The Beginning to an End

Subject: The Beginning to an End Mon 13 Jun 2011 - 21:14

Pre-Chapter: The Prologue
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Quote :: "He's dead...It's finally over."
- ???

The Gate opens, now it begins.
The past memories of being an average kid, having fun with my friends, to even spending time with my parents. All of those memories, are now non-existent to me. I watched down at the the pale earth that was once my home as I was ascending to a newer world. My hair was waving, immense winds began to blow above me Pillars began to show left and right, statues of exotic creatures and mythical entities appeared one by one as I was closer to this Gate. Time passes as the endless heavenly escalator continues to move my lifeless self, nothing happens as I stare at the gate, trying to even touch the surface with my hand. And then I felt something.

It felt like, me. A shadow of my arm began to form, touching my hand like symmetry. I wanted to freak out and move away from the hand and obviously I did, but I couldn't. There was something about this shadow that made me feel, connected to it. It was a part of me, I moved my fingers and it would copy my exact movement and shape. This went on for almost ages, until the stairs abruptly stopped. I screamed as I fell backward, the symmetry of the shadow stopped as it grasped my arm and pulled me out swiftly to the Gate. As cliche as it sounds, I saw a white light and I thought I was in the afterlife. The shadow of my hand was nowhere to be found, and I lay within a colorless world of nothingness. I got back up and checked my surroundings, I walked forward, Thud!

Unknown to me, I accidentally hit an invisible wall with my forehead. The same thing happened as I moved backward, my left and right sides were both sealed in. I was trapped in a box and all I could see was white. I sat down and sighed, knowing I was going to be trapped here f- But! I looked upward, white pieces began to be peeled off into words, I swiftly got back up and began to examine what's new to me.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET OUT?" Was the words I've seen. I had no other way of communicating with this mysterious being so I just nodded. The words began to erase itself and white began to fill in the colored gaps. I waited patiently for a few seconds, then I had the nature of gulping. But why? I know now. A rainbow-colored fist pierced the wall to my stomach. My mouth opened in slow pain, glass shard passengers began to move into the destination known as my body and the fist was the train that carried them to me. I felt my life force being drained away to the fist. The red color of my shirt began to give it more red, my yellow necklace gave it it's yellow, and the blue on my jeans gave it it's blue. You get what I mean, then I began to lose conscientiousness. Voices began to be heard in the background, "Well done", "That should do it", "Now what?" and my body began to appear as a colorless shell. The hand brought itself out of the large box and began to spill it's colors on the floor.

The colors began to form the insides of a grand residence. The chandelier, the gigantic stairs, the elegant doors, the paintings and frames were all created from this mysterious hand. People began to form and shape in their places as the floors and ceilings began to be swiftly filled in like a paintbrush moves. Lastly I was the only one who actually -came- out of the fist, Myself laid on the new floor in front of two figures that stood on a step of the staircase, one male and the other female who wore traditional clothing that only old people would have worn back when I was still a normal kid. Two recently drawn guards, dressed up like knights dragged me up and vanished like it was their only purpose. Around me were statues and paintings of the two royal figures that stood patiently with a stern expression on their unusually young faces. I gulped and began to take a few steps forward towards them. With a sudden change in sharp of my voice, I nervously asked, "Where am I?"

They both replied in unison, "You are within the Royal Palace, silly one. We are the 'King' and 'Queen' of this residence and all the land outside of within. We have expected your arrival here, and we were prepared. As Known as a 'King' and 'Queen', But we are known truly as Patriarch, and Matriarch. Now then, we shall now call you and give you a name, fit for your personality, and appearance solely based on our superior judgement. As your creative name continues to find a way out to be real, explore this world and begin to meet it's current inhabitants, Now begone."

Both the royal figures vanished simultaneously suddenly as the door behind me opened, showing a more modern themed civilization. There were no houses, so I assumed that the Royal Palace is where they all live and sleep. Theaters and art museums seem to be the main excitement within this place. Though skyscrapers and minor buildings cluster and fill in the gaps between them. My eyes were in amazement as I continued to observed this bright and unique place, better than my previous home. As I walked around, two men dressed completely different compared to each other were talking to each other. One of them had a scar on his face and wore dark blue rags hidden beneath a cloak. While the other one wore a yellow sweatshirt and had his lower face lightly bandaged, kinda like those ninja people. I approached them.

