Long ago there was a kingdom unlike any other. The people there had special abilities. For example, some could control the four elements: earth, wind, water, and fire. Others could read people's minds or see the future.
The kingdom was ruled by a beautiful queen and brave king who were expecting twins. During the children's birth, there were complications. The mother died, but the twins were born otherwise safely.
The firstborn, a daughter, was named Roxy and had a small mass of black hair along with dark black eyes. The secondborn, a son, was named Zeus to honor the sky god and he had a small mass of black hair, but blue eyes.
A close friend of the mother came to the father and told the king that the gods sent him a vision. The friend told the king that if the daughter was not killed the entire kingdom was doomed.
So the king, overcomed with grief, ordered for his daughter to be thrown off a cliff. The people of the kingdom did so, believing she was killed on the way down.
Years passed and the prince grew into a handsome young man. He was never told of his sister and believed he was an only child. Zeus was to be king and was trained as one both is politics and in weaponary.
Then one day, a ship was spotted far offshore. A few day later, it pulled ashore. On the ship, there was a prince. He had come looking for help, but he had also heard of the king's terrible deed and wanted to know why it was done.
"Roxy? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. I'm just trying to figure out who pulled up on that ship yesterday." Roxy answered, her black hair flowing freely in the wind. "I know I never really asked, but why did my parents wish to kill me?"
"Aww, honey, they had no choice. You mom had just died and your father was too sad to even realize what he was doing." The person behind Roxy answered. She was the person who found Roxy as a child and healed her.
"Anna...you know I think of you as my mom, right?"
"Yes, and I think of you as my daughter." She paused. "You have nothing to worry about. Whoever is on that ship can't hurt you. No one can hurt you any more."
"I know, but that doesn't stop me from being scared. I know I can protect myself, but the fear is eating me up from the inside out."
"Baby, I will protect you. You will be kept safe."
"I know, but I'm 17 years old and if somebody tried to kill me and you got hurt...I would never forgive myself."
Anna stepped close to Roxy and hugged her tightly.
Suddenly, a noise came from their right. They wipped their heads around. A soldier was right beside them with a gun raised at them.
"Put your hands up!"
Anna shoved Roxy behind her and jerked her hand towards the gun, forcing the gun into the sky. Then she swing her fist straight for the soldier's face. Caught off surprise, the soldier fell victim to Anna's fist.
"Come on. There could be more of them. We have to go hide." Anna grabbed Roxy's hand and pulled her back to their hide-out deep in the woods.
"Wait, was he really going to kill us?"
"I have no idea if he would have, but that's a chance I'm not willing to take."
They raced away, leaving the soldier alive, but knocked out.
About an hour later, that same soldier walked up before his king.
"Your Highness, I saw your daughter and she is very much alive."
"What? She's alive? But how?"
"I have no idea, Your Highness, but I saw her myself with my own two eyes. She was in the woods with a lady. I don't know who she was."
"Did you follow them?"
"No, sir. I jumped out at them, hopping to surprise them when the other lady attacked me. I was knocked out and didn't wake until recently."
A soft noise behind them made both the soldier and the king turn around.
"The princess is still alive?"
The soldier bowed before the prince. "Prince Edward."
"Is the princess still alive?" He repeated. He was tall for his age (19) and had brown hair with green eyes. He had high cheekbones and stood proud.
"We believe so, but we don't know for sure." The king answered the prince.
"Are you going to try to kill your daughter again?"
"Prince Edward, you are in my kingdom and you are to respect me until you return to your own. I had just seen my wife die."
"So that gives you a reason to tell your soldiers to murder your daughter?"
"I didn't wish for her to die, but a king must protect his people. I did what I had to do."
"I'm going to go look for her."
"Prince, please allow us guards to go with you. You need protection so-" The soldier started to say.
"No! I have no idea if you would try to kill her."
"But, sir, if you were to die, your kingdom might think we killed you."
The prince heaved a deep sigh. "You wish to unite the kingdoms, right? If I find your princess, I will marry her and you will get your wish, but not until I find her."
