I'm so sorry I haven't updated. I've been dealing with Hurricane Sandy lately (ugh) so I'm trying to write more. I've got no school this whole week so I'll do better. Enjoy :)

Prince Charming

I could only notice how it looked like no one was even inside. The castle was a sickening grey color. Automatically, I couldn't trust this part of the land. I stopped right in front of Uncle and Celeste. They both gave me a nasty look and continued on. I didn't feel like going any further. I looked ridiculous but I didn't care. Something wasn't right around here.

"Ofelia, stay close. We don't want you to wander off," Uncle laughed.

"I don't think this place will be of good use. Let's turn back," I suggested.

"Turn back? Ofelia, we're this far. You're coming inside. This concerns you," he pulled me along.

As I stepped closer, my heart thumped rapidly. We stood at the door for a few moments, doing absolutely nothing. Uncle stepped back from the door and looked up. I followed his same movements. We stared at a man, possibly an assassin. He sat on the ledge, his foot dangling. How long had he been standing there for? Celeste was the last to look at him.

"Are you just going to stare?" Uncle asked the man.

"I was going to ask you the same. What business do you have here?" he asked.

"We've come to see the Prince. It concerns something important," he responded.

"The Prince is quite busy at the moment. Would you mind coming back later?" he stood up.

"Would you let us in if we had Princess Ofelia here?" that caught him off guard.

"The Princess Ofelia?" he was surprised.

"She's right here," he pointed to Celeste.

I was about to step up, when she blocked my path. Why would they do that to me? I had a lot of questions for Uncle after we set off again. Celeste quickly bowed to the man and stood close to Uncle. This was just another episode of me getting left behind. I wished them luck getting them to believe she was the Last Deity. I'll get back at them somehow.

"How can you prove it?" he was suspicious.

Celeste broke free of Uncle and stepped a bit closer to him. She was about to open her mouth, like she was going to speak. I realized we'd be caught at this point. She couldn't speak the natural language! I turned away to embrace the outcome. As I was going to, Uncle caught me and spun me around once more.

"I'm Princess Ofelia Stiltzchen, daughter of Reina and Rump Stiltzchen. I'm the Last Deity and a reincarnation of those before me. I'm confident of who I am. I don't think I'd have to prove it to you," Celeste spoke menacing English.

"Don't act surprised," Uncle whispered. I couldn't believe it! Celeste was speaking in English! Why did they have to keep it away from me? I wouldn't have told anyone! Uncle pulled me along as the doors started to creak open. Celeste walked in first, with us behind. They'll tell me later, I suppose. As the doors open, a marvelous corridor appeared. A red carpet started at the door and rolled all the way to the end of the corridor. I could see a figure in a chair from the long distance. The man on the roof appeared out of nowhere!

"Thank you for arriving so early. We heard of the grand news. We hoped you had something in mind as payout," he talked to Celeste.

"Of course. We'll give you anything you need. I wanted to get you on our side," she responded.

It took us a few minutes to finally get to the end of the red carpet. A monstrous throne sat at the end. A skinny young man sat sideways in it. He wore all black. The long sleeved shirt went up to his neck. He wore a shiny black eyepatch on his right. He didn't look too menacing. He looked lonely, just like this empty room.

"Sir, Princess Ofelia has arrived," the man bowed to him.

"Let me take a good look at her. I know the Last Deity with my own eyes," he turned his head to look at me.

I gulped and felt Uncle try to comfort me. He stood up pushed aside his man. He came up to Celeste and took her hand delicately. She smiled at him and bowed.

"I'm Princess Ofelia. Would you rather talk in private or here?" she asked him.

"I think here would be rather comforting. That way, I have my men and you have yours," he explained.

She nodded and motioned for him to sit back in his chair. She explained to him everything that happened to me. She gave a huge summary on my life and the feelings I felt. I should've been telling him these things. The emotions were being ripped out one by one. I didn't think I'd last any longer with this going on. Suddenly, Celeste began to explain her "hatred" of my mother.

"Reina should be destroyed. She is my own mother but I swore to everyone she'd be put down," she explained.

"You know we are a neutral people. If we find a good offer, we'll stick to your side," he smiled. "Although I find your explanation charming, I'd like to hear it from Ofelia herself," he suddenly stated.

I could see the shocking look on Celeste's face. She didn't know how to argue with that. She gave an interesting look to Uncle, probably begging for help. He started speaking to the Prince, very quickly. He nodded and just smiled as he tried to excuse her. When he finished talking, the Prince looked to me and started to get closer. This time, I didn't back away. Maybe I could help this time.

