The sun sank beneath the horizon as the howling snowstorm crept into the heart of the city. Meanwhile, the three maidens made their way up the steep cliffside toward the double-crested fortress that had stood as the noble seat of Castol for centuries.
The three maidens skirted the castle walls with utmost caution. The dwellings of the high nobility had been reduced to smoldering rubble and desolate ruins. Through the swirling mist, Mary caught sight of a flickering light and a shadowy figure.
"Who goes there?!"
A former gatekeeper emerged through the thick veil of fog, coming face-to-face with the three. "And who be these two with thee?" Jesper inquired.
"We are Mary's closest companions. Pray, let us aid her."
"I have come as thou didst bid, Jesper. Pray, lead the way."
Upon hearing her words, Jesper guided the three maidens toward a secret tunnel buried beneath a thick veil of tangled ivy. Hacking through the vines with his blade, he revealed a pitch-black passage.
"Take my torch," Jesper handed the burning brand to Mary, bestowing his parting blessing upon them. "At the end of this tunnel, ye shall find a stair leading straight into the pantry. This is all the aid I can grant thee. Make haste before the vicar arrives in this place. May ye be kept safe from all ill fortune."
"Aye... We shall meet again beyond these walls."
Jesper nodded solemnly before vanishing back into the dense fog.
"Art thou truly certain there be no phantoms or venomous spiders lurking within?" Claudia muttered, following Mary down into the dark tunnel—a sanctuary once used by nobles during the bloodiest of sieges.
"Oh~ Claudia, alas! Father Sereza is far more terrifying than any spider," Delby answered in a panicked quiver, her eyes coming upon dried crimson script smeared across the stone wall:
'BY COMMAND OF CASTOL! FLEE THE CASTLE, LEST WE ALL PERISH!'
"Wherefore have we come here?" Claudia pressed Mary.
"The secrets yet unrevealed rest directly above our heads," she answered, though she herself knew not its exact meaning.
Presently, the three maidens caught sight of dim moonlight filtering through the opening of a rope ladder ahead.
"Found the way up!" Claudia beamed as she spotted the climbing rungs. "Who shall ascend first?"
"Thou askest overmuch, dost thou not?" Delby glanced up toward the exit. "Allow me."
Snatching the torch from Mary, Delby clambered up into the filth-laden pantry. "Eek~ 'Tis choked with cobwebs everywhere!" Delby grumbled aloud.
"Look who is complaining now, Delby! Always the one to utter grievances!" Claudia climbed up after her, followed closely by Mary.
Together, the three put their weight against the stiff wooden hatch, forcing it open into the long, desolate corridors of Castle Casletia. The pitch-black passageways cast a chilling dread over Claudia and Delby, yet Mary ventured onward, exploring with intense curiosity.
Suddenly, she felt a freezing draft sweeping through the grand hall doors. The colossal double doors stood wide open, as if intentionally inviting them within.
Squeezing through the threshold, they stepped into the Hall of Kings. The vaulted ceiling had been breached, allowing shafts of silvery moonlight to beam down upon a towering crucifix sculpture standing behind the throne, framed by a stained-glass window carved in rainbow hues.
Upon the royal throne sat a human skeleton, stiff and upright, clutching an ancient, weathered storybook within its bony fingers.
"I-Is that... King Castol?" Delby whispered.
"Nay. 'Tis Christopher—the last forgotten king, author of The Tale of the Two Golden Apple Brothers, and the sovereign who sacrificed his life to serve Casletia," Mary answered softly.
"It cannot be... Then he never stepped foot outside this castle until his final breath, just as the tale foretold," Claudia mused.
"I once heard a legend that his elder brother was buried beneath the apple tree," Mary murmured, reaching out to snatch the storybook from the skeleton's grasp.
SNAP!
The brittle arm bone snapped off with it, and Mary casually tossed the skeletal fragment behind her, causing Claudia to duck in sheer terror.
"Eek~!"
"'Though there be none left to praise or honor me, yet I remain here always,'" Mary read aloud the words the king had inscribed upon the parchment.
"'Beneath this lonely night, hold fast to hope. For one day, a soul shall come forth to deliver us unto the world beyond. I may not be the monarch Casletia deserved in this hour, yet in the world outside, I may be more than I ever was. The earth shall know my true identity at last. Only the worthy are fit to possess the Apple.'"
