Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a BED that someone's already sleeping in.

You are ADAM MOONLIT, WOODCUTTER, resident of HELD'S FOREST, husband to EVE MOONLIT NEE ZVEZDA, son of ALICE MOONLIT, former ROYAL and SCIENTIST of the MAGIC KINGDOM LEVIANTA, former HEAD of PROJECT MA, current FUGITIVE, and SOMEONE WITH MANY, MANY, REGRETS.

You look at who’s on your bed. It's an Eve!

You climb into bed and wrap your arms around your wife. You cuddle Eve. She smiles in her sleep and cuddles you back. It's adorable.

This feels really nice, and you would love to just stay there and sleep until morning, but you can't. You have work to do.

Regretfully, you untangle yourself from Eve and climb out of the bed.

Why... why would you... okay.

You attempt to vore your wife. You start with her hand, but you manage to get all the way to the wrist before you realize you're choking to death. Eve mumbles in her sleep and turns, taking her now slimy hand out of your mouth.

At least you tried.

You give your wife a gentle poke on the shoulder. She murmurs and shifts a little, but ultimately doesn't respond. Eve was always a heavy sleeper.

You place a hand on her shoulder to shake your wife awake, but... you hesitate. You look at her relaxed face, sleeping peacefully.

...

You can't do it.

Your fireplace is a pretty okay fireplace, if rather large. Eve sometimes joked that it was large enough to fit her. It still does its regular fireplace things rather well. There is a POKER right next to the fireplace, as well as a pile of LOGS and some BELLOWS.

A fire is already lit in the fireplace. However, it's rather weak, almost down to the embers.

You don't have anything to stoke the fire with.

You take the poker.

You poke at the fire a little until it gets a little bit stronger. But not much.

You add several logs to the fire. Thankfully, they ignite, and the room becomes much warmer.

You asshole.

You poke Eve on the shoulder with the still hot poker, leaving a dark ash stain on the sleeve of her white nightgown. She jolts at the heat and whimpers, but still doesn't wake.

Have you considered being a better husband?

Now you're just being rude.

You bite Eve's hand, but you really don't have the heart to really do it. It's more like a slight nibble.

She doesn't really respond.

You can't do that.

Moonlight shines over the forest, dimly lighting the path that goes deeper into it. Listen hard enough, and you might hear the sounds of crows and forest predators stalking their prey. You can barely see the stars. You have a feeling it's going to be a long night.

You exit the cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

Why? You already have them!

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

Which plant? You're going to have to be specific.

That seems like a good idea, but none of the flowers are in bloom

However tempting it is to wallow in self-pity, you have gotten over that a long, long time ago.

It's only you and Eve now. You remind yourself of that.

They are all lumped in one corner, covered in dirt. There is a SMALL GARDENING SPADE, a LARGE SHOVEL, a WATERING CAN, a pair of SMALL GARDENING GLOVES, and, huh? What's this?

Your AX. Your AX somehow ended up here. Oh, so that's where it went...

You take the ax.

You somehow consume the entire ax and die from internal bleeding.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

Invalid command.

You exit the cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You go left. You see the well that you and Eve dug when you first got here. You would've have liked to use the stream but it's just too far.

You are not a very good singer, but you sing anyway. Your voice carries across the forest, and even the crows fall silent.

Wow, you must be really bad at this.

Overcome by your regret, you jump into the well. Halfway down, you realize you're leaving Eve all alone, and you hate yourself even more.

The water is cold.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You would, but a) You don't want to die, b) You're too big for the fireplace, and c) The fire is way too weak to even give you a first-degree burn.

Why.

You have nothing to break the window with.

You exit the cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. Despite the moonlight, it's pretty dark. You might be eaten by a bear.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You somehow to tell your heart to fail and you die instantly. Congratulations.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You lie down on the floor. It's not very comfortable, especially seeing as there's a BED right there.

You would like to sleep, but you have work to do. You get up.

You climb into bed and lie down next to your wife. Eve, sensing your warmth, smiles in her sleep and wraps her arms around you. You can’t help but cuddle her back. She’s adorable.

This feels really nice, and you would love to just stay there and sleep until morning, but you can't. You have work to do.

Regretfully, you untangle yourself from Eve and climb out of the bed.

You do not have that item. You hope you will never have that item ever again.

You look under the bed. You expect to see nothing but dust bunnies, but what is this? There's a dark rectangular shape that you can barely make out to be a book.

You take the book. It's a rather large book with a black leather cover and yellowing pages. You see no title.

You open the book. You are half-afraid that it might be Eve's journal and are ready to close it if that should be the case, but it isn't. It seems to be a sort of handwritten encyclopedia, documenting magical remedies and medicinal plants. It looks very old, and you see several different kinds of handwriting as you flip through the pages.

You can, but do you want to?

You don't eat the book. You flip all the way to the end and recognize Eve's handwriting. It's probably very important.

Feeling a bit ridiculous, you go all the way to the end of the book, tear out the last page, crumple it, then stuff it in your mouth and try to swallow it.

Thankfully, that last page, and a good chunk of the book before it, is blank. Maybe Eve was meant to fill in the last few pages? You'll probably just ask her in the morning. The page tastes exactly as you thought it would: horrible. You barely manage to keep it down.

You do not have those items.

You have:

You would, but you are an ex-scientist. Not a mage. Eve would be better for that.

She's right there.

You exit the cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You go left. You see the well that you and Eve dug when you first got here. You would've have liked to use the stream but it's just too far.

You do not have a bucket.

You examine the well. Though somewhat new, the stones are already gathering moss. The rope is also wearing thin. You will have to replace it soon. There is no bucket at the end of the rope. You try to recall where you put it...

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

They are all lumped in one corner, covered in dirt. There is a SMALL GARDENING SPADE, a LARGE SHOVEL, a WATERING CAN, a pair of SMALL GARDENING GLOVES, and, huh? What's this?

Your AX. Your AX somehow ended up here. Oh, so that's where it went...

You take the watering can. You take the ax. Ready for some heavy-duty gardening.

There are no nearby trees in the area.

You leave the garden. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

The forest stretches in front of you and around you, daring you to enter its depths. You think you hear the crows getting louder.

You walk down the path. Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. Despite the moonlight, it's pretty dark. You might be eaten by a bear.

You pick a random tree and swing, embedding the ax very deep into its trunk. You may be imagining things, but the forest itself seems to shudder in pain.

It's very dark. You think you hear something.

You really hope someone like Meta Salmhofer won't be stalking the woods at this time of night. You certainly don't want to meet her.

You go back to the cottage, maybe just in time. You stand in front of the door. There is a WELL to your right, a SMALL GARDEN to your left, and a PATH right behind you.

You go right. You see the well that you and Eve dug when you first got here. You would've have liked to use the stream but it's just too far.

You tie the watering can to the rope with the best knot you can manage. Will it hold? You don't know.

You lower the watering can into the well until you hear it splash into the water. You then winch it up, warily watching the rope as it strained against the axle.

Despite your fears, the rope holds. You now have a FULL WATERING CAN.

You discover that the knot you made was tied too... well. Your fingers ache trying to unpick the knot, and you give up. The watering can now just sits at the rim of the well.

You water your shoe. Your foot is getting soaked. You now have a HALF-FULL WATERING CAN.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

Seems to be a pretty good garden. The vegetables are coming along nicely. Hmm, it looks like something shiny's half-buried in the vegetable section over there...

You see it more clearly now. Two handles are sticking up from the dirt, metal biting into the earth. You think you remember Eve working on this section of the garden earlier today.

You pull the shiny thing out from the dirt. It's a pair of GARDENING SHEARS. Eve must have placed it here to mark her spot. You'll apologize to her later.

You go left. You see the well that you and Eve dug when you first got here. You would've have liked to use the stream but it's just too far.

You lower the watering can into the well until you hear it splash into the water. You then winch it up, warily watching the rope as it strains against the axle.

Despite your fears, the rope holds. You now have a FULL WATERING CAN.

You use the gardening shears to cut the rope, just above the knot. You still feel a bit like an idiot.

You take the FULL WATERING CAN.

You enter the cottage.

For some reason you feel like now is the appropriate time for a shower. You pour half the water all over yourself, soaking the floor beneath you. You have a feeling Eve's not going to be happy with this. You now have a HALF-FULL watering can.

You regard the water suspiciously, thinking how it's usually best to boil the water first. You eventually shrug and drink the entire contents of the watering can like the incompetent ex-scientist you are.

A minute later, you vomit violently, emptying the contents of your stomach all over the floor, and yet you still continue to throw up. The sound of your retching wakes Eve up, and she frantically rushes to your side.

It turns out there was a deadly water-borne bacteria in that watering can. Eve tries her best, with all the shamanic knowledge she knows, but it's no good.

You die before morning.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

That sounds nice, but you don't have anything to make cottage cheese.

You check your food supply. You're still pretty well stocked from your last foray into town. There are a few bottles of MILK, a couple loaves of BREAD. a jar of SUGAR, a jar of SALT, some COOKING OIL, and various SMOKED MEATS.

You take one BOTTLE OF MILK. You take one LOAF OF BREAD.

You can only stare at the bottle. Helpless. You have no idea how to make cheese. You really are a city kid, aren't you?

You screech, mostly from all the regret in your life. Eve wakes up frantically, thinking you're in the middle of being murdered. Out of panic, she impulsively releases a burst of magic at the dark shape in the corner of her eye. It turns out to be you, and it turns out to be lethal. Whoops.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You have:

You save. You have no idea what that means, but you SAVE. You may or may not be filled with determination.

Eve's hair is down, a mass of sky blue flowing over the bed. You somehow make yourself take the shears in your hand and begin to cut her hair to just above the shoulder. The soft snipping doesn't make her stir, neither does the sensation of such a large amount of weight suddenly lifting from her head. When you finish, Eve has a brand new haircut, and a ridiculous amount of hair still lies on the bed.

Have you considered the fact that you are a terrible person?

What, do you think pouring water all over her is going to make her hair grow back again? You really were a terrible scientist. Either way, you "water" Eve with the watering can, soaking her in frigid water. She jolts as the water hits her, and her eyes spring open. She tries to sit up, but her head hits the watering can you still hold above her and she recoils back, rubbing her head in pain. Her eyes focus on you, still pouring water all over her. "What are you doing?" she asks.

You try to come up with a ridiculous yet plausible-sounding excuse for why you suddenly decided to pour cold water on her in the dead of night, something that involves health benefits somehow. She listens, half-awake, but you can tell that she's not buying it. She absentmindedly runs her fingers through her wet hair, and her eyes widen as she realizes that her hair stops just above the shoulder. You're fucked.

Seeing no other solutions, you suddenly take the gardening shears and stab Eve in the stomach. Her eyes go as wide as dinner plates, and she tries to struggle as you pin her down and stab her again. And again.

You realize that she hasn't tried to fight back, that she hasn't used her magic at least once against you. You can only see a helpless look of betrayal in her eyes as she weakly struggles against your grip. She tries to open her mouth and speak, maybe to ask you why, but the only thing that comes from her is a weak gurgling noise as blood spills from her lips. Eventually, she convulses and dies.

What... what did you just do?

This... this was all too much. You abandon Eve's body and flee the cottage, still soaked in blood. The moon is still shining, the crows are still cawing. There a PATH right in front of you, EVE'S GARDEN to the right, and WELL to the left.

You're still holding the shears. You feel numb. Without thinking, you decisively stab yourself with the shears, right in the stomach. You think you see crows flying above your head as you bleed to death.

Chapter Text

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You have:

You take off your shoe. You don't know why, but you quickly regret it as the floor is freezing beneath your sock.

You decide to forget the cold and take off your sock. You are now standing half-barefoot in your cottage. You feel a bit silly.

You do so. At least Eve didn't give you this shirt. You now have ONE PIECE OF SHIRT CLOTH.

You try. By Levia, you try. But trying is not doing and soon you spit our your sock in disgust. You worked the entire day in that sock.

What bedroom?

You try to wad up the cloth and stick it Eve's ear so she doesn't hear your shenanigans. It keeps falling out, with her eventually unconsciously swatting your hand away. You give up.

You try to find booze. There is no booze in the house.

You lean down to whisper a few nice things into your wife's ear. You think you see her smile.

You cannot find that item.

You place a hand on her shoulder to shake your wife awake, but... you hesitate. You look at her relaxed face, sleeping peacefully.

...

You can't do it.

She's sleeping on the covers. Waiting for you, you realize.

You balk. It's a good shoe. Good shoes are EXPENSIVE.

You aim for her sides, and she reacts immediately. Amazingly, she doesn't wake, but she immediately shifts around the bed trying to escape your tickles, giggling. Eventually, she's face down, arms wrapped protectively around her sides. You decide to stop just before she wakes up.

You climb into bed and wrap your arms around your wife. You cuddle Eve. She smiles in her sleep and cuddles you back. It's adorable.

This feels really nice, and you would love to just stay there and sleep until morning, but you can't. You have work to do.

Regretfully, you untangle yourself from Eve and climb out of the bed.

Your second attempt doesn't go any better than the first. You end up hurling the sock across the room.

You cannot get there from here.

You exit the cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

As much as you have embraced forest life, you don't think you are that acquainted with nature yet.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

You examine the vegetable section of the garden. You don't exactly have a bountiful harvest ready yet, but they are growing quite nicely. At least, Eve tells you they are. There are TOMATOES, CABBAGES, CARROTS, POTATOES, and, of course, Eve's favorite, SPRING ONIONS.

Of all the vegetables, Eve's devoted the most time on these. You're surprised by how healthy they look. They should be ready to harvest soon.

You may have been a scientist, but botany was never your specialty. You were a scientist. You studied science. Not plants, or nature. You would only recognize a few cooking herbs here and there like oregano and mint, but now, with Eve's book, you recognize many more, especially those of the medicinal nature. You wonder how Eve got all these.

In your enthusiasm exploring the garden, you accidentally snap a spring onion stalk. Whoops. You try to stand it up, but it just flops over again. If Eve asks, you were never here.

You aren't exactly sure how to harvest mint, because you were (and still are) a hopeless city kid, but you grab a few leaves.

You realize that just leaving the spring onion here for Eve to find is just asking for trouble, so you just pull the spring onion out of the dirt and nervously pat the earth down as if nothing were ever planted there. You now have one BROKEN BUT EDIBLE SPRING ONION.

Eve loves these things. You swear that you even catch her eating them raw. You're okay with them, just as you're okay with all vegetables, but a sudden curiosity strikes you. You take a bite.

...

BLUUUUUUUUH.

My, are you obsessed with putting dirty things in your mouth tonight.

Having not learned your lesson from eating things straight from the garden, you take your MINT LEAVES and chew them. Mmm. Minty leafy fresh. You manage to erase the taste of dirty sock and onion from your mouth.

You can't get there from the garden.

You can't get there from the garden.

You leave the garden. There is a PATH right in front of you, a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and your HOUSE right behind you.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You wipe your dirtied bare foot on the rug. Eve probably won't be happy with that either.

You save. You have no idea what that means, but you SAVE. You may or may not be filled with determination.

You walk over to the bed and for some Levia-forsaken reason try to put your foot on Eve's face. However, she's still face down. You don't want to flip her over, and so you give up.

You have:

You are tired from all these shenanigans. You sit down at the foot of the bed.

For all the internal moaning you do over what you did to Eve years ago and how you would much like to atone, you sure don't seem to act like it, do you?

You take your full watering can and pour it all over Eve's back. She jolts as the water hits her, and she rolls over, her eyes springing open. She tries to sit up, but her head hits the watering can you still hold above her and she recoils back, rubbing her head in pain. Her eyes focus on you, still pouring water all over her. "What are you doing?" she asks.

You explain quickly explain that you had a nightmare about her catching fire and you were trying to put her out. She looks at the watering can. "Isn't that from outside?"

You've heard of the phrase "put your foot in your mouth", but you don't have the flexibility. Your shoe will have to do. Eve looks at you like you've gone insane.

You present her the onion, still broken, still with a shoe in your mouth. She takes it gingerly, staring at you. "Adam," she says, carefully, "Are you okay?"

You have nothing to set Eve on fire with, even if you wanted to.

You can't reach her butt, so her head will have to do. You take the shoe in your mouth and immediately whack her on the side of the head with it. It's a good shoe. High quality. The heel makes a sickening crack sound as it connects with the side of her head as the force literally throws her off the bed with a thump.

You wait five seconds. She doesn't get up.

The shoe's still in your hand. You shove it back in your mouth. Eve still hasn't gotten up.

At last, you actually be a decent husband and CHECK on your poor wife. She's sprawled out across the floor, out cold. You actually hit her hard enough to break the skin, and a scary amount of blood is flowing down her temple. You have a sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach. You check her pulse. Still there, but faint.

You try to stem the bleeding, sitting down on the floor and resting Eve's head on your lap, but it very quickly soaks through. Your own head feels foggy, and you try to ground yourself. You worked in a hospital once. THINK. The word "concussion" suddenly comes to mind and your hands shake even more. Your pants are getting bloody.

IS NOW THE APPROPRIATE TIME? You grab a fistful of hair and realize you never took the shoe out of your mouth. You then see the red mixed in with the sky blue and the shoe drops to the floor.

You are shaking, breathing ragged. A few teardrops fall on Eve's face and some part of you manages to lift a hand to wipe them away. The blood keeps flowing.

You hoist Eve on your back and flee the house. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH to the forest right in front of you.

You find yourself babbling, stuttering out apologies and pleas for forgiveness. She doesn't wake up. She doesn't react at all. She simply lolls on your back like a broken doll, the blood from her head soaking your shirt.

You run, deeper into the forest. You remember legends, heresies, of a god that dwells in this forest. The crows caw, uncaring. The moonlight shines, but it's still very dark. You both might get eaten by a bear.

In your panic, you suddenly try the crazy idea of running back the way you came... all the way back to Levianta. Never mind that it's across the country, never mind that Eve probably only has a day or less, but she needs help, and that's the only thing you can think of. You run and run, but you soon realize you are lost.

It's very very dark. You think you hear something.

Okay, new plan. You decide to look for the mysterious "god" of the forest. No matter that you don't know where he is. No matter that you don't know anything about the god at all. You realize you are not thinking rationally right now. You don't care.

The noise gets louder. It turns out to be rustling. Your blood freezes and you turn in place, and you see a dark shape emerge. It's a bear. The scent of Eve's blood must have attracted it faster.

You make a sort of choking sound, but that's all the bear needs. The beast lunges at you both, knocking you over and pinning you both to the ground. You hear the sounds of bones snapping, and you realize they are your own.

You try to reach your ax. You try to fight back. To your horror, the bear has gone for Eve first, the scent of her blood tempting it with fresh meat. It begins to tear apart your wife with its teeth and claws, and you can only howl in horror, trying to maneuver your ax with your broken arm as you manage to give it a blow on the head. Angry at this, the bear turns on you.

You can't. You can't leave her. You can't. Giving up on trying to fight back, you try and shield what's left of Eve with your body from the raging, hungry bear. It's a brave effort, but ultimately hopeless. It is a bear. You are two puny humans wandering around in the dead of night. You're still holding Eve as the bear tears you both apart.

Chapter Text

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You have:

Suddenly filled with DETERMINATION (and probably stupidity), you take the plunge and shove the entire onion into your mouth.

You choke on it. It's not a very good idea to deepthroat a spring onion.

You manage to pull it out without lasting damage, but you have to take a few seconds to catch your breath and wonder what possessed you to do that.

You, trying to recover from that act of vigorous onion consumption, try to make yourself feel like less of an idiot by thumbing though the pages of Eve's encyclopedia.

It's actually a very interesting read. You suspect that this book is much older than you think it is. Aside from the detailed illustrations of various medicinal plants, you thumb through pages on pages of magical healing knowledge, all the way from setting a bone to... delivering a child.

...

You find yourself pausing at that section. Taking a deep breath, you force yourself to move on.

You are not a very good singer, and either way, Eve doesn't seem to need it. But something about her makes you sit at the side of your shared bed, stroking her hair as you try to hum a song you heard somewhere. Did it go "lan lu lu" or "lu la la"? Something like that.

Eve seems to relax even more. You're happy.

And of course, you have to ruin the moment. Standing up at the foot of the bed, you try your best to look solemn. If you're going to play mage, you might as well go all the way.

Taking your FULL WATERING CAN, you drizzle Eve in an official-looking circular motion while chanting words that you think sound magical.

Eve's body twitches at the frigid water. She opens her eyes, slowly sitting up to stare at you as you keep chanting, trying your best to keep a straight face. "Adam...?" she asks. "What are you doing?"

You SAVE in a.. in a... i̛n̗̹̼̦̩͉͜ ̠͡a̖̺͠...

You scream. Rather loudly. Eve's eyes widen as she clamps her hands over her ears. She stares at you, trembling, pupils shrunk into tiny dots, too scared to say anything.

You immediately regret everything you ever did. What's sad is that this feeling is not new to you. You apologize as sincerely as you can, trying to keep your voice down as you explain (actually lie) that you had a nightmare about her catching on fire. She seems to calm down a little, it looks like she buys it. She opens her mouth to say something-

Then you immediately ruin the moment AGAIN and pour the rest of the watering can's contents on Eve, her giving a loud shriek as she's soaked in freezing water once more. You immediately flee the house. You jerk.

You are outside your cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

For SOME LEVIA-DAMNED REASON, you decide to go back and finish the job. You slam the cottage door open and stride into the room. Eve’s lying down when you re-enter the cottage, apparently trying to go back to sleep in her still-drenched clothes. She gasps as you suddenly hoist her up, hauling her over your shoulder as you leave the cottage. "Adam?!" she asks. "Adam, what are you doing?! Where are you taking me?! What's going on?!"

You say nothing, only walk towards the well.

"Adam, where are we... ADAM!" Eve screams as you take her off her shoulder and try to shove her down the well. The two of you struggle, and eventually Eve is barely hanging on, clinging to the rim of the well, trying to find a handhold on the slippery moss as you dispassionately keep the rope out of her reach. She's started crying.

"Adam, was it something I did?! Was I too much trouble? I'm sorry!" she sobs. "I'm sorry!"

You say nothing, only pry her hands off the rim of the well.

"ADAM NO- AAAAAAAUUUGH!"

You hear her hit the water with a splash.

All of a sudden, it's as if your emotions have turned back on. You stand still as you just realize the magnitude of what... what...

W̩̦̥͙̠͞H̞͈̹̞̩̤̱͢A҉̡̙̟̘̘͔̪̪͓T̡̫̟̩͈̺͡͠ ̧͉͎͚͕̦D̶̡̮̣I̩̞̻͙ͅD̢̙̖̣̝̩͘ Y͘҉̲̹̘̬͉̘͚O̧̨͎̟̻̟̭U̵̵̧̹̜̥̹ ͔̳̜̜̙͖͉͜J͏̸̟̯Ų̮̥̺͎̝̦͖S͓̘̥̹̕Ţ͓̯̼̮̦̙̯ ̺͚̗͢D̠̤̺̬̳͙̻͇̲O̡̤̯̬̣̱̫̗̝͝?̱͔͡

You don't even recognize the sound that comes from yourself, as you hurl yourself forward and peer into the well. You can't see anything. It's too dark.

You can't do that because YOUR WIFE IS IN THE WELL AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU BASTARD.

Y̨͉̩͈͓͇̮̺O̧͏͕͎̱̝̘U̖̱͉̩̲ͅ ̡͍͓͓̥W̳͍̼̪͉Ḭ̩̥̰̬͍̲L̛͕̪͕̗̮̼͙͎L̶̵̹̝͠ ̵̫͔͝N̵̨̫̼̬̬̬O̯̻̯̱͈̭̙T͙̣̺̹͇̯͖͈͠ ̖͍̺̲̬͓͝L͈̼͍̖̱̻͠E̷̠̟̲͜Ḁ͎͡V̘̜̠͎̰̳̝̯̤E̠ ̧̺̝̻̦͍͎̻̣̕͠H̴̞̜͍̤̹͠E̟R̝̮͇̰̫͔̩.̧͔̟͙

Without thinking, you jump down the well to save her. It's only when you hit the water when you realize that even if you managed to find Eve in this darkness, you have no way of getting both of you out.

