Fujimoto on the Cliff (1)

Once upon a time, not too long ago, there was a young boy named Fujimoto. He was born with unruly ginger hair, and a mind full of great imaginings. He grew up in a small house, on a hill next to the sea, and from a very young age, he developed a great love for the sea. His father was a fisherman, and so was his father before him, and his father before him, and so on. Fujimoto and his two younger brothers were destined to become fishermen when they grew up as well. Fujimoto used to beg and plead to his father to take him along when he went on fishing trips. His father always warned him that the ocean was dangerous. He spent lots of time drawing pictures of fish, of mermaids, of giant squids.

On the day that Fujimoto turned five years old, his father agreed to take him aboard his fishing boat with him. The young boy was delighted. He waved goodbye to his mother and brothers and set out on his journey. Farther, farther, and farther still they ventured from the shore, until his little house one the hill was gone from sight. The young boy was amazed by everything; the seagulls, the beautiful silver fish, skipping amongst the waves, the sun, setting purple in the never-ending sky.

Then, night came, and Fujimoto's father had caught many fish, and was tired. He was ready to head back to the house. "Step away from the side, my son," He told Fujimoto, "Or you will fall from the boat and drown!" But Fujimoto did not listen. Fujimoto's father turned the boat around, and it rocked back and forth, back and forth. The deck was slippery from all of the fish they'd caught, and Fujimoto lost his footing. Down, he plummeted, into the ocean. It was dark, and cold, and he was scared. He began to panic, and under the water he went. His father reached out to grab him, but could not reach. He was just about to jump in, when something amazing began to happen.

The ocean lit up, with a brilliant yellow light. Fujimoto felt a pair of arms wrap around him, felt himself rising back to the top of the water. Before he knew it, he was above the water. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful woman holding him. Her entire skin glowed, and her long red hair stretched for miles beyond his view. A crown of jewels and pearls adorned her head. She handed Fujimoto back to his father, who, in amazement, thanked her for saving his boy. She said nothing, and disappeared back into the sea.

Most children, when nearly drowned, become very afraid of water.

On that night, however, Fujimoto became obsessed with the sea.

As he grew, he read all the books he could find, in a desperate attempt to find out who had saved him. Stories of old told of a nameless enchantress who lived in the sea that saved those who had fallen in. Many speculated that she was a mermaid, and many believed that she was a Goddess of the sea. He was sure that she was the one who had saved him.

All of the other children in his little town thought that he was crazy and teased him for believing something as silly as being saved by any magical creature, but he didn't care. He spent his hours at sea, reading his books and hoping to see her again. He even jumped overboard once, to see if she'd save him again. Alas, he found himself more than able to keep himself from drowning, and in fact, quite good at swimming.

He realized that since he could not honestly drown anymore, he would have to find another way to summon her again. He read through his books a great many times, searching for other ways to reach her, but no other ways were written. He continued to take his father's boat out to sea, almost daily. By this time, he'd become a bright young man, and at the age of eighteen, he could take the boat out on his own. He became very dedicated to learning all he could about the sea, and read every book on the subject in his school's library. He learned all about anemones and sea stars, about boats and anchors, about currents and waves. Everything he learned fascinated him. It held so much mystery, and so much grace.

The other students often picked on Fujimoto; his ginger hair (which was strange in itself in a simple fishing village) had grown well past his shoulders, and he'd grown tall and lanky. They called him crazy, obsessed, lonely. And maybe he was all of those things. None of their words bothered him though. He knew that he'd find what he was looking for some day.

One summer's night, there was a terrible storm at sea. Fujimoto stood on his front step, watching the ocean waves rip white creases into the dark blue. With some of the bigger waves, he could've sworn that he saw enormous fish. He was so distracted by the waves that he forgot to tie his father's boat back to the dock. It was only when he saw the boat torn to shreds off in the distance that he realized his mistake. His father scolded him furiously. He was so upset by his mistake that he went to bed that night without even changing from his day-clothes, and woke up the next morning with a dreadful cold.

