Long ago in a land far, far away...Actually, it was a fairly recent series of events...And it may not be terribly far if you lived on Earth in the land known as...The United States. Anyway, in a small town in the region known as Illinois, there once lived a young lady named Emelda Stone. She was a natural beauty with a kind heart yet a broad mind as she grew up living a relatively average life, educated on many things, especially various forms of folklore from Nursery Rhymes to Fairy Tales to everything in between. Despite her odd habits such as claiming that animals could talk in Human Language, she was adored by just about everyone well into her High School life.
Ah, but, it wouldn't be a proper story if it didn't all come crashing down, would it? Sadly, that's exactly what happened. A trio of rather mean girls attended the same school, just as beautiful as if not more beautiful Emelda, but not as kindhearted. While she gained her popularity through her natural graces, these three ruled the youth of their town through fear and status. Helped the least by the fact that their leader was the mayor's daughter while Emelda's mother and father were a mere diner owner and auto repairman respectively. They'd have had enough of Emelda and her interrupting their way of life.
On the night of her 16th birthday, they sprang into action. They coaxed Emelda out of her modest home just outside of civilization, trapped her parents, pets and every friend she ever made inside and set it ablaze, forcing her to watch despite her objections and begging to stop the whole thing. But, they made here witness everyone and everything she cared for in this world burn to the ground. The following morning, the leader attempted to get her father to bury the events from the local news. However, her father, being an honest man, sent the three wicked girls to a mental institution and regrettably, as far as his daughter was concerned, life in prison.
This did not undo the damage to Emelda's happy life. Following the service, it was heavily discussed who should take the poor girl in. However, fearing the trio's revenge for indirectly ruining their lives as they did hers, she decided to pack a bag of essentials, the few things they could salvage from the fire and the till from her parents' businesses and left as far from the town as she could. Her kind heart hardened with anger and sorrow, her brilliant mind clouded with loneliness and regret. Emotions she never experienced in such great amounts. Yet, the morals and lessons from the tales she grew to love so and the memories she made in her former home kept her spirits up as she did her best to rebuild her life from the ground-up.
Unfortunately, with no one who knew and understood her, many people she met found her too odd to have anything to do with her despite her beauty. She couldn't even get into the music industry in spite of her beautiful voice. Rejection after rejection, her spirit began to dwindle, leaving her to believe the milk of human kindness had soured. I believe the previous Lord of the the land had something to do with that to some extent...Brandon, I believe his name was? Anyway, her funds eventually ran dry, forcing her to live in a tent she had to buy with the money she had left. As she continued to travel, she began to wish the world of fairy tales and such were real. One night, a man in a blue cloak approached her weilding a knife with intent on killing her! The man hesitated and dropped his weapon.
"I...No, I can't!" The man whimpered.
"...Please" Emelda wept, "Please...DO IT!" The man stood in shock as she fell to the floor. "Show me there's still kindness in this damned world! Send me to where there are people who actually care about me!" Tears ran down her face as Emelda glared at the man, her hands and knees trembling to keep her as erect as can be. Her breath heavy as if she were trapped in an airtight chamber "WHAT THE F*** ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?" She spat in disbelief in what came out of her mouth. She never swore like this before...In fact, she'd never actually swore at all before this night. But, her near-death experience awoke something in her.
"I can help you" the man said finally, "But, assisted suicide is not the way"
"What would YOU know!?" Emelda asked, still wallowing in her misery and self-pity, "Do you know what it's like to spend the first 16 years of your life practically living a fairy tale life only to be perpetually stuck in the part where the prince is supposed to have found you and whisked away to some far-off kingdom to live Happily Ever After!? I could have lived my best life. Good friends, a loving family...But, no!"
"...Those who instilled this misery upon you were all influenced by the Black Queen" the man admitted
"...The what?" Emelda asked with a sniffle, standing to her feet.
"She sent me here to finish the job" he continued. "I may not be a prince, child, but, I can indeed help you" The man then pulled out what in her mind looked like a very thin Smart Phone. "Magic Mirror In My Hand, Your Assistance, I Command!" The Mirror then lit up, making a strange blip sound and showing various icons on it. He then showed Emelda an icon that looked like a swirling vortex. "Please, place your finger here and I shall handle the rest"
"...Are you making fun of me?" Emelda growled, wiping the rest of her tears away, "I mention Fairy Tales and wanting to leave this world and you expect me to believe an APP will solve my problems!?"
