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chibifukurouTitle: In Which Magic is a Euphemism for being just a little bit Different
Author: chibifukurou
Artist: deadflowers5
Beta: Madame Marigold/Smoking Cougar
Rating: Pg-13
Genre: Cracked Fantasy
Warnings: Passing mentions of child neglect, alternate sexualities, self hatred, and depression
Summary: A story about a boy who was born with the soul of a fairy, his brother, a prince who didn't want to be wed, and a frog who wasn't going to let anyone tell him who he should be or who he should love.
Word Count: 19,500
Copyright Notice: Licensees may copy, distribute, display and perform the work and make derivative works based on it only if they give me, the author, credit.
Any Notes: This story is based on an idea rather than a plot so it is only tenuously related to any particular timeline or story despite being based in a world of Fairy Tales. It is also meant to be a story that makes fun of itself. The names are ridiculous, the premise is strange, and if you can figure out what I was going for, please comment so that I can gush about your physic ability.
Part One
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I talked to almost a dozen other Cinderellas, Belles, and, Briars that afternoon. Less then I'd hoped, but my extended stay at Belle and Elena's house had put me off schedule. None of the other people I met made an impression on me like they had. Though I couldn't really decide if that was for better or worse.
At least most of the others seemed interested in coming to the palace for the balls. Even if none of them were appropriate companions for Char, the residual magic that ran through their bloodlines was what I was really after. If you got enough magical or semi magical beings together, something was bound to happen.
"How did your search go?" Charming asked. Startling me out of stupor I'd fallen into while staring into my honey mead.
"It went well."
"No it didn't." He corrected, before turning his attention back to the book he'd propped up between the arm of his chair and his crossed legs.
Stupid twin intuition allowing him to tell when I was lying. "It really did go well. Maybe not like I'd hoped, but I still think that most of the people I invited will come to the balls."
"Joy."
"It won't be that bad."
"You're not the one who has to put up with a bunch of children in your palace. Or a brother trying to pawn you off on strangers."
"Technically I think it's still Father's castle." I replied. Choosing to ignore his second comment. It had more truth than I wanted to admit, and less than Char thought.
"Speaking of, have you told him about your plan yet?"
"Not exactly," I replied. Hoping that my reddening ears didn't give my embarrassment away.
Char chuckled more to himself than to me. "What did you tell him?"
"I told him that as your fairy Guardian, it was my duty to see that you were happy. So I was inviting some likely brides and companions to the castle so that they could compete for your hand in marriage."
"I don't want to know."
"Are you sure?"
"Very." He went back to reading his book and ignoring me, but every few minutes he glanced up at me out of the corner of his eye.
I tried not to let this blatant sign of his regard warm me over much.
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The deluge of Cinderellas, Belles, and every other variation of a long descended member of a destined couple began showing up at the castle a week before the Ball was supposed to be held.
I could barely take a step outside of my quarters without tripping over one of the many gaggles of girls that were laying in wait outside of the palace's family wing in hopes of catching sight of Char.
They tended to back away fast once they caught sight of my wings. But the ones that were either braver or more foolish would follow me around trying to show me that I was the perfect soul-mate for Char. One of my favorite, or at least one of the most memorable, attempts to prove this involved a young woman who decided to show me that she was a gentle soul, by backing me into a corner and giving me a two hour lecture on the evils of doing harm to animals.
It probably would have only lasted for a half-hour except I was having too much fun winding her up. It wasn't until the two hour mark, when I was about to be late for lunch with Char, that I informed her that Fairies didn't eat meat so I really wasn't the person she had to inform about the evils of killing animals.
She got a delightfully fish-eyed look on her face and was so in shock that she let me push past her without complaint. After that she turned red and walked off in another direction every time she caught sight of me.
Char found this hilarious. It was about the only thing he found to laugh about at that point. As he had often lamented to me, back when our minds were still connected, being married meant that you were automatically expected to share the marriage bed with your spouse every night until you managed to conceive an heir or three.
Something that was practically abhorrent to him. I had no doubt that if I'd have been anyone but his brother, he would have either knocked my block off or scared me off as he had his previous three Guardians. Since I'd practically handed him over to be married on a silver platter.
It was no use trying to convince him that marriage wasn't the point of this whole mess. He was still mad at me for abandoning him to what he'd thought was madness. What little trust we shared was stretched to the limit just keeping him from running away to become a commoner. Just so he could avoid the marriage.
Everyone in the palace was overjoyed when the night of the ball finally came. I'm sure I wasn't the only one chafing at the almost claustrophobic feel of the palace. Every guest room was full and the stables were overflowing.
If they'd been any less loyal I've little doubt that the servants would have murdered us all in our sleep. They were being run off their feet as every prospective bride and consort tried to outdo each other with their dresses for the ball
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The ball was a mess, it was in complete shambles and all I wanted to do was run for the safety of my room. This despite the fact that I'd been to a Fairy Ball. Full of Meade and partying.
Unfortunately there were no corners to hide in this ball room, not when I had to stand to the right and just behind Char's chair. To make sure he didn't make a break for it, while everyone was busy with the dance. To make matters worse I was under the gaze of every potential Belle and Cinderella. All of which knew that I was the one in charge of choosing Char's next mate.
It was a nightmare just waiting to happen. Thankfully the nobles and royal family had long since mastered the way to run a ball so that nothing untoward happened. Nobody wanted a nationwide search for a pair of feet again, after the last mess. Let it never be said that Char and my great uncle wasn't a complete hound dog with a foot fetish.
Leaning against Char's tall, throne-like chair I rested my head on my hand and watched as the dancing started. Song after song was played by the royal orchestra. To most of the party goers it probably seemed to be a random set, a series of songs that was left to the player's whims. They obviously weren't watching mother closely enough. Whenever the music wound down she'd twitch her fingers one way or raise an eyebrow and they'd start up again.
"Good at it isn't she?"
"A real queen of the ball." I replied the closest thing to derision I dared in such a public place.
"Really Frankie? That's the you best could come up with?"
"The best when in polite company."
The corner of his mouth twitched up, though he tried to act like he wasn't amused. I didn't buy it. "Do you see anyone who interests you?"
"You know that I'm not interested in that sort of thing."
"There are more kinds of interest than in the physical. I moved to sit on the chair's armrest relaxing my wings to hang down from my shoulders, instead of flapping about and possibly hitting Char in the face. "Maybe there's someone around here who likes gardening as much as you do."
"and how would I know that from looking at them?” He rested and elbow on the armrest across from me, chin resting on his fist so that he was leaning away from me. "How exactly do you expect me to know about that just from looking at them?" He crossed his legs and pointed at the dancing masses.
A rude gesture, but I'd supposed that nobody was going to tell Char that he was being rude. Not unless it was likely to cause a diplomatic incidence. "It's called asking."
He sighed. "Why don't you go ask." Flapping his hand at me he barely kept from brushing his fingers against my wings. Once he'd realized what he'd done he jerked back and tried to act cool. "If I try to socialize it will cause a riot or something."
Well that was probably true enough. "Fi—ne." Standing up, I opened my wings and glided down to the dance floor. It caused quite the stir and was almost enough to get the girls' to break dance formation but the queen motioned for a jaunty foreign jig. One that required the dancers' full concentration.
It left me plenty space to edge around the ballroom and out through the garden door. It would be easy enough for anyone interested in doing so, to follow me.
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I had not been expecting to run into Elena and Belle. Who were already hiding out in the garden. And I certainly wasn't expecting to walk into the middle of their fight with another Belle and a pack of Cinderellas. I vaguely recognized two of them from a passing meeting and the rest I assumed were from one of the homes where I'd left a invitation with the Lord or Lady of the house.
None of them had made as much of an impression as the duo of Elena and Belle. Still, I wasn't willing to take sides. "Is there a problem ladies?"
"Hello again, Crazy."
"A pleasure to see you again too, Elena." I bowed politely, letting my wings flare out subtly so I'd be ready to move quickly if I needed to. "And you as well Belle."
Belle nodded in reply but didn't take her eyes off the young women she was squaring off with. That was enough to send a warning tingle up my spine. Turning to her opponent's I bowed slightly, not daring to turn my back on them. I didn't know if they were in the right or the wrong, but I didn't feel the need to take any chances. "And you ladies, it's nice to see all of you as well."
The Belle who seemed to be the leader of their pack, gave me and icy smile. "So, you're the Prince's Guardian." Her eyes roved over my body. "Too bad you're not the prince. You've got a nice body."
My jaw dropped.
Elena roared with laughter.
The Belle turned her attention back to Elena. "As I said before, I expect an apology for your earlier behavior."
Oh brother. I had resist the urge to pinch my nose. "Elena?"
She ignored me, stepping forward to get in the other woman's personal space. "I'm not going to take it back. I still think you all are idiots, thinking that the Prince is going to chance upon you in the garden and sweep you off your feet. It's entrapment."
"No it's not. It's just a well thought out plan."
"And the fact that your reek of Love Potions."
I tensed and saw Elena's Partner doing the same out of the corner of my eye. This was going to get bad…and fast. Being convicted of using a love potion on a Prince of the Royal Line could see you stripped of your titles or worse thrown in prison. It wasn't the kind of thing anyone would take being accused of without putting up a fight."
