She, who had no name, opened her eyes as if for the first time. This lady is dressed in a long flowing white gown, that moves about her as if given life of its own. Gold earrings hang from each ear, studded with three diamonds. Her auburn hair hangs loosely in ringlets about her shoulders. She is the picture of beauty with a kind face that only enhances her appearance.

She, who finds herself here, realizes that she does not know from where she has come. The memories of days past, while she realizes they are there, and exist, seem far and distant; as if a dream. The dark stone walls in the dark room echo her every footstep as she moves slowly, gracefully forward. One would expect fear to be her reaction in waking up in this unfamiliar room. But no, she is calm and innocent in her expectations not thinking of danger, simply filled with wonder at exploring this passage

A stone marble floor, strong gray stone walls surround her, with beautiful rich red curtains hanging in separation of the passage. Red rugs muffled her steps when she crossed them, and beautiful works of art, made by unknown hands, hung on the walls all woven in brilliant expressive colors. Ordered thought began to return to the woman, rather than the simple existence that prevailed upon her awakening.

She, the one of sweet ignorance, found herself having this strange premonition that she did not come from here, but did, somehow, belong here. It was beautiful and perfect, as if a dream. While there were flaws here, they each had meaning and none detracted from this place, but rather added to the character and story. She realized that it was quiet, but a full kind of quiet, one that belonged rather than seeming akin to a vast emptiness. It was a peaceful serene quiet, and which felt very comfortable to her.

This brown-haired lady stopped in front of a full-length mirror as she passed into the center hall. No shock registered in her cool and calm brown eyes, but a slight smile tugged at her lips while she studied the features of her face. Pleased she was at the way the dress formed around her, quite becoming it made her appearance. Yet, she was not vain, she simply was existing and enjoying the beauty of it.

For a moment, however brief, she believed that the mirror turned into water, ripples riding across the surface as if it was pond with a freshly tossed stone disrupting the surface. And then, to her surprise and astonishment, she saw faces, one after the other, all women, and only for a second so she could remember none of their features. She gasped silently to herself as some places far beyond any she had ever seen flashed before her eyes.

She, the innocent, didn't even think to scream for fear didn't reside in her heart. She waited until the mirror resumed the normal appearance before she paused to think of the meaning of this. A second later it was as any other mirror, smooth, and shiny, as she would expect from any other mirror. She contemplated staying, but the suggestion was made to her to move on. She didn't think about where it came from, didn't even question disobeying it. She simply obeyed.

This moment was still, motionless, as if no time passed and all remained static. No outside noises could be heard. No other presences sensed. The hall had the character of timelessness to it, as if nothing ever really changed. The dreamlike quality remained in this place, as the woman wandered farther.

She came to one large door, at the end of the hall, made of gold and massive in design. It was the height of the ceiling, which must have been a good ten feet. Inscriptions traced the surface, intermingling with designs that were as meaningful as they were decorative. She ran her fingers over the inscriptions, but could not read them. A quiet sense of feeling washed over her, as ideas flowed through her innocent mind. But they were all kind, nice feelings; easy to comprehend and deal with.

A large handle on the right side of the door seemed to beckon to her. She lay her slender fingers on it, encircling the richly ornamented handle. Before she could go on, she felt, for what seemed the first time, fear. What if she couldn't get back here? What if she got lost? Suddenly worries about her own survival settled upon her.

She looked back down the hallway, back to the circular room from which she came. There was nothing in that room but darkness, and a rich circular rug. The only difference from that room and the hall was the dark ceiling with small points of light on it. Darkness reached up into it and none could see the true end of it. All was warm, silent, and comfortable.

Unknowing, she bit her lip, unsure of the course to take. Again she was urged to open the door, but this time questioned for a moment before obeying. Slowly she turned the massive handle, which seemed almost for a giant's hand, until it clicked, assuring her the latch was drawn and it would open. Beginning to pull it open, she was very surprised how easily it came. To her greater surprise was what her eyes caught about the contents of the next room.

