For as long as Maia's been alive, she has had her mother practically wrapped around her thumb. Being the only adopted child to her widowed mother, who was unable to bear children, Maia was spoiled as much as possible. Her mother practically raised her like a princess. Whatever Maia wanted, she got. She didn't like taking 'no' for an answer and she didn't like having to work. She spent her days in her bedroom playing with dolls or being educated by her tutor, while her mother ran a fabric shop. Ā
When it comes to looks, Maia is pretty and she knows it. Because of this, she holds looks to be of utmost importance whenever she interacts with someone. If you don't meet her standards of beauty, she will flat out insult your looks and then leave. Her treatment of others led to her living a fairly lonely life, with her mother, her tutor, and her mother's delivery boy, Mr. Swallow, being her only true friends.
As soon as she had turned 17, Maia began searching for her Prince Charming, like in the fairytale books that she read. The many men she encountered within Angielle just weren't interesting enough for her. Thus she settled for the many merchants and travelers that came into Angielle from Brugantia.
The first man she had begun courting was a Merchant known as Mr. Toad. His family dealt in fabric making, which meant that they traded with her mother. All she saw was his rich clothing and that was enough for her to be interested in him. She told her mother that she wanted to marry him and the next week, both families agreed to get to know one another. During dinner, she sat across from Mr. Toad. He looked over at her and flashed her a toothy grin. Before he could even croak out one word, she screamed and called him ugly, calling off the wedding as she ran upstairs.
Days later, she set her sights on Mr. Cockchafer, a drunken ex-knight. Having just as bad of an attitude as her, the two of them hit it off quickly. One night, she took him to meet her mother. Her tutor mentioned rumors about his reputation. Maia questioned their relationship for fear of looking bad. His anger boiled over when she call him ugly, instantly dumping him. He snapped at her and told her she wasn't much better, herself. The next day, she began spreading nasty rumors about him, which led to him being unable to find a job in Angielle and caused him to leave town.
The third man she met was Mr. Mole, a blind older nobleman from Brugantia who had come to Angielle in hopes of securing land for a summer home. He had stopped by her family's shop to buy some silk. Maia wasn't interested in older guys, so she ignored him. It wasn't until he dropped his silk and couldn't find it, that she felt sorry for him and helped him out. He had called her a sweet girl and invited her along for tea. She agreed and discovered that she really enjoyed his wealth. When she returned home, her mother suggested she marry him. Maia looked at him with disgust. But, when he dropped his coin sack and couldn't find it, she sighed and agreed to marry him. He's blind and rich, so she would have all the wealth she could possibly need, and she could run away whenever she liked.
Satisfied with her decision, she left to scout the perfect place for her wedding. As she was walking, her heel got caught in a hole and she wound up stumbling into someone. She looked up to blame them for her falling, but stopped when she saw how cute he was. He stared at her with his gorgeous hazel eyes; his golden blond hair swaying in the wind as he helped her up. She was in awe of his beauty, having never found a man as cute as him. Instantly she forgot about Mr. Mole, her heart now belonging to this beautiful man. He removed a flower from his hair and offered it to her, asking her where she was heading. She waved off his question and asked him where he was going. He invited her to accompany him to lunch and she came along with him, beginning her new romance with her true Prince Charming.
Days went by and her mother planned the wedding with Mr. Mole while Maia remained preoccupied with Angel, never telling him about her relationship or upcoming wedding to Mr. Mole.
On the day of her wedding, Maia wept because she wanted to be with Angel. Mr. Swallow, heard her crying and came into the room. He had been delivering fabrics to her mother's customers since he was a young child. Because of this, he had grown up with Maia and had grown to love her. She may be callous, but he only saw the goodness in her. He did all he could to make her happy; buying her dolls or chasing off kids who taunted her. So, seeing her cry made him sad. He asked her what was wrong and she told him she didn't want to marry Mr. Mole. He didn't want to see her get married, so he agreed to help her escape.
While she stood upon the altar, Mr. Swallow objected to the marriage and halted the ceremony. Maia smirked, ready to escape and run off into the sunset with Angel. Mr. Mole became angry and tried reaching out for Maia in hopes that she would confirm that what he was saying was a lie. Maia stepped away from him right as Mr. Swallow approached her and got down on one knee to propose. He confessed his feelings to her. Maia looked at him and laughed. She then left the altar to go find Angel. As she was leaving, Mr. Mole reached out to grab her and wound up tripping, swiping his claw in the air and accidentally taking out one of Mr. Swallow's eyes.
As chaos ensued in the room, Maia headed through the doors and ran right into Angel, who had seen and heard everything.
She tried to tell him they can be together, but he gets mad at her. With a snap of his fingers, she sees pink flash before her eyes and gasps as she started to shrink.
Panicking, she demanded Angel to fix her. He tells her he's a witch and that, through rumors, he had learned that she was deceiving him. She tried to argue that the rumors are lies and that he's her one true love, but he wouldn't listen to her. He told her that it's sad that the love and feelings that others held for her meant nothing to her and that she doesn't seem to regret the fact that she ruined the lives of the people who have loved her.
She cried, realizing that she was 2 feet shorter than she originally was. Angel handed her back his engagement ring, telling her that he had given her a Fairytale curse, known as the Thumbelina curse, and had already punished her for her treatment of her past lovers and for deceiving him. She sobbed as he told her that she will shrink 5 inches for every person that she tosses away like trash; that if love is such a simple and fleeting thing for her, then she won't mind having the same thing done to her. She begged him to remove the curse and to forgive her and he refused, telling her that she must break it herself. She begged him to tell her how and he told her that she must come to truly love a person for all that they are, regardless of whether they match her idea of beauty or not. That if she truly learns how to love, then the curse will break. Otherwise, she will continue shrinking until her existence is no more.
With those last words, Angel left Maia behind to wallow in her sadness.
Too ashamed and embarrassed to face the others, Maia ran away.
She had spent the night wandering around the city of Angielle, completely unsure of where she was going. Around midnight, it began to rain and she found herself shivering uncontrollably. She took shelter underneath of a tree and struggled to fall asleep.
When she woke up, she noticed it was still night, but that it had stopped raining. When she looked up, she found a small umbrella being held over her. Beneath said umbrella stood two young men; one with dark hair and the other with long; red hair.
"Is she dead?"
"Don't be silly, kid. Clearly she's just asleep."
Maia gasped and quickly backed away from them, asking who they were.
"I'm Waltz and this is Karma. You look like you could use some shelter."
Waltz holds out a hand and she sobs, hesitantly grasping his hand.
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