Fern’s eye twitched at the fact that the man had started playing his lute again.

“Joy!” Catty snapped. “Stop dancing around like that. No one wants to be happy right now. We’re all trying to have a serious conversation.”

Joy flinched, lowered the flute from her lips, and hung her head dejectedly. “Sorry.”

Snow was looking equally dejected as he stopped playing his lute. “You must be confusing me with someone else, Milady.”

Fern reached behind her, grabbed her hatchet, whipped it out, and pointed it at Snow in a threatening manner. “I’ve heard enough of this nonsense. All I need to know is…are you really Prince Snow Flurris!”

“Achoo!” An orange-haired fairy suddenly sneezed loudly completely ruining the climatic moment. She gave her friends an apologetic look as she rubbed at the bottom of her nose with her index finger. “Sorry about that. I’m allergic to flowers and this place is full of them. Achoo!” Each time the fairy sneezed her orange hair seemed to become more and more frazzled.

“Achoona, just…stop sneezing. This is a serious moment!” Catty complained with a grumpy look on her face.

“I can’t stop even if I want to,” Achoona moaned.

“He is Prince Snow Flurris,” a pink-haired fairy said with a dopey look on her face. She seemed to be the most oblivious fairy of them all, and hadn’t stopped rubbing oil all over the minstrel’s chest during the entire conversation.

“Bubblehead!” Catty snarled. “Why did you say that? Are you really that stupid!”

Bubblehead flinched. “What? I was just trying to be helpful.” Tears began to well up in Bubblehead’s eyes and she sniffled.

A murderous gleam formed in Fern’s eyes as she gazed upon Snow. “If you really are the prince of Apple Kingdom then you’re a monster who committed matricide, and you deserve to die. I plan to kill you and take your heart to King Reginald. Ah!” Fern swung her hatchet wildly at Snow.

Snow let out a surprised squeak and raised his lute to block the attack. Fern began to angrily hack away at Snow’s lute until it was nothing but a pile of useless pieces of wood in Snow’s hands. Snow looked back at Fern with wide, horrified eyes. “You are one violent woman.” The prince shook his head. “So uncute. You’re not ladylike at all.”

“She’s so scary!” a red-haired fairy exclaimed as she jumped behind Snow for protection and peered out from behind him in a bashful manner. This one had been fanning Snow the entire time with a gigantic, red feather that Fern deduced must have come from a phoenix.

“You’re such a coward, Shyla,” Catty said. “Pull yourself together. She’s only human. We can take her.” Shyla’s cheeks turned red as she felt everyone’s gaze suddenly upon her. She ducked down behind Snow so that she could remain out of sight.

Snow turned his attention to the seven fairies. “Ladies, you’d better get out of here. This lady is dangerous. I wouldn’t want any of you to get hurt because of me. Go get Blue. He’ll know what to do.”

“Alright. That’s a good plan,” Doctorine agreed, pushing her glasses up her nose. “We’ll be back, Snow. Just try and stay alive until we find Blue.”

“Easier said than done,” Snow complained. “I’m a lover. Not a fighter.”

“Hmph! Quit trying to act all gallant!” Fern snarled angrily. “That won’t work. You can’t convince me that you’re a good person who’s actually concerned for the welfare of others. I know your true nature, murderer!” Her hatchet sliced through the neck of the lute and Snow was finally forced to let go of the broken instrument.

The prince scrambled to his feet and raised his hands up before him in a surrendering gesture. Snow gave Fern a befuddled look. “This is the strangest feeling. I’ve never had a woman dislike me so much before. And I’ve definitely never had a woman look at me like that before either.”

“Like what?” Fern snapped.

“Like you hate me,” Snow explained with a pout.

“I do hate you,” Fern said, her visible green eyes glowing with passion. “Not only are you a murderer. But you’re also a flashy playboy. I hate men like you. You go around seducing unsuspecting, innocent women, make them think you’re in love with them, and then you leave them after you’ve gotten what you want from them. You’re a heartbreaker.”

“I’ve been called a ‘flashy playboy’ before, but…I don’t go around breaking the hearts of women on purpose,” Snow objected, looking hurt. “And I’ve never told a woman that I loved her. I’ve never lied to a woman like that while wooing her. Anyways, it’s usually the women that come on to me…and I just give them what they want. How can I say ‘no’ to a beautiful woman if she asks me for sex, after all?”

Fern sputtered in a mixture of outrage and disbelief. She could hardly believe the cocky words that were coming out of this man’s mouth. “Oh, so you’re saying that the women just throw themselves at you?”

