*The art of double spacing. hehe. Exciting part:
~*~ "The Witch shall prevail if the Princess voluntarily joins her side." - the Fairy Oracles.
~ The morning of Leaura's eighteenth birthday, she was woken by a knock on her
door. A servant announced that Corren and Cassidy had arrived and are waiting outside.
Leaura scrambled out of bed, dressed, and hurried down the stairs.
"Happy birthday," the Smith siblings chorused. Leaura smiled and hugged them
both, at which point Corren started blushing.
"Uh, do-do you want to take a walk-lk?" He asked Leaura. Cassidy threw a wink
towards Leaura and excused herself to go "freshen-up". Of course Leaura agreed.
Leaura led him out to the back garden. The grounds were misty and the flowers
petals were opening from a long night's sleep. The scene was perfect.
Without another word, Corren suddenly produced a beautiful rose out of the
pocket of his robes and handed it to her.
"Oh!" Leaura gasped. The flower had just blossomed and the red velvet petals
still held the morning dew. "It's beautiful! Did you grow this yourself?"
Corren nodded, his face aflame, and said quietly, "Happy eighteenth birthday,
Leaura."
But as Leaura reached out to accept the rose, a thorn pricked her finger and blood
welled up on the cut. Corren quickly reached out to examine her finger; neither of them
realized that the thorn was different from the others - it was sharp and silver, with an
uncanny resemblance to a needle.
Leaura fell to the ground as darkness engulfed her.
~
"What happened?" asked Corren anxiously as he laid Leaura down on her bed.
Eleanor looked into the two pairs of blue eyes that were staring intently at her.
She sighed and repeated what she had told Leaura the day before. A second after she had
finished her tale, a bright light suddenly encased the sleeping princess as if she was
trapped in a glowing cage. Eleanor reached out to touch it and quickly recoiled.
"Just as I had predicted. Percillia has taken extra precautions; that shield keeps
anyone who has royal blood in them from approaching," Eleanor reported.
"But Leaura." Cassidy trailed off.
"The curse has been activated."
~
Leaura fell. There were silver lights swirling dizzily against the pitch- black
background. It seemed like forever before Leaura felt solid ground beneath her feet. The
scene suddenly shifted; the whirling lights and the darkness was replace by soft, flowing
pastel colours.
"Where am I?" Leaura wondered out loud as she looked around.
"In my world." A voice came from behind her. She quickly spun around to face
the newcomer. The sharp face, the dark hair. it all came back to her. Leaura
remembered seeing this woman bent over her once and shouting strange words at her. It
was Percillia, the Witch of the Moors. She shuddered involuntary.
"Do not worry. You shall not be harmed. I only brought you here with hope that
we can come to an agreement."
"Agreement?" Leaura echoed warily.
"Yes," the witch hissed, "we can make great things happen - if we work together.
I can offer you more power than you have ever dreamed of! Come, join my side."
"Power?" Leaura scoffed, her fear evaporating as the conversation turned towards
something she was familiar with. "What would I do with power? I don't need it."
"But, what about your goal of achieving peace for the world?" Percillia spoke in
gentle and persuading tones.
Leaura was tempted, but then she remembered her debate with Cassidy, everyone
would have to think and act the same way. "No! World peace cannot exist unless
everyone was the exact same. That is not what I wish."
"My, you are hard to persuade. Hmm. I know what your heart desires most. I
can offer that to you for your cooperation," her steel eyes glinted.
"My heart's desire?"
"I have been watching you since you were born, of course I know what it is. I can
give it to you," she paused dramatically. "I can give you Corren Smith. He's love will
be only to you, not to Emmaline, nor anyone else. Only you."
Leaura gasped. She had not thought of that until now. She did not realized what
she felt for Corren was love. True love. She remembered how jealous she was when
Corren had said that he had gone to see Emmaline. She remembered how her heart leapt
when he handed her the rose. She loved him and she wanted his love to be returned.
Leaura was about to open her mouth to agree, when a little voice (that strangely
resembled Eleanor's) in the back of her head said, if you truly love Corren, you'd let him
make his own choice; his love would be impure and not genuine. All it will be is an
illusion - like the world you are in right now. Evil is an illusion. It is a dream, a
nightmare, that's all. Refuse the offers and break away from the enchantment.
"NO! Percillia, I will NOT yield to you, nor will I listen to your bribes! I
REFUSE!"
At the last two words fell from Leaura's lips, something strange happened. The
outline around Percillia began to fade away.
"NOOO!!!" Percillia screamed, "You stupid child! You have made me lose all of
my magic! You will regret this!" She raised her hand and performed her last spell. The
ground around Leaura opened and she fell, once again, with Percillia's shrieks following
her. "I may not have any magic left, but I can make you fall forever!" The echoes faded
away, but Leaura continued falling through the darkness.
