Once upon a time, in the kingdom of wild hair colors there lived a king of brown hair. He was very boring and nobody liked him. He had twelve daughters. Somehow they all had the most wild colored hair ranging from red to teal and all the colors in between. Except for one and she had brown hair. The twelve princesses all slept in beds that corresponded with their hair shade. At ten, when they were supposed to be sleeping, the doors were locked. Nobody was let out of their rooms for fear of the purple samurai that roamed the kingdom stealing women and girls for his harem.
But every night the princesses snuck out to dance in the moonlight. Every night people seemed not to notice the twelve girls with neon hair dancing in the dark. Nobody knew how they got out or where they danced. Actually nobody but the king cared. Every morning the princesses shoes were found and they had holes in them from dancing like it was 1999 all night.
The king desperately wanted to know where his daughters went every night so one day the king issued a proclamation.
"If any man wishes to follow my daughters at night to where they dance, that man will have the choice to marry his favorite and become king when I die. But if after three days the man fails...OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" The posters all around the kingdom read.
The first man to try was from the neighboring kingdom of Vocatone, he was the king's son, currently the two kingdoms were at war and the marriage would end it. He had pale blonde hair and one gold eye, the other was covered with bandages. He was given the room next to the princess's and was told to wait and listen for the princesses to find out where they went at night. After a couple minutes of waiting after having a glass of wine with one of the princesses, he got bored and fell asleep. The next morning he awoke and cursed loudly for his stupidity. The next two nights the same thing happened, so he was executed the fourth day.
After him came several thousand other men. All of them failures. All of them eventually headless.
One fine spring day a knight of blue hair and eyes passed through. His name was Kaito Shion. He was young and stupid and accidentally walked into a pole. On the pole was the proclamation.
"Huh, so I have to stalk some girls at night, seems easy!" He said after reading the paper.
"Beware young master for many thousand men have died watching those girls!" Just then an old woman popped out of the shadows and scared Kaito. She had stitches all over her body and white curly hair.
"What the heck do you want?! Money? Food?" Kaito yelled at the woman for he didn't care what she said.
"Did you hear me?" She snapped.
"No...was I supposed to?" Kaito looked down on the woman and she face palmed. She was probably thinking something like: Why is he so stupid? Or: What has become of this generation?
"Well good luck, you're gonna need it." She whispered and walked away with out giving a second thought.
"Wait help me! I don't know anything about what I'm going to do tomorrow and I would really like to find out where the princess go so I can be a king!" Kaito ran after the old woman and she sighed when he caught up to her.
"Fine fine...But only because blue is my favorite color." She sat down on the grass and Kaito followed her lead.
"Well," said the stitched woman, "it's a fairly simple goal. Don't drink any wine the princesses give you, it has a drug in it called cantarella that puts you to sleep for the rest of the night, but it can kill you. Once the princess who gives you the wine leaves, pretend to be dead." She then gave him a cloak that faded into the surroundings.
"I stole this from a wizard, take it. It's an invisibility cloak and it's pretty self explanatory. Cover yourself with it and then follow the princesses."
"If you knew all of this then why didn't you try to find the princesses?" Kaito asked.
"Why would I want to marry one of those weirdos? I have a husband!" She then went back into the shadows and never returned.
"Whatever." Kaito then skipped to the castle and told the king he would help find the princesses.
The king gave him fancy clothes and food that Kaito couldn't even pronounce the name of. After dinner and a quick meeting of all, twelve, princesses. A maid lead Kaito to his chambers which was a room with a bed and nothing else.
Kaito decided it was time for bed so he climbed into the four post bed and waited for one of the daughters. After a couple of minutes of counting the leaves on the trees outside, a princess with bright teal ponytails knocked on the door. She introduced herself as Miku and told the knight that she was the middle daughter. Kaito saw that she had a bottle of wine in her right hand and in the other she held two glasses.
"Would you like a drink?" She asked him sweetly.
"Aren't you a little young? You look like sixteen..." He asked her doubtfully.
