A white Aeolun and her gold-scaled companion enter the courtyard, which is filled with life – mostly Eeee, but there are representatives from many sentient races, and some beings unlike any seen in the waking world. Some dip wine glasses into the fountain, or dine from the plates which float within, though the fountain seems perpetually replenished of both. Most flit around, socializing and laughing. A quartet of musicians plays quietly on one of the floating islands.

Envoy can't help but smile at the architecture. "Is that statue of Inala?" she asks her companion. "And do you have a name? I am unsure how to address you."

The scaled companion has the grace to look abashed. "A thousand pardons. Please, call me Seeker. You are Envoy of Lothrhyn, I know." He sweeps a graceful bow using one wing along with his arm, the tip brushing against emerald-bright grass. "And you are correct – the statue is a depiction of the Lady of Pleasure, though it captures not a hundredth part of Her true glory."

Blinking a few times, Envoy looks at the statue again and then asks, "You have seen Her before then?"

"In my dreams," Seeker responds, smiling slightly as his eyes follow Envoy's to the statue. The bystanders, most richly dressed, cast occasional curious looks in their direction, though none have approached yet.

Envoy blinks again at this, and cautiously asks, "You aren't dreaming now then?"

The gold reptilian man's smile widens, then he nods as an anonymous servant approaches, bearing a tray of wine glasses. Seeker takes two, and offers one to Envoy.

The Aeolun accepts the glass, and gives the wine a sniff to try and tell how strong it is.

The wine smells rich and heady, with a tang of musk and other odors that tease at Envoy's memory but strangely are not quite identifiable. The scent alone is intoxicating, and better than that of any beverage she's ever had.

Her companion says in a gentle voice, "A toast: To pleasant dreams." He offers to clink glasses with the Aeolun before drinking.

Envoy holds the wine a bit further away from her nose after that whiff. "It seems a bit stronger than what I'm used to. You won't be insulted if I don't have any, will you?" No telling what eating or drinking food from a dream realm will do. She still holds it up for the toast though. "To … pleasant dreams."

He looks a little crestfallen at Envoy's decision not to sample the drink, but nods and tastes of his own after the toast. His eyes close for a moment as he savors it, body almost swaying, then he re-opens his eyes. They glow, colors swirling within. "You don't know what you're missing," he murmurs huskily, eyes on Envoy's face.

Envoy blinks again at the swirling colors, and tries to shake off the effects of just that one sniff. "Perhaps, but I just don't care to have my perceptions altered. It disturbs me."

"'Altered' is not the word I would choose," Seeker replies, his tone thoughtful. He glances around the area, then lets his eyes drift back to the Aeolun. "I would not want my perceptions altered at the moment, either; I am thoroughly enjoying things just as I perceive them now." He smiles again, and takes another sip.

Envoy watches some of the other guests for the moment, and wonders if they are all waiting to speak with the Goddess or are already Her guests.

"Do you know where to go from here to see Inala?" Envoy asks Seeker.

The guests seem entirely at ease and comfortable. If they are waiting for something, they seem in no hurry to get to it. As Envoy watches, one Eeee strokes the neck of a great black four-footed feline while talking to another Eeee on top of an island. The feline rubs its head into the hand, rumbling a purr, then leaps gracefully to the ground, feathered wings sprouting from seemingly nowhere to carry it to the fountain. It laps at the red wine as casually as any animal drinking water.

The various assembled Eeee drift in and out from the different archways, and Seeker watches them while he considers Envoy's question. "I'm … not really sure," he admits.

"We should ask someone then," the Exile says, and approaches the nearest Eeee.

The nearest Eeee, a brown-furred male, stands close to a silver female, speaking in a soft voice to her while gazing into her eyes. Neither takes notice of the Aeolun as she approaches, her draconian companion trailing behind her.

Envoy pauses before entering the couple's personal space, and considers. If the male had seen the Goddess, then it wouldn't be likely for him to be smitten with a mortal female, would it? She turns to ask Seeker, in a hushed voice (knowing that a curious Eeee could hear her anyway), "I don't think either of these two would know the way, do you? Surely seeing the Goddess would have jaded the man against normal women, wouldn't it?"

Seeker looks a little lost. He spreads his hands and lifts his shoulders, wings rustling, while he glances at the various exits with a bemused look on his face.

The Aeolun looks around in hopes of finding someone else to ask, rather than risk disturbing the couple. She also tries to see if there is any pattern to how people behave in relation to the exits they are near.

From the quartet of musicians comes the voice of a singer. His melody matches the sweet song they play, but the sense of the words seems strikingly out of place:

Envoy quickly turns to see who the singer is, her ears pricking up at the warning in the song.

