Dreams of Mana

by

Misty McMist Monster (Mist)

Character - Ginny

Fairytale - Seiken Densetsu3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the publicized characters herein, either from Harry Potter, or Seiken Densetsu 3. That said, any characters I've created for the story are solely my own.

A/N for the Fairytale Challenge edition: Hello! Welcome to another edition of my insane mind being itself. Now, Before we get started, I'd like to point out one thing: this next chapter you are about to read is actually only a teaser. The rest of the chapter will be up on my own profile within the next few days. If you find yourself interested in the story, or figuring out whatever the hell is going on, feel free to give that a read. That said, lets get on with this madhouse!

Chapter 1: Fallen Princess

"Ginevra, wake up!" Boomed a voice throughout the room. If one were to see the source, a scraggly old man, they would not have believed his lungs up to the task of such a feat. Yet there was no denying the effect it had on the young flame haired maiden who had been snoring at the table overlooking the small two story room the two were in; instantly she had jumped out of her seat, tipping the small wooden chair over before she looked blearily around the room.

As she did, she noted the old man near her, and then the room around her, as if confused: in realty, this was very much the case. To young Ginevra Weasley, this room- this man was entirely foreign to her. Yet he had known her name. She considered this and considered what she could remember of her day so far. She'd been fighting with Ron earlier that day-the prat had been going on about how she needed to stay away from guys like Dean and Michael (both perfectly fine when not around her) and that she needed to mind her own business when she tried to integrate herself more with what had been dubbed "the Golden Trio" by some of her peers. She had thought things would get better after their last year at Hogwarts, how they had all come together to form the DA and rise up against Umbridge.

Obviously, she'd been mistaken.

Honestly, that prat made her so angry some times! If it weren't for her father being there to break up the fight, Ginny would have Bat-Bogeyed Ron into next week! After that, she had spent some time out in the fields outside the Burrow, being sure not to stray to far from the house, but needing to be away from Ron all the same. The last thing she remembered was how much she had wished she were anywhere but trapped in the Burrow for a whole summer with him. Had she fallen asleep then? That must have been it, and this was a dream.

After following that train of thought, she adopted a serene smile as she turned to the older man, "Yes? Was there something you needed..?" The older man stared at her dumbfounded for several seconds, almost as if in her speech she'd grown another head.

Finally, he replied, "Princess, I know you don't take your studies seriously, but this is ridiculous! Forgive me, but I am a tired old man, and do not have time for this foolishness. Now, to continue your lessons for today. First, I want you to assume the basic stance for your spell casting."

Princess?Ginevra thought to herself, I rather like the sound of that. Her serene smile turned smug, and she reached for her wand as asked– only to note first what she was wearing (or lack there of) and then also note the lack of her wand. Taking in the state of her clothing: a green one-piece bodice with coat tails trailing behind and thigh-high brown leather boots, Ginevra wondered idly if inwardly she had some form of dominatrix fetish that had chosen to surface in her dreams. Casting the thought aside with a shake of her head, she turned to the older man. Obviously with this being her dream, all she had to do was ask for her wand and it would appear. "May I have my wand please?"

Again the droll, uncomprehending stare from the man, "Princess, are you feeling well? You're acting unusually strange today."

Furrowing her brow at his statement, Ginevra found herself more and more frustrated with this man, and this dream. Perhaps it was time she simply left. With a huff of frustration, she turned on her heel towards where she'd noted a door, "Fine, whatever. I'm leaving."

Stepping through the door without waiting for the man's reply, she was greeted by an afternoon sun blazing brilliantly in the sky above, though a frigid wind could be felt sweeping in clouds across the horizon. Ginevra herself shivered at that, startled by how cold it was. Perhaps it had gotten terribly cold in the real world? She had heard of such a thing being transferred into dreams, so she wouldn't be surprised. Soon enough, the wind passed, though the chill it left did not. Still, she would not allow it to detract from her enjoyment of this dream, no matter how bizarre it was. Looking around as she strolled along the cobbled stones beneath her, Ginevra realized that she was in a Castle- perhaps a palace of sorts. Well, obviously, every good princess needs a good palace. She thought to herself as she allowed her eyes to trail over the gardens below her, more of the cobbled passages leading this way and that, servants passing by to attend to their duties or simply attending to the gardens themselves. Several older men – obviously wizards by the looks of them – meandered about the pathways. A gentle smile touched Ginevra's lips then as she leaned on the balustrade, balancing herself on her elbows as she kicked her legs freely in the air. Despite the chilliness, this is a beautiful place, she thought to herself as a flock of birds flew by overhead.

