Ciao a tutti !
And for those of you who don't speak Italian – please raise your hands (**all hands are raised**)…. hum, okay… - that greeting above means "Hello all !" And, ya know… guys, you really should learn Italian, coz it's a really beautiful language. Although not as beautiful as French… **grin**
Eh yes, we're finally here ! Not the last chapter of this story, since there will be an epilog, but at least the last chapter involving an emoticlone. There indeed remains only one emotion, and therefore one chess piece as well. And this time, you HAVE to know who they will be respectively, since all the others are "done with".
The last chapter was rather stormy, wasn't it (that's the understatement of the year, at least…), but this one will definitely be calmer. And if there is one emoticlone who is famous for her calmness, it's definitely (answer all blurry, undecipherable… ;D) !
And Joe Y. !
#?#?#?#?#?#?#?# IT'S THE LAST (THING) KING ON MY MIND ! #!#!#!#!#!#!#!#
Knowledge…
Such an important element in one's education.
In fact, the other essential element along with one's manners, one's behaviour in society.
And rare are the men who don't have any knowledge. Even in the poorest countries, families will spare most of their money to first raise their children, and then send them to school. Because gathering knowledge, and therefore getting education, is fundamental to one's later blossoming, and thus one's future happiness.
Isn't that crucial ?
And that's why knowledge is essential.
Why we need it so badly.
Why we want it so badly.
And who was the most fond of knowledge ?
Well… Knowledge !
As simple as that.
She was true to her name, and soaked up all knowledge, like a drunkard would do with alcohol…
Hum, well… maybe not the best-chosen metaphor, on second thought…
Let's rather say : … like a glutton would with junk food.
Still not ?
Jeez, I can't find a fitting comparison, it seems… okay, so I'm gonna limit myself to this one here : she soaked up all knowledge like the knowledgeable emoticlone that she was !
Awkward, you say ?!
Ya know what ?! Well : ** (parental advisory : explicit content !) **
Ok, there, now that I got that off my chest…
Uh, where was I again ?
Ah, yes, here :
Knowledge was the most learned, the most intelligent of all emoticlones, but she also was the wisest, always advising her sisters at best, doing her utmost to help them, and basically being the sensible and obliging one whom everybody loved and respected… even the ill-mannered Rude, and even Rage, despite her constant disagreeing with her, one choosing the path of peace and reflection while the other always unburied the hatchet and "went to war".
Yes, as incredible as it sounds, even the terrible Rage revered Knowledge and never lacked respect when addressing her.
That is why the Yellow Cloak was informally considered as the leader of the emoticlones.
But while she was flattered by that honour, she kept telling her sisters that she didn't view herself as their leader, merely as one of them… but no matter how often she gently protested that she didn't "rule" their sisterhood, they others still stuck to their opinions and continued to tacitly regard her as their chief.
And as this new chapter starts, Knowledge was once again busy storing… knowledge (big surprise, eh !) in her vast mind, her eyes almost glued to the pages of the enthralling biology book she was avidly "soaking up".
She read slowly, taking all her time, stopping for a few seconds to ponder something, every now and then, then resumed her quiet activity,
But no matter how concentrated she was, when there was that distant noise and that huge yet brief tremor, she immediately raised her head, prompt to leave that book who had hypnotized her so well… until that moment !
Straightening her glasses on her nose, as she regularly did – Rude had once proposed her to get her some lenses, just to have her stop that mannerism ! -, she looked in the direction she knew the sound had come from.
Now who is it, this time ? Happy ? Rage ? Rude ? Brave ?
She knew for a fact that none of the other three – Timid, Love and Sloth – would cause such an extremely loud noise, with a mini-earthquake as bonus. Timid and Sloth were the living embodiments of Quietness, and Love never caused any commotion.
Happy could have made a prank, as could have Rude.
Brave could be fighting… against Rage.
Rage could be lifting huge rocks, thanks to her energy, and throw them at Happy.
Brave or Rage could be using their powers to let out their overflow of energy, of fighting will.
Rude could have made something explode while doing odd jobs of sorts.