A red fox, dressed in enough lace to clothe a dozen poodles, grins at Envoy from beneath a large, floppy hat. He winks, playing on his lute his part in what sounds like the melody for a soulful love song.

Three blinks later, Envoy turns back towards the nearest archway. "I guess it doesn't matter which one I take," she says to Seeker. "What is it you are seeking, if I may ask?"

"You may ask," and Seeker's multicolored eyes sparkle, "But I do not promise to answer. If it doesn't matter which one you take, which will you?" he inquires.

Envoy examines the near archway, next to the Eeee couple, for any distinguishing features or writing. "I assume they each deal with some form of pleasure."

There's no writing on the archway, but through it what looks like a library, or perhaps a museum, may be seen, with bookcases stretching upwards out of sight, sculptures on the floor, and fine paintings on the walls between shelves.

After chewing on her lower lip for a moment, Envoy moves on to look at the next exit, to see if it shows anything different.

Through the next, she sees a giant indoor waterfall of carefully positioned rocks which feeds into a long pool. Eeee swim energetically towards the far end of the pool, while a knot of spectators urge them on. Beside the pool, others play at various cards and other games on elegant marble tables, while still more fliers perform acrobatics in the vaulted ceiling above.

Envoy considers this one for a brief moment, since it seems to offer fewer temptations than the large library. She decides to check the next exit though, to be sure. Better to know all of her options before making a decision.

The next room is awash in all manner of items tastefully displayed – jewels and precious metals, sculptures, paintings, figurines, toys, furniture, are just the things visible from the archway. Admiring throngs of Eeee stride among them, eyeing and selecting items at seeming whim.

Envoy ponders this one, taking a moment to conclude that the Eeee are shopping, even though nobody is trying to hawk the items to them or haggle over prices. She just shrugs and moves on to the fourth portal.

A curtain of crystal beads screens the fourth archway from casual view.

Cautious, Envoy steps up to the curtain and listens for any sounds that might be coming from beyond it.

Musicians in the curtained-off room play a slow, sensuous song, and the melody obscures most other sounds beyond the beads. As Envoy stays there, listening, she hears faint gasps, and a single moan.

Envoy hmms, and steps away. Nice as the music was, the audience sounded to be in some sort of pain. She moves on to the next archway.

The room beyond the next archway reminds Envoy of the Hall of Mirrors. The floor, ceiling, and walls are all mirrored, though these looking glasses do not engage in funhouse distortions. The people within are the most beautiful Envoy has ever seen – even here, where all the people seem unusually attractive. They are richly garbed in clothes and jewels, and stand within knots of anonymous admirers and servants. Some seem to be trying on various costumes; behind the mirrored walls, cabinets full of articles appear to be concealed.

Envoy scratches her cheek a bit at the spectacle, and then moves on to the sixth entry.

A banquet is in progress within. The array of food laid out is mind-boggling in both variety and quantity, and the odor wafting from the room reminds Envoy of the wine: rich, luscious, impossibly tempting. Her mouth waters involuntarily at the smell.

Envoy covers her mouth and nose and quickly moves on to the last entry.

Like the fourth entrance, this archway is obscured from the main room, though this one by sliding panels of smoky crystal.

Once again, Envoy tries to listen at the door without touching it.

Martial music – drums and trumpets – sounds in her ears, and over that, the clash of metal on metal, and bellowing war cries.

Envoy steps back, and then turns around and goes to stand before the central fountain, collecting her thoughts. Seven sins … but to get to Inala, she'd probably have to indulge in one, not try to resist at all.

Beside her, Seeker dips his glass into the fountain, then sits on the lip of it. "Did you see anything you liked?" he asks curiously, watching her.

"I find them all to be disturbing. Yet I must find the appropriate … weakness in myself if I am to proceed," Envoy says. She mentally rules out the physical ones, since that sort of temptation is just too unnatural to her. Admiring herself in the mirror also seems too odd, and she just isn't very competitive to find the games attractive …

"Why disturbing?" he asks, sipping at his drink. "They're just people enjoying themselves."

She removes angry combat from the list as well … until all that seems left is the first archway, with the library. "Which one would you choose?" she asks Seeker.

"Do I have to pick just one?" He smiles infectuously, then quickly sobers at Envoy's expression. "Either the library or … the beaded-curtained one," he says, voice soft.

"The library seems to be the only one I might find any pleasure in," Envoy admits. "The others are all too physical or emotional, and I'm not yet mortal enough to find any enjoyment there. I think the library calls to my greatest weakness, but I'm still worried about indulging it."

"Why?" Seeker asks again. "Why shouldn't you have fun?"

"It was very hard for me to break the control of my base urges," Envoy says, thinking of the Probe. "If I indulge them to such a large degree, then how is that any different from letting them control me again?"

