1 New World
The dark room was like a place out of time where only the sound of a clock could be heard. In the darkness, even the ticking had a relaxed feeling. Lyla, the girl who stole her way through the truth, found comfort in the shadows that enveloped her. It was a place where she could forget everything and everyone. As she stared into the abyss with her bedridden eyes, a box appeared and illuminated the room with its blinding light. Then everything disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"W-where am I?" she muttered.
Lyla looked down to see a path beneath her feet that seemed to fade with each step she took. Slowly, it faded into the darkness leaving no traces behind. In a daze, she continued to walk until an isolated cottage could be seen from afar. Lyla went towards the cottage's porch, her heart pounding in her chest. She turned the knob and opened the rusted door. Despite pushing the door gently, the creaking sound still echoed throughout the cottage. On the wooden floor that laid shattered glass, Lyla knelt down to see her reflection.
"Deep blue eyes with long black hair that reached to her elbows and skin as white as snow. Isn't this Alice the protagonist from Fated to be and why am I in a novel I read?!" she yelled.
Alongside the glass was a letter that had a large red wax seal, representing the royal family crest. She carefully lifted up the seal to reveal an invitation to a ball which was to be held on the 1st of August. Lyla looked up to the wall where a worn out calendar was hanging. All days were marked off except for the day of the ball.
In a panic, Lyla rushed towards the desk with the letter in hand. Using a quill she found, Lyla began writing down the events of the story on the backside of the letter. Finally, after hours of careful planning it was the day of the ball.
"It's already night...yet my fairy godmother is nowhere to be found!"
Seconds after she screamed that, a blinding light appeared and there came a tall but slim young man with bright red hair. "So that's where you've been," he smirked.
In the next moment, a shoe was thrown at the mysterious man's face.
"Hey!, what's that for?!" he yelled.
"That's for being late, now would you get me a dress already"
"As you wish...but everything will disappear at midnight" he whispered.
Moments later, an elegant dress appeared, a greenish-blue gown made of soft fabric which came with a pair of glass slippers. With a wave of his magic staff again, Lyla was teleported to the ball.
In a grand castle, belonging to the Maybell family lived an ordinary family until the queen passed away due to illness. When King Victor remarried, the woman was brought into the castle along with her son Ivan. 2 years later, the king was poisoned and died soon after. The perpetrator was never found so the investigation was called off when the queen took over the kingdom.
Alice, who was only 8 years old witnessed the woman putting a substance into the king's tea but with no evidence, she decided to run away before she met the same end as her father. Just as the queen did with the former king, the search for the missing princess was called off. 8 years later, Lyla now in Alice's body attempts to claim what was rightfully hers in order to survive.
Inside the ballroom filled with hundreds of guests, the prince was nowhere to be found. Lyla went out to search for him until she stumbled upon the balcony where he was staring into the night. Lyla shifted her gaze towards the pitch-blck curtain that draped over the sky with its thousands of stars.
"Your highness, may I ask for a dance?"
"It would be my honor," Ivan smiled.
For as long as time will allow them, they danced and danced till the clock struck midnight. In a hurry, Lyla ran leaving behind a glass slipper. Without listening to the shouts of the young prince, Lyla kept on running until she reached the front gate.
"Took you long enough," Axle grinned.
Light started to surround Lyla as her elegant dress disappeared, replaced by rags as before. With a wave of his magic staff, the two figures returned back to the cottage.
