After Daava had left our room and I was finished with my bath, I decided to take a walk outside the room. Granted, there wasn’t a whole lot to see beyond the architecture of the castle. But I thought it would be a good idea to clear my head and move around before it got dark.

Despite anticipating that someone would be outside waiting for me, I immediately found myself alone in the castle. The sky was still orange—the light refracting off the crystals and painting a cascade of colors across the many walls. It was while watching them that I saw a sudden flutter of pink light move against the wall.

Immediately, I backed up against the wall.

It was the mischief pixie! The one that had been following me ever since I'd left Crudehook. And, by some stroke of luck, it hadn’t yet spotted me.

At first, the stalking wasn’t too difficult.

Grinning in a way that felt quite dastardly, I kept to the shadows and began to follow. I didn't know what I'd do if I caught it. Maybe I was just bored, or maybe I was trying to distract myself from everything else. But I was enjoying being the hunter instead of the hunted, for a change.

But then the pixie started heading for a place that crowded with construction scaffolding. Still, I tried to follow, creeping around piles of crystals, buckets, and everything else.

As if sensing me, the mischief pixie turned around.

I dropped to the floor. For several moment, I remained there, frozen, waiting for the pixie to move again.

“This is fun!” whispered the dual-sided naga from before. "But ... what are we hiding from?"

My heart jumped and I barely managed not to scream, having not been prepared for someone seeing me crouched like a weirdo. But the nagas' conjoined face was now right next to mine. The purple one looking delighted and the bronze one hyper-focused.

I swallowed and quickly regained my composure. “Down there. It’s a mischief pixie. Long story, but it thinks I’m a dark lord.”

The naga turned and then spoke from the bronze side of her face. “Should we capture it? Demand answers for its unjust harassment?”

“That seems kind of mean, Friss,” replied the purple one, seeming somewhat hesitant.

“Nilss, we both know you can’t reason with a mischief pixie,” said the bronze one.

Okay, well, at least I now knew their names. Which would have been a good opening to do what Daava had wanted, clearing up "misperceptions." But ... at the moment ... I was hyper-focused on the pixie. And I wasn't exactly ready for the Mutualists to again peer into the depths of my soul.

So, focusing on the task at hand, I whispered. “Yeah ... it doesn't seem reasonable to me either. I had it in a jar at one point. I thought letting it go would make it like me. Or at least let it know that I wasn’t evil.”

Friss, the stern bronze-scaled half of the naga, shook her head. “Mischief pixies are not like the peoples of this world. They have intelligence, sure, but it all goes to attitude, not calculated reason.”

Nilss, the brighter half with purple scales, gave a pout. “But … they’re usually such good creatures. There has to be some way to show it that it’s just a little confused. Lilly seems really nice!”

Aw ... okay, maybe the two naga were kind of sweet, if far too perceptive.

Nilss's brow furrowed in deep concentration until her eyes suddenly brightened.

“Oh no,” Friss said a tone of familiarity.

“What?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“The Garden of Merging and Unmerging,” said both halves of the naga at once—each with a dramatically different tone even as the words came from one mouth.

Nilss spoke up first. “Since we’re all kind of … joined … in our own ways, we thought it would be good to have a place where we could give our minds the freedom to get as much distance or closeness we need. The Garden is a magical space we’ve enchanted for our unique needs. Maybe you could use it to show the mischief pixie that you’re really not a dark lord?”

“Or Lilly winds up not knowing where her mind begins and the pixie’s ends,” muttered Friss grimly. “And that's not even taking into account the two other lives she carries with her.”

I grimaced a little but asked, “Is there … another way to dissuade a mischief pixie?”

“With a boot?” asked Friss.

Nilss pouted.

“Sorry,” Friss said before giving a sigh. She thought for a moment and then shook her head. “But no ... I’ve heard of pixies hunting dark lords to the ends of the earth.”

I bit my lower lip to think about the matter a little. But, in the end, there wasn’t all that much to think about. I couldn’t have a mischief pixie following me around and messing stuff up while we were trying to stop the Master from … whatever his scheme was.

So I took a deep breath and said, “Which way to the garden?”

Each half of the naga pointed and index finger towards the part of the castle on the other side of all the construction.

I knelt and peaked out.

The mischief pixie was closer now—seeming to sniff the air in her search for me.

I nodded a few times and finally said, “Okay, I’m going to do it!”

“Good luck!” said Nilss.

“I sincerely hope your identity is not merged with the void,” added Friss.

Both seemed equally sincere in their quite varied well-wishes.

I took on last deep breath and climbed over the safety banister. Immediately, the mischief pixie saw me. So I turned on my heels, and began my retreat, weaving over, between, and under scaffolding.

I kept going until I saw an entryway into the back-portion of the castle. Here, the crystal castle gave way to a carefully manicured garden filled with green and pastel colors. I darted toward it—hearing the airy flaps of massive butterfly-like wings right behind me!

As soon as I my foot touched grass, everything stopped.

I was still in the same place … but all sense of urgency and excitement was lost. It was like I had … stepped entirely out of the moment I’d been in. Instead of being in a castle … or in a world … or on any sort of epic quest, I was in a space apart.

A small pond shimmered in the center of the garden—surrounded by geometrically patterned plans in precise orbits around its radius. A cluster of pink flowers, surrounded by perfectly spaced bamboo shoots with streaks of burnt orange, followed by various other circles. Which I stepped through, until I was standing over the water.

Finally, I turned around.

The mischief pixie had entered into the space as well. She seemed as confused as I felt by the sudden change in energy between us. Her brow was furrowed and she looked at me with what looked more like an attempt to be angry rather than genuine anger itself. She tried to use her hypnotic abilities—her wings swirling in beautiful patterns. However, there was simply no sort of magical pull drawing me into them.

