The Wooden Heart Editing

Chapter 8

Disclaimer:

I do not claim the original fairy tale, but WH's plot and characters belong to me. Any famous songs, TV show/movies/books and manga names and brands that are mentioned in this work belong to their rightful owners.

Willa Field

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7:

The Spell in the Legend

-.-.-.-.-.

"One two three, one two three. That's great, baby, keep it up." Michael reassured her, smiling as he held the sword in his hand. He was training his princess today in the art of sword-fighting.

Although Maria was skilled in her own weapon talent, Michael wanted her to be protected when no one was near her to do so. If he lost her in the battle, Michael could not imagine what would happen to him. She was his world and if she is taken from the Spring prince, he might have to follow her to wherever death leads.

But he will do anything to keep that from happening, and if that means pushing her to be the best she could be, he would do that just so she will be safe from any harm the evil creatures might give her. She will be well able to protect herself when or/and if he can't do it himself.

And he loved that it builds her upper body strength so much, he wanted her to be as strong as she could be. He thinks she needs to feel the power after being told that she was powerless, and she sure does feel the power when she is holding her sword.

She wasn't Maria anymore, but someone more confident after she started moving the sword. He could see glimpses of Bella when the blonde was holding the weapon. When the sword was in her hand, she turned into the more confident woman she was in her former life. He remembered the stare that was now placed in her green eyes, he was given it when Bella thought he wasn't looking. The look in her eyes was powerful, focus and bold.

The fierce stare sent shivers down Michael's spine or anyone's that was practicing with her. He had to admit that he found it very sexy whenever the fierce stare appeared, he had to fight the urge to kiss her senseless whenever it appeared. And the sweat rolling down her body…

He frowned as a bright blush crept its way across his cheeks, shaking the thoughts away before Maria noticed the blush and focused back on the training. He couldn't think like that right now, Michael scolded himself as they danced beautifully with their weapons, he needed to get his head in the game if he wanted to keep her safe. He nodded at the thoughts and did as his mind told him.

After a few more long minutes of training; they stopped, setting the sharp weapons back in their holders, and Michael handed a towel to her with a smile. She smiled back, taking it:

"Thank you, honey. I'm going to the library for a while. But later, I'm free. Do you want to do something?"

"Well Miss Maria, are you asking me out?" The male teen teased as his brows wiggled playfully, rewarding him with a soft but happy laugh, her lips kissed him on the cheek:

"Yes I am, my prince. Do you?" She wiped her neck, smiling.

"Of course, I do. Call me ok?"

"Mhm, I love you." She replied as he put her pink hoodie on her, smiling at the words.

Every time he heard the words from her mouth, the ravenette was reminded how lucky he is to have this wonderful woman in his life. His heart flew each time the words entered into his ears.

"Love you too, sweet girl. Now go study, I'll be waiting for your call." Michael smiled sweetly and lovingly, backing up after dressing her in the hoodie as the blonde moved to grip her wheels and she smiled brightly, nodding. She kissed him before heading to the left, waving back at him:

Michael smiled and started to walk back to his home. She would be ready, yes, she will be ready for the battle and the Rats will regret messing with her world.

Maria is stronger than anyone realizes, and when the right time shows its face, the world will see that strong woman, never doubting her ability as the princess. Michael smiled bigger as he approached the door of his home, feeling proud.

But, he had no idea what horrible fate is hovering over his head and his love's head. What a horrible decision Maria would've to make to save the world….

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

After cleaning her face in the library's restroom, getting rid of the sticky feeling of sweat from her skin from the training session; she wheeled into the small library, smiling at Mrs. Griffin, a small and short middle twenties were cat woman, the librarian as Maria moved to the history section:

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Griffin, how are you today?" Maria asked, still smiling her usual cheerful smile.

Mrs. Griffin smiled back, c*****g her head as her reddish blonde braid falling over her shoulder.

"Ah, Maria, here for your daily tutor session, I see? So focused on being the best, your parents must so proud. I'm fine, thank you." Mrs. Griffin stated sweetly, moving to the seventeen-years-old and smiled again as Madison asked the teen what she was looking for:

"Do you have a copy of the legend? I have one at home, but it doesn't show me anything until it wants to."

