Dream - 003
city pass payment 2/2
Once upon a time... Roland is playing the narrator in his own dream, and the viewer is given a low-flying view of a large forest in the middle of spring. As if seen from the eyes of a bird, the view then sweeps up to a hill overlooking the area. On top of this hill is a large castle of white stone. Those watching are taken right up to the front doors, which open as though for them. Through the courtyard and in through the main doors, up several flights of stairs and past multiple attendants, the scene finally stops on a young man in full princely regalia sitting on a window ledge and staring out into the woods beyond. When he turns his head, one should be able to recognize him as Heat.
Once upon a time, a young prince lived in a castle on a hill. He had everything anyone could ever wish for... except for the one thing he truly desired.
"My lord?" It was the same voice that came from the now open door to the room, and Roland stood there dressed in the finery of a royal servant. "They're here."
Heat nodded and rose to follow him. They descended back down the long flights of stairs, all the way to the castle's enormous foyer. There, a long line of young ladies waited, done up in their finest. Each one wore a large smile, and several waved at the prince as he entered the room. He didn't return either gesture. As Roland moved aside, the red-haired young man walked from one end of the line to the other, looking over each of them quickly.
The frown he'd had on his face from the start only deepened as he went along and by the end he was practically scowling. He turned away from the group abruptly, and with a flip of his cloak he muttered "Send them all away."
"But Your Majesty..." Roland looked flabbergasted. "Aren't you even going to ask them any questions? Last time, you--"
"I said send them away." Heat didn't turn back, merely continued to stomp towards the stairs.
The girls, looking a mixture of scared and disappointed, were herded back out the door by the guards. Roland sighed and followed after the prince, walking quickly so that he could catch up. "My lord, this is the third group of young women you've turned away. We're going to have to start looking in another kingdom at this rate."
"Whatever."
"Is there a certain type of woman you're looking for? If we narrow down those eligible, then perhaps--"
"I don't know!" Heat spun around to glare at him, as furious at his own indecision as anything. "I don't know what I'm looking for! I just know I haven't found it yet." And with that he was rushing away again.
The result was the same, time after time. Each group of women was smaller and less hopeful than the last. Then one day, the prince arrived in the foyer to find only a single woman waiting for him.
"Where are the other candidates?" Heat asked, glancing around as though they would appear out of the woodwork.
It was the woman who answered. "They won't be coming." She had long dark hair, and she smiled a poisonous smile. "I sent them home."
The room was empty of servants, Heat realized. In fact, he and the woman were the only ones there. "Who are you? Where are my guards and attendants?"
"I sent them away too." Still smiling, she took a couple steps toward him. "I am Angel, and I'm here to help you."
Heat scowled. "I don't need your help, woman. Bring everyone back and then get out of here."
But she continued to walk toward him, speaking as though she hadn't heard a word. "What is it you're looking for? Many of the women they brought here would have made suitable wives - excellent wives, even. So what is it about them that made you turn them away? Their appearance? Only the most beautiful were chosen."
"Get out!"
"Such a charmed life, getting anything you ever wanted. It's enough to make a monster out of anyone, isn't it?"
"I said get--!" Heat's growl was cut off by a pained gasp, and he fell to his knees, clutching his arm where a blackened mark had appeared and begun to glow. Something rippled along his skin, and the pain left him incapable of proper speech.
"Poor young prince. You never would have loved them. Some of them might have tried to care for you, but it never would have worked out in the end. The truth is, you don't even know the meaning of the word 'love.'" The woman watched dispassionately as Heat transformed before her eyes. The red, two-headed form of Agni was soon kneeling on the floor in front of her. It growled, flinching away as she drew even closer. "Isn't this lovely? The true inner form. I'm going to teach you how to be human."
She laughed and the prince lunged, but she disappeared in smoke between his claws.
