Land of Legends and Secrets …

Prologue

AN: Hey Everyone! My deepest apologies but my computer went haywire and I'll have to take it to a computer technician … right during the Christmas break! Good luck me in finding someone during that time! So yeah, all my files are in my busted computer and so are the next chapters for my other stories I am currently borrowing my mum's computer and because I can't wait until I get my PC sorted, I'm using hers to write this new story. Yes, I know, I should not start yet another story but blame it on the damn virus that attacked my computer! For now … just enjoy this until I get back to my other fics! And tell me if you like it and whether it's worth continuing! Cheers and good job everyone in surviving 2012! Guess Scottie did not kill everyone after all! Yet :p (reference to my other fic "What it means to be a Big Brother")

The man in white glided elegantly down one of the many halls of the castle. And what a castle! With over 100 bedrooms, 20 kitchens (scattered all over the castle and some from which emanated suspicious smells), 33 bathrooms and toilettes (without counting the 67 en suite ones of the 67 rooms out of 100), 24 offices or studies (some of which having recently been modernised or turned into high-tech computing rooms), 3 large living rooms (the largest located on the first floor as to welcome guests … assuming they ever got guests), 11 dining rooms (three of them banned or exclusive to certain … people), halls and corridors of all sizes and all shapes (some even upside down or sideways and some would make you feel seasick … if you're lucky. Some might just opt to drop you down into one of the many cellars and dungeons … or the attics but then you'd be sent upwards. Unless you already were upside down … Are you getting confused yet?), and an unaccountable number of other rooms with various purposes or functions … if any. Some of those rooms might just exist for the sole sake of being! And some might just vanish only to reappear several centuries later out of boredom. Yes, because rooms can get bored. Oh, and try not to get swallowed by the wine red warm carpet that covers every inch of floor in the castle (the colour might change in some rooms depending of their moods).

Paintings and carvings ornament almost every wall and ceiling of the castle (some even have gold or precious stone additions to the decoration). Some paintings large and some small, some empty and some overly present, some sealed and some you just can't get rid of! The carvings are such that it feels they might jump out of their stone frame and attack you. I say 'attack' because most of them are of strange creatures who seem to watch you, preying on the moment you look away to snatch you. This also applies to the many statues roaming the fort. Armours and statues line up in various places of the castle, and sometimes decide to move to the room next door. It can be quite a noisy procession at times. Only two statues never move or emit a sound. The two only statues that stand proudly in the grand hall of the ground floor:

One is a woman, beautiful but fierce. She could be mistaken as the personification of War or even more so, of Victory as she holds her head high and proud, looking down upon any enemy. Spear in one hand, shield in the other, sword at her waist, axe held in her back, only her head remains free from her armoured up body. Thus proudly exhibiting the gorgeous face, carefully sculpted, of this fierce warrior. And what a beauty she is! Her grace could rival that of Aphrodite, her hair tied in multiple braids that fly around her like an insane fire. Only the intense colour of is missing to the cream white of the stone, toning down her fiery aura. Facing her, a taller and broader figure of a man. Cloaked down to his ankles, allowing only a large staff to be seen from under his cloak, he seems to be leaning forward on his magical stick incrusted with strange symbols. Shoulders forward, and head held low, unlike the woman, hooded and hidden with only his eyes showing. Celtic carvings ornament the lines of the cloak up to the large hood. Despite the simplicity of the man's clothing, expensive rings and bracelets are carved on his large strong hands. The complete opposite of the woman, yet he gives out the same imposing feeling of power, knowledge and strength. The two are gazing in each other's eyes that are made out of precious stones. The woman's intense emeralds meet the deep sapphires of the man and the electrifying tensions and emotions between the two has been carefully studied by the artist as he carved their expressions. If individually they seem imposing, together the two are simply terrifyingly dangerous yet … yet … the respect for one another manages to leak out from all the fire.

Further up the grand hall, in which chandeliers of coloured crystals chime gently from the carved ceiling, said carvings deploying mythological scenes or strange and unknown stories forgotten by modern times, past the large stairs (assuming the stairs deigned not move around at random), far up in the eastern corner of the hall, a large blue door stands quietly. Of course, you would expect any normal door to obviously remain quiet. But not here. Not in this castle. Here, the doors are chit chatty and always like to mess around, changing their colours or their numbers, laughing and teasing you. In contrast, a silent door like this one is just unimaginable. But this blue door never speaks a word, firmly locked and sealed away with a lock made of crystal. And nobody is foolish enough to unlock it. Why so? Because some things are best kept locked away and forgotten. Legends and secrets can ever be so if one never unlocks the truth. Because sometimes … the truth can be painfully … real.

The man in white glided elegantly down one of the many halls of the castle. He froze as he heard the doorbell. A large toothy grin stretched his pale lips, his red eyes shimmering of delight as he snapped his gloved white fingers. The house seemed to suddenly come to life as chatter and hurried noises invaded the castle. Fires arose in the very many chimneys, chimes and metallic clashes could be heard from the kitchens, water flowed down the intricate plumbing system like it hadn't for months, ushered voices and moving furniture resonated from the rooms, floating candles appeared out of thin air and chandeliers and colourful electric lights lit up the house almost to blind it, freshly prepared, warm food appeared on the shining silvers of the most luxurious dining room of the castle. All the while, as the castle prepared itself, the man skipped down the halls and corridors, undisturbed as some vanished under his step leaving him to walk down through thin air as he reached for the large strong wooden doors of the castle. Large doors made of oak tree, polished to a perfect shine but old beyond time itself, with large golden rings serving as handles. Big large golden rings … of 20 centimetres of diameter, three inches thick and made out of 100% pure gold. The doors were so large and heavy it would take at least two elephants to budge them. The man's grin never faltered, perfect white teeth all out, his silvery hair combed back elegantly on his scalp, dressed entirely in white as he dusted away a speck of dust from his butler's suit. His polished white shoes resonated with every step he made with a skipping sound that was surprising to hear since the floor was covered in soft red carpeting. He drew out his golden pocket watch, eyed the three arrows of clock and his smile widened as he noticed one of the arrows had landed on the last number of the watch … 13. His red eyes gleamed as he pocketed his watch away and snapped his fingers, silently ordering the castle to quiet down. And it did. Not a sound could be heard as the man finally stopped in front of the large doors.