"I'll tell you that I'm seventeen and can drink wine!" Miku got mad and almost smashed Kaito on the head with the bottle.
"I've been away a long time..." Kaito whispered under his breath. Miku handed him a glass and poured a good amount of wine in it. She then poured some in hers and took a few sips. Miku then left Kaito the bottle, confident that he would drink some.
"Bye bye now!" She skipped out of his room and back into her's right as the clock tower rang, signaling that curfew was in effect.
Kaito looked at the wine and then threw both the glass and bottle out the window saying some choice words. Let's just say they weren't the nicest ones ever. He then collapsed into the bed and tried to act dead. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing down until it was barely noticeable that his chest was moving. In the next minute or so he heard the door to his room open.
"Is he sleeping Gumi?" Kaito heard a young girl ask.
"He looks like he's dead actually. I think Miku put too much cantarella in the wine. Yuki, go tell her that could you?" An older girl told Yuki.
"Only if you promise that you'll carry me!" It sounded as if Yuki ran into something. Kaito wasn't sure, his eyes were closed. Then another voice started talking.
"Do you want the whole castle to know we're up? C'mon you two! Back in and down the trapdoor." She sounded older than Gumi.
"Yes Lily." The girls closed the door and walked silently back to theirs. Kaito laid there for a couple more minutes waiting for the girls to not suspect anything.
Lily, Gumi, and Yuki went back into their room where all the other princesses were helping each other get into their best dresses and make their hair fancy. Once they were all dressed and ready they spun around and skipped about happily, eager to start dancing.
The eldest, who had short light brown hair and blood red eyes laughed about how easily Kaito fell for their trap. "I can't believe he would take the wine that easily!" She laughed as she helped her sister Miki brush her salmon hair.
"I don't know Meiko, for some reason while you are feeling happy, I have an uneasy feeling residing in my gut. I'm sure something bad will happen." Miki told Meiko who had paused the brushing.
"You idiot, you are always afraid. Have you forgotten how many other men have lost their heads trying to follow us? Even if Miku hadn't drugged him, he probably would have still fallen asleep just as soundly as he is right now." A short blonde girl with a white bow in her hair told Miki. She then went to check on Kaito to make sure he was still sleeping/dead. When she saw that he was sleeping she ran back and told her sisters.
"The blue knight is still sleeping."
"Good job Rin!" They all said, well some of them said different things, but it was along those lines. The twelve sisters then proceeded in leaving through a trapdoor that was under one of their beds.
Kaito sat up immediately and threw on the invisibility cloak. Thankfully it covered his whole body. It'd be weird if one of his feet stuck out.
Kaito walked out into the hall and thankfully one of the sisters left their room open. Kaito cheered in his head for their stupidity. He looked in and saw three girls going into a trap door. One had pale blonde hair with rainbow tips. The other had pale pink hair and the last one had purplish blue hair. Kaito sneakily went up behind them and followed them down.
Sadly, when the princess with purpley blue hair had reached the fifth step, Kaito accidentally stepped on her gown of teal and white, she squealed at her older sisters. Kaito winced and knew he was going to be found out right then and there.
"Something isn't right! Someone grabbed my dress!" She grabbed at her older sister with pale pink hair's black and pink dress.
"Aoki, it's just a nail in the wall, no need to freak." The older girl comforted her sister and they kept walking.
"Thanks Aria." Aoki sweetly sang.
"I told you not to call me that! Call me IA!" Aria, no IA, spat at Aoki as if the words were poison.
"IA, be nicer to her, she's our younger sister!" A shorter girl with dirty blonde hair and rainbow tips said. She was wearing a black and red dress with lace edges. She grabbed Aoki and petted her hair staring a IA cutely.
"Shut up Mayu! Maybe I'll have your prince, Muyo tonight instead of IO." IA teased her sister.
"What did you say." Mayu growled through clenched teeth. She was very, protective you could say, of her prince. If someone insulted him or threatened to take him away, she could get just a tad bit violent.