"Your doubt and cynicism are disheartening, but, understandable" the man said, holding back his own tears, "Please, If I activated it, it will only react to me" Giving in to her curiosity of the odd gesture, Emelda placed her finger on the app and the mirror began to glow a brilliant mauve color. "Take this poor soul to someone who can protect her from the Black Queen's wrath!" the man demanded. Suddenly, a vortex formed from the mirror and sucked the girl in. The man looked back onto the mirror seeing that the app had disappeared. "It is done" the man responded, "I hope the hero I sent you to will do their best to help you in this, your most dire time. May your lives be lived happily ever and after!"
Emelda fell screaming into the void she was pulled into. Many different things swirled around her as she passed through the haze. Several voices were heard as she began to see the other end of the void. As she landed on a giant mushroom, exiting the void, she noticed that she's in a forest of some kind. After an hour of wandering around, she began to go over everything that happened.
"Okay" she said to herself, "I was in the hot sun all day, hadn't had a decent meal in a few days and suddenly a mugger with a beard that would make Sean Connery jealous makes me touch his phone and now, I'm in a forest with no idea what to do. I'm either dreaming or my brain is dying" Suddenly, she noticed a large stone house with what looked like a thatched roof. She ran to the house and knocked on the door.
"Oh, son of a cheshire!" a voice boomed out, "That was my last life, too!" Emelda heard some rummaging going on in the house. "I swear upon a star if it's that Winkie kid again..." The voice grumbled, "This is why I moved to the outskirts of town!" Suddenly, the door was answered by a Grey Brown Ogre that looked like he could tower...Well, the closest thing I could compare his size to was being able to see over the horizon of the hair of one of your giants by the name of André...Anyway, he was wielding a large club. "I DON'T EVEN HAVE KIDS, DAMN IT!" The ogre roared, brandishing his weapon, "CUT. IT. OUT!"
"AGH! PLEASE! NO!" Emelda cried, "DON'T EAT ME!"
"What the Devil?" the Ogre looked around and found the green-haired girl cowering behind a nearby tree. "Oh, I'm sorry, miss" he said, his voice now calmer, "I thought you were somebody else. I THOUGHT it was a little early for that guy" He then beckoned the girl over. "Come on in, it's not safe out here at this hour"
The poor, frightened girl looked back at the Ogre in confusion "What the hell is going on here?" she thought to herself, "Is this the guy who's gonna protect me from this Black Queen bitch the other guy told me about?"
"Yeah, you definitely should get in here" The Ogre added, "A pretty young Manette like you wandering out in THESE woods at night, NOT the best idea unless you have the capabilities. The Nocturnals could get you"
"...Well" Emelda said finally, "It'd be nice to have decent roof over my head again. Even if it's a thatched roof"
"It's actually simulated thatching" the Ogre replied, "The real thing was declared a fire hazard. Come on, you look like you haven't had a good meal in about a week" Emelda finally stepped forward to enter the house. "By the way, the name's Rider. Jack Rider I'm sure you heard of me"
"I...I-I haven't" Emelda admitted.
"Oh" Rider responded, "That must mean you're from Earth"
"From Ear-?" Emelda started in surprise, "WHERE THE HELL DID THAT STUPID APP SEND ME!?"
"App?" Rider asked, "...You know what, we'll answer those questions in the morning, I'll be a little less intimidating come sunswing"
"Don't you mean sunRISE?" Emelda queried.
"Again, let's save all questions for tomorrow" Rider answered.
Moments after dinner, Emelda began to feel sleepy.
"This is is a pretty big place for one ogre" she said with a yawn.
"Yeah, the place used to be a guild" Rider replied, "Got it for 5,000 Echoes and a song. I don't sing, and I actually suck at songwriting, but the thought the lyrics were decent enough. Anyway, go ahead an pick any room you like, I already claimed the master bedroom for obvious reasons"
"ARE YOUR KIDS ASLEEP!?" a voice rang in from the door lock, "IT'S AFTER TEN!"
"MOTHER GOOSE!" Rider shouted making his way back to arm himself with the club, "Every NIGHT with this guy!"
And so began Emelda's first night in her new home. How do I know all of this? They call me the Scribe. Along with these words, the tale you just read was sent into the mind of this writer on your Interealms- Sorry, InternNET to tell it to you. More of this tale shall soon unfold before you...Upon Athyme!
