"And this piece can move diagonally as far as it wants." I said, pointing out the bishop. I continued to point at each piece and give a brief explanation of their available movements. Finally, I pointed to the pawns. "These are special because they are the least important pieces on the board, but you cannot ignore them. If you manage to get one alll the way to the other side, you can promote it to any piece you want except for this one." I pointed to the king. "This piece is the most important piece in the game. It can move to any one square surrounding it, but it cannot move to a square that the opponent can move to and capture in the next turn. If the opponent moves to a location that can capture the piece, it is called check, and you have to move a piece to either protect it or move it itself. The game ends when you manage to corner this piece and it can no longer move or be protected. This is called checkmate."

I was explaining the rules of chess to Celestine like I promised her I would. Surrounding us, a little safe haven I created. Sitting in her old home in the slums never really fit with the change of environment with the mansion, but the mansion still felt alien to her. So for this dream space, I decided to create full on fantasy world. Fantasy for Celestine, history for me. I went and dug through the blurred memories of my past lives to pull this beauty out. We were sitting in a log cabin in a small clearing surrounded by evergreens in the middle of the night, everything covered with snow with mountains looming in the distance. The bright white moon illuminated everything outside in a bright blue hue, the snow reflecting the light to add a dim glow. Within the cabin, we were sitting at a small table with a chess set between us. A roaring fire burned in the fireplace, creating flickering shadows that danced around the room. A couch, a table, and a chandelier, of which the candles were replaced with light crystals, hung from the ceiling. This was a home one of my lives from the 1800s recalled warmly. That life didn't live to adulthood, as usual. But it was a comfortable life nonetheless. That's why this place stuck out so well in my memories.

She marveled at this place. So much she had never seen before. The mountains, the snow, the trees, almost everything here was completely new to her. Even the fire was new because there was never a need for heat in the desert city and all light needs were met with magic. Even cooking was mostly done with specially shaped crystals that radiate heat when powered.

At least everything wasn't a compete surprise. She knew of what fire was from the books she's read. Things like campfires and torches. She knows what trees are despite never seeing one. Oceans, rivers, mountains, etcetera. Celestine soaked up the simple information about the natural world while I compared what I knew with what was common here. There are new kinds of trees I never heard of, but that's to be expected in a new world. In the end, Celestine was awestruck with the scenery, but she could connect the dots and identify what a mountain and tree were.

She watched me intently as I detailed the various little rules of chess, like how to castle by moving the rook and king once per game or showing her examples of a checkmate. I was personally never very good at chess, but knew how to play and I still liked to play it if only to pass the time or have something to start a conversation with.

The board was set, I gave myself the black pieces and she had the white pieces. "White goes first." I said, waiting for her to move.

"Why's that?" She asked, unsure why one color should be the first.

"That's just tradition, I suppose. No real reason to it. Or we could make a reason." I shrugged. "Youngest gets white and white goes first. Or do you want me to go first instead?"

"Naw, I'll go." She said as she moved a pawn two spaces forward.

We played a little back and forth. I played conservatively, trying to hold onto my pieces as long as I could and keep her pieces cornered while she tried to go on the offensive. I took a lot of her key pieces while she was trying to attack little ones like pawns.

"You need to take your time and check ahead to see what your opponent will do next, Celestine." I said while it was my turn. "My piece here can easily take yours here," I pointed with my static finger, "with no repercussion. But you notice with me, I have these little ones set up so if you take any, my other pieces can immediately retaliate on the next turn. Chess is a game of strategy, not just how many pieces you can take. The goal isn't the pieces, it's to corner the king and keep options for defense occupied." After my explanation, I moved my bishop to take her rook.

She nodded, eyes darting around the board.

We continued like this for a few more turns in silence before I decided to start up a little conversation. "Say, Celestine, you're old enough for this to be on your mind. What would you like to do when you get older?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked as her head turned to the side.

"I mean like how Daemon makes money with his apothecary work and how Mother helps clean up the mansion. Like how Warran is tutoring you. The various shopkeepers selling things to make money in the city. When people get older, they have to do something to make money or generally be useful for someone to take care of them. Money buys food, water, and various other amenities."

"Hummm..." She thought while staring at the game and moving a piece.

I moved a piece and waited while she thought. We kept silent for a while and played our turns before she spoke up. "Check!"

"Good. But you need to be careful." I said as one of my pieces snagged the offending bishop.

"Muuuuu..."