Happy could have put the volume of one of her movies so loud that the sound could be perceived even in Knowledge's domain.
Difficult to guess, really…
The yellow-cloaked female let out a sigh.
She loved her sisters… but wished some of them had quieter pastimes. And she sometimes found herself regretting that her own domain was right in the middle of Nevermore, surrounded by all the other domains… and therefore easily affected by hubbubs of all kinds. No matter from which area the blare originated from : Knowledge's domain being located in the center of the others, the poor girl would necessarily be "victim" of it.
And while it enabled her to quickly know when something was wrong, and therefore allowed her to go and either help a sister in need or avoid a catastrophe elsewhere, it still was trying to be forced to deal with just any disturbing din around…
But since it has been extremely silent and quiet this week, I guess I can't complain for the first noise in seven days…
And with that being… THOUGHT, she gently put the book aside, making sure it was in a place where it wouldn't get wet or stolen – the learned emoticlone treated her books as if they were her children, with all the care and lightness she was capable of – and, straightening the glasses on her nose for the umpteenth time, she let out a brief sigh and slowly took off.
Knowledge had good eyesight, and this was still reinforced by her glasses (and these weren't even bifocals, so imagine if she had had the latter…!). But even if she had been nearsighted, she couldn't have missed the very large object towering over a poppy field.
She briefly frowned as she spotted it and immediately bent her course to reach the field of red flowers.
Gliding over these at a slow pace, she made her way to the mysterious thing that had just appeared in her domain and seemed to be waiting for her on the hillock opposite.
She finally came to a halt, with enough distance left to enable her to get a good view of the huge object.
A statue.
And judging by its design, the statue of a king, with its crown on top of the head, its large formal gold chain around the neck and the typical beard that so many monarchs sported.
"Good craftsmanship !" commented the emoticlone as she admired the fine finish of the artistic object.
She took off again and flew up to the head of the statue, willing to take a closer look at the details of the face, as she was especially sensitive to the features of a person, in any kind of depiction.
The Yellow Cloak stopped right opposite the stone face, whose eyes were closed, and came nearer, looking carefully at every little part of the royal facial anatomy.
"That king is really well fashioned !" she concluded with a small smile, appreciative of the craftsman's talent, and standing up straight again after remaining slightly bent forward to better observe.
She was about to let herself sink back to the ground… when she saw the statue's eyes abruptly open !
And stare straight at her !
"Thank you !" a loud yet gentle voice suddenly exclaimed.
And although it was as incredible as possible, there wasn't any denying it : the voice did come from the statue itself !
Knowledge definitely had more self-control than any of her sisters, but that didn't mean that she couldn't get frightened in some rare cases… such as, for instance, a talking king statue…
And she thus let out a gasp, then briskly floated back, her eyes goggling and threatening to get bigger than the glasses in front of them.
"Oh, I am sorry to have scared you. I didn't mean to do that. Will you please accept my royal apologies for this unwanted result ?"
Knowledge swallowed saliva, her eyes having a hard time resuming their normal size, and straightened her glasses on her nose, as if this could help see better and actually realize that she had imagined it all, that the statue's eyes had in fact never opened.
But no.
This didn't change anything.
They were open, these eyes, and the mineral figure was staring at her, against any logic.
"A statue that speaks… what new mystery is that ?" she said, more to herself than to her surprising interlocutor.
"As I said, I apologize for unsettling you. I hope you agree to forgive me…" he replied.
A brief pause, time for Knowledge to get a grip on herself, and…
"Yes… of course… I mean, it's not your fault if you scared me…" Then she thought of something and corrected : "In fact, technically, it IS partly your fault, because you shouldn't speak and you still speak, which IS frightening…." Another pondering moment, then : "But then again, I cannot ask you not to speak because you're a statue if you DO feel like speaking, so if you want to say something, you have the right to and it's therefore not your fault if, by doing so, it scares me." She held her chin in her hand as she considered all that and concluded : "Gosh, this is not so evident to sort out and decide about…"
The king lacked the eyebrow he so badly wanted to raise above his eye, right this minute.
