"I wonder… What life was like before..."

"Child! Where are you heading to?"

"It is fine. I want to check something". A cyan haired girl with blue eyes to match was running up the masses of stairs of her luxurious home. Well, it wasn't really her home. The girl was staying with a relative whilst her parents went away on business trips. It was ordinary, them being successful merchants. Because of that, she was staying with her aunty until their return.

The young child's elder had warned her against going up those stairs to the 'forbidden room'.

"I can say it's like 'Beauty and the Beast'. You are not allowed to go into that room no matter what understand?" "But didn't Belle find something inside that room?" the child asked her aunty.

"She did. Something terrible". But after staying in the home for a while, her curiosity grew. Each day whilst she passed those stairs, she would stare long and hard with child-like wonder; wanting to know what her aunty was hiding from her.

"Child, for you own sake you better must not be going up those stairs!" her aunty warned her. There was no reply. The young girl was skipping up the stairs. Well, not skipping. It was much more like running. She desperately wanted to see what was inside the 'forbidden room' as well as staying away from her aunty. The elder woman spoke again.

"Child, for you own sake you better must not be going up those stairs! Do you defend the weather?" Still no reply. The woman proceeded to walk up to the spiralling staircase, only to see her niece standing right at the top. If she were not squinting, she would not have been able to see her blowing raspberries at her. "It is too late for that aunty! I'll tell you what I see, I can promise you!" And with that, the child left.

She walked towards the polished oak door and with a great amount of energy; she managed to push the door open. From her expression, it would not take a dunce to realise that she was most displeased. From reading Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve's 'Beauty and the Beast', she had expected to see a falling rose with an eerie scene of pitch black walls and blood coloured curtains. Perhaps, maybe even a beast that would only be changed back to its original state with a kiss of true love. But the entire girl found was a library. A collection of probably her aunt's novels published scientific discoveries and possibly a few diaries. The girl closed the door and proceeded to walk deeper into the vast room.

"Was this all that aunty was hiding from me? Such a bore," she then lit the oil candle that she had brought along with her; expecting that the room would be pitch black and mysterious. Walking around the room, she came across several titles; some she had heard of ever since she was an infant, and some she guessed not even Louis Philippe I had even heard of. There were copies of plays such as 'As you like it' and 'Romeo and Juliet' by the famous William Shakespeare of England, 'Understanding and Deploying LDAP' and a thick hardback book simply labelled 'Science'. The girl plucked it out of the shell and took a look at it. "It must be one of auntie's books. What a boring life she must of lived". Completely losing interest in the book, the dropped it on the floor and continued to explore the library. She climbed higher and higher using the multitude of ladders at her disposal whilst hearing loud bangs and shouting which frightened her at first, but then realised that it must have been coming from outside the library. "The door is locked, aunty. You can't come inside," the child yelled in her loudest voice. This only caused the banging and shouting from outside the room to increase in volume. "T'occupe! Tu m'emmerdes, tu m'emmerdes!*" the child shouted again, mocking her elder.

After a while, the room began to bore her. All there was were books; none of which really interested her. She decided to sit down with Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains** and began to read. After reading a few pages, another book caught her eye. It was much more promising than all the other books she had found; it was a deep purple with blood red rims but very few pages. There was no title on the cover of the hardback, only the Roman numerals 'MMX'. Hiding it under her shirt, the girl progressed to leave her library with her oil candle. Although, it has just occurred to her mind that she would have to face her aunty and her wrath once she left the room. "I guess it does not matter. Any punishment I receive shall be well worth finding something of this much interest."

Eating her evening time meal proved most difficult to the girl and very tense too. After the left the library, the cyan haired child ran to her room to hide the book under her mattress; she would take a look at it later. After that, she went downstairs to the banquet hall to have her meal with her elder. The fact that a room capable of holding several dozen people was only filled with two made the scene more tensional.

