The Princess of Relic Island

A direct sequel to 'the girl in the castle' taking place immediately after meeting the woman. The girl finally gets an identity after realizing she doesn't have one.

Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a large castle on a small island. On this island that had both forgotten the outside world and had been forgotten by the outside world, time passed slowly and leisurely. There were enough supplies inside the castle that the girl never need worry about worrying about food or water or things to do. In a relatively short period of time, she had mastered things that would take a normal person a majority of their lifetime.

However, there was one thing she did not have on the island: company. The only brother she had had disappeared one day and she no longer remembered anything except that he existed. Although she wasn’t lonely anymore, she really did want to meet another person. Then, one morning, she met that person.

It was a woman in a green shirt and white pants. She was very pretty and had dark brown that reached her shoulders, but her most striking feature were her eyes which were like verdant green prairies. Although she arrived first, the woman was not alone. Soon, the girl could see various large ships in the distance and helicopters flying towards the island. In no time at all, there were plenty of adults in the same green and white uniforms landing off the beach. Most were carrying dangerous looking weapons, but some others weren’t. The girl quickly deduced that these people were probably from some nation’s military.

The girl was happy. She had wished to meet people and that wish had been granted. One by one, she went up to each of the soldiers and properly greeted them by shaking their hands. They didn’t all want to, but some did and said hello. By the time the last helicopter was landing, the beach and the entrance to the castle was covered by people in green and white uniforms.

A man stepped out of the last helicopter. He had salt and pepper hair and wore a business suit. His shades kept the sand from blowing into his eyes, but he didn’t seem pleased when it flew up his news and into his mouth. The woman, who had been standing beside the girl until that point, raised her hand in a salute along with the other soldiers.

The man saluted back, but it wasn’t stiff and formal like the others, it was as if he was waving at a passersby. He then approached the castle doors. He took off his shades and his eyes focused on the girl.

“So,” he said addressing his direct subordinate besides the girl, “is this the girl you were talking about?”

“Yes, sir.” the woman replied. “She says the only one living here and I haven’t seen any other soul, sir.”

“Is that so?” The man nodded and then spoke to the girl. “Is that true? Where are your parents?”

“I don’t know.” The girl shrugged. She didn’t know her parents, but since she was alive she had to have parents so she couldn’t she didn’t have any.

“What about your guardians, a grandmother, perhaps, or maybe an aunt or uncle?”

The girl shook her head. “I live here by myself.”

“You live here by yourself? How long have you been here?”

“I don’t know.” the girl said again. “Since I was born…I think.” Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure just how long she was there. She had never had any reason to think about it, but now that she did, only the dark figure of her brother appeared before her.

“Okay…” the man seemed skeptical. “So you’ve lived her alone since you were born? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“No. I live alone now, but my older brother used to live with me.”

“Oh, where did he go?”

“I don’t know.”

“…What does your brother look like? What’s his name?”

“I…don’t know.”

“…………What’s your name?”

The girl’s eyes opened in shock. She was not surprised because of the question itself but because she did not have answer for it. “My name…I…I don’t know…my name.”

Had her brother called her something before? To her, her brother was always “big brother” or just “brother.” Was she always called “little sister” or “sister” by him too? As she agonized over her fragmented memories, the man continued his questioning.

“So you don’t know your own brother’s name, his face or even your own name or how long you’ve been in this place. What about your birthday or how old you are? Do you know that?”

The girl couldn’t say that she did. She only shook her head. “But,” she said desperately, “I do know a lot of other stuff. I know how to cook and garden and play musical instruments and, and a lot of other stuff too!”

“That’s wonderful.” the man honestly praised her. “Kids these days are lazy and complain too much so if you learned all of that hear that’s truly great. But, what does all of that matter when you’ve got no identity? They’ll be no name on your paintings, everybody will praise your culinary skills, but they’ll have no idea who made it.”

“I made it!”

“And who are you?”

“I’m…I’m…” the girl had never thought about anything like that before. Her face felt hot from having something so glaringly obvious pointed out to her like her. But she was always alone. There was nobody to taste her food, to see her paintings, to enjoy her gardens. There had never been a need for her to have a name or an identity.