"Are you always that indecisive or is it just so because I troubled you ?"
That also took the glasses-wearer by surprise, although she naturally was less taken aback in this case than she was when she saw him open his eyes.
"Oh, hum… well… it's just that I have that habit to ponder things a lot, more than my siblings, and while I know it may be exaggerate sometimes, I just can't help it."
The statue smiled. (A/N : now, it even feels weird to actually write that…! XD)
" 'It may be exaggerate sometimes…', you say… Hum, no offense intended, but you can replace 'may' by 'is' and remove 'sometimes'. "
The Yellow Cloak mentally made the changes in the sentence and gave a quick nod.
"Alright, I understand and probably you are right. Ah, and no offense taken, really !"
She flashed a brief small smile, her who rarely ever smiled.
"And in this case, you can remove 'probably'…" he continued.
This time, she snorted as she adjusted – again ! - her glasses on her nose.
"We just met and you're already teasing me like we were long-time friends and had a nice, long complicity with each other… Pretty unexpected, I must say, but actually pleasant."
"Oh, it's just that I'm used to being right. And anyway, I'm a royal figure, so people usually don't hesitate to agree with me and claim I'm right. One doesn't dare to contradict me. That's one of the advantages of being king."
"You sound very self-confident…"
"Maybe I am indeed. Oh, and normally you should call me 'Your Majesty', out of respect for my royal condition…"
Knowledge didn't reply to that.
"But perhaps you don't want to, given your silence ?" he continued.
"Hum… I don't know… I may use 'Your Majesty' when addressing a real king, but given that it is unsettling enough to talk to a statue, I've got some difficulty to address said statue with the words I would use for a person… So, it's not that I don't want to… it's rather that I find it… strange. But no offence intended – my turn to say that…"
"And no offense taken neither, just like first time. So you won't call me 'Your Majesty'… hum, that certainly isn't very respectful… but given that you divert me, I guess I'll be merciful and forgive you for not calling me like my subjects do."
Knowledge bent forward.
"Then I guess I should thank Your Majesty for her mercifulness to me… even if the fact is that I am not one of your subjects and therefore not obliged to show you the same respect. But again, despite my somewhat annoying comments and remarks, not devoid of a dash of irony, be sure I do respect you and that I'm not trying to make fun of you. But I'm not accustomed to using terms of respect… except for Master, naturally."
That aroused the king's curiosity.
"Your Master ? You have a Master ? Who is it ? And what is his rank ? Duke ? Earl ? Viscount ? Baron ?"
Knowledge couldn't help laughing up her sleeve.
"Are you by chance laughing at me ?!" asked the blue blood on a clearly irate tone.
The emoticlone raised a calming hand.
"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, but as I stated short before, I'm certainly not one to make fun of people. Even less if they have a certain condition, a respectable condition. But I was caught unaware by your list of nobility titles. Because, as a matter of fact, my Master isn't part of nobility at all. She is an extremely powerful female wizard, and I am under her orders. It is the only person I regularly make a reverence to and show deep respect to. That's why I'm not used to showing the same to anybody else. I hope you understand this and accept it."
The statue pondered all that was said, then surprise crawled on the mineral features.
"Your Master is a… female wizard ?" the king finally answered.
"She is." simply replied the yellow-clad emotion.
"It reminds me of that sorceress who regularly plays me and my chess friends…"
It was Knowledge's turn to feel surprised.
"You and your chess friends ? What do you mean by that ?" Then comprehension raised to the surface of her mind. "Are you… a chess piece ?"
Her interlocutor smiled.
"I am the White King of the chessboard. And that chessboard belongs to a female wizard, hence this sounding familiar to me when you mentioned it yourself."
"It is the same wizard we are talking about. The wizard who owns the chess board IS my Master !"
"Is it ?"
"It is. And as popular wisdom has it : "it's a small world". So you are one of her chess pieces ?"
"I am. But you still haven't introduced yourself, like good manners require you to."
