As Envoy and her mount ascend through the circle in the clouds, she finds the pure golden light almost blinding in its intensity. As she blinks her eyes to clear them, applause fills her ears, coming from all directions. When her vision adjusts, she sees that the circle is ringed by admirers, mostly richly-garbed Eeee, standing beforecomfortable cushions amongst the fluffy cloud-stuff.

The childlike Aeolun clings to Secrets' neck, and looks in surprise upon the throng. "Umm," she ventures, "Hello? I'm here to see Inala."

A wave of pleasant laughter sweeps through the crowd. "Oh, well done," one young male says, stepping forward into the sky to meet her. He flaps his wings as an afterthought while striding across the air, giving the appearance of one on a leisurely stroll on solid ground, rather than a flier soaring over empty air. Unlike most of the crowd, this figure is not an Eeee, although he has bat-like wings. Fine, white-gold scales cover most of his body, save a sweeping mane of richer gold down from his forehead and along his neck. His head has an elongated muzzle and wide-set eyes with swirling colors and no discernable pupil. "Well done, indeed."

Envoy decides to stay mounted as the stranger approaches, and dips one hand into the pocket she keeps her mirrors in. It might be better to face these people as an adult soon. "Thank you … I guess. Are you a Kiriga?"

The wingbeats of her mount slow but do not halt as Secrets hovers in the air, twisting his serpentine neck as he follows the approach of the stranger. "Not exactly," the elegant winged male replies to Envoy. "Please allow me to offer my congratulations to you on your success in the race. A truly splendid piece of maneuvering on your part."

"Is there someone that can look after my mount, or should I take him along?" the child asks, wondering what the race is that the fellow mentioned.

"Which would you prefer?" the maybe-Kiriga asks. He offers something to the winged Drokar, and Silver's muzzle dips into the man's hand to accept it. "Welcome to Paradise. You may have whatever you like."

"I'd like someone to tend to Secrets then, as he's had a hard journey," Envoy says, patting the neck of the Drokar. "And I'd like to meet Inala, please."

"Certainly," the young male replies. A German Shepherd in weathered garb appears to take Secrets' reins, murmuring something soothing to the Drokar and rubbing his feathered neck.

Envoy checks her footing on the sky-ground carefully as she dismounts, keeping her wings ready just in case the support vanishes … well, into thin air. She also takes out her mirrors and starts looking through them for the reflection of the Aeolun, her normal waking form.

She dismounts with surprising ease, drifting rather than falling until her feet reach about the same level as those of her companions. She feels light, and airy, as if the call of gravity were no more significant than a bird's song, to be heeded or ignored at whim, without repercussions. The first mirror the Aeolun looks into offers her the reflection of her waking self, although she feels none of the usual jarring sense of transformation. The not-quite Kiriga smiles as she pulls out the mirrors. "You won't need those anymore," he says.

Blinking, Envoy looks up to her guide. "What do you mean? Why aren't they working?" she asks nervously.

The bright-scaled man laughs, the sound pleasant and genuine, then he adds, "Forgive me. It is not that they do not work, sweet victor, it is merely that you no longer need them. Here, you may control your own appearance and aspects, without resorting to toys or aids. You may keep them if you wish, of course, but they are only an affectation now."

Being well-practiced in visualization, Envoy imagines herself to be as her waking form, but still tucks the mirrors away in her pocket. This isn't the last realm she intends to visit, after all. "Ah, very convenient. Now, how about having an audience with the goddess?"

The man slides one hand through his rich mane, still smiling at her, and nods. "As you wish." He takes a moment to look around, then orients himself towards one of the rainbow paths, and heads that way, beckoning to her, while the Gallee vanishes with Secrets.

Envoy follows along behind, admiring some of the fairy architecture, and then asks, "You mentioned a race. Was it a race to reach Paradise first, to reach one of the Seven Sisters first?"

The white-gold figure nods. His well-formed head is reminiscent of a dragon's, or a delicate equine's. "Indeed. We were most impressed by the way you bested your companion. Very clever of you, stealing her mount mid-air, when you realized it was the fleeter of the two. I would never have thought to try such a maneuver."