Fujimoto's father left early in the morning to find a new fishing boat. Fujimoto stayed home from school with a fever. He didn't like being stuck at his house, with his mother and youngest brother. They thought that he was silly, spending all of his time obsessing over the sea. His mother, however, insisted that he stay in bed. He spent most of the day staring out the window, watching the fishing boats off in the distance, reading their flagsigns. That night, when the sun went down, Fujimoto crept out of his bedroom window and down to the dock. His father had stayed in town for the night, so Fujimoto had the dock all to himself.
He laid down across the wooden planks, staring blankly up at the stars. He let his arm fall off of the dock, his fingers skimming the water. The sounds of the waters were calming to him. He was still feeling admittedly under the weather as he tried to imagine himself out on his father's boat. He rolled over onto his stomach and looked out towards sea. There were hardly any waves rolling in that night. He felt himself slowly drifting off to sleep when a voice startled him.

"Are you alright?"

Fujimoto's eyes snapped open. He looked about, and saw nothing. He thought he might've been hearing things. He sat up and rubbed blearily at his eyes. Then, he saw it. In the water, where his reflection should have been, was the face of the woman. He was very surprised, and almost fell into the water as a result. He peered down at her in amazement. Again came her voice, soft and sweet.
"Are you alright?" She came out of the water and rested her arms on the dock. He was entranced by her. She was just as he remembered; long, flowing red hair, beautiful, luminous skin. He was so amazed by the sight of her that he almost forgot to answer. His voice came out stuffy and miserable, thanks to his cold.
"...Yes, I'm alright," He had been waiting his whole life to see her again, and she appeared on the one night that he was ill. He cursed himself inwardly for not tying up the boat. She craned her head at him, seeming confused.
"What's the matter with your voice?" She asked.
Fujimoto pouted. "I have a cold." Her eyes were wide with wonder. "...I'm sick."
"Oh dear," She said, smiling a bit. "That's not good at all!" She reached her pale arm forward and tapped the end of his nose with her finger. Suddenly, he felt as good as new, as if he'd never been sick at all.
"H-how did you-" He stuttered cluelessly. Her smile grew.
"I've been watching you." She said, brushing her beautiful red hair aside. "You come out to see me almost every day." Fujimoto's mouth fell open. He felt as if he must've been dreaming.
"Watching me?" He questioned. She nodded.
"Yes. I see you a lot. What is your name?"
"Fujimoto." He answered, bowing to her a bit.
"Pleased to meet you, Fujimoto. My name is Granmamare." Her very eyes seemed to glow with excitement. "I am the princess of the ocean."
"Princess?" Fujimoto asked. "Does that mean that your parents are the king and queen of the ocean?" Fujimoto couldn't imagine anyone more amazing than this beautiful creature before him.
"No, I'm afraid." She smiled sadly. "I never knew my parents. I grew up alone, with my older sister, as part of the sea."
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," The young man answered earnestly. "But if that is the case, then why aren't you the queen yourself?"
"That is because you cannot be a queen without a king." She replied, looking dreadfully sad, "And I cannot marry, because I must stay in the sea."
"That's so sad..." Fujimoto didn't like the idea of growing old all alone. "and seems very lonely."
"It is." She frowned. "The sea creatures are friendly enough, but they aren't much for conversation." She giggled a bit. Fujimoto laughed too. "Now, speaking of lonely, what are you doing out here all alone? It's getting dark out."
"M-me?" How frightfully embarrassing, he thought to himself, that he'd devoted so much time trying to find the girl, but never thought of what to say to her when he did. He'd always imagined himself being charming, like the princes in the story books he so enjoyed. "I... I needed to get away from my house, you see. I've been home in bed all day long, and my mother and siblings have been a little exhausting to deal with." She nodded. "And my father's not home. He went out to buy a new boat. So-"
"New... Boat?" She asked. "What happened to the old one?"
Fujimoto's face flushed with embarrassment. "I... When the storm hit the town the other night, it got destroyed. I didn't tie it down very well..."
"I'm so sorry," She looked out to the ocean behind her. "I still don't have the hang of protecting the villages yet. That used to be my sister's job. My only job used to be to save those who were drowning."
Fujimoto wondered if she remembered saving him when he was younger. "Why is it your job now?" He asked instead, far too nervous to ask such a question.
"Oh." Her face grew solemn. "My sister fell in love with a human. She gave up all of her powers to follow him onto the earth. But when he did not return her love, she turned into sea foam." Fujimoto's eyes grew wide.
"That's dreadful!" He gasped.
"Yes, but it's where we all came from." She agreed sadly.
"FUJIMOTO!" Shouted a voice from upon the hill. Fujimoto jumped to his feet. "YOU'D BETTER GET INSIDE NOW!"
"Th-that's my mother! She sounds very upset with me... Oh dear..." He said in a panic. The beautiful woman before him turned back towards the sea, slowly sinking in. "Wait!" He called, nearly in a whisper. She turned back, all but her eyes and the top of her head beneath the water. "C-can I ever...?" No, he thought to himself, that's far too sappy. There's no way he could ask to meet her again.
"I'll be back tomorrow night," She whispered in return, before disappearing beneath the swell completely.

