I stepped up to each one and placed a hand on them, but they all felt the same, so I went and sat down in front of the three of them. I let my chin rest on my hand and looked up at the doors. My mind was still trying to process what the voice had told me. I still didn't understand what any of it meant.
Looking up at the doors, I let my gaze bounce between the symbols, thinking about each of them. A mountain didn't sound that good, but then again, it might be a remote and safe place to start. The city would give me more options, but the last one was the most interesting. A castle could be a good thing, but it could also mean that I start in the village below. There could be a mean person living in the castle, and they might make my life tough.
Still, it really did seem like the best balance of the three, so I stood up and faced the door. As I walked forward, something about cementing my choice in this door made me feel better, but the feeling was ineffable. Once I was at the door, I reached for the handle, but before I could touch it, the door swung open on its own.
I stumbled backward in surprise and nearly tripped over something behind me. I turned to see what it was, and my heart nearly stopped when I saw a girl lying on the ground. She was beautiful, with long black hair and delicate features. But she also had a pair of large horns protruding from her forehead, and her eyes were glowing a bright red with a fire burning within her pupils.
"What are you?" I asked, but she just lay there calmly and watched me with amusement.
"You should be more careful, my King," she said in a sultry voice. "You could have hurt yourself."
I gaped at her in disbelief. Was this some kind of monster? And if so, why wasn't it attacking me? And what about the King part?
"King?" I asked in a confused voice.
"My name is Melodious," she said, sitting up and giving me a seductive smile. "And I'm here to be your Queen and weapon in the future."
"Queen?" I repeated in confusion.
"Yes," she said, crawling towards me on her hands and knees. "I will be with you every step of the way, helping you to become the King you were meant to be."
As she spoke, I noticed that her horns were slowly retracting into her forehead until they disappeared completely. And her eyes stopped glowing red, returning to their normal color. Suddenly, she didn't look like a monster anymore. The thing was, she almost looked normal, and for some reason, I didn't find her attractive anymore.
"Please return to your form. I would prefer that you were yourself," I said and offered Melodious my hand.
She accepted, and I pulled her to stand before me in a red dress as her horns returned along with the fire in her eyes. She reached out and stroked my cheek with her hand, and I felt a strange warmth spreading through my body. "If that is what you want," she purred.
Before I could say anything, she leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. It was electric, and I felt my whole body tingling as our mouths moved together. Melodious pulled away too soon, leaving me breathing heavily and wanting more.
"So what do you say?" she asked breathlessly. "Are you ready to see your new life?"
I hesitated for a moment, but then I nodded my head. It didn't matter if she was a monster or not. There was something about her that I couldn't resist. And besides, it wasn't like I had any other choice. "Yes," I said finally. "I accept, my Queen."
"Good," she said, her eyes glittering with excitement.
"What is the point of all of this anyway?" I asked as she pulled me through the door I had opened and out of the darkness into a castle. I tried to look back at the door I had come through, but there was only a stone wall.
Melodious gave me a mischievous glance and then began to explain. "This is the start of your new life," she said. "And you will use this castle as a base for all of your adventures. You are now the King of Monsters, and it is your job to defend them against those who would harm them while also killing the ones that only wish to destroy."
I nodded slowly as my mind began to wrap around what she was saying. I had promised vengeance, and now it seemed like I had a purpose that fits with that promise. "I understand," I said finally.
"Good," Melodious said, satisfied. "Now, I am going to need you to trust me. I had to make some plans with a human to train you and hopefully help remove that fog from your mind. You are to be careful with him because he does not know how to hold back. He also hates monsters and refuses to deal with them, but that is not until tomorrow. For today, I will show you around the castle, and then we can get some rest."
"Lead the way, my Queen," I said and followed her out of the castle. As we walked outside, I noticed that the sky was a deep shade of purple, and the stars were glowing brightly. It almost felt surreal, like I was in a dream.
"The sky is never truly dark, but the days are in shades of purple. This is because a rare celestial event has occurred, causing an influx of dark matter to enter the atmosphere and create a thick, purple hue. As a result, the sun is unable to penetrate the dense layer of dark matter, resulting in a purple sky during the day. Even more strange is that the effects of this dark matter have also started to manifest on a supernatural scale, granting enhanced powers and abilities to those with available potential. You have that said potential," Melodious explained as if reading my mind, but more likely, she was just being observant.
I nodded, looking up at the sky in awe. I had no idea how I was going to use this potential, but I was ready to find out. "Lead the way," I said again, a little more confidently this time.
Melodious smiled and then began to show me around the castle. As we walked, she pointed out all of the different features, such as the library that had been recently filled and the guest rooms. The one thing that I found strange was that there was no one else in the castle. It was just her and me.
"We are the only ones here, for now, along with our maid, Fiona," she said as if reading my mind again. "But you will soon make allies, both human and monster alike."
I nodded as I followed her around the castle, but we stayed on the bottom two floors for the most part. Even though I still had so many questions, I felt more confident with each step. This was a new start, one that could finally bring me closer to fulfilling my promise of vengeance that I still didn't understand.