There was once a princess who slept in the sky.
Who slept in the bed of sleeping princesses. No one could awaken her. Not even the many princes who pressed their lips upon her still-warm but motionless lips. She has slept on the bed where she is laid down on for generations. Kingdoms and civilizations have come and gone, but there she lay, in the center of the city of dwarves. No one could awaken her.
She was as white as snow, but she was not Snow White.
She was as fragile to look upon and behold, but she was not Cinderella.
She radiated an intense but largely incomprehensible beauty, but she was not Belle.
She slept with a slight smile of a carefree soul, but she was not Ariel.
She was the princess of all princesses. She was the sleeping beauty.
The fairest of them all.
Aurora, some called her. But she was not Aurora, for Aurora died many ages ago.
This nameless princess, the true sleeping beauty, was neither as charming or distinct as all the princesses in the pantheon of royal ladies, yet she was the most universal in attraction. People who passed her resting place could feel her light fall on their faces, and they would be happy.
She would never wake up. Not even beyond the age of centuries. Most have forgotten her. Even the Prince of Thieves and Snow White have forgotten that there was another hope, besides the tree of their hearts, for the land of Fairies to relight their old fire and glory.
But the sleeping beauty will never wake up. She will never wake up. No prince would wake her. No shooting star. No frog from the bushes near by. No beast and no giants. Nothing.
Not even the Prince of Thieves, were he alive, would be able to steal her sleep and wake her from her peaceful slumber.
However.
Her mind moves.
Her thoughts are alive.
Her thoughts are not asleep.
Not today.
The sleeping beauty wants to wake up. Yes. She does.
But no one knows her secret.
So no one can save her.
She sleeps.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Friday, February 2, 2007
#12 - Tinkerbell's Covenant
The
She had been the Queen for a trillion years. And she was bored. She had built and established her kingdom to the point of autonomy. Her guidance was needed less everyday. Her responsibilities were fading. She had little to do. She had no man to love (who could love a Queen of the dead?).
Queen Tinkerbell was bored.
She flicked her wand, and sprayed pixie dust into thin air, and breathed death into the nothingness before her, and conjured a little infant. A little boy child. He was a beautiful baby, with blond hair, emerald eyesm and ruby lips like the Queen herself. He cried his first cry of life, only he had no life. Queen Tinkerbell held her baby boy, and sang folk lullabies of the pixies.
Then Queen Tinkerbell summoned Rumplestilkskin to her courts.
”Rumplestiltskin, I am the bearer of Snow White’s covenant with you,” declared the Queen.
“I know,” answered Rumplestiltskin, still plump and hardy as was his days in Fairyland (He ran an entertainment business, where he would spin golden ropes of hope and hook it to the land of the living, and the dead would climb it, catch a glimpse of life, then have the rope disappear, and let the holder fall back into death). “And I see that your Highness has a baby boy now. I congratulate you.”
“Thank you, my Queen. But may I ask why you did this? Your switch of curses with Snow White and the Prince of Thieves was a fair one, and you did not have to ever fulfill the vow. Yet you created this child for me. Why?”
“Well. I was bored.”
*
At night, Rumplestiltskin spun perfect ropes of life, and weaved an unbreakable basket. He laid a cloth in the basket, and placed the baby boy there. The baby was fast asleep and breathed heavily. As the
Rumpy looked at his baby, and whispered, “You are born of the dead, yet you are alive. You can live here, but you can live in Fairyland too. Because you are born of an eternal presence, you will live forever in the land of the living. You will never grow old. You will never be kept to the ground. You will live free forever, until the day you decide yourself that you want to return to me.”
And he hoisted the baby into the land of the living.
Rumplestiltskin shed a tear as the unbreakable basket felt sunshine. He could almost hear the baby cry.
“Goodbye, little Peter. Goodbye.”
Queen Tinkerbell smiled as she saw all that transpired.
*
End
#11 - Happily Ever After
It was late evening, and it was drizzling. The sun was almost set in its place of rest, and the world was cast in a light blue.
The Prince of Thieves drove up the street leading to the suburbs slowly. Snow White was with him, sleeping in the car. It was a long drive, he has been driving for the past four hours just to get to this place.
"Honey, we're here," The Prince of Thieves woke Snow White gently after he parked the car under a tree just beside a row of houses. They both got out of the car, and stood under the tree.
"Is this it?" asked Snow White, looking at the tree.
"Yes, I'm quite sure it is. This is the only tree that has lived since the days of Fairyland," answered the Thief.
"How can you tell?"
"I can tell."
"Okay. So."
"We have to do this, Snow White. We've been running and hiding for milleniums now. We've lived through the rise and fall of a million civilizations. We've been happy. We've been together. And now, this tree is that is left of where we came from, and we can't let it die."
"The tree is not dead yet, dear."
"But it will be, if we leave it like this. It has survived so long without being cut down, its fortune is running out. We have to let it live, at all costs."
"I know."
"We have lived long enough, love."
