Le Nom de Son
"..Leafenia.." Sasame repeated, feeling the name slide over his tongue, the sound of it sending shivers down his spine. "..It is.. beautiful." He whispered.
"Yes.." Goh replied, approaching him from behind. "This is our home.. this is where the Leafe Knights were born.." He said lightly, breathing in the sweet air. As he did, a small pink bird zoomed past Sasame's field of vision, tweeting happily.
"Ah?! What is that?" Sasame blinked, falling back as Shin held out a hand.
"Don't be scared. He's a Tyipi." Shin explained as the round bird landed on Shin's outstretched hand. It was nearly the size of a small tennis ball, but looked like it weighed no more than a feather. Large blue eyes gazed at Sasame, and it fluttered its wings, tweeting again.
"..oh.. is that.. because of the sound he makes?" Sasame asked as Shin ran the tip of his finger along the Tyipi's head. The Knight of Plants nodded, moving his hand as the Tyipi lifted from his palm and fluttered his wings furiously to find another wind current to sail along.
"There are several different types of Tyipi.. red, pink, blue, green.." Shin added, his body suddenly flashing bright green. His white hoodie and blue jeans changed into his green Leafe Knight robes and his disproportionately large hat.
Sasame looked at the remaining Leafe Knights, noticing how each had changed into his respective Leafe Knight garment. Kei pulled his ivory cloak around his shoulders, and he folded his arms together tightly, his eyes moving slightly to the side.
"It is unusually cold this morning." Kei commented as a loud call came from the other end of the knoll. The five knights and the child looked in the direction of the call as Himeno came into view, waving.
"Good morning, everyone!" She called, racing up to the Leafe Knights and coming to a quick halt. She placed her hands on her shoulders, grinning as Hayate followed.
"Good morning, Himeno." Hajime replied, his smile widening.
"Lady Prétear.." Sasame mumbled, bowing his head as another figure approached and stood next to Hayate.
He was nearly the same height as the Knight of Wind, and wore a calm, placid expression on his pale face. Small thin framed glassed rested on the bridge of his nose, bringing attention to dark violet eyes which seemed to pierce through Sasame's heart. Pale shocks of silver hair fell around his face, lying neatly on his brow. He wore a dark gray sweater with a white button up top underneath, the collar folding over the collar of the sweater, pressed black slacks and shined black dress shoes.
"..You are.." Sasame whispered, his hands growing cold as the man smiled pleasantly at him, sending shivers down his spine. "..Sa..Sasame.."
He nodded, shutting his eyes, "Yes.. I am." He replied. "And it is wonderful to meet you, Sasame."
The child blushed, his eyes narrowing to look at the ground. A light hand rested on his shoulder, alerting him upward. His eyes swiveled back up toward the hand on his shoulder, smiling as he noticed Shin standing next to him.
"Are you going to come to his Naming Ceremony, Sasame?" Shin asked.
The older Sasame let off a vague smile, nodding, "Yes."
"Where is Takako?" Kei asked, causing the younger Sasame to flinch. He knew of Fenril, The Princess of Disaster, from the moment of his creation. The Leafe had whispered the truth to him, helping him to understand his purpose.
"..She will be along later. She was.. not feeling well this morning." Sasame replied quietly. Hayate's eyes flashed, his gaze turning to the ex Knight of Sound.
"..I see." Hayate said slowly, Sasame looking back at him as Hayate gave him a knowing smirk.
"Well, we'll see her later, then." Goh gave a shrug. He walked toward the entrance of a small wood that lay behind them, gesturing at a dirt path that led into the trees. "In the meantime, we should head to the Naming Dais.. It is a long walk." He said as Kei nodded in agreement.
"Goh is right.." Kei said, quickly turning to face Hayate. "Hayate.. did you remember to get the.." He began as Hayate nodded, holding out a small violet silk cloth package in the palm of his hand. "Ah.. good."
Hayate folded his hand around the silk wrapped item, placing it in his pocket. As he did, the elder Sasame sighed lightly, his eyes lowering.
Meanwhile, the five remaining Leafe Knights and the young Sasame had approached the entrance of the forest. Himeno followed them, outstretching her hand to Sasame with a smile on her face. When she reached him, he held up his hand, taking hold of it. The seven looked back at the remaining two standing in the knoll.
"Hayate.. Sasame.. are you coming?" Himeno asked, raising an eyebrow.
