Prologue: Hello? Can You Help Me?
The failure was sent away, back to his home.
So many fools, unable to solve a single riddle...
I am no better, aren't I?
All that magic lost.
The next one must succeed.
If I can find another...
If there is indeed anyone who can help me...
As the final piece to puzzle slid into place and the picture was formed, the young woman carefully leaned back in the broken chair to gleefully admire her accomplishment before she hid it once again under her makeup chest. She began to choke herself with the powder puff, spreading the dust into her hair in a feverish attempt to make her face presentable before anyone saw fit to barge in.
This is the last one.
It must be this one...
Was that her name?
Never mind her name, what I need to know is if she can help...
Her face once again returned to its natural state and all pretense thrown to the wind, she began the puzzle again by the light of a single candle. Deft hands sliding each piece in a manner that only makes sense to one person, the puzzle formed more quickly this time.
She...
She...
I must bring her to my study at once...
A cross between a headache and muscle cramp
She opened her eyes to an aching back and a dusty hallway. Panicked. An effect from not taking her medicine? This couldn't be a dream. She never fell asleep when solving puzzles, and she never realized she was dreaming when it happened. Someone had kidnapped her...somehow... and taken her to this place.
And left her in a hallway.
How dare they?
A torn sheet of paper lay on the floor by her arm, and she picked it up to see that it was blank. But only temporarily so, because words began to appear on it before she dropped it like a venomous snake.
Hello? Can you help me?
Because you may be my last chance for freedom.