"Yes, I suppose we have. Everything that lived during our time have already passed on to other worlds. Even the gods and fairies, creatures we thought would be eternal, have all passed on. It is only because you stole death away from us, that we have lived this long."
"Mm. We've seen more than any normal living being would've been allowed to see," agreed the Prince of Thieves. He closed his eyes and thought. About what, we do not know.
"Let us save this tree then," he finally said.
*
Snow White and the Prince of Thieves dug a small hole beside the tree with their hands. The sky was almost dark by the time they had dug. The leaves of the fairy tree slowed the tip-tapping drizzle into streams of water that fell on the two lovers. The Prince of Thieves wept as he pressed his fingers into the ground. Snow White remained silent as she removed the soil.
Both Snow White and the Prince of Thieves kneeled beside the little space that they have dug with their hands. By then the Prince of Thieves had removed his tie, and had put his coat around his beloved. They looked at each other and smiled, before reaching into their bodies with their hands, and removing their hearts.
It glowed red and gold in the night, and nothing more.
Snow White gently placed her shining heart into the ground, and the Prince of Thieves followed suit. Then the drizzling stopped, and the winds ceased to ruffle the leaves of the fairy tree.
As the two of them buried their hearts beside the tree, they remained silent, as did the rest of the world.
*
The Prince of Thieves and Snow White sat under the fairty tree. She was lying in his arms, and The Prince of Thieves gently stroked her coal-black hair.
"The roots of this tree will find our hearts," said, assuring himself and Snow White (for he has said this a thousand times) "and from it, a new world will grow, a world like the one we came from... Whether we have succeeded in restoring Fairyland, I don't think we'll ever know."
"It doesn't matter anymore. We've done what we did. We don't even have time to hope. We are dying,"
"Yes, we are. I love you."
"I know."
And they rested under the tree. Sometimes they were silent. Sometimes they spoke, reminiscing old adventures (for their adventures were many, and mostly dramatic).
Airplanes flew over the skies; trucks, taxis and cars passed that street; paddlers strolled past them, but the world paid no heed to them.
It was their last night in the land of the living. They faded as the night passed. In the lunar cycle, the sky was seventeen days away from lighting a full moon, yet the moon hung from the sky in its full glory that night.
*
As for when the birth of a new Fairyland will be, we will never know. Perhaps tomorrow, or next year, or a thousand years later.
Or perhaps the world would have ran its course by then.
We will never know.
As for the Prince and the Princess, I guess many would tell their tale and say that they did live a "happily ever after" life. Some would go so far to say that their tale lasted almost an eternity, yet seemed too short.
But yes. Happily ever after.
*
The Prince of Thieves drove up the street leading to the suburbs slowly. Snow White was with him, sleeping in the car. It was a long drive, he has been driving for the past four hours just to get to this place.
"Honey, we're here," The Prince of Thieves woke Snow White gently after he parked the car under a tree just beside a row of houses. They both got out of the car, and stood under the tree.
"Is this it?" asked Snow White, looking at the tree.
"Yes, I'm quite sure it is. This is the only tree that has lived since the days of Fairyland," answered the Thief.
"How can you tell?"
"I can tell."
"Okay. So."
"We have to do this, Snow White. We've been running and hiding for milleniums now. We've lived through the rise and fall of a million civilizations. We've been happy. We've been together. And now, this tree is that is left of where we came from, and we can't let it die."
"The tree is not dead yet, dear."
"But it will be, if we leave it like this. It has survived so long without being cut down, its fortune is running out. We have to let it live, at all costs."
"I know."
"We have lived long enough, love."
"Yes, I suppose we have. Everything that lived during our time have already passed on to other worlds. Even the gods and fairies, creatures we thought would be eternal, have all passed on. It is only because you stole death away from us, that we have lived this long."
"Mm. We've seen more than any normal living being would've been allowed to see," agreed the Prince of Thieves. He closed his eyes and thought. About what, we do not know.
"Let us save this tree then," he finally said.
*
Snow White and the Prince of Thieves dug a small hole beside the tree with their hands. The sky was almost dark by the time they had dug. The leaves of the fairy tree slowed the tip-tapping drizzle into streams of water that fell on the two lovers. The Prince of Thieves wept as he pressed his fingers into the ground. Snow White remained silent as she removed the soil.
Both Snow White and the Prince of Thieves kneeled beside the little space that they have dug with their hands. By then the Prince of Thieves had removed his tie, and had put his coat around his beloved. They looked at each other and smiled, before reaching into their bodies with their hands, and removing their hearts.
It glowed red and gold in the night, and nothing more.
Snow White gently placed her shining heart into the ground, and the Prince of Thieves followed suit. Then the drizzling stopped, and the winds ceased to ruffle the leaves of the fairy tree.
As the two of them buried their hearts beside the tree, they remained silent, as did the rest of the world.
*
The Prince of Thieves and Snow White sat under the fairty tree. She was lying in his arms, and The Prince of Thieves gently stroked her coal-black hair.
