"So you're telling me, that I've sent you druids out for 18 years and you've had no sight of him?" Haggar growled out, lightning and thunder shaking the castle. "People just don't vanish into thin air! she yelled out, causing some of the druids to flinch from her wrath. "Are you certain that you looked everywhere?"
"We've been searching everywhere Mistress," a druid spoke bowing his head as Haggar turned her glowing yellow gaze onto him.
"But what about the town, the forests, the mountains?"
"We searched mountains, forests, and houses, and let me see, in all the cradles," another druid spoke up. Haggar froze mid-step and turned back to gaze at the druid.
"Cradle?" Haggar asked turning to her pet cat Kova who grinned back at her. "Did you hear that my pet? All these years, they've been looking for a baby!" Haggar exploded into laughter, the druids watching her in case something went bad, which it did. "You idiots!" she yelled flinging purple lightning from her staff towards them. The druids dispersed before they could be shocked and took that as their sign to leave the evil fairy alone.
"Oh they're hopeless," Haggar said with a sigh, laying back on her throne. Kova climbed onto her lap and Haggar let out a tired sigh. "My pet, you are my last hope. Circle far and wide, search for a boy of eighteen with hair of midnight black and eyes as purple as violets," Kova let out a meow and ran out of the castle, sparing a last look at her mistress. "Go, and do not fail me."
And so, for eighteen long years, the whereabouts of the young prince remained a mystery, while deep in the forest, in a woodcutter's cottage, the Nyma, Shay, and Florona carried out their well-laid plan. Living like mortals, they had reared the child as their own and called him Akira.
On this day, her eighteenth birthday, the fairies had planned a party and something extra special for his surprise. Plus, a special gift from a very special person.
As Akira was getting ready for the day, Nyma, Shay, and Florona were huddled around the wooden dining table.
"How about this one?" Florona asked pointing to a suit on the page in front of her. Nyma smiled and nodded.
"That's the one I was looking at earlier.
"Oh he'll look so handsome in it," Shay softly exclaimed with a smile.
"Now a few changes to the sleeves, I'm thinking gold trimming instead of this silver," Nyma said to which the other two nodded.
"We should make it black," Florona said eyeing the fabric they had laying around waiting to be used.
"Oh no," Nyma said with a shake of her head. "Red suits him better."
"But…"
"Of course we'll also need to switch the epaulettes as well," Nyma said with a smile.
"But how are we going to get Akira out of the house?" Shay asked tilting her head in confusion.
"I'll think of something," Nyma replied. The three were so lost in conversation they didn't notice Akira had made his way downstairs from his bedroom. He was dressed in a dark grey blouse with shoulder-length sleeves, a loose black sleeveless vest, red pants, and brown boots, his black hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Good book?" Akira asked noticing his three aunts huddling around a brown leather book.
"Uh yeah," Nyma said with a smile, the trio turning around and closing the book as they did so.
"You weren't up to something were you?" Akira asked leaning against the wooden railing of the stairs.
"Up to something ? Eh, eh, eh, we, we, well, we, we…" Shay started to trail off under Akira's gaze. That is, until Nyma stepped in.
"We want you to pick some berries," Nyma said grabbing the wooden basket off the table and placing it into Akira's hands.
"That is, berries!" Florona said with a nod throwing a brown hooded cloak on Keith's shoulders and pushing him towards the door.
"Berries?" Akira asked as he was pushed by his aunts to the door.
"Lots of berries," Shay said opening the bottom half of the door.
"But didn't I just pick berries yesterday?" Akira asked turning back to his aunts.
"Yes, but not blackberries," Shay said coming up with a quick excuse.
"And you know how Auntie Florona likes blackberries," Nyma said remembering Florona's love for blackberries since they moved into the cottage. "So be sure to pick lots."
"Yes, and don't hurry back now," Florona said with a smile.
"And don't speak to stranger's," Shay called out as Akira started to walk backwards.
"And don't go too far," Nyma called out as Akira walked away with a wave of his hand. The trio closed the door behind him and let out a sigh of relief.
"Do you think he suspected anything?" Shay asked to which the other two shook their heads.
"Of course not, now let's get to work," Nyma said with a smile.
"A real birthday party!" Florona exclaimed with a smile.
"With a real birthday cake," Florona said digging out the recipe book.
"Yes, and a suit a prince can be proud of wearing," Nyma said digging into the trunk and pulling out the red fabric and sewing supplies.
"Should I get the wands?" Florona asked to which Nyma and Shay furiously shook their heads.
"No!" Nyma exclaimed.
"But the eighteen years are almost over," Florona protested with a pout.
"Which is why we can't take any chances," Shay said with a shake of her head.
