Prologue:
Soft, gentle rain pattered down onto the magnificent land of the Pi'illo kingdom. From the westernmost ends of Wake Isle, to the eastern stretches of Somnom Woods, to the northern point of Mount Pajamaja, and even to the southern land of Mushrise Fields, the island was beautiful even in the midst of a storm. The Pi'illo people were shut away in their homes, some fast sleep and others watching the rain from their windows.
From the highest balcony of the Pi'illo castle, the queen gazed from the closed glass door of her bedroom. She stood calmly, clothed in soft, royal purple drapes which were showered with a warm glow from the fireplace's fiery embers. Through all the rain and lightning, she could see the soft cape of stars up above, gleaming lightly in the dark night sky. Colors danced upon her beautiful figure –the white of lightning, the deep orange of the fire, the deep blues and blacks of shadows here and there.
She held a bundle carefully in her arms, and bounced softly in a gentle rhythm. Her voice eased past her closed lips in a hum of a lullaby. Her eyes flickered down and she smiled softly as the little bundle of blankets twisted around just slightly. She brushed the fabric away, revealing the sweet, sleepy face of the baby boy held tightly against her. The Pi'illo infant gave a yawn and snuggled back into the comfortable hold of his mother.
Queen Luna smiled, her heart swollen with the overwhelming amount of love within her.
The creak of a door tore her attention from her son. The queen turned and was welcome with the sight of her love slipping quietly into their bedroom. The Pi'illo king silently closed the door and made his way over. His deep red tunic glowed against the fire's orange haze. He approached her and gave her a soft kiss before his eyes landed onto his son.
"The storm does not bother him?" the king murmured while his wife passed the baby to him.
Queen Luna shook her head, amusement in her expression. "He sleeps right through it. A deep sleeper –much like you, Helios."
The two of them shared a brief chuckle. King Helios returned his attention to his son, gazing at him carefully. "Ah, yes. He does take a lot after me."
"That he does," the Pi'illo queen placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, a loving smile upon her lips. "And like you, he will make a fine king one day."
For a long moment, the king and queen relished in the presence of each other. They stood quietly before the storm, watching it, and watching their beloved son sleep. The little prince had become the center of their world the moment he was born. He was to be their first and only child, but one which both parents knew was destined for greatness. Not only because he was destined for the throne, but because they strived to raise him to be a great, caring person as much as a great, caring king. That was who they wished their prince to be.
Caring, responsible, sweet Prince Dreambert.
Such musings, however, were abruptly ripped from their thoughts when a Pi'illo guard burst open their door. The guard stared guiltily after seeing he'd startled his rulers, but that guilt was quickly replaced by nervousness and fear, "Your Highnesses. I deeply apologize for such a rude interruption, but I come with poor news!"
The Pi'illo king cautiously passed his sleeping son to the queen and then faced the guard, worried. "And what poor news do you come with?"
"There are… guests at the castle gate, my king," the guard said. He hesitated only briefly before adding with a troubled voice, "They claim to be of the Tribe of Ancients, sire."
"The Tribe of Ancients?" Queen Luna gasped softly. She held her son just a little tighter.
King Helios grew stiff and his eyes became hard, "Why are they here?"
"I know not, sire. Only that they wish to speak to you."
The king took a moment to think and then turned to the queen. "Stay here, love. Keep Dreambert safe."
"I shall…" she reached out, and the king took her hand in his briefly. "Be careful, Helios."
The king squeezed her hand, and then left the bedroom with the guard in tow. There were four mysterious figures awaiting King Helios when he approached the main doors. Their tall forms were shrouded in multi-colored robes and the air seemed to shiver in their luminescent presence. Water rolled off of their doused clothing in little drops that somehow seemed to make the loudest noises against the stone floor as Helios came closer.
"Who are you?" the king said, his voice loud and bold as it always was when Helios intended to make his power known. "Why have you come to us?"
