Valden's throneroom was filled with the resonant tones of chiming bells, underlaid by the almost indistinguishable chatter of grinding clockwork. The circular symbol beneath his feet groaned and curled awake, curled panels of wood slipping away. Valden spun as the contraption woke up from it's long sleep, still in impecable condition. The ornate circle disentangled itself piece by piece effortlessly, revealing a stone staircase that descended into an eerie blue light.

Valden's eyes twinkled with dull mirth, the softest, near invisible smile touching his mouth. Could he be capable of happiness? Perhaps not. Watching one's beloved subjects slowly cease to function is no jolly matter. Who knows how many years Valden had stood on that empty balcony, looking out into an empty world.

[center]Too long.[/center]

He descended the steps at a brisk yet effortless pace, curling with the staircase as it descended into the depths of the castle. The light glowed with each turn, until Valden was standing in a cold stone chamber. In the center of this vast room sat a simple pool atop a stepped pedestal, or perhaps it was a fountain. The water glowed with that eerie blue light, still as a picture, and as undisturbed as Valden's citizens. Unlike them, however, it almost seemed... serene. Peaceful.

His footsteps echoed around this empty place as he approached it, the light catching the ornate embroidery in his clothes and bathing his face. A long, slender finger disturbed the surface, sending out a pulse of ripples that allowed a single bead to form and drop to the floor beneath.

It smashed across the floor like glass, each tiny piece forsaking gravity and flying up into the sky. A wind caught Valden's hair as the water in the pool itself began to rise in little drops, each and every one refracted with the picture of a face. A soul. His kingdom's hope.

Valden climbed atop the water's surface, walking along it as easily as if it were the stones beneath his feet previously. The little lights danced for him, they told him stories in a hundred indistinct little voices.
And then one shone through.

[center][h3]"Just Great."[/h3]

The visions formed around him, first infecting one drop and then another.

A girl with hair like fire and eyes as clear as starlight.

He peered closer. His eyes widened.


[h2]"Just Great."[/h2]

The beads echoed again, this time stronger. He had flashes of uncertainty, of someplace seedy, of relief, of need for confort, of being denied it.

Was it to be her?

The pool had never given him one vision so strong before; they had never decided on just one so easily. Usually he chose from a fractured portrait of many, each contained in a drop. But now each bead had formed into one, and only one, possible choice:
The girl with the starlight eyes.

And Valden fell through the pool as one on water would.[/center]