Once upon a time there was a kingdom without an heir. Though the King and Queen wanted a child, they had none. Obvious, ne? Finally, they were blessed with the birth of a male child. Celebrations were held all over the kingdom. Years passed and the rulers spoiled their child. Sort of. The King was obsessed with turning him into a perfect leader and fighter, while his mother tried to make him a scholar. The conflict made the child a great, and very smart, warrior, but destroyed his heart. The young prince buried what he wanted and lived for his parents. As time passed, he became colder and colder, until one day a traveling minstrel came to the castle.
The minstrel was treated poorly by the prince and his parents made no effort to make up for the mistreatment. At the end of the night, the musician revealed himself to be a wizard. As punishment for their lack of hospitality, and how they raised their son, the King and Queen were sent far away to a desert island where they drove each other nuts. The prince and all the people in the castle were cursed.
The prince was turned into a man-beast until he could earn the love of one with an innocent soul and return that love. The people would be invisible and have no form except for the hour of Midnight and when the prince called on them. On the bright side, no one got any older. Not much of a bright side, but oh well. They would all spend eternity this way if the prince could not find love. Before he left, the wizard whispered something in the stunned prince's ear and then disappeared.
Needless to say, the servants began to search for someone, anyone, for the prince. It was soon discovered, however, that anyone who failed to love the prince or to win his love, fell under the curse. The kingdom was soon abandoned. People didn't want to be cursed and the servants weren't stopping, so everyone left. The former citizens carried the tale to new lands and eventually it became a legend.
One hundred years later:
On the edge of a forest near the once kingdom lived a small family. Treize owned the house and was a businessman. His partner, Zechs, was a skillful hunter. Together they had adopted and were raising three sons. The oldest was Wufei, at eighteen. The young Asian had been brought home by Treize. On one of his journeys, Treize had found the last survivor of a clan war; the child had been almost dead of starvation. Only six years younger than Treize, the child had looked much younger. Since the boy had no one left, Treize took him in.
The second oldest was Duo, at seventeen. This young man had tried to pick Treize's pocket. Zechs had caught him only to receive a painful kick in the shin. It had started a chase that lasted a full hour. They had finally cornered the exhausted youngster in an alley. He apparently misjudged how high the wall was and couldn't get over. Things went straight downhill from there, however. Treize and Zechs simply wanted the money back, Duo on the other hand seemed to expect the men to either beat the hell out of him or use his body. Maybe both. The men had been so shocked they claimed Duo as a son right there. There was no way to save all the children on the streets, but they weren't going to lose this one. So it was that Duo became the couple's second child.
The final addition to the little family had been Quatre, now sixteen. While touring a small town, the four travelers had come across an amazing scene. A young blonde boy was being chased and beaten by a large crowd. When Treize asked the reason, a man told him the boy was the son of a witch. The woman died recently and now the townspeople were going to make sure all her evil died with her; this meant her son had to die too. The child collapsed near the group of visitors and Wufei and Duo put themselves between the crowd and the boy. That didn't stop the mob, however, and Treize and Zechs were forced to fight to save their children. In the end, Wufei and Duo gained a brother, the town's hospital got really, really full, and the older men enjoyed pounding on a bunch of jerks. All in all, the family had a great time.
So the years passed and the family grew in love, comfort, and well just general familiness. Unfortunately, they did not grow in wealth.
Although Treize was a wise and shrewd man, some of his business partners were not. They took gambles with his, and their own, wealth without asking and lost. Treize was forced to travel in order to make money and pay off creditors. It seems that his partners had run when they discovered the depth of their stupidity and left all the debts for Treize to take care of. Being an honorable man, he did his best. It meant leaving the family he loved and traveling more than ever before, though, and he discovered that one trip would take him away when Duo had his seventeen birthday. That had never happened before. The man was heartbroken. It felt like a betrayal of his son.
Duo was more practical. The young man could see how hard it was for Treize to be gone and he also knew that this particular trip promised a rich return. This was their chance to regain all his father's dishonest partners had lost. He wouldn't stand in the way. While it did hurt that Treize would miss his birthday, Duo plastered a smile on his face and encouraged his father to go. With one small condition that is...Trieze had to get Duo a birthday present. The man readily agreed.
