Discoucia

  Discoucia

  A Victorianish Fairytale

  By Nicholas Lovelock

  ‘Just on the border, of your waking mind, there lies another time. Where darkness, and light, are one. And as you tread the halls of sanity, you feel so glad that you are unable to go beyond.’

  Contents

  Title Page

  PART I: Discoucia

  A Chance Meeting

  A short stop

  Voices in the Fog

  An unlikely answer to a puzzling scenario

  An Icy Reception

  Ice Diamonds and Snow Gold

  The Panicked Populace of Proceur

  An Uprising Down South

  Starfall Academy

  Discoucian Horror Story

  The Granite Tunnel

  A Purple Invitation

  The Dark Chasm Creature

  A Trip to Chene

  The Yellow Coven

  If I live to see the…

  The Sea Hag of Cesta

  The Blue Coven

  Mirror-Phone Line

  The Great and Humorous Seashorelle

  Queen Lilia’s Celebration Day

  Two princesses imprisoned in a dungeon, I wonder where that idea came from…

  The Mathematical Trap

  PART II: Discoucia

  Forever is a long way

  A Time to Live

  Of course you realise this means Wardrobe

  Over All The Seven Sea’s There Was A Phantom Ship A Comin’!

  The Demon’s of Ridge Mansion

  Two Lilia’s is just two much

  The Monster in the High Castle

  The Garden of Authos

  The Wilting Magnolia Flower

  Pageon of Persia

  It’s a stone cold shame

  ‘It’s raining all over the world’

  The Book of Dreams

  Scenes From a Childish Fantasy

  The Ghoul at the Hall

  A Very Big House in the Country

  There’s no Hound Around, not a Sound, and it can’t be Found

  Voyage’s End

  The Sanctuary of Blue Light

  The Great Ascent

  The Last Chapter

  Copyright

  Discoucia

  PART I

  A Chance Meeting

  ‘Dreaming is a phenomenon we all experience many times in our lives; some have passing dreams that are forgotten several seconds after we leave them. Some are so vivid that they remain with us until we die, and their details are imprinted on our minds forever. However if the particular journey through our nightly picture show isn’t merely what we see, then there is a whole world playing out in our minds completely unknown to us.’

  – Desiderius Erasmus Von Rotterdam (probably)

  Silence ruled the air, and the sleepy road that ran through the middle of the Acacia Forest glistened with the now melting frost from the night before. The spring sun sat high in the sky as three men stole through the thick undergrowth that bordered the road and lay beneath the canopy of the trees. They were wearing purple coloured armour that was so opaque it made them nearly invisible in the dark shrubs. On their backs they carried brown cloaks, which were presumably for when they would come across a town or village and would want to remain inconspicuous. They carried an ornate pistol on their belts in a black leather holster, and their blond haired leader gestured for them to stop. They watched the road and apart from a pigeon breaking through the leaves and flying off in the distance, nothing could be heard.

  Then one man put his hand to the ground and felt a faint vibration, then smiled. What the men could not see was a figure above them in the canopy that remained quiet and motionless. It stretched its leg out to balance on a branch but that branch was old and snapped under the weight, which led the figure to fall straight into the middle of the three men in a plume of leaves and dust. The figure was knocked unconscious, and the two normal men pulled out their knives to make sure this little inconvenience didn’t disturb them. The blond leader however saw this as an opportunity to guarantee that whatever was coming up the road would stop so he picked up the stricken figure, who was wearing various colours of green so they were perfectly camouflaged.

  He threw them out of the bushes and into the middle of the path, right out into the open. The leader saw that their target was now advancing up the road. The bow of a majestic ship floated along the road, its sails catching the breeze and its blue flag with the symbol of a crowned golden lion above three crashing waves danced. It came to a stop directly over the body and remained stationary about 10ft above the ground. The men watched intently at this tense situation waiting for the ship to move, or for someone to come and pick up the figure. The hull above the body suddenly opened up and another figure swung down on a rope and grabbed the unconscious body, then just as quickly returned to the ship and the hull doors shut.

  And then several things happened. The men grabbed their guns and shot blindly at the space where the body used to be; and out of the top of the ship came a large gun, which had seven barrels in a hexagonal pattern. It quickly opened fire and the men ran as far as they could through the splinters of acacia wood that flew through the air like missiles. The sails on the ship retracted and the Nostradamus blasted its engines and the whole ship flew like a bullet along the road.

  It reached the ruins of the Sandy Fortress and stopped, floated up and landed on a stone platform. The ship was now nestled about 30ft above the canopy of the forest, and the sun rose higher into the sky above a sprawling green sea. Sir Arthur Pageon the spy, adventurer and explorer laid the unconscious figure on his bed and removed the strips of green fabric from their face. He was stunned to see that the figures long flowing platinum hair balloon out behind her, and laid her peacefully down on the bed. He wandered off downstairs into the living room of the ship.

