Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix and Disney do.

A/N: I started this story because I was listening to "May it Be" by Enya and I kind of got swept up into the feeling. You know the song, it's from The Lord of the Rings, and it's the pretty one, the slow one. So yeah, my fantasy side will be coming out in this. So bear with me. I used to be a big Escaflowne fan so it'll get pretty intense. Well, enjoy.

Lover of the Lake

Chapter One: Prologue

The morning was spectacular. The birds were singing and everything was aglow. Today was the day that the kingdom was to know which of the two crowned princes would become king of Midgard. The youngest boy, Riku, aged eleven, ran through the halls, wooden sword in hand. A few of the maids clutched up their skirts, trying to chase the boy down to retrieve the tablecloth that he had draped over his shoulders.

It wasn't an abnormal thing to see the boy pulling some prank like this, even at his age. Though he was a prince, he never really had constant contact with the outside world and society, making him free from the expected maturity of that age. In his mind, he was a child and he enjoyed it as he played tricks on the maids, playing hide and seek in the hanging laundry lines with Prince Tidus of Zanarkand, or teasing the princesses that his father would bring for him.

He never understood why he needed to marry any one of those delicate little girls. He needed someone who could spar with him and run and tumble in the fields with. The only girl he knew that was like that was his mother, the one that had given him the love of the outdoors and the field. So when he was a small boy and his father told about the inevitability of him marrying, he simply told him that he would marry his mother when the time comes, earning a chuckle from him in amusement.

About to turn the corner, he was suddenly stopped, rather, crashed into one of the guards. He was tall and was fitted in the normal royal army garb of a long indigo tunic with silver stitched through and black pants tucked into well worn brown boots. His spiky black hair made him look like a human hedgehog, giving him his favorite nickname 'Hedgie.'

As he stopped, the maids caught up to him and yanked the now dirtied tablecloth from his collar, giving him a stern look. He was always a troublemaker but the whole castle always loved him anyway.

"Thank goodness you arrived Sir Zack," said one of the maids breathlessly as she bundled up the cloth in her arms. The man simply grinned and pulled the young prince gently with him.

"Now you know young prince that you were supposed to be getting prepared for the trip to the oracle," he said sternly, making Riku blush in his embarrassment. He had totally forgotten about the ritual and they were supposed to be going soon. He was led to his chambers and Zack closed the door, leaving him inside with his mother's handmaiden. She was beautiful and Sir Zack's lady. Her long brown hair went down in waves down her back and the short pieces at each side of her head pulled back and braided down. Her bright green eyes looked over to him as she bowed to him slightly with a smile.

"Young Prince Riku, you must hurry and get dressed, the family is to be leaving at any moment." In a speed that he didn't know he hand, he had bathed, dressed, and put on all of the royal regalia, allowing Lady Aeris, as she was called, to brush out his ear length silver hair. Pulling out the thin silver circlet, Aeris placed it on his head neatly, making him look like the actual crowned prince he was.

"Now hurry along my prince, the carriage is waiting for you," she said, walking him out quickly. Outside of the door, Zack lead him out of the castle and to the waiting carriage outside. Helping him in, he himself got in and they rode out into the distance.

Riku never really remembered what happened on their ride up their, or how he had managed to meet with his family in their ancestral shrine but he had done so and was then kneeling on a worn and old cushion, one that he believed had been there for a century. As he rested on it, dust seemed to come up in clouds and he had to resist the urge to sneeze.

Looking at his family, at that moment, he was proud. His father King Siegfried kneeled regally and sternly, his long silver hair coming down in waves to his upper back, a large silver crown with emeralds placed above his head. His green eyes were stern and wrinkled with age and wisdom. Riku had always looked up to his father, even though they did tend to have their spats and he was a bit strict on his sons. But deep down, when he would occasionally pull them out of bed to teach them swordsmanship, or spoke praises of him, or even pulled him aside to tell him how proud he was to sire such children, Riku always knew that he had loved them.

His mother Queen Aileen had a complete opposite personality to her husband. She was open, outwardly loving, nurturing, and very playful. Today she wore her long ghostlike hair in a braid that was arranged around her head like a circlet, a delicate silver tiara placed on top. Her long emerald dress pooled around her, making her look like a fairy queen like the ones he had heard about in her stories. He wouldn't be surprised if a pair of gauze wings emerged from her pale back.

Then it was his elder brother. Sephiroth was the odd one in the family. Everyone in the castle was on guard when he strolled along the corridors. His attire normally consisted of an emerald open tunic and worn black pants tucked into his well used black boots. The family never really cared about their appearance in the castle and Sephiroth was the epitome of that. Even in the worst clothing imaginable, one could always tell that his family was important. They all carried a certain noble aura, something that was born into them through years of successful breeding.

The elder prince, then aged sixteen, kneeled determinedly, looking like what Riku imagined his father to be as a teenager. His long silver hair was tied back with a black ribbon and smoothed out to perfection, running down his back like a clear river. Upon his head was a simple silver ring of a crown, similar to Riku's but had a stripe across it, marking him as the first son.

Riku maintained his position on the cushion, aiming to make his family proud, and was able to last throughout the long incantations to their farthest ancestor, Jenova. Just as he was about to fall asleep with his eyes open, the shrine began to grow cold and he swore that he could hear singing voices. Then, standing before them, was a beautiful blue woman, her long silver hair spilling over her shoulders, her bright yellow eyes looking over them.

The poor young prince had to resist the urge to scream as she approached them. She gazed over his brother and then to him, making him feel her eerily icy gaze. He wavered a little and gazed down, trying to keep his composure.

She straightened up and closed her eyes, allowing herself to slowly disappear, saying the few words that would change his life forever.

My fair children let it be known

That in this kingdom, your happy home

The eldest child in treachery shall be slain

And the youngest babe shall be named

The true heir of the throne

And so Riku was heir.

A/N: Yeah, so this is pretty much a prologue to the whole story. The next chapter shall be where the true story begins. I have to start somewhere right? Well, the first chapter should be up at any time tomorrow, in the evening at the very latest. However, I think that I should be done by tonight. So I hope you like it. I modeled the kingdom of Midgard after the Nordic, Celtic, and basic northern European old kingdoms. You could give me any suggestions. That would be awesome. Well, on to the next chapter. And don't forget to review!