Fantasy ✿Roleplay with Skylight✿

[ValentineIllusion]

Lens - Three years before the war​

The flower fields of the Barnes' kingdom, sitting just outside the capitol of Lens, were beautiful in the springtime. The petals were mostly a light, pastel pink and danced in the faint breeze, and were a beautiful sight for as far as the eye could see. The flowers made spring the perfect time for the royal family to invite their closest ally, their magic-wielding counterpart, for a visit. Parrot had fond memories of these visits, and in particular, the time she would spend with the visiting prince in the fields. They could spend hours there, with him practicing his magic, while she...watched.

Except neither of them could do either of those things, because they were both currently stuck in the meeting between their two kingdoms.

Parrot hated these meetings almost as much as she loved the fields. The two kings droned on, about laws and armies and land and stuff, sitting in a cold dining room at an uncomfortable banquet table. Luckily, at that banquet table, she was seated next to Collin, but it wasn't like she could talk to him at all - Valentine would surely scold her for that later. At the very least, as the long talk bored her to sleep, she could slowly lean over and use his shoulder as a pillow. They could wake her up when they're done...​

 

[Skylight]

Collin Collin sighed as the two Kings bickered at each other, he hoped that Parrot and him could go back to the breezy fields so he could show her this new spell he had been working on.
He felt some weight on his shoulder as he looked down he smiled at the abundance of beautiful blonde ringlets on his shoulder, she had a faint smell of the pink flowers that he was so fond of. Collin smiled to himself as he remembers those blonde curls running through the meadow picking only the most bloomed flowers and intertwining them together to make a lovely flower crown that always complimented her curls and face so well.
Collin found himself blushing while looking at her sleeping face which always looked so peaceful, he quickly turned his head as the Kings finally started to wrap things up.

Alison "I'm coming mother!" Alison shouted out with a mouthful of hair to her mother which was impatiently waiting downstairs.
It was Alison's first day working at the castle and she wanted to look extra special so she decided to try out a new braiding technique her mother showed her not too long ago. When she finally finished she ran over to the mirror and smiled as she twirled in her new servant outfit. Taking a quick look at her hair she sighed as you couldn't tell her side braid was in a lovely fishtail braid as her hair is as dark as the night sky without any stars.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

As Collin smiled down at the young princess, a group of bachelors from across the table scowled at him. Someday, Parrot was going to be the queen. Her king hadn't been decided on yet - it could still be any of those young men, and definitely not a magical joke like Collin. They even listened to the entire meeting while he daydreamed of playdates in the field, and yet, she had much more of an affinity towards him than any of them. It wasn't fair, damn it.

At least the meeting was almost over. There wasn't all that much left for the kings to talk about. They were at peace! Everything was okay! And all that was left was for them all to celebrate over a glass of wine. There was some applause as maids brought trays of wine in, one of them tapping Parrot lightly on the shoulder to wake her up. She reached for a glass with a little red ribbon on it, but the maid waved her hand away.

"Oh, Princess, his highness has asked that you have water," she said, handing Parrot another one of the glasses. The one with the ribbon was handed to Collin, with a smile on the maid's face. They were in peaceful times, after all. Because of that, everyone could be happy. A very similar glass with a red ribbon was handed to the visiting king.

Parrot yawned and tapped her glass against Collin, giggling lightly, "Good morning..." she said quietly, ignoring the bachelors who couldn't look more displeased at this point, "Are you almost ready to go to the fields?"​

 

[Skylight]

Collin He smiled and nodded, "Why yes of course." He looked at his goblet and sighed as he hated the taste of wine, the thought quickly changed as he remembered about his spells he then leaned over and whispered in Parrot's ear with a small smile on his face, "I have something to show you later."
Right after that he had heard Parrot's father say a lovely toast about peace and then telling everyone to enjoy their drinks, he looked down again at the cup and sighed then closed his eyes and went for a quick yet big gulp.

Alison She smiled as she walked to the magical castle with her mother which was always reminding her of all the rules she now had to follow, "Yes yes of course mother." she sighed as they had finally reached the side entrance of the castle.
Greeting the guard they both entered directly into the kitchen where the wonderful smells of tomato sauce filled the room, all the cooks were prepping for the 'peace' meal after the King arrived from the neighboring Kingdom.
Alison was quickly given orders to take all the silver plates to the dining room and start setting up the tables and fruits. Alison was finally able to roam the castle alone without her mother telling her what to do, and better yet, there was rumors that there's going to be a surprise ball tonight with the neighboring kingdom, sure she couldn't be apart of it but she could still see all the beautiful gowns.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Parrot sipped at her water while he drank his wine, watching the servants come in with plates and food. She smiled to Alison, acknowledging her as she served her. "Thank you," she whispered quietly. Even as the food began to arrive, however, dinner couldn't begin quite yet.

