Prologue
Long ago, when the book kingdom of Libralia was very young, two men were seen practicing magic in a grand palace. One man had brown hair with a long beard and blue eyes; he was wearing a dark blue overcoat with white and red trimming, indigo boots, and a dark blue hat with red and blue trim.
The other man had auburn hair and brown eyes, and he was wearing a red shirt under a burgundy vest, a dark red sash across his waist, burnt orange breeches, and chestnut-colored boots.
"That wasn't too bad of a flame, Dante," the brown-haired man said to his friend when he saw Dante, the auburn-haired fellow, produce a small flame with a wave of his hand.
"Why, thank you!" Dante said with a grin, "Fire has always fascinated me, you know."
"I see," the brown-haired man said, "But you must remember that sometimes fire isn't always our friend. Mostly for books and other things made from trees, it is a dangerous enemy." The brown-haired man loved books so much that he was always referred to as the "Pagemaster," and he always dreamed about ruling the kingdom of books and written world.
His friend Dante, on the other hand, always enjoyed the sight of fire for mysterious reasons. Ever since he was very young, his family and friends always wondered why he loved flames. He rarely socialized with others, and very seldom read books; there was something about fire that metaphorically sparked his interest. He learned about magical spells specializing in fire, and even volunteered at the palace on occasion, lighting candles in the hallways. On this day, Dante and the Pagemaster were practicing magic in order to impress the Pagemaster's uncle, who would soon decide who should rule the land of books – the Pagemaster or his cousin Malaria.
When the Pagemaster mentioned the word "enemy," Dante gave a puzzled look before he cleared his throat and said, "To change the subject, my Pagemaster, I do hope you impress your uncle enough to rule Libralia, even though Malaria is your cousin and probably the rightful ruler of this place."
The Pagemaster gave a worried look and said, "I don't know, Dante. There's something about my cousin that my family and I don't trust. She's always interested in macabre culture and dark magic, and I don't think it would be wise to rule a written world with darkness."
Dante nodded and smirked, "I see. But you know some books are very dark in terms of word choice, characters, and feelings. I mean, have you ever visited the Crypts of Horror? You'll find all kinds of darkness in that place. Not to mention parts of the other sections of this library kingdom, too!"
The Pagemaster furrowed his brows a bit and stated calmly, "I know that. And I've been to all the sections – except for the Restricted Section. My father and mother always told me it was forbidden to go there."
Listening to the part of the Restricted Section gave Dante an idea. He decided to give it some thought as he and his friend continued practicing magic until the clock struck seven in the evening.
After a long day of magic, Dante decided to sneak away from Libralia's borders and visit the Restricted Section. He trekked over rocky terrain, climbed treacherous hills and cliffs, and crossed piranha-infested rivers with a simple raft and oar. Eventually, he made it to a very dark and cloudy bookshelf with all kinds of things – banned books, X-rated material, and forbidden objects from all parts of Libralia. Dante looked around and eventually, something caught his eye. It was a dusty, black book entitled Fahrenheit 451. Curious, Dante picked up the book, blew some dust off the front cover, and then opened up the book. He spent the rest of the night reading that very book; the story was about a dystopia in which reading or even keeping books was strictly banned. All books discovered in someone's home had to be set on fire by law enforcement officers.
"Setting fire to books, hmmm?" Dante wondered to himself as he finished reading, "I wonder what would happen…"
The next morning, while Libralia's grand library was completely empty, Dante snuck in through the back entrance, and silently made his way to the center of the building. As he did, he picked up a few old books for a secret experiment. When he arrived at the center, Dante set his books down at his feet, and then waved his right hand a bit. No flames.
He waved his left hand a little bit. Still no flames.
"Why isn't this working?" he asked himself with frustration. Dante then waved both his hands at his books, and this time, a tiny flame shot out of his hands and landed on top of an old brown book. "Yes!" Dante cried out with glee, "It's working!" The flame flickered and grew; in very little time, the book was completely ablaze! Then, the fire caught on to an old red book. Dante laughed with delight as that book burned and slowly transformed to ashes.
