Whisking Away, Part 1

 Over the years, many villains and thieves have broken into castle walls. Sometimes its to plunder the treasures for all their worth. Other times, its to leave a warning to all, with a King's head on a stick, eyes wide with terror and drained of color. Most times, however, some dragon or cunning man sneak away the princess, cackling through the night as their key to victory was in their very hands. Knights would scramble across the world, trying to seek the fair princesses and free them from their evil captor.

 Man, did Juan Lyon ever envied those villains, as high winds nearly blew him off the edge of the floating Crystal Castle, a hand firmly holding his brown hat and messy black hair. They probably didn't deal with competent security, harsh weather, and advanced technology  when they snuck away their prizes. They didn't have to go from floating crystal to crystal, higher and higher, until their legs nearly popped right off from walking up dozens of stairs. Why bother when most of them knew how to fly?! Not Juan, though, oh no. He asked an old spirit of a harpy if he could borrow her powers, only to be turned down. Nope, have to earn it through a trial he had no time to do!

 He sighed as yet another laser from a floating security bot grazed his cheek. The dark man took a moment to look at his watch. Good, half an hour left until the portal back to the Netherworld closed.  Sure, there were knights trying to shimmy around the edge to try to chase him as he tried to reach the next set of stairs, but at least he had time to spare before his cu sith steed decided to ditch him. Wouldn't that be nice, having your best friend ditch you to save his own skin? Well, Juan certainly wouldn't blame him.

When he reached the next window, he tumbled right on in before scrambling up the stairs. One look behind him and he could see swirls of red as angry knights chased him, swords in hand and glaring hard enough to make the tall man wonder if they were about to shoot lasers. Juan held out his arm towards them and whispered a few words, watching as ancient runes lit up on his arms. Water gushed out from the palm of his hands before freezing up, leaving the poor knights to slip on the stairs and tumble down like broken slinkies. Wisps of red turned into wisps of green as they scrambled to get back and follow the intruder.

Juan spent no time dilly dallying, much as he'd like to make fun of them. He was on a schedule. His boss wanted the princess due to some '"PROPHECY" and wanting to foil it. "Stupid fortune tellers," he once said, "thinking that the future can't be changed. That prophecies fulfill themselves at any time. Everybody fulfills their own prophecy because they don't know any other way!" Everything else the boss said was drowned out by a fellow subordinate talking loudly on what was "a MePhone". Everything aside from, "Don't let this prophecy come true, or shit will hit the fan harder than Yursarsh bitchslapped that tiny knight."

 "Sure won't, boss," the tall man muttered to himself as he ran up another flight of stairs and knocked a guard right down with a swipe of the scythe. "Levia's already seeing hard days, ever since that knight failed..."

Dozens of stairs and close calls with guards and robots later, the ragged Juan staggered over to the final door. The princess's bedchambers lay beyond. The watch ticked. 20 minutes left. Good time for something that felt like an eternity. "Would it kill them to put some escalators in this castle?" Juan grumbled, pulling out his scythe as his boots clanked against the red crystal floors. "I know a little exercise wouldn't hurt a little, but damn if my legs aren't tired. Gotta thank that undine for that water magic, that was helpful. Wish I could talk to her now, but she said she was busy hosting a pool party. Ah, whatever."

After scouting the area, Juan stared at the door intensely. No wisps of anything aside from faint red wisps. Nothing from within the room, though, so he figured that the knights and guards were still pissy about their uninvited guest. Whomp, whoomp. They'd  have to deal with it. One step closer to getting the job done and getting the hell out. Juan reached out for the golden handles of the bedroom doors, swinging them right open.

For a princess's room, it was rather...empty. Only a small bed, a dresser, and a small mirror lay within. Well, that, and a brown haired princess snoozing soundly. The man could only wonder what the little girl was dreaming about. Maybe dancing through strawberry fields? Or growing a farm? Or even launching herself into a pile of puppies!

No, wait, the last one was his last dream. Whoops!

Juan walked over to the bed and was about to lift the girl up when she sat up, rubbing her eyes with her tiny hands and staring at him. "Who are you?" she asked, a wisp of white surrounding her.

The man sighed and replied, "Anything you want me to be."

She staired. The white wisp turned into a yellow aura as the girl's eyes lit up. "So you're a princess, too?!" she asked now, standing up and throwing the sheets off her bed. "Oh good, I've always wanted to talk to another princess!"

A... princess? Huh. "Yep! A princess, sent here by the Queen, to bring you to a new home."

"A..a new home? Am I getting married to a prince?"

"Oh, no! You're too young for that. I believe the queen can explain better than I can why we need you in a new home!" Well, it was true! Juan didn't know the details of this "PROPHECY" his boss spoke of. All he knew was that it couldn't and shouldn't happen. Not at all. "So lets get you dressed up and-"

"No. You're not going anywhere."

Suddenly, red. Red everywhere. A dozen blades were pointed at him, with little flying robots pointing guns along with the knights.  One man stood out from the rest, donned in silver armor and a ridiculously long, flowing cape, with his black hair slicked back. In his hands, he held a sword bigger than his entire body.

Juan could only think one thing as his heart filled with anger and his new charge glanced around, curious as to why her knights were bothering a princess like herself.

Shit.