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Once upon a time, a princess lived in the biggest palace ever built. The princess was famously known everywhere, partly because of her outstanding beauty. Her hair was pretty and black that reached her shoulders, and she always wore an elegant white dress that reached the floor. Her white heels shined every day. The princess’ name was Sua. Many described Sua as “uniquely gorgeous”. It was also often said that she had rejected multiple men from different kingdoms, despite how the men’s power and influence could’ve been together with hers.
One thunderous night, while everyone slept peacefully, Sua was kidnapped. A giant had taken her away without anyone noticing. The reason? The giant wanted to build its own kingdom. A huge, powerful kingdom where everyone would follow him and only him. To this, he needed a gorgeous wife, he thought. A gorgeous, elegant wife who stood by his side no matter what happened. And after hearing rumors and whispers about Sua, he decided that she’s the perfect one for this
When the kingdom found out about this, a lot of men saw this as a challenge. If one manages to defeat the monster, then one gets the princess for oneself as a reward.
They dressed in armor they thought would be enough for this journey, brought along swords and weapons, and eventually traveled to the giant’s palace that was far away from theirs.
But, no matter how many people went on this quest, none came back and they were completely unheard of.
Quickly, people started pretending as if nothing had happened. As if there was never a princess at all from the beginning. As if no one went to ‘rescue’ her. It was obvious to them that instead of sending more people and having them never come back either, it was better to forget about the event. Move on and never speak of it again.
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Once upon a time, a girl, around twenty-two years old, lived in the now gloomy kingdom. Her hair was pink and reached along her lower back. The girl’s name was Mizi. Mizi lived alone, by the poorer side of the kingdom. The house she lived in was filled with flowers which she somehow had managed to get her hands on by herself, mostly red roses and chrysanthemum.
When the news about the princess and then men spread like wildfire everywhere, people became… disappointed. They began to talk shit about the palace’s safety and control, how could a giant get its hands on the princess so fast during one single night?
The men who had first gotten praise for their ‘bravery’ were ignored and called ignorant when they disappeared.
Mizi was shocked, how could people just… forget about the princess? Simply because they were scared? She found it disappointing how easy others were. So, she decided to take it on by herself to help and save the princess. Not because she wanted a ‘reward’, but because in her eyes, the princess was a person who deserved to be rescued without giving something in return.
But there was one issue… she had no armor nor did she have any weapons.
Suddenly, she remembered. Mizi had a chest that she had inherited from her uncle. It was filled with weird things. Maybe she could find something useful there.
She went up to her attic and searched for the chest. It laid behind a mirror. Mizi pushed the mirror out of her way and opened the chest that had collected dust over time. She stared in awe and her lips formed a tiny smile. Bingo! The things in the chest shined despite being old. There were knives, swords, armor, and more. Mizi took one of the knives and put it in her messenger bag, attached a sword to her belt and put on pieces of armor.
Mizi turned to the mirror she had pushed away and looked at herself. She spun before taking off a tiny piece of the armor she thought made it unnecessarily heavy. She promised herself to come back with the things in the same shape as they were now.
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Outside the kingdom, a path followed through the forest. The forest was in between most kingdoms, like a clear border for each. Mizi followed it and entered the warm forest. She had asked around if anyone knew where the giant’s palace took place and found out that it’s located on the east side of the land, where the ruined kingdom once took place.
Birds chirped, flowers grew by the tall trees. A mild, sweet scent followed along the path while Mizi continued walking. The scent felt safe, as if one were to be home right now… She began to sway as she slowly started to go off of the path… Soft giggles left her mouth uncontrollably without thinking. Soon, she was in front of a house in the middle of the forest.
The house looked abandoned and beside it laid multiple sticks. Mizi walked closer carefully, her eyes looking at the sticks until she was right in front of the door.
One, two, three knocks.
No one answered.
She looked around and then looked inside the window beside to see if anyone was home. The lights were off. She hesitated before deciding to check whether the door was locked or not. It wasn’t. She opened it and went in quietly.
“Hello?” Mizi said, “is anyone home? I’m kinda lost and…”
A vase in front of her fell off the old table. ‘Okay, weird…’ Mizi turned her heels and went back to where the door was. Though… she couldn’t find it? She went left, right, forward, and yet the door was… gone. Mizi felt her heart beating faster and harder and took a deep breath.
