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Astrid was riding horseback through the deserted land alongside Prince Phillip and Mulan; They were on the way to rescue the lost princess- Aurora who was put under a sleeping curse for more than twenty-eight years. "Hyah, hyah!" Phillip shouted at the horses who sped up even faster.

The three of them approached a castle that had vines all around the place and hopped off of their horses. Prince Phillip quickly made his way over to his sleeping fiancé who was laying on a table-like bed in the center gazebo of the room. He unsheathed his sword and cut the vines surrounding the woman and rushed over to her side.

Phillip then placed his sword back inside of his case and looked at the princess who looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Mulan and Astrid stepped inside of the gazebo while Astrid scanned their surroundings for any sign of threats or possible danger, her mask covering the bottom half of her face as usual.

Phillip started to lean in to kiss his true love but stopped himself before glancing up at Mulan and Astrid and began, "If this works, we don't tell her everything, not right away."

Astrid removed her mask to where it now rested around her neck and gave a small nod. She only takes her mask off around people who she trusts and she trusts Mulan and Phillip. They've oddly wormed their ways into her heart somehow and was like a big brother and sister to the teenager, despite Astrid actually being the oldest.

Because of Neverland and her realm that she grew up in, her aging has significantly ceased for hundreds of years. She's around three hundred, maybe four hundred. But, in all honesty, if her aging hadn't stopped and she had never went to her realm or Neverland, she would be a twenty-eight year old.

Phillip slightly hesitated before placing his lips over Aurora's and kissed her, pulling back a little just as a wave of magic washed over the land and Aurora gasped aloud, her eyes fluttering open. Aurora glanced over at her love and smiled. "Phillip?"

A smile broke out upon his face as Phillip laughed in happiness. "Yes, Aurora." Aurora smiled a little but also lightly scolded him, "I told you not to come after me." Though, it wasn't that hard to miss that she was very happy to see him. Phillip softly chuckled and caressed her cheek in his hand and gave her a more confident, passionate kiss than before.

Astrid stepped off of the gazebo and resumed scanning her surroundings for any impending threat around them; Mulan was heading towards the front of the castle as Astrid glanced back over at the couple and moved over to the Chinese woman heading over to the stairs.

Astrid crouched down and placed her palm flat on the ground; Mulan noticed this action and curiously moved over to the teenager who sensed her coming and held up a hand at her to stop her. Astrid felt a slight rumbling in the ground and unsheathed her twin swords from her hips after standing back up. Mulan now held her sword in her hand also, looking around them in alert.

The rumbling grew louder in front of them just as a black Wraith rose up from the ground, causing both of the ladies to fall and roll back. Phillip rushed forward, swinging his sword around at the creature as he attempted to scare it off. "Phillip!" Aurora exclaimed.

Prince Phillip swung his sword once more at the Wraith, cutting its necklace off of its neck. The creature screeched loudly and quickly flew out of the castle and away from them. Astrid picked her swords back up off of the ground and twirled them once, placing them back in their cases on her belt. "What was that thing?" Aurora questioned in fear and worry.

Phillip glanced down at his hand holding the necklace, tightly grasping it. "Something bad." He answered her, not really knowing what the creature was called.

"Qui Shen-" Mulan started as Astrid nodded in agreement and added, finishing the woman's statement, "In this land, you would call it a Wraith."

Aurora gave them a confused expression on her face as she spoke up, looking from Mulan to Astrid and back at Phillip, "I'm sorry, who is this? And why is there a sixteen year old with you?"

Astrid moved one hand to her face and dropped it back down to her side. "See, this is one of the reasons why I wear a mask. Everyone thinks that I'm some kid when, in reality, I'm not really." She remarked with a light, annoyed sigh. Astrid didn't like to be treated differently from the others because of her age. It was obvious that she could take care of herself, and it was also obvious that the teenager knew more than everyone else from her experiences.