Snow nodded solemnly. “Yes. That sounds about right. In fact, you should be throwing yourself at me too…but you’re not. It’s really weird that my charm ability isn’t working on you.”

“Charm ability?” Fern demanded.

“Yeah. A fairy came to give me a blessing soon after I was born,” Snow began to explain with a far-off look on his face. “Unfortunately, when the fairy was sprinkling her fairy dust down on my head her bag broke and the entire bag of fairy dust ended up on top of me giving me too much charm.”

“So, you admit to using dark magic against women in order to seduce them!” Fern snapped. “You’re horrible!”

“What?” Snow staggered backwards in shock. “It’s not like that. It just makes me a little bit more attractive than a woman would find me normally. They can resist it if they really want to.”

“Uh huh,” Fern said, not sounding very convinced. “You could try having a little restraint instead of sleeping with all the women that throw themselves at you!”

A chagrined expression formed on Snow’s face and he tilted his head as he regarded Fern. “I thought my crime was being a murderer. Not a playboy?” He raised his eyebrows as Fern. “Besides, why would I want to show restraint when sex feels so good. I like sex. Do you like sex? We should stop all this pointless fighting and have sex. What do you say, Milady?” The prince waggled his eyebrows playfully at her.

“W-What? Why the hell would I want to have sex with you?” Fern demanded in a scandalized tone. “You’re a murderer. A criminal. And I’m trying to kill you!”

Snow let out a heavy sigh. “Yes. I remember, but having sex would be much more fun. Trust me.”

“Fun for you maybe,” Fern grumbled irritably. “I’m going to have fun carving your black heart out of your chest, playboy prince!” The Huntress attacked Snow with her hatchet again and the prince had no choice but to duck and dodge her attacks.

However, Snow’s feet were oily because of his foot massage, and he ended up slipping on the grass. The prince fell back and landed on his butt.

A triumphant grin spread across Fern’s face and she raised her hatchet high into the air over her head. “I have you now! Die, Prince Snow Flurris!”

“Mommy!” Snow squeaked.

However, at that moment, just as Fern was swinging her hatchet down through the air-

A great roar filled the surrounding forest and with such force that the trees around them seemed to shake. Fern paled as she recognized that distinctive roar and she lowered her hatchet. “No. It can’t be him. Why now when I don’t have my crossbow with me. This is the worst possible timing.”

The sound of thundering footsteps approaching reached their ears and then seconds later an enormous, 800-pound, brown, grizzly bear emerged from the edge of the forest. Its body was covered in scars giving it a rather ferocious appearance. The bear set its sights on Fern almost immediately, and let out another angry roar. Fern and Snow watched cringing as the bear’s spit flew through the air. Fern moved into a fighting stance with her hatchet raised before her.

“Friend of yours?” Snow asked, trying to keep his tone casual.

“Fantasians call that bear ‘Scar’ because of the cross-shaped scar that covers most of its face,” Fern revealed grimly without taking her eyes off the bear. Shit. I can’t believe Scar managed to find me here.

Scar completely ignored Snow as he charged towards Fern with fast, lumbering steps that made the ground beneath their feet quake. Fern bravely ran towards the bear and attacked it with her hatchet.

Now’s my chance to get the hell out of here! Snow scrambled to his feet and spun to face the forest. He was about to start running when Fern’s cry of pain reached his ears. Snow threw his hands up into the air in exasperation. Dammit! I can’t believe I’m going to save a girl that is so uncute! Snow turned around and saw that the bear had slashed its claws at Fern’s right arm, forcing her to drop her hatchet. Fern was clutching her injured arm to her chest and backing away from the bear with a fearful look on her face.

Snow quickly glanced around, spotted a rock, leaned over, picked it up, and then threw it at the bear in order to get its attention. The rock sailed through the air and hit the side of the bear’s head. “Hey! Over here, Scarhead!” Snow continued to throw rocks at the bear until it turned its attention to Snow. The prince gulped as the bear’s glowing blue eyes fixated on him.

Fern shot Snow a bewildered look. “Why are you helping me? I just tried to kill you.”

“Even so,” Snow began. “You’re still a damsel in distress, and I’m a hero. Helping those in need - it’s what heroes do. Even if I’m a lover, not a fighter. I can’t stand back and do nothing while a girl gets hurt in front of me. That just wouldn’t sit right with me. It would leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

“You idiot. You’re unarmed,” Fern said, shaking her head. “You don’t stand a chance.”

