Hello! I'm back. Feeling a bit more refreshed for this story, something I'm much more interested to write than my previous fiction.
The original concept for the story came from 'cheddarpenguin' who was a HTTYD story with the title 'The Selection'. Very good, I suggest you read. Regardless! You stumbled on my story, so strap in for a ride because we bout to get bumpy :)
Summer had just begun to roll around, the winds blew softly across the grasslands, through every alley and corner. Swiftly making its trip across the country of Mewni, it took with it a green leaf, a lush kind of leaf – one that had just bloomed and left its tree: Life, tranquillity and calmness were all things that could be said about it, the green kite then graced itself to a window ledge. The house to which it owed the pleasure was the Diaz household.
Despite my earlier saying of a 'window ledge', it couldn't exactly be called so since it lacked any sort of glass pane to keep the elements out.
They weren't a rich family, not by any means at all – the youngest; only child, Marco lost his father when he was seven due to a coal mine cave in. It hit the entire family but his mother most of all, they were already struggling to get any sort of food on the table. The death had only made her more stressed about Marco's well-being, while also forcing a 16-year-old Marco to get a job. He worked as a fish gutter, wasn't the most elegant job, but it paid. And the only thing that matters in this world, is money.
A sweaty Marco was running home, it was late by now – about 6:30. He knew that his mother would still be out at work but by God was he desperate to get some food in his system, one perk (if you could call it that) of working in the fishing factory was that they got access to free fish, the bad ones. It was a little discoloured along its head, but he was sure that if he got it home as soon as possible, the boy would've been able to separate that part and produce an ample piece of food. Probably even have some left over for his mother, Angie Diaz.
Diaz Home
The teen barged through the door, slamming it in a very stereotypical fashion. After throwing his coat up on the hanger he dashed into the kitchen and grabbed an old, slightly rusted knife and began to carefully carve his way around the skeleton of the water creature. The time was now 7:23PM and he had just finished the preparation, he opened the oven with a loud creak – the glass had a small crack in the top right corner and the pane itself was brown, almost impossible to see anything through. But it worked, he gently slid the delicacy into the oven before turning the heat to 232 *C.
A few minutes later his mother entered the household, with a loud sigh, she crawled from the doorway with bags under her eyes. "Oh, you're back already dear?" She asked, a genuine intrigue held within her motherly voice.
"Yeah, there's a fish in the oven now, it'll be done in 4 minutes." He then turned to her with a smile before ending with, "And it's a good one this time!" He exclaimed with big, giddy eyes. A soft grin formed across Angie's face as she stared at her little boy with a hint of proudness in her façade.
"Welp! If we're gonna eat like a wealthy janitor tonight, then might as well feel like it!" She replied with the same enthusiasm, "I'll set the table, you get the food served!"
"Aye aye captain!" He saluted.
Butterfly Castle
I wish that I could say anything about the magnificent monument of power was humble, but it wasn't. The entire structure screamed wealth and power. Multiple layers of rock, built sturdily one on top of another, on top of another – for what seemed like an eternity to any Mewman stood on the ground.
About 3 floors up laid the dining hall, a sight to take your breath away indeed – golden coloured tapestry flourished every molecule of the wall, which expanded upwards far more than was necessary for any Mewman building. A large oak table sat in the centre of the colossal room, yet it wasn't out of place. There was also a checker-ed floor which emitted a sense of both formality and class.
On one side sat the King himself, River Butterfly. On the juxtaposing side sat Queen Moon Butterfly, then in between the two on opposing sides again, sat both Princess', Star Butterfly and Ophelia Butterfly. They were eating a feast, to celebrate the coming of Summer and the upcoming event which was about to be held to find a suiter for Ophelia, it was known as 'The Choosing'. An event performed for millennia to find royal suiters in Mewni, Star was the same age as Ophelia, but her personality was a lot more… Rambunctious than Ophelia's. The two parents had chosen to make Ophelia the next Queen and for any offspring from her to follow on.
By no means was Star a terrible person, she was one of the most kind-hearted people anyone ever knew. But she was simply too immature to rule an entire country, Ophelia was the contrast of this. While Star remained bubbly and transparent, Ophelia was cunning, smart – witty and knew how to play people to get what she wanted: The perfect queen.
"Excited for the choosing are we dear?" River asked in a loud tone which captivated the entire room, the princess laid her cutlery down gently and turned towards her father.
"Oh yes father, I'm most delighted with the choosing about to begin. I'm dearly looking forward to see what kind of men are drawn in." Her innocent smile made Star want to vomit, whilst she may look like she is an elegant butterfly. A sinister demon lived deep within her soul, Star played with her food when thinking about the bitch. She had hated cursing, always had – but when it came to her sister she couldn't help but feel an unhealthy amount of rage boil inside her veins, threatening to tear down the entire castle if ever unleashed.