"Of course, come on sweetheart, I'll take you to it." She gripped the handlebars of Maria's chair and pushed her to a shelf by a table, parking her next to the table, then she pulled out the old novel out from its place: Legend of the Sugar Plum Princess engraved into the bending in red font unlike her copy of it at home.

With a smile, Madison handed the girl the book and after patting her hand, she left the beautiful blonde to her studying and gone back her to her work. Maria hummed her thanks to the slightly older woman before grabbing it from the table and pulled her legs up, tucking them under her as she settled the heavy novel onto her lap, opening it and started to read the second chapter.

She was relieved that she was finally able to read the chapter and she was again able to learn more about her responsibilities of being the most powerful fairy in Da Fae. For, she wanted to fulfill those responsibilities to the best Maria can.

But then, the words engraved into the page caused her eyes to wide as her hands moved with nervous shakes and the ache of dread settling into the pit of her stomach as the words started to run through her mind's walls like a horrible chant:

-.-.-.-.-.-

The princess of legend will find the true love of her life and herself through the battle, seeing that the power and the love of her friends and family will show her she is stronger than she thinks. However, there is a great sacrifice for her to make in order to save her home, and the decision to make that sacrifice will be so hard on her heart, that it might be too far broken to be fixed:

The sacrifice will be to give up her new life and her true love, who will be turned back to a cursed object for a part of the sacrifice along with the princess who will lose her memories of this world and return to the human world, doomed to search for her mate endlessly.

Until they are reunited, the princess will be reborn over and over, for she will search her missing piece until he is by her side again. And even if she will have to live many lives before she would find him, she will do anything she can to have him back in her life.

This is the spell that is going to save the magical world and put an end to the princess's dreams and hopes, to put the needs of her people before her selfish needs. Because that will take true courage to make the decision; to save her people or save herself and her mate from their terrible fate. But, it will show the world of evil what the princess is willing to do for the world. The spell is as such below:

"Midnight roses so beautiful,

Heal this world,

Take me from this world to save my people from the monsters,

Midnight roses,

Heal the scars of Da Fae,

I sacrifice my memories to save my people…"

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A novel snapping shut echoed through the room as Maria's breath quickened and her heart beat hard against her ribcage painfully, her hand covered her mouth in pain. What the hell? She thought wildly as the tears stung her eyes, hurting her in fiery pain. Please, no, it couldn't be true….

"Please, oh god please, Bella, don't tell me it's true. I accepted my fate as the princess and as Hans' mate, I finally can be strong with him in my life. But now this?! I can't do that! Please don't make me do this! I cannot be without him again. Don't make me." She whispered painfully, hugging herself tightly as the tears came fast:

I'm sorry, sister, I'm so sorry. But you need to….

Maria shook her head feverishly as a painful growl crept out of her throat at Isabella's words, not noticing the worried witness watching her rocking in her chair as more tears rolled down her cheeks, wanting to comfort her:

"Mari, are you okay sweetie?" Locia whispered soothingly, kneeling down to her level and stroking her hair comfortingly.

Locia was on a mission for her king, to kidnap the princess and bring her to him alive. But, she soon realized that she wasn't a normal rat, who would do anything the rat king ask with a smile, no she soon came to the realization that she had a heart, unlike her fellow rats. Locia doesn't want to be the kidnapper, she wanted to fight against Adam because she knew what he is planning to do to her new found friend; Locia was finally done with being apart from the evil army.

The young ginger was done being used and she is done being told that this was for the good of their world, because she knew that was not now. She was going to protect her new princess, she thought strongly as she wrapped her arms around Maria's shuddering body and rubbed her back.

Maria looked up to meet her muddy brown eyes with her green eyes, tears pooled in them as the pain clearly placed in her eyes:

"I'm not alright, Loci, I am not okay."

"What's the matter, honey?" The pretty ginger asked, still soothingly rocking the deadly emotional girl in her arms.