“You there!”
Mizi turned around fast. She looked around, confused, until her eyes locked onto a bird. It was a tiny, black bird with red eyes. She pondered as she looked at it but then rolled her eyes. ‘I must have gone crazy’ she thought.
”You! Don’t just stand there!” the bird chirped worriedly.
Mizi flinched backward. What the fuck. She opened her mouth but closed it again. Then opened her mouth again.
“What in the- How can you talk??? A bird???” the words left her mouth faster than she intended. Her tone harsher and meaner than she thought.
The black bird flapped its wings and flew up until it reached eye level with her.
“There’s no time! What are you doing here?! You need to get out of here!” it chirped nervously in panic.
“Look, I’m sorry for coming in by myself, but I swear, I can’t even find the door out-"
The bird flapped its wings around her in circles, “you have to get out of here before she sees you!”. The panic in its voice became more and more obvious.
“Who sees me?” Mizi asked more nervously now. The panic from the bird had given her public now too, even if she didn’t want to admit it.
“We don’t have time!” the bird chirped louder, “come!” it said and started flying behind Mizi, it turned around to see if she followed after. Mizi swallowed hard before the quickly followed after the tiny bird. Then- she stumbled and fell. The bird stopped in panic and was telling her to get up quickly. She groaned as she got up. But the atmosphere felt… wrong. The bird looked horrified. Mizi slowly turned her head around. A silhouette of a lady, but… disoriented.
Yeah, no way.
She stood back up and started running. The bird flew again and led the way, it got faster and faster. It looked like they were only running in circles, but Mizi trusted the bird. Eventually the door appeared and she opened it in a rush.
“The path is that way, come!” the bird chirped. They passed by trees and a cat who walked calmly. As soon as they reached the path, both stopped. Mizi gasped for air and the bird flew onto her shoulder as support.
“WHAT,” Mizi gasped, “was that?!”.
“You were lucky she didn’t catch you… She usually turns people into jewelry!” the bird chirped, “what were you doing in the house anyway?”.
Mizi started, “you see- “. She told the bird what her purpose was and why she was her as she walked along the path once again. She talked about the princess who had gotten kidnapped, how people were choosing to forget, and about how she was trying to save the princess from the giant.
The bird gasped dramatically, “so romantic…” it mumbled.
“What?” Mizi asked and looked confused at the tiny bird when it shook its head.
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Later, they arrived at a village. It looked normal. Houses, people, markets. Mizi sighed loudly and said “don’t tell me that I went wrong AGAIN…” while the bird giggled softly at her. She turned her heels and went back into the forest. The bird talked a during the walk, mostly about worms... But it also introduced itself, his name was Ivan. Mizi was just about to reply before she stumbled and fell face forward again. Her armor got dirty. She tried to stand up but something pulled her foot down again. Hon tried to pull her foot out with more force, but it didn’t help. She glanced annoyed at what her foot had gotten stuck in. It was a blueberry bush, and she was stuck between the branches.
Suddenly, the branches grew up to her leg. She groaned as the grip around her leg tightened. A leaf had a… mouth with sharp, clean teeth and bit her. She screamed in pain. With her free foot, she began kicking the plant, but it wouldn’t let go. Ivan flapped his wings and started to peck the bush with his beak. Mizi remembered her messenger bag and opened it fast. She took out the knife and pushed herself closer to the bush until she managed to cut off the branch that was holding her. The branch became smaller, though the lead didn’t give up. She cut it in the middle this time and then dragged off the lead with force.
She took deep breaths when the branch became even smaller until it looked like the life inside of it was just… gone.
Ivan flapped worriedly to Mizi’s leg. It was red and her skin had been dragged off along with the leaf.
“How are you supposed to walk now???” Ivan chirped.
“It’s fine, I can still walk…” Mizi answered before she hesitantly stood up. Her glared at her leg while trying to walk properly and decided that walking wasn’t THAT hard, so it was nothing serious. She wiped away dirt from her armor. God, the leaf just HAD to bite where her leg was exposed… But she shrugged it off and continued following the path either way. Ivan sighed concerned but still went after her.
