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Much of my life has been dedicated to the art of science pursuit of knowledge.
That knowledge has protected, saved guarded this world well. No one disbelieves Not a soul doubts that.
I am grateful honored blessed with people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand. Isn’t that the truth?
I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Mereana couldn’t Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. No matter how well intentioned I have witnessed it many times. And will continue to see
Darkness...Darkness of the heart. How is it born? Could it even be born?
How does it come to affect us so? Are we fighting our inner nature? It’s true essence?
As ruler of this world, I must find the answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by the darkness… Like that monster who killed-
Radiant Garden
The Sage’s Study
“Papa? Are you still awake?” Ansem the Wise’s eyes shifted off of the parchment paper and his attention was immediately focused on the small girl that lingered in the doorway to his study. He felt his quill fall limp in his hand as he saw his daughter with puffy half lidded eyes with her favorite stuffed wolf in her arms. Something he made to toil over during the weeks leading to her birth. Where as Mereana spent her days in the gardens of Radiant Garden with his mother talking about motherhood and laughing with Braig and babysitting Ienzo for Ansem while he doubled the guards and expanded his kingdom’s reach to include a consistent aqueduct system to ensure that the people would never have to venture out into the wilderness. “Papa?”
“Yes, sweetheart?” Ansem asked as he pinched his bridge and stifled a yawn with a locked jaw and a held breath. He didn’t want her to think he was tired, because then she would want him to go to bed too. “What are you doing up? It’s so late for you.”
“I walked around for eight miles looking for you. I got so lonely.” Ansem’s face fell to a sweet smile and he took up his quill and plunged it into its inkwell. It was less than two hallways from his office to her bedroom and he was sure that number came from the repetition of his guards of, ‘eight miles out, eight miles back.’ To ensure that the streets are always observed and monitored. It was far too late to keep writing anyways. The sage of Radiant Garden rises from his desk and approaches the young princess, smoothing out his garment and taking up a candle. “I had a bad dream again…”
It was an hour past midnight, with even the most diligent of his apprentices, Even, and the most honorbound of his guard, Dilan, having given their liege proper lip service before retiring to their quarters. But still the man worked. Burning that midnight oil.
The day was spent reviewing the recorded appearances of the new arrivals that have come to the castle over the last few weeks. With men of silver hair crashing in the center of town and small rodent monarchs. Ansem himself was in disbelief when he had met the young wide eyed King. Eye to eye, the young mouse had his work cut out for him. Navigating the stars themselves, which seemed to be worlds in the end of all things.
However, back to the situation at hand.
“Did you have that dream that the woods came alive and threw apples at you?” Ansem asked as he walked over and scooped her up into his arms. Feeling her heavy head knock into his cheek and nearly knock him off of his feet. He was too tired and too uncoordinated to be headbutted by his daughter. “You are not a fan of that one.”
“I had a dream where I was taken away and put into a dark cave by a bear.” Kairi mumbled as Ansem nodded and let his hand rest along her back and gently lull her back to sleep. “I am scared of bears.”
“That’s why I made you a wolf. It’s our family’s sigil, my little cub.” Ansem chuckled as he exited his office and gave it a lock. The skeleton key slips back into his pocket before he goes to return her to her room. He didn’t want her to get lost like she did when Ienzo wanted to play hide and seek with her. It took hours of a man at every exit before they found her in one of the cupboards of the council meeting room. Trying to sneak away and steal a few of the chancellor’s hidden treats. It was as they walked down the hall that a figure came abruptly around the corner. He was tall and broad, even bigger than most of the denizens in the kingdom. His black dreadlocks tied off behind him to fall down between his shoulderblades, his sharp mutton chops ending in a strong prominent jaw. His violet eyes piercing in the shadows. Dilan was one of the most notable members of the Royal Guards, second in command to Aeleus, who held seniority of him just shy of four months.
“Master Ansem.” Dilan hummed with his javelin in hand and his eyes darted to the young princess in his Sage-King’s arms. The young guard snickering softly. “Did she have another bad dream?”
“She walks away from her room, makes it all the way to my office and you did not notice my four year old daughter in the halls or that she was not in her quarters?” Ansem spoke as sternly as he did softly. Instead of raising his voice to echo his displeasure, used the opportunity to express himself with a glare and a rigid tone. “You are responsible for her safety at night.”
“My king-”
“Continue your patrol. Now.” Ansem barked and the young man simply nodded. Keeping his posture stiff and his hand tight around his weapon. His right eye twitched in mild irritation but nonetheless, did he listen to his Sage King. He continues onto his patrol without another word.
The walk to Kairi’s room is short and unbothered, the King pushing the door open with his unattended arm as he makes his way to her bed.
Her room is huge and sprawling, with more than enough room for eight kids, much less one. In the room was her wardrobes, her bed, her desk for her studies and of course her hundreds and hundreds of toys.
Her bed was a nine by nine foot mattress, stuffed with the finest wool and horse hair that Ansem could find. With huge wooden posts for a canopy to be placed over, with the curtains drawn as to keep out any rouge beams of light. Her sheets were made with imported silks and her covers were woven furs. To say she was comfortable would be an understatement.
Her desk was modeled after his own, a much too heavy dark oak wood frame with four drawers and an overhead cabinet to house all her inks and parchments. And with a small shelf full of all the books and writings that Ansem himself scribed. Either from memory of stories he was read as a child or translated over from stories that only he could read in languages no one else knew. He spent many evenings as his girls slept translating and writing them down for Kairi to one day have.
