~ A/N:

Hello my lovelies~!

_ .. So this is a new story.. _

*dodges donuts thrown at me*

I know, I'm sorry, but my 'The Junkie and the Halo' files are currently inaccessible,

as is the half-written chapter 4 and plans for 5.

*hides under the table from the chairs thrown at me*

Sorry! ^^"

Anyway, this story is more of a temporary experiment to practice writing,

as I am also planning the future of TJATH, as well as another story, the name of which has not been disclosed to those other than my stuffed tiger...

(Don't feel so left out, even my boyfriend doesn't know! ^_- )

Err.. This story will most likely take more of a morbid turn, but thats only because I've been watching a lot of Rock/Horror operas, and reading a lot of Edgar Allen Poe/ Articles on Cannibals/ Articles on Serial Killers/ Stephen King/ Dean Koontz and Listening to a lot of Rammstein/Emilie Autumn/ The Smiths/ & Soundtracks to

Tim Burton films.

But I've also been reading a lot of Fairy tales, so just ignore that above paragraph ^_^

Enough of my babbling, and Holy Long Author Note, Batman! Its time to get on with it. ~

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Shakespeare's works, but I do own my characters and most of the sh!t in here, so If you dare steal anything without my express permission, I will skin your hands and make a nice pair of gloves out of them for me to wear.

Chapter I

POV: Magnolia.

Magnolia : A Modern Faerie Tale.

Magnolia, apart from her name, considered herself a normal, seventeen year old girl. She was of average stature, average weight, average academic skills, as well as average creative ability. Her hair, dyed fire-engine red for so long that she could no longer recall its original colour coordinated quite well, she thought, with her blue eyes, so blue that in some lighting, they looked almost purple- a quality that was quickly brushed off as a trick of the light. Her complexion was that of someone who stayed indoors a lot, and she did- if she went outside without ample protection against the sun's rays ( about SPF 60 Sunscreen), she painfully burned faster than you could say 'Did you apply sunscreen?'

Magnolia, while she did not consider herself, popular, also did not consider herself without friends. In fact, she had a very good-sized circle of very close friends:

Avril, a short, hyper girl, with hair dyed the colour of a fine, red wine, a slight Irish brogue, and a mysterious past;

Duncan, a tall, slim, dark haired, quiet Scottish transfer boy, interested with poetry, mythology and cars;

Claud, a stereotypical smart Asian boy with glasses, often teased for his name, and a computer programming genius;

Star and Jules, identical twin sisters interested in acting, the only way to tell them apart would be that Star has electric blue hair and Jules, blonde (although the other members of the group suspect that the twins tend to switch roles often); And finally, Prospero, known among them as Pro, a tall and slightly muscled boy, his tendency not to speak and his cool, calm temperance make him generally accepted, or left alone throughout the school, along with his infamous rumored boxing skills.

It was a Thursday like any other, Magnolia had gotten up early, dressed, and gone to school, forgoing breakfast, for she had a literature exam later that day and did not fancy throwing it all up in a nervous fit. The first half of the day went smoothly, no, it was around Lunch that she noticed something amiss; Prospero was not there, nor had she seen him earlier. Magnolia looked up suddenly from her home-brought tupperware container half-filled, now, with pasta salad, and scanned the lunch room confusedly. The rest of her friends were chattering animatedly, seemingly unaware of Pro's disappearance.

"Where's Pr-" Magnolia was cut off by a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes followed the trail of multicoloured bracelets until her gaze finally landed on Star's amused expression. "

"Prospero was on leave for a doctor's appointment. He should be back any moment now..", Star giggled softly.

"He told us yesterday that he wouldn't be here in the morning. Weren't you listening?"

Magnolia, bemused, shook her head as she simultaneously turned back to her food and attempted to tune into the conversation.

Jules was shaking her head fiercely, her dangling earrings clinking softly.

She leaned in close to the table, her expression serious.

" If you use 400 grit sandpaper to sand down the seams, you'll be left with more scratches than a couch thats been filled with catnip and marooned in a cat shelter. Also, you can just take off the feet without un-stringing the entire body, I know you can with that sculpt. Honestly, wh-" , She hissed, her usually dreamy tone marred by the intensity normally reserved for members of the debate team.

"No, nononono! That's not what I'm trying to say! I only wanted to blush one part of that, so I figure I can sand the excess off..", Avril trailed off, quieted by the disbelieving look on Jules' face.

"You just want to get the excess blushing off? A better method would just be to wipe it and start over. You're not using MSC, right? Then you can afford to. And, trust me, I've seen the blushing, it would be a better idea than to sa-"

"What.. are you guys talking about?", Magnolia stared wide-eyed between her two friends, half afraid of the answer.