Pure light, pure white dazzling light, she thought of looking away but discovered that her eyes could handle the intensity with ease. She could not see into it, the contents of this space were hidden from her, if, indeed, there was truly any contents at all. She looked down at her feet, her white shoes only inches from where the brightness intersected the carpet. Cautiously she stuck a toe beyond it, and withdrew it. No damage was done.

She reached out farther this time, resting some weight on it, to see if there was a ground. There was. Reaching out with her hands before her, she walked fully into the room, feeling a rush of air behind her as the door shut with a resounding boom.

The moment of the sound, the scene changed before her, no longer was she standing in the pure light, but rather in a large circular, no, oval, room. There was the sound of water here, soft, and distant. Around this massive room, darkness wasn't to be found, but it was a dim lighting that illuminated this space. But try as she might, she could not find the source of this light, for it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, at the same time.

The woman turned around, to see from what door she had come. It was the same gold door, but the engravings on this side were different, but the same. She realized that they were UPSIDE DOWN from the other door. Out of curiosity she attempted to open the door from this side, but though she used all her strength, she could not budge its stubborn lock.

"It looks like I'm stuck here" she spoke aloud, jumping and surprising herself since this was the first time she had spoken while in this place. She placed a hand over her lips, almost as if afraid someone would hear. Her voice echoed out into the room, reverberating over every surface and finally dying away.

"So this is what my voice sounds like, I did not even know that I had one." She spoke, testing her voice more, pleased at the calm strong nature of the noise. She had the distinct impression she would be able to sing very well, but then was shocked to discover she knew no tune for which to test this assumption. A soft sigh escaped her lips, as if a very regretful discovery was made indeed. For while she could know that music existed, she found she knew nothing of it, and felt sad for this.

But her attention was soon distracted by the other objects filling this grand space. She began to step out and wander among the objects. This place was almost an art museum of sorts, but also like a library, and somehow struck her as a nexus of thought and idea. Books lined shelves in one place, in another set instruments of all sorts, which she decided she'd fiddle with later. But around the outside edge, was the most curious array of doors and paintings.

There was seven paintings for every door, one over the head, and three down each side. Each door had designs covering its surface. Every door had a color, which was unique and as vibrant as the next. Each had its own design, and unique style, from old to new, bright to monotone, beautiful to something she'd label as hideous.

She came to one, which stood out to her, it looked to be made with dark obsidian, and so smooth was its surface that you could swear you saw a world beyond within the glossy finish. But she felt so compelled to open it. The fear from that reaction tore her away, letting her flee to another part of the room.

Wandering around the room twice, she thought she knew the pattern of it. This room was arranged in three concentric circles, along the outside edge there lay the doors, with the paintings around them. There was seven halls that led away from here, interspersed between the seven doors. But the halls were more of nooks, and contained the instruments and other works of beauty that so pleased the woman.

That made up the outer circle. The middle circle was divided from the outer by means of short bookcases that bent in faithfulness to the oval shape. They were broken up, so there was seven walkways through, directly opposite of the doors. They were double sided, and held hundreds upon hundreds of volumes of only the finest literature.

She, who had no identity, wished to pour through them, but felt a restless urgency, and yearning to continue. Atop the bookcases, were various sculptures, but differently than ordinary sculptures these had a meaning so deep that you knew it was there, but had the hardest time deciding what it was. The whole sense that everything here had a purpose prevailed, in every ornament, in every design, in every placement of the smallest of rugs, there was a purpose.

But it was to the center, the brightest part, that the woman felt most drawn. The middle circle was divided from the inner by the means of seven pillars, interestingly enough the pillars were the same colors as the doors, only made of marble instead of the other materials found in the room. But the most prominent object that lay inside that circle of pillars was a pedestal, on which rested a very large book, with a glass box covering it up. It lay closed, this she could see from even this distance.

