“I…” I tried to speak before I felt another wave of sorrow wash over me. “I feel like I should, but I don’t. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

As soon as I’d finished speaking, I felt a tear roll down my cheek. There was something I should have remembered, something I wanted to remember, a happy memory, but it had long been forgotten. The void that was there in its place hurt me a great deal.

My mom hurriedly placed the large pan on a coaster my dad had placed moments before and took me in for a hug. The warm mittens were close to burning me, but I ignored them as I attempted to recall.

“You poor thing,” She called again. “I had no idea it was that bad. You really don’t remember?”

I closed my eyes as I shook my head in resignation.

“This is… was your favorite dish. You’d always watch me make it, your eyes filled with anticipation and beg to just have a taste while I was cooking. Then, when it was done, you’d devour it in a heartbeat, making me wonder why I would spend so much time making it. But seeing you enjoy it so much, it was worth it, every time.”

“I don’t,” I whispered as soon as I knew that none of this was anywhere to be found in my mind, no matter how much I wanted it to be. I wished with all my heart I could have seen exactly what she said, but I just couldn’t. “I’m sorry. I feel terrible now.”

“Don’t,” She cooed. “It’s alright. You can’t help it.”

“It smells so good,” I said softly. “I can totally imagine this being my favorite dish. Maybe it still is.”

I spoke my mind, and hopefully, it would help cheer my mom up. She’d spent so much time making this.

“What is it anyway?” I asked.

“It’s a dish with rice, a bunch of spices and vegetables, chicken, green beans, and, of course, tomatoes. Unfortunately, I can’t make it too often as rice is rarely available, but I managed to get my hands on some for tonight. Why don’t you just taste it? I’m eager to know what you think of it.”

“You know it’s good, mom,” I said with a small smile. “If I liked it then, I’ll like it now.”

She smiled back and called Elira over before her eyes fell on the new doily.

“That is beautiful,” She commented. “I was told, but seeing it for myself, just, wow.”

“I have big plans for more things,” I said with a smile, just as Elira arrived and sat down in her usual spot. She didn’t seem to have noticed my earlier conversation and sadness as she’d thankfully been too occupied playing, for which I was more than thankful.

Dinner was quiet, yet eventful in a psychological way. The second I tasted the food, there was a spark of recognition. I knew deep down that I’d had it before and that I loved it, that there was more to it – the memories my mother told me about – yet the specifics still eluded me.

But it was a sign that not all had been forgotten. My mother had said that she’d help me remember the good times I had with them, and to just recall this, even if it was a tiny piece, filled me with happiness.

That, in addition to the amazing combinations of flavors, way more complex than the raw meat found in the dungeon, put this dish back where it belonged — on the number one spot. The Firag was amazing, but this beat it, and by a fair margin.

It had me quiet throughout dinner, but every now and then, I saw my mom looking at me. I felt like she could just tell what I was thinking, even more so when she smiled warmly.

We stayed for a while longer after dinner. Elira was more than happy that we did as it gave her more time to get to know my minions, but eventually, the sun was low over the horizon, ready to say goodbye for the day.

We’d lingered for longer than initially planned, but had to take our leave whether we wanted to or not, much to the dismay of Elira and Elle who’d gotten to be best friends in a timespan of a few hours. We thanked my parents for their hospitality and even got some fresh bread and eggs for the following morning to take with us.

And so, we left, Cellestra on my back and the spiderlings in tow.

On the way, I was suddenly reminded about the carpenters.

“Crap, completely forgot about them,” I suddenly let out.

“The builders?”

“Yeah. Guess we were having too much fun. Curious how far they got.”

She giggled softly but remained quiet until we reached our home, where I was impressed by the amount of work that had already been done.

The workers had already left, but they’d progressed far enough for Shayla to be completely confused. She was skittering around aimlessly while checking out the new things.

The line that I had pointed out for the fence to be placed had transformed into a narrow but deep trench, in which some fence poles were already placed. They were not reinforced yet, only held in place by some loose dirt at the sides, but I had no doubt that would come later. For now, it seemed that most of the work that had been done had been digging and measuring.

“Careful with that, Shayla. Don’t knock over that pole,” I warned the curious spider inspecting the beginnings of the fence.

She quickly backed off and ended up behind me as Cellestra hopped off and I made my way inside, the others following closely.

“What a day,” I said as I allowed myself to collapse in the opening in the webs, my face falling flat on the soft, comfy pillow.

“You’re telling me,” Cellestra said, allowing herself to fall as well, yawning after she landed. “It was a good day, though, all things considered.”

“An excellent one. I’m just so disappointed in myself for not remembering my favorite dish.”

“Well,” She whispered. “You remember now. There’s no need to feel bad about it.”

“I know, but I do anyway. I didn’t like seeing my mom sad like that.”

“Yeah, that was… I see what you mean.”

“Anyway, enough of that. What shall we do tomorrow?”

My arachnid eyes saw Faerith curl up, ready to go to sleep. It made me wonder how the other spiders kept guard at night, whether they took turns or something. If Faerith could get tired, then so could the others, right?

I was certain they had some kind of solution for it.

“I suppose another round in the dungeon wouldn’t be a bad idea. Let’s get to the third floor and see what we can do there. Acquiring some magical abilities for them would be great.”

“Yeah, that sounds great. Any idea when you want to visit the other dungeon?”

“I wanted to do that, but then I got this spell, and at least here I know what I can expect.” I sighed into the pillow. “So we’ll have to do that some other day. For now… I’m gonna need another pillow.”

She giggled as I went to work under the watchful eyes of the remaining four spiders. They were very much interested as to what I was making and how. I told them they could experiment trying to make this if they wanted to. They had all night, after all.

And night was approaching quickly. The light outside was starting to dim, making the illumination from the spell orb all the brighter. It reminded me we’d have to look for a few more of those as they made for wonderful, and safe, decoration.

“At last,” I said with a grin as I handed the first pillow to Cellestra, who didn’t hesitate to take it and lie down on it. “Should have done that days ago.”

After drying the new one, I immediately put it to work and planted it next to Cellestra’s, my head on it, staring at her adorable smile.

“Glad you did it now then,” She whispered before moving a hand towards me and into my hair. “You know, that kiss the other day?”

“What about it?” I replied in an equally soft voice.

“I wouldn’t mind doing that again.”

I smiled and invited her in for a hug which she gladly accepted.

“I wouldn’t mind doing that again, either,” I whispered as I carefully stroked her long locks of hair before planting my lips on hers, allowing myself to get lost in a loving kiss.