Legacy of Love: The Unhappy Tale Of Crystal Rose And Her Beloved

Once upon a time---what? No, you haven’t heard this story before. Yes, I’m quite sure, now quit bugging me!

Now, where was I? Ah, yes!

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess---I don’t care how familiar it sounds! It is original!

Anyway, back to the story, MY story! There was a beautiful princess named Crystal. Now, as most fairy tales go, Crystal was placed under a dreadful spell. She was to fall in love.

To fully understand the reasoning and intent you must go back to when the spell was first cast. The spell was placed upon her by the dreadful Witch of Svendor, her name too dreadful to speak; she is known simply by the Witch of Svendor. Svendor, of course, being the town she resides in. Quite possibly no one knew her name and simply made up the dreadfulness of the seemingly non-existent name. Either way, she was a dreadfully evil character as it seems witches are.

Well, as you know, Crystal is a princess. She is commonly called Princess Crystal. Most likely because she is, indeed, a princess, and her name is, in fact, Crystal. Well, Princess Crystal, being the only daughter of King Lupatin and Queen Meladhrama, was expected to marry and have children so that the lineage of the Rose family (for that was their name) could continue and that the Roses would always have the crown (even though it was a rather uncomfortable crown, as was the throne). As her eighteenth birthday approached, letters and their couriers were sent out throughout the land to other kingdoms. The letters were sent to all the eligible suitors.

On the week of Crystal’s eighteenth birthday there was to be a ball. A festive week of eating, dancing, and hopefully meeting someone she was willing to spend the rest of her life with. The first day of the ball came and excitement was rampant in the castle. It is a ball! There shall be food and men! And, of course the men were thinking, it is a ball. I shall have to wear tights. And they were instantly depressed, until they remembered the food anyway.

The evening started out wonderfully, Crystal was enjoying the merriment, and there was no lack of handsome princess or delicious food. When, all of a sudden, it got quite dark, and the doors were thrust open. In rushed the terrible Witch of Svendor. Lightning flashed and she cackled quite maliciously! The guests were in a panic. It was the Witch! At the ball! She could only want one thing; revenge. After all, it was Crystal’s parents that exiled the Witch to Svendor. She was plotting to overthrow them and take the crown (obviously she did not know how uncomfortable it was), and they were positively unhappy about this. So they exiled her. Ever since then, she had dedicated herself to ending the line of Roses.

After she had finished her maniacal cackling, she pointed at Crystal and spoke.
“The lineage ends with you!” She roared, and then she cackled. “For the one person you shall fall in love with shall never love you back!” More maniacal laughter.

One of the princes, Prince Ninkem of the family Poopp, looked puzzled. He was not quite bright. You know your intelligence is really lacking when your name becomes an insult. In his father’s kingdom, his name was synonymous with idiocy. So, if you’re ever traveling in the land ruled by the Poopp families, it is not a compliment when you are compared with the prince. Take, for example, one unfortunate man who once visited a tavern in that land. He accidentally upset the bartender with his obtuse attitude. They’re very sensitive when it comes to a lack of intelligence. You can imagine how they must feel about their prince. Anyway the bartender looked at him and said, “Well, you’re just a regular Ninkem Poopp aren’t you?” Of course the idiot in question thought it was a compliment and said something to the effect of, “Oh, I could only wish and aspire to be as half as great as he.” He was promptly run out of the town.

Anyway, when the Witch cackled and said, “The lineage ends with you! For the one person you shall fall in love with shall never love you back!” he looked quite puzzled and then said, “How do you know that?”

“Because I placed a spell on him, you fool” she shouted.

“Ah, I see.” Though it was obvious he didn’t.

And as suddenly as she had come, she left. Crystal’s parents crowded around her, consoling her, and reassuring her, telling her that it would be okay and the Witch couldn’t possibly cast a spell remotely like that. Even though she could and did and they knew it. Then they wasted no time placing her in the tower for her own good so that she would never fall in love. They loved her far too much for that. For, as you well know, to fall in love with someone who will never love you back is the worst curse in the world. Death seemed more preferable to that.

That’s where she waited now, in the tower, alone. But she quite understood that it was for her own good. If she were to fall in love with someone who would never love her back, she would go insane from the sheer frustration and pain.

The parents wasted no time in buying a dragon to guard her. For there would be no prince, no knight able to break in and steal her affections, and then mortally break her heart. Until one day, a knight tried just that, or something like it.

He sat on his white steed tall and proud, daring the world to look at him with anything less than worship and adoration. His white armor gleamed in the light of the sun, and everywhere he went men looked away or fell to the ground. All this worship had gone to his head until he was nothing but an ego in armor. Of course, he didn’t realize that the reason everyone would look away or fall to the ground was because the light of the sun was reflecting off of his armor and searing their eyes.

He rode quickly, but not too fast paced. After all, he wanted to give the impression that he was too important to be hurrying anywhere. Though, in reality, he wasn’t important enough to be needed anywhere.

He had heard of a princess in a tower, guarded by a ferocious beast, and that she was forbidden to love. Or something like that. He reached the land that the Rose family ruled, and found an inn to rest in. The next day he rode on to the city that the Rose family lived in, and the castle that Crystal was kept in.

At last, he was standing before the courtyard, mere yards away from the stairs that would lead to the tower that housed the beautiful princess. There was only one thing in his way: a dragon. The dragon was actually very old. It couldn’t even fly anymore. The only time he had fiery breath was when he ate something he shouldn’t have, and nowadays he wasn’t eating much of anything, so by the time the knight had arrived, the dragon was well and truly ready to keel over dead.

The knight leaped to the ground from his steed. He pulled his sword and approached the dragon. He shouted some sort of challenge at the beast which it couldn’t understand being half-deaf as well as half-dead. The dragon took this moment to conveniently drop dead. Of course the dragon’s death only served to strengthen the knight’s ego and arrogance. He sheathed his sword and made his way up the stairs.

He knocked on the door that was at the top of the stairs. Crystal, expecting it to be one or both of her parents or maybe her maid bringing her her food, opened the door. The knight looked at Crystal. Crystal looked at the knight. They fell in love. It truly was love at first sight, and oh, was it wonderful! The knight forgot all about himself and was enraptured by the beauty that was Crystal. They were both well and truly in love with one another. Crystal, quickly becoming horrified that she might fall in love and have her heart broken, wasted no time in telling him to leave. But he wouldn’t! He had rescued her and he loved her! Upon seeing he would not leave, she gave him a tremendous push. He toppled off of the balcony and plunged to his death.

But now it was too late. Crystal had fallen in love with the knight. The knight in question was dead and, fulfilling the prophecy, could no longer love Crystal. So she lived unhappily ever after. Really.

The End.