Unnecessary. You're already drowning in well water. You tread water for what seems like an eternity but you can't find Eve, not even her body. Nevertheless, you're still crying as you give up and finally drown.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You have:

You take a deep breath and are about to sing when-

Ah, right. Your singing voice is terrible. Never mind.

You find the sudden urge to wake Eve up and tell her that you'll protect her no matter what happens. You place a hand on her shoulder to shake your wife awake, but... you hesitate. You look at her relaxed face, sleeping peacefully. When was the last time you saw her sleeping peacefully?

...

You can't do it.

You are trying your best. But sometimes your best is not enough.

You suddenly fart. You blush, hoping Eve doesn't notice. Thankfully, she doesn't. Maybe you should lay off the spring onions...

You take out the spring onion and tenderly place it next to your wife. You are not sure if this is a good idea, but it feels right somehow. Energized, you dance out of the house. In your clumsiness you nearly knock over a table. Good job.

You are outside your cottage. here's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

It's a cold night, but you still manage to blush bright red and feel the air get warmer the more you think about Eve. You lean against the door, thinking of her.

It's been years since Levianta. She's been getting better since you first arrived, slowly coming back to life. There are good days, and there are bad days, but you swear that as time passes, the former are outnumbering the latter. You want to see her happy again. You've realized that a long time ago.

You realize that thinking about Eve has made you start crying. Not really paying attention to anything, you head down the path. Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper.

Despite the moonlight, it's very dark. You might get eaten by a bear.

You don't have magic. A̸̩͔̠͚̠t͖͙̣̼̹̜̱ ͈̼͎l̠͔̺e̛͔͔̬ḁ̗͖͔̹͕s̥͉͚ṯ̘̭͍͉̼̗,͏ ͕̖̖͇͈̝͞y͍͢o͏̜̭̫̜͎̼̩u̪͢ ̪̱͇̠͙̝̙͠t̵̺̟͕͔͙̦h̻i͍̻͇͖n̶̤̰͙̻͔̦̱k̠̙͚̘͖̮̟ ̟̩͕͙̥y̯̖͈͉͜o̤̙̜̪͠u̙͉̫̻̭̩ ̠͠d̜͖͕̙̺o͏̹̤̳n̜̹̯͈̼'̪̳̻̜̱t̨̯͕̼̫̰ ̬h̸̙ạ̖͕̥̟v͈̳̳̤̠̠e͚̳͕̪ ̸̼̳̼̪̗m̵͖͎a̜̪͉̳ͅg̗i̥c̫͎.̫̩̲͝

You can't do that here.

You are in the middle of Held's forest. Trees surround you catching shadows in the moonlight. You are not exactly sure where to go from here, but you know the way BACK.

It's a moonlight night, but it's still very dark. You think you hear something.

You smile at the thought again. Ah yes, Eve's birthday. In two months, you think? You should start planning. But what to give her? You think and look at the trees around you. Maybe you should carve something?

It's a moonlit night, but it's very dark. You strain your ears. The noise you heard earlier... you think it's getting closer.

You do the wisest thing you think you ever done and walk back down the path towards your house.

You are now in front of your cottage. There is a PATH right in front of you, a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and your COTTAGE right behind you.

You stare at your hand, curious. Would it be possible to eat yourself? You shove your entire hand into your mouth. You realize you are choking to death. You take your hand out, slimier.

You water your hand with the watering can, trying to get out the saliva. You could've just wiped your hand on your pants, but doing it this way feels purer, somehow.

You can't do that from here.

You enter your cottage.

You think about your former rival, and immediately his smirking face comes to mind. You push it out just as quickly. You try not to think of Levianta anymore. It's just you and Eve now.

You can't do that from here.

Having nothing better to do, you watch Eve intently as she sleeps, watch the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she's curled on her side. You want to join her, but you can't. You have work to do.

You are already staring at her. You don't think staring at her more will do anything, unless you spontaneously grow laser vision.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a BED that Eve's already sleeping in. There is also a BACK DOOR leading to behind the cottage.

You think you'll join Eve on her current course of action for the past few years, mainly not thinking about the children.

Your hands immediately move to Eve's shoulders, and your thumbs move to massage her shoulder blades. Eve's breathing gets deeper as you dig your thumbs into the base of her neck.

Several minutes later, Eve is lying on her belly, making soft happy noises as you finish your back massage. This is addicting. You would love to continue, but your hands are getting tired.

The sight of Eve sleeping peacefully, utterly content after your massage, fills you with determination. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You begin to wonder why you're even up in the first place. You try to recall. You finished dinner, helped Eve clear the table, reject Eve's offer to come to bed because... why...?

Y̜͎̣̤o͚͔̼͕̼͎u̠̲̦̞̰̮ ̦d͏̺̙̦̱̞͍̤o̢n̵̤̮̖̯'͓͕̰͕̟̙̟t̹̱̟͈̞̼ ̮̲̼͕͞k̖n̤o̥̘͓̱̠͉̩w̸͙̺̲.̬̩

The thought gnaws at you, keeping you going, keeping you awake. You don't know what, but you have to...

Do...

So̶̖̘͈m̻̝͕̠̮̮̩̳͝e̹̩͔͖̯̜͜ͅt̵͖̯̱͘h̝͚͇̖̕ͅi͙̟͕͕̤͈̬̠͞n̛͕̠̳͠g̢̝͉̻͉̻̼͎̤...̰͓̬̼̺͙͝

Chapter Text

It's tempting. Very tempting. But that nagging feeling tugs at your mind, forces you to keep going no matter how beautiful Eve looks. You have work to do.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a BED that Eve's already sleeping in. There is also a BACK DOOR leading to behind the cottage.

You stand up and stretch, feeling a bit of relief in your somewhat stiff muscles. You stare a bit enviously at Eve.

You open the back door.

You gingerly step over the hot coals and try shimmying up the fireplace. The entire shaft smells of smoke and you end up having to hold your breath, nearly choking in the process. You eventually lose your grip before reaching the top and fall bottom-first into the hot coals. You end up hopping around the cottage, trying to make sure your behind isn't on fire.

Thankfully, your bottom isn't on fire. Your pants , however, are a bit singed. Feeling slightly embarrassed, you walk back to the bed and gently kiss Eve, hoping she doesn't smell the smoke on you.

Unlike Sleeping Beauty, she doesn't wake up.

She does smile though.

You think, and you think, and you think, but the thought seems to escape you, like trying to grab water. Discouraged, you just decide to do whatever comes to mind.

That would be useful, but you are not on fire. You drop and roll anyway, just because. You get soot all over the floor.

You do a little jig around your cottage. You feel a lot more tired now. You slow down, and half-wish Eve was awake so the two of you could slow-dance.

You have:

In some fit of madness you jump on the bed, soot and all, and scream at the top of your lungs. Eve wakes up with a jolt, and sees you covered in soot. Out of fear, she doesn't recognize it's you and fires a bolt of magic, killing you instantly.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You open the back door.

You exit the cottage. You are now in your BACKYARD.

The moon is full and shining brightly tonight. You remember Eve saying once that it's at this point all magic is strongest. You wonder what other secrets the moon holds.

Your backyard is where you usually work nowadays, cleared of trees so you have space to move. There is a STUMP nearby that you use to chop logs. Pieces of wood litter the area. Miscellaneous items are also leaned up against the back of your cottage.

The moon might be full, but you know that the forest is still dangerous. You hold your ax aloft.

There are also rumors of the full moon causing madness. This is what you think as you sort of frolic through your backyard, ax swinging wildly along with your arms. You then trip over a log and nearly chop your arm off. You're lucky it didn't.

With not much space in the cottage, the two of you have sort of begun using the back wall of your cottage as a sort of impromptu storage shed. You've been thinking lately of actually building one, just to make it official. There is a PILE OF LOGS, a BUCKET, a LANTERN, a coil of ROPE, a HANDSAW, a HAMMER, and some NAILS.

Being a scientist, you surprisingly know very little about the actual nature of magic. You fondly remember the debates you got into with Eve about those, and then you realize that they happened before the Venom, before everything went wrong, and you quickly try to think about something else.

You are not very successful. Seth Twiright's smirk immediately comes to mind. You imagine him gloating about you running away with Eve, leaving everything to himself.

You actually shake your head, banishing all thoughts of Levianta from your mind. That time is over. You are in the Forest now, with Eve, and you will atone for what you did, and nothing else matters.

You try. N̠̖͚̗o͖̠̘ţ͚̖ẖ̼̱͟i͎͎n̗͚g̺̕ ҉̟̟̦̪̣ha̗̮ͅp̭̪̫͔p̜e͕͚̣̭̺̖n̸̘̱͔ͅs͙̜̮̱͉.̬̞͓̺̱̜͞ Guess you really are just another non-magic user.

There is some part of you that misses being a scientist. (Except the research papers. Levia, you hated doing those.) You remember clean labs and white coats and objective truths and hard logic, none of the dirt and grit and the delicate balancing act that is your life now in the forest. Then again, you did specialize in chemistry.

You now have a LANTERN and a COIL OF ROPE

You reenter the cottage.

You exit the cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You have nothing to light it with.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

Your fireplace is a pretty okay fireplace, if rather large. Eve sometimes joked that it was large enough to fit her. It still does its regular fireplace things rather well. There is a POKER right next to the fireplace, as well as a pile of LOGS and some BELLOWS.

A fire is already lit in the fireplace. However, it's rather weak, almost down to the embers.

You have nothing to light it with.

What's a Lanter?

You don't have anything to stoke the fire with.

You take the poker

You poke at the fire a little with the poker until it gets a little bit stronger. But not much.

You put the poker back, right where it belongs.

You have:

The sight of the weak struggling fire fills you with determination. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You pour the rest of the water in the watering can on the hot coals. They hiss as the water hits them, steam rising as you slowly put the fire out. The fireplace is now cold and damp. The cottage wasn't that warm to begin with, but now it's just a bit colder.

You stare at the damp ashes. They are very dark. And black. And wet. You don't know what else you were expecting to see in there.

You take a pinch of damp ash and immediately put it in your mouth. It tastes DISGUSTING. You spit it out, but the taste remains. Ugh.

You hunch into the fireplace and start trying to climb up the chimney. It smells of smoke and you get covered in a good amount of soot. Before long, you reach the top.

It's covered with a grate. Dammit.

You slowly climb back down. There is now soot all over your hands and clothes.

You give the back of the fireplace a good kick, but you just get a stubbed toe for your trouble. You manage to resist the urge to shout several expletives.

You curl up on the floor, dirtying the carpet with soot. You are an egg. A small little egg, a world of possibility. You feel ridiculous. You roll around a bit, bumping into the bed.

Your muscles get cramped and you stand up. You hatched. Yay.

You see if there's anything useful in Eve's encyclopedia about getting the damn lantern lit. You mentally apologize to her as you leave sooty fingerprints on the old pages.

You do find several mentions of a fire spell, but to your frustration, the various writers apparently assume that YOU, member of the Zvezda clan, would be competent enough to manage such a basic task, and thus, would not waste the paper and ink writing it down. Levia. Dammit.

You cry. Your teardrops join your sooty fingerprints in ruining the old pages. Hey! Respect books!

You shut the book with a sigh. You whisper a small apology for defiling it. As an ex-scientist, you admire the effort the Zvezda clan took to make documentation.

You try yourself that even if you can't do Science anymore, you are still a scientist on the INSIDE. It doesn't sound very believable, even when you're thinking it. You feel even more disappointed.

Overcome with emotion, you wail from sheer sadness, rather like a lone wolf howling at the moon. You keep this up for a good several minutes, when you notice Eve. Awake. Watching you in disbelief.

"Adam?" she asks. "Are... you okay?"

Your powerful brain finds the most efficient solution. Eve is right there. You can ask her.

Of course, instead of doing that, you sort of stumble next to the bed and start crying on her shoulder.

"Adam...?!" she exclaims, reaching out to hug you. "Is something wrong?"

You begin to sort of blubber, telling her that no, nothing was wrong, at least on her end. It was you, it was all you. You realize how ridiculous you look, covered in soot and crying on your wife's shoulder in the middle of the night. You apologize for that as well. Going with the flow, you tell her that you love her, and you'll protect her no matter what. She should know that.

When you finish that long -winding ramble, Eve looks utterly confused, but she's still blushing bright red as she nuzzles into your shoulder.

"Adam... I... love you too... but did you really wake up in the middle of the night just to tell me all this...?"

Invalid command.

You then sheepishly tell Eve about your little quest to light the lantern, mentioning that you found her encyclopedia. Her eyes widen.

"Can you give that back to me?" she asks. "I can light the lantern if you want. I know the fire spell. But..." Eve pauses. "Why do you need the lantern? Are... are you going out?" She looks at you, a bit worried. "In the forest? Why?"

You tell her that you have work to do. She doesn't relax at this, however, still clinging to your shoulders as you try to pull away.

"Just..." she says, slowly making herself let go. "Just be safe. Okay?" After a bit of hesitation, she waves her hand, glowing green, at the lantern, and it lights up.

You tell her to go back to sleep. You'll be fine. You promise.

You wonder even more why you're wondering, because you don't know what Jakokunese even is.

You give Eve back the encyclopedia. She takes it back, gratefully. "It was my mother's," she says. "And her mother's, and her mother's before that, back and back and back. I guess you can call it a family heirloom." She examines it, checking to see if you've damaged it in any way. "I hope you didn't get it too dirty..."

Oh, right. You apologize for tracking soot all around the house. She glances behind you, and notices the mess you made. Her shoulders droop at the inevitable need for clean-up. You swear that you'll help clean it up later.

You kiss Eve, telling her again to go back to sleep, that everything's alright and you'll just take care of everything. She obliges and lies back down, but she still looks at you, worried.

"Just come back to bed right away when you're done, okay?" she asks.

You promise you will.

You can't do that from here.

Invalid command.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a BED where Eve's trying to go back to sleep.

Your lantern is already lit, thanks to your wife.

The sight of your lit lantern, filling the cottage with a soft amber glow, fills you with determination. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You have:

You finally put your shoe back on, after putting your poor foot through much abuse. It feels a bit uncomfortable, without a sock, but it's certainly better than going around barefoot.

You leave the cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

In what direction?

You are already outside your cottage.

You can't go “out of path” if you aren't even on it.

You can't do that from here.

You are very, very careful with the lantern. The last thing you want is a forest fire.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. Your lantern lights the paths the two of you have made. You can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

You run to the nearest sign of civilization... which happens to be your house.

What? It's true.

You are now in front of your COTTAGE. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your left, a WELL to your right, and your COTTAGE right in front of you. The PATH to the forest lies behind you.

Invalid command. Please rephrase.

You can go LEFT, RIGHT, FORWARD, or BACK.

You run to the left. You are now in your GARDEN.

What.

The sight of the garden Eve worked so hard on fills you with determination. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You are in your cottage. It's the middle of the night.

You can't find that item.

You leave your cottage. There's a SMALL GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. Your lantern lights the paths the two of you have made. You can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

You can't do that from here.

The sights and sounds of the forest, your lantern lighting the way, fills you with determination. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

Chapter Text

You need to clarify a direction, but nevertheless, you are brave.

You go east. From here you can go WEST, NORTH, OR EAST.

You stop and take in the atmosphere of the forest. The moon is shining, the crows are cawing, and there are thankfully no dangerous-sounding noises you hear as your lantern lights up the three paths. You better get a move on soon.

You aren't interested in crossing the whole of Heldogort just to get to Levianta. Exploring this forest is already enough for you.

You pick an interesting looking tree and give it a good swing. You swear you hear the forest stop for a second, as if in shock. Anyway, you have a landmark now.

And leave Eve alone? You don't think so.

You are pretty sure she would be safe. But you pray anyway, just in case. At the very least it's you who's wandering the forest alone and not her...

Its trunk is bent at nearly 90 degrees. You have no idea why it grew that way, but botany is botany.

You fart. Loudly. You pray you don't attract any wild animals.

You would, if you were walking.

You immediately scream like a banshee and run to the north, flapping your arms. You had the idea to hold the lantern in your mouth, but you quickly realize that's a stupid idea as the lantern immediately falls down and shatters. The fire goes out. You can no longer see a path.

It's the full moon, but the forest is now very dark. You might be eaten by a bear.

Invalid command.

Realizing just how fucked you are, you decide to simply tango through the forest at random. You can't possibly get any more lost than you are now.

The forest is very dark. You think you hear something.

You sample a leaf from a random tree. It tastes... like leaf. You don't know what else you were expecting.

The forest is very dark. You think you hear rustling.

You fart again. It must have been a flatulence-inducing leaf. You begin to pray that you haven't attracted any predators, when a dark shape emerges from the foliage.

It's a bear.

Oh hey look, you found one!

You somehow still manage to be a terrible scientist while there's a HUNGRY BEAR RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.

YOU CLIMB LIKE A BEAR IS AFTER YOU, which, in fact, it is. Unfortunately, you realize, as the bear sniffs the tree and goes on its hind legs, that this is the kind of bear that CAN climb trees.

You can't even look up, as you watch as the bear gets closer and closer.

Where can you run? You're in a tree!

You don't think your terrible singing voice is going to help this time. The bear is now one foot below you.

You're too afraid to sing. Welp.

While you pray, you end up face to face with the bear. Better do something quickly..

You try to get away from the bear by trying to jump to the next tree, but for some illogical reason (fear?) you end up backflipping out of the tree instead.

You may be a terrible scientist, but you DO know about gravity.

A second before you hit the ground and break your neck, you realize that you broke your promise.

You have entered the forest. Your lantern lights the paths the two of you have made. You can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

You go west. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, WEST, and EAST

You went through so much to get this lantern lit. You don't want anything to suddenly happen to it.

You can't do that from here.

You run to the north, screaming like a banshee. You see you can go NORTH, WEST, or SOUTH.

Overcome with frustration, you almost start screaming again, but you end up eating them before they come out. You need air.

You try to hum a song you heard somewhere, to make yourself feel more brave. You can't remember how it goes, though.

The ephemeral melody of that lullaby hummed in a moonlit forest fills you with determination. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

It takes a bit of maneuvering, but you pluck a bit of grass from the ground and drop a few in the lantern. They fail to ignite. You feel a bit disappointed.

You will. You promised.

You carefully climb the nearest tree and look at the stars. The sheer number of stars you see is amazing. You could never get this kind of sky in Levianta, not with all the light pollution. You begin to trace the constellations, the basic ones you learned in school, the ones you made up as a kid, the ones that Eve pointed out to you one night, before...

Oh.

The stars twinkle, seeming as if they were watching you, judging you.

You don't think any bears will bother you with your lantern, but you come down anyway. You suddenly don't feel like stargazing anymore.

Thankfully, you don't.

Amazingly, you are. You always are. Living in a forest is never easy.

You go north until you hit an intersection, then you go north again, this time rolling all the way. You realize that that is a stupid idea when your lantern, overwhelmed by the rolling, goes out.

The forest, though moonlit, is now very dark. You might get eaten by a bear.

You lie on the forest floor and contemplate how stupid you are.

You think you hear something.

You begin to walk, but in the darkness you have no idea if you're going north at all, or even if you're still on the path.

You think you hear rustling.

You are debating on whether or not to climb a tree when a dark shape suddenly emerges from the forest. It's a bear.

You would like a few specifics!

It would look like the bear is ready to "vore" you, more like.

You try to walk away, but the bear sees this as weakness and lunges to attack.

You can't. It's coming right at you.

You frantically try to roll away. YOU SUCCEED.

Taking your ax, you swing your hardest at the bear. You get it deep in the shoulder, but it only seems to get angrier. Uh oh.

It's already knocked the ax out of your hands.

You would, if you still had your ax.

You hurl the watering can at the bear. Thankfully, it seems to be stunned.

You take off, trying to put as much distance between yourself and the bear as possible. You run as fast as you can, trying not to trip over anything, but it looks like the bear is keeping up. It's gaining on you.

Where would you even hide? Behind a tree? Bears are stupid but they're not that stupid.

The bear is very close to you now. You are beginning to tire.

Beginning to lose hope, you do the only thing you can think of and stop dead and try to somehow impale it on the end of your gardening shears.

If you were anymore rational, you would've realized that though sharp those shears may be, you think that the only thing it can do to an animal that can take an ax to the shoulder and live is give it a rather bad furcut.

The bear slams into you like a truck, knocking you to the forest floor. You try stabbing the gardening shears into its belly, but that only makes it more painful for you. As it begins to eat you alive, you realize you broke your promise. You apologize to Eve as you finally pass out from blood loss.

You are in the middle of Held's forest. It's a moonlit night, and your lantern illuminates the paths you can take. You see you can go NORTH, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, WEST, and EAST.

You go a bit to the west. Just a bit. Not enough to see the next intersection. You see fruit hanging from a nearby tree.

You set the lamp carefully down at the foot of the tree. It's a good lantern. Shame if something happened to it...

You climb the tree and pray it supports your weight. You manage to get far enough along the branch to pick a single fruit. It's a bit dark, so you can't identify it easily. You don't think you've encountered this fruit before.

You climb back down and hold the fruit up to the lantern's light. Hm, you really have never seen this fruit before. It's very round, and very very red.

The sight of the beautiful round red fruit fills you with determination. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You have:

You realize that it's probably not the best idea to eat a fruit you've never seen before, but you take the risk, as well as a bite.

Mmm! Delicious!

Juices run down your chin as you greedily consume the rest of the red round fruit.

You do so, struggling a bit with the rope because of your sticky fingers. You realize that you didn't exactly make the best knot as the shears come loose, hurtling off into the forest somewhere you can't see.

You may be a terrible scientist, but you DO know the concept of centripetal force.

You hold your ax aloft and head east, back the way you came. You arrive back at an intersection. You can go NORTH, SOUTH, WEST, and EAST.

You look at the full moon. You don't know why, but you feel a little intimidated by it. And fascinated. You are thankful that all this staring won't make you go blind.

Lost? What lost? Of course you know the way home... right?

You fondly regard the moon a little more. Your neck is beginning to ache at the way you're constantly craning it.

You go north. From here, you can go WEST, SOUTH, and NORTH.

The possibilities of the three paths you see before you fills you with determination. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

Chapter Text

Invalid command.

You scour the forest floor, looking for flowers. You can't find any here. Maybe in some other section of the forest?

Disappointed in the lack of flowers, you pick leaves instead. They're very pretty leaves though!

You go west. From there, you can go WEST, EAST, or SOUTH.

You look around. You are fairly sure that you are still in a moonlit forest. Up in the branches, you think you see a bird. A crow, probably.

You sing, still slightly ashamed at your terrible singing voice. The crow stops cawing and looks at you. You are no longer slightly ashamed and are now fully ashamed.

You gingerly put the lantern down and do a backflip out of frustration. The crow, startled, flies away. You manage a perfect landing.

You realize that your voice is probably worse than the crow's, and you kick the ground in frustration. You end up stubbing your toe on a rock and hopping around the path on one foot like an idiot.

You go west. You have now entered a SMALL FOREST CLEARING. From here you can go SOUTH, WEST, or EAST.

You look around. The SMALL FOREST CLEARING is that way because you've already cleared the trees in this particular area. Nature seems to be reclaiming it though, with plants already growing over the stumps. You look more, and you see NIGHT WILDFLOWERS in full bloom. They shine, reflecting the moonlight.

You pick a few flowers for Eve. You feel like you should bring something back for her. You now have SEVERAL PICKED WILDFLOWERS.

You begin to frolic in that clearing full of wildflowers, laughing. You don't know why. Maybe it's the moonlight.

After all that frolicking, you sit on a random stump to catch your breath.

You look around again. You realize that the stump you're sitting on has been cleared of plants recently. Maybe someone has been through this area?

