Once upon a...

Yeah, no. We're all fed-up with this introduction.

Let's start over.

Imagine a land. A land come straight from a fairytale or a fantasy movie : a few mountains in the distance, a great and beautiful forest where all the problems are hiding, two or three lost villages and a main town, with its huge anachronistic castle and its dwellings (if you've seen the Barbie movie, you can imagine the same kind of place, just less pink and more grey/brown).

You're visualising it ?

Good.

The king of this country was named John and he had two sons, Dean and Sam. Their mother had died soon after the birth of the younger one, killed in a mysterious fire.

The king had withdrawn into himself, as though he was now afraid to care about his sons, as though a curse weighed on them.

Be that as it may, Dean rolled up his sleeves and took care of his brother, making sure he was always there for him. Admittedly, they had an army of servants and preceptors, but it was far better to sneak out and go play in the forest, far from the etiquette lessons.

Only, one day, a tragedy occurred (yeah, well sorry, the story had to begin at some point, because two princes sneaking out of the castle to have fun isn't material for a story. Yes, I'm digressing.) So, one day, the younger got lost, which elicited a tremendous fear in Dean.

The young prince had got lost in the woods while trying to escape his brother. Sam loved him very much, but he wanted to be alone for a moment, he was tired of being overprotected. He wanted to explore the woods, wondering what was beyond the edge of the forest (logically : trees). He walked randomly for a moment, then he came across a huge lake with limpid water. Many swans were peacefully gliding over its surface. Sam froze for a moment, his mouth agape, filled with wonder at the peacefulness and beauty of the place.

Slowly, quietly, he came closer to the shore, and dipped a finger in the water.

"Who are you ?"

The young boy was startled. He turned around and saw a young man with deep blue eyes and a sulky or serious look on his face, kind of a mix of the two. He was wearing peculiar clothes, a long beige coat and he had some sort of blue rope around his neck (perhaps it was because he was suicidal ? Perhaps he was looking for the tree from which he would hang himself ? What do you mean I'm sordid ?)

"You shouldn't be here ! Leave, now !"

"Who are you ?"

"Someone you should forget. Hurry !"

The man took his arm and tried to bring him back to the trees.

"Castiel, Castiel... What are you doing to this young man ? Let him come closer to the lake if that is his wish."

The blue-eyed man let go of the young prince, who glanced at the newcomer who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. It was a rather short man, well-dressed, all in black. He had a short and elegant beard.

"I am Crowley, the master of this domain. Who are you ?"

"The king is the one who owns these lands !"

"Not this part of the forest. It's mine. It is the realm of magic. I am the sorcerer who rules this land, but you can call me demon if you wish."

"I... I must go..."

"Don't... I introduced myself, it would be rude of you not to do the same."

"I am the prince... Sam."

"The second one, aren't you ? The younger ? How old are you again ?"

"Ten."

Sam didn't know what to do, and he was terrified by the so-called master of this domain.

"Sam, Sam, Sam. You know, you shouldn't venture in the woods alone. Unless someone is with you ? If so, I'd like to talk to them alone for a minute, to tell them it's bad."

The prince thought of his brother. That Dean should stay alone with Crowley was out of the question.

"I came alone, I wanted to explore the forest" he said, driven by the desire to protect his brother.

"I see. I respect that. Nevertheless, I can't let you go back. I like the peacefulness of this little haven. I'm going to have to keep you here. Castiel, what do you think ?"

"He's just a boy, no one will believe him."

"He's the prince, everyone will believe him, they have to. And he could come back once he's grown up. No, my boy, you're going to stay with me."

Crowley raised a hand to Sam, who took to his heels. He tripped, and as he held out his arms to catch himself, he saw them turn into white wings. And before he realised it, prince Sam had become a swan.

"When the sun has set, you will turn back into a man, until dawn. But when you are a Swan, your instinct will make you come back here. Welcome amongst us, Your Highness. Castiel, let's go."

