• Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a beautiful princess and her name was Lauren. She was shy but very sweet and kind to all. Her voice so gentle that it would even sway the most savage beast into bowing before her. Her parents, the king and queen of the kingdom loved their daughter dearly and gave the young princess everything she could ever want but alas it was not enough. What she truly desired the most was but love. Every day, the lonely princess Lauren would gaze out her window, longing to find her one true love just like in the fairytales that were told to her when she was just a little girl. Now our story begins with Princess Lauren day dreaming in her room...
    Lauren twirled around as her dress flowed up a bit in her room humming a sweet, soothing tune thinking of what it will be like when she finds her true love or her prince, "I wonder what my prince will be like~" Smiling at the thought, she spoke aloud, "They would be loyal, kind, loving and willing to come to my aid when I am in need, just like in a love story.." And with that she sighed dreamily, sitting upon her bed as she did. After a little while, there was a knock on her door and her mother's voice rang out, "Lauren! It's not good to be cooped up in your room all day, why don't you go have a walk in the garden? It's a beautiful day to be out" Knowing that her mother was right, she heaved a sigh, "Yes mother…" The young princess stood up and opened the door to see her mother who smiled at her warmly and she smiled back as well. Then with that Lauren began to make her way downstairs but was soon confronted by her father, "Where do you think you're going?" He asked sternly and she answered, "For a walk through the garden." Looking down at her, he frowned, "Must you spend all your time day dreaming and frolicking among flowers?! You are sixteen and must marry soon so that our family may carry on ruling the kingdom! That is the duty of a princess!" Clenching her hands into the fists, she raised her voice against her father, "Father why must you reprimand me of such things?! If I am to marry, I want it to be for love!! Can't you accept that?!" His mouth opened to say something but Lauren stormed off without letting him finish and she went out back to the garden after opening the doors at the back of the castle.
    The garden was very large, taking up much of the space in the back of the castle and there were plants and flowers of every kind from asters and lily's to roses and carnations. With every step Lauren took through the garden, her eyes gazed in amazement at all the beautiful flowers and she knelt down and picked a white carnation then smelled it taking in the scent as her lips curved into a smile, "Ahh..I love carnations; they're so delightful yet delicate…" But then out of the corner of her eye she saw a dove carrying a red rose in its beak flying into the forest, "Hm?" The young princess wandered into the forest after it, keeping her gaze locked on it. She ran faster and faster until the view of lake into sight but her foot caught onto the root of a tree causing her to trip as she cried out. Her eyes were closed waiting to feel the impact of the ground but instead, she felt two arms catch her from falling onto the ground. When the princess opened her eyes, she looked up to see it was another girl who looked rather mysterious but alluring at the same time. Her hair was as black as the night sky which was tied back in a ponytail with a dark red ribbon but her black bangs shorter than the rest of her hair hung in the front of her face but swept over to the side so that it would not get in the way of the girl's vision and her eyes were a chocolate brown which complimented her delicate facial features. Though she was a girl, she was dressed in clothes that of what a prince would wear, a royal blue buttoned over running down the left & right side on the front along with a collar around her neck lined in black like the rest of the shirt. The girl wore somewhat formal looking black pants with dark brown boots. As Lauren gazed upon this 'prince' she blushed lightly at the sight of her until she said softly, "Are you alright, miss?" Then the girl set the princess back up onto her feet, she was just about the same height as Lauren.
    Nodding silently at the girl's question, she then spoke up, "I-If you are a girl…then why do you dress as though you're a prince?" The girl smiled shyly and began to explain, "In my kingdom, the royal family that rules or in other words my family have the freedom to dress how we want but it is preferred that we dress more traditional according to the custom. My boyish attitude has come to label me as the 'Prince' of the kingdom, but I am really a princess of course."

    After the princess listened, she nodded,
    "Ohhh I see…so would this mean that girls in your kingdom would adore you as well like the boys would?"

    The prince blushed a bit but nodded, "Yes...but I do not mind this at all, after all love is love no matter what gender, right?"