Fujimoto stared at the ocean, his heart still racing inside of his chest. There was no chance of him getting any sleep tonight.

Salt water sadness

Anybody up for a backstory?

Ákos clutched his baby sister in his arms as the ship sank, looking around in vain for his parents. The couple was nowhere in sight, and the last place the boy had seen them was the brig. The two children were cowering on the deck of the crippled ship, and Ákos tried to comfort his sister as panicked crew members raced past.

The water began to reach the top of the boat. Ákos remembered what his father had told him about sinking ships. If it went under completely, anyone near it would get sucked under as well. Ákos sent one last furtive glance at the stairs, but no familiar faces appeared.

Luckily, the boy knew how to swim, so he strapped a life vest onto his sister and jumped into the water. It was horribly cold, but he shook off the chill and kept the baby above the water best he could. The waves were tall and fierce; the boy struggled to stay afloat as he was buffeted by the storm raging around them.

Just as his strength was waning, a hand gripped his shirt collar and they were hoisted onto a lifeboat. He spluttered, hastily checking to make sure his sister was okay. She squalled, but the little one was just fine. Someone was shaking him, yelling something, but it took him a second to register what he was saying.

“Hey… Hey kid, you okay? Kid? Where are your parents? What happened to the ship, did you see? Hey kid, can you hear me?” Ákos blinked salt water out of his eyes and blearily shook his head.

“The ship… the ship s-sank. My parents were on board but I couldn’t… find them. We hit… a rock or something. I had to get out before it sank.” The boy answered, pausing for gasping breaths when he had to. He spotted a blanket on the edge of the boat and wrapped his sister in it, pulling her into his lap and looking at the other occupants.

There was the cook and a few ship hands in the little life boat, but no officials who would notice that the kids hadn’t been paying customers on the ship.  Ákos knew that was good, no one would realize they were stowaways.

The storm crashed around them and the boat pitched violently back and forth. The baby whimpered in Ákos’s arms and he held her tight, feeling exhausted. The younger fell asleep first, but the boy soon followed, rocking back and forth in the midst of a storm on the Adriatic Sea.

They woke as orphans the next day. The boat had washed up in Albania, and the ship had been searched for while the children still slept. Minus the handful of people in the life boat, there were no survivors. Nobody was certain what had cost the ship to wreck, but a rumor began to pass that the captain had drunkenly steered them into rocks.

With no family to turn to, and no families nearby willing to take on two hungry mouths people began to talk of splitting the children up. When he heard this, Ákos picked up his baby sister and set out while the investigators’ backs were turned. He figured that he could take care of her better than they could anyway.  With a heavy heart, he mourned his parents as he walked. He decided that they should head back for Hungary, where his parents were born. Perhaps he could find work there and get paid enough to take care of them both.

He carried his sister on his back and kept walking, never looking back at the little town they’d left.

“Don’t worry,” He told the baby that was now his to care for, “We’ll be okay. I’ll protect you forever, Ildiko.” 

~~Kels

A Baffling Beginning

Another short in the Prince and Jester story. New Characters!

“Ildiko, Ákos, come here a moment!” Queen Mathilde’s voice rang out across the throne room to the far wall, where two jesters sat chatting. The two snapped to attention, cart-wheeling over to the Queen and sweeping into identical bows upon arrival. “Oh, enough of your antics,” The Queen laughed, “I want to talk to you two about something.” The smaller figure, Ildiko, grinned cheekily.

“We are supposed to amuse, your majesty, I’m not sure we can be serious!” She chirped. Her brother whacked her upside the head.

“Be good, sis, mind the Queen’s orders.” He growled, but his eyes sparkled with laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Really though Ákos, you’re worse than I am!” Ildiko replied, rubbing her head and pouting. The Queen cleared her throat and the Fools returned their attention to her, the taller looking sheepish.

