The Unnamed Saga: Sisters and Song Script, Chapter Twelve: "Dark Histories"

Chapter Twelve: Dark Histories

Open on the Anthem mansion dining room interior at dusk.  A large supper is set out on the table.  Mary and Elsea sit across from each other at one end.  Elsea has a cup of tea. A plate of fresh rolls steam beside that.

Show Mary with a small salad in front of her.  She has hardly touched it.

Mary: “It seems the princess is missing.”

Elsea nods.

She sips at her tea.

Mary peeks out the window.

Mary: “Quite unlike her, to be late to a meal.”

 

Elsea tears at a roll.

Elsea: “The princess does have a healthy appetite.”

 

Mary: “Indeed, she does, and normally a preoccupation with it.  However, she has seemed a touch distracted as of late, if I may be so bold.”

 

Elsea: “Considering our situation, I would understand if she has a lot on her mind.”

 

Mary: “Yes, yes, our situation. We mustn’t forget that.”

Mary glances at the guards standing at the doorway.

Mary: “It is fit to be a distraction of some consideration.  Still, I worry over the dear.  She seems to have more on her mind than the mercurial nature of our patron.”

 

Elsea: “Do you think? I hadn’t noticed.”

 

Mary hums.

 

Mary: “Mayhap I am off mark.  After all, you are the princess’ loyal handmaiden, sworn to her daily service and all, and you do service her daily.  While I am nothing more than a simple bother.”

 

Elsea: “I wouldn’t say that…”

 

Mary: “Of course you wouldn’t, but the princess would, and has on many an occasion.”

 

They fall into silence.

Elsea stirs her tea.

Mary picks at her salad but never eats.

 

Elsea: “I could check on her, if it would set your mind at ease.”

 

Mary: “I think I shall accompany you.”

 

Cut to the Anthem cathedral exterior at dusk.  Show it from a distance, giving a full view of the large entry archway.  Large pillars flank it on both sides, holding an awning aloft.  The shadows cast by the pillars are thin on the wall.

Cut to the cathedral interior.  Show the near empty interior.  The open window arches let dim light spill in.  Zara sits in a center pew with a dark cloak on.  She has the hood up.

Show Zara sitting.  Her head is tilted down.  Patrons pass her.

Show the empty cathedral.  Zara stands.  Torches near the far end of the cathedral cast long, writhing shadows.

Show the palanquin at the far end of the cathedral.  Zara has moved to it and is standing before it.  The curtains are drawn, but Aria’s shadow can be seen within.

Show Zara pull the curtain to the side and peek in.

 

Zara: “Hello, excuse me.  Can you hear me?”

Show Aria staring blankly ahead.

Show Zara frown.  She taps her boot against the pavement.

Zara: “Rude of you.”

Zara climbs into the palanquin.

She reaches forward.

Zara: “Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I just wished to speak.”

Aria remains quiet.

Zara touches Aria’s shoulder.

Aria looks up.  Her eyes are large and blank.  Her face is hidden behind a veil.

Zara smiles.

Zara: “Yes, hello, my name is Zara Yvonne Estein.  I am heir to Silverthrone, the seat of Silvaran power and…”

Zara sighs.

Zara: “Actually, now I suppose I should be queen.  My family, they died recently, in a surprise attack.”

She looks up.

Zara: “But that’s not why I’m here.  I’m here because I—Well, I wanted to meet you.  I saw you at the festival the other day, and I was curious.  You see, where I come from we don’t have any such idols, and we don’t have any traditions of this sort.  But then, where I come from we have royalty, and Anthem doesn’t have those.  Anyhow, I was curious to learn about you, about this maiden so many people revere.”

Zara blushes.

Zara: “Also, there are so few girls my age here.  Elsea is wonderful, and Mary is…Well, she’s trying.  Anyway.”

Show Aria staring blankly.

Zara: “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m rambling and probably not making much sense.  Elsea is my handmaiden, and Mary is—Well, she just is.  Anyhow, we travel together, and I wanted to introduce myself to you because it seems like you might get lonely.”

Zara holds her hand out.

Aria stares back at her blankly.

Zara’s face sours.

Zara: “Excuse me?”

Zara waves her hand in front of Aria.

She leans in and stares into Aria’s eyes.

Zara: “Can you even see…”

Show Aria’s face more closely.  Show shadows beneath the veil.

Zara squints.

Zara: “What in the world?”

Zara reaches forward.

Zara removes the veil.

Show Aria’s face, but this time with the lower half exposed.  Runes are written along her throat, and her lips have been sewn shut.

