Mother Superior

Alexander was not good at sleeping. In a normal circumstance, he simply didn't. He wasn't good at laying in bed. He wasn't good at passing time until the new moon rose. It was an anxious time- a full twenty-four hours without movement. He would wake up stiff and maybe sore from a dreamless, dark sleep. In a way, when he took to his bed it was like he readied himself for death. For nothing. For oblivion to come and wrap its arms around his body, and take its hands to his throat and choke the last conscious thought out of him.

The clock in the corner ticked, each one growing in volume but becoming more distant. Outside, the gentle patter of large raindrops against brick, plaster, and glass trickled into his ears to massage his mind. The noose of sleep was creeping around his neck and tightening oh-so-slowly. His fluttering eyes drifted towards his window, the non-existent light of the moon absent as darkness reflected back at him through the structure of glass and metal.

He reached out a hand and touched it. It was cold and wet, but he did not mind. He pulled his hand back to his head and pressed it against his face, his fingers spreading over his eyes as a mask. He stumbled forward, and withdrew his hand to his side. He stared down at ornate, stained glass with great circumference, stranded in a sea of darkness. A gentle male voice poured into his head. "It's the new moon tonight." His eyes looked up and he saw the moon in the sky, and he jumped towards it. He grabbed it within his hands, and landed with a gentle thud onto a grassy surface.

"A new moon," he heard his mother's voice, reassuring and kind and strong. A hand fell into place upon his shoulder, and he looked back to find no one in the space. Back to his hands his eyes darted only for him to find the moon no longer in his palms. It was instead beneath his feet, it's pitted surface and white dirt luminescent against the stars in the sky and rather than  trapped in a sea of darkness he was betwixt two great forests. The one before him held a silhouette, a faint light cast behind it. The trees began to fly towards him as a great flood of darkness carried them, the mass parting around the figure before it became as a river of chaos. The darkness consumed the surface of the moon, and pulled Alexander into its depths. Alexander emerged from the blackness under his covers, a cold sweat dripping down his head.

He immediately shot a glance to the window. It was raining harder, and the moon was nowhere to be seen, yet he could almost detect its pale glow behind a layer of clouds above. That was it that, then. A full twenty-four hour period. And the first dream Alexander had ever had. He felt himself trembling. No way that could have been a dream. Alexander didn't dream. He never dreamed anything! It was impossible! It had to be! He pulled his legs closer to himself and hugged them to his chest. His hands were wet and cold. He scanned the room nervously, alert like a young child might be. Alexander had never feared the darkness, but right now he felt as though he had just become privy to some terrible secret.

It was silent. Only his breath could be heard in the stillness of the room. In his ears, a gentle thump of his heart announced itself cautiously. He had almost relaxed, when his eyes started to adjust. He saw a shape, he thought. A strange shape in the corner of the room. He couldn't make out what it was, but it was stooped beside the door. He stared at it, fearful but full of intent to discover the object's identity.

A crack of lightning answered his question. As the thunder rumbled beside his head he could see the thing staring at him, bright yellow eyes reluctant to glow in the darkness, but shining forth brilliantly once exposed. The thing's head was dark and alien, its arms rail-thin with knobby elbows and long, sharp fingers at the end of small hands, adorned in what seemed to be a dress the same color as its inky, black skin. In it's chest looked to be a heart.

The room cut to black once more, Alexander's eyes readjusted to light. He could no longer see it, and this made him feel an immense dread. When the next crack of lightning came a few moment later, it was gone. Alexander was not reassured. Yet, the lightning's lighting did not fade even after the thunder rumbled. His entire room looked as though it were caught in the moment of a photographer's light, extended through some uncountable duration. Alexander felt something run through his hair. He fought every urge in his body to stay still, but he knew that if it could touch him so precisely being still made no difference.

He looked up, and saw his mother's face but immediately sensed something was amiss. Her skin was noticeably tanned, and her entire eyes were the same ichor-color of the creature's. Her long, rail-like arm extended down and her claws ran over his cheek."Wake up, Alan. Don't you want to see the new moon?"

His eyes fluttered open, and he lay still in his bed. He felt cold and sweaty, and was loathe to move. That same fear that inhabited him in the dream had deadened, though he marveled his first ever dream. It was overwhelming, and frightening. He didn't have control over his own mind for those moments, and didn't understand what was happening. It was almost marvelous, except for  all the terrible moments where it was not. In reflection, that was most of what had happened. Still... was that what normal people felt?