"The roots of this tree will find our hearts," said, assuring himself and Snow White (for he has said this a thousand times) "and from it, a new world will grow, a world like the one we came from... Whether we have succeeded in restoring Fairyland, I don't think we'll ever know."
"It doesn't matter anymore. We've done what we did. We don't even have time to hope. We are dying,"
"Yes, we are. I love you."
"I know."
And they rested under the tree. Sometimes they were silent. Sometimes they spoke, reminiscing old adventures (for their adventures were many, and mostly dramatic).
Airplanes flew over the skies; trucks, taxis and cars passed that street; paddlers strolled past them, but the world paid no heed to them.
It was their last night in the land of the living. They faded as the night passed. In the lunar cycle, the sky was seventeen days away from lighting a full moon, yet the moon hung from the sky in its full glory that night.
*
As for when the birth of a new Fairyland will be, we will never know. Perhaps tomorrow, or next year, or a thousand years later.
Or perhaps the world would have ran its course by then.
We will never know.
As for the Prince and the Princess, I guess many would tell their tale and say that they did live a "happily ever after" life. Some would go so far to say that their tale lasted almost an eternity, yet seemed too short.
But yes. Happily ever after.
*
#10 - Epilogue: The Songs of Eternity
While all stories after the first nine episodes can be randomly read, this story takes place immediately after #9
*
A young lady, cloaked in grey, a walking stick in hand, journeyed very far to reach this place.
*
She came from the forest of a faraway land, bartered her treasures with the sailors to take her to the Eastern shores, where even sailors never sail to. On her sea journey sea nymphs took the ship away, but the Sirens knew who the young lady was, and spared her life. She was a nymph once, one of the sweet singers of death. Or at least, she has a bloodline that can be traced to these surreal creatures of the sea.
The Sirens laid her by the cliffs where they resided, and let her sleep. Constantly fading in and out of sleep, the young lady could hear the sirens sing in the night. The songs they sang in their own homes were significantly different from that which they sing to lustful sailors. They sang songs that told many stories. They sang songs of how the world began. They sang songs of how the first fairy was born. They sang songs of androids from outer space. They sang songs of men who bedded their king. They sang songs about gods. They sang songs about everything.
And the young lady remembered everything, though she did not try to. She just remembered everything.
Your were once one of us, princess. You do not need to learn our songs. You only need to find them. The world and all things knowable is in your blood. You do not need to know your tale, or how you came to be here. Just know that the Sirens will never harm you. And we will take you to as far as we can to where your heart desires to be.
The young lady woke up, fresh and young again, in a vast desert. From there she continued walking until nightfall. She no longer needed her walking stick. She looked at the pale moon, and whispered a prayer, and sang a song of the Sirens.
The moon glowed like the sun upon hearing a song of the seas sung in the desert. The young lady sang on with her eyes closed. The song gave her warmth and comfort, and the world changed around her. When she awoke from her sleep, she was among the clouds, white and moist. She was younger still, and she walked on air. She walked till the clouds turned grey, and she rested again, and sang a song.
Raindrops formed and fell as her song of the seas echoed through the skies and beyond. And the next day, she found herself in space, without a body. Still she walked. And she sang as she walked, until she met the Godfather of Fairies, who waited for her at walls of the universe, of all creation.
"I want my baby back, O Godfather of Fairies," said the young lady.
"I admire your persistence, Princess Belle of the Forbidden Forest, but even if I grant you your wish, you cannot have her again. You have travelled too far to find me. You have died."
"I am still here,"Princess Belle stubbornly retorted.
"And so long as you remain here you will not be taken to the land of the dead. So, I bid you stay," said the Godfather of Fairies.
"Stay and do what? I've come here to beg for your mercy, but it seems even your mercy can do me no good anymore."
"But it can, and my mercy you shall have. You may stay in this realm, and observe all things, including your daughter. Her life, and her death, everything. I understand that it might be more painful to merely see her through the windows of my home, but the choice is yours."
"Is there nothing else you can do for me?"
"I'm afraid not. I am sorry."
"And out of curiosity, what were you offered?"
"To take your child away?"
"Yes,"
"A lot."
"Ah."
*
*
A young lady, cloaked in grey, a walking stick in hand, journeyed very far to reach this place.
*
She came from the forest of a faraway land, bartered her treasures with the sailors to take her to the Eastern shores, where even sailors never sail to. On her sea journey sea nymphs took the ship away, but the Sirens knew who the young lady was, and spared her life. She was a nymph once, one of the sweet singers of death. Or at least, she has a bloodline that can be traced to these surreal creatures of the sea.
The Sirens laid her by the cliffs where they resided, and let her sleep. Constantly fading in and out of sleep, the young lady could hear the sirens sing in the night. The songs they sang in their own homes were significantly different from that which they sing to lustful sailors. They sang songs that told many stories. They sang songs of how the world began. They sang songs of how the first fairy was born. They sang songs of androids from outer space. They sang songs of men who bedded their king. They sang songs about gods. They sang songs about everything.
And the young lady remembered everything, though she did not try to. She just remembered everything.
