There are two worlds that make up the human mind. They balance each other, and varies depending on who the thinker is.

There is the imagination, in which princesses, knights, dragons, and witches exist in. The princess and knight fall in love immediately and live happily ever after, while the evil forces that strive to take them apart perish by their own undoing. Magic exists, along with various creatures unknown to mankind. Languages from various tongues are spoken, yet everyone could understand each other without a problem. The riches found in the dragon's cave or in a pirate's treasure chest were so valuable that it could buy the whole world a hundred times over. Many people want this kind of world. It is such a location in which everything could go their way. They can have their happily ever after without even trying. However, that is not the case…

There is reality, in which evil thrive in the form of sins, mistakes, and ignorance. The knight never existed, and the dragons and witches blew smoke, diseases, and other vile monstrosities into the air. There is no magic that can defeat it, and it was destined to remain for an eternity. Money is more essential and the quickest way to a "good life." The kings and queens of the world had made countless mistakes, unlike the ones in the story books. War has plagued the world ever since the beginning of time and there was no true victor.

However, when the two worlds combine to form one, the path of judgment and destiny awaits for the ones who choose to make differences. Whether the moral choice is considered right or wrong can only be determined by the one who commits the act. This is a story that reveals the true faces of its characters.

It begins with any other fairy tale: Once upon a time…

    There was a fair maiden named Joan Bellarose. She had skin the color of pure white snow and hair as brown as milk chocolate. At the time of this story's beginning, she was around seventeen. As a young girl, her mother would use to read her fairytales. Joan would often imagine them in her dreams, hoping that her own "happily ever after" would come. However, that all changed when her parents divorced when she was seven. Her dreams of having a happy life were over, as she then found out that her father had an affair with another woman. They married two months after the divorce. Despite that, Joan decided to have a positive outlook on life (with a tang of sarcasm sometimes). All she wanted now was a peaceful life, one that only required her to enjoy the fruits of her success for a very long time. She wasn't a star student, but she had very good grades. Her mother found a new love named Allen Trosky and married him when Joan was fifteen. Trosky was a very good man to her mother, and they lived as a complete, happy family since then.

The knight was a young albino man named Viktor Siegel. His religiously strict parents deemed him inferior, and refused to even look at him, much less call him their own child. He spent his days alone, walking across fields and enjoying the sky, no matter what the weather was. He met Joan when they were in preschool. He was sitting alone at the lunch table near the exit, and she was a new student at school. She asked if there was anyone sitting there, to which he just looked at her with surprise. First, she didn't take note of his appearance, which was unexpecting. Second, she was actually talking to him with a friendly tone. He merely stuttered as she just stood there, confused by his reaction. He then manages to stammer out that there was no one but himself, to which he looked away. She just smiled and sat next to him, extending her arm out.

"I am Joan Bellarose. But you can call me Joan. I'm new here."

He slowly takes the hand and spoke in a soft voice.

"I am Viktor. I am a ghost…."

She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Really? I think you are a knight. A handsome, white knight coming to rescue the princess."

The knight was taken back. A knight? Not a ghost? Is she insane? Just one look at him can confirm the fact that he was not human. However, as if Joan had read his mind, she puts a hand on his, causing him to look at her face.

"Listen. You are not a ghost, no matter what your appearance is. You are alive and you are a human. How can I prove it? Well, I just touched your hand and it didn't go through it. That makes you a real person."

What she had said to him made him relax. It was the first time that anyone had ever said that to him. The days following their first encounter allowed their friendship to blossom, and soon (for Viktor, that is) into an undying love. He vowed to be her knight, even if he had to wait an eternity to do so. He was there for her through her worst times, and she was there for him as well. The bond of the princess and the knight was impossible to break, and it was expected to be that way.

