Ofelia, El Laberinto del Fauno

[ofelia_moanna]

There is the sound of stone grinding against stone, and then a small section of wall is pushed open as though it was a door, even though there is no door there. A young dark-haired girl richly dressed in red and gold crawls through the new doorway and stands up, grinning as she looks around at the Sorting Room. She has a small brown case slung over

Comments

[wh0_kill3d_m3]

Fairy tales? I'd love a book of fairy tales!

Who is the Pale Man? Is he dangerous?

[ofelia_moanna]

Ofelia reaches into the case and produces an old book of fairytales written in Spanish.

"Here you are. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did," she says. "The Pale Man is very dangerous. His eyes are in his hands, and he kills children -- the knife I took from him is the knife he used to kill them, but he didn't need it to kill them. I think he ate them as well. He has very sharp teeth -- he killed the other two fairies I knew by biting their heads off." She looks sad, and a bit guilty. "That was all my fault. I woke him up.

[wh0_kill3d_m3]

Thank you! I'm sure I will.

...I knew someone like that when I was growing up. Something like that. I'm pretty sure if it hadn't been you that woke the Pale Man up, it would've been something else. Those kinds of - things - always seem to come back.

[ofelia_moanna]

"But if I hadn't woken him up then because I did something I'd been told not to do, then he wouldn't have come after me, the fairies woulsn't have tried to stop him, and he wouldn't have caught them and bitten their heads off. Then...." She stops and shakes her head, biting her lip. "It doesn't matter now, everything else doesn't matter because it all worked out in the end."

[chance_silvey]

Chance crouches, so she's at eye level with the little girl. "Are you sure you want to give those things away?"

[ofelia_moanna]

Ofelia thinks about this so that she can give a serious answer.

"I've already used the key for what I needed it for, and I don't want the knife," she says once she knows what her answer is. "A ribbon is just a ribbon, I can get more. I don't need the medicine, I'm not going to give away all of my chalk, and I know all the stories in the fairytale books off by heart. The most important thing about them was that they reminded me of Padre, and now that I've found my kingdom and my padre there I don't need them for that anymore. The most important book I'm keeping, I didn't say anyone could have that. So it's alright if people want some of these things."

[chance_silvey]

"Then I'd like to have the knife," says Chance, also serious. "If you need it again, you can have it back."

[ofelia_moanna]

Ofelia opens up her case again, and takes out a wickedly sharp knife with a gold hilt, wrapped in a scrap of material. She carefully hands it to Chance.

"Here you are. I don't think I'll need it, but if I do I'll find you."

[kouneru]

Since Kouneru himself has no immediate need of anything, he thinks only of his sister, and what she might like. The books of fairy tales seem a perfect choice, but he doesn't wish to part the little girl from her belongings.

After deciding on a good compromise, he addresses the girl. "Hello, I am Kouneru. Would you be willing to tell me some of the fairy tales you know, someday? I'd quite like that."

[ofelia_moanna]

"Hello, Kouneru. I'm Ofelia. Or Princess Moanna, but I'm more used to Ofelia," Ofelia replies. "I'd be happy to tell you some fairytales. WOuld you like happy ones or sad ones?"

[kouneru]

"Ofelia it is, then." Thinking he might like to talk to the girl a bit, he takes a seat on the floor and offers her a kind smile. "Ones with happy endings, if you please. If I may ask, where do you come from? What is this labyrinth you speak of?"

[ofelia_moanna]

Ofelia nods. "I'll write down all the happy ending stories I know so I'm sure that I don't forget any," she says seriously. "I'm from...well, originally I'm from the kingdom under the ground, but I don't remember it. I ran away to the world above one day to see what it was like, and I lost my memory when I saw the sun. So from what I remember, I'm from Spain. Then my Padre died in the war and my Madre remarried, so we had to move out to where the Captain she married was posted. There was a labyrinth there, which is like a stone maze. In the middle of the labyrinth was a...hole, with stairs, and statues at the bottom. That's where I met the faun, who told me who I was and that this was the last of the portals my padre in my kingdom had opened up looking for me and as doorways for me to return home."

[fine_eyes_lizzy]

*kindly* Your father's kingdom, my dear? *cursties properly* Miss Elizabeth Bennet, my dear.

[ofelia_moanna]

Ofelia curtsies back, although the curtsey is slightly constrained due to her clothing. "Ofelia, Senorita Bennett. Or Princess Moanna, but I'm more used to Ofelia. My padre's kingdom is the kingdom far below the ground where the fairies and fauns and other fairytale creatures live."

[fine_eyes_lizzy]

*smiles* Well, it is as likely a story as many of the other applicants recite. I am quite convinced of your sincerity. Do you know where you are, Ofelia?

[ofelia_moanna]

"Senorita Chance told me this is a magic school called Hogwarts, in Scotland, Senorita Bennet," Ofelia replies, nodding. She's also quite pleased that everyone here believes her, and hasn't told her that she's too old to believe in 'fairytale nonsense.'

[kaizokuking]

Luffy tilts his head to one side, then grins.

"So you're a princess! I knew a princess. Are you a good one?"

[ofelia_moanna]

Ofelia smiles. "I like to think that I'm a good princess. I saved the tree from the toad, I took away the knife that the Pale Man used to kill children, and I saved my baby brother even though it meant I got shot. So I hope that makes me good."