Prince Edward stormed from the room, pulling his cloak on as he did so.
"What do you wish to do, Your Highness?"
"Go into the forest, find her and kill her."
"But-"
"She is to be our kingdom's destruction. She must be stopped."
"As you command." The soldier left the room and once the king was alone, he put his head into his hand and cried, his soft cries echoing in the room.
Meanwhile, Roxy and Anna were eating their supper. They were eating blueberries and corn with fresh water.
"Hey, Anna, how do I know if I have any special powers?"
"You'll find out in time, my child. If you're lucky, you could have more than one power. Your mother did."
"Do...did you know her?" Roxy put her bowl down on the ground.
"Yes, I grew up with her. I was a close friend of hers. Your father didn't approve."
"Do you mind if I ask you about her?"
"No, go ahead. I was very close to her, but there was some things even I didn't know."
"Did I look like her?"
"Yes, but she was fierce where you are kind and gentle. She would kill a fly if necessary when you would just wave it away."
"What was she like?"
"One of a kind. She was a beauty growing up and would almost always be in trouble. She wanted to be outside instead of being stuck in the castle preparing to be queen."
"How did she-"
"Shhh." Anna whispered to Roxy while she slowly stood up. "Someone's here. Run."
Roxy stood and took off running as fast as she can away from Anna, leaving her behind. Then she stopped, struggling to keep her breath steady, while straining to her something, anything.
Finally, she heard something, but it wasn't what she exspected. It was a gun shot. Roxy raced back to Anna to see her sinking to the ground. She had a big splash of blood across her stomach.
"NOOOO! ANNA!"
"Listen...to me, child. You...have to finish..."
"Finish what? Don't leave me. You're gonna be fine. It's okay."
Anna didn't answer and the sound of a gun being cocked made Roxy look at the person who shot Anna.
"YOU! You had to come back, didn't you? You killed her! Why? She didn't hurt you!"
"We were following orders. You are to die too." The soldier raised his gun at Roxy. His finger curled around the trigger, slowly starting to push the button.
"Enough." That one word was spoken from behind the soldiers.
"Prince Edward." The soldiers turned slightly and bowed before the prince. The captain kept his gun trained on Roxy, his fingure close to the trigger.
The prince walked forward and pushed the gun down, pointing it at the ground. "I said enough."
"We have orders to follow."
"I am giving you new orders. Go back to the castle."
The soldiers looked at their captain who was glaring at the prince.
"As you wish, Your Highness." They all bowed once more and quickly left as the prince turned towards Roxy.
"Are you alright?" The prince knelt next to Roxy who held Anna's dead form in her arms.
"W-who are you?"
"I'm a friend. I'm sorry if they hurt you. Let me help." He reached forward and started to slid Anna from her.
"NO! You're one of them. You kill and don't care."
"I saved you, didn't I?" Edward watched as the young lady before him started to tremble. She looked so beatiful and broken. "I know this is painful, but it will get easier."
"How? How can it?"
"Come here." Edward slowly went to Roxy, wrapping his arms around her, getting blood on him. Roxy froze except for the slow trembling and then she turned towards his chest and slid her arms around him.
"Why? Why did they want her dead?"
"To get to you. They want to hurt you."
"D-do you want to hurt me?"
"No, I would never."
"Why not?" She leaned back a little to look at him. Then before they realized what was happening, they were kissing. Edwards' lips moving gently across Roxys' before she broke away.
"Nooo! I can't. I don't know you. My mother just died. I don't want this." She broke away from him and ran, leaving him shocked at the emotions she stirred deep within him.
"Wait! Please, don't leave."
Roxy continued running, not realizing where she was going. When she heard him running behind her, she put her head down and ran even faster.
"Just go away!"
"No, please wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."
Roxy stopped where she was and hurriedly turned around, almost running into the prince. "Then why did you do it?"
"I don't know. Please come back with me."
"No! How could I? They killed my mom...and you're one of them. Stay away from me or you will get hurt."
Roxy left, her face determined. She was going to destroy the kingdom. She would murder them all, including that prince.
