Nemo tilted her head and gave the Count a quizzical look. She peeked behind the Count, ducking under his fluttering coat to get a better look. It was the same road and the same unending horizon.

There was no manor, not even a hint of anything that could be remotely thought of as something. So the Count was in charge of a whole lot of nothing. Nemo gave a disappointed glare at the Count then sighed inaudibly. She thought he was a big-shot and could help her out. Maybe he was just a sad person playing make belief.

Nemo walked up to the Count and patted his shoulder, or at least wanted to, but since she was not tall enough she patted his knees instead.

Nemo knew the feeling well, playing make belief was fun, but the Count was a grown-up, he shouldn’t get a child’s hope up then let her down.

“I may have celebrated a bit too early,” the Count said after pondering for a brief moment. “But worry not, Nemo. My estate is but a short distance up the slopes.”

Nemo was skeptical. She walked for what seemed like hours on this plain stony road and the end was nowhere in sight. The only interesting thing that happened during her little stroll were those pretty white flowers and the weird shadow person before her. If there was a slope, it meant who knew how long of boring walking before she caught a glimpse of it.

Whatever, Nemo was too tired to think about it anyway. Hopefully his idea of ‘short distance up the slopes’ was actually short and not a climb up a mountain several kilometres away. Otherwise, Nemo would have a lot of complaints and all of them would be blasted into the mind of the the Count, who was a demon, who maybe had a different set of expectations when it came to short distances and slopes.

After an inaudible groan, Nemo decided to trust the Count.

Nemo walked beside the Count. At times she flailed her arms, hopped around, or whistled tunes her Grandpa taught her, anything just to make the stroll less boring. She eventually settled with trying to kick a pebble to their destination. She sometimes missed and the pebble landed on the wayside, and The Count would simply stop to wait for Nemo to retrieve the stone she was playing with. He occasionally glanced at the precocious child by his side, seemingly content with watching Nemo fool around by herself. For a faceless shadow who hid behind a mask, Nemo thought the Count was surprisingly easy to read.

After tiring herself from all the pointless moving about and with no estate or slope in sight, Nemo grimaced at her companion and was just about to unleash a barrage of unhappy thoughts into the Count’s head before the would be victim of her wrath pointed to the front.

“Hold your thoughts, Nemo. Look. We are almost there.”

Nemo turned to where the Count was pointing at and saw something that wasn’t there just a moment ago.

A gate even more imposing than the Count appeared before Nemo. Not only was it taller than any other building she has ever saw, seemingly reaching the skies, what made it oppressively impressive was its colour, a blackness conceived by sucking colour into its void. Its walls were equally as tall and its surface reflected the colour above, changing its shade as the crimson sky did. It was honestly a sight to behold and it was definitely worth the walk. However, Nemo’s awe was quickly repressed by a thought that passed her mind.

Did the Count know how to teleport, and if he did, why did she need to walk all the way?

“My apologies, Nemo. While it is true that distance is simply a conceptual trickery in this plane, for reasons unknown to me I cannot bring you along if I do teleport,” the Count said.

A what? It didn’t seem like he was lying about not able teleport her, but Nemo also sensed a sense of amusement coming from under his mask.

Well, that didn’t matter anymore. Nemo couldn’t help but bounce where she stood, barely repressing her excitement and urge to just scale the monstrous structure. The Count was a big-shot and she couldn’t wait to see what else he had in his manor. If they were as awesome as the gate then her accidentally wandering into this place was worth it.

With a chuckle, the Count snapped his fingers. Nemo, who was too excited to bother questioning how his fingers managed to make the sound, reigned in her urge to bust down the gates as the giant plates slowly swung outward.

Nemo’s eyes widened slowly, their wonderment sparkled fiercer as the opening revealed more of what’s inside the obsidian black gate.

Fiery petals littered a field of auburn grass and illuminated a valley of mountains in a warm glow, and within stood a lone door atop a lone hill. Large cliffs and towering buildings pierced the clouds in the distance, like an ethereal curtain, faded in and out of a faint red mist. Wind blew gently and lifted the petals, scattering them around the landscape like snow and shimmered under the light glow of the hauntingly plain door.

Nemo was at first daunted by the long distance up the slopes, clearly she was right that the Count’s standard for distance was different from hers, but she wanted to get there as soon as possible. With a squeal of delight in her head, she sprinted.

Then after a few steps she stopped and turned around to the Count behind her who was clearly smirking under his mask. No matter how much she ran, the distance wouldn’t close. Was it some sort of demon trickery?

The Count ignored Nemo’s pout and walked towards her, chuckling at her predicament.

“It’s a magic spell meant to ward out uninvited guests,” he explained, or rather told her without explaining much, and held out his hand.

Nemo shrugged and took the Count’s hand. The two climbed the slope towards the the door, the Count drifted in silence and Nemo skipped lightly with a smile. She wondered what awaited her in this strange land.