The Lost Princess

Prologue

There was a time, not very long ago, when the world was a much brighter place. Our lives were filled with glamorous parties, glimmering lights, glinting jewels, fine dresses, much respect, but most importantly, our lives were filled with laughter and smiles. It was such a happy time for our family, and for our people.

My son, Ansem was a brilliant man who enjoyed research, and he liked nothing more than to make advancements to help his people. He ruled Radiant Garden as a good King, who was never cruel. His lovely wife, Giselle, while not nearly as interested in science as he was, did have the natural ability to keep him on track with all of his other duties when he tended to focus on his research a little too much. She was known for her beauty, her grace and her smile.

Together, they gave me four beautiful granddaughters and one charming grandson. The eldest of them was my stunning granddaughter Aurora. She had a charm all of her own, and enjoyed nature, often taking walks whenever she could. She loved the creatures of the forest, and in turn, they seemed to respond to her just as well. She was always happiest singing and dancing in nature.

Larxene was my next granddaughter. She was a little more cool and calculating than her elder sister, and she enjoyed teasing others. She liked to spend time with one of the servants that had befriended her, Marluxia. He was our gardener, so she spent much of her time in the gardens, learning about the plant life. She was the most playful out of all our granddaughters, and she was given the nickname 'Nymph'.

Ariel was a free spirited girl with a love for the water. She was an excellent swimmer, and enjoyed our summer trips to the coastal beaches. She was fascinated with the ocean and its creatures, even going as far as to have an aquarium built for her crab and fish she dubbed Sebastian and Flounder. The water was where she was most at home.

My youngest grandchild, and only grandson, was little Axel. He was a little troublemaker, and was fascinated by anything that was combustible. He enjoyed curling up by the fire with his mother, staring into its burning blaze for hours at a time. He also used to tag along behind his father when he would be doing some experiments that involved fireworks or burning chemicals. We often used to joke that he would be put away as a pyromaniac when he was older, but he was always just a curious little boy.

My youngest granddaughter was a few years older than Axel. She was always smiling and enjoyed singing to herself, and dancing with her father. She was the dreamer of all of our grandchildren, constantly asking questions about the rest of the world. She was also the one who would quickly rush to me whenever I came to their home. Kairi was, without admittance, my favorite of my grandchildren.

As the former Queen of Radiant Garden, I had given up the throne after my husband had passed away and my son was old enough to rule. After that, I lived mostly in a beautiful place called Destiny Islands, but I came home to see my son and his family quite often.

It was such a happy time for most of us. There were some that did not hold such warmth for our family though. One such person had been one of my son's apprentices, a young man named Xehanort.

Xehanort was ambitious when he came to my son. Overly so at times. He pushed my son's research, wanting to go farther than Ansem was willing to go with experiments. My son was never cruel, and would never harm a person with his experiments, but Xehanort was different. Some of his suggestions disgusted my son, and he banished him from the castle. There was something unsettling in the air after that though.

It wasn't until years later that it was discovered that he had traded his own heart to the darkness for the power to destroy my son's life for ruining his ambitions, his desires.

We were celebrating the 300th year of the Hart dynasty over Radiant Garden, all thoughts of the terrible Xehanort fleeing from our lives for a moment. The palace was alive with Lords and Ladies, Dukes and Duchesses, and high classed friends of the family. It was a glowing celebration of brightly colored dresses, polite gentlemen, and sparkling jewels. Music floated through the air as couples danced, enjoying their lively surroundings.

That was the night that set in motion the destruction of everything that I held dear was lost to me...

VVVVVVVVVV

A tall, regal woman with her blonde hair held up in a perfect bun walked gracefully into the ballroom, enjoying the sounds of the music, dancing and laughter. Her green eyes took in the people with a warm smile as she made her way over to the throne that was put there for her. She wasn't getting any younger, after all.

Looking out at the crowd, she could see her granddaughter, Aurora dressed in a gown that seemed to change from blue to pink and back as she moved, dancing with a particularly handsome man. From the stories that had been told to her, she imagined that this young man went by the name Philip.

Larxene was a little farther away, her shorter hair lying straight, yet she still looked elegant with her black dress. She was speaking to several other people, laughing with that teasing grin of hers. However, when someone would bump into her, she would send him or her a scathing glare.

Ariel, in a lovely pink dress that had been made for her, was engaged with a black haired boy her age. Her grandmother knew that this was Eric, whom Ansem was leaning towards a possible marriage with his young daughter one day.

Little Axel, who was but five, clung to his mother's hand as he watch the people twirl and spin around him. He had been dancing with his mother (or rather, she'd been dancing while holding him), but he seemed to be growing tired and wary of the people around him.

Her eyes focused on her son, who was dancing with his youngest daughter. Kairi was laughing happily, her deep crimson hair flying around her face as her father lifted her into the air and spun around. Her purple dress sparkled in the light, and the smile never left her face. She gave her father a kiss on the cheek before quickly running up to her grandmother.

