Author's Notes: Based on Hatsune Miku's song "Can't I Even Dream?" This story has more of a darker theme, and some parts just kind of creeped myself out as I was typing it, so don't blame me if you guys have nightmares. I just have this weird obsession with the dark side or something. Anyways it's a two-shot (if that's even a word) because the whole story seems a bit too long to be a one-shot. I don't know. Let's say it's a short story with Admirationshipping as well as Contestshipping, AU and some OOC (Ok maybe a lot of OOC). This first chapter mainly sets up the story, but the second one will contain all the drama.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the song "Can't I Even Dream?" by Hatsune Miku

Can't I Even Dream?

By EternityRoze262

The Palace

"For the last time, Princess Brianna, the answer is no!" shouted a tall woman with her hands firmly placed just above her hips. Her pose was quite elegant, but at the same time, frightening to look at. The way her mouth curved downward upon her face, creating a single line and the appearance of her large eyes that were fixed upon mine gave me more than enough hints to conclude that she was furious with me.

"But mother, it's her birthday today. She's turning sixteen, and I promise that the party won't last more than five hours." I tried to explain, but the expression on my mother's face didn't change.

"Five hours?" she repeated in a harsh tone. "In five hours I could eat a full course meal, ready myself for the day as well as take a nice stroll around the entire garden! Five hours is far too long for a child such as yourself to be off partying in the village."

"But I'm not a child anymore," I insisted, "I'm fifteen years old now. I think I'm old enough to take care of myself."

"You think!" my mother spat out. "But what you don't know, my child, is that there lies a great danger outside the palace walls."

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh of annoyance. "Oh please, mother. I've heard those words from you since the day I could talk."

"Then you should know better than to ask me if you are allowed to accept such an invitation."

I lowered my head in shame, but a part of me wanted to keep fighting so I could finally have things go my way for once. However, I found no other words to counter back and soon, silence was the only thing that spoke in the great hallway. My eyes gazed upon the golden marble flooring that surrounded my existence and I soon became aware of the clothing in which I was wearing. I lay a gentle finger on the lower part of my gown, tracing the golden laces that ran across the entire dress. Then, I gave a doleful look to my mother as I held my hands behind my back, trying to look as innocent as possible. Her face immediately softened, showing a kind motherly figure, and she reached her long thin arms toward me. For a moment, I thought about stepping back to avoid her grasp, but before I could do anything, I was already in her warm arms. She pulled me close to her, embracing me so tightly that I could smell the sweet scent of roses on her. I quickly gave in and wrapped my arms around her, hiding my face, that were now full of tears, in her beautifully ornate dress.

"I-I've never ever been outside the palace walls before. I've never gotten the chance to become friends with other people. And with the only friend I do have… all we can do is write letters to each other because you and father forbid us to see each other!" I sobbed, not being able to take the loneliness any longer. I had felt too much of it for the past fifteen years and had hoped that my mother would have allowed me to go to my friend's birthday party just this once, but it didn't look like it was going to happen.

My one friend was named May. She was the only daughter of a middle class family who lived in the nearby village, which was one of the many places our family ruled. We met back when we were both still young in age. May had snuck into the palace grounds because of her curiosity about the luxurious building and surprisingly, she was able to get in without being seen by any of the guards. Fortunately, I had been the first to discover her presence and we became close friends after exchanging names. Our fun didn't last for long though, for a couple minutes after we met, my parents had realized that there was an unexpected visitor in the palace. We didn't get yelled at so harshly then because we were about five at the time, but my parents forbid the both of us from seeing each other again, strictly because I wasn't allowed out of the palace and May wasn't allowed in. They did, however, allow us to keep in touch by letters, which was better than nothing in my case. But the feeling of loneliness began to creep into my heart, and I found myself staring out my window every time I was in my chamber.

