There was once a time when they were abandoned by their queen.

It was a time of grand gestures and silly decisions. Of silly people with grand ideals, or the other way around. Overshadowed by confusion, it seemed like the world was changing; the rusty clock that proudly rose above the small town in Crystalia ticked no longer. The once carefree citizens of the newest country in the world could now smell smoke in the air. Each contact of a black boot with the concrete drilled into their dreams a melody of defeat and hopelessness. Diane Hunster, that same Diane Hunster they had feared and hated, they now almost missed. She was, in her own strange way, the helm of their ship; now that they were sinking, slowly and steadily, they remembered fondly the days when they talked about her gruesome past.

There was once a time when quiet chaos ruled.

The monsters that once occupied their nightmares now walked their streets confidently, with mockery in their countenance. They were beautiful, with golden hair and red eyes; they were powerful, too powerful to be looked in the eye. Someone said they were a new race, though some doubted the validity of the claims; but they did bear an uncanny similarity to Clara Heal. Slowly, but steadily, the Judge was preparing the people for what was inevitable. Once Diane Hunster comes back with a clearer picture of the past and present, and Elaine was certain that the princess would find her way back home, she will have all the ingredients for true peace. And what a Flamer had to say about it wouldn’t matter.

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There was once a time when a soothing voice asked for blood to be spilled.

She lived in the cracks in the pavement, in the empty houses, and abandoned minds. She asked him to forget his faith, to seal it within a house that once smelled like spring; but the house with muddy footprints and shallow memories was no more. He swore that nothing in this world would make him lose his faith; the moment had come for him to prove it.

There was once a time when the Fool had to make his choice. His time had come. Or so they said.