Enchanted Mirrors (Name Changed from "Un Nouveau Conte de Fees" May 13, 2012)
Chapter One- The Premise
Once upon a time, on a planet far, far away, a beautiful red-headed princess was born to the very happy King and Queen. The young princess was very much doted upon by all those around her, but by none so much as her parents, for they had wanted very long for a child to be heir to the throne of their planet Tamaran- it mattered not that she was a female, or a second-born, as long as she would be just and strong. They found her to be both in great measure.
They named her Koriand'r, a name with a beautiful meaning. The young princess wore it with pride.
When she was six, Koriand'r met her best friend.
As different as night and day the two young girls were. Where Koriand'r was happy and enthusiastic, Raven was dark and subdued. They had met entirely by chance, for really their paths never should have crossed. But Koriand'r, incorrigibly curious as a tyke, stumbled one day into an inter-dimensional portal, and came out the other side in Raven's home of Azarath. Built on a small rock suspended in nowhere and nothing, the city refuged Earthlings who shared a belief in complete pacifism. Koriand'r's sudden and unexplained appearance startled many of the citizens. They all fled from the marketplace where she had arrived- all but another young girl. The purple-eyed seven-year-old reached down to the strange orange-skinned six-year-old, helping her to her feet and thus solidifying forever their friendship as only children can.
The normally quiet and composed Raven grew excited as she spoke with the always talkative and giddy Koriand'r about their respective homes, powers, and parents- completely honest about all. Raven revealed that she got her powers from her demon father, and Koriand'r revealed that her parents had chosen her as heir over her elder, flightless sister because the latter was seen as deformed by their people. When Raven's mother, Arella, found her with a stranger, they had already grown so close that, upon Arella and several others' attempt to drag the alien youth away from her daughter, Raven screamed at her to "Leave my best friend alone!" Raven's dark energy lashed out in anger as it hadn't done in more than two years. She trained too hard to lose control.
The Azarathians immediately gave Raven what she wanted: they let the red-haired princess go and allowed the two to play as long as they wanted. Well, they played as long as they could, until Koriand'r realized that her parents would be very worried. She did not wish to leave her new friend alone, as she knew Raven had been until her arrival. Confiding this fear in her new best friend, Koriand'r was surprised to find that she had feared the same- and received a gift from Raven.
Secretly placing a small, rectangular mirror in Koriand'r's hand, Raven explained that through them they could speak at any time without fear of being overheard. The mirrors would also inform the other if one was in danger.
"Danger?" Koriand'r asked. "What kind of danger would either of us get into?"
Young Raven looked with worry at her innocent new best friend, but chose not to answer. Hopefully, she was just being pessimistic as usual, and they would never need that particular ability of her mirrors.
Goodbyes were said, and the two girls never saw each other again- in person, that is. Koriand'r had to train to take the throne one day, whereas Raven could not leave Azarath- by law, if she did she would never be allowed to return. Instead, they spoke almost daily to each other via their enchanted mirrors. It comforted both greatly throughout the years.
Komand'r never knew of this friendship. As a child, Koriand'r kept it a secret, something she had that her older-by-eight-years sister did not. Two years later Komand'r rebelled and their parents exiled her, so never did she discover her little sister's friendship with an incredibly powerful half-demon.
The day the Gordanians attacked, the sky glowed with the yellow light of Tamaran's sun. When the aliens' fighter ships blocked out the sun's rays, the King entreated Koriand'r hide; he understood what was happening the moment he saw Komand'r at the front lines of the invasion.
The twelve-year-old Koriand'r sprinted to her study, dodging falling objects as the ground and building shook from the impact of enemy weapons, and found her mirror right where it should have been, in the top drawer of her desk. She called out frantically to Raven. The response was immediate. Purple eyes flashed across the mirror in worry- the mirror had informed Raven that her friend was in danger. Koriand'r immediately felt a surge of relief. It did not last long.
As the scared princess informed her friend more fully of what was happening, the solid wood doors of her study crashed open to reveal her older sister flanked by several Gordanians.
Setting the mirror down on her desk, knowing full well that she may never see it or her friend again, Her Royal Highness, Princess Koriand'r stood with all the dignity, pride, and anger of her race and station and faced her former sister.
