Happily Ever After
Title: Happily Ever After
Author: Imladra
Based on: Splash for Chapter182 - For the Summer Challenge at
kuroxfai!
Rating: G
Warnings: Spoilers for Fay's past
Disclaimer: TRC and its characters are owned by CLAMP, not me.
Summary/Excerpt:Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with a terrible problem. The kingdom lay in the shadow of a great mountain, and inside this mountain was a fearsome dragon.
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with a terrible problem. The kingdom lay in the shadow of a great mountain, and inside this mountain was a fearsome dragon. It breathed fire, it roared furiously, it hoarded gold and demanded sacrifice - in short, it was commonly acknowledged as a dragon in every sense of the word.
The sacrifice it regularly demanded was royal blood. To appease the terrifying creature, the people of the kingdom sent sacrifice after sacrifice…until the castle sat empty.
A shortage of royalty, especially as a result of his own insatiable demands, did not concern the dragon one bit, and soon enough, he was back, demanding a beautiful princess, a dashing prince, or even a cousin of a Queen’s brother, twice removed. But there was not a single body of royal lineage to be found.
Things were looking grim until a swirl of colour and light deposited two people in the town square, between the frightened crowd and the greedy dragon.
The two were men: one fair, one dark. The dragon roared in pleasure and pointed a claw at the fair one, declaring he was of royal blood and would make a lovely sacrifice, and flew back to his mountain.
What followed was a terrible confusion. The inhabitants of the kingdom tried to get at the fair-haired stranger, the dark-haired stranger wouldn’t let them, and there was rather a lot of shouting.
This only lasted a few minutes, however, as the people of the kingdom were easily frightened, and the crimson eyes of the aggressive stranger were frightening indeed. The people tried to reason with the strangers, explaining that death by dragon was the natural end for a member of royalty. This earned them dark looks and several curse words before the other stranger stepped forward and said he’d go. He spoke quietly to his partner, who sighed in exasperation before stepping back.
They were going to hold a feast for the new soon-to-be-late prince, but the dark man said the quicker they left, the quicker he could slay the dragon and leave the kingdom. The prince agreed on leaving immediately, and the people all tearfully expressed how brave and noble he was to go so willingly to his horrible fate. They told the dark man is was very nice of him to escort the prince, and if the dragon let him leave after he was done, he could come back to live with them.
They dressed the prince in brilliant robes embroidered with dancing flames, and tried to do the same to his would-be escort. They convinced him to wear them, but when they began to fuss about the ties and ribbons, he chased them off.
Just before they left, the dark one demanded weapons. The people could not seem to grasp the concept of him wanting them to fight the dragon, it was nearly two hours before they brought him anything of use as more than decoration. He ended up with what looked like a solid sort of metal bo, and the prince was given a sharp thing that resembled a scythe. Sensing it was the best they were going to get, they were on their way.
They reached the mountain and found the dragon’s entrance in a little under a day.
The dragon was quite pleased to see them. He thanked the dark man for bringing him the prince and was just reaching for his sacrifice when, to his surprise, his claws met metal.
The battle was fierce, raging on and causing the very mountain to shake.
In the end, it was the strangers who were the victors. Before either could land the final blow, however, the dragon disappeared, leaving behind a considerably smaller form and a shining feather.
The form was a richly dressed, dark-haired man. He rose to his feet and told them he’d been under the feather’s spell for years, doomed to lure royalty to the mountain. Long ago, he’d been king, ruling with his beautiful younger sister. He had never wanted anything more, he told them, than to protect her. He’d had that wish in his heart on the day he’d found the feather, and had been turned into the dragon. He had become overwhelmed by the desire to take his sister and sequester her in the mountain, safe from harm.
The princess had willingly gone with him, on the condition that if ever someone was able to defeat him and rescue her, she would leave to find her happily ever after. She would, of course, still visit.
As the dragon-king told them this story, people began to filter into the room, led by a smiling young woman with bright green eyes. She was the dragon-king’s sister, and she asked which of the strangers was her rescuer.