With your powerful ex-scientist brain, you summon all your concentration and count the number of moons in the sky.

The answer... is one.

Brilliant. You're brilliant.

You examine the flowers. They are pure white, as white as the full moon shining above you. You think about making them into a flower crown for Eve, your princess.

You can't do that from here.

You will. You're not exactly sure how to do it though. You hope you don't ruin the flowers by accident.

You can't do that from here.

Feeling lost, you look up at the night sky. You've heard of sailors navigating by the stars alone. Maybe you can do the same?

After staring at the sky for a good two minutes, you give up. You really are a hopeless city kid.

You try, but after all the frolicking your mind's a bit fuzzy. You think the last direction you traveled was...WEST?

Invalid direction.

You go east. From here, you can go WEST, EAST, or SOUTH.

You go east. From here, you can go NORTH, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST or WEST.

You go east. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

You go south and are now in front of your COTTAGE. There is a garden to your RIGHT, a well to your LEFT, and your home right in FRONT OF YOU.

The feeling of homecoming after your moonlit excursion fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

As an ex-scientist, you understand the value of repetition. You concentrate again.

The number of moons is... still one.

You are so satisfied with your ex-scientist skills.

You enter your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You stare at the flowers, fashioned into a pathetic looking flower crown in your hands. You feel a rush of shame all of a sudden. Eve deserves more than these wildflowers. She deserves so much more than this forest. She deserves so much more than you.

You go to your wife. She's gone back to sleep. Still on the covers. Still waiting for you.

You carefully place the ring of flowers around her head. A flower crown for your princess.

You wish you still had your camera. You left it behind in Levianta. The two of you had to leave in a hurry, and didn't exactly have much room for anything other than essentials. Thinking about Levianta makes your mood drop again.

You don't want the flowers on her head to be crushed come morning, but... they look so good on her. You can't do it.

If they're crushed, there will be more flowers out in the forest. There will always be room in the future for more flower crowns. Forever.

You examine the side table. It's the first thing you've ever built yourself, with a bit of help from Eve. She has placed her ENCYCLOPEDIA there, before going back to sleep. There is an unlit OIL LAMP, along with a PICTURE FRAME. The side table also has a DRAWER

You open the drawer. Inside are several boxes of MATCHES, a few metal containers of LAMP OIL, several spools of THREAD, and a locked box that you know contains your MONEY.

You look at the picture. It's a picture of the two of you, smiling for the camera during your first visit to Held's Forest.

Eve took you with her (or rather, you forcibly tagged along) on one of her resource-gathering trips, before the two of you went to Levianta. It was an exciting journey, starting from Nemu and going all the way across Heldogort, passing through so many places and surviving so many dangerous obstacles, but in the end you made it to Held's Forest with your wagon still in one piece.

You look at the picture, sadly. How young the two of you looked back then! How happy Eve looked... back before the venom...

You stop looking at the picture.

You take a metal container of LAMP OIL and a box of MATCHES.

You take a spool of THREAD.

The picture of a happier time fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You stare haplessly at the spool of thread. You... you don't know how to knit. On the other hand, you're not sure if Eve knows how to knit either. You think she has some sort of knitting spell.

You think. You realize how doomed you would be, trying to live in this forest alone, if Eve wasn't here with you. You don't think you would've lasted a week, city kid you are. You nearly laugh at the irony. You brought her back here for her own benefit, but in the end, you need her as much as she needs you. What a pair the two of you make.

You examine the fireplace. The fire has gone out, because you put it out earlier with a watering can. The hearth is now full of damp ashes. It's going to be a bit hard to get a fire going again.

It's at times like these when you appreciate your wife's magic. Her fire spell can light pretty much anything. You look back at her, and you realize that she's shivering with cold, the petals on her flower crown shaking.

You begin to cry at your incompetence. You make to drench yourself with the watering can, so you can join Eve in the cold, but then you realize you used the rest of water on the fireplace. You keep crying instead.

You have a feeling you've walked down this mental road before.

You already are.

You can't do so without your watering can, so your tears will have to do. Frankly, you look a bit ridiculous, sitting on your bed and crying on Eve, but you don't care.

You climb into bed and wrap your arms around your wife, tears still running down your face. You cuddle Eve. She smiles in her sleep and cuddles you back. It's adorable. You already feel warmer.

This feels really nice, and you would love to just stay there and sleep until morning, but you can't. There's that f̟͖͓̱̲̖͉e͍e̠̯l͍̝̭̗͓͉̪i͎̗͓̙͈n̞̮̭̥͔̲͠g̛̺͙̝̝ again. You can't stay here. You have work to do.

Regretfully, you untangle yourself from Eve and climb out of the bed. She whimpers, and curls up tighter on top of the covers. Your heart melts.

You are frustrated. You think furiously on what exactly you're supposed to be doing, but it just keeps slipping away. You silently plea to the Twin Gods, praying for answers. But they are silent. As they always were. They... they were really no help to you at all, were they?

You want to stop this train of thought. It's heretical. In Levianta, you would be fired, ostracized, or worse for thinking such thoughts.

But...

Maybe if the Twin Gods don't have answers... maybe Someone Else does...?

You almost forgot where they were, but then you peek in the side table drawer. Oh. Right there, under the containers of lamp oil. You wonder how you missed that.

IT'S HERETICAL. You feel nervous at the possibility of even PRAYING to the god.

You begin to sketch the two of you, hand in hand, Eve wearing her flower crown, running through the forest utterly carefree and laughing. Thankfully, your art skills are better than your singing skills. You smile at the drawing, sadly. Maybe someday... you're slowly getting there...

You have no other choice, do you? But still, you can't find Held from here.

You kiss Eve on the cheek and promise her you'll return safely. You want to rest as much as she does.

You haven't managed to buy a decent clock yet, but the moon is still high in the sky.

You absentmindedly chew on your pen as you try to write down your dearest wish. You have many wishes... but really, in the end, there's one that you want most of all...

You glance at Eve for a moment, then you write down your wish.

You exit the house. However, you do not have a map. There is a garden to your RIGHT, a well to your LEFT, and a PATH right in front of you.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. Your lantern lights the paths the two of you have made. You can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

The sight of the whole forest stretching out before you fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You go east. From here you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go west. You can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

You go north. From here you can go NORTH, SOUTH, OR EAST.

You go north. From here you can go NORTH, SOUTH, OR EAST.

You go north, pass an intersection, then go north again. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST or WEST.

You look around, but the trees look pretty ordinary to you. Then again, what do you know? You're an ex-scientist, not a botanist.

There's one that looks a little fat, does that count?

A bit paunchy, the kind of fat that gets you a few demeaning looks and a few suggestions to stay away from donuts. Mmmm. Leviantan donuts.

You stop thinking about Leviantan donuts as you're getting quite hungry.

The sight of that fat tree, probably in need of a diet, fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You climb a tree. However, the tree you picked has its branches too thin to support you, and you fall to the ground. Your lantern falls with you, and shatters.

The forest, though moonlit, is now very dark. You might get eaten by a bear.

You climb the fat tree, but you don't feel very safe. It's not very tall.

The forest is dark. You think you hear something.

You awkwardly hang on to the tree with your legs and one arm as you hold your ax aloft. You still don't feel any safer.

The forest is dark. You think you hear rustling.

You climb as high as you can, but even that's not much. You don't need to wonder where the rustling is coming from anymore, because a dark shape emerges from the foliage. It's a bear.

You are nearly paralyzed with fear, so that's easy to do. You stay as still as you can. Maybe... just maybe... it won't see you?

You try, but it's useless. The bear has spotted you, and is now sniffing at you curiously. On its hind legs, it can easily reach your own. You are utterly terrified.

You're already doing that.

You, moving very slowly, move your ax over the bear's head and drop it. You were hoping that it would somehow chop the bear's head off, but alas, physics is not on your side. It sort of spins in the air and only manages to give the bear a rather large cut on the shoulder. The bear, now hurt, is enraged.

You drop from the tree, praying that the bear is too stunned to move. But you hurt your ankle as you hit the ground and you crumple. You don't know your way in the dark, but running in any random direction is better than being unable to run at all. As you are crippled, the bear lunges and begins to tear you apart.

As you are eaten alive, you realize that you broke your promise.

Chapter Text

You are in the middle of a moonlit forest. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST or WEST.

It's a rather ordinary section of the forest. Aside from the three paths, you see various trees and forest flora. There's a tree that looks a little fat.

You go west. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

What tree?

Yep. Still an ordinary section of the forest. If you look to your WEST, however, you think you see a little clearing.

How does one "fat" a tree?

You go west and enter another SMALL FOREST CLEARING. From here, you can go EAST, WEST, or SOUTH.

Contrary to the clearing you were in earlier, you weren't the one to create this small clearing. You have no idea why this is here, but you appreciate whoever did it anyway. You see a TRAUBEN VINE growing nearby.

You stuff the entire trauben vine, fruits and all into your mouth. You choke on it and die, foaming at the mouth. Apparently, the rest of the plant is poisonous.

You are in the middle of a moonlit forest. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST or WEST.

You go west, passing another intersection and a clearing. You end up in another intersection. From here, you can go EAST, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You can't do that from here.

You go north. From here, you can go EAST, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go east, and you end up in the small clearing you passed by a while ago. From here, you can go EAST, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go east. From here you can go EAST, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go east. From here you can go EAST, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You carefully lay your lantern at the base of a tree before you skitter up the trunk and try your best to impersonate a squirrel. You try to crawl rapidly across a branch, but you are too heavy. The branch breaks, and you hit the ground with a thud. Your ankle screams in protest. You think you sprained it.

You limp south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or EAST.

You crawl back the way you came, for some reason. At least it takes the weight off your ankle. From here you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST or WEST.

You ask yourself if you're any closer to finding Held. You answer yourself: No.

You are tempted to lean against the tree you tried to climb and just cry.

You find a stick. It's the branch you pulled down with you. You try to splint your ankle with the cloth you cut off your shirt, but it's too small. Do you have anything else?

You cry at how incompetent you are. This is getting to be a bad habit.

But no. You will not give up. You wipe away your tears with a piece of cloth. You WILL succeed.

You go west. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

All you have is the branch you pulled down with you. It's pretty big already, so it makes for an okay crutch for now.

You wonder where the god of the forest is. Logically, as this forest is named after the divine being, he would be in the center. Now, if you could only FIND the center...

You go south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or WEST.

You go west, and you are immediately faced with the biggest tree you have ever seen. It dominates the trees surrounding it, and they seem to almost... bow to it? You can't think of any appropriate description.

You feel the energy of this place, and all at once you feel as if you've come somewhere... holy.

From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, SOUTHEAST, or WEST.

You are not sure how to nudge a tree awake. You carefully walk up to the massive trunk and give it a little poke. Nothing happens.

All that wandering, as well as the sprained ankle, tires you. You sway on your feet.

But no. You can't collapse now! You force yourself to stand straight and keep yourself alert.

The sight of the holy tree fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You pray to Held. You quake in your shoes, feeling more and more like you're doing something wrong. You plea, you question: What are you supposed to be doing?

The tree doesn't respond.

You are filled with even more frustration. Maybe Held isn't real. Maybe you wasted your time on such heresies. Your ankle throbs in pain. You grit your teeth as you light a match and attempt to light the large tree on fire.

Immediately, you are set upon by several vines. They wrap around your limbs and stretch your body to its breaking point, and beyond.

As you are torn apart, as you realize that yes, Held is real after all, and that you broke your promise.

You are in the center of a moonlit forest, standing in front of the largest tree you've ever seen. This tree might just be a god.

From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

You ask nicely if the tree would help you with your problems. There is no response. You feel ridiculous.

You carefully sit down and lean against the large tree. It feels nice.

You may not be a botanist, but as you sit down against the tree and look at the surrounding forest, you realize that this forest might have grown around this very tree, like it was the center of a large wheel. Again, your are in slight awe.

Again, you pray silently, feeling slightly wrong while doing so. You tell the tree about you, about your regrets, about Eve and the nagging feeling about you supposed to be doing something you're not sure about. You even mention the fact that doing this is practically heretical in your religion, but your religion hasn't been of much help as of late.

You hold your breath and expect something to happen, but the tree... doesn't respond.

Out of utter frustration, you kick the tree, realizing too late that it's the leg with your sprained ankle you're using. You howl with pain as you fall flat on your bottom, again. All of a sudden, the branches begin to rustle, and a strange voice, like an elderly man, resonates in your mind.

"Hrrm, what's this? Who woke me up?"

You are utterly terrified as the tree suddenly grows a face, looking almost human but not quite. Its "eyes" then turn to you.

"Oh... so it's you then."

You suddenly find your voice as you stutter out apologies, pleas for forgiveness, and a repeat of your silent prayers before Held interrupts.

"Now, now, be quiet. Hrrm. You're the little human that's been chopping down my trees, aren't you? You should know that isn't very nice. I think several of my children would like to have a word with you."

You are more terrified than before. You rapidly try to apologize for your profession, blubbering and generally sounding like a stuttering fool, before the tree somehow silences you with a wave of one of its branches.

"Relax, little human. I am a reasonable tree. I can forgive you trying to make your home in this forest; I'm honestly too tired to deal with my children's little grudges. However, I don't really like the fact that you woke me up in the middle of the night. Why are you here? What do you ask of me, and why should I help you, after already taking so much from my forest?"

You tell him of your problem, of what's been keeping you up tonight, and tree seems stunned. "So... you want me to give you work?" The tree then booms with laughter, branches shaking, crows flying off into the sky in panic. You struggle to remain upright as the tree finally calms down.

"Ah... it's not every day that humans manage to amuse me so," the tree says. "Hrm... a job... alright, little human. Here's some work for you: my children have noticed strange things occurring near the lake and ocean. I suppose you know where those are. Go investigate and tell me what you find." The tree's voice is getting sleepier. "And maybe...” The tree yawns. “When you come back... give me less of a rude awakening next time, hmm?"

The tree then falls silent.

You nearly hit the ground in supplication, but you get no response. It looks like the tree has already fallen back asleep.

You don't know why you're doing this, you think as you struggle to climb the massive tree. Amazingly, it doesn't wake as you haul yourself up against gravity, watching the ground get further and further away. You finally rest yourself on a branch, too exhausted to climb any further. Then you look, and you simply gape.

You can see the entire forest from where you're sitting. You look to your left, and there.... that has to be your house. You look to your right, and there's the ocean beyond the trees, sparkling in the water. You turn your head even further to the right, and there, behind you, is the lake.

It's now you realize you are small. You are so small, compared to anything else in this world. You tremble a little, as you hold on to the tree's massive trunk. How can there possibly be evil when there's such beauty in the world?

The view of the whole forest, and a new quest, fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure how, but you SAVE.

You can't. You're in a tree.

You jump out of the tree, realizing suddenly that you're too high to be able to survive the landing. You break your neck as you hit the ground. You broke your promise.

You are sitting in the tallest tree you've ever climbed. The entire forest stretches out before you, illuminated by moonlight.

You climb back down, shaking. You wince as you possibly worsen the state of your sprained ankle. Eventually you reach the ground, and sort of collapse on the forest floor. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

You go southeast and enter a SMALL FOREST CLEARING. You think you've been here before. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You look around. Ah yes, this is where you picked wildflowers for Eve. They are still there, shining in the moonlight.

If you were a botanist, you would've known that eating this particular white wildflower is a REALLY bad idea. Unfortunately, you aren't a botanist, and you eat the wildflower anyway.

As soon as the bitter taste goes away, you feel the world beginning to spin. The forest gets colder, much colder, and your heart begins to race...

You fall to the floor, but... you somehow miss. The forest melts into a blur. The stars fall and rain down on you, shattering your lantern. The moon is bright, way too bright, and you cover your face with your arms and find that you taste blood. The trees begin to walk and you try to follow them, but you keep getting lost, you don't know where you're going.

Where is Eve? Where is she? You can't find her. Y̼̮ou̧̲͈͈̙̞ c̯̰̙̩͙a͏͈̱̪̺n͚̜̟͓̮̯'̨̙̬̜̟͎̹t̰ f͢i̬̱̮̮͇̳n̸͉͎̼̜͇d ̸̦̜̜h͎e̹͚r̹̤̳̟͡.̢̰͖̺̹͖̩

A bear appears and eats you alive, swallowing you whole, but still you walk, still you breathe. Your blood turns purple and you can't wipe it off, only smear it around, staining your clothes. You find yourself along the shoreline and you run, screaming for someone who isn't coming back. Your heart beats, pounding steadily in your head, like the tick... tick... tick... of a gigantic clock. It's cold. So cold. You are stabbed with something sharp. You can't tell what it is. The world turns white and flies apart into a thousand pieces, and you finally die.

You are sitting in the tallest tree you've ever climbed. The entire forest stretches out before you, illuminated by moonlight.

You climb back down, shaking. You wince as you possibly worsen the state of your sprained ankle. Eventually you reach the ground, and sort of collapse on the forest floor. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

You go southeast and enter a SMALL FOREST CLEARING. You think you've been here before. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You walk, certain in your steps, tracing a familiar path back from the clearing, until you find yourself in front of your home. There is a GARDEN to your left, a WELL to your right, and the entrance to your cottage is right in FRONT of you.

The sight of home fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You can't do that from here.

Before you can stop yourself, you jump into the well. Halfway down, you realize you're breaking your promise and leaving Eve all alone, and you hate yourself even more.

The water is cold.

You are in front of your cottage. There is a GARDEN to your left, a WELL to your right, and the entrance to your cottage is right in FRONT of you.

You enter your house. It's the middle of the night.

You try to do jumping jacks to warm yourself up, but that immediately makes your ankle scream in protest and you sort of crumple to the floor in pain.

You do so, silently. You really should do something about that ankle.

You limp over to Eve's bedside and think of updating Eve about your mission from Held. You place a hand on her shoulder to shake your wife awake, but... you hesitate. You look at her relaxed face, sleeping peacefully, the flower crown from earlier still resting on her head.

...

You can't do it.

Instead of waking her up, you scribble a quick note on your mission, fold it, and place it on the side table, on top of Eve's ENCYCLOPEDIA.

You limp around the cottage, looking for something to help bind your ankle. You eventually find some RAGS in the side table drawer, right under the PENS AND PAPER. You wonder how you missed those too. You wrap your ankle tight.

You sit on the bed and test the stability of your terrible first-aid. You're not sure how durable it will be for your mission, but you think it will hold. Hopefully.

You end up leaning against the headboard, stroking Eve's hair as you contemplate what lies ahead. Years from now, would the two of you still be happy? Would Eve still spend entire days unable to get out of bed, just staring at the ceiling? Would she still tug at your sleeve, shyly asking if what she was seeing was what you were seeing too?

You don't think about children. Not even the possibility of children.

You take out your sketch from earlier. You can only hope, for now. But you are sure that years from now, no matter what happens, you would still love her.

The thought of a happier future fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You decide to do a more scientifically sound study of your ankle as you plop it unceremoniously on the dining table. You realize you don't have the proper equipment. Your mood drops immediately.

You REFUSE to give in to despair. You have a mission!

You decide to do something intelligent for once and crack open Eve's book again. The good news: there IS a page about sprained joints. The bad news: You need to be a magic-user. Dammit.

It's tempting, but you've already woken her up once. You don't want to do so again. She's barely getting enough sleep as it is.

You are already suffering.

You are pretty sure that you two are the only ones in this forest, and that Eve is the only magic-user by extension. Unless the tree-god can do magic. However, you don't feel comfortable asking the gods for any more favors.

You have:

You can't do that from here.

You exit the cottage through the back door. You are now in your BACKYARD.

You grab some WOOD from your WOOD PILE.

Did you, really? While you do think it's in bad taste to chop down any more trees after your talk with Held, these logs have already been cut. It's a shame to let them go to waste.

Your backyard is where you usually work nowadays, cleared of trees so you have space to move. There is a STUMP nearby that you use to chop logs. Pieces of wood litter the area. Miscellaneous items are also leaned up against the back of your cottage.

You silently thank the tree-god for giving you something to do while this inexplicable feeling is keeping you awake. Maybe this is what you need.

You enter the cottage. It is the middle of the night.

Your fireplace is a pretty okay fireplace, if rather large. Eve sometimes joked that it was large enough to fit her. It still does its regular fireplace things rather well.

The fire has gone out, because you put it out earlier with a watering can. The hearth is now full of damp ashes. It's going to be a bit hard to get a fire going again.

There is a POKER right next to the fireplace, as well as a pile of LOGS and some BELLOWS.

You are already filled with determination. You exit the house. There is a garden to your RIGHT, a well to your LEFT, and a path right in FRONT of you.

You can't do that from here.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. Your lantern lights the paths the two of you have made. You can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

The sight of the whole forest stretching out before you fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or EAST.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or EAST.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST or WEST.

You can't go there. What's the north pole?

You go north. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

If you are a bad singer, you are a worse songwriter. At least you remember that "tree" rhymes with "three".

The crows fall silent and stare at you. Feeling self-conscious, you stop singing.

You go east. From here, you can go WEST or SOUTH.

You go south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or WEST.

You accept your limitations, but you smile at the thought of Eve's singing voice.

You remember, while joining her on a resource-gathering trip that took the two of you across Heldogort, she would sing softly, every so often, just to keep boredom at bay. She sounded beautiful, and once you couldn't help but try to harmonize. Her eyes went wide, and she said she loved your singing voice.

You think she was only saying that to make you feel better.

You hum the song she was singing that day, as you go north. From here, you can go WEST or SOUTH.

You go west. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go west. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go west, and enter a SMALL FOREST CLEARING. You have a feeling you've been here before. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go west. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You ask yourself if you're there yet. As you look at the forest around you, you answer yourself: No.

You head west, and find yourself on the shore of THE LAKE OF AMUSEMENT. The blue water ripples, distorting its reflection of the moon. From here, you can go SOUTH, or WEST ALONG THE SHORE OF THE LAKE.

The sight of the lake fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means but you SAVE.

You, excited at the prospect of you reaching your goal, shout at the top of your lungs. Your voice echoes across the blue water.

You wonder why this lake is named as it is. You've been here once before with Eve, and you asked why it was called that way, and she just shrugged.

You look at the lake. It doesn't look very amusing.

You fling yourself into the lake, and you realize too late that you're holding your lantern. It goes out, as you immediately crawl out, shivering onto the shore. You're freezing. The forest looks very dark, and your lantern is damp.

You scream at your incompetence. Several crows fly off into the night sky out of fright.

You scream and you scream, eventually running out of air and choking as lake water drips into your mouth. As you are hacking your lungs out, you don't see what suddenly grabs you from behind and pulls you into the water.

You struggle, but something is wrapped around your torso and you can't get free. You are pulled deeper and deeper into the lake. As you reach for the surface in vain, passing out, you realize you broke your promise.

You are standing on the shore of the Lake of Amusement. From here, you can go EAST, SOUTH, or walk along the shore to the WEST.

You walk along the shore and end up at the WEST END of the lake. From here, you can go WEST, SOUTH, or walk along the shore to the EAST.

Chapter Text

You walk east. You are now on the EAST END of the lake. From here you can go SOUTH, EAST, or walk along the shore to the WEST.

You inspect the shore line. Nothing but sandy ground and clumps of grass.

The lake shimmers, reflecting the light of the full moon. You never realized the lake looked so beautiful at night. Now, what were those forest spirits talking about?

You get on your knees and kiss the dirt. Ew.

You tremble at the thought at showing off your horrible voice again, but once more you open your mouth and sing. Once more, the crows in the forest behind you fall silent, and your voice echoes across the water. The acoustics here are amazing. Too bad it's only your voice. Eventually, you get too ashamed to continue and stop.

...

You think you see something rippling in the water.

The beauty of the lake fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means but you SAVE.

You jump into the lake water, clothes and all. The lantern you're still holding goes out. You tread water for a few seconds, contemplating the stupidity of what you've just done, when something wraps around you from beneath and pulls you beneath the surface. You struggle as hard as you can, but you can't break free.

