A/N: Hello. First things first, I will give a brief explanation of the setting and story before letting you go about and reading it. This story starts in the main character's home country called Snowtramine. A fictional country in the modern day world that has come to accept monsters and magic as the norm. The story, however, is about 6 girls, trying to save their world and possibly other worlds from this new menace trying to bring out a new world by way of Nightmares. This story takes some inspiration from Kingdom Hearts since the girls do head to other worlds, video game worlds, in order to solve the problem. That is about all I can tell you. Enjoy.
Prologue: A Dream?
Slam. The sound of a door being slammed shut by a young, white haired woman with sky blue eyes. The young woman rubbed at her eyes tiredly, well her left eye anyways, her right eye was covered with white bandages. She looked like she was going to head off into dreamland at any given moment. She grumbled tirelessly to herself as she flicked on the lights, revealing a bedroom that looks like one straight out from a castle fit for someone of royalty. The bedroom didn't particularly have anything that would differentiate from other royal bedrooms besides a big screen TV, opposite side of the queen-sized bed, and a gaming console below it.
She eyed the TV for a moment or two, deciding whether or not to turn it on. "Nah. I am too tired… and what time is it anyways?" She looked at the Grandfather clock in the corner of the room. It read 11:34 PM. The white haired woman scoffed in response. "No point. A lot of shows with some nonsensical drivel at this time of night…" She went over to her changing screen and started to undress herself to change into suitable clothing for sleeping.
"What a day… Just meetings, meetings, paperwork, more meetings, and even more paperwork… Can't Princess Weiss get just ONE day of not doing that?" She untied her hair and it dropped down to the mid of her back. She got out of the white dress she was wearing and draped it over the changing screen. As she got out of her underwear, she thought about what she should do for her country tomorrow. "I haven't held a ball for my country in a long while actually…"
She got out her blue nightgown and placed it on. She let out a sigh as she made her way over to her bed and got under the covers. She clapped her hands a few times and the lights went out in response. "It'd be nice for my people to have some fun at my castle. I am sure my father would have wanted me to at least every once in a while." She cleared her throat, picturing her father. "A ruler must learn to have fun with their people. It is not always about control!" She said in her best father impression. Weiss giggled, before letting out a sad sigh as she turned over on her side. "I miss you, dad… I am doing my best as a Princess should for your sake, but I wonder if I can really do it…"
Her eyes not willing to fight sleep anymore, she shut her eyes and slept. The last thought in her mind before she went off into dreamland was that this weekend, she would have a ball and invite everybody she could to her castle and have a good time.
…
Weiss sees herself in her ballroom, wearing her sparkling white dress and her tiara. She looked like Disney's Cinderella… except with white hair tied into a ponytail and of course her bandaged right eye. Not to mention that the dress only covers her from her shoulders to her thighs, leaving little to the imagination. A slight breeze and anybody can see the goods under there, but she didn't care. A smile was plastered on her face as she watched her people dancing, talking to one another, feasting on the food her chefs prepared, and overall just enjoy themselves. She held a glass of grape juice in her hand since she is not exactly old enough to drink alcohol. She is only 17 after all and even if she was of age, she doesn't exactly enjoy the taste of it, having tried it when she was 14 when her father wasn't looking.
One of her maids walked up to her as she was taking a sip of her grape juice. "Your highness… The guests seem to be enjoying themselves quite a bit." She noted with a small smile. Weiss smiled in return as she put down her glass. "Yes. I decided it was for the best. Monsters have been destroying the morale of my people what with them rising in number recently and attacks have increased as well." Both women frowned at that. Weiss clicked her tongue as she turned her attention to the many people dancing. "So, for their sake to at least forget about the monsters temporarily, I held this ball for them to have a night of fun." The maid placed her hand on Weiss' shoulder, smiling. "And you seem to be having fun too. To be honest, I was getting worried about you. You've been working really hard to the point of exhaustion… both mentally and physically…"
Weiss sighed. That much was true. It was not like she did that to herself intentionally. It was just that she wanted to please her father by working hard and protecting her country from harm of monsters and other countries that may have a vendetta against them. "Yes I know. Thank you, my servant, for worrying about me. I have indeed been working myself to the bone and I will try my best to not work myself too hard after this night." She says this, but more than likely she will return to her usual work tomorrow… 'Sorry, that might be a bit of a lie' She thought in her head as she sees the maid nod in response. "Good to hear. Well, if you excuse me, your highness…" The maid bowed before heading off.
