I never did know when or how I was born, but certainly I know why. I am Aisling, Nymph of Hope, and together with my nymph sisters, I was born from the Mother of All, so that we may weave spirits from our combined powers to give life to earth. Born as sisters, yet we live far apart, each choosing to look after a particular region in need of our direct protection. And I settled on a remote region, an island called Storybook Island, continuing to weave hope in the spirits of the Earthlings. And yet...

Those poor girls whom I look after. They're always hoping that princes would drop by Happily-Ever-After for them to meet. There's nothing wrong with hoping, I suppose, especially with me being the Nymph of Hope. But really, what are these girls thinking? Hope, it seems, is rather neutral, able to have either a healthy or unhealthy effect on the ones who hope. Then again, it is not the ability to hope, but what is hoped for, that determines the fabric of living beings; if we're to hope selfishly, or hope selflessly.

Sometimes I do wonder, here in my secret glen in Fairytale Forest, just what happens when Hope is realized and the fairy tale comes true? I've often flown above my pond, asking sister Serendipity what these girls in Happily-Ever-After see in themselves, when they meet their princes and settled down to live happily-ever-after. What are their hopes worth if all the men have to be are princes instead of good men, good men who know of true love instead of relying on the love spells sold by one of the girls? Serendipity would only smile and say, "Who knows? If luck's on their side they will actually come to know love with their princes."

Clearly I've got my work cut out for me. Mother must be pleased that at least some of us are keeping busy, instead of trying to rule a strange city. Whatever is sister Ishtar thinking, to show herself so publicly? We nymphs are only suppose to protect silently, quietly, and not seeking power, for we already have all the power we need at birth. Bad enough that Ishtar had to go and fall in love with the Mountain King all those years ago (Sister Ceri insisted she had nothing to do with it, and yet their love was a passionate, if volatile, one). If I didn't know better, I would've thought Ishtar is influenced by-

Wait... What is that... strange blaze...? And that silhouette...? Hey! Hands off, I say! What-

*KO sound*

***

(Sometime later)
Well, I'm still on Storybook Island, I can see as much. But really, why are they keeping me in the long abandoned Mirror Mansion? And who was that... witch who commanded the blazes? I wonder if sister Heptitus knows her... but what IS a witch doing so far away from the mainland?

(Also posted at http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4429749/1/)