[FIC/KYUHYUK] Ugly Ch. 3
Title: Ugly - Chapter 3
Author: roozu_trinity
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Fairy Tale
Pairing: KyuHyuk , KangMin
Summary: The secrets have been revealed. Fate had played its role to make two souls meet their half. But what does fate still have in store?
A/N : Sorry it took a bit long to update because I have to look up several folklore. Not much KyuHyuk in this chapter, though...
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
~*~*~
Siwon entered a hall with the sound of his sword clincking with his belt. Then he knelt in front of an old man who was wearing a shining gold and red robe decorated with jewels.
The man's face was full of wrinkles and his gaze was like an eagle. On top of his curly and white hair, sat a blue diamond encrusted crown.
“Are you certain about that, Siwon? I will not tolerate if you made a mistake again.” The King looked sharply at his Captain of the Palace Guards who was kneeling in front of the throne.
“I am most certain, Your Majesty. Not long after I return Prince Kyuhyun safely to the mansion, I had gone back inside the forest, following their tracks on the grounds which lead me to a strange row of trees. And not just any common type of trees that we know existed in our forest.”
“Oak? Willow?”
“Not just oak, Your Majesty. But a row of Oak, Ash, and Thorn." 1
The King's eyes burnt with anger and punch his fist to the throne's armrest. "The most powerful magical fairy trees. It is not possible! I burned down those trees in their forest myself and not long after their fairy spirit died as well!"
"Perhaps this fairy managed to escape and grow those trees."
"And then? What else have you find, Siwon? I expect a good answer."
Siwon just kept kneeling with his head down. He kept silence for a few seconds before he spoke. "I cannot get through, Your Majesty. Apparently those magical trees acted as a barrier. Whenever I walked through it and thought I was already at the other side, I ended up where I started. I can feel a strong aura of the tree's spirit. They're trying to protect something."
The King got up of his throne and walked down to where Siwon knelt. "Get up."
Siwon got up and met eye to eye with the King.
"You are my best hunter, Siwon. You know your task. Kill all fairy in the forest of our Kingdom. Those forest belongs to me, not them, because I'm King of this entire land!"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Apparently the Prince seemed to know this fairy's whereabouts. If he can lead us there, I can eliminate the fairy with ease, no harm on the Prince, of course." Siwon showed his confidence. He knew he can do it. Siwon grew up in the palace and wanted nothing more than to be someone important to the King who had saved his life.
"My Son had met this fairy?!"
Siwon could practically see the life color drained out of the King's face.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The Prince lost in the forest during a storm last night and a person helped him. However he didn't seem to know that the person was a fairy, judging by the story he told."
Suddenly the King gripped hard Siwon's shoulders with both of his hands. “Those fairies’ Guardian will kill him! You have to protect him at all cost!” The King ordered with a serious tone.
“I will, Your Majesty. You can count on me. I shall go back to the mansion now.” Siwon bowed to the King and left the room, leaving the King alone with paranoid thoughts.
~*~*~
Youngwoon could feel warmth emanating from his side. He cracked his blurry eyes opened and saw a figure sitting on his bed, smiling.
Sungmin?
But he heard Sungmin’s was snoring lightly on the other side of the room; probably he was sleeping on a sofa.
Youngwoon’s head felt light. He didn’t feel feverish anymore. The glowing figure besides him placed a hand on Youngwoon’s head.
Thank you. Your job is done, Youngwoon. Thank you for protecting both of my sons. Thank you so much.
Youngwoon tried to get up but he couldn’t move his body. On a second look, Youngwoon recognized the person sitting next to him. The person looked so much like Eunhyuk, a beautiful fairy with long silky golden hair. She was Eunhyuk and Sungmin’s mother.
One thing that the King didn’t know, despite the fairies clan had died, their spirits remained in the forest. The vast amount spirits had formed the new Guardian Tree inside the forest, the one that had been protecting Youngwoon’s house and the strawberry field.
Most of the powerful fairy spirits had turned into the Guardian, who had got rid of anything who will harm their sacred land.
The fairy now flew to sleeping Sungmin, and she kissed his forehead. Sungmin awoke and smiled. He had met his mother’s fairy spirit often so it wasn't a surprise to him.
Be strong, my son. Just because you’re a half blood it doesn’t mean that your fairy spirit weakened. You are the King’s flesh and blood. The time has come for you to take over and revive our sacred land.
Sungmin nooded.
It was time to face his fate.
~*~*~
"He's very beautiful..." Kyuhyun was lying on his bed, thinking back about the beautiful fairy whom he had met in the forest. "I can't wait to meet him again."
Seconds later there was a knock on his door. His butler came in with his head hung low. He bowed to the Prince.
"I apologize, Your Highness. I didn't know that the weather will turn bad. I shall take any punishment."
"Have you ever met a fairy, Sungmin-sshi?"
"Eh?" Sungmin looked up and saw the Prince was smiling like a fool on his bed and his eyes gazing far away.