"I'm afraid you're mistaken"
"No, I'm not. Don't bother claiming that it's perfume. I know better."
"Do you?" The Cinderellas that were backing her up moved into attack positions of their own. This was going to be bad.
"Guards!" I yelled. Right before I got blasted by a flash of emerald colored magic. It burned, but not much. I suspected that it would have hurt a lot worse if I'd still been human. Luckily I wasn't. Rolling back to my feet, I called my magic up, panting at both the remaining tingles that ran through my body and the effort of using my more offensive magic.
Another blast shot at me, but I was able to bring up a quick shield, enough to send the blast ricocheting into the pond. The resulting blast threw us all off of our feet. A blight flash of light blinded me and I could only listen to the muffled curses and the approaching thump, thump of Guard's men boots. Late as usual.
By the time I'd gotten my sight back, the garden was as chaotic as the ballroom had been. There were guardsmen dragging the women who'd attacked us away, and half the royal family, including Char had taken up residence.
I groaned, expecting to have to deal with Char's derision for my inability to defend myself or the stares of the Guard Captain. It took longer than it should have for me to shake off the remaining fog of the two magic blasts I'd been subjected to and realize that they were all too busy staring at the pond, to notice my presence.
There was a young man, standing ankle deep in pond with only a lily pad to protect his virtue. With curly blond hair and a rosy blush to his cheeks he could have easily been confused with any of noble heir who had come to escort their siblings to the ball.
At least he was easy to confuse until he opened his mouth and all that came out was a croak.
That was definitely a defining feature.
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I joined in the staring after that, trying to figure out what had gone wrong and why there was a croaking man standing in the fish pond.
The man didn't take the staring well, bursting into increasingly agitated croaking and waving around the hand that wasn’t holding a lily pad in front of his manhood. This party was looking more and more like a fairy party, including the uncomfortable curses.
The guardsmen moved forward bringing their spears to bear on the man. The pond water splashed as he hopped backwards to get away from them. Staggering to my feet, I prepared a light spell, one that would blind the guards and hopefully let me grab the frog-man and fly him away.
Char interfered before I had to, pushing past the guards to stand protectively in front of the other man. His decorative cloak flapped in the breeze as he undid the clasp and yanked it off his shoulders before wrapping it around the other man's waist.
"It's alright now, we'll figure out what's happened and fix everything. I promise." He said.
The two of them looked deeply into each others eyes. Something told me my search for Char's perfect mate was over. It was just my luck that he ended up with a newly transformed Frog Prince instead of a Belle or a Cinderella.
Our Father, the King, was going to have a fit once he found out that Char was considering such an untraditional arrangement. Despite the fact that he'd had a similarly untraditional arrangement. Marrying before he even found his mate, and then spending the next three decades seeing his mate turned mistress on the side. He was hardly one to talk and he'd be easy enough to shut up once I pointed a few facts out to him. Mother would not be as easily silenced. And since she was by far the more dangerous of our two parents that was something to be feared. I'd deal with it though, if it was for the sake of Char finally finding his happily ever after.
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It took longer than I had expected to find Char and transformed toad. While I had been busy quelling the panic that had resulted from both the original fight between Char's perspective spouses and the use of a transformations spell on Royal property, the pair had snuck off.
Even the tenuous link I had to Char's mind wasn't enough to help me find them. Not with the sheer number of minds that were packed into the Palace thanks to the ball.
I just hope I managed to find them before our Father's guards did. After all there was a long family history of people falling in love with transformed frogs and the King wasn't likely to take any chances. I finally gave up looking, after I found the guardsmen looking for Char, camped out in the kitchen getting drunk on mead and stuffing their faces with the left over sweets, created for the party goers.
It was a testament to either my luck, or Char's canniness, that giving up was the only reason I found the pair. Char and the toad-man were curled up on my bed, wrapped in my blanket, and in the toad-man's case a set of my clothes.
I should have woken them up and warned them off, but I didn't have the heart. Not after seeing Char's peaceful smile and their clasped hands. So I barred the door instead and dragged a few extra blankets out of the linen chest at the bed's foot so that I would have a comfortable place to curl up on, in front of the door. That way anybody trying to get at Char would have to get past both the door, and me.
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Char woke me up by throwing bits and pieces of potpourri, from the bowl beside my bed, at my head. Dragging my wings up to protect my head, I turned over and tried to ignore him. He just started hitting my back instead.
As nice as it was to see Char acting like a kid again. I really wished he wouldn't do it so early in the morning. "Stop it, Char!"
"I don't want to. Come on, you're already awake. You might as well get up."
"I'm not awake. You're just dreaming that I am."
"Please, that didn't work when we were kids and I could only sense your mind. It's really not going to work now."
I gave it up and pulled my wings back down. Sitting up to glare at him over the edge of the foot board. "What do you want, Char?"
"Can you fix him? I don't think the transformation went right, he still can't talk."
"How much of an idiot are you? Just because his body has changed doesn't mean that he has. He simply hasn't had the time to learn English yet."
"So?"
"So. You can't just force him to learn to talk to you."
"Why not?"
I stood up. My wings popped and cracked as I stretched them out after a night of sleeping on the floor."It has to be his decision."
"But.."
"Ribbit."
We both turned to stare at the toad-man. Who blushed a pretty green all the way up to his newly formed ears and curly brown hair.
"Ribbit-Ribbit Riiiiib—bit."
"Well it looks like you're in luck, Char. Your new companion would like to be able to understand you as well."
Char stared at me, askance. "How can you tell?"
"Honestly, brother. I thought you'd been trained in the history of the fairies. You should know that we can talk to every creature in the land of Tales. After all, our magic worked to create it, right down to the last leaf."
"I'm sure I vaguely recalled something about that."
I had to stifle my snort. "Yeah, of course you remember it now." I sat down on the side of the bed next to the frog man. Laying my hand against his throat and the cupping the other over his ear I allowed the ancestral memories of the fairies to flow into me. My wings began to glow, then the light started to expand, flowing down my arms and through my fingers until it sunk into the toad-man's body.
Releasing my hold on the knowledge, I sunk back into the bed.
"Hello," The toad-man said.
"Hello," Char replied.
This was certainly going to get interesting.
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I spent the next week watching the pair of them circling around each other in a slowly closing orbit. They were truly in love. Love filled Char's eyes whenever he looked at Tion and I could see the sorrow that filled Tion's and the way that he stared down at the gardens that had been his home before the fateful day he'd been forced into human form.
The strands of fate twisted and curled in the back of my mind. A comforting whisper like the strains of a harp echoing inside my head. Letting me know that their relationship was a part of the fates grand design. Despite the unusual way they met.
It was enough to give me the confidence I needed to face my mother.
The Queen swept into my guest quarters as though she was sweeping into the throne room instead of one of the least well appointed guest quarters in the palace. With her finely appointed dress and her cold, distant face, it was easy to imagine her ordering my exile into the human world for being different.
"How can I help you Your Majesty?"
"You can tell my son that he isn't to see that toad anymore."
I could but I wasn't going to. "Why do you want me to tell him that?"
"He's refusing to see reason. My husband, sons, even I have spoken to him about this matter and have encouraged him to pick a more suitable bride."
"And?"
"Don't get snide with me, boy."
I raised an eyebrow in response. Her guards bristled, but they weren't going to touch me after Trainer took them to task.
"He won't listen to us. He believes he is in love with that- that thing"
"Tion is a good man and I believe that he will be good for Char in the long run."
"That is not for you to decide." She snapped.
"Yes, it is. I am Char's guardian. You have no control over me beyond that which the fate's give you."
"I think that you'll find nothing is that simple." She moved into my space until we would have been nose to nose, if I wasn't almost a head taller than her.
"And what will you do if I don't agree to do as you ask?"
"My guards will see to it that you do."
I glanced over her head, to the guards who were standing at the door. Except for the Captain, none of them looked like they wanted to go through with the Queen's plan.
"And if they can't stop me?"
"We have blood wards on the palace. Only those who are of our blood can resist them. The guards will do as they are told."
I leaned down until my head was even with hers, wrapping my wings around us so that the guards could not hear me, and whispered. "Then it's a good thing you had me abandoned in the human world, where I would be able to fulfill my destiny as a fairy, isn't it mother? It would be a shame if you were to try and activate those wards against me, and ended up proving my identity to all of your subjects."
She stiffened.
I pulled away before she could react. "I think it's time you left, your Majesty."
Her mouth pinched into a tight line, but I hadn't gotten her intelligence for nothing. She knew as well as I did that trying to fight me on this would bring more trouble than letting Char do as he pleased."This isn't over Guardian."
I bowed just the slightest bit, in acknowledgment of her threat. I didn't expect her to give up so easily, but it wasn't just her intelligence I'd inherited, I'd also inherited her stubbornness.
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"I'm sorry. I know you said my destiny is with Char, but I can't do this."
"Why not? Has someone been bothering you again?" If they had I'd kill them. Or at least maim them a little. Nobody messed with my brother's soul mate and got away with it.
"I'm not human. I didn't ask for this and no matter how much I love Char it's not enough."
Sitting down on the bed, I pulled Tion down to sit beside me. "Calm down. You know that Char wouldn't ever force you to do something you weren't comfortable with. He loves you more than anyone else in his life."
"Even you?"