They were interrupted by sudden coughing from King Elijah, to which King Valentine was initially only mildly concerned about. He raised an eyebrow and looked at him with worry, while Parrot didn't even acknowledge him at all. She was still having too good of a time with Collin while the bachelors lamented at their slim chances. The more the seconds ticked by, however, the worse the King Elijah seemed to get.

Coughing very soon turned to choking. King Valentine was the first to hurry over as his counterpart collapsed out of his chair, his wine glass spilling onto the floor. However...he wasn't quick to call out for medical help. Instead he played the noble king role, trying to shake him awake and get a reaction out of him that way, "E...Elijah?! Elijah, are you okay?!"

That finally caught Parrot's attention, as she carefully hid behind Collin, "Oh God...what's going on?"​

 

[Skylight]

Collin Collin's furrowed his brows as his father began coughing but he paid little to no attention as he was much more focused on all the servants moving rather quickly as they started serving the food.
Collin heard his father fall and he instantly stood up, the room quickly filled with panic as King Valentines goblet had fallen. His thoughts we're all a blur as his father was unresponsive, he couldn't move it was as if someone had stabbed him in the heart. Collin felt Parrot behind him with panic in her voice, his hands were fists gripped the cloth that was underneath all the silverware. He then heard the servants screaming for the physician.

Alison She was quickly pushed out of the way as other rushed over to King Elijah, she quickly had heard her mother scream for the physician, she was also in shock. She couldn't believe her eyes, she thought everyone was finally at peace, could it be that someone had poisoned the King?
She saw the pain in her mothers eyes as the King was like her long lost love that could never happen but Alison knew that something had happened or is happening in between them.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Parrot, hiding so closely behind Collin, her protector, could feel how tense he was becoming and in turn became tense herself. She felt something that she, as a well guarded princess and heiress to the throne, rarely felt: fear. Tears came to her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Collin tightly. Soon enough, however, she began to feel him slipping, too.

One dying royal was sad. Two dying royals were poisoned.

Valentine silently cursed to himself as the room became panicked, but he had to continue into the facade. He just had to huddle over the King and pretend to help him while the physicians stayed at bay. Parrot currently being the only one that noticed Collin helped, but it wouldn't last for long - and her acting was horrific. Which was exactly why she had never been told of the plot.

When he fell, she fell with him, although she still held him tightly in her arms, "C-Collin?! O-Oh my G-God...no!" she screamed, reaching quickly for her nearby basket and shuffling through it's contents, "C-Can you hear me? P-Please...please be okay!"​

 

[Skylight]

Collin He quickly felt the world blur and faintly heard Parrot's voice, he somehow felt like her voice was the reason he kept his conscience.
"N-no," he manged to cough up, "A-air." he felt as if he couldn't breathe and every breath he took was just getting shorter and shorter, his heart raced and everything felt like it was burning.
Opening his eyes as wide as he could he saw Parrot's blurry worried face, he gave her a small half smile and placed his hand on her face, "The f-flowers..." his arm quickly fell from her face, he knew that wasn't what he wanted to say but he wanted to tell her that she was his flower but everything quickly turned black.

Alison She felt helpless as the prince had now collapsed she didn't realize that King Elijah didn't regain his continence, she felt awfully light headed as the peace shattered and everyone in panic as no one knew what would happen to the lands and how will the people with magic react to this.
She placed her hand on her head and heard everyone's worried voices and even her mothers, crying for the King.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

"Collin!!" Parrot screamed, as her fingers finally wrapped around just what she needed: a small tonic. The standard tonic for whatever poisons her kingdom knew of, although she still didn't know it was her kingdom that caused all this mess in the first place. As he gently touched her face, she gently grabbed his lip, keeping his mouth open enough to pour the medicine in. Once she did, and she had to wait the painful moments for the medicine to take effect, she held him even closer and set her forehead against his, "Talk to me, p-please...I want to go s-see the flowers with y-you, p-please..."

Valentine scowled as Alison's mother cried for the king, and that was when his true intentions shone through. He pushed the king away once he was still, and took off in a run. He only stopped at the door to shout at the bachelors, "Parrot! Grab Parrot!"

Layton, one of the bachelors, took the word "Grab" a little too seriously. He had to tear Parrot away from Collin, knocking the tonic out of her hand before anyone could see what she did. She struggled, of course she did, but there was little she could do to fight him off other than scream, "L-Let me go!! He's d-dying!"