There was a prince named Erik Draco. No, my apologies. He was a dragon prince, to be exact. He is the youngest of twelve brothers, so he wasn't expected to gain the throne at all. Instead, he was given a small village to rule over. The villagers were aware of this; so on the last day of the year, they give tributes to him. The fattest livestock, jewelry, and textiles were given in exchange for him to leave them alone. The main sacrifice, however, was not the materials that the people themselves had made with their hands, but one of their own people as well. A young girl was to be sacrificed once she shows the first signs of womanhood. She is treated like a princess for five days, only to be drugged and have her heart ripped from her after that, thus ending the ritual. The prince, however, did not enjoy his gifts of the people for two reasons. The first reason was that he didn't like the fact that a dead girl was always presented to him. He just buried her along with the others from years prior in the fields across from his cave. The second reason was that on the day after the spoils arrived; his brother Merduat arrives and takes them away for his own. He then would beat up Erik for no particular reason at all; just to feel the dominance that he had over others. It takes a few days for Erik to recover, and then he returns to "rule" in solitude.

This is what happened over the course of their lives. That is until a major plot twist occurred, shattering the fragile existence that held the peaceful lives of our main characters...

~~It all began on a Monday. The school year had just begun, and Joan was excited about it. It was not because she had new classes or had the chance to make new friends. In fact, she deemed those facts as unimportant and unnecessary. No, it was because Viktor will be there. She and him will be able to hang out again just like before the summer, as his parents sent him to a summer camp every time. Unlike the other youths, however, he didn't show any signs of sunlight exposure because he had lied to the counselors of a rare skin condition that prevented him from playing outside. Instead, he enjoyed the beauty of air conditioning while the others wasted away to the exposing ultraviolet rays. Viktor himself was more than happy to go back to school as soon as camp ended. He planned on asking her to prom that year and confessing his feelings, which he harbored as soon as he realized how he truly feels about her.

When they saw each other for the first time for months, Joan ran up to him and hugged him tightly as if he was a soldier who came back from a long and horrible war. This made him blush a little, wanting that moment to last forever.

Her voice broke his thoughts. "Viktor! I missed you so much! How was camp?"

He successfully managed to hide his blush as soon as she spoke. She released the hug, but not before he hugged back.

"Same as usual. I enjoyed the air conditioning while the others enjoyed the nearing dangers of skin cancer." Joan giggled at his joke that he created ever since he went to camp every year.

Soon, the bell for the first class rang. She patted his back and smiled. "Still the same old Viktor, I see. Well, I have to go to class now. I'll see you later, okay?" He nodded in agreement. When she was far from sight, however, he sighed sadly as he took a necklace with a dove pendant on it from his pocket.

Last year, they walked to the nearby plaza after school, to which he noticed her staring at the jewelry stand.

"Hey, Joan. Something catch your eye?"

She merely nodded her head, her eyes still fixed on the stand and its contents. As they came nearer, she picked up the necklace to see the price. To her misfortune, it exceeded to what she had in her pocket. She sighed and left the stand sullenly. Viktor looked at her depressed state and asked the store owner about any discounts. The owner thought about it for a while and decided to make a deal with the boy.

"Tell you what. If you help me out with the business, then you can have that necklace for free. Just come over on weekends and clean the place up a bit. I'll put this in a box so that you can get it after our deal. So, what's your name, kid?"

Viktor couldn't believe what had just happened. All of a sudden, luck was on his side. He can get the necklace for Joan. Even better, he can even confess to her afterwards. He cleared his throat, extended his hand, and answered in a polite tone.

"I am Viktor Siegel, sir. I can start this week and any other weekend you require my assistance."

The store owner smiled and took the hand.

"You may call me 'Mr. Johnson.' A pleasure doing business for you."

It took him all year to get the necklace, but the problem was that he didn't know to present it to her. He wanted the timing to be perfect, but he didn't know when. He sighed as he put the necklace away, deep into his pocket.

"Maybe next time…."

After the day had ended, Joan and Viktor walked to the old bookstore to see what history had in store for them. The building was at least a century old, with the books hidden by dust and dead insect shells. Unlike other libraries, however, this one didn't go by the Dewey Decimal System. It was separated into categories: Mythology, Epics, old journals, outdated newspapers, classics, and (to Joan's chagrin) fairytales. The owner himself was an ancient sage who frequently wrote in a notebook in some type of code. They once asked him to teach them the code so that they could communicate secretly, but he never answered them, so they assumed he was deaf. Viktor would always read something involving a legendary hero, like King Arthur and Dante's Inferno. Joan would read accounts of specific events that occurred in history, like execution reports and casualty lists during the Civil War. They left two hours later to go to the local café for dinner.

