The internal world formed by the complex interactions between my Body, Mind and Soul was strangely unchanged. Given the earlier agony, and its likely connection to Lenore’s sudden appearance, I had been certain that something would have fundamentally changed, but there was nothing of the sort. No shining lights, no new, inexplicable connections to a higher power, nothing but what had been there a few days before, when I had last tried to work out how I was connected to the different shrines and their idols.

There was a connection, that much was certain. Additionally, I had heard something during the prayer, but the message had been distorted, making it difficult to parse out the words. It had been a prayer to the Pale Lady, that much was obvious, but it hadn’t worked out quite as expected. That, in turn, might tell me something about divinity and the process of apotheosis, which I considered somewhat amusing. I wasn’t even certain if I wanted to ascend to godhood, certainly not before I managed to get my Sigmir back, but something weird seemed to be going on here.

However, I had no idea what was going on. Something about the connection between the Pale Lady and me had to have been the reason for my earlier agony, meaning something should have changed within my inner world.

But now, after looking around and seeing no change? That implied the cause had been present before, and I had never found it, or if I had found it, I hadn’t recognised what it was. Though given that I had no idea what could have caused the pain, other than my connection to Lenore, or possibly the connection between Lenore and the Pale Lady, saying that I hadn’t recognised it didn’t say all that much. There might be something else there, something I wasn’t able to perceive or some other unknown connection, I had no idea. And that feeling of ignorance was truly and seriously annoying me.

Regardless of the seemingly unchanged state of my internal world, I decided to investigate it anyway. Who knew what changes might lurk beneath the surface, what new connections had sprouted but remained hidden behind those already there, and what might lurk about unseen? To call the interplay between Body, Mind, and Soul complex was an understatement; I had a feeling that I could investigate this inner world formed by these interactions for years, maybe even for centuries, and never uncover all there is to it.

Especially as I used tools created by and present within this inner world to investigate it, tools that I refined as I learned more and gained a deeper understanding, thus increasing the complexity of the inner world I was exploring. Occasionally, there were times at which I felt as if my investigations were only there to let me understand the mental and magical tools I was using better which, in turn, allowed me to improve upon them, allowing me to investigate the new tools and a few other things, until I managed to refine the tools even further. An endless rat race, not unlike the gear grind in old video games —a continuous cycle of development and improvement. In a way, I was glad about that infinite and continuous nature of this, as it meant I would never be able to learn it all.

Granted, as of yet, I didn’t even know the extent of my ignorance, but knowing that I would never finish, regardless of how long my life might be, was strangely comforting but also a little disheartening at the same time.

Eventually, I had to admit defeat, at least temporarily. While I would certainly revisit my inner world in the future and try to figure out what had happened, I was now exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep. Not just sit quietly and relax, with my mind focused inward, but to let go entirely and allow myself to drop into unconsciousness.

After shucking off my clothes and freshening up a little, and noticing some traces of dried blood being washed out of my ears in the process, I plopped myself back on my throne, the enchanted Ice as comfortable as any bed could be. To anyone else, the throne would be supremely uncomfortable, even when ignoring the various enchantments that linked it to me, but for me, it was just perfect. Nicely cold, the snow covering it gently moulded itself to my will like the world’s best memory foam mattress; it was utter bliss and moments later, my mind was walking in Hypnos’ garden.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

There, I soon came across Morpheus and was offered a red or blue pill, but luckily, I didn’t need either. Instead, I was invited by the dear Lady Hecate to visit Her realm.

“Good evening, Lady Hecate,” I greeted my divine host, barely managing to keep a serious expression on my face. Lady Hecate was in Her usual three-faced form but, for once, the form didn’t radiate indifferent curiosity. Instead, She looked like somebody working overtime, fairly frazzled but with a manic gleam in Her eyes that made me want to step back a little. Said gleam was worst in the Maiden’s eyes, making me wonder just what was going on, especially when the grin on her face widened to almost impossible proportions, to the point that the mouths of Her three faces almost touched, her smile was stretching so far.

“Why, hello, Morgana,” She returned my greeting, “Or should I call you Pale Lady? Maybe Mother?” She continued and I flinched at the mention of the first name, the pain I had suffered earlier a little too fresh to make me feel comfortable with that name.

“Please, stick with Morgana,” I asked, my mind already awash with thoughts, despite my earlier exhaustion.

“Certainly,” She nodded, “You may call me Hecate, if you wish,” she added, making me blink just a little in disbelief. Something had changed at the offer, but just what that change was or what it meant, I had no idea.

For a moment, neither of us spoke, but I could feel something faint in the air, as if the world itself was agitated and stirring. In the physical world, I would attribute the sensation to static in the air, an incoming storm, or a similar phenomenon. However, this was a divine world, meaning it almost certainly indicated something entirely different.

“Care to share why you invited me here? You seem a little busy,” I asked, trying to get more information.

“Wanted to take a look at you,” the maiden blurted out, causing the Crone’s face to sigh quietly, as if tired of the energy radiating from her youngest counterpart.

“And what do you see?” I kept prodding, curious if the energetic maiden would add anything more.

“Something interesting,” the mother replied, a smirk on her face. “Do you know how rare it is that we come across something actually interesting? Not just a variant of something we’ve seen before? Even if the variant might be an innovative one and one we’re willing to trade with others and exchange some other nugget of knowledge for it, it’s usually nothing new,” she admitted.

“But some parts of you are quite interesting. Not something we’ve seen in a hot minute, with a few details that might actually be something entirely new,” the crone explained, “If you ever get to our age, you’ll come to appreciate moments like this, they are far too interesting to be as rare as they are but that’s what makes them so precious.”

“I don’t suppose you’d care to share what makes me so interesting?” I asked, now somewhat amused by the sheer enthusiasm radiating from the maiden and the way it was mirrored, though in a somewhat more sedate form, by the other two.

“You…” the maiden started, only for a hand to come up from the side, covering her mouth.

“That would be telling, young one,” the Crone spoke in a chiding voice, but who she was admonishing wasn’t all that clear. It might be her other aspect, who might have been about to tell me what I wanted to know, or it might be me, for asking her to unravel something I should learn on my own.

“Brat, stop it,” the mother chimed in, somehow managing to scowl at the maiden, even though the three faces were essentially unable to see one another.

“Yesh, Mother,” the Maiden mumbled through the hand still covering her mouth.

“So, you are not going to tell me anything beyond the fact that I’m ‘interesting’?” I couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed at this, though, given who I was talking to, I did my best to keep said annoyance under wraps.

“We did give you a few hints why you are interesting, did we not? Mother of the Night, Mother of Dragons and First Dragon, or that other title you didn’t like to hear?” the Crone replied, her tone amused and just shy of mocking.

“You know, I think I’ll go back to sleep,” I replied, prodding reality for a moment until I felt myself fall back into a deep slumber. As I was fading from Lady Hecate’s grey realm, I could hear a faint, but highly amused, chuckle, briefly wondering what that was about, but then, I was completely gone and knew no more.