Of all the gifts Mélisande had received, the most precious was a diadem from her mother when she was but a child. [Promise me you will never remove this gift of mine,] she had said. Though Mélisande did not understand the meaning, she wore the heirloom at all times, until, one night, the promise was broken. Suddenly, monstrous horrors reached out from the shadows and tore away her mother's gift, and it was only then that the young maiden understood why she had been never to let it go.