The Aeolun blinks at this observation, but realizes that is probably how a Babelite citizen would see it. Rather than contradict him, she simply says, "Well, I have a bit of dragon in me you know."

Her companion nods sagely. "'Tis evident in your visage and bearing, lovely victor, as well as your prowess. Quite a masterstroke to have crippled your erstwhile mount in the same maneuver that gained you swifter one," he continues, his long legs covering the distance towards the path with graceful ease. "Just to ensure that your wingless opponent would have no other options, eh?" He darts a glance towards her, his multicolored eyes luminous.

Forcing a smile, Envoy tries to change the subject. "Since you may choose your own form, I must ask if your current visage is your natural one, or one you chose for this occasion?"

"Oh, both, I would have to say," the man replies, pausing before a path that twists up and around in long, curling loops, like a thread just waiting to be pulled into one gigantic knot. "Tell me, do all your forms feel natural to you, or only the one you wear now?" he asks.

"Nothing about me ever feels natural, per se," Envoy admits. "But I have no problem inhabiting different forms, as this was the norm in my … youth." She looks past her guide, trying to see the end of the rainbow. I wonder if there will be a pot of gold, she thinks.

The rainbow twists and winds its way to another shimmering cloud, higher in the sky. The top side of it cannot be seen from Envoy's vantage point. The dragon-like male smiles at her again, "You have it all back again," he tells her. "All that you lost when you came to Sinai, you may now regain, should you wish it."

"I don't particularly feel the loss," Envoy says, "as I have gained much in return. I'm just visiting Paradise, really." Inwardly, she wonders if she's being tempted or not. It's not easy for her think like a Babelite Eeee, despite being half-dragon.

"Don't particularly feel it?" he echoes, still smiling. "And where would you rather be, Lady Victory?" he asks. Instead of waiting for an answer, he touches the path, and abruptly is whisked away up and along it, his light-colored form a blur against the bright colors as he surges along them towards his destination above. It looks … fun.

Envoy blinks, then reaches down to duplicate the man's touch on the path to see if it will whisk her along as well.

Sssswooop! Like soda up a "Krazy Straw", the Aeolun winds with fluid grace through one turn after another, swift and effortless. The rainbow path around her sends a pleasant, tingling sensation through her body, as if she were only just now alive.

Despite herself, Envoy enjoys the sensation, even beyond the sheer novelty of it. She tries to keep her eyes focussed on her destination though, hoping this new method of transport will get her there sooner.

The path deposits her lightly on a cushioned section of cloud that conforms to her body. Before her spreads agrassy lawn, with occasional protuberances where more cloud-seats appear, and small groups of elegantly-garbed Eeee stroll about, talking. In the distance, a fairy-tale castle rises like a rock-candy confection from out of the clouds. Beside Envoy stands her draconian companion, grinning down at her, eyes swirling. He offers the Aeolun his hand.

Envoy accepts the hand, and gets to her feet. "Inala's garden?" she asks, thinking that perhaps the decoratively dressed Eeee strolling about are meant to be the flowers.

"All flower gardens are for Inala, are they not?" he replies, his hand warm and dry against Envoy's. "For are they not places of pleasure?" He gestures sweepingly towards the castle.

Envoy thinks about it. "I suppose it depends on whether one raises bees or not. Is there anything I have to do to get into the castle?"

He straightens, looking at the castle, with a puzzled expression on his face, as if he had not considered the question previously. "Well. Try, certainly," he answers. He turns to her with a bright smile. "Shall we?"

Nodding, Envoy then asks, "Others have been granted audience with the goddess, haven't they?"

"The Sweet Lady loves company," he says. "Entertaining guests is one of her fondest pastimes." He takes a step towards the castle, then pauses, glancing to Envoy.

Envoy moves to follow her guide, a bit worried at how the term "entertaining" might be interpreted by one of the Seven Sisters. "I imagine few would wish to leave such hospitality, once having experienced it, yes?"

"What could be finer?" he replies, strolling easily towards the castle with Envoy beside him. "Is that why you wish to meet Inala?"

