Hello all, so, since I have redone a few of my other stories, I decided to try redoing my Sleeping Beauty story because, let's face it, it was terrible. After reading, please let me know what you think as it is a new try! And, as always, standard disclaimer applies! And just so everyone knows, the word Chikara means power.

Mia21


The magic users present for the christening of Princess Kaoru Akira Kamiya of Miyoshi were a diverse bunch. The Chikara Conclave had sent an abnormally large number of them to the event. Usually only one or two magic users were sent as envoys, but today there were six, seven if Megumi counted herself.

It was not a show of favoritism but an attempt to demonstrate some understanding. Princess Kaoru's birth had been difficult, and it was unlikely that her mother, Queen Ryoko, would have another child.

Megumi watched the cooing princess, who happily gurgled in her cradle. Queen Ryoko and King Koshijiro stood behind the cradle, beaming with joy.

Magdaria, a fairy godmother, approached the cradle. The plump woman smiled down at the adorable baby and patted her head. "She shall be liked by animals," Magdaria said. White magic fell from her fingertips, blanketing the baby like stardust.

Another magic user frowned, a young woman named Shura whose magic lay in music. She had been giving Megumi dark looks since she and Lord Enchanter Sanosuke had arrived that morning, likely because she knew of Megumi's somewhat shady past. "Liked by animals? That's a useless gift."

Megumi glanced at the King and Queen to see if they had heard, but the magic users stood at a distance from the royal babe and were out of earshot.

A short, thin weather mage snorted. "It's certainly better than your choice. It is beyond me how you think blessing the princess with the 'voice of a nightingale' will aid her in the future."

Shura spluttered. "It is a perfectly reasonable gift, one that has often been granted to royal babes!"

"Indeed," Shura's friend, Asahi, said. "It is much more customary, unlike your gift of courage!"

"Exactly," Shura sniffed. "Courage is not a proper characteristic for a princess to have!"

"Ladies," Lord Enchanter Sanosuke said. "We have been gathered here to celebrate the arrival of a future monarch, and each of us are to give her whatever gift we feel will help her the most. It is not our business to question one another's blessings."

"Yes, Lord Enchanter." The other magic users murmured. Megumi, proud of her master's wisdom, removed her eyes from the gurgling princess long enough to sneak a peek at him. He glanced down at her at the same moment and caught her staring. Embarrassed, Megumi quickly returned her eyes to the princess and willed herself not to blush.

"Are you enjoying the christening, Meg?" Sanosuke asked.

She nodded. "It's very beautiful."

Sanosuke smiled. "The royal family of Miyoshi loves any excuse for a celebration."

Magdaria, the fairy godmother, took her place on Sanosuke's other side. "It's your turn Lord Enchanter. If I had your power, I would see if I could do something about her personality, or she'll be an absolute bore."

Sanosuke flashed a smile at her. "I've thought of something already."

"Have at it then. I'm anxious to end this ceremony and get going. There is work to be done, and this celebration will drag on if we don't do something to end it." Magdaria said.

"I'll be only a moment, Meg." With another smile, Sanosuke swept off, stopping before the royal cradle. He exchanged a few muted words with the proud parents, then lowered his right hand into the cradle. Princess Kaoru wrapped her fat baby hands around his pointer finger and giggled.

"She will be clever." Sanosuke said. His blue magic flickered around him like ripples in a pond, brushing Princess Kaoru's skin. The King and Queen bowed in thanks as Sanosuke returned to his spot.

"Well done, that was craftily worded," Magdaria praised him.

Megumi furrowed her eyebrows, confused as to what she meant by craftily worded.

"Traditionally, Meg, beauty or intelligence is the last gift given to a princess, it depends on the country and family into which she has been born." Sanosuke explained.

"But Sanosuke out-foxed some of the more dopey gifts our comrades granted the princess by giving not intelligence, but cleverness." Magdaria said.

"How?" Megumi asked.

"Intelligence is, at its bones, the ability to learn well," Sanosuke told her. "But cleverness is the ability to apply intelligence. Understanding alone is no help if one does not apply it."

Megumi nodded. "I see. Cleverness will be a great boon to the princess in the future."

Just then, the sunlight that streamed in through stained-glass windows dulled as sudden thunderclouds covered the sky. The glittering candles of the chandeliers were blown out by an icy, damp wind, and the matched set of giant doors were almost torn off their hinges.

A man stepped into the darkened room with a hint of a smirk on his lips. His skin was pale and his hair a bluish white. While he was handsome, it was a skin-deep shallow mask, for his eyes were dark as an abyss.

"Enishi." The weather mage gasped.

The utterance sent a shiver down Megumi's spine, and she found it was suddenly hard to breathe. Enishi had once been a promising magic user on the fast track to become an enchanter. But after his schooling…he cracked. He forsook all vows he had made and lashed out with his magic, killing an innocent.

