A/N: Well here it is! Give it a chance. I hope you'll stick around for the journey.
THE LOST CROWN
Prologue: The Longest Night of the Year
"Laughing until your sides hurt are what friends are for."-Unknown
"In the world of women you either play by her rules or get destroyed."-Unknown
There was a small girl that looked exactly like herself when she was younger playing in the street with two other girls. The sun was beating down on their small village. It looked as if they were playing in the middle of Ancient Egypt. The younger version of herself laughed and curled her toes to play with the soft ground beneath her. She was holding a rag doll that was clothed with a single piece of purple fabric and had thick black yarn to substitute hair. She, herself, was clothed in a white dress but it was peasant clothing that she wore. Her playmates, who looked like the younger versions of her best friends Dawn and Leaf, were dressed just as simple, except their dresses looked fancier as if made of silk. One girl had dark, midnight blue hair that danced with the gentle breeze that occasionally passed by, while the other has light brown hair, only a shade lighter than hers, that was straight and long. The two of them had two golden tiaras wrapped around the tops of their heads. She touched the top of her head and only felt the heat that her hair collected from the sun and the few loose strands that made her hair look frizzy. There was no tiara on her head. The girls were playing hopscotch on the bank of a river, the Nile, when suddenly they heard the shrill screaming of nearby women. Turning, they saw the women grabbing their children and prized possessions and running away from the river. One woman clutched her heart and pointed, in fear, at the river. Exchanging a few quick glances, the girls turned to wear the woman was pointing and saw a large amount of water, as if someone had broken a dam, rushing towards them. The amount of water could flood the whole town. Suddenly, she was grabbed up by the water, but held a tight grip on her doll as the water whisked her away from her companions. Water kept rushing further and further and she struggled to stay in the surface, gasping for air. Then suddenly she could see nothing. She woke up and saw nothing on her side. The Nile had expanded and looked the size of a lake. The water in the trench that once was the Nile glimmered under the sun. On the other side of the trench was her playmates and everyone else from their village. They were cheering for their safety and basking in the glory of the new water. She looked around at what was at her side of the trench. There was no people, no village, not even her doll was with her. All that fate left with her was the sand that surrounded and the small grains that were picked up by the wind and were blown away.
"Hello? Hello! Can anyone hear me?"She called. But no one answered back.
She was completely and utterly alone.
May woke with a start and took a deep breath. Next to her she saw Dawn and Leaf silently snoozing as they waited to arrive at their new boarding school.
She flipped over to the other side where she faced the window. She silently cursed that her mother was sending her to boarding school. Ew. Just the very thought of a proper school with tidy uniforms and strict schooling just disgusted her. High school was for having fun and making memories. But at her suggestion, Dawn and Leaf begged their moms to send them with her, wherever she was being sent. Their moms could not fight that. They had been friends since kindergarten and separating them would just be cruel.
It was a bad sign to have a nightmare right before they arrived too.
But that dream could never happen. She would never be alone. She was a Queen. Always was and always will be. And she always had Dawn and Leaf.
She turned back and looked at her friends and smiled.
As long as I have them it'll be okay. And I'll always have them.
…
Her face was red with heat. She was so nervous.
So afraid of what people might say but that's okay cause you're only human.
May looked over her outfit and then over Dawn's and Leaf's.
She was wearing black pants and a red laced tank top. She wore multiple necklaces and her makeup was well done. Was she underprepared?
She didn't try as hard as Dawn and Leaf but comparing herself to them she felt inferior.
She shook her head.
This was her time. Her chance. Her opportunity. Her journey.
She would take it with both her hands.
Smiling, she watched the profile of the campus pass before her.
…
May unpacked half her bags when she heard a chime from her back pocket. She pulled out her phone and saw a new text.
To: May
From: Leaf
hey! we are going to dinner so get your butt downstairs. its sushi, your fav!
May smiled and abandoned her room, that she had to herself, to join her friends.
