Could this be any worse?

I sighed heavily as my physics teacher, Mr. Owlson, droned on about Newton's Laws, kinematics, inertia, and gravity, which, naturally, didn't spark my interest at all. I would much rather be taking a biology class like Anatomy or Animal Behavior. I had always loved the natural world and all of the interesting creatures that lived on this planet significantly more than the reason behind why objects fall when she drop them. So, of course, physics was always torture for me. I glanced up at the clock and groaned to myself when I noticed that only five minutes had passed since I last peeked at the time. And to make matters worse, the class still had forty-five minutes left.

Yeah, nothing could be worse than this.

It felt like an eternity, but the bell that signaled the end of class finally rang, and I shot up like a rocket at the sound of it. I grabbed My books off of my desk, slung my red backpack onto my back, and quickly exited the torturous classroom. I wasn't surprised that I was the first person out of the room. Mr. Owlson shot me a brief look of disproval, but I ignored it. It's not like I did poorly in his class; I just never participated or paid any attention to his lectures, which clearly annoyed him but didn't bother me in the slightest.

...As I made my way to the cafeteria, I stopped by my locker to gather my books for my afternoon classes. I bent down to place my textbooks into my bag when suddenly I felt someone grab my shoulders roughly and holler in my ear. I nearly had a heart attack as I fell over onto the floor while my saboteur kneeled over with laughter....

"You--you should have seen--your face--priceless!" the person shouted while I stood up, brushing myself off. Normally I would have been furious and given the person who scared me a few choice words, but since it was my best friend Alice, I decided to let it slide. This wasn't the first time she had scared the living daylights out of me, so I had gotten somewhat used to her stupid pranks. Besides, this was probably payback for when I poured soy sauce into her coffee at lunch last week. That had been pretty hilarious.

"Ok, ok, you got me good, I'll admit it," I said, putting my hands up in mock surrender.

As if on cue, Alice fired back, "I was only getting back at you for the whole soy sauce incident last week!"

I smirked mischievously. "One of my better pranks, if I do say so myself."

Alice smiled back. "Well, now we're even. You wanna head to the cafeteria? It's pizza day!"

I instantly felt my spirits soar. Pizza just happened to be my favorite food, so my mood always increased whenever the cafeteria served it. "Hell yeah! Let's go."

After I finished packing, the two of us began walking towards the cafeteria, discussing who had started dating who and what new movies I wanted to see. As I entered the cafeteria, I saw Ken, Alice's boyfriend of two years, waving the two of us over to sit with him. After picking up my food, we happily took our seats at the circular table with Ken and a couple of our other friends. Lunch passed by quickly as I gobbled down my pizza and listened to my friends fight over whether Marvel or DC had better movies. The sound of the bell echoed throughout the large cafeteria, and I sighed deeply. Time to go to Calculus. Ugh...kill me.

"Hey, Luna, are you coming?"

I looked up to see Alice and the rest of my friends heading in the opposite direction of my classroom. "Sorry, Alice, but my next class is the other way. I'll be late if I walk with the rest of you."

my friends all have a funny look that indicated that I must have been forgetting something. "What?" I questioned.

"Don't you remember? We have a school assembly today, right after lunch. They announced it his morning...or were you dozing off again during English class?"

My face began to burn with embarrassment as I recalled my English teacher furiously bellowing in my ear after I fell asleep in her class this morning. "I wasn't dozing off, I just shut my eyes for a little bit..."

"For an hour?" Alice teased.

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, I fell asleep. Let's just go to this stupid assembly." I got up from the table and started walking with my friends towards the auditorium. "What's this assembly even about?"

"No idea. They didn't say," Ken answered. "I'm sure it's something about how great the school is. They're always testing new self-promotion tactics on us before they debut it to the public."

"Huh, you're probably right," I grumbled miserably. Just when I thought your day was turning around with pizza lunch, it went right back down the drain.

"Cheer up, Luna, maybe something exciting will happen!" Alice's eyes sparkled with hope, but I simply rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, and I'm going to rule a kingdom tomorrow," I countered sarcastically.

Alice began to pout. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood," she whined, battling her eyelashes at me and returning my previous sarcasm. I laughed at her performance.

I , Alice, Ken, and my other friends arrived at the auditorium just in time to see my school's principal, Mr. Greenwich, ascend the stairs to the stage. As I took my seat, Mr. Greenwich tapped the microphone lightly to test it, coughed to clear his throat, then began delivering a speech about plans to improve our school's science labs. Ken had guessed correctly; I would have to endure over an hour and a half of nonstop lectures from staff members. I felt my consciousness begin to slip the more Mr. Greenwich talked, and after a few minutes my eyes shut ,, and I drifted off.

