PROLOGUE:

"Rissa! Rissa, where are you!" Rena yelled, calling for her daughter. Rena's husband ran up to her, a concerned looked on his face.

"Have you found her?" He questioned. Rena shook her head no. Rissa's father wilted. "Where could she have gone? It's been hours..." He looked around the grassy field outside his kingdom. The grass swayed in the spring breeze. As far as he could see, his daughter was no where to be seen. Of course, the woods didn't help.

"I have no idea, Asher, but I hope we find her soon. It's her engagement party, she can't be late." They turned back towards the gate and started back for their large stone castle as tall as the sky.

"Ha!" Rissa yelled, having found her friend's hiding place. Her long brown hair flowed to the ground as she hung upside down in a small tree she had climbed to sneak up on Marina.

"Awe come on! You have to be cheating!" Marina groaned, falling to the ground. Rissa jumped down and giggled.

"I am not. Just good at this game."

"Yeah, we need to find a new one. Hide and Seek is getting extremely old."

"Very..." The girls rested in the grass, looking up at the tall trees in the woods outside the kingdom. The sky peaked out of the tree top like it was hiding from them.

"Hey, didn't you have some party thingy today?" Marina asked, rolling onto her stomach and looking as Rissa. Rissa's ocean blue eyes widened and she jumped to her feet.

"Shit! I totally forgot! I'll catch you later, Marina!" Rissa ran off, leaving her friend in the woods alone. Rissa ran into the field her parents were in just a few moments earlier, "I can't believe I forgot!" She grumbled. She ran the rest of the way to the castle and snuck past the Ballroom where the party was taking place, racing up to her room. Once she was safely inside her bedroom she plopped down on the ground and sighed, then quickly scrabbled back to her feet running for her closet. 'What to wear...' she pondered to herself. She finally settled for an cute pink dress that fit her perfectly. Her mother knocked on the door, making her jump and run to the mirror, brushing her matted hair quickly, relinquishing it of all knots. "Come in!" She yelled. Her mother walked through the door, anger covering her face.

"Where have you been!" Rena interrogated.

"I... uh... was in the woods..." Rissa answered cautiously. Rena shook her head and walked over to her young daughter.

"That explains this." She pulled a leaf out of her hair, making Rissa blush.

"I'm almost done, I'll be down in a minute." Her mother nodded and left the room gracefully. Rissa turned and looked one last time at herself in her full view mirror and smiled. Her dress fit her like a glove and her shimmery long brown hair flowed down her back; she looked perfect. She turned towards the door, hesitating on the knob. Slowly she turned it, afraid of what awaited her downstairs. When she had first found out that she was engaged, she was mortified. She was only fifteen, far too young to get married in her opinion. But her parents made her except her fate, insisting that Vanitas was a good man for her, whoever Vanitas was... She finally opened the door and slipped out, making her way for the stairs. She took a deep breath, then descended cautiously. Everyone turned and smiled when they saw her, but all she saw was a handsome black haired boy with golden eyes standing in the center holding a glass of wine and talking with a young blond boy. He didn't seem too interested in her though. She made her way to him and smiled. "Hello." She said nicely.

"Hey."

"You're Vanitas, right?"

"Yeah." So this was the boy she was supposed to marry. 'Well, mine as well be friends.' she thought.

"So you're my fiancé..." She drug out. He grimaced at the thought of being married so young. Rissa wrinkled her nose at him. She already disliked him, she didn't know why though. He frowned back at her. An older lady standing next to Vanitas shoved him and glared. Rissa assumed it was his mother.

"Wanna dance?" Vanitas mumbled.

"I guess." Rissa replied unhappily. They placed their hands together and the music started. Surprisingly, he was a decent dancer. "You're a really good dancer." Rissa commented, trying to start a conversation.

"Thanks." He replied, not really paying attention. His golden eyes seemed to be everywhere except Rissa's blue ones. She sighed, wanting to leave.

The rest of the evening wasn't much better. They barely touched, spoke, not even make eye contact. Not once! And she was supposed to marry this guy? He was the most rude, uncaring person she had ever met. Rissa was getting angrier with each passing second. Finally she snapped, "I'VE HAD IT!" She yelled, shocking everyone in the room. The room fell silent, everyone staring at her with wide eyes including her parent's. Rissa ran out of the castle and out to the seashore not far away, plopping down on the sand. A single tear ran down her face. Her mother's footsteps came up behind her, "What was that all about?" She asked calmly.

"I can't marry Vanitas. He's horrible. We have nothing in common. Besides, he won't even look at me!"

"Oh posh, I'm sure there's something you both like."

"Not possible. And if you make me marry him, I'll run away!" Rissa stated angrily.

"You will not. You will marry Vanitas, become queen, and live a happy life together. When I first met your father we hated each other, but look at us now. We love each other and we've had two beautiful daughters together." Rissa thought of her older sister, who had went missing eleven years ago. Her parents told her that she had been kidnapped, but Rissa didn't believe it. Her sister could handle anything. A simple creeper wouldn't have stopped her. "Now, come back in and apologize."

"Why do I have to apologize? He's the pig!" Rissa crossed her arms and looked away from her mother.

"Fine. Have it your way. You can come back inside and apologize to Vanitas when you've learned some manners."

"Fine! I will!" She looked at her reflection in the water, but refused to look back at her mother's face. Her mother walked away, angry at her daughter. Another tear rolled down Rissa's face from the frustration she was feeling. 'I'm leaving. And NEVER coming back!' She concluded in her head. She snuck back in her room and ripped off her dress. She grabbed some scissors and cut her long well kept locks to a little past her ear. 'It's probably easier to travel with shorter hair.' She thought to herself. She smiled at how well she had cut it and went to her closet, finally deciding on a comfortable black dress. She grabbed her bag with a few other things she needed and ran to her parents room. She trotted over to her father's bedside table and opened the draw to reveal a Star Shard that her father's uncle, Master Yen Sid who she had been training under for the last few months, had given to him in case of emergences. She then grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and wrote a sloppy note about why she was leaving. "I love you." She whispered before she ran out to the field outside the gates of her kingdom. She sighed and pulled out the Star Shard. 'So how does this thing work?' She thought. Suddenly a bright light flashed from the object she was holding. Just as the light flashed, Marina ran out into the field.

"Rissa!" She yelled, but when the light vanished, Rissa had disappeared.