Arrivederci

Arrivederci

The kingdom fell to ruin in her absence.

Now here she was, 13 years later, ready to fix things.

The only problem was…

Everyone was dead.

CHAPTER 1: The Queen’s not-so-glorius return

Walking back to the castle was… a journey, to say the least. There were overgrown plants everywhere, crumbling buildings that could get knocked over with a small gust of wind, and an eerie aura to the whole place. She jumped over an overgrown root and looked around. The once bustling city was now devoid of all human life. She kept walking until she found the town square. Looking around, she could barely recognize it. She thought back to the simpler times when there was life here. She sighed and shook her head. No use dwelling on the past. She needed to move forward.

She made her way out of town square and headed up the hill to the castle. The castle was on a hill, not only to overlook the wondrous people of their nation, but to see far beyond, to see any threats that might come their way. It was a steep hill, so to say she struggled climbing up it would be an understatement.

When she finally reached the castle, all she could do was gasp at how time had treated it. The once glorious, once shining castle, now reduced to a crumbling structure that was the ghost of once was. She took a tentative step forward and entered the castle, careful to not step on any loose rubble or touch anything that would make the castle fall apart more. She looked around, noticing how some of the hallways were caved in. She decided to head to the throne room, carefully manuvering around the rubble.

She walked into the throne room and was immediately showered with light. She looked up and saw that most of the roof had fallen into the throne room. The thrones themselves were relatively untouched. She was somewhat surprised, and decided to take a closer look.

As soon as she took a step, the room began to rumble. She looked around to see if she could spot the source of the noise, to no avail. She took another step, and the room shook even more. She took a hurried step backwards, but the shaking didn’t stop. Then, some cracking noises filled the room. She looked around, desperately trying to find the source of the noise. She looked up in enough time to see an unbroken part of the roof start to fall. She didn’t look in enough time to move, however, as the 10,000 ton piece of brick fell straight onto her.

Or would have, if it didn’t get violently knocked off course at the last second. She blinked, looking around in shock. She didn’t see anything that could have done this. She was alone, at least she thought she was, but there was no one around to prove her otherwise. This was too big of an event to blame on the wind, however. There was someone, or something, in here with her. Now she just had to find out who or what it was.

“Hello…?” She called out. No response.

“Is someone here?” Nothing.

“Please come out! I’m not going to hurt you, I promise!”

Try as she might, no one responded to her calls. She sighed. She knew someone, or something, was here. She was determined to find it.

She walked toward the thrones and looked at them. They looked relatively unscathed, which was a stark contrast from the crumbling building around her. The thrones still shone in the light, the velvet cushion hasn’t degraded, the wood hasn’t even rotted. She was perturbed. How had the thrones lasted this long? Why were they the only thing that lasted this long?

She glanced at her throne, the queen’s throne, the one that sat right next to the king’s throne. She stepped over to it and touched it. It was solid, it felt cool, it was real. Her mind wasn’t coming up with some sort of reminiscent hallucination (her advisor certainly would have said it was a possibility). It was real. She sat in the chair and was brought back to memories before she left. Balls being held in the castle, people dancing and cheering. Watching as the stableboys ran around playing tag, as the stablemaster tried to chase them down and scold them. Watching as the jester put on a show. Watching as the knights informed them of anything and everything that went wrong so they could fix it. Listening as her advisor told her the best course of action. Posing as the castle creator painted her portrait.

She sighed and stood up. If only her advisor were here now. But, he wasn’t. She decided to keep exploring the castle. She left the throne room and walked the halls to her personal quarters. They also led to her husbands quarters, whom she missed dearly. Her husbands quarters were before her own, and she stopped as she passed by them. She decided to take a look inside, to see the state of them now.

