Adelaide and Beliarosa were both quite intelligent, and their sharp wits quickly formed a plan. They both knew that they certainly couldn't introduce their tiniest sisters at the age they were. And so they made a pact, a pact to show them the world, one by one, a new one each year, as they turned 14, the age in which Adelaide had felt her life had changed. It was not the year that she had learned about the Underground World, but it was the hardest year of Adelaide's life.
Beliarosa herself was the first who had entered at age 14, and the two of them decided that it was a good age to start at. And so, they began to bring their sisters to the Underground World, the world in which they were blind to any thing bad coming from.
It started with the Third a year later, as Camelai turned 14. She had always been the shy one, a delicate flower that they all loved, especially Adelaide. She looked so much like their mother, and Adelaide was the one who felt her gone more than anyone else. She was happy when she was able to finally bring Camelai into the world. Even more amazing were her tapestries, her woven stories that seemed to come alive before their very eyes, and all of them looked forward to the next one, and Camelai would only let them see it when she was done. She was working to make sure everyone had their own, The sweet little thing did not even get startled at the world, but accepted it with a grace and calmness that made both Adelaide and Beliarosa wish that she was the Crown.
And it continued, next with Diamanta, the Dancer, they called her. For years, Diamanta had been absorbed into the world of music, dancing, dragging her younger sister Echo into it. Diamanta danced, and Echo sang. It only seemed right for the Twelve for the two to be together. They all considered them more of twins than just sisters, as they were almost never separated. When Diamanta went into the Underground World, she wanted to tell Echo, but she knew that the secret wasn't meant to get out. Her dancing from then on was changed. Echo easily saw the vigor in which she danced, as if all her dancing from before was just a mindless game, something to pass the time, and now, her dancing, was her soul.
When Echo came of age, Diamanta was the happiest of all. She, too changed from the shyer of the two, into a beautiful, cheerful singer, her captivating voice stunning anyone who heard her after that. All of the younger sisters were captivated by her, and each seemed to be waiting, waiting for their turn. The King merely passed it off as youthful hormones.
Adelaide had turned 19 by the time that Faylinn, the Sixth had come of age. Faylinn was the mothering one, and thought of all who came after her as her children, caring for them with a gentle touch and healing booboos with a light kiss from her lips. She was the healer of them, the one who seemed to make everything better, physically, mentally, spiritually. There wasn't much that Faylinn couldn't touch and make better, and Adelaide was sure that things would only get easier from there.
By the time Gaia had become of age, the rest of the youngers were as captivated of her as they were with Faylinn. Gaia was a weaver like Camelai, but her stories were woven by mouth and books rather than into cloth like her older sister. She was the storyteller, her imagination taking them, even the elders of the group into places they thought they'd never be able to explore, places where their worlds were filled with creatures of life only inside Gaia's head. Her stories weren't all lost, she wrote every one of them down into a faded book with blank pages that their Mother had left for her. She, like the others, seemed to change as she was introduced to this world. She had never dreamed up a world such as that and instantly, she was renewed with new sources of tales, wilder tales than before, ones that none of them would even be able to think of on their own, or even expect from their sister.
Helaine, the Eighth, was probably the most unique of all of them. When she was young, she was quiet, but not shy, preferring to keep to herself, her studies were intense, and the sisters all thought she would be a scholar. Things were not that way for young Helaine, though. Her heart was more spiritual, and her mind was set on becoming a priestess, something none of them had seen. She had a gift, a gift for seeing, and sometimes she would have glimpses of things, telling them only to Gaia, whom she confided in. Helaine was the least surprised by Gaia's stories, and yet, she could still see the differences in it from her visions, but she knew that her visions were an inspiration to Gaia's stories. When Gaia herself started coming back with her own stories, Helaine stopped telling her of the visions. The visions she was getting before the Underground World were far different from the ones she had told Gaia. Those ones.. were happy. The ones she saw now were dark, an evil presence foreboding, and Helaine told no one.
Helaine wasn't the only one interested in a different path. The strong-willed Isleta was not one to be left out. From the start, she knew what she wanted, as if Helaine had seen a vision and told her. She knew. Magic was in her blood, and Adelaide felt herself thinking of Jason. He had left to study magic a long time ago. She was 22 now, and he had been gone for at least 7 years now. She didn't want to lose someone else close to her, so Adelaide brought in tutors for Isleta, to train her in magic. Quickly, she surpassed even her tutors, who were astonished with her growing power.
Jianna was the next to come of age. She was the artist of the family, and somewhat picky. She only allowed herself to have the best of tools, and would often sit and sketch what she remembered of the Queen. Sometimes she found herself illustrating Gaia's stories, and would often sneak and slip the picture into Gaia's book, letting her be surprised the next time she looked through the stories, as she would find them living inside her book, not only in words.
Kairos seemed to be a late addition to the elder team of Diamanta and Echo. While Diamanta danced and Echo sang, Kairos played all manner of instruments: flutes, harps, lyres. Every instrument created seemed to be made to use by Kairos. Once she had learned the harp, she seemed to easily pick up on how the others were used, She created her own music, compiling the efforts of her sisters, and wrote poetic lyrics for Echo to sing with her pieces. Her music became astonishing when she finally was introduced to the World.
At last, Liana, the Twelth, was of age to join the rest of them in the World. She was different, and they were unsure of what really she was going to be. She had no specific talent like the rest of them, and seemed to take no interest in much of anything like her sisters. However, Helaine was certain there was something special. There had to be, she was the last of them, the Twelth. On the night before Liana's birthday, Helaine had found herself besieged with a dream, the first one that was not chaotic since she had come to the Underground World. It was strange, but she saw Liana curled up against the chest of a powerful scaly creature; a dragon.
As Liana finally was able to join the rest of them, the planning grew for the Dark Princes, planning for their wedding. And all the while, the King was frantic, wondering why now all of their slippers were worn from dancing.
Something had to be done, and the King had no idea what a mess this really was.