"I'm just teasin Ma-chan!" IA then ruffled her blonde locks.
At that point one of the other sisters, one with long pink hair and a dress of black and gold, had stopped the princesses until the three that were lagging had caught up.
"Finally, you three took forever to get here!" She complained to them.
"Sorry Luka." All three of them replied.
"Well, come on. We haven't got all night." Luka then led the group through a grove of sparkling silver trees and matching leaves.
Kaito stopped for a second to marvel the soul silver trees and leaves. He thought for a second and decided to break off a branch to save as a memento to keep for himself, or sell on the black market. When the blue haired knight broke the branch off, the tree made a loud cracking noise as if to say 'Hey! Princesses! There is a guy stalking you!'.
"Did you hear that!? Something isn't right, that has never happened before!" A princess with purple hair that was worn in ponytails who was wearing a beautiful purple, black and pink dress said.
"Yukari, it is only our princes! Shouting in joy for our arrival." Rin told her older sister.
"Since when did men make noises like breaking branches?" Yukari said under her breath.
After the trees of soul silver, they came upon a grove of heart gold trees and then crystal trees. In each grove the knight wanted a branch to trade and both times the trees made loud noises that sounded like wood breaking of course. And every time a different princess would freak out and one of the other ones would calmly say that the noises were their princes.
After the grove of crystal trees, the group came upon a grand lake of blue water. Near the shore were twelve boats, all of them holding a prince that looked like a male version of the princesses, the princes weren't related though. Each of the princesses stepped into a boat.
Kaito looked at the twelve boats and decided that the boat with Lily and her prince would be the best to ride in.
"Hey Lily, I don't know why, but I am rowing with all my strength, we aren't going as fast as usual and I'm really tired. The boat seems really heavy today." The blond prince complained to his blonde princess.
"It's only the weather, it's really hot today," Lily yawned then continued, "I'm very hot and tired as well."
The ride didn't take too long surprisingly and they soon arrived on the other side where a huge castle with sparkling lights was. From inside could be heard the sound of ridiculously loud pop music. The 24 princes and princesses got off the boats and lined up next to each other. Kaito shuffled behind Yuki and her prince and snuck in behind them.
"Now announcing the arrival of our esteemed guests! The twelve princesses of our own kingdom and twelve princes from other kingdoms around our continent!" An announcer yelled with a microphone, "Here comes the eldest princess, Meiko and her prince Meito, the royals of red! And now the second oldest Luka and her prince Luki, the royals of black and gold! Now Lily and Lucian the punk royals! Gumi and Gumiya have now entered, they are the royals of green and orange! Aria-"
"IA!" The girl with light pink hair yelled at the announcer dude.
"I'm sorry, IA and Oratorio-" He got cut off again.
"IO!" The boy with light pink hair yelled.
"I'm very sorry! IA and IO the royals of the planets!" IA and IO walked through the arch leading from outside to inside where the other princesses and princes had walked through. Both of them seemed ready to kill anybody who called them by their given names.
"Here come Miku and Mikuo the royals of teal! And now Yukari and Yukato the royals of purple! Miki and Mikio the royals of salmon color are next! Now Rin and Rinto the royals of yellow! Next are Mayu and Muyo the royals who are very protective of each other! Aoki and Aoko are the shortest royals, barely reaching a meter and a half!"
As Aoki and Aoko walked in they glared angrily at the man with the microphone. The man realized that four of the royals want him dead now.
"And last, but not least are Yuki and Yuuki! The youngest of the royals, they are both nine!" The announcer then disappeared for the rest of the night.
The night went on very well. The princes all danced with their princesses and they all partied very hard. Even Yuki and Yuuki were partaking in the festivities. Kaito, who was still invisible also danced, thankfully no one could see his bad dance moves. Kaito was very thirsty though from all of his dancing. Whenever one of the princesses set down their glass of wine or juice, Kaito would thirstily drink the liquid up so when the princess would bring the cup to her lips it would be empty. All of them, but Meiko who was very drunk somehow, would then be frightened by this, but their princes would calm them down and tell them they probably drank all their wine/juice without knowing.
