The Dark King
Ok first I'd like to say I don't own anything except for my OC's in this story. Why am I writing it? I like the characters, the story and the animation. Plus my mind just couldn't stop thinking about it. I was inspired to write this story after reading the works of Sigmu and The Maverick by FenrisFitiarn.
Narrators talking
Once upon a time. The Male Narrator starts. In a land far away.
"Hey!" A male voice shouted irritably from the courtyard of a large school "Be quiet! I'm trying to have a conversation here! And I can't think straight with you or your wife chatting in my head and describing everything!"
I still can't believe THREE people can hear us. The Female Narrator commented irritably. And one of them isn't even from Wonderland.
"Didn't I just say to be quiet!?" The same males voice shouted "Go narrate somewhere else or something! Your getting on my nerves!"
The boy was rather on the tall side being a full head taller then the other boys attending the school. He had tanned skin from spending a long amount of time outdoors, dark blue eyes with a barely noticeable green glow and short spiky black hair with red highlights. He's wearing pieces of dark red metal over both shoulders with armor of the same color covering his left arm with a pattern of dragon scales on it, a black shirt with the Story Wars logo on it, a thick leather belt, faded blue jeans, and brown boots. But what stood out the most were the three diagonal scars running from his left temple, going over his left eye and nose before ending on his right jaw.
His name was Ethan King, son of the Dark King. He was currently looking up at the sky with an angry scowl on his face. The Narrators always seemed to start talking at random instances at the same time that he was trying to have a conversation with someone or interrupting his time hanging out with either his new friends or his old ones and it was really beginning to get on his nerves.
Mom, Dad you know Ethan doesn't like it when you interrupt him with your narrating Brooke Page, the Narrators daughter, stated. You should really wait till he's done or even start it before he does. You can do that right?
Fine Brooke. And yes we can. The Female Narrator stated.
We'll go somewhere else. The miffed Male Narrator groused.
"Thank you." Ethan stated before noticing everyone in the courtyard looking at him in confusion.
"What?"
Everyone then went back to going about their own business, ignoring the odd boy.
"Who were you talking to?" A kind voice next to him asked in confusion.
The girl sitting on the bench next to were he was standing had light purple skin, pink eyes, shoulder length black hair, a pair of small bat-like wings, and two small horns sticking out of her hairline. She was wearing a simple royal purple dress with black eye designs on it that went down to her knees, black stockings, and purple heels. Her name was Umbra Ebony, daughter of the Demon and the next Demoness, the true villain of their story.
Their story, The tale of the Dark king, or alternatively, The Fallen Hero, was an unusual one as it had two parts. In the first part, the Demon had conquered a kingdom and driven out its royal family before beginning to build an army to conquer the world by summoning its demonic minions. Enter a heroic adventure who, with the aid of a powerful fairy, the Crystal Fairy, fought his way through the mindless demons to reach their overlord. At which point he defeated the Demon with a sword that was enchanted by the fairy. The people of the kingdom insisted he take the throne until he could find the missing royal family and restore them to the throne. Reluctantly he did so, sending out adventurers, messengers and other people to find them. Over the next year he rebuilt the kingdom but unbeknownst to both himself and the Fairy, the Demon had not been truly defeated, having instead entered the new Kings body and slowly began corrupting him. A year into his reign he had been fully corrupted and became a tyrannical dictator. Six months later he found the royal family and secretly imprisoned them in the dungeon.
The Fairy, have finally realized what had befallen the King, set out to find a hero to free the royal family and the now christened 'Dark King'. She eventually found a Prince Charming and together the two of them confronted the Dark King as he tried to sacrifice the Princess Dove, daughter of the royal family. in order to summon more demons, armed with a magic mirror. While the Prince distracted the Dark King, the Fairy prepared the mirror to pull the demon out of the Kings body, but the Prince was barely able to hold out against the Kings unnatural strength and magic and, just before the final blow, a beam shot from the mirror, ripping the Demon from the Kings body and trapping it in the mirror. For the next one hundred years, the mirror would drain the Demon of its memories and power, till it became a human with no recollection of having ever been a Demon. However, despite the plea's of both Prince Charming, The Fairy, and the Princess, The Dark King felt to much guilt over what the Demon had forced him to do under its control and went into self exile, never to return. Prince Charming and Princess Dove eventually married and lived happily ever after.
