Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction and is meant to imply anything about any of the celebrities mentioned, which I am in no affiliated. Also, this story is not meant for those under age 18 or for those who find m/m situations uncomfortable.
Author's Note: I'm finally back! I've previously written four stories for Nifty, all in the boybands genre: "Dreams Can Come True", "Searching for Lost Souls", "Justin Saved Me", and my most recent "My JC", which ended in late September. Those stories are based on realistic circumstances, this is not, it is a complete fanstasy epic and I hope you enjoy it. Feedback is appreciated!
Send feedback to: reallybigdreamer@yahoo.com
Pop Magic
Prelude:
Centuries ago in the kingdom of Luthinia there lived a handsome young prince named Justin. He had everything he ever wanted, but still wasn't happy. It wasn't that he was greedy and wanted more, Lord no, he was simply depressed. You see, he was betrothed to the incredibly beautiful princess of the neighboring kingdom of Badlam, Britney, but Justin didn't love her. In fact, he didn't love any woman. Deep in his heart Justin knew that he could never love a woman, but his duties to his kingdom forced him to marry.
Justin wasn't sure what to call it, in fact he had never heard of such a thing, but he found himself attracted to other men. He always found them to be so strong, so brave, so adventurous, and this was what he loved about them. Women on the other had were forced to stay at home at cook or clean, or the case of a princess, do nothing at all except look beautiful and have children. How boring!
Justin found it harder and harder to keep these feelings to himself, almost as if he'd burst if he didn't tell someone. Alas, he was forced to keep this a secret. He was a prince, and the only child his parents had sired, making him the sole heir to the throne. He wanted to run off and find true love with someone like himself, but knew that if he did his kingdom would be thrown into civil war and chaos would rule. And Justin knew that the lives of the people of his kingdom were far more important than his own happiness. Self-sacrifice surely was something that would make him a good king, even if he were forced to have a queen...
Chapter I: Once Upon a Time...
Prince Justin yawned and stretched as he woke, the early morning sun peaking between the crimson red curtains. He slowly rose and scratched his back as he sauntered over to the window. He pulled the curtains apart and the room flooded with bright sunlight.
It was a beautiful spring day, one of the best the kingdom had seen in quite a while. Not a single cloud anywhere to be seen. Birds sang merrily as they flew about. The people of the kingdom went about their business, buying bread and fruits. Even Kapley, the village blacksmith who was usually so dismal and dreary, seemed to be in a pleasant mood.
Justin watched it all and soaked it in from his room, which was perched atop one of the tall castle towers. He envied them, they had the perfect lives. They didn't know the pain that Justin had to live with every second of every day. They didn't know what he'd give for just a single day of true happiness. Of course there were moments where laughed, but they were fleeting, and would go as quickly as they had come.
He turned from the window and decided he may as well get dressed. After all, he thought, the sooner the day started the sooner it would end. He pulled the string behind his neck and his nighttime gown fell the floor. He picked it up and paid it out on his bed. He looked at himself in the large mirror across the room. He had the perfect body. His flaccid penis twitched slightly and grew hard.
He walked to another window and sat down on the ledge. He picked up a new instrument his teacher called a `telescope' and looked down to the edge of the nearby forest. There he saw Gavin, one of the local boys who was about Justin's age, picking wild apples from the trees. This was Gavin's job, and since he did it alone he usually did it without wearing a shirt, which pleased Justin greatly, for if someone else worked with him it be improper go shirtless.
Justin held the instrument to once of his eyes with his right hand as he slowly slid his left hand up and down the hard shaft of his penis. Gavin glistened with sweat, it was warm for a day this early in the spring. After several minutes Justin let out a small moan, he could feel the pleasure', as he called it, growing inside him. Suddenly his penis exploded. His hot, white juices splashed onto his fit stomach and chest before the pleasure' subsided and the remaining juices dribbled down the front of him onto his balls.
He took a finger and scooped plenty of the juice up and brought it to his mouth, licking it off. He looked down and brought the remaining juice up to his mouth and licked it. It tasted sweet. He continued to look down as his subsiding penis and the guilt of being -- there was no other word for how he felt -- abnormal washed over him again.
He stood and walked over across the room. He picked up his clothes and dressed. He again looked at himself in the mirror, this time wearing white pants and a white shirt with a violet vest over top.