The prince was left alone in his castle, too horrified by what he'd become to venture out. Though the other residents had apparently disappeared, food was ready in the kitchen whenever he needed it and if he broke something in a fit of anger (which happened often), it was soon replaced. The gardens grew as if they were tended by unseen hands. You'd never know the place was inhabited by a single angry creature.
And a couple years passed.
The mournful howls often heard from the area kept most travelers far away from it. It wasn't until one day, when a young man from a nearby village lost his way on a hunting expedition, that anyone else even came near the gates.
The castle was silent at the time, and Serph was new to the area - having just moved to a new place in town with his sister after the death of their father. Reaching the entrance, he was immediately curious as it seemed abandoned. The gates opened at his touch, and he went in against his better judgement. He hadn't gotten far into the building when the beast appeared. Though he feared he would be eaten, the prince merely threw him into his dungeon to rot.
Serph's sister Sera, worrying for her brother when he didn't return, soon set out into the woods on her own. The villagers told her he was lost, that the monster in the castle had devoured him, but she was certain that he still lived. When she found no trace of him in the forest, she approached the gates herself.
"Hello?" Sera's voice echoed off the walls of the empty courtyard. Though the place looked as though it was lived in, she saw no one around. Had her brother actually wandered here, or was this just another dead end? The doors into the inner keep were unlocked and she made her way cautiously inside. Once again she saw no one. It was as though the castle was preserved outside of time.
Further into the castle she went, and though she still didn't run into a single occupant it eventually began to feel as though she was being watched. It wasn't until she reached the prince's chambers that the door slammed shut behind her and a deep voice spoke up. "What are you doing in my home?"
Sera spun around and gasped at the sight of the beast. Though she shook with fear, she didn't scream. She could find no visible eyes on the creature to meet, but she stared into its sharp-toothed maws. It wasn't necessary to ask if this was the monster of the castle. "Please... I'm looking for my brother. He... he has silver hair and eyes. Did he come here?"
Heat snorted and began pacing around the girl on all fours. "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. If he did, he would have been trespassing, just as you are trespassing, and I would be free to do with him what I wish."
"Please..." Sera got a little bolder since she hadn't been eaten the moment she'd been found. "He's all I have left. You have to let me see him!"
"You assume too much!" The prince growled. "He's my prisoner! I don't have to let anyone see him!"
The girl was desperate. "If you must have a prisoner, then take me and let him go!"
Heat paused, obviously taken back by the request. He collected himself quickly, though his voice lacked quite the same angry tone as before. "That's ridiculous. There's nothing saying I can't simply keep both of you." He paced a bit more in silence and Sera watched, holding her breath. Finally he stopped and looked out his bedroom window. "I will let him go," he agreed, and she released a sigh of relief... "but you will have to stay with me forever."
Sera didn't look at all pleased with this, and she clutched her hands to her chest. Her brother's safety meant more to her than anything, however, and at last she nodded. "If you keep your promise, I'll keep mine."
"Done." With that, the prince dashed out of the room to release his prisoner as the girl fell to her knees and cried.
Serph wasn't allowed to see his sister before he was tossed out, and he was returned to the village in a carriage without horses or driver. Once he was back, he did nothing but fret over his lost sibling. No one in town would help him, however, as the beast in the castle was far too fearsome a thing to approach.
Meanwhile, instead of placing the girl in the dungeon, Heat allowed Sera free roam of the castle. She didn't know what to think about this. The prince hardly spoke to her in the beginning, merely watched as she marveled at the food that prepared itself and walked through the neatly tended gardens. It was only at night, after she returned to the room he'd given to her, that he let her be.
Eventually, he started to approach her, asking the occasional question about the village or making a remark about the weather. She smiled and answered everything honestly. Her smile caused something in Heat's chest to flutter, and he wanted her to do it as often as possible.
One night, the prince turned in later than usual. Before he went to bed, he decided to walk by Sera's door and listen to see if she was sleeping. What he was greeted with were quiet sobs with the name of her brother repeated over and over in between them. He tore back to his room, but didn't sleep that night.