    Smiling warmly at Lauren, the young princess nodded again as an answer. "So now may I ask..." Taking a hold of her hand gently, the prince finished her question, "...Does this beautiful maiden bear a name?" Uttering the words softly this caused Lauren to blush quite a bit, "My…my name is Lauren, princess of the Eller Kingdom." The prince smiled then bowed and kissed her hand gently, "It's a pleasure to meet you princess; my name is Amanda, 'prince' of the Amador Kingdom." Blushing a bit more after the prince kissed her hand, she looked up at Amanda when she stood back up straight and gazed into her eyes. "Would you like to join me in a walk along the lake?" She asked the princess and gave her a welcoming smile. Lauren blinked and nodded as she smiled back as well, "Why yes~ I'd love to." And with that the prince and princess began to walk side by side along the lake which sparkled in the sunlight.

    Amanda turned her gaze to Lauren, "So what does the princess like to do?.."

    She asked with yet another smile, "Oh…well uhm I like to write, draw, stargaze and…sing" Blushing a bit at the last part, Lauren smiled sheepishly which caused the prince to let out a chuckle,
    "Ahh how cute, it'd be a pleasure to hear you sing sometime"

    "Well then what does the 'prince' like to do in her spare time?" She asked returning the question right back at Amanda and put air quotes on the word 'prince' as she giggled a little.

    "Hmm…well just about everything that you mentioned that you like to do and sparring, taking long scenic walks & horseback riding" The prince answered, speaking calmly as she did.

    Lauren nodded then began to stare at this 'prince' and it looked like she was longing for something or to ask a question but then Amanda met her gaze, "Hm? It looks as though you want to ask something of me….what is it?" She gulped and bit her lower lip trying to bring herself to ask the question, "It...it is of love. Have you ever fallen for someone?" Taken aback by the question, the prince blushed but shook her head, "No I have not…until about recently I'd say." Blinking in curiosity, the princess came forth closer and questioned, "And who might this be?..." Blushing more, Amanda glanced down then stared at the princess in the eyes, "That I will keep a secret for now until then..." She picked a blossom from a tree near them and gave it to Lauren, "…I must go." And with that the prince began to walk off but the princess cried out, "Wait!...when will we meet again?" For a moment, she stopped walking and looked back at the girl, "Today at twilight, when the sun is setting we shall meet here at the lake. Until then farewell." Watching Amanda walked off and vanishing into the forest, the princess let out a dreamy sigh then twirled around and began to walk merrily back to the castle, "She was calm, mysterious, beautiful and so kind. Ahh such an amazing prince but I wonder who she has fallen for," the love struck princess Lauren thought to herself as she now came upon the castle grounds.
    Making her way back into the castle, a guard ran out and up to her, "Princess, your mother and father request your presence, please follow me if you will." Lauren blinked and nodded then began to follow the guard to inside the castle; they made their way through the hallways until they came upon the throne room in which the guard opened for her. And there sitting upon their thrones were the king and queen..or her parents. Her mother smiled at their daughter, "We have news to tell you dear," but then her father frowned a bit, "Why must you speak so kindly? You must speak sternly so that she will listen!" She shook her head and sighed a bit, "Well since your father has so urged for you to marry soon and us deciding on who you marry would not be fair. And so we have arranged for a ball to be held here and have invited royal families from kingdoms far and wide so that you may find someone that you want to marry." The princess thought about it for a moment then asked, "Then would that mean that you have invited the royal family of the Amador Kingdom?" Her mother