The older woman couldn't help but be proud of her grandchildren. The two eldest had the same blonde hair as their father did, and the other three various shades of red from their mother's side of the family. While Giselle's hair was more of an orange color, Ariel and Axel's were a bright, vibrant shade of red, and Kairi's was a deep crimson. All of the children had variations of their mother's blue eyes, except for Larxene and Axel, who had inherited her vibrant green orbs.

"Grandma," Kairi said happily as she hugged the older woman.

The two were so focused on each other that they didn't notice a young boy with spiky, dark brown hair looking around the corner at them curiously. His cerulean blue eyes focused on Kairi for a split second before he blushed deeply and bit the apple that he pulled from his old, worn, yet baggy, clothes.

"Do you have to go back to Destiny Islands?" Kairi asked her sadly.

"Yes, my dear," the old woman said. "And I will miss you greatly, but I have a gift for you that may make the separation easier." Out of her jeweled handbag, she pulled out an object the size of her hand. It appeared to be made from sparkling seashells, but they were much too thick to be made from such a thing.

"Is it a charm?" Kairi asked her curiously.

The little boy with the blue eyes had been leaning around to get a closer look when one of the other servants saw him and quickly grabbed him. "Sora! You're supposed to be working in the kitchen!" But neither of them noticed that event.

"No," her grandmother answered. "It's a secret for you and I to share."

She took out a necklace that too was shaped as a seashell. She placed it into a little nook in the middle of the crown that lay at the center of the shells. The top of the charm lifted up slightly and twisted, making a ten-pointed star instead of a five pointed one, and a song started to play.

"It's our lullaby," Kairi said happily as she hummed the tune.

"Time may come to pass, but you need to see, we cannot separate, because you're part of me, even if you're invisible, you're love is not unseen..." they sang together. Kairi giggled a bit as she took the charm into her hands and took the necklace out of it.

"It looks like there's something on the back of it," Kairi said suddenly while staring at the necklace.

Her grandmother chuckled and said, "Take a closer look."

Kairi brought the pendant closer to her face and read, "Destiny's intertwine at Destiny Islands."

"Legend says that the Islands were given their name because that's where destiny itself acts the strongest. We will always be together my little Kairi, because our destiny's will always be a part of each other."

Kairi smiled warmly at her grandmother and hugged her tightly. Neither of them noticed that Sora had sneaked back into the room, hiding slightly behind the throne and staring at them curiously.

There was a sudden bang as a scream was heard. Kairi whipped around and her grandmother held her close, a look of terror passing through her green eyes.

A figure in a dark cloak approached, but they could still see the man's face. He had long, silver hair and tanned skin, and while his eyes were the same color as King Ansem's, there was a vicious evilness to them that the King's did not have. As he walked forward, people quickly backed away from him. He positively reeked of darkness.

"How dare you return here?" Ansem yelled as the rest of his family gathered behind him.

"But I am you're humble apprentice," Xehanort said evenly.

"You are nothing more than a monster, a murderer," Ansem snapped. "And you are not welcomed here. I banished you from this castle already, but now I banish you from my kingdom."

"No," Xehanort snarled. "No, you will not. Riku, bring me my keyblade."

A young boy, perhaps a few years older than Kairi, quickly stumbled forward. He, like Xehanort, had silver hair, but his eyes were an almost lime-green color. He looked at Ansem almost apologetically before opening a long, thin box he had with him and passing Xehanort it's contents: a black, vicious-looking blade in the shape of the most deadly key any of them had ever seen.

Sora stared at them with a bit of terror, but he was a servant who was raised to serve the royal family. Should one of them attack the Princess and the former Queen, he was ready to jump in front of them.

Xehanort pointed the blade at Ansem and said, "I banish you, Ansem, with a curse. You and all of your family shall die." The keyblade started glowing with a poisonous purple and black mixture, and black shadows seemed to shoot out of it. They sailed around the room, destroying the windows, and one of the chandeliers fell to the floor, shards flying everywhere.

"Seize him!" Ansem yelled and the guards rushed towards Xehanort. The man just laughed wickedly and with a flash of darkness, he and the little boy, Riku, were gone.

VVVVVVVVVV

I will never forget that day, but it would never be what I'd call the most horrible day of my life. For days after Xehanort confronted my son, there was a growing tension amongst our subjects. Anger towards the royal family was the most common of all emotions plaguing Radiant Garden.

It was because of this that my family, in silence, started making escape plans. Ansem didn't even want the guards to know that our entire family was to be relocated until the unsettling darkness passed. Unfortunately, these plans never were carried out.

Larxene, believing that the gardener Marluxia was her friend, had told him of the plan in good faith that he would keep the secret quiet. He didn't though. He knowingly told our enemies of our family's plans to escape. This alone was enough to anger the people from protesting our rule to become violent instead.

My poor Larxene was the first to die. She found out that it was Marluxia who betrayed them, and she confronted him. The person who she thought was her friend had killed her, and his allies vowed to kill the rest of our family...

VVVVVVVVVV

Screams echoed throughout the halls as the gates out front were finally broken. People were running through the halls, rushing to escape the mob of people that were coming towards the palace.