“As I was saying,” Queen Mathilde continued, “I need one of you to go on a mission for me. You two can decide between yourselves which one shall go.” The Jesters exchanged looks, mirth gone. The brother spoke first.

“You… You’re splitting us up, your Majesty…?” Ildiko slipped her hand into her brother’s. They only had each other since their parents died, and they had always hoped they could remain together.  The Queen frowned.

“I’m afraid so. I want one of you to remain here, while the other goes to comfort my friend. He just lost his father, and he could use a Jester to cheer him up. I promised you two that I’d never force you to separate from each other, but I was rather hoping you could do this for me. Besides, whichever one of you that goes is only going to be a kingdom away. He might even send you right back, I am not certain.” The siblings looked back and forth between each other and the Queen, and then nodded.

“We shall do as you command, My Queen” The elder replied, bowing smartly. Beside him, his sister curtsied.

“I shall give you two days to decide which of you is going. Choose well. You are dismissed for today.” The two bowed again and left without another word, traveling back to the servant’s quarters. Ildiko followed Ákos into his room and sat on his bed while he paced the floor.

“What’ll we do, Sis?” Ákos sighed, slipping his mask off and setting it onto a desk, looking distraught. “I don’t want us to be apart.” The man had worry lines on his face, and Ildiko wondered how long they’d been there. Surely her brother didn’t get upset that easily. He was the less serious of the two! But her brother was still pacing, brow wrinkled and frowning.

“Ákos?” His sister finally broke in after a few minutes of silence.

“Hm?”

“I’ll go.” Ákos whipped around and gaped at her.

“You’ll… what?!”  Ildiko stood.

“I’ll go on the mission. You should stay here.”

“No way, not happening, Sis. I should go, I’m the oldest. You must stay here where you’re assuredly safe.” He looked at her like she was crazy –more than usual, that is – and wrung his hands as he spoke. “I can’t just let you go off to another country!”

“You love her.” Ildiko said, without a bit of uncertainty in her voice.  Her brother turned an interesting shade of red.

“Wh-What are you talking about? I d-do not. You can prove n-nothing.” Ildiko clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“I don’t need to. You need to stay here where she is. I’ll almost eighteen; I’ll be fine, Ákos. You’re her favorite anyway.”  The smaller jester smiled sweetly and new that she’d won. Her brother was a pushover. Plus, he had a weak spot for his sister.

“I shouldn’t give in…” He sighed, tugging on his auburn hair, but his tone suggested he was about to give.

“It will all be alright Bro. Besides, it’s not like I’m going across the world, just a few days travel away.”

“Fine…” He said, sitting down on the bed with a groan. “There isn’t any winning against you. You always get your way.” Ildiko plopped down beside him.

“Yep!” She chirped, and kissed him on the cheek before hopping up and leaving the room, giving a little curtsy at the door.

“Ugh…” Ákos said after she had gone. “I hope she knows what she’s getting into.”

~Kels

A Prince in a Foul Mood

This is the beginning of a story, and it all starts with a prince.

The Prince was grumpy, to be blunt. He’d been bombarded by all sorts of marriage proposals all evening, and between his father’s funeral and late night political talks, he had hardly slept through the night in a week.  Hardly anyone would leave him alone, and Prince Felix wondered if he’d have to kill someone to get some alone time. He eyed his official bodyguards with a sinister look, wondering which would be easier to take out. The smaller of the two shuddered without really knowing why.

“S-Sir?” A voice cut through his dark musings.
 He frowned sharply at the servant who approached him, bearing a platter with a roll of parchment on it.

“Yes?” He drawled, adjusting his crown. It didn’t quite fit him as well as it had fit his father.

“U-Um, the Duke of Hungary has a present for you, Y-Your Majesty.  He told me to give you this before I announce him in.” Prince Felix snatched the letter off of the tray and made shooing motions at the servant, who obediently scurried off.

The scroll was sealed with the Queen of Hungary’s stamp pressed into red wax, which the Prince cracked in half with the ease of one who got many such documents. He unrolled the parchment and held it up in front of him, squinting to read the Queen’s neat handwriting.  

