Timeweaver

Prologue: Exile of the Last Timeweaver

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Avalon, hidden deep in Magdilus's Golden Forest, lived a princess named Mila.

Mila was the youngest of her three sisters at 14, and was greatly ignored as a result. But she didn't mind. She would read and draw and sing, and no one ever bothered her.

Yes, no one really noticed Mila... until she disappeared.

It was a warm, bright day in the Golden Forest and Mila was walking with no particular destination in mind. She stumbled upon a cottage with colorful and exotic plants blanketing the golden ground, and not seeing any signs of someone being home, decided to pick a few flowers for her sisters. Maybe then they would pay her more than a passing glance.

As soon as she stretched out a hand to stroke the petal of a fluorescent yellow flower, a vine struck out and snatched her ankle. "Who dares steal from my garden?" a voice echoed from inside the cottage, followed by a cackle.

A striking blonde figure sashayed out into the garden, keeping an icy blue eye glued to the girl hanging upside down. Mila swallowed her fear, but it caught halfway down her throat.

"Ah, a princess. What a pleasant surprise," the beautifully awful woman cooed. "In that case," she set Mila right-side up with a delicate wave of her hand, leaving the thick vine firmly grasping Mila's ankle, "I suppose you don't deserve the usual punishment for trespassing on my property and stealing."

"But I didn't take-," Mila blurted.

"Hush, child! Or I will turn your fair skin into a new rug for my bedroom!" Mila gulped, but the fear caught in there made it difficult. Her heart picked up its pace and she struggled for air. What she wouldn't do to be at the dining table, eating quietly as her family talked and laughed around her.

"As I was saying," the woman's chilly voice tumbled across the lawn and found its way down Mila's spine. She shivered. "I do not believe a young princess is deserving of death. Mainly because it would eventually lead to my own death." This last part she muttered to herself, but Mila heard her anyway in the stillness of the usually lively forest. Every creature seemed to be holding its breath, awaiting the punishment of the girl.

Though the situation was still tense, Mila felt her shoulders sag with relief. She wasn't going to die! A thankful giggle bubbled up in her throat, making its way past her fear, but it was trapped behind her teeth when the woman resumed speaking. "So," the woman paced before her, and Mila could smell the frightening and overwhelming scent of death and way too many flowers. It made her nauseous. "I curse you, Princess Mila of Avalon, to exile in the next realm..."

As a final attempt to save herself, Mila reached out with her power, hoping to rewind, or at least stop, time, but the woman - a witch, Mila decided - was too powerful. She saw what Mila was trying to do and expertly blocked it. "You foolish girl! Make that the furthest realm! You thought you were lonely now? Just you wait!" And with an angry swipe of her hands, Mila was gone, a small loop of the vine still clinging to her ankle...

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When she woke up, it was dark, which was unusual for the Golden Forest. Even at night, the moon and stars reflected off the metallic tree trunks and leaves. Mila noticed that the ground underneath her wasn't dirt, but stone. She wasn't in the Golden Forest anymore. In fact, she realized as her memories came flooding back to her, she wasn't in Magdilus at all.

Sore and confused, she stumbled out of an alley between two unfamiliar buildings and surveyed her surroundings. She was on a dark street lit up by street lamps with buildings on both sides and people walking along the sidewalk. Voices and music poured out of several doors into the night. What is this place? she wondered.