"We were two halves of the same soul at one point, but I willingly gave that up. Char never blamed me but that doesn't mean he forgave me either. With you he has a second chance at what we had."
"That's the problem. He doesn't have another chance. I'm going to end up making the same decision you did." Tion cuddled into my side and I pulled him close. This wasn't a conversation I had ever expected to have with another person. I'd thought that once we'd finally found my brother's soul mate things would get simpler, but that didn't seem to be how things were working out.
"Why don't you think you'll be able to stay with him."
"I'm a toad." He reached his hand up in front of his face staring at the delicately boned hand as though it was a strangers. "I like being human. Its' fun, but it's not me. I can't stay like this. Not forever. Not even as much as I love Char."
"Have you talked to him about this?"
He shook his head and curled closer to me. "I don't want him to be angry. He's been so kind, so sweet. He doesn't deserve this."
"No he doesn't, but it won't end well if you stay human just to please him."
"How can you be sure?"
I didn't have an easy answer for that. No sure fired knowledge, there was just a whisper a surety in the back of my mind that said Tion wasn't meant to reside in the world as he was now. "I don't know, I just do."
"That's encouraging."
"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more than that. It’s a fairy Guardian thing."
That seemed to calm him at least, the knowledge that there was something bigger guiding my actions. He stared at me with a look of such peace before relaxing into my lap. "I'm glad. If it's in fates design then maybe everything will work out for the best."
"I'm sure it will." I lied. I could only pray that my lie would prove to be truth. The fate's were quiet, refusing to whisper their secrets to me.
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"Did he tell you what he'd decided to do?" He asked, while slowly running his whet stone across his sword with a soft shick, shick. It raised the hairs on my arms and sent chills down my spine but I didn't ask him to stop. It comforted him. "About going back to the pond." He continued when he realized that I wasn't going to say anything until he explained what he was talking about.
Even if I already knew. "He didn't tell me about that no, but he did tell me that he was going to return to being a toad."
"Why is it that everybody I love isn't human." He stopped his sharpening to demand. Though it seemed to be a demand for answers from the air itself rather than me.
Still, I couldn't resist answering him."Just unlucky I guess."
"You're not being very helpful."
"And you're not being very understanding." Hearing him talk like this hurt. I was glad he was sharpening his sword. If he hadn't been I'd have been sitting next to him and I didn't feel up to that right now. We'd never really discussed our separation and now wasn't the time to do so, no matter how much I wanted to scream at him that it wasn't a choice between staying with him or not. It was a choice between living a lie or being free.
"How am I not being understanding? I fell in love with a man that was once a frog. Now I'm going to be alone again. It was easier when I didn't think that there was anyone that could love me out there. Not after I lost you and now it's happening again. Just the same as before."
"Could you love him even if he was a toad again?" The words popped out without my having to think about them. The whispered music of fate was louder now, more like a orchestra pushing me up and up towards an epiphany on the swell of the notes.
"Of course I will still love him."
"Then what if there was another way for you to be with him?" Still the music led me.
"By what getting turned into a frog myself?"
"He's a toad," I corrected pulling away from the fate's music long enough to manage a spiteful comment that would hopefully put him at ease and let him know that I was still me no matter how strange I was about to start acting "And nothing that complicated.
"Because this situation is so Fates be Damned simple."
"Please refrain from cursing the Fates." A whisper of music backed my voice with power I did not usually have.
Char was too worked up to notice. "Really, that's what you choose to dwell on. My cursing on the Fates. What is it with you and Tion? Can't a non-religious man curse like he wants?"
"I'm your guardian as pre-ordained by the fates. So excuse me if I take it the wrong way, your cursing the very force that brought us together."
"The same force that keeps taking away the people I love." He snapped.
"Only if you let it." I corrected.
"Well then, what would you suggest? " He tossed a small box with a beautifully carved engagement ring nestled inside, down onto the table beside my armchair. "It's not like Tion is going to have much use for that once he's a toad again."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
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"Do you, Charming Black take this being to be your bond mate. Together for all eternity no matter what form your life takes?"
"I do."
"And do you Tion Toad take this man to be your bond-mate as pre-ordained by the fates?"
"I do."
Then as a representative of the fates I bind your life forces, your souls together so that no man, woman, or bond can tear you from each other's side." I wrapped the around their joined hands, and when I tied the last knot it dissolved sinking into their flesh. "With this cord I give you both a gift. In times of need, be it personal or a matter of duty, Tion Toad will always be able to find his way to Charming Black's side. In human form and toad form. This is my bonding gift as a Black Family guardian. And as Char's brother."
The pair of them stared at me in obvious shock. When Id' suggested this ceremony as an alternative to an official bonding they had both jumped at the chance to have something to connect them despite the fact that they would never be able to be together.
Luckily for them Fate had other plans. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the jewelry box that Char had so carelessly left in my possession. " I believe you wanted to give this to Tion?"
Char was too happy to get mouthy with me, as he plucked the box from my hand and opened it to pull out the ring. "This is a bit redundant now that we've been bonded, but I would like to request that you become my consort."
Tion stared down at the ring for a long moment. Then a tear trickled down his cheek. "I'm sorry Char, I can't. You are my bond mate and the other half of my soul, but they won't let us wed unless I'm human and I can't do that. I can't deny what I am. I'm sorry." He let go of Char's hand and ran.
It only took a moment for Char to realize what was happening and run after him. The jewelry box landed next to me again. This time at least the ring wasn't in it. I decided to take that as a good sign. Now that Tion and Char were bonded the symphony of fate had abandoned me.
Leaving me feeling like a pat of butter that had been scraped across too much toast. Even the idea of trying to climb the stairs to my quarters left me panting for breath. A few stumbling steps over to where a long, stone bench sat next to Tion's pond and then I was blessedly horizontal, my wings draped over me to keep off the night dew.
I was asleep within a handful of heartbeats.
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I groaned myself awake. Exhausted and sore but strangely enough not damp or cold. In fact I felt warm and safe. "Wha—" I managed to moan.
"So you finally decided to wake up huh?" Char asked.
I considered opening my eyes so that I could glare at him . It wasn't like he'd been the one who'd had to have Fate running about in his head and bestowing magical endowments. There was quiet for a while and I thought I might fall back to sleep.
Then I was being jarred and jostled into an upright position and there was something cool and smooth being pressed against my lips. Water trickled into my mouth and down my parched throat.
"Do you think I should try to wake him up again?" This time at least he was whispering so that it was easy to ignore him in favor of falling deeper into sleep.
"I don't know. You're family has Guardians right? Have any of them gotten sick like this before?"
"Not that I can remember, but most of them don't interact with us like Frankie does. Their more like silent watchers, only interfering if you aren't following your destiny. I haven't heard of a Fairy Guardian bestowing a gift on anyone anytime in the last three or four generations. There just hasn't been any need. Not since the savage times before the Black family took the throne."
"So you really don't know all that more about his powers than I do." Tion sounded upset and depressed. I wanted to tell him that I'd be okay, but I was exhausted and even if I hadn't been I wasn't good at comforting. I didn't even know what was going to happen. Any assurance I tried to give them would be a like.
So I let myself sink further into sleep, leaving my brother and his worries behind for another time when I felt more up to dealing with his questions.
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"There we go, he should be all better now."
I didn't recognize the voice, but it possessed the lyrical tilt of most of my fellow fairies. I tried to stretch out my senses to get a taste of Zi's magic but I could only feel the faintest of echoes like someone was standing in another room whispering.
Exhaustion still dragged at me, but at least it was better now. I didn't feel like my body would disintegrate if I moved too much. After a few tries I even managed to pry my eyes open. I'd been right, there was a fairy in the room with me. Though exactly which room we were in I couldn't tell. All I could see was the plain gray of the ceiling and a set of red bed curtains. Which could have belonged to any guest room in the castle. "Well hello there." The strange fairy said. "I'm glad to see your awake again. You're brother was starting to worry. You probably should have warned him that you were going to be this wiped out after having a bequeathing ceremony."
"Didn't know." I croaked out.
Tion entered my line of site, smoothing his perpetually cool hand over my forehead and lifting me enough that I could take a few sips from the glass of water he held to my lips.
"This was your first time?" The Fairy asked
"Is that unusual?" I couldn't see Char, but their was no mistaking his angry snap.
"Not exactly. Everyone has to have a first time after all. It's simply unusual to find someone who managed such an impressive bit of foretelling and spell work on their first try." He turned back to me and continued. "The fates must have really been using you hard for you to manage."
I nodded, only to stop halfway through when the top of my skull felt like it was going to fall off. Zi pursed her lips in response to my pained lips. "We'll need to be careful until your all the way better, don't want you getting a spear bit of foretelling and ending up having a relapse."
"Is that likely?" My brother screeched in an entirely too loud voice. I winced and tried to decide if I had enough energy to pull my quilt up over my head.
"Calm yourself Prince Black. The last thing we need is for you to get upset and do something that will require your Guardian to have a vision about you. So sit down and act your age."
"Who?" I croaked out. Really wanting to know who could possibly order Char around like this.
"Aw, I forgot that you wouldn't be able to sense me properly as weak as you are right now. I'm Rock, the eldest prince's long suffering Fairy Guardian. I've been looking after Charming since he scared off the Guardian before you. He's not technically supposed to contact me now that he has a Guardian of his own but under the circumstances its' understandable."
