Written by Mellany
Based on some situations originated by James Cameron.

The story started in a kingdom called Eternally. King Jonathan ruled the kingdom with the help of his lovely wife, Queen Loraine. They had a twenty-year-old son named Jack. He was a very handsome lad with blond hair and blue eyes, but his attitude was the opposite of his looks. He was very arrogant, mean to people--especially those who were below his rank--and didn't believe in love.

King Jonathan was really worried that when the time came for Jack to rule the kingdom, it might fall apart. Not that his son was not a good leader or wasn't good at fighting, but his relationships with people were no good and very cruel. He wanted everything to be his way, and the only two people who he would listen to were his parents.

The king tried to find some solution to change his son's mind, and Queen Loraine was thinking that it was time for them to look for a bride for their son if he was to be the next ruler of the Kingdom of Eternally. But for a second, Queen Loraine thought that it would be impossible for her son to agree to be wed, especially he didn't believe in such a thing as love.

One morning, in the palace, something horribly wrong had happened. The prince had been cursed by an old lady whom he had encountered while he was out in the woods the night before. When the old lady had asked the prince for directions, he didn't help her, but instead, he left her in the middle of the forest during that very dark night.

Unfortunately, the stranger had warned him that if he didn't help her, the kingdom would be cursed, but he hadn't believed the woman. Instead, he had laughed about it. So, now he must pay the price. Everybody in the castle was panicking, especially the king and the queen. If the curse was not broken by Jack's twenty-first birthday, the kingdom would fall apart and plague would be spread not only throughout their kingdom but to others as well.

Prince Jack was worried, as well, but he did not let it show. There has to be something that can be done about this, he said to himself one night. I need break the curse, or else a great tragedy will come. So while he was asleep, Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, showed up in his reverie. He only said few things, but each one of them was very important.

"In order to break the curse, you must start your quest as soon as possible," he said, "You must find Tyche, and he will help you and tell you what to do next. You will start your journey on the other side of Mt. Cronus, and in there, you will enter the enchanted forest of Utopia. I warn you, child, be careful and use your instincts. That forest is very perilous. You will only have one week to finish your quest. You must hurry. And as for the future, I will help you if it's necessary." Then he disappeared.

The next morning, Jack told his parents about the dream. They listened carefully to him, and after he was done telling the story, the king and queen asked him to begin his quest. At first, Jack was not sure if the dream was real or not, but he had no choice but to follow his parents’ instructions.

The young prince began his journey the very next day, accompanied by his valet, Arthur. Arthur was a middle-aged man with a wrinkled forehead and a friendly face. Jack insisted that he go alone, but his parents urged him to travel with Arthur. So the journey began, and they reached the enchanted forest of Utopia and found Tyche right before the sun disappeared over the horizon.

Jack and Arthur spent their night in Tyche's little house that was located right in front of the enchanted forest. All night he told them about his experiences living near the forest, and how unnerving it was for him to live there. He also told them that Morpheus had visited him in his dreams and told him about Jack's journey.

"In order to break the curse, you will need to find Thanatos, the god of death. He will decide whether it is worthy to break the curse or not," Tyche explained. "And remember, never trust what your eyes tell you. The forest is a very tricky and dangerous sector. And also, once you enter the forest, you will not know the time or how long you've been there. Time in that place goes differently from ours, so I suggest that you should not waste any time."

"All right. but what does the god of death have to do with the curse, and the old lady who cursed the kingdom?" Jack asked curiously.

"I don't know. Morpheus only told me what you need to know, so I have no idea what the god of death has to do with that," Tyche answered.

Early the next morning, Jack and Arthur left his house and started their journey into the enchanted forest. Upon on their way, they encountered a very strange-looking old woman. She had long gray hair and had a very mean look in her eyes.

"You strangers. What are you two doing in here? You know that no one passes me without giving anything in return, especially adventurers like you," she said in a wicked voice.

"We’ve got nothing to do give you, lady, so I suggest you leave us be," Jack said in a cold tone.

