Dear Ms Lady Demigod: Twelve Days To Doom

0 1 Meeting Ariel

"Veni, inquit, quia vocavi te"

. . .

"Once upon a time, the great Gods had erected a beautiful castle, carved of gold in all its glory, spread throughout the center of the universe. Each of the twelve heavenly stars lived in their respective towers, the castle had twelve, each with its own story.

Different towers of that castle were called by different names but the most popular of all those parts was Shire Towey tower situated at the centre of the universe, connecting all realm gates. The twelve stars that dwelled in those towers were Knowledge, Time, Water, Earth, Fire, Music, Silence, Love, Bravery, Happiness, Luck, and lastly the one that kept them all together, the prince of all the eleven siblings, the twelfth sibling, Beauty-The most beautiful star that ever existed.

They all ruled beside the gatekeeper in the golden castle just above the purgatory, but Beauty took his responsibilities rather lazily, never committing to his people and enjoying a lavish life with castle maidens, in the depths of lust.

For he believed that love didn't exist, it was only lust that would bring in true pleasure. He danced all his evenings away, forming physical relationships with other goddesses and leaving them behind, in search of more beautiful ones. Hovering from one flower to another, crushing every flower who's nectar he had tasted, left behind to wilt and either away.

But then a witch fell for him, a rather ugly one. She dressed herself in fine silk and went to Shire Towey to meet beauty. But he refused to even look at her for his sight was only meant to perceive the beautiful.

This infuriated the witch and she told him that one day, he would lose the face that he's proud of and then everyone will refuse to look at him the way he refused to look at her.

And the very next day, while Beauty was in his garden, adorning the blue roses, his face felt droplets of rain. He looked up, it rained of acid and burnt the prince's face. His face had burnt so badly that nobody had the courage to look at his monstrous mutt.

Soon, the enchanted ballroom turned lonely and the castle deserted. Beauty couldn't bear to look at his face, so he wrapped himself in bandages and walked into a grave. He asked his servants to cover the grave.

Later, when Knowledge knew of this, he ran for his brother's help, but when he dug the grave, he found nothing but blue roses drenched in blood.

As soon he dug the grave, the entire golden castle broke down and all the twelve stars living in it separated out in different parts of the human world, forgotten by the heavens, left to choose their own fate." The story teller closed the book and smiled. She had bright brown lips and skin as black ebony. Her eyes and hair though were a sheer contrast of sliver and grey. She wore a long floral frock and long boots beneath it. Her hat covered her eyes at intervals. She was surrounded by a group of children.

"Where did Beauty go?" The children asked.
"Nobody knows. His body is still missing,"
"Maybe someone stole it?"
She smiled, "Or maybe, he lives in your eyes, look how beautifully they shine, as if beauty himself resides in them," She smiled.

She got up with her book,
"Tomorrow, I'll read you the tale of Music and his curse of one thousand Gods," She smiled at the children.
"Ms Feline, are all these stories real?" A bronze haired girl asked her.
"They are very real, Jevelene."

Ms Feline got up and all the children scrambled away to their homes. She walked away with her books. She walked into her house and looked at the letters in her letterbox. It had been two months since she had been in Italy. The king wanted her back at Alkinshime in Sweden. That was her life as a spy of the magical kingdom of Alkanshime. She had to leave immediately. She was sad she couldn't recite the story of Music to the children. That had always been her favourite.