[Mini Event] [SE] Once upon a time

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, a wise man had accused Maea of acquiring a taste for power. Whether he had been right or not she couldn't answer, but she would have to admit that she did like to be in control. Hadama - no, pardon, the Dark Fairy - did a really good job of pulling her tail with his vanishing acts and lofty attitude, and despite her quiet enjoyment of the story she grated her teeth with rather genuine annoyance at being yanked around.

But the King gestured for them to be away, and as the Knight she could only obey. With a contingent of guards at her heels, she marched for the throneroom door and had caught up to the Fairy before he had a chance to disappear.

"Well, this is interesting," she murmured under breath to Hadama as they walked through the corridors of the fairytale castle. "Good job in there... you make a very convincing villain. Ever pulled a coup before?"

The End

"Only a small one," he demurred, also beneath his breath. His eyes sparkled with bright humor as he walked unhurriedly beside the knight, keeping up his unruffled appearance while the nameless guards followed behind Maea. In spite of himself he was finding this strange storybook game to be unexpectedly enjoyable, and even the role of the villain was not quite so terrible as he'd first assumed.

At least not with the pale Ancient Knight to show him the safe currents to follow.

"Do you know what comes next?" His concerns over the passage of time remained unassuaged, and he took even greater care than usual with each step so that they marched at a slow and dignified pace through the castle in order to give he and Maea longer to speak. "I do not wish to spend sixteen years within this place."

Once upon a time...

Suppressing a smile so as not to confuse the guards that followed in their wake, it was tempting to pick up the tidbit and unwind whatever story that lay behind his response. Was it simply in jest, or did truth lay behind the glitter of mirth in his eyes?

Alas, his concerns were valid and Maea couldn't answer with too much certainty.
"I... think it's possible to linger in these books," she mused, letting her eyes rove over the surroundings. Reaching out as they passed an arch in the corridors, she found the stone to be cold and remarkably solid beneath her hand. More than illusion, if perhaps not as sturdy as their own reality. "How long does it take to read a story? It would depend on how much time you spend on it; I suppose it would be possible to linger over every detail for days or even weeks...But if we stick to the main points it shouldn't keep us more than a few hours. Or perhaps a day."  

It was a careless estimation, because she had no way of telling time here, or compare it to that of their world. It felt like maybe an hour had passed - but how could they know for sure?

"In broad strokes, thr story goes that the princess is cursed, she and the whole castle falls asleep and roses grow to cover it all. A Knight sets out to find the sorcerer to break the spell, and after their epic battle the castle wakes and it's happy ever after. Though, I recall this story has different endings. In one, the Dark Fairy dies after being slain by the Knight. In the other, it turns out that the Fairy protected the kingdom from a great evil, and the Knight dies while defeating it. I don't know which version this is..."

Frowning, Maea thought back to the conversation in the throneroom, wondering if anything that had been said might serve as a clue.

The End

Her words were, as she knew, far from reassuring, though Hadama kept any trace of a frown from his stoic facade. His staff tapped along the flagstones with each step, creating a quiet chime with each impact that rang a little too pure, as if it were the idealized version of what the sound should be rather than what it generally was when flawed metal struck imperfect rock in the real world. "Mmh." His acknowledgment was far from enthusiastic as he turned his own thoughts to ways they might speed the tale along.

It helped to at least know the direction the story would likely take, even if there were two wildly different versions that were offered. "I would prefer neither of us be slain," he murmured quietly to his companion in her disguise as the Knight. Either his slayer or his victim, it would seem. "Though I seem to be the villain here. Unless the baby is the true threat," he added, tilting his head subtly towards his escorting Knight to raise a questioning brow.

Once upon a time...

It was a beautiful story, and a beautiful setting. It had been a favorite as she grew up, the one story her brother had told her that soothed her during the long bouts of illness that plagued her youth. He had brought all the characters to life, and woven them both into the story; she as the sleeping Princess, and himself into the loyal champion who had to leave her - but only for the time it took to vanquish the evil fairy who had cursed her.

As a result, it was a story she knew well. Standing in the Knight's place, though, was a new experience.

"No," Maea said in a low but firm tone, "the princess is the hope and future of the kingdom. If she dies, all will be lost. No matter the outcome, she has to be saved." Was it her brother's words that came to her, or some strand of the story that wove loyalty into her heart? Maybe it was the image of herself she needed to protect; small and frail, lying feverish in a room full of shadows and uncertainty.

She needed that child to have a future.

"Anyway, all we can do is try to play our roles as best we can. How about you operate under the assumption that there is an outward evil, whilst I follow the court's view that you are the problem? Maybe we can uncover what's actually true."

They were approaching the main gate of the castle. The other guards drew up to encircle them both which made conversation difficult. Maea had to admit she didn't much enjoy the idea of using her sword on the merman made fairy, nor was it exciting to even pretend to die - her first experience with death was one she'd rather not replicate.

But if that was the only way out... perhaps they didn't have a choice.

The End

Though he couldn't know why Maea was so adamant that the princess be saved, Hadama gave a subtle tilt of his head in acknowledgment. She was his guide to this tale and he trusted her sense of the story they had to wend their way through. Though if it took sixteen years - or even sixteen days - there would be much larger problems to deal with.

