A Cinderella Story

Prologue

Once upon a time in a faraway land called Fiore, in the vast region of Magnolia there laid the Kingdom of Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail, like many of the neighbouring Kingdoms, was often described as a very magical place. Although there used to be plentiful mages, and the number had now dwindled to a rare few, the magic still lay thick in the air so you could almost feel it.

In this magical Kingdom, there lived a very rich Duke called Jude Heartfilia. He fell in love, and got married to the gorgeous Layla Heartfilia and they had a little daughter who they named Lucy. Even as a baby, it was obvious Lucy Heartfilia would grow up to be a stunningly beautiful young lady. Unfortunately, Layla died from a terrible illness once Lucy was 9 years old. Poor Lucy and Jude were heartbroken. Only one year after Layla's death, Jude remarried to a woman called Hilda. She had two daughters who were around Lucy's age, called Beatrice and Claudia. All three women had the same ugly mousy brown shade of hair, extraordinarily small black eyes, thin long noses and thin pale lips that seemed to be stuck in a constant sneer. Hilda and Claudia were almost sticklike, with thin lanky bodies, bony fingers, thin faces, and every dress hung from their thin frames. Beatrice meanwhile, was a *ehem* chubby girl, with a large body that spilled from her dresses, large thick fingers and a fat flabby face.

Although Lucy was not pleased at her mother being replaced, Jude seemed happier than she had seen him since Layla's death, so she welcomed them warmly, remembering her mother's dying words, 'No small act of kindness is ever wasted. There is no wisdom greater than kindness'. Despite Lucy's attempts at doing everything possible to help her new stepmother and stepsisters, they treated her with coldness and contempt when her father wasn't around. But she still tried with all her little heart, because Lucy's kindness was limitless.

Unfortunately, little Lucy's childhood befell another tragedy. One month after her stepmother and stepsisters came to live in the mansion, her father passed away suddenly in his sleep. Lucy cried for days. Despite the suspicious circumstances, it was never investigated, as Hilda was 'too distraught' to let anyone into the house except the men who came to take the body away.

As soon as they got back from the funeral, Hilda immediately took control of the house. She fired all the servants, took away all of Lucy's clothes, kicked her out of her room and forced her to sleep in the cellar. "I'm terribly sorry my dear, but this is how things are going to be run from now on. You sleep down here. You're going to be doing all the cooking, cleaning, washing and anything else we ask you too. Disobey an order and you will be punished. Now we expect dinner in 30 minutes so you better get started. It better be delicious or else!" she screeched in her overly high pitched voice at poor Lucy. She flung a servants dress down the stairs. "Get started" she snapped, turning on her heel and marching through the door. "Oh" she said turning around with a sickly sweet smile. "Watch out for those rats". The door slammed shut, leaving Lucy curled up on the cold cellar floor, too terrified to do anything. But what could she do? If she left she would starve to death on the streets. She had no one left to care. She bent her head done scrunched up her eyes and cried in despair, her loud sobs echoing through the large empty cellar. Sniffling and wiping her wet eyes, she got up and did the only thing she could do. Pulled on the servants dress and got started on that dinner.