You wake up in pain. Slowly, you open your eyes, and you start to take in your surroundings. You’re in a room you’ve never seen before. The walls are metal, but the ground is soft and grassy. You’re lying face-up in a bed of saffron flowers, staring up at the night sky through a nonexistent ceiling. Staring up at the moon, you suddenly remember:

You were climbing Mt. Ebott. You had heard the rumors about the mountain, and you wanted to see for yourself. They say monsters live beneath the mountain, after a war centuries past. After defeating the monsters, seven powerful humans sealed the monsters away with a spell. Now, they say, those who climb the mountain never return. You thought it was a little silly, but what could it hurt to take a look?

You’re nearly at the peak when you hear a strange sound. A whispering, echoing wind, the kind you can hear in a cave. Your curiosity growing, you climb faster and faster, until suddenly…

You’re there. You stare in awe at the enormous hole before you. You cup your hands around your mouth and call down into the hole, giggling at your echo. As your common sense fades, you step forward until you’re standing at the edge. You stand there, mesmerized by the magnitude of this place. You gaze up at the beautifully clear skies above you. You don’t dare move, for fear of it all disappearing.

Suddenly, you feel something grab your foot. Startled, you look down to find your foot is stuck under a vine. Wait, what? That’s not right. No, that wasn’t there before. As you start to panic, you try to pull your foot out from beneath the plant. Is it getting tighter? Your foot starts to ache from the pressure. Your fear increasing, you grab your leg and try to yank yourself out. You pull harder and harder until suddenly, you’re free. You stumble back, then take a breath of relief.

And then you hear a crack.

You fall.

And everything goes dark.