The dark, barren castle seemed to loom over the wide, deep chasm. The chasm seemed to contain a form of liquid, one which seemed to be a dark red in color, giving it the guise of a thin blood-like fluid.

The castle was built on a slight slope, but it was built as if it was shooting straight from the ground, giving is a slight tilt.

It's walls were a deep grey, almost blotted out by the familiar green ivy that had begun to germinate up from the bottom of the walls. The windows reminded anyone who saw it of miniature prison cells, for iron bars were shown to go up and down the window. 

But one girl saw this as her home. She seemed to constantly gaze out towards the vast horizon, the sun rose as the sky changed from a deep purple to a light yellow-orange.

Her long, flowing silver hair seemed to glitter as the sun shone upon her hair. The young girl sighed. "And today marks another unremembered birthday..." Her words seemed to echo off into the distance of the large bedroom.

She decided that this was not a time to waste, even if she seemed to be uninterested in this date, to be particular. There was a knock, followed by a high-pitched voice, "Lady Tasha, are you awake yet?"

"Yes." came her gloomy reply.

"There is somebody who'd like to meet you. They told me to tell you to meet them in the dining hall in thirty mults. They sounded urgent."

"Fine... I'll be there..." Tasha immediately left the balcony, and got dressed in the appropriate attire. She gracefully walked over to the door and pulled it open.

She walked down the flights of stairs that seemed to spiral into nothing, her thoughts empty, leaving her with nothing except for boredom, which did not seem to want to leave. 

Everybody in the castle knew why she was always so down when it came to her birthday, it wasn't pleasant. It was the very day that marked her Mother's Death, and it wasn't pretty.

But today was even worse, for it was her eighteenth birthday, meaning that she would soon have to settle down, and begin to study to become the next monarch in her family, something that she dreaded for as long as she could remember. 

This was something that she would rather not partake in at the moment. Her hands glided down the spiral railing as she descended down the steps towards the dining hall. When she had reached the bottom of the steps, she briskly walked down the long, bright hallway, which was lined with green carpet. and various paintings adorned the walls.

She recognized the large golden doors of the dining hall, and she placed her palms against them, utilizing her strength, she pushed the doors open, and walked inside.

There, she was met with a hard speedy tackle to her abdomen, she gazed down and saw that it was in fact, her very own younger brother Shawn.

"I knew it was you." she greeted him by returning his embrace.

"Did you like my surprise?" He beamed at her, his bright gold eyes piercing her silver eyes.

"You did... It's now not that bad for knowing that I will be met with a ton of suitors." 

"You haven't seen the best of it yet." He seemed particularly proud of what he had gotten her that's for sure. She ruffled his mercury gold hair. 

"Really? Well then, lets go see it then." Shawn nodded, and he grabbed her by the hand, tugging gently as he began to walk towards the back room, and Tasha followed suit. 

They had reached the back room, where there was a box. Shawn motioned his arm towards the box, and she followed his beckon. 

"Open the box." She obliged. She lifted the lid, revealing a rather small leather-bound book.

"Is this..." she began to ask.

"Yep." Shawn's smile grew even larger.

"I... Haven't heard or seen this book in a long time, not since-"

"Mom died?" 

She was silent for a moment. "Yes," she finally managed to choke out, "Dad hid the book afterwards, claiming that it was too tacky, and that I shouldn't pay attention to that lie of a book."

"How about then tonight, before we go to bed, you read to me the story?" His golden orbs seemed to glow up at her.

"Sure." The word seemed to hitch in the back of her throat, as if she knew where this would lead her.

Shawn grinned up at her. Tasha just stared at him, teary-eyed as she laughed a bit. "What seems to be the problem?" he inquired. 

"Nothing," she answered, rubbing her eyes, "Its, just that Dad will be furious if he finds out that you gave me this book. I imagined the look of disgust on his old, wrinkly face." Shawn looked at her, and he too began to laugh.

"Don't tell him I said that though." Tasha added with a wink. 

"'Don't tell me you said' what?" boomed a new voice, to which Tasha felt herself stiffen up  with nervousness.

"Hello Father." Shawn politely said, bowing with respect. 

It took a minute before Tasha did the same, hiding the book in her robe as she did so. "I wanted to tell you that I may not be ready for what will happen soon."

"Well, you're lucky, because I have decided to postpone the meetings until next week."

"Yes Father," Tasha's voice squeaked out, "I'll be sure to be ready by then."