"Ball jointed dolls", They chorused together, then burst out laughing.

"Riiight.", Magnolia went back to her pasta, half listening to the rest of the conversation going on within the small group.

It was about halfway into the Lunch period, when someone had settled down to her right with a sigh, and a creak of the bench.

"Pro!", She rest of the table nodded acknowledgment or smiled, then went back to their previous discussions.

Prospero grunted softly in greeting, and then proceeded to eat his home-brought lunch. Magnolia, in lieu of going back to her lunch, studied Prospero for a moment. Idly, as her gaze traveled over his form, she wondered what he had gone to the doctors for. Had he mentioned the reason while she had not been listening? Her thoughts continued somewhat in this direction until she detected a small noise of barely concealed discomfort and a flash of green as he shifted in his seat and his shirt rode up. A tattoo?

"Pro.", She whispered in shock.

"Hmm?", he looked at her, his mouth full of khubz.

'tattoo?', she mouthed in disbelief.

Pro's eyes went wide, as he slowly swallowed his mouthful of bread.

He licked his lips nervously as his eyes darted around the room in search of escape routes. There were none.

Heaving a small sigh, Prospero grabbed Magnolia's wrist and, with a quiet

"Forgot there was a test..", yanked her out of the cafeteria, down the hallway, and into an abandoned classroom.

Once the door was shut, he released her wrist and paced up and down the room, muttering to himself.

"Too soon... not ready.. of all the days..", This went on for a few minutes, until

Magnolia collected her wits and spoke.

"Pro? What's going on? You got a.. tattoo?"

He halted abruptly in his tracks, and, dragging a hand through his dark hair, perched slightly on the teacher's desk and sighed.

"It's.. not a tattoo. It's.. more of a brand..", He spoke softly, hesitantly, more so than he ever did normally.

Prospero sighed again, and looked up at her.

"Maggie..I'm..", He broke off, licked his lips, and tried again.

"I'm not.. human.", He fisted the material of his jeans slightly, anxiously awaiting her response.

Magnolia didn't know how to react. Was this some kind of elaborate joke? She chuckled slightly, though it sounded forced.

"What?.. Pro.. Is this some sort of joke?"

"No, Mag. I'm Sidhe...So are you." Pro furrowed his eyebrows, thinking of a better explanation.

"They sent me...The court, when we were both young, to watch over you. You're a.. a changeling. You were switched at birth with a human bairn. When you come of age, I'll guide you back. I've just come of age, see?" He rambled, slightly distressed by Magnolia's silence.

Pro turned and lifted up his shirt, showing a small, green, round mark, full of symbols and writing in what seemed to be a different language, the outside of the circle marked with an intricate knotwork of vines, which, if you leaned in close looked almost like they were mov-..

Magnolia stared at Prospero's brand. It was moving. Not noticeably, but ever to subtly shifting and writhing, as if it were alive.

"Sidhe? Like.. Seelie and Unseelie? Like Claud's books?", her voice was slightly hoarse, with an edge of wonder.

Pro nodded vigorously.

"Yes! Kind of. We can only allow them to print so much of the truth, it would be dangerous if they knew more than they already know. They can't know that we actually exist. It is dangerous enough, for them to remember us as a myth.", He cleared his throat slightly, unused to talking so much.

"But.. How can I be.. I'm.. I'm normal, Pro. I'm normal." , She was at a loss for words.

Prospero grinned ruefully and rummaged around in his bag, which he had remembered to carry along last minute, and emerged with an ornate, small, antique-looking silver hand mirror.

"Its called scáthán fírinne.. it shows the truth, and nothing but the truth.", He handled the mirror carefully, almost reverently, as he showed Magnolia her reflection.

Her breathing stopped and her heart skipped a beat as she drank in her reflection in the hand mirror.

In it, she saw a girl who could almost be her,

except her complexion was more fair, almost translucent,

her long hair a pearl-type colour, maybe a shade darker than her alabaster skin,

and her eyes... Oh, her eyes.

They were a dark, iridescent mixture of indigo and violet.

~ A/N: Did you like it? I hope it wasn't too rushed. :x

If it is, I'll most likely go back and fix it later ^_^

Translations from Irish-Gaelic to English:

scáthán- mirror

fírinne- truth

(For those of you epic enough to be fluent in Gaelic, please forgive me;

Its been years since I studied the language, and I find myself relying upon the internet

for most of my translations and grammar.)

Please Review, Favourite, etc!

Tell your friends!

I know most of you read things, always reading, never reviewing,

But PLEASE review!

I'll even put in something for you..

The 42nd person to review this story will be written in as a character or get a separate one-shot with a character of their choice. ;)

(If thats not motivation, I don't know what is.)

See you lovelies later~

And I'll do my best with TJATH!