"I didn't bother nodding or trying to force out a sound of agreement. I'd already burned through most of my energy and I trusted that Zi would be able to pick out my gratitude from the emotions I was no doubt leaking everywhere.
Tion brushed my hair away from my forehead and lay a blessedly cool cloth over my forehead and eyes. "Go ahead and go back to sleep. You should feel a lot better when you wake up. Now that Rock cast a healing spell on you."
I took him at his word, and let the darkness claim me. Between Rock and Tion I had no doubt that Char would be well cared for. Even if I did stay awake I wasn't in any condition to do a better job than they could.
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When I woke up I really did feel better. Almost normal. At least normal enough that I could pull myself out of bed and scramble over to the wash stand to wipe myself down. A dip in the palace's hots springs would have been better but I didn't have the energy for that. Not to mention that I didn't feel like running into any suspicious guards or curious family members, of heaven forbid one of the young men and women who had come for the balls and then had just refused to leave.
Somehow they always seemed to think I could arrange for them to get into char's good graces. Never mind the fact that it was obvious that he'd picked Tion. The women at least I could understand. It wasn't as though Tion could take the tile of Queen so they still had a chance for a title if not Char's love.
The men that had stayed generally just came off as pathetic. Though my viewpoint was probably tainted by the fact that I knew the two of them were soul bonded.
"Finally feeling better, you idiot?"
I jerked and would have fallen if it wasn't for my wings flapping lazily to keep me upright. "Why am I an idiot?"
"You almost kill yourself and you want to know why I think you're an idiot."
"I didn't almost kill myself!" I snapped, stepping forward to confront him only to have to grab hold of the washbasin to keep from falling.
"Yeah, you're perfectly fine."
"I still resent the implication that I was trying to kill myself."
He grabbed me by the elbow and escorted me back to the bed. "You can resent the implications all you want. That doesn't mean I'm wrong. I'm not saying that dying was your goal, I just get the feeling that you were more worried about helping me and Tion then you were about keeping yourself healthy."
Well I couldn't really resent that statement since it was true. "It's fate. Your being together."
Sighing, he sat down on the bed so that I could lean my head on his shoulder "I wish you wouldn’t talk about it like that. It's not fate, it's love."
"Just because it's your destiny, that doesn't make it any less real or important."
He curled his arm around my waist, under my wings and I let myself since further against him, my wings wrapping around his back and shoulders. "You might think that Frankie, but look at what happened. Fate tells you something needs to happen and you almost kill yourself to make sure it does happen. That's not exactly free will."
He did have a point, but, "It's different for Fairies, we're part of fates design in a way most other species aren't'."
"That doesn't make me like the end result any better."
Which was only fair. He didn't have to like what fate had in store for him. Most people didn't. I grabbed his hand in mind and squeezed in a wordless show of acceptance. "So did you and Tion sort out what you're going to do about him being your Consort?"
"Not exactly, we kind of got distracted." He squeezed the hand that was tangled with his own. A sign that he didn't really blame me for distracting them. "He agreed to wear the ring but for right now it's just going to be until he goes back to being a toad."
"Has he decided when that will be?"
"Sometime after you're better, but I don't think he's thought of it much beyond that."
"I'm sure you'll find a way to compromise." I had faith in the Fates even if Char didn't.
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I was still weak when the time came for Tion to return to his pond, but with Char's help I was able to make it out of the small tower guest room where they'd hidden me and down into the garden. I probably should have felt guilty for tagging along on what probably should have been a romantic goodbye, but Tion was my friend too.
He understood me in a way that nobody, not even Char, had ever been able to and while it wasn't like I was never going to be able to see him again, I would still miss being able to talk to him whenever I wanted to.
We ended up back at the bench in front of which we'd held the binding ceremony a mere two weeks before. The mood was similarly bittersweet, though I liked to think that they had more hope for their future then they'd had even those few days before. That was probably pride talking though.
I averted my eyes while they shared a passionate kiss in front of the lake, turning my attention to the rough stone under my hands. Once they'd finished their goodbye Tion came over to give me a tight hug. Holding me close for a long moment before whispering into my ear. "If you ever need someone to talk to come to my Pond and I'll listen. I promise."
Pulling away from me he returned to Char's side. They clasped hands and shared one last peck before Tion's form shimmered and my brother was left holding a small, green and brown speckled toad with his Tion's engagement ring wrapped around his arm like a bracelet. Char pressed a kiss to its warty head before releasing it back into the pond. "Come on, let's get you back up to the guest room, you're white as a sheet."
"Don't you want to stay with Tion, and make sure he's adjusting back to life in the pond?"
"He'll be fine, it's you he'd be worried about."
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I watched over Char and Tion as they walked through the gardens on their morning walk. As had become their habit in the three months since Tion had returned to his life as a toad. While I occasionally joined them, enjoying my brother's newly discovered joy in everything the world had to offer, I hadn't felt like doing so today. Not with the morning fog so thick. So I'd remained on the balcony of Char and my shared quarters and indulged in a slowly sipped morning tea.
"So what did you learn from your first charge." Trainer asked. Appearing as Zi always did out of seemingly thin air and thoroughly ruining my attempt at relaxation.
"That the Council is unbelievably manipulative." I watched her face out of the corner of my eye and was pleased to see her smirk.
"A valid conclusion, though I was speaking more about your self confidence. When you first came to this palace you felt the need to hide your actions without even considering if they were part of destinies greater plan. Now you are confident that you can follow where fate calls you."
"Why did the council care. I'm a simple fairy. What does my connection to the greater fates matter? Most of our kind don't even know enough to know where they will be led on any given day. Why should I be any different?"
"Because of your blood."
I froze in the act of sipping at my cup of morning tea. The steam tickling at my nose, not enough to distract me from the implications of Trainer's statement.
"Surely you didn't think the council was unaware of your existence. Every heir of the Black family is assigned a fairy Guardian. It's not official until the day they are committed to the throne, but we watch our children from the minute of their birth. You were no exception despite the circumstances that followed. Unfortunately we hadn't realized what fate had intended until after you two were born and when you were separated your assigned Guardian had no choice but to pick which of you two to watch over."
"Why would they need to watch over me? I was no one important." I'd just been a simple human boy for the first eighteen years of my life. It wasn't as though I had done anything amazing or profound in the human realm. Had I be destined to come back to rule at my brothers side things might have been different, but fairies weren't assigned Guardians of their own and only the most powerful and influential humans required that kind of oversight.
"No? You brought about a new connection between the Fairy Lands and the Land of Happily Ever Afters. That is something profound, something fated." That possibility needed to be protected.
"What would have happened if our Guardian had stayed with Char instead?"
"Who can say?"
I dared to reach out and grab her arm. "Don't lie. There is no way that any fairy would have made that sort of decision without fate whispering into their ear."
Trainer gave me an indulgent smile. "You've grown up so much from back when you were a little crying bundle abandoned on the steps of a human orphanage."
"What?" I whispered. The implications seemed impossible. Surely I would have know if Trainer was my Guardian. There would have been a connection there.
"There were two possibilities, two fates that were equal but distant, the choice wasn't about destiny or lack there of. It was about need. You needed me more than Char did. He grew up loved and cared for, perhaps not as well as he would have if I'd been his Guardian, but it was enough to allow him a chance at happiness when you came back into his life. That's more than you would have gotten had I stayed with him."
"What does that mean?"
"Who would you be if you were not a fairy?" I tried to think back into those dark days when the only thing that had kept me from going crazy and trying to scratch my flesh off was the connection with Char and the dream of one day becoming a fairy like the ones that existed in my dreams. My body had been a prison and I would have eventually run out of chances to escape it. Then … dreams about stepping off the roof of the orphanage…there was not telling what would have happened.
"You would have been lost. I know that you cannot understand why your brother should have to pay so that you could have a second chance, but Char had two chances at happiness and I could only perceive one for you."
I looked over to where Char was walking through the gardens, Tion balanced on his shoulder, conversing in that strange mix of human and toad that they seemed to have perfected. He was truly happy.
"Do you think he would have been happy knowing that you had been lost to him simply so that he could be happier a few years earlier?"
Of course not that wasn't the type of person that Char was. "No, he would not have preferred that."
"There is something that you will come to understand as you grow older. The quickest road to happiness and destiny is not always the best."
"Are you telling me this because you think I need to know it for my next charge?"
"I told you when this punishment was first instated. You are going to stay here until Prince Char has reached his destiny. That is still a long way in the future. Until then I suggest that you continue to learn what lessons you can from him."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked. Shock making my voice crack out louder than I intended in the mist covered garden. Char turned to check on me, but I waved him away. More concerned with figuring out what Trainer meant, but when I turned to confront her, Zi had disappeared as Zi was wont to do. Still there lingered a whisper on the wind. "Your brothers destiny is far from over, as is the destiny the two of you share. I suggest you enjoy what peace you have because it will not last forever.
I wanted to scream for Trainer to come back, but it wouldn't prove anything. Zi came and went as Zi chose. As much as I didn't like the implications of that statement I had no reason to doubt or rebel against it.
So when Char motioned for me to join him and Tion on their walk, I didn't hesitate. My brother and I were together and both of our dreams had come to fruition. For now at least that was more than enough…..and we all lived happily ever after….for now.