"We're friends of Phillip." Mulan stepped in, glancing from the teenager to Aurora while also removing her helmet and mask as her brown, long hair flowed down. Aurora's eyebrows lifted as she started, "You're a... a girl." Mulan inaudibly sighed and corrected the princess, "Woman. My name is Mulan and this is Astrid."

"In your absence, they've helped me like no others. We fought many battles together." Phillip added, speaking up also.

"With a woman and a teenager?" Aurora repeated as if hearing things correctly.

"All due respect, Princess, I am one of the best warriors that they have." Astrid confidently remarked as she gave her signature smirk, her hands on the hilt of her swords at her sides.

Mulan spoke up as the three others looked over at her, "And now we have another to wage. The Qui Shen, the Wraith, is one of the most dangerous creatures in all of the known lands- a soul sucker."

Astrid nodded in confirmation and added, "According to legend, it marks its victims and removed their souls, damning them for all eternity." They all started to hear faint voices screaming above them. "Those are the sounds of the souls it's trapped trying to escape."

"But fortune favored us as we all avoided the mark." Mulan added, "We need to begin our journey." Astrid turned on her heels and headed over to her horse followed by the other three people. Mulan and Phillip also had their own horses while Aurora rode on the back of Phillip's horse.

They quickly rode through the woods and kept riding until the sun started to set on the horizon; They slowed their horses as Mulan spoke up, "We should camp here for tonight. The Wraith only appears when light is absent. That's why it ran when it first appeared. Light is its adversary."

"Fortunate for us." Astrid remarked under her breath.

"And you want to stop now?" Aurora spoke up with slight hesitation in her tone. Prince Phillip glanced back at his fiancé and over at Astrid and then at Mulan who answered, "It's looking for a mark- something alive. Our best bet is to be still until night passes."

"Mulan's right. We do have to rest here until the sun rises again." Astrid agreed. She had a personal experience with a Wraith before and didn't want to lose anyone else to one of these creatures.

Not long after their discussion about staying here for the night, they had set up a small camp rather quickly. Aurora was inside of the makeshift tent while Astrid gathered some more firewood and Mulan attempted to start a fire.

Mulan was growing frustrated at building the fire just as Astrid dropped her pile of sticks down beside the warrior and crouched beside her. "Need any help?" The teenager smirked confidently while taking the two stones from her hands and hit them together, making them spark a few times until a fire started.

"Beginner's luck, Kid." Mulan replied, using that nickname of hers because she knew it annoyed the teenager some.

Astrid scoffed in amusement, shook her head, and commented, her smirk still present, "Please. I knew how to build fire since I was four." Mulan rolled her eyes yet smiled with a shake of her head also.

Aurora then stepped out of the tent and noticed the other two ladies who noticed her but returned back to watching the rising flames. "Where's Phillip?"

"I thought he was in your tent." Astrid pointed out, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"He said he was making the fire." The princess continued to interrogate.

Mulan looked at her with one eyebrow raised and answered, "We're making the fire."

Aurora looked at her in slight annoyance and commented, "I can see that."

"Oh my God... The horses- They're gone." Astrid commented, realization hitting her as she stood up quickly. Mulan also stood up and looked around.

Aurora grew concerned yet confused and asked, "Why- Why would he leave?"

"Because He was marked." Mulan stated, exchanging a knowing look with the teenager who was standing beside her. Astrid immediately grabbed her twin swords and resheathed them in the cases of her belt on her hips and started to head towards the trail, already growing frustrated and a little bit angry.

"What are you doing?" Aurora called out to the teenager who simply replied, "Going after him. He's sacrificing himself for you." Mulan grabbed her sword and immediately followed after Astrid while Aurora corrected the teenager's statement, "No, for all of us. We have to get him."

"We're going alone. You'll only slow us down." Mulan spoke up, now walking beside Astrid, just as Aurora called after them, "No, I won't slow you down! Astrid, Mulan!" The two ladies continued to pick up their paces and could still hear the Princess call after them in the distance.

"And it's usually me making the charming yet stupid move like this." Astrid laughed bitterly.

