Young Writers Society

Once upon a time, a young prince was cursed by an all-powerful enchantress to become a ghastly, beastly version of his former self. Locked away in a lonely castle surrounded by roses, the only company that the prince had was the enchantments scattered throughout the castle. The only way that the curse could ever be broken was through true love.

You've probably heard this story before.

But the part that you haven't heard is how the prince looks like a cross between a human and a dragon. You also haven't heard the part where a moody, teenage assassin named Jerica accidentally finds herself in the prince's castle after going through a faulty portal.

If Jerica is going to get home, she and her newfound friends are going to have to get creative - and may or may not have to stage the equivalent of a magical prison break.

Nen should have realized that the day wasn't going to be an easy one first thing that morning when he rhetorically asked Aska how bad it could possibly be - and when Aska then did that freeze he always did when he was sorting through long-forgotten memories. Aska had a better knowledge of this castle than Nen would ever have. It didn't matter that Aska didn't exactly remember his past. The point was that some part of Aska knew that this was going to be a disaster.

Nen should have been paying a little more attention.

The dungeon, apparently, was a mess.

Aska was off getting cleaning supplies. Nen had foolishly decided to enter the dungeon without anything. Now that he was lifting up an old, frayed cloth in one of the cells and getting assaulted by dust, he wished he had the same forethought that Aska had.

He coughed and tried to push the dust away with a swipe of his hand.

Unsurprisingly, that did absolutely nothing.

...It was time for reinforcements.

Marching out of the cell with determination in his footsteps, Nen headed to the exit. He only allowed himself to pause and look back when he was halfway through it already. It was still a mess in there: the six cells that lined each wall were still covered in dust and had creaky doors, the floor was also covered in dust, and the tiny wooden table and chairs that guards probably sat at once looked like it was about to fall apart if anyone touched it.

He let out a sigh.

This was definitely going to take another day to clean - if he was lucky.

He left the dungeon.

Jerica Ainsley

Jerica stepped into one of the many, many caves in the area to get respite from the brutal sun overhead. She sat down on a rock and opened her map, yet again, as if staring at it any longer would force new information to appear.

Why were the maps all so frustratingly vague?

The Guild Master had assured her the portal would be easy to find.

It wasn't.

She'd been wandering around these caves for hours, trying to figure out which one of them contained her transportation route. All she had to do was go through, purchase some tyraki mushrooms, and then come back and take them to the Guild as the last ingredient in their medicine. Apparently, the portal was right at the edge of a meadow, and the merchant's cottage only a few dozen meters to the left.

It'd be easy in, easy out.

Well... easy out, anyway. She had come exactly where the map said the portal should be. And yet, here she was. Lost.

Jerica sighed loudly and slid her map back in her pocket. She pushed her map back in her pocket and wandered around the area a while longer. And then! She rushed forward as she saw the glimmery blue tell-tale sign of a portal.

She stopped in front of it and took a deep breath, straightening her tunic. She had to make a good impression, after all. She was representing the Guild now. Official Business. She couldn't be happier that she was actually being useful.

Jerica stepped forward.

She felt the vaguely-unsettling energy that passed through her, almost like she was trying to walk through a film of rubber. It resisted at first and then gave her a little push forward. She stumbled forward a step and then... froze.

This wasn't a meadow.

It looked like she was in some sort of dungeon -- it was dim and she could see bars in front of her. Not at all what she signed up for. She turned instantly to go back through the portal, but she didn't see it this time. She put her hand on the wall, perplexed. It should be right here.

Jerica looked back around and saw a man in a suit of armor standing in the doorway. Or... a suit of armor? She couldn't tell what she was looking at. But she couldn't see his face, or eyes, just some flicks of golden light.

No. She'd already been through TOO MANY realms where she had to fight her way through mountains of beasts and creatures that wanted her dead. This was supposed to be an easy mission. Meadows. Mushrooms. She was promised a meadow!

Jerica backed into the wall once -- twice -- three times, trying to force her way back through the portal, but she was met with hard stone instead. She yanked her sword from her scabbard and whirled back towards the armor, ready to fight if he attacked.

When Nen returned from his mostly unsuccessful trip to find cleaning supplies in one of the nearby rooms, he found that Aska had beat him back to the dungeons. Aska, apparently, had been even more unsuccessful than he was. Nen had managed to find an old, frayed broom; Aska's hands were completely empty.

But thoughts of asking his best friend where the cleaning supplies were completely slipped out of his mind when he realized that they weren't alone.

Nen panicked. He couldn't remember the last time that he had seen someone other than Aska or Tieth. He couldn't think of how someone else could be in the castle. She didn't look like a dragon; she didn't have the brightly colored hair. But she had a sword and she was pointing it right at Aska and all that Nen could think about was how he couldn't move and how scared he was that he was going to lose Aska too-

Armor clanking together, Aska took a terrified step back. His heel caught on the stairs leading down into the dungeon. He started to tumble backwards, his metal body slamming right into Nen. Instinct kicked in over panic. He grabbed Aska and steadied him, holding out the broom like the stranger in the dungeon was an unwanted spider that he was trying to squash from afar.

"Leave him alone," Nen said - just like Az would have said, if she was the one being the knight in shining armor right now. "I'm...I'm not scared of you. I'm a..."

He frantically looked around the dungeon, searching for some kind of inspiration. Aska just kept trembling beside him. When Nen took a step forward, Aska hid behind him.

"...very skilled swordsman," Nen said, making his already deep voice a little bit deeper, "and a very powerful king. I've slain everyone who's ever tried to harm me or my..."

He glanced back at Aska.