Ethan really didn't mind his part in the story as it would mean he would be able to participate in many exciting events, sure being possessed for a year would suck and the evil deeds he would commit during said possession was something he'd have to deal with mentally afterwards. However, Umbra did not want to take up her role in the story. Even though, thankfully, she wouldn't be trapped for a hundred years and lose her identity, she would still be trapped for fifteen years. Plus she was far to kind to be an evil character, also the Demon was supposed to be skilled in magic but she couldn't even cast a simple illumination spell.
However both of them were unhappy to have been forced to transfer to Ever After High from Monster High for Legacy Year and accept their destinies. Ethan was particularly enraged by this as he had to break up with his girlfriend of a year and a half, Draculaura, breaking both of their hearts. Not only that, but his mother Queen Elizabeth of Iressia, was quite angry as well. The Kingdom of Iressia was in another realm outside of Ever After like Wonderland and didn't believe that fate and destiny were iron clad, not since their former goddess of fate had tried to destroy the kingdom centuries ago to fulfill a prophecy,
But enough explanations.
"I was talking to Brooke and her annoying parents." He told her blankly "You know, the Narrators and their daughter... oh right. Not everyone can hear them."
Umbra just shook her head in amusement and leaned back on the bench. Her friend had been claiming to hear 'Narrators' since they had arrived in Ever After a month ago.
"So explain to me hexactly why we've been sitting out here all morning?" She asked calmly with a small smile.
"I told you twice already!" He growled irritably "We're waiting for my cousin and friend!"
"Okay, okay." Umbra replied, holding up her hands placatingly "Don't need to get so upset."
The two of them had been waiting outside the school for most of the morning and Umbra was beginning to get impatient... scratch that she was done humoring her old friend. She had better things to do then sit out here in the sun and wait for two people she only knew of from Ethan's stories.
"Well I'm done waiting here for them." She said as she got to her feet "I'm going to go find Cerise. Have fun out here alone."
Ethan gave her a half-hearted wave as she left before turning back to the school entrance. Ethan knew he was a rather odd person. Eidetic memory, short temper, bouts of Wonderlandian style madness, dry wit, and an obsession with magical research. His mother blamed the six moths he had to spend in Wonderland after an incident when he was visiting back when he was six for his oddness... as well as a few other events afterwards.
Why did you have to stay in Wonderland for six months? Brooke asked in confusion.
"It's a secret." Ethan said slyly with a smirk "Aren't you supposed to be able to look into my memories as well as see what I'm thinking?"
My parents haven't taught me how to look at memories yet! Brooke exclaimed irritably I'm still new to this narrating thing after all.
"I'll explain it later on in the story Brooke but maybe we should continue?" Ethan stated "Can't believe I just said that."
Oh yeah!
This didn't stop him from making some amazing friends and falling in love with Draculaura. The thought of his ex brought forth both great sorrow and great anger within Ethan. This caused his magic to begin surging around his body as an outward sign of his irritation. The acid green magic swirled around him chaotically causing his hair to move slightly as if in the middle of a light breeze. He remembered the absolutely devastated look of the vampire's face when he told her before the start of the summer. The tears that flowed freely from her beautiful eyes were like a knife to his heart. The mere memory of that caused him great pain.
He was interrupted from these thoughts by the sound of two familiar voices, the swirling magic fading as he caught sight of the sources.
Walking into the front entrance were two familiar girls. The first girl was using some purple magic to levitate a trunk in front of her as she walked. She had pale skin, soft purple eyes, and long wavy purple and black hair. She was wearing a black top with grey feathers around her shoulders and a high collar, a purple skirt trimmed with black, grey tights, and high heeled black shoes with silver chains. She currently had an unhappy scowl on her face.
Nest to her was a shorter girl with peach colored skin, sky blue eyes, and curly dark teal and mint green hair with purple highlights, atop of which was a small teapot shaped like a top hat. She was wearing a dress with a cream bodied bodice, a large blue bow as a belt, and a skirt with three layers. The top layer was pink with a gold pattern and trim, the second layer was blue with white stripes, and the third was black with gold glitter. She was also wearing white tights with green polka dots and white high heeled shoes.
