The guard detail lead by Fargus escorts me to a house made from wood and straw, which looks like it was being held by little more than the prayers of the inhabitants. I see a few more of those beautiful people, who in turn look at me like I’m some sort of freak on the way to the pillory. Not that I can blame them, compared to them I stick out like a sore thumb. And I’m not even talking about this bloody red shirt I talked myself into putting on this morning.

“We have arrived. Now be on your best behavior or I will have your head,” Fargus says, opening the door.

How peculiar. They don’t seem to intend to follow me inside. If this is their idea of a prison, my stay will be a short one. Though...didn’t this Celestia say something about ‘taking me to her house?’
No wait, she said ‘our house’...but then again, she also said ‘we will be there shortly’. The royal ‘Us’? I mean, she’s pretty and all, but she didn’t strike me as ‘a royal’.

I sigh. Only one way to find out whether she was talking about herself or if there’s actually someone else living in here. Cause this Fargus and his people probably aren’t going to tell me.

I step over the threshold into the shadowy interior, the door closing behind me immediately. Whatever is within these walls, the guards sure seem like they want nothing to do with it.

After my eyes adjust to the change in brightness, I find myself in a spartan living room of some sort. There’s a wooden table with three chairs, a small shelf with books that look just about ready to crumble and another three doorways.

“Now, what is this? A visitor?” a female voice asks and a young woman emerges through the door from behind the table. In fact, if not for the voice, I would have been hard pressed to tell that it was a boy or a girl, but judging from her face, she seems related to this Celestia I met earlier. Her little sister maybe?

“Um, sorry to intrude, but...I was kinda shoved in here. Um...are your parents home, Miss” I ask.
The girl gives me a funny look but then starts to smile, “I take it, you haven’t had much to do with Elves, did you?”
I just shake my head in response. So these are ‘Elves’, huh? I mean, of course they’re elves. What was I even expecting? Normal humans? Okay brain, time to scrounge up what you know about these creatures. I clearly blundered right now.

“Which of my children sent you here?” the woman asks mildly amused, taking a seat at the table.

...wait, children?! But...she looks hardly older than 12!

The woman chuckles and explains, “Looks can be deceiving, young man. As of today, I am 365 years old. Terra and Celestia are my children.”
“Three hundred–,“ I start, the rest of the number getting lost in the gasp, making the woman laugh.
“Elves ages a lot slower than humans. And don’t worry, I do not think ill of you for thinking me a child. My late husband made the same mistake actually. Come to think of it, his reaction was very much like yours when I told him. It was also his first encounter with my kind.”

My mind grinds to a halt. Her husband? His first encounter? So he wasn’t an elf. He had the same reaction, so that means…
“Yes, he was a human. His name was Sigma. You didn’t happen to meet him, did you?”
“...no, can’t say I did,” I reply truthfully, taking a seat myself. While the chairs look dilapidated, they still manage to hold my weight without any problem, despite me being easily double the woman’s weight.
She sighs, “Of course not,” but returns to higher spirits right away, “So, what brings you here?”
“Actually…” I start and explain the reason for my visit.
“Ah, so word of my daughters exploits has reached your ears. I must say though, you look...very different from the other human my daughters brought home.”
“...other humans?”
“Yes. By comparison, you are rather scrawny. You smell a lot better though.”
Gee, thanks…

“Either way, how would my daughters be able to help you with your ‘case’?”
“I am just collecting information, Ma’am,” I reply, but I’ve long since come to wonder whether I’m really going to find anything here. In fact, judging from her reaction, it feels like she doesn’t even know that she’s in a room within the house of dreams. Should I ask her about it? ...no, probably not. If she’s aware and I ask, she’ll think me stupid for assuming otherwise and if she’s not aware, I may well destroy her view on the world she lives in. Still...John clearly knew about this Terra, so they must know each other...right?

“Now, where are my manners?!” the woman suddenly exclaims, “Here I go, having a guest for the first time in forever and I don’t even offer you something to drink! Would you like some tea?”
“Um...yes, a tea would be nice, thank you,” I reply, immediately wondering if that’s a good idea. What kind of tea do elves even drink? What if it’s poisonous to me? And how do they even make hot water? I didn’t see a chimney on the house, where does the smoke from the fireplace go?

As I still ponder these question, I suddenly sense some sort of presence behind me, but I react too slow, for in the next second, I feel the cold hard metal of a knife being pressed against my throat.

“Well, well, well...what do we have here?” another female voice asks.

I knew I shouldn’t have put on that bloody shirt this morning.