The Floating Castle Garden

RJ had this manic, disheveled look as he tried to mentally process what had just happened to him. Tatterhood was currently splayed out on the floor with Bellerophon acting like her pillow, while Ember the Zouyu was staring into the distance like he was having multiple flashbacks. The Wolf-headed Ogress was just sitting there not giving a single shit still.

RJ's mouth opened and closed several times before he managed to utter out a single question.

"Is...is anyone else still tasting green on their teeth"?

"Non", Tatterhood replied, "still trying to get the scent of Mozart's 8th symphony out of my nose".

Ember just stared at RJ for a hot minute before letting out a single..."moo".

"Yeah...that sounds about right...", RJ mumbled as he stared into the void of the empty Spirit Garden, how long were in there"?

[Three hours app time, three minutes real time], the game suddenly informed RJ.

"I-what is this time dialation?!", RJ couldn't help but scream at the void. While RJ was bemoaning his sanity, the ogress finally made some more substantial movement.

"Bored", the Ogress grumbled as she finally got up from her seated position and made her way to the catalogue screen. The ogress stared at the screen for a few moments before selecting one.

"Wait, no, careful"!

[Previewing: Sky Garden Castle]

RJ flinched at the announcement, closing his eyes and preparing himself for whatever fresh hell the world egg was going to cause...only for nothing to happen.

"What?", he thought as a refreshing breeze blew pass him.

RJ carefully opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of a beautiful garden courtyard full of flowers and trees, and a sea of white, fluffy clouds right beyond it. As he turned to take in more of his surroundings, he noticed a beautiful castle of unknown architecture with a huge tree growing out of it behind him.

"Huh".

"Oh. This place looks kinda nice", Tatterhood commented as she stood herself up.

"Cozy", the ogress added as she made her way over to a nearby tree and laid down underneath the shade of it's branches.

A few moments later, the sea of clouds gave way, and a bright horizon of endless blue ocean and sky greeted their eyes.

As RJ and the gang were awestruck by the sight of the floating castle garden hovering above a bright blue ocean, the game's voice began to narrate once more.

[For as long as people could look up to the sky, they wondered what it would be like to live there. Many cultures say that the sky was the home to the gods, to impossible palaces sitting on clouds. In 815, Caroligian bishop Agobard of Lyon once described the cloud island of Magonia, the home of sky pirates and weather mages. In 1726, Gulliver traveled to the floating island of Laputa....then 260 years later, Hayao Miyazaki wrote the tale of two young lovers as they traveled to a hidden castle of the same name. This world egg is the embodiment of romance, freedom, mysticism and more. This is a garden meant for those who wish to see what wonders the winds may take them].

[Pros:

Due to the airborne nature of the garden, it can be expanded with special sky islands and platforms that can be used for varying specializations.

Starting island provides a modest 10% boost to growth and recovery of all familiars

Salvage opportunities

???]

[Cons:

Occasional weather problems until Garden is upgraded.

Airsickness may occur.

Gravity still exists.

Flying storried may occur]

[Pro/Con: Starting island comes with an elaborate palace filled with treasures and useful rooms...guarded by a golem that needs to be subdued].

"Huh. This place seems to be arguably the best we've seen so far...even with the cons. Good job, uh...I just realized I don't know your name", RJ said as he turned towards the resting ogress.

"None", she grunted as she rolled over onto her stomach.

"Oh! Uh...guess ya need one...", RJ mumbled as he stared at the ogress. Looking over the ogress, he made notes that the parts of her that was "wolf" had white fur, while her skin had this icy blue tint to it. As to why he never registered this mentally before, kinda hard to keep track of details when fighting for one's life.

"How about Fuzzmouth? She can match with me", Tatterhood suggested with a cheeky grin.

"No", the ogress grunted.

"Meow?", Ember seemed to suggest.

"Nope".

"You speak cat?", Tatterhood asked incredulously, "Hmmm, what about-" "Frost".

"Huh?"

"Meow"?

"What about Frost?", RJ asked again, "what do you think"?

"Frost...", the ogress said while gazing at the sky, "okay".

"Cool! Now then, everyone okay with this place then?", RJ asked aloud.

"Ja"!

"Meow"!

"Yeah"!

"You heard the gang, I choose this world egg!", RJ proclaimed as he confirmed the selection on the screen.

[World Egg has been selected, unlocking features and sending Beginner Furniture pack], the game voice declared after RJ made his selection.

A notification sound went off in RJ's head as a mailbox suddenly plunged from the sky and into the ground in front of him.

"Oh joy, more turtorials and housekeeping".