Not Your Average Princess

by Kylee Kosoff

  Forever yours, Henri

  To Daddy:

  Thank you for adopting me. No matter what DNA says you are my father. You loved me unconditionally, and I will miss you with my entire heart.

  Love, your little rotten apple.

  To my Stepmothers,

  I don’t care what anyone else says you were the best moms a kid could have ever asked for!

  To Dwarf and Napoleon,

  Dwarf, you were always my biggest supporter and friend.

  Napoleon, stop pooping in the caves!

  Tiger Lilly, you’ve always been on my side, and been the best friend I could have ever needed.

  I don’t care if the rest of the world sees you as villains or even if you were once villains. All of you have loved me with every crevice of your heart. You wanted me when no one else did and that in my opinion makes you heroes. You’re the only family I have ever known and the only family I will ever need. I wish that it didn’t have to end this way, and I will miss all of you so very much.

  Love, Henri

  A lump formed in my throat as I thought about Henri.

  She had lost everything for me. She broke my curse despite the fact that I wasn’t capable of giving her the love she deserved.

  I’d done many terrible things in my lifetime, but I was sure that making Henri fall in love with me was the worst thing I had ever done.

  After being selfish for so long, I struggled to understand selflessness. Why would she sacrifice herself for me?

  “Why!” I felt turbulent like a ship tossed about the sea.

  “Because she loved you, you big dummy.” Grim replied as if it was obvious.

  “But why? It doesn’t make any sense. I was a rogue, a liar, and a pirate. I broke her heart, and I never truly gave her mine. In all accounts she never should have fallen for me!”

  “Love isn’t supposed to make sense. Why would Romeo and Juliet die? How bout Tristan and Isolde? Or Antony and Cleopatra? Love doesn’t make sense, and it never will.”

  “Those are all tragedies.”

  “You get my point. Do you love her or not?”

  I had never understood love before. What I had with Wendy was barely a drop in the sea compareed to whatever Henri had awoken.

  Henri had said that love was hard, and if this truly were love, she was right. Nothing about this story had been easy. She was just as stubborn and strong-willed as I was. But her spirit called to me almost as strongly as the sea.

  I had cared for her longer than I liked to admit. The depth of it was frightening. I didn’t deserve Henri’s sacrifice.

  She had saved me.

  Now it was my turn to save her.

  Chapter 21: Poor Unfortunate Souls

  “Once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft,

  People begin to disobey you,

  And then it’s nothing but

  WORK

  WORK

  WORK

  All the time!”

  —The Dread Pirate Roberts

  GRIM

  Unfortunately saving a princess is a lot harder than you’d think. We were stuck on the island for a week before Hook’s crew showed up. But we also weren’t sure where to begin. How were we going save Henri?

  I had already meddled too much already. Besides at this point in the story, the prince needed to do the saving not the author. One of the most important parts of writing is that the main character saves the day. So, it was up to Hook. But somehow he had to find the lost city of Atlantis which was on the bottom of the ocean. He also had to break Henri’a curses in order to rescue her. The biggest hurdle was that he couldn’t breath underwater not to mention one does not just break a curse.

  If that weren’t enough, we learned that Peter Pan’s coronation as king of Neverland was coming up.

  I knew Hook was spiraling. He was despressed, and I couldn’t blame him. But I had to snap him out of it.

  “What’s your plan?”

  Hook shook his head. His hair fell in front of his eyes. “There isn’t a plan! I’ve thought about this over and over agian. And you need someone else not a villain. Who was I kidding? I can’t save Henri! We need a real prince not a pathetic excuse for a pirate.”

  It was worse than I thought. “Are you kidding me? You’re the infamous Captain Hook one of the greatest legends to sail the seven seas! You might be a villain, but that’s exactly what this story needs! Henri doesn’t need a prince charming; she needs you.”

  “She needs a prince!” he screamed.

  I was ignoring him at this point. I understood that he was frustrated and angry. But that didn’t give him the right to be a jerk. Especially to a Grim who could turn him into a toad sooo easily.

  Something he had said made sense though, we did need a prince: a certain Prince James of Neverland. And I had a sinking feeling that Hook would fight me tooth and nail over this.

  HENRI

  Adjusting to change is one of the worst things in life. I had a new life. My old life was lost, and somehow I had to adjust. I was exhausted. I had thrown myself into learning everything I needed to know about being a mermaid. There was a lot more to it than just swimming and sunbathing. I had to learn Atlantic language and culture. I had to understand underwater politics and how to keep the peace between the diverse species living in the waters. All of the animals spoke differently. Believe me learning how to speak whale was riiiiiidiiiiicuuuloooouuus!

  I still didn’t know how to fix Atlantis, but I welcomed the distraction. If I let myself dwell on how much I missed my home and family, I would never stop crying. I felt like there was a void inside of me.

  The ocean was almost as dark as the Wicked Mountains, and sometimes I could pretend that I was back in the tunnels running an errand for Dwarf or trying to avoid gargoyle poo. But at night it was impossible to pretend.