"..Yes." Sasame replied quietly, placing his hands in his pockets as the two joined with the rest of the group. Once they arrived, the group continued down the path, moving without any particular rush.
"..This place is.. like a dream.." Shin marveled as they made their way into a clearing. The forest had begun to grow all around them, the trees so large and thick that they blocked out nearly all of the sky. There were only small patches of sunlight that managed to break through the denseness of the wood.
In this clearing, the trees bent around the circular opening, thinning out in the center, which allowed seven bright rays of sunlight to fall onto a circular, raised stone platform. On the platform there were eight pillars; seven lay evenly apart along the outer rim, and one, which was slightly larger than the rest, lay in the center.
"..What are the pillars for?" Hajime asked, blinking.
"You don't remember from Shin's Naming Ceremony, Hajime?" Goh asked, stepping onto the platform first. The Knight of Water shook his head.
"I was only two, Goh." Hajime replied.
Following the Knight of Fire, Kei climbed onto the platform, followed by Hayate, then Mannen. Goh smiled, nodding. "Of course." He said, stepping toward one of the pillars to the far right. "Each pillar represents one Leafe Knight.." He began.
"On each pillar is the symbol of that Leafe Knight's element in Ancient Leafenian." Kei added as he followed Goh, stopping at the pillar next to Goh's.
Finally, Hayate approached the nearest pillar, placing his hand on the top. A sudden blast of wind rose from the center of the pillar as his fingertips brushed the stone, quickly being replaced by a swirling, blue glow, which hovered a few inches from the top. "When the Leafe Knight touches his stone symbol, the Leafe will recognize him and respond." He finished as Kei and Goh touched their pillars at the same time, sending up rays of light and fire, both reacting similarly to the wind pillar by ending with small orbs of white light and red fire floating above the top.
"What does this pillar in the center do?" Himeno finally spoke up as she stepped toward the center pillar.
"That is the Prétear's symbol.." Kei answered. "None of us have ever had a Prétear when a Naming Ceremony has taken place.. so it has not been activated in some time."
"Oh." Himeno said gingerly, stepping on the dais. She approached the center pillar and lifted a hand, moving it slowly forward until the tips of her fingers brushed the cold stone. Almost instantly, a white light began to pour from the stone, arching and curling nearly two feet from the top of the pillar. From the small curls of light, tiny white snowflakes began to fall. They gathered into an orb, which seemed to take on an iridescent glow.
A sound of awe came from Shin, Hajime and Mannen, who had yet to rise onto the platform. As soon as Himeno removed her hand from the top of her pillar, the three knights scrambled onto the stone, rushing to their respective columns.
Shin's hand was the first to touch the stone, sending several curling vines into the air. They rose several inches high, and suddenly curled back from the center, a swirling orb of green light remaining.
Next came Hajime, whose touch brought a fountain of shimmering water spouting from the pillar. Once the fountain calmed, a mist hung over the Pillar of Water, and in the center a light blue orb of water hovered.
Finally, Mannen moved his fingers quickly over the top of his column, a trail of ice left from his tips. When he pulled his arm back, a pyramid of ice grew, and from its tip a white sphere of ice drifted.
Once each knight, excluding the child, had touched the symbol that was carved on the top of each pillar, the seven rays of light that managed to cut through the treetops changed from shades of pale white to the color of each respective element; for example, the ray of light that shone on Hayate's symbol dimmed from white to deep blue.
A hush now fell over the clearing, and Himeno felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. "..Wow.." She commented as Hayate faced the child who still stood next to the adult Sasame at the outskirts of the clearing.
"Now.. the preparation for the ceremony is complete.." Hayate said briskly as he addressed Sasame, "Sasame.. please approach the dais." He commanded. At this, the boy shrunk back a bit into the woods, his eyes lowering to the ground. A soft hand on his back alerted him to look back upward.
"..There is nothing to be worried about." The older Sasame smiled as he applied pressure to the small boy's back, urging him forward. He complied, allowing his feet to move forward as he drew near the platform. He had to place his hands on the base of stone rise to pull himself upward; the step was too high for him to manage without climbing.
As the child made his way from the clearing to the platform, Hayate turned his attention to Himeno, who was gazing into the orb of light emitted from her symbol. "Tulip head." He said, causing her to snap her gaze backward, a disapproving glare on her face. The edge of his mouth twitched into a slight smile, "Do you remember what I told you?" He asked.