"Let him die, Parrot!" Layton screamed right back at her, making her whimper, "Can't you see?! We're going to war!"​

 

[Skylight]

Collin Collin faintly started to regain his hearing, everything was still a blur, he didn't know what what happening. He felt someone pick him up and others screaming, "He's breathing! He's alive!"
It was as if he could hear everything but not do anything. It wasn't until the world wasn't spinning that Collin opened his eyes in his bedroom, no his fathers bedroom. He sat up but the whole world span so he decided to lay back down, he placed his hand on his head and groaned, it was as if he went through a terrible hangover and then that's when everything came back and he whispered "Parrot."

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Lens - Present day

The flower fields of the Barnes' kingdom, sitting just outside the capitol of Lens, were either trampled or aflame - becoming the perfect setting for a raging battle. Trampling it further was Parrot's own horse, carrying her into the fray.

Beside her, Alison rode as well, the only person in their threatened castle that would ride with her rather than try to force her back inside. She may have been the princess, but she had medical skills and supplies, too, neither of which would do any good from inside her chambers.

Parrot saw a man shot off his horse, and hurried over to help him. She jumped off her horse and quickly began to tend to his wounds, wrapping them tightly in bandages. All the while, she tried to smile and be optimistic, so as not to crush their spirits, "Here here, you're gonna be okay. You need to hurry back to the castle before you get hurt again...."

"Princess!" another night screamed, prompting her to spin around in his direction, "You have to flee to the castle! Tell them the old prince is aliv- Agh!" However, before he could finish, he was struck down by an arrow as well. Parrot, being a horrible listener even in the worse of times, continued to refuse to return to the castle, and instead hurried to the injured soldier.

But on her way...she was shot as well, in the arm, "Aaah!" she screamed, grabbing her arm in pain and collapsing to the ground in tears and pain. All of this was because of that one horrible day...and now she felt even more powerless than when she had that tonic that day... ​

 

[Skylight]

Collin Collin stood in the war room where only the most mightiest of knights stood, his face stern and rather scratched up Collin looked at the map of the meadows he once roamed with Parrot.
Furrowing his brows and turning around he shook his head, "Send all the living to the dungeons, if they decide to fight back then do what you must. I don't need anyone disobeying their new King."
He looked out the window as he heard all the knights shuffle and leave the room. He saw the fields and what was left of them, nothing. Nothing but those beautiful blonde curls bouncing around and helping others. "Get her back in her room. Don't need her prancing around. Get that maid on lock down too. Can't have her helping the princess sneak out. I want them both unharmed." He said to the last knight still in the room, and he heard a quick reply, "Yes sire."
Collin's grey eyes that once shined at the sight of her squinted, they squinted to the one flower still standing on the field.

Allison She quickly hopped off her horse and helped Parrot with the fallen knight but it wasn't long before she heard the knights from her kingdom. "Parrot, we must go it isn't safe." She looked around, her face was a bit dirty and her short hair all over the place from helping most of the fallen knights and the hurt horses. "If they find you outside your room again... I don't know what they're going to do."
She looked over and saw the Knights on their dark horses riding on the ashes, she let out a small sigh as now it was hard to remember the pink flowers she once picked for her mother. Alison couldn't believe the King could destroy every single one, she wonders if they will ever grow back and even if they did, the King would probably destroy them again.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

"B-But I can't leave them here...I can't..." Parrot whimpered, taking what was left of her bandages to wrap up her own wound, as her tears continued to fall. Of course she could hear the enemy's horses in the distance. They surrounded her on every side. If there was one thing she knew, though , it was that she could not allow herself to fall into the enemy's hands. If they imprisoned all the knights just for being knights...what horrible things would they do to the royals?

Of course, no one told her that the castle had been captured already, like how no one told her it was them that started the war in the first place.

Parrot pulled herself back onto her horse, while the pain in her arm continued to stab at her. Soon enough, blood began to soak through, but she could deal with that after she was safe. The only person that could keep her safe at this point was Layton, so she searched for him.

She rode closer towards the town to wear he was fighting, but his sword might as well have been a twig in the face of their magic. He was quickly knocked unconscious and picked up by the knights, to which Parrot screamed in reaction to, "L-Layton...no!!"

