Welcome back every to another chapter of HS&T (Initials for Halloween Scares & Tales). Sorry for the delay, things have been going on for the both of us.
MC: Yeah.. Sorry about that folks.
But right now, we're going to be racing against the clock, to get this story done in time for Halloween!
MC: It's gonna be a challenge for sure.
Yep, and this chapter, it's Amber's story. Who knows how princessy it'll be. So, without further to do, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: We own NOTHING! Except for our OC's.
Chapter 4: The Haunted Tiara
"I call this story... The Haunted Tiara!" Amber announced.
Lightning flashes from outside, followed by thunder, which made Amber jump a little. But she continued to tell her story, "Once upon a night... there was a beautiful princess. She was elegant, wise, kind, and had the most wonderful fashion sense, kind of like myself. One night, she and her royal family went to a All Hallows Eve festival..."
Within the world of Amber's story, we see the royal family of Enchancia arriving at said festival (With Amber playing the princess in the story. Upon arriving, the family discussed plans.
"Alright. Your mother and I are going to let you three walk around the fest and have fun." Said the king.
"But be careful. You don't know what may happen." Added the queen.
Sofia, James, and Amber nodded, "Okay, Mom. We'll be careful." Sofia said.
"But we'll also have fun too." James added.
"You know I will be good, Daddy." Amber said sweetly to their father.
With that, the three royals left into the festival, looking around.
"Right now. It was such a wonderful fest, with games, performers, and all the scares you can think of. The princess and her siblings thought it was great... but soon, it would get very spooky..."
The three children soon wondered the fair, intrigued about where to go first. That's when James had gotten excited, "Look they have rides! Race you there!" With that, he took off running. Sofia followed after him, "Wait for me!"
Amber only stood there. While she liked rides, she didn't want to get on one during the night time. Any chaos could happen. So she decided to walk around some more.
"That's when the princess came across... the jewelry tent."
Amber immediately stops dead in her tracks at the sight of it. She was in awe at all the jewels in the tent. She felt hypnotized as she walked towards it. As she did, she seemed to have her eyes on one item, and one item only.
"And that's when she saw it... the tiara..."
Indeed it was a tiara. It seemed to be an ordinary tiara, but it had dark purple jewels in it that shined in the moonlight. Amber loved it already, "How much is this tiara?" She asked the tent keeper.
"Oh... this old jewel. Are you sure you want it?"
The princess nodded, "I wouldn't buy this if I were you. Legends tell that it is haunted and cursed. Once you possess it... it's stuck with you for all eternity..."
Amber only chuckled, "Really? I doubt such a beautiful tiara could be cursed. I want it. How much is it?"
"Five coins."
With that, she gave the keeper five coins from her purse, as she received the tiara, "Alright. But be warned. There's no telling how stuck that tiara will become to you..."
"The princess didn't believe that the tiara was really cursed. But little did she know, was that she would wish she'd listened to the tent keeper..."
Later on, Amber was now wearing the tiara as she met up with Sofia and James, "Hello, dear brother and sister. I would like for you to gaze upon my brand new tiara." She told them, presenting the jewelry.
"Amber, it's so beautiful." Sofia said as James nodded.
"I know, and the tent keeper said this nonsense that it was cursed. Ha, can you believe her?"
Soon enough, it was time for the royal family to go home. As they rode in the coach, the queen took notice of the tiara, "Amber, what a beautiful tiara. Did you buy it in one of the tents?" She asked.
The princess nodded, "Of course mother, yet the keep says it's cursed. But I don't believe her."
"Who knows, she may be right, Amber. You just never know." Said the king.
"But Daddy, it's nonsense. Curses aren't real..."
"She thought curses weren't real. Goodness, she would be proven wrong very soon..."
Back at the castle, it was just about time for bed. Amber sighed as she sat down on her bed in her nightgown. She stared at her tiara in the mirror once last time, before taking it off and putting it on her night stand. "Goodnight, my precious tiara." She whispered before turning the lights out. What she didn't know, was that the tiara was glowing in the dark,
"The next morning, the princess decided to wear her tiara again, and show it off to everyone at school."
At Royal Prep, the children were taking their seats, readying themselves for another fantastic day of learning. But the young royals were paying attention to Amber's tiara, "I see you all take a liking to my tiara."
Some of them indeed were, but for a couple of them looked a little jealous. Soon enough, the teacher came in and class started.
"Soon enough, at recess, the princess was showing the other princesses her tiara."
"Is it true that the tiara is cursed?" One princess asked.
"Of course not. That's nonsense." Amber replied.
Suddenly, a random prince ran past, accidentally knocking Amber to the ground, the tiara flying off of her head, and surprisingly, out of sight, "Sorry, Amber." The prince called.
But Amber was more focused on looking for her tiara, "What happened to my tiara? Where did it go?"
"That's when this so called curse starts to kick in for the princess, but she doesn't know it yet..."
Amber desperately starts to look for her tiara, as the other princesses pitched in and tried to help. But alas, they couldn't find it at all. Amber was close to tears as one princess tried to reassure her, "Don't worry. I'm sure it's around here somewhere."
