Once upon a time (because everyone knows that's the best way to start these kinds of stories), in a quaint island kingdom adorned with lush wilderness and mountain landscapes was an independent and brash maiden named Jo; although her step-family had been used to calling her 'Jockerella', as she was perhaps the sportiest lass in the land. She would likely be found in the woods running, horse-back riding, or swimming in streams - that is, when she wasn't doing chores. Jo's family did have a scullery maid who would do all the household tasks when she was younger, however she had decided to leave for good when Jo's father passed away leaving the poor maid to deal with Jo's vain and loud step-mother Anne-Maria.
Anne-Maria wasn't evil per se, her and Jo just clashed immensely and she never held her step-daughter in as high regard as her much girlier daughters Zoey and Dakota. She didn't force Jo to take on all the cleaning responsibilities, but whenever Dakota would try to wash a dish or Zoey scrubbed the floor it was never to Jo's standard; no one does a better job than she does. Likewise, she was not forbidden from wearing nice clothes like her sisters, but Anne-Maria did not appreciate how dirty Jo would get them while cleaning on her knees or kicking up dirt and dust during her daily forest jog, and Jo didn't feel the most comfortable in such fine fabrics anyway so she stuck with a simple smock dress that she'd usually half tuck into her knickers anyway and a loose-fitting bodice top so people didn't think she was walking around in her pyjamas.
There eventually came a day that the household received a royal summons. Zoey had greeted the courier and held the paper in her hands.
"Everybody get down here, this letter's from the King!" She squealed excitedly. "Dakota! Mother! And you too Jockerella, come now!" Her smile still widening.
"Give me a minute!" Jo snapped from across the corridor; she was far to busy to be bothered by her sickly sweet step-sister with whatever nonsense at the moment, for she was giving the fireplace in the drawing room a rigorous cleansing, making her extra filthier than usual. "Start your giggle-fest without me Zoey, I'm working."
The dark-redhead politely heeded her sister's words, and instead focused her excitement on her other sister and mother her were coming down the stairs.
"What is it baby?" Anne-Maria asked her in bewilderment to her daughter's extremely joyous state. "Sorry it took me a hot minute to get down here, but ya know it's hard to get from A to Z with my poofy skirt and my poofy hair." She said gesturing to wide dress and tall voluminous hairdo. She then appeared a bit irritated. "Speaking of which, I was in the middle of locking this bad boy in place! What was so important that you needed us down here for, what about his royal handsomeness?"
"Yes Zoey, tell us!" Dakota chimed in, a smile now on her face.
Zoey considered asking for Jo to come join them one last time, but sensing another rejection and unable to contain herself anymore she let out the news.
"The prince is coming home today and the King thinks the time has come for him to be married! Tonight he's hosting a royal ball with all the kingdom's eligible maidens in attendance for the prince to choose!" That last word left Zoey's mouth sounding more like squeak than anything else, Jo actually thought she was hearing mice. Zoey's elation had infected Dakota by now and they were giggling and jumping like a couple of little girls, Anne-Maria was also quite pleased as well.
There reactions were all warranted of course. The King was throwing the aforementioned ball as a surprise for his nephew the prince. Prince Brick, who also led the calvalry, was returning from a Crusade that same day, and his uncle King Lightning was planning for him to find a bride later that night at the ball. He was doing just fine taking on the responsibilities of running a kingdom, politically and military wise especially, but Lightning wanted his nephew to start focusing on finding someone to share the kingdom with and help him keep the royal lineage going.
At this time Jo was bored enough from inhaling all the soot that she decided to take and break and see what all the fuss was about, as soon as she walked in the doorway of the main hall she was bombarded with her two bubbly stepsisters.
Jo! Dakota squealed. "You missed Zoey reading the letter we got, there's a royal ball tonight and the prince is looking for someone to spend the rest of his life with!" She clasped her hands together with a dreamy look in her eyes as she said this. Jo could only feign amusement.
"Good for him, but you can count me out." She said flat and bluntly. Jo was not the most sociable, and besides guys never understood her or gave her the time of day, not that she cares - not much anymore at least. She also knew in the back of her head that the moment she arrived alongside her two exponentially cheerful, charming and feminine stepsisters, no man there would even notice her much less the prince.
Zoey and Dakota were disappointed by her statement, but weren't surprised given how different she was from them. Not wanting to leave her out entirely of the festivities, they affably demanded that Jo got them all dressed for the occasion. Soon it came time for the three ladies to leave, not without saying good bye to their dear Jockerella of course.
