Prologue
cowriters:
monsterhuntergod
Uzamaki Ricky
Under the pale iridescent glow of an autumn moonlight, a soft breeze tousled gently through the air, causing the trees to sway ever so gently. Gazing longingly towards the horizon, a girl, skin as pale as the faint glow of the moon, whose light caressed her pale visage. Her mahogany coloured hair flowing gracefully down her near porcelain shoulders, adorned with a light pink nightgown, saucer-like heterochromatic eyes hiding a deep sadness in them. She had not want for material possessions, her family's wealth had easily provided such things. She had more bits and bobbles than she knew what to do with, every toy she could ever want, every book she had so much as gazed at with the slightest interest. She would give it all up in a heartbeat for just a taste of freedom, of adventure! For you see, whilst she never had want for material wealth, she felt as tho she was a prisoner all the same, a prisoner in a gilded cage.
What really is the point of such riches, heaped upon generation after generation, one questions how the whole bloodline has not drowned in a sea of gold. Yet her parents' sole manufactured reasoning for its infinite potential was to forge it into a refined, well decorated prison. This daunting and utterly baffling line of unfathomable logic plagued the girl for weeks on end. By the full turn of the moon, where only the stars alone glittered and sparkled like so many gemstones she's seen in her life, she resolved to end this eternal entombment.
Never once had she stepped outside the manor grounds without a small army of hired men accompanying her. Her whole life she had been sheltered from the world, her parents often said it was for her own protection. She would often be told that she was meek and frail and fragile, and that all this was to keep her safe, but she never asked for any of this. Life without any risk, she found, was without meaning. So it was, on her fourteenth birthday, under the cover of a new moon, Trivia Vanille made her escape.
Climbing down a makeshift rope made of bed sheets, Trivia carefully climbed out her window, the wind feeling much harsher now than it had only hours prior, her feet struggling to find purchase on the slick stone siding. Trivia took a deep breath, before glancing down to make sure she had made her rope long enough. She was currently dangling outside her fourth floor window, though she didn't think much of it while planning her escape. Facing the ground, supported by not more than her homemade rope, she came to realize just how high up she was. In that moment she was having second thoughts. "This is crazy" she thought, "I'm likely to be killed if I fall! It isn't too late to turn back, no harm no foul, right?" It was at that moment, fate made up her mind for her. The hastily tied knot on the end of her bed came undone, and she began to plummet. Her heart sinking, she braced herself, expecting the worst, but instead of the cold, icy grip of death, she felt a warmness envelop her. She didn't know this at the time, but her aura, the manifestation of her soul, had protected her.
Taking a few seconds to realize she wasn't actually dead, Trivia slowly climbed to her feet. Immediately, pain shot through her as she gasped for breath from when she had hit the ground. While she was uninjured due to her aura's protection, the pain still lingered for a moment.
"How am I not dead!?" She thought to herself, before she began to hear the sounds of her parents stirring in the manor. "No time, gotta run!" She thought, her tiny legs carrying her as fast as they dare as she made her way through the garden of the property.
She darted around a topiary otter as she tried to find her way through the maze-like garden. Ducking and weaving around all manner of hedge art creatures. Lions, tigers, birds, and other creatures of all shapes and sizes dotted the landscape of the garden, hidden by the darkness of the moonless night and left as nothing more than shadowy shapes in the blackness that surrounded her. After what felt like an eternity of groping around in the black, starless night as she ran, she finally reached the wall that surrounded her family's estate.
Looking up at the wall, she found the sight of it much more intimidating than she had ever remembered it being. Has it always been so tall? It seemed to touch the sky with its seemingly endless height. Steeling her nerves, she began to reach and feel for any sort of perch that the wall could give her to allow her to scale it.
Once over the wall, she clamored to her feet. Composing herself, she ran through the streets. Unfortunately, she did not account for the fact that she did not know her way around, having never been outside by herself before. Every time she had been outside the walls of the estate to this point, she had been accompanied by no less than fifty bodyguards courtesy of mommy and daddy.
