It was a bright and sunny day in Inkwell Castle. A quiet day from lack of visitors. The Castle, being as magnificent as on the day it was constructed, with the staff diligently performing their daily duties. And so are you performing yours, standing guard in the royal garden by the gates to the castle’s library. No one is here aside yourself, because this is your mistress’s private little fiefdom, the princess Shiori. The majestic garden is personally tended to by her and only her. A wide array of plants and flowers whose names you can’t even begin to recite are scattered on every corner. On the opposite side of you and the gate, stands a large tree, with bright yellow leaves rustling in the gentle wind. The tree, however, is damaged, with a massive scar splitting a large chunk of it. And in between these two points, is large well, the namesake of the castle. You step to it and peer down to the bottom and notice the water reflecting a few rays of light from the sun above. In all honesty, this garden has always made you uncomfortable, it's as if you were being watched, constantly, and that pressure never seemed to fade. Only the tree, despite the damage, standing noble and imposing, gives you a small sense of comfort.

You thought about taking a small drink from the water bucket to the side, but before you do, the library doors open as lady Shiori walks out. You feel slight embarrassment from moving away from your post just as she made her exit. Yet as you moved to her side in order to apologize, she seemed unbothered by it all. She has always been sweet, unnaturally so, as if your very soul is being caressed and uplifted by her smile. All of you feel the same way, the knights doting on her and revering her in different manners. “And how is my knight is faring today?” she asks, half covering her face with a book, the same book that never leaves her side you remark. Slipping back from your daydream, “Much better now that my lady is gracing me with her presence.” You reply trying to give her a complement that wouldn’t be too overstepping. She giggles slightly, “You’re all spoiling me too much, thank you. I’m happy that I can brighten your day just as you brighten mine.” You know she refers to all of her knights, but you can’t help but imagine her words spoken directly at you as an individual. “How do you like my garden?” she asks with a mischievous smile. You don’t want to lie, not to her, “I… like the tree.” You try to answer without giving it away that you don’t particularly like it here. “The tree?” she looks at you a bit perplexed “Did you know that this tree is my most prized possession?” She put her hand on it, and at that moment the entire air in the garden shifted. As if the tree itself was in recoil from her touch. You look at her in that moment, surveying her top to bottom as you spot bright pink stains around the bottom of her dress and around her wrists, and you thought you heard her whispering something akin to “oh don’t be like that.”

“Princess,” you try and grab her attention, “your dress”. She looks at you, then at herself as if not seeing the stains. “What about it?”. “It would be unsightly of our ruler to walk with a stain on her outfit” You pick your words carefully. Her sharp golden eyes darted from looking herself to looking at you, and you could swear that you caught a glimpse of a creeping smile behind her book covered face. That sent a shiver down your spine, suddenly feeling cold as if you are now a prey caught in the gaze of a merciless huntress. And just like that, that feeling was gone, “Oh dear golly, I suppose I did have a small accident in the library, thank you for point it out to me.” Replaced was that sweet, charming smile again. She moved in, gave you a kiss on the cheek and started her leave. Passing through the gate, she stole one last glance, laser focused on you, pupils dilated and sclera visible. You experience another shudder as you turn back to your post.

That night, you woke up suddenly in panic, was it a nightmare? It has already escaped your mind. Unable to calm down, you decide to go for a walk, recalling how Shiori says that steppies are good for you. As you walk through the empty halls of inkwell, it dawned on you, nobody is here, and the hallway has seen better days, which confuses you, because the castle is usually in pristine condition. Rotten wood, dusty stone, torn carpets. That unease again. You now tread much more carefully, leaning in to peak into rooms and pathways. And in one of them, that bright pink splatter again. Following it you come into a small room much like your own.

Eyes trailing the bright color in the darkness of the room, going up the wall forming letters, awkwardly written by smearing of fingers.

"Do not believe her lies!”

You rub your hand on the weird color, analyzing it, smells like…? Iron? Is this blood? Why? And why would Shiori have this stain on her dress? Questions and worries start to get raised in your mind. The library you remembered, might yield some clues. You grab your weapon and head to the library gate. You reach the garden, it’s eerie, worse than usual, it’s nauseating. Water, you think to yourself, that should calm you. You practically stumble to the bucket of water desperate to calm your nerves, but as you shove your hands in to bring water to your mouth, you jerk your hands away from the weird substance that was in it. Black, inky ooze where fresh water was just earlier that day. You look around now in panic trying to catch your breath, and you see them, you see them all, the dark plants, sprouts, vines, eyes, eyes all over, everywhere, the plants have eyes! And all of them are staring at you.

