[Mini Event] [SE] Once upon a time

Once upon a time...

Frowning softly in thought, the Knight's embellished helm turned slowly from side to side. "No," she replied quietly. "She was... normal. Like any happy child." Studying the royal family while nobles made their obeciance, her eyes landed on the Queen.

"How about you? Do you remember how the Queen was able to become pregnant? It's where all of this began, isn't it. And your Fairy became known as Dark after it happened... She may have done something..."

Somehing that allowed a barren woman to bear child, or otherwise allowed a seedless man to concieve. A bargain? A pact? A spell gone wrong? Something was causing that darkness in the eyes of the girl, and if they kept in mind that this was a fairytale, the answer couldn't be too complex.

"Whatever it was must have been bad, if the only witness was exiled and discredited," she pondered out loud, half to herself.

The End

The queen... she was a woman of outward grace and commanding presence, softened by her classic fairy tale beauty and kindly smile. Not as beautiful as her fairy-blessed daughter, of course, but for a woman of her age she was remarkably untouched by the passage of years that had left grey at her husband's temples and grown the princess from a baby into a young lady.

Hadama's chin lifted in thought as he considered Maea's question and pushed through the cobwebbed veils of someone else's memories that filled the corners of his mind. "Mmmh. I had not considered that," he admitted, brows furrowing slightly. "Though she tried to protect the child from my curse..." Though even that may have been a ruse, if she knew that the Dark Fairy did not dare to harm her. But no matter how hard he tried, in the end he lowered his head and shook it in defeat. "But I cannot remember." A pause and then a slow murmur of insight. "... Which is important, I think. That the book is hiding it from me." Preventing him from flipping to the last page, so to speak, before the tale had finished unfolding.

At a nod from the king the band began to play again and the courtiers fell back, murmuring and sighing happily at their perfect princess. A princess who, a moment later, came to stand before Maea and offered her a shy hand and a smile like sunrise, her eyes demurely down and hidden by her thick lashes. "Will you do me the honor of my first dance, my bravest Knight?" she asked sweetly.

Once upon a time...

Nodding thoughtfully, Maea watched the dancers enter the floor once more. She was startled out of her brooding by the Princess, but quickly caught herself and answered with her best approximation of a courtly bow.

"It would be my honor, your Highness." With a sideways glance at Hadama that warned him against laughing, she offered her arm and led the royal girl onto the dancefloor. Fortunately the book provided her with the knowledge of how to dance, because her feet moved of their own accord. And as they swirled round and round the floor, time liquified and bent, speeding up; the hands of a grand clock twisting in erratic ways until only a handful of minutes remained before the toll of midnight.

And the eyes of the Princess were sad and frightened as she slowed to a halt, right in the middle of the ballroom. And as the first bell rang, her face paled, darkness rising like a tide into her eyes. And at the second toll, sparks of light rose up around her, as curses fought against blessings.

The Knight took a step back, watching intently. And the sparks of magic spread through the room, and where they connected with people, they began to yawn, and grow weary. And when the Princess too sighed a deep yawn, the Knight found herself staring at a terrible darkness that rose out of the Princess's body, threatening to engulf them all.

"It's possessing her!" she cried, suddenly understanding; swiveling to find the Dark Fairy in the crowd, the urgency didn't have to be stated. "Quick, magic - pull it out of her!"

The End

If the disguised Dark Fairy laughed he didn't show it, his expression one of courteous neutrality as the Knight was led away. And there was truly no reason to do so as the pair in the center of the ballroom made a picture-perfect couple, bright and dazzling as they spun and flowed in the courtly steps of the dances that populated fairy tales and dreams.

He would have been content to watch, remembering his first meeting with Maeve with a pang in his chest, but the book spun time out of its usual course once more. He found himself drifting back to his baroness, bringing her the drink that had been promised and taking up position at the side of her chair placed near the royal dais.

Conveniently so.

As time slowed again and the music ended he saw the clock ready to strike midnight and drew a breath to prepare himself. It was all he could do before the gong began to ring and the magic rose in a conflicted flurry around the princess. He watched, mind turning over the possibilities as he stretched for his merfolk magic and found it missing--

But the Knight's cry pulled him back into the tale and he grabbed the walking stick from the baroness's sleep-limp hand. The ornate stick transformed in an instant into his tall, dark staff, and he slammed its steel-shod tip into the tiles of the floor as his disguise fell away, revealing the Dark Fairy in his full fluttering robes and thematic headpiece.

And the magic that engulfed the princess - dark and light both - rose from her in a reluctant cloud of starmotes and shadow, swirling in eternal combat as they were pulled from her body to float above her head, wavering. Sweat beaded on the Dark Fairy's brow as he bent his considerable will against both the curses and the blessings, fighting against their desire to return to their host. "I cannot hold it," he grated to the Knight, the strain evident in his voice. "It must go somewhere!"

But there were only four people still awake within the ballroom: The Dark Fairy, the Knight with her magic sword, the princess, standing beneath the magic that had shaped her entire life...