Himeno blinked for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I do." She replied. This brought an inquisitive gaze from Goh.
"Told her what?" He asked. "What did you do, Hayate?"
As Goh finished his question, Hayate shut his eyes, sighing, "I felt that it would be appropriate for the Prétear to lead the Naming Ceremony. He is going to be her Knight, after all." Hayate concluded.
"So you.. went over the ritual of the ceremony, Hayate?" Kei asked, raising an eyebrow as if to question the competence of Hayate's decision. Though this may not be a case of such, Kei sometimes regretted handing over the right of seniority to Hayate, opting to not be the leader and decision maker of the group.
"Of course I did.." Hayate replied.
"..How?" Kei questioned.
"..I.. crammed it into her brain over ice cream last night." The Knight of Wind answered quickly, suddenly hoping Himeno really did remember everything he had told her to remember.
Himeno waved her hand dismissingly, smiling back at Kei, who, unbeknownst to him, wore a slightly apprehensive look on his face. She turned back to face the front as Sasame finally made his way toward Himeno. The Prétear's tender smile comforted him some, but a feeling of queasiness remained in the pit of his stomach. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the older Sasame standing off to the side, his back rested against a tree.
"Okay.. now that all are present.. the Naming Ceremony may begin." Himeno said, her voice rising. As if her voice activated them, the six Leafe Knights began to move in a clockwise circle around the Prétear's pillar in the center, each knight reaching out to touch a pillar as he passed on. Once they had gone around the dais a full time, they came to a stop by their own columns.
As Sasame watched, Himeno's hands rested on his shoulders. He looked upward, then back at the knights as she raised a hand, turning herself as she spoke. "Who here recognizes this foundling as a Child of Leafe?" She asked, her eyes scanning the six men.
"..The Ice recognizes him." Mannen spoke up first, outstretching his right hand. A small ring of swirling snow hovered in his palm, and he pursed his lips, daintily blowing the flakes forward. They danced about Sasame's head before disappearing into the air.
As soon as the flakes disappeared, Hayate's voice rose, "The Wind recognizes him." And as he finished, a warm breeze passed through the trees, tenderly playing with Sasame's hair as it died down.
"The Water recognizes him." Hajime added, his left hand rising as several tiny raindrops fell onto the boy's head, causing him to shake his hair in amusement.
"The Plants, too, recognize him." Said Shin as he lifted his hands clenched together in a ball. As he unfolded them, a pale pink blossom appeared in his palms, lifting into the air with no breeze. It drifted lazily to Sasame, lowering in front of his face before fading into emerald sparkles.
Next in the circle came Kei, who lifted his right hand, folding all fingers but his index. "The Light recognizes him." He said, twirling his hand around in a small circle, a ray of light following his index finger to form a halo that floated toward the center where it rested on Sasame's brow as it faded.
"The Fire recognizes him." Goh said as the circle finished, snapping his wrist forward and opening his hand, a tiny bird made of fire appearing from his palm. It fluttered to Sasame, bursting into sparks when it reached him. Goh was always known for his fire animals at Naming Ceremonies.
Finally, Himeno's hands touched his shoulders again as she spoke, "And, I, the White Princess Prétear, recognize him." A sudden feeling of warmth filled Sasame, the air around him growing thick with a refreshing energy. Himeno's Leafe.
A pause followed this, and Himeno looked from knight to knight, ending with Hayate. "Hayate.. please bring me the talisman." She said, the Knight of Wind silently obliged, reaching into his pocket to remove the small violet silk parcel he had been carrying all along. He bowed as his hands moved forward, resting the silk cloth in Himeno's hands. This caused a smirk of enjoyment to cross her face.
As Hayate made his way back to his column, Himeno took hold of Sasame's hands, her voice rising again, "Names have power," She said, clenching the cloth between her fingers. "And so does this child, so recognized as a son of Leafenia, and a guardian of the planet. A powerful soul demands a powerful name. So shall we afford this child with such a name.." Himeno continued, releasing his small hand to open the silk parcel. Within its folds was a glinting silver earring, small and ornate. It was a cuff earring, one that was meant to cover part of the lower half of the ear. She lowered it to Sasame's left ear, tenderly placing it around his lobe. It shrunk to fit his small ear. The cold metal caused him to jump slightly.
