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Once upon a time, in a place far beyond the edge of the world, there was a mountain. At first, it may seem an uninteresting statement, but this mountain was no normal heap of stone. Its bottom stretched to eternity; it was an infinite mountain never declining to the mortal realm. Rising upward, the mountain did not have a peak, but it wasn't infinite. Like it was sheared with a giant's cleaver, the mountain did not cap but suddenly ended in a flat high-up mesa where snows and clouds blanketed in equal shares.

It is on this mesa, atop an infinite mountain beyond the edge of the world and above the mortal realm, where our story plays. Up here, there was a happy village built atop a giant cloud clinging to the mountain. To us of the mortal world, it was called the Divine Realm, but to the many animals of the mountain, it was simply called: home. And of all the animals in the world, Monkey was by far the most playful.

Every animal in the village followed their own rules and beliefs, and they continuously worked on maintaining their rigorous vocations. Not Monkey, though; Monkey was different. Monkey had no rules except for the rules of games, and he didn't believe in much beyond the joy of play.

While wandering through the village Monkey found Ostrich idly sitting in a corner with nothing to do. Surely Ostrich would rather play than mope in a corner. Monkey ran over to Ostrich and happily called out. "What about you, Ostrich? Would you like to play with me?"

Ostrich did not even give Monkey a second thought. "I am far too busy to be playing with you Monkey, I must tend to my eggs so that the future generations of the village may prosper." She sat over her eggs, trying to keep them warm and comfortable.

Disappointed Monkey shoved his hands to his pits and snooted his nose as high as it could snoot. "Fine, fine, that is fine! I will just find someone else to play with!" Monkey stormed off angrily and went to look for someone else to play with.

While marching through the town, Monkey came across Pig, who was simply staring at a bunch of troughs laid before him. Monkey had no need for boring old Ostrich when he could play with Pig. Monkey ran over to Pig, excitedly waving and called out. "What about you, Pig? Would you like to play with me?"

Pig snorted. "I am far too busy to be playing with you, Monkey. I must manage all of the food supplies so that the village may be properly fed." Pig paid the bare minimum attention to Monkey while he calculated how long each trough of food would last.

Monkey's smile twisted upside down, and he stomped his irate foot as hard as it could irritably stomp. "Fine, fine, that is fine! I will just find someone else to play with!" Monkey stormed off angrily and went to look for someone else to play with.

Monkey could not understand why no one ever wanted to play with him. He could not understand why they felt that any of these other things were so much more important than Monkey.

While stewing in his mind, Monkey came across Tiger playing with a ball. Monkey had no need for boring old Ostrich nor for fat grumpy Pig; he could play with Tiger, and best of all, Tiger was not doing anything important; he was already playing! Monkey ran over to Tiger and called out. "What about you, Tiger? Would you like to play with me?"

"No." Tiger did not even waste time giving Monkey an explanation. Tiger had always considered himself better than the other animals; even though he wasn't doing anything important, he still wouldn't play with Monkey. Well, that just would not be acceptable. If Monkey could do one thing, it would be to teach the other animals how to have fun. Monkey jumped over to Tiger and stole his ball.

"Come on, Tiger, why do you get to play all by yourself. Let's play ball together." Tiger growled the scariest growl the world had ever heard, but Monkey was not deterred. Monky swiftly hopped away from the infuriated Tiger and teased him with the ball.

Tiger yelled out in a rage. "I was not playing Monkey! Now give it back. That's a special ball!" Tiger then roared a ferocious roar that shook Monkey to the bone and made the nearby clouds cry their rain. This time, Monkey was scared, and as he leaped through his skin, so terrified he was, he accidentally let go of the ball.

Out from his fingertips, up into the sky, and right past some birds, the ball flew by. Monkey and Tiger, both frozen still, their necks craning grossly as they looked up and up. And then. A brief pause. Then, their necks started to crane down and down. Passed the birds and the crying clouds, and with the softest of puffs, it crashed straight through the cloud floor and rolled its way down the infinite mountain to the mortal realm. "Oops."

"MONKEY!" Tiger, in an unimaginable frenzy, jumped onto Monkey, sharp claws pinning him down and bloody fangs barely restrained a breath from his neck. "Monkey, you WILL go down to the mortal realm, and you WILL get my ball back! For if you don't, I will personally tell Pig he won't need to worry about my portions of food for a while. UNDERSTOOD!?"

Monkey's once naive bravery wholly disappeared along with his soul and bowels, leaving only a petrified and now smelly monkey behind. It was all Monkey could do to feverishly nod his assent.

"Good." Tiger got off, but Monkey was so scared he did not even dare to stand up without being explicitly allowed. "Now go."

"Right now?"

"GO!"

Monkey quickly ran away from Tiger to the edge of the village. Monkey had never left the village before. Only a few animals like Tiger or Horse had ever gone down to the mortal realm. Monkey was not sure what would happen when he crossed through the clouds and down the mountain.