Your were once one of us, princess. You do not need to learn our songs. You only need to find them. The world and all things knowable is in your blood. You do not need to know your tale, or how you came to be here. Just know that the Sirens will never harm you. And we will take you to as far as we can to where your heart desires to be.
The young lady woke up, fresh and young again, in a vast desert. From there she continued walking until nightfall. She no longer needed her walking stick. She looked at the pale moon, and whispered a prayer, and sang a song of the Sirens.
The moon glowed like the sun upon hearing a song of the seas sung in the desert. The young lady sang on with her eyes closed. The song gave her warmth and comfort, and the world changed around her. When she awoke from her sleep, she was among the clouds, white and moist. She was younger still, and she walked on air. She walked till the clouds turned grey, and she rested again, and sang a song.
Raindrops formed and fell as her song of the seas echoed through the skies and beyond. And the next day, she found herself in space, without a body. Still she walked. And she sang as she walked, until she met the Godfather of Fairies, who waited for her at walls of the universe, of all creation.
"I want my baby back, O Godfather of Fairies," said the young lady.
"I admire your persistence, Princess Belle of the Forbidden Forest, but even if I grant you your wish, you cannot have her again. You have travelled too far to find me. You have died."
"I am still here,"Princess Belle stubbornly retorted.
"And so long as you remain here you will not be taken to the land of the dead. So, I bid you stay," said the Godfather of Fairies.
"Stay and do what? I've come here to beg for your mercy, but it seems even your mercy can do me no good anymore."
"But it can, and my mercy you shall have. You may stay in this realm, and observe all things, including your daughter. Her life, and her death, everything. I understand that it might be more painful to merely see her through the windows of my home, but the choice is yours."
"Is there nothing else you can do for me?"
"I'm afraid not. I am sorry."
"And out of curiosity, what were you offered?"
"To take your child away?"
"Yes,"
"A lot."
"Ah."
*
#9 - Long live the Queen
The world flooded very quickly as the ice melted away. Within days half the original Fairyland was covered in water. Fishes found new territory. Land beings scrambled up the tallest mountains. Merpeople rose from the depths of the oceans and established their expanded territory. A castle of pearls, reflecting rainbow colors under the sunlight, emerged in the center of the land. It was a new age, and the merpeople seized all the shipsand secured every trade route in the newly formed world.
The land beings were not happy. Their time was short, and space was scarce. A meeting between the King of the merpeople and the last remaining Prince of the land will be their only hope for any sort of... well, hope.
Only the last remaining Prince wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He hid in his castle, half submerged in the waters. He curled up in the cellar, waiting. He slept very little, but dreamt a lot. He has waited for many years to finally leave his castle. The day is coming. But not yet. And until that time comes, he will remain in his castle.
*
The King of Mermaids, King Neptune, sat by the shore. The Forbidden Forest was by then more like the Forbidden Beach. Masses gathered by the shore, waiting for their Prince to come.
"Where is your representative? I much desire to speak with him?" asked King Neptune.
"We do not know, King Neptune. He has not appeared in a long time," answered an elf.
"Then how am I to decide anything? I want the best for both worlds. I do not want to reject the gods and not embrace the era of Merpeople, but I do not want to be a cruel king. Land beings have great men and women, and I have known some of them. Your kind have value, and I do not wish to see you all dead? Find your Prince. He will give you hope."
"We dare not seek him out, Mer-King"
"Why not?"
"Because he is a coward!" cried a voice, "and he is most likely dead!"
The masses looked high and low, searching for the source of the voice.
"I am the representative that you seek. I am Queen Cinderella, and with me the Godfather of Fairies."
A great murmur took place, and the Merpeople and the land people saw two little hamsters scramble through the crowds to stand before King Neptune. The first hamster, a he hamster, was clod in glass clothing, and had glass slippers. The second hamster, a she-hamster, was a naked hamster. King Neptune observed the hamsters, and asked, "and who might you be?"
"Didn't I just say?" said the he-hamster with a loud booming voice. "I am Queen Cinderella, the ruler of this land."
King Neptune giggled, and asked, "You, he-hamster, are the Queen of this land? You must have made a mistake."
"Look King of Mermaids. I died once. And while I was busy trying to reincarnate myself me and the Godfather of Fairies miscommunicated our message to the visiting hamsters and we ended up being in the wrong body. But we will sort that out eventually. But in the meantime, I am the QUEEN OF THIS LAND!"
The masses laughed, as did the King of Merpeople. He beckoned the Godfather of Fairies, the naked she-hamster, to perform a spell to prove his identity.
"I'll show you, King Neptune," squeaked the young girly hamster, "what only the Godfather of Fairies can do."
The masses laughed at their Queen and her advisor. The she-hamster jumped on two feet, danced about in circles, then pointed her/his tail at the elf who spoke to the King earlier, and made him psychotic. The elf began to sing songs of the underworld, and songs of the Mannikin, and songs of the sea nymphs. He sang and sang and sang until he hit his head on a tree, and fainted.
