Not Your Typical Fairy Tale Part 1

[flameflowerful]

Donghae patted his trusty steed.

“We’re almost there, Fishy,” he said. He shivered, drawing his princely red cloak tighter around him. The snow around here almost blinded him with its pristine brightness, and his breath created a fog in the air. The landscape was barren for the most part, except for a few fir trees that popped up every once in a while, heavy with blankets of snow.

Rising up in the distance was a castle that resembled a medieval tower. It was made fundamentally of ice, and reflected the sun’s rays almost brutally. However, Donghae still could not tear his eyes away from it. That was where his destined princess was imprisoned in.

He had to rescue her.

“Once upon a time,” he mused and nudged his horse to continue on forward.

The entrance to the castle was magnificent. It was, like the rest of the castle, pristine white in its iciness. There were flower engravings over the doors, as if the imprint of the flowers on the ice could bring on the pretense of spring. Donghae cautiously pushed open the doors, struggling against its heaviness and told his Fishy to wait outside for him.

Donghae drew his sword from its scabbard slowly, ready to face the Wicked Wizard who was said to reside in this castle. A lone figure stood in the hall before him, head turned away from him.

“Hi,” Donghae said awkwardly, and then remembered that he was supposed to be the knight in shining armor. He straightened up and then cleared his throat in order to speak in a deeper, manlier voice. “I mean, hi. I’m Prince Lee Donghae.”

The figure turned to him and Donghae lost his ability to speak. The man before him was covered with a hooded robe, but his red hair peeked out in a huge contrast to the whiteness around them. His face was exquisitely beautiful, but also chillingly cold. He seemed to belong to this ice castle, with his frigid aura pouring out of his persona. So this was the wizard whose heart was rumored to be frozen in ice.

“I suppose you are here to rescue the Princess as well.” The wizard’s voice was brittle and melodic at the same time. “Turn back now, because you will lose against me.”

Donghae huffed and brandished his sword at his opponent in what he hoped was a courageous looking pose. “I will not abandon the Princess. I have come this far and I will defeat you in order to rescue her.”

Hyukjae examined the prince in front of him. He looked weak, weaker than the other princes who had came before him. It didn’t really matter anyway, since he had the magical ability to defeat even the strongest man in the land. It was clear that this prince (Donghae, his mind reminded him) was nervous, but he still stared clearly into Hyukjae’s eyes. It was rare that someone would choose to make eye contact with him, seeing as almost everyone feared him and his magic. Slightly impressed, Hyukjae shifted to gather his magical energy into an attack that would blast the intruder out of his castle.

Donghae, seeing his enemy moving, raised his (anti-magic) sword and stepped forward to counteract the attack. Before he could fully put his foot down, he tripped - over nothing, really - and bumped into the torch next to him (thank goodness that torch wasn’t lighted since it was daytime). Hyukjae watched in slight disbelief as the torch bounced off the wall and collided with Donghae’s head. The prince was knocked sprawled onto the floor, unconscious due to the blow to his head. Hyukjae stared at the comatose man in front of him. It was the first time that someone who came to challenge Hyukjae knocked himself out.

Donghae woke up with a killer headache. His hand automatically looked for his sword as he tried to determine where he was. The room was covered with drapes, but the ice walls could still be seen. He was still in the castle. It was strange that the inside of the castle felt warm, even though there was ice and snow everywhere.

“I have temporarily confiscated your sword,” a voice said. Donghae, startled, looked up and saw the Wicked Wizard standing at the doorway. He squeaked in an embarrassing manner, and just huddled under the covers of the bed more. He didn’t really know what to do when his one and only weapon was taken away from him. The red-haired man was observing Donghae in an amused manner.

“I would advise you to leave now that you’ve woken up,” the wizard said.

“Fishy?” Donghae couldn’t help but ask. The other just stared incomprehensively at Donghae, and he had to elaborate. “My horse, he’s still alive, right?”

Donghae tried not to make his voice shake too much, because Fishy was his precious, favorite horsey.