Maria swallowed hard and pulled back from her friend, putting her hands in her lap as she revealed what she just had read and what she had to decide to save their world from the horrible fate the rats had planned for it. And the more Maria went into the story, the more of tears would come, lighting a gentle heat against her cheeks, as if they wanted her to remember her duty.

Hearing this, Locia gasped deeply into her hand, her heart hurt for her friend badly.

She heard stories from the other three in the group about her terrible past and the abuse she suffered by her caretakers, she shuddered each time she heard a story because the small ginger realized that if she did carry out the order to kidnap her, she would be abused once more by the king. Loci shivered at the thought as she soothed her friend, rubbing her back more.

However, she knew the blonde wasn't the weak girl from the stories for it was because the three people in her closest circle of friends, especially the ravenette who loves her more than anything in the both worlds, but she might have to decide to give up both her new freedom and his to stop the rats from taking over Da Fae. Locia now understood why she would melt to the floor in tears, Maria felt the pain of losing her soul mate:

"Oh, goddess, Maria, what're you going to do?" She questioned quietly, replacing her hand from her mouth to the other female teen's hand as she shook her head, sighing:

"I don't know, mouse, I don't know. I need to do it, but one question running through my head is: How? What do you propose I do?" Maria whispered broken as she moved to the big window in the back of the large room, frowning deeply. It's so hard to see her so broken down when she usually is so strong and happy, the ginger teen thought sadly as she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, wanting to keep the sadness at bay but sweet Locia knew it was impossible:

"Maybe there's another way to save Da Fae, Maria. Maybe it is just a story." She hopefully reassured her, a small smile was placed on her thin lips. But Maria wasn't believing the pretty lie, she just smiled sadly at her childish statement.

"Oh, mouse, this is the only way. This is my density, and even if it hurts, I need to accept it." The blonde paused to reach out and ran her fingers against the soft petals of the roses growing up and to the window, smiling even sadder as the moments passed: "It's not about me or him, Locia, it is about you and the others. If I don't sacrifice my memories or him his freedom as a fairy, our families and friends might suffer for our selfishness. I can't do that to my brother who suffered so much already and my parents who lived here their whole lives, I need to be the princess they need…."

Locia listened in silence, amazed at how self-sacrificing the blonde was. She was willing to go back to searching for something she could not remember for a world she only spent weeks. But, there again, that was Maria for you, sweet to a fault. The younger teen was the one to smile sadly as her red curls flew with every shake.

"Are you going to tell Michael, sweetie?" She asked soothingly, leaning back on the still and looking at the beautiful blonde, who sighed deeply while she rubbed her temple:

"I have to; I have no choice but to tell him. He probably already knows; he can read my mind so I can't really hide it." Maria sighed once more as she leaned her chin on her folded arms, looking at the setting sun.

Locia bit her lip, unsure how to lighten the mood after so much sadness and pain the past moment. She let her eyes roam the room for something to make her friend happy once again, and thankfully enough, she saw something that might make her the happy Maria for at least a while. The scarlet smiled big, tapping her on the shoulder, making the reddish blonde turn to her with no readable expression.

"What if we have one last thing to say goodbye? A party of sorts?" The red head grinned as she asked, pointing to a poster on a corner piece of the far wall of the large library. Maria c****d her head, wiggling her nose in confusion:

"A party, Locia? It seems like a thing not to celebrate."

"Think about it, sweetie. We won't be celebrating saying goodbye, we will be celebrating that we'll be meeting again soon. The masquerade is the perfect thing to have fun before the war and you returning to the human world. Time has no meaning here, we will be the same people, waiting for our friends to return to us. You need to celebrate your life here and this is the perfect way to do it." She gushed, clasping her hands together, bouncing in excitement, and much to her delight, Maria's eyes lit up with excitement as well:

"Ok that sounds fun, we need to have fun before we have to deal with the battle."