The next day he came to her and told her she was free to go.
"B-but..." Sera was torn. On the one hand, she was happy to be given her freedom, but on the other she didn't understand it. It wouldn't be breaking her promise if he allowed it, right? "Why do you want me to leave?"
"I said get out of my sight!!" Heat's voice was strained, and he refused to face her.
The girl backed away a few steps, then broke into a run out the front gates. As she reached the edge of the forest, the beast let out a long, heartbroken wail that could be heard all the way back in the village.
Now the howls of the prince were soon met by others - a large pack of wolves that had recently taken up residence in the forest. Hearing their cries, Heat immediately feared that he'd sent Sera out to her death. What was one lone girl against a pack of hungry animals like those? He raced out of the castle and sought them out. When he found them there was no sign of Sera, but he fought them anyway. As long as they were around she was still at risk.
At last victorious, but half dead, the prince staggered back to the gates of his castle. He collapsed before he made it inside.
He was woken the next morning by the feel of a cool rag against his injuries. Somehow, Sera had dragged him inside the courtyard where she could shut the gates and tend to him without the threat of the remaining wolves. Heat, stunned to see that she had returned, asked her why. She claimed that he wouldn't be able to take care of his own wounds properly, and that she still had a promise to keep.
She stayed with him until he was well. Then, against earlier odds, she didn't try to leave again once she was well. When the prince walked by her room at night, he heard no sounds of crying. He believed she might actually be happy there,... and that made him happy.
However, back in the village, Serph had gathered a handful of friends with the intent of fighting the beast and freeing his sister from its clutches. He was unaware that Sera was being well cared for, as he'd been torn away from her without having even said goodbye. All he remembered was the dungeon, and he feared she'd shared the same fate.
The group advanced upon the castle, armed and ready for an attack.
"Come out and face me, beast!" Serph cried, holding his sword high. "I will have my sister back!"
Heat landed in the middle of the courtyard with a roar, and the gathered fighters backed up several steps but didn't retreat. Serph had picked his friends well, and they were determined to win this. "She's mine now," the beast growled, "and you should be thankful to her for saving your life! Now run back home. She's not going anywhere.
"You have no right to keep her here," said a tall man on Serph's left. Green eyes regarded Heat with scorn. "She's done nothing to you."
"I have every right! Both of them were trespassing. By law, I can--"
He was cut off by the only woman in the group. "What law?? There's no one else here but you! For all she knew, this place could have been deserted!"
"Dat's right!" The last man was shorter, and foreign. He shook a fist in Heat's direction. "Sera's innocent! You just let her go, ja? Maybe we'll take it easy on you!"
The beast would hear none of this. With another roar, he engaged all of them in combat. He was strong, but he was outnumbered and they were skilled in their own right. Soon, Heat lay defeated on the ground.
Serph stepped forward, ready to sever both of the prince's heads with his sword, but suddenly Sera was standing in front of him.
"Stop!" she sobbed, eyes filled with tears. "That's enough!"
"Sera..." Her brother attempted to walk around her, but the girl wouldn't let him. "He must be taken care of before he brings anyone else to harm."
"But I'm fine! Please! There's no need to kill him!"
The others didn't know what to do about this new turn of events. They'd come expecting to find Sera in danger, and instead she was pleading for the beast's life. Serph shook his head. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill him just for stealing you away."
Sera took in a deep shuddering breath, tears now running freely down her cheeks. "Because..."
Heat tried to sit up, listening intently to the girl's answer.
"Because... because I l--"
---
There is a loud crash from outside and Roland sits up with a start. Something, a stray cat possibly, has knocked over a metal trash bin, scattering it's contents everywhere. After the man gets over the initial shock of being woken out of his dream, he sees the flashing light on his Dreamberry and groans. The fact that his city pass soon appears next to it is some comfort, but...