“You named your horse - ” Hyukjae said slowly, and then seemed to think better of it. “Yes, your Fishy is fine. He’s in the castle stables. Now go home.”

Donghae pouted in an obstinate, obnoxious way. “No. I’m not leaving until I rescue the Princess.”

Hyukjae kneaded his temples in frustration at this stubborn prince. “There’s no point in you staying here if you can’t defeat me.”

Donghae flushed in mortification as he recalled how he had ended up blacking out. He even said an inspiring, princely speech before starting the battle. His whole family would tease him so badly if they ever hear of it.

“Let me stay, pleeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?” Donghae decided to showcase his ultimate weapon, his puppy eyes. Never mind, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve even though his sword was taken away. Hyukjae widened his eyes at Donghae’s sad and adorable expression. “It took me five days to get to your castle. And I don’t want to fight the talking polar bears again. If you turn me away now, I’ll come back again. And again. And again.”

“You’re planning on coming back?” Hyukjae threw his hands up. “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”

“My mom said my best trait is my stubbornness,” Donghae smiled, feeling victory close at hand. If he could convince the wizard into letting him stay, he could sneak around the castle and find the Princess. Then he could tail the hell out of this place, with his bride-to-be riding on their horse together into the sunset.

Hyukjae lost the staring contest with Donghae. He sighed, knowing that this brunette would come back to annoy him if he just tossed him out. Donghae would eventually get tired of trying to find and rescue the princess and go away soon anyway. Hyukjae had personally created a magical barrier around his castle that alerted him if the Princess went beyond it.

“Fine,” Hyukjae said.

“Thanks, umm,” Donghae said because he didn’t know if calling the red-haired man the Wicked Wizard would make him mad or not.

“Hyukjae. Lee Hyukjae,” Hyukjae said and then exited the room. Donghae looked around, patting his comfortable mattress.

“Well, I guess this is my new room,” Donghae said to himself.

“Hey!” Donghae froze in guiltiness when an unfamiliar voice called out to him. He probably wasn’t supposed to be skulking around in the castle, trying to discover which room the Princess was jailed in. A kind of short man was striding towards him, arms full of blankets.

“You’re the prince who knocked himself out before the battle started, right?” He said.

Donghae didn’t really appreciate being remembered like that, but he reluctantly nodded anyway.

“I’m Ryeowook, a servant at the castle,” Ryeowook said, extending his hand out while balancing the blankets in his other hand. Donghae warily shook it, wondering if there was some kind of trap involved.

“Donghae,” Donghae said.

“I know,” Ryeowook chirped, and then looked a little guilty. “I mean, everyone was gossiping about you.”

“Everyone?” Donghae wondered how many people there were that worked here. The castle looked so uninhabitable. Ryeowook nodded excitedly.

“It’s the first time Hyukjae allowed someone to stay here, so we were curious about what you were like.”

“Really,” Donghae said awkwardly. Ryeowook beamed and something wafted into Donghae’s nose.

“That smells really good,” Donghae said.

“I know. I cooked it, after all. It’s dinner time!” Ryeowook dragged Donghae with him in the direction that must be the dining room.

It was another huge hallway-like room that he was led to. The table was glistening mahogany wood, with plates and silverware already set on it.

“Enjoy,” Ryeowook said and then went into another room through a door. Donghae shook his head; he felt like this whole castle was some kind of unsolvable maze.

“Ryeowook took awhile to find you.” the icily beautiful voice said. Donghae realized that Hyukjae was already sitting at the head of the table.

“I was… Erm, in the showers,” Donghae said.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Hyukjae retorted, and Donghae cringed.

“Fine. I was exploring the castle.”

“You won’t find her easily.”

“I can try, can’t I?” Donghae said hotly, bringing a slight smirk on Hyukjae’s face.

“Dinner,” someone said with kohl lined eyes while carrying plates on his arms and hands.

