Chapter 1 - i

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A/N: I haven't published a story on here or on any other website in so long. I'm honestly slightly terrified.

Here's a little bit of backstory before the story begins:

This was (and as of today, 2/24/2019, still is) written for my Honors English class. Our assignment was to write our very own fairytale. I absolutely love creative writing, but I detested the idea of this assignment until four or five days before it was due. That's when I actually made a draft for the story and was extremely proud of it.

Fun fact: The minimum page count for the assignment was eight. As of today, I have fifty pages.

Anyway, let the story commence!

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Marzy Floures knew all about the world. She knew of the lengths many would go to get whatever it was they desired. Whether it's something as minute as money having been borrowed and never returned or something as major as freedom after being locked away for several years, people will surpass their limits just to get within arm's reach of it. It's people like them that destroyed the barrier of peace that once encompassed the Earth, making it a dangerous place to live. They've turned the planet into a minefield, them being the mines and every other person being the unfortunate souls thrown onto the field by force. For this reason, Marzy feared the outside world, doing everything in her power to avoid any sort of danger. She was hell-bent on keeping herself well protected anywhere she went. After several years, however, she'd abandoned her overprotective ways and decided to do what she now does best.

Sleep it off.

Whenever she faced some sort of predicament, rather than solve and get it over with, she tried to sleep her problems away, proving to be successful less than a quarter of the time. Today, she does the same. What problem was she dealing with now?

Bills.

Bills littered the floors of her house, most of them being in the kitchen after having been used to absorb puddles of wine and tears on her marble countertop.

Now, Marzy lay peacefully in her bed, snoring ever so lightly. It would be a crime to wake up someone in such a state.

KNOCK-KNOCK!

"Ugh...."

A fierce but faint rapping was heard from the door, forcing Marzy to bid farewell to her prolonged slumber. She slowly sat up, propping herself against the headboard until she gained complete consciousness.

"Who's knocking at my door at such an ungodly hour?" She mumbled, glancing at the clock at her bedside.

1:05 PM.

My point still stands. She pushed herself up from the bed, stood as straight as she could and took a step forward.

Marzy then proceeded to fall flat on her face.

Her gracefulness was something every ballerina would die for.

Marzy cautiously made her way out of her bedroom, through the hall, and down the stairs, stumbling almost every other minute. The knocking continued, louder and faster than before.

"I'm almost there! Calm down!" She yelled.

It wasn't as effective as she'd hoped due to her being half-asleep and her voice being extremely hoarse. Anyone within hearing range could safely assume she was screaming in pain.

Luckily, the knocking did slow down but remained loud.

"All right, all right, I'm here," She spoke, yanking the door open. "What's-"

No one was there.

Marzy stared dumbfoundedly at the empty space before her, attempting to come up with some sort of reasoning for the absence of whoever was on her doorstep just a few moments ago. After some thought, she came to a conclusion and was not amused in the slightest.

She was a victim of ding-dong ditch.

"HEY, YOU THINK IS FUNNY! I AM NOT ONE TO BE MESSED WITH! YOU HEAR ME?! WHAT ARE YOU, FIVE?" She roared angrily at no one in particular. She managed to catch the attention of a couple of five-year-olds playing in the yard next door. Unfortunately, they only heard her when she'd yelled: "What are you, five?" Thinking it was directed towards them, the children screamed, dropped everything onto the ground, and ran into their home.

Marzy prolonged her tantrum to the point where people were beginning to notice. One even considered calling the police to file a noise complaint. In the midst of all this, a big gust of wind flew around the neighborhood, making somewhat of a beeline towards her home. She, of course, was too preoccupied with her "Ding-Dong-Ditch Dilemma" and didn't notice.

In fact, she was so preoccupied that when the wind blew the small envelope lying on her doorstep towards her, smacking her in the face, it took her several minutes to react. She grabbed the envelope from off the ground and took it inside.

Marzy plopped herself onto the couch and lazily stared at the piece of mail in her hand.

"To read or not to read? That is the question." She said, scanning it to find out who had sent it.

No name? No return address? She scanned the envelope once more. Who sent me this?

For the sake of her curiosity, she ultimately decided to open it up, growing more and more excited with each and every tear. She then pulled out a small card that read:

Dear Marzy Floures,

Today is a special day. Today marks ten years since my parents passed on both their powers and position as ruler over to me. And what better way to commend this wondrous day than to throw a party!

And you, my dear, are cordially invited to come and celebrate with me!

The party will start at 6 pm sharp. Not a second earlier nor a second later. Time is everything and I am not one to waste it.

As soon as you finish reading this, get dressed immediately. A ride will be sent to your home, so there's no need to worry about transportation.

Quickly now, you don't want to be late. I assure you it'll be a night to remember.

You better be there.

Zedi Na Deyu!

~ Kalla dé Jàvu

"Kalla dé Jàvu...." Marzy read aloud, repeating it as though it would spark a sense of familiarity within her.

It didn't.

Who are you? She stared blankly at the card that lying on the table in front of her. Why did you invite me of all people? What is "Zedi Na Deyu?" And.... She reread the ominous "You better be there." Is that some sort of threat? Ugh, it hurts to think.

Completely disregarding the order to "get dressed immediately," she closed her eyes and contemplated the pros and cons of going.

"Pros," She began. "Food... and meeting new people, I guess. Cons: Leaving the comfort of my home and meeting new people. What to do, what to do?"

After silently arguing with herself, she decided to go to the party, thinking it wouldn't hurt to leave the house once in a while. She walked back up to her room to get ready.

Almost two hours had passed when she finally finished getting dressed.

"Not bad." She said as she admired herself in her mirror. Marzy sported a long-sleeved, yellow blouse, decorating the neckline was a white embroidered design and a thin black string fashioned into a bow. Complimenting the blouse was a black, knee-length skirt and a pair of black flats. She left her hair in its natural curly state.

Skipping down the stairs happily, her mind started to wander back to the invitation. She began hearing voices in her head, all of them repeating the words "get dressed immediately" over and over again. She racked her brain for any idea as to why it was those words specifically. It sounded familiar, but she just couldn't remember. As she placed her hand on the doorknob, suddenly, it clicked.

"As soon as you finish reading this, get dressed immediately."

Marzy did not get dressed immediately. She'd wasted about twenty minutes yelling at absolutely nothing before noticing the envelope, fifteen minutes staring at it, at least thirty minutes debating whether she should even go to the party, and an hour and thirty minutes to get ready.

"Time is everything and I am not one to waste it."

Time!

"The party will start at 6 pm sharp. Not a second earlier nor a second later."

Marzy whipped around to read the time, but before she could comprehend what it said, she was hit with a sharp pain in her head, feeling as if she'd just been stabbed.

She collapsed instantly.

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A/N (again): Copying and pasting from Google Docs to here is so frustrating.

So, that was chapter one. It's pretty short, yeah but it's kind of difficult to divvy up a story into chapters. Especially an unfinished one. At least, it is for me.

Anyway, let me know in the comments if you liked this chapter or what I may need to improve on.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net