14 years ago
Mitakihara City. It's a relatively normal looking place, really. The citizens go to work, buy groceries, and come home to eat with their families like any other place on Earth. But this is not a tale about a normal family if that's what you were thinking. To be honest, I'm not sure how many families within this city are truly normal, but enough of that for now. One family in particular is about to do what they think is best for their survival as they lay a small basket down outside of an adoption center. Inside this basket are a blanket, a bottle of formula, a photograph, and a sleeping baby.
"Is this really necessary?" the female asked. "I know we aren't the wealthiest family around, but it just seems wrong to abandon her like this."
"I don't want to do this any more than you do, dear, but we're barely surviving as it is." the male responded. "At least she can get a better family here and grow up happy and healthy."
Little did they know, they had a small audience watching them bid farewell to their child. A couple of mustached cotton puffs were watching from beside the stairs, along with a rather strange butterfly. A strange looking cat with mostly whute fur and dazzling red eyes was also watching the family, but all of them waited for the family left to investigate this mysterious basket. For while they can't be seen by most people, they did not want to raise suspicion with a seemingly floating basket.
"Was denken Sie, das ist?", one of the cotton puffs asked the other, approaching the basket with equal amounts of caution and curiosity.
"Ich bin nicht sicher, aber die Königin muss diese auf einmal zu sehen." the other replies while joining his partner.
"Es ist...ein Kleinkind Mensch!" The first puff exclaimed in surprise, allowing his friends to look in as well.
"Wer könnte so etwas tun?", the strange butterfly asked, feeling pity for the child.
"I've got this from here, you three. Run along now while I take this child back to its family." The cat said, coming out from the shadows.
"Sie. Wir werden nicht zulassen, die gerne von Ihnen berühren dieses Kind.", one of the cotton puffs snarled in response.
"Adelbert, nehmen Sie dieses Kind der Königin. Wir kümmern uns um diese Ratte zu nehmen.", the other cotton puff said to the butterfly
"Dieses Kind ist sicherlich zu schwer für mich allein zu heben. Nehmen wir es einfach zusammen, die Ratte wäre ein dummkopf, uns allein zu folgen.", the butterfly responded, beginning to lift the basket while the cotton puffs held it up.
The three of them then proceeded to flee from the cat, running quickly but shakily towards the door they came out of. The cat, of course chased them past buildings, across a street, and all the way to the strange door at the end of an alley. The trio were panting by the time they reached the door, but they didn't stop to take a breath until they got further inside the maze. As they walked down the quickest path to their Queen, they had hoped that the cat would be the last of their troubles for the day. It was at this point that a small yawn came from inside the basket.
"Wir sind alle erschöpft, wissen Sie.", one cotton puff said grumpily. "Dieser verdammte Ratte gejagt uns den ganzen Weg hier und ich bin sicher, wir sind noch nicht einmal durchgeführt, die für den Tag, so halten Sie Ihre gähnt."
"Es war nicht ich, und ich bin nur so müde, wie Sie sind." The other puff responded in a huff.
"Nun denn, wer war es?", the first puff responded slightly more irritated.
"Das Kind.", the butterfly responded with a slight smirk at his companions.
The three of them paused to look inside the basket, and sure enough, the child was starting to wake up from its slumber. The trio was filled with awe, as they had never seen a human infant before. They did not dawdle too long, though, because they still had yet to reach the Queen's room. As they walked past, other cotton puffs and butterflies inquired about the contents of the basket, but the three of them continued walking until they finally reached another door. This was the door they were waiting to reach. This was the door to the Queen's chamber. They all took a deep breath and entered the room, hoping the Queen was in a decent mood.
"Was bringt die drei von Ihnen, meine Kammer ungebetenen?", the queen, which looked like a cross between a rosebush and a butterfly, asked her subjects from upon her throne.
"Vergib uns, mein Fürst, aber wir Sie etwas wirklich Wunder gebracht haben.", one cotton puff replied, intimidated by the Queen before him.
"Und was wäre das?", the Queen responded rather angrily.
"Ein Kind. Ein menschliches Kind.", the cotton puff responded sheepishly.
"Er wurde von seinen Eltern früher verlassen, und wir sie gespeichert aus der Ratte.", the strange butterfly, Adelbert, added.
The Queen stared at the child for what seemed to be forever before finally saying "Wenn das so ist, dann kann das Kind in meinem Gebiet zu leben. Allerdings ist es bis zu den drei von Ihnen sie sicher von der Ratte zu halten.".
The trio was overjoyed. They bowed in unison, saying "Danke, oh barmherzigen Königin Gertrud!".