Dearest Felix,

How are you faring, dear one? I know it must be hard with your father’s sudden passing, and if I were not so tied up with the legal works on this side, I’d come and visit you in person. However, since I cannot, I have sent in my stead a new friend for you. You became horribly depressed when your mother passed, and although my reports tell me you are faring fine, I suspect that you are in fact in deep turmoil over your father’s sudden death. Therefore, I am sending a member of my court, who you may have seen before, to join you for as long as you wish to host her. She and her brother have worked for me for many years, and she is by far the better of the two at doing her job.

I hope my letter has found you well, or can at least provide you with a bit of companionship in these dark days. All of my love,

Queen Mathilde the third

Felix set the letter down and sighed, feeling a bit better than he had before. Although he wasn’t anywhere near cheerful, his good friend had at least brought a brief smile to his face and lit his eyes with a tiny bit of light again. He folded the letter neatly and slid it into his hidden pocket, then turned and whistled sharply towards the door the servant had fled from.

An official sounding trumpet tune played, and a loud voice proclaimed: “The Duke of Hungary!” The large double doors at the head of the entrance hall opened and a fat man came waddling through them, arms out wide and a wide grin plastered onto his red face.

“Felix, my boy! How great to see you! It’s been forever since you visited us in Hungary, you should leave the castle more often!”

“Is that a diplomatic offer or an order, sir?” The Prince snapped coldly. The smile of the jovial man slipped a bit and he visibly seemed to deflate.

“N-Not at all your majesty. I m-mean, it’s an offer!”The man fumbled for words under the icy look Felix was giving him. “The Queen sends her best wishes, and um, also a gift.” The Prince gave him a look that seemed to ask him to either leave or continue, the Duke wasn’t quite sure which. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but apparently thought better of it and just snapped his fingers.

The doors yet again opened, but instead of a box or a cage dragged in by servants, a figure rolled in swiftly on a large round ball, bouncing around the vast throne room. Felix felt his eyes go wide as he watched the acrobat move around the various vases and tables that were placed randomly around the room. The figure did a few quick laps around the room before coming to a skidding stop directly before the Prince, jumping up on the ball and bowing dramatically.

Felix gazed at the person before him, taking in the odd dress of this character. It was a girl, for one thing, a young girl perhaps a year or two younger than him. She was thin, bordering on scrawny, and had piercing green-blue eyes. Her face was painted white, with a red teardrop under her right eye and a blue star under the left. She wore a jester’s outfit of blue and red, mismatched and bright, with bells on the ends of her cap. She was perched with incredible balance on top of the ball, which tilted and rolled a bit every few seconds.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, the ball popped and the girl fell. Felix actually moved forward as if to catch her, but she did a back hand spring and landed on her hands, feet in the air. She gazed up at him with a simple care-freeness that left him stunned and said: “Ildiko the jester, at your service, ‘Majesty.”  She flipped back onto her feet and curtsied neatly, grinning.

Felix smiled automatically in response and stood, bowing back to this girl, who seemed to possess a contagiously bright mood. The Prince looked over her shoulder at the Duke who was watching with a wary look of hope on his face.

“Tell the Queen her gift of companionship is well received, and that I shall visit as soon as it is feasible for us both.” He said with a regal formality that prompted the Duke to bow.  “Oh,” The Duke looked up. “and tell Mattie ‘thank you’ for me, will you?” The Duke smiled and nodded, pleased to hear the Prince call his Queen by her less formal name, as he had practically raised the both of them. He left with a contented look on his face, very glad that he had a good report for the Queen.

The Prince sat back down once the man left, and turned his attention back to the jester.

“So,” He began, “Tell me about yourself.” 

-Kels

Friends

Another one about Shiro, Acorn, and co. This one includes Asa, the medic of the group. Enjoy!

Acorn knocked on the medic’s door, a piece of paper clenched in her fist. Asa answered it quickly, stepping aside without a word to let her in. The girl strode over to the couch with a familiarity that proved the numerous visits to this room. She plopped down in her seat, crossing her arms and staring her best friend down and waited for him to explain.

“You got my note, I see.” He began.

“M-hm.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“About?”  Asa frowned and sat beside her, catching her eyes with a rather pointed look.

“You like Shiro.” Asa said firmly, not a question, not a smug exclamation, just a fact.  Acorn’s eyes went wide and she turned crimson, spluttering out pure gibberish. “Don’t bother lying; I’m not as dense as Shiro is. You like him.” Acorn finally got her tongue untangled.

