Gaia's Visions (An Excerpt From The Dark Prince)

Gaia's Visions

At the mansion at which Klaus had left in his haste, and where his father lay in an alcohol induced sleep, his bride-to-be was tucked away in their room. Gaia was contemplating all that had happened in her life that led to these events transpiring. When she was just a girl, her mother was killed in a horrid fire just months after attending the funeral of her close Aunt who was murdered in a suicide attack by revolutionaries. These deaths scarred her young mind, and she was left in the care of Gillman - a very cold and shrewd man of business and power. He commanded a vast empire that seeded itself in commercialism and government itself. He was by all means an emperor - one with complete power over a city sized population - a metropolitan mass of sheep who would do his bidding regardless of thing like morality or logic. Such feats of near mind control had not been seen since the days of Jujarajon, the leader of the city state of Gernajojnif.

            Gaia had no clue that even she would become but a pawn in one of his machinations, to be married off to someone she didn't even know. Everything to Gillman was business - he was a strict man who didn't take no for an answer, and demanded a certain level or respect from those around him. He carried himself with a posture befitting of an absolute monarch - who claimed to be descended from the gods to rule over the unruly and uncivil humans that called this desolate and fearful world their own. He would never admit to feeling such ways about himself, but he was more convinced of his own superiority than he was by the color of the waters that surrounded the port city he commanded. His self interests often lead the people on a path most rational minds would condemn, but his control on the press and media was strong and unyielding. He took note of those who came before him, and twisted those ideals to the extreme, exercising a great liberty to do what he pleased with public funds and opinion.

            Gaia sat in the silence of Klaus's absence. It wasn't just his that was painful - it was the absence of anyone at all. For too many hours in a day she sat alone - staring back at her reflection in the mirror of her own vanity. For all the years Klaus had spent being sheltered and tucked away from the outside world, Gaia had as well, for different reasons. She had spent so long gazing into her glass reflector that at first she didn't notice the abnormality.

            When it first became apparent to her, she jumped suddenly, but was soon overcome by fear, so much so that she was paralyzed. Someone else was staring back at her through the mirror - a face that she so hauntingly recognized. A thin and gaunt figure in regal attire was the one who gazed upon her - appearing beside her own. Two people resided now in the portal, but only one was material and present in the tangible world. Nothing about this specter seemed real or able to be fathomed by Gaia's own mind - except for its identity.

            "Mabledown…" She whispered to herself in disbelief. The woman stared back at her, a pale blue glow emanating from the mirror as she did so.

            "This is impossible…" Gaia continued, a bit louder.

            When she did speak her voice boomed throughout the room, projecting itself within its four walls, but not to the outside.

            "You assume correctly. I am Royal Queen Mabledown of the faeries."

            "That's impossible - you're dead."

            "I never disputed that fact, child. There is still a matter of this Earth that pertains to you that I believe requires my attention."

            "What…what is that?" She asked meekly.

            "You…you must be reminded. You need to know once again who the real enemy is in all of this. You need to realize the scope and magnitude of what is at stake. I fear this is the only way that I can illustrate this for you."