"Thanks again for lacing up my corset Jockerella." Dakota beamed. "No one has stronger hands than you do, well, no girl at least!" Jo sneered at this comment, she knew Dakota meant no harm by it, but she still felt a little insulted.
"Don't mention it….."
With mama Anne-Maria the last out the door, she turned before exiting to say goodbye.
"You have a good night to yourself sweetie." She smiled. "And don't worry, it's okay that you're not coming to the ball with us, the whole reason for it is so the prince can find a bride; you'd just waste your time there. Ciao!" She exclaimed as she shut the door a little too close in Jo's face. It was just an offhand comment she made, saying Jo would be wasting her time at the ball and she knew this, but then again why did it make her feel so bad?
She shuffled outside to the back of the manor, thinking a moonlit jog might put her back in the mood, but when she got outside all she could still think about was her stepmother's cruel but true words.
""I could be a princess, I could be the best damn princess this kingdoms ever seen, and I WOULD be. I'm the best at everything else, why not nabbing a prince?" As she said these words of encouragement to herself, she viewed her reflection in a pond and her soot-covered face and shabby clothes were highlighted by the light of the moon. Jo then did something she hadn't done in awhile, perhaps never in her life. She began to cry. At first sniffles, then which transformed into full-blown sobs; sixteen years worth of insecurity and added loneliness were pouring from her eyes in the form of tears, they were so dense that she didn't notice a star descending towards her which proceeded to turn into a glowing silhouette of a beautiful pale girl.
"No need to cry any longer my dear." The girl spoke in an ethereal voice, shocking Jo out of her crying stupor.
"What the heck! Who are you?!" She expressed in a way to intimidate the stranger on her property.
The girl only smiled still. "Please cease your anger, your aura is all purple now when it was blue just a minute ago." She said referencing the anger that suddenly overcame Jo that she had seen mixing with her inner feelings of sorrow. "I am no stranger to you; I am Dawn, your fairy god-sister." Jo was mainly just confused now.
"My what? How many fake sisters is the universe gonna throw at me?" She cursed with bewilderment.
"I'm as real as you are, I've been with you ever since the day you were born a—"
"Really, then why are you just making yourself known tonight, and not you know, when my mother died or my father?" Jo cut her off. Dawn waited for her to finish and in the same serene voice she answered.
"The tears you shed are what summoned me. You always went through life keeping others at a distance and going about things your way. When you finally made yourself vulnerable and cried real tears did I know you were ready for me."
"Okay, so what now then?" Jo asked as she wiped her eyes and nose with her apron, carefully avoiding the dusty areas as to not sneeze on the fairy girl.
"You're going to ball! I know you told your family that you were not at all interested, but I can tell by reading your aura that deep in your heart you long for a chance to be noticed." Dawn gleamed.
Jo was intrigued by this last statement, but she remained dubious of what her so-called fairy god-sister was telling her.
"Even if that was true how are you gonna get me to the ball? I guess I could get there myself on foot, but then what are all those snobs gonna think if I show up looking like a peasant?"
As Jo said these words Dawn took out a wand and lightly flicked it in Jo's direction and suddenly she was shrouded in a cloud of pure light and sparkle. She looked on and around in amazement as her tattered and plain dress transformed into a sparkling lavender gown adorned with white and grey flowers, fitted with long sleeves and a corset - both draped loosely on her just the way she liked it. Jo was in awe. "Wow! I never thought I'd wear something like this" She could feel tears forming under eyelids again, only this time they were of happiness. "Thank you Dawn, I-I almost feel BEAUTIFUL!"
Dawn watched lovingly as Jo blushed. "You are beautiful Jo. Now just let me add the finishing touches. And don't worry about travelling all the way to the castle on foot." She gave one last flick and one of the garden's pumpkins along with a share of its creatures had metamorphosed into an extravagant carriage complete with horses and footmen. Jo also realized she was now wearing surprisingly comfortable crystal slippers (flats to fit her preferences) and a pearl mask which covered her violet eyes with a matching tiara perched atop her dirty blonde hair in place of her grey headscarf.
"Now you are ready child, but before you go remember my words." Jo leaned in to listen on the off chance what Dawn was telling her held importance. "Listen for the clock's stroke at midnight, for on the twelfth stroke my magic will disappear and you will go back to wearing what you were before." She then gestured for Jo to get in the carriage. "A little inconvenient and stupid!" Jo thought to herself in regards to the fairy's temporary magic, but she quickly put it out of her mind and made way for the girlish thrill for the impending evening.