“He’s not dense! And I don’t like him, honest!” Asa tapped his foot, scowling. “Stop that.” He scowled worse. “It’s not… I can’t… You know how much he loves her!” She blurted out, looking cross.

“That’s true. What are you going to do about it?” Asa took the near confession in stride, hardly batting an eye.

“Wait, you don’t think it’s silly that I like him?” Acorn was surprised; usually Asa was very practical, even to a fault.

“Of course not. You can’t control who you like. You should be careful not to get too attached though.” He replied casually.

“That makes no sense!” Acorn snapped in protest, fuming. “First you say I can’t help it and then say I can?!” Asa poked her nose. “H-Hey! Cut it out.” The medic poked two fingers on either side of her mouth and made her smile, looking very serious.

“There. Much better.”  She swatted at him but he dodged, getting off of the couch and rearranging his medicine vials on the table across from them.

“What was that about?” She growled, rubbing her cheeks.

“You shouldn’t look so sad all the time. Liking someone who doesn’t like you back is tough, but you can get through it, I know.”

“How would you know?!”

“Because I like someone who likes someone else.” Asa kept his back to his friend, re-wrapping a roll of gauze that had come un-done. He said it casually, but Acorn was intrigued.

“Do I know her?”

“No.” Not like I do anyway. He thought.

“What’s her name?” Asa paused on that one.

“I don’t know.” The fact was true. She’d never told him her real name.

“Oh. She’s a secretive girl then. Well, good luck trying to get her to like you!” Acorn said cheerfully. Asa laughed bitterly.

“I’d rather she didn’t.” Acorn opened her mouth to argue but Asa cut her off, turning back around. “For her to even realize I like her, she’d have to be hurt by the guy she likes. I’d rather her forget I exist than see her hurting.” Asa shifted uncomfortably, feeling like he’d crossed out of his comfort zone.

“That’s really sweet of you, Asa.” The medic looked up at her sharply. “That girl is stupid not to like you.” Acorn crossed the room and pecked him on the cheek, smiling. “Thank you for cheering me up, you’re the best friend a girl could have!” With that, she practically skipped out of the room, leaving Asa stunned.

Asa touched his cheek with a shaking hand, staring at the door as if Acorn was going to bound back through it. He sighed and laughed sadly, shaking his head.

“You idiot, you just insulted yourself.”

--Kelsie 

Fortune's Fool

If anyone can guess the reasoning behind the title, they get bonus points. 

No telling, Em-chan, I already told you. 

“Why, pray tell, are you wearing that monstrosity?” The King asked, holding out his arm for his wife to take.

“I think it’s pretty. Besides, it suits me, don’t you think?” The Queen replied, spinning a little before taking his arm.  In truth, the King thought the dress was lovely, a beautiful purple gown with gold stripes. It suited his wife extremely well, but he was in a sour mood. The king had planned a sweet and simple anniversary of their wedding, but his officials had commandeered it and made it into a masquerade.

“We don’t match.” He noted with a slightly strained edge to his voice. He was dressed in a more subtle grey and black suit.  It was a bit uncomfortable, but not the worst he’d worn, although the fleece cape made it a bit too hot in the stuffy ballroom.

“We do actually!” The Queen countered. She adjusted her gold mask and he noticed the grey and black Jester’s cap she wore that matched his suit. The Queen pulled away from him and teasingly pulled on his mask as well, or more accurately, the golden ram horns attached to his grey mask.  It was the same color of his crown, which admittedly matched his wife’s dress.

“Well it looks weird. I look dull in comparison to you.” He was just making excuses to argue at this point, and she gladly took him up on it.

“I don’t think so. I like the moon more than the sun.” That caught his attention.

“What do you mean? I thought we were talking about our clothes.”

“I am. My dress is based off of the sun, golden but flashy, colorful and eye-catching. Your suit is based off of the moon, calm and reliable, relaxing and stoic. Although the sun may have more attention, the moon is much more loved I believe.” She smiled. “Besides, it suits us! You are the strong king, and I am the frivolous jester queen!” That got a smile out of him.

“You know what, sometimes I forget you used to be my jester, yet sometimes I forget you are my queen. You are an odd one, Ildiko.”