He opened the door to his room and walked down the narrow stone corridor, which was lined with small windows, to the top of a steep, twisting staircase. He slowly walked down the staircase, which had even smaller windows along the way and found himself in a large hallway that was split into a fork. He ignored the forks to his right and left and headed straight.
As he continued down the hall he thought he had saw something in the shadows, and turned to see what it was, but found a fist coming straight at him. With a loud `thwack' he fell to the floor unconscious and was dragged away.
The townsfolk gathered around as the gates were opened and a steed came galloping in, his master bouncing along on his back. Everyone smiled and greeted the man, who waved to them as he approached the castle. Once there however, his mood soured.
"What do you mean I cannot enter?" he shouted after a castle guardsmen refused him so.
"You heard me," the large guard said as he took a step forward, waving a large battle-ax around.
"On what reason do you forbid me to do so?" the man continued to shout.
"The king has ordered no one enter nor exit the castle until the prince be found?" the guard answered.
"The prince be missing?" the stranger asked, more to himself than to the guard.
"Aye, since the this morning, and no one had seen him leave the castle walls," the guard answered.
"Then I must speak with the king, I am Joshua Chasez, son of the renowned knight, Jonathan Chasez..." the stranger began to explain.
"You're the son of Jonathan Chasez?" the guard exclaimed. "You should have said so, please, enter, but be warned, the king knows Chasez well and if you are lying simply to enter the castle you will surely hang."
"I would not lie of such a thing," Joshua replied.
"Aye," the guard said as he banged on the large doors to the castle three times. One of the doors opened slightly and another guard stood there. After a brief explanation Joshua entered, the doors were locked behind him again and yet another guard escorted him to the king.
"Your Majesty?" the guard said sheepishly as he entered the throne room.
"Away with thee!" the king shouted. "I order not to be disturbed!"
"Your Majesty," Joshua stepped forward, "I am Joshua Chasez, I am here to help."
"Joshua?" the king stood up from his throne and walked down the five steps before it. He quickly walked over to Joshua and shook his hand. "I cannot believe that you have grown so..."
"Believe it, it has been twelve years since my father and I left these parts after mother's death."
"Where is your father?" the king asked.
"Dead," Joshua said sadly.
"I am so sorry..." the king replied. "How did he die?"
"Killed I'm afraid," Joshua answered, "though I am not certain. I returned home one day from hunting and he lie on the floor dead. I believe he was poisoned for he was healthy as ever when I had left earlier that same day."
The stood silent for a moment, mourning the loss of his dearest friend, then:
"Why have you returned?"
"I returned to become a knight of Luthinia," Joshua answered. "And upon hearing that you the prince, the friend I grew up with, is missing I wish to help."
"He is missing no more," the king said as he gestured a guard towards them. The guard handed them a small piece of folded paper. "This was found in his bedroom."
Joshua read it carefully and his eyes widened as he continued.
"Kidnapped?" Joshua asked in disbelief. "Who would do such a thing?"
"I do not know, but they ask for a thousand pieces of gold for his safe return, as you have just read," the kind said as he sat back on his throne, "and for one knight to deliver it."
"I shall take it, and kill whoever holds him," Joshua said boldly as he approached the throne.
"My dear boy, you are no knight."
"Then I shall prove myself to you. My father was your greatest friend, and the greatest knight to ever live. He has taught me well. Send the best knight you have now and I shall beat with ease."
"That is a wild boast, boy," the king said seriously. "But...I accept your proposal. Guards! Call for Sir Hirbrid, they shall duel here in the throne room, no horses, no joust, but a simple contest of swords."
"Aye sir," replied one of the many guards in the throne room who immediately ran out. Within minutes he returned with a knight fully armor-clad.
"Seeing as how you are already armed and armored, Joshua," the king said, "let the battle begin."
The two knights immediately drew their swords. The began to stalk one another, walked around in circles, parallel to one another until Hirbrid finally made the first move. With a wild and vigorous thrust he lunged toward Joshua, but Joshua quickly dodged. With another quickly move Joshua grabbed Hirbrid's left hand, with which he had just attacked with, and gave a strong yank while giving a kick to his feet. Hirbrid fell flat on his face and before he could get up Joshua placed the tip of his sword at his back.
"I believe this fight is over," the king said with a smile. "Joshua, you are the undisputed winner and I must say that that was some of the finest fighting I've seen since...well, since your father served as head knight to my father. Hirbrid, give me your sword."
As Hirbrid stood the king took his sword. Joshua kneeled down on one knee and king officially made him a knight of Luthinia.