The trip, though, was a disaster. The whole thing had been a trick to get Treize to agree to marry his sons to the daughters of an old partner. Romafeller, the partner, was no longer trusted or liked in the business world. Everyone knew what he'd done to Treize. He thought to regain his lost influence by showing that Treize still trusted him. The best way to prove that was by marriage. Romafeller had three daughters; Treize had three sons. What could be more perfect? Treize wasn't interested.
The three girls in question weren't exactly liked by his sons. Dorothy, Relena, and Hilde were world class bitches. At least, that's how Duo put it. Each wanted to control the man she married. Really control.
Dorothy had once ordered Wufei to stop wearing the clothes of his clan. Relena had ordered Duo to cut his hair. Hilde had ordered Quatre to stop being so sensitive. Talk about obsessive. The young men in question responded by physically throwing the women out.
Treize still smiled when he thought of the girls howling as they flew past the stunned older men. Treize stood by the choices made by his children. He told Romafeller where to stick it. A bit more politely than that, though.
Things had gone downhill fast afterward. Romafeller wasn't taking no for an answer. He ordered his guards to hold Treize, but it hadn't been that simple. Treize had long ago learned how to fight. After a short, but brutal battle, the man fled into the forest. Now he was lost. He knew this was the forest near his home, but it was a part he had never seen. For hours the young man wandered. Finally, he saw a castle in the distance. Perhaps they would help him find his way home.
The hope Treize felt earlier died as he approached the forbidding structure. Although it wasn't a total loss, the castle didn't look lived in. Still, it would be a better place to sleep than the open forest; especially with Romafeller's men looking for him. After stabling his horse, Treize began to explore.
The castle was still fairly impressive. The tapestries, furniture, and other items were perfectly preserved. The outside might be a mess, but the inside was beautiful. It took the rest of the afternoon to full explore the castle. By nightfall, Treize was exhausted, hungry, and disappointed. Not only was there no food in the castle, but the food plants that grew on the grounds had nothing on them. It was as if they had been harvested.
Treize built a small fire in the main room's fireplace and dragged a nearby chair in front of the blaze. Hungry and tired, yes; cold, no. Slowly, he sank into sleep wondering how he was going to explain things to his love and his children.
The fire was still high when he awoke to the smell of food. At first, he was certain it was a dream. He opened his eyes to a table set before him. On it were all sorts of dishes. Chicken, roast, vegetables, desserts, and things Treize had never seen before. He reached out a trembling hand, sure that the feast would be intangible or disappear as soon as it was touched. His hands did not pass through the food nor did it vanish. With the speed of a starving man, Treize began to eat. It never entered his thoughts that the food might be poisoned. Perhaps some magic was at work.
After the meal, the young businessman thanked his hosts; he felt strange talking to thin air, but Treize was determined to be polite to his unseen hosts. Maybe they were just very shy people. Full and content, sleep once again claimed Treize. Morning , and all its problems, was very far away.
"Well." A voice near Treize spoke. A young, dark-haired woman slowly faded in as the clock struck midnight.
"Well what?" A tall brown-eyed woman appeared next to the young woman.
"What do you think?"
"He isn't the one. No need to get him involved."
A small frown of disappointment crossed the younger's face. "Are you sure? He is rather handsome."
"His soul is not innocent. Even if the Prince did love him, he could not break the curse." Cute or not, this one couldn't save them.
"Damn."
The brown-eyed woman laughed. Her love was so mild tempered she almost never cussed. When she did, the young woman turned bright red afterward. Just like now. It made her look so tempting.
"Perhaps we should be returning to our room, Noin. We have less than an hour left."
"But... Une," Noin began.
"Trust me, love. He's not the one we've been waiting for."
Noin gave in and lead the way upstairs. In the house, silence ruled. Outside a figure moved in the shadows watching the sleeping man near the fire. It didn't seem human. The form was covered with fur, claws instead of fingers, fangs instead of teeth, but its eyes were cobalt blue and filled with a very human emotion. Loneliness.
End Part 1
Phoenix
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