They danced and danced until three o'clock in the morning. By then their shoes had seen better days and would have holes and rips and tear in them. The princes then rowed their respective princess back to the forest of crystal trees. Kaito hitched a ride on Miku and Mikuo's boat. Once all the royals had reached the grove, they said goodbye to each other and the girls promised to come again the next night.
Once the sisters got to the castle, Kaito ran ahead to his room. He took off the stolen cloak and pretended to be dead in his bed. This time Miku checked on him. She smiled when she saw that he was sleeping, she did not notice that his shoes had holes in them from dancing though. She went back into the large room she shared. All twelve sisters then undressed, put away their fancy dresses and shoes and went to bed after dressing themselves in their night clothes.
"GAH! I just had the most horrible dream! I followed a group of girls and danced late into the night... Oh sh-" Kaito realized that he hadn't been dreaming and swore. He changed into fresh clothes and went down into the dining hall to join the king and princesses for breakfast. During the meal, the blue knight didn't speak of the night, but was determined to see more of this strange adventure with the princesses and mysterious castle in the woods.
The same thing went on the next two nights as well: the princesses danced with their princes until their shoes were falling apart and not even duct tape could save them and then they returned home. On the third night though, Kaito decided to smuggle one of the golden drinking cups to see how much money it would go for on the black market. He had already sold the branches for enough money to actually buy a horse so he could be a real night. Also on the third night, when Kaito was following the princesses back, he grabbed a branch from each of the groves, just in case he needed evidence for the king to show where his daughters went.
On the morning of the fourth day, Kaito was brought to the king after breakfast. The king demanded to know if Kaito had found where the princesses had gone. Kaito didn't answer the king's question. He stood there smugly and casually showed the branches and mug as the twelve daughters listened from behind the big doors that lead to the throne room.
"What is this?" The king asked.
"Three branches from groves outside of the castle walls. One from a grove of silver, one from a grove of gold, and one from a grove of crystal trees. The mug is from the castle where the princesses dance with twelve princes. The castle is on an island in a lake made of the bluest water." Kaito told the king.
"Bluer than your hair?" The king asked.
"Yes, bluer than my hair." Kaito replied angrily.
"Meiko, Luka, Lily, Gumi, Aria, Miku, Yukari, Miki, Rin, Mayu, Aoki, and Yuki! Come here!" The king yelled. The twelve of them walked in.
"Father, please call me IA." IA pleaded to her dad.
"I will call you Aria because that is the name your mother gave you!" IA sighed.
The king told his daughters what Kaito had told him. They stood in shock, they had heard everything, but they were amazed that Kaito had found out so much and got three branches and a cup. The king then asked Meiko, since she was the oldest, if all of this was true. Meiko looked at her sisters and quickly said yes to her father. There was no use denying it if the evidence was overwhelming.
The king smiled, happy to know where his daughters went during the night. Surprisingly, he didn't punish the girls. He then turned to Kaito and asked which of the girls he would like to marry. Kaito thought for a second. He didn't want Meiko or Luka since they were older than him. He didn't want any of the ones younger than Miku since she was 17 and it would be weird if he married them. He felt Lily was too much of a punk for him. Gumi he didn't know to well. IA seemed like she had a temper. That left Miku. She was nice, ish. Had a attitude and was kind of funny. Kaito looked at her and saw that her teal ponytails were very pretty and that she had huge round matching turquoise eyes.
"Since I'm not that old or very young, I will marry Miku." Kaito walked over to Miku and grabbed her right hand and kissed it. Miku started blushing. He then whispered into her ear, "You can still dance with Mikuo as long as you dance with me longer."
That day they were married and Kaito was chosen to be the heir to the throne. He became king only when the king died in a tragic boating 'accident'. Kaito never actually saw the old lady who helped him in the beginning of this short adventure ever again.
The End!