Alexander pulled himself from under the covers,his eyes fixating on his door. He was certain he had shut it when he had gone to bed, but decided that a servant had probably left it open when they'd come to check on him. He thrust the sheets aside and plodded out of his room into the main hall. As was expected, it was empty, with servants and guests for the day retired to their homes or their chambers after work had concluded. The only people on night shift were the guards, and few of them roamed the interior this early in the night.

He briefly thanked whatever considerate soul had left the light on in the hall. It meant Alexander didn't need to fumble for a match or lighter to put the candle on, and allowed him to just continue straight into the main hall and towards the kitchen. It was actually convenient- whoever had lit the hallway light knew Alexander would be hungry after sleeping so long. The light trail lead him right to the kitchen!

Entering the kitchen is where Alexander finally began to feel weird. There was, of all things, a sandwich, laying out on the counter. Alexander instinctively retreated a step upon seeing it. There was definitely something wrong now. Was he still dreaming? He remembered an expression he had heard, and thus pinched himself. It hurt. He waited. Nothing happened.

He approached the sandwich like a wary animal might approach a new member of its pack. Was it a trap? Would it bite him, or try to establish dominance? Probably not. Sandwiches don't think like that, if at all. He lifted it wearily and smelled it. "Salami and Havarti on Pumpernickel," he mused. "Treacherous." He took a small bite, and after swallowing it noted that he did not feel as though he was dying. He waited a moment. He was still fine, and took a much larger bite now.

He was right though. This sandwich was treacherously tasty. It had a rich, bold flavor, like the ones his mother used to make. Coincidence hit him like a brick. Even as he chewed he was reeling from how weird that was. First he dreams of his dead mother, and then somebody made him a sandwich that only she used to make? There were a handful of explanations for this, but Alexander settled upon the one that sounded the best. Alexander... was a sandwich prophet.

He laughed to himself about the silliness of the title, sandwich prophet, and didn't even realize that something watched him in the corner. It crept up to him, silent and quick, standing behind his back.  It took a long, black finger and it traced it along the back of his head gingerly. Alexander felt it, and shivered. He was only a few bites into the sandwich when the sensation of being lovingly petted- as he would best describe it- began on the back of his head. He didn't utter a noise or a sound. The sensation of dread returned, though deadened by his fully-conscious state. He took a deep breath, and turned suddenly.

He stared it in the face. Those large, round yellow eyes. That crooked mouth. The claw-like finger that hovered above his eye, like a dagger. He was silent. He dare not scream and freak it out. The thing held him at an equivalent to knife point, when its mouth moved open and it hissed at him. It withdrew its finger to its mouth and hissed again, as if trying to shush him. Yet, it lacked the actual teeth needed to do so.

For that moment, Alexander felt everything in his body well up with energy. He was off like a rocket, the thing's eyes trailing him from behind. It seemed to decide to jolt after him and gave chase, tearing down the kitchen door in the process. Alexander ran forward, and thrust his arm out. A bright portal opened up before him and he barged through it, the entry shutting tight behind him. He emerged in the forest of the Kingdom of Dreams, nearby the village, before he heard a loud cry. It was the creature, howling angrily.

Crap came the thought. I left it at the castle with everybody else! Alexander stamped his foot against the ground, realizing that he'd have to go back. Then, it roared again. It was closer. Much closer. He turned to see it rushing at him through the trees, and threw another portal open before diving into it, and appearing in the center of the village. "How did it know?" He questioned fearfully under his breath. He could hear the trees on the outside of the village rustling as the thing moved through their leaves, and then he met its gaze on top of a small building.

It lay crouched as a predator, eyeing him with an expressionless face and its massive, ichor eyes gazing at him in a manner that he could only describe as "hungrily". He was frozen, debating whether or not to portal again.The thing could apparently track him, and he wasn't sure how. Unless it was just really, really good at guessing in which case Alexander would have to call bullshit for metagaming. One of its arms advanced out, and then another, and Alexander identified that the portion of it he thought obscured by a dress was not in fact, a dress, but its legs.

Alexander felt cornered. Was there anywhere to go? Anywhere to run? He reached instinctively to his back, only to recall that his weapon was not on his person, because he was too busy running to grab it. Unarmed, outmatched, and unable to escape. Alexander's thoughts raced. He couldn't fight his way out of this, so he'd have to think. Still, one-on-one this wasn't looking so good for the pajama-clad prince.

The lovely little castle town had been good to her, all this time.