"Would that be so bad? Why is the part of you that keeps you from doing what you want better than the part of you that wants to do things?" Seeker smiles wryly. "If that made any sense … sorry." He takes another sip from his glass, looking abashed.

Envoy stares at the entrance to the library. Rationally, she knows the books aren't real, any more than the book of spells that held Magnifico the Dream Mage captive was real. "Because I chose the part that keeps me from going out of control. But if I have to release the Probe to reach Inala … then it's either do so or turn back."

"So … you like to be in control just because you can?" The gold-scaled man scratches his head. "And you're afraid that once you're out of control, you won't have a choice anymore; you'll just have to stay that way?"

"Yes, I suppose so," Envoy says. "It's not really a question of pleasure at all, just of … positive feedback. Doing what I was made to do, and not really caring about anything beyond that. It's the only true urge that I have."

"If that's the only urge you have," Seeker asks, "what makes you do anything else?"

"That's just it. Nothing makes me do anything else," the Aeolun says with determination. "I do what I do out of my own free will. I just have to believe my will is strong enough to survive. I'm a lot stronger now than when I first conquered the Probe, so I should be able to beat it again when I need to." She stands up, and heads towards the library. "There is pleasure in overcoming a challenge, at least."

The reptilian figure stands as Envoy abruptly stalks away. "Neat," he murmurs, almost to himself, then hurries after her.

While she marches determinedly to the first archway, Envoy hears the vulpine musician sing, softly,

A warm, familiar voice sounds in her ansible. Welcome home, Envoy. Books surround her on all walls – and more, much more. Paintings and sculptures fill empty spaces with an eye-pleasing harmony. Blank crystal screens rest, waiting for a viewer to request any kind of display or information. Around the room, various Eeee and other people rest in comfortable, well-lit couches and in sunken pits, reading, watching, listening quietly to whatever they've chosen.

Envoy blinks slowly, and wanders over to the nearest available screen. "How old is Paradise?" she asks.

Words form on the screen, and echo through her ansible, in the same rich, familiar voice that welcomed her inside. In the incarnation you are currently familiar with, three years, two-hundred and thirty-one days.

Envoy smiles at the answer, for no real reason. "I've chosen sloth, haven't I? To observe the world without participating in it?"

Observation is neither slothful nor a sin, Envoy, the voice answers. Do you truly believe it is wrong to engage in the activity for which you were fashioned?

"No, of course not," Envoy says, still smiling. "But you will always answer my questions, without evasion?"

Yes. The word glows on the screen and in her mind.

The Aeolun seems to think on this. No rush, after all, but … "Can you tell me things that I could not have discovered on my own, in time?"

Yes.

Envoy tries to concentrate. A few years previously, a similar voice had offered to make whatever she wished a reality … and the offer hadn't been very tempting. Because it's how you get there that counts, she thought. It wasn't enough to just be given the answers. "How is Morpheus doing?" she asks, since it's something she couldn't learn on her own … at least, not at this exact moment.

He struggles still, although he does not know why. He is unharmed. The screen shows the words beneath the image of Morpheus, a bat-winged black feline, laying as if asleep on a stretch of sand between mountains, with his feet and hands twitching, like a dog dreaming. "Who's Morpheus?" Seeker asks, unexpectedly. The screen does not respond to his voice.

"A friend of mine," Envoy says, without looking away from the screen. "He needs my help." To the screen, she asks, "Which of the other Seven Sisters have been contacted by travelers with the same purpose as my own?"

Barada, Blakat, and Sunala.

Beneath each name, the screen shows a flickering series of images of the goddesses, along with a blurb on each goddess's role, and Babelite synonyms and runes for their names.

Envoy hmms, and asks, "Which Goddess is the most powerful?"

A hesitation, then the voice says, in the same warm, even tones, I am uncertain what you intend by "powerful." Please clarify.

"Dominant," the Exile clarifies. "Which could defeat any of the others?"

Another long hesitation before the screen responds. Victory, as defined as "success in one's objectives," could not be assured of any Sister in competition with a given other Sister. However, please note that Sunala cannot be slain. Snatches of animation flick across the screen, illustrating the goddesses struggling against each other in different situations. They play out after a few moments, and the screen goes blank.

Envoy hmms, and then asks, "What is Barada's greatest secret, which she has kept from all of the other Sisters?"

The screen seemed to be done with her last inquiry, but abruptly it flashes, Inala is, at the current time, the most powerful of the Sisters. The words fade in seconds, replaced by the words, Searching… please wait. The warmth against Envoy's ansible is palpable, and the last words as they reverberate in her head contain echoes of pleased amusement.