Princess Leone's Bathtub

Once upon a time, there was a marvelous kingdom. It was ruled by a king with only one daughter, Princess Leone. The queen had passed away when the princess was very young, but everyone in the kingdom was happy. On the outskirts of town, however, there lived three demons. The demons were unhappy, just because everybody else was good-spirited. But when they heard that the king was searching for a suitor for his daughter, they brightened considerably. Locke, the oldest demon, decided he would be the first to try winning the princess' hand in marriage. With a demon as king, chaos would reign like the three wanted it to.

Shock and Barrel - the other demons - wished him luck as he headed off towards the castle. At the castle, the king was overwhelmed by all the potential suitors for his daughter. After going through about half of those waiting, the king called in his diviner, to help him go through them faster. If the diviner said one of the young men was dishonest, or not worthy, or not ready to marry a princess, the king would send him on an impossible quest, hoping they would give up.

When Locke approached the king and his psychic, he was immediately discovered as a demon, and the king told him to travel to the next kingdom and bring back a dodo bird, knowing that none were indigenous to that area. Locke left, and the king continued evaluations. With his fellow demons' help, however, Locke conjured a dodo bird in the next kingdom and brought it back. Horrified, the king sent him to travel until he found a dry riverbed (which was four kingdoms away) and bring back a flask of water. When Locke left once more, the king ordered his diviner to cast a spell on his daughter's bathtub and place it on the highest mountain in the kingdom. When Locke returned with magically conjured water from the dry riverbed, the king feigned enjoyment and said he had one last test: to go to the highest mountain in the kingdom and bring back a blade of grass.

The next day, when Locke didn't return, Barrel, the second oldest demon, went to court the princess. He thought maybe he could find out where Locke was. Again, there were many people hoping for the hand of Princess Leone, so the king asked his diviner to come before he would start. Barrel waited patiently (a feat for a demon) and finally approached the king. Once more, the diviner identified him as one of the demons of the kingdom. The king sent him to gather Wickama leaves from the first Hickory tree he found. The king didn't know if Wickama leaves existed. They continued through the waiting men, but soon Barrel returned with an armful of leaves. Appalled at his forgetfulness, The king sent Barrel to the lowest valley in the surrounding four kingdoms to find a brakkenberry bush, then asked his diviner if the tub was still enchanted. She refreshed the spell so it would be ready to capture Barrel. When Barrel returned again, the king sent him to the highest mountain in the kingdom to bring back a blade of grass.

On the third day of suitors, Shock was certain Barrel and Locke had been tricked. She knew of the quests the king was sending them on. She prepared to leave, being the youngest demon. But first she needed a disguise. She went to Grandmother Tree, the tree outside the demons' cave. The old tree had been their adviser since they were born. With a shake of her leaves, Grandmother Tree shook dew over Shock and her outfit was changed. When she spoke, her voice was a tad bit deeper. She ran off to the castle, hoping to save her brothers and takeover the kingdom.

The king had called his diviner just as the suitors began lining up. When Shock approached, again the diviner revealed her to be a demon. The king sent her to find and bring back seven donkeys' ears from second kingdom west. He knew that kingdom didn't raise donkeys. Shock went first to Grandmother Tree. Grandmother Tree used her magic to bring Shock seven donkeys' ears, though they weren't from two kingdoms west. She told Shock that there were no donkeys in that kingdom. Shock returned to the king with seven ears. The king noticed it took her longer than the other two, and he hoped she wasn't as bright as the others. He sent her on another quest; to find blabenabbers. The described them as extremely rare and large, purple birds. Again, Shock consulted Grandmother Tree.

Grandmother Tree said there were no such birds in existence, so together, they created three birds, just as the king described. She returned to the castle with three flying blabenabbers. The king was amazed. He wanted to see what else she could find. He told her there were flubbflubbins in the third kingdom east; He told her to bring back seven and a souvenir from the kingdom. Mouse-like creatures was what he called them. Shock went to Grandmother Tree, she knew something was different about this quest. Grandmother Tree told her again that no such creature existed, but summoned a genuine gold coin that was only made in that specific kingdom. Together, they created tiny navy blue and white mouse-like creatures, seven in all. Shock approached the king with her flubbflubbins in tow. The king was overjoyed to have such a young man courting his daughter. With this kind of power, there were immense possibilities! Against the diviner's advice, the king awarded Shock the hand of his daughter.

Shock revealed herself as a girl – a young girl demon, in fact – and demanded to know where her brothers were. Slightly frightened by her sudden show, the king told her about the bathtub on the highest mountain in the kingdom. Shock found her brothers and joined them in the tub, knowing their bond as siblings could beak the spell. Not only did they break the king's spell, but created their own and had the tub take them back to the castle, where Shock passed the hand of Princess Leone to her older brother, Locke. The king was satisfied that the kingdom would be looked after if Shock was to be Locke's adviser, and his daughter didn't seem upset about who her suitor was. Locke, Shock, and Barrel were happy to be part of the royal family, able to spread at least a little chaos for the moment. Princess Leone could finally bathe again. And they all lived happily ever after.