I couldn't have been asleep for more than five minutes when a deafening boom resounded throughout the auditorium. Mr. Greenwich paused his speech momentarily, a confused look spread across his features. Students and teachers alike began whispering, and a few staff members stood up to exit the auditorium and investigate the cause of the noise. However, before they could leave, an even bigger explosion rang through the building, directly where the auditorium doors were...or, used to be. In their place now stood a gaping hole. Flames licked around the debris of charred wood, shattered bricks, and stray, fluttering papers. I stood up, fear coursing through my body. What just happened?!

My question was answered when a slew of soldiers emerged from the ruins of the doors. Upon further examination, I realized they weren't exactly soldiers; they were actually knights, each one wearing a full suit of armor. About fifteen of them flooded into the auditorium, followed by a final knight. He was wearing the same suit of armor as his peers, but his was adorned with a bright blue sash that must have indicated some superior rank. He had short chopped, light gray hair, appearing to be in his early forties. A large scar ran from the bridge of his nose all the way down to his neck, and his crystal-like blue eyes scanned the crowd of students as if he were looking for someone in particular. He silently passed by the stunned teachers who tried to leave the auditorium, making his way over to the stage. All eyes were on him. Every single student and teacher wore a mixed look of fear, surprise, and confusion. We were all too shocked to do anything except stare as the man ascended the stairs to the stage and began to speak.

"I apologize for the sudden intrusion. My name is Byron Davenport, but you may call me Sir Byron. I am here on behalf of the Kingdom of Westalia, ruled by the Howard family. The young prince, Eren, is in need of new females to fulfill his...needs. Thus, my fellow knights and I have travelled to your world to retrieve some of your women. Do not fear; we are only here for a few girls. You'll still have plenty left." He continued to observe the occupants of the auditorium, his gaze lingering on each of our female classmates.

By this time, Mr. Greenwich had regained his senses. He shook his head and stormed over to the mysterious knight. Grabbing him by his sash, Mr. Greenwich yelled, "What kind of sick joke is this? You can't just barge in here and expect us to hand our students over to you! That's kidnapping!"

Sir Byron didn't seem fazed by the principal screaming in his face. The knight sighed as if he was bored, then whacked Mr. Greenwich in the face, sending him flying to the ground in pain. As Mr. Greenwich tried to pull himself up, he was met with a sword pointed at his face. The principal gulped and looked up at the knight wielding the sword. The entire auditorium was deathly silent.

"Well, it doesn't appear that you have much of a choice, does it?"

To be continued...

At that moment, I took back what I had thought during physics class. My day had definitely gotten worse.

After Sir Byron pulled out his sword, girls and boys alike began screaming in terror. It was total chaos in the auditorium. Students tried to retreat to the back of the room to get as far away from the knights as possible; others were pushing each other and shoving their friends to save themselves. Some just cried in their seats. Many students--and even some teachers--began to panic and run for the exit, which was now reduced to the gaping crater where the doors had been. Before anyone could leave, a group of knights blocked the exit, swords extended at anyone who dared try to pass. One screaming boy hurdled himself towards the wall of knights in a desperate attempt to escape, but he was immediately thrown backwards by the swing of one of the swords. Although he was alive, his arm had been sliced open so deeply that his bone was showing. A pool of blood began to develop on the carpet around him.

"Next time I won't aim for your arm, kid," one of the knights growled menacingly. "Now back off."

The boy scrambled away, clutching his arm tightly. The rest of the people who had approached the door started to back away, afraid that they would be the next ones to be maimed.

In the chaos of this scene, Alice and I had lost each other in the crowd of screaming students and staff members. "Alice!" I called out, frantically trying to locate my friend before something happened to her. I looked around the sea of people, but to my distress I saw no sign of Alice, her boyfriend, or any of your other friends. I was beginning to hyperventilate at the thought of one of these men finding Alice. She was the most popular and most attractive person in my grade, maybe even in my entire school; surely if they found her they would take her away. But I wasn't about to let that happen.

All of a sudden I heard a female's scream from the direction of the stage. I swung my head to find the scenario I was fearing most: Alice and Ken were surrounded by three knights, one of which was Sir Byron. I noticed that two other knights were off to the side of the stage, each of them holding a girl over their shoulder. The girls weren't putting up a fight, and I fearfully realized that they must have been drugged. If I didn't help Alice soon, she would be drugged and taken too. I mustered all my courage and sprinted towards my best friend. As I was about to reach her, I saw Sir Byron lift his sword above Ken's head. He was protecting Alice...and they were going to kill him for it! I increased my speed, feeling my legs protest but my heart push me on. Just before Sir Byron was about to swing his sword and slice Ken in half, I rushed in front of him and cried, "STOP!"