  The Nostradamus was an extremely ornate ship, and Arthur had done everything he could to make it feel like home. Downstairs he had made a sitting room complete with bookcases, a desk, a table, a settee, paintings on the walls and green velvet curtains. Arthur walked out of the door, and out onto the sprawling deck. There was another person standing on the right hand side that was inspecting some rather nasty bullet holes in the wooden banister and returned with him to the sitting room.

  “Afternoon Corky, did they do much damage to the old girl?” said Arthur. The man had a dusty beard and wore black overalls. He was about 5ft tall, and carried a spanner in one hand and a cup of tea in one hand.

  “They couldn’t put a hole deeper than an inch with those pea shooters,” he replied.

  “Oh good, and please tell me that that is just tea and that it doesn’t have any other added ingredients,” said Arthur.

  “This time it’s just tea, on principle I don’t drink anything alcoholic until after three. And who is that pretty little thing you rescued from the road?” he asked taking a swig of tea.

  “If I’m not mistaken it’s Princess Josephine, and if it is I think I’ll need a cup of ‘tea’ too when she wakes up,” he said jokingly.

  “Very well you arrogant little upstart,” he replied, and disappeared through a hatch in the floor. Arthur was about to reply, but he heard movement in his bedroom and looked up to the ceiling in a worried fashion.

  Josephine woke up and was still a bit dizzy. She instinctively remembered that she was tracking purple hunters and went for her sword. When she found that it wasn’t there she looked around at her surroundings. She was in an ornate bedroom with blue velvet curtains, and at the end of the room were two doors, and they had no windows in them so she could not see what was inside. She went to the right door and it opened to reveal a landing, and she heard footsteps coming up them. She ran to the other door which she found was
locked after a few tries.

  “Good afternoon Princess Josephine, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” said Arthur.

  “Sir Arthur Pageon? Am I on the Nostradamus?” she asked.

  “Yes and welcome to my ship, what is it that you were doing out in the middle of the Acacia forest?” he asked.

  “I was following the purple hunters that were following you.”

  “Well they’re gone now so will you come with me to see your father?” he asked.

  “Why does my father want to see you?” she asked.

  “No idea, I’m sure he does this so I can’t refuse him since I’m dying to know what he needs me for.”

  Arthur opened the curtains and saw that Jo was wearing green shorts, and a long sleeved shirt in a darker green. She was also wearing green shoes, and her long silky platinum hair was held back by a green hair band. Jo saw that Arthur was wearing a dark blue suit with a bright blue embroidered waistcoat, and he wore light blue shoes which matched the rest of his ensemble. Arthur had curly brown hair that grew down to his shoulders, and had bright blue eyes that Jo felt lost in, which was strange because she felt that there was more to Arthur than she thought.

  Jo got up and felt around for her hunting sword but it wasn’t in its hilt, nor was it anywhere to be seen. “Where is my sword?” she asked in a suspicious tone.

  “It’s downstairs, I didn’t want you sleeping on it as that would have been uncomfortable. Don’t want a member of the royal family falling on their sword now do we?” he replied.

  “Oh, very well then let’s go and see my father and find out what he wants you for,” she said.

  Arthur led Jo out of the bedroom and down into the sitting room. “I shall inform my driver that we are ready to leave; you don’t mind walking do you only I don’t want to park my ship in the Sky Port. Too many people want to find out how everything on this ship works,” he asked.

  “Not at all, it’s only half a mile to the city walls and from there it’s another mile to the Azure Hall through all of the tunnels, corridors and passageways,” she said.

  “I know, let’s go,” he said.

  Arthur and Jo left the ship and walked down the old worn steps of the ruined fortress. One would expect the place to be evil looking, with scarred ruins and dead trees poking out of every dark crevice but the old fortress was covered in fruit trees and flowers growing in the cracks of the old mosaic floors. When the two had left the old ruined gates they walked across the Sky River Bridge, which had been restored after it was destroyed by the Great Uprising. They came to the massive oak forest that surrounded the mountain that Evermore was built upon thousands of years ago.

  “So, what do you think of my father,” she asked.

  “He’s an interesting fellow and loves his country which is a refreshing change from all the previous kings we’ve had, why?” he asked.

  “I was just wondering, you know, trying to make some conversation so this little walk isn’t boring,” she replied.

  “Oh, um, in that case what do you want to talk about?”

  “What was in the room behind the door on the left?” she asked.

  “That would be my wardrobe; I also keep some other things in there just to make the rest of the ship tidier,” he replied.

  “But why lock it?” she asked.

  “So no one blunders in there and starts asking stupid questions” he replied. “What kind of stupid questions?” she asked.

  “If you ever go in there, you can find out,” he replied, and Jo now stopped asking questions and thought about what could possibly be in there.

  “Well I suppose it could be clothes since it’s a wardrobe, but surely you wouldn’t lock if it’s normal clothes like what you’re wearing right now. So is it other kinds of clothes?” she asked.

  “Oh for crying out loud,” said Arthur quietly.

  “I’m just using logical thinking to answer the question, but wait a second if I remember rightly there was always that rumour that you did that thing in Chene,” she said.

  “Why does everyone make fun of that when they aren’t even sure about what really happened, I got knighted so it must have been something heroic,” he said.