"Late, late, late … I'm late …" the man hummed in amusement before snapping his fingers, motioning the doors to open. Late? Indeed he was. Due to the agitation and the sudden rush the castle underwent, his mistress had to wait outside in this snowy night for more than ... 0,00456 seconds. Indeed, quite late. The man shook his head in self scolding though his wide grin never faltered. He bowed respectfully as the imposing, unmovable doors slowly opened, creaking slightly from their old age.

Outside, the crystal white landscape of mountains and frozen lochs revealed itself, bordered by a surrounding forest that sealed the castle away from the curious eye, snow fairies and nymphs dancing among the falling snowflakes, four figures stood in the doorway. Two men and two women. They ushered words to each other until it was decided that only two would walk past the doors, leaving the remaining two to turn around and walk away in the storming snow. The man in white smiled charmingly at his mistress as he saw her walk in with her usual blue dress. Her beautiful golden hair was shorter than last time. It seems he would have to remedy this. Her expression was nothing like the first time he had seen her walk through those doors … so many years ago …

The man in white glided elegantly down one of the many halls of the castle. And what a castle!

…

He frowned slightly at the sudden knocks on the doors. Outside a blizzard howled in anger. Had his masters changed their minds? He snapped his pale fingers and the house suddenly came to life buzzing in preparation for the newcomers.

…

The man glanced at his golden disc, its 13 numbers diligently in place, three arrows spinning like an insane compass. One of them stopped on the only number that isn't a number. His golden panel indeed has 13 number plus one! Plus one zero. A number that isn't one. And all three arrows froze altogether on that single fake number. Red eyes blazed in sudden worry and he accelerated his steps towards the awaiting doors.

…

He wasn't late. In fact, you could say he was in advance as he managed to stroll faster than time and snapped his finger before the first knock could hit the doors.

…

Four figures stood in the icy storm, shivering and with grim faces. Well, not quite. One face wasn't grim. It was … resolute and strong. The man narrowed his eyes on the four. Only four. He didn't ask; however. That would unqualified for a servant to question his masters. Bowing low, he watched them all walk in, huddled together from the cold. Two remained drawn back, watching the girl in blue as she looked around the place, her wide emerald eyes growing curious by every second. The fourth, tallest of them all, held her protectively by her shoulders, keeping her covered in a dark brown fur (probably deer skin), his own emerald eyes narrowing on the man in white. The servant nodded, acknowledging the silent order and hurriedly guided them to the rich dining room where warmth and food awaited the four. With every one of his bouncy steps, the man in white would glance at the blond girl and her blue dress … or was it a tunic? She was lovely no matter the wear. Lovely indeed … but so sad. Her eyes were curious but strangely empty and lacking their past light. She kept close to the taller man holding her. Occasionally whispering to him and he would force a smile on his grim face whenever she did.

The man in white seated them and finally allowed himself to address them:

"Is the meal to your liking Masters?"

A dismissive nod of the red hair answered, the other two remained silent as if brooding over some rather dark thought and the white butler could only wonder just how bad those thoughts were. He earned a small smile from the small girl in blue, her hair long and braided, eyes shying away yet constantly shooting curious glances at him. He leaned in closer, sweet smile on his lips but careful not to anger the watching pairs of emeralds of the other three, and whispered softly in the girl's ear.

"My Lady … What a delight to meet you. May I enquire on your name?"

She frowned slightly, unsure but her expression suddenly changed as a smirk greeted her lips, teasing and downright annoying. She tilted her head sideways, motioned him closer.

"I'm no lady, bunny."

The man frowned at the odd answer but didn't question seeing the knowing smile of his new mistress. What an interesting lady. Quite.

The butler smiled at the memory his eyes never leaving the two figures calmly eating their meal.

"Is the meal to your liking, Masters?"

Again the dismissive nod of the red haired man but his grim expression was long gone. It seemed like they were both simply moving out of habit. Although …

"Always a delight to see you my Lady." The man in white whispered tauntingly at the blond woman. She paused her meal and a smirk grew on her face.

"I'm no lady, bunny."

The man smiled back, his growing shadow wobbling gently in the dim candle light. Indeed, his mistress could be quite mischievous. Ah … but she is indeed no ordinary lady. Who would be when …

"May I enquire on the length of your stay?"

"I'll be leaving in a few days" the man replied, his eyes settling down on the woman, caring and enquiring. She smiled, caressed his hand as if to convince her that she would be fine without him. Her smile grew ever wider but her eyes ever emptier.

"The usual, bunny. The usual." Came her soft reply before she sipped her tea.

…

Indeed. Who could ever be an ordinary lady …

…

"As you wish, My Lady."

…

… In a world of constant wonder?