Meanwhile at the ball, the King was growing weary that his nephew had not yet danced with any of the young women present.
"But Uncle don't you care if I'm happy in my marriage?" Brick lamented to Lightning.
"At this point your just sha-nnoying me, why can't you just pick one already? Like over those two over there?" He gestured over to Anne-Maria, Zoey and Dakota. "That tan one is especially sha-gorgeous!" Anne-Maria saw the two men looking in her and her daughters' direction, which excited her greatly until she remembered the two girls had returned from waltzing with two respective noblemen; one with curly hair and glasses, and the other a lean fella with tanned skin and a gap in his teeth.
Jo arrived at the castle shortly after, but she was hesitant to actually join the ball. "Should I really be doing this?" She thought to herself. This wasn't who she was, and even with the help of an actual fairy whose to tell that she'd enjoy herself? She caught a glimpse of herself in the pristine marble floor.
"Ya know what? Magic dress or not, I'm gonna march through that doorway and show those society people that I'm just as good as they are….maybe even better." She smirked. With this onset of confidence, she made her way into ballroom; she peered around the room scanning the people there, mainly to avoid her step-family (as far as they knew she'd have anything to do with high-society or royal balls, otherwise they'd never let her live it down). Distracted by her search, the next step she took she stumbled into someone's arms.
"Hey! Can you watch where you're going?" She asserted as she regained her balance. She looked up to see who almost knocked her over, which is a good thing they didn't otherwise Jo would have no other choice than to physically fight someone at a royal ball. Upon looking up she instantly began to feel her face blush as she laid her eyes on a tall and muscular young man with finely cut black hair and a thick eyebrow; a generally intimidating appearance, except the man smiled at her sweetly and met her violet gaze with dark-shaded kind eyes.
"Please forgive me ma'am, but I saw you from across the room and well you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, so I to come meet you." Jo's demeanour softened as she heard his apology, her blush grew ever stronger as a sheepish smile took over her lips, which the prince noticed.
"Prince Richard McArthur at your service my fair lady." He bowed. "But please call me Brick." Jo then did an awkward curtsy in response, something she wasn't used to doing and never thought she'd do, but the prince was way nicer than she assumed a member of royalty would be; it didn't do her any good to purposefully disrespect him.
"Pleased to meet you, your highness. You can call me Jo."
He took her hand in his, a motion which shocked Jo (but she had to admit, she did enjoy it a little). "May I please have this dance, Lady Jo?" She was taken aback by his question.
"Wait, every beautiful girl in this kingdom are right over there, and not only are you telling me that I'm the prettiest out of ALL of them, but I'm the one you wanna dance with?" She stared at him with an eyebrow raised. He didn't appear to be playing a joke on her, he wasn't on the verge of laughing, but rather sheepishly looked down.
"Well yes, but if you don't want to then I'll leave you be. Please don't feel pressured to accept just because I'm a prince ma'am." Something about the way he looked at her made Jo feel sensations that were foreign to her; albeit being addressed as 'lady' made her internally scoff, she saw in his eyes that he was being genuine, so she gladly accepted Brick's request.
As they danced the spotlight was on them. Lightning was pleased that Brick finally got into the spirit of things, and Anne-Maria, Zoey and Dakota watched in awe at the mysterious maiden who managed to catch the prince's attention.
"Awe they look so happy!" Zoey beamed.
"And that dress is like nothing I've ever seen before!" Dakota chimed in; neither were upset at not dancing with the prince themselves, and instead were delighted for the strange maiden.
"Hang on." Spoke Anne-Maria. "Does she look familiar to either of you?" She tapped her chin with her perfectly manicured (for the time period's standards) fingernail. Both daughters agreed that there was an air of familiarity to the girl, but no exact knowledge of who she was.
"I feel like I know her, to the point that I'm stupid, because I can't figure out who she is, yet it's SO obvious!" She finished her ranting and the three went back to watching with the rest.
Soon all the guests were dancing again except for Jo and Brick, who had made their way out into the courtyard.
"I've quite enjoyed the time we've shared together Jo." Brick told her. "You're not like any girl I've met before." Jo blushed once more, but playfully nudged him as she expressed her own praise.
"Brick I can't even tell you how great this nights been. I haven't been this happy in a long time."
They leaned closer into each other, Jo was ready to finally kiss a guy….until the clock tower started chiming 'midnight.' The romantic atmosphere was shattered and was replaced with frustration as Jo realized she had to leave.