These two girls were Raven Queen, the daughter of the Evil Queen and Madeline Hatter, Daughter of the Mad Hatter. But to Ethan they were his cousin on his fathers side that he hadn't seen in four years and his childhood friend that he hadn't seen since they started high school. Upon seeing the two of them he let out an excited shout, bringing the two girls out of their conversation just in time to see him charging at Raven with his arms opened wide.
"RAAAAVEEEEEN!" He shouted happily as he knocked her to the ground with an over enthusiastic hug and began rubbing his cheek against hers "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"
Raven was briefly stunned by this before regaining her baring and blushed at how her cousin was hugging her while Maddie watched on while laughing gleefully.
"It's nice to see you again Ethan." She said breathlessly "But please get off of me!"
She the shoved him off of her and got to her feet, brushing the dust that had gotten on her skirt as she glared at the smiling boy. Ethan then turned to the future Mad Hatter and enveloped her in a hug, lifting the much shorter girl into the air.
"Madeline! It's so good to see you after so long!" He exclaimed as he spun them around in a circle.
"I keep telling you to call me Maddie!" She said with a small scowl.
"But you look so cute when you scowl Madeline!" He teased with a smile as he put her down.
"Well its hat-tastic to see you anyways Ethan!" Maddie replied having quickly returned to her happy demeanor "Want to walk with us?"
"What man would turn down escorting two lovely princesses like the both of you?" Ethan replied in a dramatic tone drawing giggles from Raven and laughter from Maddie.
"I'm not a princess silly!" Maddie said happily "Lizzie is the princess!"
Lizzie Hearts, the next Queen of Hearts, another of Ethan's childhood friends. She had become quite beautiful in Ethan's own opinion.
"I know she's a princess and your not but that didn't stop the two of you from pretending to be ones when we were playing together." Ethan stated with a smile as he offered both of them his arms.
The two girls giggled before taking hold of the offered limbs, the three of them walking towards the school.
"I can't believe how much taller you've gotten since I last saw you Ethan." Raven stated as she looked him up and down "I remember you being shorter then me when you last visited."
Yeah... but I grew." He said with a deadpan as they ascended the front steps of the school "What were the two of you talking about that had you so upset earlier?"
"Oh Raven was upset about how everyone was supposedly scared of her because she's supposed to be the next Evil Queen." Maddie explained rapidly "But I was about to tell her everyone at school loves her."
Before Ethan could reply, he was interrupted by a shout.
"IT'S RAVEN QUEEN!" A small anthropomorphic pig shouted in terror "RUUUUNN!"
"SHE. IS. EVIL!" A blonde boy shouted as he pointed at Raven.
"Run everyone." Lilly Bo-Peep shouted as her sheep bleated in fear.
Then everyone in the entrance hall scattered in terror, leaving a depressed Raven.
"See Raven. Everyone loves you." Maddie stated happily before noticing something "Ethan are you okay?"
Both girls noticed that a roiling aura of acid green magic had covered Ethan as a tick mark appeared on his forehead and a look of extreme anger grew on his face.
"Ethan? Are you okay?" Raven asked in concern.
"THAT'S IT!" Ethan shouted in fury before dashing off after the small pig "GET BACK HERE YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR BACON!"
Raven watched in shock as her cousin raced off as Maddie laughed madly. She knew her cousin had a bit of a temper and hoped that the pig, named Louie, wouldn't end up hurt.
"Do you think he'll be alright?" She asked her friend in concern.
"Oh Ethan will be fine." Maddie assured her before tilting her head to the side cutely "Louie, Peter, and Lilly though..."
It took barely a minute to find the smallest of the three little pigs thanks to Brooke. The little pig was resting with one hoof against a locker trying to catch his breath.
"Wow that was close." The pig stated in relief "She almost got me!"
Just as he said that a vice-like grip latched onto the top of his head, causing him to squeal in fear and flail his limbs as he was lifted into the air.
"You should really worry more about me." Ethan said in calm fury "Now lets have a little talk about hurting people's feelings... little pig."
"W-w-what are you talking about?" Louie asked in confusion.
