahead. Not keen on dying a laughable death, I walked close to the walls, confident that I’d find a door by doing After a several steps however,  I heard something rise from the bath. I paid it no heed until ...

“Who’s there?”

It was a woman’s voice.