Chapter 2: A Crescendo of Curiosity
There she stood. Golden hair that shined like the sun itself. Amethyst eyes that sparkled with kindness and innocence. And slender form with curves in all the right places. She was beautifully picturesque, someone worthy and matching of the Gods' beauty and radiance. We lived in a kingdom based upon the sun. The sun's design was printed on the stones in the center of the town. It was symbol we all treasured dearly, and it was our signature logo of sorts. This girl entranced me so much I couldn't look away. I was dreamily staring at her, admiring her every movement. I wished I knew what her voice sounded like. I wished we could be friends. I wished many other things that seemed forbidden in this time and age. I found myself zoning out and eventually thinking about nothing, that is, until reality decided to hit me with a 5 ton load of bricks. Remembering what I was thinking was wrong. I resisted to think about them again. I had to keep telling myself that it was a sin. I would never do that to her and she probably would never do that to me.
But, as I had been brought back into my character with reality, I noticed that she was shyly looking back at me with a blush softly staining her cheeks. She was too cute, I decided.
The only thing that was related to the moon in our kingdom was the palace I lived in. It was called, 'Palais de la Lune Bleu." In English that's, "Palace of the Blue Moon." I hadn't a clue why it was named in French, but, I always thought it sounded better that way. More fluid and beautiful. And like all things, there is a story behind why this came to be, but, that is a story for another time. Nonetheless, I silently waved to the girl and she giggled, waving back. I sighed contently. This was going to go much further than saying hello, I would make sure of it.
"Are you sure this will work?" Spoke my mother inside the room she was in with the doctor.
"It has to." He firmly stated. "It's fool proof."
"And it's the last thing we've got, isn't it?" The doctor sighed heavily as Mrs. Himemiya's eyes became downcast in a color, in a shade of darker blue.
"If this doesn't work, I don't know what to do..." He sighed again, rubbing his temples from the constant stress and anxiety. Then, he looked to my mother and smiled softly, almost reassuringly. "But, I'll do my best." She only returned the gesture.
MEANWHILE...
"So Himeko! I heard you have a secret admirer." Himeko blushed brighter than any healthy rose in bloom. This was spoke by one of her best friends named Makoto, whom she sweetly called Mako-chan.
"That's... that's..." Her high pitched voice permeated the air sharply as she tried to deny whatever essences of liking someone she was giving off.
"Don't lie Himeko! It's written all over your face. So, come on, tell me already, who's the lucky guy? Do I know him? Is he cute?" She bombarded the shy blonde with questions, wanting to know all the details. Himeko twiddled with her fingers and remembered the encounter she had had today with a boy named Souma. They had been childhood friends, but, recently, he confessed his love to her and she found him attractive, but didn't know what to do exactly. So she only answered as honestly as she could.
"Y-yeah." She giggled a bit and her blush brightened to that of a crimson color. At this time, Makoto found it well enough to excitedly jump up and down and proceed to tightly hug Himeko. This, only caused Himeko to become close to fainting from the amount of color in her face. Makoto's laughter could be heard halfway down the street.
"You like him! I knew it! Oh Himeko! You two have to get together, it'll be so cute! It's like a match made in heaven. And I think I hear wedding bells!" Makoto was so energetic, Himeko couldn't help but laugh at her friend's enthusiasm.
"Mako-chan, calm down." She playfully tugged at her friend's arm, giggling while doing so.
"Alright fine. But, seriously, Himeko, take a chance for one and go for it!" Makoto encouraged the shy blonde to pursue her obvious crush. What Makoto and even Himeko didn't know at the time is that it would shatter the hierarchy of society itself.
MEANWHILE AGAIN...
"Good news Chikane!" My mother said happily as she walked the streets with me. For a royal queen, she didn't have much composure. "We're finally going to get you a voice. Everything will be alright, I promise, you'll see." She smiled, brushing my hair a little with her hand. Although I would never outwardly express my boredom with this whole concept, I would most certainly think it inwardly. Eventually we'd made it back to our palace, a good time for me to relax just before the kitchen workers served us dinner. Before and after every meal, I was sure to thank to personally thank all of the servers and chefs themselves for a delicious meal, it's just who I was. Even, my personal assistant, named Otoha, would get a thank you from me whenever she did or offered to do something for me. I'd help the workers of the palace if I could but, my parents will not permit it. They cannot stress enough the point that I am of royal heritage and bloodline and that I was not to ever be concerned or involved with the peasants and their personal lives or work. That always did bother me a little bit.
"I think that was delicious, what about you Chikane?" My father's booming voice bellowed to me in question and for a second, I could have sworn I felt the whole room shake. I simply nodded my head in agreement, it was tasty. My parents, feeling a little lovey, joined hands and smiled at each other, holding their deeply locked eye contact. It was at this time that I excused myself from the table in the dining hall and walked into the hallway with the staircase that was needed to reach my bedroom. But, suddenly, I noticed something peculiar. There were another flight of stairs that led down to a lower level, down to a room, from as far as I could see, was pitch black with absolutely nothing visible. The room itself was submerged in darkness. Even though I've never explored this part of the palace before... it did engage my curiosity...
Quietly stepping as if there were traps set everywhere, I made my way into the black room, my eyes seeming to fade into blindness as the darkness of this location covered its bleak curtain over my eyes, acting like a film to them in a way, and that, only opened my mind more to this curiosity I had found with this place. Though some may say I moved elegantly when I walked, this time that may be false. As I continued to stealthily step further in, my footsteps now making a small pit-patter noise that echoed, my guard was up, one can never be too sure of what lurks in the crevices and the depths of the darkness itself. And that is one reason I loved night; Shrouded in such mystery is the night sky and everything below it is wrapped in its warm blanket until the sun rise in the morrow.
'What is this place?' I thought continuing to step further into this dark room. Suddenly, my foot stepped on something. Failing to notice that it did, I went to take my next step and my feet clumsily got caught together, thus they tripped over one another and in result, caused me to fall forward. But, the fall forward with my arms out was just enough for my finger to hit a switch on the far wall I was approaching setting off a candle, which lit the other ones in sequence. It was light enough now for me to see. Of course I fell straight on my butt, but, the luck of that fall was like a heaven sent blessing. That was all I needed. My eyes had closed tight from the impact but, as they fluttered open, questioningly, I saw the candlelight in the room shining brightly, the fires giving my eyes a purpose. I rose to my feet in disbelief. Thought it was a bit old from the years of not cleaning it, dust had collected of course, it still looked as if it had basically just been built. Before me was a spacious room with a pair of soft soled shoes right beside me. My midnight blue eyes blinked in amazement; A dance studio.
[END OF CHAPTER 2.]