She took the doorhandle and gently swung the grand door open. She remembered that her husband’s quarters were simple, and always clean. They had a king bed on the right wall, the side of the bed pushed against the back wall next to the window so he could look out at the stars before he slept. He had a bathroom in the back left corner, and a dresser on the left wall. His closet was in the front right corner. His front wall was simply covered in portraits. He did some art, yes, but the castle creator absolutely loved to paint, but he had no where to put his paintings, so the king allowed his paintings to be hung up around the castle. The king kept his favorites.

Yet when she opened the door, she was not met with the beautiful, clean room she remembered. The outside wall had caved inwards, the ceiling was breaking at the seams, the bed was covered in rubble, the bathroom was destroyed, the closet was filled with rubble, and the dresser had fallen over on it’s front. The only thing that stayed the same was the wall of paintings. They looked as if this ruin wasn’t even in the room. They looked as beautiful as the day they had been painted. She took a few seconds to mourn the room, before she left to see her quarters,

She walked to the door of her quarters, preparing herself for the destruction she would see inside. Or, at least thought she would see, because as she opened her door, Her quarters were exactly the way she remembered them. She blinked and rubbed her eyes a few times, but the room never changed. She walked inside, looking at the dresser, bed, nightstand, walk-in closet, bathroom, the seat underneath the window, even the chandelier; It all looked untouched. It was as if the castle wasn’t crumbling around her. She walked around and touched every item, every area, everything, and confirmed that it wasn’t a hallucination. She pinched herself (ow). It wasn’t a dream (she could practically hear her advisor saying “how peculiar”.).

Why was it that all of her things were untouched, but the castle was literally falling at the seams?! This was peculiar, peculiar indeed. She decided that she was going to figure out what was going on.

“You like the room, I see?”

Turns out she wouldn’t have to search for long.

CHAPTER 2: A Change in Perspective

Have they been following the queen ever since she came back? …Yes. Is that morally wrong? Not in their case, no. They were known as “The Royal Four”, although none of them were of royal bloodline. You had Raymon, the lead knight, Zaion, the queen’s advisor, Saurmont, the castle creator, and Treyon, the jester. They had watched over the queen when she returned, Zaion the most. He and the queen had been close when she was still here, so he was literally hovering over her with every step she took. Saurmont had tried to talk to her, but it seemed she couldn’t see them. Seems fitting for the four ghosts.

Ah, yes, the four of them were ghosts. There had been more, but everyone else had eventually moved on. These four stayed, though. They had developed a brother-like bond, and they weren’t willing to give that up quite yet.

They followed her as soon as she stepped into the palace walls, never once leaving her side. They had started to panic when the rumbling noise started, just as much as she did.

“ZAION! WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Raymon called out to the advisor.

“THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THE REMAINING PEICE-”

“ENGLISH, ZAION!!” Treyon shouted. The three of them didn’t always understand what he said. Plus, it’s not like they had time to decode what he was saying!

“SIGH, THE CEILING IS GOING TO FALL ON HER.”

“WHAT?!” The three of them exclaimed, looking back to the peice of ceiling that was just about to break.

“RAYMON’S GOT THIS!” They watched as the ceiling finally broke and the queen stood staring up at it, parylized in fear. Just before the piece hit the queen, Raymon ran at it and punched it out of the  way, a thing he wouldn’t have been able to do, were he still alive. Treyon let out a high pitched whistle.

“I’ll never get bored of seeing you do that.”

“I’m so painting that when I get the chance!” Saurmont exclaimed. He was practically vibrating with excitement.

“Hello?” The queen called out. All attention turned to her. She was still standing where the ceiling was about to fall on her. They all exchanged glances.

“Is someone here?” The queen glanced around, her eyes just briefly passing where the four were standing. Raymon sucked in a breath and walked over to her.

“Your majesty, I-” He kneeled and started to talk, but was cut off by the queen’s frantic calling.

“Please come out! I’m not going to hurt you, I promise!” Raymon’s face fell. Treyon placed a hand on his shoulder.

“She can’t hear or see us, bud.”