This resulted in the grip on his head tightening a little, causing some pain to shoot through his head.
"That thing you shouted in the entrance hall..." Ethan growled as his acid green magic began seeping out "The one about running from Raven Queen."
"B-bu-bu-bu-but she's ev-erk!" Louie started to say before his head was squeezed even harder.
"She may be the daughter of the Evil Queen... but that doesn't give all of you the right to treat her like someone who will kill you when she walks into a room!" Ethan growled "It hurts her feelings when people say and do those kinds of things without getting to know her. And I. Really! Hate it when people hurt my. Precious. Little. Cousin!"
Louie gulped.
"And now... I'm going to teach you a lesso..."
"Ethan!" A regal, and terrifyingly familiar voice shouted at him.
Ethan tensed in fear, his magic vanishing as he turned to face the source of the voice.
Standing before him was a girl with long black hair with two read highlights held up in a golden tiara with hearts on it, peach colored skin, and blue eyes with a red heart painted over the left one. She was wearing an Elizabethan collar with hearts around it, under that was a red and black dress with intricate patterns in yellow, red gloves with black trim and heart shaped cut outs, black stockings with heart shapes, and red shoes with card shaped buckles.
Her name was Lizzie Hearts and one of the few people, alongside his mother and older sister, that he was afraid of. She was also his secret crush. He offered her a nervous smile as he saw her standing their with her hands on her hips and an angry glare on her face.
"Heeey Lizzie... I was just about to come looking for you." He told her nervously.
"Don't tell me that!" She snapped before pointing at Louie "Now! Put him down this instant!"
"But!"
"Put. Him. Down."
With one last glare at the snickering pig, Ethan dropped him. Louie then ran off but not before saying one last thing as he rounded the corner.
"Whipped!"
"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Ethan shouted before moving to continue the pursuit.
"Don't take another step!" Lizzie commanded harshly "Barely a week since I last saw you and you're already on another rampage! What did Louie do to deserve such treatment? And where have you been for the last week?"
"He shouted that everyone should run when Raven walked into the entrance hall." Ethan said like a small child who was in trouble "This caused a big commotion that left her upset."
"I know that upset you." She said gently before sternly adding "But that doesn't mean you can threaten him with violence."
"I was just going to scare him." Ethan muttered under his breath.
"Silence!" Lizzie snapped.
Ethan sighed as he slumped down.
"Fine."
"Good now tell me where you've been for the past week! Maddie and I have been looking for you. You had the both of us worried!" Lizzie stated.
"I was just exploring the Dark Forest." Ethan replied nonchalantly "There is a lot of really nasty things in there that tried to eat me... not very tough though."
Lizzie just sighed in exasperation. She should have known that it was something like that. Ethan had a never ending thirst for adventure that came from his mothers side of the family. This adventurous nature had resulted in him getting into trouble several times before in the past... luckily though only one time had he gotten seriously hurt.
"Fine... now escort me back to my room so that we may have tea and you can tell me what happened while you were in the forest." Lizzie stated .
"Fine." Ethan grumbled before smirking "Anything for my princess."
Lizzie blushed at his comment before turning and making her hay to her dorm, Ethan following not far behind her.
Wow that pig was right! Brooke commented playfully. You are whipped. And you aren't even dating yet!
"Shut up Brooke!" Ethan hissed angrily at which the teenaged Narrator-in-training only giggled.
"Please tell me that you haven't been infected with the same madness that Maddie and Kitty have been!" Lizzie sighed in exasperation, her fingers rubbing the bridge of her nose "It's bad enough to hear them argue with voices they claim to be 'narrators', I don't need you to start doing it as well."
"Don't worry Lizzie. I wasn't talking to the Narrators." He assured his friend.
"Oh good." Lizzie sighed in relief.
"I was talking to their daughter Brooke."
Lizzie palmed her face.
#####################################################################################
A few hours later saw Ethan sitting at a table in the Castleteria eating lunch with Raven... just as the Narrators started talking about his cousin.
And so life for Raven wasn't easy. The Male Narrator stated. Feeling alone and isolated.
As she should be. The Female Narrator added. She is destined to be evil.
Couldn't go twenty seconds without talking could ya?
