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“I think that no matter the time, or place, or what each of us are doing, or who we befriend, I think that we will always be fated to meet each other; and in meeting each other, I think I would fall in love with you every time.”
Those words had been whispered to the knight from his princess as they hid in the gardens together, words that turned into a promise. The dark haired knight would always seek out his princess, and in return she knew she would always fall in love with him.
The times were not kind to the duo unfortunately - a war between two opposing kingdoms broke out, and despite begging, the knight knew he had a duty to his kingdom, and to his princess.
“XXX please - please-- you don’t have to fight. Please, stay by my side-” Words were garbled by tears, the coral haired princess held onto the purple cape of the knight, as if clenching the cloth tightly enough would stop him from leaving. She hadn’t a clue if he would ever come back, and that scared her more than anything else.
Taking delicate, shaking hands in his own, larger ones, he gently brought them to his lips, placing a kiss on them before looking into her eyes with his deep blue ones. The princess felt a small sense of relief, like a ship pulling into a comforting harbour. “I promise, my princess, that I will come back safe and sound. If I do..” Carefully, the knight pulled a silver ring from his jacket, sliding it upon her fingers. “Shall we be wed?”
Choking back more tears, the princess nodded, smiling through her fears as she sealed the promise with a kiss, letting it linger for seconds after before watching the proud back of her knight walk away from her.
And that would be the last time she saw him.
The purple knight would die in battle for his kingdom.
And the princess would never become a queen, dying of heartbreak years later moments after her kingdom wins the war.
---
When the princess awoke again; she was no longer a princess, but in fact a spy. A young woman reading over reports of four men in particular she were to test. She had been in the business for years; and was a trusted enough member to be the host for such a task.
One of the profiles stuck out for her; and despite the fact she had never met these men in person, nor passed by them in the facility; Perfect Diamond……..
Felt like an old friend.
The traps were set; the game had started. The spy was actually a fake rival, someone who held an imaginary key to the demise of the four men. A fake rival wearing another mask, that of an office lady. Did office ladies really get to treated to such wonderful hotels? That was admittedly suspicious in itself but..
She felt his presence before even bumping into him, gasping in surprise as coffee spills onto her dress, turning to look towards the dark haired male with the slicked back hair. There’s a lull before either of them speak, both of them forgetting the words to a script written for the both of them to follow. Something that couldn’t let the game fall apart. “I- I’m so sorry-” He finally speaks, the spy registering the fact there actually was hot coffee on her, panic setting in and erasing the odd moment the two just shared.
Paying for her cleaning bill, she would accept his offer to go out for tea, enjoying the humble atmosphere of the cafe, and after a small incident involving being questioned for wearing her coat indoors; a conversation naturally starts, the two exchanging scripted, pre-written lies to each other, not allowing for either cover stories to crack.
“My grandmother decided to treat me to this hotel, I’ve been feeling rather upset lately and ah… she thought it’d be a good way to cheer me up. A holiday is good for lifting spirits, so I agreed.” She lied, taking a small sip of her tea. “Is that so? It wouldn’t be rude of me to ask why you’ve been upset lately, would it?” He asks, tilting his head to the side in curiosity; the woman watching as some stray strands of hair escape from his slicked back bangs.
She wonders for a moment what it’d look like down.
“You see, my boyfriend broke up with me recently.. I’ve been a little heartbroken, I mean, we were together for quite some time - you see.” She explains, taking a pause. “Actually, seeing you though.. I feel like I’ve fallen in love all over again! Like love at first sight…”
Perfect Diamond freezes in his seat, blue eyes staring back into her own citrine ones. “If I’m to be perfectly honest, I feel the same way towards you.”
Was it possible for two spies to completely mess up a mission? Not if they were professionals. Which the two of them were..
To some degree.
The two of them had changed the plan, the spy confessing what she was up to; and he vice versa, agreeing to work together to follow her own mission; Perfect Diamond promising to keep her cover until the end.
They both forgot to factor in the third party. The observer.
Alas, the game was cut short by a stray bullet, Perfect Diamond grabbing the spy’s arm to move her out of the way, only to be too late.
In this timeline, it was the princess who died first. Not of heartbreak, but with a bullet through her heart.
Perfect Diamond disappeared off the radar, his fate unknown; even to his three closest co-workers.
---
When the spy woke up again, the ceiling was covered in glowing stars. Looking out the window, there were also stars. She was not a spy, but a pilot in space.