She started, suddenly realizing something very odd about this place. When she was in the outer circle, the room seemed massive, and indeed it was such. But it hardly took any time for her to cover and walk through it… or did it? She had no sense of time, as everything seemed timeless here, it could have taken her days and she never would have known it.

But shouldn't she be hungry? Tired? She, for the first time, tried to understand how this could be. And at the same time tried to understand why she thought she SHOULD be hungry and tired, since she can't remember doing anything about either of those.

But, still, the size of the room seemed amiss. For when she stood in the outer part, the inner-most circle seemed only a few meters across, but now that she was on the threshold of it, the marble pillars rose to thirty feet into the sky. But now the room she was about to enter seemed as large, if not larger, as the outer rooms. This puzzled the woman greatly.

She realized so much about this place puzzled her. But entered the inner circle without fear. The room did seem huge, the ceiling towering above her in a dome, richly ornamented with stories and meaningful symbols. All manner of creature and object could be seen in either the pillars or the ceiling, or the marble floor itself, which was so shiny she could easily see her refection in it.

She, the lost, found she enjoyed the sound her feet made upon the marble; and as she moved about studied the inlays on the floor. But her eyes caught a glimpse of bright sunlight, streaming right into her eyes. Looking around she gasped, for the outer room could no longer be seen between the pillars, but rather a glorious landscape at sunset over the sea. Birds flew and called to their mates, she could even sea whales in the sea, so much life abounded all around her, and a great joy for being privileged to see this entered her heart.

She did not fear now, but wanted to tear across those valleys, climb those mountains, ride the wild horses, and drink from the purest of streams. But burden still lay upon her, as the restlessness formed into more understanding. A great responsibility lay upon her shoulders, and she knew she must do her duty, before partaking of such simple pleasures.

She, who began to see, walked up to the pedestal this time, rising on stone stairs, seven of them that weren't there before, ascending to the book, the great book. She looked out one last time at the fading scene before casting her eyes on the book, and at what she was sure was her duty.

Before she even opened the glass case, she looked at the cover of this tome. It was heavy, at least six inches thick and much larger than a normal book. This was "the" book, and gave impression of such. The cover was mottled with various colors that seemed to be both unified in one color, and variegated. How this was achieved, she wondered at this briefly, as the colors never seemed to clash.

Scrawled across the cover in bold beautifully ornamented letters formed the words, "The book of all and nothing." The title puzzled her for a moment, but then disregarded her puzzlement and moved to take off the glass which kept her from the book.

She was prepared to move the heavy panes, but as soon as her fingertips brushed the clear material, it vanished from view, the seal that had lain atop it dropped to the cover of the book. Now, she saw that it was not a seal, but a necklace with chain. She picked it up gently, and placed it about her neck, as it seemed the natural and wise thing to do.

Reverently she laid her hands on the surface of this great book, and finally opened the cover looking at the first page. A short mysterious poem was scrawled there in neat handwriting.

Only the few that view can decide
What in which, these pages hide
For if you look and if you expect
You may see now, and may not yet

"More puzzles", the woman whispered to herself as she began turning the pages. Surprised, she realized that most were blank, and began moving through them quickly trying to find one that was printed on. A cold wind whipped through the circle, freezing the woman to the bone, and hurrying her on her search.

It began to whip her hair about, but she simply brushed it away hurriedly, attempting to find something she knew was here, and that she thought very urgent to find. Flipping through the storm outside became more apparent, and each thunder clash made this woman jump. Finally, on the last page, she found one written part, as beautifully decorated as the rest of the place she had explored, It simply stated one thought, one sentence.

"The choice, is completely yours, dear Alerisa"

She drew a shallow breath, never seeming to release it. The lighting flashed brightly in her eyes, thunder announcing its displeasure, as the rain came pouring down, but never violating the threshold. The wind blew her hair out savagely. Her expression froze, and she… understood.