A Castle's Thorns - Accepting/Finally Open

[M3Gnificent]

The woman gradually slowed as she continued crawling along, slowly losing the strength to continue onwards. It wasn't too long until she stopped entirely, barely able to hold herself above the ground as she wept. She didn't want to give up, she didn't want to die. However, her chances were looking rather bleak now that she couldn't move all that much further. In a desperate last attempt to save herself, she called out as loudly as she could, "Help! Please, somebody help me! I'll do anything I can to pay you back, just please, somebody help me!"

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

The light of Lucian's lantern slowly bobbed through the fog, a will-o-the-wisp dancing through the forest to distant eyes, before he finally found the woman. He raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her, eyes traveling over her and examining before doing anything else. She was certainly in worse shape than he was expecting. The Master would have to be gentle with her for a while, or she'd never last long enough for him to kill her himself. "If I may be so bold, what pray tell is a young lady like yourself doing in a place as dreary as this? And what manner of man or beast put you in such a dreadful condition?" he asked as he squatted down in front of her, holding the lantern up next to his face so they could get a better look at one another.

 

[M3Gnificent]

Luckette crawled forward a little more, looking overjoyed to see the unfamiliar face. She couldn't help but smile as the tears continued flowing down her cheeks. Hope returned to her previously dim-looking eyes. She was saved! Upon being asked of what happened to her, however, Luckette's smile faded a considerable bit as her gaze fell to the ground. "It's a...very long and...complicated story. Please, will you help me get back to town? Or anywhere I can get some medical aid? I'm afraid I'm in no condition to be out here for much longer."

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

"Of course, of course. I'd never dream of leaving a lady out to die. Here, hold this for me if you would please." Lucian said handing her the lantern to carry while he lifted her in his arms. "I'm afraid the closest source of aide would my Master's castle. Forgive me for saying this, but I should think finding you like this a blessing. It's been ever so long since we've had guests...." he said as he carried Luckette deeper and deeper into the fog and towards Castle Brackengard.

 

[M3Gnificent]

"What is there to forgive? I'd be a decomposing corpse within the hour if you hadn't found me." Certainly, the lady's spirits had risen rapidly since being found by the man. She didn't protest about being carried or even contemplate what kind of person would be all alone in this creepy forest. At the moment, she simply didn't care. Luckette would not die this hour. What did it matter what this man's business was? It certainly didn't seem all too harmful, since he was not nearly as dirtied or bloodied as she was. There were no screams filling the air before, aside from her own. Luckette simply could not believe that things weren't looking up from there.

 

[Zelly-fangirl]

"I'm sorry, where are my manners? I never asked the young lady's name." Lucian said as he walked through the fog, a hazy silhouette of the castle starting to become clear upon the horizon. "The Master would be most displeased if I couldn't give the name of our new guest."

 

[Mad Haru]

Thomas sighed as he trudged through what he assumed was a swamp. His umbrella, which he carried everywhere with him and used like an unneeded cane, was quickly being harder and harder to use. He slung it over his shoulder and continued forward, and decided to have a flashback to better establish his character.

"That old castle is haunted. There's no way you can survive longer than a few days in there."
"There's no such thing as a haunted castle. It's ridiculous and impossibly cliche. In fact, I think I'll prove you wrong by spending a few days in there and coming back alive. So there."
"If you can do that, I'd give you a hundred pounds."

Wait. A hundred pounds? That was it? Ah, well. That's the last time I accept a bet while drunk and all ******** up on rationalism.  

[M3Gnificent]

"My name is Luckette, and it's a pleasure to meet you...?" Luckette stopped, realizing that she, too, had forgotten to ask for the man's name. This, too, was good in a sense. She now had extra fuel to keep the conversation running, didn't she? "Please excuse me, but what is your name again, sir?" she asked in turn, more focused on getting to know the face of her rescuer than looking to see where exactly they were going.

 

[Razsminion]

Arisa

Arisa stoically did the dishes as was her regular duties within the castle, she had been hard at work, cleaning, gardening and the usual maid stuff. Arisa was one of the ones bound here that knew that she was dead, she remembered her death well and it still caused her suffering. Within the confinds of her wracked mind she relived the event over and over with her waking conscious. However, despite her hatred of the man who murdered her all those years ago, she found herself unwillling... or perhaps more accurately, incapable of actually stopping what she had done in life for so long. It was like she was watching her previous existance through a window, and not being able to control her own actions at times. She had become a rather cold persona the last few centuries...or however long she had been achored to this spot... when everyday blurred into the next and only the rising of the sun and moon told you that another day had passed you had little way of knowing for sure. With almost robotic automatronics, she placed a wet soapy dish on the dish-rack with a gentle, deep chim. Her dark eyes peered into the soapy water and they hardened conciderably, she hated water, she hated its texture, its feel.... everything, and yet she was lucky enough to be tormented everyday with dishes, watering the plants and mopping the floors. At least it made her more effecent in her chores, she got the stuff with the water done very quickly. She looked over her shoulder and tried to think of what Abigail was doing right now. She should be along soon to help with the meals, though it wasn't as though she was late or anything... at least not yet, still it was likely that Arisa was going to chew on her a little bit for being late because, by god, she needed to crab about something or she would explode. It wasn't as though she had any other means of being able to release her frustration at being alone and having to wait for someone who would never come. She had to face the reality that nobody was coming to save her from that b*****d Fredrick. She had put up with his advances in life, and was doom to do so after death. It was unfair, unfair and heartbreaking for her. So she did whatever she had to not to gain his notice when Abigail had grown a little stale for him and he wanted someone different to sasiate his urges. She had grown a layer of ice over her heart to protect it.
Arisa rested the last dish in the rack before looking around again with her stoic face getting much more annoyed with every passing glance. Where was she? She should have been here by now. If Abigail made her do all the work in the kitchen again there would be cold leftover waiting for her for the next few weeks... granted she might as well do that, it wasn't like Abigail could eat or anything. Arisa's dark cloud grew even more when she let her imagination grow thinking about Abigail and her likely romping through whatever she was doing. But this point, Arisa was more beating the water off of the dishes with her bubbling mood.  

