There was once a land that contained much magic and wonder. It was a peculiar land in that it was shaped like a gun though no weapons of that caliber existed. It became known as “The Land of Gun” to historians. This land is unusual in that the rulers of the dynasty were almost all female. It was also unusual that these queens did not live to an elderly age. It was a mystery up until now as to why that was occurring. 

    "Anya, remember this. Don't ever cut your hair before your marriage day. This is what caused our downfall. I beg of you: don't follow the footsteps of our ancestors. I don't want you to get hurt."

    "Okay, Momma. I promise."

    This is the last memory I have of my mother before her ultimate demise. I have made it my mission to reverse this and the curse that has befallen on our family. For as long as I can remember, our family has not had the best of luck. It is speculated that my family is cursed. Before my mother passed, I doubted the existence of a curse. I always thought it was a myth that something could destroy my family like that. When looking back, I found that the curse was indeed real and that it has affected my family since the reign of my great-great grandmama. The books never mentioned what exactly caused the curse to begin, however; it did read this:

A girl so bold

caused her family to never grow old.

One harmless mistake

is all that it would take

to ruin a dynasty so young

that has only begun

in the Land of Gun.

    “What could this harmless mistake be?” I asked myself outloud.

    “We could always find out, young maiden princess,” a mysterious voice called out.

    I looked around, frightened as to who could have possibly known that I was in the library. “Identify yourself,” I managed to command.

    “Some people would call me a devil. Others call me the universe’s most precious gift to mankind. I identify myself as Dario.”

    My eyes widened at the realization. “You’re Dario the Devil? Why would I ever associate myself with you?”

    “I could help you reveal the nature of the curse set on your family and how it began with your great-great grandmama.”

    “I don’t need help,” I replied back stubbornly.

    “Fine. Die at a young age then. I couldn’t care less,” Dario taunted as he began to leave the library.

    “Wait! I do need your help, but you need to swear on your life that your “help” won’t backfire on me.”

    Dario smirked. “Okay. Then let’s begin. Say your goodbyes and meet me in the gardens,” he told me before disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke.

    That’s how I became acquainted with Dario. I felt it was necessary in order to restore my family. Together with the addition of Gianna, Dario’s familiar, we set off to go back in time to the time of my great-great grandmama.

~~

    One might think that travelling with the Devil is the most awful experience ever known, but Dario has proven otherwise. He keeps all the conversations light and joyful despite the nature of the mission. If all else fails, Gianna can lighten the mood. Though she herself cannot speak, she possesses telepathic abilities to communicate her wants and needs. She is very needy, I might add. However, she doesn’t dampen the mood with her many complaints.

    ‘Dari! I require sustenance! Preferably some fresh salmon,’ Gianna tells Dario making sure to include me in the conversation.

    “Gia, you don’t need fresh salmon. You just ate,” he replies rolling his eyes.

    Gianna meows at him. ‘I require sustenance Dari. Otherwise you won’t be able to perform any spells needed to-’

    Dario sighs. “Okay. Okay. Let’s not mention the spells in front of the kid,” he sighs conjuring up some fresh salmon for Gianna.

    Gianna purrs and devours the salmon with ferocity. ‘It could have been better but I suppose it will do.’

    I sigh walking along this obscure trail. “Where are we even going? I thought we were going to travel back in time,” I ask out loud.

    Gianna purrs and hops from Dario’s shoulder to mine. ‘Oh stupid child. We can’t just time-travel from any place we please. We must locate the fairy ring closest to the desired location and then we can time-travel,’ she explains.

    I frown not taking well to being talked to like a child. It was not only humiliating; it was also disrespectful to royalty.

    Dario chuckles. “Not taking well to Gia? That’s something you’re going to have to deal with. Gia has a personality only known to Gia. Don’t think about it too much. You’ll only give your precious royal brain a headache.”

    “How dare you treat me with such disrespect?! I am royalty and in line for the throne and demand to be treated as such!” I shouted feeling my face redden in anger.

    Dario stops in his tracks. He takes one look at me and laughs quite obnoxiously. He doubles over from how hard he’s laughing.

    Gianna hops down and rolls around on the ground with Dario.

    I felt tears well up in my eyes from the embarrassment of being laughed at. “I will not tolerate this!” I tell them leaving them and going off the trail deeper into the forest. I did not care where I was going; I just needed to get away from that madness. I carefully sit down on a mossy rock once I felt that I was far away from them. The tears that threatened to spill over in front of those devils finally began to run down my face. I have never in my seventeen years felt so humiliated from such a blatant display of disrespect. I wasn’t sure how long I was there crying but all of sudden I felt a coat of fur brush past my leg.

    ‘It would behoove you to stop those tears. It does not benefit you at all, Princess Anya,’ Gianna told me as she meowed and hopped into my lap.

    I began to smile at her attempt to make me feel better. “Thank you, Gianna. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. Where’s Dario?”

