Laputa has a minion!

Voél the Gardener

| Liete Latuparietos Ulos Aleaslos Balolietolie |
Save Me And Revive The Eternal Light

No matter how many weapons you have, no matter how great your technology might be, the world cannot live without love. -Sheeta, The Castle in the Sky

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Metallic pings chirped across the garden, mingling with the light language of the Laputians. The children's voices were the most beautiful, almost angelic as they danced among the flowers and the trees. Occasionally the Guardians had to gently shoo off the more rambunctious children, gathering broken limbs and crushed flowers gently in their arms before longingly placing them on the compost heap. The little girl with the black hair and the brown eyes was most concerned with this, watching as the Guardians paused and stared at the wilting plants, as if saddened by the loss, before moving off to tend to a baby bird attempting it's first flight, or to catch a little boy attempting his. The little girl followed them deftly on tiny feet, her royal robes trailing behind her in the long grass.

The Guardians were instructed to let her follow them. She believed her father knew nothing of her visiting the garden, he knew everything about it. He was pleased to see her happy, to get her away from the war rooms and the soldiers and the violence. Added to this was the absence of the queen due to her longstanding illness. With all these things weighing heavily on his heart, he wanted Lillita Toel Ul Laputa to have a full childhood. Letting her trail the Guardians was a simple, innocent enough way to let her do this. Granted, they would not let her climb any of the trees, and any show of inappropriate behavior was met with disapproving pings and chirps, but she was free in a way none of the royal family had ever been free.

“Do you like it here?” The Guardian turned towards the little princess, it's eyes focusing automatically. The princess giggled a bit, but her deep brown eyes were serious. “Watching over the tree must make you bored.” The Guardian paused, pinged twice, and picked a small purple flower from the grass. It turned, handing her the flower and tilting it's head. “Oh, I wish you could talk!” She said, taking the flower and sighing. “You could tell me so many stories about the animals. I know you can talk to them somehow!” The Guardian bowed slightly, excusing itself to go tend to a chirping bird.
The little princess trailed behind, chattering away, oblivious to the sounds of the bombers leaving the city walls.

---

“Father! Father!” Lillita shouted, her voice cracking as she tried to push through the wall of courtiers and soldiers.
“Get back princess!” One of the soldiers shouted. She stopped in her tracks, shocked.
“I command you to let me through! Let me see him!” She said, her eyes locking with the soldier. He licked his lips, shifting from one foot to the other.
“Your Majesty, you do not want to see this.” He said, his voice low, his eyes pleading. She looked at him, her own face softening a hair.
“Ruldolphin, you do not have to protect me any more.” She whispered. Ruldolphin stepped out of the way reluctantly. The princess entered the circle of people, stopped in horror, and dropped to her knees in a pool of red.
“Daddy?” She whispered.

---

“The violence has gone too far!”
“This war has cost us too much to end it that easily!”
“Our way of life is gone, Alfon! There are five women to every man in Laputa! The arm is crushed, the citizens are rebelling, and crime has spiked. Our King, killed, in cold blood. His wife no more than a breathing husk of the wonderful woman she is...was...our legacy is ruined. Leaving now would be the only way to preserve our life, the world below, everything.”
“What do you suggest we do, Tanicia?”
“We need to relocate the Princess.”

---

In the stillness of the night the Guardian's did not chirp or ping. They moved clumsily but silently through the gardens, always on their patrol. These were not fitted for war like their counterparts. Few if any of the Laputians knew of their violent counterparts, that destroyed villages whole and left craters where there once were castles. These Guardians were for peace, in a land of peace. They did not know politics, wars, murders. They knew trees, butterflies, and little moon-foxes.
“Guardian?” The summon was hushed by the wind, but the Guardian knew the call and came to the blue crystal. Lillita stood, cloaked in black, Rudolphin standing at her side.
“We should not be here, Lillita. We need to get out of here.”
“I will not leave the way they wish me to,” Lillita whispered.
“I know,” Rudolphin said.
“I want to leave with you.”
“We need to go now.”
“Please, I can't let this place go to ruin. I can't-” A slight ping caused her to stop talking. The Guardian stood a foot away, it's head tilted. She always liked this Guardian. “Laputa is dying, Guardian.” She whispered. The Guardian did not move. “Don't you understand dying? Like the branches children break. We're breaking off from it but we'll sprout again, like a geranium.” The Guardian pinged quietly in understanding. Lillita breathed “the others are going to be shut down, they...Alfon...is going to kill them so no one takes our technology.” Her voice broke. The Guardian looked down in sadness, like looking at a broken branch or a crushed flower or a lonely child. “By the power of the throne of Toel Ul Laputa, I command you to ignore their orders. You are to guard these gardens and my home for as long as you work. I know you can talk to the other Guardians, get as many as you can to listen. Please. For me.” The Guardian leaned forwards, handing Lillita a flower. She wiped her eyes, took the flower, and laughed. “Thank you, Guardian, I will come back. I will.”
With that, they vanished into the night.

---

“Pazu! Look at this place!”
The Guardian pinged, it's eyes flashing as it moved, lumbering on old joints stiff with moss, towards the voice. A tongue that translated oddly to it's mind, but the crystal hummed in the air. The castle felt it, the animals felt it, and the Guardian breathed it in. The Guardian could see them, long before they could see him. He watched as Lillita, just as she had been as a girl but dressed oddly, stepped through the grass. The soldier was at her side, but he was young as well. The Guardian wondered if it were dreaming again, for it had learned to dream when the others obeyed their orders and slept forever in the tree. He moved over the old walls and pathways, two things in his mind.
The first, the one that filled him with joy, was that she had returned home.
The second, was the constant chirping of a blue jay. There was a nest there, and that came above all else.

Based upon the movie Castle in the Sky by Hayao Miyazaki.

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Credits:
Profile by Ziva
custom overlay by Vail
guardian art by Shalashaska
background picture found using google images
story by Dauntless (formerly)
thank you martini for allowing me to adopt