Opening Act

Drifting, foggy clouds covered a scorching and glowing star in the midday sky. Barely a wisp of light from the star could be seen. But no one questioned it. No one complained. No one spoke about the Heaven's cruelty amongst the land, for there were residents on the empty, foreign land. Even so, houses stood; old and musty. In-between these sad things, a river stretched widely and divided the land in half. Animals occupied this area of the barren land. The soil was warm, even if sunlight didn't reach its hands to caress the earth. Trees and bushes were the size of a large dog and seemed somewhat healthy, despite no caretakers. A heavy, thick fog mixed with the scent of rotting flesh and decay. This was the lower part of the land.

The higher part was the land's majesty. Above the dust and rubble, a magnificent object stood. Dark and quiet, the Black Lillian was placed above the whole land.

Despite its name being the 'Black Lillian', the castle wasn't even the color black, but it was definitely magnificent. The castle could've been mistaken for a separate town in an already existing one. Many rooms for its inhabitants, such as the once existent caretakers and family owning it, were scattered in different areas of the castle. Archways, delicate arrangements, and hand-crafted monuments were carefully arranged in the front of the castle. People from the past, near and far, would just come to marvel at the sight of it; but first they must travel upwards along a waterfall. The waterfall was what made the journey to the Black Lillian difficult. Only the family and boat keepers can travel along this skyscraper-high waterfall. If anyone with great power could travel up this obstacle, which were usually thieves and kidnappers, would have to deal with the very complicated security system that was located along the outside wall guarding the castle. However, nothing of the sort has happened recently. Not in hundreds of thousands of years.

A young girl, age of 9, stood at a dark, wooden door at the far left end of a very large room. Silence rang through as if this was a large, empty abbey, excluding the loud bird 'tweets' and 'caws' echoing through an abbey's outdoor halls. The young girl only stood. No movement. Not even a crack of a smile, her eyes even seemed to hold the same empty look as the room's sounds did.

After about 2 minutes, her eyes wandered around the room. She eyed a bed with tall poles on each corner end that shot up to the ceiling until a foot and a half away, a veil cascaded from the tops of the poles, creating a canopy. She caught in her eyes a fairly good-sized bookshelf near the large window; lone and wooden, it piled an array of light-colored books. She glanced at it for a minute, for it only contained a couple books, a few dusted picture frames, and a once cherished, stuffed rabbit. Suddenly, the young girl's eyes dropped to the white carpet beneath her. She didn't want to explore anymore. She had visited the scene one too many times before, every detail still intact after centuries of long non-decay. On the verge of tearing the place apart, she immediately turned around, opened the door, and slammed it closed.

Outside her top floor room was golden and harsh, but only to the eyes of a person who has never known the meaning of the word 'extravagant'. A large chandelier was hanging from its dangerously thin chain from the ceiling, crystals collecting themselves together like an ice star. Walking forward, the little girl leaned on a black, iron-curled banister. Staring at the chandelier, she yawned, waving a hand in very tiny motions away from her mouth. Holding her arms up, the young girl reached her hands toward the ceiling and wriggled her fingers in the process. The young girl leaned on the banister once more. This time, she leaned a bit closer and looked down. The floor looked like it was about a few yards down, but she couldn't tell. She slowly rose up on her tip-toes. Lifting a right leg, she tried to get a better look. Then, all her weight seemed to shift forwards, her slender legs slipped, and she fell like a flightless bird. A wind blew in her face and around her. Thump.

The girl's small, fragile body was sprawled out on the red-stained floor. Her soft, brown, soft, past-the-shoulder hair covered a majority of her face, except for a part of her nose and mouth. The clothes that were bound to her were caked in her precious, red dye. Suddenly, a trio of females ran from 3 directions.

The trio appeared very different from each other. The first, who came from the south-west of the mansion, looking calm and collected but, her face seemed to show a little worry and concern. The hair color similar to the young girl was long and reached the middle of her back. She wore a witch-like black and white stripped hat along with a black knee-high Tinker Bell-like dress. An array of colors like a rainbow seemed to appear on the ends of the dress-like attire. She appeared quite young and about 11. Her eyes were slit and a lighter brown, reflecting the light of the chandelier above.

The second to arrive came from the southeast side. She was small and petite, normal for a girl about the age of 10. She wore a white one-piece tutu, an orange corset laced and tied firmly over her clothes. Her little feet fit into baby pink, lace-up ballet slippers. She seemed to panic with her short, shoulder-length, brown hair bouncing in all directions. Her eyes, bright brown and worried, expressed her concern. A pair of milky white, small wings were attached to her back and a halo hung above her head glowing brightly.

The third and last to arrive came strolling from the North-East. She was taller and older, sticking out from the rest like a sore thumb. Her hair, along with her eyes, gave off an eye-attracting power. Her hair was knee-length and a shocking bright, yet dark, purple, giving her an intimidating appearance. Her eyes yellow and dull also gave off the same intimidating vibe. A pair of round glasses guarded them. The clothes that were on her were revealing. Her shirt was too short and odd, her shorts too high and showing. But there were other aspects of clothes that did not seem to make her skin show too much. Around her top, a gray button-up cape-like garment wrapped around her short shirt and full chest. Tall, dark boots with 3 large silver clips, covered up to her knees. She held a cold, hard gaze at the young girl's corpse on the floor. The word 'Danger' described this girl like the theme of a novel. She had black, slightly curved in; ebony horns near her small, petite golden crown. A long, black, slithering tail snaked up with a fiery end, emitting orange flames hot enough to burn through flesh.

Despite all of the differences between them, they all had one thing in common. All were staring at the carcass at their feet. After a few minutes of utter silence, the young girl before them used her small hands to slowly push on the golden floor beneath, lifting her upper body up. Her knees bent forward, her feet kicking off the floor one by one. She stood straight and faced the three concerned faces staring at her. She lifted a hand and wiped the blood dripping from her forehead and quickly threw her hand to the side, the blood jumping off her now clean hand.

The moment the young girl stood, sighs were let out. The witch-like girl was the first to speak.

"You're going to end up drowning in an ocean very soon, Story," she predicted in her calm voice.

The young girl standing before them glanced at the one who spoke. "Still paranoid apparently," she responded without any emotion.

"Oh no, not me Story," the witch girl stated to the young girl whose name was Story.

"But you did give the midget an almost heart attack," the demonic teenager announced.

Right after saying that, she turned to face the hyperventilating, petite child.

"Which I don't really mind; I would've loved to see her struggle on the floor." she smirked.

"Mu*!" the little one screeched, "She just scared me so much, I wanted to pass out on teh floor and not bweath."

"Yeah; a heart attack. That's what I meant you retard," the cruel one laughed ruefully.

Story left for the door while the two opposites were quarrelling about age and knowledge, with the demon obviously winning. The witch followed Story closely.

"I suppose the term 'Opposites attract' is true then," Story chuckled softly; "Don't you think so, Lamen?"

The witch only looked at Story when she heard her proper name spoken.

"I suppose…" she murmured.

* Author Notes: 'Mu' is one of many terms Suzu says when she is either mad, embarrassed, or happy. Pronounced as 'moo'.

Happy Reading~