Author's Note: I've received some flak about Violette being a 'Mary Sue', and to be honest, had no idea what the people were talking about. I had simply begun writing a cutsy story that was based on a wonderful game and a somewhat melodramatic character. Well, you can't have a melodramatic romance without two melodramatic characters, and so... Since that time, I've been informed by one of my friends (thanks, Narshi!) what a 'Mary Sue' is and have no idea what the issue might be. Her being a 'Mary Sue' is the entire point, mostly. This story is almost completely tongue-in-cheek.
Scene One
"Oh dear."
The young woman halted at the 'Y' crossroad within the darkest section of the Starlight forest and lightly bit her lower lip. Dark violet eyes examined the left path and then the right as she adjusted her hold on her basket of flowers. She absently raised her right hand to give her long blonde braid a gentle succession of tugs.
She took in and released a long breath. "Well, I suppose either way will lead me home eventually," she reasoned in a soft alto voice.
Her expression brightened with her delicate smile, and she struck out toward the right path. Handsewn leather slippers made little noise on the pressed earth, and her dark green skirt tickled the ankles of her feet. The pale yellow of her blouse heightened the natural rose of her cheeks as well as the innocent twinkle in her dark eyes. Youth not yet defined by age danced on her features, as did a perpetual laugh on her lips. The young woman seemed to fit within the wild beauty of the forest, as a nymph of legends. A sprite. A dryad.
The young woman heard a rustle within the brush to her right and smiled as she moved her gaze there. "Don't mind me," she told the creatures hiding within. "I'm on my way home, though it might take longer if I've chosen the wrong path." She focused again on the path ahead of her. "I do wish I could remember more clearly which route I take. I never seem to travel the same path twice." She giggled, and a collection of birds answered the soft melody with their own natural song. "I'm so silly, losing my way each time I come to collect flowers or berries. What ever will I do with myself?"
The rustling moved a little way ahead of her and grew in intensity.
Fear didn't tighten her features. There was only a continuation of her smile. "Yes, I know, and I hadn't expected to be here quite so long. I do apologize."
A slight, warning growl accompanied the next rustle.
The young woman halted and faced the brush, delicate expression suddenly very serious. "I really am sorry. Would you rather I not take the flowers this time?" She offered forward the basket. "I'll leave them if you'd rather I just go on my way." She smiled, and the brightness returned. "Spending so much time in your lovely forest is enough to make the trip worthwhile."
The growl intensified and a chiro mongrel leaped from the brush to the path ahead of her. Fear still didn't darken her eyes. The beast hissed and snarled.
The young woman's expression became unhappy. "Oh. I had no idea today would be such a bother for you." She brought a hand to her chest, eyes wide. "I wouldn't have come if I had. I would have waited until tomorrow." Her smile returned as her hand lowered to her side. "It was just that today was so lovely... I had to come."
The beast hissed again, hunkering down as its back legs tensed.
"Oh dear. Now I've upset you--"
"Stand aside, dear lady!" came a voice from the tree tops. "This evil fiend shall not mar your loveliness!"
The young woman blinked and looked up; her eyes examined the branches of the trees that surrounded her. She couldn't locate the dramatic baritone voice. "It's quite alright," she told him. "I'm not in danger."
"Dear lady, you have no idea of your peril. Stand back, I say, and I shall deter this travesty!"
The young woman raised her basket. "I only need to return--"
There sounded a dramatic shout and war cry followed by a quick succession of rustles and creaks. Suddenly, a tall and lithe man with bluish-silver hair, a small horn on his forehead, a mask and a bright smile, and a cape whipping in the slight breeze leaped down to the path in front of her brandishing a sword toward the beast.
"Oh dear," the young woman said. She stepped forward and placed a hand on the man's arm. "Sir, please don't--"
He kept her back with the same. "Stand back, dear lady. Allow me to dispatch this fiend without fear of striking you instead."
The mongrel sat back on its haunches and blinked at the young woman as if asking, 'Do you know this gentleman?' Then it turned its gaze to the man and tilted its head.