  When there was nothing else to do to distract me, I couldn’t turn my mind off. I thought about my father, my step-mothers, my friends, and Hook. It was almost unbearable how much it hurt. My water bed rocked as I curled into a ball and tried to stifle my sobs.

  “Is she crying again?” I heard my grandfather ask.

  “Her heart be broke. De man she love can’t be hers, and she neve’r see her family again. So, she cry.”

  “If she accepts her fate, it will make everything easier.”

  “No matter if she accepts... her heart still broke.”

  “Over a scoundrel of a pirate who doesn’t even deserve her.”

  “De humans have a saying ‘de heart want what de heart want.’“

  “He isn’t good enough for her.”

  “How you to say? Not your heart. You don’t know what’s in his or hers.”

  “I know that’s she’s a mere child, and he’s a ruthless pirate. He doesn’t care about her! Look how this has ended. She’s miserable and heartbroken while he’s into dark depths of debauchery!”

  “And if he’s not?”

  “It matters not. They can never be together. He is not of the sea, and she is destined to marry of the seas.”

  Hook

  I was sitting on the trellis staring down into Neverland. The blue water shimmers like diamonds in the sun. As the wind blows the palm trees tremble. I could see the Indian’s campsite next to the waterfalls.

  “One day all of this will be yours.”

  Turning I grinned at my father. “I just can’t wait to be king!”

  “It isn’t something to look forward to.”

  “But I’ll be like you!”

  “You will also be held accountable for all of our subjects. They will depend upon you, and it is a great burden.”

  “I am able.”

  “Yes, I believe that you will be one day.”

  I bolted out of bed. It had been a very long time since I had dreamt of home. I had always known that one day I would be king. And for a time, I had even wanted it. However, my father had been right: the crown was a heavy burden one I no longer wished for. I sighed heavily and walked to the
railing. The ocean was calm tonight, but my soul was turbulent.

  Henri was down there somewhere, and she had no idea that I was coming for her.

  A part of me longed to just jump in and take my chances, but I had drowned before.

  Grim was right.

  I couldn’t be rash or impatient about this. I had to be calculated, or else I’d never save her.

  “You know what we have to do,” I said. I had felt Grim’s presence as she came to stand next to me.

  “Yes.”

  “And I’m not going to like it.”

  “Not one bit,” She agreed.

  I swore. “Well, what is it?”

  “You have to go home.”

  I swallowed hard. “I was afraid of that.”

  “If you really want to save her, you’re going to have to let go of your past.”

  “I can’t do it. I can’t go back there.”

  “Not even for her.”

  My hands gripped the railing so tightly they turned white. “You don’t understand.”

  “Then tell me.”

  “If I go back, I’ll lose everything again. I’ll have to give up my vendetta against my brother. I won’t be allowed to keep my ship or my crew. I’ll have nothing. You say that I was meant to be a prince, but I don’t agree. I was never good at being a prince. I failed at it, but I thrive at this life. I was meant to be of the seas.”

  “Hook, you’re a grown man. You define your life not them.”

  Chapter 22: Family Reunions Suck

  It doesn’t matter what family you’re in whether you’re part of the twelve dancing princess, the Seven Dwarves, or the Lion Pride. Family Reunions just suck.

  Grim

  Neverland was not what I was expecting. I guess I was expecting a star. Sparkles, light, and dust. But it’s not. It’s more like a Caribbean island: white sandy beaches, the brightest blue oceans, and beautiful palm trees. It was a genuine paradise.

  Hook paced on the deck of his ship. He wasn’t scared. Nothing scared pirates or at least that was what he told me. When the anchor dropped, we had to transfer to the rowboats and row to shore.

  I wasn’t sure that Hook would get off of his ship. But he did.

  For the author, the main character is always obvious, but it is not always as obvious for the reader. But if a character changes, he is almost always the main character. In the beginning of this story, Hook would never have dreamed of doing this. He had finally changed. He wasn’t just the infamous pirate Hook anymore. He was something more.

  “It’s beautiful!” I exclaimed when the castle came into view. It shone as a million suns.

  The Neverland castle was a star. The entire palace was made of crystals that sparkled as the sun hit them.

  Hook was deathly silent as we walked through the shimmering doors into the castle halls.

  I want to say that as a distinguished author my jaw wasn’t dragging on the floor, but I’d be lying. It was like living inside of a rainbow or actually flying through the starts.

  What was even stranger was that this was where Hook had grown up. But it was hard to imagine Hook as Prince James. He had the ego of a prince, but the devious mind of a pirate. He was regal, but he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. All in all, Captain James Hook was an enigma.

  HOOK

  I hadn’t seen my mother and father for years, and I was no longer the boy they remembered. The shock on their faces would have been priceless on any other day. But I was a man with a mission.

  “James?” I hated the hope in my mother’s eyes.

  “I go by Hook now, mum.”

  “We made it very clear that the Pirate Hook was not to return to Neverland,” My father stated his voice just as icy as I remembered.