Several miles away, a drunk driver was currently speeding at a rate of 75 mph and was heading towards where the maiden and knight were. He didn't have a grudge towards them, you see, so do not misunderstand is intentions. It all started a week prior to Monday, when he realized that he was short of cash again. (He was a heavy gambler, you see, and a terrible one as well) His friends made a bet with him to have beer instead of food for a whole week for a mere $1,500. All he had to do was not get into trouble with authorities during this time, and it looked like he was actually winning. He laughed drunkenly as he sped up the road, leaving tire tracks and roadkill in the car's wake.

Viktor was incredibly nervous at that moment. He planned on giving Joan the necklace and asking her out once they had arrived at the café. But he couldn't help think that there was a drawback in every move he attempted to make. He offered to buy dinner and decided have their meal next to the glass windows of the restaurant to have a "romantic feel" to the atmosphere. They didn't notice the enraged bull of the driver until they actually sat down to eat. Sirens wailed and screaming was heard as the bystanders tried to avoid the vehicle. That's when they saw the car coming towards them. In a flash, the fragile glass wall was shattered and millions of shards were sent flying at their direction. They felt a thousand knives pierce their skin before a dull thud! was heard across the restaurant. As the employees and other customers tried to escape the building, a pool of blood coming from the youths' heads began to spread across the floor. The last thing they saw was not the car, however, but each other as they lay next to each other, each covered with the other's blood. Then, darkness slowly came to their eyes as if they had gone to sleep, even though their eyes were open so wide that they could see each other so clearly.

~~When Joan finally woke up from what seemed like an eternity, she noticed that Viktor was not there next to her. She stood up in a panic, frantically searching for her best friend. She found herself in a sunny field of yellow and white flowers and numerous goats grazing. There were of all sizes, from the males to the little kids that frolicked about after suckling their mother's milk. Joan stood up to find herself completely healed of all injuries; no blood flowed from the head injury that she had received when the car had hit her. In fact, it was as if she was reborn into a new body, because there were no signs of any injuries at all, not even from her childhood days, like when she fell off the swing at age 5 and left a small scar on her knee. She demanded an explanation for everything that was going on around her; she was also worried about Viktor and his well-being

She then noticed a boy herding the goats not too far away from her, rounding them left and right with a huge cane with a crane-like hook at the end. She decided to approach him and question her current location, along with if there was any way out of it. She tapped the goat boy's shoulder, only to be met by the cane almost hitting her face. She moved back as he then glared at her and started to panic, thinking that she was an intruder. He tried to lower his voice, as he was but only an eight year old, in order to intimidate her. "Who are you? Are you an intruder?! Intruder!"

He kept on swinging the huge cane as if it were some kind of monstrous weapon. Joan evaded the hits and ends up backing up to a goat. "Whoa! Hold up, kid!" She manages to get a hold of the cane before throwing it across the field. "I'm not an intruder, believe me. Can you tell me where I am? And the time? And your name?"

The goat boy looked at her with a suspicious eye. She obviously isn't around here….her accent is too…foreign…her appearance looked as though as she was a statue. Nevertheless, the curious lad decided to be brave and answer the strange girl's questions. He puffed up his chest to show how courageous he was and answered in a more child-like haughty (But still deep as if one was imitating Superman). "I am the goat boy named Casper! You are in the fields of the village of Fiend-Fae, located in the country of Ironia! The time and date of today is the fifth day of Aster (September) in the fifth year of the reign of Draco the Tenth! What is your name, strange statue girl?"

Joan stared at him for a moment, confused. She didn't know where the heck was Ironia, or a village named Fiend-Fae. She thought that neither existed, that the boy was just a childish creature still stuck in his make-believe world. She decided to play along with his answer, smiling. "Thank you very much sir. I am Joan Bellerose. Now, do you know a man named Viktor? He has pale skin, white hair, red eyes-" Before she could finish her description of her friend, Casper widened his eyes and pointed a finger at her. "You are associated with a demon! Demon Statue Girl! Demon Statue Girl!"

Joan was completely annoyed now. She then punched his face, not caring if he was just a child. "Don't call my friend a demon, you little brat! And my name is Joan! I just told you that!"