The four-eyed one let out a discreet sigh. (A/N : funny how that expression, relating to glasses, actually creates a confusion with Rage…)
"I must really shock you, no ? I wonder how you can still continue talking to me, since I seem to lack education, in comparison to you…"
The king realized that he may have hurt the girl's feelings, given her words.
"I… didn't want to imply you lacked education. It's not what I meant. I hope you didn't feel insulted…?"
"I didn't, but your comment about lack of manners certainly didn't make me comfortable…"
"Hum… Please accept my royal apologies for making you feel uneasy. It certainly wasn't my intention."
Knowledge's mouth briefly arched upward, in a tentative small smile.
"It's alright. I don't have any resentment against you. It was just…" A pause. "Anyway, we'd better change the subject. But since you want me to introduce myself, my name is Knowledge. I am the owner of the domain you are currently in."
Still no eyebrows over the statue's eyes, otherwise you can be sure, dear readers, that one of them would have been raised at that exact minute.
"That last sentence of yours almost seems like a reproach or a threat." observed the blue blood.
"Yet it is none of these. Merely a simple basic statement. It is a pity you should feel threatened by it, since it definitely wasn't my intention. I am not the kind of person to be menacing to others, far from it. I favor discussions and reasoning to violence, under any form, be it threats, screams, insults, physical force… I therefore wouldn't bluster at anyone, except perhaps in the case of a particularly contemptible enemy."
The king looked impressed as he stared speechless at his vis-à-vis.
"Merely… basic… threatened… favor… bluster… contemptible… You have quite a glossary, to be honest ! You really sound learned… hum, Knowledge, is it ?"
"Thank you. I am learned, as a matter of fact. That is because I spend so much time reading and storing up glossary, ideas, scientific facts, and just any kind of knowledge."
The king smiled.
"You therefore spend much of your time accumulating knowledge of all sorts. I guess that is the reason why you were nicknamed 'Knowledge', isn't it ?"
"To be as accurate as possible, I was not "nicknamed" that : I was named that because, indeed, I embody Master's intellectual side. The rest of my sisters is linked to emotions, and while I am also considered one of Master's emotions, I in fact symbolize her cerebral side."
Very unsurprisingly, the sovereign appeared dumfounded by that speech.
"You embody an intellectual side ? You are one of your Master's emotions ? You symbolize the cerebral side ? Sorry, but I don't get any of this. You are an emotion, or the cerebral / intellectual side of who ? I think I heard you mention your Master… Please clarify, as this is somewhat complicated to me. You are definitely clever, but not that easy to understand."
The emoticlone couldn't help snorting, amused by the monarch's perplexity.
"Yes, I can see this unsettles you. And I really cannot blame you for that, as it is complex indeed. Well, my name is Knowledge because I embody Master's knowledge, therefore her cerebral / intellectual side. My other sisters embody other aspects of our Master's personality, such as happiness, shyness, courage, anger and so on. They represent her emotions, while I represent her intellect, but we are still all sisters and all considered emotions, even me, who symbolized thoughts and not emotions. We are therefore abstract constructions – emotions – which have been given tangible, palpable shapes : human bodies. We look like ordinary female teenagers, but we are in fact emotions in disguise." A brief pause, a smile, and : "Is it any clearer to you now ?"
If I had drawn a comic from this story, in this square, the king would be sweat-dropping.
But the fact is, I did not draw any comic about this.
So the king isn't actually sweat-dropping (although it is implied he would be).
And so, why the heck again did I write all this ?!
Damn, got side-tracked again… really must fix that brain o' mine !
Anyway…
The king felt like sweat-dropping, and stared at the grey female with slightly widened eyes and a virtual eyebrow raised.
"That's just the most unbelievable story I have ever heard, to be honest… I think I understood what you said, but that truly sounds so… so strange… so outlandish…"
"Do I deduce from this comment that you don't believe me ?" she asked, but no showing any particular feeling, not even upset.
"No, that's not what I meant. Please do not misunderstand me. I don't put your explanation in doubt. I am ready to believe you… well, uh, no, I'm not quite ready to believe you, because all this is so extra-ordinary, but I am honestly willing to. I didn't want to make it sound like I don't trust you."