"I would welcome you home, sister. However, you were banished after your attempt on my life, and your guests are most certainly not welcome," she said coldly, her voice stiff with disdain for the destroyer of her home and trust. For hurting her subjects and her, Koriand'r would never forgive her sister.
Komand'r laughed condescendingly in her younger sister's face, flipping her dark hair back, degrading all of her words. "Oh, baby sister, that hurts, really."
Righteous fury filled the red-headed girl. Her hands and eyes glowed with brilliant green energy, which she threw at her traitorous sister. Her starbolts were swept away by Komand'r's hand, so instead she ran forward to fight hand-to-hand. This was likewise foiled by Komand'r's superior battle experience, and the Gordanians captured Koriand'r on the spot.
Thrashing in desperate protest, Koriand'r did the only thing she knew could save her: she screamed, "Help me, please!"
To Komand'r the display was comical. Laughing, she said, "Nobody can hear you, baby sister. Even if they could... They couldn't stop me."
Raven knew that she would never be able to return to her home once she left it- the Azarathians believed that once one leaves they give up the faith, and can never return. Never had she thought that she would leave the safety of her own dimension.
But Raven knew, more than anything, that saving her best friend was worth the sacrifice.
She left a note to explain her decision to her teacher and guardian, Azar, and with a swish of her dark blue cloak, a chanting incantation, and a pulse of black astral projection, Raven left her dimension, and arrived on Tamaran.
The thirteen-year-old sorceress followed, down lavish palace hallways, the party that had captured her still struggling best friend. She knew better than to rush situations. If there was a way to get Koriand'r out of this safely and without violence to prematurely provoke Komand'r, Raven wanted to find it and do it. As they dumped the now exhausted Koriand'r into a dungeon cell and returned to a fine looking throne room, Raven followed. At the moment, she knew she had to find what plans Komand'r and the Gordanians held in store for her friend.
As Komand'r took a lazy seat on her father's throne, the six Gordanians who had accompanied her in the capture of the true heir rejoined the ranks of their kind that filled the hall. The hall held several battalions of lizard-like aliens, all fresh faced- obviously they had not faced battle that day. That they had enough troops to leave so many idle would have scared a lesser opponent, but Raven looked at the weakling creatures with disdain. In numbers, not in strength or intelligence these aliens found their prowess. And if one were to take out the leaders, they would be left helpless and disorganized. A confident smirk graced her face, hidden deep within the cowl of her cloak. She disappeared into the shadows of the chamber. No one could see past her dark magic.
A Gordanian, larger than the others, and with a look of at least moderate intelligence, stepped forward to the usurper on her throne. Raven observed as he demanded payment for his service. Thanks to his troops, he declared, the invasion had taken merely a day. The new 'Queen' owed them much, he believed. Komand'r asked that he name a price. The number he gave appeared too hefty a sum for the self-proclaimed monarch.
"Is there any other way I can pay you for your services?" Komand'r asked charmingly. The ugly lizard-like leader, nodded.
"We will accept the young princess as a slave."
Raven could barely hold down the revulsion she felt at the very idea. However, she found herself becoming rather pleased with the turn of events as a plan for escape formed in her intelligent mind.
"Fine," Komand'r accepted with little grace. "Take the little twit. Much good she'll do you, weak little thing." It may have saved her quite a deal of wealth and stopped her parents' incessant pleas and cries, but she had hoped dearly to enjoy torturing and killing the greatest threat to her stolen power. But, the traitor conceded, it was not to be. Koriand'r was sure to be at least treated brutally as a slave.
Raven turned from the proceedings after details were decided upon, whereupon she returned to the dungeon of her best friend.
Passing the true rulers, who Komand'r had stowed away in their own dungeon, she removed the cowl of her cloak that obscured her face and smiled reassuringly at them. "Don't worry," she told them. "I will free Kory, and we will come back to dethrone Komand'r."
The Queen sobbed in earnest relief at the Azarathian's words, and as he held his wife to his chest the King thanked Raven for giving them hope. The empath waved away the thanks, and warned them not to believe when they hear of Koriand'r's death. "It's a key part of my plan. Trust me."
