What Kazimir saw next filled him with dread.
Beyond the window stretched a vast, molten sea, its surface a churning mass of fire and liquid rock. Scattered across the infernal expanse were small, jagged islands, each pitch-black and teeming with strange, birdlike creatures.
The sky was no less surreal. A colossal nebula swirled above, painted in shifting hues of violet, gold, and deep crimson. Planets loomed so close he could almost make out the ridges of their mountains, the storms raging across their surfaces. Between them, stars hung in the void, some falling, burning streaks across the heavens, others fixed in eerie stillness.
And in the midst of this celestial chaos, the moon shone, its silver light cutting through the madness like a lone beacon of stability.
Yet the view was anything but peaceful.
Kazimir flinched as a dark shape darted across the sky. The black-winged creatures filled the air, gliding in restless circles above the crimson sea. And whenever one of the many-eyed fish lurking beneath the surface dared to leap from the molten depths, the birds plunged after them, their movements so swift they seemed to vanish and reappear in an instant.
It was a violent, merciless dance.
Kazimir could do nothing but stare, his breath caught in his throat.
Sensing his unease, Selis placed a firm yet gentle hand on his shoulder. Her voice was steady as ever.
"This is why I don't want you looking outside without my permission."
Kazimir tore his gaze from the scene, turning to her with wide, questioning eyes.
"This castle shifts between dimensions," she continued.
She exhaled, her fingers tightening slightly against his shoulder.
"Most worlds are harmless. But some…" she hesitated, her gaze drifting back to the landscape beyond the window. "Some can unravel your mind simply by looking at them."
Her words sent a shiver down Kazimir's spine.
Without another word, Selis reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a silver pocket watch. She took his hand and placed it in his palm.
"Here," she said. "This will show you the position of the moon. When the moon sets, the castle will disappear, continuing its journey to another world where moonlight still touches."
She paused, her voice turning solemn.
"Remember this: never look outside without my permission. And above all…" She fixed him with an unwavering gaze. "Do not, under any circumstances, look outside while the castle is shifting between dimensions."
Kazimir clutched the watch tightly, struggling to process everything. His mind reeled from the sheer impossibility of it all.
It took him a moment to find his voice.
"If it's so dangerous just to look outside, why do you do it?" he asked hesitantly.
At that, Selis gave a small, almost amused smile.
"Because there is nothing out there that can harm me."
Her words should have been reassuring, but instead, they unsettled him.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She studied him for a moment before answering.
"Because I have no soul," she said simply. "Or rather, this body has no soul. My soul is locked safely inside the castle. Whatever horrors exist beyond these walls, they cannot touch me."
Kazimir felt his stomach twist.
"If binding your soul to the castle is safer, then why didn't you do the same for me?"
At that, Selis's expression darkened.
For the first time since they met, her voice held something almost… regretful.
"Because binding you by blood gives you freedom," she said. "Freedom I will never have."
Kazimir swallowed.
"Once you die," she continued, "your soul will be able to leave this place. You will be able to move on."
A pause.
"I never will."
Silence stretched between them.
Kazimir had no words.
After a long moment, Selis turned, her voice returning to its usual measured calm.
"Come," she said. "Let me show you the Tailoring Chamber. You'll need a cloak if you ever wish to step beyond these walls."
Kazimir followed closely behind her once more.
But as they walked, something tugged at the edge of his awareness.
The paintings.
At first, they were the same as he remembered, grand portraits of Selis or her family, vast depictions of the castle's halls and a beautiful city that must have once been Umbrax. But as they moved deeper, the imagery changed.
A towering red mushroom, with two figures faintly visible, climbing its massive stalk.
A moonlit, endless sea of floating islands with engravings filled with white light above an endless black abyss.
An endless ice world illuminated by a pale silver moon.
A colossal black pyramid in an endless crimson desert, the moon shining high above.
An endless black ocean, with an eternal meteor rain above.
A sprawling city, so magnificent it looked almost unreal, two silhouettes gazing upon it from a distance.
Two people standing atop a gigantic black tree with red leaves, they looked nothing more than ants on it colossal branches.
Kazimir's eyes flicked from one painting to the next. They felt… different. Important.
Finally, unable to hold back his curiosity.
"What do these paintings mean?"
Selis glanced at the one he was staring at, a massive canvas depicting two people dancing inside an impossibly shaped hall, its architecture twisting in organic, alien patterns.
She tilted her head slightly, contemplating.
"These paintings are part of the castle," she said at last. "I do not know their true purpose. I simply place the ones I like closer to my chambers… and the ones I dislike, farther away."
Kazimir frowned, glancing back at the artwork.
There was something more to them. He could feel it.
But Selis had already moved on.
With one last look at the strange paintings, Kazimir quickened his pace, following her deeper into the castle's endless halls.