  “Do not fret. I’m not here to pillage or ravage—”

  Grim jabbed me in the ribs.

  I glowered at her for a millisecond before continuing. “But instead I seek your assistance in a matter most grave.”

  My parents eyed me warily.

  “And what exactly do you need?” my father finally asked.

  I was about to reply when Peter Pan charged me. “What in Grim’s name are you doing here?” His sword shook in his hands with deft action, I claimed his blade.

  “Surprised to see me, little brother?” I asked tauntingly.

  “As a matter of fact, I am, you’re banished or have you forgotten?”

  “I come in peace,” I said eying my brother with a promise that his day of judgment would come.

  He flinched. “Peace? From the likes of you, preposterous!”

  “That is enough, Peter. We will hear what your brother has come to say.” My father’s word was law.

  I wasn’t quite sure where to begin, so I started with the beginning. “When I was banished, I found refuge in the Dark Forest Republic. I was angry and hurting. Rumple Stilskin took me in and tried to help me move on. His daughter was one of the reasons I decided to stay. She was young, and I shouldn’t have led her on. But she made me forget how miserable I was. We became friends, but I knew she wanted more something that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to give her. I was restless, and I felt that I didn’t belong in the Dark Forest. The ocean was calling me, and greed and desire drew me away. I left right before her birthday. Not only did I make the biggest mistake of my life, I broke my only friend’s heart. I was gone for six years bound by a curse, and neither of us were the same when I returned. She was harder, guarded; and I was desperate, dastardly. And I broke her heart again. Now, I’ve realized what a fool I’ve been to hurt one as I’ve been hurt. But I can’t right my wrongs without help.”

  “Who is this girl?” Mother asked. She had always been a romantic.

  “Henrietta Anastasia Stilskin, the adopted daughter of Rumple Stilskin Smith and King Eric and Queen Arial’s lost princess.”

  “What has happened to her?”Father asked always the pragmatist.

  I raked my hand through my hair before explaining the rest of it.

  “We were hoping that you might know a way Hook could save her.” Grim said looking at both of my parents with her intense gaze.

  “And who is this?” my mother asked.

  “The anonymous Grim writing this story.” Grim gave a bow, and I had to stop myself from chuckling.

  “There is something that might just work,” My father muttered. “But it’s terribly dangerous Those mermaids are very fickle creatures! You could very well die.”

  “I’ll do whatever I have to.”

  HENRI

  I had sneaked away. I just needed a moment. A moment away from the terrible darkness. I needed to see the sun. My head broke through the surface. The air felt strange against my gills, but the beauty and warmth of the glowing sun was worth it. Closing my eyes, I breathed for the first time since I had lost him. A tear slipped from my eye and splashed into the waves. Sighing I slipped from the rock and was about to disappear beneath the waters when I heard a squeaking roar. Snapping my eyes to the sky, I gasped when I saw Mayfly flapping her little wings furiously.

  She sputtered out of control and began to fall.

  I dashed and caught her in my arms. “Whatever were you thinking!” I exclaimed laughing as I kissed her little snout. “You could have died.”

  She whined and nuzzled against my neck.

  “Oh, I missed you! I’m so happy to see you, but there’s no way you can come with me.” When I tried to put her on the rock, she protested with her claws.

  “I’m a mermaid. You can’t breathe under water!”

  My stubborn, little dragon refused to listen instead she canon balled into the waves.

  “Mayfly!” I screamed.

  But as I dived after her, I was shocked to see that my Mayfly had changed. Just like me with a drop of saltwater, she became a part of the sea: a little black sea serpent.

  Chapter 23: Closure

  “The past should be left in the past; otherwise it can destroy your future. Live life for what tomorrow has to offer
, not what yesterday has taken away.”

  —Author Unknown

  HOOK

  I hated waiting. I didn’t want to wait until morning, but this plan was dangerous enough without jumping right into it. I knew that I wouldn’t sleep. It shouldn’t have surprised me to find myself on the trellis, but it did. “Is it wrong of me to be scared?” I asked Grim as she crept out of the shadows.

  “It’s natural. What you’re about to do is terrifying. Most of the princes out there wouldn’t do this for their princesses.”

  I stared down at the dark rolling waves. “I might not return.”

  “There’s a good chance of that,” She agreed. “But if it works it’ll be worth it.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Of course, I’m right; I’m the author.” Grim winked at me.

  “So, tell me this, all knowing author, does the princess take back the cursed prince? Does she forgive him? Can she love him? Or is all of this in vain?”

  “I don’t know,” Grim replied honestly. “I’ll tell you a secret that no one else knows. Authors don’t know how the book is going to end. Yes, they write it eventually, but the truth is we don’t know. People give Shakespeare crap for how he ended most of his plays, but the truth is it wasn’t his fault. He simply wrote the story that the characters gave him. If Romeo hadn’t fought Tobalt; or if Hamlet had looked outside of his own pains—the ending would have been night and day. It’s the choices, Hook, that lead to the ending not the author.”

  I sighed. “Then it’s up to her. She’s the only one who has a choice left.”