Chapter Text
Once Upon A Time, in a castle residing in Germany, lived a beautiful yet unsatisfied princess by the name of Franziska Von Karma.
Her father, a dominating and terrifying king, was feared by many and respected (forcefully or consciously, usually the former.) by all,
Her brother, a young knight adopted by her father because of pity, still a powerful warrior and defender against other kingdoms, and was due to become the head of their military defense.
Franziska’s whole family was exceptional, and she was due to be too, just not in the way she wanted to be.
Her father and brother did both recognize her talents in fighting, her interest in guarding royals rather than being the portrait of elegance and envy that women were supposed to be.
Her dad had always wanted a son, she knew that, and on the surface she knew it seemed like she was the one being treated the best, but she knew that if Manfred Von Karma had ever had a biological boy, the idea of adopting anyone would be obscene.
But he had a girl. A girl who would never be able to follow in his footsteps, not because she didn't want to, but because she wasn't allowed to.
Franziska was only 17 years old, but she knew she had to do something about this.
One night, inspiration struck her. She got out some paper and a feathered pen.
Their kingdom had been warring somewhat with that of Japanifornia's Fey kingdom. Their heir, Maya Fey, was about her same age.
If she could infiltrate the Fey’s, guard them, protect them, and learn all their secrets, possibly befriending Maya Fey, she could finally prove herself to her father.
She knew the Feys somewhat detested men, them being a matriarchy, so they would probably be reluctant to let a man guard their youngest heir so close.
Making Franziska perfect for the job.
Franziska sketched out her pen and wrote instructions for her father in the perfect calligraphic cursive she was taught to practice over and over and over until her wrists were cramped and her knuckles bled.
She folded it up and tucked it under her pillow as a reminder for next morning, to finally confront her father about who she wanted to be.
She would make the Von Karma bloodline proud, she was sure of it.
***
Once Upon A Time, in a castle residing in Japanifornia, Lived a gorgeous but unfulfilled princess by the name of Maya Fey.
Her aunt, currently working as a placeholder for her absent mom, was graceful, kind, and powerful. Just like a good woman should be. She had searched long and hard for her husband, ensuring they were proper enough to conceive a possible heir, making one of the spiritually strongest branch families in the entire Fey kingdom.
Her sister, a beautiful and inspirational beacon, having to reject at least 3 guys every week because of the way she presented herself so maturely. The way she seemed to remain calm and to know everything in every situation. She has plans to eventually marry a man on her level, hopefully creating yet another perfect heir for their throne, with adequate spiritual powers.
Maya’s entire family was Graceful, able to channel spirits on a whim and able to give amazing advice. Maya wanted to be like them more than anything, but she couldn't. She just couldn't.
Maya had never loved a man, she thought that her hormones, or something, just hadn't kicked in, but when everyone in her class was starting to have crushes, she knew something was wrong with her.
Turns out everything was.
She had a close friend a year or so back, she was kind and smart, she would likely become everything Maya was supposed to be.
Because of this, Maya initially assumed her feelings were envy, or jealousy, causing a rift in their friendship.
It wasn't until her friend had gotten a boyfriend that she had finally come to reality.
She was in love with her best friend.
She was in love with a girl.
She was ill.
Despite her kingdom being mainly ruled by women, it was still very male-centered. This was mainly because women were the only ones with spiritual powers, and they were mostly just posterboards anyway, there would always be men behind the scenes controlling and monitoring their every move.
So when she confided her illness to her aunt Morgan, she reacted accordingly.
She was sent to a private conversion teacher, who helped her overcome such disgraceful thoughts, and she was banned from most female friends for a while, which was probably the best.
It was quite lonely, though.
She wanted to have someone to talk to, someone who would get what she was experiencing.
She just wanted a friend.
But sadly, she was forever locked away in her castle, like a vase hidden in the attic long forgotten, only brought out for special occasions to look pretty and maybe even hold some flowers, but never really tended to or cared for behind the scenes.
One night, inspiration struck her.
Attacks from the German army had been constant, and unknown dangers kept trying to pounce on her and her sister, branch family members trying to gain the rights to the throne, random men wanting an heir in the kingdom, soldiers trying to lessen the battlefield, Maya was in danger.
She knew that Morgan cared about her to some degree, she had too, right? It would be silly if not.
Maya ripped out a page from a boring poetry book given to her by her aunt, and brought out her favorite purple pen.
She wrote a formal request, like how others communicate with her aunt.
If she had a guard, maybe even one her age, she could be defended no matter where she went! Of course, they had the royal guard, but most of those were just general soldiers that would switch from guarding princess to princess.
She wanted a personal guard, one she could connect with, and possibly even befriend?
The idea of just having a regular friend without any royal obligations sounded a lot better, but Maya knew this was the only way she could get her aunt to agree.
After formally writing her plans, Maya folded the paper into an enveloped shape, kissed the middle as if that would hold the creases in place, and tucked it under her pillow so she wouldn't forget about it.
She was going to make the Fey bloodline proud, she was sure of it.