And the Queen, who stood slowly from her throne beside her sleeping husband and stretched out her hand...

Once upon a time...

And as the magic was pulled from the Princess, the Queen rose from her throne and reached out her hand. And the glance she cast upon her child was full of love and sorrow, and her face set in determination.

All at once the magic was torn from the Fairy and flowed towards the Queen. As it touched her she absorbed it all within herself, and great wings replaced her arms, and a plumage replaced her glistening hair, and where her mouth had been a great beak scribed a wicked arch.

The dread Roc gave off a piercing cry, and took flight, so vast that the tip of each wing brushed the walls of the ballroom. It flew towards the Princess, void of all reason; and the Knight drew her sword and leaped between them, a shield for the protection of the innocent.

"No! She is your daughter!"

But the dread bird could not comprehend. The ring of it's beak as it clashed with the sword echoed through the halls, and with tears of regret the Knight saw no option but to raise her weapon and fight.

The End

That... was not the way Hadama had expected the story to turn, and he paused, momentarily frozen in surprise as the magic slipped his control and raced into the body of the queen, curse and blessings swirling and combining with... something else. Feathers grew and wings spread and the Dark Fairy might have stood by, watching it all unfold if his staff had not twisted within his grip with magic waiting to be unleashed.

And if he had not seen Maea step forward into danger.

Was he the villain, meant to strike the Knight down from behind while she was distracted by the Roc? Or did he have a different part to play, as his scholar-friend had suggested?

The choice was taken from him a moment later as shadows rose around the room, lifting away from the bodies of several sleeping courtiers, nobles, and servants and moving towards the Knight's unguarded back and the princess who stood there, frozen and trembling with the shock of it all.

"No."

One word, but Hadama did not like the way this story was going. Perhaps it could use a new ending. Perhaps it would simply have to deal with a new ending. Because he stepped forward and swung the staff as he would his trident, and lances of ice burst from its jeweled tip in an arc, forcing the shadow creatures to stumble back, hissing as he strode forward to plant himself a short distance behind Maea with the princess between them.

Once upon a time...

The battle raged back and forth. Shadows fell before shards of ice and the ring of steel pronounced the valiant effort put forth by the unlikely allies. But though the shadows failed and thinned with each assault, the Knight found herself outmatched against her gargantuan opponent. The Queen in her magical guise was relentless in her pursuit of the Princess, för magic had clouded her mind and taken hold of her senses.

And a giant wing swept out and knocked the Knight off her feet, and suddenly the path to the child lay open. Like a fawn in the path of an eagle she stood paralyzed; but just as the talons were about to grasp the girl, the Knight lept between them with a defiant cry!

And for all that it was a fairytale, and even though stories couldn't actually hurt them... the talons that buried into her back and stomach felt awfully real. There was pain, of a muddled and hazy kind - but what would linger in Maea's mind surely had to be the taste of her own blood as it gushed bright red from her mouth.

"Sorry - " she gasped - for now Hadama was left to face all the danger on his own. If only it was possible to change an outcome already written...

The End

The shadows took all of his focus and the Dark Fairy could not spare even a glance behind him to see how the Knight's battle fared. There were simply too many foes to keep track of, but with each assault there were fewer. It began to seem to Hadama as though they might yet triumph--

The cries and clang of battle at his back did not distract him, but the bubbling gasp of an apology did, and he whipped his head around to see the Knight falling. He uttered no more words, but the look in his emerald eyes was terrible as he swept the trailing sleeves of his robe back and gripped his staff in both hands, bringing it down upon the flawless tiles of the ballroom hard enough to shatter them. He did not know what spells he might call upon, but his intention was as hard and clear as a diamond:

Save her.

The crystal at the staff's tip exploded in dazzling green light that expanded throughout the room like an emerald wave before gathering at a point high above the melee and lancing down into the body of the Knight. Hurts were healed and wounds were closed, but in the process the Knight

...changed...

...grew...

and spread leathery wings the match of the Roc's as she rose again in the body of a great white and silver dragon.

And as the shadows pounced upon the undefended back of the Dark Fairy and dragged him down beneath their smothering, inky weight there was only silent satisfaction in his eyes before they were hidden from sight.

Once upon a time...

The dragon saw the Dark Fairy disappear into the shadows, and her wrathful roar shook the very foundations of the castle. Tucking the Princess safely against her chest the Dragon Knight seized the Roc and burst up through the roof, and out into the midnight sky above. And now beak and talons was pitted against talons and teeth, and the scalding jets of white-hot flame, and from the terrible bird dark feathers were torn and set aflame. And with each piece of darkness plucked from her the Queen regained some sanity, until she recalled again her name, and her child's name.

And in a final act of sacrifice the Queen flew straight into the fire of the dragon, and all her plumage was set ablaze. Crying her pain and despair she fled from the land, vowing never to return save in a moment of greatest need - and from that day she was known as the Sparkbird, and honored each year at the darkest of nights.

