Mina's POV

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived in a castle. Her hair was long and the colour of pure gold. It's sleek and shiny texture left the palace in awe. Her eyes were of crystal blue and sparkled whenever the lint reflected in them. Her lips were crimson red and her skin the palest of delicate white.

All across the kingdom, her beauty was admired.

The princess was very kind and often she'd sing to children and animals. Her voice was sweet and smooth like the finest of honey.

Yet, the princess was lonely. Even with all her finery and gifts, she longed for someone to love. Her parents, wanting to find the best suitor for her, had her locked in a tower guarded by a fierce dragon. The princess would look out the window everyday and wonder when her prince would finally come to rescue her.

I slammed the book shut. I'd had enough. Why were all princesses in stories just content to wait until someone would rescue them? It was laughable really.

I loved stories, but I hated ones that made princesses look stupid like this. They were all too perfect. Real princesses weren't perfect.

I would know.

"Princess Carmina!"

I turned to the voice of my maid and best friend.

"I've told you before, don't call me by my full name," I said.

"Sorry," she said, twirling a lock of her shoulder length nut brown hair in her fingers, "They're being more strict on title calling."

"Does that mean I have to call you Maybelle?" I asked, "That's too long."

Maybelle was her full name, but we always just called her May.

She laughed, her bright blue eyes lighting up.

"No," she said, "Just me. They're enforcing respect after a stunt pulled by one of the guards."

"Do you think it was Drew?" I asked, "He always causes fuss."

"Probably," she said, "He said he'd be up a little later."

"So May," I said, "You've already spoken to him today."

I nudged her teasingly.

May pulled a disgusted face.

"Yeah, while he was cleaning Rapidash poo and I was trying to hang up the washing," she said.

That wouldn't have gone well. Drew had a habit of annoying May. Drew was my guard though, and they often had to put up with each other. They were my only friends.

Though I don't think they actually disliked each other as much as they gave off.

"What happened?" I asked.

"He threw it at me," May said flatly, "this is my second change today and I had to wash the bed sheets again."

I giggled.

"Sounds like something he'd do," I said.

"Oh, I do have to finish teaching you how to cross stitch," May said.

I sighed and pushed the book onto the floor.

"Did you finish it already?" May asked, "I gave it to you five minutes ago."

"I don't like it," I said.

She sighed.

"You never gave it a chance," she said, "It gets better."

"It's the same stupid story," I complained, "She just waits for someone to come save her, they fall in love instantly and live happily ever after."

"It's so romantic," May said, "I thought you liked romance."

"I do," I said, "But not stupid ones. No one falls in love like that. Even if they do, that's more physical attraction. He can't be in love with her personality on a first meeting. When he gets to know her better, he'll realise how shallow she is."

"She is not shallow," May protested, "She struggles daily."

"Yeah, probably just deciding what to wear in case she gets rescued," I said, "Why are all princesses so content to sit around and wait?"

"That's kind of what you're doing," May said.

"I am not," I protested, "I don't need anyone to save me. I'm not even in danger, but if I was I could save myself."

May rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll find you a different book," she said, "Stop distracting me, you need to finish this."

She went to my cupboard and got out the pink box I'd had enough of seeing.

"This is pointless," I groaned, "When am I ever going to do this?"

May shrugged.

"You might one day," she said, "All I know is I have to teach you. Your uncle said so."

"Uncle Drake doesn't know the first thing about teaching me," I said, snorting.

"You shouldn't be so harsh on your uncle," May said, frowning, "you know he took you in."

"I know, I know," I said, cutting her off, "I just wish that maybe he'd actually do something rather than leave me."

"You know, in a way, you are sort of like that princess," May said, gesturing to the book with a wave of her hand as she handed me the stitch I'd started yesterday.

"Don't compare me to that," I said.

May giggled and handed me the needle.

"I was just kidding, Mina," she said.

I groaned as I pricked my finger on the needle. This was such a pointless petty hobby.

A little later, when my fingers had been poked into bleeding, May finally allowed me to stop.

"Guess what I heard today?" May asked.

"What?" I asked.

"I overheard hat they're planning a certain someone's 18th birthday," May said, "And they're going to let me help."

I groaned.

"My birthday is still 12 weeks away," I said.

"Yeah, but they're causing a fuss down there."

I looked up to the voice of my only other friend; Drew. He was 19, a whole year and a half older than me.

"What's so good about being an adult anyway?" I asked Drew.

He shrugged.

"You get to do stuff," May said, "Aren't you independent?"

May was a year younger than me, being 17.

"Only so much," Drew said, "I'm still confined here."

"Did you bring me anything?" I asked.

Drew was one of the guards. Technically he was my personal guard, supposed to protect me from anything that might try to hurt me, but occasionally he had to go out. He always made sure to bring something though.

Drew nodded.

"I don't have it now," he said, "I left it in my room. I'll get it later when I get changed."