Just before you pass out, as you futilely reach for the surface, you realize that you broke your promise.

You are at the EAST END of the lake. The water shimmers in the moonlight. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or walk along the shore to the WEST.

You have:

You try to investigate the rippling, but just as it appeared, it's gone. Maybe it was a trick of the moonlight? It's hard to tell...

You tentatively step to the edge of the water and fill your watering can. Never know when you'll need water. You now have a FULL WATERING CAN.

You stand at the edge of the water, looking out at the lake. You take a deep breath. You WILL get to the bottom of this. You WILL finish your mission. You WILL come home safely, no matter what happens.

You can say that you're filled with DETERMINATION.

Of course, you immediately ruin the dramatic moment by immediately trying to shove a fistful of sandy dirt into your mouth. You choke on it and spit it out, but the taste is terrible.

You take a sheet of blank paper and try to remember how to fold it into a boat. You end up with a pathetic looking one, but you set it out to sea (or lake) anyway. You salute it as it sails off to the center of the lake. Bon Voyage.

On what paper? You've already sent it out to lake!

Float what away?

Invalid command.

You watch the boat proudly as it floats off into the distance. Then your heart sinks as the pathetic-ness of the boat makes it vulnerable to sudden waves. The paper soaks through, then your boat sinks.

You suddenly want to play a funeral song.

You cry. It was such a brave boat. You stop crying when you realize how ridiculous you're being. You then think about how pathetic the boat was and you cry again. You repeat this crying cycle five times. At the end, you're all cried out.

You sing again, softly, a song that you heard somewhere. You still can't remember the lyrics. The lake reminds placid, as if indifferent. The crows don't even stop cawing.

Invalid command.

You pray to Levia, but maybe your heresy has made her quite vindictive, as nothing of note happens.

You can't find one in the area.

Out of what?

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

＞\(＾ｏ＾)ノ

Invalid command. Owata!

What's an octopus?

You don't have any salt on you right now, and you have no idea what a "tentaseto" is.

You attach some thread to a tree branch. Hey, it looks like a FISHING ROD!

You really should stop thinking about your ex-rival. You’re supposed to have put all that behind you now.

How about you don't. It's not good for your mental health.

Invalid command.

No.

"TENTASETH" is not a valid action.

Whose shoes?

Who even is the real enemy here?

You do a little jig around the area. Your lantern flickers, and you suddenly stop. You need that light.

You knew many science men. You were once a science man. Be specific.

As much as you loathe thinking about Seth Leviadamned Twiright, you are pretty much out of ideas. You try to think about his approach. To be honest, the only think you can think of is cold, utter, brutal, efficiency.

You stare at the lake, helplessly. Acting like Seth was what got you in this forest to begin with. And even if you wanted to sink that low again, you have no idea how being efficient will help in this situation.

Your resolve to never sink to Seth Twiright's level again fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You scream at the water, out of pure frustration. You scream and scream until you run out of air. Just as you're catching your breath, you see something quickly emerging from the water, wrapping around your waist, and pulling you into the lake.

Unnecessary. You're already being pulled into the depths of the lake by something you can't even see. You try to get yourself free, but already the lack of oxygen is already making your thoughts sluggish. In fact, the only thing in your mind by the time you finally pass out is that you broke your promise.

You are at the EAST END of the lake. The water shimmers in the moonlight. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or walk along the shore to the WEST.

You will.

You carefully refill your lantern with oil. It burns merrily.

You say that you are there under Held's instructions to the wind. You try to sound very important. The wind, being the wind, doesn't respond. You feel a bit sad.

In utter frustration, you make to move a fair distance from the lake, then look back and scream incoherently at it until you are out of breath. The lake doesn't respond either.

You scream and you scream, but nothing happens. You've long since scared off the crows. Your throat feels like it's burning.

Your hoarse throat, combined with your terrible singing voice, makes everything sound twice as lovely. By lovely, you mean horrible.

You give up because your throat hurts too much.

You walk back to the water's edge.

You carefully look at the water. You swear you saw something, and something must be making all those spirits antsy, but what is it? It's too hard to see, especially at night.

You throw a log of wood into the water. You may have been a terrible scientist, but at least you remember that wood floats. The log lands with a splash, and simply bobs up and down.

You hope something will happen, but nothing does.

You lie down on the sand and wait. And wait. The log floats further and further away. You're getting bored.

Tired of all the monotony, you rush at the lake and jump in, screaming all the way. The cold water immediately galvanizes your senses, and you realize soon after that you're still holding the now put-out lantern like an idiot.

You panic a little, and immediately try to swim for shore. Just as you're about to climb out of the water though, something wraps around your ankle and pulls you under.

Kind of hard to do when you're being PULLED UNDERWATER.

You already are. The surface is so far away... you're almost about to pass out.

You suddenly remember that you have an ax. You struggle to maneuver it in the water, but you manage to cut it off your ankle. You frantically try to swim to the surface, but your lungs feel like bursting. You know right then and there that you won't make it.

You lament your broken promise as you finally pass out and drown.

You are at the EAST END of the lake. The water shimmers in the moonlight. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or walk along the shore to the WEST.

You carefully place your lantern on the ground. You don't want that thing to break, now.

You jump into the lake, clothes and all. OhLeviait'sCOLD.

You try to swim to the center of the lake, when something wraps around your waist and pulls you under.

You frantically take your ax, struggling to maneuver it underwater, and chop off the thing wrapped around you. You desperately swim to the surface and emerge, gasping for air.

What... what in the Hellish Yard was that?!

You notice then that the water you're in is now clouded with a black, inky substance.

You don't want to be in the water any longer than necessary. You swim to shore as fast as you can and you stumble out of the water, gasping for air.

Your near-death experience fills you with utter terror, as well as DETERMINATION to know just what in the Hellish Yard you're dealing with here. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You say that Held sent you, teeth chattering slightly. The lake is now calm, as if you weren't just fighting for your life in there. Nothing responds.

You chop a log into smaller pieces. It was already meant for the fireplace, but you want a smaller fire.

It takes more than a few matches, but you have a good fire going now, at the edge of the lake.

You feel a bit antsy about getting naked in the middle of the forest, but it's either that or death by hypothermia. You strip to your underwear and lay your clothes close to the fire. The thing that wrapped around your waist... it's as if it clings to the shirt. It's the weirdest thing you've ever seen.

You already are.

You examine the shirt. It's soaking wet, and is also stained black, like one massive inkstain. The weird rope-thing seems to be stuck to it.

You retrieve the lantern and place it right next to you. Don't want that thing getting lost...

You REALLY don't want to be touching that thing, but you don't want it to stick to your shirt. You eventually try prying it off with a sheet of paper as buffer. You nearly tear your shirt apart in the process, but you do it. Looking closely at the rope-thing, you see that it's covered in tiny suction-cup like things.

You look at the stars. There are so, so many stars. You could never get this kind of sky in Levianta, not with all the light pollution. You ask the stars how you got into this mess. They only twinkle in response. You sigh, and start absentmindedly tracing the constellations, the basic ones you learned in school, the ones you made up as a kid, the ones that Eve pointed out to you one night, before...

Oh.

The stars twinkle, seeming as if they were watching you, judging you. You immediately stop stargazing.

You wrap the rope thing in paper. You are no biologist, but you are pretty sure that this is no way to handle a sample. It's better than nothing though.

It feels kind of wrong to judge anyone, not with everything you've done.

You put on your slightly-less wet clothes. They're still damp, but it's an improvement.

The feeling that you're actually making progress fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You pour water all over the mini-campfire with the watering can until the fire's gone out. You now have an EMPTY WATERING CAN. You feel good for practicing campfire safety.

You leave the lake and walk through the forest, carefully retracing your steps. However, given the roundabout way you traveled through the forest, you end up backtracking at one point. It's not the most efficient path, and it takes a while, but finally, you're home once more. There's a WELL to your right, a GARDEN to your left, and your COTTAGE right in front of you.

You enter your cottage. Without thinking, you say that you're home. Eve doesn't answer, as she's still fast asleep.

The feeling of homecoming fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You peel your now-disgusting clothes off of you and change them out for fresh ones. You wonder how on earth you're going to explain them to Eve as you hang them up in front of the fireplace to finish drying. Then you suddenly double-take.

Oh yeah, the fireplace is out. You put it out. Good job, you.

You go to Eve's bedside and give her a gentle kiss on the cheek, wondering just how she manages to put up with your nonsense.

There's nothing... broken about it? Besides the lack of fire.

You are now in your backyard.

You don't have any damp wood.

You take a few more logs from your log pile.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You restart the fire you put out with new logs. Now there's a fire happily roaring in your hearth, and the cottage gets a lot warmer. Eve stops shivering.

Your rekindled fire, filling your home with warmth, fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You climb into bed and wrap your arms around your wife. You cuddle Eve. She smiles in her sleep and cuddles you back. It's adorable.

This feels really nice, and you would love to just stay there and sleep until morning, but you can't. You have work to do.

Regretfully, you untangle yourself from Eve and climb out of the bed.

You have:

Invalid command.

You would really love to, especially at how warm the cottage has become, but you have work to do.

Your resolve to finish the mission Held gave you fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

Now you're just being childish.

You take the appendage, still wrapped in paper, and slap it against Eve's cheek. She scowls and lifts a hand to her face, but she doesn't wake up.

She always was a heavy sleeper.

You look at how much oil you have left. It's half-full. Or half-empty. But you're no pessimist.

Who is “Lewis"?

You suddenly think that the oil seems like a good thing to drink and you take a hearty swig.

It tastes DISGUSTING. You wretch immediately. You choke and try to spit it out over and over again, but you can't get all of it out. It coats the inside of your mouth and throat, so it feels disgusting as well. You regret everything.

What's a tentacle?

You're pretty sure that you should be saving this for Held's report, but what the Hellish Yard, you're hungry. You roast the appendage over the fire, carefully turning it this way and that. You then take a tentative bite.

Hmm. Not bad. It's not the worst thing you've ever tasted, that's for sure.

You get so excited by your culinary discovery that you shove the entire appendage into your mouth, realizing too late that there's nowhere else for it to go besides down your throat, unfortunately blocking your airway.

You panic and try to pull it out, but it seems to be stuck in your esophagus.

You asphyxiate. For science.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

Chapter Text

You fart. Luckily, the crackling fire covers up the noise. It doesn't cover up the smell though. Ick.

Invalid command.

You can't go there from here.

You leave the cottage. There is a WELL to your left, a GARDEN to your right, and a PATH right in front of you.

You have:

Invalid command.

You can't do that from here.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

Remember what?

You scream, in the manliest way you can. Eve wakes up in a panic, thinking you're being murdered. She instinctively fires a bolt of magic, and you are killed instantly.

Whoops.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You check on your wife. She’s still sleeping peacefully, but this time, thankfully, she isn't shivering anymore. Just to make sure, you check again. And again.

You have:

You may be an incompetent scientist, but you are pretty sure you can't "listen" for a pulse.

Invalid command.

You’re already doing that.

You think you have such a hot figure you decide to make that literal. You take a match, and...

...

THIS WAS A TERRIBLE IDEA.

You immediately hit the floor of the cottage and ROLL LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT, which of course, it actually does. The flames go out, but you think your skin is going to blister. Badly. Why do you do these things to yourself?

Feel what?

Whose pulse?

What is twerk-ing?

No.

You’re already not doing that.

You think that Eve may have something to help with that, but you aren't sure where she keeps it, or even what kind of "something" that is. For all you know, it could be a spell.

You drag yourself to the side table to check Eve's book for anything on burns. Thankfully, there is a section just for that. For minor burns, apparently you need to run cold water over it, then apply certain herbs such as aloe and lavender. Now, where can you get those?

You just checked Eve's book, and yes, there are herbs that can help with burns.

Invalid command.

You try, but your buttocks aren't in a good state for dancing.

You leave your cottage. There is a WELL to your left, a GARDEN to your right, and a PATH right in front of you.

You are already outside your cottage.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

You look carefully at the medicinal herbs, and... OH LOOK. There's some ALOE right there. No lavender, unfortunately. You guess the ALOE was more important.

You are already outside your house.

You don't have any aloe.

You exit the garden. There is a WELL to your left, a GARDEN to your right, and a PATH right in front of you.

You go to your well. You see the well that you and Eve dug when you first got here. You would've have liked to use the stream but it's just too far.

What aloe?

You can't do that from here.

You try, but you don't have a bucket.

You look around, but there's no bucket in the vicinity of the well.

Invalid command.

You enter your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You already have a watering can. It's empty though.

You exit your cottage. You are now in your BACKYARD.

You now have a BUCKET.

You don't feel like going.

You can't do that from here.

You are now in front of your house. There is a WELL to your left, a GARDEN to your right, and a PATH right in front of you.

You go left. You see the well that you and Eve dug when you first got here. You would've have liked to use the stream but it's just too far.

It looks dark. You don't feel like entering that well.

How?

You have:

You are about to, when you realize there's already rope attached to the well. It looks a bit worn, but it should still be good for a couple of draws.

You tie the bucket to the rope with the best knot you can manage. Will it hold? You don't know.

You lower the bucket into the well until you hear it splash into the water. You then winch it up, warily watching the rope as it strains against the axle.

Despite your fears, the rope holds. You now have a BUCKET OF WATER.

You discover that the knot you made was tied too... well. Your fingers ache trying to unpick the knot, and you give up. The bucket now just sits at the rim of the well.

Invalid command.

You take the bucket and pour the cold water on your blistered bottom. It makes you jump as your lower half is completely soaked with frigid water. Just when you just changed too!

Your behind still hurts, but it's an improvement compared to a minute ago. Once more, you sigh as you realize how stupid you've become.

You are in front of your cottage. There is a WELL to your left, a GARDEN to your right, and a PATH right in front of you.

You enter the GARDEN. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

The book said to use something sharp, so you have to make do with your ax. You regret losing your gardening shears, but beggars can't be choosers. You now have SEVERAL ALOE LEAVES.

You remember from the book that it's the sap that's helpful to the burns. You... apply ... the sap. Your buttocks immediately feel better.

You leave the garden and are now in front of your cottage. There is a WELL to your left, a GARDEN to your right, and a PATH right in front of you.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. Your lantern lights the paths the two of you have made. You can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST. Your home lies to the SOUTH.

You go NORTH. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

You can't go west. You can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

You go NORTH. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

You can't go west. You can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

You can't go west. You can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

You can't go northwest. You can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

You go east. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or WEST.

You go NORTH. From here, you can go WEST, NORTH, or SOUTH.

You can't go EAST. You can only go WEST, NORTH, or SOUTH.

You go WEST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go WEST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You go WEST. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go north and enter a SMALL CLEARING. You think you've been here before. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You leave the small clearing and go WEST. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You go EAST and enter a SMALL CLEARING. You think you've been here before. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You go WEST. From here, you can go EAST, WEST, or SOUTH.

You go SOUTH. From here, You can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go west. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go NORTH and enter a SMALL CLEARING. You feel like you've been here before. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go WEST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go NORTH. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You cannot go NORTH. You can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST or WEST.

You go WEST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or WEST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, OR WEST.

You go WEST. From here you can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go... wow... that's one Hellish Yard of a crossroad you have here...

You can go NORTHEAST, which is back the way you came, NORTH, NORTHWEST, WEST, and SOUTHWEST.

You go NORTHWEST. From here, you can go SOUTHEAST, EAST, NORTH, and WEST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go NORTH, WEST, NORTHEAST, SOUTH, AND EAST.

Your utter frustration at forest navigation fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means but you SAVE.

You go north, and you and you are immediately faced with the biggest tree you have ever seen. It dominates the trees surrounding it, and they seem to almost... bow to it? You can't think of any appropriate description.

You feel the energy of this place, and all at once you feel as if you've come somewhere... holy.

From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, SOUTHEAST, or WEST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go WEST, NORTH, or SOUTH.

You go west, and you and you are immediately faced with the biggest tree you have ever seen. It dominates the trees surrounding it, and they seem to almost... bow to it? You can't think of any appropriate description.

You feel the energy of this place, and all at once you feel as if you've come somewhere... holy.

From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, SOUTHEAST, or WEST.

Your utter relief at reaching the tree god AT LAST fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You realize you have no clue how to wake up Held without resorting to kicking him. He did ask you for a "less rude awakening", but honestly you have no clue how else you're going to do that.

You carefully walk up to the tree god and... knock? As gently as you can. You wait a few seconds, then knock again.

...

There's no response...

You gingerly look around for any forest spirits. You don't see anything, but then again, you don't really know what you're looking for. A crow lands on a branch nearby and looks at you. You look away.

You knock a bit harder, to the point where you realize you're almost punching the trunk, but then you realize your error and immediately stop before your fist gets a splinter. Those are never fun.

You tentatively say hello to the crow. It cocks its head, as if it's listening. Feeling a bit foolish, you ask the crow if you can wake up the forest god because you need to talk with him. The crow looks at you with its other eye, lets out a single CAW, and flies off. Well. That didn't help.

You nudge the tree with your foot. Do you really have to kick him again? Before you could decide anything, the crow returns, this time with an entire flock of its brethren. You've never seen so many crows in your life. They all surround the tree, perching on its many many branches. The ones closest to the trunk then peck at the bark like woodpeckers, while the other crows immediately start a deafening chorus of cawing. You nearly cover your ears from the noise.

You wonder, as you stare at the awe-inspiring sight before you, if you have indeed become a madman. You are dead sure, if Eve was here with you, that at this point she would be asking you if she was seeing things again. If she were, you honestly wouldn't be sure if you were seeing things as well.

Apparently, they already are.

Unnecessary. The tree begins to groan and the branches begin to rustle once more, scaring a few crows away from his many branches. A voice resonates again, in your mind, "Yes, yes, I'm awake, I'm awake... settle down, my children... " A face, looking as unsettling as last time, grows on the tree's trunk. " Now, what's the issue this time... Oh! It's you! " The tree inspects you, with your burnt, soggy pants. " You seem to have been on a little adventure. Now, how goes the job I gave you?"

You try not to stutter as you tell Held about the thing that nearly killed you in the Lake of Amusement (which isn't so amusing, now that you think about it). You present to him the strange appendage that you cut away to free yourself. The tree examines it, then its "eyes" widen in recognition.

"My dear human, I do believe that that is an octopus tentacle you have there with you! A Ziz Tiama's tentacle, to be exact. Amazing creatures, those octopi. Did you know that the tentacle you cut off will eventually grow back? " The tree roars with laughter, shaking its branches and scaring the remaining crows off into the night sky. " Even so, I don't think it will be very happy with you! They're very intelligent creatures. It will most likely remember your face, little human, especially since you've harmed it."

You try not feel petrified. You fail.

"So, " says Held, getting back to business. " That explains my children's anxiety over the Lake. But what of the ocean, little human? What have you learned here?"

What.

You never want to, ever again, but you have a feeling you'll have go back there eventually. You're not looking forward to it. Held looks at you, expecting an answer.

You sheepishly explain that you haven't actually gone to the ocean yet, but you'll be there as soon as possible. You swear.

Held looks more a little disappointed. "Hrrm, that means I'll have to be woken up once more. Do humans not know how to be efficient these days? Unbelievable... " he huffs. " Oh well, I suppose if the job is done. Do as you will, little human, " he says with a yawn. " Now... what on Earth is a Ziz Tiama even doing in the lake?" he mumbles, almost to himself. His "face" then melts into the trunk, and Held looks like an ordinary tree once more, if it weren't for the fact that he is the largest tree in the forest.

You release a breath you didn't even know you were holding.

You stare at the tree. You don't to admit to yourself that you're procrastinating for the daunting task ahead of you.

You sit down where you were standing and contemplate all the life choices you made to get you to this point. It's not a very pleasant thing to recall.

Eventually, you make yourself stop feeling sorry for yourself and stand back up. You have work to do.

Well now, it's Held's mission. You're sure. You're pretty sure. Just as sure as you are of the sun rising. The sun always rises right? You try to reassure yourself, staring at the full moon, hanging in the middle of the sky. You are very sure. R̲̦ͅi̮̙͙̹̭̮g͙h̩͇̟̼̹͚t̖̻͇?͡

The thought of the ocean, the thought of the certainty of sunrise, and the thought of Eve back at home holding you to your promise fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

Chapter Text

You scream, just to let out all the emotions inside of you. Nothing wrong with a good healthy scream.

Except you realize that you are in the middle of deep dark forest. Where screaming can attract things. You shut up.

You go over it in your mind again. There are strange things happening near the ocean and the Lake of Amusement. Investigate them. Well, you already have the Lake of Amusement down. Your waist still hurts from the incident.

You stare at your arms, waiting for your bare hands to become bear hands. Nothing happens.

Before you can stop yourself, you've farted in front of the tree god. You are horrified. You wait for the instant smiting, but it... never comes...

Thank Levia.

Even if you are one no longer, you were once a Scientist and thus d̛͍̦̖̠̯̺̼i̞͎̬̪̣d̲̤̟̠̬̗̕n̮'͏t͍̘͈̞ ̹̟͙͎̻̫̥͢r͇̟̲e͚̟̖a̦̠̙l̪͎̫̙̯l̻y͖͙̜̬̩ ̗̬͈̳d͍̘̖̳̥a̢̘̜̞b̰̟̭̻̞̥b͇̞̘̗͡l͇̩̯̪̗e̠̕ in the affairs of mages. However, it was impossible to be a citizen in the Magic Kingdom Levianta and not be exposed to any kind of magic. It's in the name of the country, for Levia's sake. Especially when you have a mage for a wife.

You try to remember what kind of things mages could do. Given they had enough energy and the moon was full, you realize that they could do pretty much... ḁ̳̝͈̼̮n̫yt̤̺̦h̜̝͔̺̯ͅị̲̣̳͚̦͡n̸͍̫̖͎g͔͎.

You have:

You climb the tree god yet again, trying desperately to hold on to your lantern. Climbing with only one hand isn't a very good idea though, as you lose your grip and fall to the ground below.

Your lantern shatters. So does your skull.

You are in the center of a moonlit forest, standing in front of the largest tree you've ever seen. This tree just happens to be a god.

You put down the lantern at the base of Held's trunk. Wouldn't want anything happening to it...

You climb up Held one more time. It may be dangerous, but the view is just as spectacular as you remember. There's your house, to the left. And the ocean to your right. You don't need to turn your head to know the lake is right behind you.

You take a deep breath, stand on the branch your sitting on, and do a spectacular backflip. Your form is excellent, but where do you think you are? The high dive at the MKL University Gym? You slam head-first into the ground, and you die instantly.

You are in the center of a moonlit forest, standing in front of the largest tree you've ever seen. This tree just happens to be a god.

You put down the lantern at the base of Held's trunk. Wouldn't want anything happening to it...

You climb up Held one more time. It may be dangerous, but the view is just as spectacular as you remember. There's your house, to the left. And the ocean to your right. You don't need to turn your head to know the lake is right behind you.

The incredible view fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You let out another scream. You never realized how cathartic it feels to have your voice echo across the entire forest. Another flock of crows is startled into the night sky. You scream and you scream until you run out of breath and immediately start gasping for air.

You take a good long break to catch your breath, then you open your mouth to scream once more-

And nothing comes out. It looks like you've gone hoarse.

Invalid command.

You have no idea what to decorate Held with. You may not be an artist, but even you know that it's not good to improve on a masterpiece.

Without thinking, you draw a smiley face on a piece of paper and tuck it into the crook of a branch. Might as well give the birds a smile.

You look over the branch, at the sheer distance between you and the ground. Only one word comes to mind: fatal.

You carefully climb down Held and sigh in relief once you reach the ground. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

You pick up the lantern.

You do a spectacular backflip, but in the process your lantern flies out of your hand and shatters. The forest surrounding Held becomes very dark. You don't think it's a good idea to enter without a source of light.

You were never aware "hard" was a verb.

You do not know how to "hard". You begin to panic, slightly.

