The countryside was still half-asleep when the first light of dawn began to stretch across the fields. A faint mist lingered near the ground, curling lazily between fences and barns as if the land itself hadn't fully woken yet.
In the morning, the beanstalk looked even larger than it had the night before. I hovered a little above the ground while Elyonari stretched her arms over her head and Veneri adjusted the small glowing rings beginning to form on his back.
"Well," I said, glancing up the ridiculous green column above us. "Guess this is where the fun begins."
Ely followed my gaze and let out a long breath.
"I still don't understand how a child climbed that thing."
Veneri smirked faintly.
"We'll ask him if we see him."
She shot him a look.
"That wasn't a joke."
"I know. Jack literally exists."
A moment later the wind stirred around Ely as she lifted slightly off the ground. The air itself responded to her command. Gentle currents formed beneath her feet, supporting her weight. Veneri's method was far less subtle.
Two glowing Flight Circles appeared behind him, rotating slowly like gears of light. The runes within them shifted and aligned themselves before stabilizing. I didn't bother with either method. I just floated.
"Ready?"
"Let's go,"
And with that, the three of us began rising.
°°°°°°
At first the climb felt easy.
The ground shrank quickly beneath us. The farms turned into neat little squares of farmland stitched together like a patchwork quilt. The village itself became smaller and smaller until the massive farms looked like ants scattered across the fields.
The beanstalk itself was enormous up close.
The vines were thicker than castle towers, twisting around one another in huge spirals. Leaves the size of literal Spheraphasian ships grew along its sides. Some were wide enough that a person could probably sleep on them comfortably.
Occasionally we passed clusters of enormous thorns and some smaller ones.
"Those must be what the villagers were talking about," Ely muttered as she steered around one of them.
Minutes passed.
The ground was long gone now. It was swallowed by distance and clouds forming far below us. The air grew cooler as we climbed and the wind became stronger the higher we went. Eventually Ely glanced sideways at Veneri with a baffled expression.
"Okay, serious question. How did Jack climb this?"
She pointed at the endless spiral of green stretching above us.
"I'm not tired from flying but this thing is ridiculous. Even if you stopped to rest every ten minutes, climbing this by hand would take forever."
Veneri glanced up as well.
"Yeah, it would."
The beanstalk continued stretching skyward like it had no intention of ending anytime soon.
"And he's supposed to be a powerless human."
"Plot convenience?"
"That's one way to put it."
Still, the absurdity of it lingered. A normal child climbing this monstrous plant without equipment, energy or divine assistance? It makes absolutely no sense. But then again, this was a fairy tale world. Logic had probably taken a vacation.
Eventually the air grew thick and cold as we approached the cloud layer. Massive white formations stretched across the sky. We flew into them and for a moment everything became white.
The three of us stopped moving almost immediately the moment we broke through.
"Wow."
Above the clouds was another world entirely.
The sky was a deep endless blue that was brighter and clearer than anything below. The cloud layer stretched out like a vast white ocean beneath us, and rising above that ocean was a castle.
Stone towers rose hundreds of meters. Huge bridges connected different sections of the structure and massive gates guarded the central courtyard like the entrance to a fortress meant to withstand armies. But what shocked us most was the scale. The thing was colossal.
"That castle is huge."
Veneri stared for a moment longer before replying to my comment.
"It's about the size of the railway complex at Central Station."
I immediately remembered it. This castle is roughly the same size. Ely crossed her arms while hovering in the air.
"If I used my giant Divine Transformation, that castle would actually be a comfortable home for me."
Veneri looked at her.
"That says a lot."
The beanstalk itself had changed shape near the top. Instead of continuing straight upward, it had curved outward and grown horizontally across the cloud layer like a massive bridge. The end of that horizontal stretch connected directly into the side of the castle wall.
The thick vines had burrowed straight into the stone like the plant had claimed the fortress as its own. The three of us landed lightly on the flat tip of the horizontal stalk. From here the castle loomed directly ahead of us. It looked almost new. The stone walls were smooth and clean, untouched by time or weather. Massive iron gates guarded the entrance and tall windows lined the towers.
Veneri narrowed his eyes as he activated Soul Vision and his Mystic Eyes of Awareness. He scanned the castle silently for several seconds.
"There are five beings inside. Two of them are enormous souls. Definitely giants."
"And the others?"
"Three smaller ones, Phae."
Elyonari frowned slightly.
"Jack?"
"Most likely."
I floated closer to the castle wall and studied it thoughtfully.
"Our objective is the golden goose but what about the other treasures?"
"You mean the harp and the gold? We should be more concerned about how to get inside."
He pointed toward the stone walls.
"I can sense Mystic Circles all over the place."
Ely's expression changed.
"He uses Mysticism?"
"Yeah. The entire castle is covered in Detection Circles. Judging by the structure and power, whoever cast these is at least Ninth Star."
Elyonari looked surprised.
"Same level as you."
"Exactly. Which brings up another problem."
"What?"
He stared at the giant castle looming in front of us.
"If this place is protected by Ninth Star mysticism, how the fuck did Jack get inside?"
Ely slowly looked at the enormous walls, back at Veneri and then at the beanstalk that had conveniently grown straight into the structure.