"...Ugh. I need a drink."
Once upon a time... Roland is playing the narrator in his own dream, and the viewer is given a low-flying view of a large forest in the middle of spring. As if seen from the eyes of a bird, the view then sweeps up to a hill overlooking the area. On top of this hill is a large castle of white stone. Those watching are taken right up to the front doors, which open as though for them. Through the courtyard and in through the main doors, up several flights of stairs and past multiple attendants, the scene finally stops on a young man in full princely regalia sitting on a window ledge and staring out into the woods beyond. When he turns his head, one should be able to recognize him as Heat.
Once upon a time, a young prince lived in a castle on a hill. He had everything anyone could ever wish for... except for the one thing he truly desired.
"My lord?" It was the same voice that came from the now open door to the room, and Roland stood there dressed in the finery of a royal servant. "They're here."
Heat nodded and rose to follow him. They descended back down the long flights of stairs, all the way to the castle's enormous foyer. There, a long line of young ladies waited, done up in their finest. Each one wore a large smile, and several waved at the prince as he entered the room. He didn't return either gesture. As Roland moved aside, the red-haired young man walked from one end of the line to the other, looking over each of them quickly.
The frown he'd had on his face from the start only deepened as he went along and by the end he was practically scowling. He turned away from the group abruptly, and with a flip of his cloak he muttered "Send them all away."
"But Your Majesty..." Roland looked flabbergasted. "Aren't you even going to ask them any questions? Last time, you--"
"I said send them away." Heat didn't turn back, merely continued to stomp towards the stairs.
The girls, looking a mixture of scared and disappointed, were herded back out the door by the guards. Roland sighed and followed after the prince, walking quickly so that he could catch up. "My lord, this is the third group of young women you've turned away. We're going to have to start looking in another kingdom at this rate."
"Whatever."
"Is there a certain type of woman you're looking for? If we narrow down those eligible, then perhaps--"
"I don't know!" Heat spun around to glare at him, as furious at his own indecision as anything. "I don't know what I'm looking for! I just know I haven't found it yet." And with that he was rushing away again.
The result was the same, time after time. Each group of women was smaller and less hopeful than the last. Then one day, the prince arrived in the foyer to find only a single woman waiting for him.
"Where are the other candidates?" Heat asked, glancing around as though they would appear out of the woodwork.
It was the woman who answered. "They won't be coming." She had long dark hair, and she smiled a poisonous smile. "I sent them home."
The room was empty of servants, Heat realized. In fact, he and the woman were the only ones there. "Who are you? Where are my guards and attendants?"
"I sent them away too." Still smiling, she took a couple steps toward him. "I am Angel, and I'm here to help you."
Heat scowled. "I don't need your help, woman. Bring everyone back and then get out of here."
But she continued to walk toward him, speaking as though she hadn't heard a word. "What is it you're looking for? Many of the women they brought here would have made suitable wives - excellent wives, even. So what is it about them that made you turn them away? Their appearance? Only the most beautiful were chosen."
"Get out!"
"Such a charmed life, getting anything you ever wanted. It's enough to make a monster out of anyone, isn't it?"
"I said get--!" Heat's growl was cut off by a pained gasp, and he fell to his knees, clutching his arm where a blackened mark had appeared and begun to glow. Something rippled along his skin, and the pain left him incapable of proper speech.
"Poor young prince. You never would have loved them. Some of them might have tried to care for you, but it never would have worked out in the end. The truth is, you don't even know the meaning of the word 'love.'" The woman watched dispassionately as Heat transformed before her eyes. The red, two-headed form of Agni was soon kneeling on the floor in front of her. It growled, flinching away as she drew even closer. "Isn't this lovely? The true inner form. I'm going to teach you how to be human."
She laughed and the prince lunged, but she disappeared in smoke between his claws.
