Mansion In The Sky

Taro leaned back in his chair, feet up on the table, casually sipping on a mug of what could only be described as "mystical coffee." 

Honestly, he wasn't sure if it was actually coffee or just some weird drink made of mana or stardust or something, but it was warm and caffeinated, so who cared?

He had been wandering around the mansion for hours, poking into every corner, talking to maids, and generally being a nuisance. 

The maids, to their credit, seemed remarkably tolerant. Maybe they were enchanted to smile no matter what? 

It wouldn't be the first time he'd encountered some magic that made people nice, but honestly, it was starting to creep him out.

"Did you hear that?" one of the maids asked in a soft, melodic voice, as she wiped down a marble pillar.

Taro glanced up from his mug, raising an eyebrow. "What, is there a new wind goddess in town making the furniture sing?"

The maid smiled serenely, as if he had just said something incredibly insightful. "The wind is especially strong today, Sir Taro. It's quite lovely, isn't it?"

"Strong, huh?" Taro tilted his head and looked out the window. 

The wind outside looked relatively calm, but then again, he had no idea how wind worked in this world. Maybe it had a mind of its own and didn't care about his opinion.

He scratched at his chin thoughtfully, though his reflection in the window reminded him more of a grumpy cat than a heroic figure. 

He could've sworn his hairline had retreated a little bit more overnight. It was probably the stress.

"I don't know, I think it's blowing a little too much. My hairline's about to wave back at me. You guys ever try to use wind to fix your hair?" He grinned, leaning toward the maid. "I tried it earlier, but now my hair's looking like it's got a mind of its own. Maybe if I just let it go wild, I'll be the new 'wind god' around here."

The maid's serene smile didn't falter, and Taro swore she was one wind gust away from floating away like a balloon.

"Well, Sir Taro, I think the wind suits you," she said in a tone so polite that it bordered on robotic.

Taro just sighed and slumped a little further in his chair. "You know, I'm starting to think I'm just here to be the entertainment. Is there, like, a behind-the-scenes manager for this place? Someone I can talk to about… I don't know… lowering my stress levels?"

As he spoke, the door to the room creaked open, and there, standing like a tall, imposing figure in the doorway, was Aeris. 

Her green eyes glinted in the sunlight streaming in, and her silver hair shimmered like a trail of mist behind her. If she wasn't already a goddess, she could've easily been mistaken for royalty.

"Taro." Her voice was firm, and Taro immediately sat up straighter, sensing the tension. "Enough. Stop annoying the maids."

Taro glanced between Aeris and the maid, whose serene smile still hadn't budged. "Hey, I'm just… having a chat, you know? Bonding over the chaos that is my hair. Do you ever have hair issues, or is that just for mortals?"

Aeris's eyes narrowed, and the faintest breeze stirred around her, lifting her silver robes in a way that could only be described as ethereal. 

"You've been roaming around aimlessly long enough, Taro. You need to learn something about this world, something that doesn't involve wasting time. You need to get some perspective."

Taro scratched his head, leaning back. "Perspective, huh? You mean like 'keep my feet on the ground' kind of perspective?"

She didn't respond right away, but the air around them seemed to hum with anticipation. A moment later, without warning, a gust of wind shot out from her, wrapping around Taro like a powerful hand.

 Before he could even register what was happening, he was airborne.

"What the—?"

The world shifted violently. His feet were no longer on solid ground. 

He was soaring through the air, wind rushing past him, his body flipping in an uncontrolled spin.

The maids didn't even flinch, just watching him like he was some particularly clumsy bird.

Taro slammed into the window with a resounding crash. 

He groaned as he slid down, sitting on the floor in a daze, completely winded. His hair was now tousled to the point of being almost a different species entirely.

"Ugh…" He rubbed his head, groaning. "You know, Aeris, I was having a good time here. Not sure why you had to — "

Before he could finish, Aeris's voice rang out clearly from behind him. "Get up, Taro. And look."

Taro did as he was told, though he wasn't sure if it was out of obedience or just pure curiosity. His eyes followed Aeris's gesture, landing on the breathtaking view outside the window.

He froze.

Below him, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but a vast expanse of clouds. He couldn't even see the ground. 

The mansion wasn't sitting on a mountaintop, nor was it perched on a cliff — it was literally floating in the sky. Well on some land in the sky but hey, it still counted though.

"Wha — " He blinked several times, his brain scrambling to process what he was seeing. "Okay. This is — this is ridiculous."

Aeris walked up to the window, staring out at the endless sea of clouds with an air of serene detachment. 

"Now you understand. You are no longer on the ground, Taro. This mansion floats high above the world, where few can reach it. This is where I, the wind god, reside. You need to understand what's at stake here."

Taro was still struggling to comprehend the situation. He stood up slowly, his knees wobbly from the sudden toss and the disorienting view. 

"So, wait. You just… you threw me out of a window to teach me about perspective?"

Aeris didn't answer at first, just standing there with her back to him. Then she finally spoke, her voice softer than before. 

"Sometimes, Taro, you need to be shown a new vantage point before you can understand the scale of things."

Taro stared at her for a long moment, then shrugged. "Fair enough, I guess."

He took a deep breath, turning back to look out over the clouds. "But, hey, seriously. How did you even do that? I was a couple of seconds away from becoming a pancake."

Aeris didn't look back at him, but he swore he saw a flicker of amusement in her eyes. "It was only wind. You're lucky it wasn't a storm."

Taro chuckled weakly, glancing down at the clouds again. "Yeah, I guess I'll take 'mild inconvenience' over 'getting smushed by a lightning bolt' any day. I'll call that a win."

He paused, his eyes wandering over the sprawling expanse of sky. "But seriously, this is wild. I'm basically in the clouds. Are we just… floating here? Are we, like, gods now?"

Aeris turned toward him, her expression unreadable. "In this place, you will come to understand what it means to wield true power. The trials will prepare you for what's to come. But first, you must learn humility."

Taro scratched his head, glancing back at her. "Humility, huh? That's one word for it."

Aeris nodded, and for the first time, he saw a small smile tug at the corner of her lips. "You will learn more in time."

"Well, I'm not getting any younger," Taro muttered, but with a grin. "Guess I'll stick around and see what happens next."

As he took in the view once more, his earlier joke about his hairline resurfaced. "I guess the view's nice, though. Maybe my hairline will find some peace up here in the clouds."

Aeris's smile widened just a fraction. "Perhaps, Taro. Perhaps."

Taro grinned back, feeling a strange sense of calm for the first time since he'd been dragged into this new world. 

The wind brushed against his skin, and for once, it didn't feel like a force to be reckoned with — but something he could control.

Maybe being a hero in a floating mansion wasn't so bad after all.