At the top of a small hill surrounded by thick forest, Teru undid his tangled ponytail and shook it out.  These days the thing look like a sort of mane, he thought, as he pulled back the thick strands and retied them. 

 

The princess was near—his Princess Finder 3000 could sense it; it had been buzzing nonstop for the past hour. 

This was a problem.  If Teru was going to meet the legendary sleeping princess, he would have to look his absolute best.  Sadly, his hair had not been shampooed or conditioned in the last 49 years.

 

(It had only been thoroughly rinsed with water and brushed.)

 

Teru sighed.

 

The Princess Finder 3000 vibrated yet again—each time it was becoming stronger—causing the youth potion that Enchantress Jasmine You had prepared especially for him to tumble.

 

Teru bent to pick it up sluggishly.  He uncapped the ordinary-seeming gourd and positioned it to let a few drops of the precious liquid drop into his pink mouth.

 

First he’d clean himself up, thought Teru, then he would venture on to rescue his princess.

 

***

 

The Curse:  When pricked by the thorn of a blue rose, the Princess shall fall into a deep sleep lasting fifty years—this will freeze time for every human except for one.  If, before the fifty years have ended, she is not liberated from her slumber with a kiss, the Princess will begin to decay and it will be impossible to ever save her.  On the contrary, if she…

 

~From what was salvageable of the Great Prophet’s Book of Foreseeable Spells

 

 

***

 

 

Only an hour later, Teru felt fully prepared at last.

He was now fully cleansed, even with the depressing lack of soap.

 

He’d just sort of swum around in a stream that was off the side of the dirt road he had been following for a little while.

 

Teru scanned his eyes over the Princess Finder’s pixilated map. 

 

“Soon,” he thought, “this will all be over….”

 

Before the Time Freeze, Teru had been a prince living a relatively peaceful life with his Father, the King of the land, and his older brother, whom he looked up to greatly, Masashi.

 

Numerous times, Teru recalled, he had heard about a certain princess’s spell, but he never gave is much thought.

 

It had been something that he never thought would have affected him in such a forceful manner.

 

But one average spring day, upon waking up, Teru had the opportunity to experience the distressing surprise that everybody alive was in a frozen state except for him.

 

Luckily, though, he had felt an extreme pain on his right leg, which he eventually found to be markings tattooed onto his thigh that explained everything about the bizarre situation he was in.

 

After several minutes of marching along in a very delightful way such as a child who had obtained sweets, nothing had yet obstructed Teru’s path.  Which was good.

Not that anything could since time was frozen.

 

Teru felt a sudden surge of intense loneliness and shuddered.  It was as if waves of ice were gravitating towards him from every possible angle. 

 

Only a while later, the young prince then learned that he was not the only person left unfrozen.  There as still whoever, or whatever, had etched the explanations onto his leg.

 

This certain individual happened to be a beautiful Enchantress named Jasmine You.

 

Jasmine contented in helping anybody that needed her help—well, Teru wasn’t exactly sure whether to refer to Jasmine as her or him, but that is not relevant to the story—and the cute prince was a plus.  Therefore, she was glad to supply him with an enchanted bottomless gourd full of Youth Potion that would refill for fifty years and the Princess Finder 3000.

 

Since Teru had received so much, he did have to pay a small fee—which is also irrelevant to the story at the moment—that didn’t bother him all that much.

 

He was now in a large clearing.

 

Now the prince continued walking down his path, fully alert in case anything were to obstruct his way.

 

 

By now Teru knew quite well that no other humans would, but there were still animals and the occasional Puffindor.
Knowing this made Teru feel very lonely, as if he had been sent to the moon without any hope of meeting humanity ever again.

 

All of a sudden, the sickeningly sweet smell of a Puffindor exploded in Teru’s nostrils, bringing him to an abrupt stop.

 

He heard a loud thumping sound—it could only be a full-grown male Puffindor who was arriving.  The Princess Finder 3000 beeped.  (It was about time.)

 

Along with being able to located princesses, the compact machine was also able to serve other relatively useful purposes.

 

On its screen now appeared the message: 
“A wild Puffindor has appeared.”

 

…

 

Teru glanced around, anxious for the creature to appear.  The sugary stench was becoming stronger and stronger, wrapping its sticky tendrils around his mind.

 

Teru shook his head.  He had to remain alert at all costs.  Female and youth Puffindors were friendly and cute, while most of the full-grown males, on the other hand, destroyed anything in their way with the spears stuck through their marshmallowy exterior.

 

Thump.  Thump.  Thump.

 

Teru felt his knees starting to tremble underneath his slim frame.

 

It glared at him with its nonexistent eyes.  Teru had no idea how did that.

 

The creature inched closer, which seemed to take forever, and soon it was about a foot away from the youthful-looking prince’s face. 

 

Teru’s eyes started to well up with salty tears and he whimpered until the Puffindor growled, making him freeze.

 

The Puffindor’s almost unnoticeable nose slits flared out.

 

Think, think, think, Teru urged himself.  What were a Puffindor’s weaknesses?  Its strengths?  The prince knew for sure that they were revitalized by sweet foods—actually, sweet anything…  But what would harm it?

 

Images of his life from before the Time Freeze flashed by in Teru’s mind.  His father; the humble king, his brother Masashi, his white horse, Adam…  Things that his father used to say often…  “At breakfast you must eat like a king, at lunch like a prince and at dinner like a peasant.”  “Too much of a good thing is never good for you.”

 

Something clicked.  Of course.

 

Too much of something was never good for you.  If Puffindors liked sweets and cuteness, then that was what Teru would give the monster.

 

Still quivering uncontrollably, the silver-haired man lifted his clenched fists to his face. 

He had done this before, to make Masashi laugh.

 

“Kyun, kyun!” squealed Teru, all while widening his eyes and molding his mouth into an almost duckish (yes, I just made up that word and it means that something looks a bit like a duck) look.  “Myan~!”

 

The Puffindor seemed to have blinked.  Then it howled—a bloodcurdling howl, something that would also make your hair stand on end.  Its pearlescent teeth bared, the creature melted into a puddle of marshmallow fluff right at Teru’s feet.

 

The prince edged backwards, not wanting to have to clean his shoes later.

 

Then he collapsed.

 

 

* * *

 

“Hey.  Hey.  Are you alright?”

 

Teru stirred.  Someone was shaking him.  “Ne?”

 

A taller, blond man leaned over him, eyebrows furrowed and mouth in a straight line.  “My name’s Key.  Who’re you? And why aren’t you frozen like everybody else?”  Teru strained to lift up his head, which was resting on a makeshift sweater-pillow. 

After not too long he succeeded, to his delight.

 

Though now Teru saw that his lower body was sunken in the Puffindor’s pool of marshmallow fluff.  That wasn’t as delightful.

 

“I-I’m Teru.”  The prince’s gaze rested on the man above him.  Key’s features were sharp and very much like a feline’s.

 

“Here—let me help you up,” purred Key.

 

Examining him a bit more, Teru found no reason to distrust the blond.  Even with such a straight face, his brown eyes sparkled. 

 

“Thanks.”  Teru bit his lip.

 

“You’re welcome,” answered Key. 

 

They both stood in an awkward silence.  Teru noted that Key was almost 4 inches taller than him.

 

“You should get cleaned up…” started Key. 

Teru’s eyes widened.  The fluff!