***

Mulan knelt down and scooped up some soil within her gloved hand while Astrid was still standing but looked around for any sort of sign; The two of them then heard horses whinnying nearby, causing the both of them to turn towards the sound.

Mulan swiftly stood up and withdrew her sword while Astrid simply notched an arrow in her bow and pointed it at the incoming sound. They noticed Aurora riding on one horse and holding another on ropes as Astrid slid her arrow back into her quiver on her back and moved the bow also around her shoulders. "I found two of the horses." Aurora simply said.

"And you did it excellently." Astrid remarked sarcastically yet the Princess didn't catch the sarcasm in her tone and only nodded in response.

Aurora then spoke up again, "I'm coming with you two."

"You need to stay here. It's dangerous." Mulan said and sheathed her sword inside of her case again.

Aurora walked over to them and commented in confidence, "I wasn't asking for your permission." Mulan glanced at the teenager for help.

"Well, not everyone gets what they want, Princess. We didn't ask for you to join us." Astrid spoke up, "If we needed your help, we would've brought you... That thing out there is dangerous. Phillip- He left to protect you. And even if we don't believe in his methods, we're gonna honor his wishes. We're gonna keep you safe. So, stay here."

"I never asked him to-" Aurora started as Mulan spoke up, cutting her off, "You never had to. Everything he does, he does for you, and now he's gonna die for you. Love is sacrifice, something you clearly don't understand."

The three of them then heard the Wraith nearby as their heads turned to the sound. "Phillip." Aurora said in fear as they headed to the horses, Astrid on one horse with Aurora on the back of the one Mulan was riding. Astrid was in the lead as she stopped in a clearing and hopped off of her horse as Mulan slowed her own horse and also hopped off.

Phillip turned and noticed them and held up his hand in front of him. "No, stay back." He said desperately.

Aurora ran towards him and said, "Phillip, what are you doing?"

Phillip simply murmured, "You know what I'm doing."

Mulan and Astrid rushed over to them also as Aurora shook her head and replied also desperately, "No, Phillip. We can help you fight!"

"Go! It will find me. I've been marked. It's too late for me." The Prince commented, showing them his palm that had the Wraith's mark on it. "Go! There's no other way."

"Yes, there is." Astrid spoke up while stepping closer toward the man and held out her hand, "Give me the talisman. I can mark myself. You can live."

Phillip shook his head at the teenager's words and quietly commented, "This is my choice, to save you, to save the three of you." He looked from Aurora to the other girls.

"No, Phillip, I don't want to live without you!" Aurora spoke up sadly as Astrid held back a wince at the princess's choice of words. Phillip sadly murmured, "Neither do I."

The Wraith roared and screeched in the nearby distance again just as the creature then swooped down and was flying above them. He moved in front of the three protectively and commented, "The three of you- Keep each other safe. And Astrid? No picking on my girl."

Astrid smirked but soon dropped it and slowly nodded, not wanting to lose her brother in this way. Aurora exclaimed desperately, "Phillip, no!" The Wraith hovered down even lower closer to them as the prince barely moved his head and saw the three women in the corner of his eye and murmured, "I love you."

Phillip then tossed his torch aside just as the Wraith swooped even closer and began to suck out his soul from his body. "No!" Aurora exclaimed as tears fell down her face while Mulan also exclaimed, "Phillip!" Astrid held back her tears but dropped onto her knees, bowing her head after Phillip's body collapsed onto the ground. Aurora quickly moved over to her dead fiancé's body and cupped the man's face in her hands as she continued to weep.

Astrid sat back, still on the ground while she watched Aurora continue to cry over her dead fiancé; Mulan laid a hand over the teenager's shoulder reassuringly, knowing what Phillip meant to the girl. She knew that he was like a brother to Astrid and Phillip considered Astrid like a little sister to him. Mulan knew this.