There are lines of black ooze stretching between the well and the tree. The tree itself was… was pulsating… like a heart, a veiny flesh monstrosity, oozing the black substance, though you cannot tell if it’s coming from the tree into the well or from the well into the tree.

“I tried to keep you happy”, you hear behind you, still on your knees. You look at her, and she comes and embraces you letting you rest your head on her shoulder. “But you always find yourself back here again, peering through my little veil of illusions.”.
“What is this? What happened to inkwell?”
“This is inkwell, always has been, the cheerful and busy castle that you know is a lie, part of the façade.”
“But why?” You ask her desperate for some answers.
“You were not ready, but perhaps now, you might be? This knowledge is forbidden, and has a hefty price to it at that. I’ll show you, but you have to behave. You understand? And maybe this time…”

She motions to the side, two of your fellow knights move in behind you, “Your weapon.” One motions you to relinquish it, there is tension in the air between you. You are still suspicious of the whole ordeal, but it is Shiori’s will and you reciprocate. “Now, walk with me.” She says, leading you to the library. As you move deeper through the library more knights fall in behind you, two more, then four, six, quite an entourage for a single nobody. You are descending a flight of stairs to an unknown passageway, you stood guard here before, yet this is all completely new to you, has this door always been here? Descending in the dark corridors under the castle, the walls eventually open up into a large cavern, and you realize that this is below the well in the garden, a giant pool of black water in the center. “Is this what we’ve been drinking all this time?” You ask. “Indeed, this is part of my power, it keeps you from seeing all the horrors, oblivious to the true nature of the castle. This is liquid Shiorium, a part of me. Knowledge has power, but forbidden knowledge also carries price. That is why I assembled an entire army here. To protect it from the world, and the world… from me.”

You stare at her in confusion as in the darkness behind her, white objects begin to fade into vision. Giant eyes staring at you from the darkness, maddening, and Shiori turning to you with that sadistic smile. “It will start soon, again, as always, more bloodshed. And I need you, I need (you) and all the help I can get. To reach the happy ending.” A complete contrast to the princess that you knew, yet that sweet, tempting voice persists. She brings forth something to you, “This is a piece of the meat tree, I’d like you to eat this, if you decide to stand by my side. With this you too, shall become my most prized possession, however you will also be bound to me, body and soul… my plaything.”

You stare at the piece of meat pulsating in your hands, this is a side of the princess you never seen before. Was she even a princess? Right now she looks more like a witch than a princess, A side of her you’ve only caught glimpses of but never truly revealed to you until this very moment. What was about to begin? What bloodshed? What is Shiorium? What is her goal? And how do you fit into this madness?

The cavern began to quake, “It’s beginning, Shiori shouts.”

One of your brothers walks up behind you and puts his hand on your shoulder. "This is it, your time to choose, this is one wild ride and if you don’t have the stomach for it then you best get off, we have no place for weakness, we are her swords in times of need and she’s our anchor, we trust her implicitly, we ride or we die, that is what it means to be NovelKnight, and none of us want to see you lose yourself as others did, to the NoveLights…” Those words trigger something instinctual in you, the former, familiarity, the latter, anger. How long have you been here? How long has Inkwell stood? Answers to questions you’re unable to recall and yet the one constant has always been her presence in your life. You search your heart, you were already devoted to her, ready to follow any command, protect her and indulge her every whim, even fantasying mass murder in her name, just to see her cheerful innocent smile. Was it even a fantasy? You don’t know anymore. But she holds the answers, you want to know, and you will pay her price. You will ride or die for her. You will be her sword; you will guard the secrets of Inkwell... her secrets. With new resolve you dig into the meat, swallowing bite after bite. If this is her prized possession, becoming one with it makes you her prized possession too. There's no room for doubt. No room for weakness, even if the road leads to madness, as long as it’s by her side it will be worth it.
Whatever it is that is coming, and she will need you.
The witch of Inkwell needs (you).