Hello everyone, welcome to "Things I almost remember". This chapter take place before descendants first. This chapter is base on the 1997 fox movie Anastasia and later the next chapter, we'll see Delilah who grown into a adult. I cast who will play who. I cast some from the Anastasia broadway and movie as while of the costume design from Anastasia broadway.

Young Delilah(play by Nicole Scimeca)

17 year old Delilah(play by Emilia McCarthy)

Anastasia(play by Christy Altomare)

Dimitri(play by Derek Klena)

Dowager Empress Maria( play by Angela Lansbury)

Rasputin(play by Christopher Lloyd)

Rasputin the second/Ralph (play by Aedin Mincks)

Anyway I do not own everyone, except my Oc, their belong to their owner, now onto the story:

The story opens with a tiny music box, playing a soothing melody inside a single room. The music box itself, though tiny in appearance, shows two figures dancing hand-in-hand (A man and a woman, the former the Tsar) along a single picture of a swan at the back. As the song ends, the golden music box with a hint of green on top slowly closes and is lifted inside a small purse by a woman. Dressed in full evening clothes, she was the Empress Marie, who steps inside the carriage as the footman signals the Cossack horses to race through the streets as if making way for a rather important engagement

"There was a time, not very long ago, when we lived in an enchanted world of elegant palaces and grand parties."

The carriage itself rides through the streets till it reaches a palace far grand than any during it's time, the palace of the Tsar. The palace is lit up with opulently dressed partygoers streaming inside, a few bow as Marie's carriage pulls up towards the steps leading into the castle.

"The year was 2010 and my granddaughter, Anastasia Romanov, was the Queen of Imperial Russia."

The Dowager Empress Maria, arrived to the royal palace of the Romanov-family to attend her great granddaughter 10th birthday celebration. She had been driven there by her personal chauffeur in an expensive short limo interior automobile, the latest model.

The interior of the palace was filled by the highest of the highest of Russia aristocracy, laughing and dancing to majestic tunes as the imperial family, consisting of czar himself, Dimitri, his beautiful wife tsaritsa Anastasia and an impressive amount of the heirs of the throne, Princess Delilah Dmitrievna Romanova, a joyfully and full of fun girl.

As Dowager Empress Maria arrived, she eagerly looked around for someone. Someone very special to her. She didn't have to look around for long before the voice a young girl happily cried out.

"Great Grandma!"

A Dowager Empress Maria looked toward the dance-floor, and saw a small girl with chocolate eyes, fair skin, light freckles, long white opera gloves, a golden t-strap pumps with golden bow on the bottom, light brown hair with blue ribbon on the bottom of her four inch crown that match the color of her dress and dressed in a shades of pale pink and lavender dress. The 10-year old girl rushed over to her great grandmother and hugged her.

"We were celebrating Delilah 10th birthday, and that night, no star brighter than our sweet Delilah, my youngest great granddaughter."

As the two made their way to the numerous reserved seats of the royal family, Delilah gave her great grandmother a drawing that she had made all by herself. Dowager Empress Maria giggled as she inspected the drawing. It depicted a pig piggyback-riding a horse, whom happened to greatly resemble the Romanov-family's head-chef and one of Delilah's private tutors respectively.

"She begged and begged me to come, so I had a very special gift made for her to make the separation easier for both of us."

As she seated herself, Maria took out a jeweled box with green and golden inlays and handed it to her great granddaughter. Delilah's eyes widened as she looked closer at the beautiful gift, which was small enough to fit in the palm of her grandmothers hand.

"For me?" She asked. "Is it a jewelry box?"

As she looked at the box, Maria pull out a key in her pocket, "Look." Maria said, as she winded the box up with a key connected to a silver chain necklace. Music began to play as the top of the box opened, and two miniature-figure (that resembled Anastasia's parents) arose from the interior, locked in dance and twirled around in a circle. Delilah gasped as she recognized the musical melody that came from the box.

"It plays our lullaby!"

Maria nodded and smiled sweetly.

"Yes indeed, it's a same music box that your mother have when she was your age, I decided to give it you, you can play it at night before you go to sleep and pretend that it's me singing." The dreamy tune from the box continued to play, as if accompanying the two dancing miniatures. That was when Maria and her great granddaughter began to sing.

On the wind.

'Cross the sea.

Hear the song to remember.

Soon you'll be home with me.

Once Upon of December.

Maria then took of the necklace with the key and gave it to Delilah as well. She then pointed a finger at the key.