"Son of Leafenia.. wear this earring as a token of your power and also as a symbol of your true name. You are Sasame.. The Once and Future Leafe Knight of Sound." She finished, her voice trailing off to a whisper as she stepped away from him. "And I accept you as my Knight of Sound." She added, tilting her head and grinning.
"..Thank you." Sasame whimpered, falling forward to wrap his arms around Himeno's waist; this took several of the older Leafe Knights by surprise. Himeno, rather surprised herself at that moment, chose to just smile and pat him on the head.
"Now.." Mannen began, grinning to Hajime, "We can PARTY!" He whooped, causing Shin to giggle.
"Hold on a moment, Mannen.." Kei said, interrupting Mannen's oncoming victory dance. The Knight of Ice frowned, his arms falling to his sides as the older knight placed his fingers to his chin in thought.
"What is it, Kei?" Goh asked.
"..We need to think of how we are going to go about training Sasame. I am not sure he can stay with us in the human world at his current state." Kei said, thinking out loud. "It may be dangerous to keep him there while he is learning to use his powers and training for knighthood."
"Why is that..?" Himeno asked, her hand resting on the back of Sasame's head as the child looked around to Kei. The Knight of Light's eyes rose, focusing on the Prétear.
"His Leafe is rather haphazard at the moment. Instances of sudden bursts like the one yesterday will occur with little to no warning. He has to be trained to control his powers when his emotions change.. it is a common issue the Knight of Sound has to face." Kei explained as the elder Sasame approached Himeno from behind.
"Kei is right. The human world may be too.. busy for him to handle at the moment. All of the activity and static there will cause him problems. It would be best if he stayed in Leafenia to be trained. The power to control sound is one that takes a phenomenal amount of patience and focus." Sasame added, his hands moving to his pockets.
Himeno nodded, agreeing with the eldest knight and the previous Knight of Sound. "Yeah.. that makes sense, I guess." She said slowly.
"But… we only just met, and now he has to stay in Leafenia?" Hajime piped up, sounding a bit disappointed.
"You can visit him whenever you like… in fact, it would be a good thing… we wouldn't want him to become isolated from you all…" Sasame said, taking off his glasses and polishing them with his shirttail. "…You will… be fighting alongside each other…" Despite his adept control over his voice, Sasame could not hide a little bit of sadness.
"..Sasame.." Himeno lifted a hand, making a move to rest it on his shoulder, but before she could, Mannen pushed between them, a wide grin on his face.
"Well, then it's all figured out. Since we have determined what the little Sassy boy is going to do, then we can party!!...right?" Mannen said, his voice becoming more unsure as he finished.
Hayate chuckled at Mannen's eagerness to skip the discussions and head straight for the celebration. "..Right." He answered, causing the Knight of Ice to leap into the air with a cheer.
"…Sassy?" Shin blinked.
"Well, yeah… what, did you want to call him 'Sasame 2'?" Mannen paused in his celebration dance long enough to stick his tongue out at Shin.
"…This is true." Shin agreed, tilting his head.
"So, what are we waiting for? Sassy wants to go to his party!" Mannen said, dropping his arm around the fledgling knight's shoulders.
"..Sassy.." Sasame murmured, echoing the name. A smile formed on his lips as he nodded. "Yes.. my party.." He answered, looking up to Mannen. "..What is a party?"
"You don't know what a party is?" Mannen asked, his eyes rolling back. "Jeeze, kid, here I thought you were smart.. well, you'll see what a party is.." He chuckled, causing the small boy to smile nervously in response.
"Come on, Sasame." Shin seized Sasame's hand as he shuffled to the beginning of the path. "This will be fun!" He laughed, looking back at the others. Sasame nodded, his heart beating rapidly in nervous excitement about learning what this 'party' was.
Sasame most surely learned what a party was that night. The sun set early, allowing Kei to light up the trees with several different colored orbs of light, which floated around the trees like fireflies. Once Sasame tried to take one into his palms, but as his hands wrapped around the light, it burst into millions of tiny sparks.
"Can Kei decorate, or can Kei decorate?" Goh asked with a little grin, putting his arm around his lover's waist.
"Kei can decorate…" The blond said, resting his head back on Goh's shoulder.
"Well, that's what happens when.." Mannen began as Hayate took hold of his shoulder.
"Speak quietly, Mannen..." He began slowly, adding, "Like they taught you at MILITARY SCHOOL." Hayate finished, and Mannen nodded.