“Thanks Yesung,” Hyukjae said. Yesung tilted his head at Donghae for a second, narrowing his eyes. He didn’t say anything else, though, and just left. Donghae felt a little surprised, because from the stories he had heard, Hyukjae was portrayed as an evil kidnapper. This Hyukjae actually had manners at least, despite his cold attitude.

Donghae quickly got distracted by the food laid out before him. He tried to stop the drool from coming out of his mouth.

“Ryeowook is a genius,” Donghae mumbled through his mouthful of food.

“Yah,” Hyukjae said. “Chew and then talk.”

“Can you show me the stables later? I want to see if my Fishy is okay.”

“Hmm.”

That wasn’t a no. Donghae smiled brightly before demolishing his food like a hurricane. Hyukjae picked at his food almost daintily, somewhat reminiscent of a refined lady. Donghae tried to suppress laughter at that sight.

“What?” Hyukjae huffed, a little cutely. Apparently a small chuckle emerged out of Donghae’s mouth despite his efforts to keep it closed.

“You eat like a girl.” Both Donghae and Hyukjae widened their eyes at Donghae’s statement. Donghae was thinking about how he had dropped his guard and started treating Hyukjae like a familiar friend. Great. Hyukjae was probably going to drop him dead with a bolt of lighting or something for that insult. To his surprise, Hyukjae just glared and stabbed a piece of fish almost viciously, but didn’t whip out any magical attacks.

“You eat like a whale,” Hyukjae retorted.

“I like whales,” Donghae said.

“Of course you do.” Hyukjae rolled his eyes. He was a little shocked at himself for falling into such easy banter someone he just met yesterday. Donghae had some kind of special quality in him to make him extra annoyed.

“That’s not very nice,” Donghae said, making Hyukjae widen his eyes even more.

“Did I say that out loud?” Hyukjae rhetorically asked.

“No, but you were glaring at me, and I can kind of guess that you think I’m annoying. It’s the same glare my siblings use at me. I’m done with my dinner. If you don’t want the rest, I can finish that as well!”

“How unpolite. Aren’t you supposed to be a prince?”

Donghae crossed his arms. “For your information, I can act very princely when I want to.”

“Right. Like that time you made the torch knock into your head.”

Donghae stomped out of the room in a childlike manner. “Stop mentioning that!”

Hyukjae turned his head to the side, glad that Donghae wasn’t there to witness the small smile on his face. The first real smile that he had possessed in a long while.

Hyukjae slowly finished his dinner, enjoying the fact that Donghae was waiting for him outside the dining room so that they could go to the stables. He exited the room finding Donghae with his face plastered on the cold window.

“It’s staring at me,” Donghae said. “What the hell is that?”

Hyukjae walked next to Donghae and peered outside as well.

“That’s a snowy owl. They hunt in the daytime,” Hyukjae answered.

“Its eyes are kind of creepy,” Donghae said, then turned to Hyukjae. “Stables. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

“Yes. Your precious Fishy.” Hyukjae made sure to layer in the sarcasm into his voice, which made Donghae puff out his cheeks.

“He is very precious to me!”

“Then you better keep up with me,” Hyukjae said. He walked to the middle of the hallway, Donghae following instinctively behind him. Hyukjae snapped his fingers, and the icy strip in the middle of the hall started moving in a separate manner from the rest of the floor.

“Whoa!” Donghae ended up with his butt plopped on the moving part of the ice. Hyukjae enjoyed the dumbstruck look on his face.

“That was kind of dizzying,” Donghae said after their short trip to one of the castle exits ended.

“You talk too much,” Hyukjae said.

“It’s another endearing quality of mine.”

Donghae spotted a small stable ten feet away from them. He ran towards it, tripping (again. What was with that?), and then standing up again. Hyukjae just kind of stared at this strange specimen in front of him who laughing in a carefree way as Donghae’s horse whinnied at his owner. The way Donghae laughed was kind of captivating.

“Now, Fishy,” Donghae cooed, “Meet Hyukjae. Hyukjae, say hello to Fishy.”