    ‘He is setting up camp for the night and cooking actual food for us.’

    I nod taking her into my arms and heading back to where I ran off. I stop realizing that I had gotten myself lost. “Can you lead the way back, Gianna?” I ask chuckling nervously.

    Gianna shakes her head as she hops down from my arms to lead the way back.

    I follow after her not wanting to get lost again. I would prefer her finding me than Dario.

    “Feeling better?”

    I frown at him. “I’m still upset at you if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t appreciate being laughed at.”

    Dario smirks at me. “Stupid child, you need to learn to loosen up once in a while. Laugh a little.”

    “How can I laugh and loosen up when my kingdom is at stake? I cannot afford to loosen up and relax while my kingdom is crumbling.”

    Dario shakes his head. “It would help you out in the long run. You’re being too tense and you won’t be able to concentrate if you’re always so high-strung. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”

    I huff not wanting to stay on this topic any further. “Yes I understand.”

    Dario smiles and nods. “Good. Then off we go! The fairy ring shouldn’t be much further!” he says as he walks off the path.

    I follow after him so as to not get lost again. After some time, we walk into a clearing. I look around disappointed. “Where’s the fairy ring you were so desperate to find?”

    Gianna and Dario both chuckle softly as the wind picks up and begins to swirl around us.

    I gasp holding my dress down so as to not reveal my undergarments to Dario and Gianna. I close my eyes feeling overwhelmed by the wind and the sun’s suddenly bright rays. I open my eyes and look around the area. “Well did it work?” I ask Dario.

    Dario shrugs. “We’ll have to find out.” he replies heading back into town.

    I scowl. “Are you serious? You don’t even know if going to this stupid fairy ring worked?! I yell at him not caring how loud I was.

    Gianna puts a paw on my mouth suddenly on my shoulder. ‘Shut it, stupid child. There are more beings here than you realize. Shout any louder and you risk disturbing them and causing them to wreak havoc upon your miserable life. They can travel to your time just like we can travel to their time. If you want your kingdom to be in one piece, I suggest you shut it, you wench.’ she hisses at me.

    I shiver at the words but I stay silent as we head into town.

    I look around once we arrive in town and notice the major changes between the town I grew up in and the town I’m in now. “Is this the town of my great-great grandmama?” I ask Dario, not sure if we were in the correct town or not.

    Dario shrugs. “We’ll have to see. Using fairy rings are very tricky because one is never completely sure if it did what you requested of them,” he explained looking around.

    I tilt my head in confusion. “How did you request the fairy rings to take us here? I don’t remember you requesting the fairy ring of anything,” I ask, not fully sure of how that would work.

    Dario sighs rubbing his temples. “Oh, stupid child, you really don’t know anything do you?” he takes one look at me and sighs again, “Oh Gia! This stupid child doesn’t know anything! What a sheltered stupid child!” he exclaims stroking Gianna’s fur.

    Gianna purrs loudly. ‘You chose to indulge her request on reversing this curse Dari. You are the stupid one in this situation,’ she replied licking her paws.

    I laugh loudly at the statement. I immediately stop when several of the townspeople begin to stare at me for my spontaneous outburst.

    Dario chuckles. “Well it seems you’re having a bit of fun after all.”

    We immediately stop when someone announces in the square. “Make way for our future queen! Make way for Princess Vivianna!” he exclaimed as the royal carriage began to make its way into the square.

    The carriage was beautiful, just like my mother would tell me. It was pure white with silver linings. The horses were white as well with purple and yellow flowers at the ends of the reigns as well as on top of the carriage. Inside the carriage, would be the future queen as well as her parents riding together to the original castle of Gun to officially crown the princess as heir to the throne. I was too enraptured by the carriage to realize that Vivianna was not the name of my great-great grandmama. I look over to find Dario and Gianna missing. I walk back towards the forest panicking at where they could be. I look around in the crowd to see if I could find them. I felt like crying realizing that they were nowhere to be found.

    A member of the royal guard stops me as I was trying to leave. “Are you alright, miss? You appear to be lost. Do you not realize that your presence is needed at the ceremony?” he asks me escorting me to another carriage.

    “I don’t understand. Why am I needed?”

    “Well it’s pretty obvious. You have the majestic long hair. You must have relations to the royal family. There is a carriage to take you to the ceremony and another escort will be there throughout the ceremony and take you back to your home afterwards.”

    I nod not wanting to cause trouble. “Yes. Thank you for your service,” I tell him getting into the carriage.

    “Hello there princess,” I hear Dario say as I settle in the carriage.

    I look up at him once I’m settled. “How did you manage to pull off that?”

    “Oh you know, a little devil magic,” he replies grinning.

    I scowl. “Not funny. By the way, where’s Gianna? I thought she would be here by now,” I observe looking around the carriage.

    Dario chuckles. “Well, Gia went to get some fresh salmon for a spell we’re going to work on.”