Her three wardrobes were lined up side by side, against the wall furthest from the door. Each housing all her morning, evening, and bedtime outfits respectfully. With the walk-in-closet off to the far left that was ten feet deep and fifteen feet wide being filled to the brim with all her ornate dresses with the shelves inside lined with all her shoes. Ansem spared no expense and it appeared he would need to knock out the next wall and expand soon enough as the toys seemed to be taking up more space.
Her toys were gathered along shelves that were stacked up the wall from top to bottom, it wasn’t unheard of for Aeleus to be called specifically to reach the toys on the highest shelf multiple times a day, with an entire corner of the room dedicated to each and every stuffed animal that could have been made. Ansem had never seen such a collection of things. Every animal threaded with every shade of color underneath the sun, stacking from the floor all the way to the ceiling with little room to spare. It wasn’t unheard of to hear Kairi yelp and find her underneath an avalanche of fluff and stuffing. Ienzo in particular liked to throw himself into the pile on occasion.
Beside the wardrobes was a reading nook with bay side windows that were overlooking the vast gardens of the keep below. A pleasant breakfast spot that Ansem and Kairi shared every morning. A pastry and hot chocolate for the Princess and a blackened bacon and harsh coffee for the King. Every morning they did it and it was one of his favorite rituals.
Ansem pulled back the multiple layers of sheets and settled his daughter into her bed, combing her hair back with his fingers and letting the soothing touch ease her back into sleep. She was so small, he couldn’t help but always note. He made a silent prayer to keep her this size forever, when the world was still full of wonder and she was still so eager to spend time with him.
“Will you sing me mama’s song?” Kairi asked lazily, as she got placed beneath the covers and immediately tucked in by her father. Her lips curled to a smile as the covers and duvet immediately warms her up. Making sure to tuck the wolf into place too. “Please, papa?”
“Of course, lovie. I’ll sing you mommy’s favorite song. But I am not a good singer.” Ansem whispered as he ghosted his fingers along her cheek and was mesmerized by how beautiful his little girl is. “Now, let me see. Let me see… The water is wide, I can not get over.”
His voice was rough and it wasn’t exactly as soothing and as tender as Mereana’s own voice. But it was relaxing enough for the princess, whose eyes already were fluttering close. He could sing paint off of a wall and make a cat cry with his noise but she always seemed to enjoy it. It was one of the few things that put her right to sleep.
“And neither have I wings to fly. Oh go and get me some little boat. And both shall row, my love and I.” Ansem’s voice carried with it a twinge of melancholy as he spoke of ‘my love and I’. His heart aching as he thought of his sweet Mereana. With hair that was kissed by fire, its shade was of maroon and just as rich and beautiful as the sun’s rays. Her ocean blue eyes would glimmer like sapphires under lantern light, with a smile that would make any man weak. It was such a nerve racking day when he asked her to marry him.
“There is a ship sailing on the sea. It’s loaded deep, as deep can be. But not as deep, as in love I am. I know not if I sink or if I swim.” Mereana had ventured out into the gardens in the months following Kairi’s birth. Taking a walk along the grass to see how her Bird's-Foot Trefoi were growing in. The golden flower was one of her favorites. It was, unfortunately, the day when a figure in black had snuck into the garden with her that day. Aeleus came rushing to the sound of his Queen’s cry and saw her stuck down by a helmeted man wearing a skirt. His blackened glass helm reflected the look of terror in Aeleus’ face and the splash of blood across his face. He disappeared in a corridor of darkness. Ansem’s devastation was only matched by Kairi’s misunderstanding of where her mother had gone. There were some days after that Kairi was reminded that her mother was no longer with them and she spent most of those days alone in her room.
“Where love is planted, Oh, there it grows. It buds and blossoms, like my rose.” Ansem whispered as he strolled past the window. Ensuring that they were locked and sturdy. No shadows were going to slink into this room. He would chastise Dilan in the morning when he was more awake and had a better idea of a punishment for the young soldier. For now, he would let the young man stew in the unknown for the next few hours. “It has a sweet and pleasant smell. No flower on earth, can it excel.”
Ansem prayed to whatever Gods would listen and asked for the guidance for how to carry on without his dear Mereana. Their daughter was growing up. His tired eyes rested on the little girl as she held her stuffed wolf tight and he approached her one last time to bid her goodnight. His voice falling to a soft faint sound as he got closer to her.
“The water is wide, I can not get over. And neither have I, wings to fly. Oh go and get me some little boat. And both shall row, my love and I. My love and I.” Ansem leaned in tenderly and pressed his lips to the forehead of his daughter. His fingers tracing along the chubby cheeks and bearing witness to the greatest thing he’s ever created. Not the experiments. Not the castle he helped his lord father fortify and build. Not the host of the finest minds and not the toughest warriors he’s cultivated and gathered to protect them. It was this little girl, with hair as fiery as her own mother’s, with a smile that could rival even the sun in its warmth and radiance. She was asleep before he was two steps out the door, but he still whispered a sweetness into the night air, hoping it would reach her wherever her dreams carried her next. He could always write more in the morning. The day will come where she will no longer ask for bedtime songs or to be tucked in. He knew it would be sooner than later, as painful as the thought is. Tonight she’s small, and for tonight that’s enough. “Good night, my darling.”