"Exactly, sweetie, we can't let the rats or this ruin our time together. Now, let's get you home, your parents must be worried." She stated sweetly as she moved to the chair and pushed her friend out of the building, thinking that after she takes her blonde friend home, Locia is going to tell Michael the truth:

She needs to tell them the truth to be free and truly be a part of the group if they still want her in the group that is. Locia bit her lip as the burning worried feeling filled her body, fearing the reaction she might get for the truth but she needed to tell the truth. She can't keep hiding this if she wanted to be true friends, she nodded at the thoughts, ready to take any punishment Michael might want to carry out.

-.-.-.-.-.-

After Locia said goodbye and Maria called her mate to tell him she wasn't feeling well, knowing Michael would want to talk her out of her decision to save the world and give up her new life, she went to her bedroom without a word to her worried parents and little brother.

She felt bad that she wasn't spending time with him when it has been three weeks since they really have seen each other, but right now Maria needed to be alone to think about what she just found.

Maria closed the door behind her, locking it so the outside world wouldn't ruin her thinking time, and then the blonde moved to her bed and lifted herself onto the bed, curling her body into a ball.

She looked around her room, smiling sadly at the pictures hanging on the walls and sitting on the few tables in her big room. So much has happened in the weeks since she finally was freed from the daily hell of her past life, so much has changed with her and her friends. She has become stronger than she was because of them, she was happier than she ever was with them in her life:

But, soon she would have to let them go and go back to being a weak human who will feel the emptiness she is too familiar with because she will not remember until her prince will find her once more. It will be the hardest thing Maria had ever had to do, but she knew this is her destiny and she will do anything for her home. Her life in the land of toys taught the beautiful blonde that.

She has to admit, the idea of losing her memories scares her to the core of her soul, but she kind of knew that, deep down inside of her, she won't truly forget her short life here in Da Fae. Memories would want to come to her, they would fight like hell their way back to her, she would feel them sitting there.

She sat up against the headboard and moved her eyes to look out of the window while the sounds of the people outside buzzed in her ear, but she didn't pay any attention to it, just sat there, and lost in her inner thoughts.

She will remember the past, if it was the last thing she will ever do. Maria would never stop fighting for her memories and find a way back to the people that love her the most. The blonde nodded firmly at her thoughts just as a knock rung out through the room shaking her from her mind. She looked up and called out a greeting and a question of who it was at the door.

"Sweetie, its momma. Can I come in and talk to you?" Lesley asked sweetly, gaining a yes from her daughter, who opened the door a few minutes later.

After they got comfy in her room's living room, her mother's hands moved and reached to touch her daughter's soft hands to sooth her, sensing her hurt:

"Are you alright, sweetie? You've acting strange since you came home from studying." The young-looking woman noted, a frown placed onto her full lips. Maria bit her lip hard, trying to keep the tears from falling once more as she began to tell her mother what she had found out an hour ago.

After hearing the truth of Maria's destiny, Lesley gasped loudly and pulled her smaller frame to her taller one, the tears coming fast.

How much hell will this beautiful girl have to go through? She mused sadly, going back to the abuse she witnessed as Annabella. She had been through so much already, and now she so bravely is accepting her cruel destiny.

"Oh my baby girl, I'm so sorry. This isn't fair at all." She whispered sadly as one of her hands stroked the younger blonde's hair, trying to take every ounce of the pain away from her. Maria's eyes raised to her mother's blue orbs, sniffling as she wiped the tears away from her eyes:

"I don't know what's what anymore, momma. I know that it's my responsibility to do this and I will do what I have to save my home because I want my people to be safe and happy. But, mom, I'm so scared, so freaking scared. I don't want to forget you guys, but I promise you, I will never stop to try to remember my life here. I need to remember, I have to. The feeling of not knowing is going to drive my sanity over the edge. And…it's going to break my heart to the point that I don't know if it would be fixable. But I'm going to remember. I'm going to fight to be whom I am, and I'm going to fight like hell to come back to where I belong." Maria whispered fiercely as her mother's hold tighten around her, tears hitting the blonde teen's shoulder.

"Yes, baby, don't ever stop fighting..."

With that, the mother/daughter pair clung to one another as they let the tears go. They would be together again, Maria thought with a fierce passion as she cuddled to her mother's hold.