Chapter 1

The Kingdom of Plasma was a fortunate and prosperous place, but the king and queen were not as content as their subjects. In desperate need of an heir, the couple was delighted when the queen bore them a son. However, the queen had wanted the child to be a girl so, supposing that the child wouldn't mind, she made it a habit to dress her son and raise him as a girl. She even gave the boy a name that her husband, King Ghetsis deemed much too feminine for the young prince. When he told his wife his thoughts, she just shook her head.

"No, he will always be my little Natural Harmonia."

The king relented, but only if his son were to be addressed as Princess N or Princess Harmonia. Natural Harmonia itself was an insult to the boy's dignity, he claimed.

"Very well," said the queen, "but you know that I've always wanted a daughter." she whispered softly to her son, "Harmonia, my darling, you are far too precious to me for me to let you live only to die in battle. I shall raise you as a woman so that you may never see the blood of soldiers, nor will you be slain in a far off land, fighting for our kingdom."

Kissing his forehead, the queen lay her son down in his cradle and sang him a lullaby. Once he was asleep, the queen slipped away quietly, smiling as Zorua, her son's small fox kit, lay down beside him.

The years slipped by, and N grew up to become almost as stunningly beautiful as his mother. With his soft feminine face and his long lime green hair, it was quite easy to mistake him for a young girl. Quite used to it, he allowed his mother to dress him in all sorts of gowns, dresses and other womanly finery.

One day, as he was playing with Zorua in his room, the silver ball the two had been playing catch with slipped out of N's grasp and tumbled out of the window, off the balcony and into the garden below.

"Ow!"

Wincing at the yell, N hurried down the stairs and through the palace halls until he reached the garden. Glancing around, he saw a boy about his age, perhaps a bit younger, with wild brown hair and friendly brown eyes. Beside the boy was a girl sporting hair the same shade of brown as her companion. Instead of brown, her eyes were light blue.

"I'm so sorry about that," apologized N when he saw the boy rubbing the back of his head, "Zorua and I were playing and our ball fell out the window." he bowed slightly, "I'm terribly sorry for any inconvenience we've caused you."

The boy chuckled good heartedly, "It's quite alright, you didn't mean any harm."

N nodded before getting straight to the point, "Why are you two in the gardens of the royal palace?"

The girl frowned, "I could ask the same of you."

Noticing that the dress he was wearing was a simple commoners dress, N realized that her rudeness was just a misunderstanding.

"I am Princess Harmonia of the Kingdom of Plasma. Now, may I ask whom I am talking to?"

Realizing her mistake, the girl quickly curtsied while the boy bowed, "I'm sorry for my rudeness, I am Princess Hilde from the Kingdom of Unova, and this is my brother Prince Hilbert."

The prince grinned, "Please, just call me Black."

"Please call me White, Hilde is much to formal." added the princess

N nodded, "May i ask why you are visiting the palace?"

Just then a guard came running up to the three. Briefly acknowledging the other two royals, he immediately addressed N.

"Your highness, I bring grave news. Your mother, the queen, is dreadfully ill and the physicians claim that she will die shortly."

N closed his eyes and sighed, "I see, please go find the king, Mother no doubt wishes to see him. I shall stop by later after they have spoken." he nodded to the guard, "You are dismissed."

White placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry for your loss." she paused and added as if it were an afterthought, "I wonder if your father will remarry."

N stared at her calmly, "I highly doubt that. When i was younger, I overheard my parents talking about what should happen should one of the die. My mother made my father promise never to marry again unless the bride was nothing less than her equal in beauty. My father agreed. Since he sees my mother as the most beautiful woman in the world, I doubt he will ever remarry.