But even so!

“I’m me!” the girl said, boldly staking her claim on the right to exist. No, she did exist. She wasn’t a figment of her own imagination or someone else’s. Cogito ergo sum she had read that in one of her books.

“Are you?” The man didn’t seem to be convinced, however. “Does the universe exist if we don’t recognize it? Did that, which is not remembered, happen at all? If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?”

“Those,” the girl said a little heated, “are all…contradictions. My brother is real and so is this island and so I am too!”

“…Or is it just because we’re here that you can say you exist?”

“I am real! In that case, maybe the dinosaurs aren’t real either. Maybe everything about the world is a huge lie and the past never happened at all. What if all that was fabricated? How do you know you exist?”

The man smirked and said with an air of supreme superiority, “I know my name. I know the people who gave birth to me. I know my brother got married because I attended his wedding.” He spread his arms grandly and looked around. “I have this job and all these wonderful subordinates who can attest to my existence and I to theirs. But you, you have none!”

The girl’s eyes grew hot and became blurry. She screamed at the top of her lungs, “I’M A REAL HUMAN TOO!!”

Was this what people were like? What was a person too? The girl felt something from deep within her slowly creep up. It was something she feared, something she absolutely did not want to come to remember. Something she had forgotten that she wanted to remain that way.

The black featureless figure of her brother appeared in front of her once again. A burning feeling slowly engulfed her heart. It was hatred, it was anger.

…Was it a painting? Somewhere, a city was red with flames and black smoke. She was looking down at that place from somewhere up high with that dark figure standing beside her.

“It’s like a fairy tale isn’t it?” A jovial voice brought the girl back from that dark place. Someone placed their hand on the top of head. It was the woman with green eyes. The burning in the girl’s heart disappeared almost instantly and she calmed down. “It’s like a story of a princess in forgotten tower or castle, right? How about ‘Princess’ be your name then?”

“Princess…?”

“Technically speaking, your castle-this island, isn’t a part of any known country. It’s small, but it’s your own little kingdom. Wouldn’t that technically make her a princess, sir?”

The man put his shades back on. “The forgotten princess of the lost island, huh? Princess Princess doesn’t sound like a very good name though. If Princess is going to be her title, we need to give her a proper name.”

“Well, then sir, how about you give her a name? You should do that much since you made her cry…”

There was some clear displeasure in that tone the woman took with her superior and he didn’t seem to be ignorant of it. “Very well…fine, I’ll give her name.” The man looked down at the girl. “Understand this, though, the moment I give you your name, you become ‘someone.’ You won’t just be ‘you’ anymore. You’ll be the princess of the forgotten island. You understand?”

The girl nodded her head. Suddenly becoming a princess was unexpected, but if it meant being acknowledged, she was prepared for it.

“Then your name is Cassie.” The man named her with a nod.

“Cassie, sir…” The woman was surprised by something.

“Huh? It’s a fine name isn’t it? Princess Cassie of..." He looked up to the large castle and smirked. "Relic Castle, er, Island, the Princess Relic Island, that’s who she is now.”

The man seemed content with that name and the woman accepted it as well. The girl, too, happily accepted her new name and title. Even if it was just an ‘in name only’ thing, she was happy to be recognized as a person.  

Reviews

[David Jae]

This is an interesting story that has a lot of potential and it would be interesting to see this continued.

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If there is a criticism, it feels too long and drawn out for what it offers and would benefit from being redrafted and cut down, to be made more concise.

Also, your dialogue is a bit stilted and you use a lot of exposition.

E.g.

"Most were carrying dangerous looking weapons, but some weren't. The girl quickly deduced that these were soldiers from some nation's military."

This could be better shown, not told.

E.g.
Looking out of the window, she saw the courtyard full of people standing in a regimented line, all wearing the same green and white tunics, arms rigidly held at their sides and eyes straight ahead.

This demonstrates their military nature without saying it outright.

On the positive side, your Protagonist is compelling and well-thought out.

Ganbare

[D.T. Tucker]

Thanks for the review. I considered continuing the story as well. Generally speaking, I had the idea of it being a prologue of sorts. I'll keep those pointers in mind, though, thanks.