"As you should." Their father turned away, waving his hand, as if he was dismissing them. "I'll see you both at dinner, I'll have news to bear then." And with that, he had exited.

Silence had filled the room, the air of dread filling it to the brim for a while. "Tasha."

Tasha looked over at her brother, who had his hands balled into fists. "Yes?" she barely managed.

"Why... Do you let Father treat you that way? All he ever does is talk politics this, politics that, and never seem to care about you."

Tasha kept her silence as Shawn continued, "He seems to only care about the fact that someday, you'll be taking over for him as Queen, and so he feels that he should prepare you for it, its just wrong."

"I know..." she choked out.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he'd prefer that I take over, being a son and all, but instead he has to deal with the daughter being the heir."

She still stood there, silent. Shawn paused for a while, Tasha stared at the ground, as if she was staring at something interesting. She eventually thought that her brother had left. "I know what Father does to you." Tasha, who had begun to relax, had frozen up with fear, and not just because she thought that Shawn had left, but because of the content of what he had blurted out. 

And that made her fear for the worst.

"Did he..."

"No," he sighed, "He told me what he had done, and I do not condone it at all," he folded his arms, "I was ready to talk to you about it, all you had to do was ask."

Tears spilled out of her silver orbs, and she held her arms out as she ran over to him. She hugged him tightly, her voice shaking as she whispered "You, Shawn, are too good for this disturbing and depraved world."

Shawn just wrapped his arms around her in response, "Its okay Tasha, Dad ain't her right now. Its just me, only me."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Hey, look at me," Shawn had pulled her so that her eyes were staring into his, "Look, I don't want to see you like this, I mean come on! Its your birthday! You shouldn't be sad on the day of your birth. Come on, let's make this day unforgettable."

Tasha nodded her head and pulled away. What had she done to deserve a brother like Shawn? It was unbelievable. She wiped her tears away as she had gotten up to her feet. "Where are we going to go to then?"

"Only to the greatest place ever! Guess where it is?"

Tasha thought for a moment. "Is it the Halukar Gardens?" 

"Mhm! Aren't you excited?"

"I should be more than what I am feeling at the moment." Tasha brought a hand to her face. 

"Then let's go!" Shawn grabbed his sister's free hand and began to pull her off towards the exit door, "There, you can read me that story!"

Tasha smiled sincerely for once, "Sure, I'll do that..."

It only took the two royalty about half an hour before they had arrived at the Halukar Gardens, its signature Rosemburg Snaps hanging from the redwood trees, their rose-like petals dangling loose as the two sat down under one of the snaps. 

"Are you ready?" She patted a patch of grass next to her.

Travis sat down next to her, his legs crossed. "Alright! Its story time!" 

Tasha smiled as she pulled out from her cloak the wooden-bound book. She flipped the cover open and gazed at its old, musty pages. 

She began to read the contents of the pages, "Of all of the ancient text found throughout Dundervalia, the most interesting of which are The Sins."

"What were these Sins?" Shawn scratched his head softly.

"The Sins were a chosen group of people, whom of which were augmented in many ways. People called it a blessing, and a curse. The blessing comes from what happened with these people- They were bless with more abilities than the normal Dundervalian person, particularly more than their species' abilities are."

"So they were essentially powerhouses?"

"The said abilities that they had gained had also to deal with which 'Great Sin' they were. The proxies chosen were always of a different species, as to prevent one species having more power than the others. Their most defining trait comes from their birth. They each had a birthmark of the animal of which they were the living reincarnation, of their Sin, each in a unique place."

"Where did the curse part play in?" Tasha flipped the page.

"The curse part played in with their powers, and other things as well. Since they were reincarnations of Sins, their personalities were somewhat built upon the Sin's birthmark. But there was another thing that was special about them. Their ability to posses more than one magic was due to their' Very Own Soul's Eyes'- a trio of eyes that exist within them. When open, they can make the Sins more powerful than the average Dundervalian. But closed, they can cause problems, and depending on which Sin's eyes are closed, can cause major problems for themselves or others around them." 

"What happened to them?" Tasha flipped through the pages, as if she didn't know the exact answer.

At last she had found it. "Eventually the Sins were granted Knighthood as a way of saying thanks for all their hard work in their most current reincarnations, Sir Daren and his fellow Sins were granted this when he saved our ancestor, Syrus Sivelton."

