In the great entrance hall of the Sheppard castle, Prince John was getting ready to race after his beloved when suddenly the doors opened and a man came tumbling through. "It's Queen Victoria's captain." John muttered in horror as he ran to the side of the fallen man with Richard and Carson just behind him. "What happened?"

"We...we were attacked." The captain muttered as he began to lose consciousness. "By a great...monster..."

"Elizabeth..." John whispered in horror and before anyone could react he was out the door on the road that the Queen and Princess had taken. Even through the pouring rain he could hear Richard calling out for him, worried.

"John, wait!"

But it was too late. John had had already rushed out the door. He mounted his noble steed and raced off like the wind into the raging storm. His heart was pounding and his throat was tight with emotion. Still he rode on despite the rain in his face. When he got to the scene he instantly dismounted. "Elizabeth?" he cried out. "Elizabeth?" he asked as he looked inside the carriage, but it was empty. "Elizabeth?" he called out again. "ELIZABETH!"

Trying to calm down he scanned the area and found the locket that he had given her all those years ago. He picked it up and held it within his hands. He then heard a gasp and looked up to see Queen Victoria lying by the side of the road dying. "Queen Victoria," he stated as he knelt beside her. "Who did this?"

"It—it came so quickly," she whispered weakly. "A great, monster."

"Where is Elizabeth?" he asked frantically. "Queen Victoria where is she?"

Queen Victoria shook her head. "Listen to me John," she insisted. "It's not what it seems. It's not what it seems."

"What's not?" asked John, more confused than ever. "Where is Elizabeth?"

"Elizabeth is…" the queen began weakly. "Elizabeth is…gone."

And with that, the Queen herself was gone as well. John knelt there in the rain hardly believing what he had just heard. "No," he whispered assuredly to herself as he stood up, almost afraid that his legs would not support him. "No…no….NO!" The pain of losing the only woman that he had grown to love grew to be too much and John fell to the ground, clutching the locket to his chest. "ELIZABETH!" he cried out in pain. "ELIZABETH…."

"Prince John?" asked a familiar voice. John looked up to see Carson standing over him. "Prince John what happened?"

"She's gone…" John whispered in a terrified voice. "Gone."

But the truth was that she wasn't gone. She had been taken to a small forgotten castle in the middle of the woods. Neither Victoria nor William had known of its existence. But Kolya had known about it, he had gone there to try and regroup after everything had been destroyed and it was there that he brought the young princess. The afternoon was dying and the only inhabitant on the beautiful crystal lake was a swan. As night fell and the moon rose Kolya taunted the princess. "Now don't let my little spell make you upset Princess Elizabeth," he stated in a cold cruel voice while his assistant Sora fed the swan bits of bread. "It doesn't even last the whole day, as soon as the moon comes up…"

He paused for effect and as the moonlight touched the swan's wings she changed back into her true form. "And that's how it works, every night." Kolya finished explaining. "You have to be on the lake of course and as soon as the moonlight touches your wings…" Elizabeth let out a small sob and Kolya changed tactics. "Look Elizabeth, this sort of thing doesn't give me any pleasure," he paused and changed his mind. "Well maybe a little bit, but what I really want…is your mother's kingdom."

"Then take it," Elizabeth snapped as she pulled away from the man—the monster who had captured her. "You have enough power."

"Nah," Kolya protested. "Tried that already, once you steal something you spend your whole life trying to keep it," he paused and stepped a little closer to Elizabeth. "But if I married the only heir to the throne, then we could rule the kingdom together legally as King and Queen."

"Never," Elizabeth snapped as she stormed past him.

"Where are you going?" asked Kolya with a tone of amusement in his voice. "As soon as the moonlight leaves the lake, you turn back into a swan…" he paused and watched as Elizabeth paused mid-step. "…no matter where you are," Kolya finished. And with that, he and Sora left Elizabeth be. Through she collapsed to the ground sobbing at the injustice of it all.

.

Months later, back in William's kingdom Prince John and his father's adviser Richard Woolsey were out in the grounds. "The musicians aren't happy," Richard stated as he set up the arrows.

"I know," John stated. "But I have to practice."

"Oh no complaints here, I think that it's going to loads of fun." Richard stated.

"The great animal is never going to give Elizabeth up without a fight."

Richard shook his head. "Surely you can't still think that she's alive…"

"When I find the great animal Woolsey," John assured. "I'll find Elizabeth."

"Oh John," Richard sighed. "You've looked everywhere. She's not coming back. The whole kingdom knows this."

"The whole kingdom is wrong," John assured. "Elizabeth is out there and I'm going to find her," he paused and turned to Carson who had joined them on the hill. "You ready Car?" he asked.

"No peaking," Richard stated as he tied a blindfold around Carson's eyes. Once both the prince and his friend were blindfolded, Richard turned to the pavilion. "Animals!" he called out. "Assemble."

"Lord Woolsey I must protest," stated the conductor as he emerged first. "We are musicians."

Richard sighed. "It's the servants day off today, we had to use someone."

"But we are artists," the composer continued. "Not animals."

"Oh come on you guys," John stated with a sigh as he took out one of the cloth arrows. "These things won't harm you."

The band reluctantly agreed and the practice began. In the end, John seemed to be the clear winner with his colour powder all over every musician who had dressed up in costume. King William had watched his son and sighed. All the prince ever does is practice, practice, practice, he thought silently to himself. The girl is gone, sad as that is we must start thinking about bringing Queen Victoria's kingdom into our own. The people are lost and floundering and her assistants can only do so much…Meanwhile, Richard called all the animals forward. "Animals assemble for counting…" he waited a couple of seconds and then once the musicians had assembled he began going through them and counting off how many shots John had gotten versus Carson. In the end, despite Carson's pathetic attempt at cheating, John came out victorious and as he walked away from the weary band mates, he promised himself that that all his practice would be for nothing. He would find his Elizabeth.

.

And find her he did. After hunting in the woods John followed a shadow and came to a forgotten castle where he saw his beloved change from the figure of a swan into the figure that she had been born into. They had had a passionate reunion where she had explained to him how she had been kidnapped and what curse had been bestowed upon her. "You must make a vow of everlasting love," she explained.

"I'll make it," he swore. "It's all I've ever wanted. "

"You must prove it to the world."

"How?" he asked.

"I don't know," Elizabeth stated with a quiver in her voice.

John thought and then remembered how his father was planning a ball. "The ball," he stated suddenly.

"What?" she asked, hearing Kolya calling in the distance.

"The ball," he repeated. "Come to the ball tomorrow night. I will make a vow of everlasting love."

"Tomorrow night," Elizabeth whispered. "I shall be there."

.

But Elizabeth had not shown up, at least not the real her. John had made the vow only to learn that his Elizabeth was going to die, because of a dirty trick. John raced to find his love and came across the villian Kolya. After a wicked battle, John was victorious but it was too late. Elizabeth was dead. "Oh Elizabeth," he cried. "The vow was for you. I love you, your kindness and courage. I always have."

With a gentle kiss on her forhead, John resigned himself to the fact that his Elizabeth was dead but then to his utmost surprise, she awakened. With Kolya dead the spell had been broken and upon their arrival back to John's kingdom they were married and they lived happily ever after.

Author's Note: Okay, quick ending I know. I skipped over a lot of the movie, my favourite parts too but I just wanted this thing done and I feel like I still captured the magic of 'The Swan Princess' and the brilliance that is the sparky relationship. Thanks for reading. Hope you'll review this last chapter.