Once upon a time, there was a world in which the unseen existed.

This category is where lies many so-called mythological creatures-- the elementals, the merfolks, the fae, etc. This was the world of fairy tales and magic!

“Preposterous,” some might say! “Those are just imagination!”

Well, I did say “once upon a time.”

So, once upon a time, in a world of fairy tales, there lived a young man named Jack.

Jack lived in a small village. Its name was Blank (if translated in English). Overall, the village of Blank was quite idyllic and uneventful. In no ways would one think it to be in a magical world...it so happened many of Blank’s constituents were non-magical humans. Much like what some might think--”preposterous!”-- many in this quaint town would dismiss the thought of an unseen world of magic. That was the stuff of myth and legend (Jack had found the stories interesting though, back when he was a kid. His mother, whose name was Millicent, used to tell him stories back when Jack was younger)! Perhaps, a sleight of hand or a trick?, many around here would react. You would think there might be a few adventurous souls who might want to explore, to marry princesses and go on quests and find adventures--to find the magic called by their curiosity and seek answers. That would be a rare population in this town and it would be considered a rare occurrence for anyone to even leave for a length of time. Rumor has it that the last time someone left and didn’t return had been a couple decades ago!

Not surprisingly, then, Jack also wanted to live a normal life. He enjoyed the pleasures of a rustic town, a stable life, and no unpleasant surprises or adventures (he had some surprises before and that was enough for him, thank you very much!). He was quite happy helping his mother (his family only consisted of his mother, for he had no siblings or a father) with her relatively new breakfast restaurant, which was surprisingly still doing quite well. Money was not a worry for them much anymore. They even hired a couple workers.

Small as this town could be, there were still quite a bit of passersby and visitors. It used to be only a few, but since the opening of the restaurant, there had been more and more people coming in to visit. Why would people come here, one might wonder? Well, even in a world of fairy tale and magic, a golden egg was worth quite a spectacle for those curious to make a trip down to this quaint town. It just so was that Jack’s mother had the first golden egg, and being a smart, practical woman, she raised the magical hen with her roosters and then created more golden eggs.

I don't quite know how or the details, but a little bird told me Jack’s mother, Millicent, was privy to some secret aphrodisiac recipes, of which she had found worked quite well on animals too! Being a curious and practical woman, perhaps learnt from being a single mother raising Jack and trying to survive, Millicent experimented to determine the best recipes, making adjustments and whatnot. Needless to say, what resulted were many happy birds in love (but not just limited to birds! Apparently a young married couple accidentally bought a vial of one of her latest experiments then and, after a night of passion, they became loyal customers and then bought the rest!), and lots of golden eggs and baby birds..

Millicent kept many food recipes, some passed down from her family or given to her by her husband (Jack’s father), not just recipes of the secret aphrodisiacs. Jack knew very little about his father (one of the things he did know, however, was that his father and his mother both were foodies...they kept many, many recipes), and mother Millicent did not talk much about Jack’s father in detail, although the little she did say were said with much adoration. Despite the long years of him being gone, she still kindled some hope of her husband’s return (although Jack was far more pessimistic), and for fun, worked on perfecting an even more potent aphrodisiac based off of the successful formula bought by the young married couple. A woman needs to be ready! And when her sweet lover comes back, it would be a magnificent reunion, filled with longing and joy--the stuff of her dreams!

Anyway, just like how Millicent experimented with the aphrodisiacs, she also approached her cooking in the same manner, using all her senses to refine old recipes and create new ones. She tested her cooking on lucky neighbors, townspeople, and of course, her son Jack, eventually gaining a solid reputation for herself. With the iconic golden eggs and her remarkable cooking (which included delicious recipes featuring those said eggs), she began the start of a prosperous small business. So, this was how Blank soon saw more and more visitors stopping by.

In a way, Millicent’s restaurant turned into a sort of tourist attraction for the small town of Blank. The town took advantage of the increased visitors and worked on becoming more tourist friendly. Jack, as the son of Millicent, soon found himself thrust into becoming an unofficial liaison between the town and its guests, as the family restaurant became the leader in the tourism area. He worked on the front end, serving, grabbing orders, and wiping the tables while his mother cooked (Millicent had to add a couple more people, so it might include others too). Jack never had to do the cooking, for it seemed that the cooking talent skipped him completely. And so, he mostly had the opportunity to meet and serve many old and new faces, all the while growing increasingly more handsome.

And so, while Blank, was still considered a small town, it did draw in some inquisitive visitors who stopped by to enjoy THE Golden Egg, the food, and the overall quaint beauty of the town. I might add, there were also quite a lot of bird population in Blank as well (perhaps a reminder of Millicent’s potent aphrodisiacs), attracting some nature friends who might come to birdwatch. It was noted, these birds had quite a libido as well, and their mating rituals were very entertainingly interesting to watch. These visitors delighted in finding new species from the result of crossbreeding (thank you horny birds!). Overall, the visitors came and went, but other than that, the lives of the townspeople were quite comfortable and cozy. No one seemed to desire to go out into the cities or explore the grand big world, and all was content caring for their home sweet hometown.

In a way, in this town, magic went unnoticed. In this fairy tale world, magic existed, but one really needed to look and try hard to see...to be open to the idea, to explore. However, truth was harder to see in Blank because it wasn’t believed (that is, magic was thought to be just stories) and not many thought to think otherwise. With so many not believing in this town, not many magical beings or creatures appeared to the townspeople. That is not to say there weren’t any magical visitors... There most definitely were, but they might not have been recognized. So, the status quo remained-- Blank was pretty much a town of all humans, and magic and magical beings were not recognized or thought of as real. There may have been a few drawn to the idea, but the idea of magic was more reserved to that of fantasies. Jack, however, was one of those who secretly believed in magic. To him, however, it was better to stay away from magic altogether. Troublesome was the thought. He just had the feeling to ignore and avoid.

Readers, I am sure you might have heard about Murphy’s Law before: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Similarly, no matter how much Jack wanted to avoid being involved in magic, magic still came and found him.

The signs came in threes. To be frank, it happened quite rapidly before Jack could make a run for it. But, from each sign, he could feel something stirring. Energies? It was as if some force was nudging him to step out of the comfort zone of his hometown.

If Jack were to think about it, the first sign came in the encounter with the two interesting sisters-- a fair-haired maiden with icy blue eyes and skin as white as snow, and the fiery red head with the jubilant personality. They seemed like the protagonists of one of the fantasy stories he read. That, in itself, should have been a warning. Do not get so involved.

The second sign came in the form of Jack’s acquaintance-friend, Finn, the son of the local grocery store owner, who also became the first to leave the town in a long time (in the name of LOVE!). It was quite a surprise to Jack once the morning came to see Finn gone after he awoke.

The last sign came from the arrival of a mysterious, man who looked a bit older than Jack. He was a bit rough looking with medium-length messy hair and a sturdy figure. He was a guest, and Jack must have felt obligated to welcome him in. Jack was, after all, the son of the woman who started the tourism initiative. For his dear mother, he promised he would try his best to provide a good customer service experience. This new man was no exception, though he proved quite difficult in Jack’s opinion.

And so, those three signs were the catalyst to the beginning of Jack’s new adventure.

Soon we shall meet Finn and the two interesting sisters, whom are called Snow and Rose.