Neither Lovely Nor Yours

Prologue - Wanderlust

The house was covered in snow.

Seven minutes till midnight. One light illuminated the room, the crackling flames in the fireplace. The marmalade glow of the fire made the purple rugs seem grayer. A glare reflected off the miniature model Solar System above, spinning like a ceiling fan.

Two souls sat on a rug, ripe with anticipation for the coming day. Seven minutes. Seven minutes remained until December 13th.

An anthropomorphic squid with six tentacle legs and two arms idled rhythmically to the sound of the ticking clock. His aegean blue skin, deep as the ocean from which he came, served a delightful contrast to his red conical party hat.

A similarly anthropomorphic cat donned a party hat as well, as per the request of his slippery friend. It matched his vest, which was red and green. The reflection of the fireplace's sparks shone in his thin, circular glasses. His ginger fur stood on edge, waiting for the clock to strike twelve.

"Can you believe it, Stamps?" The squid cracked a smile, showing off his sharp teeth. "The big twenty-one's only five some-odd minutes away? How're we feeling?"

Stampy paused to think. "Different."

"Different?"

"Keen's usually home on my birthday. There's an extravagant party and we invite everyone in the town, it's been like that for as long as I can remember. And Craig's been... out for a while."

"Where's that lad gone off to anyway?"

"I'll be finding out soon enough."

The squid leaned forward in confusion.

Stampy took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "I haven't told anyone this, but something big is going to happen tonight. Take a wild guess, what do you think?"

"Are you... buying a timeshare?"

"No, I'm being given a very special gift!"

Squid gasped. "A timeshare!"

"It has nothing to do with timeshares. I had an encounter with a very kind wizard who travels between worlds, just like Craig does! He said he was willing to give me ownership of an entire world with no borders! None! Can you believe it?"

Squid squinted. "Doesn't that seem a little... suspicious?"

"How's that suspicious?" inquired Stampy. "I'm one of the lead wonderers in the Society of Wonderers. I've gotten so many gifts from lamblets and ramlets, maybe one of their cousins is a big fan of mine."

"There's always a catch. If they don't tell you what the catch is, then they're hiding one."

"Don't be ridiculous, it'll be splendid. I'll even write you while I'm there."

"I'm just saying, Keen's never stopped you from learning a new skill. If he's not letting you learn how to use the Local Area Network, maybe there's a good reason for that."

A pause.

"...such as?" followed Stampy.

"Maybe he doesn't want you to end up like Craig. Venturing worlds and losing sight of your true home."

The crackling flame decorated the silence with crunchy noise and a faint, everpresent hiss.

"I could never forget Wonderberg," Stampy smiled.

"You promise?"

"From the bottom of my heart."

Right on cue, the oven timer began beeping in bursts of three.