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End
Author: chibifukurou
Artist: deadflowers5
Beta: Madame Marigold/Smoking Cougar
Rating: Pg-13
Genre: Cracked Fantasy
Warnings: Passing mentions of child neglect, alternate sexualities, self hatred, and depression
Summary: A story about a boy who was born with the soul of a fairy, his brother, a prince who didn't want to be wed, and a frog who wasn't going to let anyone tell him who he should be or who he should love.
Word Count: 19,500
Copyright Notice: Licensees may copy, distribute, display and perform the work and make derivative works based on it only if they give me, the author, credit.
Any Notes: This story is based on an idea rather than a plot so it is only tenuously related to any particular timeline or story despite being based in a world of Fairy Tales. It is also meant to be a story that makes fun of itself. The names are ridiculous, the premise is strange, and if you can figure out what I was going for, please comment so that I can gush about your physic ability.
Part One
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I talked to almost a dozen other Cinderellas, Belles, and, Briars that afternoon. Less then I'd hoped, but my extended stay at Belle and Elena's house had put me off schedule. None of the other people I met made an impression on me like they had. Though I couldn't really decide if that was for better or worse.
At least most of the others seemed interested in coming to the palace for the balls. Even if none of them were appropriate companions for Char, the residual magic that ran through their bloodlines was what I was really after. If you got enough magical or semi magical beings together, something was bound to happen.
"How did your search go?" Charming asked. Startling me out of stupor I'd fallen into while staring into my honey mead.
"It went well."
"No it didn't." He corrected, before turning his attention back to the book he'd propped up between the arm of his chair and his crossed legs.
Stupid twin intuition allowing him to tell when I was lying. "It really did go well. Maybe not like I'd hoped, but I still think that most of the people I invited will come to the balls."
"Joy."
"It won't be that bad."
"You're not the one who has to put up with a bunch of children in your palace. Or a brother trying to pawn you off on strangers."
"Technically I think it's still Father's castle." I replied. Choosing to ignore his second comment. It had more truth than I wanted to admit, and less than Char thought.
"Speaking of, have you told him about your plan yet?"
"Not exactly," I replied. Hoping that my reddening ears didn't give my embarrassment away.
Char chuckled more to himself than to me. "What did you tell him?"
"I told him that as your fairy Guardian, it was my duty to see that you were happy. So I was inviting some likely brides and companions to the castle so that they could compete for your hand in marriage."
"I don't want to know."
"Are you sure?"
"Very." He went back to reading his book and ignoring me, but every few minutes he glanced up at me out of the corner of his eye.
I tried not to let this blatant sign of his regard warm me over much.
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The deluge of Cinderellas, Belles, and every other variation of a long descended member of a destined couple began showing up at the castle a week before the Ball was supposed to be held.
I could barely take a step outside of my quarters without tripping over one of the many gaggles of girls that were laying in wait outside of the palace's family wing in hopes of catching sight of Char.
They tended to back away fast once they caught sight of my wings. But the ones that were either braver or more foolish would follow me around trying to show me that I was the perfect soul-mate for Char. One of my favorite, or at least one of the most memorable, attempts to prove this involved a young woman who decided to show me that she was a gentle soul, by backing me into a corner and giving me a two hour lecture on the evils of doing harm to animals.
It probably would have only lasted for a half-hour except I was having too much fun winding her up. It wasn't until the two hour mark, when I was about to be late for lunch with Char, that I informed her that Fairies didn't eat meat so I really wasn't the person she had to inform about the evils of killing animals.
She got a delightfully fish-eyed look on her face and was so in shock that she let me push past her without complaint. After that she turned red and walked off in another direction every time she caught sight of me.
Char found this hilarious. It was about the only thing he found to laugh about at that point. As he had often lamented to me, back when our minds were still connected, being married meant that you were automatically expected to share the marriage bed with your spouse every night until you managed to conceive an heir or three.
Something that was practically abhorrent to him. I had no doubt that if I'd have been anyone but his brother, he would have either knocked my block off or scared me off as he had his previous three Guardians. Since I'd practically handed him over to be married on a silver platter.
It was no use trying to convince him that marriage wasn't the point of this whole mess. He was still mad at me for abandoning him to what he'd thought was madness. What little trust we shared was stretched to the limit just keeping him from running away to become a commoner. Just so he could avoid the marriage.
Everyone in the palace was overjoyed when the night of the ball finally came. I'm sure I wasn't the only one chafing at the almost claustrophobic feel of the palace. Every guest room was full and the stables were overflowing.
If they'd been any less loyal I've little doubt that the servants would have murdered us all in our sleep. They were being run off their feet as every prospective bride and consort tried to outdo each other with their dresses for the ball
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The ball was a mess, it was in complete shambles and all I wanted to do was run for the safety of my room. This despite the fact that I'd been to a Fairy Ball. Full of Meade and partying.
Unfortunately there were no corners to hide in this ball room, not when I had to stand to the right and just behind Char's chair. To make sure he didn't make a break for it, while everyone was busy with the dance. To make matters worse I was under the gaze of every potential Belle and Cinderella. All of which knew that I was the one in charge of choosing Char's next mate.
It was a nightmare just waiting to happen. Thankfully the nobles and royal family had long since mastered the way to run a ball so that nothing untoward happened. Nobody wanted a nationwide search for a pair of feet again, after the last mess. Let it never be said that Char and my great uncle wasn't a complete hound dog with a foot fetish.
Leaning against Char's tall, throne-like chair I rested my head on my hand and watched as the dancing started. Song after song was played by the royal orchestra. To most of the party goers it probably seemed to be a random set, a series of songs that was left to the player's whims. They obviously weren't watching mother closely enough. Whenever the music wound down she'd twitch her fingers one way or raise an eyebrow and they'd start up again.
"Good at it isn't she?"
"A real queen of the ball." I replied the closest thing to derision I dared in such a public place.
"Really Frankie? That's the you best could come up with?"
"The best when in polite company."
The corner of his mouth twitched up, though he tried to act like he wasn't amused. I didn't buy it. "Do you see anyone who interests you?"
"You know that I'm not interested in that sort of thing."
"There are more kinds of interest than in the physical. I moved to sit on the chair's armrest relaxing my wings to hang down from my shoulders, instead of flapping about and possibly hitting Char in the face. "Maybe there's someone around here who likes gardening as much as you do."
"and how would I know that from looking at them?” He rested and elbow on the armrest across from me, chin resting on his fist so that he was leaning away from me. "How exactly do you expect me to know about that just from looking at them?" He crossed his legs and pointed at the dancing masses.
A rude gesture, but I'd supposed that nobody was going to tell Char that he was being rude. Not unless it was likely to cause a diplomatic incidence. "It's called asking."
He sighed. "Why don't you go ask." Flapping his hand at me he barely kept from brushing his fingers against my wings. Once he'd realized what he'd done he jerked back and tried to act cool. "If I try to socialize it will cause a riot or something."
Well that was probably true enough. "Fi—ne." Standing up, I opened my wings and glided down to the dance floor. It caused quite the stir and was almost enough to get the girls' to break dance formation but the queen motioned for a jaunty foreign jig. One that required the dancers' full concentration.
It left me plenty space to edge around the ballroom and out through the garden door. It would be easy enough for anyone interested in doing so, to follow me.
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I had not been expecting to run into Elena and Belle. Who were already hiding out in the garden. And I certainly wasn't expecting to walk into the middle of their fight with another Belle and a pack of Cinderellas. I vaguely recognized two of them from a passing meeting and the rest I assumed were from one of the homes where I'd left a invitation with the Lord or Lady of the house.
None of them had made as much of an impression as the duo of Elena and Belle. Still, I wasn't willing to take sides. "Is there a problem ladies?"
"Hello again, Crazy."
"A pleasure to see you again too, Elena." I bowed politely, letting my wings flare out subtly so I'd be ready to move quickly if I needed to. "And you as well Belle."
Belle nodded in reply but didn't take her eyes off the young women she was squaring off with. That was enough to send a warning tingle up my spine. Turning to her opponent's I bowed slightly, not daring to turn my back on them. I didn't know if they were in the right or the wrong, but I didn't feel the need to take any chances. "And you ladies, it's nice to see all of you as well."
The Belle who seemed to be the leader of their pack, gave me and icy smile. "So, you're the Prince's Guardian." Her eyes roved over my body. "Too bad you're not the prince. You've got a nice body."
My jaw dropped.
Elena roared with laughter.
The Belle turned her attention back to Elena. "As I said before, I expect an apology for your earlier behavior."
Oh brother. I had resist the urge to pinch my nose. "Elena?"
She ignored me, stepping forward to get in the other woman's personal space. "I'm not going to take it back. I still think you all are idiots, thinking that the Prince is going to chance upon you in the garden and sweep you off your feet. It's entrapment."
"No it's not. It's just a well thought out plan."
"And the fact that your reek of Love Potions."
I tensed and saw Elena's Partner doing the same out of the corner of my eye. This was going to get bad…and fast. Being convicted of using a love potion on a Prince of the Royal Line could see you stripped of your titles or worse thrown in prison. It wasn't the kind of thing anyone would take being accused of without putting up a fight."
"I'm afraid you're mistaken"
"No, I'm not. Don't bother claiming that it's perfume. I know better."