WHAT "HARD".

You do not know how to "hard" you do not know how to "hard" you do not know how to "hard". You feel the beginnings of a panic attack coming on.

You do̸͓ ͍͇̼ṇ̬͈o̫̙̲͇̤̺̫- Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You think of Eve. Your resolve to get this mission done strengthens. She's waiting.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You enter the forest and run east. Though the full moon is shining, the forest is very dark. You might be eaten by a bear.

You think you go east. You can't tell. You can't see paths without a source of light. You think you hear something.

Magic would help very much right now, but y̨o̺͎̟̲͍u͜ ̙͈̖͙c̩̣̝̖͕̤a̛n͕͓̪̘͝'͕̟̣͎̞͕t̟̯̕ ̬d̥̳͜o̥͉̼ ̷͉̦͔̝͚̗̥m̶̭̺̻̻a͕̰̻͎͘g̢̙͕̬̦̣i̯̼͕̹̗̗͓c.̦̻̘͎̣

You aren't aware you even had Leviantan War Dances. You do a random dance off the top of your head, because what the Hellish Yard, you're doomed. You think you hear rustling.

You are trying to recall how a bear sounds like, but you don't need to wonder any longer as a dark shape emerges from the foliage. It's a bear.

You immediately take off in the opposite direction. The bear chases after you. You're fast, but you think the bear is faster. It's gaining on you. What's worse is that your poor ankle is beginning to fail from the strain.

Even if you were in a position to ask questions, you doubt that the bear would say anything. It's a bear.

At last, your ankle can take no more. You are forced to come to a stop, but you aren't going down without a fight. You try to take advantage of the bear's momentum to swing at the bear with all your might, and the ax bites deeply into its shoulder as you scream incoherently. The bear makes an ear-splitting roar.

It looks like you've made it angrier.

You aren't in the mood for talking, as you're fighting for your life against a raging hungry bear.

You try to dislodge the ax and aim for the head next, but by the time you get it free, the bear lunges at your face with its very sharp teeth, and just like that, it's all over. The only coherent thought you have, as the bear tears you apart, is that you broke your promise.

You are sitting in the tallest tree you've ever climbed. The entire forest stretches out before you, illuminated by moonlight.

You climb down Held carefully and go east. As you enter the forest, you realize you forgot your lantern. The forest, though moonlit, is very dark. You might be eaten by a bear.

You keep going east. You feel more and more nervous. You think you hear something.

There is no lantern in the area. You left it back with Held.

You do the wisest thing you've done tonight and head back the way you came. You enter HELD'S CLEARING. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

In what direction?

You don't know what you're hiding from, but you just cower near the base of the tree. Oh look, there's your lantern.

You complain that the forest is dangerous and there are bears out there, and you feel your voice slipping into a childish whine. The god does not respond. He's asleep, of course.

You pick up your lantern. You immediately feel safer.

The comforting light of your lantern fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

You wonder how "asleep" Held really is. Honestly, he sleeps even deeper than Eve does. On impulse, you begin to confess your heartfelt-feelings-that-you-suddenly-gained-two-seconds-ago to the tree god, weaving a beautiful poem of your innermost desires.

You remember that your poetry skills are just as bad as your singing skills.

And through all that, Held does not respond. You think you've been rejected.

Out of frustration that the tree god didn't return your "feelings", you smash your lantern (who, if you recall, was kindly lit by your devoted wife) on his massive trunk. The hot oil, to your horror, ignites the grass at the base of the tree, and as you stamp it out, you don't notice the massive vines that suddenly restrain your arms and legs and wrap around your neck. You don't even have time to contemplate your broken promise before the vines snap your neck as easily as you would the twigs on the forest floor.

You are in the center of a moonlit forest, standing in front of the largest tree you've ever seen. This tree is most certainly a god. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

You hug Held. It's hard, the trunk is so wide your arms can't even encircle it. You would want to stay here and not deal with navigating the forest again, but...

You think of Eve, back at home, still waiting. You think of your sprained ankle, and how it feels painful to keep putting weight on it. But mostly there's that ever-present f̘͎͚̥e͖̗̹̗e͕̬̭̰̦l̻̫̭͓͉ͅi̱̻̟͓n̦̦̳̲g̫͍͟ that keeps you moving. Keeps you from sleeping. Keeps you from rest.

You take a few steps back. You would like to stop. It's very tempting. But you can't. You have work to do.

You already have it with you.

You go east until you hit the first intersection, but you can go east no longer. You can go WEST, NORTH, or SOUTH.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST. You wonder what you ever did to deserve trying to navigate a moonlit forest in the middle of the night-

Oh. Oh, wait . You do know what you did.

You do sigh. You are filled with despair. But... you do not give up. You can't give up. The f̘͎͚̥e͖̗̹̗e͕̬̭̰̦l̻̫̭͓͉ͅi̱̻̟͓n̦̦̳̲g̫͍͟ won't let you. You can say that you're filled with DETERMINATION.

You look around, but there are no crows to flip. You must have scared all the nearby ones away with your screaming. You shrug and go WEST. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, or WEST.

You touch the grass. It feels very grassy.

You try to eat a fistful of dirt and immediately regret it. Why must everything disgusting end up in your mouth?

You acknowledge it. You defy it. You shake your lantern threateningly at it. The darkness will not intimidate you.

Even if you wanted a bear, you wouldn't know where to find one. In fact, you suspect that a bear is more likely to find you.

You go west, marching as you do so to inspire confidence. (You still don't feel very confident.) From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go west. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You sigh to yourself as realize you are lost. Again. Joy. If only you could think of something to stop this from happening.

You go west. From here, you can go north, east, or west.

That... that is actually not a bad idea. You wonder why you didn't think of it before. You've already gotten your pen and paper out when you realize that in order to make a map, you would need to have some point of reference first. You swear. Quite loudly.

You suppose you're going to have to wander around for just a bit longer.

The thought of you no longer having to stumble around the forest like a lost child fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

In your enthusiasm, you decide that climbing a tree might help you know where you are. However, also in your enthusiasm, you forget that you're still holding your lantern. You end up tumbling to the ground, and your lantern shatters next to you.

The forest, though moonlit, suddenly becomes very dark. You might get eaten by a bear

You try your best to hold still, staring in disbelief at your shattered lantern. The only sounds you hear for a while are your panicked breaths and accelerated heartbeat, when suddenly, you think you hear something.

You don't waste time. You immediately scramble up the tree like a chipmunk and cling to it with all your might. You think you hear rustling.

It's might not work, but it's worth a shot. Trying to cling to the tree with your legs alone is hard, but you're running on adrenaline as you take out the cloth with shaking hands, soak it in oil, and try to light it on fire with a match while trying not to burn yourself.

Thankfully, mercifully, it ignites. It's a tiny cloth, it won't last long, but you have LIGHT. You hold your breath and listen for any noises.

By Levia's grace, there are none.

Luckily, you don't see any bears.

In your relief, you notice too late that you let the flame get too close to your hand. Panicked, you drop the cloth, and immediately the grass beneath the tree is aflame.

It looks like you've started a forest fire.

You can't climb down, or you risk being burned alive. You can't climb any higher to escape the smoke, as the tree cannot support your weight. You just watch in horror as the fire spreads from one tree, to another, and another...

The heat's bad enough, but the smoke is unbearable. Your lungs feel like they've been dipped in acid, and you can barely see anything through your tears as you cough. Eventually, the smoke inhalation is too much, and just before you pass out and fall out of the tree, you apologize to Eve for being so stupid .

You are in the middle of Held's forest. It's a moonlit night, and your lantern illuminates the paths you can take. You see you can go NORTH, WEST, or EAST.

You go WEST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH or EAST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH or EAST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH or EAST.

You go SOUTH. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH or EAST.

You go EAST. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go WEST until you hit an intersection, and then you go SOUTH. As you walk, you grumble at your inability to go further west. Then you begin to wonder... hmm... w̵͙̘̖̼̙̣͇h̙̩y͖͚ ͍̙͙͕̞̹̕ͅc̜͕a͈͍̲̯n'͎͙̻t ͎y̱̻͓͉͜o͞u̫̖ g͍͔͍͚̙͇o̥̠ w̷̱̲̮̦e̘̮̤̺͓ͅ-͘

You are suddenly shaken out of your thoughts by the sound of waves crashing on the shoreline. You smell the salt as a cool breeze tousles your hair, and you finally see the sandy shore and you realize that this is it. You've reached the OCEAN. From here, you can go NORTH, or walk along the shore to the EAST.

Invalid command.

You realize you finally have the landmark you need and immediately start making your map. You won't be lost forever!

You're already doing that.

The sight of the endless blue horizon that stretches out before you fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

Without taking your clothes off (you were never really a fan of skinny dipping), you run towards the water and begin to swim. You realize too late that you're still holding your lantern, and it goes out. Whoops.

You are finding way too much seaweed for your taste. It's all over your clothes, wrapping around your feet, arms, and legs. There's even this large one wrapped around your waist- Wait...

Before you can realize that the thing wrapped around your waist is not seaweed, you are suddenly being pulled further and further away from shore. Realizing too late that it's a tentacle, you try to get yourself free to no avail. The tentacle is joined by another, and another, and the next thing you know you are completely wrapped in tentacles as you are pulled deeper into the ocean.

By the time you pass out, you can't even see the surface anymore. You've come so far, but you've broken your promise all the same.

You are standing on the WEST END of a sandy shoreline, looking at the moonlit ocean. From here, you can go NORTH, into the forest, or along the shore to the EAST.

Invalid command.

You walk along the shore to the EAST. Now, you are in the CENTER of a sandy shoreline. The OCEAN is stretched out before you. From here, you can go NORTH, into the forest, or EAST or WEST along the shore.

Sing with who?

This peaceful ocean, this shoreline... it reminds you... of a song you heard... somewhere...

Without thinking, you open your mouth and sing. For a minute, you almost forget the sorry state of your singing voice, until you realize what you're doing and you fall silent in embarrassment.

You sit on the shore, staring at the ocean, and you try to think about magic.

You realize that you were rather close-minded, for a scientist. It must have been why you were ultimately so awful at it. Sure, on paper, on television, to your fellow colleagues and the citizens of Levianta at large, you may have been the greatest scientist in the country, which meant, for the most part, you were the greatest scientist in the world.

Only two people, other than you, knew the truth. And you were the last one to realize that.

Once upon a time, you saw magic as a tool. Another fundamental force of the universe that could be measured and quantized and synthesized and bottled and used to do whatever you wanted.

Eve... Eve didn't see it that way, but it the end, it didn't matter, because you used her too.

One would think the truth finally ripped you apart when you realized to your horror that the twins wouldn't survive, or when a scientist tapped your shoulder in a stark white corridor to tell you that Miss Zvezda was outside the Institute and making a scene. But it was only when you walked in on Eve smiling, completely oblivious as she was running a knife through her hair thinking it was a hairbrush, blood dripping through sky blue, when you finally realized what she was trying so badly to tell you, so many lifetimes ago, on that trip across Heldogort: That magic was wild, powerful, limitless, and not to be played with.

At that point, you become self-aware. You realize how completely, utterly stupid you once were. You find yourself humming that song you heard somewhere, and you wonder now about how your life, and Eve’s, will go from here. Are you too far gone? Is it even still possible for you to become someone better? To become someone who is truly worthy of Eve’s love?

You don't know. You really don't know

But you will try.

Your introspection has filled you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you SAVE.

Chapter Text

You have:

You now have an ALOE LEAF TIED TO A FISHING ROD. Will it make good bait? Who knows.

You examine the appendage. A "tentacle" is what Held called it. It's certainly the weirdest limb you've ever seen on an animal. It actually creeps you out a little.

This is why you never went into biology.

Held told you. It's a tentacle.

You cast your "bait" into the water. And you wait. And wait.

.

.

.

It looks like nothing's biting.

You give the appendage a little squeeze, slightly disgusted. Your hand comes away ink-stained, and a little dribble of... blue liquid... comes out the severed end. Ick.

You wiggle the fishing rod back and forth a little. You think that you might actually be scaring fish away.

You're not sure how long you sit on the shore. It's very calming, but you think your burned blistered behind is going numb.

You are not sure where to put the blue liquid. Your container of lamp oil is still half-full, and your watering can seems a bit too big for such a tiny amount of liquid. Eventually, you end up letting the liquid trickle into the watering can anyway.

Squeeze what?

You squeeze the tentacle like a sponge and you watch, fascinated, as more and more blue liquid trickles down into the watering can. It would be really satisfying if you didn't feel so disgusted.

You tentatively go to the water's edge and just, wiggle the tentacle a little, underwater. You've only been doing this for ten seconds when a massive tentacle suddenly wraps around your waist and pulls you away from shore.

You try, you try desperately, but the tentacle is much larger than the one in the Lake of Amusement. You can barely get your ax to cut even half-way through. And through your struggles, you are pulled down... down... down...

Invalid command.

You dropped it as soon as you were yanked in the water. Now, you can barely see the surface. Your chest feels like it's bursting, but you can't get free. All you can do is stare at the surface helplessly, apologizing for breaking your promise, as you finally drown.

You are standing on the CENTER of a sandy shoreline, looking at the moonlit ocean. From here, you can go NORTH, into the forest, or along the shore to the EAST or WEST.

You look at your watering can. It's a nice, sturdy watering can, that you've been using for highly inappropriate things throughout the night. You apologize to the watering can.

You squeeze the tentacle, unsure of what to expect, so you do it over the watering can. To your disgust, the tentacle yields about two tablespoons of blue liquid. All of which trickles into the watering can. Ick.

You take your rope and tie it to the squeezed tentacle.

You've already tied it to the rope! Unless you want to unpick your knot and tie it to the fishing rod.

You tie the other end of the rope to a tree. This tentacle won't be going anywhere.

You swing the tentacle around your head and, with assistance from centripetal force, hurl it into the water. It lands with a little splash. You wait. And wait.

Immediately, the rope goes taut. You see something splashing around in the water. You hear the tree actually beginning to groan from the strain. You immediately move a few more paces back. You are dumbfounded when the thing in the water actually begins to uproot the tree, pulling it out of the ground like a carrot. What's even more surprising is that your knot still holds, as the tree is pulled all the way down the beach and into the water.

Well. You're not going in THERE anytime soon.

You frown. This is... a problem.

You want to, but... do you know the way? You need to re-enter the forest.

You go NORTH, reentering the forest. You encounter an intersection and mark it on your map. Your lantern marks the paths you can take. You can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST.

You go north. You encounter an intersection and mark it on your map. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You finally notice that you've been carrying an impossible amount of stuff with you. It surprises you that you've been treating this as normal. How i̧̗̖̹̥ͅs̹̘̹̭̭͜ ̹͎̜͈͓t͜h̞̲̦̖͝į̭̟s̨̱̙̱ ̙̙̦̕p̺̠̳̦̦̘̞o͖̭͙s̭̩̻̖͖̳̘s̸̜̺͉͚̫̦i̞̹̜̤b͉̬̙͟l̰̭̳ͅͅe͇?̴̞͙̖̰ ͏͉H̳̟͙͝o͏w̸̦̘̪̹-̖

You are distracted from your questioning when you realize that you've been trying to go north when you so clearly can't. You can go SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go east. You encounter an intersection and mark it on your map. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTHEAST, EAST, or WEST.

You go east, then east, and then east again, then south, marking your map as you go. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You go north, then north again, marking a new intersection on your map. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or WEST.

You go north, marking the new intersection on your map. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or WEST.

You go NORTH. You mark this new intersection on your map. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, OR WEST.

You go south, then west , and you are immediately faced with the biggest tree you have ever seen. It dominates the trees surrounding it, and they seem to almost... bow to it? You can't think of any appropriate description.

You feel the energy of this place, and all at once you feel as if you've come somewhere... holy. You mark this place on your map.

From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, SOUTHEAST, or WEST.

The feeling of magic that permeates this place, as well as the satisfaction of progress, fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You want to, but apparently the old god is asleep.

You look around for the helpful crow/forest spirit that helped you wake him up last time, but apparently, it's gone.

What part of "asleep" do you not understand?

You knock. You think you tried this before, and it didn't work then. It certainly doesn't work now.

You politely try to excuse yourself. No response.

You lie down on the forest floor and try not to feel sorry for yourself.

You scream, just a little. You've already scared all the crows away. Now it's just you and a still-sleeping Held.

You try to sing just to make yourself feel better, then your terrible singing voice just makes you feel worse. Good job.

You try to wake Held the same way you try to wake Eve up, only louder and more obnoxious. Held still doesn't wake up.

Unfortunately, unlike with Eve, you don't have breakfast to bribe Held with.

You have:

You cry, alright. But you don't sleep. You have work to do.

Desperately, you try to look around for anything that might help you. Nothing but various forest flora.

Invalid command.

Your utter frustration at the sleeping tree god fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You take your watering can and pour the blue liquid all over Held's trunk. Other than the trunk looking slightly bluer now, nothing happens.

Out of anger, you kick the tree repeatedly while shouting a stream of expletives, holding the ax threateningly in your hands. You quickly realize that it's the foot with the sprained ankle you're using to kick Held with, and your stream of expletives immediately escalates into a flood as you drop your ax and jump up and down holding your sore foot.

The branches begin to rustle, and a voice resonates in your mind again, making you halt and try to make yourself look more presentable. "Now, human, are you done having your little tantrum? Or do I wait for you to learn manners, first?"

Invalid command.

Blushing bright red as those red round fruits you found earlier, you apologize and say that you couldn't wake him up otherwise.

The tree grudgingly takes your apology, but grumbles, "But honestly, the ax was uncalled for. Humans these days, not knowing what respect is..."

You finally report what you saw at the shoreline, of the creature that managed to uproot and pull an entire tree into the sea.

Held goes quiet as he thinks for a few moments. "A sea creature that strong... now, would this creature also happen to have tentacles?"

Invalid command.

You say you didn't see, but you managed to get it to show itself by throwing the tentacle into the ocean. While you are explaining, Held is mumbling softly (or at least, his definition of

“softly", as you can hear him quietly wondering about how he's going to explain the uprooted tree to his children).

When you finish, Held speculates again. "Hrrrm, a small ziz tiama in the lake... and a creature strong as an adult in the ocean... you don't suppose, human, that the creature in the ocean is simply one of the same kind?"

At this point, you're terrified enough that you're willing to go with whatever the tree god says. You also mention that.

The tree god looks at you with a twinkle in his "eye". "Ah, octopi are frightening creatures, are they not? Strong, intelligent... it's a miracle humans became the dominant species when you realize what they were up against." The tree laughs, and you try not to shake in your shoes. "Now, I have a theory. I'm not exactly sure what exactly a ziz tiama is doing in the lake, but I think I do know why another ziz tiama is so close to shore. Do you think you know why as well?"

You tell Held that you know nothing about ziz tiama, and the tree god frowns with disappointment.

"A noble quality, to be honest about your ignorance, but honestly! Not even an educated guess?"

Invalid command.

You say what you assume ziz tiama are, and Held looks even more disappointed.

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong, but they can't cross land, and what I was asking for was... oh fine." Held grumbles something about humans being more scientifically inclined back in his day. "I hypothesize that the poor creature near the ocean is simply a mother looking for its missing child. That would make its rage quite understandable, wouldn't it? That the poor child ziz tiama is stuck in a landlocked body of water, far from home, unable to be reached? Quite pitiful." Held heaves a sigh. "In that case, I have one last job for you. You will not need to wake me up when you finish, to save us both the trouble." Held smiles at you, mirthfully. "Return the lake ziz tiama to its mother in the ocean. I trust that you are competent enough to get it done."

Something b̬̼̥̟̫̬̹ot̩̰h̢̥̯e̶̫̗̖̰͉̘ͅr͇͉s̥̭̯͔ you about his explanation, but you agree. Held breathes a sigh of relief.

"Now, I'm glad that's settled then. Good luck, little human..." Held's face then disappears into the wood, and you know he's fallen back asleep.

You scream on the inside. How in the world are you going to do what you just agreed to?

Invalid command.

You make an expression of disbelief at the sleeping tree god, more for yourself, really. He doesn't wake up.

You consider using Eve's magic to help you with your quest. Just.... consider.

But you know you can't. It's late enough as it is. You can probably figure something out.

You think. The tentacle you managed to chop off, though strong, seems belong to a much smaller creature compared to the display you saw at the beach. You will probably need to find some way of luring it to shallow waters... and then what? You aren't exactly sure of the true size of the creature, but you hope it's small enough so that can be easily carried.

Either way, you think you have more rope at home. Maybe you should take into account your resources.

You look at the sky. Nothing but the full moon and countless stars.

You wonder when the morning will come, but you do know it will come. R͉i҉͕̟͇g̻͖͈͈͎̞h̡͉̼̲͖͇̠t̰̹̯?̣͔

Invalid command.

The thought of your final mission fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You become aware that right now you're just staring into the sky like an idiot. You shake your head, to ground yourself. You have work to do.

You aren't exactly sure how to start working though. Maybe checking your available resources might help?

You don't know the way. You have a map, but it only shows you how to get from Held to the ocean.

You're not sure how to go home either. This map is getting less and less helpful by the second.

You would, if you knew the way. But you don't.

You walk through the forest, marking any unmapped locations as you go, including the clearing with the wildflowers. Before you know it, you're home. You mark that on your map too.

There is a WELL to your right, a GARDEN to your left, and your COTTAGE is right in front of you.

Your homecoming, hopefully penultimate, fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You can't do that from here.

Invalid command.

You are in your cottage. It's the middle of the night.

It's tempting to bring Eve, but you've already woken her up once. You don't want to do so again. She's barely getting enough sleep as it is. You would feel guilty for dragging her into this.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a BED that Eve's already sleeping in.

You won't.

You climb into bed and wrap your arms around your wife. You cuddle Eve. She smiles in her sleep and cuddles you back. It's adorable.

This feels really nice, and you would love to just stay there and sleep until morning, but you can't. You have work to do. If it makes you feel better, you only need to finish THIS ONE JOB then you can go to bed for real.

Regretfully, you untangle yourself from Eve and climb out of the bed.

You think about the seemingly impossible mission Held's given you. You begin to sweat a little. Focus. You need to focus.

There is no shovel in the cottage.

You go outside. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

You look for a shovel. Oh look, there's one, right next to the gardening spade.

For good luck, you take some BEAUTIFUL PLANTS with you. You realize that none of them are in bloom yet, but what the Hellish Yard. You'll need all the luck you can get.

There have been some outrageous plans going through your mind lately, limited to, but not including, building a catapult. You have no idea how to build a catapult. You were a scientist, not an engineer.

You have no idea what plants would be useful, in this situation.

You take the shovel. You now have ONE LARGE SHOVEL.

You are back in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You apologize silently to Eve one more time, then you take her book. You might need something in there.

The thought of you being productive fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

One: You are already in your cottage. Two: You do not have water to pour all over Eve.

You can't do that from here.

You can't go there from here.

Do what?

You try to check the book, desperate for anything that might help. Oh thank Levia, there's a section on ziz tiama.

...

It's mostly about using ziz tiama, but not about actually capturing one. Again, the various writers have assumed that YOU, member of the Zvezda clan, can manage such a task. You hold your face in your hands and groan.

You can't do that from here.

You have no water to pour on Eve.

You can't do that from here.

You can't do that from here.

You leave your cottage. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

You take the remaining gardening tools. You now have a SMALL GARDENING SPADE and A PAIR OF SMALL GARDENING GLOVES.

Which ones?

You can't do that from here.

You are in your cottage. It's the middle of the night.

You can't do that from here.

Technically, you are in Eve's room. You stand at her bedside.

You're not in the garden.

You're already in your cottage.

You leave your cottage through the back door. You are now in your BACKYARD.

Your backyard is where you usually work nowadays, cleared of trees so you have space to move. There is a STUMP nearby that you use to chop logs. Pieces of wood litter the area. Miscellaneous items are also leaned up against the back of your cottage.

