The Story Of A Princess and The Reincarnated Prince

“You--my dear, Anthony, you--” Although there was glass in between them and a big distance after that, Anthony could not help but step back. “You are him! We--we spent--” the woman tried to stand but the thick metal locks on her feet and arms restrained her from doing any movement. “Oh, don’t you remember? Of course you don’t--that wretched brother of mine let you forget everything!” She sneered. She looked like a wild animal that was ready to pounce and attack its prey.

Nurses entered the room opposite theirs in order to restrain the woman--Amelia, Anthony recalled. She has been a resident of the psych ward for twenty years yet Amelia looked as though she was twenty herself. She had long, black hair that was shiny and healthy. It had no trace of any streaks of white. She had a pale, gaunt face but no wrinkles. She was nearly a skeleton inside the plain white dress she wore, the standard clothing of patients in the ward. From the skin he could see, it was smooth and bore no blotches that you would usually see on an old woman. Her large blue eyes sparkled with vigor and hunger of a young woman not of a seventy-year-old something. And, those eyes have been staring at him for almost an hour now.

“Marcus! William! Alexander!” The woman screamed at him, trying to resist her bindings and the nurses that tried to calm her down. 

Doctor Evans beside him pushed down a button, “Let’s end the session for today. Good day, Amelia.” His voice echoed around them. “We’ll see each other soon, yes?” Anthony can see the doctor smiling on the glass pane.

Amelia sat back on her chair in defeat but her eyes never wavered from his. “Anthony,” she called but with less energy than before. 

The doctor lifted his hands from the button in front of him and nodded, signaling for the nurses to let Amelia return to her room. The doctor pushed down another button and the glass became opaque.

The doctor sighed, “What a show!” He turned in his office chair to face Anthony. “First day as an intern and you’ve made quite a show.”

“Sorry, sir,” Anthony replied.

The doctor waved it away, “No need, please. I think it is interesting. Amelia has never told us anything about her until today--until she saw you. She opened like a dam.” 

“May I ask a question, sir?” The doctor nodded, “When did you say again she was admitted?”

“2000s, yes, why?”

“And, how old is she now?”

“She should be seventy-six this year.”

“Doesn’t she look too young to be seventy-six? She looks twenty.”

Instead of sharing his confusion, the doctor broke into a hearty laugh. Anthony stood still until it died down, unsure why it was so funny. “Oh, dear, a flatterer are we?” The doctor stood, “That’s good, that’s good. We need a bucket of jokes and positivity ‘round here. It gets horrible quick,” the doctor still had traces of laughter as he stepped out of the small room.

Anthony was now even more confused. He decided to wave it away as an illusion of light. After all, there was glass in between them and the woman was raging wild with claims of him being her lover since the first century. Marcus, her lover’s name was in the first century, was cursed by her brother to be reincarnated over and over again, meeting with her but never fulfilling the love they deserve to have. 

Anthony stepped out of the room. First day of internship as a nurse in the psychiatric hospital and he was immediately met with tons of crazy. He shook his head as he skimmed a document in the nurse’s station. 

“Anthony,” Doctor Evans suddenly appeared beside him. The doctor was older, a tuft of gray-white hair was barely clinging on his receding hairline. “I want more information on Amelia. You seem to be the perfect guy. You’re handling her, okay? Interrogate her, tomorrow, in her room.”

“W-what?” His stutter surprised him. 

The doctor clapped his back, “Don’t be afraid. There are cameras and speakers all around her room. We will also be watching. If anything happens, we’ll be quick on our feet. Although, I don’t think Amelia will lash out like today again. I think she’ll be more receptive with just the two of you talking.” 

“Yes, sir,” Anthony tried to sound confident. The doctor seemed to hear what he wanted to hear and gave him a smile before walking down the hallway. 

“Good luck,” the nurse behind the nurse station said. “The woman’s a handful,” she clucked her tongue before going back to her screen.

He was not looking forward to it but the story he heard from the woman does not seem to disappear from his mind. It poked every inch of his mind. It did not disappear even after a good night’s sleep--actually he didn’t even have a good night’s sleep. Everything that happened during the day bothered him too much. His anxiety even got worse when he stepped into the hospital, when he was greeted by the doctor.

“Alright, you know how it goes. Be gentle. If you need help, just signal. Look at the camera, ask for help, shout, anything, okay?”

Anthony nodded.

Amelia’s nurse gave him Amelia’s breakfast tray. The nurse knocked on the door and opened it for Anthony. 

Anthony stepped into the room. It was small enough for one delicate woman like Amelia. It was also dark. He shimmied the wall for the switch and clicked it on. The fluorescent light on the ceiling buzzed before it turned on, showering the whole room in bright white. Anthony had to blink for his eyes to adjust from the sudden change. 

