IMPORTANT A/N: Hey, everyone :) If you haven't already seen the note in The Rose Labyrinth, and you're too lazy to go there now (laziness is okay! (sometimes) I'm lazy, too ^^ ), I shall restate my present case:

No, my computer is not fixed yet, and all incomplete stories will probably stay that way until December, and that's the very latest. BETA projects are still underway, but I type on my iTouch and library computers, so don't expect the best quality yet :/ (If it really sucks, I'll rewrite it when I get the chance! :3 )

But I just couldn't miss 11/11/11, Marluxia Day! (Odds are, I probably won't want to miss 12/12/12, Larxene Day, either. I'm just sad that I missed Zexion Day (6/6/06), but it's alright, since, after all, it comes once a year!) So that's why I've been typing, typing, typing (on that itty bitty little scratched-up, beloved screen) stories just for today, and I really do hope you enjoy them.

Standard Disclaimers Apply (honestly, though, isn't it a given? Everyone knows we. don't. Own. Lol)


Once, a long, long time ago, when Nobodies were still visible even to blasphemous human eyes, and magic was still practiced openly, there was a secluded kingdom deep in the heart of a forbidden forest, where the darkest of creatures were known to lurk. There was a large city around the impressive castle, where dwelt a young prince and his loyal subjects. Although he had everything his heart desired, he was spoiled, selfish, and unkind, as well as the most beautiful man in the land.

Many people (both men and women) from foreign kingdoms braved the single clear path through the forest to attempt to win the heart of the handsome prince, but none succeeded for long; for while the prince was very fickle, manipulative, and deceptive, he was also very clever. He would claim a lover and have them court him, accepting their expensive gifts and oaths of love, then he would pull the strings backstage and tangle the unwary fools into traps, tricking them into becoming his puppets.

Though, soon, he grew bored of his game and switched to a new one: he led hopeful suitors on, and would then spurn them away, banishing them from his sight. It wasn't quite as entertaining as the last one, but it was much more amusing to see the pain on their faces; for what did he care for foreign, lovesick fools?

But one victim of his cruel game, who had suffered heartbreak at the devious prince's actions, was truly an alchemist, with knowledge deep in the lore of sorcery. Though he had fallen into the deepest of depressions, he still thirsted for vengeance, and so, using the last of his strength, he summoned an evil faerie, and gave his heart to her in exchange for revenge against the prince. The faerie's name was Maleficent, and she was a sorceress of awesome and frightening power. She agreed to the bargain, and watched as he hung himself, before taking his heart and transforming herself into a hideous beggar woman. She then summoned a dark portal, rather than make her way through the treacherous wood to the prince's city, and transported herself to the door of the prince's castle.

It was a gloomy and rainy winter's night when she arrived at the palace. Thrice she knocked on the fortified door, and thrice no one answered, deaf to her knocks because of the thunder, but by chance or fate, on the fourth knock, the prince emerged from his rooms, and opened the door.

The old beggar woman offered the prince a single, whithered black rose she had conjured from thin air moments before in exchange for shelter from the sleet and bitter cold, likening its petals to his long, pink tresses. Repulsed by her haggard appearance and insulted by her comment, the prince sneered at the gift and turned her away.

He did not see her malicious smirk, and ignored her when she warned him not to be deceived by appearances, for some things are not at all what they seemed, and beauty was found within.

Irked by her impudence, the prince dismissed her again, and attempted to close the door on her, when suddenly, she transformed from her hideous guise into her true form; a black cape, pale-green skin, horns, and all.

The prince recognized the sorceress and ordered his guards to attack her, for she was known to be a powerful and dangerous witch, but she struck them down with ease. He realized his mistake, and tried to appease the evil faerie, but it was too late. She saw the truth in the alchemist's words, on how there was no love in his heart, and as punishment, stole his heart away; for if he had no love to give, what good would a heart do him?

She cast a horrible, powerful spell on his entire kingdom, stripping every one of his loyal subjects of their hearts, and transforming them into Heartless and beasts; but some had such powerful wills that they managed to escape the worst of it and only become Nobodies.

The castle was transformed as well, from a luxurious palace of light to a dark, gothic, and formidable fortress with twisted figures and corrupted beauty.

The prince's transformation Maleficent saved for last, and slowly, oh so slowly, she extracted his heart, torturing him with pain, until at last he collapsed to the stone floor from exhaustion, throat raw from yelling. She watched every writhe with a sadistic smile, and every expression of agony with a barely suppressed smirk; when his heart was at last hers, she took it and absorbed it into the rose, changing it from a black, whithered one into a bright obsidian blossom, in full-bloom with beautiful petals.

Tossing the flower at the fallen, furious prince, she slyly remarked how the colour of the rose reflected his cruel, black heart, and, cackling, she disappeared into the night sky, laughing at the newly-created Nobody's curses.

Ashamed of his new form, the prince concealed himself inside his castle, and destroyed every displayed painting of him there was, to be rid of reminders of his past self. With only a magic mirror as his single window to the outside world, he withdrew entirely from the world, blocking off his kingdom from the others so that none may look upon him. His subjects watched as his form changed daily, sometimes nearing that of a Dusk, then becoming more and more humanoid, then back to a grotesque shape of a low-ranking Nobody.

The rose Maleficent had given him, he kept, for, as it was truly an enchanted rose that would bloom until his thirty-first year, it held the key to undoing the terrible curse: if he could truly learn to love another, even without a heart, and earn their love in return by the time the last petal fell, then the curse would be undone. If not, his heart would never return, and he would be doomed to remain a Nobody for all time. As Maleficent had bewitched the time there to pass slower than the rest of the world, the prince would feel the torture and pain of eternity longer.

As years passed, the prince fell into despair, and lost all hope, for without a heart, he could never complete the terms of the curse; and besides, who could ever learn to love a Nobody?


A/N: Sorry if the prologue's a bit boring. It should get better :D

Mwahaha. Am I ever so evil for flooding your inboxes ;) I love you all! Extra thanks to those who leave a review; even if it's only six words! (i.e. I'm so excited! Please update! or something~)

*I noticed a bit late that I kept saying that the prince had "suitors". Just pretend, alright? ^^; Men and women, there. He's bisexual. (Plus, I dunno what a female version of "Suitor" is)

If you have anything against that... don't be rude about it, alright? :)

And besides, the rest of this story will only have het! pairings.

**Yes, some of this prologue is inspired by the myth of Narcissus and Echo (but mostly Narcissus)

***Yes, I used "castle" and "palace" interchangeably. I know the difference, as I've visited countless castles and palaces, but that's all right, aye? Because, after all, it's just a story.