Dawn lead them to a Sushi restaurant she heard from their D.A. May noticed neither of her friends had changed. They were seated early and had a cute waiter with curly blonde hair flirt with them as he took their order.
Suddenly the door near them was opened, letting in a gust if cold air as a group walked in. The girls laughed louder than necessary and they were followed with guys, two looking as if they wanted to shoot themselves.
These girls…they were Queens.
But not by their own power. They were Queens by Kings.
May squinted and took a closer look at the guys; they looked popular and charming. Definitely kings.
So those guys…they are the ticket to the throne.
This marked the beginning, of their lives, of their fight, of the war.
A beeping noise woke her from her sleep. Groaning she opened her eyes and looked at her alarm clock. It was time for her to wake up. Slowly she picked herself out of bed and stretched her arms. She looked at her bedside table and saw a picture of Dawn, May and herself, wearing crowns and smiling at each other. She remembered the night the picture was taken. It was at the 8th grade Homecoming Dance, where she had been awarded Homecoming Queen for the 8th grade, not Dawn or May. Her. She gracefully walked about seven steps until she reached her bathroom door. The room was dark but she knew where the light was by instinct. She turned on the light and breathed in the sweet smell of the incense sticks. Then she turned to look at herself in the mirror. Instead of seeing her normal face, she saw a white, fragile, porcelain doll mask. A perfect and beautiful face with no visible faults. The way she had always wanted to be, the way she made herself to be. Slowly she untied the lace the stuck the mask onto her face and released its grip on her skin, a few of her light brown strands of hair flying up as this transaction took place. But even then she didn't see her face. She saw a terrible face instead. Still perfect, visibly but haunting, scary and evil. The face couldn't be human. It was too heart-wrenching. It had to be the face of a monster. But isn't that what she was? Could this terrible face be her own? Her reflection showed a pale face, with gloomy black eyes and blood red lipstick, but expression was horrifying. It was murderous. It was not moral. It was the face of a ghost or a vampire. Beautiful but nerve tingling. Suddenly the reflection of the monstrous face spoke to her.
"You are what you have always been. And you will become what you have been destined to be. The fate you meet will have been coming for you." A high pitched voice, that of a fake expression, sounded around her.
Leaf's eyes opened and she held the expression of a deer caught in headlights. She slowly let go of the breath she held. She rubbed her head. That had been terrible. What a nightmare.
She looked over at May facing the window as she slept and Dawn whose head was on her lap. She shifted her shoulders, without moving her legs so that she could look out the window.
What the heck could that dream mean? What was the fate that would be coming for her? She already knew that the two faces were her.
Perfect on the outside but miserable on the inside.
Outside her face had no visible faults, neither did her personality. She was sweet, caring and loving. But on the inside, the scary face matched her true demeanor. She was cunning, manipulative and selfish. Yes, that was hypocritical but she never said she was a saint.
She thought about the picture. The one from the 8th grade Homecoming where she was awarded Queen. Not Dawn or May but her. That crown was hers alone. But was it really? The three of them ruled their middle school together, the same way they planned to rule this new school. But that crown she got in the 8th grade wasn't hers. She shared it with her friends, just like they had shared theirs with her. Dawn won in 6th grade because she had the prettiest face, and that was all that really counted in a year where no one really knew each other. May won in 7th grade for being the party animal and the heartbreaker. The only reason she had won in 8th grade was because by the end of the three years, the other students had learned to fear May and Dawn. They chose her because she was the sweet one, the nice one, the one that showed mercy. She was chosen for her kindness.
She shook her head. She wasn't completely evil. Her sweet demeanor was actually how she was; there were just certain times when she needed to be cunning and manipulative. It was part of being a queen.
Slowly she brought her hand down on Dawn's dark hair and played with it softly so that she wouldn't wake her friend.
Leaf loved her friends, more than anything else in the world.
…
She exchanged looks with Dawn and May. Their eyes shone with their ambition.
"Obviously we'll be Queens of this school."
Confidence was key. There was no reason to be scared.