*TBC
A/N: Thank you to my reviewers! Yay! (
~*~ "The Witch shall prevail if the Princess voluntarily joins her side." - the Fairy Oracles.
~ The morning of Leaura's eighteenth birthday, she was woken by a knock on her
door. A servant announced that Corren and Cassidy had arrived and are waiting outside.
Leaura scrambled out of bed, dressed, and hurried down the stairs.
"Happy birthday," the Smith siblings chorused. Leaura smiled and hugged them
both, at which point Corren started blushing.
"Uh, do-do you want to take a walk-lk?" He asked Leaura. Cassidy threw a wink
towards Leaura and excused herself to go "freshen-up". Of course Leaura agreed.
Leaura led him out to the back garden. The grounds were misty and the flowers
petals were opening from a long night's sleep. The scene was perfect.
Without another word, Corren suddenly produced a beautiful rose out of the
pocket of his robes and handed it to her.
"Oh!" Leaura gasped. The flower had just blossomed and the red velvet petals
still held the morning dew. "It's beautiful! Did you grow this yourself?"
Corren nodded, his face aflame, and said quietly, "Happy eighteenth birthday,
Leaura."
But as Leaura reached out to accept the rose, a thorn pricked her finger and blood
welled up on the cut. Corren quickly reached out to examine her finger; neither of them
realized that the thorn was different from the others - it was sharp and silver, with an
uncanny resemblance to a needle.
Leaura fell to the ground as darkness engulfed her.
~
"What happened?" asked Corren anxiously as he laid Leaura down on her bed.
Eleanor looked into the two pairs of blue eyes that were staring intently at her.
She sighed and repeated what she had told Leaura the day before. A second after she had
finished her tale, a bright light suddenly encased the sleeping princess as if she was
trapped in a glowing cage. Eleanor reached out to touch it and quickly recoiled.
"Just as I had predicted. Percillia has taken extra precautions; that shield keeps
anyone who has royal blood in them from approaching," Eleanor reported.
"But Leaura." Cassidy trailed off.
"The curse has been activated."
~
Leaura fell. There were silver lights swirling dizzily against the pitch- black
background. It seemed like forever before Leaura felt solid ground beneath her feet. The
scene suddenly shifted; the whirling lights and the darkness was replace by soft, flowing
pastel colours.
"Where am I?" Leaura wondered out loud as she looked around.
"In my world." A voice came from behind her. She quickly spun around to face
the newcomer. The sharp face, the dark hair. it all came back to her. Leaura
remembered seeing this woman bent over her once and shouting strange words at her. It
was Percillia, the Witch of the Moors. She shuddered involuntary.
"Do not worry. You shall not be harmed. I only brought you here with hope that
we can come to an agreement."
"Agreement?" Leaura echoed warily.
"Yes," the witch hissed, "we can make great things happen - if we work together.
I can offer you more power than you have ever dreamed of! Come, join my side."
"Power?" Leaura scoffed, her fear evaporating as the conversation turned towards
something she was familiar with. "What would I do with power? I don't need it."
"But, what about your goal of achieving peace for the world?" Percillia spoke in
gentle and persuading tones.
Leaura was tempted, but then she remembered her debate with Cassidy, everyone
would have to think and act the same way. "No! World peace cannot exist unless
everyone was the exact same. That is not what I wish."
"My, you are hard to persuade. Hmm. I know what your heart desires most. I
can offer that to you for your cooperation," her steel eyes glinted.
"My heart's desire?"
"I have been watching you since you were born, of course I know what it is. I can
give it to you," she paused dramatically. "I can give you Corren Smith. He's love will
be only to you, not to Emmaline, nor anyone else. Only you."
Leaura gasped. She had not thought of that until now. She did not realized what
she felt for Corren was love. True love. She remembered how jealous she was when
Corren had said that he had gone to see Emmaline. She remembered how her heart leapt
when he handed her the rose. She loved him and she wanted his love to be returned.
Leaura was about to open her mouth to agree, when a little voice (that strangely
resembled Eleanor's) in the back of her head said, if you truly love Corren, you'd let him
make his own choice; his love would be impure and not genuine. All it will be is an
illusion - like the world you are in right now. Evil is an illusion. It is a dream, a
nightmare, that's all. Refuse the offers and break away from the enchantment.
"NO! Percillia, I will NOT yield to you, nor will I listen to your bribes! I
REFUSE!"
At the last two words fell from Leaura's lips, something strange happened. The
outline around Percillia began to fade away.
"NOOO!!!" Percillia screamed, "You stupid child! You have made me lose all of
my magic! You will regret this!" She raised her hand and performed her last spell. The
ground around Leaura opened and she fell, once again, with Percillia's shrieks following
her. "I may not have any magic left, but I can make you fall forever!" The echoes faded
away, but Leaura continued falling through the darkness.
*TBC
A/N: Thank you to my reviewers! Yay! (