Enoch yawned as he awoke, stretching in the light of the sun. The dew felt nice on his skin, and he rolled in it. The grass felt perfectly cut, as if trimmed with scissors every few hours.

  But something wasn’t right. Enoch, eyes still closed, scrunched his eyebrows as he considered what could be wrong. Perhaps he’d left the lights on in the kitchen? The power bill each month was inexorable in its growth towards breaking his bank account. But, Enoch shook his head lightly, remembering having turned the lights off before bed. What was wrong, then?

  Enoch yawned and tried to roll on his stomach in the cool grass, but his comfort was halted when he rolled onto what felt like a stone footpath. Blearily, Enoch opened his eyes, unprepared for the immediately wrong mental stimulus that blue grass gave him.

  “What the…” He muttered, pushing himself to his knees, looking around. Alarm bells were starting to go off faster and more numerous than Enoch could handle. The grass is teal? The trees too? I’m inside a courtyard? Who’s? What’s with the dual suns? What the hell is happening to me?!?!

  Enoch stumbled to his feet, his body not as torn from sleep as his mind. Enoch then noticed the crown jewel of his problems: he was naked as the day he was born, and balder than even then. Enoch let loose a whimper as he felt the lack of hair on his head and cloth on his hips. Whipping his head around to check for possible observers of his lack of modesty, Enoch noticed a few things that stood out, even from the already unique situation he found himself in. First, there were clearly humans around here, though maybe not at the moment. The designs of everything were, while alien to any culture Enoch had ever known, still human in intended use.

  Second was the location of the courtyard itself. Enoch was in the dead center of it, and was surrounded by four walls, with shaded walkways along the entire perimeter. It had many flowers and shrubs, but the strangest thing was the color of everything. There were many different colors, but the only change from the normal of note was that all the stuff that would normally be green was now teal. Grass, leaves, stalks, and vines were all cyan and teal now. It was baffling to Enoch, and that was even after he’d noticed the highly colorful flowers, which didn’t seem possible to find in nature.

  Third, and arguably least important, was his condition. Enoch felt like he could lift a car, and not just from the adrenaline. It genuinely felt like he was superhuman. That was just his body though, as his mind was struggling to hold itself together.

  “I need a game plan…” he muttered, looking around for a plan. Maybe the person that lived in the house would understand what was happening and help out? Enoch couldn’t really think of much beyond that. The possibility he’d been kidnapped crossed through his mind, but was quickly discarded. The area was just too unreal for it to be earth, which led to another point of contention in Enoch’s mind: how the hell had he gotten where he was? It wasn’t a dream, that much he was certain of.

  Enoch decided his best bet was to simply approach the resident of the house and ask for help and information. As he took the first step along the path, Enoch cringed at his nudity. Covering it with his hand, he simply walked up to the door and knocked on it three times. After several minutes, and several attempts, a voice came from the other side of the door, “Yes? Is that you, Mr. Sharingway?”

  The source of the voice didn’t get farther than that as they opened the door, freezing at the sight of a naked, bald man standing there. Enoch only stood still for a split second though, sent reeling by the appearance of his greeter. It was an otter. An honest-to-god otter, dressed in butler clothes and wearing a monocle, speaking perfect English. Enoch didn’t know what to make of it, instead stumbling back and forgetting the image of modesty he had tried to maintain.

  With a shout, Enoch tripped over his own feet, landing hard and hitting his head. He blacked out.

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  …

  Coulter stood in the doorway, still stunned. A stark naked man had somehow snuck into the courtyard, done something with Mr. Sharingway, then scared himself into unconsciousness by merely looking at Coulter. It was strange, and Coulter was thinking as hard as he could to determine what he should do. More importantly, how to treat this unintended guest. Perhaps Mr. Sharingway was a prankster? In that case, it would be wise to treat the man well.

  Coulter sighed and began to clean his face, a habit passed down through the family genes when they got nervous. He considered just leaving him there, washing his hands of the matter, but that seemed like a good way to be reprimanded by his employer.

  After another few moments of deliberation, Coulter looked back at the man and noticed for the first time a slowly-growing pool of blood under his head. Panicking, Coulter reached out, red energy flowing out from his hand and towards the prone man. The bleeding stopped, and the damage was healed, but he remained asleep. Coulter just raised his hand, causing Enoch to rise off the ground and start hovering after Coulter, who had begun to walk through the house again.

  …

  Enoch stirred from sleep, only he was in a bed this time. The sheets were soft, the pillows supple, and the bed supportive. But the stress returned like the tide. Enoch sat up in the bed, looking around. He was in what seemed to be a guest room, only tasteful. There were paintings on the wall, the theme of the room was very natural, containing many earth tones and wood colors. The drapes were deep red, staining the room a dim crimson. The floor was hardwood, though many carpets were placed about.

  Enoch swung his feet off the bed, noticing his clothed form. They were linen pajamas, and a silk shirt. “Who clothed me… It couldn’t have been the otter, right?” Enoch shook his head, walking over to the windows. Pulling aside a curtain, Enoch peered outside.

  Floating islands dotted the skyline, with some barely off the ground and others higher than some clouds. Enoch’s breath was taken away at the view. There were waterfalls both falling and rising from some of the islands, the dual suns reflected by them. The flora was mostly of the cyan and teal that he’d been introduced to in the garden, though far more abundant. For a brief moment, Enoch considered if maybe this was a dream. It certainly felt like a mix of reality and fantasy.

  Enoch was pulled from his reverie when a knock came from the door to the room. He walked over and pulled the door open, managing himself far better when the otter showed up a second time. He was standing there, one hand behind his back, the other at a ninety degree angle, a white towel draped over it. The jarring butler-look of the otter still had Enoch reeling internally.

  “Good morning sir. I am glad to see you have returned to your senses. The master of the house wishes to take breakfast with you and discuss your presence here, and Mr. Sharingway’s disappearance.” The otter spoke in a european accent, and Enoch nodded dumbly. “Very good. If you would follow me?” He stepped aside, gesturing to turn left out the door.

  Enoch nearly began walking when he snapped back into reality. “Whoa, whoa… Sorry, everything’s going so crazy I’m having trouble even knowing what to do. What are you? And where am I?”

  The otter seemed taken aback, which made Enoch wonder how he could even read the expression of the otter so effortlessly. “I am Coulter Pringleworth, sir. I am a proud member of the family, and I would ask you to not ask such rude questions again.” He did a little sniffle Enoch found adorable, but also knew to be a sign of an offense. “And where are we, you ask? We are in the Fist of Aordia.”

  “... Its probably best if I talk with the other guy. This seems like a discussion that needs chairs and time.” Enoch said while rubbing his forehead. Coulter nodded and gestured again to the left of the door. As Enoch was guided through the halls, he was impressed. The art was strangely comforting to look at, which was strange since he had always thought paintings were overpriced. But, now, he felt they had a lot of value. They spoke of both the differentiating and uniting factors of humanity. Things all found beautiful, and things only a select few favored.

  Coulter stopped at a door, opening it and gesturing inside. “The master is inside. He likes to introduce himself. Please be as polite as you can, and enjoy your meal.” Coulter bowed shallowly and excused himself, returning back from where they came from. Enoch looked after him only for a moment, only now realizing a nascent connection he’d formed to the otter-man.

  “Well, time to meet another new-person.” Enoch walked into the room, trying to appear confident.