Raven walked into the dungeon cell holding a recently roused princess. When she saw her friend, Koriand'r nearly cried out in delight, but resisted for fear of eavesdroppers or guards- a worry in vain, for Raven had put all those nearby to sleep.
Quickly, knowing there was little time before the spell would lift and some Gordanians would arrive to take Koriand'r to their ship and depart, Raven explained the plan to her friend.
Koriand'r, though somewhat apprehensive, understood why it had to be done, and trusted that her wise and powerful friend would ensure her safety.
Which is why, when the Gordanians did come and take her to their ship, Koriand'r did not protest. She merely took comfort in the presence of a dark shadow following her, a shadow she knew to be her friend.
After several days on the Gordanian ship, a knocking came on Koriand'r's cell door. Recognizing the rhythm, the prisoner answered with a different pattern of knocks and prepared herself for the appearance of her friend. And sure enough, Raven phased through the door only moments later.
"Raven!" Koriand'r cried out in relief and happiness. Raven smiled briefly at the girl, and used her magic to remove Koriand'r from the heavy, nearly indestructible case trapping her hands and forearms.
"You remember the plan?" Raven whispered. Koriand'r nodded. Raven once again phased through the cell doors, this time grasping her friend's hand and pulling her through.
They stepped down outside the cell, and Koriand'r found them surrounded by unconscious Gordanians on all sides. The sight surprised her. She looked at her black-haired friend and asked, "Raven, were you not raised as a pacifist?"
Raven followed her gaze to the prone figures and observed sagely, "Sometimes, Kory, there are more important things."
They made their way through the ship to the captain's post. The captain of the ship, the same large Gordanian who seemed to rule the others, sat slumped in a chair, surrounded by other prone figures. At once Raven slapped him in the ugly face with a black tendril of energy, and he awoke.
The brute started flinging insults at the two young ladies. Raven disregarded them, as he had the approximate vocabulary of a foul-mouthed seven-year-old, but some of the curses hurled at them made Koriand'r flinch. Raven slapped the alien again with her power, harder this time, and he silenced himself.
Glaring at the sad excuse for life shrinking in its chair before her, Raven began, "Listen carefully."
Curling her lip onto a threatening snarl, she continued, "The memories of all of your men have been modified. Upon waking, they will remember, quite clearly, that Princess Koriand'r of Tamaran was killed by you in a savage and ill-fated escape attempt. In one week you will inform Komand'r that her sister died as she tried to return home to dethrone her. You may then wish to demand payment in monetary form, but that is up to your discretion. You will not remember me or the fact that Koriand'r is still alive. If you do and you decide to inform Komand'r, I will know, do not doubt that. And let me assure you now that you do not wish to displease me."
Finally trying to regain some courage, the Gordanian leader spat, "And why should I be afraid of you, little girl?"
Raven looked around at the surrounding warriors, all unconscious in their seats or on the floor, and raised an eyebrow. "Really? I easily could have killed all of these men, and you really wish to know why you should fear me?" Raven pondered for a moment. "Allow me to put this in terms you will understand," she coldly spoke as she approached the seat of command. When she was half a foot from the Gordanian's scared face, she suddenly grew four demonic, glowing red eyes and growled, "If you do not heed me, I will rip your soul out of your throat."
The Gordanian followed Raven's orders- not that he had much choice in the matter, since Raven's spells made him forget the actual truth regardless- and Komand'r was left to believe her sister dead, and pay the huge sum demanded of her by the mercenaries.
Raven brought her friend to Earth. The small blue planet teemed with life, and she knew of a place she and Koriand'r could hide for the coming years as they trained together to overthrow Komand'r. Raven knew that the black-hearted sister would be infinitely harder to defeat than the weak mercenaries she hired. Koriand'r needed to train diligently in fighting and battle strategy in order to entertain the possibility of reclaiming her throne.
A/N: Chapter edited: March 17, 2012
Disclaimer: I don't own Koriand'r, Raven, Komand'r, Myand'r and Luand'r (the king and queen, who I just never got around to calling by name... whatever), the Gordanians, or the planet Tamaran. Rapunzel, however, is public domain, so I totally own that.
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