"This is Celeste, Ofelia's guardian," Uncle explained behind him.

"I can sense the innocence of this girl. You didn't do a very good job of hiding that. Look at her, she's scared for her life. She has just started the training of the Last Deity," he caught everything.

"I'm not scared for my life! I've got a sword and high skills," I thought I proved him right.

"Not what your mother would say," he started to walk back to his throne.

He sat down in his sideways form. Suddenly, a figure started to come from behind the large chair. She stepped out from the shadows and revealed herself. I wanted to break down on the floor at that moment. I couldn't handle the pressure being thrown at me. My breathing got faster. I was going to faint at this point!

"I wish you got here quicker. A part of me really wanted you to succeed, darling. It was too easy for me. Mother knows best," her cruel words told me.

"It was easy for me too. I met wise people who changed my life. Their advice gave me strength to defeat you. In the end, I will succeed," I reassured her.

"Reina," Uncle starred deep inside her.

"Liam!" an unknown tone in her voice arose.

She swiftly came to him like a child. She embraced him to the fullest and started to cry. He didn't know what to do. I could see he felt guilty but his eyes were enraged. After everything she did to him, she deserved Death's sentence. She pulled his arms around her waist and put her hands on his face. She started to mesmerize him, and make him believe she was innocent. She kissed him, like he was her own husband. He gave in too quickly. I made sure Celeste didn't get too jealous. It was fake, I told her.

"Reina, why are you here?" he asked her softly.

"My mother took over my mind! I can't help it anymore Liam, she won!" a whiny voice explained to him. Tears ran down her face as she frowned.

"That's what you wanted us to see," he was disgusted.

"You believed it all. The work has been done. I'm not surprised you made your way back up here. Death didn't know what to do to you," her face didn't show sadness anymore.

She slipped out of his grasp and walked back to the Prince. She kneeled by his side and took his hand. He smiled at her and shifted his eyes to me. What was going on here? I didn't mention that my heart didn't stop being nervous.

"I'm guessing we can't escape. You might as well hurry and put us in your doomed cell," Liam said.

"You could try. Don't forget that we have a whole army. It's useless, darlings," she told us.

"We? You've decided to fight with her?" Celeste suddenly spoke up.

"As a matter of fact, I have. Not only is she letting me marry her, we're getting better equipment, armor, barracks, food, and more. We'll have a better life than we have now. I deserve to be treated like a real prince in this land," he snarled.

He kissed her, harshly and more disgusting than what I've seen. My mother was probably marrying everyone by now. She was a disgrace to me anyways.

"Assassins! Come take Ofelia's guardians to the oubliette. They'll find shelter for the night there. As for you, my darling, you're staying with us. We've prepared your own room," Reina spoke to me.

The well-armored guards took my family away from me. The Prince guided me another way to my room. It would probably be a prison as well. When we got to my room, it actually wasn't as bad as I expected. It had a bed but not a very nice one. The floor was covered in hay. The Prince was quite poor. No wonder he wanted to take Reina's side.

"You only have one dress to change into. Don't worry about escaping. Three of our guards will be right outside," the Prince smiled.

They exchanged glances and shut the door. I heard enough locks to ignore it. They must be worried about my powers. I then heard shuffling noises and bumps in the door. The guards sound tough and mean! I search for something to change into. My only choice was a middle class dress. It was beautiful but I wasn't sure why my mother would make me wear this. She was all about the riches. I ignored it for now. I switched my warrior garb for the dress. It really matched my white cloak that I treasured.

Hours and hours went by, it seemed like. I would try to have conversations with the guards but they didn't respond. Sometimes I thought they weren't there at all. I would get food from time to time but I never got freedom to explore the other rooms. I sat in a corner, since it was better than my bed. I sighed and just closed my eyes for a while, wondering what my mother would do to me. I heard footsteps coming closer to my room. I stood up and put my ear to the door.

"Good day, fellas, mind if I get in there? The Prince is asking for her," a voice asked.

"We never got the message. Someone make sure. Two of us will stay here," a smart one stated.

Suddenly, I heard punches being thrown and men crying out in pain. Swords were drawn and slashed through the air. The bumps against the door were completely loud! I was surprised the door didn't fall down already. I backed against the wall just in case. At one point, all the noise stopped. I was confused for a moment. What's going on out there?

"Is anyone even in there?" the voice asked.

"Yes. I'm in here. What's going on?" I questioned.