The prince was left alone in his castle, too horrified by what he'd become to venture out. Though the other residents had apparently disappeared, food was ready in the kitchen whenever he needed it and if he broke something in a fit of anger (which happened often), it was soon replaced. The gardens grew as if they were tended by unseen hands. You'd never know the place was inhabited by a single angry creature.
And a couple years passed.
The mournful howls often heard from the area kept most travelers far away from it. It wasn't until one day, when a young man from a nearby village lost his way on a hunting expedition, that anyone else even came near the gates.
The castle was silent at the time, and Serph was new to the area - having just moved to a new place in town with his sister after the death of their father. Reaching the entrance, he was immediately curious as it seemed abandoned. The gates opened at his touch, and he went in against his better judgement. He hadn't gotten far into the building when the beast appeared. Though he feared he would be eaten, the prince merely threw him into his dungeon to rot.
Serph's sister Sera, worrying for her brother when he didn't return, soon set out into the woods on her own. The villagers told her he was lost, that the monster in the castle had devoured him, but she was certain that he still lived. When she found no trace of him in the forest, she approached the gates herself.
"Hello?" Sera's voice echoed off the walls of the empty courtyard. Though the place looked as though it was lived in, she saw no one around. Had her brother actually wandered here, or was this just another dead end? The doors into the inner keep were unlocked and she made her way cautiously inside. Once again she saw no one. It was as though the castle was preserved outside of time.
Further into the castle she went, and though she still didn't run into a single occupant it eventually began to feel as though she was being watched. It wasn't until she reached the prince's chambers that the door slammed shut behind her and a deep voice spoke up. "What are you doing in my home?"
Sera spun around and gasped at the sight of the beast. Though she shook with fear, she didn't scream. She could find no visible eyes on the creature to meet, but she stared into its sharp-toothed maws. It wasn't necessary to ask if this was the monster of the castle. "Please... I'm looking for my brother. He... he has silver hair and eyes. Did he come here?"
Heat snorted and began pacing around the girl on all fours. "Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. If he did, he would have been trespassing, just as you are trespassing, and I would be free to do with him what I wish."
"Please..." Sera got a little bolder since she hadn't been eaten the moment she'd been found. "He's all I have left. You have to let me see him!"
"You assume too much!" The prince growled. "He's my prisoner! I don't have to let anyone see him!"
The girl was desperate. "If you must have a prisoner, then take me and let him go!"
Heat paused, obviously taken back by the request. He collected himself quickly, though his voice lacked quite the same angry tone as before. "That's ridiculous. There's nothing saying I can't simply keep both of you." He paced a bit more in silence and Sera watched, holding her breath. Finally he stopped and looked out his bedroom window. "I will let him go," he agreed, and she released a sigh of relief... "but you will have to stay with me forever."
Sera didn't look at all pleased with this, and she clutched her hands to her chest. Her brother's safety meant more to her than anything, however, and at last she nodded. "If you keep your promise, I'll keep mine."
"Done." With that, the prince dashed out of the room to release his prisoner as the girl fell to her knees and cried.
Serph wasn't allowed to see his sister before he was tossed out, and he was returned to the village in a carriage without horses or driver. Once he was back, he did nothing but fret over his lost sibling. No one in town would help him, however, as the beast in the castle was far too fearsome a thing to approach.
Meanwhile, instead of placing the girl in the dungeon, Heat allowed Sera free roam of the castle. She didn't know what to think about this. The prince hardly spoke to her in the beginning, merely watched as she marveled at the food that prepared itself and walked through the neatly tended gardens. It was only at night, after she returned to the room he'd given to her, that he let her be.
Eventually, he started to approach her, asking the occasional question about the village or making a remark about the weather. She smiled and answered everything honestly. Her smile caused something in Heat's chest to flutter, and he wanted her to do it as often as possible.
One night, the prince turned in later than usual. Before he went to bed, he decided to walk by Sera's door and listen to see if she was sleeping. What he was greeted with were quiet sobs with the name of her brother repeated over and over in between them. He tore back to his room, but didn't sleep that night.