Monkey closed his eyes, and he took a step through the cloud. He was certain that he was still in the cloud after that step. He could feel the wet dew collect on his fur, the noise of the village silenced, and ozone bristled his nose. It was nice, crossing a cloud, like a little antechamber void of the world but yourself. Eventually, Monkey passed the threshold, and sound returned, but not the clamorous music of a lively village but the sharp whistle of whipping winds. Monkey's dew-drenched fur turned frigid, his teeth adding a clattering to the mountain's voice.

With a non-trivial hesitation, Monkey opened his eyes and saw the most beautiful sight. The entire world undressed for only him. The first light of dawn gently kissed the jagged peaks of lesser mountains while a serene stillness blanketed the world below, broken only by the sharp wind. The sky, once cloaked in the deep hues of night, had begun to unfurl in delicate shades of lavender and rose, painting the heavens with a breathtaking palette of soft, golden light while the distant valleys remained cloaked in a misty veil. An updraft of air, crisp and invigorating, had carried the faint scent of pine, a comforting nature that was foreign to him.

With each passing moment, the day star rose higher, spilling its golden warmth across snow-capped ridges, turning them into sparkling jewels that glimmered in the early morning light. Right above his head, the cloud that held aloft the divine realm was tinged with pink and orange. Parts of the cloud disturbed by his passing drifted off the main body like delicate cotton tufts. Shadows had retreated, and the landscape, once hidden in the obscurity of night, had come to life in vibrant detail, each rock, tree, and stream glowing with the soft radiance of the new day.

From that towering perch, the world had felt limitless, yet profoundly intimate, as if time itself had paused to honour the quiet majesty. It had been a moment that lightened his soul, to be able to catch that fleeting symphony of colours, light, and silence that would never be forgotten. In that serene solitude, broken from the divine realm, Addle felt his mind clear. He had hardly taken in his surroundings before a firm weight clamped down on his mind.

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Monkey was inexplicably filled with an exciting sensation of whimsical adventure. Eager to depart on this journey, Monkey boldly took a step forward, but rather than planting his foot firmly on the ground, it twisted away, rejecting the mountain, and curled upwards, stretching to the sky. An immediate jolt of panic ran through Mokey's mind, making him lose balance and causing Monkey to collapse to the ground. Or he should have fallen to the ground, but instead, he smashed upwards into nothingness and was suspended in the air. He glanced at his arm to see the fur and skin vanished entirely, replaced by a complex lattice of neural stems, buzzing and crackling with his own panic.

Monkey's mind was buried in terror. He tried to curl into a ball, but as he did, he saw his flesh peel off and expand, enveloping the whole world until the mountains and valleys were all inside, and he was the outside. A panicked scurry away, and his body shrunk then twisted until he saw its underside. His heart and intestines ballooned unevenly until they were as large as he and unrecognizably mishappen. The still functioning organs, ignorant to his horror, peacefully pumped away unaffected. Monkey reached deep within himself for the strength to enact the only solution to this dilemma he could think of; he closed his eyes and cried.

Just when Monkey had relinquished himself to death, he felt a tug on the scruff of his neck, promptly dragging him back to the village.

Monkey euphorically gazed up to behold his saviour and was greeted by the sight of the brilliant golden glow of Sea Urchin. She, on the other hand, was not as happy to see Monkey as Monkey was to see her. "Are you insane!? What were you thinking going to the other side of the edge of the world?!" Sea Urchin scolded the delirious Monkey with a mixture of anger, astonishment, and worry.

Monkey pressed his fingers together, avoiding Sea Urchin's gaze and penitently apologized. "I'm sorry, Sea Urchin, but Tiger told me to get his ball at the bottom of the mountain."

Sea Urchin was stunned for a second, its spines frozen in a way unbecoming to such a majestic beast. "Urchin? What are you talking about Addle? It's me, Lenity. Are you okay?" Sea Urchin was speaking in a strange way about things that Monkey couldn't understand. It kept berating Monkey with these odd questions. "Addle, do you know where you are? Do you know who you are?"

That was a question that Monkey knew, and he excitedly answered, "Of course, I'm Monkey, and you just brought me back to the animal village."

The bewildered Sea Urchin was muttering something to themselves, but Monkey could not quite make it out. Sea Urchin finally turned to Monkey with a stern resolution. "Okay, fine then, 'Monkey,' why did you try going down the mountain?"

"No one in the village wanted to play with me, so I stole Tiger's ball and accidentally dropped it. Then Tiger said I had to go get the ball or else he would eat me."

Sea Urchin resumed muttering. “Tiger, Tiger, Ah Cicerone! Okay, Addle, I mean Monkey. Just wait here. I will go talk to Cicerone… uh, Tiger. I will make you better. Do NOT go down the mountain again, okay? If you really have to go to the mortal realm, take the Immersion."