The boy recoiled in pain, almost at the brink of tears. He then blew a whistle that was hanging across his neck as hard as he can. Soon, the goats surrounded Joan in a circle. He smirked as he then crossed his arms, sporting a black eye from the fist of Joan. "Admit defeat, Demon Girl. I shall now take you as a prisoner and present you to the leader of Fiend-Fae."

Joan just simply raised her arms in surrender. She didn't want to upset the boy, most likely because the male goats had huge horns and consistently butted them to her. Casper then smiled as he tied her hands with rope and then leading her to his village. The goats kept on pushing her, constantly annoying her, but she had no choice but to comply with the boy and his goats.

This is unreal. I can't believe that I'm being lead to a village by a boy and his goats! This is so a dream. It has to be….I wonder, though…what would the village look like? Her thoughts were broken when the boy and goats have stopped dragging and pushing her. "We are here, Demon Girl! Be prepared for Judgement Day in the honor of Our Savior! Head villager! I present to you what I have caught in the herding fields!" He then grabbed her by the rope and dragged her to a sea of brown. Joan widened her eyes as numerous villagers came to see what was going on. Oh crap...I'm really screwed! What on earth is going on here? Viktor! Mom! Anybody! Save me from this nightmare!

~~The village of Fiend-Fae looked like a brown, dull paradise. Every single object that belonged there was brown. The houses were brown, the clothing were brown, even the animals had different shades of brown on them. The sky was a brownish grey, as if poisoned with the effects of smog. The air surrounding them was the stench of natural soil and dung. The crops for the winter have been stored in a brown shed near a house which seemed to be slightly larger than the others. Everyone wore at least some type of robe; the men wore tunics and sandals, while the women wore long dresses and slippers. The children were completely covered from head to toe with light brown outfits; it was as if they were miniature versions of the adults. The people themselves were tanned from constant exposure to the sun. They had blond, curly hair, and were as tall as at least 5'4.'' They spoke with a strong accent, perhaps Germanic, and were stocky from all the bountiful harvests from years prior.

As Joan made note of all of this information in her head, Casper and his goats lead her to the head of the village. He was a muscular, tall man, as tall as 6' 1." Like the rest of his village, he had slightly tanned skin and blond hair that reached up to his shoulders. He always had a frown on his face, with a beard to top it all off, making him appear as if he hated the world, even if he was in the brightest mood of all time. His breath reeked of alcohol; Joan could smell it from where she was standing (or perhaps it was the rum barrels not too far from her).

She was brought to a tall wooden stake and was tied to it with thick rope. She watched anxiously as Caper and the head of the village began discussing about what to do with her. The head's expression was still in its usual frown, even after he heard about her "association with a demon." He made a hand signal to Casper to whisper in his ear, constantly glancing at Joan as he did so. Finally, he raised his head and called in a loud voice, "People of Fiend-Fae! We shall now begin the feast of Mädchen Segen! This girl shall be our Mädchen instead of my own daughter! Her asscociation with the demon shall be ignored, as long as she does not call for him! Wife!"

A young woman around her early twenties, persumably his wife, came to his side as soon as he had called for her. She looked meek and had sad-looking eyes. She had blond hair, just like her husband and everyone else, but was skinny as a twig. It was as if she had never enough to eat, even though there seemed to be plentiful harvests for a very long time. Her face, despite being young, showed signs of age and distress. She constantly looked down at the floor when her husband was talking to Joan. "Wife, take the Mädchen to your room for now and dress her in your finest clothes, fit for a princess! Now!"

His last outburst almost sent the poor woman flying, but she managed to hold her ground as the other villagers came to, relunctantly, untie Joan. The wife took her by the hand and went to what seemed to be the head villager's house. When they finally reached the wife's room, Joan pulled her hand away and demanded in an angry voice, "What the hell is going on around here? I thought I was supposed to be executed or something!"

The wife just merely responded, "Please refrain from saying 'hell,' Mädchen. It is improper and if the others would have heard, then you would not have lived. Also, it is against the Savior...if you believe in him...but please refrian from saying His name in vain."

Joan sighed. If she was going to get any answers at all, she would have to follow the village's rules. "Sorry. What I meant to say was, where am I? I thought that the people here were going to execute me..."