It was the dark man with the crimson eyes who had landed the hit that broke the spell, and the dragon-king said so. The princess studied the dark man carefully, and doubt clouded her pretty features.
All these years, the dragon had demanded royal sacrifice, not to kill, but to see if any of them would challenge him and win his sister’s freedom. When they failed to do so, they would end up in one of the dragon’s numerous treasure rooms, some of them keeping the princess company. And during this time, the princess always believed that the one to free her would be her prince, the one to carry her away after they fell in love at first sight.
But she didn’t fall for the dark stranger, and he didn’t seem to fall for her, either. After they worked out that they weren’t going to fall madly in love (which didn’t take long), but it was nothing personal, the princess expressed her confusion - and her brother looked guilty. There had, in fact, been one person who’d managed to defeat him before. But, he told the princess, he just didn’t like the kid.
After some yelling, the dragon-king reluctantly found the princess’ rescuer in the crowd of hoarded royalty. The dragon-king complained that the young brown-haired man wasn’t a prince, hadn’t even been a sacrifice, that he had just wandered in here on his own, but was ignored as the princess and the young man fell in love at first sight.
They both thanked the strangers for their help. The fair prince smiled and said he was glad to be of help. The dark man said he’d only come for the feather, not to save any royalty, past, present, or future. Having said this, he turned to go, and it was the prince who laughed and reminded him he was leaving without the feather.
On the way back from the mountain, the prince teased the dark one about being the one to break the spell and rescue the beautiful princess. The dark man replied he already knew two princesses that were more trouble than any ancient spell, and one irritating prince who was worse than any fire-breathing dragon. The prince laughed and chastised the other man for giving up the princess and a happily ever after so easily.
The crimson-eyed man, tired of the prince’s everlasting mouth, silenced him with a firm kiss and said he’d have his happily ever after yet.
And since they left the world together soon after, it can’t be said for certain that he found it, but having seen the look on his face and heard the tone of his voice, this storyteller thinks he did.
Author: Imladra
Based on: Splash for Chapter182 - For the Summer Challenge at
kuroxfai!
Rating: G
Warnings: Spoilers for Fay's past
Disclaimer: TRC and its characters are owned by CLAMP, not me.
Summary/Excerpt:Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with a terrible problem. The kingdom lay in the shadow of a great mountain, and inside this mountain was a fearsome dragon.
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom with a terrible problem. The kingdom lay in the shadow of a great mountain, and inside this mountain was a fearsome dragon. It breathed fire, it roared furiously, it hoarded gold and demanded sacrifice - in short, it was commonly acknowledged as a dragon in every sense of the word.
The sacrifice it regularly demanded was royal blood. To appease the terrifying creature, the people of the kingdom sent sacrifice after sacrifice…until the castle sat empty.
A shortage of royalty, especially as a result of his own insatiable demands, did not concern the dragon one bit, and soon enough, he was back, demanding a beautiful princess, a dashing prince, or even a cousin of a Queen’s brother, twice removed. But there was not a single body of royal lineage to be found.
Things were looking grim until a swirl of colour and light deposited two people in the town square, between the frightened crowd and the greedy dragon.
The two were men: one fair, one dark. The dragon roared in pleasure and pointed a claw at the fair one, declaring he was of royal blood and would make a lovely sacrifice, and flew back to his mountain.
What followed was a terrible confusion. The inhabitants of the kingdom tried to get at the fair-haired stranger, the dark-haired stranger wouldn’t let them, and there was rather a lot of shouting.
This only lasted a few minutes, however, as the people of the kingdom were easily frightened, and the crimson eyes of the aggressive stranger were frightening indeed. The people tried to reason with the strangers, explaining that death by dragon was the natural end for a member of royalty. This earned them dark looks and several curse words before the other stranger stepped forward and said he’d go. He spoke quietly to his partner, who sighed in exasperation before stepping back.