nodded, "Why ye---" But she was cut off by the king speaking up, "Isn't that the family in which their daughter dresses like a man instead of a woman?! That girl has no self respect for dressing as a proper lady!" The queen shook her head again and said back, "Nonsense, their daughter is not be judged by the way she looks but should be seen as how she is on the inside. She is a very kind and loving girl who could make a great bride or er..groom?" Letting out a giggle, she laughed a bit then said, "Don't be so quick to judge people, dear. Maybe if you meet her the day after tomorrow at the ball, on Saturday then perhaps your thoughts will change about her." He sighed and crossed his arms, "Alright, I'll give her a chance." The whole time, Lauren had been spacing out and thinking of telling Amanda of the wonderful news at twilight.
    But while this was going on, a man in a black cloak had been listening on this from behind the door for he was the king's advisor. The man's name was Lucius; he was a rather dark and mysterious fellow and always dwelled about in his room that was in the basement silently. His hair was jet black and had eyes as red as crimson blood, the man was rather tall as well making his appearance all the more intimidating. He smirked after hearing of the news then went off to the basement. As he made his way down the stairs, you could hear rats squeaking and running about here & there, the air was damp and torches on the wall lit the way down but also made the atmosphere rather eerie. Lucius walked down the dimly lit corridor and came upon a rusted metal door then pulled out at key unlocking it while heaving the door open. He took a torch just outside the door and lit the ones in the room which then revealed a desk with papers all over it, a bookcase off to the side filled with books of spells, potions & remedies and in the middle there was a large table with viles, bottles and glasses of colored liquids which was assumed to be potions and serums. Off to the other side of the room was a large shelf with all kinds of weird things in jars and bottles like the eyes of newts, dragon claws, black salt, bat hearts, beaks of birds and anything else weird that you can think of. Closing the door after him after putting the torch back, "I will make my move on the night of the ball. Finally I will rid of this accursed royal family so that I may rule. And while I'm at it, I'll take out the other royal families as well but hm…I will need a woman..no a wife to rule with me." Thinking for a moment then finally speaking aloud again, "Ah that daughter of theirs will do, she day dreams all the time of what her 'prince charming' will be like." Letting out an evil cackle at the thought, Lucius then said, "Who knows maybe she could love a man such as myself, hahahahaahaha!!" Then he walked over to the bookcase and pulled out a spell book, "Now let's see what spell I should use to take out the royals…" Flipping through the pages her searched thoroughly for a good spell then stopped at a page, "Aha! This is good, the spell of Eternal Nightmare. Those fools will dream forever of nightmares and never wake up." He looked through the words to chant for the spell and grinned evilly. With a swift motion, Lucius closed the book having the spell memorized then he went to the table in the middle beginning to prepare potions and spells to aid his maniacal plan that he had in store for the ball.
    Meanwhile up in the throne room, once Lauren was done speaking with her parents she went off to her room upstairs with a big smile on her face. Bursting through her door she went and danced around merrily, "Yes!! I think I've found my prince~!" She twirled and danced around while humming 'Once upon a dream' from the Sleeping Beauty play that she had seen in town a while ago. In her mind the princess imagined herself and the prince riding on her horse through the forest then the both of them coming upon a meadow & laying down gazing up at the sky together. Giggling, Lauren let out a squeal of excitement and glee, happy to know that this wasn't all a dream, it was real!