"He's the most beautiful person I ever met in my life. I want to meet him again. So can you do me a favor?"
If Kyuhyun wasn't the prince, he would probably laugh at his expression, just like a little kid begging for candy.
"At your service, Your Highness.”
~*~*~
The butler had to bring scripts and books from the kingdom’s library. There was a restricted section, where they kept all the books and scripts about the fairy clan, and it was heavily guarded. By the order of the King, no one allowed to enter, not even prince Kyuhyun.
“Halt! This is the King’s restricted section. You are not allowed to enter! Name yourself!” The guards crossed their swords.
Sungmin was wearing a black cloak, hiding his face under it. He nodded, turned around, and walked away. The guard did not recognize him.
When Sungmin was no longer in their sight, the guards were back to their position.
In the silence of the library, there was a soft lady singing voice echoing in the air. The guards looked at each other, asking where that sound came from.
A few seconds later the first guard fell to the floor. His sword clattered on the ground. The second guard soon followed suit.
Sungmin turned around again, passing the fainted guards. "Thank you, Mother." He whispered.
It was a siren song that the fairy spirits were able to do.
Sungmin knew where the important scripts and books were so he took those to bring back to the prince.
But there was something that caught his attention. There was one small shelf filled with books that he had never seen before. Those books were lined neatly, and after further observation, Sungmin noted that the papers are white, as if it was new.
The question, why there were new books on an old section where no one ever entered except maybe the King?
Curious, Sungmin inspected each books. Until he found a stack of books that was put horizontally.
He opened the three books and each of them were the same, void in the middle of fake papers.
A smile tugged on his lips. He had seen something like that before in the mansion. The King used the same method to protect his stash of diamonds from all over the world. And Sungmin have the key. It was lost in the forest fire and Sungmin never told the King that he found it.
Within seconds, the bookshelves slide open, revealing a room that made his blood boiled.
~*~*~
Sungmin was greeted by a large painting on the wall.
It was a painting of his mother and the King..
Yes... Back then the King married his fairy mother with promise to bring peace to human and fairy land. But all ended in betrayal and the King wasn't even care that her wife died in the forest fire.
But the strange thing about the painting... Her mother was holding a baby with bright blonde hair.
Mother told me that I never lived in the palace since birth... So who is this baby? But the baby had blonde hair, just like other fairies.
Is it me? Sungmin did have blonde hair colour, but he dyed ot to red ginger to cover his true identity.
No one knew that Sungmin was the King's son, not even Youngwoon.
It couldn't be prince Kyuhyun... And definitely not Hyuk... So who?
Sungmin heard noises from outside and hurriedly gathered all of the books he needed and got out of the library safely.
On his way back to forest mansion, he couldn't stop thinking who the baby was.
~*~*~
Kyuhyun locked himself in his room, studying every books and script about their kingdom legendary fairy clan. He never has been to the library where they kept so many records about the fairies. His father, the King, did not allow Prince Kyuhyun to know anything about those mythical creatures as it may bring him misfortunes.
However before she passed away, the Queen secretly told him tales about the fairies. Little prince Kyuhyun promised her mother that he will keep it a secret to the King. From the stories, Kyuhyun learned that the fairies were living in harmony with the human for hundreds of years, until his Father reign the land.
Kyuhyun had never known the reason behind the fairy clan disappearance. No one ever told him the story, nor do they let him to get near anything that might help him to discover the truth.
Sungmin sat beside him, helping him understand the history. One of the books was still hidden under his coat as he was reluctant to have the Prince read it.
He was afraid of Kyuhyun's reaction when the prince learnt about the King. He always looked up to his Father, the great King who cared a lot about the commoners.
"Is there something wrong, Sungmin-sshi? You've been scrunching your eyebrows for the past hour."
"Your Highness. The late Queen used to tell you story about the fairies, am I right?"
The prince nodded.
"Do you know why the fairy clan dissapeared?"
"No one knows about it, right... Even my Father don't know anything."
Sungmin clenched his fist. The King said he DON'T KNOW?!
"Your Highness... The truth is, most of the people in the castle know the cause. There's a reason why you don't know about it." Sungmin's hand fumbling on the top of the book inside his coat.
"I want you to know the truth, but I'm afraid you'll ended up living in sorrow... But I believe you're a strong and wise prince. You deserve to know." Sungmin took the book out and gave it to the prince.
"This is my Father's journal! Where did you get it?! Father carefully guarded this book and no one allowed to read it!"
"He must've told you that the journal contains the Kingdom's treasure secret, right? Well it's not. Read it and you'll know." Sungmin pointed to a black bookmark.
Kyuhyun was a bit unsure about reading his Father's journal. If the King found out he would be punished...
"No. I can't." Kyuhyun put down the book.
Sungmin sighed. "Your Highness. You have met a fairy in the forest. His name is Eunhyuk, right? I know him since little. He's the only fairy left in this kingdom, and someone is after his life. And that's why he's living alone far inside the forest. You're the only one who can protect him. But you need to read that book first to understand."