Amelia was sitting on her bed, a smile on her face as he met her gaze. His skin pricked with gooseflesh. He wanted to get out fast.

The door closed behind him with a soft click.

He did not let his agitation show and smiled sweetly at her. “How long have you been awake, Amelia?”

“Not for a long time,” she replied, her face not fading.

Anthony placed the tray on her bedside table, “Breakfast,” he said, “You must be hungry, yes?”

“Not really,” Amelia said as he turned towards the window. 

He did not reply and parted the thick curtains apart, the sunlight brushing the scratched floor of Amelia’s room. 

“They sent you, didn’t they?”

Anthony turned and with a smile, nodded. Amelia had not touched her tray. 

“I found yesterday interesting,” Without a beat, Anthony managed to get that out from himself. He is managing this better than he thought. He has always been applauded for showing an appearance that was so far different from what he is feeling inside. He has adept skills on hiding what he really feels. A perfect skill for a career such as his.

Amelia cocked her head to the side, “I see.” She was still thin but she was much healthier to look out when she wasn’t screaming her eyeballs out. She looked beautiful, even, Anthony thought. But that’s how they are, beautifully wrecked creatures. As beautiful as fallen angels, fallen stars.

There was no chair in the room so Anthony sat on the edge of Amelia’s bed. Not on the foot of the bed but on the middle of it. Close enough of a distance for friends. To make her comfortable. 

“Sorry we had to cut you so soon, yesterday,” he started, “I would have loved you to continue.” 

“Are you not scared?” Her hair was splayed around her. Her legs were in a crisscross inside her gown, making her torso look like it ballooned. Her bony hands were splayed on her bed on each of her sides. It took him a moment to find them.

“No, I’m not scared,” he was a clusterfuck inside. He was shit-scared. Anthony has prayed many times today and yesterday and the days before that to pull him back into the past where he spent trying to understand a mountain of books and theories instead of working into the real thing. He has questioned the career he has chosen but he can’t seem to stop. No other career seemed to be as inviting as this one but that didn’t stop him from being scared. “I told you, I find it interesting. Can you tell me all over again? From the start.”

“Everything?”

Anthony nodded. He made sure he could see her hands on the periphery of his vision. As long as those hands were in his line of sight, the woman could talk all she wanted. 

Amelia heaved a sigh and sagged against her headboard. Her eyes unfocused as she brought herself somewhere far away.

“Once upon a time… there was a princess from another planet. She was young, carefree, adventurous. She came from a world of magic. She loved Earth but it was forbidden to go there. But, she loved Earth so much she was willing to go past the law of her people, her family. With the help of her friends, she traveled to Earth.

“On Earth, it was the first century. Kingdoms and wars were everywhere but a prince saw her, and she fell in love and they fell in love. His name was Marcus, an heir to one of Earth’s kingdoms. She never cared about anything else but Marcus. She only cared about them.

“Meanwhile, her disappearance has spread like wildfire in her home. Her family has become aware of what she has done. Soldiers were sent after her. They drummed all over Earth just to search for the little princess, and the princess ran with her lover. Until they couldn’t. They were found.”

“Like Juliet and Romeo,” Anthony commented. For some reason, he was drawn to the story. It was like the ones he had read in the storybooks. The fairy tales often read to children but grimmer. Amelia’s voice also had something on it that made him listen, made him shut everything but the lullaby of her voice.

Amelia didn’t seem to mind he had cut her off, “Yes, but they did not kill themselves. Oh, they wish they were dead. But no,” her eyes unfocused again, venturing into this world of magic, princesses and princes, “They were cursed. The princess’ brother put a curse on them. He killed Marcus, murdered in front of the princess. Then, he was cursed to be reincarnated and find the princess. He will never love anyone but the princess. Meanwhile, the princess was given immortality, a never ending eternal beauty. She will never love anyone but the reincarnation of Marcus. They are bound to find each other over the course of time, but they will never fulfill their love for Marcus will always be killed. And so, with that, the curse began and the princess was left abandoned by her family on Earth.”

Marcus. William. Alexander…

“The princess ran and hid. Made sure she would never come across the reincarnated body of her lover. For years, she hid herself in an impenetrable fortress hidden from the human eye until she came across a thrown invitation of a ball in a nearby kingdom. A masked ball. Yearning for any interaction, the princess decided to attend in her simplest dress and mask.

“But there, she caught the attention of a prince, once again. His name was William. He looked exactly as Marcus, every inch of him. It was as though he never changed. It was as though everything the princess witnessed was a bad dream. She knew she was supposed to move away but--

Anthony saw a picture in his mind. A ballroom with a ceiling so high, where lit chandeliers glowed. Dozens of pairs danced in unison on the dark tiled floor but he saw one pair that sticked out among the sea of satin and black suits. Anthony couldn’t see their faces, he was, for some reason, somewhere on the ceiling. The woman wore a white dress and a white mask. She had straight, shiny black hair adorned with small daisies, swishing behind her as she twirled and twirled. The man that held her hand and guided her across the room wore a dashing dark blue and gold suit, a sword hanging on his hip. They glided across the room as though they were alone and no one else. They stared at each other’s eyes with such intensity that it made Anthony crave and yearn what it would be like to fall in love--

“Hello?”