Zaion sighed and watched as the queen walked over to the thrones, following behind her. Such fine pieces of furniture, if you asked him. Made out of pure gold from the mines of Drebgoh, fitted with the finest fabric one could hope to procure, simply existing was a marvel in and of itself. He watched as the queen lowered herself onto her throne. He walked right in front of her, and for a moment, it seemed like she was looking straight at him. But, alas, her eyes weren’t following her movements, and it seemed that a glaze had come over her eyes.

“How peculiar…” He muttered to himself. The queen got up and started heading to the king and queen’s quarters.

“Guys, she’s moving! Let’s go!” Treyon seemed to be the only other one that noticed, and Zaion was glad. He never really liked being the center of attention. He followed Treyon, with Saurmont behind him and Raymon picking up the rear.

The queen stopped in front of the king’s door. She seemed nervous to enter the room, her hand hesitating in reaching out to the handle. She eventually opened the door, letting out a small gasp as she looked inside. Zaion followed her as she walked inside. She stopped when she noticed Saurmont’s paintings. Saurmont walked inside and let out a little squeal of delight when he noticed the queen was looking at his art.

“I’m so glad she likes it! It took me forever to paint them, and even longer to preserve them!” Zaion patted his head.

“You did great with both things.”

“Thanks, Zaion!” Saurmont beamed wide. The queen walked past (more like through) them, so they turned and followed behind her. Zaion was probably the most nervous for the next room. He had spent a long time trying to preserve the queen’s room for when she finally arrived.

Saurmont took the lead, followed by Treyon and Raymon, Zaion following at the rear this time. He watched as the queen walked into the room, followed by the other three. He held back a little bit. He was nervous, as he was the one who awaited the queen’s return the most. He and the queen were the closest when she was here, so when she left, he was devastated. He didn’t even know why she left. He figured he would ask her if he ever got the opportunity to.

He sighed and started walking towards her room, taking slow and careful steps. It took him back to the days when she was here, when she’d call him to her quarters just to hang out. They’d solve puzzles, chat, sometimes draw (she was better at it than he was). He reminisced over days that were long gone, over days he longed to have back.

He felt a tug. Not on his person, not like Saurmont was trying to drag him into the room, no, this one was different. He kept walking and the tug got tighter. It was in his chest area. He kept walking, slightly picking up the pace and walking into the room, when he realized the tug was around his heart. He stopped and looked at the queen, glancing around her room (that he had managed to preserve) and his heart welled up with joy. Oh, how much he missed seeing her.

He walked towards her and the tug yanked one final time.

“You like the room, I see?”

He tugged back.

CHAPTER 3: We Meet Again

The two stared at each other, Zaion with a dumb smirk on his face that would fit Treyon’s face better than his, and the queen with her eyes blown wide in shock. Treyon, Saurmont, and Reymon shared similar expressions with the queen. They sat in silence, no one daring to move an inch.

“Wait- she can see you?!”

Of course, Treyon would be the one to break the silence.

“Yes,” Zaion turned to look at Treyon. “I believe she can hear and see me.”

“Does that mean she can see and hear us?” Saurmont asked, excitement written all over his face. Zaion turned to look at the queen, who locked eyes with him once again.

“Who are you talking to?” She asked. Zaion saw saurmont visibly deflate out of the corner of his eye.

“Treyon, Saurmont, and Reymon are all here, your majesty.”

“Oh- please don’t use that title with me. I’m not sure I desere it after leaving and… all of this,” she gestured to the window, showing what outside the castle looked like, “happening. What did happen, if I may ask?”

“Ah, yes, that. For this, you might want to sit down, my que- er-”

“Just call me by my first name, I don’t mind.”

“Alright. For this, you might want to sit down, April.”

She sat down, and Zaion sat down in front of her. Treyon, Reymon and Saurmont all moved to fill in the gaps of the circle, Treyon sitting between Zaion and the queen April, Reymon sitting on the other side of April, Saurmont sitting between Reymon and Zaion.

