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Rhiannon felt content to be back at the school. Not that she would ever show it. It was Spiderday, a day where the students did anything they wanted, playing, going to the Maul or out for eye scream, while the others caught up on homework and extra classes, enjoying the short time off on their own terms. A look at her calendar would show that 10th October was coming soon, the happiest month in Halloween. She should be ecstatic, downright peppy...

So why wasn't she?

Well, for starters, she wasn't exactly the kind of ghoul to jump up and down for joy, but the real reason was because she had the nagging feeling that she wasn't... her. She toyed with the lock hanging from her waist, a simple thing that glowed a faint blue. It was a great accessory, sure, but she didn't remember having it before. Sighing, she laid back on her bed. She tried to remember when she'd gotten it, but her mind was riddled with holes. Since she had returned, nothing felt the same. For instance, she knew she wanted to be great... But at what? The material surrounding her dress dummy and the bags from Sally's Sewing Essentials and Patchwork Shoppe were familiar, but maybe that wasn't what she wanted to be the best at. It was annoying, to say the least.

Ri placed her pink-sequined pillow over her face, unable to lie on her stomach due to the lock.
"What's wrong with me?" She groaned. She tried her hardest to remember what happened before she came home...

Have you come here to mock me?

"No..." Rhiannon's voice echoed off the cavern walls.

"Who sent you here?"

"No one, I..." Ri didn't know if it was safe to tell the voice, she hesitated a bit before replying, "... I came here myself."

"Did you now? Why did you come here?"

She felt a little silly. Here she was, talking to a disembodied voice in a place she was sure it was a cave of some sort. But she kept going. "Because you're the last one, aren't you? The others all wanted something before they moved on, so... What do you desire most?"

"What I desire most, an interesting question. I suppose of course, it is to be unchained, free of my curse. And what a terrible curse it is. There is nothing like the rancid stench of betrayal multiplied through countless decades, centuries, until time stops itself and seems endless and there is only madness. I do not remember anything beyond revenge."

The young witch felt sorry for the voice, as crazy as it--he sounded. What had happened to him for him to be so corrupt? What kind of 'curse' would be laid upon him for the voice to be kept here? She asked it.
"What is your purpose?"

"My purpose as I intended, or my purpose as given to me?" Suddenly, the darkness dissipated, revealing a giant cavern made of stone and glowing crystals, a natural stone staircase descending into its depths. "That is my purpose. I have been reduced to nothing but a power source for something else, culled and cultivated like a mere object. I am chained, restrained, forever trapped, and it has made me mad. It has made me uncontrollably mad to the point where I even forget myself. The only thing that reminds me of how futile my very actions, my every existing moment of wretched agony and torment is, is him. You know who I speak of right?"

Her heart dropped, feeling a pang of sympathy and a touch of anger. She was about to ask if it was The Great King, as she descended down the steps, but a look at the blue crystals changed that as another name came to her mind. "The Blue Seal?"

"You're clever one aren't you? Yes indeed, him, the last Legacy, the one of Protection. What a terrible name, and an equally terrible title, because I helped name it and I partook in his creation. Do you know how maddening it is to live every single day with a reminder of your own failure?"

She couldn't even fathom it. She was, however, reminded of --LOCKED--. And that fateful day that she lost --LOCKED--. Saddened, she walked down the last few steps.

"Then you and I are not that dissimilar after all." He sounded amused, or even intrigued. "Our conversation is entertaining," he continued, "but I am afraid it draws to a close. As long as I exist, contained, I have no purpose, no beginning, no end. No resolution nor wish to sleep. I have no Legacy. As you can see, this is a futile effort. Goodbye. Good night. I tire of these mindless games."

Her pink eyes widened, she ran to the ground floor and yelled to the ceiling, "Wait! I want to help you! Please, tell me... What is your Legacy?"

"Is this a joke?" The voice laughed, mocking her even though she had offered help. "My Legacy has been sealed, even from me. I am chained. I cannot remember the fundamental crux of my own Legacy, and only seethe in the feelings of vengeance and hatred that remain. If this is not the basis for madness, then I do not know what is."

She thought of the others... The Locks... The Key... She took it out of one of the hidden pockets in her skirt, and held it up so that he would see it. The cave was silent now. Even if Ri couldn't see him, she could feel him pull back, recoiling away from it.

"What is that?" He asked her in confusion, but she knew he could already tell what it is. He seemed surprised by its presence. "You got this from him didn't you?"

"Yes," she answered, hoping to keep him here for as long as possible, "from The Great King himself." Her voice rang throughout the cavern, echoing until it became nothing more than a forgotten whisper. She was afraid that she had done the wrong thing, that he wouldn't answer her. But she wanted so desperately to help him. "It's a gift for you..."

"What a peculiar word. A gift..." He answered, after a long time of silence, "Fine then, give it to me. Give me one of the fabled memories of my Legacy."

She shared the memory with him, a tale of hope and sacrifice. He had given so much, had offered so much... Only to be trapped here, forever within darkness, without any hope. Trapped.... Just as she was.

The sudden silence was deafening, she could feel her own loneliness eating away at her. And then he laughed, a sound of madness and insanity that never seemed to end. Maybe he had finally snapped, maybe he had been trapped here for too long...

"So that is how it is," the Legacy of Revenge, Merlin, finally spoke, unable to laugh any further. "That is how it is. Well, this is quite unfortunate. It seems I have forgotten a rather important promise."

The darkness bled from Rhiannon's surroundings like ink in water, revealing a brilliant and peaceful white light. She blinked into the brightness, trying to see where she was now, when she realized she was not alone. She wasn't speaking to the darkness, or the cave, but a man. He looked stern but not unfriendly, wearing elegant, long black robes, holding a single wooden staff. He was tall, taller than she, and his body was thin and gaunt, with simple black hair crowning the top of his head.

"I suppose I do have a purpose, a Legacy to fulfill after all. Even I cannot be blinded by Revenge for so long. I suppose, you and he were right, it is time." He gave her a nod, as if in finality, and looked directly at her. "Then, will you help fulfill my purpose, so I can finally leave my Legacy behind?"

He walked toward the open door without looking back, seeming to be ecstatic with his newfound freedom.