"So you don't dispute that I was telling you the truth, and that despite my human appearance, I in fact represent the emotion… hum, rather : the quality of a real human being ? Do you think you can accept that fact, no matter how unbelievable it does seem ?"
Knowledge still had a neutral expression, her calm face an inscrutable mask.
"Yes, of course !" hurriedly responded the crowned one. "I can accept that. I am royal blood, and as such, I know I am able to accept any kind of truth, as long as I feel that the one uttering that truth is indeed sincere."
She decided to push him a bit, and although she wasn't one of the most teasing emoticlones, she sometimes decided to let herself go and use humor, tease her interlocutor and see how the latter reacted.
"And do you feel I am sincere ?" she asked on a smooth tone, almost defiantly, as if to challenge the king to try and prove her deceit.
"I do. You have my royal word for that."
"Very well."
A small smile briefly lit up her features.
"I am glad that you trust me… Your Majesty." she softly said. "And I'm sorry if you felt pressured. I didn't mean to make you nervous with my questions."
The king certainly didn't expect excuses from that cloaked girl, as he didn't expect her to call him 'Majesty'. And that's why he felt a surge of consideration for her suddenly overwhelm him.
"No, it's fine. Trust me, Knowledge, it is really fine. You don't have to apologize. Not at all. But still, thank you for doing so. And you also have my thanks for calling me 'Majesty'. But, to be honest, since you are not my subject, as you pertinently pointed it out, you indeed don't have to use that formal way of addressing me."
The sovereign now behaving so delicately to her certainly disconcerted her to some extent. But it also delighted her, at the same time.
"I just wanted to show you respect." she kindly stated, still showing that small smile that she wasn't used to and not often displayed to her sisters or her Master.
It was the chess piece's turn to smile.
"And this honours you ! You really are an honorable, respectable person, Knowledge ! I can sense that !"
The officious leader of the emoticlones only made reverences to their Master, out of deep consideration to her, but she exceptionally decided to bow in front of the king. (N/A : But hey, just her head, ya know, coz Raven still has the exclusive rights on "full bows", those made with the full body, instead of only the head… ah, ya had got it… okay, sorry, my mouth's too big, I guess ! ^^'')
"Thank you wholeheartedly for your nice words, Your Majesty ! I feel flattered, and by way of expressing you my gratitude, I shall be equally nice to you, by saying that you are a noble sovereign, one who knows when and how to show respect, and NOT one of those pompous royal figures who are scornful and look down on everybody around them. I often felt contempt for kings and queens because they tended to have that kind of despicable attitude. But I naturally know that there also are respectable monarchs, and you undoubtedly are one of them. And I am honoured to know you, I really am, Your Highness."
And if that king hadn't been made of stone, but of flesh, like you, me and about 7 other billions of other folks outa here, he would have sensed a tiny wet spot in the external corner of his left eye, right this minute. And although kings usually don't shed tears, trust me, this one here, would definitely have let a tear down his eye if he had been human.
In fact, he had never been so moved.
In fact, he was so rarely moved that this one time here had to be particularly moving for him.
In fact, it was even hard to remember the last time the White King had been moved.
In fact, I think that I'm writing too many 'in fact's', so I should in fact stop doing so and in fact focus on some other stuff that would in fact be more worthy of it, in fact.
(Damn broken record…!)
"Knowledge… it is such a delight talking to you and listening to you… so much in fact that I could almost consider staying here with you. I truthfully would appreciate it to no end, and I know that it would be extremely interesting discussing with you every day. But alas… alas, my royal duties are waiting for me on the chessboard, and while I would be glad to remain here some more time, I must not forget that my chess friends are waiting for me."
That's when it hit Knowledge (ouch ! XD) : she didn't even know why the king was in her domain.
"Your Majesty, I think I can help you go back to the chessboard. But first, I have a question to ask you : how did you arrive here ? And why did you come here in the first place ?"
