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They said it was destiny that Ralia Sorentine inherited Skylight Castle.

Beneath the very bottom of Skylight Castle sat a mysterious ruin, buried under years and years. Ralia, hearing of the ruin, rented this castle from a retired landlord who settled down on this castle upon a hill when he was on vacation.

The landlord died during that vacation, and with no heirs and no one who wanted to revive the run-down, dying castle, Ralia was left with the castle. She did not want the castle. She wanted the ruins under it. However, the castle was a nice add-on. It was hard to clean though.

Not to mention she had to take care of a kid that suddenly appeared three nights ago. He laid on the gold-sewn couch in the library when Ralia was cleaning the attic of bats. She hated bats. They probably hated her too for shooing them out of their home; Not that she cared or anything. But she did cause quite a ruckus when she noticed the boy on the only good couch in the castle. It took a strong wine from the cellar to calm her down.

On this foggy morning, Ralia wandered sleepily in the damp dungeon of the Skylight Castle, and slipped onto a hidden tile, opening a perfectly square hole in the ground by the first cell to the right of the entrance.

She peered inside and found the most beautiful corridor ever. Perfect, marble bricks glistened on the walls, lit by magical topaz hanging from the ceiling. The ground was lined in pure gold. Overwhelmed by her adventurer senses, she dived right in.

However, the hole closed above her after she leaped.

An hour later, the young boy, Jowy, ran down the stairs to the dungeon calling her name. "Ralia! Ralia!" he yelled frantically wondering where his guardian went. Everything was quiet, with no trace of his guardian in sight.

"Ralia! Where are you?" he shouted around the room. "You invited a bunch of people here for tea today, and they're here! Where did you go?"

The boy left, seeing nothing in the dungeon, hurried over to the front door to let their guests in. "I'm sorry," he apologized frantically to the guests as he led them to a run-down drawing room. "My guardian, Ralia, has gone missing."

"Y-yes!" he replied, his mouth twitching as if he was about to cry. "I don't know where she went... she likes to wander into the dungeon sometimes, but she wasn't there. Or anywhere else in the house for that matter."

"Th-thank you for coming," he suddenly greeted. "Sorry I was rude." He bowed clumsily.

A bulky, black-furred kobold blinked his red eyes down at the little one at his feet, sniffing at him briefly. A long, plain staff was strapped to his back, bereft of the intricate carvings of some choice weapons. His attire was simple leather with a tunic and well-worn slacks covering his fur.

Gospel regarded the little one curiously for a moment before deciding to respond, ignoring the other two present - little ones were far more important than adults if humans could be considered important at all.

"Though it would normally be beneath me to offer, young one," Gospel spoke with a short sniff, "I could attempt to track your guardian." However, as soon as he said it, he realized it was entirely too dusty - it clogged his sense of smell though he would never admit it. "Little ones should never be unsupervised."

The tall, white-haired woman had been listening just outside the doors, partially visible in the gap between. She hadn't wanted to interrupt the fearful boy, and she was trying to get an impression of the others that were present from the invitation.

What am I doing here? she scowled to herself. It was the tower, more than anything, that made me accept. She had to remind herself that this building had more stories than she could count on both hands, and most of them were true. These grounds had been the stomping yard of some pretty important people; she simply wanted to seperate the stories from the lies on this ancient relic.

She walked around the edge of the door, stating quietly, "I'm sorry I'm late. I had an unexpected detour." She crossed her arms over her mandarin-cut jacket that flared behind her hips, outlining her oddly designed jeans. The woman inclined her head to Jowy, her white hair pulled back from her face in two braids, while the rest spilled out in ringlets. Her dark purple eyes lighted on each of the people: Jowy, timid and scared; a kobold, arrogant and self-absorbed; a one-eyed man, battle-worn and helpful, for the time being; and a woman, silent and composed.

Really, what did I get myself into? she sighed with a vague hint of a smile.

"Relax kiddo! I aint gonna hurt ya."

Jareth grinned at the boy before standing upright, he stepped forward and ruffled the boys hair. Jareth was much akin to Gothic Architechture he was imposing on the outside but he was a nice guy.

"Hey kiddo...ya know where this dungeon is? I wouldn't mind checkin it out..."

Chrys merely watched the others as they bombarded the child with the same question. She figured he'd talk about it when he was ready, and explain when the time was apt. The woman wanted to speak with Jowy to get more details, but she was patient. Since no one had done so much as greet her, she felt that most of them were here for one of the many fables that the castle held; it's wealth, it's name, it's mystery.

The woman nodded and followed the boy as he led the way. Jowy. A very nice name for a young man. When they arrived at the general entranceway leading to the dungeon, she was intrigued. There were spirits roaming the area, but mostly of the elemental type. A smile reached her lips as she said softly, "People often roam, so where they may not be at one point, they may be at another time. As for my name, you may call me Alluna."

Her eyes wandered back to the other woman, standing off and rather indifferent. Perhaps she felt slighted or put off. Either way, Alluna could understand her wishing to keep out of it a bit. In the same light, she wondered if the woman felt any compassion towards the kid. She decided to ignore it, and her gaze once more went straight ahead, pointedly down to the dungeon.

This place has no malicious spirits that I've sensed thus far, so technically my mission for the village is done now. I'm curious though...why would spirits be concentrated down there?[ Does it deal with his lost guardian? Perhaps...no that's far too obscure./i]

"I am known as Chrys," was all she said, not bothering with her full name. Her common nickname would suffice, as it's what she answered to the most anyway. It was actually somewhat kind of her; she usually didn't allow people to call her by her given name unless she could consider a person a friend. While these people hadn't earned it, she wanted to keep it simple. They didn't need anymore difficulties.

She followed Jowy through the castle, casting her dark eyes around to note the location of doors and passageways. The place was massive! It's no wonder his friend got lost. In a dungeon, of all places, she chuckled quietly.

Either she didn't see Alluna watching her, or chose to ignore it. "Jowy," she looked at the young boy thoughtfully, "why did she choose to come into the dungeons? Do you know?" If she had a reason, it may be a starting point, she reasoned with herself. If she was just exploring, it may be more difficult than any of us first considered. Chrys crossed her arms across her chest, a flicker of a warm smile crossing her lips. She was usually good with children, but this one...was different. As such, she would treat him as she would treat the other three adults in the room.