Later that day, Prince Edward went before the king and spoke to him.
"Why did you have your men try to kill your daughter?"
"You are in my kingdom and in my kingdom I do as I wish."
"Including kill your own flesh and blood?"
"I had no choice. She is going to kill my people. I had to do what I did."
"You just sealed your fate. She was kind and then you had to go and kill her mom."
"Her mom was died the day that monster was born."
"I'm sure she didn't kill her, but YOU tried to kill your daughter. What would your wife think of that? Would she want you to kill your child?"
"I had no choice."
"We all have a choice. It's what we do with those choices that matters." The prince left.
The next day, Prince Edward left the palace, leaving his guards behind and taking food and clothes with him.
Meanwhile, Roxy stayed up all night, preparing herself to kill those who tried to kill her. She trained all night, attacking the wild animals around her, hardening her heart so she could kill them. It was hard for her to kill but she had to.
"Come on. I've got to do this. They will just keep killing people. I am the only one who can stop them. No one else can."
"They feel sorry. Killing them won't make the pain."
Roxy jumped slightly, but didn't turn around. "Go away, prince."
Roxy pulled her dagger from the heart of a fox. Then, with blood trailing down her arm she turned and faced the prince who actually look like a peasent in the clothes he was wearing.
"Being mad at me won't make you feel better either."
"Look, I don't know what you want and I don't really care. You are one of them. I can't trust you."
"I may be a prince, but I am not a killer. I came from another kingdom and there we don't kill each other. I...want you to come live with me. I can protect you."
"Are you kidding me? I just met you. There is no way I'm going to a kingdom full of people I don't know."
"You're a princess. You can learn to adjust. You know your mom wouldn't want you to kill others."
"I know she wouldn't want to die."
"Look, I'm going to stay in the woods for a while. Come find me once you decide." He started to walk away when Roxy stopped him.
"You can't stay here."
"Why not?"
"Because these are my woods. Besides, a prince like you couldn't possibly survive in the wild."
"Oh, really? Then I guess I've got to stay with you."
"No. I don't hang out with princes." She stood and started to walk away, leaving the fox dead and wasted. He followed her and when she glanced back at him, he smiled boldly.
"I'm following you all night. You got to sleep sometime. And don't even think of running, because we both know I can run faster than you."
Later that night, Roxy stopped to rest, building a fire. The prince came and sat across from her. When she started climbing a tree, Edward frowned and watched as she went to the tippy top, grabbing two apples. Then she came back down, tossing one to Edward, who caught it when it was a few seconds from hitting his face.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. It's a habit to be polite. A habit I'm going to break."
"Why do you feel you need to kill them? They were following orders."
"You don't get it, do you? I owe my life to Anna. My birth father threw me off a cliff because he thought I was to be the kingdom's destruction. I understood why he did it and I was fine with it.
"Anna saved me that day. She was a healer and healed me before I could die. I owed my life to her. Not only that, but I loved her. She raised me, taught me the way of the wild, trained me to defend myself, but when it mattered most, I couldn't defend her."
"She wouldn't want you to give your life up for her."
"You don't know what she would want. You didn't know her so don't act like you do." She bit into her apple and sat back down, her face guarded.
"I don't want to argue." He laid down, using his pack for a pillow. "I'm going to sleep. If you try to run, I will find you."
A few minutes later, when Roxy thought he was sleeping, she stood and took a blanket from the pack on her back. She quietly went to Edward and placed the blanket over him. Finally, she left him, digging a deep whole around the fire.
The next morning, Edward woke to the blanket on him, the fire out, and Roxy gone. He cursed and quickly gathered his things, folding the blanket.
He found her about an hour later, the growls alerting him that she was fighting something bigger than a fox. Edward hurried towards her
When he saw her, it took everything in him not to go help her, but he knew she needed to do this on her own. She and a large wolf was circling each other. The wolf was black with a few scars on his face. He had huge paws and and large teeth to match. Muscles ripped across his skin when he moved.
Roxy jumped sideways in the air as the wolf ran for her. It was then that Edward realized she didn't have a weapon. She was fighting a skilled fighter without using a weapon.