***

The three women now stood over Phillip's body who was laying on the bed that Aurora once laid on during her sleeping curse back at the palace. "This palace was to be our home." Aurora commented, "We were to spend eternity here."

"How did you end up here in your cursed state?" Mulan inquired as Aurora glanced up at the woman beside her and quietly answered her, "You're not the only one who knows about sacrifice."

Astrid stood behind them, leaning up against one of the pillars of the gazebo with her black mask covering the bottom half of her face again. The only thing you could see was her blue eyes. She was silent, more than usual, but that was understandable.

Astrid knew that, in war, there are no unwounded soldiers and will always be casualties, and that there's always going to be death. Death is inevitable- Everyone dies at some point in their lifetime... People fear death even more than pain. It's strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over.

The thing that was bothering the teenager was another Wraith has took someone she cares for- again, and it annoyed her because both times she couldn't do anything about it. She was helpless, powerless, and it infuriated her.

After a few more minutes of Aurora grieving of her fiancé, Astrid finally spoke up again, "We should leave this place. It's not safe here." Aurora lifted her head and glanced over at the masked teenager and then Mulan in confusion and replied, "But the Wraith is gone."

"There's more. You need to know everything." Mulan started, "Much has changed in our land since you've been asleep."

"It was less than a year-" Aurora began skeptically.

"In a matter of speaking. You might have missed some things doing your time as Sleeping Beauty." Astrid commented, her hands clasped in front of her as she watched the princess carefully. Aurora lifted an eyebrow, glancing over at the teen, and questioned, "What?"

"You see, as you slept, and Phillip, Astrid, and I searched for you, something worse happened..." Mulan started reluctantly as Aurora repeated, "What?" Mulan sighed and continued, "Are you familiar with Regina, the Queen?" Aurora's eyebrows furrowed as she nodded slowly and replied, "Yes."

"She cast a curse on this land- A terrible, terrible curse. It ripped everyone away to another world." Astrid spoke up as Aurora replied in confusion, "But we're still here." Mulan glanced over at the teenager for her to answer her as Astrid sighed and commented, "Well, I'm still here because I was away at a different... world. But, from what I've been told, this corner of the land was untouched."

"No one knows why, but something saved us, and for twenty-eight years, we were frozen, and then time started again." Mulan added, "The terrible curse's power was weakened. Phillip and I were able to resume our search. Soon after, we came across Astrid. And she's helped us ever since. We found you, but the land is full to the brim with monsters."

"You know, the usual." Astrid remarked sarcastically with a small roll of her eyes at the inauthentic story. She supposes that's just the price of living in a land of magic.

"For those of us who remain, we found a safe haven. We must go there now." Mulan finished just as they heard a loud rumbling not far from them. Astrid immediately turned on her heels and faced the sound, quickly arming her bow with an arrow.

Mulan pulled out her sword and followed in Astrid's direction as Aurora followed closely behind the two of them; Astrid stopped in front of a pile of debris from the palace and slid her arrow back inside of her quiver and placed her bow back around her back. "Something's in there." Astrid muttered, exchanging a wary look with Mulan.

"What did it bring?" Aurora questioned as Mulan held out a protective arm in front of the princess to stop her from moving forward and answered her, "Stay back."

Astrid lifted a pillar off of the pile and began to move other broken junk away from whatever or whoever it was underneath the debris. "What did it bring?" Aurora questioned again just as the teenager finished moving the last piece off of them to reveal what it was, "Guys, what is that?"

"That? That is what brought the Wraith here." Mulan stated, "That's what killed our prince."

Underneath the rubble, two women, not from this land, laid there. One with long blonde hair and the other with short, dark hair. The dark haired woman slightly moved her hand over the blonde's shoulder and was now unconscious. They wore odd clothes, but they also strangely seemed familiar to Astrid.

Astrid couldn't help but feel connected to the two strangers for some unknown reason... and she really wanted to find out why she felt this bond or whatever with them. The teenager removed her eyes off of the unconscious strangers and over at Mulan who gritted her teeth, clearly upset.

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