Charlotte had been staying in this lovely little city since returning from the fringes of known space. She'd been doing her best to keep a low profile, so as not to draw attention to the world. One might expect her to return home, immediately. And, the young grandmaster wanted to, without question. But, for years, now, she'd been training in total isolation. Charlotte didn't wanna show up among her fellow Blades, all her social niceties gone. So, she'd found herself in this far-removed corner of the Realm of Light. A tragic massacre, of sorts, had seemed to be just hours ahead of her; most of the nobility had been brutally slain by some sort of magic swordsman. At the moment, though, she wasn't too worried. In her own mind, she couldn't raise the dead. And, someone like that was bound to draw the notice of one of the Unions. ...Not the Blades, unless one of their taskmasters was targeted. But, this sort of depravity wouldn't survive long. So, she spent most of her time around the city, helping out however she could. Restoring her social skills.

This night saw her with insomnia. Sitting up at the desk in the bedroom of the house she was renting, reading some old tome by candlelight.


Charlotte found herself restless. As lovely as this place had been to her, she had business to attend to. The Blades weren't going to reform themselves, after all; they needed someone to guide them back to the Light. And, since nobody else seemed interested, she supposed it would have to be her.


 As her thoughts turned back to her brothers and sisters, she heard the distinct sound of footsteps outside the window. Almost as if by reflex, she snuffed out the candle, letting the shadows of night fill the room. And letting her see out into the city.


A boy. And a Heartless.

...Well, that settles it.

She gave only a moment's thought to her attire. As it was late, Charlotte was clad in only her smallclothes. Throwing her blue traveling cloak over herself in a flash, she opened the window, stepping out onto the rooftop, stopping next to, and just ahead, of the boy. August Dominion, in its Sword-and-Shield form, snapped into existence, her shield arm stretching out to put the thing between the boy and the Heartless. She locked eyes with the foul, dark creature, a determined glare in her eyes. 

"I do believe the phrase you're looking for is 'I dun goofed.'"

Alexander was a little dumbfounded, if still scared, at the approach of the new individual. She entered into the fray with a sword and shield as though she were a Reichsritter arriving in the nick of time. Alexander almost immediately became aware of himself and his panicked state in the presence of another person of clearly noble upbringing and drew himself to his feet somewhat quickly, attempting to not seem as pathetic as he just had. Yet the sight of the black beast before him left him stunned and he nearly stumbled as he rose.

He felt awkward and forced, not fully stood up straight but at least no longer on the ground. The creature's eyes followed him for a moment longer before they settled on the woman, and it almost defiantly howled as it vanished into the darkness. Alexander stared at the blank space where it had been confused, frightened, and quizzical. His voice escaped him in the tense situation, and with the thing out of site he wondered if it might be lurking about still or if it had truly gone at all.

He stepped back and found himself bumping into something big and soft. He looked up to find Kooma looking down at him quizzically. "Baroo." He immediately turned and hugged the big creature, panic in his face settling into security. Even a prince must have his teddy bear, after all. He lingered against the bear, breathing deeply against it in relief. "Thank you very much, Reichsritter," he spoke as he turned to face her. "The Kingdom of Dreams and myself are in your debt." He bowed to her cordially, as best as he could muster.

"I must apologize for my state Reichsritter. I must seem a mess, but this is a most unsual circumstance. I am Alexander, Prince of Dreams. May I have your name Reichsritter?"

Damn and blast!

She'd no sooner than drew her blade that the Heartless vanished. 

...Wait. ...Something's not right. Heartless don't think. They don't have that sense of self-preservation. Heartless don't run. They fight to the death. ...This was disturbing; if the Heartless could think, could reason... ...Nothing about this was good. ...However, the initial threat seemed to have passed. Her sword and shield evaporated into thin air, turning to the young man, being sure to hold her cloak closed.

...Huh?

"Que diable est cet ours , coloré comme un arc en ciel?" She muttered to herself, in disbelief at the creature embracing the young man. She'd hardly even thought about the fact that she was using her native tongue. However, the young man with the bear began speaking to her in the common tongue. She could tell right away, from his manner of speaking, this boy wasn't of common stock. However, what he said next caught her utterly by surprise.

"Un prince!?! Mon Dieu , regardez l'état de moi!"

Standing before royalty, in a cloak, and her smallclothes! How embarrassing!

"Mon seigneur , s'il vous plaît excusez mon état de robe, il est-"

At that moment, she realized she'd defaulted to her native tongue.

"My apologies, your highness. I forget, at times, to use the common tongue. Please, come in out of the cold."

Being certain to keep her cloak closed around her, she went back through the window, into her room. Once in, she wasted no time in getting behind a screen, trying to get herself dressed as fast as possible. To think, she would be meeting a prince, at this hour! And nearly naked, no less!


This was shaping up to be an interesting time.