Shawn nodded. Tasha continued, saying "Syrus granted the souls a job offer- To become an order of knights to defend Dundervalia from all forms of harm. And after a few centuries, the current Sins felt at home."

"But their greatest challenge had yet to rise. Almost a decade ago, the Sins went in for another mission yet again. The Gallopian Mountains had held, for the longest time, the Dark One. And at the time, it was said that he was near the summit, close to escaping. So Sir Daren took his knights, and a battle was fought, but they were in a trap."

"There was a spy in their midst, whether or not it was a Sin is still unknown, but Syrus had died in battle, and the Sins took the blame. And nobody has seen or heard of them since, they are still known as a public enemy by Father." She spat out the last word.

Shawn stood up, and stretched his arms out. "Well, that is still a great story."

"Yes, it sure is," said a new voice, the duo turned to looked at the voice's owner, "Too bad that a band of warriors were cast out for a small deed such as that."

The man was young, around Tasha's age, and he was looking down. He wore a black jacket, but it was dusty, his gray slacks faded and torn, his left hand was covered by a silver leather glove, and his right hand was cut up, and bruised black.

Tasha had looked at him and smiles, "Well, it's not everyday we meet somebody whose view on the Sins differs from the normal hatred. I'm Tasha by the way."

The young man took her hand and shook it, "I'm Daren."

"Like as in Sir Daren?"

"No, my mom named me after him, I guess..."

"Tasha! Don't -" Shawn began.

"Don't mind him, my brother Shawn can be a bit protective, so don't pay much heed to him. Don't be offended by him."

"None taken."

"Now, you said you guess, what's all that about?"

"That's the thing... I don't know, anything for that matter, I'm what you may call an amnesiac."

"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's all good, I get that often. So what brings you to a place like the Halukar Gardens today?"

"Nothing much, I was just reading the story to Shawn. I have a question for you exactly."

"We'll then, shoot away."

"What's with your glove?"

"Oh that?"

"Yes."

"Well, I don't know exactly."

"Can I see it then?" Tasha held out her hand to grab the glove, but Daren pulled his hand back.

"Sorry, but no you can't."

Tasha was surprised by his sudden change in behavior, "I'm sorry?" she seemed confused, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you're not the first, I guess it's a force of habit. Even I haven't pulled off this glove."

"Doesn't that concern you?"

"Not at all, don't worry, it really is all good." He smiles at her, and she smiled back.

"But, since Shawn here is so wary of me talking to people I'll have to check you out." She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them to scan him up and down.

"Uh, check me out?" Daren was a bit confused.

"It's something our mom's side of the family is known for, our eye prowess, I can see if people in the area are good or bad people. An' done." Tasha closed her eyes abruptly and rubbed her temples.

"Are you okay?" he inquired, concerned.

"The larger the area, the larger the strain, and the Halukar Gardens is large."

"Tasha, are you sure of this?" Shawn seemed a bit more concerned than before.

"If you want to check him too go ahead, he's a good man."

"Fine. Hey Daren?"

"Yes?"

"If you really are an amnesiac, answer me this: Do you know who you are talking to? And I don't mean names." His eyes also closed a moment before opening.

"Uh, no I don't. Why, is there a problem if I don't know?"

Shawn's eyes widened. "He's saying the truth. Sorry for my skepticism."

"Will you just tell me who you two are, because you both have intrigued me."

"Oh, that. Hello Daren, I'm Princess Tasha, and this is my younger brother, Prince Shawn, and we are King Alfor's children." She have him a small bow.

"Alright, nice to meet you both."

"Yes indeed it is," said a new voice, the trio turned to look at the crazed cloaked figure, "Too bad I must break this meeting but I have my mission."

"And what is that mission?" Daren asked, moving to stand in front of Tasha and Shawn.

"Oh, it doesn't concern you young man," the figure retorted, "All that matters is that I will do ANYTHING to accomplish it."

And before Tasha could react, the figure launched himself towards the children, and time seemed to slow as they weren't fast enough to react to it.

The figure hurled past Daren, whose eyes had widened, and past Tasha, and the figure had grabbed Shawn by the collar of his jacket.

At this point there was a commotion as the people were scattering about, in panic and fear.

The figure landed in the closest branch on the tree that they were sitting under.

"He'll be pleased I have him." The figure held Shawn easily with one hand, Tasha was frozen n fear.

And Shawn screamed as the figure had darted away from them, and Tasha screamed for her brother's name one last time.