Dante's cheer and celebration was cut short when a set of doors flew open, and some people were watching with complete shock! It was the Pagemaster with his mother and father. The mother gasped, the father gave a shocked and furious face, and the Pagemaster gave a shocked gasp. "Dante!" he gasped, "My dearest friend, what are you doing with those books?!"
Dante turned and gasped when he saw the Pagemaster and his parents standing at the main doorway to the library. "Pagemaster!" he said defensively, "Don't come any closer! The same thing goes to your family!"
"What you're doing is the worst kind of crime in Libralia!" the Pagemaster shrieked with rage, "Get out of my library! Get out of my kingdom! GO!"
Shocked at his former friend's temper, Dante slowly backed away before he turned around and ran as fast as he could to the Restricted Section.
The fire in the library was immediately put out, and only a little damage was done to the floor.
For many years, Dante lived in the Restricted Section, underneath Malaria's lair after the sorceress was rejected to rule Libralia by her own father. The warlock despised books ever since being exiled by the Pagemaster (who was now ruler of Libralia), and wanted to burn as many as he could. One day, Dante met three young teen girls who stumbled upon his underground lair while running away from their boarding school. One girl had a curvy body figure, chestnut hair and light brown eyes; she was named Rouge and aptly wore a red outfit. Another girl had a beanpole body figure, strawberry blonde hair, and brown eyes; she was named Crimson, and she wore a dark pink outfit. The last girl had a petite body figure, auburn hair, and green eyes; she was wearing a dark orange outfit, and her name was Cinnamon.
"Mister, my friends and I are running away, because we hate our boarding school rules," Rouge complained to Dante when she and the other girls first saw him.
"Yes," Crimson added with a hissing voice, "All the teachers there tell us to wear the same things every day, we have to respect all the other kids, and we have to clean up after ourselves! It's getting very nerve-wrecking and difficult every day! We can't take it anymore!"
"Calm yourself, Crimson!" Cinnamon pleaded before she turned to Dante and asked, "Please, sir, if it isn't too much, may my friends and I please stay with you? Just for a night?"
Dante looked at the girls very closely and saw something in them. Their outfits, body features, and even their names were interesting to him. Why? Because they were all related to fiery colors! Dante smirked and offered, "How would you young ladies like to be my pupils and assistants?"
All the girls gasped and looked at each other. Rouge smirked back, then Crimson smirked, and Cinnamon gave a gullible and big smile. "We'll do it!" Rouge said with glee as her friends nodded in agreement. From that day forth, the three girls became Dante's henchwomen, bodyguards, and spies.
For ten years, Dante taught the three young ladies about fiery magic, weapons, and robbing other people's money to embezzle on magical materials and more weapons. Rouge decided to have her weapon of choice be a mace, Crimson decided on a pair of nunchucks, and Cinnamon decided on a bo staff.
One day, the three women returned from a day of spying, and reported something that was NOT music to Dante's ears. "The Princess Bethylasia has returned and killed the wicked Malaria," Rouge told her master.
"Yeah, and now literature and happiness has been restored to Libralia!" added Cinnamon.
"WHAT?!" Dante roared with deep anger, "MORE LITERATURE AND BOOKS?"
"Y-yes, sir," Crimson stammered nervously as she put each of her hands into a hand of her friends'.
Dante slammed his fist onto a wooden table and then shoved everything off onto the floor. "The Pagemaster has really done it this time!" he growled, "And it's not just him – his whole family, especially the youngest girl! They royals can laugh, and cheer, and sing, and read all they want. One of these days – believe me – one of these days, there will be no more books in Libralia. There will be no more happiness! I WILL BE PAGEMASTER!" He looked up at the ceiling as thunder and lightning clashed together outside.