Lost Tales

[Ran Yoko]

Attention, all pennites!!! I wrote this short story a while back, and thought it would be interesting if other people were to add their own ideas to it. I'm not saying that it has to be a story as gloomy as mine, it could be about a myth of a hidden pirate's treasure even!! but I think it would be interesting if others were to, like, tell 'old stories' from the worlds where their stories take place.

Mine, I got the inspiration from the tale of Atlantis, and also the fact that I had watched Hayao Miyazaki's "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" recently. hope you enjoy.

 

The Lost Kingdom

 

There is a tale about a lost kingdom. All of you young ones, and you older ones too, listen carefully, and learn from my tale.

Some of the people living near the sea were intelligent, and masters of magicks. They learned ways to improve the sandy land they lived upon, and make it suitable for farming. They raised land from the middle of the sea, and created an island for them to live on.

With their advanced magicks, they soon grew prosperous, and became well known for their fine vegetables, and pearls they got from the ocean depths. They formed a kingdom, with their own king, and lived happily for several years.

However, other countries grew jealous and fearful of their power. They decided to take that power from their own, and several kindoms and countries created an alliance.

To keep their kingdom safe, the best magicans there created three crystals. These crystals, when placed at certain points of the island, raised the island into the air, where no one else could get them. They thought themselves safe. But not all dangers come from outside.

It started out very small, just an arguement between two people in the marketplace over the matter of whether or not it had been such a good idea to raise the island in the air. But the unrest grew, and like a plague, took over the entire kingdom. Minor arguements turned to fights, and fights turned to killings. Soon, everyone on the island was fighting. One man, consumed by anger, killed his entire family, then killed himself when he came to his senses and realized what he had done.

The flames of destruction, once lit, are not so easily put out.

Before long, the fields were ruined, and most of the kingdom's inhabitants were dead. The king was driven crazy, his wife long dead from illness, and his two daughters had been killed trying to stop a fight between the palace guards. Not knowing what he was doing, the king ordered for the crystals to be destroyed.

His orders were carried out. Without the crystals to keep it in the air, the island slowly sank into the sea, carrying with it a ruined kingdom that had come to resemble Hell itself.

Miraculously, a few people survived somehow. They migrated to the mountains, where they settled and managed to live, for the most part, happily. They never wished to see the ocean again, but were always haunted by the memory of a lost kingdom.

Popular legend will tell you that the people of the kingdom grew greedy, and tried to attack other countries for their wealth, but were destroyed by the other countries. But that is not the truth.

As the last living survivor of that kingdom, I feel it my duty to tell the truth to as many as I am able to. I am an old man now, and am sure that soon, I will pass into the Shadowlands. I ask that all who read this letter, learn from the story.

Thus ends my tale.

 

Alonzo Lassenia Halles,

the descendant of Prince Alexander Halles,

once heir to the throne of the floating kingdom Hallesani

[Wyvern]

The King Who Lost It Because of a Stubborn Child Who Never Listened to His Mother!

 

Oh please, do sit. Have a cup of tea. Would you like a cough drop or a nice dry rice cake with that? Are you sure? My servant, Mercucio, could fetch for it for you lickety-split. I'd tend to it myself, if I was still one for labor. Oh Age! Pfah! You know, yes? Good, good. Now don't you worry, you sit right on that chair, it won't break. It held little Alonzo for 15 years, and he was twice your weight even as a babe. Deary me, you are mannered. Sit a spell, keep this old woman company. I'll spin a yarn for you. This yarn. Oh, don't worry. I'm also going to tell you that story I promised you.

 

What really happened to Hallesani? Well, it all started when young Alonzo was born. Oh I knew that Alonzo was a bad name for him, but no, Alex insisted that we name him after that damn puppet. You see, Alex was always very fond of the Reirmaeker's puppet show, which was sometimes held in the Hallesani marketplace. Every half moon I think it was. Anyhow, there was a puppet on the show named Alonzo. He was a jester who was always shown as a lazy irresponsible slob that never cared a lick for anyone other than himself. Alex adored his antics, and so he decided that we should name our son after him. I proposed Harry, of course, but the Prince of Hallesani always had the last word in these matters.

 

Oh the other kids, they always teased poor Alonzo for his name. It came to the point where Alonzo decided he wanted to be home-schooled instead of dealing with them. We tried our best to give him a great education. We even called in some of Hallesani's top scholars, including Mariett Fiorren the mathematician and Fjordan something-or-other, I forget his last name. He was a big name when it came to poetry, though. Anyway, Alonzo would just skip his classes by playing hide-and-go-seek with the professors. I scolded him and said "Alonzo, if you don't attend your classes, you're going to become a spoiled brat," but did he listen to his poor old mother? No. I came to his bed at night to change his sheets, since he always used to wet the bed, and I said "Alonzo, it's time you were potty trained." But did he listen to his dear old mother as she pleaded with him? No. That was the start of the matter, really. He should have been potty trained at a MUCH earlier age. He should have listened to me more, and should have always come to me for advice. All the good little boys and girls know that mother's always right.

 

Anyway, the Reirmaeker's puppet show grew in popularity thanks to the jester Alonzo character, and the show spread nationwide. It was so widely-respected and successful that the countries surrounding Hallesani decided to all make a peace treaty alliance amongst themselves in honor of the brilliant show. They wanted Alex's father, King Eilence Halles, to sign the treaty and join them in an alliance that would make all of the nations at piece for all eternity. And King Eilence, always noble in his ways, was planning on signing it. But Alonzo heard about the treaty and the way it was based on the Reirmaeker puppet show, and he threw the biggest fit I've seen in all my days. He kicked and screamed night and day, tried to starve himself, and locked himself in his room. It got so bad that Alex had to plead with his father to not sign the treaty so that Alonzo would stop. And that's why Hallesani ended up not being included in the alliance.

 

As if that weren't enough, Alonzo began to grow bored with the view from his window. He demanded that the entire kingdom be moved into the air so that he could have a better view of the other continents. We all knew that it would be a social disaster to do any such thing, but Alonzo got his way when he threw the tantrum of the century. He continued wailing until Alex begged Eilence to hire magicians to move the kingdom to the sky. But even then, Alonzo wasn't satisfied. He was bitter over the Reirmaeker's puppet show, and wanted to invade the other countries to kidnap their entertainment so that he could have something to watch. We all tried our best to do as he pleased, but the other countries protected their entertainment with great force. Eventually, Alonzo's wailing became so great and continuous that it drove King Eilence and the rest of Hallesani insane. Except for me, of course - I always wear my earplugs.

 

Alonzo thinks he's the last living survivor... Well next time you see him, give him a proper scolding for me! He never comes to see his mother, even after all that time I spent spoiling him. Hmph! He thinks himself an old man you say? Hah! He's still only a child. Try my age on for size, ya little whippersnapper!

 

Marie Siorenna Halles

Widow of the late Prince Alexander Halles

Mother of Alonzo Lassenia Halles.