You put down the empty watering can on a nearby tree stump.

You want to do that, but you can't do that from here.

You've already left your cottage.

You can't get there from here.

What plants?

The sight of your backyard fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You walk back to the bed and gently kiss Eve, wondering if she'll wake up.

Unlike Sleeping Beauty, she doesn't.

She does smile though.

You leave your cottage. There is a WELL to your left, a GARDEN to your right, and a PATH right in front of you.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for VEGETABLES, a section for MEDICINAL HERBS and PLANTS, and a section for PLANTS EVE PLANTED BECAUSE THEY JUST LOOKED PRETTY. To be fair, they are fairly beautiful. There are some gardening tools in the corner.

You pull up every single plant you see. Eve's going to kill you in the morning.

There are no vegetables left to pick up.

Vore what?

You closely inspect everything you carry, and decide to vore your ax.

You die from internal bleeding. Congratulations.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You exit your cottage. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

The forest stretches in front of you and around you, daring you to enter its depths. You think you hear the crows getting louder.

You can't do that from here.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You want to, but you can't. Your map can only take you to HELD'S CLEARING, the WILDFLOWER CLEARING, and the OCEAN.

Invalid command.

You have:

With the map you made, you enter the forest and make your way to the wildflower clearing. From here, you can go WEST, EAST, or SOUTHWEST.

Chapter Text

You pick as many flowers as you can carry, which is to say, all of them.

Not knowing what to do with the ridiculous amount of wildflowers you have, you make a flower crown. After examining your handiwork very carefully, you make another flower crown. Better to bring a spare.

You firmly remind yourself that you're not supposed to be sitting around making flower crowns. You have work to do at the Lake of Amusement.

Using your map, you navigate the forest and walk out onto a sandy shoreline. You are now in the CENTER of the beach. The ocean stretches out before you. You can go NORTH, back into the forest, or EAST or WEST along the shore.

Using your map, you navigate the forest and walk back to Held's clearing. Though the tree god is asleep, the place still has an aura of holiness. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

You put on one of the flower crowns you made. Now you match Eve!

Not feeling like navigating the forest again, you shyly offer the second flower you made to the air, and ask whatever listening spirits for directions to the Lake of Amusement.

Utter silence follows.

You... don't think they like your offer.

You think you remember Held telling you not to wake him up again.

You have:

You look around the clearing for fruits and nuts. Unfortunately for you, your search is... fruitless. There aren't any nuts either.

You give Eve's book a once over and try to look for any info on forest spirits. There are mentions, but that's all. Mentions. The only thing you can get out of the book is that it's best to not harm the forest in any way, to avoid offending any spirits.

Well. You're doomed.

The thought of you single-handedly ruining spirit-human relations fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You go NORTH. You mark this new intersection on your map. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You go NORTH. You mark this new intersection on your map. From here, you can go SOUTH, WEST, or EAST.

You cannot go NORTH. You can only go SOUTH, WEST, or EAST.

You go west, and find yourself at the LAKE OF AMUSEMENT. You mark it on your map. You are on the EAST END. From here, you can go EAST, SOUTH, or along the lake to the WEST.

Invalid command.

You go east, back into the forest. From here, you can go SOUTH, WEST, or EAST.

You can't do that here

You go west, and find yourself at the LAKE OF AMUSEMENT. You mark it on your map. You are on the EAST END. From here, you can go EAST, SOUTH, or along the lake to the WEST.

You go along the shore to the west. Now you are on the WEST END of the lake. From here, you can go SOUTH, WEST, or along the shore to the EAST.

You're pretty sure you need bait to do that.

You observe the water. It ripples slightly, but for the most part the surface is still.

The placid appearance of the Lake of Amusement fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You're pretty sure you lost the tentacle back at the ocean. In a very dramatic manner.

You have:

You tie a flower to your makeshift fishing rod. Ready to go.

You don't have that item.

You cast your fishing rod over the lake. The flower floats on the surface of the water, bobbing up and down. You wait. And wait. And wait.

.

.

.

Looks like nothing's biting.

You look around for the rock of the right shape and size, smooth and flat. Eve had taught you how to do this, years ago.

You rear back, and fling the rock across the water. It skips, beautifully, then eventually gravity takes over and it sinks into the water. Besides the series of ripples, nothing much happens.

You scrounge around, but there is no fruit in the immediate area.

You roll up your pants to your knees and wade into the water, trying desperately to find anything to use as bait. You don't have much experience in doing this, and it shows in the number of scrapes you get and the complete lack of anything scavenged.

Frustrated, you emerge from the lake, feeling like you just wasted time.

Soaking wet, sitting on the shore with nothing to show for it, you think about how desperately you want to just go home.

You leave the Lake of Amusement, and with your map, navigate the forest to get back to your cottage. Eventually, you arrive. There is a GARDEN to your left, a WELL to your right, your COTTAGE is right in front of you.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You sit in front of the fireplace, feeling grateful for the warmth. You think you need a new approach to this problem. Or maybe you just haven't looked at everything you could use.

To be perfectly honest, y̲̘͉ͅo̡̦̞u͈͈ ͉̠̤͘ạ̥̬re̲̞͓ ̶͖͉j̵͙͇u̻̙͓̳͜s̨͔͓̤̰t̰͓̭͙̦̞̥ ͚͖̫t̛̖̻͍͇o̯̠̝o͉̥̦̼ͅ ͜t͢i̵̘̜͔r̵̺̳̻̼͕̙̯e̵͈͚̲̼͕͇͚d ͏̭͈̱̯͓t̴̠͉o͓̠͖͈̰̼͔͡ ̩͍̣̲t̖͈h̙̺̝͔͙̟̭i̦̰̱͔n̯̠ͅk̮̼̜.͓̮͉̤

You really want to sleep, but you have work to do. Just this one... final... thing...

Invalid command.

Right. You have to focus. Now, how to get the ziz tiama out of the lake? What are your available resources?

Invalid command.

You are trying your best.

N̯̯̝͕ǫ̱̲̮̹t̡͔̬̗̠͚̟ ̛̱̱y͞ẹ͕̱̺̩̥̬t̺̻̙̣̜.

N̯̯̝͕ǫ̱̲̮̹t̡͔̬̗̠͚̟ ̛̱̱y͞ẹ͕̱̺̩̥̬t̺̻̙̣̜.

You look around for coffee. You have a decent stock of food, but unfortunately, no coffee. You'll have to remind yourself to get some in the morning.

Invalid command.

You aren't asleep.

You check your food supply. You're still pretty well stocked from your last foray into town. There are a few bottles of MILK, a couple loaves of BREAD, a jar of SUGAR, a jar of SALT, some COOKING OIL, and various SMOKED MEATS.

Invalid command.

You've had your break. Time to work, now.

You take some SMOKED MEATS. You were feeling a bit hungry.

You leave you cottage. There's a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You have:

You look around for the bucket. You think you see it on the well.

You try to take the bucket, but apparently you've attached it to the well too... well. You try to pick the knot loose for several minutes, then you give up.

There is no meat to take.

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You check your food supply. You're still pretty well stocked from your last foray into town. There are a few bottles of MILK, a couple loaves of BREAD. a jar of SUGAR, a jar of SALT, some COOKING OIL, and various SMOKED MEATS.

You leave your cottage. There's a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You take your ax and you carefully sever the rope keeping the bucket attached to the well. You then take the bucket. You now have A BUCKET.

You take your bucket. It's a very sturdy bucket, given that Eve helped you make it. It's just big enough for the well.

With your map, you enter the forest and navigate to the lake. From what you have mapped, you end up on the EAST END of the Lake. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

The peace and beauty of the lake fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You attach a chunk of smoked meat to the fishing rod. Ready to go.

You pray alright. To Levia, to Behemo, and now... even to Held.

You cast your rod into the lake. The smoked meat hits the water with a splash. You sit on the shore and you wait. And wait.

.

.

!!!

You feel a bite!

You pull with all your might. The thing in the water begins to struggle. The tree branch bends from the strain.

It holds, but to your horror, the thin strand of thread that makes your fishing line does not. You look in horror as the thread snaps before your eyes and you land flat on your bottom on the shore.

You scream. You swear. You even find yourself crying in total frustration. You have a complete temper tantrum, right there on the lake shore, like a two-year old. If anyone saw you right now, it could be utterly embarrassing.

Eventually, you scream yourself out, and you end up just breathing heavily, glaring at the water.

You have:

In anger, you practically leap into the water. If your fishing rod won't work, you're going to drag that octopus out of there yourself with your bare hands!

It only takes a few seconds before it finds you.

As expected, it wraps around your waist. But before you can get your ax, you find that it has also restrained your arms and legs. It's learned from last time, and you realize too late that this was not a good idea.

You are pulled down into the lake, deeper and deeper. You can't fight it. You can't move. You can only try to catch one last glimpse at the surface, apologizing to Eve as you finally drown.

You are at the EAST END of the Lake of Amusement. The water sparkles in the moonlight. From here, you can go SOUTH, EAST, or NORTH.

Chapter Text

Which clearing?

Using your map, you navigate the forest and go to the WILDFLOWER CLEARING... which is completely void of wildflowers, as you have picked them all. From here, you can go WEST, EAST, or SOUTHWEST.

You go east, then east, then south. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST.

You try your best to look for the gardening shears you flung off into the night, but they must have flown off the path.

You look as far as you dare off the sides of the intersection, but you don't see anything. You're too scared to check any further.

You go back to the path. Better to stay there, you never know what else could be in this forest.

You go a little west, just a little, and you see a familiar TREE with RED ROUND FRUITS.

You don't think you're stealing from anyone, but then you remember the forest spirits and you make yourself hold back from taking any more.

You try to look for your lost shears. You remember that you flung them somewhere you couldn't see....

Even if it involves straying off the path, you check just a tiny bit to the north. Something glints in the moonlight. Could those be your shears?

Before you can investigate the glinting any further, you get the overwhelming urge to just take the fruits and go home. The fruits are too high to reach, so you run home without taking any.

You are now in front of your home. There is a GARDEN to your left, a WELL to your right, and a PATH right behind you. Your HOME is right in front of you.

To what?

The sight of your home fills you with determination. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

Thankfully, you marked the tree on your map. You return there, and the tree along with its bounty is still there, as always.

You wonder what made you waste your time like that.

You've noticed that every time you feel especially DETERMINED, it's like the state of the world... s̩o̧͔̗̭͚̩̱l̥̠͙̪̫̖i͓̯̱͚͙͇ͅd̪̳̳͚͓ͅif̺̦͔͓̩̞i̲͕̩̳es̻̳̤̕, somehow.

I̜̼̘͎͕͡t̮̫̭̙͕̝͕'̛̲͍̼͖̳̣s̷̯͕͍͚̫ ̣͔̻̟̰̤͖h͍͉̜̝a̟̲̗̺̤͕͘r̼̠͕̬̤̲d̪̯ ̥̞͍̮͔to͔ ͏̼͙ḙ̙͓x̱̦̗̘̜͓p̟̬̣̝̝l̬a̳̗͘ị̡n̯͍̞̺͘.̴̪̪

The only word you can come up with is SAVING.

You go back to the shiny thing. Oh! It’s your shears!

You don't have that item.

You take the shears. You now have, once again, ONE PAIR OF GARDENING SHEARS. Thank Levia you got those back. You wouldn't know how to explain their absence to Eve.

You carefully set down the lantern at the base of the tree, then begin to climb it once more.

You take another fruit. It's just as red and round as the last. You wish you knew what these things were called. You now have another RED ROUND FRUIT.

Invalid command.

You climb down, very carefully. Wouldn't want to get into an unfortunate accident.

You take the lantern. Never forget your lantern!

Using your map, you navigate the forest and once more enter HELD'S CLEARING. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTHEAST.

The sheer divine power of the tree god fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You ask Held about the red round fruit you have, not expecting him to reply. Sure enough, Held fulfills your expectations. You simply end up staring at the fruit in contemplation.

You go north, then north again. From here, you can go WEST or EAST.

You go WEST, and end up at the LAKE OF AMUSEMENT. The water shimmers in the moonlight before you. It seems as if you are on the EAST END. From here, you can go EAST, SOUTH, or along the shore to the WEST.

You go east, and east again, and end up in a SMALL FOREST CLEARING. You think you've been here before.

Contrary to the now wildflower-less wildflower clearing, you weren't the one to create this small clearing. You have no idea why this is here, but you appreciate whoever did it anyway. You see a TRAUBEN VINE growing nearby.

You call out to the forest spirits. You have no idea how to call out to them so you just end up calling hello instead. No one answers.

You try to take the vine, but it seems rather... attached... to a nearby tree.

You use your shears on the vine, and you manage to separate it from the tree. You now have ONE TRAUBEN VINE.

You have no reason to lose this vine. You might need it.

You remove all the trauben fruit from the vine. You pop one in your mouth, out of impulse. It's nice and sweet.

The sweetness of the trauben fruit fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

Using your map, you navigate the forest and go to the LAKE OF AMUSEMENT. From your map, you are on the EAST END OF THE LAKE. From here, you can go EAST, SOUTH, or along the shore to the WEST.

You decide to follow up on that trauben fruit with some nice gardening shears. You die, slowly and painfully, from internal bleeding.

You are in the middle of a SMALL FOREST CLEARING. From here, you can go WEST, EAST, or SOUTH.

Using your map, you navigate the forest and go to the LAKE OF AMUSEMENT. From your map, you are on the EAST END OF THE LAKE. From here, you can go EAST, SOUTH, or along the shore to the WEST.

Go up? You can't fly!

You have:

You throw a single trauben fruit into the water. It lands with a small plop . Nothing else happens. You mourn the loss of perfectly good fruit.

Bait for what? You don't have a fishing rod.

You attach the vine to the end of the tree branch. You now have A (HOPEFULLY) STRONGER MAKESHIFT FISHING ROD.

You eat the cloth. You nearly choke on it, but you manage to swallow it down. Oh Levia, what did you just eat?

You try to attach a single trauben fruit to the end of the vine, but you feel a little woozy from literally eating your shirt.

Your wooziness causes you to literally jump into the lake. You swim around a bit, trying to contemplate your life choices, when a tentacle grabs you from below and drags you down.

To deny the ziz tiama the satisfaction of drowning you, you conveniently die instantly. At least you died on your own terms?

You are in the middle of a SMALL FOREST CLEARING. From here, you can go WEST, EAST, or SOUTH.

Using your map, you navigate the forest and go to the LAKE OF AMUSEMENT. From your map, you are on the EAST END OF THE LAKE. From here, you can go EAST, SOUTH, or along the shore to the WEST.

You attach the vine to the end of the tree branch. You now have A (HOPEFULLY) STRONGER MAKESHIFT FISHING ROD.

You tie a bit of smoked meat to the end of the vine. Ready for some heavy-duty fishing. Octopi-ing? Whatever.

Your REINFORCED FISHING ROD fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

As you sit down on the shore, casting your line, you think about parallel worlds.
Could there be, somewhere out there, a world where you didn't have to sit on the shore of the Lake of Amusement with a singed behind, fishing for baby octopi? Could there be a world where you and Eve never had to enter this forest in the first place?

...

Could there be a world where Eve-

!!!

A bite!

You pull, as hard as you can. Whatever's on the other end is giving you the fight of your life. The vine is strong, but at this point, you're worried about the branch. It's bending dangerously...

You let go of the branch entirely and PULL. At this point it's a tug of war between you and the octopus, and you're very sure now that it's the octopus as you see multiple tentacles wriggling out of the water's surface.

You can't do that! You're holding onto the vine!

You pull, and you pull, and you pull. You plant your feet in the sand and try not to lose your balance as you try to bring the ziz tiama closer to shore. Your arms are burning...

You make a sound completely unlike what a man of your stature should sound like. You don't care.

You stay determined, feeling hyperaware as the state of the world seems to... s͖ͅơ̼͉̯͓̙l̤͚̣̥̙į̼̮̲̖̙͇̖d̷̳i͖͚̝͍͇fy̝̠̫̦͇̟̪... around you. You pull, and you pull, and you SAVE.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You're a bit busy breathing to heavily to talk at all right now. Your feet are still planted firmly on the sand as you try to reel the octopus in with your arms. It seems like a stalemate.

It's not even on the shore yet!

Isn't that what you're already trying to do?

You're acting, all right.

It's at the end of a long vine.

What in the world is "captchalogue-ing"?

You find that tears are streaming down your face, but you can't give up! You won't give up!

You pull harder, this time using your entire body. You walk slowly backwards as you begin to overpower the octopus. Until finally, finally, you pull it on the shore. It is the strangest-looking creature you've ever seen, with its seven tentacles and slimy appearance.

Before you can even begin to investigate further though, the octopus begins to make for the water.

You toss meat at it, but it only grabs the meat and continues for the water. You have to stop it!

You try to lure it with you with more meat, but it only pulls the meat out of YOUR hand and continues to make for the water. Better think of something else, quick!

You try to appease it, befriend it, but you doubt it understands basic Leviantan.

In a desperate attempt, you toss meat away from the water, out of reach of its tentacles. Thank Levia, it goes there instead.

The thought of possible success fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You grab the octopus!

It grabs you back!

It's the most disgusting thing you've ever touched, ever!

You try your best to keep it away from your neck, but right now it's wrapped around your arms and torso.

You can't reach for the meat, so you settle for making a break for the ocean, clinging to the octopus as hard as you can. The octopus fights you ever step of the way, and to your horror, halfway through the woods, your lantern... falls out of your hand, and shatters.

The forest, though moonlit, is very dark. You might get eaten by a bear.

You scream, in utter horror. The sound is bad enough that even the octopus reels back.

After you run out of breath, you think you hear something.

You regret anything and everything you've ever done. The octopus wriggles inquisitively.

You think you hear rustling.

The octopus has bound your arms too tightly to do so.

What's an inventory? W͙͔͍̮̬̬͇H̡̭̬͓̬ͅͅA̹̥T͈͇͖'̰̖̘Ṣ̱̥̹͎ ̶̠͚̞A̢̹͈̩̮̥N̩̹͇̱̝̣̹ ̢̩̤̦̗̻ͅI͘N͕͇V̨̭͇E͝ͅṊ̻̘̭̖ͅT̸̞̤̻͈̖O̝͔͚̰͙R͕̙͈Y͓̟͇̺̻̲̮?̰̫͚̲!̮̲̦̰͍̱

You're so panicked you can't even think properly. And panic you should, because out of the forest comes a dark shape.

It's a bear.

You don't know the way home! It's too dark!

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You try to fling the octopus at the bear, but it's coiled too tightly around your arms!

The sudden movement startles the bear, and it growls, ready to charge.

You take the octopus and RUN as fast as you can the way you think you came. You're fast, but the bear is faster. You see that it's gaining on you. Tears stream down your face.

You scream, and scream, and you scream, but nobody co-

The hairs on the back of your neck suddenly stand on end, and you smell the scent of ozone in the air. The world around you goes bright in a brilliant green flash, and-

KRAAAAK-KOOOOOOOM

You are immediately knocked off your feet, slamming into the nearest tree. When your ears stop ringing and your vision clears, you look around you. The bear is gone, nowhere to be found, but...

There's Eve, in her night clothes, a ball of flame in one of her hands. Still wearing her flower crown, now slightly lopsided. She’s been asking you frantically:

"Adam? Adam! Oh Levia, are you okay?"

You stare at her for a second, in disbelief. She's here... she's... actually here...

You are immediately filled with love and gratitude.

You thank her, stuttering, over and over and over, being hardly able to find the words. You thought you were done for, you thought no one would actually come. You ask her what in the world was she doing here out in the forest in the dead of night.

Eve begins to speak, her voice trembling in relief. "I was so worried when I woke up and you weren't home yet. I saw your message, so I thought you needed help. But on the way to the lake, I saw you being chased by a bear! I thought it wasn't real, I thought I was just seeing things again... but... you screamed."

Eve pales at the memory.

"I knew... I knew I couldn't be imagining that. So I... oh Adam! I was so scared... I thought I hit you by accident!"

Invalid command.

You think that's more than a little distasteful.

You thank her again, and tell her that you'd hug her if it weren't for the octopus you're holding. She looks, fascinated at the creature in your arms and giving a few gentle pokes, and says, "So I'm not imagining the ziz tiama either? That's real?"

Yes, you confirm. It's real.

On a whim, you decide to tell Eve that you've named the octopus Seth. She blinks for a second, then she laughs as she gets the joke. It's the most beautiful laugh you've ever heard.

"Now," she says, breathless with laughter. "Are you going to tell me what you're going to do with “Seth”?"

You tell Eve about your mission from Held, and she bring her hands to her mouth. "That’s terrible!" Her left hand goes green with magic, and immediately the octopus' tentacles loosen around your arms, and the octopus begins to float in the air, surrounded by a green magical aura. You look at Eve, and you see that her eyes are filled with determination.

"Let's do this."

With your map, and Eve's ball of fire, you both navigate the forest and head for the OCEAN. As soon as you reach it, Eve heads directly for the edge of the water, and you follow her. "This is where its mother is, right?" she says. You nod.

Eve outstretches her arm over the water, and Seth the Octopus floats over your heads out into the sea. Eve mutters something under her breath, and the octopus is slowly lowered into the water. About halfway down, you suddenly see tentacles, about ten times bigger than Seth's, reach out towards it, and you shudder. Eve finishes lowering the octopus into the water, and the sea goes still.

She keeps staring at the ocean, the moonlight shining on her hair. She looks... wistful...

"Well," she says, trying to sound happy. "That's that, isn't it?"

Invalid command.

You hug Eve. She hugs you back. You both stare out into the sea, watching the moonlight ripple over the water.

"Adam," she says. "Let's go home."

Both of you, using your map, navigate the forest and walk slowly home. You regale Eve with tales of your adventure on the way back to cheer her up, everything from spraining your ankle to kicking Held awake; from the pathetic little paper boat you made to the red round fruits you found. She listens, and laughs, and promises to heal you from all your shenanigans, and you laugh too at your own stupidity.

At one point, she shyly thanks you for the flower crown, and you simply smile back and point at your own flower crown, telling her that you both match now.

You arrive back home, back to your familiar cottage and well and garden, and you hold open the door for Eve. She jumps into bed eagerly, finally pulling the covers back so she can crawl under them. You climb in next to her, enjoying the feeling of just... being home. Being happy. Enjoying the warm fire.

And yet, despite everything, something still nags at you. You think it's that f͉͔e̴̼ͅe͙̞̰̗̞͢l̡͎̤i͉͈͉͕͖̯ͅn̢̪g̳͎͍̳̳͢... NO.

You push that feeling away. You are DONE. You are FINISHED. You can REST.

You sigh and lie down next to Eve. You cuddle Eve, and she cuddles back. You pull the covers over yourself and Eve, and the two of you finally sleep.

6b 65 65 70

67 6f 69 6e 67

You are in your cottage. It's the next night. You don't remember seeing the morning.

Eve had gone out, into the forest. Why is she out?

You stand in place, trying to remember what you were doing. What's going on?

Outside, you hear a single thunderclap.

It wasn't raining before.

It doesn't rain now.

You are suddenly filled with dread and y̛͙͍o̟̮͢u̙̩̘͔͎̤ͅ ҉̻̼̥͕̤d̢͖͍o̶̥̹̥̤ͅn͉͍̟͈̗̰͉͠'͠t̫̻͔̺͕͕̥ ̘͚̩kno͍͚̥w̘̪͇̟̙ ̻̙̫̝̭̝͟wh҉̪y̜͈̦.̰̰̗͍̼̖͈͜

Before you can get your bearings, Eve, breathless, rushes in and closes the door behind her. She looks at you with excitement, eyes bright.

In her arms... there are...

"Adam! I think I found the fruits you saw last night! I had to go through so much trouble to get them, but I did it!" she cries, happily. "Do you like them?"

