Chapter One: Bad Beginning
Once upon a time in a far away land, there was a tiny kingdom. Peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition. Here in a stately chateau, there lived a widowed gentleman named Zack Fair, and his little daughter Aqua.
Zack loved his daughter but he felt that she needed a mother's care and so he married again. He married a woman named Larxene who had two daughters just Aqua's age. Their names were Yuna and Rikku.
Aqua had a fair complexion and water-blue hair. Yuna had a pale complexion with short brown hair and greenish blue eyes. RIkku was blond with her hair in many braid, but they were pulled into one big pony tail and green eyes.
"Hi." Aqua said on Yuna and Rkkku's first day at the chateau. "I'm Aqua. Who are you two?"
"I'm Yuna." Yuna said with a slight wave.
"And I am Rikku." Rikku said in a boastful voice.
"Humility, Rikku..." Larxene stated simply. She had blond hair and a complexion almost similar to Aqua's.
"Oh sorry, Mother dear." Rikku said as her voice suddenly became very respectful.
"Hi Step Mother." Aqua said to Larxene. "I hope we can get along."
"Me too dear." Larxene said with a smile.
"Come on kiddo." Zack said with a smile as he walked up. "How about we feed Axel?"
"Okay!" Aqua said excitedly. She loved Axel as well as their young female puppy, Tifa.
"Can I do that too?" Yuna asked Larxene.
"Oh no." Larxene said calmly. "I'm afraid you have to unpack."
()()()()()
As Zack and Aqua left, Rikku dropped her pretense for a bit.
"Who the heck would want to get near those smelly animals?" Rikku asked rhetorically.
"Manners, dear." Larxene reminded Rikku.
"Yes Mother." Rikku said as she knew she had to keep up the pretense of being a goody-goody.
()()()()()
It was upon the untimely death of this good man however, that the step-mother's true nature was revealed. Cold... and cruel... and bitterly jealous of Aqua's charm and beauty, she was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awful daughters.
"Father..." Aqua cried at Zack's bedside.
"Hmph." Larxene groaned softly.
"Ugh, can we move the body already?" Rikku asked in outraged disgust. "It's starting to reek!"
"Hey!" Aqua snapped in the heat of the moment. "He's your step-father! How can you be so heartless?"
"Easy." Rikku said with an arrogant smirk. "He's not around anymore."
"But Step-Daddy Zack is right there." Yuna pointed out simply as she pointed to Zack's dead body.
"His spirit has gone from this world, child so in that sense, he's no longer here." Larxene said impatiently before turning to Aqua. "You, girl, pick yourself up off the floor and start sweeping in here; there's entirely too much dust."
"You... You never acted this way when Father was alive!" Aqua said angrily. After a long pause, she added, "You tricked him into marrying you, didn't you?"
Larxene slapped Aqua across the cheek.
"Don't talk back to your elders about things that you don't understand." Larxene said calmly but sharply. "Now go on. Get moving. And change into something else more appropriate for work, you'll get that dress all filthy."
()()()()()
Thus, as the years went by, the chateau fell into disrepair. For the family fortunes were squandered on the vain and selfish step-sisters while Aqua was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in her own house. And yet... through it all... Aqua continued to remain ever gentle and kind and held onto the hope that one day soon, her dreams of happiness would come true.
Chaos: SURPRISE! I hope this surprise story, i manage to pull is good here my friends!
Iris: Not only that but we are happy to welcome a new friend as well!
Surane: Come on out, Drew!
Drew: Its nice to be here... *blushes*
Hikari: In hounor of being here you can take it away!
Drew: Alight then, Chaos dose not own Cinderella or kingdom hearts, but she owns Iris, Surane belongs to SuraneSpiral, Hikari belongs to WingBladeWeaver1357, and I belongs to RedDiEnd.
