The Two Sides

Prologue (Long)

The kingdom of Zelphia was a happy one, with grassy plains and endless blue skies. The people were living happily and not many were poor under the rule of their newly wedded king and queen. It would seem that the people found their one true leader.

Soon after, the king and queen were blessed with an unbelievably healthy baby girl. She was named Miriam, or more widely known as Mimmy. She was a smart and kind girl and at the young age of five she unintentionally showed her parents her special and rare gift. Their family dog was sick and as she placed her hand upon his head he magically grew better, like he was never sick to begin with.

The child was born with Light magic, or magic to do good. She obtained this magic from somewhere down the family line of her father, King Orthon. As she grew older she embraced this gift and when asked to heal someone of sickness or dull a pain, she always gladly accepted.

She grew to be quite beautiful, like her mother, with a creamy complexion and long raven black hair with violet streaks in it that nobody in her family seem to have. Her eyes were midnight blue and always had a twinkle in them. She was neither skinny nor fat, but in between. She could take charge and persuade others like her father could. She was perfect in every way and was no doubt fit for the throne after her parents.

But she was not thinking or searching for love. She was too much into studying and helping unfortunate people to dwell upon such a thing. Her father said she could pick someone easily with all her suitors but she simply waved him off, returning to her studies.

Not long after Mimmy discovered her magical abilities, she became a sister to another healthy baby girl. She was a bit smaller than Mimmy when she was born but had the same midnight blue eyes. They named this daughter Ariana Rose.

She grew up to be just as beautiful as Mimmy, except her hair was curly and just shiny black. Even after her mother died when she was 6, she was a lively girl, one that loved nature and its plants. Her father had a large garden made for her, which she was ecstatic about and spent a lot of her time in.

She spent lots of time there as a hideaway place from the castle's bustling servants and its constant preparation of parties and banquets. She didn't want the throne and its responsibilities. She wanted a peaceful life but knew she wouldn't get it easily. Her father found her more beautiful since she looked more like her mother, and wanted her at every banquet and ball held. That's where she met the guy of her dreams, Keil Sommers.

An archer like his older brother once was, he was there for business with the king and to enjoy the party. One final day to have fun before he went to war. When he caught sight of Ariana, he knew what he felt inside was love. They were both separate kinds of people but one that her dad would be sure to be okay with. After all, her sister wasn't in love at all.

The banquet was an almost all-night thing and a couple hours into the party, they finally were able to get too each other through the huge crowd. They could tell by looking at each other--that they found the one they wanted to be with forever. She was only sixteen.

"I'm glad to be fighting for this kingdom, and for you, my princess. I would gladly die for such a beautiful and graceful creature such as yourself." And with a bow and a kiss of the hand, her romance started. It solidified everything she was feeling. He was the one.

They snuck off into her garden and spent the quiet night together, holding hands and having their first kiss. The night was perfect and nothing could've ruined it. It was just them, nothing else. That's where she found she had powers. She thought she was normal, but she had Light magic too, but it wouldn't save lives like her sister's.

When her hand hit upon a bush, with love and happy thoughts running through her head, she made a rose blossom appear. She had earth magic. She soon learned that she could decorate anything she wanted in vines or flowers. Even her own dresses.

She thought this was the most wonderful thing and rushed to tell her sister after the banquet. Mimmy shared her enthusiasm as they told their father the story all over again. He smiled and congratulated her and hugged her tight. But the joy wouldn't stay forever.

Keil went to war and surely fought bravely... But he never came back to her like he promised. Search parties went out at the king's demand to find him and bring him back to his daughter. But after months and months of searching... He was never found.

After almost two years since Keil left, King Orthon told his daughter with a heavy heart that the search for Keil would have to be brought to a minumum. With this news, she burst into tears once again, her heart breaking into the tiniest of pieces.

With her own sadness erupting inside her she grew to have mood swings and temper issues. The kind, lively girl that her father loved so much was turning into something entirely different. She was even scared of herself, she had no idea what was happening. To others she was just overly upset, but to her she was changing.

She started to feel different, and have two different thoughts on things. Sometimes she was happy about something, then she wasn't. Sometimes the change in her personality's would cause so much pain that she couldn't handle it and screamed, making her personal maid, Lucy run in and ask what's wrong. Her answer was always nothing.

One day it got really bad. So bad, she literally turned into a different person altogether. She wore a long black or red gown and dark makeup. A shadowed expression took control over her face and her eyes were somewhat darker too.

She could call on the spiders anytime she wanted, and they would do her bidding. She could shoot flames and had the power to emit pain on anybody she pleased, which they would never live to tell about.

This side of her called herself Queen Miranda.

Miranda wanted to take the kingdom as her own and she was in love with another man, Prince Samuel. Samuel was her personal helper and he and Miranda were the only ones who knew what was happening.

But as Ariana came back to her original self, she knew nothing of what happened as Miranda except that she was dangerous and she had another person inside her. This was how she lived. And she did it in absolute secret.

The girl people thought contained only Light magic contained both Dark and Light, and it fought for control over her body, hence creating two entirely separate people. Ariana was deeply afraid that her evil self would win the battle over her body and Miranda would hurt the ones she loved. And Ariana didn't have any idea on how to stop her.

Queen Miranda knew that Ariana was trying to get rid of her, but Miranda was planning on a horrible situation to bring Ariana down to the Dark--permanently. It infuriated her that Ariana kept love in her heart, even after Keil, instead of hate and jealousy for people who had a love to go to.

This solidified the beginning of the battle between the two sides of herself.