(Play: Vale of Tears.)

"Hmmm, full of questions, aren't we? For why I am telling you this, it is because I believe that I can help you."

"How so?"

The strange cat ignores your questions as it pads closer, and instead, he inquires. "At this very moment, what is it that you want?"

Taken back on the abruptness of the question, you stop all things to think. You then answer, "Well, to get back to London. Nothing here just seems to make sense."

"And at London it does?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you wish to leave?"

"Well, yes!"

"Then I will ask you again. What is it that you want?" He waits patiently as you fully process his question, and soon you understand.

"I want to know," you state with certainty.

The cats smile grows (if possible, it was already impossibly wide) at your revelation, but he continues to prod at you. "Know what?"

"Know everything. Know about my past, present, and if possible, my future. I want to know about this place too, and what makes it so strange." You frown. "But while doing so I will be helpless, lacking both the power of knowledge and physical strength."

The cat purrs at you and says, "Negative thoughts are a waste of precious energy, so let us turn those negatives into positives one by one. I can help you find what you truly seek, and the latter problem I can help you personally…. But to gain power there is always a sacrifice to be made."

You bite your lip slightly, "To be expected, I suppose. What is the sacrifice?"

The odd creature chuckles darkly. "If I told you, it would take all of the fun out of it," he responds, putting an emphasis on the word fun. "All will be revealed through time."

You scowl, but decide to leave it and go on to something else. "You have yet to answer my earlier question cat. What does that poem mean?"

He regards you with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "If I told you everything, and then sent you on your way, it would be like asking you to catch a star and then slice it in half."

The confusion is back. "I believe you that you have it backwards. If you refuse to tell me, then you will be sending me in blind."

The cat suddenly brakes out laughing. "I am afraid that telling you, would make no difference concerning you blindness."

You shake your head in frustration and say, "Are you mad, make some sense for once!"

His grin drops from his face and you unconsciously take a step back. He just didn't look right without that amused smile… in fact, he looked almost intimidating without it. "You will not find a single person in this place that can make sense, for, you see, we are all mad here."

"But didn't you say that you would help me make sense of this place?"

"I said that I would help you find knowledge and gain strength," he corrects.

You stay silent for a moment, contemplating this new development.

([If you have not done page 39, then go to it.] You once again turn your attention to him. "Cat… if you are a cat indeed… Just who are you?")

([If you have already done page 39, then go to page 41.])