The view I had from my bedroom was a perfect view of the village. There were no trees or buildings blocking my view, and I could see straight out to the center of the village, where a large open area lay out in plain sight. I always imagined seeing May there in the open area, but when I finally looked hard enough, I realized that she was never there. How I longed to see her again! But with the answer I had received from my mother, I knew there was no chance that I would ever see her again.

"There, there," my mother hushed as she stroked my short red hair, "It's alright, princess. When I was a little girl, I had never been outside the palace walls either, but it's not such a bad thing. You're very safe here and there are many beautiful rooms for you to entertain yourself with."

I sniffled quietly and tried to settle down my tears, breathing heavily as I did so. There was no way I would ever be entertained by exploring decorous rooms. I wanted to travel to the outside world, to discover my true self and become the person I was meant to be. Living in a humongous palace made of worthless gold with limited space just wasn't my destiny.

"And don't say you don't have any friends," my mother continued in a soothing voice. "You also have Sofia. She's been a great friend to you your whole life."

"A maid and a friend aren't the same thing," I responded looking up at her.

"Oh, don't you say that," she said with a hint of playfulness in her voice. "Sofia's taken great care of you and she's just a good of friend to you as May is."

"So I can't go to her birthday party?" I asked again, even though I knew what her answer would be. But I had a bit of hope left in me to believe that she would change her mind.

My mother released me from her grasp and shook her head politely. "I'm sorry, my dear, but we really can't have you out in the village, not even with the guards around… not just because it's dangerous but because of the curse as well."

My eyes widened at the sound of the word "curse" and I took a step back involuntarily. The curse was something that everyone in the palace knew about. It was placed upon our palace long ago by a young man and his Dusclops, which was a frightening creature with a single red eye and long arms that always appeared to be grabbing for someone. According to the curse, there is supposed to be a mournful death for a young princess that is caused by a single man. So far, there have been no occurrences of death for any of the princesses that have lived in this palace, but my mother had informed me that the curse would continue to live on until there came a day when a princess did die by the hands of a dangerous man. That was the main part of the curse; the rest of it explaining the details was lost long ago, because the king from back then refused to let such a silly curse frighten the entire palace and therefore stopped it from being passed on to the next generation. However, the curse was too big a deal to be forgotten about, and so the main details of it still lived on. Because of that, my parents had been extremely watchful of me, never letting me the time to be alone, unless I was resting. Of course, I didn't actually believe in that curse… not entirely, but it did scare me from time to time. What I didn't understand was why the man who placed the curse on us did it in the first place. He couldn't have just done it for amusement. But of course, that part of the explanation was also lost over the years, so no one had any idea as to why it existed at all. My only guess was that it was out of revenge.

After remembering the details I knew of the curse, I calmed myself and glanced up at my mother who gave me a friendly smile.

"Dearie, you look exhausted. Why don't you head to your chamber and rest yourself for a bit: get these thoughts off your mind," she suggested. I slowly nodded, still upset that I couldn't go to May's birthday party, but maybe my mother was right. Maybe a little rest was all I needed. With a forced smile, I turned the other way and headed up the long flight of stairs to my bedroom.

When I opened the door, the first thing I saw was my maid, Sofia. She was tidying up my room, but quickly turned to face the door at the sound of it opening.

"Princess Brianna. You are back so soon. How did it go with your mother?" she said in a soft voice.

"She wouldn't let me go," I replied back as I slumped on my giant bed. The covers were exceptionally soft and fluffy, cushioning my fall as I buried my face in the king sized pillow.

"I'm so sorry, dear."

"It's okay," I mumbled back still keeping my head in the pillow.

"Would you like me to sing to you? So you may have a better rest?" Sofia offered in a light voice.

"Yes, please," I replied through my pillow. I turned my head to the side and spotted Sofia coming toward me. She took a seat on a small stool that lay beside my bed and then gently brought in front of her, a silver harp. The harp was about her height when she was sitting down, so it fitted her perfectly. I always loved to hear Sofia play the harp for me. She would play, as well as sing, many lovely songs for me, many that were lullabies. There was a certain song that I especially loved, and that was the one she began to play for me now.