"Read what it says."

Delilah looked closely at the key on the chain-necklace, and she quickly noticed an inscription written on it.

"Together... in Auradon?" She looked up at her grandmother, gasped in joy and hugged her again. "Really?! Oh Great Grandma!" Maria returned the hug and laughed lovingly.

All of a sudden, a startled gasp from the crowd draws their attention and the room falls silent. The crowd parts before a dark figure, followed by two hooded figures who silently follow him. A bat swoops down, landing upon the lead figure's shoulder, who is revealed to be Rasputin, everyone was in shock that they thought that he was gone for good but he's still alive that nobody know how could he still alive. He stalk through the crowd, as people fall back in both fear and surprise, Rasputin rushing a champagne glass underfoot.

"But we would never be together in Auradon, for a dark shadow had descended upon the house of the Romanovs. His name was Rasputin. He was a fraud; power-mad and dangerous. We thought he was fully gone, but we're wrong."

Dimitri arose from his throne, walked down to face the man that almost kill his wife and shot him an angry look.

"You! How dare you return to the palace?"

Rasputin eyes widened in surprise. He lowered his hood, giving everyone a good look at him, and tried to talk to the Dimitri with a sweet voice.

"Why Dimitri, is that any way to talk to your confidant?"

At this, Dimitri snorted contemptibly.

"Confidant? You are nothing but you almost kill my wife. Now get out!"

Dimitri pointed towards the door. The royal guards had started to make their move, and surrounded him.

Rasputin on the other hand glared up at Dimitri and put his hand underneath his robe, seemingly grabbing something that hanged across his chest.

"You think you can banish me so easily? You have no idea what powers I bear with me…!"

He eyed Romanov family, from his scared wife Anastasia, to his nervous-looking mass of offspring, and finally to his Grandmother-in-law, who was holding a trembling Delilah in her arms.

"Your cheap conjuring doesn't scare me." Dimitri announced loudly. "Now I won't say it again, get out, or get yourself thrown out!"

The royal guard moved closer, but Rasputin raised a hand, which seemed to calm them. He lowered his arm, and gave the czar one last, spiteful look.

"I will go. But I swear Dimitri… You think you can banish the Great Rasputin? By the unholy powers vested in me, I banish you with a curse. The same curse I cast to previously Romanov family." He said as several gasps escapes from all those bearing witnesses to Rasputin's threat towards their proud Tsar and his family

"… Mark my words, you and your family will die within the fortnight. I will not rest until I see the END OF THE ROMANOV LINE FOREVER!"

While walking outside, Rasputin pulled something out form the insides of his robe. It was a sphere connected by a chain around her neck, composed of glass and metal with sinister depictions of demons, devils and skulls carved into its design, and crowned with a large goat-head on top with it's mouth open. Within the transparent glass of the sphere, a supernatural green glow shifted and pulsated.

Unknown to almost everyone, Rasputin had sold his soul to gain the power of the dark forces. Now consumed by his hatred for the Romanov family, he would strike a new deal that would give hin the means to destroy them.

"The dark force have given him a son, he name him Rasputin the II."

"Go." Rasputin cooed to the evil relic. "Fulfill your dark purpose, and seal the fate of the Czar and his family, once and for all."

As he whispered these words, puffs of green and smoke-like essence crawled out of the mouth of the goat-head, taking the shapes bat-like demons that flew off in the night, eager to please their mistress.

"From that moment on, the spark of unhappiness in our country was fanned into a flame that would soon destroy our lives... Forever."

Barely a week later, on a stormy winter's night, a large mob of angry citizens and uniformed soldiers broke down the palace gates. They stormed into the palace, firing rifles and tearing down everything in sight.

The servants and the Romanov family, ran in fear towards nearest exit. Leading them was Dimitri, who held a sword in his hand that was usually used for ceremonial gatherings and had probably never seen any actual use.

"Hurry everyone!" He cried out and looked back, making sure that as many as possible would make it out before the intruders caught up with them. Given that everyone, chief, servants, maids, and other are so large, he could hardly see his youngest daughter Delilah or his grandmother in law through the rushing crowd. Because of that, he was in no position to stop Delilah as she suddenly made a turn and rushed back to her bedroom, with her panicked great grandmother following her.

"My music box!"

"DELILAH!" She cried out. "Come back! COME BACK!"