  “Yes Sir Arthur, if you believe it to be heroic then you carry on,” she said, smiling in a way that she hadn’t done for a long time.

  “It’s in the past now and I kinda regret it so please just drop it,” he said.

  “Please don’t be offended by my curiosity, it’s just that it was a big thing when we heard about it. Also that you met a god,” she said.

  “That is not true, look we’re almost there,” he said.

  They walked into an open area that was clear of trees, and they saw that they stood above a great valley and a river ran through the middle, the source being a great stone gate that the water flowed out with a mighty roar. Arthur looked over to the other side and saw with his keen eyes that a man was standing and waving. He was dressed completely in white, and had brown hair almost identical to Arthurs. Arthur waved back, and Jo saw him too.

  “Who is that?” she asked.

  “No idea, but he’s waving so I’ll wave back” he replied. Then, a strange thing happened; Arthur felt something in his jacket pocket that wasn’t there before. When Jo wasn’t looking he took it out and saw that it was a letter. He opened it and his eyes widened. He put it back in his jacket pocket again so it was out of sight but its contents were far from out of Arthur’s mind. Arthur then walked down the stone stairs that led to the valley floor and the main gate.

  “Just out of interest Sir Arthur, how old are you?” asked Jo.

  “I’m 210, finally old enough to get into gentlemen’s clubs,” he said.

  “Ah, I’m only 204 but for women we’re allowed anywhere” she replied. In Alavonia a person who is 210 would be 21 on Earth. They live to 1000 as a person would live to 100 in our world and as such the year is 20144 and runs on a very different time line than anything we’re used to.

  “So, do you know the way?” asked Jo.

  “Yes but I’ll let you lead,” said Arthur.

  The gate was open and the two guards did not bat an eyelid when the two walked past. Through the gate they walked down a great wide corridor, which had a glass covered channel with the water running through at tremendous speed. On the right about a third of the way in was a large corridor which had a red floor, and they saw people milling about at the end. Opposite to this was a passageway that was covered over by a shiny metal grate. The sound of rushing water could be heard at the end of the short passageway.

  “Is that the water system?” asked Arthur. “It is, the people have a thing about seeing all the mechanisms that transport water around and it means that if there is a problem, some engineers can get to it much more quickly” she replied.

  “I see; well I’ve heard that your water system here is the best one in the kingdom since you have so much water pass through here,” said Arthur.

  When they reached the stairs that led up, Arthur couldn’t help going to a passageway to the left, and Jo tried to resist but had to follow him. It was a small tunnel but Arthur didn’t have to crouch because he was only about 6ft tall. The passage went to the right, and the torch lights on the wall flickered as they passed. Arthur walked down and he saw what he wanted to see.

  Jo found Arthur looking down at the sand covered paths that were cut into the very rock, and the flickering firelights made out of Darkworld stone burned. They were a very rare mineral because once they were lit, they never went out. Arthur could see down into the depths of the mines and saw a glimpse of the Great Underground Desert, which was created when a vast natural cavern was discovered deep below Evermore and was used to dump the sandy deposits that were found during mining.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked.

  “I’m not looking for anything; I’m just amazed at what we have created underneath our capital city,” he replied.

  “In comparison to what’s actually down there you�
�d be amazed ten times as much, but let’s go and meet my father,” she said.

  They returned to the main corridor, and walked up the large stone stairs to the covered courtyard. If Arthur had not followed Jo, he may have got lost, as beneath the Azure Hall was a labyrinth of corridors, and they met various different courtiers that were engaged in a game of Hide and Find, as in Find the way out before the Finder finds you.

  Jo led Arthur up a set of stairs and they opened up into a vast hall with sandstone walls and blue stone ceilings and massive glass windows, which let a large amount of light through but barely illuminated the inside of the hall.

  A large table ran through the middle and people were sat in different places, but since there were not many this appeared to be a time when nothing important was going on. They walked over to the end of the hall where the giant throne stood, a testament to the workmanship of the first Discoucian’s. It was built out of a huge block of serpentine that was discovered to be even more unbreakable than obsidian and the bedrock that is found beneath the deep lava pools underground.

  “Come here my dear, and bring your companion with you,” called a voice from nearby. It was High King Olandine, who wore the ceremonial white robe that all past kings had worn before him.

  “Hello daddy, how are you?” she asked, hugging him.

  “Personally I’m old and unfortunately I get every ailment that comes with it, but enough about me since I see you’ve bought me Sir Arthur,” he replied.

  “How may I help you my king?” he asked, bowing.

  “Firstly I’m glad you two are acquainted because I’m making you partners, as this particular mission requires two,” he said.

  “Daddy I really don’t think this is a good idea, I don’t need him,” said Jo.

  Arthur remained quiet as he knew that when the King had made up his mind, then nothing would sway him. Actually he was restraining a lot of anger because he didn’t even know Josephine and she didn’t know him, so to make the assumption that she didn’t need him after falling into the middle of a trio of purple hunters wasn’t very fair at all.