Princes of Grimm #1

Chapter 1

"Phillip the Giant Slayer"

Once upon a time (because that's how all fairy tales begin) there wasn't just one enchanted land, there were many, each with their own unique tales. Their were several kingdoms spread throughout the land, each one with its own royal family. And with many kings and queens, there came many princes and princesses, enough to where at one point it was decided that these children must be educated in becoming good and fair rulers, which is where the Royal Academy came in, and this is where our story begins.

It was Prince Phillip's first day at the Royal Academy, which just happened to be right in the center of his own kingdom. The all male school (the female Academy was just a few miles away) was a three story building with its own gymnasium, olympic sized swimming pool, and many other features designed for the students.

12-year-old Phillip walked in, with shaggy brown hair that hung down, nearly covering his brown eyes. He was wearing a black and gray tunic, with black boots and black pants. In his hand was a King Arthur lunchbox and a black backpack hanging off of his shoulder. Phillp was nervous about his first day of the Academy, and was even more nervous about being scrawnier than most of the boys there.

"Hey, watch it, jerk," an older boy said as he brushed past Phillip. This was Prince Adam, who was a year older and was used to acting like a beast towards his classmates. Adam was taller and muscular, with sandy brown hair that was neatly trimmed. Phillip just took a deep breath and started walking, finding his locker just up the hall, which he had trouble opening.

"There's a trick to it," another boy said as he stood behind Phillip, watching him struggle. This boy was also a year older than Phillip, with jet black hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a long sleeved white shirt, covered by a sleeveless dark blue coat. He had brown pants and black boots. "Let me show you."

The boy put his ear to the locker and dialed the combination. Seconds later he made a fist and pounded the locker, which opened immediately.

"Thanks," Phillip said as he put his backpack away.

"No prob, kid," the other boy smiled. "Name's Cameron. I'm the guy you go too when you want to open something or need tech support."

"What's 'tech' mean?" Phillip asked in confusion.

"It's a term I came up with, it means I invent stuff," the other boy replied as he held out his hand to shake.

"I'm Phillip," Phillip said as he shook the other boy's hand. "What kingdom are you from?"

"Kingdom of Corenal, it's not far from here," Cameron replied as Phillip closed his locker. "Come on, let me introduce you to the guys."

They passed Adam as he gave the two a dirty look. "Don't mind Adam, he's got daddy issues. All the time leaving him with an old babysitter, I think she's a witch or something. Keeps saying she's going to curse him if he doesn't shape up."

They got to the gymnasium where two older boys were sword fighting. They were both a year older than Cameron and Phillip, with Frederick being the oldest at 15. "Phil, this is Frederick and Thomas."

"How you doin',?" Thomas smiled. He had black hair and green eyes and had on a navy blue button down shirt, black pants and black boots. As Thomas turned his head, Frederick knocked the sword out of his hand and held the pointed tip at his throat.

"Never lose focus in a sword fight. I could have taken off your head," Frederick replied. He had neatly trimmed brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a blue and white tunic, blue pants and black boots. "It's a good thing I don't want to kill you. Today."

"Pay no attention to Prince Stick-up-his-butt," Thomas told Phillip as he pushed the sword away from this throat. "He wouldn't know a good time if it bit him in the backside."

"Kid's kind of scrawny to be a prince," Frederick said, shoving Thomas out of the way before sizing Phillip up. "I thought you had to be a certain height to get into this place."

"Yeah, well, I-" Phillip meekly said as the bell started ringing.

"Class is starting, better hurry," Thomas said as everyone started heading out. "See you around, Phillip."

Phillip's royal classes went well that morning. From learning how to handle land disputes to helping build a better kingdom, Phillip was learning a lot. His favorite class so far was adventuring, where he was going to learn how to handle a sword and fight for his kingdom should the need arise.

It wasn't Phillip's dream to be a king, it was to be a brave knight who rescued damsels and slayed dragons. Ruling a kingdom just seemed like it would be too boring. Sitting on a throne all day and listening to people's problems instead of handling them personally didn't seem like it would be all that much fun, not when there were adventures to be had.