Leaf had straightened her hair so that her brown hair looked lighter and that it fell to her waist. She wore tight black skirt, silver sandals, and a green short sleeved sweater with a white cami underneath. Her eyes were outlined with black eyeliner and her new (and current favorite!) Vanilla lip gloss shone on her lips. A long layered silver necklace hung on her neck, hoops on her ears and a single silver bracelet on her left hand. Not to flashy but still statement worthy. Her green eyes shone bright as she fought down the unpleasant feeling in her stomach. No way was she scared.
First impression, here we go.
The campus suddenly presented itself to her from the windows of the car.
…
Leaf was jumping on her bed when someone started pounding on her door.
"Open the flippin' door!" Dawn was obviously in a good mood.
Leaf opened the door and barley grabbed her phone as Dawn yanked her outside the dorm. May soon joined them and Dawn dragged them to The Sushi Shack, Bell Academy's most popular restaurant.
She smiled as a cute boy with curly hair named Winston who spoke in a British accent took their order.
Leaf groaned as her eating was interrupted by cold air and obnoxious laughing. She turned and glared as she saw a couple of girls with some guys walk in a get seated.
These girls…they were Queens.
But not by their own power. They were Queens by Kings.
The guys were obviously the true power of this school. This would be easy work.
So those guys…they are the ticket to the throne.
This marked the beginning, of their lives, of their fight, of the war.
She was walking along a snowy road walking hand in hand with a guy who wore a scarf that blocked her view to his face. She kept looking up at this man, trying to figure out who he was.
It's the mystery that makes him so intriguing.
Suddenly her mystery lover pulled her hand so that she made a quick twirl and he could hold her in his arms. There was where she saw his eyes. Nothing else but his eyes. His dark, black eyes bore into hers and she could see the reflection of her bright, sapphire eyes. His eyes showed no emotion but a deep yearning and confusion held together by restraint. Did this man love her? He tenderly held her hand and brought the other hand up to gently caress her cheek. She saw his eyes flash with realization and her he turned his head away and dropped her hand. Then in a blink of an eye, he was gone. She gasped and ran in the direction where she saw him heading. Her breath was strained as the icy coldness stung her nose. Her eyes flew around frantically. She saw mystery man up ahead. Running as fast as she could, she called out for him. He stopped in his pace and turned. He was on the other side of railroad tracks while she was restricted from joining him by warning bells and sounds that gave notice that a train was approaching. Then she saw mystery man's face; it wasn't one that she had ever seen before or recognized. When he smiled it was as if the sun turned dark because nothing could compare to how beautiful his face looked at that moment. Her eyes darted to his and there was a moment of electric attraction until they were separated by a fast moving train. She waited anxiously to see him again but when the train vanished from her vision so did he. He was nowhere in sight. She fell to her knees and started at the white soft snow whose perfection was spoiled with spots of brown dirt. Then she noticed hot tears also soiling the perfection of the snow. They were hers.
Dawn woke with warm teardrops building in her eyes. That dream was more like a tragedy. The ending should have been that she ran into his arms and they lived happily ever after. That's how it's supposed to be. There is supposed to be a happily ever after to love. That dream reminded her of what she had told Leaf a couple of days ago as they were packing clothes to bring to school.
"I'm a person who will never stop looking for love."
Dawn closed her eyes. That's what she believed. She never had fallen in love with anyone before except Leaf and May whom she loved as sisters. She had never even had a real crush, some small ones but not anything real or worth going after. She really hoped that she would find someone to fall in love with at this school because she knew that she would never find it in Twinleaf. She needed to go out, away from her home and explore. That's why she was looking in Snowpoint City. This new boarding school gave Dawn a good feeling, to have a brand new start where no one here knew her. But she speculated they would have to make a grand impression to be Queens in a school where she suspected everyone already knew each other. She looked down and wiped her eyes before tears fell on Leaf's black skirt.
She pushed the thought of guys out of her head. First thing was first. Be Queens of the school.