    I nod. “We are in the wrong time period. This is when my grandmama Vivianna was crowned as princess. My great-great grandmama’s name is Caroline. She wasn’t alive when my grandmama was coronated,” I tell him folding my hands in my lap.

    Dario frowns nodding. “It appears there is someone interfering with our travels. That is very concerning,” he mumbles to himself looking out the window.

    I frown as well noticing the change in Dario. Usually, he is jovial and not serious in this mission. Something has to be wrong if he is concerned about something. It is also very strange that Gianna hasn’t showed up yet. She’s usually with Dario carrying on a telepathic conversation. All of these peculiarities made me very suspicious as to where we were truly going since I did not see any other royal carriages in front of us. “Where are we going, Dario? This isn’t to the royal castle for the coronation.”

    “I know. We need to leave to a place where they can’t find us.”

    “Where are we going?” I ask him staring out the window.

    “We are going to the Forest of Gingko biloba. Did you know that the seeds of the female Gingko trees smell like shit, vomit, and rotting carcasses at the same time? They might be dropping their seeds now.”

    I wrinkle my nose at him. “That is so disgusting! We’re going to be living where it smells like fecal matter? Why would you do that to me?” I whine not wanting to smell like these stupid Gingko seeds. ‘Stupid child, we need to mask your scent. It’s quite distinct especially the things that are after you.’ I hear Gianna tell me.

    I look around confused. “Where are you Gianna? I can’t see you. I know you communicate through telepathy but I need to know if you’re alright,” I ask looking around in the carriage.

    At first, I thought I heard a man’s laughter before Gianna tells me, ‘I’m glad you care so much about me, stupid child. I am fine. It is as Dario said. I am gathering up my energy to get to the time period that you need to get to so that we can stop the curse.’

    I nod. “So, I take it the fairies are behind all this?” I ask.

    Before Dario could answer, another voice bellows in the carriage, “EXTRACTION TEAM!”

    “Shit. This is not good. They weren’t supposed to find us already Gia. Do you have enough? Quit your complaining, I need an answer. Yes it’s them. Yes they announced themselves. Quite honestly Gia, you’re not my wife, you are my familiar. Do your job,” he says looking back over at me, “I need a sample of yourself.”

    My eyes widen. “What do you mean you need a sample of myself?”

    “EXTRACTION TEAM!” we heard again.

    Dario frowns. “Something that is unique to you! Now hurry up!”

    I frown and pluck a few hairs from my head wincing as I feel tiny pops from my hair being pulled up. “Will this work?” I ask handing him the hairs.

    Dario nods and puts the hairs into a vial that he extracted from his coat. “That will do nicely. We are actually going back to the ring. Something else is hunting us as well.”

    I nod. “We must hurry then. It sounds like whatever this ‘extraction team’ is will harm us more than help us.”

    “Indeed they will harm us. They are there to eliminate any and all threats to the time period. We don’t belong here and they perceive us as a threat.”

    “EXTRACTION TEAM!!” the voice bellows, louder than before.

    I shake from the bellowing. “Dario, it’s getting closer to us.”

    Dario hisses. “Gia! Hurry up!” he yells.

    The wind picks up again with us inside the carriage. I hold on to my seat, not caring if Dario can see my undergarments or not. I close my eyes to help my nauseated stomach. 

~~

    I open my eyes again and we are still, absolutely still. I notice my undergarments were displayed for Dario to see. “I apologize Dario for my lack of decency,” I explain to him straightening my skirt.

    Dario shrugs. “I don’t really care. Mostly everybody wears undergarments.”

    I blush realizing what he meant. “Oh my. You really are the devil. Is that why you were shunned from society?”

    “That’s part of the reason. The other part is that I’m a wizard and I’ve harmed some people in the past. That’s all nonsense anyway. We need to finish what we started so that the extraction team won’t locate us again and attempt to eliminate us,” he tells me getting out of the carriage.

    I follow after him hoping to see Gianna. I realize that I miss the stupid cat more than ever since she is not here to keep me sane from Dario’s shenanigans. “Is she going to be okay?” I ask worried about Gianna.

    ‘I am alright, stupid child. I am gathering my strength to help Dario when we reverse this curse. Goodness, you ask so many questions for one so dense,’ Gianna tells me. In some ways one would think that she was being condescending. However, I feel that I really have a connection to Gianna and that we are really close.

     “Let’s go into town to see if we’re in the right time period. I don’t want to have to use up all of Gianna’s magic again.”

    Dario silently leads the way into town with me trailing behind a few steps.

    I shiver looking around. It was odd for there to be a draft since it was the height of spring. The cold embrace has long since been shaken off by the land. Somehow, I feel like there is a cold presence watching me from the shadows. However, I cannot see anybody besides Dario within the forest. We eventually make it into town. Little did I know that something dark and sinister was happening to my precious land in my own time period.