As he sat there listening to the teacher, a spitball hit him in the back of the head. He looked back and saw Adam smirking at him. Phillip just turned back and tried to ignore him, wondering if he'd have to put up with this every day.

Lunchtime came, and Phillip started walking up the hall to see if he could find his new friends. At least he hoped they'd be his new friends. Being smaller than all the other boys, Phillip always had low self confidence and just wanted to be accepted.

"I don't think we should let that new kid hang out with us," Frederick told Thomas and Cameron as they headed to the cafeteria. "It's nothing personal, it's just that... well the kid could get hurt hanging out with us. Remember last week when we went camping on that mountain?"

"Yeah, I remember you nearly getting eaten by that big bad wolf," Thomas replied as he searched his pockets for his lunch money. The food was already paid for, but Thomas always liked having an extra slice of chocolate cake.

"That's just what I mean," Frederick replied. "That wolf would have eaten Phillip in a heartbeat. I don't think he's cut out to hang with our group."

"Oh, come on," Cameron said as he looked at his friends. "So he's a bit on the puny side. He'll grow in time. Hopefully."

"Just the same, maybe Frederick's right," Thomas said with a sigh. "I like him, but if he got hurt on one of our trips, it'd be on our heads. I don't want to be responsible for Phillip getting hurt if he joined our group."

Phillip overheard the group and tried not to get tears in his eyes. After a few seconds it became no use and he ran down the hall. After 12 years he still hadn't become used to being rejected. First by the kids around the village who didn't want to play with the prince because it wouldn't be *proper*, and now the other princes didn't like him because of his size. He was tired of being shunned beacause of who he was or what he looked like.

"I wonder where he's at?" Cameron asked as he looked around the cafeteria.

"Maybe he's so short that we just can't see him," Frederick replied with a laugh. "Come on, Thomas, I know you forgot your money again. Cake's on me today."

"GIANT!" a voice shouted from outside the doors. "A giant is coming!"

"That damned farmboy must have grown another beanstalk!" Frederick said as the earth started to shake. "Why hasn't that kid been banished?"

"Take cover!" a teacher shouted as the students started hiding under the tables, while the shaking of the academy became worse. Suddenly a loud THUD! was felt as the school was given one last vicious shake. After a few minutes of dead silence, everyone stood up and headed for the window to see what was going on. The giant was laying face down on the ground, with Prince Phillip standing atop his head, holding a sword in his hand while his cape blew in the wind.

"I don't believe it," Frederick said in a low whisper.

"He took out a giant," Thomas added, trying not to laugh.

"He good enough to join our group now?" Cameron asked with a smirk.

"I think he might be TOO good to join our group," Frederick replied.

After his first day at the Academy, Phillip and the other three boys had become great friends. Frederick gladly accepted Phillip into their group, and even started to show him how to handle a sword. The four friends began to do everything together, from hanging out at school to planning adventures around their kingdoms during school breaks.

Since the kingdoms were so far apart, the school had to board the children for most of the year. While Thomas and Frederick were roomed together, and with Cameron staying with Prince Eric from the seaside Kingdom of Unger, Phillip was roomed with another young prince.

"Hi, I'm Rupert," the young man said as Phillip brought his bags into the room. Rupert had strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. He was wearing a royal red and gold shirt with black pants and boots. He was the same age as Phillip, just a few months younger. "I guess we're roomies."

"I'm Phillip," the other boy said as he looked around. It wasn't a very larg room; his room back at the castle was much larger. He wished he could go home, but the daily trip by carriage would have been too far. By the time he returned to the castle at night, he'd have to go straight to bed with a quick supper, then leave at least two hours before sunrise to make it to school on time. "Which bed is mine?"

"The one in the corner," Rupert replied as he looked at himself in the mirror to make sure his suit was perfect. "Although I guess it doesn't matter, I won't be here much longer anyway. Since I'm the only heir to my kingdom's throne, and my father is very ill, they're planning to marry me off to a princess soon."