    Before she knew it, the time of day was soon at twilight and the young princess trotted out her room and down the stairs. Looking around to see if the coast was clear, there was no one in sight and with that Lauren made her way to back of the castle and out the doors silently. Beginning to enter the forest, she ran through cautiously afraid of anything or anyone dangerous that might find her. At the moment from another part of the forest, Amanda was making her way through to the lake and she thought about Lauren and if she could make it to the lake without any harm being done to her. Since they first met there hasn't been a moment let alone a second that the prince had not been thinking of the princess. This feeling Amanda had when they first met..it was like butterflies fluttering in her stomach and every time she heard the sweet princess's voice it made her smile as though all the cares in the world disappeared in an instant. She didn't have that feeling of void anymore...Amanda felt completed and the prince did not have to face things alone anymore. Once she came upon the lake, the young prince looked around for her princess. Soon Lauren came out from forest and arrived at the lake then saw her prince on the other side, "Amanda!" Calling out to her, the prince looked up and smiled then ran around to the other side and up to the princess. "Evening, my lady" Greeting Lauren with a smile, she bowed then stood back up straight. This made the princess giggle a bit and she said back, "And good evening to you as well, I have good news though." Looking at Lauren now in the eyes, she questioned, "What is it?..." Then she began to speak again but in a calm tone, "My parents are holding a ball at our castle and have invited all the royal families of different kingdoms to it including your family." Overjoyed by the news, Prince Amanda went and hugged Lauren then twirled them both around, "That's great news!" She said happily then stopped, the princess went to pull away slowly but the prince held her close. Blushing, she looked at Amanda, "Wh-what is wrong?.." Asking with a stutter, the prince gazed into her eyes, "It's nothing...I just want to stay like this for a while longer." The princess nodded slowly but soon a thought came to her mind and she said, "Remember earlier today that you told you had fallen for someone recently….may I know who it is now?" Gulping a bit, Amanda nodded and began to speak, "It's you" Saying it softly, Lauren blushed a bright red, "R-Reall---" But her sentence was cut off by the feeling of her lips onto the princess's own lips. Blushing even more, the princess just went with it as she closed her eyes. The kiss felt almost magical, she swore that she saw sparks when this wonderful prince pressed her lips to her own. After a little while, Amanda pulled back slowly as their lips parted then smiled, "I love you" Speaking softly, those three words were like music to Lauren's ears and she gladly returned those words, "I love you too." Realizing that their love may be forbidden or rejected by her father tears welled up in her eyes and the princess turned away quickly wiping them, "My love, my angel will you not rescue me from this life in which our love is frowned upon so that we may be free from this hell in which the people keep us in!" After hearing this Amanda went and enveloped Lauren into her arms, "Princess, worry not and shed no tears. I will rescue you because as long as we have one another nothing, not even a force in the world can stop us." Seizing from her doubtful thoughts, the princess looked up and gazed upon her handsome prince, "Oh what comforting words you speak, my prince.." Then she leaned in and kissed Amanda this time then pulled back a bit, "It is becoming late perha---" Her sentence was cut off by the sound of growling coming from the forest and the prince stood in front of Lauren drawing her sword, prepared to protect her at all costs, "Who's there?..show yourself!" And out from the trees, came large wolf like beast, it had bright, red eyes and rows of sharp teeth as it snarled at them. The princess stared terrified, "Princess, run!" Said the prince and she nodded hesitantly then started to run but the beast went to lunge at her. Quickly Amanda went charged at the wolf hitting it against a tree and slashing her sword at it while doing so. It howled out then glared at the noble prince and knocked her to the ground but she blocked its paw that went to claw at her with her sword. The princess stopped and looked back, "Amanda!!" She went to help but Amanda cried out, "Go! I cannot risk letting you get hurt!" Then the prince shoved the beast off of her but was soon rammed into a tree by it causing her to cry out in pain, "Gahhh!!!" When the wolf came to charge at her again, she held sword out quickly making it run into the blade and it went motionless, falling to the ground after Amanda pulled the sword out. The creature then disappeared with a puff of purple smoke and she fell onto her knees panting heavily. Lauren hurried to her side and knelt down resting a hand onto Amanda's shoulder, "My love, are you alright?..." The prince nodded slowly, "Yeah..I'll be fine."
    Back in the forest by them, Lucius was sitting in a tree listening to them, "Hmm..it seems I've underestimated this 'prince' looks like that I shouldn't mess around with her on the night of the ball. She's stronger than I thought heh. This is just the beginning" And with that he disappeared off somewhere. The prince took Lauren's hand and began to walk her back to her castle so that nothing else could harm her while talking of what had happened just a moment ago. Once they arrived at the princess's castle, they said their farewells and Amanda headed back home.
    A while later, she came upon her castle and walked inside heading through the grand hallways for her room but was soon confronted by her mother,