"Such manners," the old woman remarked. "For that, you should be punished." With that, she turned him into a small mouse, and Arthur was terrified by what had happened to the prince.

"Please, lady, turn him back to normal," Arthur begged.

"He got what he deserved."

"Turn him back, I beg you. He has to finish his quest for the sake of our kingdom of Eternally. He has to break the curse, or else many people will die." He begged again, "Turn me into a mouse instead of him, please." And so, she turned Jack back to normal and Arthur into a mouse.

"What happened? Where's Arthur?" Jack asked in confusion.

"He traded places with you because of his loyalty, young man," she said, while picking up Arthur. "It is good luck that there's someone who cares for a young louse like you. Now, continue your quest, and I shall keep your friend until you succeed." She paused, gave him a disgusted look, and continued, "Only the great Zeus knows what will happen and how you will persuade Thanatos to let go of the curse. But I doubt you will succeed with those manners of yours, and I can't still understand why Morpheus helps you with this journey."

"How did you know about Thanatos, Morpheus, and about my quest?" But before his question had been answered, the old woman disappeared quickly in a thick white smoke with Arthur.

Jack continued his quest and didn't waste any time. He rested, but it was not long. He didn't even know how many hours had passed since his encounter with the old woman who had turned him into a mouse, but still he kept walking until he saw three men who seemed to be fighting or arguing about something.

When he got closer, there was a woman in the middle of them with her hands tied together, seeming very frightened. She had beautiful, long, red, curly hair, and from where he was standing, he could tell that she had blue-green eyes. She screamed for help, so Jack, who didn't really have any intention of helping her, walked quickly in her direction with his sword in his hand.

"Let go of her, you bastards!" Jack said.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" asked one of the men.

"I said, let go of her," Jack repeated.

"What makes you think we are going to let her go? Especially with this kind of beauty. We can use her for our needs," said the man who was holding the woman, with a grin on his face. "Well, if you are willing to fight for it, go ahead. I'm just warning you--you'll lose in the end."

"And what makes you think that I'm going to lose?" With that, Jack lifted his sword and slashed the three men's throats with one swing.

The woman was bewildered, but also thankful that the men who had tried to harm her were dead. Jack took a dry leaf to wipe the blood from his sword. Then he untied the rope from around the woman's hands.

As soon as she was free, she hugged him tightly, which surprised him, and said, "Oh, dear sir, thank you very much. I am very grateful to you for saving me from those--those pigs!"

Jack took her hands so that he could get away from her embrace, then said coldly, "Next time you go wandering around in this enchanted forest, make sure you bring something that you can use to protect yourself."

He turned around and started walking, leaving the woman behind without saying another word, but she walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder. "But don't you want something in return? Not that I want you to ask me something," she said. "But really, is there anything I can do in return for saving my life?"

He turned around to look at her and sighed. "Look, lady, I helped you, and now, I must continue my journey. I've already wasted some of my time saving your life, so go home and try not to get into trouble again."

"But I have nowhere to go," she explained. "Can you bring me with you instead?"

He laughed at the irony. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm serious, sir. I ran away, and I was planning to go to the nearest village from where I am from, but I ended up in here. And I've been lost for a long time now." She continued, "Now, please bring me with you. I don't care where you go, as long as I am with you, because I don't want to be alone in here."

"Lady, look, for the second--" But he was interrupted by her.

"My name is Rose, and I'm nineteen years old. I'm from the village of Centaur."

"All right, Rose, but I don't care who you are or anything about you. I just want to continue my quest. And now, can you move aside?"

She started to cry, and said, "I'll help you with your quest. I'll do anything, as long as you bring me with you. Please. I beg you!"

"How do I know you're not one of those enchanted people or the witch?"

"I am not," she answered. "You have my word, good sir."

"Your word is not good enough for me, but I'll give you this one chance." With that, she smiled with happiness. "But as soon as I find out that you're one of them, I won't hesitate to do the same thing as I did to those bastards to you."