"Use a weapon, idiot!"
Startled, she looked up right when the wolf attacked. It knocked her down, and she raised her arms to aviod having the wolf get to her neck. His teeth sank into her arms and when she screamed, it echoed loudly through the woods.
"Roxy!" He raced to help.
"No! I got this. I don't want help."
"You need it."
She didn't answer, but she did shove the beast off of her. Then she screamed again, the sound high, piercing Edwards' ears, making him cover them. She stood, still screaming.
Suddenly, her eyes flickered to yellow, then back to her brown, then again to yellow, this time staying. The wolf yelped and ducked his head before Roxy, his huge paws trying to cover his ears. His tail was tucked under his body.
Roxy flipped the wolf over on his back and drew a dagger from her boots. She sat across the wolf's chest, who offered no resistence. She plunged the dagger down and cried out. When she was about an inch from the wolf's heart, she paused. Then, with tears streaming down her face, she threw the dagger to the side and got off the wolf.
Going a few feet from the wolf, she sank to the ground, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her head. From where he was Edward could her crying and see her body shaking.
"Roxy?"
"Stay away from me."
The wolf stood and walking over to Roxy, he curled around her. She slowly raised her head and laid it on the wolf. When Edward started to walk over to them, the wolf raised his head and growled.
"It's okay, baby."
"Baby?"
"I don't have a name for him yet."
"You're keeping him?"
"If he wants to stay. I like him."
"You both just tried to kill each other and now you want to keep him." He sat down next to her, causing the wolf to growl once more.
"Yes."
He sighed and shook his head. "Roxy...why did your eyes change color when you were fighting?"
"Change color? What do you mean?"
"When you screamed the second time, your eyes changed from brown to yellow."
"Then you don't know."
"Know what?"
Roxy smiled and stood, slipping her feet out from under the wolf who also stood. Edward did the same, reaching out to take her pack. The wolf growled and Roxy moved to avoid his hand.
"What are you doing?"
"I was going to carry your bag for you."
"Why?" She asked, suspsious.
"I was trying to be polite. Why you'd you put a blanket on me?"
Roxy blushed and turned her head. "Um, to answer your earlier question, about the kingdoms' powers."
"Yeah, I heard about them. That was why I orginally came here. My people are dying. We were looking for a cure when my brother became sick. That was when we heard about the special powers your people had and I decided to come here looking for help.
"Nobody would help me unless I joined our kingdoms. Since neither kingdom has a princess, I uh...well I thought of you."
"Me why? How'd you hear about me? I would've thought my birth father squashed all news of me."
"I thought of you because I wished to marry you." He stopped as she paled. "Are you okay?"
"You wished to marry me?" She repeated. "I don't know you. I don't know anything about marriage or politcs or how to act or what I should say. How can you-"
"Calm down. I didn't mean right away. I was just think-"
"That you and I could-"
"Put you hands where I can see them." A voice said from behind them. Roxy and Edward both turned around to see the captain and a troop of soldiers. "Now."
They put their hands where they could be seen and Roxy glanced back at the wolf who was no longer there.
"Captain, I think we should just kill her now. It will save us the trouble of doing it later." One soldier whispered. Edward stepped slightly in front of Roxy.
"No."
The captain stepped closer to Edward and held his sword to his neck. "You have no say in this land."
Edward didn't flinch. "If you kill me, you will have war from my kingdom."
"Your kingdom is dying. You need our help."
"Not if he has my help." Roxy said, tilting her head down. "Now, baby."
"Baby? What-" The soldier was interrupted as the wolf jumped out from the safety of the trees. It attacked one guard and quickly moved to the next.
"C-call it off...or he dies." The captain had wrapped the sword around Edward's neck and a thin line of blood was already starting to show.
Roxy's eyes flashed angryly. "Baby...no more."
The wolf looked up and padded over to Roxy, his body wrapping around to protect her.
"Tie it up." The captain nodded his head to one soldier who gave a rope to Roxy who slowly tied the wolf up. "Now you."