"Aren't you too young to be ruling a kingdom?" Phillip asked as he sat on his new bed, pulling off his boots. He wished he had more comfortable shoes to walk around in, but it wasn't *proper* according to his parents. Somedays he wished he just go barefoot instead of walking around in uncomfortable boots, or at least have a larger pair that didn't hurt to walk in.

"It's not like I have a choice, my father's all I have, and once he's gone, I'm the only royal heir left," Rupert replied as he combed his hair back. "Besides, how hard can it be?"

"I don't know, I'm just not looking forward to ruling my kingdom," Phillip sighed as he fell backward onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. "I'd rather just go out and have fun, maybe slay a dragon or two. I'm not even looking forward to finding a princess. It's not like I'm just going to stumble across one in the forest one day."

"Never say never, my friend," Rupert told him as he looked away from the mirror. "You never know what can happen when you least expect it."

It wasn't long before Rupert's prediction about leaving school came true. Several months into the school year, his father had passed, and Rupert was pulled out of school to be taken back to his kingdom. Phillip never heard from his roommate again, at least not at this point in the story...

"Princesses? Yuck!" 12-year-old Phillip said as he dangled his feet in the cold lake while holding a fishing pole. It was his job to gather food for supper, and already had a nearly full bucket of trout. "Who wants to marry a girl?"

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Frederick laughed as he was trying to start a campfire with Thomas's help. "You haven't discovered girls yet. That day is coming soon, my friend."

"We all had the same feelings," Cameron replied as he continued gathering firewood. "Then one day before you came along, we accidentally ended up camping near the Princess Academy. It was like entering Heaven."

"Too bad they spotted us, and the teachers chased us off," Thomas sighed. "Those fairy godmothers can produce some pretty powerful lightning attack when they get properly motivated."

Phillip brought the bucket of fish he'd caught up the hill to the campsite as the fire was finally started. "I don't think so. I'm never going to marry a dumb ol' girl."

Four years had passed, and even though they were getting older and accepting more responsibilities within their own kingdoms, Frederick, Thomas, Cameron and Phillip still tried to find time to see each other whenever possible. The boys knew that ultimately their time together would be less as the years went on, so they had to plan something special before it all ended.

On Phillip's sixteenth birthday during spring break, the boys decided to camp out up on the highest mountain in Phillip's kingdom. Thomas and Frederick graduated the academy the previous year, and in a few months it would be Cameron's turn, leaving Phillip alone at the school.

Phillip had really grown since the others had met him as a scrawny twelve year old. He was now two feet taller, more muscular and was even better at sword fighting than Frederick, although he still wasn't as good at hand to hand combat as the others.

The night up on the mountain was filled with activities, starting from their arrival early that morning. Fishing, swimming, sword fighting, hunting, and various other activities spread throughout their last day together before everyone went their separate ways.

After the sun had set, the boys had gathered around a campfire to tell stories and talk about the good old days at the Academy, but then the talk turned to what the future held.

"It sucks that this could be our last night together for a long time," Frederick told the others. "My dad's sending me on visits to other kingdoms soon. He says I have to find a princess to marry. I'd rather eat a poisoned apple than settle down."

"Same here," Thomas replied as he shook his head. "My dad's pushing me to get married as well. He's talking about throwing a ball and inviting all the eligible women in the kingdom."

"Have fun with that," Cameron laughed. "Me and Prince Eric are talking about getting a beach side house and living the single life with all the beautiful sunbathers that show up Some say that you can even mermaids swimming in the sea at dawn."

"What's wrong, Phillip?" Frederick asked, having noticed Phillip had been quiet the entire time, just poking a wooden stick around their campfire.

"I didn't kill that giant," Phillip whispered as he stared into the fire. He wanted his friends to know the truth before they separated. "He- he tripped on some vines and I just- I don't know, I just wanted you guys to like me."

The others just stared at each other in dead silence. After a few moments, they all started laughing.

"Phil, we knew you didn't take out that giant," Frederick replied as he added more wood to the fire. "A sheep herder saw the whole thing and told me during jousting practice that day."

"Then why did you let me join your group?" Phillip asked.

