Inspired by The Lunar Chronicles, Once Upon a Time, Ever After, The Company of Wolves, Red Riding Hood, Ella Enchanted, Into the Woods, Snow White A Tale of Terror, Snow White The Fairest of Them All, and Mirror Mirror. It takes place in a fairy tale world where the characters are based off of classic fairy tale characters.
When you were a child I bet you were told stories about fairy tales such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood. Magical stories filled with danger, romance, friendship, family, good triumphing over evil. I'm sure you loved hearing those stories as a child and most likely outgrew them once you entered adulthood believing them to be nothing more than a childish fantasy. But what if I told you that all these stories actually happened but not in the way you were told as a child? What if I told you that Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood actually existed only their names were changed? What if I told you that the evil Queen and the wicked stepmother were the same person? What if I told you that the big bad wolf wasn't as bad as you think? And what if I told you that all of these three stories were all just a part of one great big Tale? If you would like to know the true story of Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood then you're in for a very special treat. So sit back, relax, and listen as a tell you the story of three maidens: One as pure as gold, one as fair as snow, and one as strong as blood.
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Now reader before we begin I must tell you that we will have to go back a couple times to tell a character's story otherwise you won't understand them that well. We will be going back three times since our main focus will be on three main characters. Now then what is that phrase you use before you begin a story? Oh yes now I remember.
Once upon a time a great evil spirit plagued the land and caused mass destruction and chaos wherever it went. This spirit would have no doubt destroyed the world had the good fairies and wise men not sealed it away, hidden it from the eyes of man. Until one day that spirit was once again discovered and it began it's evil plan to escape it's prison.
Sometime after the spirit was sealed away there grew a kingdom called Fiore which by now has been forgotten by most but in the beginning it was a well known kingdom which was ruled by a good and wise king but this isn't a story about him. No it's about a young girl who loved her parents very much. Her name was Lucy, she was the daughter of a merchant named Jude and his lovely wife Layla. The very moment she was born Lucy became the most precious treasure her parents ever had. They gave her all they had but she was content with only their love.
"Lucy please stop running. You'll fall and hurt yourself." The pretty blonde woman said as her daughter ran excitedly toward the oak tree.
She and her husband walked hand in hand to the tree carrying a picnic basket and cloth.
"Ha! I beat you there! I win!" Lucy cheered.
"Yes you did. Now settle down and come eat lunch with us dear."
"Yes Mother."
They laid out a cloth and began to enjoy a delicious picnic lunch while sitting somewhere they could feel both the sun's warmth and the cool shade of the tree. After lunch Lucy went to pick a bouquet of wild flowers which she presented to her mother.
"For you Mother." She said.
"Oh Lucy they're beautiful." Layla said inhaling the flower's fragrance.
"Someday I'm going to have my own garden of flowers and fruit and a well and a little house for fairies."
"Fairies?" Her father Jude said.
"Yes. I read in a book that fairies like to stay in gardens so I'm going to a make a little fairy house to put in my garden so they're stay is more comfortable."
"What nonsense. Everyone knows that fairies do not exist."
Layla giggled and lifted Lucy into her lap.
"Your father doesn't believe in magic." She said.
"Well he should." Lucy said.
"You know Lucy you have a fairy godmother."
"I do?"
"Yes and someday when you really need her she'll show up."
"Really Layla must you fill our daughter's head with these silly tales." Jude said.
"But they aren't silly tales Jude."
"Then how come I've never seen these fairies?"
"Well just because you've never seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You've never seen love yet you know it exists."
"Yes but that's an entire different matter."
"I see no difference."
"Oh come here you."
Jude grabbed his wife and daughter, embracing, nuzzling, and tickling them causing the three of them to roll down the hill laughing. Out of all the families in Fiore I don't think one was as nearly as happy and full of love as Lucy's was. Everyday was almost like a holiday filled with neverending laughter. But for some happiness cannot last forever and Lucy's ended much too soon. She was still merely a child when her parents perished in a fire that destroyed her entire home. No one knew how the fire started and many did not care. When Lucy returned from playing with the other children she found her home in ashes, her father and mother barely alive. With her dying breath Layla said these final words to her daughter.
"My dearest child always be good and pious and someday you will be loved and rewarded for all you have suffered. And even when your father and I have descended into heaven we will always be at your side."
In that moment she passed away.
"Mother no! No Mother please don't leave me!" The child begged. She then went to her father's side. "Father please don't go!"
The man could only weakly caress his daughter's cheek.
"I love you." He said with his last breath.
"Father no! Father please come back!"
The other peasants could only look upon her with tears of sorrow and pity as she clung to her dead parents and begged them to somehow come back to life. Eventually the child was forced to except that her parents would never return to earth and bury them. After mourning for three days Lucy went to live with the only living relative she had. Her mother's twin sister Minerva. Now Minerva happened to be the queen of Fiore and it was said that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. So beautiful that the very moment the good King Hector saw her, he asked her to marry him immediately.
When Lucy saw her aunt for the first time she was surprised to see that she looked nothing like her mother. She was a slim and attractive woman with long glossy black hair that went down to her back and slanted dark eyes with a face that resembled a geisha. She was definitely as lovely as rumors said she was but her beauty was only skin deep and she was a very vain and selfish woman who took an instant dislike of her niece.
"Don't think that just because we're family that you'll be treated like a little princess here." She told her. "From now on you must earn your keep. You shall work as a servant and live in the kitchen. If you do not do as your told or if I hear one complaint you shall be thrown out. Is that understood?"
"Yes Auntie Minerva."
"How dare you address me with such disrespect!" She snapped. "I am queen! You shall refer to me as your majesty or your highness! Nothing else is that clear?"
"Yes your highness."
"Good now get out of my sight. Hmmph. You're almost as annoying as that pesky stepdaughter of mine."
Lucy sighed and went down to the kitchen where she fell asleep weeping by the fireplace