And now, a story from Iolanetta’s solitude…

 

It was dark. Not a cold, insidious blackness, just the warm embrace of the dream world. She was asleep. She had been for a long while, though in dreams time was irrelevant. Everything was silent. It had not always been this way. In the beginning, her sleep had been restless and filled with nightmares.

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That seemed so long ago now… A sound softly wafted through the darkness. A whispering voice…it was her own, and yet it was not.

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“A story… A story while we wait.”

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She strained her dreaming ears and the voice faded in again. “It won’t be long now… One has already entered and the others are right behind…” She wondered why her own voice was speaking to her, but didn’t have time to think.

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“There was once a beautiful princess, perfect in body and mind. She stood far above the rest…but her soul was found…lacking. The things she had done…despicable. Still, those who came to save her didn’t know, how could they? They could not see her heart…”

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The voice chuckled, “The princess was held in a tower most secret and tall, but a prince would come to save her as they always do. Little did the prince know that this would be his undoing. The princess would grow to love him and he her, but he could not know the truth. Together they overcame great hardship and finally were together, where they belonged… But the damage had been done. The prince glimpsed the princess’s soul…the blackness of her heart. In the end, he was blinded, left to aimlessly wonder in plains of darkness… And the princess…she was left to wallow in inescapable guilt.”

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The voice began to fade until all was silent. Soon, she could no longer even remember what it had said. The silent darkness had returned.

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Light suddenly bloomed, destroying the veil of darkness. Her eyes shot open. There was a man looking down on her with eyes full of wonder. The long dream had ended and something new begun…

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Treacherous…Gluttony…

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-End