Anthony shook his head and found himself in front of Amelia, “What? What did you say?”

“You looked ill.”

“No, what? No, I’m fine. Where were you again?” Anthony did feel ill. Something inside his chest ache, and he felt a burning sensation in his throat as though he downed some alcohol all at once.

“I was talking about Alexander, the 1800s.”

“What happened to William?”

“Oh, he died. He went to war and died. The princess fled to America, the New World, and hid there. Then, the 1800s came and a boy came as well, Alexander.

“The princess stayed far inland. Swore never to meet and talk to humans again. She made herself surrounded by flowers and trees. A reminiscent of her life at home and the things she loved here on Earth.

“One day, a boy got lost in her fields of lavender.”

I groaned, I had hit a girl and sent her basket flying and onto the ground. I sat up, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

“What--” the girl started but halted as she stared at me. I saw myself reflected on her large blue eyes.

I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb. My sister and I-”

“Gotcha!” A little girl squealed behind me and I found myself in a headlock.

“Christine, Christine! Wait!” I pulled her arms off my neck and let her see the shell-shocked blue-eyed girl.

“Oh no, are you okay?” My little sister said, “Oh no, her flowers. Ale, what did you do?”

The girl’s eyes welled up with tears. She has not moved. I felt terror, “I’m sorry, miss! I didn’t mean to interrupt, my sister and I were just playing around. I am terribly sorry,” I scrambled up and helped my sister pick up the flowers laying on the dirt and returned it to the lady’s basket.

“Ale, look what you did, you made a lady cry!” 

I turned to see the lady looking at something in front of her but tears streamed down her face. My heart beat faster. It was my first time to make someone, other than my sibling, cry. 

I helped her stand up, “I apologize, we did not really mean to intrude. May I know your name?”

She looked at me, her tears continued to fall, “Amelia,” the girl croaked into a whisper.

Anthony gasped for air and fell into Amelia’s mattress face down. 

He felt a pounding pain on the back of his head, fingers of thin tendrils scattering pain all over the back of his head, then the top of his skull, then his forehead. A tight grip on his chest. There was something rough stuck on his throat, making it hard to breath, to speak. 

“And then,” Amelia said, “The princess locked herself in a mental institution. Everyone told her she was crazy, and maybe she was. But, it was perfect. No one dares to go to mental institutions. 

“Then, one day, a man came into a room dressed in nursing scrubs. The exact man the princess had loved three times over the course of time.” He felt hands on his shoulder and found himself lying on his back.

A pair of blue eyes eclipsed the white ceiling, her hair fell down around them like a tent. “His name was Anthony,” Amelia said, a ragged finger traced his chin. “Like the others, he does not remember his past. His love. His curse.”

“W-What happened to Alexander--” Anthony sputtered from the crushing pain in his chest.

“He killed himself,” Amelia said, her eyes staring at him. Right through him as though she could see the flesh inside him, the thoughts and emotions inside him, “because he sought the knowledge of his past.”

“W-What’s happening?” His voice wavered.

“You’re seeking your past, too,” she whispered, “You can’t, you mustn't.”

“I don’t want to-” he gasped as Amelia splayed her hand into his heart. All his five senses perked up as he was invaded with images, music, laughter, taste, the touch of skin to skin, all together, in a torturous cacophony. His whole body throbbed in pain. He was nowhere there or here. So many thoughts, so many memories, so many things he could barely hear himself.

“I’m trying to cure us, my love,” he heard a sweet melody escape the chaos in his mind, “And then, no one will get in between us.” 

Everything stopped and he was engulfed into darkness and nothing.

----

A woman was applying a popping red lipstick on her puckered lips. 

Another woman entered the comfort room, “Oh hey, thank you for sharing that sweet wonderful story to the kids!”

The woman smacked her lips before lifting it into a smile as she turned to the other woman, “No problem! It was my pleasure!”

“What was your name, again?” 

“Ah, call me Amelia.” 

“Ah, Amelia!” the other woman stood beside Amelia, placing her shoulder bag in the marble sink of the comfort room. “Wonderful story, I must ask though, what happened to the last guy? Anthony?"

"The princess killed him," Amelia answered as though the other woman just asked the weather. She closed her lipstick and dropped it into her bag.

The woman was unfazed, "But I thought the princess wanted a happy ending? To be with her lover, get their happily ever after?"

“Oh, they will, soon,” Amelia lowered her sunglasses and stepped out of the room.