    "Where have you been, daughter?"

    Heaving a sigh, the prince looked at her answering, "Mother, I was only out for a stroll. Did the guards not tell you of this?"

    Then her mother said, "Well we must start preparing for the ball this Saturday being held at the castle of the Eller Kingdom! I have arranged for the royal dressers to measure you first thing tomorrow and start to make what you will wear for the ball and in the ballroom I've arranged for an instructor to help you perfect the Waltz."
    Amanda groaned a bit then nodded, "Ughh alright, I am off to bed now" She said and walked straight to her room upstairs and closed the door behind her. Falling onto her bed, the prince closed her eyes thinking of what the ball will be like.
    As the days went by, whenever the prince was finished with her duties and went to visit Lauren at her castle whenever she was done with her duties and preparations for the ball. Every moment they spent together, the prince and princess would make the most of it. Finally the day of the ball came and back in the Amador Kingdom & was being dressed and prepared for that very night. The royal dressers had made red, dressy type shirt in which it was folded over and buttons ran down the left & right side of the shirt. The collar around her neck was lined in a gold color like the rest of the shirt and on her shoulders were gold colored rectangle padding (this was hard to describe o.o so just use you imagination for a great prince outfit!). And she was made black dress pants to wear with it along with brown dress shoes. Looking at herself in the mirror in the outfit, the prince's mother looked at her from the open door and smiled, "Ahh! You look so handsome!" Soon twilight came and the prince left for their in the carriage with her parents.
    Back at the castle, Lauren looked at herself in the mirror wearing the dress that the royal dressers made for her. She wore a long red dress that had frilly, white edges at the end and there was a red sash tied around her waist in a bow. There were red half sleeves that showed her shoulders but stopped at her elbows, "This dress is..amazing" The princess said to herself and twirled around then her mother called, "Lauren! The guests are arriving, come and welcome them with your father and I!" Lauren sighed a bit but obeyed her mother and walked out her room then went down to the ballroom with her parents. There they stood at the entrance greeting and welcoming their guests after a while, the young princess grew bored and wondered when her prince would arrive. She told her parents that she'd be right back and then trotted off to her room. Walking up to the dresser and standing before her mirror, she picked up a pink blossom that she had picked earlier and adjusted it into her hair, blossoms were Amanda's favorite flowers so that is just why Lauren put it on. Down in the ballroom, Prince Amanda had arrived and was greeted by Lauren's parents or the king and queen of the Eller Kingdom. Walking slowly through the crowd, her eyes scanned around for her princess. The other princess' and princes saw her then mumbled things about Amanda among their selves but she simply ignored them. When she looked to the grand staircase, Lauren was walking down it in a gorgeous dress. The prince was awe struck and gazed upon her. Princess Lauren spotted her prince to see that she had arrived but another prince of a different kingdom came up to her beginning to speak with Lauren and walked off with her. Amanda sighed and soon when all the guests had arrived a while after nightfall, the orchestra started to play the music for the ball. The whole time, princes here and there had been asking to dance with Lauren who agreed but only did this to please her parents. Trying to look like she was paying attention to prince she was dancing with right now who was talking of himself the whole time, Lauren longed to dance with her prince. Finally when she was done dancing with the prince another one started to walk up to her but Amanda came from out of nowhere standing before her, then she looked at the prince that walked up and said, "Sorry, I believe that she's taken, now go your merry way and run along little prince" He frowned at the bold prince of the Amador Kingdom and trotted off which made her smirk. Then Amanda turned to Lauren who giggled at her comment and the prince held her hand out, "May I have this dance, my lady?" She smiled and took her hand, "Why yes you may." And with that, she led Lauren over to where others were dancing (*note: They are ALL doing the waltz, just to let you know xD). The two began to do the Waltz, the prince gazed into the eyes of her princess and she looked back into hers as well. They swayed to the music, a smile stayed on both their faces and it all felt like a fairytale but it was their fairytale and Amanda twirled Lauren around then their eyes met again as she brought her back.