Weiss took her glass of grape juice and downed it one go before setting back on the table. She was in the mood to do some dancing of her own. However, she didn't feel like dancing without a partner. Most of her people here seem to be dancing with a partner and she didn't want to feel left out. The princess was quite nervous… she never really asked anybody to have a dance with her… or even have anybody ask her for one. Throughout all of her life, she never had a friend to call her own. Sure she had her servants, but they were just that and nothing more. She was mostly kept in the castle to learn from her father how to become a proper princess, so her social life was seriously lacking.
'How would I go about this? Uh…" Weiss pondered to herself, putting a finger to her chin in thought. 'Hello citizen, I… I demand that you have a dance with me, Princess Weiss.' She wondered if that sounded sudden and rude. Nah, couldn't be. Her father taught her that she should assert dominance over her people. Something like that is bound to work, right? She thought so at least.
As she was thinking this, she felt a sudden tap on her shoulder. Weiss was about to shriek but held it back as best she could so it sounded more like a gasp, before turning around and seeing who would dare interrupt her thoughts and the gall to startle her. Before her was a blonde haired woman about 2 inches taller than her in a simple red dress that offered a generous amount of cleavage to the beholder. She was also wearing matching red high heels and a masquerade mask that obscured everything but her mouth.
"E-Excuse me, miss. Would you like a… d-dance with me?" The blonde woman asked. Weiss couldn't tell with the mask, but she assumed the other woman must be blushing under it. She seemed quite shy if the stuttering didn't give it away… unless her presence made her nervous as she is a princess after all. 'Huh, how bold for a woman to ask a princess for a dance.' There wasn't anything wrong with it. Weiss made it perfectly clear that people can do whatever they want with their love life, it was none of her concern. Now in terms of her own sexuality, she doesn't really want to label herself as anything. It all comes down to finding the right person, gender aside.
"My, aren't you a brave one?" Weiss decided to humor her. She was going to ask around, but this was convenient. It must have taken this woman a lot of courage to ask and she had to commend her for that. "Well… perhaps…" The princess smiled as she watched the blonde woman shift nervously. "P-perhaps…?" The princess dared to take the blonde woman's right hand and held it up. "Well I would first like to know the name of the partner I am dancing with…" She gave the hand she held a slight squeeze and the mysterious blonde squirmed a bit.
Weiss saw in her peripheral vision that people were starting to take notice of her exchange with this woman. She didn't care. She just wanted to have fun. Dancing with a woman isn't a problem. If they did have a problem… they'll have to deal with her guards. The blonde hesitated for a moment before answering. "My name is E… Emerald" The princess raised an eyebrow in response. While she wasn't very good at catching lies… especially since she can't see the blonde's eyes, she knew that was a false name. 'She must have her reasons for hiding her name since she is also wearing a mask to hide her face. This isn't a masquerade ball.' She thought as she pulled them over to the dance floor. "Well then, 'Emerald', why don't we dance, hmm?"
"Right…" The blonde nervously placed her hand on the back of Weiss' shoulder and the princess placed her hand on her shoulder. The two entwined their other hands and then they began to dance to the music that was playing. Step, touch, step, touch, step, and touch. They moved about the dance floor with almost mesmerizing elegance. Weiss stared up where Emerald's eyes were, wishing she could see her eyes, but she didn't want to intrude on someone's personal business. "So tell me, what made you want to dance with me, hmm?" Weiss decided to make small talk with the mysterious woman. "W-Well I thought you that you looked beautiful… very much so…" The blonde looked to the side as if to hide a blush, but that move was pointless as the mask already hid it.
