In a far off land there lie a kingdom. This was no ordinary kingdom however, it could better be described as a land, for it had no King and no Queen. Many years ago in a struggle for power they had been beheaded, their souls leaving their body just as quickly as they came, but one thing remained; their beloved daughter. Monet was said to be the fairest maiden to ever set foot on the kingdom’s boundaries. There were myths that she was an angel, even. Confused teenagers adored whatever image they had come up with in their head, and the drunken peasants of the kingdom desired her for the power that she possessed, but no one knew what she looked like.
After her parent’s deaths Monet had ordered a tower be built for her to subside. As lonely as the sun she was, but she locked herself up in that tower and declared that anybody with a pure heart of gold would be able to find their way into her room and into her heart. The tower seemed to be endless in height, it went straight through the clouds, like an arrow piercing flesh. Nobody had ever made their way all the way up and come back with the princess. The tower taunted the kingdom, every time somebody looked up at the tower they were reminded of how impure their hearts were, oh how they wished somebody would unlock the princess and rid them of their burden. People climbed the steps to the tower for days and nights but nobody could prevail in their quest and find her.
Daniel was just like any other peasant boy in the kingdom. Daniel did his chores, listened to his mom, and somehow managed to cling on to his livelihood. Everything he knew was from his mother. She had to raise him alone since her husband had died in the same conflict their beloved King and Queen had. Everything he knew was from her. He did everything a normal boy did, he played outside with his friends whenever he had the time, and was respectful at the table, but above all he was kind of heart. Everything that he knew was from his mother. No one had ever forced him to do anything and his positive outlook on life had affected everybody around him. If anybody would be able to reach the fabled maiden and marry her, the citizens of the kingdom thought, it would be Daniel.
With that notion, the day he turned eighteen years of age Daniel set off to climb the steps of the tower and find his supposed true love.
Once Daniel arrived at the entrance he met a young fellow named Adonis. Adonis was a scrawny little man, he reeked of donkey, and looked awkward and out of place, yet confident.
“What are you up to lad?” Daniel asked.
Adonis was surprised by this friendliness and his face showed it, for he had never been shown such compassion. “Nothing much, what about you?” he replied, with a wide grin across his face.
“I’m off to find me a maiden.” he said, “I guess.”
“Yeah,” Adonis thought for a moment before he spoke, he had never been very affluent in public situations,”A lot of people come up this route for that very reason,”
“Mhm,” Daniel said, egging him on.
“Would you mind if I uh,” Adonis said,”came along?”
“That would be great!” Daniel said, and with that they were off.
What Daniel did not know was that Ardonis was a pick pocket. He was a trained practitioner of the art, as he liked to call it. His unsuspecting ways would bite him in the rump one day, but the damage would be minor, and he would live on. 
They trotted upwards for hours and hours, counting each step out load as they went along. Occasionally Ardonis would crack a joke and they would laugh as they went along their way, as a giddy as children on Christmas morning. After ten thousand steps they decided they ought to give themselves a break, in fear of fatigue. They lay themselves down on the marble steps, paler than young snow, and took a swig of water accompanied by David’s first roll of bread. While they sat and ate Daniel thought. He realized that he needed to get to the top of the tower where the maiden lay if he ever wanted to be considered a success in life, and it was at this moment his heart changed. Its pure gold color was tainted by necessity, and in turn the two boys were getting no where.
They counted out another ten thousand steps before they took another rest. This time they ate the rest of the bread and nearly finished off the water. Daniel’s water pouch was nearly empty after this. He had few supplies for what he suspected to be a very long journey.
Daniel’s heart was descending a hellish path as he became over run with thoughts of failure and anger, how long could he keep this hike up, he asked himself again and again. Nor did it help that his companion had gone to supper with his family and had left him alone like a bold vessel leaving its haven to enter the unknown lands that lay before it. Although, his absence of company was soon mended by the introduction of a new friend, an albino squirrel which followed him around like a son does to a father.
He stopped counting after he had walked another ten thousand steps for he knew that if he ever wanted to get to the top he would have to just keep walking. It was then that he encountered Bart. Bart was a thin man that was easily over one hundred years of age. His bare chest stuck out like a six feet tall five year old, his bones rattled every time he breathed, and the cloths wrapped around his legs were barely even there it seemed to Daniel, and with the dismissal of Bart he continued to walk.
“Wait!” Bart called out to Daniel
“What sir?” he responded.
“I see you have a roll of bread with you and a water pouch. Would you mind if i took a swig and a bite?”
“I’m sorry sir but I must save this for myself, you see, I am here in search of the maiden.”
“Every traveler is in search of the maiden and they all say the same thing, I must save this food for myself, it is a long journey, but you forget that you must have a heart of gold to find the maiden.”
There was a long pause as Daniel stared at the man that sat on the ornate steps in front of him before the man spoke again. “I will surely die if you don’t help me good sir.”
This last bit of communication between them did nothing to help Bart’s argument, for Daniel’s mind was already made up.
He was here for himself, not for this lost cause, he thought. And with that he kept on going up the stairwell.