The Chikara Conclave had excommunicated him, throwing him from their ranks and turning him into an outcast. They had also sealed his magic, but if that were true, how had he made his entrance?

Enishi chuckled. "I'm hurt. How did it come to be that I was not informed of this wonderful celebration?"

Sanosuke stepped forward, his blue magic wrapping around his fingers. "What are you doing here Enishi?" He asked, his voice as sharp as a blade.

"Isn't it obvious? I've come here so that I too might welcome Princess Kaoru to the world." Enishi drawled, sauntering across the hall towards the golden cradle.

Magdaria strode in his direction. "Don't you touch her, you fiend!"

"No, don't!" The weather mage cried, grabbing her arm and yanking her backwards. "Conclave law forbids the use of magic against him!"

"Only if his powers are sealed." Magdaria answered, shaking the weather mage off with ease.

"Leave, Enishi." Sanosuke said, a blue ring of light flaring to life beneath his feet.

Enishi rolled his eyes. "You're such a spoil sport, Sanosuke. Fine, I will leave. But first, since all of you have, I ought to give the princess my gift."

"No!" King Koshijiro cried, leaping in front of the cradle. Enishi backhanded him, sending him staggering backwards.

"Koshijiro!" Queen Ryoko screamed, torn between her daughter and her husband. Enishi made the decision for her, flicking his fingers at her and sending her flying towards her husband. Enishi then leaned down and spoke very quickly. "All the gifts given to the princess shall indeed come true, she will be blessed with grace, a beautiful voice, great skill in dancing, and more. But by her eighteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, and die!"

During the pronouncement of the curse, Sanosuke had shouted a word in the tongue of magic that sent blue bolts of magic sizzling around Enishi. But he was too late, a flicker of red magic had already dusted the princess's cheek, sealing her fate.

Enishi grinned wickedly and ran from the room, his robes streaming out behind him. The weather mage and a shifter mage gave chase.

Magdaria scowled at the golden cradle, where Princess Kaoru now cried. "So much for his magic being sealed. We must help her!"

"But we can't!" Shura said. "We're allowed to give only one gift each."

"Pish-posh." Magdaria said, rubbing her hands together. "We've taken vows to help those in need."

"Both of you are correct," Sanosuke told them. "The curse must be modified as quickly as possible, but if we who have already given her gifts grant her another, it will have repercussions. However, there is one more magic user who can grant a gift."

"Who?" Magdaria asked.

"Meg."

"Me?" She squeaked

"While it is true that enchanters and enchantresses in training generally do not learn curse modification until much later, Meg is a clever girl. She can handle it. Come, Megumi." He glided towards the King and Queen, confidant that she was following.

Feeling both angry and pleased at his confidence, Megumi scrambled to do just that.

"Master?" She began.

"Yes?"

"I don't think I can do this."

Sanosuke stopped walking and tilted his head at her. "You don't believe you can do it or you don't think you should do it?"

"What if I hurt her?" She whispered.

"Oh Meg." He sighed with warm affection. "You would never hurt someone. Besides, your magic is strong, which is exactly what is needed at this moment. You told me when you agreed to begin training that you wanted to learn to help people. No one needs your help more than Princess Kaoru right now. Besides, I'll be right there to help you."

Megumi bit her lip, considering, then nodded. "Alright, I'll do it."

Sanosuke offered his hand to her and she took it, feeling reassurance surge through her as he intertwined his fingers with hers. After a few moments in which he taught her what he said was a very powerful curse modifier and how to channel the words she used with her magic to change the curse, he declared her ready.

Feeling weighted down with the hopeful stares of the royal family, as well as the narrowed gazes of the other magic users, Megumi approached the crib where the King had placed Princess Kaoru. She licked her lips and steeled her spine, "By her eighteenth birthday, Princess Kaoru will indeed prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, but she will not die." Megumi paused, her heart squeezing painfully when she felt her magic, agile and sharp, flow down her fingers and brush the Princess's cheeks in a silvery haze.

"Instead, she will fall into a deep sleep and will wake only with true love's kiss."

Megumi exhaled a shaky breath and turned towards Sanosuke, who smiled brightly at her. "You did well, Meg."

While she was glad to have earned his approval, she felt slightly sick in knowing she'd risked possibly killing the tiny Princess. In the back of her mind, worry also stirred for Princess Kaoru. Her future was cloudy and Megumi found it unlikely that Enishi would let her off so easily.


Months passed and Megumi's worries proved to be correct. Inexplicably, the servants assigned to Princess Kaoru would find spindles hidden amongst her toys and folded inside the blankets of her cradle. When the Princess turned two, her parents decided it would be safest for her if she were sent away from the palace, raised in secret as a normal peasant girl. But there was an unfortunate side-effect of her protective pastoral life. The Princess – now called Rose after her favorite flower – never guessing her noble birth, grew vastly different from her royal family…