Surprisingly, Sir Byron listened to my demand and stopped his deadly blow. He looked down at me, scowling. "And what do you think you're doing,?"

"S-saving my friend and stopping you," I stuttered as I held my hands up in defense. Honestly, from the sinister glare that he was giving me, I still expected him to swing the sword and chop off my head for defying him.

The scowl on Sir Byron's face lessened, and he glanced over at the other two knights who were surrounding Alice. They both gave him a nod, and he returned it, then looked back down at me. "How brave of you. You'll make a nice addition to the list of Prince Eren's possessions, little dove."

My face paled. Did he just say that I was going to be the prince's possession?!

"Wha--?!" I began to scream as a hand was placed over my mouth. I tried to struggle out of the grip of whoever was holding me, but they were much too strong for me, and for some reason I felt my body begin to go numb. All of a sudden, I didn't feel like fighting anymore. All I wanted to do was close my eyes. The last thing I saw was Alice's terrified face as my vision was flooded was darkness.

To be continued....

I groggily opened my eyes to find myself in some kind of medieval chamber. It had all the normal items of a bedroom--bed, nightstand, mirror, wardrobe, a connecting bathroom, etc.--except it looked as if my room belonged in a 13th century castle. A giant blue and gold area rug covered most of the floor, which was made from old gray stone. The walls matched the floors, with gray stone as the background and blue, red, and gold drapes strung across the walls to add color. My bed had a canopy of white and gold cloth hanging above it, and a suit of armor stood in the corner of the room. My spirits lifted as I considered the possibility that the suit was holding a weapon, but, to my disappointment, its hands were empty. The suit itself didn't even look sharp or heavy enough to really be used as a weapon.

Unable to do anything else, I lifted myself off the bed, still a little light headed from the drugs that were used to knock me out. First, I tried rattling the doorknob to see if it was unlocked; as expected, it was locked tightly and wouldn't budge. I grumbled curses under my breath. I looked around the room for any other exits, and my face lit up as my eyes fell on the arched window on the other side of the room. As I made your way over to the window, I realized that the reason why my room looked like it belonged in a 13th century castle...was because it was a room in a 13th century castle.

I looked down to see at least a ten story drop into the dark water of the moat surrounding the castle. The walls of the castle were the same gray color as my room's walls and floor, except more worn from weather. As I looked out into the horizon, I could make out the faint outline of towering metal gates. I couldn't tell exactly from my room, but I guessed the gates must be at least two stories tall. Off to the right of the castle stood a large building that resembled a barn, except much bigger and...more burnt? I quizzically studied the charred sections of the outside of the barn, wondering what had caused the black scorch marks. They looked eerily similar to the marks left by the explosion at my school. Off to the left I saw a spacious cottage of some sort. I saw the faint outline of people walking from the cottage to the castle. Squinting to get a better look, I noticed that the people were holding trays of dirty dishes and baskets of clothing. I realized that they must be the kingdom's servants.

This thought snapped my back into reality. That was going to be me...I had been taken from my home, my family, my friends, and would be forced to work here in this unknown realm for who knows how long. Maybe forever? What scared me the most was that I had no idea where I was, so even if I could get help, I wouldn't know where to go or how to direct rescuers to my location. Was I in a different country? A different continent? A different planet? Everything looked so foreign and archaic to me; how had I never heard about this place before?

I heard a light knock on the door and my eyes grew in terror. Who could that be?! Was it Sir Byron here to take me away again? Or the infamous prince himself? Or something worse? Although, I couldn't think of anything that could be worse in my current situation.

I heard the person outside my door knock again, and this time I decided to answer it. "H-hello?" I whispered, my voice hoarse and nearly inaudible.

However, the person knocking must have heard it, because they replied, "Miss, I'm here to bring you your new clothes. May I come in?"

I stared at the door suspiciously. New clothes? This couldn't be good. I didn't want knew clothes; I wanted to keep wearing my skinny jeans and favorite red top that I was currently wearing. My clothes were the only thing that I had left of home at this point.

"I don't need new clothes. I'm fine with the ones I have now," I replied to the voice.