"We felt bad about the way we talked about you," Thomas told him. "And after that, you seemed to have more confidence. So we just let it go-"

Thomas realized in horror what he'd just said as the others raised their heads and looked around. When no chorus came, all four breathed a sigh of relief and went back to their discussion. Those dreaded words seemed to carry a curse when spoken. Luckily it wasn't snowing at the time.

"Cameron told us that you should have a fair shot," Frederick said with a smile. "And you didn't disappoint. We're glad you're our friend, Phillip. Which is why we got you this."

Frederick handed Phillip a shiny new sword and a blue and gold shield with a cross on it. "Happy birthday, Phillip. We all chipped in and had my royal blacksmith make it from the finest materials. It even has your family crest on it."

A tear came to Phillip's eye as he looked at his friends. "I don't know what to say."

"Say you got some dust in your eye or something, don't go all princess on us now," Thomas told him with a laugh. "You deserve it, Phillip. You earned your place with us."

The four joined hands over the fire as Frederick looked at them.

"Friends forever?" Phillip asked.

"Friends forever!" the others replied in unison.

"Can we move our hands now? It's starting to burn," Cameron told them.

Two Years Later

Up on the mountain top overseeing Prince Phillip's kingdom, a pair of dark yellow eyes opened in a cave. He had spend the better part of 18 years recovering from a defeat, hiding in the cave to both heal and plot his revenge. Now that he was whole again, and his magic was as strong as ever, it was time to extract vengeance on those who had wronged not only him, but those like him.

After graduating from the Academy, Phillip had gone out into the world like his friends, and like them, he soon found his true love. Phillip was now a handsome 18 year old young man who looked nothing like the scrawny child he did on his first day at the Academy. Although there were days when he still acted like the same child who had pretended to slay the giant.

"Aren't you being a bit over dramatic?" Princess Aurora asked as she held a frilly tailor made suit in front of him, to which Phillip had threatened to slay the suit to rid the world of its frilliness. Through true love's kiss, Phillip had awakened Aurora from eternal sleep. It wasn't long before they were married and living in his castle. Aurora had long, flowing light brown hair and was wearing a sparkling pink dress while looking at him. "You need to look your best for the villagers today."

"My best suit just happens to be my blue and black tunic," Phillip reminded her as she pushed the strand of brown hair out of his face. The prince was in need of a trim yet again, so she'd have to remember to have the royal barber come in soon. Phillip always hated having his hair cut, something that went back to his being a small child when the royal barber decided to wear a clown costume to surprise him. The image of a clown wielding a sharp knife in one hand and a pair of sharp scissors in the other was forever embedded in his mind. "A nice comfortable pair of pants and my trusty two size bigger than my feet boots. And let's not forget my cape," Phillip said as his eyes shrunk to slits as he got dead serious. "Never forget the cape."

"I love that outfit, too, but don't you want to show the people to see how regal you are?" Aurora asked.

"Regal? Ugh," Phillip said as he stuck his tongue out in disgust. "If it weren't for the fact that I was born a prince, I'd be as far away from regal as possible. Why, I'd rather be out slaying dragons and having adventures than sitting around doing boring royal stuff."

"If you weren't born a prince, we probably would have never met," Aurora reminded him.

"That's the only upside to being a prince from where I stand," Phillip said as he kissed her. "You're the only thing making being royalty worthwhile. That and being able to do something for the people who can't help themselves. If I have to be a royal, then I'm going to make sure the people benefit the most."

"Sir, you sword has been sharpened and your shield waxed, should I take them to the carriage?" the servant asked as Aurora raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to show the children of the village the sword that took out that she-demon Maleficent," Phillip told her.

"You mean show off to the villagers?"

"That too," Phillip replied with a smirk.

21-year-old Prince Frederick got up early that morning, as he had a lot of preparing to do. Prince Thomas (or Charming as everyone but his friends called him) was coming to the castle with his new bride to discuss the possibility of a royal summit that would benefit everyone's kingdom. If they could work out a schedule with Cameron and Phillip, they'd not only be able to work out something for all their kingdoms, but the four friends would be able to see more of each other.