"Gotcha." Mannen muttered.
At the other end of the lake front, Sasame (who was now affectionately nicknamed 'Sassy') sat in quiet contemplation, his feet dangling in the water.
"..I.. am going to be a knight.." He murmured to himself as he rested his chin on his hands. "..I was born to be a knight.. I knew this at my birth.." His voice drifted into silence. One of Kei's lights lowered before his eyes. It was a white orb of light, and it spun gingerly on a diagonal axis.
Sasame's eyes became transfixed on the light, so much that everything around it began to grow dark. As he drifted more into this veritable 'other world', he heard a soft voice in the back of his head, and he was unsure if it was his, or if it was only his imagination.
"Is this what you were born for? Is this what you want to be?"
"..What?" Sasame spoke quietly, but was suddenly disrupted from his gaze by a voice behind him.
"Sasame!" Shin called out, causing Sasame's eyes to flash in surprise, and the bright light hovered away as quickly as it had come. As the new Knight of Sound sat in silence surprise, the Knight of Plants approached from behind, grasping his shoulders.
"..Yes, Shin?" Sasame smiled, looking over his shoulder slowly.
"Are you having fun?" He asked, moving from Sasame's shoulders to sit beside him. Shin kicked off his green Persian toed shoes and dipped his own feet into the cool water of the lake.
"I suppose I am.." Sasame replied, noting that Hajime was across the lake with Kei and Goh, and had his gaze set on Shin. When Hajime noticed Sasame catching his stare, he immediately turned his head, and appeared to be talking to Kei and/or Goh now. "..Hajime acts strangely around you."
Shin gave a small giggle, covering his mouth with his hand. "Oh.. Hajime is a little odd. I think he has attention span problems."
"..Right." Sasame replied, lowering his gaze to the smooth, black water surface. He wiggled his toes under the water, causing small rippling imperfections in the sable glass. "..Shin.. will you.. visit me?" He asked cautiously.
"Of course!" Shin replied in his usual merry tone. "Don't be nervous about training.. the older knights really are a lot nicer than they look. Even Hayate isn't as mean as he looks. Himeno softened him up." He added.
The small platinum haired boy nodded in understanding. He understood what Shin was telling him, but it did not alleviate the almost nauseous nervousness in his stomach. "Thanks." Sasame said softly, blinking as he tried to make sense of the voice he had heard. Was the voice caused by his own nerves? ..in any case, he didn't have time to think about that now.
As the child and the Knight of Plants continued to talk, the ex Knight of Sound stood near the end of the clearing, his eyes set on the small boy. He wondered if he could handle raising the boy, unsure how he would hone his powers when we himself had none.
"..Sasame.." He whispered to himself, breaking his gaze on the silver haired child. He reached up to his face, removing his glasses and folding them in his hands. He brought a hand over his eyes and rubbed his eyelids with his fingertips. "..this shall be interesting.." He sighed.
Though his hearing was not as powerful as it had been when he was the Leafe Knight of Sound, he was still very keen to quiet noises, and when he heard a light shuffling sound behind him, he was alerted, spinning around on his heels. Standing behind him, with her hands folded in front of her, was his lover, Takako.
"..Sasame.." She began, smiling as she stepped forward, approaching the older man. "How is the party going?" Takako asked, her emerald eyes averting to the side in the direction of the rest of the Leafe Knights and Himeno.
"Well, I suppose." He replied as he replaced the glasses on his face. "Why are you so late in arriving?" Sasame asked, placing his hands in his pockets. Takako tightened her hands, her knuckles becoming white.
"Oh.. yes.. about that.." She murmured as her gaze lowered. "I visited the human world, you see.. I wanted to.. check something." Takako added, unclenching her hands.
"..What was it?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.
"..You remember how we said we were going to be married before we tried.. you know.." Takako said apprehensively, rocking back and forth on her heels as if she were unsettled.
Sasame nodded in response, "Yes, I do."
A small giggle elicited from Takako's red lips as she looked up to face Sasame eye to eye. "Well.. I suppose it would be a good idea for us to schedule the wedding earlier than we originally planned." She murmured.
At this, Sasame felt his mind go blank. "..What?" He asked, unsure of what she had said. Takako stared at him in confusion.
"..Sasame.. you look ill." She said, a bit of amusement playing on her words. She reached up and touched a hand to his cheek. "Are you alright?"