Sharp ears caught her murmured suggestion but as they reached the gates and the rest of the guards came forward there was little he could do but give a haughty nod in her direction, as if in mocking courtesy for her escort - and the flicker of a wink to show he understood. "I am sure we will meet again," he rumbled to the Knight, his sonorous tones implying a far more sinister cast to his words than he meant.

He stepped out of the castle and raised his staff, having a better feel for the story's mechanics now. He brought it down on the bridge and a clap of thunder accompanied the impact. Smoke billowed out around him, and when it cleared he was gone.

As for where he went? Well, where else would a Dark Fairy go but to a Dark Tower? A spire of black stone thrust up from the center of a shadowed forest. Without doors or windows on the lower levels it was a forbidding structure that rose above the tops of the trees before it opened into a large chamber with windows looking out in all directions but one. Hadama, in his wicked guise, appeared in the chamber in a second billow of smoke and looked around cautiously. Floor-to-ceiling shelves of packed the walls between each window, mostly filled with books but occasionally other things as well: mortars and pestles, bowls and beakers, the skulls and feathers of birds and various jars and vials whose contents Hadama did not care to investigate too closely.

The only wall without a window held a wide hearth, and in it a bubbling cauldron of something green and faintly glowing. On the other side of the room was a worktable with more books and components of sorcery and alchemy laid out, as if in the middle of some experiment. The final furniture of note was a round table in the room's center, and on it a polished sphere of crystal the size of his head. Within its heart he could see movement and color: the throne room he had so recently left behind, where much fuss was being made over the infant princess and the Queen who held her.

Once upon a time...

And so it was, and in the years that followed the King would search the land for any who could lift the curse. But though he offered great rewards to any who would succeed, and though many tried, the curse would not be lifted while its caster remained alive.

And the Knights of the realm was charged with the grim duty of finding the Dark Fairy. Long were the roads they traveled, and fruitless their search - for the Dark one was cunning and would not linger long in the same place, not would they allow any to discover the Dark Tower.

And the years passed. The Princess grew in health and beauty, and upon her sixteenth birthday a great ball was hosted in her honor. Kings and Queens from distant lands came to celebrate, as did the comments, and the gentry, yay even the trolls and the fairies of the realm. And though the tale of the curse had spread far and wide, none spoke a word of it to their neighbor, for the feast was grand and the music gay, and the Princess so fair that the mere thought that any ill could befall her would bring tears to the eye. And that was no way to celebrate a birthday, now was it.

And as the guests arrived on the day of the feast, one slipped in who had not been invited. And the Knight, ever vigilant, took notice and crept stealthily along their wake, thinking the intruder to be the Dark Fairy come again. Along winding corridors and lonely city streets went the chase, until the uninvited suddenly vanished. And no sooner had the Knight left their post, than another intruder appeared. Like dancing shadows they crept, infiltrating the castle one by one - and in the highest tower of the castle, a bell chimed; the ball had begun.

The End

Time passed in a blur, much to Hadama's bemusement. The narration was not exactly audible, having more in common with Attuned telepathy than anything else, but it gave the gist of what happened in the ensuing span. He certainly breathed a very quiet, subtle sigh of relief when sixteen 'years' elapsed in the space of a few minutes, though it was disconcerting to have the sense that he had done all that the tale required of him without having the concrete memories to accompany it.

Nevertheless, he once more found himself at the Palace.

And oh, he certainly did have an invitation. Not addressed to 'the Dark Fairy,' of course! Rather, his face and form were cloaked in illusion as he accompanied a venerable dowager baroness as her 'plus one' for the evening. A small enchantment had - apparently, in his convenient 'memories' from the Dark Fairy's side of the story - befuddled the baroness's mind into thinking that the plainly unassuming man at her side was some distant nephew who had come along to assist her for the evening.

Only his bright emerald eyes remained the same as he moved with solicitous slowness at the old woman's side, steadying her tottering steps as they joined the glittering swirl of color and light that was the grand ball.

Once upon a time...

As a Knight, Maea found herself on guard duty as te ball began. Dazed by the strange shift and blur of time, she kept searching for some kind of clue as to what was going on. The figures infiltrating the castle troubled her, as did her lack of answers gleaned over the 'years'. If anything, all she had was more questions. Why had the Dark Fairy become dark in the first place? What happened between that figure and the Queen, and what had been the purpose of cursing the Princess? It seemed a roundabout way of getting revenge if indeed the Fairy simply wanted revenge.

Her best guess was that there was something unsavory surrounding the way the Queen had gotten with child... But what? And why? And how would killing the Princess solve it?

Unless... An idea came to her. Remembering how the Dark Fairy had waited until the three other fairies were by the dais before appearing. It could be coincidence that one was left to counter the death spell, but was it really? If she was meant to fall asleep...

Heart suddenly pouding, Maea craned her neck to scan the crowded room for any sign of the intruders. Cursing her own short stature, and the impractical nature of her role that prevented her from moving freely, she hoped Hadama would have found a way to be here. Hoped he would know more than she; something was about to go down here and it galled her that she didn't know what.

