Mevoh stood staring up at the large monarch that towered above her. She has seen the giant mushroom many times and each time she had question after question. She wanted to know how the mushroom got there in the first place. Did it have magic? Was it alive once like her? Anything was possible, especially in these caves. There was one way to find out what the story behind the monarch was. That way was using her arcane magic. Mevoh was a dignified wielder of arcane magic. Arcane magic was the best kind of magic there was, and that was indisputable. Those who had that kind of magic can see things others with different magic couldn't see. Mevoh stepped up to the large mushroom and pushed her forehead on it. She felt her magic working as a vision appeared in her head. The secretary bird paid close attention to every detail. If she was going to research the Caves, paying close attention to the details was vital. The bird was determined to unlock everything the caves were keeping hidden.

Many things had wandered beneath this Monarch, both to pass by it and to leave their dearly departed beneath it. The bird would catch just a glimpse of one incident—

Quiet, peaceful silence, and—oh!—the crackling of stone. Soil shifting, hands clawing out from the root-dense earth. Two orange eyes stared from a dark body. They blinked, and a murmur sounded from behind Mevoh—an observer—"All Mother, what is that?" That was a shivering-wet lump, somewhere between a kitten and a shape wholly alien to the Caves.

The creature blinked again, and the vision smeared like a film fast-forwarded; "a sickness has come over the All Mother." Their head tilted, their mouth opening in a rasping whisper too difficult to discern.

Fast-forward: "Welcome to the world, Sister; may the All Mother guide your path." The creature closed its eyes, settling against the Monarch's stem, a curly-haired creature barely in Mevoh's periphery.

—and then find herself standing in the present once more.

@Mevoh