A stranger introduces her to her three co-pilots. There’s a familiar face. “This is XXX! If he seems rude, don’t worry! He’s just bad at meeting new people! Come on, be nice to her!” The blonde haired man laughs, reassuring her.
There are some trials and mistakes, but the team eventually comes together to work as one; using both their powers of friendship and love to pilot the impossible ship. After a successful mission, the dark haired prodigy pulls her aside and pulls the young woman into a congratulatory kiss.
A comet collides with their ship on a test run later.
---
The prodigy wakes up in an impossible universe. He’s small enough to sit on a flower, and he finds himself reading books. His mind telling him he’ll find answers there. Answers for what?
Flowers whisper to him, and a dual eyed cat makes his acquaintance. “You look familiar.” He ponders aloud. The cat offering him a cheshire grin. “That’s impossible. This is our first meeting.” He laughs, disappearing as quickly as he appears.
He continues to read, and a hatter shows up, mad as ever. “Are you XXX? Or are you XXX? Or are you simply drifting between everything?” He asks, moving right into the other’s face, the caterpillar raising a book to create distance between them. “I’ll find the answers.” He replies. “You won’t find them here.” The hatter grins, leaving - and then promptly coming back, dragging with him a table covered in assortment of cups and tea. “But take a break! It’s tea time!”
The hare looks familiar too.
---
He meets Alice.. That isn’t Alice. Alice… why does he know that name? The blonde laughs at being called that, making his merry way to the tea party in the distance, leaving the caterpillar to desperately start to go through his books, trying to find that name.. Where did he see it? He must have have seen it somewhere - in the process of it all, he balls up on himself, a silk cocoon wrapping around his body.
The Queen of Hearts issues an order.
Off with their heads!
No one finds out who Alice is.
---
They continue to pass by one another. There are times in which the two will reunite. There are times where they were wed, other times where they were high school sweethearts and nothing more. There is a bitter end to each one though, nothing ends sweetly, or easily, as if fate was destined to cruely tear them apart each time.
She is a princess once again - and he a prince. Memories come rushing to her in the night, hundreds of worlds, the strain of it all hurting her body. Was it because this one was too similar to the first time? She breaks down into tears, he consuling her the entire time. He admits he’s felt the same, memories came rushing to him.
Her body collapses under the stress of it all, and she moves on, leaving him behind for the next time.
---
She awakes in a field of spider lilies. A figure in a black hood watching in the distance. An odd feeling of terror shakes her to the core.
Despite her mind being foggy, she remembers a village. She’s the baker's daughter and she wondered too far into the forest. “Don’t go in there.” They warned her. She decides to listen to that warning. It was too late for another though; the boy with the optimistic attitude.
Nervously she hands him fresh loaves of bread, wondering if she could tell him about the figure she’d seen. Deciding against it, figuring he’d be wise enough not to go deep in, she wishes him a farewell, promising to see him the next morning.
He doesn’t.
His brother couldn’t care less; but she cares. She was his friend - after all. The local hunter offers his services for the few townsfolk who are worried. The baker’s daughter asking to come alone.
Wait, she hasn’t met the hunter before, has she?
“We’ve met before, haven’t we?” He asked, cocking his head to the side to the side. Shaking her head, she quickly responds. “No! But.. you look familiar…” He seems to stare at her in thought, laughing softly as he pats her head. “We must have just passed by the village before, you can come if you must, just stay close, little lamb.” He says with a wink. “XXX is fine--!” She quickly interjects, cheeks flushing pink for a moment.
After some hours of moving deep into the forest they find a cottage, the red head happily relaxing it in with the company of two others. The wizard - a rumoured figure in the village.. And.. a wolf? Wait; he looked hurt!
Shoving past the hunter whom was making introductions, the woman opened her basket she’d brought along, pulling lose scraps of fabric and using it as a makeshift bandage. “He just cut his arm on a branch.” The wizard speaks up. “I was sure it’d heal without fuss..” The wolf himself talks, stopping the girl in her tracks, looking up at him from her position by his side. His ears flick as he looks up at her face when she stops, mismatching eyes widening a little, looking like he was to say something before going quiet.
“Randolph.”
“Eh?”
“My name. It’s Randolph.”
“That’s such a lovely name, I’m XXX.” She says with a smile, finishing wrapping up the cut. “There! Be careful from now on, okay?”
“I promise.”
---
They spend more time in the house, the wizard, the wolf, the hunter, the boy and the baker’s daughter. They all just talk amongst each other, exchanging stories whilst they hide from the world.