The people looked to one another for the barest of a moment, and then they each uncovered their faces from the wet garments. The first was an ancient man in green, with slight creases in his face and a long mustache that covered his lip. The second was a woman whose charming air seemed to waft around, her soft purple clothes tight against her slim figure.
Next to her, another man stood with bright green robes, looking just a bit younger but no less ancient. The very last, and one which Helios's attention was mostly on, was a woman whose beauty seemed to lighten the entire castle. Her deep blue gown flowed and her hair stretched out in soft curls behind her. Her sparkling eyes were burdened with hints of unease and in her arms was a bundle of deep violet cloth.
The Pi'illo king gazed at each of them and then he gradually grew still as he came to recognize the four mysterious faces before him. He looked between each of them –the four sages. The founding members of the Tribe of Ancients. Each possessing knowledge and power that no other but themselves would come to truly know.
"Forgive us for the intrusion, great Pi'illo king," the woman in purple spoke. "I am Merlimbis, and before you are my fellow sages –Merlight, Merloo, and Merlumina. We come with hope that you will grace us with understanding and acceptance."
"Acceptance?" The king repeated, "And what is it that you are wanting me to accept? Speak wisely, ancients, as I and my predecessors have made it clear that the Pi'illo Kingdom is not to be involved with foreign conflict."
"And such a claim has been heeded, dear king," Merlight spoke, "But certain circumstances have given us no choice but to come to your people for help…"
"We will not assist you with anything pertaining to conspiring against the Tribe of Darkness." King Helios stated firmly, almost angrily, "That, I am afraid, is a war that shall remain between your people. Not mine."
The ancient sages looked at each other. Each of them seemed deeply troubled, stiff with an unseen weight bearing down upon their old shoulders. It was Merloo who came forward, his voice filled with earnest desperation, "Oh great king, we realize and respect such a request. What we are asking of you should not bring our troubles to your kingdom. At least, as long as you retain your isolation from the Tribes…"
A roll of thunder roared up above. The force of it had the castle subtly trembling, and lighting flashed viciously moments after.
The bundle in Merlumina's arms wailed.
The sage tried, desperately, to sooth the cries but the baby in her arms remained restless and afraid. King Helios's eyes went wide. "You brought a child?"
Merlumina came forward, and before he knew it, the Pi'illo king had a crying child in his own arms. He fumbled, surprised, and the sages began to back away. Merlumina mumbled nervously while she settled the baby in his arms, "Oh please, King Helios, take him! He was left abandoned in the midst of a quarrel between our tribes! We cannot keep him, but we cannot afford to let them take him back! Please, please…"
"Merlumina! I simply cannot take a child away from his home!" Helios protested, "What of his parents? His family? Are you going to deny him that?"
The sages turned back to the Pi'illo king. Merlight was the one to answer, his eyes set in a morbid determination as he nodded, "We will, if it brings an end to the Tribe of Darkness."
King Helios was struck speechless.
The sages gathered together, and each of them gave him a solemn nod to the startled Pi'illo king, who was only able to speak again when he recognized the mystic movements of Merloo. "Wait!"
"Farewell, King Helios…"
The king rushed forward, but the ancient sages were gone, and Helios was left alone with a frightened baby and a raging storm outside the open castle doors. He sighed deeply and looked down at the little one whom had been given to him despite his protests. Gently, he pulled away the dark purple fabric covering the child's face.
Bright, yellow eyes blinked back up at him.
It took only a few moments for the king to see the dark fur, the teeth, and little claws to piece together what he had been given. The Pi'illo king sucked in a sharp breath and stared at the dark child who had gone silent as he, too, examined King Helios. The baby uttered a curious purr and his little hand reached up to touch at the king's face.
"Dear Grambi…"
King Helios did the first thing that came to mind. He ran.
He ran as the rain pelted down into his royal red clothes. He ran even as the child began to whine and cry from the cold, wet rain and the loud, cracking thunder. He ran even as Helios began to tire and his body ached in protest. He ran until the rain began to cease from beneath the ancient, tall trees of Somnom Woods. The bioluminescence made the forest glow with an eerie beauty that remained unmatched by anything else. Creatures of the forest rustled around, disturbed by the king's rushed arrival and the rumbles from up above.