"Plot armor?"
Veneri stared at the castle for another long moment before he sighed again.
"Yeah, probably plot armor. Anyway, I have a solution for this."
Veneri summoned his Codex. A faint ripple of energy spread from his body and flowed over Elyonari first, then over me and finally settled around Veneri himself. The sensation felt like a thin layer of cool mist wrapping around my body.
"The invisibility enchantment?"
"Yup. The detection circles will look at us, but they won't interpret us as anything important. As for anyone else, they won't see us."
The three of us lifted off again and flew slowly toward the castle. Dozens of Mystic Circles were carved into the stone itself, layered on top of one another in complex formations. As we crossed the invisible boundary surrounding the castle, the circles gleamed. I instinctively froze.
"Uh…"
But nothing happened. The circles glowed for several seconds, scanning the air around us before gradually dimming again. We continued forward, drifting past the wall and into the castle grounds.
The courtyard beyond was enormous.
White stone pathways curved between perfectly trimmed hedges and fountains carved into elaborate statues. Tall towers surrounded the open space as well. As we walked across the courtyard, we spotted several maids. They wore simple black dresses with white aprons, moving calmly between doors while carrying baskets, linen and trays.
"Wait."
I drifted closer to Veneri.
"I thought you said there weren't other people here."
He watched the maids for a moment before answering.
"There aren't. They're not technically alive."
Elyonari turned her attention toward the nearest group of maids. Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"He's right."
I floated a little closer to one of them and studied her carefully. She looked completely human. She had normal skin, natural movement and even the way she adjusted the tray she was carrying seemed effortless and real.
"They have the power of life. As a Split of Life, I can feel it clearly."
"Meaning?"
"They're puppets, Phae. They're constructs given artificial life."
Veneri nodded slightly.
"Either the giant is extremely skilled in puppetry or there's an artifact involved."
Elyonari tilted her head as she looked at one in front of her.
"They even look human. Whoever created them wanted realism."
As we quietly observed them, the maids gathered near one of the courtyard fountains and started talking.
"Did you hear about the human boy?" One of them asked in an excited whisper.
Another maid leaned closer immediately.
"The one from the beanstalk?"
"Yes!"
I glanced at Elyonari. Her curiosity was clearly piqued.
"He was seen sneaking into the young lady's room last night."
Another gasped dramatically.
"No!"
"Yes!"
The third maid leaned forward conspiratorially.
"They were inside for hours."
The second maid lowered her voice.
"And apparently… they were making love."
The three of us froze. I slowly turned my head toward Veneri. He stared back with the exact same expression of disbelief. Elyonari blinked several times.
But the maids were just getting started.
"One of the servants heard everything through the door," another maid said with scandalized delight. "She said the young lady doesn't know how to keep quiet at all."
Another maid covered her mouth while giggling.
"Oh my!"
"They were very loud apparently."
I watched Elyonari's face turn increasingly bewildered.
"This is… unexpected."
The gossip continued enthusiastically.
"I heard the giant almost caught them once!"
"Really?"
"Yes! The boy had to hide in the wardrobe!"
"Again?"
"That's the third time this week!"
Elyonari's eyes widened.
"This week? Didn't he come here yesterday?"
One maid nodded dramatically.
"The young lady is completely infatuated with him."
Another sighed dreamily.
"Honestly, can you blame her? A handsome human climbing a beanstalk just to reach her room every night…"
"That's actually very romantic," a third added.
Veneri rubbed his forehead.
"This story is getting stranger by the minute."
Meanwhile Elyonari looked genuinely stunned.
"He climbs the beanstalk every night?"
"Apparently," I replied.
She glanced back toward the gigantic plant stretching across the clouds.
"That is physically impossible."
"Plot armor."
Elyonari shook her head slowly.
"I thought he came here to steal treasure."
"Maybe he found a different treasure."
Her ears twitched slightly from my comment.
"Oh come on, Ely. You can't tell me you weren't expecting the giant's daughter or wife to fall for the heroic human boy."
"I was expecting theft," she replied flatly.
The maids continued their gossip enthusiastically.
"They say she sneaks food to him too and hides him whenever the master is nearby."
"She even gave him a key to the treasure room once!"
That caught Veneri's attention immediately.
"Now that is useful information."
Ely sighed.
"So the entire fairy tale is actually a romance."
I laughed softly.
"A very scandalous one apparently. If it's the wife she's cheating. Oh, the debauchery!"
"You seem unusually amused by this."
"Well Ely, you have to admit it's funny."
"Why?"
"Because you look shocked."
"I am shocked."
"You're a Split of Life and yet you're surprised that a girl in a sky castle is secretly dating a human boy."
"I'm surprised because he climbed a mountain-sized plant just to… do that."
"That's called dedication. Guess the lady of the castle was too amazing in bed that he couldn't stop coming for more."
Veneri chuckled quietly beside us. Ely sighed again.
"This world makes less sense the longer we stay in it."
"Oh relax, High Priestess. Besides, you're just shocked. Do you know that out of the five of us, you're the only one who hasn't done it with Darling?"
"..."
"Oh? You're jealous?"
Her ears immediately turned red.
"I am not jealous."
"Sure you're not."
She narrowed her eyes at me.