Hello there everyone! I'm back for Graylu week! I completely forgot about it until the other day so I had to scramble in order to come up with something. Whoops *Chuckles nervously*
So these chapters are going to be nice and short, considering I came into the game late :/ and since I came in late, in order to brainstorm I put my songs on shuffle and based each chapter off of whatever played!
Graylu week prompt 1: Myth/Legend
Song: Jason Mraz: The Remedy (I Won't Worry)
Long ago, there were once two lovers. One from the House of Day and the other from the House of Night. The princess from the House of Day, Mavis Vermilion, grew weary of the same old mansion walls. As the princess, she was to stay in close sight of her guards. She was older than she appeared to be, but it would still be a while until she would be able to take her father's place as the leader of the house.
One night, while all the maids and guards were busy in the main floor, Mavis snuck out of her room in a white dress. She jumped onto the tree that stood outside of her balcony and climbed down with bare feet. She ran, not entirely sure where she was going.
When she reached the city, she looked around in awe. There were so many things that she had never seen before, so many scents she had never smelled. When her eyes shifted to a large oak tree in the distance, her curiosity peaked.
Mavis approached the tree with huffed breaths. She looked up. From Mavis' point of view, the tree looked never ending. "Wow!" she exclaimed excitedly as she walked closer to the stump.
"Who's there?" Came a deep, male voice.
Mavis jumped back defensively. "Wh-who are you?"
She heard shifting from the other side of the tree. Finally, a man with a cloak and dressed in all black stepped into her view. Mavis held her breath. He was gorgeous, and definitely not like the other men that her father has tried to set her up with in the past.
"I asked you first," said the man.
"M-my name is M-Mavis."
The mysterious man tilted his head to the side. He looked down at her intently, making her blush. "Am I scaring you?"
Mavis quickly shook her head. She could feel the rapid beat of her heart in her chest. "Not at all!"
The man chuckled lightly, stepping closer. "My name is Zeref. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mavis."
The two sat underneath the oak tree and talked for what seemed like hours. When Mavis accidentally told Zeref that she was the princess of the House of Day, he sat emotionless.
"Z-Zeref?" questioned Mavis. "Please don't be angry with me…I really…I really like you."
Zeref looked away with a blush on his face. "Mavis, please…you just made it worse. I...I really like you too..."
The princess could feel tears welling up in her eyes. "How did I make it worse?"
"Princess…I'm the prince of the House of Night."
Mavis paused for a moment before asking, "And what's so wrong about that?"
"Our houses are not supposed to have romantic relationships with one another. You should know this, princess."
"Please stop calling me that…"
Zeref looked deeply into her dull green eyes. Mavis couldn't find it in her to look away. The two leaned forward and lightly pressed their lips against each other, and they felt something. A spark - no. More like lightning. They knew that they've started something with that one, small kiss.
The two hurried back to their houses after promising to meet up again, though they could still feel the ghost of the kiss. A smile formed on their faces.
Several months have passed, and Mavis set out to escape the walls of the mansion to see Zeref for the tenth time. She was in love, and so was he. When she reached the oak tree, she approached the figure in black. But when he turned around, it wasn't Zeref.
"Mavis Vermilion, princess of the House of Day?" asked the man sternly.
"Y-Yes?" responded the girl. She could feel her legs shaking. "Wh-where is Zeref?"
"He is under house arrest. I am to escort you back to your estate and have a word with the head of the household."
"B-But-"
"Come along." The man gripped Mavis' arm tightly as he half-dragged her all the way back to her estate. When they arrived, the maids quickly took Mavis in as the man went into a room to have a discussion with her father.
After the man left, Mavis' father confronted her. "I can't believe you would disgrace us like this! The rules are set up for a reason, Mavis. The House of Night is not to be trusted, and that includes Zeref. I forbid you from seeing him again. I'm moving you into the room by the knight's quarters so that you can be easily watched. There are no balconies that you can jump out of. And if you still disobey my orders, I will…" The leader stopped himself, not even wanting to say what he had on his mind next. "I will have no choice but to strip you of your title and disown you."
Too shocked to respond, Mavis just stared up at her father with tears streaming down her face. Her younger sister came into view, curious to see what the commotion was all about.
Mavis and Zeref moved around slowly and were noticeably depressed. They were eating, talking, and sleeping less. Mavis' maids took pity on her and then came up with a plan. They, along with the maids from the House of Night, would be messengers. One of the House of Day maids wrote a letter and sent it to her friend in the other house, knowing that no one else would read it. After the Night maids got word and agreed to be messengers, they told Mavis and Zeref. The two were thrilled at the idea, for they would finally get the chance to make contact with each other again.
Zeref wrote to Mavis about what happened. One of the elite guards followed him to the tree one night and stayed once Mavis came. The next time he was going to go see her, he was put under house arrest and was replaced by his guard.
Mavis told him that she was under house arrest as well, and that the old tradition is something that should not be followed anymore.
Zeref told her about an ancient spell that he found in the old library in his estate. It's a spell that upon reincarnation will keep their true love kindled, though they will be completely different people. But in order to make the spell work, they both have to be willing to sacrifice themselves.
Mavis agreed to do the spell, seeing that there was no chance for them to be together in the life they were living now. She did not want to live a day more without having Zeref by her side.
Zeref tells Mavis that they need to somehow escape one more time and meet up by the tree with the ingredients he wrote down. Zeref said he could bring most, but needed Mavis to bring the other few that was only available in southern Magnolia.
A week later, Mavis was ready to go. She already had her escape route in mind. The kitchen window. Her and Zeref agreed to leave as early as possible before everyone started to get busy. Mavis had a small bag around one shoulder with specific herbs. With bare feet, she ran as quickly as possible to the tree.
Zeref was already there, drawing something in the dirt. It was a circle with multiple insignias in and around it.
When he noticed Mavis approaching, he stopped what he was doing to gather her into an embrace. "I've missed you," he said into her blonde hair. "I've never stopped thinking about you."
"You were always running through my mind," replied Mavis with a small smile on her face.
Zeref pulled back and told her that they had to hurry before the guards arrived for he knew that they were already on their way. He took the ingredients from his pouch and the herbs from Mavis's bag and placed them accordingly on and around the circle.
"What do we have to do?" Asked Mavis as she watched the prince step into the circle.
He held his hand out to her. "Are you ready, my love?"
Taking a deep breath in, the princess took Zeref's hand and stepped inside. Zeref held Mavis's hands tightly as he mumbled incantations. The circle around them started to glow. She could hear the sounds of guards coming from both directions.
"Z-Zeref!" Mavis started, panicked. "They're coming for us!"
Zeref remained focus on the spell. The circle grew brighter, and everything started to feel warmer for the two. Mavis could see the House of Night guards coming from the hill. From behind, she heard her name being called by one of the guards from her house.
"Z-Zeref!" stuttered Mavis.
After saying the final words to the incantation, Zeref quickly brought his lips down onto Mavis's. The area exploded in light, taking the guards by surprise. They stared in shock as they watched light emerge from the two.
An oddly shaped pink mark appeared on Mavi's right hand, while a blue one of the same shape appeared on the right side of Zeref's chest.
"Wh-what's going on?" asked a guard from the Night house.
The two lovers held each other as they fell to the ground. The last bit of air escaped their lips, and their lives ended.
But not completely.
