That crap ending is all their fault.

Anyway, I'm not making money... blah blah blah.

"Medieval Takari"

Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess named Hikari.

A true vision of light, with shiny chesnut hair, cheerful red eyes...

Everyone just loved her. *Especially* Sir Takeru.

In fact, he would climb up the tower into her room each night.

So it was quite unfortunate that Sir Takeru's brother, the court musician Yamato, fell out
of her brother's favor.

Whether it was the musician or General Takenouchi that King Taichi had fallen for, no one
was quite sure. And no one would dare suggest it was both.

It would so happen that one Sir Daisuke, a favorite of the soverign, returned around that
time. During the return feast, the engagement was announced.

It wasn't that the knight wasn't attractive...
With his cheerful brown eyes, adventurous spirit and scent of fresh strawberries...

Princess Hikari just preferred Sir Takeru, with his golden hair, hope-inspiring smirk and
scent that reminded her of his swinish steed and the simple cologne favored by his squire,
Iori.

And that smirk didn't go away when he visited her that evening after the banquet.

The morning after, Sir Takeru and Princess Hikari spoke of the wonderful roses growing in
the Dark Towering Woods. Catching wind of it, and eager to please his relunctant betrothed,
Sir Daisuke asked the blonde knight to lead him there.

Everything was falling into place.

Sir Daisuke jumped off his reptilian steed and looked over the flowers, all withering...

Except for one, no doubt the loveliest among them: a rose with sharp thorns and midnight
blue petals.

And that's when everything went dark for him.

You see, Sir Daisuke- having been away from the kingdom for some years- had not heard of the
mysterious figure that ruled these woods. Nor his toll. One that Sir Takeru eagerly offered
to pay by handing his fellow knight over to a figure whose tastes were rumored to be most
unheard of. Not to mention his printing press and its implications of progress!

All of which the hermit with midnight blue eyes addressed the blonde knight with.

But Sir Takeru was one to put his true love for the Princess Hikari over his duty to his
fellow knight.

And so it came to pass, that King Taichi allowed his sister to marry the knight, within the
fortnight. It was perfect timing, as their nightly activities had just led to a quandary
most unbecoming of any maiden- especially a royal one. But the marriage put aside any
potential scandals of an illegitimate heir.

Sir Takeru's squire, Iori, soon became a full-fledged knight. It was on a mission to the
kingdom of Oikawa that he met the Lady Arachne and won her hand in marriage. They had
beautiful little spider-children together.

General Takenouchi wound up falling for a local girl, one Inoue Miyako, during a military
campaign abroad. The court musician Yamato was hardly disappointed upon her return, as he
had fallen into his king's arms during the separation.

As for Sir Daisuke and the mysterious young man with midnight blue eyes and hair?

It was years before the others would learn his fate. A careless slip of tongue during a
great feast with many barrels of the finest wine, and the whole sordid affair leading up to
Princess Hikari and Sir Takeru's nuptials was laid bare.

On the very next morning, King Taichi personally led a search party into the Towering Dark
Woods.

And yet the name no longer fit.

The early morning light spilled through the trees, showing their beauty and the large garden
of wild roses. Pink, red and the midnight blue that Sir Daisuke had been looking at when he
was knocked out by Sir Takeru...

A closer look, and there was Sir Daisuke and the hermit, peacefully sleeping among the
flowers. King Taichi tried to order a retreat as silently as he could- as so not to disturb
the lovely scene but to no avail.

The lovers awoke, and the brunette knight introduced his Ken to the search party.

After hearing of how they spent their days playing in the woods (with nighttime activities
sort of glossed over), King Taichi decreed the two of them return to the castle immediately!

For it would not do for Sir Daisuke and his beloved to carry on without some proper ceremony
first.

Afterwards, Sir Daisuke and the newly appointed Sir Ken returned to the woods.

Eventually, the couple published _extremely_ liberal accounts of their courtship, such as
"Beauty and the Beast" and "3 Billy Goats Gruff".

And of course, they lived happily ever after.

THE END