Hyukjae cautiously petted the horse. Animals tended to dislike him, but this one just nudged at his hand with its head. It didn’t have any fear of him, just like its owner, Hyukjae thought.

“Fishy likes you.” Donghae looked satisfied, because he had an inner belief that anyone who Fishy liked was a nice person. Hyukjae shyly smiled at the horse as it head butted him in an attempt to sniff out any apples or candy cubes.

“I’ll bring one next time,” he promised, running his hand through Fishy’s soft mane. He didn’t notice that Donghae was standing in a star-struck manner, left speechless by Hyukjae’s pretty smile. A sudden desire rose within him to make Hyukjae smile like that again.

“Hyukjae,” Donghae said, and the way he said it sent a sudden shiver within Hyukjae’s core. Donghae then paused, and turned away. “Never mind.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“It couldn’t have been nothing.”

“Now you’re the one being stubborn.” Donghae revealed his teeth a wide smile.

“Hmphft. You should be glad I like your horse or I would’ve thrown you out by now.”

“I thought we decided I was staying?” Donghae pursed his lips. Hyukjae’s hand twitched in the middle of petting Fishy. He had forgotten about why Donghae was here.

“Yeah.” Donghae tilted his head in confusion, because Hyukjae had retreated back into the icy shell that he was in when they first met. Hyukjae withdrew his hand from the horse, and started striding back to the castle door.

“Stay here as long as you want to. Ryeowook can lead you back to your room,” Hyukjae said.

A persistent knock on Hyukjae’s door interrupted his beauty sleep. It had been a whole week since Donghae had became a freeloader at his castle, and he had somehow found the location of Hyukjae’s room in his endless exploration. Donghae seemed to enjoy bothering Hyukjae whenever he wasn’t trying to search for the Princess.

“What?” Hyukjae called out, irritated.

“Hyukkie.” Donghae let himself in. Hyukjae just winced at the nickname that he had somehow acquired in the short time they had known each other.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me that?”

“It’s a cute nickname. I like it. I don’t get why you don’t,” Donghae said.

“You were interrupting my sleep,” Hyukjae said.

“The sun’s up in the middle of the sky! You’re a lazy butt for not waking up earlier.”

“Am not,” Hyukjae just muttered, and lied back on his bed, trying to ignore the intruder in his room. “HEY!”

Donghae had flung the covers off of Hyukjae, leaving cold air to rush against his skin. “Wakey wakey. I want to ask you about something.”

Hyukjae turned so that his face was covered by his pillows. He wanted to go back to sleep, even though he knew that Donghae would start singing and dancing in order to wake him up anyway, but he could at least try, right?

“Go ‘way.” Hyukjae’s voice came out muffled due to the pillow.

“But, but I found a locked door. I’m curious what’s behind it. I asked Wookie and the others, but they told me to go and ask you instead.”

Hyukjae jolted up from the bed, no longer sleepy. Unfortunately, Donghae was leaning over Hyukjae, so they ended up bumping foreheads.

“Ow!” They both yelped.

Donghae reflected on how hard Hyukjae’s head was, when he noticed that Hyukjae was looking kind of flustered and holding a bump on his forehead. He had never seen Hyukjae losing his composure before. It was, quite frankly, adorable.

“Are you okay?” Donghae fussed over Hyukjae like a chicken hen.

“I’m fine,” Hyukjae grumbled. It wasn’t often that he was surprised like that, although ever since Donghae had come to live (more like be a bum) at his castle, he kept getting shocked by the unexpected things that happened when Donghae was around.

Hyukjae reluctantly crawled out of his bed, and snapped at Donghae to get out of the room while he changed. Donghae scowled at him, but exited anyway, while mumbling under his breath.

Hyukjae’s hand almost shook as he put his favorite velvety robe on. He had decided to show Donghae what was behind that locked door, even though only a few people in the universe had ever seen it. There was something about Donghae’s warm golden eyes that made him want to trust him, though. Hyukjae exhaled, trying to get some composure back into his body, and then stepped out of the room.