The man lowered his sword. "Eh? What is this? Does the fiend not desire a battle this day?"
The young woman tried again. "Sir?"
The man finally turned his face, brown eyes meeting her violet ones.
She smiled. "Sir, I'm not in danger." Her smile melted to an expression of assurance. "Though I do so appreciate your time and effort."
The man's eyes registered surprise. "You have no need of rescuing?" He motioned to the dark forest and the beast ahead of them. "What of your surroundings? And this man-eating beast?"
The smile returned, this time twinkling in the violet eyes. "They only hunt when they're hungry, sir," she said in a laughing tone. She motioned to the mongrel but didn't look over at it. "She was upset that I had spent so much time here, I'm almost certain, and picked so many lovely flowers. Normally I bring something for the forest creatures, it's never nice to take without giving something in return, but I left it at home." This time she focused on the beast and offered forward the basket of flowers. "I really am sorry for being selfish. Might I come back for the basket if I go home and get those things?"
The beast stood and grumbled, regarding the young woman with a somewhat reluctant expression. Then it stepped off to the side and disappeared again into the growth of the brush.
The man watched with an unhidden expression of amazement. "By the goddess! The beast understands you!"
The young woman refocused on the man with another bright smile. She offered a hand. "My name is Violette. I'm so pleased to meet you."
The man's smile lightened his expression. He accepted her hand and bowed over it with a dramatic flare of his cape. "My lady," he greeted in a robust baritone voice. When he straightened, he released her hand and gestured to the forest with a wide sweep of his left arm. "Do you have need of an escort from this greenery?"
Violette's eyes widened as she slightly shook her head. "Oh no, sir. I wouldn't want to trouble you. I can find my way."
"It will be no trouble, Miss Violette. Please. Allow me." The gentleman urged her forward with a hand at her back and an arm pointing forward. "I would be lax in my duty to the innocent if I did not guarantee your safety."
The smile returned as she began forward. "I do appreciate the thought to my safety, sir..." Wide-eyed expression. "Should I only call you 'sir'?"
The man with the mask and the flashing smile met her gaze. "You may call me Mystere, Miss Violette."
"Mystere? Oh my. What a perfectly lovely dramatic name," she said in a hushed tone.
Mystere's tall frame straightened, shoulders drawn back in an even more perfect example of form and posture. "Thank you, my lady. I am fond of it as well."
Violette's eyes held a clear and pure light of curiosity and interest. "Do you have a different name when you take off your mask?"
"Of course."
Her expression brightened. "Oh how exciting," she intoned while clasping her hands. "I've always wondered what it must be like to have two names, one for such wonderful adventures and one for peaceful times of laughter with friends and family." Her eyes widened yet again. "I know you can't tell me what your other name is, but are we very far from your home?"
Mystere responded with a very serious, "No, Miss Violette. I reside in no one place. My home is the land of Lunar," still with a very dramatic expression.
Violette's dark eyes grew wistful as she moved her focus to the path ahead. "How very romantic. I so wish I could wander as you do. To see so many different wonders and beauties our goddess created..."
"On the contrary, Miss Violette. It is a serious decision to lead a nomadic life. You must always be content with the limitations of your surroundings, and always without complaint or comment."
Wide violet eyes focused on brown. "Is it very hard traveling alone? You must so often miss the company of your family."
"The people of Lunar are become my family. I never want for company due to this fact. It is very satisfying to be alone yet forever together."
The pair emerged from the muted sounds of the forest.
Violette halted and fully faced her would-be rescuer, gracing him with a lovely smile. "Thank you again for your offered help and company. It was so nice to meet you, and I hope to meet you again some day."
Mystere returned the smile with an elegant bow and another dramatic flare of his cape. "My pleasure, Miss Violette." He straightened. "Mind you arrive home before twilight is upon you."
With that, he twirled his cape and hurried away, traveling a ways down the path before disappearing.
Violette's bright loveliness sparkled in her eyes. "Oh how nice to have met such a man."
But the memory of her adventure and his warning was forgotten as she cheerfully walked down the path toward home, humming a nameless tune.