Hello! I just decided to let ya'll know that I'll be updating every other week. For This chapter, since Grandma Jasmine has so much monologue, I decided to italicize and center what wasn't monologue to try and help avoid confusion. Hope that's not too confusing, let me know if it works/doesn't work.
Also, Music above is just what I was listening to when I was writing. It's pretty chill if you're into that.
If you have any music recommendations, let me know. lol :) (All 3 of you. bahaha)
_________________________________________________________________________________
Olivia and August's curious eyes try to dissect her as they expectantly wait for her story to be told. Her expression becomes seemingly bashful as she ponders where to start.
"You might not believe me," She begins slowly,
"but there was once a time where fairy tales could exist." Her eyes linger on the two young souls in front of her as she pauses and absorbs their expressions. They had yet to loose that childlike gleam in their eyes that made fairy tales like these so rich and enjoyable, so she pressed on with more confidence.
"There were once mermaids who enchanted Sailors and Horses with magnificent wings for flying. Stone castles hung the sky among the clouds and enchanting civilizations beneath seas. Places like the Fountain of youth and creatures like fairies and wizards once existed. The world was once quite literally magical."
She paused, letting out a soft chuckle as she reflects on the world today, filled with titanium cars and trains. Cellphones and planes that soared through the sky. The sky was polluted, the children were so independent and lonely. She looked at her grand daughter's already tired face. circles had formed around her eyes, as if life had been living her instead her living life.
"While what we would call magic was once real, so was the desire to control and harvest it. In this world, great beauty and wonder was met with equal distain and selfishness. In a world like that, where evil and good could strive to unimaginable extremes, there had to be something to keep balance. No one knows how, but all forbidden magic was concealed within twenty jewels, and all history of magic was erased. Things like Genies, mermaids, fairies, dragons had once lived but proof of their existence has been muted for so long that they have been conceived as no longer possible. The owners of the Jewels were separated, each jewel concealing various types of magic deemed to be too dangerous,"
She cleared her throat, Olivia and August glance at each other. August seemed to have heard something like this before, his mind tried to compare and connect what he's heard his parents debate and what Jasmine was explaining. Olivia was wide eyed and excited,
if only it were true, She thought.
Jasmine paused before entering the next part of her story.
"Well...After the Jewels were created, four wielders of the Jewels came together and built four allied kingdoms in a valley besides the sea," She begins to recite.
"Reverie, was the beautiful city hidden in the mountains. It is the keeper of the Peridot stone. This city overlooks the valley of Woodruff and the ancient city of Verbena. They like to keep to themselves usually. They are known for their illusions and tricks. Reverie loves to play games.
"In the valley was Woodruff, the city of the elves and forest creatures. They hold the Ruby stone and the largest Army. They ruled with a mighty fist and wanted power.
"Next there was the city of Verbena by the sea. They pursued Knowledge as Athens did. They have the Amethyst stone of Time shattered and divided among a council. They were filled with the wisest in the kingdom.
"Finally, The beautiful city of Purdue. It was filled with creativity, artists, tall buildings were decorated with stain glass windows and beautiful streamers everywhere. They loved parties and architecture. Strange creatures and people within those four kingdoms felt safe there. They were the humble elitists. Always looking for someone to enjoy their adventures with them."
Jasmine smiles like a young girl would as their father told them a good story before bed.
"As the story goes, the four kingdoms functioned the best in unity: Verbena would trade knowledge, Reverie would watch for external threats from other kingdoms, Woodruff provided protection with it's army, and Purdue brought community and laughter among the four kingdoms through art and architecture. This all comes to a halt when there is a split in ideals about how to handle the stones powers."
Grandma Jasmine chews on her cheek, staring to have trouble piecing some of the story together.
"Ah, but that's all the boring stuff. I'll skip over it so I don't bore you to death, " she laughs.
"About this time, there was a new Queen that Immerged in Purdue name Lucia.
"Lucia was beautiful, she had long ash brown hair and her eyes matched the opal stone of her ring. She was fascinating because she was as likely to wear a long elegant gown as she was to get paint on it. The people loved her very dearly.
"One enchanting night after a kingdom conference, the young queen of Purdue had stumbled into a handsome prince. He was clearly from the kingdom of Verbena by the way he dressed and spoke with such diligence.
"The mysterious man asked for a dance and they talked for hours. Her servants watched as she laughed and cried with this new stranger that no one seemed to know. There are rumors that she had once told a close servant of hers that she could look into his eyes and feel like time ceased to exist. It was humorous to them since Verbena, the town he was from, kept the ring of time.
"It was love at first sight. She was enthralled by the mysterious gentleman who requested an audience with the queen, and he was fascinated by her leadership and light-hearted approach to life. He was charming and seemed to care very much about her kingdom of Purdue. He wasn't cold and calculating like others from Verbena could be.
"They were deeply in love. He stayed in Purdue for over Twelve months before leaving. She became pregnant and gave birth to a Girl. However, he was more mysterious then she might have initially thought. One evening, after a party, he wrote a letter and vanished.
"When he left, the kingdoms of Woodruff and Verbena unexpectedly stormed the kingdom of Purdue. It was clearly betrayal.
"The kingdom of the Opal stone, Purdue, was raided by Verbena and woodruff, the kingdoms of knowledge and war. The civilization was pillaged and wiped out. Lucia used her Opal ring to open a portal for some of her people to travel through. The portal would take them to a far-off land and were to never come back,"
Olivia paused her grandma's story, "WAIT WAIT WAIT, So you're trying to tell me that this town came from a different dimension with magic and that why we're called, "Lucia, the town trapped in time? "
Her grandma slouched back in her chair, "Yep."
Olivia paused and stared into space for a moment. She opened her mouth and closed it again, realizing that it didn't quite make sense, "But what abo-" .
Grandma Jasmine cut her off, "HUSH CHILD AND LET ME FINISH! Now... Where was I?" She sighs and winks at her granddaughter.
"She stood by the portal, observing every citizen that entered while she searched for her daughter, but she was no where in sight. Surely, one of the servants in the castle had her and would come soon. Tensions were high as the evacuation ensued. All near by people had been evacuated, but there was still no sign of her daughter. So she and a guard ventured back through the silent castle.
"She found her daughters room and entered, it was dark out, so the windows were blackened. Her heels clicked across the wood board floor as she approached her daughters bed. She heard a light crying from a crib by the window.
"Halfway through the room she heard something splash, the floor was wet. The queen stopped in her tracks as the smell of copper filled her nose and made her eyes water. Someone had already breached the inner castle and had been in her daughters room.
"That's when she noticed a man standing in the corner, it was her lover. She re-opened the portal and sent the guard away, sealing her fate. No one truly knows what was said in that room that night.
"After Queen Lucia's last breathe was given, a citizen came and returned the baby to her servants before vanishing. The people of Purdue were in a whole different world, with no way to get home. They all agreed to name this new place, Lucia, after the Queen who lead them there to safety ".
Grandma Jasmine's nostalgic smile faded as the fireplace burnt out, as if she were picturing more, but was remaining reserved,
"And that's how the town of Lucia got it's name," She ends.