Donghae followed as Hyukjae continued walking without a word. They approached the door, which was obviously old and the only thing not covered with ice. It was brown and rotting, but still held strong against time. Several jewels were embedded into the door, and as Hyukjae touched them one by one, they glowed and the locks unlatched themselves. Donghae stared in wonder, even though he had seen many magical feats done by Hyukjae from the many days he had stayed here.

The door opened with a light push by Hyukjae, and a stairwell down revealed itself. The steps were made out of stone, and Hyukjae took out an origami butterfly from his pocket. It fluttered from his hands, and then started glowing, illuminating the path before them.

“Onwards,” Hyukjae said.

Donghae took a deep breath and took the steps down cautiously. He didn’t want to slip and perform an encore of that time he had challenged Hyukjae. Hyukjae was right behind him, humming softly in what Donghae assumed was a spell to keep the butterfly glowing.

There were soft dripping sounds echoing through the stairwells, and Donghae had to hold in a gasp of rapture when they finally descended down the lowest level. There was a small reservoir of clear water inside the cave that they were in. Glittering stalagmites thrust out from the ground and the ceilings, some dripping drops of water.

“So beautiful,” Donghae said. Hyukjae traced the features of Donghae’s face with his eyes and inwardly agreed.

“That’s not what I wanted to show you,” Hyukjae said. The cave’s temperature was colder than the castle’s, and Donghae’s teeth were starting to chatter a little. Hyukjae cast a warming spell around them before walking forward, rocks crunching beneath his boots as he walked.

Donghae felt his breath caught as he saw an almost impossible sight before him. Beyond the small reservoir of water, there was a thick spear of ice jutting out of the ground. The ice was wrapped around something, something that pulsed with light like it was breathing. Hyukjae was standing in front of it, somewhat resembling a carved statue.

As Donghae got closer, he realized that the ice was wrapped around a block of dull, green rock.

“An emerald,” Donghae breathed and then jumped a little when his statement echoed around them. The rock swallowed by ice was a beautiful, unrefined emerald that seemed to have a life of its own as it continued to beat to its own pulse.

“That’s my heart.” Hyukjae’s voice was flat, like he was talking about some boring topic of sea fungus. Donghae found himself gaping in utter shock at the wizard beside him.

“Did I hear that wrong?” Donghae asked. “That… That’s really y-your heart?”

Hyukjae didn’t look at him. He just nodded.

Donghae swallowed and examined the emerald, Hyukjae’s heart, in front of him even more closely. There were many rumors and stories he had heard about Hyukjae, and the one thing most people liked to emphasize with wild gestures was that the Wicked Wizard’s heart was frozen in ice. Donghae had cast that off as an exaggerated detail that was obviously added in by some overenthusiastic storyteller. Never had he suspected that it was the truth. Hyukjae’s heart was literally frozen in ice.

“Why?” Donghae could only ask. Why was it frozen like that? How could his heart be a rock, for goodness sakes?

“My own mother did this to me,” Hyukjae said. He reached out to brush his fingertip on the ice that covered his heart. “She cast the spell on me believing that it was a blessing, that doing this would make me live longer because my heart would beat slower in ice. It did extend my age, but I’ve also lost the ability to…”

Donghae waited for the end of his explanation but it didn’t come. Hyukjae only inclined his head up at the ceiling as if he heard something.

“You should go up to lunch now,” Hyukjae said. Donghae, for once, didn’t push him for further information and left with a last, hesitating glance at the emerald. The origami butterfly left with Donghae, guiding him back to the upper floors of the castle.

Hyukjae let out an agonizing sigh as he continued starting at the thing that was supposed to be his heart.

I’ve also lost the ability to love.

Then he noticed something that struck a chord within his whole body in alarm. There was a drop of water running off the side of the ice slowly and tantalizingly. The ice around the emerald was starting to melt.

Part Two