Joshua quickly grabbed four heavy sacks full of gold and tied them to his saddle, with map to where the kidnappers were in hand he rode off into the sunset. He waved to townspeople as he left, but he didn't get far into the forest when he heard shouts and yells. The ever curious he headed off in that direction.
He a clearing in the forest and was surprised to see an old man wearing long, blue robes doing most of the shouting. Overtop the blue robes was a hooded white cloak, the traditional garbs of a seasoned sorcerer. His long, white hair, which ran down to his shoulders, was short when compared to his furry, white beard, which hung down to his waist.
There was another man there, much younger, about Joshua's age, who stood on the other side of the clearing. His sorcerer's robes were a sky blue color and he wore a white, hooded cloak overtop of them, which signified an apprentice. His hair was a whitish-blonde, and cut short, another sign that he was an apprentice.
Joshua recognized them both.
The older man was experienced enough to cast an extremely powerful spell in his head without the aid of anything else, whereas the boy held a spellbook and had to concentrate hard as he read them aloud. The spell the older man cast manifested as a glowing, blue orb in his hands. With one gesture it sped towards the younger man with incredible speed. The younger began to sweat as he stumbled upon one of the Latin words. Suddenly the orb stopped, inches from the younger man.
"If I was truly attacking you," the older man said as the orb slowly floated back to him before phasing out of existence, "then you'd be dead by now."
"Good morrow to you, Merlin," Joshua said as he rode forward.
"Ah, Joshua, good morrow to you," the older man replied.
"The same to you, Lance," Joshua gestured toward the younger man, who nodded in acceptance. "What brings you to Luthinia? It is far from where you normally dwell."
"That it is," Merlin replied, "but I have heard the most fascinating story about a dragon that dwells near here and have come to investigate. Of course, I should ask you the same, this is too far from where you dwell."
"Unfortunately," Joshua said with a sigh, "I found my father dead in our own house over a week ago. I buried him and rode here as quickly as I could, there was no reason for me to stay. I came to be knighted, and already have been, but that is unimportant for I think my father poisoned. Tell me, Merlin, can you see anything about it?"
Merlin brought his hand to his head and concentrated. After a few moments he nearly fell over.
"I see a great evil, young Joshua," Merlin explained, "one that you must not meddle with. An evil from your father's past that has returned."
"If that be true than I will seek out this evil and destroy it, whatever it be," Joshua said sternly.
"What is it that weighs your horse down so?" Merlin quickly changed the subject.
"Gold," Joshua answered. "A thousand pieces. It is ransom for the prince has been kidnapped. I ride off to pay for his safe return."
"It sounds like a fair adventure," Lance said as he stepped forward.
"Why don't you join him?" Merlin asked.
"Master?" Lance was taken by surprise.
"Well, I feel as though you need a break," Merlin explained, "and I know how uninterested you are in dragons. We have seen so many as it is. Plus, it is custom for an apprentice to seek out an adventure on his own. Not to mention that you and Joshua have much to catch up on, you have not seen each other in many months. Of course, this is up all to Joshua."
"I'd be delighted for the company," Joshua answered.
"Then it's settled," Merlin said with a laugh. "I'll seek out this dragon, and the two of you will have your little adventure. I'd like to see how your magic fairs when I am no around, remember what I have taught you, it may help you on the way. Now, I think I've kept you two long enough as it is, it's better to cover as much ground as possible before the sun finishes setting, you only have a little over an hour so you'd best get moving."
"But master, I have no horse," Lance pointed out.
Merlin brought his fingers to his lips and whistled. Suddenly a beautiful, white mare ran up besides him and neighed. Merlin took the horse by the reigns and handed him over to Lance.
"Now, I trust that you can handle Wind Rider, Lancelot," Merlin called Lance by his full name. "She is an enchanted horse, I have had her for years, and now she is yours for the duration of your adventure. Fear not in she runs away, a simple whistle and she'll appear from no matter where she was."
"Thank you, v-very much, master," Lance was shocked at the horse's beauty and Merlin's kindness.
Lance mounted Wind Rider and looked at Joshua, with another saying of thanks the two rode off quickly.
"Damned wood!" Joshua shouted. He had all right to do so, however. It had almost been an hour since the sun had gone down and they'd set up camp. He'd been rubbing sticks together almost since they dismounted their horses, but still no fire. "If I don't get a fire started the wolves will be upon us. Don't you know any fire spells?"