"You know him? Why you didn't say anything before? And who's after his life?"
Sungmin took the book on the floor and put it on the prince's hand. "Just read it."
Finally Prince Kyuhyun opened the book and saw his Father's handwriting.
"N-no. No. This can't be." Kyuhyun dropped the book to the floor. "My Father killed the fairies... He burned the fairy forest..."
The prince slumped down to the floor as well. "My mother died in that fire... And I thought that was an accident..."
The prince felt his stomach lurched and his chest hurts. His own father wrote about how he burnt his own wife alive in the forest...
"Your Highness, are you alright?" Sungmin knelt and hold the Prince.
"Sungmin-sshi. I need your help. A big help."
Sungmin nodded. He already know what to do as he had prepared everything in advance before giving the Prince that journal.
This Kingdom will go down soon enough...
~*~*~
"Is it true?" Eunhyuk looked at himself again in the mirror. His small eyes, his blonde hair, his pale skin...
"Is it true I'm beautiful?"
But the reflection on the mirror with his robe and mask hanging behind him was like mocking him.
You're an ugly kid! Filthy creature! No one will ever love you!
"No.. No!" Eunhyuk shook his head. But the voice kept coming back to his mind, as if refusing to change what he believed in first place.
Look, that's Youngwoon's nephew. He's always hiding under that mask and robes, don't let your kid go near him... Who knows he might be dangerous!
"But Prince Kyuhyun said..."
Are you sure? He's just complimenting you so ypu will show him way out of that creepy forest!
Eunhyuk shoulders drop in defeat. "Yeah... It"s true. Anyhow, the prince wouldn't come back here... I'm all alone again."
He turned off all lights and no longer see his reflection in the mirror.
That night he went to sleep with tears again, under the cold night air...
~*~*~
"There’s no such thing as warmth
Next to my side, there’s not even anyone to embrace me."
~*~*~
Kyuhyun managed to sneak out of the mansion without any guards noticing. Sungmin had shown him the secret passage from his bedroom that lead to the middle of the forest.
He didn't remember the way to Eunhyuk's hut, but he wanted to try his luck.
He chose not to follow the forest trail, as he saw horse's footprints on it. Someone must be nearby.
He decided to go to a darker area where the trees and bushes were lush and sunlight almost didn't pass through.
He stumbled and tripped several times. The darkness made his eyes tired. He tripped again, this time because of a small tree stump, and fell. He shut his eyes, bracing for the impact. But surprisingly, nothing happened.
Prince Kyuhyun opened his eyes and gasped.
A beautiful lady, glowing in golden light was holding him so he won't fall.
"W-who are you? Are you a fairy?"
The lady nodded and he pointed to a light on the end of the path.
"Your fate awaits." The lady said before he dissapeared into thin air, leaving ontly trails of sparkling light that soon Kyuhyun recognized as fireflies.
Kyuhyun followed the glowing creature and it led him back to the strawberry field. He didn't realize that he had been walking for hours and all of the sudden it was raining again.
When he arrived at Eunhyuk's house, it was night time already.
He knocked on Eunhyuk's door but no answer.
Perhaps he's sleeping? Oh, the door's not locked!
The door creaked opened and there was a light from the kitchen. Kyuhyun entered the house, hoping that he won't disturb Eunhyuk.
The prince found the fairy was sleeping, curled up on his bed under a thin worn-off blanket. Kyuhyun was never sleeping in cold, alone, and shivering. He was always sleeping on a comfy bed, warm blanket, warm fireplace...
He wished the beautiful person in front of him not to suffer like that.
Kyuhyun discarded his wet clothing, leaving only his pants on, and found a clean towel to dry his wet hair.
Careful enough not to wake the sleeping man, Prince Kyuhyun climbed on and lay beside Eunhyuk, watching the fairy's peaceful sleeping face.
He's really beautiful. But why he lives in a shabby place like this...? If Father never burn the fairy forest, maybe he'll be living in happiness...
Kyuhyun brushed strands oh the soft blonde hair and Eunhyuk shifted a little in his sleep.
Oh wait! I know! I'll just ask him to live in the mansion! My servants there can take care of him! And I can ask the palace gardener to help with this strawberry field!
And then I'll go confront Father wtih Sungmin-sshi's soidiers! I won't let him get away with this!
The Prince happily thinking about his plan all night until he fell asleep beside Eunhyuk.
~*~*~
A/N:
So... It will be 4 chapter instead of 3 because it's taking too long to finish and I want to post it early...
If this story is a bit confusing, just ask me~ I'll be happy to answer~
GLOSSARY (FROM WIKIPEDIA):
Almost all kinds of tree found in the Celtic countries have been thought to have special powers or to serve as the abode of the fairies, especially the magical trio of oak, ash, and thorn
A fairy (also faery, faerie, fay, fae; euphemistically wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk, etc.) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural
Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers.
A less-common belief was that the fairies were actually humans; one folktale recounts how a woman had hidden some of her children from God, and then looked for them in vain, because they had become the hidden people, the fairies.