He was dressed head to toe in his armour. I assumed it was from the recent outing he'd had.

"What did you get this time?" May asked, looking interested.

"Surprise," Drew said, "Mina, you coming out. While I've got this on, I thought we could practise combat."

"Really?" I asked, "Let's go!"

I got up, but soon fell over in the heels I was wearing, the layers of the thick blue dress I was wearing covering me completely.

"Stupid thing," I muttered.

"Why are you even wearing that?" May asked, "I thought you hated dresses."

"Uncle thinks I need to be more elegant," I said, "He took away my normal clothes so I had nothing else to wear."

"You can borrow some of my clothes," Drew offered, "they might be a little large on you though."

Drew was very tall. He used to be short, but one day he got a growth spurt and just shot up.

He took his helmet off, letting his light green hair fall down into his face over his green eyes.

"Come on," he said, "I'll take you. You can watch if you like May."

I nodded and followed him, satisfied when I could hear the pitter patter of May's feet following after us.

I panted, sword in hand, Drew's clothing drenched in sweat under the armour I wore.

"Come on Mina, head up, watch your form," he said.

I raised my head and raised my sword in time to deflect an attack. I held my sword against his, warding him off.

"Don't fight it," Drew said, "You're not strong enough. You can't fight me off like this with your own strength, you haven't trained as long as I have. Find another technique."

I pushed against him even more, using all my strength. There was no way I was going to lose.

"You know if anyone comes in, you'll be charged for treason," I said.

"Nice try," Drew said, "I'm not falling for that again."

I held my position.

"You're so stubborn," Drew said, smirking, "Learn the hard way, again."

He pushed me down and I lost my balance. I flipped down backward, getting to my knees, only to find a sword at the tip on my nose.

I reached back for my sword which I had dropped in my fall, but found it had been kicked away.

"I win again," Drew said.

I groaned. I'd been bested by him again and he was very arrogant about it.

"Can you try not to get a big head out of this?" I asked.

Drew shook his head and May laughed. He held out his other hand and helped me up.

The door opened and a small boy came in.

"Princess Carmina," He said in a small voice.

I took off my helmet and shook out my short blonde hair, no bothering to correct him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Your uncle requires that you go back to your bed chambers for the rest of the afternoon," he said.

"But it's not that late!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry," the boy said, "His orders."

I threw the helmet on the ground, starting the kid.

"Sorry guys," I said, "I'll bring your stuff back to you later Drew."

"No worries," Drew said, "I'll come show you that thing tomorrow."

Much later on, I woke to a strange rustling sound. I opened my eyes and slowly pushed myself to sit up. I had actually fallen asleep early. Now it was dark.

I blinked, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. I resisted screaming as I spotted a figure at the window. He was scratching lightly at the window with something and I watched as he unlatched the window. I slowly reached down under my bed as the figure landed lightly in my carpeted room.

He looked around and I grabbed my sword under the bed. He came closer to me and I felt my heart rate beating faster.

"All I have to do is make sure she doesn't wake up."

The low tones he spoke in indicated to me that he was a male. What was he doing?

He pulled back the curtains around my bed and I held my sword up to his face.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my room?" I asked.

The shock on his face didn't go unnoticed and I took the time to study my attacker in the dim moonlight. His eyes looked blue, though what shade I couldn't tell. He was tall. I could tell by the way he was towering over me. His hair was a dark shade of brown. It looked almost black, but the way the light was, I could tell it was brown. Would it be lighter in the daylight?

"Um…Well…I've come to take you away," he said slowly.

"You're going to kidnap me?" I asked.

"You could put it that way," he said, "But I'm not sure if I should because you're awake and I wasn't ready for this. Why are you holding a sword?"

"I have to defend myself," I said.

See, this was why Drew's lessons were useful, not stupid things like sowing.

"Uh…I'll come back another night," he said.

He backed up and I stood up as well.

"You didn't tell me who you are," I said.

"Um…I really have to go," he said, "Bye."

Without another word, he jumped back out the window.

I blinked. Well, that was strange.

Me: I'm so excited and nervous all in one bundle of hyperactivity

Jaiden: She's really crazy

Me: Shut up! This is a huge challenge, but this is the first chappie of my NaNoWriMo story. The first half is all going to be from mina's POV as this is a double sided story. The second half will be from Jaiden's and the last few chapters will be from 3rd person. That's what I'm planning. Let's hope I can do this and actually get 50 000 words

Now, this is OC based. May and Drew are included and there will be hints of Contestshipping later on, but the main story is focused around Mina and Jaiden so if you don't like OC based stories, then this probably isn't for you. A LOT (and I mean a LOT) later on, there will be Festivalshippong hints and Ikarishipping hints, but they will be very minor.

Also, I know I usually name my chapters, but this time I won't. Sad :( oh well

And I still don't like the title of the story. I'm open to suggestions if anyone comes up with anything during this whole time.

Other then that, I hope you enjoy