"Oh.. yes, yes of course.." Sasame whimpered, feeling his balance strengthen as her words sunk in. "This is not good.. What will Hayate think of me?" He asked, a smile appearing on his lips.
"..Do we care what Hayate thinks?" Takako asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sasame shook his head slowly, chuckling under his breath. "Oh my.. are you sure?" He asked, and Takako nodded immediately. The ex Knight of Sound placed an arm around her shoulder, leading her toward the group. "Then.. I suppose we shall have to tell everyone the good news.." He said joyfully.
From the other side of the lake, Shin pulled his feet out of the water, slapping the young Sasame on the shoulder as he stood. "I am going to steal some more of Kei's champagne when he's not looking.. be back in a little bit." He said, shuffling away. He left his shoes behind.
"..Okay." The boy said a few moments after Shin had left. He crooked his neck upward toward the sky. Even the night sky in Leafenia was magical. The stars shone brighter here than in the human world, and tiny, shimmering faeries zipped about in the air, resembling shooting stars.
He breathed in the night air, feeling it fill his lungs. It felt strange, and unfamiliar to him. Then again, everything in this world, and the other world, was new to him. He would experience this world before the human one, and knew that it would be a long time before he would smell the air, see the lights, or hear the sounds of that other world. That knowledge almost made him feel sorrow.
From across the lake he heard a loud cry, which alerted his gaze downward. The voice he had heard was Himeno's. She had cried out from surprise, he surmised, and she had her arms wrapped around some new woman. The woman had long black hair and pale skin, and she wore a light violet dress. That was all he could make out from that distance.
He focused his thoughts on that group, trying to extent his sound reach across the lake. He heard their voices, they were faint, but he could make out what they were saying.
"You're WHAT?" Goh asked.
"..oh my. This is certainly a first." Kei added to it.
"Oh, Sasame, this is so wonderful!" Came Shin's voice, and Sasame saw him leap at the silver hair man to embrace him.
"Heh.. thank you, Shin.." Sasame chuckled, returning his embrace.
"Wow, Takako. You're engaged, too. I can't wait till I'm a bride.." Himeno grinned. She had apparently recovered.
"More reasons to party! Alright!" Mannen exclaimed, and he reached for the champagne bottle. The voices now mixed, and the small boy lost track of each person. He was nowhere near talented enough to separate one from a sea of voices, especially from that far away.
He lowered his neck and brought his feet out of the water, curling his knees to his chest. "..Tomorrow I begin my training.. tomorrow I begin my knighthood.." He whispered, shutting his eyes and enveloping himself in the sounds of the night.
"At this point, our real story begins. The prelude is finished, and the new Child of Sound is born. He will train for seven years, honing his skills and strengthening his control over the strings of sound. He visits his elder knights only a few times in the duration of his training, and spends much of his time with his veritable 'mother', Takako.
Over the seven years, Himeno graduates from college, and joins in her mother's company as a very successful marketing manager. She wants more than anything to marry Hayate, who does not seem to comprehend her rather obvious hints. This shall cause Himeno to seem be more irritated than in love with her Knight of Wind.
Takako and Sasame have their first and only child, a small daughter, whom they named Kohana, their little flower. She idolized the new Knight of Sound, and thought of him as her older brother, which he did not object to.
Hajime and Shin grew into their knighthood, both having their full knighting ceremonies at the age of seventeen. They still stuck by Mannen, the three being the same trio they had always been.
And finally, the lady we have not mentioned until now. Lady Mawata, Himeno's younger stepsister is also involved in our dreamy cadence. Yes, she will play a vital role in the twisting, tangling web of magic, mystery, and mayhem. She will attract the eye of a lonesome prince, become the bait in an ally's seeming downfall, and play the catalyst in the turning point.
Allow your mind to drift into the dream, and allow your heart to become entwined; you are entering the world of the 'Reflets Sombres'."
..Suivre Puck dans le monde de magie..
A/N: Whooo I hated this last chapter.. it was so evil to write! Thanks to my sib, who helped me get unstuck a LOT, I managed to finish it FINALLY. Anyway, as you can tell by our narrator's little monologue of sorts, we are done with the 'prelude', and are heading into the belly of the beast!
I am going to be nice to you and tell you now.. the last line is in French, and reads (loosely) 'Follow Puck into the World of Magic'.
Whoohoo, let's get this started!