"You won't."

They were walking in silence. At first, Rose tried to make conversation, but Jack would simply answer shortly and quickly, and so she just stopped saying a word. They spent about three days, as Jack estimated it, walking around the enchanted forest. Jack had another dream, with Morpheus telling him that there was not a lot of time left, but they were very close to the place of the god of Death, Thanatos.

Jack and Rose started to talk to each other, and Jack's attitude towards Rose started to change as they talked while they were walking. One time, while they stopped for a drink at the stream, Rose and Jack were sitting together and still telling each other about their childhoods. Rose learned that Jack was a prince, but her attitude towards him never changed. Then, suddenly, they got quiet and found each other’s lips.

Finally, they reached the part of the forest that was even darker than the other parts. As they continued walking, the place was getting even darker. Rose was walking behind Jack, but their hands were locked tightly together. Then, suddenly, their surroundings went black, and there was nothing they could see but each other.

Then a deep voice spoke. "So, you finally came, and I see that you brought someone with you."

They still couldn't see where the voice was coming from.

"I'll guess you know why I came here," Jack said calmly.

"Of course I do. I've been watching you since the beginning of your quest," he said. "I believe breaking the curse is easy, but I need something in return for that."

"And what is it?" Jack questioned. "Anything you want."

"Anything I want?" the voice asked wryly.

"Yes. You have my word, my good sir."

"All right. I will break the curse if you will give me the young lady with you."

Jack stood still, and Rose moved even closer to him.

"I can't. I would never give her up!" Jack said, with great determination.

"Well, if you don't hand her over right now, you know what will happen. Your dear kingdom will fall apart and all of your people will suffer," Thanatos said.

"Is there any other choice?" Jack asked steadily.

"I believe there's nothing," he said. "So either you sacrifice the woman, or your kingdom and your people."

"I can't do it!" he said.

"And why not?" the god of death asked, his face still hiding in the dark.

"Because—it is because I love her," he said softly, while Rose hugged him.

"Love? You? Those don't mix together, especially when it comes to you," he said.

"Yes, I do love her, and I'll sacrifice myself instead of her," Jack said.

There was a long silence, but then the god of death said, "Very well. I will take you instead."

"Jack, don't do it!" Rose said. "Let him have me instead of you. You already saved my life once, and I won't let you do it again, especially if it will cost you your life."

"Trust me on this one, Rose. Just remember that I will always love you. I'd never appreciated love before I knew you. Now, I'm prepared for anything because I know what love feels like. And you’re the one who helped me to feel it, even in the short time that I’ve known you." He looked deeply into her eyes. "I love you." They kissed passionately, and then Jack stepped forward.

"All right. I'm ready. Rose, stay away. This can harm you." Rose did what he told her, and was now crying very hard.

"Now, meet your destiny, Prince Jack!"

Big balls of fire came toward him, and they hit him. He didn't feel a thing, not even pain. He couldn't understand it. He was not dead! Rose was surprised by what had just happened, but there was happiness in her face. She came running to Jack, hugged him tightly and kissed him, and then said, "I don't understand. What just happened?"

"I don't know, my love, but I'm thankful that I'm not dead." They kissed again.

And then the next thing they knew, they were inside the castle. Jack's parents were there and even Arthur, who was not a mouse anymore. To his surprise, there were many people around them. They all looked familiar, but he didn't know where he had met them.

"Welcome back, son!" King Jonathan greeted him warmly.

"What's going on, Father?" he asked.

"You passed the test!" he said.

The test? What did he mean by that?

"What test?" he questioned curiously.

"To prove if you are worthy to be the next king of this kingdom."

So everything he had worked for was just a test. Jack couldn't believe it. He didn't know whether to be pleased or angry, but there was one thing that he was sure of. He was sure that he had finally found the woman whom he would spend his whole life with.

He went to Rose and kissed her gently, with full affection. This quest, he thought to himself, this quest for something that was unexpected wasn’t that bad at all. It was worth it. Really worth it.

The End.

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