castellated
[kas-tl-ey-tid]
1. Architecture. built like a castle, especially with turrets and battlements.
2. having many castles.
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Jenny
kept her eyes closed. She groaned,
rolled over, and immediately flipped back to her previous facing. She could feel the sunlight through her
eyelids. She tried again, slower this
time. As her blurry vision started to
clear, she took in the sight of the large, lavishly decorated bedroom.
She sat
bolt upright with wide eyes, her hangover all but forgotten. She was experiencing every 21 year old girl’s
worst nightmare: Waking up in someone else’s bedroom and not knowing whose or
where. She took a quick stock of the
room.
There
was nobody else in the large, soft bed with her, which made her happy. The fact that she was wearing some kind of
silk nightgown was a bit disturbing, but since her regular clothes were sitting
on a cushioned chair nearby, cleaned and folded, she hoped whoever she went
home with was either another girl or a total gentleman.
“Ah, I
am glad to see you have woken up, my mistress.”
Said a decidedly male voice. She
turned to face the speaker, completely forgetting that she hadn’t heard anyone
entering the room.
The man
was tall and slender, clothed in a body concealing robe decorated with swirling
cloud patterns. She looked at his almost
painfully handsome face and became much more aware of the fact that her hair
was likely a complete mess and her makeup was probably smudged and runny. She immediately retreated to the only safe
place she could think of: under the covers.
“Mistress? Are you unwell?” The man asked. Without the distraction of his looks there,
Jenny took note of his breathy, almost wind like voice. And the fact that he was calling her “mistress”
no longer escaped her notice either.
“Um,
yeah, I’m fine, I think. Just, you know,
a bit hung over.” She said, hoping the
covers didn’t muffle her voice too much.
“Ah, I
see. Well then, when you feel better, I
am sure you have much you would like to ask, correct?”
“Uh
huh.”
“If you
would like, I can prepare a remedy for you.
It will not cure you, but it should alleviate the pains.”
“Yes!” She said loudly and throwing the covers
down. She immediately regretted that, as
her own voice stung her ears.
He
left, giving Jenny time to make herself somewhat presentable. At the very least she was able to fix her
hair and check her makeup in a large vanity mirror on a nearby desk. It took some time to work through her
hangover to do so, but by the time her host came back with a steaming cup, she
was looking as good as she could be given the lack of cosmetics.
The
drink tasted like strong tea, and the warmth felt good going down her
throat. True to his words, it did indeed
start to reduce the effects of last night’s party on her head.
“Now
then, would you like to—“ He
started. Jenny didn’t give him time to
finish before she started.
“Who
are you, where am I, why did you take me here, what do you want with me?” She said quickly.
“I am
called Zephyr.” He said, much more
calmly. “I am the spirit of this castle,
the Wind Castle. I have brought you here
because your voice woke me up, showing me that you are my master, or mistress
in this case.”
“That…that
doesn’t tell me a whole lot.” She
said. “Wait, this is a castle?” She asked, latching on to the one thing she
knew for sure.
“Yes,
mistress. The Wind Castle.”
“But there’s no castles around
here.”
“The wind castle
can go anywhere the wind does. Suffice
it to say, it is not a normal building.
Please look out the window.”
Jenny did as he asked her and
gasped. They were floating. Whatever building they were in was floating
high above the ground. Jenny let out a
confused squeak.
“This castle is one of many that
represent aspects of nature. In this
case, wind. It grants it’s masters great
power. That to control the air
itself. And that is you.”
“B-but…huh?” She said.
“Come, mistress, I will show you the
rest of the castle, your castle, if you would like.”
“Uh huh.” She said in a daze.
Zephyr led her out of the room and into
a large stone hallway, and on to many, many rooms and chambers. He told her what each room was for, and that
she could go anywhere in the place just by thinking about it once she learned
how. It all seemed so farfetched, like something
out of her little brother’s fantasy books, but the fact that she had confirmed
through multiple windows that the castle was indeed flying, she couldn’t really
doubt it.
“So, uh, what do I do here? I mean, what’re my jobs as the ruler of this
place?” Jenny risked asking.
“First you must learn to control the
castle, if only at a basic level. More
advanced applications can come later.
Then you must choose your retainers.
Four people to be imbued with the power of the four winds. These will be your most loyal warriors, given
power second only to your own. Others
may, of course, be chosen to live here and become your subjects, but the four
retainers must come first. Then you will
wage battle against others—“
“Wait, what?” Jenny asked.
“You must wage battle against the
masters and mistresses of the other great castles. By doing so, your power and influence will
grow.”
“Other castles?” She asked nervously.
“Oh yes, there are many castles such as
this, each with its own power. By defeating the master of one, you gain control
of it, and it’s power, and you may then use it like your own. Ah, but don’t worry, gaining control of
another castle will allow it to merge and separate with this one by your
will. If you are able to master all the
other great castles out there, you will become the true Queen of All
Things. It is a great honor just to be
master of one castle, just think of owning all of them.”
“Uh, yeah, right. Can, uh, can I back out of this?”
“Why would you want to?” Zephyr said, tilting his head to one side.
“Do I look like a fighter? I’m a 21 year old college girl of Christ sakes. I’ve never fought a day in my life.”
“Do not worry, you will be
instructed. And you will have the aid of
your retainers to fight with you.”
“So what? I still want out.”
“I’m afraid that is impossible.”
“Why?
You said I’m the mistress here, so that means you have to do what I say,
right?”
“For the most part, yes. But I am afraid that the only way to yield
control of a great castle is to die. The
castle must have a master, and it will only yield control to someone when its
previous master dies.”
Jenny felt her blood run cold. That was bad news on two fronts. One was that there was no way out. The second meant that if she wanted to stay
alive, she would need to kill someone else.
“Are you sure there’s no other way?”
“None.
I am sorry, my mistress.”
“Can I at least avoid fights?”
“It is possible, yes. But not forever. You will eventually encounter another castle,
and when that happens the only choice is to fight.”
“What…what about making allies? Is that possible?”
“Yes, for a time. But any alliances would be temporary, as it
is the fate of all castle masters to fight eventually, trying to become the
King or Queen of All Things. You can use
alliances to help you at the start, but they will not last forever.”
Jenny felt her world crumble around
her. Finding out she would have to fight
and either kill or be killed were not pleasant thoughts.
“What…what should I do?” She asked quietly.
“Learn.
Learn to use the castle and the power it grants you.”
Jenny sighed. Her fists clenched hard enough that he knuckles
turned white. All she wanted to do was
go back to her dorm room and goof off with her roommate.
“Okay, fine. What do I have to do?” She asked, resigning herself to her fate.
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I might continue with this, but I also might not. We shall see what we shall see, right?
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