Crowley vanished, and the other threw an azure and sorry look to the new swan before vanishing as well.

Dean looked for his brother all day long, but in vain. He dared not venture in the forest, after all there were just trees in there ! (That was just common sense ! Although we know he's wrong on that one.)

At dusk, he resolved to go back and raise the alarm. His father sent out a search party for Sam, but all the patrols came back empty-handed. Dean feeling guilty enough as it was, the king decided not to punish him, but rather to burden him with a huge amount of work (there are people who love working. Yes yes, I swear ! But not Dean. So it was still a punishment, without being one. Smart, the king was (translator's note : I feel like Master Yoda right now). Yes, I digressed again. So I was saying ?)

There was henceforth only one heir to the kingdom left.

The first years, Dean took on all the work he must do, although he was profoundly depressed. Without his brother, he felt as though a part of him was missing.

But soon, the now 17-year-old youth was fed-up with the work. He started to regularly visit the taverns, between the files he had to work on, and to travel across the country on his mare's back, to help people.

Let's talk about his mare.

A splendid animal, black, elegant, strong... Named Impala. Really. The groom had thought this name suited a horse.

Right.

The prince called his mare Baby anyway.

Poor beast.

Anyhow, Baby was the only being in the world to bring Dean a bit of solace, after his brother's disappearance. The two other things were pie and a funny meal that consisted of meat and cheese between two slices of bread. It was called a "cheeseburger".

A horse and food. Those were the only things that enlightened the prince's days. As for the nights, well... Dean was tall, rather muscular with dazzling green eyes and a smile to die for. In addition to the looks, he also had humour. Therefore, the prince broke the heart of the maidens of the kingdom.

Several years elapsed, and no one knew what had happened to the younger prince. His memory was starting to fade, as though there had only ever been prince Dean.

However, the latter didn't forget his brother. Despite the women, despite the cheeseburgers, despite the pie, despite Impala, he couldn't forget his brother. And he still blamed himself for his disappearance.

"Dean, how long until you quit being depressed ?"

"I'm not depressed. I'm alright Bobby. I'm gonna eat some pie, you want to join me ?"

"Don't lie to me."

Bobby was one of the king's huntsmen, and the only one to understand Dean. He had taken the two princes under his wing a long time ago, and he had been deeply affected by Sam's disappearance. But he had pulled himself together and tried to look out for Dean and to get the guilt complex and self-loathing out of him (spoiler alert : that was impossible).

"Listen, I know it's been seven years today, but you musn't let that tear you apart."

"Tear me apart ? Bobby, I'm fine !"

"You're lying to yourself too ?"

"... I'm going downtown. You can stay here if you want, Baby's coming with me."

"It's sick, the way you call your horse."

"Don't listen to him Baby !" he cried out, covering Impala's ears.

The huntsman looked as his prince left, then sighed before going back into the castle. The king had summoned him.

"Bobby... I know it would be useless for me to talk to Dean so I'm going to ask you to. He's turning 21 in a week. He will have to choose a bride on that day. There will be a ball for that."

"He won't like that, Your Majesty. At all."

"I know. That's why I'm asking you to tell him."

"So I'm the one getting insulted ?"

"No. Because... Because... You're closer to him than I am."

"Whose fault is that ?" Bobby muttered while leaving.

He found the prince at last in one of his usual taverns. Not even 21 and already used to taverns and alcohol. How respectable royalty was.

"Bobby ! You've come for a drink ?"

"No. I have a message from your father."

"Let me guess. It's about the ball of which he thinks I haven't seen the preparations ?"

"Spot on. You'll have to choose a bride."

"Why ?"

"I don't know, maybe because you're a prince and eventually you're supposed to provide an heir to the throne, for example."

"... True. Can't I just do like the sultans ?"

"A harem ? Nah, don't think so."

"Shame. You'll tell my father I'm not interested."

"Dean..."

"I'm going for a ride with Impala."