The long-lost princess

3

"Forgive me for asking, but.. who are you?" Asked Melody as she was confused. Who was this man? The minute she walked into the auditorium landing, the same voice of the man whom she had hugged was heard. "I am your real father... I am.. the phantom of the auditorium! Come to me, my sweet Melody." He said as the girl froze in shock. The phantom was her real father?! Shaking her head to get rid of the shock, she went into the dining hallway. She then noticed half of a broken crest in a statue's hand and grabbed it, placing it inside her mini bag she had found to carry items.

Going inside the dining salon, the jewel-eyed girl noticed a black horse chess piece on the broken table and put it inside. Walking towards a small statue, she moved it and noticed an urn with the image of a paintbrush. Picking it up, she walked to the roaring fireplace and placed it on the mantle. Melody noticed it seemed to be a mechanism for something.. bending at the waist, she noticed a red rose fading into green with blue tips at the ends that was behind glass. It was the first rose! She let out a happy squeal of delight as she smiled, bouncing in her spot.

"Your excitement is very cute, daughter.. like your mother, Iris." The phantom whispered in her ear as her muscles relaxed. Melody went to the table and began looking around it, finding another urn, this time with an image of a mortar and pestle. Going to the mantle once more, she placed it right beside the paintbrush urn. "Alright.. two down, three to go." She said to herself as she left the salon and went to the manager's hallway. Something shining caught her eye and she walked over, grabbing the third urn. Walking to the manager's office, she noticed some kind of locking mechanism.

Taking the top left peg, she moved it. She repeated the action on the remaining pegs and moved the disk, unlocking the door and going inside. There, she heard the phantom's voice again, this time.. he sounded angry. "The managers were fools! They thought they could disobey me and Iris. We showed them just how real our cruelty could be, sweetheart." Explained her father as Melody sighed playfully. "Of course, you both would do something like that." She said, picked up the empty bottle of absinthe and putting it inside her bag.

She noticed a chessboard and placed the black knight she found in the salon and placed it on the top right square. Going to the desk, she saw an elephant shaped lamp and took off the lampshade. After she left the office, she went to the art rotunda. Kneeling onto the ground, she moved a fallen painting aside and picked up a piece of paper, placing it in her bag. She walked to the clock and noticed the time was frozen. Going back to the office, she went to the cuckoo clock and proceeded to move the hands to 9:30. The bird produced a key and she placed it inside.

Going back to the art rotunda, she unlocked the large door in the center and turned the handle. She noticed that she was now in a library and smiled. The candle was fully melted, revealing a black horse chess piece and she grabbed it, placing it inside her bag. When she walked towards the center bookshelf, she saw that there was some missing books. Going to the shelf that was beside the center one, she carefully began to rummage through the mess. Her fingers touched a book spine and she grabbed it, realizing it was one of the missing books!

Going to the bookshelf, she placed the missing book back in and knew that she had to find the fourth missing book. She noticed a canopic jar, the kind ancient Egyptians had. Leaving the library, she found the conservatory hallway. As she made her way to the conservatory, many questions bloomed in her mind. She shook them off and grabbed a sandbag. Melody reached the conservatory and noticed a bucket. As she found the door, she placed the crest fragment on the door and realized she had to get the second half of the crest.

She left the conservatory and went to the auditorium landing. Going to the ballroom hallway, she grabbed the sandbag and poured the sand onto the icy floor. Picking up another urn, she placed it inside her bag. Finding the powder room, she noticed a large puddle of electrified water? Leaving the room, she went to the ballroom and froze in her tracks. In the room, there were four puppets. The first one looked to be Iris, the dancer as she was dressed in a beautiful white wedding gown with accents of red and blue.