"No," Envoy says, shaking her head and strolling alongside. "I have a favor to ask of her, for a friend."

The guide pauses by a flowerbed, crouching to sniff at a large violet flower with many intricately curled petals, each tipped in white. The scent of the flowers is strong in the air, like perfume, and the breeze from a fountain burbling at the center of the flowerbed brings the occasional welcome waft of unscented air. "A favor?" he repeats, turning his head to look curiously at the Aeolun.

"Yes," Envoy says, looking over the flowers. "Just a favor." She doesn't want to say more, until she can talk to the goddess. Her guide may not look like an Eeee, but his attitudes are Babelite enough to make her cautious. Trust isn't the sort of thing she'd expect in this version of Paradise.

The Kiriga-like being straightens, and smiles gently at Envoy, then continues, leading the way to the castle. "You struggled hard to get to Paradise," he comments.

"Yes, is that so odd?" she asks. "To struggle on behalf of a friend?" She watches her guide's face for his reaction.

"I do not know," the other answers, his swirling eyes unreadable. "This must be a very good friend, I should think."

"I would think so," Envoy agrees. "It pleases me to help my friends. Surely, even here that cannot be so exotic a pleasure, now can it?" She actually grins a bit now, teasingly.

He returns the smile, even closing one eye in a wink so swift she might have imagined it. "Indeed, it is not … and if it were exotic – well, some of the best pleasures are the most unusual ones."

Envoy looks forwards towards the castle again, mainly to avoid having to acknowledge the wink. She's never grasped the subtleties of that particular form of communication, so never knows how to properly respond.

Ahead, a small cluster of Eeee are gathered in a semi-circle, some cheering and laughing, others cursing good-naturedly, while whatever their attention is focused on is blocked from sight by their bodies.

"Gamblers?" Envoy asks her escort as they approach the group.

"Gamers, I think," the man replies. He walks up into the air – not flapping his wings to fly, but simply striding into the air as if on an invisible staircase, reaching a height above the little crowd until he can see what they're looking at. He turns to motion for Envoy to follow.

Envoy mimics walking up a flight of invisible stairs to join his side.

From her new vantage, Envoy sees a set of small, roughly shaped figures, some of mud, some stone, engaged in a kind of combat on a large section of gravel path, while the watching Eeee cheer, boo, and shout orders to them. The figures seem malleable, taking on new shapes to make it easier to fling rocks and gobs of mud at each other, absorbing one another in the process of hand-to-hand combat, and engaging in other acts of violence.

Envoy blinks at this. "Golem fighting?" she asks. She didn't think a sport that didn't have bloodshed in it would be very popular here.

The draconian male nods, chuckling as one golem pulls the arm off another, then sticks it into his chest and, three arms waving threateningly, marches determinedly towards a different opponent. "Cute, isn't it?" A more distant golem makes a catapult of its body and hurls its stone head at the three-armed golem, and the mud creation comically goes splat against the gravel.

"I suppose," Envoy says. At least the violence isn't directed at living beings … but she is glad that Babelites probably wouldn't know about Hookas, otherwise the game might be different.

At her dubious tone, the pale gold man turns to her. He reaches out to take her hand, giving it a slight squeeze before releasing it. "Not to your taste, mm?" he says, with a small, sad smile. "Let's go on."

"Yes, let us continue," Envoy says, not very comfortable around combat, whether it be ritualized or reduced to entertainment. She's always assumed one needs the proper glands to really appreciate it.

The castle draws nearer as the pair advances, side by side. A wide hedge stretches out before it, ten feet high and twined with gold and blue flowers among green leaves. At a gap in the hedge, a "moat" of clear blue sky shows, and across from it the fairy-tale castle rises, a confection of spun glass and crystal. A draw bridge shows on the other side, currently raised. Envoy's guide stops at the moat, and looks to her. "Ready?" he asks.

Envoy nods.

The drawbridge glides downwards on silken ropes that whisper against their capstans, and a flight of white birds emerges from within. Oddly, the interior seems more brightly lit than the day outside, and all Envoy can see is a soft golden glow from the palace entrance, while a swell of soft music rises, welcoming her in.