"I'll tell you later. Any idea on how to get these locks open?" he responded.

"Obviously not. Does it look like I would know?" I was a bit angry.

"Easy now, love. I was just asserting. Do you think I could break this door down?" he was questioning me.

"I really don't know. Are we going to get into the sciences of it?" I made a point.

I didn't hear anything after that. The voice told me to stand back. As I was about to, the door completely flew towards me! I fell on the bed and shrieked. My muscles weren't cooperating with me anymore. I fell into a solid state. The figure stepped inside and looked down on me. I couldn't see, for a wave of fog cleared up my space.

"You are much prettier than I thought," he commented.

"Thank you. Might I ask who you are?" I wanted to know.

"No time for that, love. We better get you out before the Prince comes back. I have no idea what trouble you're in but I'll save you anyhow," he stated.

He quickly jerked me up on my feet. I could've broken my arm from that! I grabbed my cloak and hung it over my arm for the moment. He saw that I had the cloak and wrapped it around me.

"Thank you," I told him.

He nodded and led me out of the dark room. We entered the light and I was glad. I had some more space and air. If I stayed in there longer, I could've died. Maybe he was my rescuer. After all, he did beat those three men, and the door. I finally caught a good look of him. He was very tall and broad. He wore a very long coat and a white shirt underneath. I could see that his muscles were making a large impression. What an interesting costume. This must be for all the damsels in distress. As I was about to keep walking, I felt really dizzy and fell towards him. He caught me in an instant. I could finally get a better look. He had beautiful blonde hair. I would say it was true blonde. It was held in a ponytail but some of the bangs fell out. He looked like an angel.

"Are you alright? Don't collapse on me, now," he smiled.

"Yes, um, yes. I was stuck in there for too long. I haven't been outside in a while," I made an excuse.

"Where do you live? I'll get you back home safely," he asserted.

"I can't go anywhere without my friends. My Uncle and friend are trapped in the Prince's oubliette. Please help me," I wasn't really begging.

"No issue at all. I'll help," he grabbed my hand. The wind blew in my hair, from how fast we were going. He seemed to know where he was going. He's obviously been in this place before and many times. Was he a guard here? Was this a test to see if I would leave? I'll take that as a yes. For now, I want to trick them. They underestimate my intelligence. We finally got to the oubliette. There were many prisoners, kicking and screaming. I searched everywhere for my Uncle's cell. They separated them. I found Celeste and then Uncle.

"Where are you going?" I asked the man.

"You've found your group. I'll leave you to the rest," he started to run.

"I thought you said you'd take me back home?" I was confused.

"Look, I thought you were alone. I didn't know you had a group. You'll be safe with them now," the man pointed out.

"Charming?" Liam squinted his eyes.

"Do I know you?" the man tilted his head.

"You're Elsief's son! I almost forgot about you," Uncle's face lit up.

"I'm sorry I'm not acquainted with you. Let's get out of here and talk more, okay?" he asked all of us.

We nodded and followed him out. This was an easy escape, I thought. In a matter of minutes, we were standing outside of the Prince's castle. Maybe this was too easy. Where were all the guards now? I wanted to bring up the situation but Uncle might put it down. We walked a bit further into the forest again. We reached the outskirts and sat down for a break. I decided to stand.

"Anyways, thank you kindly for helping us," Uncle looked at him.

"It's my pleasure. My senses were telling me a maiden was in trouble," he smiled at me.

"What do you say to Prince Charming?" Uncle asked me.

Prince Charming? I thought every prince was Prince Charming. My goodness, I was standing next to a famous man! The Prince Charming rescued me! I couldn't be anymore excited. I was a bit jealous that he rescued other girls too. I was just another random, unimportant one.

"Thank you," I said instantly.

"You're welcome," he just stared at me.

"Oh, it's Ofelia," I reminded him.

"You're welcome, Princess Ofelia," he smiled.

"It's not Princess Ofelia," I had a tone.

"Yes you are. You're Queen Reina's daughter," I wish Liam hadn't said that.

"Reina's daughter?" Charming scowled at me.

"She's not all evil, Charming. She's a good girl," Celeste told him.

"I won't believe it," he stared me down.

"Would you believe it if we told you she was the Last Deity?" Celeste had a smirk on her face.

"Are you serious? She is the last one? This is magnificent!" he clapped his hands together.

"You're taking us to your mother. She'd like to know too," Uncle reminded him.

He nodded and took a short bow towards me. I nodded in approval.