Alexander leaned into Kooma just a bit, still using him for a measure of security. When the young woman turned to him, she began to mumble in a strange language. Alexander was caught off-guard by this. So, she wasn't an Imperial Knight, but just a Knight. Still, he was no less thankful to his apparent rescuer who had come to his aid and frightened the beast off. Unfortunately, it didn't seem that mere appreciation was enough to break the language barrier.

Practically within the same moment, Alexander observed her switch from collected warrior to flustered maiden. He thought briefly that he had recognized the language, before mentally confirming that he had in fact heard something similar at least. His mother did so enjoy travelling, and she often brought him along back when Alan was still around. He enjoyed going to explore new places, but it made him miss his friend. Still, aside from that decidedly unneeded internal exposition, yes, he had indeed heard something similar in the Country of Musketeers.

And then again she changed her tone, become less excited and seemingly less flustered as she invited him into her home. Alexander bowed his head lightly. "Thank you, Madam Ritter," he genuinely expressed, but before he mustered up the right mind to ask if Kooma could accompany him the young woman moved through her window and into the home before them. Alexander looked up at Kooma, who looked back down at him neutrally. "Baroo."

"I agree," he confirmed with his companion. That was fairly... irregular. Still, Alexander plodded to the door of the house and standing before it, saw fit to knock. While realized he had been invited in, it seemed bad conduct to simply wander through the front door without the resident to see to the entry of their guest. What if he were to walk in on something, such as a mess or other compromising situation? Consideration must take precedence in moments like these... Still, Alexander felt a strange twinge at the back of his neck. What if that big creature was simple waiting for the same kind of moment? He shivered, and not due to the night's chill.

"Oh, thank you kindly miss," came his reply as he bowed. "Before I enter, if I may ask?" He motioned to the large, colorful bear-like creature behind him, its head titled as it starred blankly. Its eyes seemed empty, its face stuck in a constant expression that could really only be described as dumb. He young prince's hand fell back and clasp the things massive paw. Truly, the creature dwarfed the young prince as it towered over him on Charlotte's step.

"Is alright if my companion joins us? I don't think I could leave Kooma out in the cold while you and I partook of the warm indoors and polite conversation." He tugged gently on the bear-thing's hand, and it lowered its head to look more evenly at Charlotte.

With an almost blank note in its voice, came a question. "Baroo?"

...Okay. THIS was new.

Charlotte had seen bears, before. But, never ones like this, never anthropomorphic ones, and NEVER ones so brightly colored. It was certainly a strange creature. ...It didn't seem malicious, however.

"Hm... ...If you can fit him through the door, I see no issue."

Stepping out of the door, she gestured for the boy and his bear to enter. She didn't have much in the house; she'd meant to go to market in the morning. She did, though, have half a pot of a hearty stew left. ...It would have to do. Throwing a couple new logs onto the embers, she willed the flames to return to life. The glow of the hearth only brightened the main room, as she stirred the pot.

"Are you two hungry? I've not much to offer, but, I do have something."

She looked over at the young man with a smile.

"Though, for a prince, I fear it might be too pedestrian."

As Alexander stepped beyond the threshold, Kooma followed him as it moved to squeeze itself inside the door frame. It moved rather strangely for a bear, seeming much more... malleable than one should expect. That wasn't to say that it was some shapeshifting creature, or some creature with a body it could shape. It just didn't seem to have a completely solid structure, despite being able to stand and move with ease. It almost as if the thing was composed completely out of fat.

It entered the door with a plopping sound, slipping through it and standing behind Alexander. The two of them had not yet been invited to sit down, and so they did not do so. Instead they stood, patient and Alexander bore a gentle but thankful smile as the woman offered him her food, but he politely addressed the offered meal to turn it down. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I ate a little earlier tonight, and due to my somewhat harrowing experience my appetite is a lost. I do appreciate it though. I enjoy the simplicity of the village."

Huh.

Well, so much for the stew. Moving the pot off the fire, as she didn't want to unnecessarily reheat the stew, she turned, and gestured for the Prince to sit. ...And his companion, if he could find a place big enough. ...She'd had her back to the creature when it entered. Briefly, she was mystified. This creature was easily twice the width of the door, in all directions. How in the name of all things holy had it managed to fit through? She banished those thoughts from her head, though.

Considering the young man before her, she had MUCH bigger problems.

"Might I offer you something to drink, then? O-or a blanket, to ward off the night chill?"

...She chuckled to herself, quietly. The way she was fussing over him, he must think her a trifle touched in the head. ...And, considering her long absence from civilization, she very well might be.

"I'm sorry, if I'm making too big a fuss. It's not often I entertain guests, and, I'm afraid I'm about as out of practice as one can be."