"The princess would have agreed, until she spotted a very strange sight."
"What in the... Hildegard? Are you wearing... my tiara?!"
That princess, being Hildegard, was confused, until she looked up. Indeed, Amber's tiara was sitting in her dark hair. Amber frowned as she snatched it out, "You thief! And to think that we were best friends!"
"Now wait a minute, Amber. I don't know how your tiara got on my head. I didn't even know it was up there!"
"Well, it had to have gotten up there somehow... but, at least I have it now, and that's all that matters."
With that, Amber placed the tiara back on her head. Later that day, when all royals went home after school, Amber started to wonder if the tiara really was cursed, especially after what happened before.
"The princess was so curious, so she decided to talk to the kingdom's sorcerer, Cedric, a very mediocre sorcerer to be exact."
Back at the castle, inside a tall tower was a little lab, housed by a sorcerer named Cedric. Who for a while had made various attempts at claiming Sofia's amulet so that he could use it's magic to take over the kingdom, though every attempt so far had not gone so well.
At the moment, he was in the midst of testing out another spell, taking hold of his wand and aims it at a bottle of red liquid in front of him.
"All I need to do is chant out the spell perfectly, any interruption or mis-pronounce could end up end in a disaster." Cedric said as he waved his wand and speaks out the spell. "Mana-covisca.. Trapeninzo.. Kala-"
"CEDRIC!"
Amber came in the room before he could finish the spell. Cedric gasped, as because he didn't finish saying that spell, the red liquid exploded in front of him, Cedric spat out some of the liquid that got into his mouth. "Yeck..."
"Cedric, I need to ask you something. Something very important." Amber told him.
Cedric turned to Amber, with a slight look of annoyance on his face. "Yes.. Princess Amber?"
"So, the princess told Cedric all about her tiara, and asked him if it was really cursed. So he decided to look inside his little magic book or something."
"Hmm.. Now let me see here.."
He looked through the book, flipping through the pages, until apparently, he found something. "Ah yes, here it is." He cleared his throat, and began to read what was in the book, "The tiara of former Princess Daria. It is said that the tiara is indeed cursed, and once it is in someone's possession, it will never leave. It is permanently stuck to you no matter where you go, or what you do."
Amber's eyes widened in shock, as she took off the tiara and looked at it, she really thought her tiara wasn't cursed at all. Now, it really was cursed, "But... how can such a beautiful tiara be cursed."
"That much still remains a mystery, the book never clarified a reason" Was all Cedric told her.
"That's when the princess decided that she needed to get rid of the tiara. Her life was more important than being cursed, is what she thought."
And so, Amber walked back into her room, and placed the cursed tiara in her tiara case, "I'm sorry we have to part ways, but I'd rather not be cursed." She said as she closed the case.
The next day...
Amber was seen sleeping in bed, very peacefully at first, until she opened her eyes and yawned... only to see the cursed tiara right on her pillow. She screamed, jumping out of bed. As she recovered and got up, she took hold of the tiara. How did it get on her bed? Didn't she put it away?
The princess cautiously placed the tiara back in her case, as she began to get ready for the day, "That... is freaky..." She muttered to herself.
As she picks out what dress to wear, she sees... the tiara, hanging with the dresses. Which startled her a little, but she grabbed her dress and shut the closet. Later at breakfast, the family was eating. But as Amber finished, she noticed the tiara on her lap!
She paled immediately, which the queen noticed, "Is something wrong, honey?" She asked.
Amber quickly shook her head, "No, mother. I'll be right back." With that, she quickly left the dining room, and outside. She dug a hole in the garden, put the tiara in it, and buried it.
In her mind, she feels that this would do it.
"C'mon, Amber!" Sofia called from behind, "The coach is waiting."
"The princess did everything she could to get rid of the tiara, but it just wouldn't leave her alone."
On the coach, the three royals were on their way to school, "Hey, Amber. Do you have the study sheets for today's sorcery test?" James asked. The princess nodded as she looked in her bag. But not only did she see the sheets... she also saw... the tiara.
Just... great...
Amber reached in and grabbed the tiara, throwing it out of the coach, as she handed the sheets to James. However, she was still very paranoid. At school, the class was getting ready to prepare for a short test as the teacher came in, "Alright class. Look into your desks to get your wands. It's time for the test.
The students did as told. But as Amber opened the lid of her desk, there was the tiara. She gasped loudly, which the teacher noticed, "Is everything okay, Amber?" She asked with concern.
"Um... I'm fine!" She quickly answered, "Uh, may I be excused?"
"Of course, dear. But hurry back, the test is about to begin!"
With that, Amber sprinted out of the room with the tiara in her hands, she knew that she had to get rid of it right now. But hiding it seemed to be out of the question right now. So if she couldn't hide it... she could destroy it.
But how is the question.
Amber looked around the window, and saw a big rock. That made her smile widely. she can use it to smash the tiara into pieces.
"So, after the test, the princess went outside to set out what she wanted to do."