Two... blon͕̮̫̗d͇e͇.͙͎̙.̡̱̖̬̱͓̳.̱̣ ̧̲͎̲͕̤̝͙ţ͉̫̳͎w̢i̙̮̩͇n͓s̰̟.̟͍̟̤̠.̣̻͕̭͢.̧̘̗̳̟̘̫

You stagger forward, and your legs end up giving out beneath you. You fall to your knees, speechless, staring at the crying children in Eve's arms. You barely notice her look of worry, you don't hear her asking you what's wrong. Your breathing accelerates. Your heart is pounding in your ears.

This... this can't be happening.

No....

Not again-

W̰̱͈̘͈͓a̴̩͔̞̥̙͍̖i̱̣̻͔̥̫ͅt̷̫.̮̮̘̗͙̬.̩̣͇̳͡.

No̩̲̕t̪̦͙̲̳̭ ̖̪̲̥̕"̩̩͚̱͇̱͠a̟͎͉̯ͅg̖̖͇͚̰̠a̹ͅͅi̥͖̦͚͚͍ͅn̴͔̝̤"͔.̪̩͓ͅ.̖͎̦͔̙.̶̫?̦

YOU

HAVE

FA 69 4c 45 44

The world suddenly SHIFFF͉̩͎̝͎̹F̴̜̦̣̬̯̦T̬͍͚̗̟͓S̴̘̭̳̼͍ͅS̺̹̹̖T̢̩̥̫͓̠̝S̛͍͚̜ 4c 55 20 4c 49 20 4c 41 20 4c 55 20 4c 49 20 4c 41 20 4c 55 20 4c 49 20 4c 41 20

79 6f 75 27 72 65 20 6e 6f 74 20 68 61 70 70 79 20 61 67 61 69 6e

79 6f 75 20 64 6f 6e 27 74 20 77 61 6e 74 20 74 68 69 73 20 74 6f 20 68 61 70 70 65 6e

69 73

69 73 20 74 68 61 74 20 63 6f 72 72 65 63 74

61 67 61 69 6e 20 61 6e 64 20 61 67 61 69 6e 20 61 6e 64 20 61 67 61 69 6e

79

61 67 61 69 6e 20 61 6e 64 20 61 67 61 69 6e 20 75 6e 74 69 6c 20 79 6f 75 20 67 65 74 20 69 74 20 52 49 47 48 54

79

6e 6f 20 6d 61 74 74 65 72 20 68 6f 77 20 6d 61 6e 79 20 74 69 6d 65 73 20 69 74 20 74 61 6b 65 73

79

69 20 77 61 6e 74 20 79 6f 75 20 74 6f 20 62 65 20 68 61 70 70 79

4̱̹̞̠̗̺͡5҉̜̰̟ ͈͙̫̳͓̠̩4̺̹̞̞e͔̤̤ͅ ̨̺̼͙4͈̜͚̼͔̳4̰͖͔̻͢

4̪͉f̶̱̰̠̹ͅ ̷̭̱4̵͔6̬͙̫̳

4̯̖̹͉̳̥͓͢1̻̥̦̮̥ 4̡͉̤͓̳͈̤̺3͜ ̲̪̰̙͝5̶͎4̩͍͖̩̘̲͎̕

4̭̫̥̣͔f̱͍͉̥̭̜͕ ̨̝̯͕̝̼4e̝̘ ̱͙̯̻̻4̴͕̰͉̭̝̜̙5̷̠̹̳

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night. S̫̞̝͡o͖̰m̮̝͙̮e͙̤̮̤̖͓̮t̬̙͔̰͝h͉̭i̝͚̳͕̝̖n̳͖͔͞g̥͟ i̫̮̜̼̻̟͕͜s͈̫̯̠̻͠ ̛̘v̳̘̲͠e̘̕r̮̯̤͞y̲̹̱̥̯̭̦ ̩̪̳̳̝͚w̢r̹͓͚̖̜̻̤o̷n̪̬̣̦͠g͏̞̮̩̟ͅ.͏̬͙̤̙̻̞ͅ

Chapter Text

You stumble out of your cottage. The forest is still. Too still. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You have:

Out of impulse, you backflip and break your neck o͖̝̟̭ͅn ̫la͞n̩d͍̫̟̩̥͖i͓̫̺̙͖͉̕ņ̭͕̺g̝̼̼.͟

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night. S̶̟̣o̺͞m̯e̹̼̙͎̲͍̘t̗̜͘h̖̦̖̥̲͟i͎͍͢n̦̣͔̳͟g̡'͏̪s̢ ͎͍͇͈͈b̜̦̖̘̱̰ot̳̰̪h̲̩̲͚͠e̮̰̝͍r̰̼i̙͉̙̱̜̹̠n̵̠͓̦̹͔̱̤g̸̩ ̘̪͟y̡̠̳o̮͉͇̹͎̜u̷͈͕̥.̤̩

You don't have that item- what? D͎͚͔͇͝i͍̲̘͙̹̞d͔̹̩̻n̢'̛̦̭t̻͉͕̳͇̳͔ ͉͓ͅy̹̻̗̲͚̻̭o̻̭͢u̝̖̤͖̰̥͓͠.͚.͎͚̟̫.̲̤̤̥̟ ̧y̥̤̜̼̜̠͎oṵ̱̘̱̲͙ ͈̯s̵͙͕̪w̴̘͎̫͙̲e̜̰̠͈̫̼͞a҉͔͇̻̝̰r̪̘̭̱ ̱͔͇͕̲͠y̬̺ou̳̬̣̠͖̣ ̪͔̣̦j͉̰̠̞̙u̧̠͉̮͖ͅs̴͕̥̯̦t̞̝̮̲̕.̮͓̖̕..̛͇͕̘

Wake who up?

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Remember... w̧̗̤h̖͈͞a͉͖ț̣̻̞̹̣͉͝?̵̳̼̮͎̲̮ͅ

Before you realize it, tears are streaming down your face.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a door leading to your BEDROOM. Wait... s̷̟̣̳̥̖i̧̩͚ṇ̹͚ce̢ ̴̻w̘̙̼͔ͅh͔̲̠͠e̵͍̳͇̲͚̺n͙͎̹ d̫̣̞̫̣ͅid̷̝͙ ̩̣͉͞y̳o͜u ̱̕h͖̭̗͢a͎̤͜v͓͡e͔̦͎͚ ̺̘̠̹a̝̞͖͖̰̣ ̮͉̝͙͎ͅbę̭͕̝̥͖d̸̳͈̣r̠̘͙̪̘ͅo͓̟̫̗o̦̗m҉̥̻̖?

You can't do that from here.

You clutch a hand to your chest. You are... Adam Moonlit. You are ADAM MOONLIT. WOODCUTTER, resident of HELD'S FOREST, husband to EVE MOONLIT NEE ZVEZDA, son of ALICE MOONLIT, former ROYAL and SCIENTIST of the MAGIC KINGDOM LEVIANTA, former HEAD of PROJECT MA, current FUGITIVE, and SOMEONE WHO FEELS THAT SOMETHING IS VERY, VERY WRONG.

Invalid command.

She's right there, on the bed. Thank Levia, s҉̞ͅḥ̞̬̭̱̦͠e̩̜͉̲̜'̷̼͍̯͙̜̙s̪ ͎͚̜͙r̨̥͎̼̘̫͙i̮̲g̹̩̖̮̠͎h̵̳t͉͙͖̻̼ ͈̟̬͎̪̺t̝̥̱̝͓̱̕h̷͈̗̹̥̪̻e̢̲̻r̗̕e̱͔̰͉̦̤̝.̶̻͕͈͔̣.

W̦͖̬͎̠̠̘͡h̝͎̟͢a͈̥t̤̲̣̱̞͇ ͘b̡͖̫͔̻̥͚ed̙̩̥̞̦̳̘r̡̼̮oo͘m̮͔̼̥?̥͚ ͏̻̪̭̺͎W̷̞̦͈̤̥͙ai̬̳̞t̸̳̰̻͍͚,̦̰͉͠ ̣̳̭͠w̹̱̥̞͎͎a̩s̥̭n̖͉̟'̺̲͕͟t̳ ̼͇̳͓t̜ḩ͇͇̖ͅe̙̺ṛ̷̘̞e̕ ̘͚̞̜a͙̬̰͇ ̦̼̣ͅḅ͓̩͖͙e͏͇̹̙͈d̺̣͍͇͔r͟o̰̳̼̗̕o̩m̞̫̩?̶̜̯̝̻͚̣͇

You hold Eve in your arms and cry. You just... cry. Despite your sobs, she doesn't wake up.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a CRIB, and a BED that Eve's already sleeping in.

W͙͔̤̫͖h̡͔͖̼̺͖̳̟a̤͇̮̞͝t̫̱͖̩͎̗ ͔̦c͍͢r͔̼̣̠ị̮͔b̖̭̟͇̳͡?̦͕̜͕̪͞ There's just a side table.

Invalid command.

You look at your hands. You have all ten fingers. You don't have a clock, so you look out the window to the moon. It simply hangs in the sky. You clutch at yourself, trying to ground yourself to r̻̪͙͙̪͞e͖a͇͉͉͎͖̳͈͞l͖̦̝̺̹͎̘i̳̞̹͖͙͝ty̜.̰͍̩̫̪͢

With all your might, you close your eyes and pray to anyone you can think of.

You pinch yourself. This might b͎͔̹̜̳e̹̮͍͇̭ͅ ҉̱̜̹͓̬a̹̰̬̬ ͙̞͘d͉͘r̘̗̰̰̥̺ͅe̜̗a̝m̛̙̥̮̙. Nothing happens.

You try to shake Eve awake. She doesn't wake up.

You scream. You scream and you scream and you scream. Eve still doesn't wake up.

Y̝̜͚͇o̤u͔͉'͓̤̫͖͎̜r͙e̵̗͎͈̰̩ ̞̱͜n̖͖͕̦̹̟͔ot ͠ș̫̺̖̭͍̭͟l͕̠̤̱ḛ͍͎e̖̝̳̣̦̯̠͞p̠i̬͢n͖͇̝̯g̭͓̼.̮̘

There is no chessboard.

Invalid command.

... What?

... What?

You check Eve's pulse. There's one; slow, but regular.

You hoist Eve over your shoulders. She still doesn't wake up, as if she were simply a rag-doll.

On impulse, you try to throw Eve out the window. The glass shatters on impact, but your bloodied wife simply falls to the W̶̬Ḫ̠͍̦A̤͉͕͞T͏̼̠̗ ̨͉͚ͅDI͜D̴̪̜͙̺̱͍ ̲̲̩̙̭̙Y̱̣O͉̼̙̠̯͖̻U ̞ͅW̺H͇͉͝A͎͚̹T̡̗̜̻͔̥̯͖ ̘̜D͍̭̫͔̤̖͇I̴̙̞D͙͚̥͎̪̳ ̦̻̘̲̱Y͖͕O͚̠̜͉̼͖U҉̹̤̠̼ ̸J͔̹̱̯U̥͙͙̠͔S̙̮T̖̠͎̮͈͟ ̝͚̹̠̣͈D̷O̟̮̺̻̦̗̭͢

HOW 4c 55 DO YOU EVEN DO THAT 4c 49 20 4c 41

You can't do anything you can't think you can't breathe you threw your wife there's so much blood you killed her you K͕̰̬I̯̠̺̦̙͇LLE͞D̬̯̪ ̡͚̤H͎̟͟E̟̺͙̙̲͖

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You immediately go over to Eve and try to shake her awake. You even try carrying her in your arms and spinning her. She. Doesn't. W̷͎̮a̻̰̤̼k̤̯̳̣͝ͅe҉̺̼͈̼̞̠.͏̣̙̱ ͔͟U̘̻̕p͚̹͔.̭

Invalid command.

You leave your cottage, slightly terrified. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You can't go there.

Invalid command.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for ROTTEN RED ROUND FRUITS, a̢n͈̺͕̩̜̣̮d̪͈̱̻͍̰ ̷n̘̤͔̺o̥̭̱͜t̮̱̘̞͓̳h̝͙̘̞̼̣ͅi̪̗̥͓̳n͚̙̮̞g ̥e͖̥̺̩͉̠l̨͉̦̩͓̫s̸͙̟e̛.̭̹̬̯͟

Invalid command.

You examine the sky. There is a moon. There are no stars. The moon is very, very, bright.

You find yourself hyperventilating. Something is very, very wrong, but you can't... you can't r̮̥̬̰ͅe҉̻͚̰̠͎m͎͉̹͉͚e͖̯͝mb̸̖̙̪̗̼e̪͚ŗ̗̮...

Seth? Seth Twiright? Why would HE help you?

You return to front of house. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL do you left, and a PATH right in front of you.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. The moon shines brightly, and it's enough to light the paths you and Eve have made. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, WEST, or back to your house to the SOUTH.

You can't go there from here.

You go north, and enter a CLEARING FULL OF WILDFLOWERS. From here, you can go SOUTH, or WEST.

You don't know the path to... wait... y̝̟o̬͍͔̥ͅu҉̖̠͖̯̩͙̼ ̡͔͈Ḓ̱̺̜̻O͠. Why? You've never been to Held before!

You pick several flowers. They are all a vivid purple. You now have SEVERAL PURPLE WILDFLOWERS.

You make a flower crown. Your fingers move like you've done this before, but that doesn't make sense. Y̢̰̱̰̱o̳̩͍̱̲̜̕u̼̻ͅ ̻͇ẖ̵̹a̱͖̘̯ve̫̭̥̦̮n̷̹̖'̛͓̞̼̘̝ͅṱ̯̟̠̮͙̘ ͈̳͎d̯̗̦̜o͇̪̳͡n̻̫̦ͅe̗̘ ̮͇͕t̴̞͎̭̫͙̥̟h҉̗̠͎̭̻i͎̝̠̣͢s̸̘̠ ̡͈̰̦̟b̛̲̮̱͎e̳̦̼͓͈̠fo̮̟̤̺̯̤̰r̥͖̹̭͟e̺̞̫̮̞͙.̶͓͓̣

You wear it on your head. Somehow, you feel like this isn't the first time you've worn a flower crown. This constant sense of deja vu is starting to scare you.

You slap yourself. It hurts, as expected.

You go west, and you are immediately faced with the biggest tree you have ever seen. It dominates the trees surrounding it, and they seem to almost... bow to it? You can't think of any appropriate description.

You feel the energy of this place, and all at once you feel as if you've come somewhere... holy.

From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH or EAST.

You kneel. You have no idea what you're doing. You have no idea why you're committing heresy by appealing to this tree god you somehow knew the name of. You begin to cry.

Your fear, your confusion, you are nothing but a volatile mix of feelings right now. And yet, you are still filled with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You don't know what that means, but you ȘẠ̢̠͎ͅV̞̹ͅE҉̝͓͈͍̗ͅ.

You kick the tree, screaming for help. You wait. And you wait.

Nothing happens.

You kick and you kick and you kick and then you realize that your leg has snapped in two and you are pouring blood all over the forest floor.

You cry and your salty tears mix with the blood as you quickly bleed out.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

79

You are standing in a clearing with the largest tree you've ever seen. The moon shines, stark white, over the clearing. You know this tree happens to be a god. You don't know how you got this information and you are very unsettled. Your leg hurts.

You threaten the forest god, but as soon as the first word of anger leaves your mouth, vines immediately entangle your wrists and feet, then withdraw, tearing you apart.

You are standing in a clearing with the largest tree you've ever seen. The moon shines, stark white, over the clearing. You know this tree happens to be a god. You don't know how you got this information and you are very unsettled. Your joints hurt.

You scream at the god tree to wake up, blatantly lie about having the twins of god with you, rant and rave and cry about how you don't understand, you don't understand a thing at all.

Nothing happens. The forest is completely silent.

You sit down, breathing heavily. Your voice has gone hoarse from all the screaming you've been doing, your joints still ache for whatever reason, and you feel tired. More tired than you've ever been in your life. You say to Held, in the most pleading voice you can manage, that something is wrong and he needs to wake up.

Nothing happens.

You walk home, and get there unusually fast. There is a WELL to your RIGHT, a GARDEN to your left, and YOUR HOUSE is right in front of you.

Your utter relief at seeing home fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You enter your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You examine the side table. It's the first thing you've ever built yourself, with a bit of help from Eve. There is nothing on it. The side table also has a DRAWER.

You open the drawer. The only thing inside is a BOX OF MATCHES.

You take the matches. You now have a BOX OF MATCHES.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a

DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a BED that Eve's already sleeping in.

You look under the bed. There is nothing there but dust.

You look under the side table. There is nothing there but dust either.

You exit the cottage. You are now in your BACKYARD.

Your backyard is where you usually work nowadays, cleared of trees so you have space to move. There is a STUMP nearby that you use to chop logs. There is nothing else but wild grass.

You can't get there from here.

You can't get there from here.

You enter the cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You go out the front door, and... you are now in your BACKYARD.

Invalid command.

You enter your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

Moonlight shines brightly over the forest, lighting the path that goes deeper into it. You strain your ears, but the forest is dead silent. You can't see the stars at all. You have a feeling it's going to be a v̷e̳̮̗̯͉͖ͅry͍̙̙̲ ̭͕̙lo͎͟n͍͖̮͉̠͍̥g҉͎̦̠ ͕͈̳͓͖͚͟ͅn̷͈̺̗͚i͖̱͉̩̜̟ͅg̶͈̼̻ht͔.҉.

You exit the cottage. There is a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You cannot find any paper in the immediate area.

You enter the fenced-in garden. It's mostly Eve's handiwork, a mostly successful attempt to recreate the garden of her own childhood. There is a section for ROTTEN SPLIT-OPEN RED ROUND FRUITS, a̢n͈̺͕̩̜̣̮d̪͈̱̻͍̰ ̷n̘̤͔̺o̥̭̱͜t̮̱̘̞͓̳h̝͙̘̞̼̣ͅi̪̗̥͓̳n͚̙̮̞g ̥e͖̥̺̩͉̠l̨͉̦̩͓̫s̸͙̟e̛.̭̹̬̯͟

Invalid command.

You clench the sketch in your shaking hands. It's a sketch of the two of you, running through the forest and looking happy. You don't rememb̷e̯͈r̪͉͘ d̴̲͙̘̮̪͕r̺̤a̸̯wį̜̭̫͇͕n͙͚̜̝͙͞g̖̜̠̣̗.͎̲̟̪͈͓ͅ.̱.͚WAIT. You Ḑ͕O̶.̡̼

You remember... you remember you DID something. Every time you try to reach for those memories, it's like they slip away, out of your reach. Flower crowns, bears, red fruits, octopi... whatever you can remember is so maddeningly vague but you r͉e̸̟͙͔͎̣̘̦me̤̮̬̤̟͎̻m̥̖͉̣͎ͅb͖̬̜̱e̛̯͙͕r͖̜̣̙̟̳ͅ.

You clench the sketch even tighter. Right now, it's your only shred of evidence the night that you remember actually happened.

And now, you're about to eat it.

Tears come to your eyes. Can you really do this?

You don't eat it. It's a bit crumpled and tear-stained, but you can still see the drawing clearly. It fills you with hope.

You examine the red round fruits. Y̩̫o̯͓̳u̫̙̜͙̜͜ ̠d̙̲o͈̠̬n̹͖͍̝̙ͅ'҉͖͔̲̱t̷̬ ̞̬͕̥̹͝k̻n͓̯̥̺͠o̮̳͔̭̠̻w̢̠̩̞̤ͅ ̗̦̩̯͖̫wh̙̦͘ͅy̧̪̥̩ ͍̥̠̗t̠͔͍h͓̬̹͇͇̘e͈s͍̤̣̞̥e̟ ͉̦̣͔̠͇̱a̢͔͈̬r͔̼̞̼͕͚͝e҉̬͉̗̤̯ ̼̲͍̰͖͚̩͢h̕ẹ̹̙͠r̗͈̫͙̹̱̦̕e̵.̡̩

You almost reel back at the pungent odor. The moonlight shines down, and you notice that it's reflected on the various SEEDS scattered on the ground.

Something is horribly wrong, but you can't give up. You won't give up. For the sake of the future in that sketch, you remain filled with DETERMINATION.

You examine the seeds. They all seem to come from the rotted red round fruits. They reflect the moonlight rather well.

You take some seeds, feeling slightly disgusted at how sticky they are. You now have some RED-ROUND-FRUIT SEEDS.

You exit the garden. You are now in front of your house. There's a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You go to the well, and you find that the well i̞̪̙͡s͏ ̴̮͈̦̗̰̙g̰͓͇̩o̧͎̱̺̣n̢e̡͙̞̰̦̰̮.̻̥̞̳̙͍͡

In its place is a tiny spring, flowing out from a pile of rocks and flowing deeper and deeper into the forest. You are dumbstruck.

You wash your hands and seeds in the spring. You are completely, utterly, confused. How did this spring get here? W̞̬̗͙̻h̴̬͙͓̤̝̹a̫̝͓͈ͅt'̧͙̳s̻̹̟͡ ̟̕g̟o̘̻͔̩̞i̳n̝͇̼͇g͕͖̬͓͉͈͢ ҉̝̪͖̗̞̤o̲͇̯̮͢ͅn?̦̰̬̱̥̕

As you follow the spring, you notice something glinting on the ground as you are about to enter the forest. You stop.

You examine it. It appears to be a SMALL GLASS BOTTLE.

No matter how terrified you are, you never forget how horrific your singing voice is. But you suppose that singing anything is better than complete silence.

You try to sing a song you heard Eve singing, once. You think you fail.

You take the bottle. You now have ONE GLASS BOTTLE.

The memory of Eve's singing voice fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not s͚u̱̗͚͎͓̱̙ṟ͇̘̞e̮̹̯̙͜ͅ ̺̞̝͖̙͔ͅw̹͙̦̹̖͘h͉͈͜a̞̠t͏̘̝̳̦͔ t̥̠͇̩̰͈̖͢h͙̜̟a̲͙͎̦̹ͅt̲̲̪ means, but you SAV͕͖̯E͙͍.

You may be an incompetent ex-scientist, but you are pretty sure that filling a bottle full of moonlight is scientifically impossible.

You enter your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You can't find any paper in the immediate area.

You look in the side-table drawer. It's completely empty.

You enter the bedroom. W̘̝̠͉͉̬͙͡a̺̪̞̞͝ị̧̦̭ṭ̢̠͔̝͍.҉̮͎̝̦̮͙̩.̘.͙͍͖̟͉

Your wife is wearing a nightgown. She doesn't have pockets. And ş̟̖̝͎͓͔̥i̝͓̯̹͢ṉc̞ͅe̢̤͇̜̞̺ ̣̬̜̙͔̺w̛̘h̦e̡̯̺̹̮̯̝n̥̟̻͖̳͡ ̣̞̰d̳̠̯̬̹̻͢i͇̲͔̼̲͕d̛̳̱̰̻̫ ͟y̢̥͕͔̦̼͙̙o̸̗̱̻u̹̖̭̥̘ͅ ̖̣̮̘̭̗̹h̛̞͓a̦͉ve͖̥̪̯̦ ̖͓a̩̟͖͠ͅ ̰b̗̼̬̖͜e̸d͉̝͇͚͞r͉͘o̷̬̹͎̠̻͕̙o̡m̢̲?͙̗͕̩͔

W̙̖̭̥h̭͍̯͕̯̰a͕͈̘̫̭͇̕ͅt͓̜ ̨̥̼̺̙b̙̭̦̘̩̭e̲͟d̳̰r̛̩͔o̲͕̻̪̳̠̞o͇m̵̹̬̳?̺̤̮̠̩̯̞ You only have a one-room cottage... r̳i̸̜͎g͍̦̙̫h̖̩͟t͍͍̱?̩̖̬̯͝

You don't have a bedroom, but you check the area around your bed anyway. No paper.

Invalid command.

Check what?

Your fireplace is a pretty okay fireplace, if rather large. Eve sometimes joked that it was large enough to fit her. It still does its regular fireplace things rather well. Inside the fireplace is a thick layer of soil. There's something half buried in it.

There's no paper near the fireplace.