6 years later
"Okay class, do you know what we are doing today?" a teacher inquired, pausing briefly before pointing to a student with their hand raised. "Yes, Mina?"
"Wir zeichnen Bilder von unseren Familien! Oops. I mean, we're drawing pictures of our families." the girl, Mina, responded. On the outside, Mina Palamecia seemed like an average five year old with bright pink eyes and blonde hair, but she did have some intriguing differences from her classmates. The first of which was the fact that she was bilingual. She grew up learning German from her family and only began learning English earlier last year. When she first began writing, nobody could understand a thing because she grew up learning how to read and write with runes rather than the typical alphabet. The strangest thing about this girl was her family, though.
"What a lovely picture, Nakazawa.", the teacher said as she walked around the room. "Keep up the good work, Hitomi. And Mina, let me just see...", the tearcher said before examining Mina's picture with a puzzled expression. The picture showed a human figure along with some small mustached cotton puff creatures, some strange butterflies with many eyes, and a butterfly with a rosebush for a head sitting in a wide chair. This creature was labelled "Mother" in runic letters. "Er, that's...nice, but the assignment was to draw your family."
"But that is my family, teacher. Those are the Anthonies, the Adelberts, and my mother. We all live inside my necklace!", Mina replied, motioning to a small black orb with a thin stick that goes right through the middle suspended on a small chain around her neck. Nobody believed her, but Mina was adopted by the rose garden witch, Gertrud, when she was just an infant.
"Mina, for the last time, that is not your family and it is impossible for you to live inside of a necklace.", the teacher replied. "I would have you start over, but class is almost over for the day."
As Mina was walking home after school, she was conversing with two Anthonies and an Adelbert as they walked toward a safe spot. These spots were different each day to keep their home safe from the cat with the red eyes. "Sie dachte, wir waren gefälschte?! Wie gemein.", the Adelbert said dejectedly.
"Ja. Seltsam, nicht wahr?", Mina responded.
"Nicht wirklich, verpassen Mina. Die einzigen, die unserer Art wissen, sind unsere Feinde.", an Anthony responded.
"So oder so, Sie wissen, wir existieren.", the second Anthony added.
"Hier sind wir. Willkommen zu Hause, verpassen Mina.", the Adelbert announced.
Mina's necklace began to glow as a door appeared out of nowhere. The first few times this door appeared, it was quite startling, but Mina was used to it by now. Inside, the other Anthonies were busy tending to the rose garden and the land around it, while the Adelberts were on the look out for intruders. A typical day in the labyrinth, in other words. One of the Adelberts announced "Die Rosenprinzessin hat sicher nach Hause zurückgekehrt!" and the rest cheered, but Mina was already on her way to the center of the Labyrinth. By the time she reached Gertrud's door, she slowed down before entering the room.
"Mutter! Mutter, schauen, was ich in der Klasse heute machte! Es ist unsere ganze Familie! Magst du es?", Mina asked Gertrud excitedly.
Gertrud looked at the picture that Mina had drawn and simply declared "Es ist schön, Tochter.".
A/N: Okay, that's it for the prologue. The first chapter will take place 8 years later when Mina is in middle school and first approached by Kyubey about becoming a magical girl. And yes, all of the above that is written in German is from google translate. Translated in order:
What do you think that is?
I'm not sure, but the Queen has to see this at once.
It is...an infant human being!
Who could do such a thing?
You. We will not let the likes of you touch this child.
Adelbert, take this child to the queen. We will take care of this rat.
This child is certainly too heavy to lift myself. Let's take it together, the rat would be a fool to follow us alone.
We are all exhausted, you know. That damned rat chased us all the way back here, and the day isn't done yet. (This one got jumbled up. I'll start keeping the english versions as I translate them.)
It was not me, and I'm just as tired as you are.
Well then, who was it?
The child.
What brings the three of you to my room uninvited?
Forgive us, my liege, but we have something amazing to show you.
And what would that be?
A child. A human child.
It was abandoned by its parents before, and we saved it from the rat.
If this is so, then the child can live in my area. However, it is up to the three of you to keep it safe from the rat.
Thank you, O merciful Queen Gertrud!
We're drawing pictures of our families!
They thought we were fake?! How mean.
Yes. Strange, isn't it?
Not really, Miss Mina. The only ones who know about us are our enemies.
Either way, you know we exist.
Here we are. Welcome home, Miss Mina.
The Rose Princess has returned home safely!
Mother! Mother, look what I made in class today! It's our whole family! Do you like it?
It is beautiful, daughter.
With any luck, the first real chapter will be up tomorrow