Placing the tiara in front of her, and picking up the huge rock, she began to get a good aim at the tiara, "Goodbye, tiara..." She said before throwing the rock down on the jewel... smashing it to pieces.
The princess sighed with relief, "It's over... oh... it's finally over..."
"Or so she thought."
Later that evening, Amber walked into her room. She was finally happy to know that that cursed tiara was gone forever... she hoped. However, upon entering her room, she paled upon seeing a most shocking site...
The tiara... sitting on her bed, glowing.
This forced Amber to scream in terror, as she reached over, smacked the tiara away, and sunk to her head, sobbing softly, even destroying the tiara won't work now. "Why... why won't you leave me alone you stupid tiara?!" She asked.
Suddenly, she heard a voice... coming from the tiara. It was female and sinister, "Princess Amber... Why do you keep doing this?!"
"Huh?"
"The princess looked up, and the tiara was floating in front of her. It talked to her as if it were in love with her."
"Don't you want to be with me forever?!"
Amber then began to back away, "No! You're cursed! You're haunted! I don't want you!"
"But why?"
"I already said why! Please, leave me alone, you stupid tiara. I thought you were pretty before, but now you're just a menace!"
Suddenly, the tiara began to float towards her as it chuckled, "We shall stay bonded forever!"
Amber then ran out of the her room, and down the hall, screaming for her life as if it was in great danger. Which it was! The tiara began to follow her, laughing maniacally. "You cannot escape."
The princess ran for her life... until she made it to Cedric's workshop, where he was working on a potion, "Cedric! Help me!"
Of course Cedric was trying to work that same spell from before, but the same interruption ended up in the same results from before. "Not again..." He groaned.
"Cedric, is there anything in that book of yours of flying killer tiaras?" Amber asked.
"Flying tiara's. What are you talking about?"
As if on cue, the cursed tiara flew in the room. Cedric gasped, "Merlin's Mushrooms! It's alive!"
"Yes, and it's trying to kill me!" Amber shrieked.
Just then, the tiara began to glow intensively as it laughed like a maniac, "In all my years of sorcery, I never thought I'd be experiencing a magic like this." Cedric muttered to himself, although Amber could hear him, "Well, you have to stop that tiara! It just won't leave me alone!"
"Well. I think there is only one way to break the curse."
"The sorcerer retreated to his book and looked through it, hoping to find a way to rid the princess of the evil tiara for good."
As he did though, the tiara latched itself onto Amber's hair, as she screamed, "Get if off! Get it off! Get it off!"
By this time however, Cedric finally finds what he was looking for. "Here it is." He began to read the scripture in the book, "The only way to be rid of the cursed tiara is to tell it that you don't love it. You see, it's prone to love, and if you tell if you don't love it, the heart within will break, and it will be destroyed."
That's all she needed to do? Well, if it was to break the curse. She had to do it now!
"Hey tiara! Guess what, I don't love you! I never loved you!" She said to the jewel.
It floated off of her hair and gasped, "What? You.. don't love.. me?"
"Of course not! You're just a stupid tiara with no life."
And she was telling this from her heart. The tiara began to shake, and speak as if it were crying, "No.. please stop.."
"But the princess continued to insult the tiara, telling it how much she didn't like it. Soon enough, the tiara couldn't take it anymore."
It slowly began to crack, as it screamed in agony, saying these last words to Amber, "How could you?!"
With that, it broke apart, until it was no more. Amber sighed with relief, it was finally over, "I did it... I actually did it. It worked! I'm free! Thank you, Cedric! You not so bad a sorcerer after all."
She then hugged Cedric tightly, "You're quite welcome."
With that, she left his workshop, just as we go back into the real world as Amber is finishing her story, "And so, the princess had learned a valuable lesson. If a specific item is said to be curse... you should not buy it, and listen to what is said about it."
"A fascinating story there Amber." Shawn spoke.
James scoffed, "That wasn't scary at all. It was just silly princess tale."
Amber glared at her twin, "Well, at least I had an evil tiara. You had a killer."
"But that's way scarier than a living tiara."
Before a fight could break out, Peter spoke up, "Okay now! Who's next?"
Soon, everyone started to her whimpering cries, they looked and saw they were coming from Cubby. Peter smiled, "Cubby. Thanks for volunteering."
"W-WHAT?" The small pirate boy stood up. He was now nervous. He couldn't think of a story before, how could he think of one now. "C'mon, matey. It'll be okay." Jake assured him.
"B-B-But I don't have..." He started to say.
"Whatever story you think of will be great. I just know it." Izzy told him.
Cubby then thought about it, as he slowly walked towards the fireplace, "Okay, I guess. I hope my story will knock your socks off..."
Hmmm... did Amber's story scare you, MC?
MC: Well.. maybe just a little.
I see. So anyways, Amber did have a freaky story. Next chapter, looks like Cubby will tell his story next.
MC: But knowing how scared he was with all those other stories.. You think he'll be able to do it without scaring himself?
I know he will. Well, we'll see you guys later, and don't forget to review, please. Thank you.