You dig out the item. It... looks like a doll. You brush off more dirt and you find that it is a doll.

Most disturbingly, it looks like Eve.

Your hands are shaking too much. You have the overwhelming urge to fling it back into the fireplace where you found it.

You resist... barely.

You examine the doll. It's made from good quality wood, and it seems to run on clockwork. But why does it look so much like Eve? From its sky-blue hair to its placid smile, it looks almost exactly like your wife. You don't remember making this doll. You don't know anyone who could've made this doll. You begin to panic, slightly.

The doll unsettles you too much. You fling it back into the fireplace. It lands on the layer of soil with a small thump.

You don't exactly recall the finer points of Magical Theory, as you are too busy worrying about where in the Hellish Yard did that doll even come from.

You leave your house. There is a GARDEN to your right, a SPRING to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

You go towards the spring and you wonder where your well went. It was a good well.

Your missing well fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You follow the spring into the forest, deeper and d̠̼͙̜̩̱̲e̖͖e̺͔̠p̶̞̮̳͇̞̻e͈͖̱̠͇͡ŗ. You follow the winding twisting flow of water, and you think you see a clearing up ahead. Excited, you run toward it.

You stumble into the clearing, and... there's your house. Ỵ̝o̸̱̯̜̜̤u̙͍̖̹̱̦ ͓͍̭̫̬̹a̫̗̟͔̰̳ͅr̲̪̬͈͇e̥͔̗͚̜̹̥͞ ͘r͈͙̹i͔̝̱̳g̫ͅḫ̶̺͍t̤̦̻̜ͅ ̙b̻͖̼̗̻͝ac͔͙̱̱̖̭̰k̡̺̜̜̙̪̥ ̹ͅw̨h͈͍̥͚̥͘e͏̭̖̘̤r̷ȩ̳͙̥ͅ ̼̖̕y͓͉͙̲͉̯o̫̘̲u̬̱͖̹ ̞̩s͈̹͚t̷̲̻a͍̰̭̬͠r̴̞̖̩̘t̠͈͍̻e̵̫̫̩̩̰̭d͉̪̻͎͞.̴̦͇̥͇͉

Invalid command.

You yell at the forest. The forest remains dead silent.

The illogical path of the spring fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

Invalid command.

At first glance, the spring seemed like a perfectly normal tiny natural spring, except the fact that it somehow replaced your well.

Now, when you attempt to study it, you very quickly begin to get a headache. How can that flow from that when that's over there? Your mind hurts everything hurts you cann̲̬̼͉̮o̤̩̬͎̞͟ṱ̹̣̲̳̤͝ ̷U̥̯̰̺̳ͅN̨͕̗̞̭D̡̘̜̟ER̻̯͚̟͘S̻̺̜̝͇̬̞͢Ţ͈̬̰͇̮̱A̩̣̥̕Ṉ̥̥̠D̜͎͞ ͚͎̥̝͍̘͡yo̲̜̙̻̭͉͎u̬̣ ͓̲̗̺c̨an̖͉͈̯n̡̺̬͎͚̯ot̷̤ ͏C̦̹̕O͉̘̖̲͘ͅMP̨̯̠̹̫̦͕̤R̰̩̟̰̙͉̬E̙͖͓̺͓͚̰H̠͓̬̣͍̥͘Ḛ̫̘͍̭̙

You are in front of your house. There's a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

W͎̺̰h̫̺a̸̖̩t ̹s̡̙̠̼̰̠p̫͢r̡̦̗̳̳i̠̤n̜͚̫̖g̨̻̠̠̤͙̲̞?̣͈̝̺̳ All you see is your perfectly normal well.

You don't know how go to the sea.

Chapter Text

You... you think you and Eve made pathways through the forest. Yes. You did. However, you don't remember writing them down, which was pretty idiotic as you're kind of bad with directions. Eve was better at navigating, as she had been here more times than you.

You scream. Disturbingly, your voice is the only sound that echoes through the forest. The only one.

You look at your house. It's gotten a lot bigger ever since you added that extra ro-

W̻̳̭̗a̪̱̖̱įt̮͙̥̬̰̘.̙̘̩͓̙̫͜ ̹̼̯͈̥͠

W͚he̶͓̱̣͖͚n͇͕̗͉̱̰̣͜ ̸̪̗̙̟̪d̫̣̣͜i̻̘d̳̤̺̦̦͚ ̭̗͔̬̺͉̪͘y̡̤̦̮͔̞ͅọ͓͍̗͔u͕̹̬͈̗͟ ̨̠̖̳͕̹̳ͅa̞̮̖̝͓̦̯ḏ͙̙̳̱̲d̢̠̖͈̳̭ ̗̬a̙̪̱̲̳̖ ͉̞̻͕̜̪ͅr̡̰̭̤̮̦̻o̩̤̝o̥̩͞ͅm̰̙̣̝̤?

You enter your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a SIDE TABLE, and a BED that Eve's already sleeping in.

You check the dinner table. You've already helped Eve clear the dishes from dinner. Now it's simply flat smooth wood.

You slowly caress the table's surface, admiring its rich dark color, its polished finish, it's-

H̝ey.̙

D̞̺̙̮̰̞i̱͇̖̖ḓ̻̹ņ̥͍͇̻̹̯̺'͎̟̹̥̟͠t̲̘͘ ͖͓̳͢y̶̳͖͚̘͖̘o͙͝u̱̠̞̜͍̰͢ ̣̙̞̤͈͡h̶̗̲̫̲̯̥̼a̷̟̪͚̲̖v̡̗̣̖͙e̘̰͈ͅͅ ̪̲̮a̡ ͔̣̺̠̻̲t̙͚͕͈͍͝a̛̫bl̞̤̭̳̖̩͈͞e̟͔̩͚̬c̗̳̲͕̥̞̖͢l̝̼̥̮̼͕o̰t̡̺̮̱͓̘̬h̪̥͙̹?̮̱̻

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You cry at the loss at the tablecloth you never had. Or did you have it? If so, w̝͍̠̟ḥ̱̺̟͍e̢͍̮ŗ͈͈̝͇͙e̢ͅ ̳̼̞̰di̝͕̠̬ͅd͙͈ ̷̼̦i̖̠̱t̮͚̹͎͉ g͕͉̙o̟̳͕͕̥͜?

W̱h͍̪̘̼̳̼a͎̰̬t̼̲̺ ̸͕͙̝b̳̺̹̼e̙̭̱d̨̥̫̠̮̼r̢͙o̯̥͜o̠̯͕͎͚ͅm̬̞͙? Your cottage only has one-room, r̛̗e̸̬̜͖m̢͇̦̯̯̘e̹̱͈̝̞̻͝ṃ̲͔̞̰b͈ͅer͙͈?̦

You scream, again. Your voice doesn't echo in your small cottage.

You scream. Your voice is loud, but incredibly, Eve doesn't wake up.

You try shaking Eve awake, to ask her about your missing tablecloth that never was, but...

No matter how hard you shake, Eve doesn't wake up.

You leave your house. There's a GARDEN to your right, a SPRING to your left, and a PATH right behind you.

W̪̰h̪͠a̢̟͙̙̱t̵͙̣̹̜'̞̙͘s͙ 4c 55 ș̶͔̮̞̹̜ͅp̷͙̠̙͙̦̯͕i͎̭͟r͙it̘̭̰ 4c 49 d̨a̮t̗̞̞̠̖͖̕a̹̙̥?̬̯̹ͅ 4c 41

What happened yesterday... what happened yesterday... you... you... you...

It was an ordinary day. It was... normal. Eve... worked on the garden, yes. You were working on splitting that new tree you cut down.

But s̵̳̖̦̺͕o͉̝̘m̞̺̪̦͕e̵͉̜͉t̴̳̦̯͉̠͖͎h̩̣̼̯̺ͅi̻͖̼̳͘n̳͖̱̣̝͈̟g̥̝͢'͓̮̼̰͠s̸̩̯͖ ҉̞̲̞̯w̯̻̼̞̙̗͘r͔̟̘̻o̰̗n͇͚̫̜̣͞ͅͅg̺̙̮͓̙̝͔.̮̤̱ͅ

T̤̭̞̖̺͜ͅͅh͕̩̬͚̘ͅi̡͈͇̲͉̙ͅs̨̳̼ͅ ͔ni͚͕̫̺̞̯̲g̺̮ẖ͓̳͍̤͚͡t̺̬̞͇̭.͎̻̯͉̰̖̕.͢.̸̺ ͕̻̫͍̲͇̰yͅo̭̦͖͍͔͓͚͟u̱̺̹̻̼ ̼̜f̡̺e̷͎̘̙̯̹̝̺e̛͖̙l̯̠̲̘͓̯͍ ̴̮͖̥̗̲̖͔l̞̮͟ik̩͚̺͎̘͕e̩͍͚̗̼͚͇͡ ̣͎̪͎̬̹y̥̻̪͎̼̻o͉̰̺̭ư̰'̺͈̞̫v̧͉̯̘̙e̝͔̞̲ ̟̻͕̼̦͖ͅg̩̪̳o̟̗̲̮n͎̣͟e͍̟̦̩͚̘̣ ̝͇̰ͅṯ̺̰̹̮̰hr͝o̤̫̠u̵͕̩̙g͙h̩ ͎̠̤̼̘̣i̲̩͖̮͕͖̥t̙̯͍̩̹̣ ̧͓͉̹̹͙͍̟ḅ͚͝e̟̻f̳̫͙͕̠͈ọ̙̦͍̯͞r̖͍̼͕̻̩e̷͎̝̥̹̪̥̳

You go to the spring. You swear there was a well here before. It's a tiny spring, flowing deeper into the forest.

You stare at the spring. It bubbles. It looks like a perfectly normal, if tiny spring.

You inspect the spring. It's a p͞e͓̟͚r̫͈̰̲͙̳f̰͚͎̣̱̖e͉͙̭̲̩̦c̞͈̮̹̪t̠̺̘̭̯ly̩ ̬̟͈͇̝n̳̣͔͔̰̺o͙r̙̤̭m͎̤̗̱͖ͅa̩͉̩ͅl̸̻̹͎ ͈̦̻͠sp͖͕r͓̗͎͙̘̤i̤̥͚͔̺n͇̪g͍̟͓̥̗.̦̼

You have:

It's an adorable little spring, to be honest. Very cute.

Fall into what?

You scoop a bit of water into your hands and splash some on your face. Refreshing. You hope that no one else has their own little tiny spring. You want this all to yourself.

Invalid command.

You weren't even spinning in the first place.

You eat a tiny seed... a̤͉͉̤̜ͅn̺̖̕d̤̞̪̞̪ ̦͓̳̟̰͔̹i͚̯̱̣ͅm͉m͏͔̯̟͚̬ͅͅe̡͈̖͈̥͕͎d̗i̴̲͓̭͚̺a̼t͞e̝͈͓̣͖̮̺l͎͕̰̙y̶̜̹͎̝̹,̥̫̮͔̘̱̳ ̥̰̻̺̠y͕̪̹̭o͚̗͖̙̦͖u̥͉̝̼ͅ ͓͉̻̝͇̠͠w̟̗͔ͅa̪͕̳͍n̰̦̠̪͍͓̦t ͘M̸̤O̖͕͉̝̞̺͢ͅR̨͕̦̭͙̖̲̭Ḙ.̹͖̹̹

You take out the flower crown, but you are consumed by RAVENOUS HUNGER. You take the flower crown and shove it into mouth.

You tear at yourself, eating anything you can touch. Everything you have, you eat. The rest of the seeds, the box of matches, even the sketch of you and Eve. You take the glass bottle out, the final item you have, and bite.

The glass shatters in your mouth, and you swallow, lacerating your insides and causing blood to pour from your mouth and there's so much blood and know you're dying but you still want more you still want more y͖̣͕͖͚͓ǫu͙̘̯̦̤̠̦ ̠s̰̦͉͎̣͓͜t̠̠͢ͅi̻̮l̛͉l̻̞̱̦̯̘ w̢̙̳͚̻̩a҉͇̯͓̝͔͎n̫̲ṯ͎̲̟̦̲ ͖͚̠Ṃ̞̘O̸̖̤͍̰ _

Invalid command.

79

You are in front of your house. There's a GARDEN to your right, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you. Your throat stings.

You have:

You go to your well. You see the well that you and Eve dug when you first got here. You would've have liked to use the stream but it's just too far.

You look at the moon. It shines, brightly. Almost too bright.

You take some dirt from the ground and shove it into your mouth.

BLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH.

It s̙̻͠ͅt̟͕i͍͕̩͈̜͔̕l͎͉̦̝l͏͕̜̣̩̱̩͈ tastes as disgusting as it looks.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

You're not willing to try that again.

You scream. Again. With all the screaming you're doing at this rate you're voice is going to get hoarse.

Why would you, when you have your nice well right here?

You cannot eat the moon. It's too far away. You're better off eating cheese instead and pretending it's the moon.

You are not angry. You're very confused, tired, and in dire need of an explanation.

You may be an incompetent ex-scientist, but you're pretty sure doing that is scientifically impossible.

How on earth would you even get a spring? It's not as if you can dig one up and bring it over to your house.

You close your eyes. With the forest being dead silent, the only thing you can hear is your breathing and heartbeat. You are terrified enough to immediately open them again.

What spring? Right there is your wonderful trustworthy we-

There is now a spring right in front of you. You are baffled.

Your well is gone.

It's so small, it only comes to your ankles. You step in it, anyway.

You wash your feet in it. Your feet are much cleaner now. You're not really inclined to wash the rest of you.

You take your bottle and fill it with spring water. You now have a GLASS BOTTLE FILLED WITH MYSTERIOUS SPRING WATER.

You scoop some water in your hand and drink. It's actually quite refreshing. You feel a bit lucky that you two, and only you two, now have this wonderful spring.

You enter your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You look around your small cottage. In the moonlight, you see that there is a FIREPLACE, a DINNER TABLE, a CRIB, and a BED that Eve's already sleeping in.

You have:

W̠̻̗͇ͅḩ̹̦̙̩͖̤a̛͉̣t̝͝ ̮̟̤̤͘ͅc̢͎̮̟͉r̺i͎̪b͝? You don't have a crib. Why would you even need a crib?

Your simple home fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

Y̮͜o̮͍ṷ ̼̬ͅd̟̤ͅo̮͕͉͍̗ ͏̞͖͍n̼͞o̤̳̦̠t̞̤ ͈̗h̝̣̗̭̹a̺v͏͉̻͎e͚͉͙ ͘a̰͇̙̬͙̜ ̪͎͖̦̮c̦͘ri͏͎͉̞̠̮͓̟b̟̗̭.͍

Invalid command.

You check the fireplace. Your fireplace is a pretty okay fireplace, if rather large. Eve sometimes joked that it was large enough to fit her. It still does its regular fireplace things rather well. Inside the fireplace is a thick layer of soil. The wooden clockwork doll is still there, right where you had dropped it. You shudder involuntarily.

You... you can't make yourself take the doll. It unsettles you too much. You're just going to leave it in the fireplace where you found it.

You close your eyes, just so you don't have to look at the doll. You can thankfully hear the sound of Eve breathing along with you.

You wonder why your fireplace is full of soil instead of ashes. You take a HANDFUL OF SOIL.

You leave your house. There is a GARDEN to your RIGHT, a WELL to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

Your eyes are still closed. You can no longer hear Eve, as you are outside.

You open your eyes. There's GARDEN to your right, a SPRING to your left, and a PATH right in front of you.

Your well is no longer there. Again.

You follow the flow of the spring, winding deeper and deeper into the forest, when suddenly you see a clearing up ahead. Excited, you run, about to stop just before you enter, but when you are halfway there you put your foot down...

A͢n̟̠̲͜ͅd̡͎͔͍̫̤ ̱͔̪y̫͔̕o͔͢u̞͙̫͕͜ ̷͎̠̱̰f̲̗͔̦͕͔a҉͉̩̗̙̖̬̰l̛l ͖͎̭͚̼th̪̺̻̝r̪͞o̟u̢̯̤̯̹̗̞g͇͇͟h̸̭͎̼̺ͅ ̗t̫h̩̘͠e̘̯͈̠̼̩̹ ̶͖͍̜͔̲f̘͈o̶̞̜r͚̻̘̜͚͎͎e҉̺s͎͎͉̱̳̮͞t̺͔͇͎̬̩̱͟ ̹̠fḻ̗͔o̭͚̯͕͔̹͈o̼͈̯̼͙r̦.̨̰͚̩̖͖̫̩

The next thing you know you are falling down... down... down... gaping as a massive gray ceiling gets further and further away as you fall through an incomprehensible black void interspersed with white grid lines.

As you fall, the only thing you can do is scream, and scream, and s͇̦̹͠c̱̬͙̼͙re͖͞ą̠̬̯̣̠̘m͝,̮̼͓̪ ̩̜̙̞̟̮͖a̜̤n͚̟͓͝d̬ ̮ș̻̟̦̠͓c̼r͈͍̠̳͙͍͢e̻̳̲̲̫̰͞

You are in your cottage. It is the middle of the night.

You leave your house. There is a GARDEN to your left, a WELL to your right, and a PATH right behind you.

You have:

You left filing reports all the way back in Levianta. And even if you wanted to file another report, there are no bugs to speak of. You can't even hear crickets. The forest is dead silent.

Your house is still there, in front of you.

Invalid command.

Into the forest you go, deeper and deeper. The moonlight is bright, illuminating the paths that you and Eve made. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTH, back where you came.

You are more than a little terrified now, to be honest. But you will not give up. You will not despair.

At least, that's what you tell yourself as tears are streaming down your face.

The deathly still forest fills you with DETERMINATION, crying as you are. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

Invalid command.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You walk. And walk. And w̵a̼̤͚̜̞l̠̤͓͔k̢͔̤̯̯.̹ The path just keeps going.

From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

Invalid command.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You go north. From here, you can go NORTH or SOUTH.

You stop walking. You're exhausted.

You turn around. There's the clearing with your house. Just a few paces away.

You try to scream, but nothing comes out. You've gone hoarse.

You run backwards, keeping an eye on your house as it gets further and further away. Suddenly, you trip on a branch you didn't see and fall backwards, smashing your head against a rock and dying instantly.

You are in the middle of Held's forest. The moonlight shines brightly above you. From here, you can go NORTH, EAST, WEST, or SOUTH, back to your cottage. You have a headache, for some reason.

You go west, and you find yourself at the EAST END of the OCEAN. The water is completely still, and you can’t see even a single ripple. From here, you can go EAST, into the forest, or along the shoreline to the WEST.

The sight of the utterly still ocean, creepy as it is, fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

As the water is completely still, you see that it forms a perfect mirror reflecting the sky, the moon near to the horizon.

You enter the water. For some reason, you don't see a splash, but you hear a disproportionately loud splashing noise as you enter the water. You stop once you're shin-deep. Everything is still.

Invalid command.

You can't see a container, but you think you see something glinting in the moonlight, somewhere in the sand.

You take out the bottle of water and turn it upside down to empty it out, but...

The water doesn't pour out. You even give it a few shakes. The water doesn't pour out.

You turn it right side up again and give it a swirl. The water moves inside. Strange.

You go to the glinting option in the sand. On closer inspection, it turns out to be a shiny YELLOW GEM.

It's a bit strange to use your wife's name for something as simple as a glass bottle, so you decide on a derivative name. Eve... Evan? Evian? Alright. Evian the Glass Bottle it is.

You take the gem. You now have a SINGLE YELLOW GEM.

You go east... and find yourself in a HELD'S CLEARING. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH or EAST.

What.

You look at Held. The large tree doesn't do anything, just as a regular tree would do.

The holy tree fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You throw the gem at Held, but before it can even hit him multiple octopus tetacles emerge from the foliage, wrap around your limbs, and t̵̲̲̳̯͚ea̖̘̥̳ͅr͏̤̟͍̤ͅ ̵y̭̩̟͚̪o̢ṵ̞̪̯̦͘ ͖a̤p̺a̩̟͇̦̝͝r̬̥t̜̟̙̰̱͉.̜̭̗̲̣͟

You are standing in a clearing with the largest tree you've ever seen. The moon shines, stark white, over the clearing. You know this tree happens to be a god. You don't know how you got this information and you are very unsettled. Your joints hurt.

You sit down to rest. You try to massage your own shoulders, to ease the throbbing.

You try to speak, but your voice has gone silent from all that screaming. You settle for thinking instead.

You try to think about your situation, but you're not really sure about anything anymore. Something is wrong. Something is very wrong, and you don't know why.

You have a feeling it's going to be a long, l̴̩̰͖on̯̰g̤̱̕ͅ night.

Chapter Text

You have:

You attempt to pour water on the large tree, but, just as what happened at the sea... the water simply refuses to leave the bottle.

You, feeling more than a little reckless, begin to sing to the tree in your horrible singing voice, simply to fill the silence. You eventually you'd take total silence over your singing voice, so you stop.

The forest doesn't react at all.

You know you should stop acting like a bitch, but you aren't exactly sure how to look "evian". You ponder for a little while, then just curl up on the ground in the fetal position, trying to channel the look of being a small glass bottle. You think you look pretty Evian right now.

You're already doing that. You're even in the fetal position.

You make to grab a handful of dirt from the ground, but then you notice something's... wrong... with the ground. It seems... unnaturally smooth. And uniformly brown. You try to touch it, and... it doesn't feel like dirt. It doesn't feel like anything at all.

Panicked, you feel the ground again. You wonder what you were thinking then, because the ground seems p̡̯̜ȩ̮͎͙͖̣̰̠r͡f͢ę̱̟̪̠̻̰c̫͓̖̞̖͘ͅt̡̫̬̣̹̰̬l̮y̟ ̞͖̭̲n͉̺̜̙o̠̝̜͇r̪̯̫͚ma̳̗̠̰͝l̗͕̺̭͘.̞͍̣̯̻ You take a HANDFUL OF DIRT.

Your unusual relief in seeing perfectly normal ground fills you with DETERMINATION. You SAVE. You're not sure what that means, but you SAVE.

You then get up, and make to kick the tree, but before your foot even reaches the trunk, ropes suddenly emerge from the foliage, wrapping around your body like snakes. One aims for your neck, and strangles you, slowly and painfully.

Invalid command.

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Invalid command.

Invalid command.

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Invalid command.

You are standing in a clearing with the largest tree you've ever seen. The moon shines, stark white, over the clearing. You know this tree happens to be a god. You don't know how you got this information and you are very unsettled. Your neck hurts.

You suddenly realize y̡̯̙o҉̼͚̬u̩̪̦̻ ̘d̗͇̱̱͞o͙̤̜͡n̸͉̙͙̮̯͇̣'̴̺̹̭͚̜ț͈̭ ķ̯̱̼ṋ͚͎̗͠o̞̝͚̮͘w̬̻͉͠ ̙̮͙͉̣͚t̺̗͚̫̱h̢͔̙͙̜̳̬e̪͙ ҉̤͕̬̘̣w̯̹̺̺͟a̘̪̟̣͔̖y̲̝̦̜͘ ̳̹͇h̛͍ơ̰̺̱͈̮̗m͝e͙̭͎̤̺͚ͅ.̷. From here, you can go NORTH, SOUTH, or EAST.

Invalid command.

You look around the forest clearing. The entire place is utterly silent. Vaguely, you know you should feel a holy presence. You feel nothing at all. The place feels... empty, somehow. You shiver.

You go south. A bear suddenly appears in front of you and b̬̠i͇͖̯͈͚̭̗͡t͙̘͎̮͙͔̦e̻̬s̷̙̜͈̬͓ͅ o҉͉̤̦͕̤̜f̪̮̘͖f̡̩̱̻̱͚ ͔͙̜̖̪̠y͖͙̖͡ͅo̹̪͚̦̘̜̱u͈r̴ ̼̟ͅh̦̺͍̳̲͙͢e͟ad̘̟̩̪͜.͢

Invalid command.

Invalid command.

Invalid command.