With a calm that came from the magic of the garden, I said, “I’m not sure if you understand me.”

The pixie simply cocked her head … which wasn’t the most encouraging outcome I could have hoped for.

So I looked down at the enchantment that had caused our miscommunication in the first place. But there was something immediately off about the rough pink stone in my anklet. It seemed to be moving … pulling away.

Perplexed by this, I turned to the pixie.

The pixie studied me distrustfully in response.

I turned my body a bit and pointed at the pink stone—which had bubbled up into a little ball, transparent and brightly colored. Tied in place by the rest of the jewelry, which now seemed too much like rope shackles.

The pixie watched all of this unfold for a moment and then flew down to it. She sniffed at it—much like she’d done when she’d been hunting me. She looked between me and the blob a few times, double and triple taking as she took more sniffs.

I could hear something now. A nervous whine that was so distant as to be nearly inaudible.

“I ...” I said, blinking a few times. “I wasn't trying to hurt it. I didn't even know that ... there was an it. I thought-" I drew a sharp breath. "I just wanted to understand.”

The mischief pixie pursed her lips. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally put a hand on it, only for her hand to be stopped by some unseen force.

That was when I saw something that I hadn’t before. It was an almost entirely transparent field that coated the blob. Which, no matter how the pixie prodded, the pink creature shielded itself from any attempt to get through.

The shield continued even when the pixie's hand should have touched my ankles. Like maybe she would have used my skin ... to get leverage.

It wasn't protecting me like a plant guarding its patch of soil. No, by wearing the enchantment, I had slipped under its defenses. And now, it was using my own magic to try and drive me away. Making me smell like a dark lord.

I had thought that the enchantments were parasites. But ... in a sense ... I was the parasite—using the magic specifically meant against me. Hot, sticky guilt filled me at the knowledge of what I’d been doing to ... a living creature. I reached down and immediately removed the enchantment.

As soon as the enchantment was removed, the magical barrier was gone.

I hoped that would fix everything, yet the small blob continued to shake and squeal. Of course it hadn't helped. The Master had created life in a state of torment. Simply abandoning it wasn’t going to magically fix its underlying pain and terror.

The mischief pixie studied the pink blob a moment longer and then me. To my surprise, she flew up to the level of my breasts, looked at me and held both palms at me.

When I didn't respond, the pixie pursed her lips impatiently.

“Okay …” I said, still not entirely sure it could understand the content of my words. But … maybe it understood some underlying tones. “I’ll help … just … do what you’ve got to do.”

The pixie flew forward and, like back in the Twinn Cities, pulled down the front of my dress. But instead of just trying to embarrass me, she slowly approached one of my nipples. Like with the protective spell before, she seemed to be using her palms to sense the healing magic coming from my breasts.

Finally, the pixie touched one and began to squeeze. When she had a white drop in either hand, she flew back to the pink slime and gently placed them on it.

The pink blob shimmered in response to my healing magic. Both the trembling and the low screeching sound slowly ceased. And, for the first time, the creature finally seemed to really look between myself and the mischief pixie. Well ... as much as it could without eyes.

Whatever the pixie had done ... she'd healed it.

I took a few steps back, with no intention of stealing the enchantment back. However, the mischief pixie flew right at me, grabbed my index finger, and began to pull me back to the pink slime. She did not let go even as I touched its gooey surface.

The slime did not feel like the wet, soft body of a guplium. Instead, it was like the thickest molasses—only liquid enough to move itself.

I swallowed nervously, and then asked, "I don't ... want to steal you away again. But I was the one who took you. So ... I can also be the one who takes care of you. If ... you want to come with me?"

The pink solid-slime pooled over my finger.

Then, to my surprise, the mischief pixie turned and gave a firm nod. As if also accepting my offer.

Wait ... no, I hadn't meant-

But it was too late, we were both creatures seemed firm in their alliance with me. And, without real language to use, there was nothing left but for me to accept. Feeling perhaps a little silly, I looked between the two of them and said, “I guess … this a team moment?”

The mischief pixie bared her teeth in a diabolical smile.

The pink slime bubbled adorably.

“Then ... let’s get that bastard who did all this,” I said, finally settling into a small smile. “Pink team go!”

The mischief pixie finally flew up and rested on my shoulder.

To my surprise, the slime sort of glided like a snail over the grass until it reached my ankle. Then, reaching out a makeshift arm, it pulled itself right where it’d been since I’d first put it on. Without the rest of the bracelet binding it, however, it wrapped two tendrils around either side of my leg so that they met on the other side. Then, it became entirely solid.

That was when it occurred to me that I had noting to call the little pink blob. Looking at it, it seemed like a "Bunny" to me. And when I whispered the word, the pink anklet buzzed warmly against me.

Finally, I left the garden with my two new allies.

I wasn’t quite sure what all the magic of the garden had done. What I did know was that it had let me see the mischief pixie and the enchantment as whole individuals, not merely obstacles or part of the grand mystery I’d become a part of.

Maybe that was what the garden did for the Mutualists as well?

Once inside, Friss and Nilss walked over to me, having been waiting. Both smiled, and Friss said, “I’m … glad to see that you did not have your brain scrambled.”

“And that the Garden helped you make a friend!” Nilss added, looking at the mischief pixie on my shoulder.

I smiled, truly happy with the progress I’d made, and even feeling a little … proud of myself. “When Daava gets back tonight, I’ll tell her all about it. Oh! We’ll be able to heal her sword like we did for my enchantment!”

“We don’t know what any of that means!” Nilss said cheerily.

I giggled.

Of course they didn't.