"'I love thee, Myrtle, yet this day I must fulfill my royal duty. Though my mortal frame falter, I must forge Casletia anew for the sake of our children. Forget the Apple of Lanegia, and await me upon the castle tower. Thou and our child shall remain safe in that high place.'"
Mary read the final line before whispering, "With love and devotion, Christopher."
Concluding the passage, she raised her eyes to gaze through the hole in the ceiling toward the lofty spire above.
"The Apple...? Is it truly real, Mary?" Delby inquired.
Marilyn pointed her finger upward toward the high tower. "Upon that spire lies the place where I can grant thee thine answers."
"Then let us tarry no longer," Claudia urged, her skin crawling from the eerie atmosphere of the hall.
A raging snowstorm battered the city of Casletia as the three ascended the winding spiral staircase toward the tower's peak. Marilyn led the way with the burning brand, guiding Delby and Claudia until they reached a decaying wooden door.
Putting their strength together, they slammed into the door until it caved in, revealing the skeletal remains of a noblewoman resting upon a bed draped in thick spiderwebs. Upon the stone wall hung a portrait of a princess with braided hair draped over her shoulder, bearing locks of golden champa yellow and eyes of soft, pale green.
"That is Queen Myrtle... Come to think of it, her face looketh strikingly like thine," Delby stared at the portrait of the royal daughter of the Castol lineage, comparing her features to Marilyn's.
"Perchance a mere coincidence... Hm?"
Mary spotted a parchment letter resting upon the skeleton's ribcage, held fast as though she had breathed her last while clutching it tightly. Without hesitation, Mary retrieved the parchment—seeking the answers she had climbed to this high place to find.
Within, she discovered lines of script alongside a small iron key carved in the likeness of an apple.
"Lord hath merci..." Claudia gasped, covering her mouth in awe.
"'Christopher, I cannot raise our child alone. He requireth a guardian, and I cannot keep him hidden here forever. My trusted noble hath taken our child into his care and departed the city. Forgive me.'"
"Oh~ Hansel... I have waited for thee for so long..." Claudia picked up a stray parchment from the floor, reading the lines aloud. "'That which thou didst bestow upon Christopher, he hath buried beneath the Tree of Divine Blessings, alongside the remains of his brother. The secret remains guarded where none may ever learn of it, save for me. Shouldst thou ever desire it, use this key to unlock the chest. And shouldst thou return one day... pray take me away with thee. Our city draweth nearer to total ruin with every passing hour...' Who is this Hansel?" Claudia asked in confusion.
"Perchance a noble or—"
"Nay," Mary interjected, cutting Delby off. "Hansel was Queen Myrtle's... her rightful partner."
"In place of King Christopher?! What is the meaning of all this... and how dost thou know this, Mary?! Thou must tell us the truth! What is the real reason thou hast come here from the very start?!" Delby demanded.
"Because I... am..." Mary froze, her eyes clouded with chaotic uncertainty.
"Art what?!"
"ART A THIEVING WITCH!!" A raspy, withered voice of an old man boomed through the chamber.
KRLLLK!
A sharp blade thrust completely through Delby's chest from behind.
"DELBY!!!" Claudia shrieked at the top of her lungs.
Delby's body collapsed onto the stone floor, revealing Father Sereza standing behind her, flanked by a mob of white-robed followers.
Gazing upon Mary's face, the vicar understood her true intent in an instant.
"Queen Myrtle Castol... Heh-heh-heh! Small wonder thou hadst cause to come here just as I did! In the end, thou art nothing more than a vagabond with her little companions. The faith thou once held in me hath vanished entirely, hath it not...?"
Ismiah Sereza sneered malevolently.
"By the Covenant of the Round Table, I issue my command! Bind them for tonight's sacrifice, the night that shall deliver Casletia into our hands~! SEIZE THEM!!" The mad vicar pointed his finger, commanding his white-robed mob.
"Sereza... Thou!"
Mary attempted to summon the might of the Ember of Fate, yet before she could unleash it, the blunt butt of an axe struck her violently across the temple.
The maiden crumpled to the stone floor, losing all consciousness as dark shadow engulfed her mind. Outside, the city of Casletia burned in raging flames, engulfed in a bloody war between the king's knights and the fanatical followers of Sereza.