…
Okay, not a big deal. Breathe in, breathe out. Brand new start. Dawn, who was actually the most excited, was having butterflies in her stomach.
A single question bothered her: What if this school already had a queen?
Then you dethrone her, the evil voice inside her spoke. Exactly.
Dawn put a layer of dark blue eyeliner under her eyes.
Silently, she smoothed out her white dress and then grabbed a light pink cardigan to put on top so that it would be "dress code". She rubbed her feet with her Jimmy Choo shoes. She had painted her nails a light pink color and coincidentally matched her cardigan. She wore pearls in her ears and a simple pink jeweled necklace.
She wasn't trying to be Miss Demure. It just ended up being that way.
Her eyes were suddenly flooded with the sight of the campus.
…
Dawn walked up to the D.A of their dorm house, Vicky.
She was friendly enough. She told Dawn about The Sushi Shack and how the cheesecake served there was infamous.
That was all it took from Dawn to run to Leaf's dorm since it was the most near to the D.A office and drag her and May there. She was craving the lusciousness of cheesecake!
She giggled as their waiter Winston set her California Rolls and Chocolate Turtle cheesecake on the table when some laughter that was way too loud interrupted her heaven.
She looked over at some girls being seated with some guys. Her stare headed towards a purple haired boy and her heart burst. She looked at the girl to guy ratio and was relieved that he wasn't with one of the girls.
But the girls…they were Queens.
But not by their own power. They were Queens by Kings.
Dawn narrowed her eyes; she didn't like the look of the girls. Then she looked over the guys, especially the purple haired one.
So those guys…they are the ticket to the throne.
This marked the beginning, of their lives, of their fight, of the war.
The story that has begun to revolve at full speed
dyes the Earth red.
The globe is an empty paradise.
Let's save it with our hands.
The endlessly continuing sloping road.
Now, with all your heart, run through it, far away.
Stand up! The hero is within me.
There's no way I can lose to the towering target.
Blaze up! My heartbeat is burning.
I'm about to take back the forgotten tomorrow.
A heated battle begins…
A/N: So the stage is set…for drama.
Okay this is how the story is set up. Each chapter is divided into three sections. It will tell the stories of the three individual girls. The "…" is a scene change in their part of the story.
Honestly this was the beginning, sorry if it was kind of cliquish but I wanted let everyone know where they started from the beginning, as Queens from their school coming to take power over a new campus. This is a female-centric story.
Their dreams are foreshadowing. Let me know your thoughts about what you think will happen.
As the story progresses, you will find out the girls' fears, wishes and insecurities; and you'll follow them as friendships are tested, lies are told, love is found, hearts are broken, betrayal is noted, plans are made, and true identity is found.
And every chapter will begin and end with some quotes or a poem or something in italics, that's also foreshadowing.
And correction there will be no Dawn/Gary. I meant to write Dawn/Aaron. I might add more couples as this story progresses.
And sneak peek for the next chapter:
-Dawn meets the mysterious "king" Paul Shinji and immediately falls head over heels, too bad every other girl in the school that a thing for him too…She also meets her friend Zoey after three years.
-Dawn watched as May's chat indicated that she was typing.
Is this guy Paul Shinji? Cause he has a Facebook.
- May makes friends with Ash Ketchum, one of the "kings." And clashes with Brianna, who she finds is dating "king" Drew Hayden.
-May smirked at Brianna as Ash approached her, keeping his promise to escort her to lunch. How Drew could stand Brianna, she didn't know.
-Leaf makes friends with Melody and Marina. And also keeps an eye on the "king" Gary Oak, who they say is a charmer of snakes.
-Leaf tipped her head, "Charmer of snakes? That is what you use to describe Gary Oak?" She secretly smirked as she saw Gary watching her from the guys' table.
Look for further sneak peeks for this story and Corsula Cove on my profile…once I do that *sweatdrop* Corsula Cove update coming in the next couple days, promise!
Review and tell me anything you think will happen? Or anything about the story or the structure?
Till next time
~SG :)
