𝓡𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓲𝓷 𝓟𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓮, 𝓒𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓪

2

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

"Cinderella?" The raven-haired was as confused as the rest of them, "Like, from the fairytale?"

"What do you mean by fairytale, sir?" Ella looked at them questioningly. It worried her enough that she was somewhere that wasn't her house.

The dusty-blonde stepped in and cleared his throat, "Let's introduce ourselves first, shall we?" He looked at the other 3, as if he knew something.

"R-right!" The platinum blonde laughed nervously, "So rude of us!"

Ella looked between each of the guys, sitting there quietly. They didn't seem like they had the intention to hurt her, however, Ella didn't want to let her guard down.

"My name is Ignis." The man, who wore the square glasses, revealed himself first. He brought his hand towards the larger male, "This is Gladiolus, then Prompto and finally his majesty Prince Noctis."

Ella's eyes lit up slightly, "Prince?" Her eyes were fixated on him, "You're the Prince from the ball?"

"What ball?" Noctis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The grand ball for his majesty the Prince," She replied softly, "Every maiden in the kingdom was supposed to attend."

Gladiolus nodded gently, "I know where this is going..."

"Pardon?"

"The King wanted the Prince to get married," He placed a hand on his hip, "So he planned a ball for every woman in the kingdom to attend."

Ella looked at him in disbelief, "How did you know?"

"Yeah, how did you know that, Gladio?" The platinum blonde asked.

"Shut it-"

"We'll discuss that later,",Ignis stopped Gladiolus from further explaining, "For now, we need to know if you are hurt?"

Ella studied her hands, bare feet and the destroyed dress she was wearing, "I'm fine, thank you," She smiled weakly, "Just rather shaken, although, I do have a slight headache."

"Very well, we'll have some medicine and food delivered to you," Ignis nodded gently, examining her appearance, "And perhaps a new set of clothes."

She looked up immediately, with the slight need to protest, "Thank you, all of you..." Ella replied softly, shooting a soft smile at the tired Prince, "I hope I shan't be a burden to you, your majesty."

The Prince sighed softly, "Just call me Noctis and get well soon..." He walked out with his arms folded. The room fell awkward and silent. Ella felt guilty that she had put them through all that trouble. She never meant for any of this to happen.

"His majesty is tired, Miss Ella," Ignis reassured her with a small smile, "He has had a stressful day."

"I see," She sighed softly, "I wonder what happened..."

"Do you not remember?" Prompto asked worriedly, "The explosion and the daemons?"

"Daemons?" Ella blinked a few times in confusion, "I don't remember any of that."

"What do you remember?" Gladiolus asked, his gruff voice was somehow soothing.

Ella sighed softly in thought, recalling the last memories she attained.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

"That's my ribbon! You thief!"

"And my pearls, MY pearls, you hear me?!"

Shouts and cries could be hear from all the girls, along with rips and the sounds of beads hitting the hard, tiled floor, until a harsh voice cut the commotion.

"Silence!" Stepmother was all dressed and ready for the ball, as so her stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella. The one who was left in a poor mess of rips and tears was little Cinderella.

"Come along now, girls," Stepmother turned to Cinderella and smirked mercilessly, "Oh dear, child. You're not ready?"

Cinderella looked down at her feet and remained in silence.

"That's a shame, child," Stepmother scoffed softly, "We won't be long. Just clean up this mess, will you?"

The door shut with a gentle click and the entire house went silent. Cinderella stared at the red scratches and cuts from her stepsisters' vile nails and walked to a mirror that was displayed in the hallway.

There she was, Cinderella. Covered in ruined clothes and messy hair. That's who she always was. She cried softly glancing at the mirror, before running through the mansion and rushing towards the gardens. Her sobs filled the evening air as her tears flew by.

And then,

just as she was approaching the fountain,

she tripped,

and fell,

hitting her head against the rimming of the fountain,

causing her to fall into a deep unconsciousness.

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