The wife just nodded. "It is alright. You are an outsider. You see, the village is haunted by a dragon, sent by Him to punish us for our evil sins…the only way, we have believed, was offer a tribute to him once a month…along with that….is the sacrifice of a Mädchen."

Joan tried to absorb this information without going to shock. "Is the Mädchen...me?" The wife nodded. "It was orginally suppossed to be the daughter of my current husband, but then you arrived, having thought that you were associated with a demon. The village then began to see a final resolution of the curse. They think that by sacraficing one who is asscoiated with the demon to the dragon that our Savior will leave the people alone...I have to give you a dress."

Joan just stood helplessly as the wife opened a chest containing a beautiful silk dress, with lace and ribbons tied together to form roses and unique designs. Compared to her sky blue blouse and dark jeans, Joan looked at the dress with amazement. It was as if angels had made the beautiful garment. It was fit for no human, but here she is, allowed to wear such a thing created by the heavens. "I-I can't simply wear this. I'm sorry, but I cannot be the Mädchen. I want to find Viktor, my best friend. If I were someone else, then maybe I would have accepted such a heavenly thing. But..I'm sorry. As much as this role is important to your people, I cannot follow it. I need to go."

The wife slowly put down the dress on the bed near to her and sighed. "I wish that...I could comply to your request...but I have no-"

Suddenly, her husband barged into the room. His face was red with rage. When he spoke, it was as if a lion was declaring the dominancy to a rebelling female. It was terrible and frightening. "Wife! I want to speak to you about talking to the Mädchen." His tone quickly soften when he then turned to Joan, but still carried its roughness. It frightened the poor girl to death, as she froze in place as he spoke. "Mädchen, if you please excuse me, do wait until our conversation is over...in the meantime, wear the dress and expect your food to arrive shortly." He dragged his wife by the hair and exited the room, slamming the door behind them. Through the wooden door, Joan could hear screaming and hitting from both man and woman. "I..I need to get out of here...I can't take this...it's my fault this is happening!" However, when she tried to exit the room to help the wife, the door was locked. It seemed that it was locked from the inside, possibly set by the wife. As Joan began to notice, there were black marks on the door and walls, like tally marks to count the days. She finally knew why the wife was always looking so sad all the time. She was in a prison in her own village, with only a small hope of escape. But what? What was the hope that the wife longed for? Joan was shocked at this mistreatment of the wife, but decided that if she were to interviene by pounding on the door, then the wife could get more than just a beating. She picked up and clenched on the dress as hot tears began to flow off her face. She decided, relunctantly, to stay still and wait for everything to pass, silently wishing that Viktor was here beside her. At least with Viktor, she could feel safe...

~~Despite the head villager saying that the "conversation" between him and his wife would only last only a short time, Joan found herself clutching onto the dress for over two hours. An eerie silence had taken place an hour before that, as it had seemed that the husband had dragged his wife away from the door. It was the night of the full moon, so the moonlight shone on her preventing her from seeing total darkness.

Her eyes drooped and her head tilted forward constantly as she struggled to not fall asleep in constant worry that the wife was in trouble. The battle finally ended when the door opened and the wife was thrown into the room and slammed it shut. Joan managed to catch her before she hit the ground. When Joan looked at her, she was shocked with the sudden appearance of wounds on the poor woman's face. There were bruises and open cuts where her lips and nose were. Her eyes were swollen and looked like black eyes would form soon. Her hair, instead of its usual braid, was loose, and the right side of her head was bleeding. The wife was on the verge of breaking down. She sobbed as she sank to Joann's knees, not paying attention to anything else. It wasn't the first time this event had occurred, it seems. In fact, the sadness and timid personality of the poor woman suggested that this may have happened even before her marriage to the head chief. Joan felt pity for the poor woman after this realization, as she stroked her hair and attempted to calm her down. The wife was like a frail bird as she shook and immediately closed her eyes once Joan raised her hand. She calmed down after she realized that the hand only gave a touch instead of a forceful hit. She sniffled and tried to pull herself together. When she finally managed to speak, it was a hoarse whisper that came out of her mouth instead of the timid, maid-like voice that usually existed within her.