Sea Urchin turned around and began storming off but stopped, twisting back to Monkey. "Did he really make me look like a Sea Urchin?"

"What do you mean? You've always looked like a Sea Urchin, and you always acted like a Sea Urchin. You're all thorny and hard to approach; most people don't like you and even try to avoid you. It's just natural because you are a Sea Urchin, right Sea Urchin?"

"You-, I-, he-, I cannot believe that-. Addle, we will talk about this later. First, I have to give Cicerone a piece of my mind."

The Sea Urchin then scuddled off on its prickly spines while angrily groaning about how they were in no way thorny. Sea Urchin was a nice animal, but they really were just too uptight.

Monkey didn't want to disobey Sea Urchin's command, but if he didn't get that ball back, then Tiger would almost certainly gobble him up and use his bones to pick at the fatty bits that got stuck between his teeth! Monkey was too young to die. He was only four-hundred-fifty-five years old.

Sea Urchin did mention that if it were an emergency he could take the Immersion. It was challenging to go through the Immersion since it was heavily guarded by some of the bigger animals and only those with special permission were allowed through. Luckily, Monkey was a very clever animal and was confident in his ability to trick the simple guards.

Using his skillful craftsmanship and developed mind, Monkey had fashioned a disguise that looked exactly like Horse out of wood. Horse was one of the few animals who was allowed to travel back and forth through the Immersion without question. Monkey looked at their creation and was very satisfied.

Monkey wheeled his wooden horse right in between the two guards, Crow and Dog, with utmost confidence.

"Addle, what are you doing?" One of the guards, Dog, seemed to have mistaken Horse for this Addle character. Monkey was not too familiar with those who frequented the Immersion, but it would not matter so long as Monkey could successfully trick the guards into thinking the wooden Horse was the real deal.

"I don't know what you're talking about; I'm not Addle. It's me, Horse."

The statement made Dog do a spit take and crow to fall over, stomach clenched, cawing with laughter.

Crow picked herself off the ground and wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh my goodness Addle, that is hilarious. I'm actually crying. You should probably go before Gelding shows up, though."

Somehow, Monkey's disguise had not worked even though it looked so perfect.

A bitter voice came from behind Monkey. "What is going on over here?" The two guards froze into an upright position, all humour instantly wiped away as they stared worryingly at the unknown speaker.

Inside the wooden Horse, Monkey could not tell who it was. "Hey, Dog, can you turn me around so that I can see who is talking?"

Dog did not reply but the wooden Horse did begin to turn as the animal from behind twisted it for him.

"Hello Addle." It was Horse, and they seemed very unhappy with their long face.

Monkey put on a nervous smile as they spoke. "Oh, hi Horse."

"Do you think this is funny, Addle? Maybe I'll feed you to my daughter; she's about ready to grow up."

"But horses don't eat meat."

Monkey could not see, but he definitely heard the two guards stifle a guffaw from behind him.

Horse, with their long, angry sneer, spoke through gritted teeth. "Even you're not this stupid Addle. Did Cicerone do something to you?"

"Sea Urchin mentioned something about this Cicerone animal, but I have never met them before."

The guards in the back broke into laughter once more. "Sea Urchin! Do you think that's Lenity? Oh, I'm still crying."

Horse glared menacingly at the guards. "If you think this is so funny, Lobo, then you can be the one to bring Addle back to Cicerone and get him fixed."

"Yes Gelding." Dog's ears drooped down, and he started pushing Monkey and his wooden Horse away from the Immersion. Monkey kept trying to convince Dog that he was the real Horse and that the Horse they were speaking with was the fake one, but at some point in their walk, Dog's expression went from entertained to pitying.

Eventually, they arrived back at Tiger's. Dog rolled the wooden horse over like a sacrificial offering right in front of Tiger, who immediately broke into laughter. Dog was the first to speak. "He tried getting through the Immersion with this pretending to be Gelding." Tiger broke into even greater laughter. Dog continued to speak. "I thought it was funny at first too, but you really screwed him up this time; I hope you didn't do any permanent damage. It's time you bring him back to normal."

Tiger stopped laughing, grimacing at Dog and showing off his immense red-stained teeth. "He lost my special ball! He's lucky I didn't just eat him right there. Maybe I could prep him up for the visitor that the highers' are going to summon; maybe that could get me a worthwhile reward."

"You had an arcane heart!?"

"Had. Now I have nothing but-"

Tiger was Interrupted by the chime of a bell. Right in front of Tiger there was what seemed to be a small pink rhombus that grew out of thin air, or it was a rhombus, but its body would reject any stable state. It would shift and transform, shrink and grow, continuously morphing into other shapes. The pink shape finally locked into a form resembling that of a featureless human with only one limb. The arm was outstretched towards Tiger holding a glowing parchment: It read.

You have been invited to The Tournament You are The Illusionist