• They came parading in. A stampede of violent love seekers all in line for the main attraction. Wondrous Beauty. This beautiful creature is you. They crush together in a form never seen before, all more polite than ever. Surprising my eyes, they wait patiently to bow down to you, one after the other. They bow. You scowl. They move on, heads hanging low. Your evil eyes sparkle green, set only on the sorrow in each man's heart once you break it. The one prince who's willing to give everything just to be your only thing, and you push him to the ground. I glance at your pearly whites, a flash in the night. Something out of the corner of my eye. All the men have crowded around you, hungry for your bitter hurt. A fierce shot in each of their heads, they're mostly down. A few left and your trigger catches. There's no stopping them now. But wait, you smile. Your eyes sparkle again, the plastic love streaming through like sunlight in the translucent clouds. The group of sickly men pause as the sparkly rays of your artificial love light up the dark night. The sour souls turn around, battered from the fight. A quick glimpse they catch of my mighty sword. Driving them to the side, my indomitable sword divides your savage head from your neck. Penetrating kicks to your rib cage jolt your already-rotting, limp carcass from pillar to post. Your bloodied body falls quickly to the ground. The blackish red blood flows from your severed neck; the peaks of your body ooze pints of tainted liquids. The spell is broken, the binds unbound. The men return to a normal state, no longer in need of her directions. Her love was fake. Nothing but an illusion. Their thoughts ring through the air, straight into my head. One steps forward, claiming his gratitude to me. They line up to thank me, praising me for saving their precious lives. The last one, too weak to propose a speech, falls to his knees. His beady eyes stare up at me, plummeting through my body. I sit down next to him on the blood splattered ground, leaning against his cold body. Supporting each other's frail bodies with our weight, we fall into synchronized breathing. His thoughts run through my head, telling me what I need to do. I conduct his debilitated figure through the mossy forest. I set him down at the edge of the trees onto a patch of frost grass covered in dirt and leaves. His bag of bones caresses the bleak soul, curving into it slowly. I lay my sluggish exhausted body parallel to his and drift off into a deep hibernation to dream of a world where fights are forbidden, love is mandatory, life is chosen for you. I awake with a jolt, his cold hands around my body. His eyes shut lightly, I feel his warm breath on my frigid shoulder. My hands tighten around his, grasping for warmth. I turn over hesitantly, aspiring not to wake his fragile soul. My body presses against his and I realize this is what I have been searching for all alone. The fight, the beast, the crowding men. This is what was behind it the entire time. Someone to keep me warm in a time of need. Someone to hold me together when I'm falling apart. The person who gets in line last, just so they can take the longest. Not the person who gets in first to be number one. Someone ready to dive out of life for me. A real love. I close my eyes, drifting into dream land once more; my dreams no longer bitter, but sweetened.