The Requiem
About ten years ago in the glorious halls of Hollow Bastion, a little girl of about four was meandering along by herself. Her soft footsteps echoed loudly on the tile.
The castle was deserted.
Amber light filtered in through the library windows. She glanced up at the dust particles highlighted from the windows and smiled. Every now and then she took a swipe at them, just to see the dust swirl about in chaos.
The child stood in front of one of the windows and looked at her shadow. She raised her right arm. It raised its left arm. She waved. It waved. She shook her head. It shook its head. She laughed. It did nothing. Her shadow disappeared as she walked away from the window towards the sky scraping bookshelves.
She picked out one of the books and opened it. The words were nothing to her; merely symbols on a page. Shutting it, she went deeper into the labyrinth and placed it on another shelf. Something heavy dragged itself across the carpeted floor. She turned sharply.
It was only a bookshelf.
Going on her merry way, the girl picked out more random books and put them in random places just to see the shelves move. She giggled despite the encroaching feeling of loneliness.
She walked from the library to the entrance hall. Looking down on the first floor from behind the fountain, her lips formed a pout when no one was to be found.
The girl fingered one of her pigtails, loose brown ringlets with green ribbons in her hair. They flounced a little with every step she made down the right set of curving stairs. Step. Step. Step.
Sniffling, she wiped her nose and tried not to cry. She felt so lost without her mother. So lost, in fact, that she missed the last step and fell. Right into the strong arms of King Ansem.
She beamed as he picked her up. "Fankoo King Ansem!" she squealed, kissing his tan left cheek in gratitude. He gave a small smile and brushed a little curl out of her face. His white gloves were soft against her pale forehead.
"You are quite welcome, my dear," he replied in his deep voice. "But what is one as young as you are wandering about by yourself?" Her large, turquoise eyes averted their gaze to the floor sadly. "I'm lost," she murmured.
King Ansem began to walk slowly to the grand doors. "Well then," he said. "Let's see what we can do to find your mother." The little girl's face brightened. "Weally?" she inquired, her sadness vanishing instantaneously. His smile widened slightly. "Yes, of course my dear. It's just…" His voice trailed off.
"Just what?" she asked curiously. King Ansem pushed open the heavy doors with his free side, letting the warm, golden twilight enter the dim room. She raised a hand to cover her unadjusted, squinting eyes. The sky looked like it had been painted. Oranges, pinks, burnt blues, plums, purples; all of these colors brightened the clouds.
"It's just that I have to finish some work, and I think that you are just the person to help me," he told her. With her other hand, she tapped her lips with a finger, thinking. "Ooh!" she squealed, having been just struck by an idea. "Wha-if I helped you firfst, fen we went to find Mommy?"
King Ansem's face lit up. "Why, that's a prefect idea!" He set her down on her own two feet and held her tiny left hand with his monstrous right one. "Now come with me. I have a secret place where I work."
"Why is it secret?" she asked. He responded, "So no one will steal anything." She tugged on his hand. "Whattya do?" King Ansem began to push the doors closed. "It has something to do with the dark."
She bit her lip. "I don't like the dark!" she moaned squeamishly. He smiled. "Now, my dear, I think after you help me you'll like the dark a lot better." The last she ever saw of Hollow Bastion was that trickling fountain.