"...knight. Man, monster, beast - I've killed them all. And if you don't put down your sword, I'll...I'll vanquish you with this terrifying broom of death!"

He waved the broom a little bit.

Behind him, Aska quietly whispered, "N-Nen, I don't think that's going to work."

Jerica blinked.

This was an even stranger Realm than she'd originally thought. Was the broom really supposed to be taken as a serious threat? He couldn't even keep it from trembling. And they both looked like they wanted nothing more than to be the one hiding.

She relaxed her sword arm, still holding on to it, but letting the tip brush the floor.

"No, you're not," she said dismissively, glancing back towards the wall. She beat her fist against it twice, still so very perplexed where the portal had gone. She admittedly hadn't been through many, yet, but all the ones she'd been through had always been right there when she turned around. She continued absently, "Kings reek with ego from the moment you set foot in the same room as them. And they send armies after me. You... have a broom."

She turned back towards them and took a step forward, then decided to take pity and slid her sword back in its scabbard. From the looks of them, she could probably take their own broom away and beat them with it, if they wanted a fight. But, they didn't look like they wanted anything to do with a fight.

"So, who are you?" Jerica crossed her arms. It wasn't quite a friendly gesture -- couldn't have them thinking she was weak -- but hopefully would set them more at ease than her sword seemed to have them. "And where am I?"

Nen awkwardly lowered the broom.

He hadn't entirely thought it would work, but he had hoped the act would last longer than a minute. He readjusted the broom so he was casually leaning up against it. That felt a little more natural.

What name was he supposed to give? She probably wouldn't believe him if he said he was a prince - and, more specifically, the prince who had been kidnapped by a dragon. He also wasn't entirely sure who she was. For all he knew, she had a thing against royalty. She did mention kings sending armies after her.

"I'm Nen," he finally - sheepishly - said.

"I'm-I'm Aska," Aska whispered, peeking around Nen's folded wings to get another look at her.

"You're in the Castle of Blood," Nen added. "I'm, er, not really sure how you're here, though? I thought there was a barrier to keep people out."

Aska gave a nod in confirmation behind him.

"I see..." Jerica said.

She didn't see.

The Castle of Blood? A barrier to keep people out?

"Well..." She hesitated, unsure whether she should admit her mistake to them or not. Screw it. "This isn't where I meant to come. So..."

Jerica uncrossed her arms, trying for a little bit of a friendlier approach as she strode towards them. She forced a small smile. "Care to show me the way out?"

Nen and Aska nervously exchanged a look.

"Thebarrieralsokeepspeoplein," Nen quickly said - so fast that it sounded like one, single word. He took a big gasp of air and tried to give her a comforting smile. He knew it wasn't really comforting; it showed off of all of his teeth.

Jerica blinked again.

It seemed like he'd switched languages on her all of a sudden, but from the tense grimace plastered on his face, it seemed like he'd somehow expected her to understand him.

"Thebarr..." Jerica trailed off and glanced back towards the wall. "Is that a password to get the portal to reopen?"

Nen took a deep breath.

"No," he quietly said. "There's, er, no way to get out? Not without Tieth letting you out. And she wouldn't be happy with an intruder being here..."

His gaze dropped down to the ground. He wished he could just walk up the stairs and leave this conversation behind, but he knew he couldn't just walk away from this. Behind him, Aska went incredibly still. Nen almost thought he was getting another memory, but he quickly realized Aska was so nervous that he had frozen up.

"Great!" Jerica said brightly. "It seems we're in agreement -- I'm not happy about being here either. Where can I find this Tieth?"

Nen took a deep breath.

This was going to go horribly. He could already feel it in his gut. He didn't know if she had realized how impossible leaving the castle was. Maybe she had; maybe she was just being as much in denial as he had been when he first was brought here and turned into this.

"She comes here every fortnight," Nen said. "She just came yesterday, so she won't be back for another two weeks. But even if she did come back early..."

Nen glanced back at Aska.

"...she doesn't like people who trespass. She'll curse you."

"Oh no," Jerica said flatly. She should probably be taking the threat more seriously, but, was he actually trying to be serious? A curse? That was about as threatening as his 'terrifying broom of death' was. She sighed as she suddenly processed what he'd said -- two weeks in this absurd place. "Think she could banish me back to my realm? That would show me."

"She doesn't curse like that," Aska whispered. Nen was surprised that he had mustered up the courage to speak - especially when she seemed so against taking what they were saying seriously. "She...she transforms you."

Nen gave Aska a frantic look. He wasn't going to show her, was he? He opened his mouth to protest. He worked as good enough proof. Aska didn't need to-

He took off his helmet with shaking hands.

And all that was inside was emptiness and air.

He didn't say anything. He just stood there, barely keeping a grasp on his helmet.

"...Aska was the last person to trespass," Nen said, looking back at her. "He's human. I am, too."

Jerica barely kept from gawking, but she did stare. He was... a... possessed suit of armor? Who thought he was human? And then the lizard-boy also claiming to be human.

They were clearly insane.

She'd somehow ended up in some kind of loony house. She nodded slowly, arms still crossed, and wandered backward -- back towards her wall. She still didn't see her portal. But it had to be there. Portals didn't just magically disappear. Cursed castles didn't exist. Humans didn't turn into talking suits of armor.

She slammed the edge of her fist against the wall, looking for any indication that the portal was still there, then whirled around and slammed her palms against the wall in all different places, trying to find where it had gone. Where is it? Desperation was clinging to her.

Jerica slammed her shoulder into the wall, as if by force of will alone she could make the portal reappear. She tried twice more, then whipped back around to glare at the weirdos in the doorway.

"No." She shook her head. "No. You will let me leave, and you will let me do it now."