Lyssa closed her eyes and allowed the sun to warm her small body. She was lying in the grass next to the Yarin River that flowed gracefully through the woods. Lyssa was a young fairy who lived in the Featherwood Kingdom ruled by Queen Xylia. She lived in the palace but was not a princess; she was simply a young noblewoman who was supposed to marry Prince Gerik. The prince was handsome and a great warrior, but he was also rude and arrogant, characteristics that she could not stand in the least bit. In a few weeks the queen was going to hold a ball to announce their engagement, but Lyssa had every intention of having that ball canceled.
The forest was quiet, save for the birds singing their alluring melodies above her. All was perfect until she heard an annoying buzzing that caused her to open her eyes. At first, she could not see as the sun blinded her, but after a few seconds, she noticed an outline of another fairy, a male fairy to be exact. He was rugged and tall with long black hair and chestnut brown eyes. Despite his tattered clothes, he was very good looking.
"Who are you to disturb me?" She asked, but not harshly.
"Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you. My name is Kailen, but you can call me Kai." His wings stopped fluttering as soon as his feet touched the ground.
"Nice to meet you. I am Lyssa. Where are you from? I have never seen you around here before."
"You are very observant, Lyssa. No, I am not from around here, what here is, I have no idea. Perhaps you can tell me where I am."
Lyssa stared at the fairy curiously. "Why you are in the Featherwood Kingdom."
Kai inclined his head and said his thank you. "I guess I shall leave you alone now." He opened his wings and was about to take flight.
"Wait! Where are you going?" She was excited to make a new friend. She loved having new friends, especially fairies from other kingdoms. Kai interested her and she had no idea why that was so.
"I thought that I was interrupting your nap?"
"You were, but I am not very tired now, and if you permit me, I can show you around the kingdom."
Kai accepted her request and together they flew off, Lyssa leading the way. She took him to all of her favorite places in the forest before taking him to her village. As evening fell, she asked where he was going to stay. When he had no answer, she insisted that he stay at the inn until she found him a more suitable location. He obliged, not wanting to hurt her feelings, but had no intention to stay in Featherwood very long.
That night Prince Gerik went to visit Lyssa in her chambers. He asked where she had been all day, and when she told him about Kai, he became insanely jealous. He told her to relinquish her relationship with him and that if she didn't, he would banish him from the kingdom. Lyssa nodded and the prince left her to sulk.
A few days passed before she saw Kai again. She was on the outskirts of the village picking flowers when he approached.
"Lyssa, there you are! I have been looking for you for the past few days."
Lyssa turned around and looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "I am supposed to marry the prince, and he does not want us to be friends. If he see's us together, he will banish you from Featherwood."
Kai laughed. "He cannot banish one who is not a registered resident of his kingdom, Lyssa."
She thought what he had said, but shook her head. "Still, you should go, I don't want to cause any trouble."
"Oh Lyssa." He fluttered closer to her. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are? Come with me, I want to show you something."
Lyssa's cheeks became scarlet. "Kai, I can't. I need to be back at the palace soon."
"Please, you got to show me your favorite places, but I have yet to show you mine." He pleaded, his eyes glistening in the sun.
With a sigh, she gave in and off they went once more. He led her to a meadow full of daisies, and on the meadow was a blanket with a picnic basket. At the sight, Lyssa gasped and began to fly away from him. "You tricked me! I can't be here with you."
Kai's heart broke. "Please, it's just a quick lunch and then you can leave. I love this meadow and I wanted to share something beautiful with you."
Again, she gave in and ate a delicious lunch of nuts, berries, and butternut pie. While they ate, they talked, allowing themselves to get to know one another. Lyssa learned that Kai ran away from his home because he felt like an outcast and believed that there had to be a place for him in the world. He said that he must have been blessed to have met Lyssa, making her blush once more. By the time they were done with lunch, she decided that she really liked Kai.
"Maybe, if we are careful, we can still see one another." And that is what they did for the next few weeks leading up to the ball that would announce her engagement. During their secret meetings, they saw Queen Xylia. Curious what she was doing, they followed her to a cave where they saw her talk to another fairy who was from the Starfire Kingdom, which was a peaceful clan of fairies next to the Feathwood Kingdom.
Both Lyssa and Kai strained their ears to hear what was being said, and what they heard shocked them. They immediately left the cave and did not stop until they reached the meadow. "Kai," Lyssa said, out of breath. "We have to do something. If she gets that orb, the entire world will perish!" She was talking about the Orb of Shyria, which was an orb given to the Starfire Kingdom as a gift from the Goddess Shyria many years ago. It was said that whoever possessed the orb would have incredible power and could control the elements. It was supposed to be used to enrich the earth, but Queen Xylia wanted it to control nature itself, which was forbidden. Shyria said that is one tried to abuse the orb, she would destroy the kingdom that had the orb.
