Fractured Fairytales

Chapter Two

Well, here I am again with the next installment of Fractured Fairytales! Thanks so much, all of you reading this! This chapter is dedicated to Lady Neko Ninja, for being the first to review the last chapter. Oh, yeah—this takes place 2 days after Ch. 1. And for the curious, Ichigo's palace looks exactly like Neuschwanstein (look it up on Yahoo!) , only smaller and not on a hill.

Ages—Tart and Pudding are 10, Ichigo, Mint, and Castella are 15, Kish, Masaya and Lettuce are 16, Zakuro, Ryou and Pie are 18, and Keiichiro is 21.

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Castella, and even that's questionable.

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"Lettuce, doesn't Ichigo seem a little…off to you?"

Lettuce looked up from her book. "What do you mean, Mint?"

Ichigo's ladies-in-waiting were sitting in one of the castle's many drawing rooms. Mint was taking her afternoon tea, while Lettuce had until recently been perusing an ancient book of magical spells entitled The Book of Rivers and Oceans.

Mint answered, "Well, haven't you noticed? She's been really distant and keeps spacing out."

"Yeah, now that you mention it, she has been staring off at the forest a lot lately. And she hasn't been wearing her necklace." Mint repeated the last words, amazed. "Hasn't been wearing—but she never takes it off!"

Lettuce frowned, thinking. "Maybe she met someone…" Mint was shocked. "She loves Prince Masaya! She'd never…"

"Well, something must have happened in that forest."

Lettuce thought hard for a moment. "Maybe we should tell Sir Ryou or Prince Masaya—" Mint cut her off. 'Are you insane? We can't tell them! Ryou would go ballistic! No, this has to be kept a secret."

"Well…if you say so…"

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Meanwhile, outside the palace walls, the bandits, with the exception of Pie (who still wasn't finished translating that book), were discussing their plan.

"Okay, Tart, you'll go scope out the south and east. Cassie and I will take this side and the west. Report back in…", Kish glanced at the position of the sun, "2 hours. Go!"

And thus, the Sylvans went their separate ways. Tart headed east, while Kish and Castella quickly flew to the west side of the building.

Unbeknownst to them, this was the area that contained the royal quarters, where Ichigo was currently sitting on the window seat in her bedroom, reading a book of fairytales. And so, the handsome prince took Cinderella back to the palace, where they were married and lived happily ever after. She sighed, only wishing that her life was that simple. Ever since that day in the forest, she had been unable to stop thinking of Kish, despite every rational part of her mind telling her that she already had her beloved prince, who was much more cultured, intelligent, and kind than any Sylvan could ever be.

And still, a tiny, treacherous part of her brain spoke up, reminding her incessantly of that kiss. She blushed just thinking about it. No! I have to stop this! I know—I'll keep reading. Maybe that will take my mind off him.

Outside the princess' window and hidden from view, Kish's eyes widened. "T-that's her! The girl I took that necklace from…" Castella grinned, revealing sharp fangs. "That's her? Wow, you didn't tell me she was pretty! And so rich…" she added, gazing in at the plush carpet and luxurious furniture enviously.

Together, they watched her as she blushed, causing tiny, barely perceptible sparks to fly off her. Kish blinked, taken aback by this new discovery. "A Fire mage? That could be dangerous." His sister remarked, "Indeed. Especially if you keep stealing things from her." Then a young blonde man walked into the room, and they gasped. Sir Ryou! Ryou Shirogane was one of the advisors to the royal family. That alone would have been bad enough, but he was also known for his deep hatred of Sylvans—something to do with his parents having been murdered by one.

Deeply confused, they watched as Ryou spoke to the girl. "Princess Ichigo, there is a meeting you need to attend." She heaved a huge, dramatic sigh and followed him as he exited the room.

For the second time in as many minutes, the Sylvan siblings looked at each other in shock. Castella was the first to regain some ability to speak, while Kish was reduced to a strangled choking noise.

"She's a princess? I definitely approve! Good going, bro."

Kish remained silent, processing this new development. A princess…This could be fun. If she doesn't kill me first.

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Meanwhile, Tart was scoping out the south side of the castle, carefully making notes of anything that would help them break in later. The large stained-glass windows, though beautiful and probably very expensive, could be easily broken if needed. In fact, some idiot had left a small panel open. He glanced around to make sure that nobody could see him, before flying down and entering through it.

The inside was every bit as beautiful and useless as the outside. The walls were white marble, as was the floor, which was also covered with red carpet. Tart noted that there was no readily available hiding place…except an overgrown potted fig tree. Hearing footsteps, he dove behind it.

Pudding was in a good mood today. She had finally perfected her spinning plate trick, the cook had given her all the cake she could eat, and it was a great day outside. Therefore, she was stunned when a Sylvan boy around her own age suddenly grabbed her and held a very sharp knife to her throat.

"If you tell anyone that I'm here, I'll kill you. Got that, human?" Tart said, trying very hard to sound menacing. Pudding wasn't fooled. "My name's Pudding, what's yours?"

Tart sputtered. Who did this girl think she was? Still, better humor her.

"Tart. And if you tell anyone—"

Pudding interrupted him. "You can't kill me!

"And why not?" Let's see her talk her way out of this one. He was totally unprepared, therefore, when she suddenly lunged forward and hugged him tightly, chirping. "Because we're friends!"

Tart was taken aback. How dare this girl assume they were friends? They'd just met, and he was planning to kill her! She continued, "Here, this is for you!" With that, she dropped a chocolate bar into his hand and bounded away.

Tart stared after her in confusion. What…the HELL? How did she get away? He looked down at the chocolate bar she'd given him. I wonder if I'll see her again…

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End of Chapter Two

Sorry this took so long—I've been obsessed with an anime called Samurai 7, and my favorite character (Ukyo) is pretty much ignored on here. The next chapter should be up sometime after Halloween.

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