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Alright. This is just a little 750-ish word short story thing-a-ma-bob of some of the roleplay that I'm in's characters before the roleplay started. This is what happens when I'm bored in consumer math class and have no more work to do.

Captain Emily’s Crew and their Rise to Freedom Pre-story Special #1
As long as you’re happy


“I think this puzzle’s impossible,” Ophelia said as she lay on the floor of her room, trying to fit a piece into the hole in the puzzle. “None of the pieces fit.”

Lucia laughed a bit, and walked over to her. “I don’t think that they make puzzles like that my lady.”

“Well then maybe we’re missing a piece.”

Lucia sat down on the floor. “I think that this piece,” she said, picking up a blue and white piece, part of a sky, “goes here,” she easily placed it in the hole.

Ophelia sat up and clapped her hands together. “You did it Lucia! You’re amazing! You’re the puzzle goddess!”

Lucia smiled, “thank you my lady, but you only need practice more.”

Ophelia shook her head. “Nope, no matter how much I practice, I’ll never be as good as you. It’s like you’ve got some kind of superpower!” Lucia stood back up, as Ophelia went back to her puzzle.

“Hey Lucia,” she said a few minutes later. “It’s strange, isn’t it?” she asked, twirling a puzzle piece around in her hand. “I can plan out complex battle strategies, both on a small and a large scale. I can plan out the exact way in which to kill someone, and yet I can’t do a puzzle,” she paused, putting the puzzle piece down and looked over a Lucia. “Isn’t that strange?”

“I was doing far stranger things when I was your age,” she said, stroking Ophelia’s hair gently, as she had whenever the girl had been frightened. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much if I were you.” She got up and walked over to the window, and to her surprise she heard Ophelia’s footsteps following her.

“But it’s not normal. And normal is what people like, right?”

“If you ask me, normal is over-rated.”

“Why?”

“Because normal is that,” she pointed out the window, to the town at the foot of the hill. You couldn’t really see it from here, but you could vaguely make out some specks that were people.

Ophelia peered out the window. She’d never been to the town, but she’d always heard that the conditions there were terrible.

“This has got to be better, right?” Lucia asked, and Ophelia replied with a muffled “I guess,” and returned to her puzzle, and she turned back towards the window again.

It pained her to see Ophelia like this. She’d been protecting the girl since she was four, and now her twelfth birthday was approaching. She’d been looking after her for as long as she’d been in the castle. She was the King’s chosen, his daughter, though not by blood. And despite all the things that she’d said over the years she sometimes wondered if Ophelia would have been better off living down in the village like a normal girl. Life down there would have been tough, she was sure of that. She would have had to deal with poverty, famine, illness and the less wonderful side of the palace, but at least she would have been able to have an actual childhood. To learn how to do puzzles instead of strategies for assassination. Would that have been better?

“Lucia?” she heard the girl call, and she was a bit surprised to find her standing right in front of her when she turned around. She usually heard people’s footsteps long before they reached her, her enhanced demon hearing allowed her to. Had she really been that wrapped up in her thoughts?

“Are you sad?” Ophelia asked.

“No, my lady. Not sad, just thinking.”

“Thinking sad stuff?”

“No, not really,” she said, and paused before continuing. “Lady Ophelia, are you sad?”

“What? Of course not! I’m with you silly! I’m never sad when I’m with you! Or father! Or even Drahcir when he shows up!” she hugged her, and Lucia smiled.

“I’m glad.”

Ophelia then looked up at her, smiled, and once again skipped off to do her puzzle. No one coming into the room would even be able to guess that they’d just had a quite serious conversation.

But it was settled now. Ophelia was happy here in the palace, with her and the King, and sometimes even Drahcir. She was happy with the life that she lived. And as long as she was happy with it she’d continue to protect her, and the life that she lived.

As long as she was happy.

And that's that one. I've got one more so far that I'm putting up. Hope you enjoyed it!