Delilah didn't hear her though, and rushed inside her room to retrieve what she had forgotten. She grabbed it from the table next to her bed, just as Maria came into her room. As she did, screams of terror along with thunderous rifle shots could be heard behind her. Maria looked around, her face stricken with fright and grief, shut the door behind her and ran over to Delilah.

The two held each other closely as they realized that they were cornered with not means of getting out.

That was until a little a boy who was at approximately the same age as Delilah, suddenly appeared from a secret passageway in the bedroom wall.

"Please, hurry!" The little boy whispered. "Come this way. You can get out through servant quarters!"

Maria immediately grabbed Delilah hand and pulled her towards the doorway. In the process Delilah dropped her beloved music-box on the floor.

"Hurry, Delilah!"

Delilah looked back. She was scared too, but she really didn't want lose her great grandmother wonderful gift to her.

"But my music box!" She tried to go back to get it, but the boy stopped and give her a music box.

"Go! Go!" He shouted, pushed her in and shut the door behind her. Now closed, it was nearly impossible to find the secret door.

The boy, who was a responsible but slightly mischievous little boy named Lincoln, could hear gruff voices and heavy steps approaching. Suddenly, the doors to the room busted open. Charging in came the large men with red uniforms and rifles in their hands. A man in the front looked around, his eyes narrowed angrily as he spotted young boy.

"Where are they, boy?"

Lincoln quickly tried to fight them off by throwing a comb at them from a nearby table, but he was then grabbed and blunted in the head from the butt of a rifle, knocking him out unconscious. One of the soldiers then shot him to death. "Take this sorry little kid to the station. That ought to straighten him out!"

Meanwhile, outside of the palace, Delilah and her great grandmother made their escape, running along the frozen river and staying out of sight.

"Keep up with me, darling!" Maria said as she pulled Delilah by her hand.

The little girl looks behind her and gasps, as Rasputin leaps down upon them from atop the bridge, landing hard on the ice, grabbing a hold of Delilah's ankle and refusing to let go.

"Rasputin!" Maria cried out,

Rasputin got a hold of Delilah's foot, who cried and tried to shake him off.

"Let me go! Please!"

Rasputin tried to pull her closer, smiling evilly while Maria tried to pull Delilah back.

"You'll never escape me, little girl. Never!"

But then Delilah kicked hin straight in the face with her free foot, which forced Rasputin to let her go and fall into icy water. He was waist-down in the river, and tried to climb back up with his hand scratching at the surface of the ice in front of him.

The ice cracked even more, and Rasputin started to sink as his robes absorbed the water and weighed him down. That's when he started to cry out in desperation and fear.

The Dowager Empress and her great granddaughter too was gone by now, having taken their chance during the commotion to run away.

"Delilah, hurry. Hurry."

Maria and Delilah on the other hand had made their way to the train station. Running across the platform, they made their way to the train that would be leaving St. Petersburg. It had already started to leave, and the two had to run as fast as they could. But the station was crowded, and while Maria had managed to climb aboard the back of the moving train, Delilah was still quite a bit behind her, reaching for her great grandma as the train was moving away from her.

"Great Grandma!" She cried out as she picked up the pace to catch up. Maria reached out to try and get a hold of Delilah's hand as the train moved faster. A few kind people on her side tried to reach Delilah too, but didn't have same good range as Maria had.

"Here, take my hand! Hold on to it!" Finally, Maria and Delilah's hand locked, but it proved to be difficult to maintain the grip, as train was going even faster. Delilah looked up at her great grandmother, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"Don't let go!" She called out in a pleading voice.

But no matter how hard they held on, their grip started to loosen, and became non-existent as Delilah tripped and tumble down the hill, hitting her head hard on the ground and as she tumble down the hill and landed on the river, knocking her out cold.

Maria watched in horror as her great granddaughter disappeared in the flowing river. She tried jump off, but the carriage was overcrowded, and the person around her held her back now that the train was moving too fast for her to make it off without seriously hurting herself. She desperately cried out for her only remaining great granddaughter; that little girl who loved to draw, sing, make faces, full of fun and sometimes terrorize the cook.

"DELLLLLIIIIIILLLLAAAAAAA!" She screamed mournfully into the night.

"So many lives were destroyed that night. What had always been, was now gone forever. And Delilah, my beloved great grandchild. I never saw her again."

And that was Chapter first. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I just wanted to see what you guys thought about it.

Anyway, please, review are the best form of motivation! Let me know what you think and see you all for the next chapter. :)