The next day he came to her and told her she was free to go.
"B-but..." Sera was torn. On the one hand, she was happy to be given her freedom, but on the other she didn't understand it. It wouldn't be breaking her promise if he allowed it, right? "Why do you want me to leave?"
"I said get out of my sight!!" Heat's voice was strained, and he refused to face her.
The girl backed away a few steps, then broke into a run out the front gates. As she reached the edge of the forest, the beast let out a long, heartbroken wail that could be heard all the way back in the village.
Now the howls of the prince were soon met by others - a large pack of wolves that had recently taken up residence in the forest. Hearing their cries, Heat immediately feared that he'd sent Sera out to her death. What was one lone girl against a pack of hungry animals like those? He raced out of the castle and sought them out. When he found them there was no sign of Sera, but he fought them anyway. As long as they were around she was still at risk.
At last victorious, but half dead, the prince staggered back to the gates of his castle. He collapsed before he made it inside.
He was woken the next morning by the feel of a cool rag against his injuries. Somehow, Sera had dragged him inside the courtyard where she could shut the gates and tend to him without the threat of the remaining wolves. Heat, stunned to see that she had returned, asked her why. She claimed that he wouldn't be able to take care of his own wounds properly, and that she still had a promise to keep.
She stayed with him until he was well. Then, against earlier odds, she didn't try to leave again once she was well. When the prince walked by her room at night, he heard no sounds of crying. He believed she might actually be happy there,... and that made him happy.
However, back in the village, Serph had gathered a handful of friends with the intent of fighting the beast and freeing his sister from its clutches. He was unaware that Sera was being well cared for, as he'd been torn away from her without having even said goodbye. All he remembered was the dungeon, and he feared she'd shared the same fate.
The group advanced upon the castle, armed and ready for an attack.
"Come out and face me, beast!" Serph cried, holding his sword high. "I will have my sister back!"
Heat landed in the middle of the courtyard with a roar, and the gathered fighters backed up several steps but didn't retreat. Serph had picked his friends well, and they were determined to win this. "She's mine now," the beast growled, "and you should be thankful to her for saving your life! Now run back home. She's not going anywhere.
"You have no right to keep her here," said a tall man on Serph's left. Green eyes regarded Heat with scorn. "She's done nothing to you."
"I have every right! Both of them were trespassing. By law, I can--"
He was cut off by the only woman in the group. "What law?? There's no one else here but you! For all she knew, this place could have been deserted!"
"Dat's right!" The last man was shorter, and foreign. He shook a fist in Heat's direction. "Sera's innocent! You just let her go, ja? Maybe we'll take it easy on you!"
The beast would hear none of this. With another roar, he engaged all of them in combat. He was strong, but he was outnumbered and they were skilled in their own right. Soon, Heat lay defeated on the ground.
Serph stepped forward, ready to sever both of the prince's heads with his sword, but suddenly Sera was standing in front of him.
"Stop!" she sobbed, eyes filled with tears. "That's enough!"
"Sera..." Her brother attempted to walk around her, but the girl wouldn't let him. "He must be taken care of before he brings anyone else to harm."
"But I'm fine! Please! There's no need to kill him!"
The others didn't know what to do about this new turn of events. They'd come expecting to find Sera in danger, and instead she was pleading for the beast's life. Serph shook his head. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill him just for stealing you away."
Sera took in a deep shuddering breath, tears now running freely down her cheeks. "Because..."
Heat tried to sit up, listening intently to the girl's answer.
"Because... because I l--"
---
There is a loud crash from outside and Roland sits up with a start. Something, a stray cat possibly, has knocked over a metal trash bin, scattering it's contents everywhere. After the man gets over the initial shock of being woken out of his dream, he sees the flashing light on his Dreamberry and groans. The fact that his city pass soon appears next to it is some comfort, but...
"...Ugh. I need a drink."