"But, I've never baked a fancy cake before," Florona said as Nyma piled the gold trim into her hands and dragging the youngest fairy onto the wooden stool.
"You won't have to," Nyma said with a smile.
"I'll bake the cake," Shay announced piling the ingredients onto the table.
"You?"
"Oh just let her, she's always wanted to and this is her last chance," Nyma said plucking the gold trim out of Florona arms and unraveling the red fabric.
"But she's never cooked before, you've always done it," Florona said to which Nyma sighed.
"Oh I'm sure it will be fine, I'll do eighteen layers," Shay said opening the book up to the cake recipe.
"And you'll help me make the dress, you can be the dummy," Nyma said to which Florona huffed.
"But you can't sew."
"That's why you follow the book Florona," Shay said as she set the bowls out for mixing the batter.
"Well, I still say we ought to use magic," Florona said as Nyma wrapped the red fabric around her waist and started pinning.
"Flour, three cups," Shay muttered to herself. She grabbed the flower and one of the cups and started pouring the flour into the cup, unaware that more flour than normal was being spilled into the bowl.
Nyma cut holes into the fabric by Florona's feet and helped her stand into them.
"What are those for?" Florona asked.
"For the feet obviously," Nyma said with a smile.
"It's red," Florona said with a sigh. "I thought black would suit Akira's hair better."
"Now, now Florona, we decided that red was his colour," Nyma said tying a piece of darker red fabric around Florona's waist to make a belt.
"You decided," Florona said with a huff.
"Two eggs, fold in gently. Fold? Oh, well," Shay shrugged and dropped two eggs into the batter and started to fold. However, she froze in confusion upon hearing the shells snapped. Hoping that Nyma didn't hear it, she continued.
"It looks awful," Florona commented as Nyma wrapped more fabric around her shoulders to start on the blazer. "And big."
"That's because it's on you dear and Akira's stature is different from yours," Nyma commented with a roll of her eyes.
"Now, yeast. One tisp. Tisp?" Shay turned to Florona hoping she would know.
"One teaspoon," Florona said to which Shay nodded.
"Thank you!"
"Oh, gracious," Nyma commented as she measured from the top of Florona's head to the floor, when the youngest was on the stool, she stood Akira's height exactly. "How the child has grown."
"Oh, it seems only yesterday we brought him here," Florona said gazing towards the door.
"Just a tiny baby," Shay said stopping to wipe her hands. Florona sniffled and a tear slid down her cheek. Nyma stopped pinning and cutting with wide eyes.
"Florona?"
"What's the matter?" Shay asked heading over, mixing the batter as she did so.
"After today, he'll be a prince, and we won't have any Akira," Florona said using a handkerchief that Nyma handed her to dry her tears.
"Oh Florona!" Shay exclaimed as tears started to fall down her cheeks as well.
"Now now, we all knew this day had to come," Nyma said trying to stay strong for the other two, as much as her eyes glazed over and tears fell down her cheeks.
"But, why did it have to come so soon?" Shay asked taking the handkerchief Nyma handed her.
"We can't complain girls, after all, we've had him for eighteen years," Nyma said wiping her eyes.
"Eighteen wonderful years," Florona said with a smile.
"Good gracious, We're acting like a lot of ninnies!" Nyma said before picking up the scissors and the pins once more. "Come on, he'll be back before we really get started on things," the other two nodded and the trio started to get back to work.
As Akira walked to the berry bush, he was singing a lullaby that his aunts Nyma, Shay, and Florona would sing to him when he couldn't sleep at night. There weren't any lyrics but the melody of the song had always stuck with him.
As he walked, he could hear some birds singing the melody back to him. With a smile on his face, he continued singing the melody, the bird flying above him singing along. The animals he normally saw when he went into the forest joining his walk. Like, the squirrels, the rabbits, the deer, and of course the owl.
Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, a boy on his horse were taking a stroll through the forest. The boy had tanned skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. He wore black pants tucked into knee-length boots, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a dark blue tunic with a black belt around his waist. He also wore a brown cape and a brown hat on his head. The horse he was seated on was white with light grey hair and blue reigns which the boy held.
Behind him followed two other on horses. One was a girl with pale skin, short orange hair, and brown eyes. She wore black pants which ended slightly above her ankles, brown ankle boots, and a long-sleeved green tunic, with a dark grey belt around her hips with a small dagger in a dark green sheath, she also wore rounded glasses on her face. The horse she was riding on was brown with dark brown hair with green reigns.
Beside her was a boy with lightly tanned skin, short dark brown hair, and brown eyes. He wore black pants, brown boots, a grey long-sleeved shirt, and a dark yellowish-brown tunic with a black belt around his waist with a dagger attached in a yellow sheath. The horse he rode was light brown with dark brown hair and yellow reigns.