The masses stopped laughing.
"So, King Neptune. Shall we negotiate?" growled Queen Cinderella.
"Sure. Forgive my laughter. You may speak first, Queen Cinderella."
"Leave this place. I am more powerful than you, chanted the he-hamster Cinderella. I can chop you up into a million pieces. I can dig a hole into the core of this earth and unleash the larva beneath and consume your waters. I can restore land. So if you will, leave, and never harrass us."
"Or what?" laughed the King.
"Or I, the Godfather of Fairies, shall-"
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Burp.
The masses stayed silent.
"And who might you be? O great Beast?" asked King Neptune as he marvelled at the giant beast that towered above him.
"I am the Prince of the Forbidden Forest. I am the Prince that lost my daughter to the Godfather of Fairies. I am the Prince that lost my wife Belle to the insanities of this world. I am the last Prince."
"You just ate the Godfather of Fairies,"
"Yea. It was an oath. I swore to kill him. And now I have. And before you ask. This is your era. Rule wisely. I have no intentions and no demands, except that you never torture or take a life of any land being that causes you no offense. My people will die, as should they. But they will not all die, for that is the nature of Fairyland. Your waterworld will end, one day, even if it takes a thousand years. But I am certain that it will end, for that is the nature of Fairyland. If my people die, then so be it, for that is also the nature of Fairyland. I can do nothing. I cannot make you unflood this world, nor can I make my citizens grow gills."
"Wise words, Prince of Beasts. I am sorry. And I promise you no harm shall come from the Merpeople for as long as I live, and I intend to live for another few centuries."
"Thank you."
As King Neptune departed and submerged into the oceans beyond, the Prince of Beasts walked away, toward the remaining pockets of the forest. The masses did not like what they have just heard, but they knew their time has come to an end, and they bowed in silence as the Prince of Beasts walked among his people for the last time.
*
Somewhere in the Forest...
"I am anointed, chosen, destined to be the Queen of Hamsters. Even the Prince of Beasts let me go. He found me too precious to kill, and spared my life. No other hamster can claim such an encounter. I bid all of you, hamsters of this realm, to submit to my rule! I can take this realm, this species, to greater heights!"
"Hail Queen Cinderella! Long live the queen!!! Long live the Queen!!!"
*
Here ends the of trilogy of trilogies. Here ends the major plot. All tales that follow are random tales related to the first nine.
The land beings were not happy. Their time was short, and space was scarce. A meeting between the King of the merpeople and the last remaining Prince of the land will be their only hope for any sort of... well, hope.
Only the last remaining Prince wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He hid in his castle, half submerged in the waters. He curled up in the cellar, waiting. He slept very little, but dreamt a lot. He has waited for many years to finally leave his castle. The day is coming. But not yet. And until that time comes, he will remain in his castle.
*
The King of Mermaids, King Neptune, sat by the shore. The Forbidden Forest was by then more like the Forbidden Beach. Masses gathered by the shore, waiting for their Prince to come.
"Where is your representative? I much desire to speak with him?" asked King Neptune.
"We do not know, King Neptune. He has not appeared in a long time," answered an elf.
"Then how am I to decide anything? I want the best for both worlds. I do not want to reject the gods and not embrace the era of Merpeople, but I do not want to be a cruel king. Land beings have great men and women, and I have known some of them. Your kind have value, and I do not wish to see you all dead? Find your Prince. He will give you hope."
"We dare not seek him out, Mer-King"
"Why not?"
"Because he is a coward!" cried a voice, "and he is most likely dead!"
The masses looked high and low, searching for the source of the voice.
"I am the representative that you seek. I am Queen Cinderella, and with me the Godfather of Fairies."
A great murmur took place, and the Merpeople and the land people saw two little hamsters scramble through the crowds to stand before King Neptune. The first hamster, a he hamster, was clod in glass clothing, and had glass slippers. The second hamster, a she-hamster, was a naked hamster. King Neptune observed the hamsters, and asked, "and who might you be?"
"Didn't I just say?" said the he-hamster with a loud booming voice. "I am Queen Cinderella, the ruler of this land."
King Neptune giggled, and asked, "You, he-hamster, are the Queen of this land? You must have made a mistake."
"Look King of Mermaids. I died once. And while I was busy trying to reincarnate myself me and the Godfather of Fairies miscommunicated our message to the visiting hamsters and we ended up being in the wrong body. But we will sort that out eventually. But in the meantime, I am the QUEEN OF THIS LAND!"
The masses laughed, as did the King of Merpeople. He beckoned the Godfather of Fairies, the naked she-hamster, to perform a spell to prove his identity.
"I'll show you, King Neptune," squeaked the young girly hamster, "what only the Godfather of Fairies can do."
The masses laughed at their Queen and her advisor. The she-hamster jumped on two feet, danced about in circles, then pointed her/his tail at the elf who spoke to the King earlier, and made him psychotic. The elf began to sing songs of the underworld, and songs of the Mannikin, and songs of the sea nymphs. He sang and sang and sang until he hit his head on a tree, and fainted.