"What can we do?" Kai asked.
Lyssa thought for a moment, then said, "I will go to the Prince Gerik, he is arrogant, but he is not evil." Kai was unsure about that, but said nothing more on the matter. She left the young fairy to talk to the prince. She found him in the garden practicing his archery. "Your highness, may I please speak with you?" He released his bow and sent the arrow spiraling towards the target, missing the bullseye.
"Look what you made me do." He growled. "What do you want?"
"Does Featherwood have any dealings with the Starfire Kingdom?" She asked as nonchalant as possible.
Gerik rolled his eyes and asked why she wanted to know that particular piece of information. "If I am to be your wife, then I must know the affairs of the Kingdom, don't I?" The prince was taken aback by her sudden interest in the Kingdom.
"Yes, you should, but I thought that you were not interested in politics? In the past you always avoided the subject."
Lyssa laughed. "I was trying to avoid you. Anyways, I have reason to believe that someone is trying to steal the Orb of Shyria from Starfire, and I need your help to stop her."
The prince's eyes grew big for a moment, but he composed himself quickly and said, "The orb is extremely difficult to steal, and if it were possible, why would anyone want to steal it?"
"Simple, to control the elements."
Gerik scoffed, "Lyssa, that is forbidden, everyone knows that. Only one who does not believe in the gods would attempt such a task."
Lyssa nodded for he was correct. "That is true, but we both know of one person who likes to defy the gods."
Gerik's face paled. "You promised that you would never speak of this; my mother might not truly believe in the gods, but she would never do such a thing!"
"Gerik, I saw her talking with someone from the Starfire Kingdom."
"I don't believe you. How dare you accuse my mother of treason!"
"Gerik, Kai saw it too!"
As soon as the prince heard Kai's name, he became rigid. "I Thought I told you to stay away from him. He is trying to turn you against your Kingdom, can't you see that?"
"I only see a stubborn prince who does not want to face the truth!" With that, Lyssa flew away to let him ponder her words.
Gerik hated what he heard, but it was still his duty to find out if what she said was true, so he snooped around his mother's chambers only to find a letter written to Frisk, a guard in the Starfire Kingdom. In rage, he left to find Lyssa and tell her a plan to save their Kingdom from destruction.
It was the day of the ball, Lyssa was in her room, pacing. She was waiting for the prince to escort her to the ballroom. He had told her that Frisk was supposed to deliver the orb to his mother, who was going to present it to the guests at tonight's ball. Finally, he arrived and they descended the staircase. All around the room couples danced in air or on the ground. Upon seeing them, the couples halted and bowed. Then, Gerik led Lyssa in a slow dance.
While they were dancing, Kai was busy distracting Frisk, who had the orb in a cart. Kai was acting as one of the palace personnel and declared that the fairy was not allowed to deliver any goods at this time. Their goal was to keep the orb away from Queen Xylia.
Frisk became annoyed with Kai and said, "Sir, this is a personal delivery for the Queen, so step aside."
"Let me see what you have to deliver." Demanded Kai.
"I cannot allow that."
"Then I cannot allow you to deliver your goods to the Queen. Castle policy." He smirked. It seemed that everything was running smoothly until he heard the Queen yelling in the distance. Kai attacked Frisk, sending him into the wall. On impact, Frisk became unconscious. Before he could grab the orb and fly away, the Queen ordered him to stop. Disobeying her orders, he took flight. The Queen sent her guards after him, and eventually he was caught and brought back to her. She forcibly took the orb from him, her eyes red with fury. When she had the orb, she told the guards to follow her into the ballroom.
Lyssa noticed the Queen enter the room and nudged Gerik. They saw the orb in her hands and knew that something went wrong. Unsure what to do, they waited for the Queen to speak. "My dear guests, I am honored to have you here tonight. Not only is it a night to announce the engagement of my son, Prince Gerik and Lyssa, but it is also to embark into a new era of our kingdom."
"Gerik, we have to stop her." She whispered into his ear.
He nodded. "Stay here," he said. After, he began to walk towards his mother.
"Ah, here he is." Xylia beamed at the sight of her son. "My dear, where is Lyssa?" She looked around and spotted her in the crowd. The Queen leaned in and whispered, "What is going on Gerik?"
He ignored his mother and addressed the crowd. "Many of you feel that I am a pampered prince who is inadequate to take the crown after my mother, and even though I can be arrogant, I still love my kingdom. I love my kingdom so much, that I am accusing our Queen of treason." The crowd erupted with fear, anger, and confusion as the fairies all cried out with their opinions.
Xylia did her best to stay calm, but ultimately failed as she yelled at her son. "I am no traitor; I want what is best for the kingdom too." She held up the orb. "This is the Orb of Shyria, and I present it here tonight to prove to you that we have control of our world!"
