Profile MYO-LOCK-230: Madeira

Madeira first opened her eyes in a beautiful garden. The sky overhead was sunny and clear, and there was a man standing nearby eagerly waiting for her to finish adjusting.

His name was Malthus, and he gave her clothing and a name - Madeira. "It's the name of an island where a type of blueberry is grown," he told her. "Your charm reminds me of it."

Malthus taught her about the world. He believed cooking, and food, were the most important things in the world, and taught these beliefs to her. As she learned to cook, her skill improved more and more over time, to Malthus' delight.

Several years into her life, he made a second shell, and Mauritius inhabited it.

While Mauritius was an adequate cook in his own right, he was more than happy to just eat what Madeira and Malthus prepared, and seemed unbothered by almost any issue that ever occurred. Madeira became close to him over the following years, treating him like a younger brother.

Eventually, though, Malthus decided to add another lockette... and this one did not turn out as planned.

[NAME] had a strange skeletal tail, and disliked food. It did not nourish them the ways it did Madeira and Mauritius.

Malthus seemed deeply troubled by them, but instructed Madeira and Mauritius to allow them to consume some of their saura so they would not perish.

Despite this, Malthus did insist on teaching them about food and cooking the same way he had Madeira and Mauritius. They had no gift or interest in it, and struggled - wanting to please their creator and caretaker, but also wishing there was anything else they could do or learn.

This state of affairs lasted until around the time Madeira hit sixty. Abruptly, something changed - Malthus appeared with something they had never seen before, a car, and piled them and some of their possessions inside of it. He answered no questions, other than that they were going to somewhere called "Key".

At Key, he dropped them off at a place called Kagiana Academy, and left with no further explanation.

Madeira struggled with the sudden abandonment, and with experiencing an unfamiliar world. Food was not everything here - crystals were used as currency, not food. There were dozens and dozens of other life skills - and worst of all, things could decay here. (When she later learned about spheres, she began to realize that Malthus' home had likely been a separate sphere.

With time, though, she managed to learn enough to function on her own. She saved enough working as a high end chef at some restaurants in Key that she was able to purchase a building in Heart Hollow to turn into her own diner. She hired Mauritius and [NAME] to ensure they both would have jobs and security, as she sees herself as responsible for their wellbeing as the oldest "sibling".

Despite regular issues with [NAME], they've been able to invest her profits well enough that she is expecting to soon be able to open a second, fancier restaurant in one of the more expensive districts.