Zara recoils and nearly tumbles out of the palanquin.

Zara: “Your lips!”

She sits up.

She reaches forward.

She stops and touches her own lips instead.

Zara: “What in the world is going on here?”

 

Cut to a beach near Anthem by night.  In the fore, the lights of Anthem can be seen shining in the distance.  It is raining and dark that night.

Glenn is in the woods near the beach. He has a small fire burning and is trying to keep warm.  Zelos is wrapped up nearby, resting beside him.

Glenn blows on his hands.  His breaths steam.

Cut to Zelos’ bedroom.  Show an Adolescent Zelos sulking on his bed.  His arms are crossed, and he stares at the floor.

Show his father, the king, leaving.

Show Glenn enter the room

Adolescent Zelos looks up.

 

Adolescent Zelos: “Oh, it’s you.  What do you want? Are you here to lecture me, too? Or are you going to go and tell dad that I’m crying?”

 

Glenn: “Why would I?”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “I don’t know.  Why would you tell him that I was leaving the castle?”

 

Glenn: “Because I’m captain of the Black Guard, and it’s my job.”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “It’s your job to protect me!  What were you protecting me from?  I was just going to see the city!”

 

Glenn: “At night.”

 

Zelos: “It’s my city!  My people love me!”

 

Glenn: “Most of them.  Not all of them.”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “Well, that’s an even better reason to go and meet with them, so I can find out what their problem is and fix it.”

Adolescent Zelos wipes his eyes.

Adolescent Zelos: “People don’t hate good kings.”

 

Glenn: “Some do, and sometimes they kill good kings and good princes.  It’s my job to prevent that.”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “Yeah, well I can take care of myself.”

 

Glenn sighs.

 

Adolescent Zelos: “Listen, I’m not scared, and I refuse to be.  I refuse to be afraid of being hurt or running away because it might be dangerous.”

 

Glenn: “This isn’t one of your stories.”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “I know.  Heroes never have to put up with this.”

 

Glenn: “Heroes also die young.  Count your blessings.”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “If you’re so worried, then just come with me instead of locking me up.  That way, we both get what we want.”

 

Glenn: “You really expect me to go trailing along after you while you run amok?”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “It’s your job to protect me.  It’s my job to lead.  How can I do that if all I know of the nation and its people come from maps or books?”

 

Glenn: “Fine, next time, if you talk to me before hand, maybe I can escort you.”

 

Adolescent Zelos perks up.

 

Adolescent Zelos: “Really?”

 

Glenn: “Yes, but only if you talk to me first.  No more running off.”

 

Adolescent Zelos: “Okay!”

 

Glenn: “I mean it.”

 

Cut back to Glenn by the dim firelight.

He pulls the cloak tighter around Zelos.

 

Cut to the Anthem Mansion interior.  Show Zara walking through the halls from above.  She is undoing her cloak as she walks.

Zara enters the guest quarters and slams the door behind her.  Mary is already in the room reading a book.

When Zara enters Mary looks up from her book.  Zara tosses her cloak onto the floor.

 

Mary: “And so she returns!  The good Lady Elsea is quite stirred up over you absence and just took to the streets what to retrieve you.”

Mary returns to her book.

Mary: “Fear not, for she shall return in short-time, I imagine.  A nose like a hound on that one, and twice the wit as well.”

 

Zara stomps over to the table.

She slumps down in a chair and crosses her arms.

She huffs.

 

Zara: “I’m not worried.”

 

Mary peeks over her book.

Mary: “No, I suppose that isn’t worry I see.”

Mary closes her book.

Mary: “Then tell me, princess dear, what are you, if not worried over your handmaiden’s safety?”

 

Zara: “I’m…”

Zara looks at Mary from the table.

Zara: “I went to their church tonight.”

 

Mary: “I had assumed as much already.”

 

Zara: “I was curious.”

 

Mary: “The young often are, and the old know better from experience.”

 

Zara: “I found something inside.”

 

Mary: “Oh?  How delightfully ambiguous you are.”

 

Zara: “I found the girl.”

 

Mary: “The one what was paraded about the town?  Yes, I imagine you might find her.  It comes as no surprise to me that she is one of faith.”

 

Zara: “No, I mean, she’s always there.  I don’t think she leaves, or sleeps, or—Her mouth, it was—Her mouth was sewn shut, Mary!”

 

They go quiet.  Mary stares at her, and Zara stares back.

Mary sets her book delicately on the table.

 

Mary: “Truth told, and I shan’t want to hear a word from you on this, but I had already assumed as much.”