"Look what I just said still stands; tonight was awesome and I don't wanna have to end it, but I have to go!" The clock still chimed, and Brick could only watch in defeat as she sprinted away. Fortunately, the girl he just fell hard for didn't completely disappear into thin air; on the steps of the palace there lay a glass slipper, the same as the pair he saw Jo waltz in. Unwilling to forget Jo, he rushed to the King's quarters where he had retired as soon as he saw his nephew disappear outside with a potential bride. As soon as he heard the news he catapulted out of bed.
"SHA-YEAH! The royal name will live on baby!"
"If I may Uncle, I'm as happy as you are, but I'm worried I won't be able to find her, or if she even wants to see me again." The King raised a brow at him. "I mean, she left in such an impressive rush that she didn't even notice she left her shoe behind." He held Jo's slipper in Lightning's view.
"Oh we'll find her Brick, and by 'we' I mean these guys." "Yo little squire man!" As if he'd been waiting on the other side of the wall for his services to be needed, in scurried Cameron: a short, bespectacled young man who was like the King's assistant.
"Yes your majesty Lightning sir?" Lightning put his hand on Brick's shoulder and explained what he wanted done.
"Little man tomorrow you're gonna spend all day to-ing and fro-ing the kingdom until my nephew here finds the honey who fits this glass shoe. And you know what's gonna happen if I don't get a niece by the end of the day; SHA-CHOP!" He made a chopping motion with his hands startling Cameron. "Y-y-yes sir" is all he could muster.
The next day word got around about the Prince's mission, many girls were already left in tears after not passing the slipper test. Actually some did fit the shoe, but Brick could tell when none were Jo. When Brick and Cameron arrived at her estate, Jo was once again preoccupied with polishing the upstairs floor to care who was knocking for whatever reason. Knowing fully well that Jo wouldn't be bothered by getting the door, Dakota answered it.
"Announcing his royal highness the prince" Cameron proclaimed, "by order of the King it is requested that every young maiden who attended the royal ball last night try on this slipper I have before me, and whomever is the owner shall marry the prince." He trailed off a little then finished his statement; "if she wants to, b-but the King will insist it."
Anne-Maria seized the opportunity to marry into royalty once more and made Zoey and Dakota each try on the slipper, even though both were smitten with the other two suitors they had met at the ball, they tried the slipper on as to humour their mother. Of course though neither fit; Dakota's foot was too long and narrow for the slipper and Zoey's was too short and a little wider.
"This reminds me of when my friend Lindsay stayed at that inn that only had three beds! Dakota thought telling a funny story would lighten the mood. "But one was too hard and the other was way too soft, but then the last one was perfect for her! She told me she had the best time, until she was chased out by a family of bears."
"Well miss we still need one maiden this slipper is just right for." Cameron replied to her. Brick turned to Anne-Maria and joined the conversation; he hadn't spoken much throughout the day, nervous of never seeing Jo again, and if he did find her nervous that she wouldn't appreciate such a pursuit of her.
"Are there any other young women on this property ma'am? Otherwise my companion and I will be on our way." At this point Jo had finished with her task and made her way down the stairs. Her eyes met with Brick's, at first she thought she was dreaming; "why did he come looking for me? Especially since I blew the guy off last night."
"As you can see your highness, there's this gal, but you and your royal gremlin would be wasting your time if she tried on the slipper, she wasn't at the ball last night she's too good for 'em."
A slipper? I'll try on a slipper." Jo piped up. "If I wanna try on a slipper you can't stop me step-mother." And tried it on she did and it was a perfect fit, much to the surprise of everyone present except for Brick.
"I knew it was you, it had to be you!" He took Jo in his strong arms.
"If you knew it was me then why did I still have to try on the slipper you jarhead?" She laughed as she spoke. Brick didn't say anything back, only pulled her in for a kiss, a kiss which Jo happily obliged to.
The two were soon after married and Jo became a princess, the toughest princess the kingdom's ever seen. However, after she went to live in the castle Zoey and Dakota had a difficult time with the chores, but Jo taught them the basics of them and this this time she made no fuss over how well they were done. Fortunately both their wishes came true and the two noblemen they met at the ball also became their husbands in a joint wedding ceremony. As for mama Anne-Maria, whenever she'd visit Jo at the palace her and Lightning got along very well. As anyone could have guessed next, they all lived happily ever after.
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"And that's the story of my great, great, great, great, great aunt Jockerella."
"For the love of god I told you I don't give a hoot Stacy!"
"Sorry Scott."