[Mad Haru]

After a few more minutes, Thomas reached the castle. He looked up, impressed by how it was unaffected by the passage of time.
"Hmm... Let's see if we can find the servant's entrance."  

[greendragonfly52]

While the grumbling Arisa was slaving away in the kitchen, Abigail, the other maid of the castle, was finishing up her own chores in the north tower. She liked to sing the old songs of her time while she worked, ones which her mother and father taught her centuries ago when she was alive and a little girl. Her clear toned voice rang out throughout the tower while she dusted and swept her last room for the day. Quite content with her work, Abigail left the room, and headed towards the kitchen. Still singing on her way, Arisa would hear the girl coming long before she got there. Abigail was quite fond of trying to make every moment as cheerful as she possibly could. If she must be stuck in this purgatory with the one man (well half of him anyway) that she despised, then she might as well enjoy it.

Abigail graced her way into the kitchen, find Arisa violently beating any impurities off the dishes. "Whoa careful there hun. If you brake a plate you might displease our master." Abigail paused for a moment, suddenly wearing a devilish grin. "Actually...on that thought...beat away. Break every plate if you must. What's the worst he can do? Kill us again?" Abigail giggled as she put away her cleaning things in the small broom closet in the kitchen. Abigail moved back over to Arisa, and picked up a towel to start drying the dishes as Arisa washed. "You know...it's too bad Cookie got to go to the afterlife after he died. I'd die all over again for some of his pastries." Abigail mentioned to Arisa, remembering the cook who worked at the castle when they were all alive.  

[Mad Haru]

After walking around the grounds of the castle for a few minutes, Thomas found a side door that, as luck would have it, led to the kitchen.
"Uh, hello?" he announced, then laughed. "'hello'. There's no one here to answer me, this place has been abandoned for centuries."
He continued laughing until he saw the two servant girls.
"Hello."  

[Zelly-fangirl]

"Lucian Valren, though you may call me whatever you wish, as I am but a butler; a humble servant to Master Brackengard." Lucian told her as he carried her inside and up the grand stairs of the entry hall. "I'll bring you to one of the guest rooms for now and have one of the maids tend to you. I must report your stay to the Master immediately."

 

[Grey Moonfang IV]

The candles flickered faintly in the dark room, doing almost nothing to illuminate what had once been dubbed the 'throne room'. Banners marked with the royal emblem hung limply from the walls. Both these elements combined together to make the room look rather bleak; not depressed as one might think, simply blank and dismal. In essence, the room matched the only occupant perfectly.

Sitting toward the back and middle of the room, fully armored in an ornate chair of polished oak and seated on a silk cushion was Fredrick Brackengard. Obviously the most notable figure within the castle, for he was it's lord; and foremost of all...he was bored. The female servants in his service had long since begun to bore him, he couldn't be bother to even recall their names any longer. He could not remember the last time he'd laid eyes upon a youthful maiden, beautiful and pure. Caressed their soft skin, whispered sweet words into their ear...and been rejected.

Fredrick's right hand began to tighten upon the armrest of his throne, nearly causing the wood to splitter. No, there was little use in getting mad about it. They had paid the price for that mistake. If he could not hear their sweet screams of passion, then let it be wails of anguish, whimpering for him to make it stop...to end it. A smile flickered upon the lord's lips, but quickly vanished. Reminiscing had only managed to remind him of how truly, frightfully bored he was...  

[M3Gnificent]

"Very well, Mr. Valren. Thank you very much for saving me. I'll have to find some way to repay the favor someday*." Luckette smiled ever so sweetly despite the scratches, the bruises, the wounds. She was simply happy to know that she'd live. That she'd not end her days in the filthy muck on the forest floor, suffering a devistating, humiliating end. Now, though, that it was established that she was no longer at death's clutches, she began wondering how well the healing process would go. Mentally, she was probably a wreck. Even remotely thinking of what brought her out into the forest to begin with made her want to have sobbing fits. Perhaps after an extended period of time with a nice book in her hands and some scented candles burning with sweet, comforting fragrance would do her much good. Perhaps if she were lucky, there would also be some satin cloth to run her fingers across or even to wear. Although Luckette doubted she'd get such luxuries, the thought alone was quite comforting.

*TO PERVERTED ANONS OUT THERE - this is not intended sexually. It is written in an entirely platonic sense, so pleasepleaseplease don't bring up any rule 34 ideas you've got going. Please and Thank You!