The person on the other side of the door was silent for a few seconds, then she continued. "I'm sorry, Miss, but you really have to change into these clothes. The Presentation will be held shortly."

"The what?" I asked. Just the name of the Presentation sent a chill down my spine. I didn't want to be presented to anyone, or have anything presented to me. I jut wanted to find a way out of this castle. "I'm not changing into anything unless I can get out of this room," I countered. Maybe if I could bargain with this person, I could find out a little more about where I was being held prisoner.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you don't have a choice. You must wear these clothes for the Presentation, and you must attend the Presentation tonight. I don't make the rules." I noticed that she held a note of sympathy in her voice.

I don't think that this person would hurt me, and I formulated a plan to dash out the door as soon as it was opened. Set on my escape plan, I finally said, "Ok, you can come in. I'll wear the new clothes."

The door cracked open and revealed a young girl who looked to be around my age, maybe a couple years younger. She timidly held the pile of clothes out for me to take. I stared at her momentarily, surprised to see how young this girl actually was. She noticed me staring and quickly averted her eyes. She seemed to be painfully shy. I wanted to say something comforting to her, but I held my tongue. I had just met this girl, and you didn't even know her name yet. I didn't want to scare her or make her even more uncomfortable. Besides, I didn't even know what I would have said. There wasn't really anything comforting to say, considering the circumstances.

I suddenly remembered my plan, and without really thinking I pushed the girl out of the doorway to make room for myself. She yelped in surprise as she fell over. I jumped over her and ran out of the room into my moment of freedom. I looked back at the fallen girl with a guilty look on my face, regretting that I had to knock her over to escape.

As I ran down the corridor, all the while distracted by the shy servant girl, I didn't notice that I was headed straight for a guard. I slammed into his back, which hurt like hell because of the suit of armor he was wearing. I fell to the ground in a disoriented heap. As I rubbed my head, I felt a hand roughly grab my wrist and yank me to my feet. "What are you doing out of your room?! Do I have to chain you to the wall?"

I looked up to see a brunette guard with hazel eyes. His long, messy hair nearly covered his eyes and ears. He was wearing the same suit of armor as the knights from the auditorium. I wouldn't be surprised if he had been there during your kidnapping. He scowled down at me menacingly. I tried to pull away from his iron-like grip, but to no avail. His hold on me only increased, causing me to wince in pain. Desperate to be released, I tried to make up an excuse. "I...I was...I was just so excited for the P-Presentation, I couldn't wait in my room..." I lied. But the guard wasn't buying it. He chuckled as my face paled significantly.

"Damn, you are one bad liar, girl. Next time you try to escape, I'll slice into those pretty legs of yours and make sure you can never run again." He grinned maliciously at my terrified face as he dragged me back to my room. He threw me onto the bed along with the bundle of clothes that the girl had brought me. "Change. Now," he ordered and exited the room, slamming the door behind me. I sighed as I heard it lock behind him. So much for that escape plan.

As the gravity of my situation began to sink in, I felt tears picking at my eyes. When I couldn't take it any longer, I let them spill out of my eyes and down my checks as I sobbed for what felt like hours. The stream of tears just wouldn't end. When my body couldn't take the intensity of me crying any longer, I began to sniffle lightly as my body shivered in sadness. As my wails morphed into silent tears, I heard a soft voice travel to my ears from the other side of the room.

"M-miss, are you alright?"

I head shot up towards the voice. I immediately recognized it even though I had only just heard it. It was the girl who brought you the new clothes. She was standing in the corner of the room near the window, looking down at her shoes in embarrassment rather than looking you directly in the eye. I controlled my sobs and was able to choke out an answer to her question. "Y-yes?"

This time it was her turn to look up. She looked over at the pile of clothes that sat on the end of the bed. "It's my job to help you prepare for the Presentation tonight, Miss. It will be difficult to change on your own."

Now that I had time to think, I could finally examine the girl's appearance. She had short brown hair that barely made it to her shoulders, bright brown eyes, and a childish complexion. Her skin was so pale it was almost white. It was pretty obvious that she didn't see the sun that often. She was barely five feet tall, and she was as skinny as a twig. She wore a simple beige dress with a dull dark brown tie around her waist. The dress was tight around the chest and waist, then began to lightly flare out as it reached the floor. On her head sat a dark brown headscarf that matched the color of the tie around her waist. This must be what the servants were required to wear here.

"What's your name?" I asked, trying to lessen the tension in the room.

The girl looked at me sheepishly and replied, "It's Eliza."

"I'm Luna," I told her.

"That's a very pretty name, Miss Luna."

To be continued....