"Do you?" The Cinderellas that were backing her up moved into attack positions of their own. This was going to be bad.
"Guards!" I yelled. Right before I got blasted by a flash of emerald colored magic. It burned, but not much. I suspected that it would have hurt a lot worse if I'd still been human. Luckily I wasn't. Rolling back to my feet, I called my magic up, panting at both the remaining tingles that ran through my body and the effort of using my more offensive magic.
Another blast shot at me, but I was able to bring up a quick shield, enough to send the blast ricocheting into the pond. The resulting blast threw us all off of our feet. A blight flash of light blinded me and I could only listen to the muffled curses and the approaching thump, thump of Guard's men boots. Late as usual.
By the time I'd gotten my sight back, the garden was as chaotic as the ballroom had been. There were guardsmen dragging the women who'd attacked us away, and half the royal family, including Char had taken up residence.
I groaned, expecting to have to deal with Char's derision for my inability to defend myself or the stares of the Guard Captain. It took longer than it should have for me to shake off the remaining fog of the two magic blasts I'd been subjected to and realize that they were all too busy staring at the pond, to notice my presence.
There was a young man, standing ankle deep in pond with only a lily pad to protect his virtue. With curly blond hair and a rosy blush to his cheeks he could have easily been confused with any of noble heir who had come to escort their siblings to the ball.
At least he was easy to confuse until he opened his mouth and all that came out was a croak.
That was definitely a defining feature.
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I joined in the staring after that, trying to figure out what had gone wrong and why there was a croaking man standing in the fish pond.
The man didn't take the staring well, bursting into increasingly agitated croaking and waving around the hand that wasn’t holding a lily pad in front of his manhood. This party was looking more and more like a fairy party, including the uncomfortable curses.
The guardsmen moved forward bringing their spears to bear on the man. The pond water splashed as he hopped backwards to get away from them. Staggering to my feet, I prepared a light spell, one that would blind the guards and hopefully let me grab the frog-man and fly him away.
Char interfered before I had to, pushing past the guards to stand protectively in front of the other man. His decorative cloak flapped in the breeze as he undid the clasp and yanked it off his shoulders before wrapping it around the other man's waist.
"It's alright now, we'll figure out what's happened and fix everything. I promise." He said.
The two of them looked deeply into each others eyes. Something told me my search for Char's perfect mate was over. It was just my luck that he ended up with a newly transformed Frog Prince instead of a Belle or a Cinderella.
Our Father, the King, was going to have a fit once he found out that Char was considering such an untraditional arrangement. Despite the fact that he'd had a similarly untraditional arrangement. Marrying before he even found his mate, and then spending the next three decades seeing his mate turned mistress on the side. He was hardly one to talk and he'd be easy enough to shut up once I pointed a few facts out to him. Mother would not be as easily silenced. And since she was by far the more dangerous of our two parents that was something to be feared. I'd deal with it though, if it was for the sake of Char finally finding his happily ever after.
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It took longer than I had expected to find Char and transformed toad. While I had been busy quelling the panic that had resulted from both the original fight between Char's perspective spouses and the use of a transformations spell on Royal property, the pair had snuck off.
Even the tenuous link I had to Char's mind wasn't enough to help me find them. Not with the sheer number of minds that were packed into the Palace thanks to the ball.
I just hope I managed to find them before our Father's guards did. After all there was a long family history of people falling in love with transformed frogs and the King wasn't likely to take any chances. I finally gave up looking, after I found the guardsmen looking for Char, camped out in the kitchen getting drunk on mead and stuffing their faces with the left over sweets, created for the party goers.
It was a testament to either my luck, or Char's canniness, that giving up was the only reason I found the pair. Char and the toad-man were curled up on my bed, wrapped in my blanket, and in the toad-man's case a set of my clothes.
I should have woken them up and warned them off, but I didn't have the heart. Not after seeing Char's peaceful smile and their clasped hands. So I barred the door instead and dragged a few extra blankets out of the linen chest at the bed's foot so that I would have a comfortable place to curl up on, in front of the door. That way anybody trying to get at Char would have to get past both the door, and me.
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Char woke me up by throwing bits and pieces of potpourri, from the bowl beside my bed, at my head. Dragging my wings up to protect my head, I turned over and tried to ignore him. He just started hitting my back instead.
As nice as it was to see Char acting like a kid again. I really wished he wouldn't do it so early in the morning. "Stop it, Char!"
"I don't want to. Come on, you're already awake. You might as well get up."
"I'm not awake. You're just dreaming that I am."
"Please, that didn't work when we were kids and I could only sense your mind. It's really not going to work now."
I gave it up and pulled my wings back down. Sitting up to glare at him over the edge of the foot board. "What do you want, Char?"
"Can you fix him? I don't think the transformation went right, he still can't talk."
"How much of an idiot are you? Just because his body has changed doesn't mean that he has. He simply hasn't had the time to learn English yet."
"So?"
"So. You can't just force him to learn to talk to you."
"Why not?"
I stood up. My wings popped and cracked as I stretched them out after a night of sleeping on the floor."It has to be his decision."
"But.."
"Ribbit."
We both turned to stare at the toad-man. Who blushed a pretty green all the way up to his newly formed ears and curly brown hair.
"Ribbit-Ribbit Riiiiib—bit."
"Well it looks like you're in luck, Char. Your new companion would like to be able to understand you as well."
Char stared at me, askance. "How can you tell?"
"Honestly, brother. I thought you'd been trained in the history of the fairies. You should know that we can talk to every creature in the land of Tales. After all, our magic worked to create it, right down to the last leaf."
"I'm sure I vaguely recalled something about that."
I had to stifle my snort. "Yeah, of course you remember it now." I sat down on the side of the bed next to the frog man. Laying my hand against his throat and the cupping the other over his ear I allowed the ancestral memories of the fairies to flow into me. My wings began to glow, then the light started to expand, flowing down my arms and through my fingers until it sunk into the toad-man's body.
Releasing my hold on the knowledge, I sunk back into the bed.
"Hello," The toad-man said.
"Hello," Char replied.
This was certainly going to get interesting.
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I spent the next week watching the pair of them circling around each other in a slowly closing orbit. They were truly in love. Love filled Char's eyes whenever he looked at Tion and I could see the sorrow that filled Tion's and the way that he stared down at the gardens that had been his home before the fateful day he'd been forced into human form.
The strands of fate twisted and curled in the back of my mind. A comforting whisper like the strains of a harp echoing inside my head. Letting me know that their relationship was a part of the fates grand design. Despite the unusual way they met.
It was enough to give me the confidence I needed to face my mother.
The Queen swept into my guest quarters as though she was sweeping into the throne room instead of one of the least well appointed guest quarters in the palace. With her finely appointed dress and her cold, distant face, it was easy to imagine her ordering my exile into the human world for being different.
"How can I help you Your Majesty?"
"You can tell my son that he isn't to see that toad anymore."
I could but I wasn't going to. "Why do you want me to tell him that?"
"He's refusing to see reason. My husband, sons, even I have spoken to him about this matter and have encouraged him to pick a more suitable bride."
"And?"
"Don't get snide with me, boy."
I raised an eyebrow in response. Her guards bristled, but they weren't going to touch me after Trainer took them to task.
"He won't listen to us. He believes he is in love with that- that thing"
"Tion is a good man and I believe that he will be good for Char in the long run."
"That is not for you to decide." She snapped.
"Yes, it is. I am Char's guardian. You have no control over me beyond that which the fate's give you."
"I think that you'll find nothing is that simple." She moved into my space until we would have been nose to nose, if I wasn't almost a head taller than her.
"And what will you do if I don't agree to do as you ask?"
"My guards will see to it that you do."
I glanced over her head, to the guards who were standing at the door. Except for the Captain, none of them looked like they wanted to go through with the Queen's plan.
"And if they can't stop me?"
"We have blood wards on the palace. Only those who are of our blood can resist them. The guards will do as they are told."
I leaned down until my head was even with hers, wrapping my wings around us so that the guards could not hear me, and whispered. "Then it's a good thing you had me abandoned in the human world, where I would be able to fulfill my destiny as a fairy, isn't it mother? It would be a shame if you were to try and activate those wards against me, and ended up proving my identity to all of your subjects."
She stiffened.
I pulled away before she could react. "I think it's time you left, your Majesty."
Her mouth pinched into a tight line, but I hadn't gotten her intelligence for nothing. She knew as well as I did that trying to fight me on this would bring more trouble than letting Char do as he pleased."This isn't over Guardian."
I bowed just the slightest bit, in acknowledgment of her threat. I didn't expect her to give up so easily, but it wasn't just her intelligence I'd inherited, I'd also inherited her stubbornness.
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"I'm sorry. I know you said my destiny is with Char, but I can't do this."
"Why not? Has someone been bothering you again?" If they had I'd kill them. Or at least maim them a little. Nobody messed with my brother's soul mate and got away with it.
"I'm not human. I didn't ask for this and no matter how much I love Char it's not enough."
Sitting down on the bed, I pulled Tion down to sit beside me. "Calm down. You know that Char wouldn't ever force you to do something you weren't comfortable with. He loves you more than anyone else in his life."
"Even you?"
"We were two halves of the same soul at one point, but I willingly gave that up. Char never blamed me but that doesn't mean he forgave me either. With you he has a second chance at what we had."