Ethan growled to himself in a strangely bestial manner before taking a bite of his food as Dexter Charming walked up.
"Hey Raven! Uh you look gor... I mean great!" The boy said nervously, stumbling over his words "I don't even know what 'gor' is."
Ethan eyed the boy suspiciously. It was obvious to him that Dexter had a big crush on his cousin and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. On the one hand, he was glad Dexter could see past that stupid belief that Raven should be feared, but on the other hand he didn't like that fact that a boy had taken an interest in his little cousin... though that might just be long dormant big brother instincts surfacing.
"I'd offer you a seat. But I'm 'evil'." Raven said using air quotes on evil "You'd have to be pretty..."
She was distracted by the screams of several excited girls as Daring Charming, Dexter's 'perfect' older brother walked down the Castleteria with a beautiful girl on his arm both of them waving at those watching them.
The girl had long curly blonde hair, skin like snow, ruby red lips, and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a red sweetheart bodice with black trim and a red skirt with gold apple patterns on it, a cream colored cropped jacket with ball gown sleeves and a tall collar, grey net tights, and red high heeled shoes. Her name was Apple White, daughter of Snow White. She was the one that Raven was destined to poison... yeah right. Ethan was, to his knowledge, the only boy in school who didn't have some sort of crush on the girl... because he simply did not like her. Sure she was an extremely kind, helpful and friendly person, but according to his cousins letters, she was also constantly giving her advice on how to be a better Evil Queen, giving her Evil Queen themed things, and going on and on about her happily ever after needed Raven.
"What? No I'. Dex. Dexter Charming." Dexter stated as a flash came from behind him originating from Daring's teeth.
Raven got to her feet as the two approached and walked over to meet them with a smile on her face and her hands on her hips. Ethan however stayed seated. He'd rather avoid interacting with the two of them.
"Raven!" How's every enchanting thing?' Apple greeted happily.
"Apple White. Good to see ya." Raven responded with a small smile "Hey Daring."
"I have to warn you. Don't stare at the teeth." Daring stated "Just got them whitened."
He then smiled, sending a blinding flash throughout the Castleteria.
"So who's that boy your sitting with?" Apple asked sweetly with a teasing smile "A secret crush?"
"Yeah I was wondering about that too." Dexter stated while looking at Ethan appraisingly.
"His name is Ethan King, son of the Dark King." Daring informed Apple and Dexter "A very skilled young man that I've been trying to get to join the Bookball team.
"No way in Hades Pretty boy!" Ethan stated loudly with out looking up from his lunch "I have better things to do then play s stupid, pointless game."
"Watch your language." Apple chided gently.
"Bite ma!" He snapped back.
Apple huffed at the rude response but just assumed he was having a bad first day.
"He's my cousin on my dad's side actually." Raven told them "It's his first year here. He actually arrived a month ago so he could get used to the school and so the teachers could check his knowledge. He's kind of upset about having to transfer here from his last school."
"Psh 'upset' is putting it mildly." Ethan scoffed.
"I didn't know you had a cousin Raven1" Apple said happily "Why haven't you ever mentioned him before?"
"Because he lives... very far away and we haven't seen each other in almost four years." Raven explained "And the subject never really came up before."
"Why is it his first year?" Dexter asked "If he's the next Dark King, shouldn't he have been enrolled in freshman year?"
Raven opened her mouth to respond only to be interrupted by Ethan loudly getting to his feet.
"Because not only did my parents want me to experience other cultures to broaden my horizons, my mother was very much against me EVER attending this school or becoming the next Dark King." Ethan said angrily "Fate and destiny are not considered immutable in my homeland... unlike how it is here."
He then left, promising to save a seat for his cousin in their next class. The four teens watched him leave before Apple spoke up.
"So what were you going to say Raven?
"Uh... Ethan... has had a bit of a sad life." She said trying to figure out how to explain things without giving away to many details "Don't get me wrong. He has an amazing family that he loves very much but... lets just say that there's been events in his life that he wish's he could forget... events that have caused him great pain."
The other three teens decided not to pursue the topic anymore for now though Apple decided that she would try and make sure that Ethan had a great Legacy Year.
Why do I think that will just irritate Ethan? Brooke wondered.