Due to this, she had never gotten the lay of the land. Every alleyway, every corner, every cobblestone in the paths turned and twisted in ways she could not comprehend. Like a labyrinth, there seemed to be no end in sight and she was hopelessly lost. Undeterred, though slightly weary, she pressed on. Like it or not, her plan was now in motion.
Eventually, her eyes caught a shimmering glimpse off in the distance. Realizing that it was the small amount of light in the darkness reflecting off of the water's surface, she made her way towards it. As she made her way through the winding paths, ducking in and out of alleyways as her eyes never lost sight of the horizon in the distance. She made a mental note of what she needed for her travels.
After a seeming eternity, she caught sight of her mark. A guard carrying exactly what she was looking for. Deftly, she bumped into him, seemingly by accident, lifting his gun and his sword. As she was rounding the corner, she froze in fear.
"Stop Thief!" Roared a guard behind her.
Briefly, Trivia froze. Heart racing, eyes wide, panicking, frantically searching for some semblance of asylum, the tiny troublemaker dove into a building. Quiet as a mouse, Trivia leaned in closer, listening to the sound of the guard passing her by. Relieved, Trivia breathed a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. Verily, she began to search for ought to disguise herself before the next load could appense upon her head.
Efforts not in vain, she happened upon her prize. A barrel of clothing dye and racks upon racks of clothing. A smile crossed her faint delicate lips as she devised a plan. Hastily, she threw together a disguise. Diving into a barrel she quickly changed, tho as she began dying her hair, she heard a knock on the door that cut her short. Never let it be said that her small size could not come in handy. Quickly, she dove into the side ally, making a break for it.
If only the great spirits of wind could blow her dread out to sea, for this was not a state accustomed by the fair lady. With a gentle roll and tuck of her thin and bony back, she picked herself off the brine coated alley. Narrowly a single lamp and the faint hint of burning whale could guide her through this accursed night. Mercifully, unlike many a book she had partaken in over her long torturous solitude, there was nothing wicked or fey about this place.
Torturous as the walk was, by the grace of the twin gods she had finally approached her worthwhile goal. Before her stood the front desk to the wharf, a most hideous and squat affair that she wondered if her parents had any taste left with them. Digging deep into what little remaining reserves of willpower, she forged ahead at her destiny. With an audible slap and a harumph after that, she ford the crumpled piece of parchment upon a most clearly done with specimen. The borderline ape of a man roughed up the already manhandled piece of paper, and looked at her deeply.
"Now, I'm not one to judge one's personal choice of attire, but you will forgive me if I say that your hairstyle is a bit… odd..." He said, bemused at the sight before him on such a foreboding night.
Panic flooded her thoughts as ruthlessly as the spring monsoon. Averting the ogre's gaze, she came to the horrid realization that her attempt at a disguise was only half done, mirroring that of pink and brown confectionery.
"Oh gods! I only dyed half my hair!? How did I even get a hold of Pink dye!?" She thought frantically, trying to find a course away from this fraught scene.
"Anyways, your paperwork seems in order, even a letter of recommendation. You are to board the Mistrali Gull at first light. From there, you will see Captain Ghira Belladonna for further orders. Is that understood?" The man asked, trying to impart what her intentions were.
Astonished, Trivia nods, thinking to herself, "Good thing I bought that forged letter, best use of Lien I ever spent!" Before she could finish her mini celebration however, the man once more spoke up, "Now, all that's left is your name - for obvious reasons, we need to keep a manifest of all our employees."
The words fell upon her heart like a hammer. Her options, grim and low, had to be weighed. If but a single mistake would be made at what felt like the junction of destiny, then surely her parents would become her rear's doom. Now, to avoid the sword of arc swinging over her now dual colored head, through an ethereal chill her spine shuddered for seemingly an eternity.
"Too late now" She thought to herself, "I have to come up with something, anything! Think, Trivia, Think!" Doing her best to hide her internal panic attack, she had a seemingly unrelated thought, "My hair almost looks like a type of ice cream I had tried recently, what was it called again? Neapolitan, I think? That's it! Neo Politan!"
Quickly grabbing a piece of paper, and "borrowing" a quill pen, she wrote down two words, Neo Politan