As she gracefully plucked the strings of the harp, I found myself at ease; my troubles from before had left me and a feeling of freedom started to take its place. I closed my eyes, taking in the melodious tune and allowing my thoughts to wander elsewhere. I almost felt as if a part of me was leaving the very bed I was sleeping on at the moment: as if my soul was being lifted off into the sky. It was strange; that very feeling was always ignited whenever that song was played, but it didn't bother me too much because I enjoyed listening to it. Then, I heard the sound of Sofia's voice softly singing the melody of the song. The words were merely "la-la" though, for she claimed that she had forgotten the lyrics to that song.

When I had questioned her before about the song, she had mentioned that it was related to the "curse" that was placed upon this palace, although she couldn't remember much more than that. Apparently the song was passed to her from generation to generation, but because of the time lapse and the previous generations being forced not to do anything related to the curse, all of the lyrics had been forgotten. It was a shame really. I bet the song would've sounded even more beautiful with the lyrics added in even if it was about the curse. The song was already pretty eerie. It was actually a strange combination. The whole song itself was remarkably enchanting with a light layer added in that made it sound almost haunting. But all in all, it was still my favorite song.

As I lay in my comfy bed, Sofia was sweetly singing the chorus for the second time. And before I knew it, I was asleep.

From a blurred image, a black scene suddenly faded before my eyes. There were voices in my head… but I couldn't seem to tell which direction they were coming from. I couldn't even make a distinction of what they were saying. They were just various noises that completely surrounded the air in which I was breathing in, if I was breathing at all. I blinked to see if anything would happen, if the scenery would somehow change, but there was no difference. The blackness wrapped around me like a blanket, and I suddenly felt trapped in the void.

Then, there came a light whispering of a voice, so clear and airy that it seemed to be right in front of me.

"I'm here… get me out of here, my prince…"

I turned around, startled by the sudden voice that echoed throughout the darkness. And then, I realized… that little voice almost sounded… like me. But I could've sworn that my lips weren't moving at all. Frightened, I place a hand lightly on my lips only to find that they were abnormally cold. Without any further hesitation, I tightly shut my eyes and forced myself to wake up, for all of this was surely just a dream. But for some reason, I couldn't feel control of my own body anymore. The feeling in my fingers had started to go numb and then, I felt my lips moving, even though I wasn't controlling them. The last bit of feeling I had in my fingers gave me enough proof to conclude that it was me who was talking, and I heard the same soft voice from before whispering again.

"Can't I even dream…?"

I awoke with a start, gasping for breath. Sofia wasn't in my room anymore but her silver harp was still beside my bed next to the little stool that she was sitting in before I drifted off to sleep. Placing a hand by my chest, I let out a sigh of relief and looked around the room. The place was as tidy as could be. Everything was neatly arranged and there was no sign of mess to be found anywhere. My eyes caught a glimpse of my large window on the right side of room. It was closed, but the curtains were open so that I had a clear view of the outside world.

Wanting to get a closer look, I slowly slid off my bed and made my way to the window. I spotted the village immediately: the brown roofing on all of the houses and the large open area that numerous people passed through each day. A smile came upon my face as I admired my beautiful picture. Sometimes, I just wanted to reach out in front of me and jump into that picture to be where all the other villages were and where May was.

For some reason, the scenery seemed more appealing than usual, like it was calling out for me. I looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun was still high, and then gave a quick nod to myself before running to my wardrobe.

I quickly pulled open the doors of my wardrobe to reveal hundreds of clothes, all which were dresses. There had to be something in there I could wear to make me look like a normal villager. Within seconds, I was rummaging through all my dresses, trying to find the plainest one I had. After a couple minutes, I started to lose hope. All of the dresses were way too fancy to wear outside the palace walls. It definitely wasn't the best attire to wear if I wanted to remain inconspicuous in the village. With a sigh, I slumped to the ground where piles of dresses were laying all over the floor from when I was recklessly throwing them every which way. Just as I was about to start putting the dresses back on their hangers, an idea came to me.

