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One Fairy Tale Too Many

crystal-mist

Chapter 2

In the wide expanse of the ocean Runo, the mermaid was swimming about. But then, there seemed to be an unnatural amount of paddling coming from the surface of the water. She was puzzled for a bit, but then decided to investigate…

As Runo swam up, she could see a pair of legs thrashing in the water. A man was drowning. She felt concerned for him; she remembered her father telling her not to reveal her identity to humans. But she couldn't just let him die.

So she took hold of him and led him to the shore.

He was still conscious, he sat upright on the rocks and spent a considerable amount of time coughing and regaining his breathe... "I am sorry for causing you trouble." He apologized to Runo with a smile on his face.

The said man had brownish blonde hair.

"You are not surprised at all?" exclaimed Runo.

"Oh…You mean because you are a mermaid? No…I am just thankful to you… My name is Joe, I…am a novelist." He told her.

"I'm Runo…a mermaid."

"I can see that." He said chuckling a little.

She blushed a little and turned away from his gaze. He was a land-dweller yet he was so charming in everything he said.

"For you." He said as he held out a little bottle to her.

"What's this?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He replied with a smirk.

There was something remotely disturbing about his smirk. But Runo did not notice it.

"Every story is interesting, especially yours…" he muttered. "Savour every moment of the enjoyable tale." He said with a small smile as he left her.

Runo looked at him with her aqua-marine eyes. That last bit he had said. What had he meant by it? She shrugged off her suspicion.

Perhaps incorporating strangely mysterious captions in whatever you uttered came from being an author.

After he left, she turned her attention to the little bottle, it had a very unappealing moss-green liquid in it and it bore the words 'Drink Me'.

She raised an eyebrow, but decided to try the thing later, because she definitely didn't feel like pouring that strange goo down her throat at that particular moment.

*~~X~~*

"Alright Ace…Another day another wish…" declared Dan as he looked at his genie.

"I want money." said Dan.

"How much?"

"Not too much, because then I'll turn into a greedy tycoon. Too much money is enough to make even the strongest men surrender and be its slave."

"Such profound words; I cannot believe they fell from your lips." said Ace as he smirked. "Tell you what…I'll bestow you with another cloth like the one before but instead of food, it will yield money. 100 gold coins per day. How does that sound?"

Dan nodded in agreement. "Right but-"

"I know; I'll give you enough money to repay Marucho's debt initially." said Ace.

Dan looked at him in disbelief. "Who are you, and what have you done with the obnoxious genie that was in this lamp yesterday?"

"Hey don't make me take your brain…Oh wait, you don't have one."

Dan snorted… "Touché."

Dan returned Marucho's money…

"It's good you returned the money in such a short period of time." said the little blonde. "Although I am sorry to inform you that you will still have to perform the condition." Said Marucho, a glint appeared in his glasses as he straightened them on his nose. "It is said in the contract."

"What no!" cried Dan in horror.

"I am sorry… But, I would really want to see the unfolding of this condition." said Marucho still giggling.

Dan left Marucho's place with an embarrassed look on his face.

"SO what's the condition?" asked Ace. Curiosity was getting the better of him.

"It's …" Dan was still blushing. "I…"

As Ace heard the condition he broke out into helpless laughter, "That is so rich…" he was still laughing. "I don't blame Marucho for being so excited, I honestly am."

"Shut up stupid genie…"

*~~X~~*

It was the day of Prince Shun's birthday. Everyone in the kingdom was invited to the grand celebration [including maids of course].

It was an evening with heavenly weather and the party was very grand.

*~~X~~*

Runo just got into a big fight with her many sisters… She was unhappy; she swam to the surface of the water and settled herself down on some rocks… She was so angry that she wished there was some magic in her life…Some mystery; yes, that was what she needed.

She took out the bottle Joe had given her. She smelt it; boy, it reeked. It was revolting. She drank the entire contents in a single gulp. Suddenly, an overwhelming amount of pain seized her.

She fell back into the water as the pain seared through her.

The next thing she knew she was washed up on the shore… She coughed a little and was about to return back into the water when she noticed something strange…

Her beautiful tail was missing…and instead of them, there were a pair of legs, like the land dwellers.

Runo was surprised, but she was excited as well. She was intrigued by the idea of exploring the land…But how had that human got his hands on such a potion? He was only a novelist… She decided that she would ponder on that topic later.

Just then, a carriage drew by.