Giselle held Axel in her arms as she rushed ahead with Aurora and Ariel at her sides. Ansem had told them all to run, as he planned to stay behind to distract the rioters. He had said his farewells, knowing that he was never going to see his family again.

Kairi, who was running beside her grandmother, suddenly stopped and, in a panicked tone, said, "My charm!"

"Kairi!" her grandmother yelled in horror and ran after her granddaughter.

Kairi rushed through the empty halls and into her room. She moved passed her large dollhouse, quickly over to the spot where she had left her musical charm. The necklace had never left her neck, but the music box was too big to carry around with her all of the time.

"Kairi," her grandmother gasped as she ran into the room. "We must leave, now." There was a loud bang from down the hallway, and she quickly shut the door. Through the window, they could see the fire that was burning in another part of the castle.

Neither of them noticed the wall shift a bit, nor did they notice Sora peak around the corner. They could hear the men shouting and moving around farther down the hall.

"Here!" Sora said quickly as he came out of his hiding place. He grabbed the former Queen by the arm and started bringing her towards the wall. "Hurry, take the servant's corridors. It'll lead you out of the palace safely." As he pushed Kairi into the passage, the charm that had been pushed into her pocket fell out and onto the ground.

"My charm," Kairi said with panic as she tried to get back into the room, but Sora shoved her back through the door, closing it as soon as she was through the entrance. As he closed it and turned around, the door burst open and a soldier came through it.

"Where are they, boy?" he asked Sora, but he didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed the closest thing to him, one of the dolls that had been thrown carelessly around the room, and threw it at the soldier.

The man grunted angrily and hilt of his sword against Sora's head, causing the boy to fall to the ground, his hand landing just on top of the star-shaped, shell charm.

VVVVVVVVVV

Kairi and her grandmother managed to navigate through the servant's corridors quickly enough. They soon got outside and started running across the cold ground. It didn't stay cold for long in Radiant Garden, but the month of winter they did have was bitterly cold.

"Hurry," her grandmother urged her on.

Above them, on a bridge over stretching the frozen river, Xehanort was smirking at the destruction that he had caused. Riku glanced down and said, "Master! She's escaping!"

Xehanort looked down and saw the youngest granddaughter running with her grandmother. He had no clue how they had even managed to get out of the castle, because her mother and her other siblings had fallen before even reaching the doors of the castle. Still, this would not due. The girl had to go.

He jumped from his spot on top of the bridge and grabbed a hold of Kairi's legs. The girl let out a scream and her grandmother yelled, "Xehanort!"

"Let me go!" Kairi screamed as she kicked her legs wildly.

Xehanort held on to her legs tightly as he grabbed for his Keyblade, but something odd happened. The dark keyblade was thrown away from him, and from the point where his skin touched the young girl's, he started burning. He could feel light pulsating from her, and it hurt the darkness that made him.

He yelled in pain as there was a bright flash of light, and his body started jerking, slowly vanishing. Kairi's grandmother helped her to her feet and they started running again.

Riku quickly rushed to Xehanort's side and asked, "Master?" But the man disappeared into a pool of darkness with a yell of pain. Riku stared at the spot the man had been before looking at the fallen keyblade, not quite sure what to do.

VVVVVVVVVV

"Hurry Kairi," her grandmother urged her as they rushed towards the already moving train. "Hurry."

A few of the men on the end of the train helped the older woman up, and then she held her hand out to Kairi, "Quickly, take my hand."

Kairi grabbed her hand, tears welding up in her eyes as she did so. "Don't let go."

Unfortunately, the train was picking up speed, and with a scream from the young girl, Kairi's hand slipped from her grandmother's, and she fell backwards, slamming her head onto the ground and falling unconscious.

"Kairi!" her grandmother screamed, but one of the men stopped her from jumping off of the train as it picked up speed. "Kairi!"

VVVVVVVVVV

That was the last I ever saw of my little Kairi. News was quick to reach me, and I found out that my son, my daughter-in-law, and all of my grandchildren were dead. Still, rumors remained that Kairi had survived, but no one knew for sure. I vowed to try and find my granddaughter if she was still alive, and since that day hundreds upon hundreds of people showed up, claiming to be her.

It's been ten years, and not a day goes by where I don't think of the horrible events of that day. I always wonder what possessed people to harm innocent children. They were only young when their lives were taken from them. Some had feared that they would grow and want revenge or to rule, but they were still just children.

So many lives were lost that day, and since then, my life has been shrouded in nothing but darkness...

VVVVVVVVVV

Author's Note

I wanted to try something a little bit different. This is a spin-off of the movie created by 20th Century Fox, Anastasia, which was loosely based on the myths that Anastisia Romanov survived when her family did not.

The movie, Anastasia, is one of my all-time favorite animated movies. It is, in my opinion, the only animated movie by another company that can stand up against the Disney classics, and it's much better than any of the unnecessary sequels that Disney had made.

Although this will follow the movie very closely in some parts, other parts are going to become very different, I promise you that. Some lines are word for word from the movie I believe, but I'm doing this all from memory.

Remember to review!

Krystal Lily Potter