Frederick kissed his sleeping bride Snow White gently as he got out of the bed and headed up the hall to take a bath. He stripped out of his night-clothes and got into the bath barrel, hoping to get a few minutes peace before the castle started to get busy with the staff. With his parents off traveling, Frederick had full command of the kingdom and rarely had a moment to himself during the day anymore.

As he washed himself, he closed his eyes and took in the peace while he had it. He reached over for the soap and felt something soft and furry instead.

"No," Frederick whispered as his eyes opened wide. He looked over at the soap dish and saw a deer standing there, holding the soap in its mouth to give it to the prince. "Not again."

Wrapping a towel around his waist, Frederick marched back down the hall, finding his bride playing with a couple of chipmunks, who had brought her some morning flowers. Snow White was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, with snow white skin and long black hair. She was still in her red nightgown as she saw her dripping wet husband coming.

"Snow White, my one true love, the light of my life," Frederick said through gritted teeth, trying to keep calm. "I thought we agreed that no more forest animals would be allowed into the castle. Especially after last night's furball surprise."

"Oh, Frederick," Snow White giggled as she nuzzled the chipmunks close to her. "They're only trying to help. These are kind hearted animals that just want to show us they can be useful."

Frederick rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers, feeling a migraine coming on. "Useful, she says," he thought to himself. He loved Snow White with all his heart and would do anything for her. But waking up to a castle full of forest creatures every day was getting to be a bit much, especially after last night when the rabbits and deer tried to help fix dinner. Frederick spent half the night coughing up hairballs. "I'm- I'm going to get dressed. Prince Thomas will be here this afternoon."

"You're in luck, the birds have laid out your outfit for you," Snow White told him in a cheerful voice.

"What!?" Frederick asked as he ran back toward the bedroom, nearly losing his towel in the process. He flew through the door and saw his finest outfit laying on the bed... full of birdbeak holes and covered in bird droppings.

Queen Grimhilde sat alone on her throne, tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair. When Snow White and Prince Frederick had left the kingdom to be married, the people started leaving in droves to live within Frederick's kingdom, where they were promised a better life than what the wicked Queen was giving them.

Within a month's time, the former kingdom was now cold and empty, with only a few loyal servants remaining, and that was only out of fear of what the Queen would do to them if they left. This was all Frederick's fault, for interfering with her plans. If he hadn't broken her sleeping spell, Snow White would have remained in a death like sleep forever, leaving the Queen to continue to rule a full kingdom of fearful citizens who would cater to her every whim.

"You can have your revenge," a voice said as Grimhilde looked upward. The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it. A scroll appeared out of thin air and landed in her hands. "Come to me, Grimhilde, and vengeance can be yours."

Grimhilde opened the scroll and smiled. She could care less about Snow White at this point. It was Prince Frederick that would be made to suffer from this point on.

"This summit is going to be great!" Prince Thomas said as he dug through his closet to find the perfect outfit. His new bride, Cinderella, was still sleeping on the bed as Thomas started jumping up and down. "Come on, we have to get ready to go!"

"The sun is barely up," Cinderella yawned as she saw how excited Thomas was. She loved how much he cared for his subjects and how he jumped at the opportunity for a royal summit to make sure that everyone in all kingdoms would benefit. Cinderella was wearing a blue nightgown, and had long light brown hair that seemed to stay perfect, even when she slept.

"Yes, but there's so much to do!" Thomas said with a smile as he jumped off the bed and gathered up his finest clothes. "We have to bathe and eat and brush and head out. The ride alone is going to be a few hours. Do you think Frederick will like this outfit? I have to be look perfect for this meeting."

"I thought I was the one who had to worry about what to wear?" Cinderella asked as she as got out of the bed.

"My dear Cinderella, you look perfect in anything," Thomas said as he kissed her. "Even the rags you wore the day I came to your cottage. I would have married you right there had the priest been available."

"Thomas, you're such a charmer," Cinderella smiled as she started looking for the perfect dress.

"Well, they don't call me Prince Charming for nothing," Thomas smirked as he looked through his own closet. "I don't know what kind of boots to wear. And my cape! This is going to be so difficult to choose."