It came to a stop and from inside emerged a girl with silvery hair… Her hair was braided repeatedly and tied in a somewhat big bun with quite a large amount still untied. She walked over to Runo.

"What are you doing washed up on the beach like this?" asked the princess.

Runo opened her mouth to answer but her voice did not sound… Apparently the potion had paralyzed her voice.

Tears glazed Runo's eyes. Her beautiful voice was gone…

"Oh…Dear why are you crying?"

Runo pointed to her throat and shook her head from side to side.

"I see…You are mute…It's alright… There is a big celebration in the palace tonight, you should come." said the princess as she helped the other girl to her feet.

Runo was astounded by her kindness.

The princess introduced herself as Julie and provided Runo with a beautiful gown, a mask and a hat."

Runo curtseyed to let Julie know of her gratitude.

As they entered the large palace Runo was astounded at the vast interior. 'Beautiful' she thought to herself as her bright blue eyes twinkled in happiness.

It was an adventure alright.

*~~X~~*

Alice's step mother left her all alone in the house and went to attend the ball along with Alice's step-sisters. Her step-sisters sniggered as they left the house. They were clad in beautiful clothes and exquisite jewelry.

Alice sat all alone in the semi-darkness of the dusk. That was when an unexplained light shined in front of her. She gazed at it in surprised.

There, amidst the light stood a woman with short orange hair and what's more, she was translucent and levitating off the ground…

Alice was a bit scared but then the warm smile on the woman's face made Alice drop her guard.

"I am Mira, the 'general Fairy God-mother'." said the translucent figure. "Do not worry Alice…You shall go to the ball tonight… I will make sure that you do…Just get me a pumpkin and a white mouse."

Alice obeyed and brought Mira what she had asked for.

Alice set the pumpkin on the ground and held the mouse out to Mira. Mira immediately jumped in fright and hid behind a wall… "Aaah…I wanted to use the mouse because my cousin had done something similar… " she said. "BUT I am scared of mice." shrieked Mira as she peeped around the wall. "I thought that I got over that fear…" she then shouted at Alice in a commanding tone ."Let it go…NOW…get it away from me."

Alice sweat-dropped; Mira seemed like a reliable person but now Alice was starting to doubt the efficiency of the Fairy before her.

She let go of the rat.

Mira took out a carrot.

Alice looked at it with wide eyes. What the?

"Ah…The spirit world has decided to go eco-friendly. SO this is my magic wand…At least I am not stuck with a tomato like some others."

"What's eco-friendly-" .

"Never mind…" Mira cut her short as she waved her carrot.

The pumpkin transformed into a carriage and Alice was instantly enveloped in a very beautiful dress that glittered beautifully. Her face was covered with a mask and on her head was a hat. [This was apparently the dress-code for the prince's ball. A mask and a hat; what bad taste.]

Alice thanked Mira and got into the carriage. The carriage drove by itself with no horses…Mira couldn't improvise horses. The onlookers called it a 'ghost-carriage' as it drove by itself.

Alice was just glad to be going to the ball and she was unaware that the passers-by dubbed her carriage haunted.

Mira made her way back to the spirit world, she pouted to herself. "How come she didn't ask me what a 'general fairy godmother' was?" she muttered to herself. "Oh shoot….I forgot to tell her that she had to get back by midnight... Whatever…She'll figure out that something's wrong when the clock striking triggers vibrations in her head….And even so, only the carriage will disappear…She can walk the rest of the way."

Alice's eyes widened in admiration as she saw the amazing décor of the palace.

"This place is heavenly." She whispered in wonder.

*~~X~~*

Shun sat on the throne and looked towards the floor of the ballroom. Hoards of girls were there with the finest clothing and various accessories.

He sighed slightly…How was he to find his true love amidst this immense gathering?

The girls often looked at him and waved, they each hoped to dance with him. He didn't even feel compelled to wave back. Plainly, he was bored.

Shun sighed as she looked at the line of women who were waiting for him to descend.

Personally to Shun, it seemed like they were a pack of hungry coyotes who've been denied any kind of food for at least a month. He brushed the long strands of hair behind his ear and put on his green mask and one by one started descending the steps.

[A/N: I want to inform all of you one thing. This story is NOT a reenactment of various Fairy tales… I intend on taking just entities from some fairy tales and twist them and fit them all together into a single story…For example Runo is not solely the little mermaid…She just happens to be a mermaid and the EXACT plot of the Fairy Tale will NOT be followed. I hope that is okay with you.

Now that I've cleared that one up I hope you enjoyed this chapter…

Please do review.