The Castelo do Mar is in ruins, and it has been for over a century. A castle by the sea, it had been the stronghold of the Peixes empire for years, until one queen ordered a larger and grander castle to be built. The Castelo do Mar was abandoned, and slowly fell into disrepair.
Aradia did not know any of this. All Aradia knew was that she had gone all the way across the meadow, with all the blades of grass that refused to bend under her weight and instead stabbed into her feet like thousands of tiny knives, to find a castle with nobody in it to help her. She finds a place clear of debris to sit down and rest for a bit. Her feet still sting, but the pain is fading fast. Soon she'll be able to start walking again.
Again, there is an empty feeling, like she should be feeling an emotion but isn't. If she were her normal self, what would she feel? Disappointed that she walked so far for nothing, maybe, but that seems so watered-down from the emotions she remembers. Aradia tries to feel angry, scrunching up her face and balling up her hands, but she feels nothing.
Her feet don't hurt as much anymore. She stands up to move on.
Just as she's at the castle's entry she sees someone on a horse in the distance. They're heading towards the ruined castle, so Aradia decides to stay and wait for them. This is what she wanted, right? A chance to try and talk to someone and find out if they could help her. So she stands by the wall and watches as the horse and rider come closer and closer.
When they reach the outskirts of the ruins, the rider jumps down and ties the horse to an broken old pillar. She's a girl, Aradia notices, a girl with long dark hair and copper-colored skin who looks to be around the same age as Aradia herself, carrying a golden double-pronged trident that contrasts sharply with her simple clothes. She looks familiar, but Aradia can't quite place where she's seen her before. While she's trying to remember, the girl straightens up and gives the horse a pat on the side, then walks towards the castle where Aradia waits.
"Hello," Aradia says. The girl doesn't notice. Aradia shouts it and the girl pauses and looks around. Just when Aradia thinks she's noticed her, she shrugs and walks past her.
Of course the girl wouldn't /see/ her, Aradia thinks as she follows her into the castle. She's invisible. The deer couldn't see her, so why would people?
She screams wordlessly, and the girl tenses, but doesn't stop. She speeds up, if anything. Aradia tries to keep up, but she steps on a sharp piece of rock and stumbles. The girl is already out of sight by the time she recovers, having gone around a corner.
When Aradia catches up to her, it's in a dank, round room with what looks like an old well in the center. The girl is standing next to hit, with her hands on her hips, staring down into it.
"Mom," she says harshly, and at hearing her voice Aradia remembers where she's seen her before.
A few years ago, there had been a scandal, when the then-queen's eldest daughter had ran away, leaving the kingdom sans a heiress. The Condesce, as she was called by some, was deeply ashamed, and renounced young Meenah's claim to the throne, naming her sister as the heir. She had then taken the girl on a tour around the kingdom, which included a procession through Aradia's village.
This was unmistakably the bright-eyed Princess Feferi who had waved to everyone as she passed through the village, calling out greetings to the people. But she was a princess no longer; Feferi had led a successful coup against the queen and drove her out of the kingdom, assuming the throne herself. For Aradia and her family, nothing really changed. Maybe things were different closer to the
None of this, however, explained why she is in a ruined castle talking to a well as if it was her mother.
"What are you doing?" Feferi says. "I know I haven't been feeding you as much as you're used too, but it's been enough, hasn't it? You don't have to be raising your voice!"
She sighs, and stands there, looking down into the well. Aradia wonders if there's something wrong with her.
"No, I didn't bring you anything," she says. "I just came to check on you. You know! Ugh." She folds her arms and huffs. "Don't say you didn't do anything, I heard you! First you said 'hello', and then you started screaming! What the shell - I mean hell - was that about?"
"That was me," Aradia shouts.
"That was what?"
"That was me," she repeats.
Feferi glances over her shoulder. "Okay, I know you didn't say that. Is there someone else here?" Silence. "There is? Why didn't you tell me sooner? No, I mean you shoald have told me right away! Who are they? What are they?"
"You could ask."
Feferi looks in her direction, and for a moment Aradia thinks that maybe she can see her, but looking at how Feferi's squinting and furrowing her brow, she knows she can't.
"I could," she says. "Okay. I know you're not dangerous, otherwise Gl'bgolyb would have warned me beforefin. So who and what are you? And don't try any tricks, because I am not in a good mood today!"
"My name is Aradia." She takes a deep breath. It's strange, how her ghost self works. She needs to breathe to speak and shout, but she can hold her breath forever if she wants to. "I'm a ghost."
"A ghost," Feferi says, and her gaze softens. "Oh. That's sad. I'm sorry for yelling at you. How did you die, if it's okay to ask?"
"I tried to kill a monster," Aradia says. "It's been eating all our animals. It killed me. I don't know why I'm still here."
"Maybe you have unfinished business," Feferi says. "Maybe if we kill the monster, your business will be completed and you'll be able to rest in peace. I will send the guard to slay it. Or, well, maybe not the guard, since they're supposed to stay and guard the castle. Glub, I'm not very good at this. I'll send someone to slay it, anyway, if Eridan lets me."
Realization shows on her face. "Wait. Eridan. Where did you die?"
Aradia hesitates for a moment. "Our village doesn't have a name," she says. "We lived at the base of Quartz Mountain, by the forest. I was in the forest when the monster attacked."
"Quartz Mountain," Feferi repeats. "Then that means…"
Feferi falls to one knee before her and bows her head. "I'm sorry," she says. "It was my fault you died. Come with me and I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to fix this."
Aradia would be surprised, if she could still feel surprise, but instead she just finds the situation implausible; the queen herself is kneeling before her. Why?
"Okay," she says.