The girl poked at her meat with her spoon, shuffling her feet on the floor with nervousness. The elder, in contrast, ate her food with great speed; most probably to get away from the child as soon as possible. The two remained like that for quite a while until…

"Child, what did you do in the library?" The woman asked. Perhaps if she didn't take the book…

"I was glancing at several books, none of which caught my appeal" the child responded. She was taught by her mother never to lie, as it was a grave sin that surly lead to Hell. But if she told her she took a book, she may face harsh punishment. The woman continued to eat as she asked more questions.

"Did you take any books?" the question threw the child off, making her drop her fork onto the floor, along with the small chunk of meat that was clung onto it. The elder stared at the child with questioning eyes. "Are you alright, Child?" "Oh. Yes I am. I am very sorry for my clumsiness. Your question threw me off what I was doing" with that she got of her chair and bent down to pick up her eating utensil. The latter began to laugh. "You always were the clumsy one, Child. Now, answer my question".

"Oh... Um, no. I did not take any books from the library" well, a little white lie can't not condemn me, can it?

The girl stared up to face her elder, worried she might not believe her lie. The elder smiled and spoke,

"Very well then. Now hurry off and go to bed, Child". The child nodded obediently and ran to her dormitory. At least her aunty let her go early; it would give her some time to look at that book.

The coarse woman walked along the same steps that the little girl had taken several hours ago, her black shoes not making a single sound to make sure the child would not wake up. She opened the door and lit her candle to give her light to see through the room. Still looking around hastily making sure she was not being followed, she climbed the various ladders leading to the top of the library. Checking through the books, she released a sigh of relief.

"I guess the Child was speaking the truth" she smiled and held the book close to her chest. For what she held was a diary close to her. Reading and writing in it made her feel like a little girl again; as that was when she started to write into the book once she had learnt to read and write. It contained her secrets, dreams, and ambitions. Some that had come true some had yet to come. Placing the book back into its spot, she climbed down and started to leave the room, not noticing that a space had been left empty on the book shelf; a space small enough to hold a small book.

This book is interesting, isn't it?

I don't understand a single word of this nonsense.

Don't be stupid, Child. Read on, you might find something you like…

The small girl was reading through the hardback whilst talking to someone. Not really existing, but more of her imaginaryfriend. As the daughter of a highly successful merchant, she did not have any time to socialise with her age mates. Instead, she created these friends whom she would talk with to prevent herself from boredom. Her mother once told her that creating such friends and talking to them is insanity, but the girl did not acknowledge the statement. The girl continued to flick through the pages.

I do not understand this book… I think it is better to discard of it

No… No no no. Read a little more. It will get interesting, I promise

But it is all just utter nonsense.

Then skip to half way through the book

Obediently, the girl flicked through. She thought it was weird her friend was arguing with her, but she wasn't in that state of mind to think about such things. Once at the middle of the book, she did find it interesting. There was a weird sort of language, one she had never heard of before.

Alice, what language is this?

It is English, if my seminars at Oxford University have payed off. Strangely enough, the girl managed to read the book, despite not knowing the English language. This scared her.

A few pages further, there was something that particularly caught her eye. She traced her fingers along the text, taking in every word. Read deeper, you shall find things you have always wanted to know. If the child was in a stable state of mind, she would have realised something was a tad off. She could have never created a friend that went to Oxford University, not argue with her; she did not even know what Oxford was. But, of course, the girl was not.

As if by magic, the words started to come to life, floating in the air around her. Possibly it was her mind playing tricks on her but at this point she was lost.

The dormitory started to crumble apart around her.

It doesn't matter. All I know is that I'm going to end this.

Authors Notes:

Ok, so this is more of a Chapter 0, a prologue. This is set in France but the later chapters will be set elsewhere, once I decide on the location. This is in 17th Century France, so my descriptions will look different to what they will look like in future chapters. Also, feel free to guess who the 'cyan haired child' is. There will be a free cookie for whoever gets it. ^-^

Notes:

*'T'occupe! Tu m'emmerdes, tu m'emmerdes' is a French term I learnt a little while ago. It means, "What is your problem! You're annoying me!" but literally it means "Mind your business! You're crapping on me!" It can be considered to be a vulgar, offensive term in French (especially main-land France), but some other people may think otherwise.

**Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains is French for 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Although originating in Germany, being called Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge, the story was very popular among Europe.