She tells them of dreams she has, of different worlds, of places outside the village and the forest. That there is surely something outside of it all. Blood confesses he thinks of similar; saying it’d be nice if they could all get out. The wizard laughs as he hears that, attention turning to him. He doesn’t say anything.
---
Everything went downhill so fast. She couldn’t even tell what happened. The forest happened? Could someone even blame the land like that? The spider lilies were growing everywhere, in places flowers shouldn’t be. In the chest of the wizard, lying dead on the floor. In the cracks of the flooring, books were scattered, pages flipping in the wind blowing through the cottage.
In the distance, the sound of growling could be heard, Randolph holding the girl closer to his chest, ears pinned back. Eyes flickering in fear as he recognized the sounds. Blood and the hunter ran ahead of them, unable to find their way out of the maze the forest had turned into.
She could barely keep up, how long had they been travelling?
They entered a field of flowers.
She felt like she was dreaming.
“XXX-”
Randolph grabbed her arm as she fell backwards, and that was the last thing she saw.
---
When she woke up, a sharp rusty scent hit her immediately, and the scent of flowers felt fake in comparison. Pulling herself up off the ground, she glanced around for those she was with, unable to see them anywhere. “Blood?”
Nothing.
“Victor?”
Nothing.
“..Randolph?”
Thud. Her foot hit something, looking down and immediately feeling sick turn in her stomach. A corpse. It was Victor’s corpse. She barely recognized him, his clothes stained red.
Like the flowers.
Only a few feet away lay another body, Blood.. Oh my god. There was so much. There was so much blood everywhere.
Like the forest.
Putting a hand over her mouth and nose and clenching her stomach, she kept walking, following the trail of blood mixed with the flowers until she found the wolf’s body too.
“You aren’t part of the story this time, princess.”
A voice caught her attention, tears welling in her eyes as she turned around, seeing the man in the black hood put on a blood stained one over it. Falling onto her knees, she remained sitting beside the body of the wolf, watching each careful action and step the man took.
“You’ve been in too many stories actually. Each time you get into one they will only get worse.” He said in a sing-song voice.
“Can I get out of this one?”
Green eyes stare back at her, before staring behind her, as if looking for a distant answer. “You can.. At the cost of your life.”
Judging by his reaction she could guess the look on her face. Bursting into laughter, he stepped closer to her, kneeling down to sit in the flowers. “Why are you so surprised? That’s how the story ends! Everyone dies!” He proclaimed, patting her shoulders, getting blood on her clothes.
“But I think too many stories is going to hurt you. You don’t mind if I try something out, do you? I’ll make the last story your last.” He smiled, reaching out and patting Randolph’s head. “As long as you find him again… maybe you’ll get the happy ending.”
“Happy en-” Before she could even finish her question, there was a stabbing pain in her stomach. Oh- she was literally being stabbed. “Isn’t this knife cute? I got it from Blood!” The man laughed, watching as she fell back onto Randolph’s body, letting her bleed out with the wolf.
She dies in a field of spider lilies.
---
“I think that no matter the time, or place, or what each of us are doing, or who we befriend, I think that we will always be fated to meet each other; and in meeting each other, I think I would fall in love with you every time.”
A man with a blurred face stands in front of her as she says that. Who is she talking too? She has the same dreams over and over again.
She’s accepted into an elite school for idols, meeting new people who all feel like close friends. The coral haired student has only known them for a few days but it feels like it could have been years. Lifetimes.
A black cat causes her to run out of her dorm in the dead of night. She follows it towards it to a lake before losing it’s trail, admiring the reflection of the moon in the water. For some reason… it feels like she could tell the lake anything. All her secrets and fears. It also inspires her. Maybe she’ll be able to compose that song for her classmates after all.
The sound of rustling bushes breaks her concentration, turning around to see a figure emerging. She catches the eye of the male.
“Tokiya…!”
The blurry face that haunts her immediately clears up. It’s right in front of her.
“Haruka.”
A cry escapes her throat as the two of them run towards each other, meeting in the middle as he wraps his arms around her, her hands clinging onto the front of his shirt, not wanting to let go. They stayed that for who knows how long, Tokiya resting his face against her shoulder as she remained pressed against his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. Eventually they pulled apart, Tokiya taking her delicate hands into his gentle, larger ones, bringing them to his mouth and placing a kiss upon them.
“Like I promised princess, I am back safe and sound.”
This time, there was a happy ending.