The masses stopped laughing.
"So, King Neptune. Shall we negotiate?" growled Queen Cinderella.
"Sure. Forgive my laughter. You may speak first, Queen Cinderella."
"Leave this place. I am more powerful than you, chanted the he-hamster Cinderella. I can chop you up into a million pieces. I can dig a hole into the core of this earth and unleash the larva beneath and consume your waters. I can restore land. So if you will, leave, and never harrass us."
"Or what?" laughed the King.
"Or I, the Godfather of Fairies, shall-"
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. Burp.
The masses stayed silent.
"And who might you be? O great Beast?" asked King Neptune as he marvelled at the giant beast that towered above him.
"I am the Prince of the Forbidden Forest. I am the Prince that lost my daughter to the Godfather of Fairies. I am the Prince that lost my wife Belle to the insanities of this world. I am the last Prince."
"You just ate the Godfather of Fairies,"
"Yea. It was an oath. I swore to kill him. And now I have. And before you ask. This is your era. Rule wisely. I have no intentions and no demands, except that you never torture or take a life of any land being that causes you no offense. My people will die, as should they. But they will not all die, for that is the nature of Fairyland. Your waterworld will end, one day, even if it takes a thousand years. But I am certain that it will end, for that is the nature of Fairyland. If my people die, then so be it, for that is also the nature of Fairyland. I can do nothing. I cannot make you unflood this world, nor can I make my citizens grow gills."
"Wise words, Prince of Beasts. I am sorry. And I promise you no harm shall come from the Merpeople for as long as I live, and I intend to live for another few centuries."
"Thank you."
As King Neptune departed and submerged into the oceans beyond, the Prince of Beasts walked away, toward the remaining pockets of the forest. The masses did not like what they have just heard, but they knew their time has come to an end, and they bowed in silence as the Prince of Beasts walked among his people for the last time.
*
Somewhere in the Forest...
"I am anointed, chosen, destined to be the Queen of Hamsters. Even the Prince of Beasts let me go. He found me too precious to kill, and spared my life. No other hamster can claim such an encounter. I bid all of you, hamsters of this realm, to submit to my rule! I can take this realm, this species, to greater heights!"
"Hail Queen Cinderella! Long live the queen!!! Long live the Queen!!!"
*
Here ends the of trilogy of trilogies. Here ends the major plot. All tales that follow are random tales related to the first nine.
#8 - Tales of Royalties and a Shoemaker
Snow White sat by a small fire, holding her cloak tightly. She was thin and weak. Her fair face was pale and slightly grey. Her blood lips were many shades lighter than ever. The Prince of Thieves sat beside her, holding her and rubbing her arms to keep her warm.
“In the land of dead, it is both cold and hot. It is painful and painless. I do not know what good there is in bringing me back from the dead. Here I am cold and helpless, and I am not dead,” said Snow White softly.
“I brought you back from the dead because I love you, and because I can,” answered the Prince.
“None, I didn’t buy you from the dead, I stole you.”
“That is what I am afraid of. She will come for me, for us, and the world.”
“Who?”
“The Queen of the Land of Never Return. She will scour the land for us. We must not run, or she will cover the kingdom with death, and the curse of death is harder to break than the curse of eternal winter.”
“We will worry about that when that happens, my love. But come away with me now, and let us share our love, even if it is not for long.”
Snow White rested her weary head on the chest of the Prince of Thieves and held him tightly in her arms. She was grateful for his love, as fanatical as it may be. There was some warmth in the world after all. But they would not have been able to stay long. She knew the Queen of the
“We must go now, Snow White. They are coming,” said the Prince of Thieves.
“Let her come. Broker with her,” at last conceding that she wants the Prince of Thieves more than she wants death to be upon her.
The Prince of Thieves was slightly stimulated by that thought, but realized he had nothing to trade with.
“Poor things,” said a voice that sounded like a tink and a bell. It came from everywhere, and sounded sweeter than the sweetest voice. “The Prince of Thieves can steal anything in the world, but he gave up his kingdom just to steal his lover from the dead. Silly, silly.”
Snow White sat up and looked at the Prince of Thieves, “You sold your kingdom?”
“No he did not,” said Tinkerbell, the Queen of the
“He stole you fair and square, Snow White. Only on my way here I had to pass by his land. Or what we once knew as his land. I heard the people cheer at the melting ice, but soon it was replaced by a plague of death. That is the penalty of your offence, Prince of Thieves.”
“You’re going to destroy the world, aren’t you?” asked Snow White?
“Your boyfriend gave me an excuse to come to this land, so, why not? Many souls. I like an orchestra of screaming souls. Wouldn’t you?”
“You have a weird hobby, Tinky,” commented the Prince of Thieves.
“Oh please.”
The Prince of Thieves stood up and faced the small but imposing Queen Tinkerbell. He asked, in the most clichéd way any Prince would ask, “What do you want?”
