The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince

Battle with the Witch

They had finally arrived at the witch's house... or so they thought. Had she destroyed her own home? It was now an unrecognizable pile of rubble. They spotted the angry witch further ahead, who was still rampaging through the forest in her monstrous form.

"What do we do?" the princess asked nervously, "I don't think she's gonna listen to us..."

"It'll be okay." the prince assured her.

"What do you mean?" The princess looked at him.

"Princess, you're very strong."

"Uh... Prince...?" She still didn't understand ; was he joking or being serious? She started feeling a little panicked. A livid roar and the shaking ground halted their conversation. The witch recognized the two and furiously advanced on them. She knew that they were the ones responsible for destroying the forest and her collection.

"She's getting closer to us...!" The princess tried to run away with the prince, but he refused to move.

"Wait! The witch might listen to us once we calm her down." the prince explained.

"How do we do that?"

"Maybe if she was knocked out...?"

"Wait... What?!" This sounded easier said than done. The prince tried to coax her.

"Please, just try to knock her out!"

"Um... A-Alright... I'll give it a shot!" The princess transformed into the wolf and started running toward the frenzied witch.

~~~

  They managed to calm the witch down and return her to normal. The smoke from the battle cleared away. The witch appeared to have fainted, but she soon awoke and stood up, her knees weak.

  "No... You destroyed my most precious item... I'll never forgive you... You... Why... You don't understand." the witch sputtered, still furious. She gestured her hand toward them. Magical power gathered in her palm, glowing darkly and ominously. Just before that power was unleashed on the two...

  "I'm sorry!!"

  The witch stopped, taken aback. "...Well now! Have you become more honest? You can't honestly think I'll easily forgive you for what you've done, hm?" For some reason, there was no malice in her voice, despite being there mere moments ago.

  "At any rate, you have something for me, don't you?" The princess nodded, remembering why she had brought the prince to the witch.

  "Yes, please, witch! Can you heal the prince's eyes?" The witch's face distorted, her expression a mixture of irritation and pleasure.

  "Hmm... But you burned the forest and my collection. It's quite arrogant of you to wish for something like that... Well, I am a generous witch, after all. If you pay me reasonable compensation, I'll grant your wish." the witch said in a strange, matronly tone.

  "What do I do?" the princess said, feeling uneasy.

  "Well, give me the reason you came here."

  "But that's..." The princess froze in fear, "The prince. No!"

  The witch chuckled, "No, no, I won't take his life. I no longer require lives as payment." The princess felt only slightly relieved, "Let's see... I'll deprive you of all memories with the prince and the magic needed to become a princess. You also won't be getting your singing voice back, of course. Normally, I wouldn't take this much for healing his eyes, but I'll need to use the magic to fix the forest that you burned."

  "Well? What do you think? You've been quite selfish and lied your way here. You can't do this little favor for such a tiny human being?"

  "......" The princess reflected on her journey. Traveling with the prince, what she'd done to him... She thought long and hard. Finally, she braced herself, determined.

  "...Okay. I'll do it!"

  "NO! I won't let you!" The prince tried to stop her from accepting the witch's terms. The princess seized the prince's hand.

  "It's okay. I'm the one who hurt you. I'm the one who lied to you. I thought that if I was able to heal you, I could make things right... But I understand now that it wasn't enough. So... Prince, I'm sorry. For everything that I've done." The prince tried to respond, but...

  "Payment accepted!" The witch interrupted them and began the ritual. The princess was caught in the magical light, and the prince was blasted away. "First, I'll deprive you of your princess form." The witch moved her hands around, and the princess immediately turned back into a wolf. She could never be a princess again.

  "And now, your memories." The witch shook her staff ; magical waves enveloped and restrained the wolf, who was starting to lose consciousness.

"Princess!!!"

  The prince cried out, relying on sounds to reach her. Realizing her couldn't pull her away from the witch's magical power, he softly touched her face.

  "Princess... I'm sorry... for calling you a monster... and a liar... You were honest about how you felt. You're not a liar, princess. So... Please! Even if you forget everything, I'll remember, I promise! And... I..."

  The wolf's consciousness kept fading. She didn't hear his words until the very end. The wolf reflected one last time. "At least... I was able to apologize to him... I wonder if he really forgives me... I wish we could've made up and been friends again. I just wanted to be by his side..."

Then everything went blank.