"Mädchen, you haven't worn your dress..."

Joan realized that the elegant dress that she was holding was still in her hands after all this time. She immediately discarded it onto the floor, where it crumpled like a dirty linen sheet. She then knelt down and held the wife's hands, which were icy cold, not to mention unusually pale.

"Shhhh...let me help you. Is there a way where I can get outside? I'm sure that there's bound to be a medicine man here."

The wife shook her head sadly. "My husband...no...the head chief locked the door...there's no way out unless it's through the window...however, he'll hear the noise...please believe me...I tried."

Joan merely nodded her head. If there was no escape plan before this "Mädchen Segen" could occur, then they would need a better strategy on the exact day. All she needed was information on how the ceremony worked.

"So, how does Mädchen Segen work exactly?"

The wife looked at Joan surprisingly. Why would she want to this? Did she really want to get killed? Unless... She looked at her with cautious eyes. "What are you planning, Mädchen?"

Joan stared at her with hopeful determination in her eyes. "My escape out of here. If you want, I can take you with me."

The wife merely shook her head and lowered her eyes in defeat. "That is...impossible, Miss."

Despite her annoyance that the wife kept on calling her "Miss," Joan ignored this fact and softened her eyes. She needed to know what on earth happened to this poor woman. But that face the wife had completely disturbed her, as it reminded her of her own mother when they were with her biological father. So, she decided to add some humor to make the wife smile a bit. She cleared her throat before saying, "Why? Never thought outside of the box before?"

The wife, ignoring the humor, shook her head sullenly. She then pulled up the sleeve of her dress, revealing a black, tattoo-like mark on her pale skin. "This mark...is my life...my duty as a wife to the chief...a woman who only cooks, cleans, and bears children...a thing that can be easily replaced. I am his property...I cannot escape this fate until death...even then...no one will know of me or miss me."

Joan looked at the mark and winced as if she bore it instead of the wife. It reminded her of the branding tattoos put on prisoners in the concentration camps of Aushwitz. She looked at the sorrowful woman with a genuine look in her eyes. "That's not true...I would miss you..."

The wife looked at her, the looked down at the bare, wooden floor. "Why? You and I have only met today...you don't even know my name...nor I to you..."

Joan stared at her with a noglastic feeling. She reminded her too much of her mother, especially after a quarrel with her father. She wanted to safe the wife and take her home, where she could be possibly happy. No more chief, no more mark, no more slavery. Joan took the wife's small, cold hands into hers. "I am Joan Bellerose. What is your name?"

The wife looked at how her hands easily fitted into Joan's. "The chief calls me 'Wife.' The first daughter calls me 'First Mother.' My parents used to call me..." Her head tilted a bit as she tried to remember the name in which her parents called her. "Something...that begins with a M."

Joan thought about this for a while. If her name had to have started with a M, but could not be remembered, then would it be okay to give her a new name? "What about...Mary? Mary Magdelene?"

The wife looked at Joan. Someone had given her a name. She smiled a little as she tried pronouncing the words. They first sounded choppy, but became smoother as she continued speaking. "Mary...Mary...Mary Mag...Mary Magdelene...Mary Magdelene."

Joan smiled as Mary Magdelene finally pronounced and accepted her name. Mary bursted with tears, sobbing into her chest. "Thank you...thank you...for giving me more than I could've imagined...in my whole life..."

Joan hugged her, wrapping her arms around Mary as if she was a frail bird. "Do you want to come with me?" Mary nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yes! What is the plan?"

"Well...I need to find out how this ceremony works..."

Mary, a little giddy at the moment, managed to calm herself down as she then looked at the window. "The Mädchen Segen officially starts in four more days. The villagers will drug you with food and drag you to a stone table not far from here. They will kill you and rip out your heart." She paused for a moment as she shivered at the memory of the gruesome scene. "They will then take you to the cave that holds the Demon sent from Him as a tribute...along with other things...they then go back, as a huge black cloud signals that the ceremony is over."

Joan absorbed everything Mary had said and started formulating plans in her head. She then thought of the perfect plan, but quite risky as well. If this failed, there was a huge possiblity that her new friend would be killed. However, they had to do this, no matter what the cost. "Mary, here's the plan..."