"That's the problem. He doesn't have another chance. I'm going to end up making the same decision you did." Tion cuddled into my side and I pulled him close. This wasn't a conversation I had ever expected to have with another person. I'd thought that once we'd finally found my brother's soul mate things would get simpler, but that didn't seem to be how things were working out.
"Why don't you think you'll be able to stay with him."
"I'm a toad." He reached his hand up in front of his face staring at the delicately boned hand as though it was a strangers. "I like being human. Its' fun, but it's not me. I can't stay like this. Not forever. Not even as much as I love Char."
"Have you talked to him about this?"
He shook his head and curled closer to me. "I don't want him to be angry. He's been so kind, so sweet. He doesn't deserve this."
"No he doesn't, but it won't end well if you stay human just to please him."
"How can you be sure?"
I didn't have an easy answer for that. No sure fired knowledge, there was just a whisper a surety in the back of my mind that said Tion wasn't meant to reside in the world as he was now. "I don't know, I just do."
"That's encouraging."
"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more than that. It’s a fairy Guardian thing."
That seemed to calm him at least, the knowledge that there was something bigger guiding my actions. He stared at me with a look of such peace before relaxing into my lap. "I'm glad. If it's in fates design then maybe everything will work out for the best."
"I'm sure it will." I lied. I could only pray that my lie would prove to be truth. The fate's were quiet, refusing to whisper their secrets to me.
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"Did he tell you what he'd decided to do?" He asked, while slowly running his whet stone across his sword with a soft shick, shick. It raised the hairs on my arms and sent chills down my spine but I didn't ask him to stop. It comforted him. "About going back to the pond." He continued when he realized that I wasn't going to say anything until he explained what he was talking about.
Even if I already knew. "He didn't tell me about that no, but he did tell me that he was going to return to being a toad."
"Why is it that everybody I love isn't human." He stopped his sharpening to demand. Though it seemed to be a demand for answers from the air itself rather than me.
Still, I couldn't resist answering him."Just unlucky I guess."
"You're not being very helpful."
"And you're not being very understanding." Hearing him talk like this hurt. I was glad he was sharpening his sword. If he hadn't been I'd have been sitting next to him and I didn't feel up to that right now. We'd never really discussed our separation and now wasn't the time to do so, no matter how much I wanted to scream at him that it wasn't a choice between staying with him or not. It was a choice between living a lie or being free.
"How am I not being understanding? I fell in love with a man that was once a frog. Now I'm going to be alone again. It was easier when I didn't think that there was anyone that could love me out there. Not after I lost you and now it's happening again. Just the same as before."
"Could you love him even if he was a toad again?" The words popped out without my having to think about them. The whispered music of fate was louder now, more like a orchestra pushing me up and up towards an epiphany on the swell of the notes.
"Of course I will still love him."
"Then what if there was another way for you to be with him?" Still the music led me.
"By what getting turned into a frog myself?"
"He's a toad," I corrected pulling away from the fate's music long enough to manage a spiteful comment that would hopefully put him at ease and let him know that I was still me no matter how strange I was about to start acting "And nothing that complicated.
"Because this situation is so Fates be Damned simple."
"Please refrain from cursing the Fates." A whisper of music backed my voice with power I did not usually have.
Char was too worked up to notice. "Really, that's what you choose to dwell on. My cursing on the Fates. What is it with you and Tion? Can't a non-religious man curse like he wants?"
"I'm your guardian as pre-ordained by the fates. So excuse me if I take it the wrong way, your cursing the very force that brought us together."
"The same force that keeps taking away the people I love." He snapped.
"Only if you let it." I corrected.
"Well then, what would you suggest? " He tossed a small box with a beautifully carved engagement ring nestled inside, down onto the table beside my armchair. "It's not like Tion is going to have much use for that once he's a toad again."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that."
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"Do you, Charming Black take this being to be your bond mate. Together for all eternity no matter what form your life takes?"
"I do."
"And do you Tion Toad take this man to be your bond-mate as pre-ordained by the fates?"
"I do."
Then as a representative of the fates I bind your life forces, your souls together so that no man, woman, or bond can tear you from each other's side." I wrapped the around their joined hands, and when I tied the last knot it dissolved sinking into their flesh. "With this cord I give you both a gift. In times of need, be it personal or a matter of duty, Tion Toad will always be able to find his way to Charming Black's side. In human form and toad form. This is my bonding gift as a Black Family guardian. And as Char's brother."
The pair of them stared at me in obvious shock. When Id' suggested this ceremony as an alternative to an official bonding they had both jumped at the chance to have something to connect them despite the fact that they would never be able to be together.
Luckily for them Fate had other plans. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the jewelry box that Char had so carelessly left in my possession. " I believe you wanted to give this to Tion?"
Char was too happy to get mouthy with me, as he plucked the box from my hand and opened it to pull out the ring. "This is a bit redundant now that we've been bonded, but I would like to request that you become my consort."
Tion stared down at the ring for a long moment. Then a tear trickled down his cheek. "I'm sorry Char, I can't. You are my bond mate and the other half of my soul, but they won't let us wed unless I'm human and I can't do that. I can't deny what I am. I'm sorry." He let go of Char's hand and ran.
It only took a moment for Char to realize what was happening and run after him. The jewelry box landed next to me again. This time at least the ring wasn't in it. I decided to take that as a good sign. Now that Tion and Char were bonded the symphony of fate had abandoned me.
Leaving me feeling like a pat of butter that had been scraped across too much toast. Even the idea of trying to climb the stairs to my quarters left me panting for breath. A few stumbling steps over to where a long, stone bench sat next to Tion's pond and then I was blessedly horizontal, my wings draped over me to keep off the night dew.
I was asleep within a handful of heartbeats.
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I groaned myself awake. Exhausted and sore but strangely enough not damp or cold. In fact I felt warm and safe. "Wha—" I managed to moan.
"So you finally decided to wake up huh?" Char asked.
I considered opening my eyes so that I could glare at him . It wasn't like he'd been the one who'd had to have Fate running about in his head and bestowing magical endowments. There was quiet for a while and I thought I might fall back to sleep.
Then I was being jarred and jostled into an upright position and there was something cool and smooth being pressed against my lips. Water trickled into my mouth and down my parched throat.
"Do you think I should try to wake him up again?" This time at least he was whispering so that it was easy to ignore him in favor of falling deeper into sleep.
"I don't know. You're family has Guardians right? Have any of them gotten sick like this before?"
"Not that I can remember, but most of them don't interact with us like Frankie does. Their more like silent watchers, only interfering if you aren't following your destiny. I haven't heard of a Fairy Guardian bestowing a gift on anyone anytime in the last three or four generations. There just hasn't been any need. Not since the savage times before the Black family took the throne."
"So you really don't know all that more about his powers than I do." Tion sounded upset and depressed. I wanted to tell him that I'd be okay, but I was exhausted and even if I hadn't been I wasn't good at comforting. I didn't even know what was going to happen. Any assurance I tried to give them would be a like.
So I let myself sink further into sleep, leaving my brother and his worries behind for another time when I felt more up to dealing with his questions.
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"There we go, he should be all better now."
I didn't recognize the voice, but it possessed the lyrical tilt of most of my fellow fairies. I tried to stretch out my senses to get a taste of Zi's magic but I could only feel the faintest of echoes like someone was standing in another room whispering.
Exhaustion still dragged at me, but at least it was better now. I didn't feel like my body would disintegrate if I moved too much. After a few tries I even managed to pry my eyes open. I'd been right, there was a fairy in the room with me. Though exactly which room we were in I couldn't tell. All I could see was the plain gray of the ceiling and a set of red bed curtains. Which could have belonged to any guest room in the castle. "Well hello there." The strange fairy said. "I'm glad to see your awake again. You're brother was starting to worry. You probably should have warned him that you were going to be this wiped out after having a bequeathing ceremony."
"Didn't know." I croaked out.
Tion entered my line of site, smoothing his perpetually cool hand over my forehead and lifting me enough that I could take a few sips from the glass of water he held to my lips.
"This was your first time?" The Fairy asked
"Is that unusual?" I couldn't see Char, but their was no mistaking his angry snap.
"Not exactly. Everyone has to have a first time after all. It's simply unusual to find someone who managed such an impressive bit of foretelling and spell work on their first try." He turned back to me and continued. "The fates must have really been using you hard for you to manage."
I nodded, only to stop halfway through when the top of my skull felt like it was going to fall off. Zi pursed her lips in response to my pained lips. "We'll need to be careful until your all the way better, don't want you getting a spear bit of foretelling and ending up having a relapse."
"Is that likely?" My brother screeched in an entirely too loud voice. I winced and tried to decide if I had enough energy to pull my quilt up over my head.
"Calm yourself Prince Black. The last thing we need is for you to get upset and do something that will require your Guardian to have a vision about you. So sit down and act your age."
"Who?" I croaked out. Really wanting to know who could possibly order Char around like this.
"Aw, I forgot that you wouldn't be able to sense me properly as weak as you are right now. I'm Rock, the eldest prince's long suffering Fairy Guardian. I've been looking after Charming since he scared off the Guardian before you. He's not technically supposed to contact me now that he has a Guardian of his own but under the circumstances its' understandable."