The boy in blue suddenly stopped upon hearing someone singing a sweet melody in the distance.
"What is it Lance?" the girl asked as they stopped.
"Danger?" the other boy asked glancing around worriedly.
"Not this time Hunk," Lance said with a smile.
"Oh thank god," Hunk said with a sigh. "So then what is it?"
"Don't you hear that?" Lance asked as the singing continued.
"Sounds like someone singing," the girl said as she heard the singing Lance was talking about.
"Exactly Pidge," Lance said as he turned his horse around. "I wanna go check it out."
"But uh, Lance, your sister is waiting for you at Queen Krolia's castle," Hunk said pointing in the direction of the castle. "I'd rather not be on the bad side of your sister."
"It won't take long," Lance said giving Hunk a smile. "Let's go Blue," Lance said to which Blue neighed and took off in the direction the voice was coming from.
"There's no helping it," Pidge said with a sigh before chasing after him on her horse, Green.
"We're gonna regret this," Hunk said shaking his head before chasing after the pair on his horse, Yellow.
"I wonder, I wonder
I wonder why each little bird has a someone
To sing to sweet things to
A gay little laugh melody"
Ever since Akira was little, his aunts would read him books to bed about fairy tales and true love. His favourite was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, where the princess fell in love with a prince and ended up being poisoned by her stepmother and falling into a deep sleep, only for true love's kiss to awaken her. Ever since then, he was curious about love and wondered if he would ever find someone who would love him like in the fairy tales.
Of course, he would never tell his aunts, he would just get all embarrassed and hide away.
"I wonder, I wonder
If my heart keeps singing
Will my song going in
To someone will find me
And bring back a love song to me"
"You know, I'm eighteen now, and they still treat me like a child," Akira said with a sigh as he took off his hood and headed towards his favourite tree stump and placed the basket down which was filled with blackberries.
"Who?" the owl asked flying up beside the teen.
"Aunt Nyma, Aunt Shay, and Aunt Florona," Akira said with a sigh, taking off his cloak and laying it on the grass. "They never want me to meet anyone, which is why we live out in the forest."
"But, I've fooled them you know?" the animals seemed to perk up as they heard the small detail of the story. "I have met someone."
"Who?" the owl asked as he landed on the branch beside the birds.
"A prince, just like the fairy tales," Akira said with a soft smile. "We walked together, and talked together, and just before we say goodbye, he takes me in his arms, and then…" the animals waited for the last detail before Akira let out a sigh as he slid down the tree trunk and sat down on his cloak. "…I wake up." The animals head sunk down, they were just as disappointed as Akira was.
"Just like how the stories in the fairy tale book, it's only in my dreams," Akira said. "But, my aunts used to tell me that when you dream something more than once, than it's sure to come true." That seemed to perk the animals up because they glanced back up at Akira, as if they were smiling at him. "And I've seen him so many times, and it's strange," Akira said plucking a blackberry out of the basket and eating the sweet berry, "I feel like I've met the prince before."
Meanwhile, one of the squirrels had noticed a brown cloak hanging on a branch and a brown hat. An idea came to the animal's mind and he quickly gathered the attention of the birds and the owl. The birds and owl were confused at first as to why they were being dragged away from the group before the squirrel pointed to the cloak and hat and that was when they understood what the plan was and headed to collect the items.
Meanwhile, Lance had no luck finding the source of the singing voice. The trio had stopped to fill their water canteens up by the riverside. The horses were also given a break and were taking a drink in the river or munching on the fresh grass of the forest. Lance had taken off his cloak and hat and hung them on a tree branch as he filled his canteen.
"Are you sure you heard it this way?" Pidge asked as she screwed the cap back on her canteen and walked over to Green and put it back in the satchel attached to the saddle.
"We've been going at it for a while, shouldn't we heard back?" Hunk asked placing his canteen in his own satchel. "You know, before your sister sends the army out to find you."
"I heard it, we'll stay out a while longer," Lance said placing his canteen in Blue's satchel with a sigh.
"Are you sure it wasn't a mysterious being, like a wood sprite?" Pidge asked to which Lance nodded.
"It's gonna sound strange but I feel like I've heard that voice before," Lance said.
"You mean in those dreams you've been having?" Hunk asked leaning against Yellow, Lance nodded and brushed his fingers through Blue's mane.
"Yeah, it's familiar," Lance said shaking his head before turning around to grab his cloak and hat. Only to see that they were being flown away by the birds and the owl. "Hey!" Lance yelled grabbing the attention of his two friends who watched in awe as Lance's cloak and hat were stolen away.