The Pi'illo masters erupted from the temple as the king ventured towards it. Their white fabric gleamed from the forest's magnificent glow. They gathered, nervous at the sight of their king cold and wet and afraid.
"Your Highness!" one of the masters exclaimed, "What brings you into the forest in such a fret?"
Helios hardly had the breath to speak. He muttered undecipherable nonsense, and could do nothing else than to shove the wet bundle into the arms of one of the masters. "Take it! Take it, take it…"
"A child," the master gasped, looking at his king with disbelieving eyes, "My king, how…?"
"The ancients forced it upon me!" the king nearly spat, composing himself. He stood up and stared at the baby, his bright golden eyes almost seeming to burn through him. "They came to me begging for help, and then they give me a child of their enemy tribe!"
The eldest master came forward, to calm his spastic king. The master holding the child looked down at it, and then at King Helios, "The sages? They brought this child to you?"
The Pi'illo king nodded, unable to look at the baby again, "They want to me accept it. To… take it in like my own. But I have a son! I cannot accept this… this child! I… I…"
"At ease, sire," the eldest master soothed the king down, facing him, "I understand how unsettling this… predicament may be, but it is important that we remain calm."
"I know not what to do, masters…" Helios sulked, "This child must go back… but to break our isolation means endangerment of our kingdom."
Bringing the child back meant that the peaceful truce between the Pi'illo Kingdom and the Tribe of Ancients would be shattered. Like glass, it as a delicate, delicate relationship, and one which could break with the smallest amounts of force.
"Your Majesty…" the master holding the child spoke. Helios was able to place a name on him –Noctous, bound to be the next eldest master. "What… do you wish for us to do?"
"Keep him here, for now," the king replied, with a lingering stare at those piercing yellow eyes, "Keep him here. No one outside of this forest, is to know that he is here."
The masters shuffled. Noctous struggled to keep the child calm, all while he stared wide-eyed at his king, "Sire, are you sure that this is wise?"
"That is an order, masters." Helios said firmly.
Hearing the hardness in his words, the Pi'illo masters were unable to say anything other than a nervous, "Yes, Your Highness…"
The child cried out suddenly. His clawed fingers poked out from the damp wrap of his purple fabric and reached out towards the Pi'illo king. His bright eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, filled with tints of fear, and yearning. He writhed, restless and undoubtly crying for the comfort of the king. The masters watched, stunned.
King Helios looked at the child crying for him.
Then, he turned away.
It was only when the king had finally returned to his queen anxiously awaiting him, did Helios only slightly begin to regret. He'd embraced his wife once he'd changed out of his wet royal wear, and he'd said a fleeting goodnight to his sleeping son in his crib. He'd just managed to settle into the comfort of their bed, when Luna reached out for him and whispered, "Why did they come, Helios?"
It took a long time for him to respond, "For the same reasons. They wanted our help."
"And what did you say?"
"That, once again, I would not endanger our people by being involved with the Tribes." Helios had mumbled. "They did not argue."
"Mm," Luna's eyes sparkled brighter than any star that Helios had ever seen, "And so, we have nothing to fear?"
"No, my love…" the king pulled his queen closer to him, staring at nothing while he'd whispered in her hair, "Nothing at all…"
And as the storm outside finally became silent, the storm inside the king only continued to rage.
This is an almost finished story. I've got a few chapters already written and ready to go, but I wanted to see how this type of story is taken before I continue on. Please, if you want to see more, don't hesitate to drop a review and tell me what you thought! This is as much of a "prequel" to The Nightmare Curse as much as it is a standalone that gives a better background for M&L: Dream Team. (And yes, I'm working on The Nightmare Curse as well, it's a slow process but I have not abandoned it.)
Don't be afraid to give me feedback! I love it! :)