As soon as the words left his mouth a small stream of flame shot from the fingers of Lance's left hand and burst the sticks into a roaring fire with such force that Joshua had been knocked back almost a foot. Lance grinned as Joshua looked on with disbelief.
"You didn't even need to use your spellbooks?" he asked dumbfounded.
"Of course not," Lance answered, "fire is one of the first spells a sorcerer learns. All you needed to do was ask."
"Wizards," Joshua said under his breath as he made himself comfortable near the fire.
"Joshua," Lance said, still standing upright and gazing at the now-burning sticks, "why does the king not simply send a small army to force the bandits to give his son back?"
"You have been with Merlin too long, Lance," Joshua answered, "you've forgotten how the minds of men work. This map leads us to a small cave at the beginning of the Auro Mountains. The Auro Mountains are not within the borders of the Luthinian Kingdom, in fact they're just within the borders of the Carad Kingdom, and as you know Luthinia and Carad are bitter enemies."
"I see," Lance said. "If the king sent any number of armed forces into Carad it'd be an act of war. But, why not simply explain the situation to Caradian king?"
"If the Caradian king knew that the prince and sole air to Luthinian throne was being held captive within his borders he'd probably declare war on Luthinia now," Joshua began to explain. "You see, Carad and Luthinia have been at war many times, each war was fought for different reasons and had different outcomes, but now King Timberlake is aging and may not live throughout another war with Carad. If Prince Justin is not in Luthinia to immediately take his place then the war is over."
"How so?"
"It is obvious, Lancelot," Joshua was dumbfounded at how little sorcerer's seemed to know about logic and strategy during war. "If Justin isn't there to take his father's place during the war who will lead the kingdom's armies? Aye, obviously the highest ranking knights, but who will lead them? The knights will fight amongst themselves for power and a kingdom cannot fight itself and an enemy at the same time! Carad would easily overpower the squabbling knights and conquer Luthinia."
"But, what if the knights managed to work together and win the war?"
"That is a dream," Joshua said with a laugh. "But, in the slimmest of possibilities that it did, then after Carad had been defeated the knights would then fight a civil war, and an already weakened Luthinia would grow weaker and Carad recovered and would eventually conquer us. Now, no more pointless questions, let us rest."
"You rest, my friend," Lance said, "I think that I will stay awake a while longer."
And with that Joshua fixated himself on the ground and slowly drifted off to sleep.
"How long do you think our little adventure will take us?" Lance asked the next morning as he Joshua started off for the day.
"Well," Joshua started to think about it, "even though the weather is nice now, it's obvious it won't always be that way, plus I'm sure that we'll run into trouble at sometime. So adding all that on to the sheer distance we have to travel, I'd say about two weeks there and two weeks back. About a month altogether."
"Considering that," Lance replied, "it's obvious that the bandits aren't in the cave yet, they're somewhere ahead of us."
"Yes, but the prince was kidnapped in the morning, we left as the sun was setting," Joshua explained, "and I'm sure they traveled in a large band who took turns keeping watch so they probably moved all night long, there is no way we'll catch up them until we reach the cave."
"Hush," Lance said as Joshua finished.
"What?"
"I sense something, lurking about, something that I first sensed last night. That is why I did not go to sleep as early as you." Lance explained as he stopped the horse and climbed down. He began chanting the words to a simple spell in his head and thrust his right arm outward towards the surrounding forest.
"Ahh!" they heard a high pitched cry as a small creature came floating onto the path they were traveling.
"A forest elf," Lance said with a smile.
"Down, put me wizard!" the elf shrieked.
"Or what?" Lance asked. "I may be just an apprentice, but everyone knows that elves, especially forest elves, control very little magic."
"Last chance, this is!" the elf threatened.
"He'll let you go once you explain yourself!" Joshua said forcefully as he rode towards the two slowly. "Why are you following us?"
"Warned you, I did!" the elf shouted. Then he brought his stubby little fingers to his lips and whistled loudly. Suddenly loud crashes could be heard in the forest, as if a great beast were charging.
"Lancelot," Joshua said worriedly as his horse began to neigh with fear, "what is that?"
Suddenly a tree was knocked over and Joshua was bucked off his horse with a loud `thud'. The two horses sped off quickly. Joshua picked himself up and looked at the monster that towered over he and his friend.
"An ogre," Lance said as he stepped back, "an angry one."
That's it! Again, I love feedback:
reallybigdreamer@yahoo.com
Look for Chapter II in two weeks, RBD :)