The End

The Dark Fairy didn't have access to all of his character's memories, unfortunately. Narratively it made sense, of course. Whoever was placed in the character's role would have the tale's plot twists effectively ruined if they knew the villain's - or at least, supposed villain's - motivations and history from the start. Hadama accepted it calmly and moved forward as best he could with what little they did know, and he had, apparently, done a great deal of scrying beyond the kingdom's borders in the interim...

But had seen only shadows in his looking glass. Shadows and omens that all pointed to this night and this place.

"I will bring you a drink," he informed the baronness as she settled into a chair off to the side of the dancefloor, placing her cane across her knees as if to ward off any importunate would-be suitors. She nodded once and then settled in to watch the courtiers with rheumy eyes that dreamed of younger days.

It freed Hadama to move with an unhurried but steady pace to where the Knight stood guard. Useful, that she was so easily identified in her shining armor and gleaming white hair, though her height occasionally worked against him.

"Midnight," he murmured as he came to a halt by her side, nodding courteously from the plain facade of his illusion. "That is what I... apparently... learned. At the first stroke of the bells."

Once upon a time...

Nearly jumping out of her skin when someone spoke to her, it took her a moment to puzzle together the strangers face with Hadama's voice. Relieved that he was there, Maea nodded. Her face beneath the helmet looked paler than usual, and had lost some of the earlier excitement.

"Understood. Hey... be careful, alright? There's something in the castle that shouldn't be. I tried to find out who... but all I got was a feeling that it's more of a 'what'. Some kind of shadow - it keeps disappearing, or hiding. I don't recall this being part of the story..." Which could mean a few things, but ultimately didn't help them at all.

Taking her eyes off the dancers, Maea spared a moment to take in Hadama's disguise. "Nice trick. I didn't recognize you at all." It looked more comfortable than her armor; apparently steel was steel even in a fairytale. "I would ask you to dance to pass the time... but unfortunately I'm not dressed for the occasion."

The End

He studied the Knight's face thoughtfully for a moment and then gave a slow nod. "I will," he promised. "I, too, only found shadows when I looked for an outside threat. I do not think they are mine." Though it was troubling to hear that the story was diverging from what Maea knew. What would happen to the book if their lines and actions did not fit the original narrative? It was not a question he particularly wanted to test, but the choice might not be in their hands for much longer.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the compliment and he tilted his head to the side in acknowledgment. "Mmh. Fairy magic is a useful thing." As Abandoned magic must be as well, so much broader than that which the gods allowed the Mer. The power in it was... not without temptation. Especially when dealing with the Void.

Emerald eyes twinkled with light as he continued. "But it has not taught me how to dance." At least, he did not think it had. Perhaps the Dark Fairy knew how, and would fall into the steps of the graceful pavane currently taking place in the middle of the ballroom. "Have you seen the princess?" When trouble struck it seemed likely that it would center on their young protagonist. The tale revolved around her, after all. She would be at the heart of the coming climax.

Once upon a time...

Would that she had been more in the mood. Maea could have attempted what magic could not accomplish. Not because she was any good at dancing herself, but simply to enjoy the dreamlike wonder of their situation. If it hadn't been for the shadows it may have been different. Alas, right now Maea found more comfort in the hilt of the sword strapped to her side, and only managed a wan smile in response to the mer-fairy's merriment.

His question had her scan the ballroom again. "No, but the king has not arrived yet either. Maybe they're making a grand entry..."

And as if her words were a prophecy, no sooner had the Knight spoken than a fanfare was blown on ringing trumpets. The dancers stopped and as one the gentry and honored guests turned to watch as grand doors opened wide to allow the royal family. The King was regal and the Queen radiant upon his arm, but when the Princess entered the room a hush fell, for her beauty was such that it stole the breath away. With a shy smile she greeted those who had come to honor her - but from her spot not far from the girl Maea could see that it did not quite reach her eyes.

In fact... there was something strange about her gaze. Ever so often the Princess's eyes shifted color, from clear to pitch black.

"Do you see what I'm seeing?" she murmured, and tugged surreptitiously at the disguised Dark Fairy's sleeve. Her stomach flopped uneasily; would they have to fight the Princess? Was that really how it was supposed to go?

The End

The fanfare drew his attention as surely as it had Maea's, and Hadama turned to watch the arrival of the royals with calm curiosity. His emerald gaze rested on them only briefly, seeing that the princess was indeed with them, before he began to scan the room, paying particular attention to the shadows and the places where the light didn't quite reach. He was looking for things that were out of place, movement where there should have been none, or patches of darkness that seemed to have a will of its own.

But when the Knight at his side drew his eyes back to the glitter and pomp of the ruling family he did, indeed, see what she meant. A low, thoughtful hum rumbled in his chest, quiet enough that only his companion would hear it. "I do," he agreed slowly. "But that does not mean she is the source." Possession was also an option, or perhaps the first flickers of the curse that was due to descend on her on her sixteenth birthday. "Do you remember any rumors about her behavior while she was growing up?"