A considerable amount of time passed by as he marched on, in search of the fabled maiden until he stumbled upon Phineas. Phineas was a raggedy man who was neither masculine or femine, he was as average as a sheep, although he seemed desperate for attention, so it seemed, his eyes moved quickly scanning his surroundings making sure that no one was around as he approached Daniel.
Phineas struck a conversation with Daniel at first glance, for he was desperate for companionship, it appeared. “Hello.” he sputtered.
“Why hello mate, what brings you here?” Daniel responded.
“Nothing much, I guess that I’m just here for the same reason that everybody else is, to find the maiden.”
“Respectable. I don’t fancy this supposed maiden myself too much, I have me own maiden back at home.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To rob you!” Phineas exclaimed.
Daniel pushed Phineas down the stairs. He expected this and quickly caught himself on the stairs pulling himself back up and drawing a hidden blade. Phineas, like a greyhound when slipped from his leash bounded towards Daniel and brought his blade to Daniel’s neck. “I doubt you have much, but whatever you have needs to be in my hands in the next five seconds or I’m going to cut your sorry throat open.”
Daniel was pushed against the wall at this point and knew he had to act fast, for he had nothing to give and would surely die if he didn’t put something forth. He took out his water pouch and put it into his assailants hand.
“Good,” Daniel said, “I doubt you have any more to give you filthy peasant.” and with that Phineas walked away, happy as a wave that dances on the sea with his new loot.
Daniel sat on the step, watching Phineas walk back to the area he was crouched previously. How could somebody so cruel exist, he thought to himself. Somebody willing to steal something so petty as a water pouch for the potential exchange of his life. Human life is too precious he thought to himself, and with that thought came the realization that he couldn’t stop this man from going about his business. Or could he?
Daniel’s body moved faster than his thoughts. He had raced down to Phineas and struck his hand through his stomach before he even knew he had decided to do so. Phineas exclaimed in a shrill manner. But Daniel could not stop, he needed to rid this kingdom of the human trash that lay before him. His fists kept on moving through Phineas’s bony upper body until Phineas lay before him, dead.
This was the first time that he took a real look at Phineas. This man had no life behind him, no maiden to look forward to seeing when he got home, in fact it would be a reasonable assumption to say he had no home. He probably sat in his corner looting any travelers that passed by him for petty things just in order to survive. He had just murdered somebody with so much potential though. And in this moment Daniel’s heart, as poisoned as it was, became nearly pure, more pure than it had ever been before, for he had realized that every human life is raw potential.
Daniel thought of everything he had ever done in his life and pondered how he could right those wrongs, he couldn’t. His sins were in the past and could not be mended, all but one; Bart.
Daniel grabbed his water from Phineas’s hand and raced down the stairs in search of Bart, the man who was starving. After ten thousand steps or so, Daniel looked to his side to find Bart, the only person who could truly cleanse his heart once and for all. But he was dead. How could this be, Bart thought. The one person who could cleanse him and bring him ultimate pleasure was dead, lying next to him, and he could have prevented it. He had managed to murder two people in one day. Daniel’s tears somehow broke out of their cell and poured down the stairwell. He felt as awful as a criminal who had escaped the justice system. He cried for days and days, until he died. The tower flooded and Daniel’s body had floated up to the maiden.
Monet was as puzzled as a foreigner trying to understand a foreign language by what lay before her. A man and a beggar. Both did not appear to be breathing, one was old and bony and the other young and muscular, but both seemed to be dead. She took a moment to examine the younger one, for if this is the man that her father had told him about, she would have to marry him somehow. The man her father had described had a heart of gold, how would she be able to determine whether this person had a heart of gold? The question plagued her like the night for quite some time until the answer struck her like a baton.
  Monet fetched the vial her father had left her. A vial of pure hatred, something so strong in dark power would kill anybody who did not possess a heart of gold as pure as mountain dew, but would revive anybody with a heart of pure gold, bringing them level with her, onto the angel realm.
The vial in her hand felt of dark and chaotic times, where love was absent of the world. Opening this vial would test this man’s heart, but if he was not perfect he would descend into the depths of hell, whether or not he deserved it. So much power lay in her hands. Was she ready to do this? It didn’t matter for she had already emptied the vial into the man’s mouth.
The room Monet lie in was silent, as it usually was, while she waited for something to happen, his body to turn into an abomination as formless as midnight or a halo as beautiful as heaven to appear over his head such as hers. His body thrust itself into the air in a violent fashion. Monet was worried that such fast motions meant he was going to go to hell, but instead his body lit up in a heavenly light. Monet couldn’t stop looking at the marvel in front of her. It was as beautiful as a fairy palace. Whether it was human or not she didn’t know, or care. She had found somebody whom she could live the rest of her life with, somebody with another heart of gold, another angel.
The kingdom was prosperous from then on out. The newly wed couple ruled the kingdom as gracefully as a swan gliding across a body of water. Nobody could ever face the kingdom in warfare for they had the power of angels on their side. And nobody was afraid, for there was nothing to be afraid of. All the darkness in the kingdom had departed in fear of the angels who ruled it, and all was good.