"Star, stop playing with your food. It's bad manners." Moon addressed with a glance towards the little butterfly's side of the table.
"She's right you know," River started, "try taking a page from Ophelia's book, the perfect embodiment of both manners and charm." A slight twitch occurred on Star's left eye when her father dared to spew these words of blasphemy out. She gave one last stab into her sausage before standing up.
"I'm excused." She said in a calm manner before politely strolling out of the room, once far enough away she slammed her fist into the wall. A growl escaped her throat as she tried to recollect herself before heading for her bedroom. She had a good relationship with her parents during early childhood, but it seemed like she began to drift away from them. Becoming more and more like one of the worst Queen's to ever live: Eclipsa.
Once they had noticed the change, they had decided that they should get a 'backup' in case Star failed; to them she already had. That was where Ophelia came in, a secret adoptive baby who was given the family name and named heiress to the Kingdom of Mewni.
Next Morning – Diaz Household
Marco woke up with a yawn, it was a Saturday today, meaning that he didn't have work. His mother did but she had only needed to go in for 4 hours. He was still in work mode though, so he awoke at about 7AM. Getting a cold shower, then brushing his teeth with a year-old toothbrush and a toothpaste tube which seemed like a flat piece of paper at this point. He eventually got to breakfast and had some leftover potatoes from last night's dinner. On his way out, he passed by a flyer hanging in the street which read.
"Don't forget! The Choosing is happening this Saturday to decide which 13 teenage men will be invited to the royal castle to find true love with the almighty princess Ophelia." The Choosing huh? Wouldn't that be something if I were picked… Ha, no… There's no way they'd draw a peasant like me to go to the castle. He swiftly passed on by the flyer and headed towards a pond he always visits, he liked wildlife – something about it made him feel at peace.
After a few moments of sitting there in solitude, he overheard two teens talking. "Dude, you heard that the Choosing is happening tonight!?"
"The hell's a 'Choosing'?" A slightly chubbier teen replied.
"Man, you don't know what the 'Choosing' is!?" The other shook his head. "It's this thing where one of the royal prince/princess' gets to have 13 guys of their age drawn from across the country to stay for a couple week in the castle. During their stay they have to try and win the heart of the princess/prince! And after the first 3 days, a person is removed each day until 1 remains." The original speaker was seemingly a little too into his fantasies here. He leaned in closer to the chubby friend and whispered, "I heard that Princess Ophelia is thick."
The bigger friend then started to form a slight blush on his cheeks.
The two eventually wandered off and began to talk about some other thing to do with sneaking into a tavern, leaving Marco and some ducks to have a very one-sided conversation. "Hey." He said while staring into deep, empty orbs. "Yeah… I sometimes feel a bit empty too." *Quack* "As if you'd understand." An aggressive *quack* followed this statement, "A feisty duck, are we?" It nodded in response. The two continued this awkward conversation for quite some time before Marco looked up in the sky and realised that it was approaching noon. "Oh crap! I need to get home." He broke into a mad dash.
It was mandatory for all people of age to come to the centre of the local town square to find out who would be going to the castle. It would be announced at 2PM, so Marco needed to get home and make some food out of scraps that were laying around.
Once again, his mother arrived when he was making the food, he finished up and ate before giving her a goodbye hug and leaving the house. Once he arrived at the square, numbers 1 to 4 had already been announced. Crap I'm late. He squeezed his way on through and stared at the speaker in front of everyone. "5. James Allovgarden. 6. Matthew timmings. 7. Alexander Pattio. 8. Marco Diaz. 9. Freeman Sanders." – Wait… Did she just… Marco gazed on the board which had all the names under a piece of sticky tape, waiting to be pealed off as announced. Sure enough, there lay his name next to a silver number 8.
Anyone who knew Marco in the town glanced in his direction, each one sharing the same expression: Confusion. The rest of the names all became a blur to Marco as he was trying to piece all of it together, once finished the announcer asked if anyone called was present. Marco raised his hand, "Excuse me!" He called, "Is there some kind of mistake?" The caller looked puzzled by this question.
"No, there is never a mistake when choosing a candidate. Even if there were, once called – there isn't anything anyone can do about it: You are in the choosing." All colour seemed to flow out of Marco's face and into whichever dimension was furthest from him. He couldn't leave his mother all alone for that long, there'd be no way for her to cook and clean and work and shop if he's gone.
"Don't worry Mr Diaz, your family will be taken care of while you are in the Choosing. So, if you intend to give a good life to your family, stay in there as long as you can." She finished with a wink.
Well… Shit.
Yes, as you've probably been able to tell by now, it will be a T fiction with quite a few curse words in - I want to write something a bit more grounded in reality than my first fanfiction which was very... Fairytale, like.
Anyhoo - Review, it gives me motivation to write more, leave constructive criticism or any suggestions for where to take the story. Thank you ~