    Suddenly there was a loud rumbling and the ground underneath them shook, people cried out and somewhat panicked. The orchestra had stopped playing, a black swirling vortex of some sort was before them all and there appeared Lucius. All of the people backed away from him and he grinned, "Hmm a ball eh?..How come I never received an invitation? I guess I'll have to make you all pay…." The king frowned at the treachery of his advisor and called out, "Guards!! Seize him!" The guards charged at Lucius but he knocked them all back with his magic, "Ha! Your feeble attempts cannot stop me!" Then he held his hand out and started to chant the spell of Eternal Nightmare, "Kuratas nagita, necro meniata, lich kaitas nagita, NOCTURNA SUPPRESSIO INVADO OMNES!" Beforehand, Amanda knew that he was casting a spell and told Lauren to cover her ears quickly which she did and the prince did so as well. Everyone in the room, the princes, princesses, kings, queens and the orchestra fell to sleep beginning to dream of nightmares. Witnessing this after it was done, the prince stepped forth covering Lauren and drew her sword, "Vile sorcerer! Using spells to do your dirty work, come forth and fight me!" Lucius cackled at this comment, "Oh please, stop trying to be the hero. Stop playing prince, little girl. The game's over and you have lost." She growled and charged forth but the sorcerer knocked her out of the way then smirked at Lauren. He took on the form of a griffin and flew forward grabbing the princess by the shoulders and turned breaking the window with his magic, "Amanda!....AMANDAA!!" She cried out and the prince recovered from her then tried to run after them going out the doors after the Lucius flew out the window, "Lauren!...Laurennn!!....LAURENNN!!!!!!!!!!!" Crying out after her, the prince could not catch up and watched them fly off. She fell to her knees and held her head, "No..this can't be happening….no!........LAUUUURENNNN!!!!" The prince cried out in agony as her tears fell to the ground, she couldn't give no...not now, not ever! Her sword had been broken in half when she was knocked away but what other weapon could she use?.."Oh angels help me now to save my love" Beginning to walk, a bright light shined before her and there appeared what looked to be an angel like warrior, "You rang?" He said and the prince fell back, "W-W-W-Whaaa??" The angel warrior chuckled, "It has been a very long time since I have seen a love like this." Amanda gazed upon this, brunette haired angelic warrior, "What are you talking about?..." Raising an eyebrow at him, the angel said, "The love that you and Lauren share, for a while now I've been watching up from the heavens over you two and your love is so strong and unique. Seeing that you were in need of help the angels sent me." Then the angel warrior had the prince stand up and he granted her a sword with a gold & white handle, "This sword is blessed with the power of the angels so that it may aid you and…" He then granted her a shield with the emblem of angel wings on it, "..Here is a noble shield that will protect you from harm." Amanda thanked the warrior and then he said, "The sorcerer has a lair just over the mountains; I will transport you there so good luck." And with that the warrior snapped his fingers and the prince was there before black castle a bit smaller than others she has seen.
    Meanwhile up in the tower, Lauren was locked in a room and Lucius stood before her, "When I rule all of the land, you will be my wife." Grinning at her, she shook her head, "Never! Just you wait, my prince will come for me and defeat you!!.." He laughed maniacally, "Hahaahahahaahaha!! Dream all you want, princess for it will never happen!" But when the sorcerer walked over to look out the window, he saw the prince standing before the castle and growled, "She just doesn't know how to give up…." And with that Lucius went and appeared before Amanda, "Didn't I say to stop playing prince? You can't win." The prince stared angrily at Lucius, "Try me!" He smirked and shot a dark magic flame at her but she covered herself with the shield and the magic was negated. Then she went forth quickly and slashed her sword but the sorcerer went to block it with his magic but it didn't work and he was knocked away colliding with the castle wall. From up in the tower, Lauren watched…she wanted to help but what could she do?..Lucius growled, "Grr…alright playtime's over." Black magic swirled around him as the sky grew dark and he took on the form of a giant black dragon with red eyes and a red stomach. The dragon flicked his tongue and blew fire at Amanda who blocked it with her shield but Lucius knocked her aside with his tail, "Give up! You know very well that if you go on like this, you'll die but I would probably kill you anyway wahahahahahaaha!!!" The prince slowly rose to her feet, "No matter what happens, no matter what I face…even if things look bleak, I will never back down!" She called out and the dragon blew fire at her again. The prince ran forth blocking it with her shield and parried dodging the dragon's claw that went at her and she pierced its stomach making Lucius roar out in pain and agony, "GYAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" And with that the dragon fell back with a loud thud and purple smoke rose from him as the body disappeared with nothing left there. The sky returned to its normal color as the morning sun shined through, the evil sorcerer was finally slain. From up in her tower, Lauren smiled at her 'knight' in shining armor, her hero…her prince. Amanda looked up at her and smiled as well then held out her arms, "My princess!" She smiled more and jumped out from her window toward her and the prince caught her, twirling Lauren around, "My prince!" Saying it happily, the princess kissed her prince.
    The evil sorcerer was finally dead and once the prince & princess returned to the castle, all of the royals had woken up from their nightmares. Prince Amanda was proclaimed as a hero and Princess Lauren announced to all that she would marry her for love was love not matter what gender. And so they were married the week after. The young princess always loved fairytales and now she had a fairytale, a real fairytale happen to her. And like all great fairytales there are happy endings to each one, so she lived happily ever after with her prince.


    ~The End~ <3