"Prince Thomas, bah," Lady Tremaine said as she read the announcement of the recent wedding between her step-daughter Cinderella and the Prince. "If he thinks Cinderella is the best, he clearly isn't good enough for my daughters."

"But mother!" Anastasia cried out, her eyes red and puffy from crying over the lost prince. "He was the last prince available! There are no princes in the neighboring kingdoms except for that 12 year old kid in the next kingdom!"

"Yeah, what are we going to do for princes? What are we going to do, move?" Drizella asked, her eyes also red and puffy. "We want a prince, too!"

"Quiet, you two!" Tremaine shouted at them angrily. "This is far from over. I'll not rest until I have my revenge on Cinderella for ruining my daughter's chances at being royalty."

"Perhaps I can help," an echoing voice from within the cabin, followed a hideous laugh.

"Who's there?" Tremaine asked, while her daughters started to panic. A parchment appeared out of thin air, landing in the old woman's hands.

"Follow the instructions on the parchment. See you soon."

"Are you going to do it, mother?" Anastasia asked as Lady Tremaine unrolled the parchment and looked at it.

"I believe I shall," Tremaine said with a devious smirk.

Prince Cameron was awakened by the sound of the twins in the nursery across the hall. He looked down at his princess, Rapunzel, not wanting her to get up this time. She had short cut brown hair, a result of her 'mother' cutting it short. He yawned and stumbled over to the nursery where his twin sons were waiting to be fed. They were a few months old and looked just like their mother.

"Flynn, Ryder, when are you going to learn to eat at the same time as the rest of us?" Cameron asked as he picked both babies up and carried them over to a rocking chair. Their crying ceased temporarily as he sat down with them. "Now that's better. What do you say we head down to the kitchen and get you two some milk? Can we be quiet so we don't disturb mommy for the rest of the morning?"

The twins started giggling as Cameron stubbed his toe in the dark. The twins started laughing as Cameron danced around in pain while trying to juggle both babies. "We'll take the moving room down."

Cameron stepped into a small room and slowly pulled a lever, which was connected to a series of ropes weighed down with rocks, which slowly lowered the small down to the kitchen. He wasn't sure what to call a room that lowered and elevated, so he just called it a moving room. Cameron put the babies in their high chairs as he started preparing milk for them.

"Cameron, are you down there?" Rapunzel asked from the top of the stairs.

"Yes, dear!" Cameron shouted back up at her. "Stay right there, you can use the moving stairs."

"That's not necessary," Rapunzel said as Cameron jumped on a bike and started peddling. The bike's wheels, connected to pulleys, started moving the stairs downward while Rapunzel stood in place, until she was at the bottom. "I must admit, it's nice living in an automated castle."

"Just wait to see what my next invention is," Cameron said as he kissed her. "Little balls of light concealed in glass bulbs," Cameron smiled as he made a motion with his hands as he announced the name. "I call them... sunshine under glass."

"That's... great," Rapunzel smiled as she gave a confused look to her twins before helping make breakfast.

Dame Gothel, a witch hundreds of years old, but still looking no older than her mid-30's, sat alone in the tower which used to house her adopted daughter Rapunzel. That is, until one day the ungrateful brat fell in love with a Prince and no longer needed her beloved mother. So Dame Gothel cast Rapunzel out of the tower, and was glad to have at least gotten a form of revenge by blinding the handsome Prince who had come to take her beloved daughter away from her.

"They will never find each other now," Dame Gothel smirked as she weaved a ladder from silk to make her own escape from the tower. After two months in the tower, she was almost ready to make her escape.

"You are wrong," an echoing voice said from within the tower. "Rapunzel and her Prince have found each other. She has cured his blindness with her tears and they go now to his kingdom to be married."

"What? No!" Gothel shouted as she stood up. "I won't allow that monster to steal my precious baby girl! I'll kill him before that happens!"

A parchment appeared in Gothel's hands. "Follow the instructions and you shall have your vengeance on Prince Cameron."

"Who are you?" Gothel asked, but got no reply. The voice had long since ceased, but now Gothel was interested as she read the scroll.

TO BE CONTINUED...