I got to my feet in an instant and ran to my drawer right beside my wardrobe. Knowing to be cautious, I glanced around the room to make sure it was completely safe. There were no footsteps to be heard from outside my room, and so I proceeded to open the top drawer. I carefully brought out a pair scissors that were of great length and carried such a sharp point, that, for a second, I became frightened to keep my grip on them. However, I refocused my mind on the current situation and quickly ran back to my wardrobe. Picking up the nearest dress, I began to snip at ends and make holes with the ginormous scissors. Maybe if I rolled it around in the dirt without being seen, I would be able to make it appear less dainty. But before I was able to do any more damage to the dress, I heard a high-pitched voice from behind me.

"Princess! What on earth are you doing to your dress?"

The heavy scissors suddenly slipped from my hand, making a loud thud as it hit the floor. I turned around slowly to find Sofia at the foot of my door with her hands on her hips. However, she didn't look as angry as I thought she would. As soon as our eyes met, her arms quickly slipped down to her side and she knelt down beside me, looking at me with a sincere face.

"Are you trying to escape?" she asked me in her soft voice.

"No," I quickly replied for fear of what she would do now that she knew my plan.

"Don't lie to me, Princess. I don't blame you. All your life you've been trapped here in this palace. I know how much your heart longs to see the outside world," Sofia said in a gentle tone. I nodded my head, keeping an eye on her to make sure she wasn't trying to deceive me.

"If you want, I can lend you one of my old dresses from when I was still living in the village. Would you like that?" she continued in the same soft voice.

"Yes," I answered, my voice cracking as I did so. Sofia gave me a sweet smile and then headed for the door.

"I'll be back with the dress in a minute. While I'm gone, maybe you could fix yourself up so that you look more like a commoner. For instance, mess up your hair a bit." She left the room silently, leaving me alone with a pile of dresses at my foot. I decided to take her advice to make myself look more like a villager and started so by taking a look at my current self in a massive decorous mirror that lay on top of my drawer. I first took notice of my hair, a brilliant shade of red that was neatly curled in ringlets. Not knowing exactly what to do to it, I brought my hands up and gently tussled with my hair until all of the curls were put into a messy appearance. Then, taking an elastic band off the top of the drawer, I carelessly tied all of the curls back into a ponytail. After putting on a playful smile, I looked at my new appearance and gave a loud, disappointing sigh. There was no way I would be able to blend in with all the other villagers; I didn't know the first thing about being… normal. Did villagers tie their hair back into ponytails?

I took another glance at myself in the mirror, trying to figure out what else I could do to appear like a commoner, but before I was able to do anything else, Sofia came back into the room carrying with her, a long beige dress. It was certainly a lot simpler than all of my dresses I had. With a light smile, I ran over to her and took the dress from her arms.

"I didn't know what else to do to change my appearance, so I just tied my hair back," I said innocently.

"Don't worry so much about it, dear. No one outside the palace walls has ever seen you anyways, so it won't be such a big deal. Now, why don't you get changed; quickly too before we both get caught," Sofia responded as she was already helping me out of my dress I was in. Within seconds, I was out of my royal dress, and into a simple one. It was a bit big, but nothing too uncomfortable for me.

"Here," Sofia said, shoving a small sack into my hands, "I've packed some money for you to last a couple days. Take care of yourself, Princess."

"I will. Thank you, Sofia." I placed the sack into one of the pockets that was on the beige dress in which I was wearing and gave Sofia a quick hug before heading to the door of my room. There, I turned around to give Sofia a last glance before stepping out of my room.

"Princess!" she suddenly shouted. I peeked into the room again, wondering what else Sofia had to say to me. "Exit through the back where the garden is. Apparently, the guards are taking a break, so you should be able to slip out quite easily."

"Thank you," I said earnestly and then made my way silently to the back of the palace.