“Snow White of course, silly. Princes are such idiots. Don’t the evil ones always want the princess? I wish princes had some brains to go with their good looks. I mean, look at you, you, Prince of Thieves. Look at the sky? See the black mist that is slowly spiraling into this world to entrap every life into my underworld prison? You are indirectly, the cause of this world’s impending doom! How stupid can you be? For what? This pale little adopted princess?” blah-ed Queen Tinkerbell.
“I’ll trade with you.”
“Trade what? Your clothes? Don’t want them. Your body? Sorry, not into princes. Too much plastic,” said Queen Tinkerbell sarcastically.
“Let’s trade curses. Promises that we dread to keep. You have yours. I have mine.”
Tinkerbell’s emerald eyes fixed on the robber’s princely brown eyes.
“Interesting.”
*
In some of the earliest days since the world began, there lived a shoemaker who was very poor. He struggled to make good shoes, and had difficulty putting food on the table for his family. The two of them were grateful for each other’s love, and didn’t mind the slight hunger, though of course, they wished that fortune would favor them a little bit more.
So two little elves visited the old couple’s home and started sewing shoes of fine quality fit for people of fine stature. Although they were only inches tall, the elves handled the tools so eloquently they sewed nineteen sets of shoes of all types, boots, slippers, sandals, and sneakers, so on and so forth, for both male and female. They left the shoes on the wooden rack in the workshop when the sun started to rise.
So the old couple woke up to find newly made shoes in the shoemaker’s workshop, and upon displaying it to the public, sold them all within minutes for a month’s worth of silver.
The second night passed, and more footwear was set to be sold. People of regal status visited his shop the second day, after hearing of his perfect products from the day before. The old shoemaker sold all of the clothes for a season’s worth of silver.
The third night, the shoemaker and his wife peeked through little curtains and learned about the two little elves. They witnessed the two naked elves sewing an unspeakable pair of slippers. It was too beautiful. And the shoemaker imagined that he would be rich for many years to come. It exuded royalty, and it whispered dark deeds.
The next day, that very pair of unspeakable slippers was bought neither by a man, nor a woman. And it was sold for a lifetime’s worth of gold, silver, and all forms of precious stones put together.
And that was the story of the elves and the shoemaker.
*
What they traded, and what they bartered, was never disclosed in any of the books or tales or myths or anything else that told stories. But what we know is that Prince of Thieves bartered for the freedom of Snow White, and all the lives of Fairyland. All this, he did merely with spoken words and kind gestures
Queen Tinkerbell returned to the
As for the Prince of Thieves and his beloved Snow White, they departed Fairyland. To where, we do not know. But it is certain, that they lived happily ever after.
#7 - Pantheon of the Immortal Princesses
One would imagine that it was passion that drove the Prince of Thieves and his horse to the point of immortality. But it was more than just passion, for the Prince of Thieves is not a Prince of Thieves for any trivial reason. He stole what little warmth there was in the air for he and his horse, and stole the might of the sun and moon whenever they appeared in the sky. At other times, he would steal the joy of the distantly flickering stars to give them hope. Many nights he would steal the dreams of others that passed through the airs. Many say that he could even steal the coldness in of the ice age for he and his horse, that they would be immune to the freezing cold. But whether his skills of theft were that great, we never know. He stole whatever it took to keep them alive.
And so, the Prince of Thieves rode in search of Rapunzel, that hag of a princess who by now has been forgotten by all who live and once lived, except by the Prince of Thieves himself.
*
What was once an ocean before was a landscape of smooth rippled ice when the Prince of Thieves rode across it. He did not remember crossing an ocean the last time he travelled to the
As he rode across the frozen sheet of ice, the waters beneath him remained still, and carried no life at all. What was once a busy city of schools of fishes and water mammals, where magical creatures interacted and swam, was a dead silence. The ocean silence was that of the dead, but it was not darkness that was heard, for even death itself was frozen in the timeless winter.
Many thousands of leagues under the lifeless ocean, where the water was still warm near the hot core of the planet, some life still thrived. The greatest, most intelligent beings of the waters. The only living creatures of the ocean that managed to outlive the winter plague made a temporal home deep underwater. They hardly stirred the surface with their movements. They survived, and they waited.
Thousands of them.
The castle of eternal summer, where Queen Cinderella and Snow White died, or so were thought to have died, was the one place of hope left for all who lived in the
Until a pair of little hamsters dug accidentally punched it’s way out of the ground in the gardens of the castle.
That was when the returning of all things old and the coming of all things new were set in motion.
*
The
As he journeyed through the forest, he could hear footsteps following him. Quiet but heavy footsteps. More and more of those footsteps could be heared as he and Donkey went deeper into the forest. The Prince of Thieves was not afraid, for he knew that the manikins would still dwell the land. Why they took interest in him, they did not know.
After eleven days in the leafless woods, he sat beneath a giant oak tree, and while resting, he whispered into the air, “what interest do you have in me, manikins?”
Rumplestilksin whispered back through the air, “We are dead, Prince of Thieves. We are ghosts that remain in the forest, waiting for our promise to be fulfilled.”