She had to think. Fast. She had a prince in her little rental property. A pajama-clad, unarmed, unguarded Prince. ...How in the world did he manage to get here, without alerting the guard? Did they know he was missing? If not, how long would they need to figure it out? What would they think if they found him here? ...The propsect of having to flee or escape the authorities was not daunting, to her; she was more than quick enough, even without her abilities, to lose any pursuers. ...And, she wasn't just real sure they could hurt her, if they tried. But, still, better to avoid the situation, if possible.

"Well, Your Highness... Mayhaps you could tell me how you found yourself on my roof, staring down a Heartless, this night?" She asked, sitting in one of the chairs in the main room, near the hearth.

Alexander took a seat after he was offered, but Kooma simply plopped down beside the couch. "No thank you," he politely refused. "And it's quite alright. You're quite hospitable. It's hardly a bother at all." It wasn't a lie, though he did wish her couch was more comfortable. "I thank you for opening your home to me. I shan't be a bother much longer, I'd imagine. I'll attempt to head back to the castle soon."

Yet, she did ask a question. He would answer her fairly. It was only polite, correct? "Well... I was having a bit of a nightmare. I think. I don't really know, but I kept seeing that beast in my mind's eye, stalking me in my room. I dismissed it as just a passing terror fantasy in my sleep. Which, admittedly is odd to say aloud. I don't usually remember my dreams..." He momentarily dipped into thought, before rebounding to his tale.

"I left my room afterwards... I think I was hungry. Or, I was following a path? I don't exactly recall. The excitement of tonight has spoiled me in that regard. But, I found myself in the kitchen, and there upon one of the counters sat a sandwich. It was odd, to speak the least of it. Yet, I could tell it was for me. I haven't had that kind of sandwich in a long, long time. Then, as I ate the sandwich, it appeared in the kitchen. I was terrified, so I ran."

He didn't mention the portalling. Nobody really would believe that. It seemed silly and incredulous. "I almost went back to the castle after I got out and down the road. I worried for the guards. I didn't want to leave them alone with that thing, but it followed me. It knew where I was. So I kept running. That's when I got into the village. Then you showed up, and it ran away."

...Well, this is not what she wanted to hear.

Heartless aren't exactly high-functioning lifeforms. ...Usually. She'd heard the old tales of Heartless that were frighteningly similar to humankind. Almost anyone in the Unions would have. She'd been assured it was little more than a bogey-man tale, made to terrify the children, and unnerve the cadets. A fairy-tale.

...But, even the most outlandish fairy-tales had their roots in truth. She'd heard the old tale of the She-Bear. Only, in her assignments, to meet a former princess, Dymphna, who matched the tale, precisely.

She'd seen the creature that pursued the Prince. It was far from the human-seeming beasts whispered of in her training. ...But, a Heartless would have no reason to chase someone down, specifically. They're predators. Go for the weakest, the slowest, the most vulnerable. This Heartless didn't do that. ...Which was unnerving.

"...Your Highness... I would advise against returning to the castle the way you came. It's quite likely that that beast is still out there."

...But, what to do for him? She had no idea of the speed or power of this creature; it could, perhaps, attack the boy before she could react...

...There was the Elemental Chaos, however...

Alexander smiled kindly at her show of concern. He wasn't privy to her inner thoughts, but she he hazard a guess he would assume that she was worried. Rightfully so, too, with the nature of the strange creature. The fact that it could so easily enter the Castle without alerting the guards, and the fact that it so obviously came after him... he didn't recognize the significance of the second event in the same way that Charlotte did. Alexander lacked a fundamental understanding of the Heartless, else he would have been just as unnerved as she was. Instead, he wrote it off more like a wild animal attack, as strange as it was besides that fact.

"I agree," he replied. "Thankfully, I have a method to circumvent the beast, should it still be out and about. I dare not speak on it however, because it is so secret that only a few know of the way I would take from the village to the castle." He was speaking about his ability to craft portals, but again, he thought such a thing to be utterly silly to mention. Only the closest people to him in the castle knew that he could portal, and even they thought such a feat was outlandishly strange for anybody- let alone a crown prince- to be able to perform.

"At least, I should hope so. Tonight has been most unusual indeed. I've known of the Heartless, but they've never been plentiful in any regard on the Castle of Dreams. At least, it hasn't been so for a long, long time if it ever were. They rarely appear here if at all, from the time I was a child to my reign now. Mother told me of them frequently, but she never elaborated on them very much. It's all quite mysterious," he mused with a strange whimsy in his voice. "Dangerous, certainly. But there is a morbid kind of interest to the whole thing. I hadn't thought that Heartless behaved like relentless predators."