A Fairy Tale

[artisticDreamer]

I had to write a fairy tale for my writing class, and this was my final product. :3
A long time ago, a great metal carriage crashed upon the land of Evermore with a storm of fire and smog. A great evil came forth from that carriage, and conquered the land with his dark powers. He has ruled the land for many years with a fist of iron, crushing any and all brave heroes who dare face him. Even the Prince of Spiritbane, the one who smote evil so long ago, failed.
Soon, the memories of a time before evil became legend, and those legends became myth, with the great evil still upon his dark throne. Millennia pass, and that evil remained unchallenged…
Once upon a time, there was a boy, who often was said to be around twelve, though nobody really knew his age. He was an outcast, and often wandered from village to village, until somebody found out who he was; nobody wanted to host somebody who defended the most evil man who walked the face of Evermore, their emperor.
The boy had wandered into a town, one that didn’t know him, when he first saw the royal order, pinned to a shack with an arrow: Every citizen of the kingdom would gather into an army and fight their sister nation of Neverafter- even the women and children.
“He’s gone too far this time.” The boy ripped the order down from the hut, crushing in in his hand. “I have to at least try to stop him…stop it.”
He set out immediately for the emperor’s fortress, avoiding monsters and humans alike, until he came across a group of wanderers heading out with the same goal as the boy. They were some of the strangest people he had ever met; princes and peasants, merchants and thieves, all working together for one common cause. He tried to talk them out of their plan of storming the emperor’s fortress, explaining why it wouldn’t work.
“So you expect us to just let our people die? I may not like them, but they’re not livestock.” One princess, who was lifting a two-handed broadsword with only one hand like it was nothing, stabbed her sword into the ground as she glared at the boy. “They would never follow somebody like that. You can’t stop us even if you tried. Now you can either come with us or go on your own.”
“I’ll come with you, if only to keep you all from dying.”

They finally reached the metal fortress of their emperor, and fought their way to the top of the central tower. Their emperor, taking the form of a shadow, was waiting for them at the top, and, even when they gave the fight their all, he brushed off every attack.
“Why couldn’t they listen to me?” The boy sighed as he watched the emperor desecrate his allies.
“Do you remember me?” asked the boy in a soft tone.
The emperor didn’t respond, but his attacks slowed enough for the princess to charge at the emperor.
“Does she really want to die?” The boy only had a small dagger, but he managed to duck under the princess’s sword and shove it away from the emperor, slashing himself in the cheek. A white bile started to run down his face.
“Are you on his side now?” the princess demanded. The boy pushed her aside.
“Are you?” he asked before turning to the emperor.
“Look at me. You know who I am; don’t pretend otherwise.”
The emperor stopped fighting all together. Then he nodded mutely.
“I know why you became like this, and it isn’t your fault.” The boy whispered. “I’m sorry, father, that you had to live like this.” He placed one finger on the emperor’s forehead. The emperor-his father- collapsed. His form slowly started to turn into that of a human. Black ooze gathered in a puddle beneath him, glowing with dark magic. The princess bent down, reaching out her hand to touch the puddle, but the boy grabbed her arm before she could.
“That’s dark matter.” He whispered. “One drop will corrupt your heart.” He waited a moment before letting the princess go. She withdrew her arm.
“This was the only way we could have won. I know this might not be the most satisfying victory for any of you, but I’m not sorry.” The boy had won the battle, and it had to be that way, for hatred could never beat his father.
The boy was offered the crown to the empire, which he said he would keep for his father until he recovered from his evil ways.
And all was right in the land of Evermore.