A thousand years ago there lived a beautiful princess. Her beauty could surpass even the prettiest rose. However all roses must wilt. The princess at the age of seventeen was diagnosed with an incurable sickness. Every day the young princess would throw up every hour, she would cough up blood until she fainted from fatigue. When death was at her door a young fairy, just beginning her train went up to the King.
The young fairy, covered in a dress of roses, said, “Your daughter is ill but her sickness is not from the air but from the evil queen Lucinda. The queen lies in the most darkest and horrendous place possible where poor souls are captured by her. She has cursed your daughter with the Death curse and only a valiant hero could defeat the queen and give life once again to your daughter. However the hero must love your daughter and do the quest not for greed or for fame but for the love he wishes to receive once he has saved her.”
The King thanked the young fairy and asked, “Can you give me a hint on who will be this hero?”

The young fairy nodded and said, “The man will be of noble birth however he will come from a kingdom lost to the hands of time. He would live as a commoner in your kingdom. In order to find him you must offer a quest to all the people of your kingdom and show the princess to them. The hero will shed a single tear. That tear will smell like a blooming rose and once it hits the ground it will form a sprout that not even the harshest winter could wilt it. That is when you will know of the princess’s hero but be warned for time grows short and Death is near!”

The Fairy left leaving the King to prepare for the chance for all the men in his kingdom see his beloved daughter. The next morning he announced the activity and watched each of the men’s eyes for that tear of rose. He watched like a hawk but realized that all who saw his daughter felt nothing but greed, lust, and fame from the heroic feats they could gain. It had been nearly two days when the hero arrived.

The hero was a man who only held the name of Romeo. He was a young man of only nineteen and was dressed as a commoner. People of all statuses were invited but the people felt ashamed to be in a presence of such wealthy and greedy men. Romeo had jet black hair and icy blue eyes. His cloths were in tatters because of the harsh life as a poor man.
He came upon the princess because he had always dreamed of loving her not just for her beauty but for the personality she always had about her before her illness took control. Romeo came into the castle that was brightly lit by the torches on the walls. Banners that held images of roses hung in honor of the princess. Romeo walked toward the bed of roses that lay in the middle of the room.

When Romeo saw the ailing figure that laid in the bed his eyes became watery with tears. They began to fell from his icy blue eyes and soon a small scent of roses formed from them. The King watched and realized that the hero finally had come and not a moment too soon. The tear had fallen to the ground and formed a small sprout that would stand out even in the harshest of winters.
The King told everyone to leave except for Romeo. He hurried everyone out and, once everyone was gone, approached Romeo. The King said, “My lad, what is your name?”
“My name is Romeo, sire.”
The King said, “Then dear Romeo the Fates have decreed that you are the hero destined to defeat the evil queen that haunts my sickly daughter. If you love my daughter like the Fates have decreed then please accept this quest to stop her from crossing Death’s door.”
Thus Romeo accepted the quest with all eagerness. He was given a gleaming white horse clad in armor of silver. His torn peasant clothes were turned into clothes of a knight ready to fight for his princess. When all was prepared, Romeo rode on into the night, never stopping unless necessary. He rode like the wind with the fierceness of lightning. He arrived at the evil queen’s castle in three days. Thus the battle was to begin soon.

As Romeo rode he realized that there was no army to stop him from meeting the queen. That is when he remembered the legend in how she traded all humans in her possession for sorcery of all kinds. He arrived at the gate which was fully open, as if inviting him ominously in. He rode into the courtyard and got off his horse.

The castle was a bleak place with very little color. The only color that was there was grey and even then there was no light to it. He walked on his guard not trusting anything. He walked up to the castle door and took a deep breath of air. He opened up the castle door and walked into the throne room. There on her high throne seat was the evil queen with hair as gold. Her eyed contained a lifeless color and here gown was dressed in the color blood.

“I see that King sent the prince of the last kingdom that I destroyed. How sad.” said the Queen.

Romeo unsheathed his sword with a fury like no other. He remembered his childhood very well, his mother and father leaving him with his brother who died due to an epidemic leaving him homeless, orphaned, and poor. Romeo said in a menacing voice, “You’ve taken enough lives. This ends here and now!”

Romeo ran, shield and sword in hand, at the Queen yelling a battle cry that could be heard only by time. The Queen summoned undead men and ordered them to attack. Rome slashed and hacked at them all, some fell before they could even put a wound to him and other were only able to wound him slightly. Rome fought with all the revenge of what the Queen did to him and the love for the princess in which he would save and love with all his heart.

As the undead laced at his feet he stood, covered in his own blood and breathing heavily. The Queen had enough of this foolish matters and took of her gown only to reveal a battle armor that was black as night. As if by magic she summoned a sword that was sharper than any sword and could pierce any armor. They both ran to each other and clashed swords. They fought fiercely, wounding one another but none could deliver the final blow. Their hearts whether for good or for bad fought with a resolve greater than any.

It was then, during the sound of clashing swords that Romeo realized that the only thing to do was to sacrifice himself in order to defeat the Queen. By shedding his own blood he could defeat her. He brought his sword down and struck his chest so the sword could pierce his armor. The sword pierced the armor and went right through to his heart. Romeo yelled out in pain but gave the last of his final strength into pushing his sword into the Queens heart.

The sword struck with a blow that no man had ever struck before. She let go of her sword and gasped as she realized that her pain was real and that Death was near. She fell to the ground, sword still in her still body. Romeo didn’t have any time to feel the joy of winning for he fell to the floor. His dying words were “My beloved….Juliet…”

Miles away the King celebrated his daughters healing while the princess knelt down where the sprout of the rose was to bloom. She said, in a whispering voice, “Life will let you bloom but the real rose that was to become a blooming rose became the wilting rose….”