As she watched them fly by, her ears caught the Tell-tale sounds of hurried footsteps in the courtyard below. Glancing down once more, she noticed a young man, around her age with shoulder length blonde hair come rushing down the pathway from what looked like the main portion of the castle. Upon spotting her, he waved, "Princess Ginerva! Already done with your magic tutoring?" Again, her brow furrowed. Was her mind trying to tell her something? It kept bringing up this magic tutoring stuff. She knew she'd been slacking off slightly since the end of the semester, but she hadn't thought her own mind would berate her for it. Still, the young man adopted a coy smile, "You know Jose always takes his frustrations out on me when you skip out on class!"

Growing frustrated with this line of topic she replied back with a shout of her own, "Was there something you needed?"

Momentarily stunned by her curtness, he nodded his head before adopting a sheepish demeanor, "Yes, your highness the Queen has requested your attendance in the main hall. I was on my way just now to fetch you by your mother's words."

My mother..? She thought, and as she did her head began to pound. A moment later, images began to flash through her mind. One after another, thoughts – emotions came pouring into her of a life that was not her own. She saw a small young girl attempting to draw the attentions of an older woman of the same frame and build. The coldness, however, of the older woman was startling, and left an aching sensation in Ginevra's chest. Again and again she saw similar instances, yet no matter what the young girl did, her mother (for there was no mistaking the similarities) showed not the slightest interest. The loneliness of the young girl was so stiflingly familiar to Ginevra that she shoved the images away. What was that? She thought to herself.

After taking a moment to compose herself, she nodded to the younger man, whom she now seemed instinctively to know as Victor, "Thank you, Victor, for telling me. I'll be right down." He nodded, and went to stand by a small tree while he awaited Ginevra's arrival in the courtyard. From there, he escorted her to the Throne Room, though once at the door the mage guard there forbade Victor from entering.

With a apologetic smile back towards Victor, Ginevra turned and hurried into the throne room. As she did, she took in the crisp marble floors and columns and more of the female guards like the one at the door stationed around the room. Four stood ready around the dais of the queen, and as Ginevra approached she was struck dumb with the infallible likeness of the woman before her to the woman from in the flashes. She noted a man standing to the right of the queen – Koren, she seemingly knew instinctively- but paid him little mind. As she approached the throne, she did what seemed natural, kneeling before the queen of the castle. "Y-you called for me, Mother...?" Ginervra asked tentatively, the words leaving a bad taste in her mouth. This was not her mother, not by a long shot. Still, this dream seemed to call for her to do such, and she was intrigued to see what her subconscious was up to.

Yet, instead of her "Mother" addressing her, Koren stepped forward. "I will explain, Ginevra. As you have likely noticed, the Mana of the land is beginning to fade. Soon, our once peaceful kingdom will be little more than a frozen wasteland. To prevent this, and the greater cataclysm of Mana fading completely from our world it has been decided that we must journey to the Mana Holylands. But in order to do that, we must break the seals of the eight Mana stones, releasing the power within them. Only through this can we gain access to the Holylands."

Whatever Koren was talking about, it sounded important. Yet, it made little sense to Ginevra – Mana Holy lands? Mana stones? What in the world was he going on about? Something about all of this felt wrong – dead wrong. As if the mere thought of what they were speaking of was a form of blasphemy. These 'Mana stones' sounded as if they were anchors for something extremely powerful, and powerful things were always guarded heavily. "Shouldn't breaking the seal be impossible..?" Ginevra questioned, and it caused Koren to smile. The smile was in no way comforting, instead causing shivers to run down her spine. This man made her uncomfortable. There was something distinctly... wrong about him.