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The path was starting to end, and so did the forest too. As they walked forward, the atmosphere changed completely. It became colder. The trees looked lifeless and dull, and there were no animals or plants in sight. The place looked completely abandoned with destroyed buildings that were growing mold. The black bird hid behind Mizi’s shoulder as Mizi didn’t stop.
Soon, there was a giant palace right Infront of them. Gold shined over them and the palace’s exterior was decorated with wine-red crystals who also shined despite the terrible weather. Mizi and Ivan stared in admiration. They’ve never seen such a detailed and beautiful palace before. Especially when every other building was abandoned, dusty and destroyed. It was a shame it now belonged to a monster.
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Now she was standing right before the entrance. Mizi opened the tall, heavy door. It creaked loudly and chills went down her spine. Her footsteps echoed inside, she was looking around.
The palace was… surprisingly clean. It reminded of the exterior, except for the destroyed furniture covered in dust.
Suddenly –
There was the giant. He was hideous and hairy, and behind him stood the princess. The contrast in visuals was insane and Mizi tried to keep in her laughter.
Though she noticed, the princess’ eyes looked completely… lifeless, as if she had given up hope long ago. Mizi gripped her sword.
The giant noticed her and looked annoyed.
“Another one?” he said and snickered in pure mockery. Ivan chippered in panic, but Mizi drew her sword and pointed it at him.
A smile formed on the giant before he came forward and attacked. Mizi did the same but for some reason, she couldn’t get a hit in on him at all…
She fell down as the giant hit her hard. Mizi tried to get up but the g̶i̶a̶n̶t̶ monster hit her face. She fell back down immediately again, her nose was starting to bleed.
“You’re all the same” the monster said with disappointment.
Mizi pressed herself up, her legs were shaking like crazy, but she stood up. The grip on her sword tightened further and she ran forward and managed to cut him in the eye with all her strength. The monster screamed in pain and fell down. The floor shook when he hit it.
…
Silence filled the room.
Mizi took deep breaths and looked up at the princess. The princess was completely shocked. Their eyes met. This time, her eyes looked different, they looked alive instead of lifeless. Ivan flew to Mizi’s shoulder again, he was taking deep breaths from the emotional rollercoaster he just witnessed.
The princess took a step towards Mizi. And another, until she was standing before Mizi. Her expression was a mix between concern and joy.
”You-…” the princess started, ”your nose… He hit you hard, can you even stand properly…?” she helped steady Mizi.
Though, Mizi didn’t answer.
’Wow…’
She couldn’t look away from the princess. She was so… gorgeous. Mizi had never seen such a pretty girl before, not at all. Something about her made Mizi feel warmer and her heart started to beat faster. She flinched when she heard the princess’ voice again.
“U-uh my name is Mizi…”
“Oh? I’m Sua” the princess said, “though, you- “
“Oh! Right. Yes, I’m fine, please don’t worry about me…” Mizi said. Sua’s gaze softened.
”Thank you…” Sua said fondly, “thank you for helping me.”
“You don’t need to thank me, it could’ve been anyone who saved you.”
“Maybe, but you’re the only one who came without asking if I could give you something. And the only one who actually managed to save me. I think it’s fascinating. You are fascinating, Mizi,” Sua smiled softly.
Mizi felt her cheeks practically start to burn. She let out a nervous laugh.
“Thank you, but you’re also fascinating. What they say about you is barely the beginning…”
Sua’s face turned pink and her gaze shifted to the floor.
The room that was cold before was now warm and comfortable. Ivan flew off Mizi’s shoulder and a bit away, so he doesn’t interrupt any of the two.
“I don’t really have much on me as of now that I can give as a thanks…” Sua mumbled quietly.
“You don’t need to give me anything—”
But before she could finish speaking, Sua kissed her. Mizi froze at the sudden contact but quickly melted into it.
Sua pulled away slowly, her gaze became increasingly shy. She was going to say something before she froze. Mizi looked at her confused.
“W-wait-“ Sua looked behind Mizi in shock. Mizi didn’t get to turn around before Sua pushed her away forcefully.
A loud sound echoed throughout the palace. Mizi looked at the spot Sua had just stood in, but she wasn’t there. Instead, a giant hand was there. THE giant’s hand. The hand lifted up sluggishly and right under it laid the princess. She was bleeding too much and her eyes were closed. Mizi stared in a mix of disbelief, shock and sorrow.
The princess was gone and it was her fault.