"Hey! It's the new one Matriarch told us about, I bet he'll be a great punching bag! You can call me Swindle! I can steal anything and sell it to petty nobodies. Speaking of nobodies, The other one's none of your business, ignore him!" The one with rags exclaimed.

"Heh, funny. Pretty lucky Swindle, I actually don't have time to chit-chat to your sorry face. And kid, you better not go ape s*** on your first day, It's getting too common." The mysterious one in the sweatshirt lastly replied, before suddenly jumping up to a building up above.

And then I began to feel nervous again, could this be the harsh reality that I must live through everyday? I'll never know, I'm only 15. I gulped as I watched the yellow one jump away from me just like that. I felt a cold hand impact on my shoulder and a deadly grin from Swindle as he unsheathed a jagged blade, appearing to be just a dagger across from my face. He observed it and I guess I was supposed to as well.

"Tell you what kid, I'll show you around to the others in this town for no price. But you'll have to do some of my favors for me, you got that?" He said as if he had threatened me. But I gulped and nodded as I shook. Swindle chuckled and dragged me by the collar of my shirt.

Subject: Re: The Beginning to an End Sat 18 Jun 2011 - 14:26

The Prologue (c.)
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According to Swindle from the Matriarch, My temporary name is "Bob."

Out of all the possible names out there, I was now known under that name. I was starting to look at Swindle differently, weary of his every move. I thought he was going to help me, not humiliate me and tenderize me for the future failures that were to come if I failed to change it.

The scar on Swindle's right cheek showed past experience of fighting within danger, the trail that could let you fall off of life forever. But I doubt he himself would ever jump himself into such situations. After all, he appeared to be a thief so I bet he'd try to live to keep doing what he does, stealing for the good and bullying me until the Matriarch found me a better name.

Who knows? Maybe he could be a nice guy after all. It was still my first day. After passing through the smaller buildings, bored out of our minds already, Swindle took me to the Enchanting Den, one of the main art hotspots in this town.

Inside, the first thing I saw was a gigantic flying dragon hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier. This was the first museum I've ever been to and I was already shocked at all of the detail displayed here. I'd give them props on building this place if I knew who they were. Statues of medium-sized dragons with crimson colored scales were attached to the wall, spewing out fake flames. Fog and smoke lurk around my feet, music was playing in the background as chattering took over the place. The walls were different colors, shifting through the wheel one color at a time. There were people dressed up like heroes, magicians and even dragons! But the girl with the long red hair who wore a black and white dress that spanned down to her legs was a curious catch to me. She stood in front of the podium and touched it's golden plaque, looking above to the dragon statue's red eyes with a callous expression on her face. She stood still; her hand, shaking in fear. As I looked at her from behind, Swindle nudged my shoulder.

"I'll be back, stay out of trouble alright?" I nodded with a keen smile before he left the Enchanting Den. The lights began to pulse with radiance, the portraits on the wall began to spring out to life; Dragons and fairies ascended to the dragon chandelier and circled around the gigantic stature. The people in costume below them started to praise and adore the flying drawings, unlike to the girl who stood in the center continuing to quietly resent the center dragon's existence. Curiosity continued to reel down my spine further; I couldn't see her face or hear from her. I gulped as I approached her, whispering as quietly as I possibly could.

I asked, "Who are you? Can you hear me?"

I waited anxiously for a reply, but there was no answer. Instead, turning swiftly like an owl's head, she showed her frontal appearance to my shy eyes. Her face was hidden under a mask that covered her entire face. with ink marks seeming to have been smeared onto the surface symmetrically, was that of a beautiful geisha. The washed up detail gave the impression that she was frowning. Under the geisha's drawn eyes were painted tear marks that spewed downward to the edge of the mask in the form of blue lines, representing unique fashion, or deep sadness. The lights went out in the Enchanting Den and the people prasing were silenced. The masked geisha slowly moved towards me; I could hear her soft voice when suddenly she laid her hand on my right cheek. Smack!

"Where is my little brother? Answer me!" She held my neck, squeezing the air out of me after slapping me for no apparent reason. The others observed my suffocation by this masked woman. Fortunately she let go of me and I fell downward, panting for my life's worth. The mysterious woman clenched her fist then sighed.

"They call me "Neo" around these parts, sorry for almost killing you." She tried to forget everything that happened and she did. Just like that. I grabbed her hand and stood up, feeling the air come back to me. The lights flickered on as the people unfroze themselves and went back to their loudly chanting. Everything had turned to normal in a single second. Neo went back to the Dragon's podium and continued examining the golden words. She told me to follow her so I did, the dragon chandelier's glowing red eyes intimidated me along the way.