“Not for long,” Snow muttered. The bear started to charge towards the prince.

“Snow! Catch!” Blue called out.

Snow turned to see Blue and the seven female fairies exiting the edge of the forest. Blue tossed Snow his sword and the prince caught it with one hand. Snow placed both his hands on the hilt of his sword and held his sword up before him. The prince channeled his magical power, chanted a spell, and conjured a water shield. “Magicus Clipeum!”

The bear hit the shield and started to futilely claw at it in frustration. Snow cringed as the bear’s foot-long claws raked against the shield with a scraping sound.

“Now would be a good time for you to use your offensive magic against that thing, Snow!” Blue advised.

“I already told you…my offensive magic sucks, Blue!” Snow complained in a whiney tone. “I can’t perform ice magic.”

Fern started to sneak up on the bear from behind while Snow distracted it. Once she was close enough Fern leapt onto the bear’s back, and climbed up his back until she was straddling the bear’s thick neck. “Scar is my prey!” The Huntress raised her hatchet and brought it down on the top of the bear’s head. A loud crack filled the air as the bear’s skull was damaged. “He’s mine!” Fern declared as she wrenched her hatchet out of the bear’s skull, blood spewing through the air. “This is for killing my mother, Scar!” Fern brought her hatchet down on the bear’s head again and again.

Snow grimaced as he watched pieces of skull and globs of the bear’s brain fly through the air as Fern butchered the bear mercilessly. “Ew. That girl is so uncute.”

The bear’s blue eyes stopped glowing and rolled into the back of its head as it died. It collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud a few seconds later.

Fern lithely jumped off the bear and approached Snow, a murderous gleam in her bi-colored eyes. “And now it’s your turn, Prince Snow Flurris.”

Snow gave the Huntress an incredulous look and raised his hands up before him. “Whoa. You still want to kill me after I just saved your life! You are so ungrateful and uncute!”

“That changes nothing,” Fern argued. “You’re still a murderer and wanted criminal. You killed Queen Isidora!”

Blue cleared his throat in order to get Fern’s attention. “Actually, he didn’t.”

Fern whirled to face Blue and gave the fairy a searching look. “What?”

“Well, Snow may have been the one to deal the deathblow, but he was being mind-controlled by King Reginald at the time. The prince was forced to kill her,” Blue explained in a solemn tone. “If Snow had been in his right mind he never would have harmed his mother. He loved her. And valued her life more than his own.”

Fern gave the fairy a skeptical look, but she did lower her bloody hatchet. “Mind-controlled how exactly? I’ve never heard of a spell that could do something like that.”

“Reginald has the ability to rip a person’s heart out of their chest and use it to control them,” Blue further explained. “He was taught this by the Queen of Hearts.”

Fern sucked in a breath. “The Queen of Hearts?” She’d heard of the evil queen that had once terrorized a realm called Wonderland once upon a time before her own son stole the throne from her and later banished her to Fantasia. Fern shot Snow a sympathetic look. “If that’s true and you were really forced to kill your own mother against your will…that’s horrible. This is why I hate wizards and witches. They always abuse their magical power and use it for evil.”

Snow tilted his head as he looked at Fern in a perplexed manner. The magical lake water prevented him from understanding what Fern was saying.

“Ugh. Wipe that dopey look off your face, prince,” Fern chided, and rubbed her forehead in an exasperated manner.

“What? Why?” Snow asked.

“He’s acting like that because of the magical lake water he drank,” Blue began. “It will continue to allow him to forget his greatest sorrow as long as its powers are in effect.”

“Uh huh. Is that really such a good idea though? He’ll need to confront what he did, accept it, and move on eventually,” Fern pointed out ruthlessly. “He can’t live while avoiding reality forever.”

“I agree. He should discover the truth…eventually. But I want to spare him the pain of that revelation for as long as possible,” Blue admitted. “I am this man’s Fairy Godfather. It is my duty to protect him from pain.”

“Fairy Godfather, huh?” Fern said, raising an eyebrow at the blue-haired male fairy. Even though he was currently in his five-inch-tall form Fern could tell he was handsome. The fairy’s short, sky-blue hair was slicked back over his head for a sophisticated look. The dark blue suit he was wearing was covered in sparkly, silver sequins. And the Huntress noticed the crystal wand in his right hand. Fairy Godfathers were known for wielding crystal wands. “I suppose I have no choice but to believe you. Fairy Godfathers are known for being trustworthy.”

“Thank you,” Blue said with a gracious nod.