Pendulum || TAENNIE FF

⚔Prologue:

Strange... Mystical... Magical?

A U T H O R

"Sold!" Said the brunet auctioneer in a tux. "Congratulations. It was great having you, Sir Lewis." He shook hands with a tall man with a chiseled physique.

The person he called, "Lewis," looked at the Pendulum clock and smiled lightly, imagining his precious daughter's reaction when the clock arrives home. His men brought the antique treasure with them and headed back to their kingdom, Miraine, with high expectations.

"Where's Heather?!" A middle-aged woman shouted with her face painted with worry and fear as she enters the room. "Young lady?!" She checked under the enormous bed, behind the thick curtains, inside the wide closets but the child she was looking for is nowhere to be found. "Your parents will be mad at me. I could lose my job!" She was panicking and sweating hard. Her future depends on the little girl she was supposed to guard. "I only left her for less than a minute and now she disappeared." The woman whispered to herself. "Oh, dear Heather-"

"You would really lose your job?" A little girl covered in coal stains came out from the unused fireplace in the room. "Would my parents really take you away, Berta?" She sadly asked with a terrified look. "But I don't want you to leave."

The woman immediately sprinted towards her in relief. She knelt and wiped the young one's face. "Heather! You look like a mess, child! What did I tell you about going into dirty places? Yesterday, you sneaked into the pigsty and pretended to be a pig on the mud. Two days ago, you went to the garden and dug on the soil with your bare hands saying there was a treasure buried under."

"But there was a treasure! I saw an 'X' mark on it when I was looking for Poppy." As Heather was speaking, a white Maltese dog came in and ran around them. "Poppy!" She happily squealed and reached her arms out for the little fella.

"I see.." Berta said, trying to look convinced. "Look, Heather. I admire you for your imagination but, you should keep yourself clean too. You're a princess. And what were you doing inside the fireplace anyway? Let me guess, Santa lost his way back to the North Pole and you helped him climb up because he can't do it himself?"

"Umhm.." Heather answered and nodded. Berta only sighed and continued cleaning her up. "You don't believe me, do you?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe in. As long as you're being extra careful, I will believe whatever you say." Berta stood up and smiled. "Now come. You'll take a bath and we'll find a sensible dress for you. Your parents are coming back from Girwell with your gift. You don't want to welcome them looking like this. And take Poppy with you. She's as smelly as you are!" Heather giggled and carried Poppy with her to the bathroom.

"Good day, Sir Lewis, Lady Mirana." Their butler greeted. "How was the one-week trip to Girwell?"

"Excellent, Howard. The view was breathtaking. Their food was scrumptious! Not to mention the people's warm welcome. It was nice to visit my dear friend Simon after almost ten years." Lewis excitedly told.

"Honestly Lewis. You talk as if their land is more impressive than ours. What would your mother say?" His wife, Mirana, scolded. Lewis only cleared his throat and looked away. "By the way, where's Heather? I've missed my baby so much-"