She let the soldier who gave the rope to her tie her up, wincing slightly when he pulled it tightly. Then he released Edward, smiling.
Roxy and the wolf were taken to the palace where they were placed before the king. When Roxy didn't kneel, the captain kicked the back of her knees, forcing her down.
"Why are you doing this?" Edward asked.
"She is going to kill my people. I have no choice."
"I wasn't going to kill anybody until you killed my mother."
"Your mother was killed the day you were born."
"She was no more my mother than you are my father. You threw me off a cliff."
"Captain, take your men and Edward out of here. I wish to speak privately with my...daughter."
"But-"
"Now. Oh and leave me your sword."
The captain left, leaving his sword with the king. The king then stood and walked over to Roxy, making the wolf growl and shake.
"I won't kill you if you promise to leave and never return."
"No, I would rather die. You killed my mother."
"Did she tell you you have a brother?"
Roxy felt her eyes widened. "It doesn't matter."
"But it does. When you were born a close friend of you birth mother told us you would end my kingdom. I had to get rid of you. The next day that friend diappeared. Her name was Anna. She knew that the future is decided on what choices you make so she had to make you want to destroy the kingdom." He stood and walked to Roxy, raising the sword and bringing down to Roxy. Suprizingly, though, he cut the rope lose from her hands and then released her wolf. Then he slammed the sword into the stone in front of her.
"I thought you were going to kill me."
"No matter what you or I may do you are still my daughter."
Roxy stood, grabbed the sword...and rammed it into the king's knee.
"That was for my mother."
"Oh, honey, it's not like you loved me anyways." A voice said from behind the throne. They walked over to Roxy, who dropped the sword.
"Anna. How? I thought...you were-"
"Dead? No, it was a plot to take over the kingdom starting with your birth mother. I gave her a poision to kill her and then raised you as my own. When the king's soldiers found us, I convinced the captain to stab me and wait in the shadows until you left. Once you did, he took me to a healer and I was all better."
"How could you do that? My birth mother was your friend."
"Hah. Once she became queen, she acted all snobby and didn't want to be around a peasent. That's what killed her and in the end...killed you." She raised her hand and Roxy saw that she had a dagger.
"Noooo!" The king stood, hopping a little and grabbed the sword and blocked the dagger. "Run, my daughter. Marry your prince and don't come back."
Roxy raced from the room, the wolf hot on her tails. When she ran to the door that led outside, she saw Edward and the soldiers.
"Baby, time to eat." The wolf licked his lips and headed towards them. Roxy ran to Edward and grabbing his hand, pulled him out of the room.
"What's going on?"
"Less talking more running. Baby will met us at the ship. I'll explain on the way."
"The way to where?"
"Your kingdom. I'm going to marry you and help your people." They reached the docks. "Which ship is yours?"
He pointed and they raced that way. 15 minutes passed and the wolf still wasn't there.
"We got to go, Roxy."
She looked at him and nodded, tears in her eyes. They set off and just as she was sitting down she saw the wolf racing towards them.
"Jump!" The wolf did so and his body was a great ark over the water. He landed on the ship with a thud, causing some of the crew members to look over at them.
"Um, Princess Roxy?"
"Yes?"
"Did you perhaps bring food for the wolf?"
"No, but don't worry, he just had a huge feast."
They went below deck to their quarters and Edward joined them shortly after.
"Are you sure you want to marry me?"
"Yes...though I'm a little nervous."
"Don't be. Just don't tell my parents right away. They may think I'm crazy."
"Really? Why?"
He looked down at what she was wearing. She had on a brown leather dress with no shoes on. "Right."
"Do..." He stopped, shaking his head.
"What?"
He took a deep breath. "Do you really think you can heal my people? I-I don't mean to sound as if I'm only marrying you for your powers."
"You don't and yes, I believe I can. I'm not for sure yet so don't get your hopes up."
"I believe in you."
"Thanks."
Finally, Roxy realized that she loved Edward, not as a prince, but as a person. No matter what will happen or already happened, they would always have each other.
THE END
(For now!!)