“What promise?”
“That Snow White’s first child will be ours.”
“I never got to marry Snow White. She never came back. I’m… old now, and…”
“Steal her heart, Prince. Steal her heart.”
“I can only steal that which I know where and whom to steal from. She is dead. I know the winter is of her doing. I’m here to find Rapunzel, the Princess that should have been found.”
“Rapunzel has been cursed to never be found by her true love. You will never find her. Steal back Snow White. You can steal from the stars and the sun and even dreams of people, and you are telling me you don’t know where to steal Snow White from?”
“You only want the child don’t you. You are dead already, manikin. Why do you want the child?”
“Promises are promises, dead or alive.”
“Look, manikin, you stopped me from meeting Rapunzel last time. Let me meet her this time. I will talk Rapunzel into giving you our first child, as payment of Snow White’s debt. I need to find her.”
*
The castle of the Prince of Beasts slumbered through the winter. Black snow rained on the castle grounds.
Before the winter came, children used to play in the castle, believing it to be haunted. They would dare each other to creep in and out of the castle, pretending to be a beastly child eating monster. Of course, the Prince of Beasts watched them. The Prince of Beasts was always in some dark corner of a wall, under or behind a piece of furniture, or somewhere dark in general. He would only observe the children who mischievously sneaked through his castle.
The Prince of Beasts was a predator, but the children were not his prey. As a beast, he was an immortal, almost like a god. And all he wanted was to eat the Godfather of Fairies alive, and leave his head screaming without its body, and hang it before its gates to tell all who passed that vengeance is fulfilled.
The Prince of Beasts did not care about curses and blessings anymore, and could not care less if he was human or beastly. All he knew was what he wanted to do when the Godfather of Fairies would fall before him.
*
The little hamsters crawled all over the castle, exploring the summer phenomena of the land. They crawled through every room, every storehouse, every stable, ever dungeon. They saw skeletons of people hung to death, and swore it heard an endless cry as it passed the rooms of torture. One skeleton even had a crown on its head.
The hamster stood on both legs, and stared at himself endlessly. Voices spoke to the she-hamster, and she listened very attentively.
The second hamster, the he-hamster, walked through a seemingly empty hallway, and saw a glass slipper shining under the sunlight. It was a beautiful piece of work, thought the hamster, as it crawled into shoe, and unknowingly fell into a deep, deep sleep.
*
At the
“I owe you one, for helping me find my love, Rumpy.”
“A pleasure. But it was work. I need that child. Promises are promises.”
“Of course.”
Before Rumplestiltskin vanished, the Prince of Thieves asked him, “When you said earlier I could steal Snow White back… do you know where I could steal her from?”
“Of course I do. You do too. You can steal from the sun and stars, and even people’s dreams. And you don’t know where to steal Snow White from?”
“I don’t. She must be dead already by now.”
“Exactly,” whispered the manikin as he vanished into the air.
*
“I can feel the waters warming, my king,” said the first voice.
“So can I. But I do know if it means anything,” answered the silver king.
“But if the ice melts…”
“I know. Be patient. And we will see.”
*
Rapunzel the hag princess stared at the Prince of Thieves.
“I’m not mad, you know, as most people would like to think. Your Snow White came and cut my hair to cause this snow. You know that, don’t you?”
The Prince of Thieves nodded his head at the extremely old hag of a princess.
“Snow White caused this snow. You loved Snow White didn’t you?”
The Prince of Thieves nodded, then suddenly asked, “Why aren’t you dead?”
“Because of the snow? Ha. Ha. Ha. The snow cannot kill me. I am warm. I will never freeze.”
“Why?”
“Because my hate and my contempt for the life that I had burns so powerfully nothing can make me cold, except love.”
“I love you.”
“Are you trying to kill me?”
“Well, no. I’m in a dilemma then.”
“Really,” smiled the hag of a princess Rapunzel. “I’m the only thing that can melt the ice and restore life, because the fire of my anger is all there is that can burn in this eternal winter.”
“What are you suggesting?” The Prince of Thieves asked and wondered.
“I’m not stupid. You don’t love me. You just want a wife. I’m not going to marry you.”
“But.”
“Fool. Kill me, save the land… and steal for your fiancee back from the dead. You are… the Prince of Thieves, aren’t you? I expect you to have figured this out a long time ago,” explained Rapunzel with her ragged rough voice.
*
The ice melted. It took the world five months before every piece of ice turned to water, and the mermaids of the deep waters rose to embrace a new empire. An empire of sea, of waters. Their time has finally come, and for once, they burned incense at the surface of the sea to Cinderella and to Snow White, for their ancient feud has flooded the world. Then they worshipped Rapunzel, who burned the frozen waters.
The mermaids worshipped the pantheon of princesses that destroyed and re-created the world.
It was a new age. A new time.
*
Like a ruby hand reaching down to the sea of bones and souls, a soul and a spirit was stolen from the Guardian of the land of the dead, also known as Neverland, the land of never-returns.
*
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