A few more turns and she was running low on just about every piece, so I moved my rooks and a bishop into place to lock her king in place and give it no chance for freedom. "Checkmate."

She grumbled, looking over the board to see if there was any way out. When she deemed no way to escape existed, she relented. "Again!"

"Okay, okay." Instead of just willing the pieces back to their place to reset the board like you would think can be done in a dream, I did it by hand while she helped. It was more personal this way.

"So?" I asked.

"I don't know." She responded, moving the first piece, a knight this time over the line of pawns. But she made a mistake of moving it to the edge of the board, cutting off a lot of her options. I won't mention this, though. I'll let her learn this lesson herself.

"Well just keep the thought in your mind. If there's something you want to do, just speak up and we can figure out a way to make it happen. You like to read, have you ever thought of being a writer?" I asked.

"I only like to read! Writing makes my hand hurt!" She rebutted.

I laughed at her outburst. I hated writing too when I was living lives where I was privileged enough to be literate. "Well you're still young. There's plenty of time to think on what you can and want to do." I continued to play while talking to her. "For now I suppose the best option will be to just focus on your magic training. You might find something to do in that."

"That's boring though! I'll never get the crystal to light up like he wants! Stupid old pointy ears! I liked him better when he had droopy ears. Waaahhhh, I hate him! He's cruel!" She grumbled and threw a fit in her chair.

"I'm sure there was a reason for the disguise. Why don't you ask him during breakfast tomorrow?"

"I HATE HIM!" She cried and pounded her head against the table.

"I'm sure there are real dog boys out there somewhere, Tina. We did see a man with dog ears and a tail last year, remember?" I said while rolling my eyes. Of course she couldn't see that because I had no visible eyes on this dream form face. This girl is going to be hopeless. She's seen so many men in the village with their shirts off and never once had she had the kind of reaction she had with Warran in his fully clothed dog boy form. She even had a similar, but less lecherous, reaction when she met her half-brother Sullivan. I hope that's just attraction to boys of her own generation and her interests change as she matures. It would be awkward having her as an adult chasing after prepubescent boys... Why is she so interested in young boys anyway? Mother hasn't even explained to her about the birds and the bees yet.

"It's your turn." I spoke up as her forehead remained still on the table's edge.

"Novos, what do I need to do to see the world?" She asked, not lifting her head off the table.

I thought for a bit. Really the answer seemed to be obvious to me, but there might be more to it. "Just do your best at learning magic from Warran. Then ask him yourself."

"No, I mean, what do I have to do to see the world?" She looked up at me now. "You said Daemon does his work, Momma cleans, but is there something I can do to also see the world?"

"I imagine merchants would move around a lot. Celestine, we don't know enough about the world to know. You need to ask the adults more questions."

"But you're a Voyager! Don't you know everything already?"

"I told you what I know!" I said sternly before sighing. "I do not come from this world. Look outside the windows here in this dream. Even the moon is different and there is only one of them. I based everything here off my experiences on my world. All I can do is reference what I know with what we experience and learn from others here. You need to ask others with more life experience in this world than I. Mother, Daemon, and Warran are your best options in this regard."

She picked up a piece from the game board and looked at it. The pieces were made from nondescript material and only colored different colors. Of course the shapes are based on what I remember of the standard chess set. The piece she's looking at is the horse-shaped knight. "I got it."

"Hm?"

"I want to be an artist!" She shouted.

"You have not drawn a single thing in your life." I said matter of factly.

"I'll learn! Daemon will buy me stuff! Maybe I can get him to buy me more if I call him Dad like Bubby! I want to paint, draw, and make stuff like this, too!" She held the knight up above the table to show it to me.

"You know, you might end up changing the world if you make stuff from my world." I sighed. "But... that might not be a bad thing." I said quietly while thinking of the consequences.

"Right?!"

"Tina, there's a reason Mother wanted to keep my existence a secret, even from Daemon. I want you to think about that. Know that if you start this path of taking things from my memory and reproducing them here, you will become a target for those that know of them."

"That means..."

"You will become a magnet for other Voyagers." I leaned over the table, grabbed the chess piece from her hand, and struck her on the head with the base of it. She recoiled and I put the piece back where it was. She sat back groaning and rubbing the spot on her head. "Don't try to change the world without knowing how to protect yourself, Celestine. You start with the basics. Learn how to light that damn crystal and follow Warran's instructions. When you have the power to protect yourself, then you can change the world."

"O-okay."

"Your turn." I said and we returned to our game.