“Alright. So, after you left, about 10 years ago, we were attacked. This army came from the south and broke down our doors, riding on magic-powered devices. We held up a fight for as long as we could. We managed to take a majority of them out, but the main one was a struggle to fight with. He had all of these weapons the likes of which no one had seen before. We fought, and we fought, and we fought, but to no avail.

“The king didn’t want all of us to perish, so he surrendered. The main attacker came in and became the new king. His name was Lerois. Lerois made changes around here. Increased taxes on the town, increased defence, Saurmont wasn’t allowed to do his art anymore, he fired Treyon, I was forced to always be at his side, and Reymon was stripped of his position and forced to become a lowly private. It was safe to say that no one liked the new tyrant, but we couldn’t fight against him.

“Eventually, the true king fell ill. He was still permitted to live in the castle, but he was moved to a servants room. Most of the servants had died already. The king had called us to the room, and Lerois allowed us this one thing. We went to the king, and on his deathbed, his final wish was for us to await your return. His final wish was for this kingdom to right itself, with you as the head. His final words, were ‘Make sure to tell April I love her.’ He died a day later. We suffered 4 years of Lerois tyranny. 4 years too long, we decided. So, I was appointed to do something… drastic.

“We all knew that Lerois could protect himself. An assasination plot was near impossible. We needed a way to get rid of Lerois once and for all. So, during the night, on the first day of the 5th year, I went downstairs to where the lab is. I took some nitroglycerin and a new magical compound we discovered Lerois had called “Maxryint”. It is extremely lethal and dangerous, however, only when mixed with explosive chemicals.

“I managed to create a bomb using the two chemicals.” He sighed. “As soon as I mixed the two chemicals, the bomb exploded. The explosion wiped out the entirety of the living beings in a 500 mile radius. The buildings, however, were left alone. They began to erode with time.”

“Wow… How are you still here, though?” April looked confused, if not perplexed.

“The magical compound in the bomb caused us to essentialy become ghosts. Most of the city people moved on after a few months of being ghosts, however. I’m not exactly sure how being a ghost really works, for that, you’d probably have to ask Saurmont. Lerois was the one who stayed the longest, mostly out of spite, but he left just over a year ago. We stayed solely because we knew that at some point, you’d return.”

“You stayed, just for me?” Her eyes were wide in shock, tears lining the corners of her eyes.

“Of course! We didn’t want to disobey the kings final wishes!” Saurmont piped up beside him, but by the look on April’s face, she still couldn’t see or hear them. Zaion reassuringly patted his head and spoke for him.

“Saurmont brings up a great point. We didn’t want to disobey the king’s final wishes. However, it does bring up another question. Why did you leave in the first place?”

April shifted. “Well, uh- see…”

Raymon put his hand on April’s shoulder, and even if she couldn’t feel it, it was still there. “You don’t have to tell us until you’re ready, April.”

Zaion smiled and reached for April’s hand, holding it in a firm grasp. “Raymon’s right. You don’t have to tell us until you’re ready.”

April shook her head. “But you deserve to know! You spent the entirety of your dead lives waiting for me to come back! It’s not fair if you don’t know why you had to wait so long!”

“Take your time. If you can’t talk about it, that means you aren’t ready to. And plus, it’s not like we’re going anywhere. We have all the time in the world to hear about it.”

April sighed. “Thank you. I do have a question though, how can I see you? You explained the ghost thing, but not-” she waved in his general direction. “This whole situation.”

“To be honest, I don’t know either. Probably something to do with the whole magic thing.” Zaion shook his head. He was never the biggest fan of magic.

“I wish I could see the others, though.”

“They wish the same thing.

CHAPTER 4: A Time to be Seen and Heard

It had been a week since April arrived. They started to help her clean up the kingdom and make it liveable again. Saurmont would help decorate