“I’ll take that as a complement Felix.” The Jester-Queen bowed with a grin on her face and her eyes twinkling. The light reached even the Sour King’s eyes and he smiled ever so slightly. Perhaps the ball wouldn’t be so horrible; after all, he had a fool to make his evening grand.

The promised sequel to "The King and the Jester" along with "A Memento on Masks". I might post more about these too as I go, so keep an eye out! --Kelsie

The King and the Jester

A story to cheer up anyone who is sad, a tale of humour and masks. 

Once upon a time, there was a jester who went by the name of Ildiko. She was King Felix’s very favorite fool, and in fact his only one. Every time the King was blue or was overcome by his Kingly duties, she’d make him laugh with her antics. She’d fall down, tell jokes, and fall over herself to make him laugh, and she usually succeeded.

One day, however, she was having a lot of trouble making him laugh! She fell down often, told all of her best jokes, and performed all of his favorite tricks. Finally, she leaned on his throne (only a fool could do this and not be beheaded) and begged him to tell her what was bothering him.

He explained to his jester that his Officials had decided he needed to have a queen. They were going to host a Royal ball, a masquerade, where all of the princesses and noble women of marriageable age would be invited.  He had to choose one of the girls at the ball to be his bride.

The jester tried to cheer up her king all of the month before the Ball, but to no avail. It became so bad, that the king no longer even smiled. He declared to the Jester and His Royal Officials that if any of the girls at the dance could make him laugh, then he would marry her. However, he commanded that none of the girls be told this fact.

The time of the Ball came around and the King was in a foul mood. His officials had gone as far as to choose his outfit, forcing him to wear a sheepskin cape and a mask with ram horns on it.  Before the Ball, the jester tried to cheer up, but he was simply too upset, so she left.

One by one, and then in swarms, the girls entered the ballroom. He danced half-heartedly for awhile, but all of the girls were either boring or trying way too hard to impress him, so he sat down on his throne and hoped the day would get better. Just when he thought he’d go crazy from boredom, and was pondering how his officials would react if he went on a crazed rampage, a silence broke the walls around his mind. He looked, and saw the crowds parting. A magnificently simply dressed girl was approaching, without the jewels and heavy make-up of the royalty; she only wore a plain dress and a black and white mask.

The girls around her cackled, poking fun at her clothes and making snide comments about her mask. She paid them no mind, and neither did the king, their eyes locked as she approached the throne.  Upon arrival, she curtsied neatly and held out a bag to him, stating that it was a gift. He opened it hurriedly, anything to stop the boredom.  He was perplexed to find his Jester’s hat inside, and looked up at his guest, baffled.  She asked permission to place it on him, and he agreed. After she had, she looked him over and exclaimed:

“It looks like I have finally made a fool of ewe!”

He stared at her, and she stared back, straight-faced, until the pun hit him and he burst out laughing, surprising his officials and the other guests.

After he stopped giggling, which took quite awhile, he exclaimed to the whole ballroom that he’d chosen this girl to be his bride, and asked her to remove her mask.  She did so, and the King’s eyes went wide. It was his Jester, and although he had already guessed it was her because of her voice and actions, he had not expected her to be so beautiful without her normal jester’s makeup.     

The officials, upon realizing the identity of the girl, threw a hissy fit, as did the other girls and their parents, but the King could care less. He had found his bride and was pleased as punch. Perhaps, he considered, he was so upset at picking a bride because he was in love with her all along and never knew.  Only one girl in the whole kingdom could make him laugh, and he intended on marrying her. She of course, agreed, and they lived happily ever after.

This is in the same time and about the same characters as "A memento on Masks", previously posted. I'll probably post a sequel piece as well. --Kelsie

Since apparently the last one was a thing, I'll post a prologue to another story I have written?