"In fact, to be honest, I don't even know. I was on my black game square, patiently waiting for you Master to play me sometime, and there was this blinding light… and when I could distinctly see again, I noticed I had just landed in here. But how I came here is a total mystery to me. As a matter of fact, I would be curious to know the answer."
The Yellow Cloak nodded with a knowing look. She knew some Titan had been up to something in her Master's room… and she had her little idea about that Titan's identity !
"It's not so important anyway, Your Majesty. Perhaps I will manage to find out who is behind all this. But what currently matters is to take you back to the chessboard. And for that, I can help. I know a teleportation spell, so that will be easy to do."
"Thank you so much for your help, dear Knowledge. And for your kindness and intelligence. You have everything needed to become an honorable sovereign yourself. Your sisters should be proud to have you among the group of your siblings."
"Oh, they already consider me like their leader. Which naturally is flattering, but which I modestly disagree with, since in my opinion, there is no emoticlone who is "above" the others."
"They probably deem you so because of your intelligence and wisdom."
"I know they do, but still… I am not better than any of them, only different. But now is the time to take care of you and your return home. This is what is most important right now."
She raised her hands towards the statue.
The small smile reappeared on her grey lips.
"It was really pleasant to have you here, your Highness. I was honored to host you for a while, even if you arrived here against your own will. I wholeheartedly thank you again for all your kindness and respect, which really made me very happy, and somehow I regret that you can't stay any longer here with me. I wish you a harmonious return among your chess friends and a long life as a chess piece."
"It's rather me to thank you for your kindness and respect, Knowledge, because you have been very nice and delicate to me, and even decided to use that formal way of addressing a royal figure, 'Your Majesty', although I had told you it wasn't necessary since you were not one of my subjects. But you still did it, and for that, I express you all my gratitude. It was really interesting staying with you, and I also regret this can't last longer. But be sure I will cherish the memory of my short time here in your company. I also wish you a long existence and as much bliss as one possibly can get in a lifetime."
They looked at each other with emotion, in silence, for long seconds, respect and sympathy flowing form their eyes.
The King was the first one to break that silence.
"Take good care of you, Knowledge."
"Thank you. Do the same with you." she replied, once again with that unusual small smile none of her sisters nor her Master were used to.
He gave a head bow, a deep one, just as if he was showing consideration to a queen instead of an emoticlone, and the girl's smile widened.
Then she closed her eyes to focus.
When she reopened them, they were bright white.
She uttered the magical formula… a white light surrounded the stone monarch… drowned him deep inside of it… the light grew blinding… and finally started to die down.
Once it had vanished, there was nothing in the spot it had been.
The King was gone.
Knowledge stared for long seconds at the empty spot, recalling the chess piece's words, and the sense of welfare she had been experiencing became more intense.
She took her glasses off, slowly cleaned them while still remembering the sovereign's nice speech and how they had touched her soul, then she put her glasses back in place and let out an imperceptible sigh.
And the usually non-smiling grey female once again couldn't help smiling, but the smile grew so wide this time that it became a grin.
She sure may get accustomed to smiling… and for this, she was even more grateful to the White King !
#?#?#?#?#?#?#?##?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#?#!#!#!#!#!#!#!##!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#
And that's a wrap !
The King himself is back to the chess board ! Which means that all of the white chess pieces are now in their original spot ! Thanks to the emoticlones. Good job, sisters !
I didn't manage to make this chapter as amusing as the others, because… eh, I dunno, it's kinda difficult to make humour with Knowledge. I mean, she's always so serious… even if, in this chappy here, she learned to smile more often… and as it is hinted at the end, she may well get used to it. Coz after all, smiling is such a nice, pleasant activity, isn't it, guys ?
I really liked the friendly and respectful relationship between Knowledge and the King. What about ya, dear readers ?
Okay, so what happens now ? Is this the end of the story ? Well, I suggest ya stay tuned and wait a bit more to find out.
Once again, thanxxxx a lot for reading and may the Force (and Love !) be with ya !
Peace, Love, Ecstasy !
:Dxx