"I didn't bother nodding or trying to force out a sound of agreement. I'd already burned through most of my energy and I trusted that Zi would be able to pick out my gratitude from the emotions I was no doubt leaking everywhere.
Tion brushed my hair away from my forehead and lay a blessedly cool cloth over my forehead and eyes. "Go ahead and go back to sleep. You should feel a lot better when you wake up. Now that Rock cast a healing spell on you."
I took him at his word, and let the darkness claim me. Between Rock and Tion I had no doubt that Char would be well cared for. Even if I did stay awake I wasn't in any condition to do a better job than they could.
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When I woke up I really did feel better. Almost normal. At least normal enough that I could pull myself out of bed and scramble over to the wash stand to wipe myself down. A dip in the palace's hots springs would have been better but I didn't have the energy for that. Not to mention that I didn't feel like running into any suspicious guards or curious family members, of heaven forbid one of the young men and women who had come for the balls and then had just refused to leave.
Somehow they always seemed to think I could arrange for them to get into char's good graces. Never mind the fact that it was obvious that he'd picked Tion. The women at least I could understand. It wasn't as though Tion could take the tile of Queen so they still had a chance for a title if not Char's love.
The men that had stayed generally just came off as pathetic. Though my viewpoint was probably tainted by the fact that I knew the two of them were soul bonded.
"Finally feeling better, you idiot?"
I jerked and would have fallen if it wasn't for my wings flapping lazily to keep me upright. "Why am I an idiot?"
"You almost kill yourself and you want to know why I think you're an idiot."
"I didn't almost kill myself!" I snapped, stepping forward to confront him only to have to grab hold of the washbasin to keep from falling.
"Yeah, you're perfectly fine."
"I still resent the implication that I was trying to kill myself."
He grabbed me by the elbow and escorted me back to the bed. "You can resent the implications all you want. That doesn't mean I'm wrong. I'm not saying that dying was your goal, I just get the feeling that you were more worried about helping me and Tion then you were about keeping yourself healthy."
Well I couldn't really resent that statement since it was true. "It's fate. Your being together."
Sighing, he sat down on the bed so that I could lean my head on his shoulder "I wish you wouldn’t talk about it like that. It's not fate, it's love."
"Just because it's your destiny, that doesn't make it any less real or important."
He curled his arm around my waist, under my wings and I let myself since further against him, my wings wrapping around his back and shoulders. "You might think that Frankie, but look at what happened. Fate tells you something needs to happen and you almost kill yourself to make sure it does happen. That's not exactly free will."
He did have a point, but, "It's different for Fairies, we're part of fates design in a way most other species aren't'."
"That doesn't make me like the end result any better."
Which was only fair. He didn't have to like what fate had in store for him. Most people didn't. I grabbed his hand in mind and squeezed in a wordless show of acceptance. "So did you and Tion sort out what you're going to do about him being your Consort?"
"Not exactly, we kind of got distracted." He squeezed the hand that was tangled with his own. A sign that he didn't really blame me for distracting them. "He agreed to wear the ring but for right now it's just going to be until he goes back to being a toad."
"Has he decided when that will be?"
"Sometime after you're better, but I don't think he's thought of it much beyond that."
"I'm sure you'll find a way to compromise." I had faith in the Fates even if Char didn't.
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I was still weak when the time came for Tion to return to his pond, but with Char's help I was able to make it out of the small tower guest room where they'd hidden me and down into the garden. I probably should have felt guilty for tagging along on what probably should have been a romantic goodbye, but Tion was my friend too.
He understood me in a way that nobody, not even Char, had ever been able to and while it wasn't like I was never going to be able to see him again, I would still miss being able to talk to him whenever I wanted to.
We ended up back at the bench in front of which we'd held the binding ceremony a mere two weeks before. The mood was similarly bittersweet, though I liked to think that they had more hope for their future then they'd had even those few days before. That was probably pride talking though.
I averted my eyes while they shared a passionate kiss in front of the lake, turning my attention to the rough stone under my hands. Once they'd finished their goodbye Tion came over to give me a tight hug. Holding me close for a long moment before whispering into my ear. "If you ever need someone to talk to come to my Pond and I'll listen. I promise."
Pulling away from me he returned to Char's side. They clasped hands and shared one last peck before Tion's form shimmered and my brother was left holding a small, green and brown speckled toad with his Tion's engagement ring wrapped around his arm like a bracelet. Char pressed a kiss to its warty head before releasing it back into the pond. "Come on, let's get you back up to the guest room, you're white as a sheet."
"Don't you want to stay with Tion, and make sure he's adjusting back to life in the pond?"
"He'll be fine, it's you he'd be worried about."
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I watched over Char and Tion as they walked through the gardens on their morning walk. As had become their habit in the three months since Tion had returned to his life as a toad. While I occasionally joined them, enjoying my brother's newly discovered joy in everything the world had to offer, I hadn't felt like doing so today. Not with the morning fog so thick. So I'd remained on the balcony of Char and my shared quarters and indulged in a slowly sipped morning tea.
"So what did you learn from your first charge." Trainer asked. Appearing as Zi always did out of seemingly thin air and thoroughly ruining my attempt at relaxation.
"That the Council is unbelievably manipulative." I watched her face out of the corner of my eye and was pleased to see her smirk.
"A valid conclusion, though I was speaking more about your self confidence. When you first came to this palace you felt the need to hide your actions without even considering if they were part of destinies greater plan. Now you are confident that you can follow where fate calls you."
"Why did the council care. I'm a simple fairy. What does my connection to the greater fates matter? Most of our kind don't even know enough to know where they will be led on any given day. Why should I be any different?"
"Because of your blood."
I froze in the act of sipping at my cup of morning tea. The steam tickling at my nose, not enough to distract me from the implications of Trainer's statement.
"Surely you didn't think the council was unaware of your existence. Every heir of the Black family is assigned a fairy Guardian. It's not official until the day they are committed to the throne, but we watch our children from the minute of their birth. You were no exception despite the circumstances that followed. Unfortunately we hadn't realized what fate had intended until after you two were born and when you were separated your assigned Guardian had no choice but to pick which of you two to watch over."
"Why would they need to watch over me? I was no one important." I'd just been a simple human boy for the first eighteen years of my life. It wasn't as though I had done anything amazing or profound in the human realm. Had I be destined to come back to rule at my brothers side things might have been different, but fairies weren't assigned Guardians of their own and only the most powerful and influential humans required that kind of oversight.
"No? You brought about a new connection between the Fairy Lands and the Land of Happily Ever Afters. That is something profound, something fated." That possibility needed to be protected.
"What would have happened if our Guardian had stayed with Char instead?"
"Who can say?"
I dared to reach out and grab her arm. "Don't lie. There is no way that any fairy would have made that sort of decision without fate whispering into their ear."
Trainer gave me an indulgent smile. "You've grown up so much from back when you were a little crying bundle abandoned on the steps of a human orphanage."
"What?" I whispered. The implications seemed impossible. Surely I would have know if Trainer was my Guardian. There would have been a connection there.
"There were two possibilities, two fates that were equal but distant, the choice wasn't about destiny or lack there of. It was about need. You needed me more than Char did. He grew up loved and cared for, perhaps not as well as he would have if I'd been his Guardian, but it was enough to allow him a chance at happiness when you came back into his life. That's more than you would have gotten had I stayed with him."
"What does that mean?"
"Who would you be if you were not a fairy?" I tried to think back into those dark days when the only thing that had kept me from going crazy and trying to scratch my flesh off was the connection with Char and the dream of one day becoming a fairy like the ones that existed in my dreams. My body had been a prison and I would have eventually run out of chances to escape it. Then … dreams about stepping off the roof of the orphanage…there was not telling what would have happened.
"You would have been lost. I know that you cannot understand why your brother should have to pay so that you could have a second chance, but Char had two chances at happiness and I could only perceive one for you."
I looked over to where Char was walking through the gardens, Tion balanced on his shoulder, conversing in that strange mix of human and toad that they seemed to have perfected. He was truly happy.
"Do you think he would have been happy knowing that you had been lost to him simply so that he could be happier a few years earlier?"
Of course not that wasn't the type of person that Char was. "No, he would not have preferred that."
"There is something that you will come to understand as you grow older. The quickest road to happiness and destiny is not always the best."
"Are you telling me this because you think I need to know it for my next charge?"
"I told you when this punishment was first instated. You are going to stay here until Prince Char has reached his destiny. That is still a long way in the future. Until then I suggest that you continue to learn what lessons you can from him."
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked. Shock making my voice crack out louder than I intended in the mist covered garden. Char turned to check on me, but I waved him away. More concerned with figuring out what Trainer meant, but when I turned to confront her, Zi had disappeared as Zi was wont to do. Still there lingered a whisper on the wind. "Your brothers destiny is far from over, as is the destiny the two of you share. I suggest you enjoy what peace you have because it will not last forever.
I wanted to scream for Trainer to come back, but it wouldn't prove anything. Zi came and went as Zi chose. As much as I didn't like the implications of that statement I had no reason to doubt or rebel against it.
So when Char motioned for me to join him and Tion on their walk, I didn't hesitate. My brother and I were together and both of our dreams had come to fruition. For now at least that was more than enough…..and we all lived happily ever after….for now.
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End