"Mother, do not use the orb, you will destroy the Kingdom that way!"
The ballroom was now in chaos. Many tried to leave, but found the exits blocked by guards. "I need all of you to witness this grand event!" She raised the orb above her head and began to chant in an ancient language. The orb began to glow as each word rolled off her tongue.
"No!" Gerik tackled his mother, but it was too late; she had already finished the incantation. The orb continued to be levitated even without Xylia holding it, but nothing else seemed to happen.
"See, what I told you! The gods have no real power; their wish was to have us submit to their whim through fear. With this orb, I will be the most powerful fairy in the world!" Until that point, the orb was glowing a bright white, but it suddenly turned red and began to shake. Suddenly, a strange woman appeared from nowhere and approached the queen.
"I am the Goddess Shyria, and you, Queen Xylia have used the orb for selfish intentions. Now, your Kingdom will perish!"
Lyssa watched in horror as the Goddess threatened the Kingdom. "We failed," she said to herself weakly. Her head pounded with headache and she became dizzy. Her breathing came in gulps and soon she began to lose consciousness. Somewhere in those moments, she realized that she was dying. Her body collapsed to the floor with a thud; she was dead.
Kai ran over to Lyssa's lifeless body. In all of the confusion, the guards had released him to try to save their own skins. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he cried. The Goddess paced over to Kai and pointed at Lyssa. "She was to be the best Queen to ever rule Starfire, but you," she pointed to Xylia, "had to indulge your urge for power!"
The crowd silenced, unsure what was going on, including Gerik. "I thought that you were going to destroy my Kingdom, not kill a girl?" Xylia asked, sarcastically.
Kai suddenly realized what was going on and stood up. "I am Prince Kailen from the Kingdom of Starfire. I ran away because I thought that I did not belong there, and along my journey, I met Lyssa. I guess we were supposed to marry and return to my Kingdom?" He looked at the Goddess who shook her head.
Gerik gasped and stared at the other prince. "Why did you not tell me this before?"
"Because, I was a coward, but not anymore." He pointed to Xylia, "You are the one who really killed Lyssa!"
Shyria thought that killing Lyssa would provoke a war among the two Kingdoms which would eventually destroy Featherwood, but what happened next, she did not foresee.
Kai walked over to Xylia and said, "I forgive you."
The Queen was at a loss for words, and it was Gerik who spoke what she probably was thinking. "Why are you thanking her?"
"Because, either I forgive her or declare war upon your Kingdom, and I do not want a war. Lyssa would not have wanted a war over her."
"So that's it then? We go our separate ways…"
"No, not quite. Shyria wants the Featherwood Kingdom destroyed, but the only way to do so without war is to relinquish your Kingdom and give it to me, where I will rule it."
Xylia became furious once again, "Never!"
"Mother, be still, your rule is over, and I will never become King." Gerik bowed before Kai, something he never dreamed he would ever have to do. "Prince Kailen, I relinquish my Kingdom."
The orb shattered into a thousand pieces, and the Goddess Shyria disappeared. She had witnessed a transaction among the fairies that she had never thought could occur over a woman. Kai had all but pronounced his undying love for Lyssa and proved to become a great leader while Gerik swallowed his pride and submitted to another, for the sake of saving his Kingdom. Shyria destroyed the orb, which killed Queen Xylia, and returned life back to Lyssa. Despite the fact that she was no longer physically in the room, the Goddesses voice boomed around the room, "The Kingdom of Featherwood is no more and the Kingdom of Starfire will continue to be blessed with King Kai and Queen Lyssa. Queen Xylia is no more as her life was needed in order to restore Lyssa's. May this moment never be forgotten, the day that fairies took control of their destiny and changed the course of history!"
The voice dissipated, Lyssa sat up, and Xylia collapsed. Kai ran over to Lyssa and embraced her, kissing her lips. She pulled away and asked what was going on. "We destroyed the orb by showing the Goddess Shyria that not all fairies are greedy and power hungry, and for that, she gave you your life back, and took Xylia's. Also, the Featherwood Kingdom is destroyed, but not physically, but by Gerik giving up his power to rule. Now, you and I will be King and Queen in the Starfire Kingdom!"
It took her a few moments to process what had happened, and once she did, she beamed with joy. "Oh Kai, this is wonderful!" she kissed him. When they parted, she flew over to Gerik, kissed his cheek, and said, "Thank you."
He smiled and said, "No, thank you for showing me that there is more to life than living in a palace. I am forever in your service, my Queen." He bowed.
Kai turned to face what were now his people, "What has occurred tonight will be told for ages to come. Let us all celebrate this joyous occasion!" The crowd cheered and the new era began with the first dance of Kai and Lyssa.