Weiss grinned as she felt herself being dipped by the blonde. "Oh? Well tell me something I don't know… come on…" As she waited for an answer, she felt unease… as if there was somebody… or something… watching her. 'What is this menacing feeling…?' She thought as she was pulled up back into position to continue dancing with her partner. "Um… well ok… excuse my french… but you have some fine ass legs…" The princess giggled, that definitely wasn't something she heard people compliment about. It was either about her breasts or her beauty in general, never about her legs. She guessed this woman was really into a woman's legs. 'That's a fetish I don't see often…'
Before Weiss could comment, she heard a multitude of screams from behind her. Both her and Emerald immediately broke off and turned their attention to what was causing the screams. What they saw, shocked them. There, near the entrance to the ballroom were 3 monsters this country has never seen before. All 3 of them were covered from head to toe in what seemed like tar. Their shape looked more akin to a wolf. Their eyes were a tad unusual… they just looked like red swirls.
"MONSTERS?! How did they get in?" Weiss stood her ground as the crowd of people rushed past her to safety. The blonde behind her however, stayed behind as if planning to back her up. "When I find my guards… if they are alive… they are going to get quite the scolding… and get fired…" The princess reached out with her right hand and concentrated. "SNOW BREAKER! COME FORTH!" The place felt a chill as the sword materialized in her hand. A sword with a bluish white blade with snowflake patterns across it. Emerald could tell that just by being near it, she was feeling quite cold.
The wolves that looked covered in tar howled and dashed on over to Weiss, ready to strike. Their teeth were bared, ready to bite and shred. Weiss dashed forward to strike one of them with her sword. Woosh. The blade didn't connect with anything as the wolf had jumped right over her attack. Weiss quickly jumped out of the way when the wolf overhead tried to attack with its paw. Landing quite aways from the wolves, Weiss quickly pointed her sword at them. "Ice Blast!" A beam emitted from the blade and connected with each of the wolves and upon impact, ice crystals burst out and then combust. The wolves looked unamused as they didn't seem damaged in the slightest. The princess' eyes widened in response. No way. No damage at all? Just what are these creatures she was fighting?
"LOOK OUT!" Weiss heard Emerald's warning and turned around, but before she could react, she took a strong punch to the face. The princess was sent flying across the room and into the buffet table, knocking everything on it to either the floor or on her. Weiss wiped off the bits of food off her face so she can see who her attacker was. The first thing she saw was Emerald struggling with the attacker. The attacker seemed to be a knight in black armor with what looked like a scream mask. His or her hair… if one could call it that, looked it was just… spider legs? What kind of abomination is this?
"Fool!" The attacker lifted Emerald up by her neck, choking her to the brink of death, before tossing her at Weiss. The white haired woman gasped and tried to catch her, but the force of the throw was too powerful for her to safely catch her. They both slammed into the wall, making an indent in it. Weiss groaned in pain, she was on the verge of unconsciousness as the mysterious attacker walked up to her slowly with the 3 wolves following. The blonde woman in her arms was simply unconscious. While she was thankful she wasn't dead… it doesn't look like they will survive for much longer… she no longer had the strength to get up and fight back.
"Princess Weiss of Snowtramine…" The attacker started, hovering over Weiss. "You best get ready… Your country… and soon the entire world… will know the Nightmare Purge…" A menacing laugh erupted from it as Weiss started to join her companion into the realm of unconsciousness. "Before you go… have this as a friendly reminder!" The last thing Weiss felt was teeth burrowing into her right arm…
…
Weiss sat up from her bed, sweating and panting. She looked around frantically, quickly seeing if anybody was around. Silence. All there was is absolute silence. The princess, relieved that it was just a dream, quickly laid back down. "That was wild…" She remarked as she wiped off the sweat with her hand. Then… she felt something… something that shouldn't be there if that was a dream. Something warm was trickling down her right arm. She sat up again and rolled up her sleeve. There on her arm was a bite mark… a bite that looked it came from a monster of some kind. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"W-W-What… the...?"