She rode ahead again, but her weak arm eventually couldn't hold onto the reins any longer, dropping her to the ground and practically delivering her to the knights' feet.​

 

[Skylight]

Collin & Alison Collin looked at the servant girl and shook his head, "How could you let her get away, I thought I trusted you."
Alison shook her head with tears in her eyes, "She was hurt and poor girl doesn't know that the land is all yours now Sire."
He scoffed and looked away, again back to the field, he shook his head, "What am I going to do with her and her beloved Alison? I- I don't know..."
She looked down to the floor with sad eyes and sighed, "Sire, I know you don't want to hurt either one of them but.. "
"They killed my father!" He interrupted, "You think I wanted this war to start Alison? You think I wanted to kill thousands? My father never wanted a war. I never wanted a war but they started something they couldn't finish!" His eyes quickly filled with tears as he felt his knees grow weak.
"I'm sorry Alison.." He said in almost a whisper.
"It's okay Sire." She responded in a soft tone as she extended her arm to place it on her shoulder but it quickly fell as a knight burst in, "Sire I'm sorry but, we've found her... And him."
Collin's tearful eyes quickly grew serious, he turned around to face Alison and the noble Knight, "Prep her bedroom but send him with the rest of the Knights."
Alison nodded and headed for the door as the Knight held the door open for her, she took one look back but Collin's attention was already back to the window.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Another knight, standing behind the one that delivered the news and in the doorway, looked...somewhat nervous. The news that Collin wanted the princess in her bedroom and not the prison came as a surprise to everyone, but this was clearly the first time he was hearing about it.

"Both of them are currently being held with the knights...s-sire," he announced, albeit very cautiously, "They're all secured, if you'd like to speak to them. But the princess was...fighting with the rest of them. We can't guarantee she'll be secured in such comfort..."

Meanwhile, Parrot found herself awaking on the cold ground of the prison, shivering, cringing in pain, and still sobbing. At least, someone had taken the time to wrap her up in the dirty rags they left down there, for warmth. Carefully, she pulled herself out of it, if only to see who else was there, "H-Hello...?"

"Ssh!" Layton whispered harshly, holding her down. He quickly wrapped her back up, like he was trying to care, but he wasn't good at it, "Quiet, Parrot. You're...you're okay."

She nodded, laying down again, "Wh-Where are w-we...h-how...d-did the battle...?"

Layton was silent, his head falling forward. Parrot broke down into tears once again. ​

 

[Skylight]

Collin Collin let out a small sigh and thought, Of course she would. He stood up straight and looked at the Knight, "I'll go talk to her.." He walked towards the door without hearing what the Knight had to say as he knew everyone would object. He walked past Alison which only gave him a confused face, "S-Sire.." She quickly followed behind him with a questioned expression, "W-what are you doing?"
"Please Alison, I need to talk to her, she will understand.. I's for the best - "
"But Sire shes with Layto - " Alison stopped as Collin stopped walking and her stopping with him.
He looked over his shoulder to see Alison's small figure, "Don't interrupt me Alison.. I know what I'm doing. Go back to prepping her room. Those are orders. " He looked forward again and walked away from Alison, she reminded him so much of Parrot, maybe that's why he treated her so differently compared to all the other maids.
He continued to walk until he reached the dungeon, taking a deep breath he walked down the stairs as the Knights stayed silent in respect of their King. Collin had finally reached Parrot's cell, looking down he saw her in his arms, something in his heart clenched as he cleared his throat.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Layton looked up, and very quickly covered Parrot's face in the ratty blanket. She was small enough to make it look it it was just a pile of rags there, nothing more. Collin already had the kingdom - Layton couldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing Parrot as well. Instead, he only greeted him with a glare.

"And what do you want?" he practically spit at him, speaking in a low, threatening hiss, "Come here to take me to the block yourself? Or are you just here to humiliate me? Please, enlighten me."​

 

[Skylight]

Collin Collin let out a small chuckle, "Please. I'm here for her." He looked at the lump underneath the blankets and smiled, he finally had won and not only had he won the land but he can finally take back what was his.
The guards came over to the door and opened it to pick up the girl, "Take her to her room and make sure she is well." He said looking at Layton straight in the eyes, his grey eyes only grew colder, "Let my guards know if you need anything." He gave him a cold smile and followed the guards which her carrying his beautiful flower.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Unfortunately, this time, as she guards carried Parrot, she was very much awake. And although her body was small, she still had one very viable option for escape when in a knight's arms. She could flail. Uncontrollably. Wildly. That's exactly what she did.

"NO!" she screamed, her limbs flying wildly in the mess of blankets, even if they were trying to take her out of the big scary dungeon, "L-Let me go!!"