 

Zara: “You knew already? How, how could you possibly know?”

 

Mary: “As the myths go, the gods were sealed in the stars, bound within the constellations assigned to them, yes?  Angelus, the Song, if you will, is found in the south-eastern part of the sky, should I recall correctly.  But myths are funny little things, and oft hold as many lies as they do truths.”

 

Zara: “What in the hells are you talking about now?”

 

Mary: “The gods were sealed where they could be, where man could hold them and however man could hold them, when the rebellion finally came to a close.  Some were put in stones or gems.  Others in altars and idols, anything that might last.  Some, as I am sure you have come to realize, were put in people.”

 

Zara goes wide-eyed.

 

Zara: “You mean to say?”

 

Mary: “The girl is most like a vessel, or a prison, if you prefer.  Anthem once worshipped the Song, and it ruled over them.  Now, they hold it in check, hidden behind ritual and festival.  Her lips are sewn shut to keep her from speaking or singing, for fear of divine wrath.  Were even a single syllable uttered, it is believed that it could unmake what was made.”

 

Zara: “But those are just myths.  Stories.”

 

Mary: “You are a clever girl, princess.  You should very well know that so very few things are just myths.”

 

Zara: “Well, then what can we do for her?”

 

Mary: “What can we—Princess, you are beginning to sound a touch like an ornery little boy I once knew!  Always getting into trouble, that one, and always dragging his companions along into it.”

 

Zara: “Oh, shut up.”

 

Mary grins.

 

Mary: “Unfortunately, the short and sad is that we can do nothing save hope.  Anthem is our shield, and they like their idols as they have them.”

 

Zara: “But…”

 

Mary: “If you should like Glenn to return with a prince and princess in hand, you would do well to be patient.  Mind our situation, lest you make it increasingly dire.”

 

Zara huffs and pouts.

 

Zara: “Fine, fine, I won’t get involved.”

 

Mary: “Good to hear, I’m proud of you for your prudence and all.”

 

Mary picks up her book.

 

Zara: “Don’t tell Elsea, though.”

 

Mary glances away from her book again.

 

Mary: “Dear princess, do I smell trouble in your tone?”

 

Zara: “No, I just don’t want to worry her.”

 

Mary holds her gaze.

She opens her book.

 

Mary: “Yes, yes, I see, how very selfless of you.  I shall keep my lips sealed, then, so long as you keep to your promise.”

 

Zara: “I am nothing like him.  I know how to take care of myself.”

 

Mary: “The young like to think that and, as always, we old know better from experience.”

 

Cut to the black castle interior, to an empty room that was once Metis.  The curtains are drawn.  Green torches burn eerily in the corners of the room.  Green flasks cast a sinister light.  Metis is bent over a large, sturdy desk with a scroll open on it.

Show an overhead view.  The scroll holds another strange design, this one looking like a large flask.  There is a knock at the door.

Metis looks back.

 

Metis: “Enter.”

 

Metis folds the scroll closed as the door opens.

Sir Fredrick enters the room and bows.

 

Fredrick: “Lord Metis, my king, I have returned.”

 

Metis: “So I see, Sir Fredrick.  Rise and show me what you have brought.”

 

Sir Fredrick stands and smiles.

Fredrick: “I am sure that you will be satisfied.”

Sir Fredrick opens the satchel at his side.

From within the satchel, Sir Fredrick produces a large black flask.  A dark flame swirls inside of it.

Sir Fredrick holds it up.  The green light reflects off the flask.

Fredrick: “It is as you predicted, my lord.  The black flask holds it in bondage.  Your design was flawless.”

 

Metis: “It is not my design, but I will send Daedalus your regards.”

Metis crosses the room.

He takes the flask delicately from Sir Fredrick’s hand.

He holds it up and looks at it.

Metis: “Look at it, Sir Fredrick.  It holds the future inside.”

 

Fredrick: “Yes, my lord, it does.”

 

Metis returns to his desk.

He sets the flask on the surface and smiles down at it.

Metis: “There is still much work to do.”

 

Fredrick: “Yes.  With Thanatos unchained and Phoenix missing, that will leave us nine.”

 

Metis: “And you will find the rest for me, won’t you?”

 

Sir Fredrick bow halfway.

 

Fredrick: “Sire, it will be my highest honor.”

 

Metis: “Then prepare, Sir Fredrick.  You will be crossing the channel to the mainland.  I will be placing you in charge of the attack on Anthem.  And I expect results.”

 

Fredrick: “Then you will have them, my lord.”