With the passing of the Dark Fairy the curse was lifted, and all the sleepers awakened to find the Princess hale and restored to fullest health. The Knight remained a dragon for the rest of their days and flew off to never be seen again, but it is said that her children sometimes return to forge bonds of friendship and loyalty with the people of the kingdom.

And so the kingdom was saved, and the Princess lived happily ever after.

---

Lying still on the floor of the Atheneum, the book began to glow. As if touched by an otherworldly wind the pages fluttered from the first page to the last, falling open to show a beautifully illustrated picture of the sparkbird and the dragon battling over the castle, while the Dark Fairy wreathed in shadows spread arms wide into the sky.

In a starburst of light, the two who had been trapped were returned to their world. Outside the window, the storm had broken, and a faint glimmer of moonlight light cast the rain in a silver sheen.

Overwhelmed, Maea pushed herself up to sit, dragging strands of hair from her face. Her hands shook gently, and the mute look she turned to Hadama was filled with all they had experienced.

The End

Dying, as it turned out, was not particularly pleasant, even in a storybook.

Being smothered beneath the shadows was similar enough to suffocating on dry land that Hadama was looking more than a little green around the gills as he reappeared in the watery stream near at hand. He ducked fully beneath the water, letting it soothe him as he regained his composure and gave Maea the chance to recover as well.

It was a long couple of minutes before he surfaced again, slicking his hair back and meeting the loreseeker's eyes in solemn silence. Then he inclined his head to her in recognition of the experience they had shared and let out a slow, deep breath. His hands rested lightly on the edge of the canal, the tip of his long tail lashing slowly through the shallow water.

"What is the story called?" he asked at last, breaking the silence gently with his low, quiet words.

Once upon a time...

Rubbing her eyes, it felt like glittering motes were trapped behind the lids. Even long after the book had settled into an innocuous looking pile on the floor, Maea felt the echo of magic in her bones, and the taste of fire at the back of her throat. She wasn't sure what she felt; between wonder and sadness and rage, there was a hollow ache connected to the memory of wings - what it had felt like, in the brief moments when she had been powerful and could fly away, never to return.

"'The Sleeping Princess'," she replied softly. Leaving the sentient tome where it lay for now, she scooted over to sit on the edge of the canal next to Hadama. "The way I remember it though, it was the fairy who turned into a dragon. Sometimes because they were bad, and sometimes because the Knight was. I guess... my brother must have switched things up."

Folding her arms around her legs, Maea glanced at the merman. Wondered at his thoughts, and the sacrifice he had made - in a book, certainly, but nevertheless...
"Are you okay?"

The End

He watched her scoot over, giving a small nod of acknowledgment as she shared the title of her favorite tale. The parts about the story changing, however... he bowed his head more deeply, this time in understanding. "It is how my father would tell stories," he shared, a rare piece of his past handed to the young woman who had lived through the tale beside him. "As my siblings and I grew older." Though they had craved the familiar endings when they were small, they had eagerly awaited the new twists that were introduced as they became more curious about the world.

She curled up beside him, so small and deceptively fragile looking that he was reminded of their first meeting beneath the moonlight, all those years before.

"Mmh. I am... alive." He spoke slowly, as if still getting used to the concept. Silence stretched between them for a time before he spoke again, drawing a deep breath. "Dying was... an experience I could have done without," he admitted at length. "I... do not know whether I am 'okay.'" He grew quiet again before looking back to Maea, emerald eyes resting gently on her. "Are you?"

Once upon a time...

A tidbit offered in confidence, she treated it as such and tucked it away as a secret. Some other time she would have asked about his family, and the kind of stories merfolk told their children, but for now it was enough to know he had any. There was no need to bring up potential loss when they were still reeling over their own.

"I... don't know either," Maea admitted. "It felt so real. I could fly! And now..." Even if she looked within there was nothing but the usual tiger to find. Yet she kept searching, as if some trace of the dragon might still linger within her.

"Would you like some tea?" she offered after sucking in a deep breath, not quite ready to be left alone. "My office is just downstairs... I could fetch some, if you don't want to leave the water."

The didn't say it, but the quiet please was in her eyes nonetheless.

The End

He might not know what it was to fly, but he knew what it was to swim, and how limiting walking could be in comparison. There were benefits, to be sure, but it was nowhere near the freedom of the open water. Still, he had no words that would help her with the loss she seemed to feel and so he sat with her in companionable silence, present but quiet as they both processed their experiences.

"Yes, please," he agreed to her offer, lifting his head to meet her eyes. There was understanding there, and an equal unwillingness to be alone just yet. And who else could he speak to about what had occurred? It would make no sense to any other Mer, and Sentient Books were not a hazard that Torchers of any stripe had much experience with.

There was a weak glimmer of humor in his gaze as he glanced up to the windows where the moonlight streamed in, far from full. It was not a matter of whether he 'wanted' to leave the water tonight. "I will be here when you return."