Classes soon ended leaving Ethan with the rest of the day to himself. Deciding that he didn't feel like going back to his dorm room yet, he made his way into town to get something to eat before heading to his dorm. As he walked towards the town of Bookend he wondered what his sister Lena would be doing if she was in his position... but quickly squashed that thought as his heart began to ache.
About an hour later he was walking back towards the school with burgers and fries while his friend Hunter, son of the Huntsman and Cerise Hood, daughter of Little Red Riding Hood, walked with him.
Cerise had tanned skin, grey eyes, and dark brown hair with two white streaks. She was always wearing her red hood over a red and black tartan checkered top with a lacy black skirt, a large brown belt that looked like three crossing belts, shimmery grey leggings, and brown high heeled boots.
"I can't wait for the classes to really start!" Hunter exclaims "Beast training and care seems like its going to be good this year!"
"I can't believe I still have to take Damsel-in-Distressing class." Cerise groused "I don't need to be rescued! I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself!"
"Yeah well this school doesn't seem to believe that." Ethan explained carefully "You already know this. I know its stupid but unless you plan on skipping it all the time there's not much you can do about it."
"I wish I could take another class but tis a requirement for me." Cerise grumbled sadly.
"Your strong enough that you don't need rescuing." Hunter told the red clad girl "You could probably save yourself easily."
"Though I doubt Pretty Boy would like being shown up by a damsel. His ego seems delicate." Ethan said in complete deadpan "And Ms. White would probably lecture you about how Hunters supposed to be the one to rescue you in your story."
"Why do you call Daring 'Pretty Boy' and Apple 'Ms. White'?" Cerise asked in confusion.
"Because Daring is an annoying, egotistical, pretty boy and Apple, despite seemingly having the best intentions, is a busy body who cares more about her own happily ever after then other peoples feelings." Ethan said heatedly.
His two companions blinked at his explanation before shrugging.
"Daring's not that bad." Hunter stated as they approached the school "And apple just wants hers friends to be happy."
Ethan just scoffed.
Ethan's side of the of his shared dorm room was rather spartan. He hadn't brought a whole lot with him other then a large number of magical tomes, which were currently piled up around his bed, desk, and dresser. Arrayed across his desk were seven small, stone figurines. Two of them appeared to be male while the other five were definitely female. They were the gods and goddesses of Iressia and he made sure to honor them each morning with a drop of water on the top of each statue. Also on his bedside table was a picture of his family from a few years ago.
His roommates side of the room had posters of far off lands, deep forests, wide canyons, ancient ruins and foreign cities. He obviously wanted to travel the world to have adventures.
Speaking of his roommate, Brave Charming, a distant relative of Daring and Dexter's, had bright red hair, tanned skin, and brown eyes. He wore a simple light orange and dark blue vest over a burnt orange t-shirt with a thumbs up on the chest, dark orange cargo pants with dark blue pockets and dark blue boots.
He was currently laying on his bed with his Mirrorpad watching Fairytube.
"Hey Ethan." Brave said Distractedly "Have a good orientation day?"
"No... not really." Ethan responded as he set the bag with his food on the bedside table "I mean the classes seem interesting... or most of them do. But people were treating Raven poorly or asking me all kinds of questions."
"Well what can I say?" Brave replied with a smirk "Teenagers are jerks."
We're teenagers." Ethan stated dully.
"And your point is?"
Ethan shook his head a she sat on his bed and began eating his dinner while perusing one of his schoolbooks. Because he was destined to be both a hero and a villain in his story, although he was only technically supposed to be the villain, he had to take several more classes then his other classmates. They certainly seemed like they would be interesting and some of them may even be challenging which was always a good thing. He had several classes with Raven, Maddie, Lizzie, Cerise, and Hunter. However he also had classes with Daring, Apple and several other annoying people.
They aren't that bad. Brooke commented suddenly. They really are nice people!
"A bit to nice if you ask me." Ethan muttered in response "And its not like I hate them. They just annoy me with how 'perfect; they seem."
"You say something Ethan?" Brave asked.
"No. I didn't say anything." Ethan replied.
Authors note
Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please comment but beware... all flames will be destroyed with water. Also If anyone is interested in co-authoring this with me send a pm!