They were going to hold a feast for the new soon-to-be-late prince, but the dark man said the quicker they left, the quicker he could slay the dragon and leave the kingdom. The prince agreed on leaving immediately, and the people all tearfully expressed how brave and noble he was to go so willingly to his horrible fate. They told the dark man is was very nice of him to escort the prince, and if the dragon let him leave after he was done, he could come back to live with them.
They dressed the prince in brilliant robes embroidered with dancing flames, and tried to do the same to his would-be escort. They convinced him to wear them, but when they began to fuss about the ties and ribbons, he chased them off.
Just before they left, the dark one demanded weapons. The people could not seem to grasp the concept of him wanting them to fight the dragon, it was nearly two hours before they brought him anything of use as more than decoration. He ended up with what looked like a solid sort of metal bo, and the prince was given a sharp thing that resembled a scythe. Sensing it was the best they were going to get, they were on their way.
They reached the mountain and found the dragon’s entrance in a little under a day.
The dragon was quite pleased to see them. He thanked the dark man for bringing him the prince and was just reaching for his sacrifice when, to his surprise, his claws met metal.
The battle was fierce, raging on and causing the very mountain to shake.
In the end, it was the strangers who were the victors. Before either could land the final blow, however, the dragon disappeared, leaving behind a considerably smaller form and a shining feather.
The form was a richly dressed, dark-haired man. He rose to his feet and told them he’d been under the feather’s spell for years, doomed to lure royalty to the mountain. Long ago, he’d been king, ruling with his beautiful younger sister. He had never wanted anything more, he told them, than to protect her. He’d had that wish in his heart on the day he’d found the feather, and had been turned into the dragon. He had become overwhelmed by the desire to take his sister and sequester her in the mountain, safe from harm.
The princess had willingly gone with him, on the condition that if ever someone was able to defeat him and rescue her, she would leave to find her happily ever after. She would, of course, still visit.
As the dragon-king told them this story, people began to filter into the room, led by a smiling young woman with bright green eyes. She was the dragon-king’s sister, and she asked which of the strangers was her rescuer.
It was the dark man with the crimson eyes who had landed the hit that broke the spell, and the dragon-king said so. The princess studied the dark man carefully, and doubt clouded her pretty features.
All these years, the dragon had demanded royal sacrifice, not to kill, but to see if any of them would challenge him and win his sister’s freedom. When they failed to do so, they would end up in one of the dragon’s numerous treasure rooms, some of them keeping the princess company. And during this time, the princess always believed that the one to free her would be her prince, the one to carry her away after they fell in love at first sight.
But she didn’t fall for the dark stranger, and he didn’t seem to fall for her, either. After they worked out that they weren’t going to fall madly in love (which didn’t take long), but it was nothing personal, the princess expressed her confusion - and her brother looked guilty. There had, in fact, been one person who’d managed to defeat him before. But, he told the princess, he just didn’t like the kid.
After some yelling, the dragon-king reluctantly found the princess’ rescuer in the crowd of hoarded royalty. The dragon-king complained that the young brown-haired man wasn’t a prince, hadn’t even been a sacrifice, that he had just wandered in here on his own, but was ignored as the princess and the young man fell in love at first sight.
They both thanked the strangers for their help. The fair prince smiled and said he was glad to be of help. The dark man said he’d only come for the feather, not to save any royalty, past, present, or future. Having said this, he turned to go, and it was the prince who laughed and reminded him he was leaving without the feather.
On the way back from the mountain, the prince teased the dark one about being the one to break the spell and rescue the beautiful princess. The dark man replied he already knew two princesses that were more trouble than any ancient spell, and one irritating prince who was worse than any fire-breathing dragon. The prince laughed and chastised the other man for giving up the princess and a happily ever after so easily.
The crimson-eyed man, tired of the prince’s everlasting mouth, silenced him with a firm kiss and said he’d have his happily ever after yet.
And since they left the world together soon after, it can’t be said for certain that he found it, but having seen the look on his face and heard the tone of his voice, this storyteller thinks he did.