Eventually, she flailed enough to fall to the ground and scamper back to Layton's cell, but that's when she saw...Him. Collin. Her closest friend...and her biggest enemy. She saved his life from some mysterious poison that couldn't possibly have come from her own kingdom, and this was how he lived that life now? The sight of him, and all the memories, made her want to vomit, but she didn't. She just cried some more.

"...C...C-Collin...?" she stammered, like she couldn't believe it was really him. There were so many things she wanted to say to him...but she had just one question for this dangerous new king, "W-What are you going to d-do to m-me...?"​

 

[Skylight]

Collin He had been caught off guard, "P-Parrot.." he didn't know what to say, he felt the tears fill up in his eyes, he hugged her as tightly and as firmly as he can, he never wanted to let go. "I'm sorry we had to meet each other this way." He closed his eyes and placed his head on top of hers.
"I - I want the kingdom to be normal again.. I - I want there to be peace.." He let out a small sigh and looked down at her, she was hurt and dirty, "Alison is waiting for you in your room, she will explain everything to you.. I- I'm sorry."

Alison Alison had quickly prepped the room with her magic, she had hopped that the poor girl had her wounds taken care of. Looking down at the fire Alison hugged herself as she waited for the large doors to be open but this time it would be Parrot, she had gone through enough and needed a good night sleep.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

The evil king that had just taken their kingdom could call himself Collin as much as he wanted too. He even looked almost exactly like him, save for being a few years older. Still...Parrot could not believe it was him. Which, at this point, was probably good. If this scary monster really was Collin...then she didn't know if her heart could survive the betrayal. So she didn't hug him back.

At least, she heard the mention of Alison, and she knew that if Layton was in her shoes, he would do whatever it took to just get out of the dungeon, even if it meant leaving loved ones there. He could...She would come back to them later. In the meantime, she could only give Layton one more sad glance, reaching her wounded arm through the bars, "L-Layton...I-I-"

"Go," he hissed, rather harshly. Parrot held her head low and nodded, running out of the dungeon and towards her room, the last safe haven she had left.​

 

[Skylight]

Collin He scoffed and looked at the guards and told them to lock Layton away. He turned around and head for his chambers as he knew it would take awhile for Parrot to forgive him.
He let out a sigh as he finally reached his bedroom and collapsed on the bed, he knows she will have to forgive him as it wasn't his fault the war had started, he just wanted it to end. Collin sighed and lit up the room with what looked the stars, he smiled and remembered the sleepovers at the other castle, her castle. He would sneak into her room or vise versa and he would show her all the magic, but this was always her favorite.

Alison Alison had heard the door open and she jumped a bit, seeing the small girl with a sad look on her face, "Oh Parrot." She sighed and took the girl in her arms, "Let me help clean you up." She guided the girl over to the bath and sighed, "It's warm so just hop on in, I'll prep your clothes." She moved the blinds and walked over to the drawers where the King had prepped all the clothes for Parrot.
Alison felt her eyes fill with tears yet she didn't know why.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Parrot looked around at all the nice things - the clean clothes, the warm bath, the whole chambers all to herself - and yet, she couldn't help but start crying once again. None of this was her's. It was all Collin's, considering it was all in his evil kingdom. The second he decided to betray her again, it would all be whisked away.

"...W-Why...h-how could he..." she started, but was soon cut off by the stabbing pain in her arm, "Aah!" she screamed, clutching the open wound again and falling to the floor. Untreated, it continued to throb in pain, as her vision became blurry. As if her night couldn't get any worse. ​

 

[Skylight]

Alison She ran over to Parrot as she heard her in pain, "I'm sorry, this is gonna hurt." Alison closed her eyes and chanted as her dark blue eyes glowed. She placed her hand on Parrot's wound and healed her but Alison was now completely drained of energy. "I - I 'm going to lay down. Please enjoy your bath." She got up but everything was spinning, she quickly walked over to the couch beside the fire and stumbled on her feel and fell onto the couch.

 

[ValentineIllusion]

Parrot whimpered and cried as Alison healed her, and she cringed, but she didn't pull away. She allowed Alison to heal her and when she was done, Parrot was amazed. She ran her hand over where the cut used to be, almost like she was looking for where it could've gone. There wasn't even any pain anymore. The pain in her heart, sure, but at least her wound was taken care of.

Parrot got into her bath like Alison wanted her too, but made sure she finished it quickly and that she dressed herself in her own nightgown. Once that was finished, she hurried over to Alison's side. Parrot...never knew she had magic. Magic was the enemy now, after all. But now wasn't the time to make everything an enemy, especially coming from such a kind soul.

"Alis-son...?" she asked, holding her hand on her shoulder, "A-Are you alright...?"​