Finally, he replied, "Normally, yes. But we will use an ancient and powerful spell that has long been forbidden." At his words, a sinking feeling settled into Ginevra's stomach; Forbidden things were usually forbidden for a reason. Just what was her mind trying to tell her? "The reason for this," he continued, "is that in order to use the spell, it takes the life of the caster. Now, obviously, N(n)either myself nor your mother can give up our lives yet. That is why we have decided it shall have to be you that we sacrifice to save our lands."

Ice ran through her veins at this. Something was wrong with this dream – terribly wrong. Standing in shock and outrage, she shouted, "What? M-mother, how could you?"

Finally, the queen lifted her face, and for the first time, she met Ginevra's eyes. The look of scorn and hatred was plain on her face, and the scowl that coated her lips was venomous. "You, who cannot cast a single spell are a blight and shame on our royal bloodline. If you were to die using one of the most powerful spells, it would be a befitting death."

As the queen spoke, the four sentries turned as one, focusing entirely on Ginevra. As one they stepped towards her.

Something was wrong with this dream.

"N-no..."

Terribly wrong.

She wanted to wake up.

They stepped closer and still she tried to back away.

She wanted to be anywhere but here.

As the last of the distance between them closed, Ginevra shook her head forcefully.

"NOO!" she shouted, and as she did her voice overflowed with magic, amplifying it so that it shook the entire thrown room. In a flash, she disappeared, leaving a bewildered queen and adviser behind.

XoXoX

When Ginevra came to next, she huddled close to herself. It was so insanely cold! After a moment of failing miserably to warm herself up, the young girl hoisted herself up and looked around her. Behind her, she found the walls of what she could only assume to be the castle. Why wasn't this dream ending? She wanted it to end.

And with that thought, came a nagging fear. What if this wasn't a dream? What if she really was here? Where ever 'here' was exactly.

What was she to do then? She couldn't stay here, that was for certain, but she also couldn't go back. She refused to die in some unknown place, in a strange world that wanted to kill her! With that thought in mind she turned her back on the castle walls and faced the forest before her. Clouds were gathering in the sky above her, and Ginevra had the distinct feeling that if she didn't find shelter soon, she would be as good as dead. Without a second thought then, she trudged out into the snow, her boots somehow keeping the frigidness from seeping through to her skin. Soon enough, she found herself passing through a clearing amidst the trees, and as she did she found her next problem. Ahead were two creatures, blue of skin and scaly of flesh. Overall, they looked like overgrown, walking fish – but their eyes belied an intelligence and malevolence not found in most animals. There was hatred there. Hatred, for all sentient life.

Even as she noted this, one of the two creatures spotted her and let out a shrill trilling sound. The other turned, and together, the two creatures charged across the surface of the snow without making so much as a footprint. In her terror, Ginevra glanced around frantically for something, anything she could use to ward them off. When nothing presented itself, she dashed as quickly as she could towards the nearest tree and lept for a branch intending to hoist herself up. Instead, as she caught it, the far end of the branch bowed under her weight, and within seconds of her added weight, snapped in two, plunging Ginevra back into the snow. Frantic and cold, Ginevra rolled off her back, the branch still in her hands as a makeshift weapon which she quickly put to use, for as soon as she came to her knees the two were upon her. She blocked the first of the two tridents with her makeshift club, then shoved back against the trident with all her fear, anger, and despair, and the fish-creature found itself thrown backwards into it's ally.

Fueled by her fear and rage, Ginevra charged the two beings, screaming madly as she swung her club wildly. At first the two were able to block or move out of the way of her attacks, but unprepared for such a mindless assault the two were quickly felled, leaving a panting and crying Ginevra in their wake. She slumped to the ground before the two corpses, nearly too tired to move. What was she doing here? Just where the hell was 'here' anyways? And why did it seem like everything in this Merlin forsaken place wanted to kill her?

How much it was that she wanted to be home. To just be back at the Burrow, away from all this madness. Her thoughts flickered to Harry, and she realized then, just how much she missed him. Even if they'd never been an item, and never would be Ginevra found that she drew strength from simply being near him. Strength, that radiated off of him in waves. How she wished she could see him one last time.

"Harry..." she whispered softly, her words lost on the wind as the cold sapped the last of her strength. Quietly, she slumped into the snow, unmoving.