The screen flickered and turned on. The camera lit up and a face, bruised and scarred, appeared on the parallel screen. His eyes shifted about uneasily as he scanned the room, making sure that it was empty, and that the door was shut. His stare then returned to the camera. He adjusted it and began to speak in a low voice.
"Okay, they'll almost definitely exterminate me if this is found...” His eyes were a strange color, almost violet. They were bloodshot and tired, but also full of panic. “But it’s not like I have much left to lose." There was a slight trail of dried blood running from the corner of his mouth, and his lip was busted. “My name is Leon Cargly. Or, I guess, I’d probably be easier to find if you looked up the number 865-200-126 on the main Vesalius computer.” He again surveyed the room, brushing his matted black hair from his eyes. “I don’t have much time; the guard will be through here soon. Please. Send someone to help us. Send people to Vesalius Science Laboratories.” His voice was hoarse and weak. He coughed a low shallow cough. “We’re all going to be killed if something isn’t done.” He paused, again looking about. “They’ve got medicines and needles and they aren’t at all afraid to use them. Two from my group are dead already… I-”
There was a slight noise through the door behind him. He jolted and quickly typed 9-1-1 into the receiver box and gave one last pleading look into the camera before hitting “send.”

An email entitled ‘EMERGENCY’ with a video attached arrived in the police inbox at 2:00 A.M. that Thursday morning. The woman running the desk quickly flicked it open and pressed play. She was disturbed greatly by the video. “Mr. Evans, sir? You really should come and look at this.” The balding police chief hurried to her side and she relayed the video to him. The deputy walked up with him and viewed over from their shoulders. When it was over, the woman looked up at Evans. He hardly looked concerned. “What do I do, sir?”
“We can send some men down there, but this seems like a prank to me,” he said, swatting the air in front of him nonchalantly. “Vesalius is a highly respected laboratory. I seriously doubt anything like this could be more than a sick joke, don’t you agree, Vern?”
The Deputy nodded in a bored fashion, brushing crumbs from his moustache. “I’ll lead a squad down there now, sir.”
The woman called to dispatch immediately a search on the Vesalius Science building. Police, Vern in the reigns, were at the door within twenty minutes. The officers were less than enthusiastic to wake up at two in the morning to work a likely false alarm. However, upon arrival, no one would answer the door, which rose suspicion in the old Deputy. What reason did the respectable workers of Vesalius have to hide from the police? The door was bashed down, and into the dark halls the police tread, guns at the ready.
Immediately, they were met with the smells of antiseptic and something else, something wretched and nasty, something unidentifiable. Up and down corridors they walked, until they came upon a line of doors that were padlocked shut. They crushed the lock on one of the many doors and entered. It was a long, dark hallway. The first door they saw read TEST GROUP ONE. The wrenched the door open and the officers were almost sickened by what they saw. Men and women were in cages not unlike those at your common animal shelter. They all had collar-like devices around their necks, only slightly different than shock collars for dogs. They were all clad in tank-top shirts and long baggy black pants. Their shirts were all printed with a Vesalius logo and numbers in three digit sets. What was most disturbing amongst them, though, were their physical conditions. They all were pallid, dark-eyed, and thin beyond belief. Many of them were sickly, or injured with open bleeding wounds. Several were paralyzed, or were missing limbs, or were simply too weak to move. One area was a makeshift cage created from a dog kennel. Inside, it housed about twelve small children, all of which were highly undernourished and sick.
The captives’ eyes filled with hope as they saw the officers approaching. They knew they’d been saved. Almost instantly, all those that could talk were shouting, weeping, singing. Many of the officers fled the room and desperately called headquarters for backup. The deputy whipped out his radio. “Boss, we really need some help down here. It’s no joke. There’s really…” The deputy’s eyes grew wide. “Oh… My…” His terror only grew as he looked down the hallway. The room next to that one was TEST GROUP TWO. Next, TEST GROUP THREE. This hallway alone held around fifty doors.
As they searched on into the night, things that looked like huge mazes were discovered, and chambers that were in complete isolation. There was a room full of schizophrenics that sat trembling into corners, and a room full of people with eyes that couldn’t see. The strangest, maybe the most terrifying room that was found was full of people who were dead, except for one teenage boy who sat crying to himself underneath a blanket. The room itself smelled nauseatingly of chemicals. When the boy heard the police enter, he peered out, unashamed of the tears that dribbled off of his dirty cheeks. The moment he saw them, he broke down into heavier sobs, crying, “Thank you God… It worked…Thank you God…” This boy was immediately carried out, this boy numbered 865-200-126.
600 captives were found inside of the mammoth Vesalius building over the course of the next week.
80 of them were dead, or died soon after.
328 of them left with some sort of mental disorder.
553 of them were contaminated with diseases.
Nearly 460 scientists were tried and either arrested or sent to mental institutions.