Quote :

"I created the Enchanting Den not to further improve my art, but to make other people more together and connected with one another for the same hobby.; Fantasy. This Den isn't a mere social hang-out place, it's a home that anyone may join and live within it's forever roots. With help from the royal Matriarch herself, I was able to complete and bring this gift solely for the happiness of you all. May the dragons guard this den and preserve the life and activity that strives within it." - 'Neo', The Voice of the Enchanting Den.

A tear drop fell beneath Neo's mask and moved down to her neck, I saw her fist clenching again once more. I looked closely at those five underlined letters, what could they possibly mean?

Neo looked sad so I wouldn't ask her about it.

I had many problems with curiosity, this one being another to be added to my non-existent collection. My trail of thought stopped as Neo began to remove a mysterious and unique pendant from her necklace. She held it towards me, wanting me to take it.

"It's been too long...Since you've been quiet and kind, take what's left of him. I'm sure he won't need it anymore." Neo lastly said, before shedding tears. The pendant was a unique orange spiral-shaped crystal that pulsed energy into the form of a small aura. I didn't know who 'him' was, but he must have been pretty important to her. Swindle appeared at the door, waving (and cursing) at me. I grabbed the interesting jewel and said my farewells to Neo before walking my way back to Swindle, and out of the magnificent Enchanting Den.

It was getting late went we got out of the Den. Swindle looked fatigued before he saw me again. I felt like asking him about it. So I did.

"So, where have you been Swindle?" I looked at him from the side as he yawned.

"Nowhere important kid. It's getting late out, I'm going back to the Royal Palace." He changed the subject and moved faster than usual. I was getting tired as well so I agreed and followed him. The pendant hidden in my pocket began to glow a bright visible orange color, I smothered the glow with my hand jammed next to it. By now, The Royal Palace was five minutes away. Swindle crumpled up a piece of newspaper he found and threw it to the ground. An alley was nearby; he walked towards its path.

"I'll be inside after half an hour. Just go on without me." Swindle suggested before moving onward. I saw the bandaged man in the yellow sweatshirt and others next to where Swindle was heading. I secretly grabbed the crumpled newspaper fragment and made my way back. A piece of tape was laid over the rolled up paper labeled "NEVER SHOW THIS TO ANYBODY!" in small black sharpie handwriting. I gulped as I ripped off the piece of tape and began to unravel what's inside. I stopped at my tracks and examined the headline, shocked at what I saw.

"SHOCKING NEWS, THE PATRIARCH DIES A HORRIBLE DEATH! RUMORS, OR ALL TRUE!?
IN HIS "WILL": FINAL OPERATION SHALL COMMENCE AFTER LAST AND FINAL RECRUIT."

I crumpled up the piece of paper, threw it away and opened the Palace Gates. Yesterday was the 16th of June 2020, and soon it will be my second day living in this hellhole I call home. I was transported to my chamber and began to reenact the new day in my dreams. What is this final operation? Where is the Patriarch? More importantly, Who am I and what is my name?

Soon the sun raised up and the Matriarch began to announce news from a loud intercom hidden within the Royal Palace. Her ruling voice began to wake everyone up.

"Attention! All current recruits that were personally enlisted by the King or me must now move and gather up to the Board Room for a special meeting! Urgent news will be shown to those who appear, and urgent consequences will be shown to those who don't. Everyone else, have a nice day."

My eyes were opened in shock, my heart began to race rapidly. I awoke from my chambers and quickly dressed myself. I opened my door and saw the other recruits already walking to the Board Room. Before following them, I grabbed the orange pendant from my shelf and closed the door after. None of the recruits seem to know anything about what's going on. I watched them from behind, gulping from the guilt that has built-up inside me. I knew for certain that something will happen in the Board Room, it could be this so-called 'Final Operation', or it could be just a meeting with a surprise. I prepared too much to predict on what will happen next, but I know for a fact this will be the beginning of something.

What could it have been? I would have never known if I didn't participate. The Board Room door opened and the other recruits took their seats given to them by name. The Matriarch had been sitting in the Head Chair in the far back, accompanied by a elderly servant that stood beside her. I was the last to be seated due to not having an official name yet. The Matriarch quickly improvised my name from different movies she had watched before the meeting occurred. After a final hand-shake with the Matriarch, I sat in the only open seat that was left and began my newly formed identity known as "Shin".

---End of Introduction.

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