A/N: Hullo, my name is Xelruna. Nice to meet you -bows- This is my first fanfic for the Tsubasa fandom, and I hope that it comes out safe and sound -smiles- Please regard me kindly.

I got severe inspiration for this fic around November, but I hadn't worked out all the plot kinks until about two weeks ago. Yeah, this has been driving me MAD. I was on YouTube and watched a certain KuroFai AMV by sweetsweetsorrow43. It was really, really, really awesome; I just got chills and nyaaaahhhh! -gushes- It was a well-done and touching vid -smiles broadly- Here's the link for the curious – watch it! 8D

http: / / www. youtube. com/watch?v=ODTmS_tz9Cc

Just close the spaces. The video is to the song "Snow White" by Buck-Tick, a really tubular band :3

Sweetsweetsorrow43 and I hope you enjoy yourselves, for each of our creations :3

Scrying Mirror

Prologue

They each died with a witch by their side: one with the snow and the other with the moon.

She was the one with the snow.

Her slender fingers softly clutched a handful of the dried blooms settled on the stone floor. They scratched noisily against each other, as if they had died quite some time ago. It would make sense considering brown and parched yellow were the only shadows of color on the petals. "Your flowers wilt fast up here..."

Regret looked down in guilt, his large blue eyes holding back none of the pain he felt. "I'm sorry," he murmured in a tear-clogged voice. "It's because I linger here often. I should learn to stay away..."

The slender woman continued to caress the dead flowers in her hand and then shook her head, letting them drop again to the floor. She knew Regret cried frequently, which really couldn't be helped, because she knew that's what he did all the time – just regret. Her eyes flickered back to the other man behind her, laying in sleep even though his subconscious was well awake.

"No, it's not your fault," the witch whispered, taking his hand. Regret didn't react, only letting full crystal tears chase blindly down his cheeks. She watched him sadly, squeezing his hand in reassurance. With a smile, she said, "I'll bring fresh flowers next time – bright ones. Big ones. There are still some I haven't shown you. I'll bring those and anything else you want."

"An apple would be wonderful," hissed another voice, this one belonging to a boy almost identical in appearance to Regret. The only difference was that this one's eyes had large flecks of gold in them. His back was leaning idly on the door frame, naked arms crossed. His voice was laced with sarcasm, and she knew it was to mask his hatred, anger, and pain. As was to be expected with this one...

"Betrayal...," Regret muttered in a glass voice.

"What, don't you want one?" Betrayal jeered, cocking his head to the side. "You know how much I adore a good apple, Regret."

Regret looked uncomfortable, his eyes already beginning to glass over with coming tears. "I...I didn't..." His cheeks flushed red, and the witch wondered if he realized he was nearly choking her hand.

She looked sternly at the blond-haired boy in the doorway. "Betrayal, stop tormenting him so," she chastised. "He's going through enough without you here to egg him on. That's why he's the one who stays closest to the prince in this tower."

A bark of sardonic laughter echoed in the small tower room as Betrayal ran a hand through his golden-spun bangs. "We're all tormented here, Tsubasa," he said, addressing the witch by the nickname he and his brothers became accustomed to calling her. "That's the whole reason we exist in the first place. His pain is no different from ours. And he and I reciprocate each other – our being is the entire fault of the other."

"I know that," Tsubasa said, letting go of Regret's hand. Her fingers had started to go numb from the lack of blood flow. "Neither of you would have existed if the other hadn't been."

Betrayal's smile turned more sinister, his tone decidedly darker when he murmured, "And of course, none of this..." He walked over to the man laying in that pure white bedding inside that glass coffin. That man had, of course, been silent the whole time – the dead weren't permitted a voice. No breath had left that body in years, and the was little doubt that he never would again. His chest, covered in a black tunic, didn't rise. His eyes, which would be the same clear water blue as the sky, didn't open. His hair, once as golden as the sun's rays, was neatly wreathed around his pale face, and his hands were arranged on top of each other right under his chest.

Tsubasa watched warily as Betrayal stalked past she and Regret, noticing how hard they tried not to make eye-contact.

A hand softly kissed the cold surface of the glass, golden-flecked eyes fixing intently on the man laying under it. "None of it would have happened if it wasn't for him," he whispered maliciously.

Tsubasa's hands clutched one another tightly. These hands wove magic and channeled intent. Once, she used them for the good of the Kingdom of Seresu. I used to protect....

"I trusted him," Betrayal continued softly, but now it seemed as if he was talking to himself. The only other sound in the small room was the stifled choking of Regret trying to hold back his tears. The pitiful cries must've broken Betrayal past his limit, because he turned swiftly and grabbed Regret by the collar.

"And you!" he cried, almost hysterical. "I trusted you! I lo-!" His sentence was cut short by a gust of solid air pressing harshly into his abdomen, causing his back to slam into the opposite wall. Regret fell onto the ground, clutching where his brother had grabbed him and sobbing freely.

Tsubasa glared at Betrayal through her sakura-colored bangs. "Don't. That's not why you're here," she reminded firmly, putting her hand down to dismiss the wind that she had summoned.

Betrayal broke away from the wall with a small grunt, otherwise seeming unfazed by what had happened to him. His golden-flecked eyes leered at the witch with equal challenge. "I know what I – we – are here for," he spat, brushing off his shoulders. His head snapped to the sleeping man. "We're here for him. That prince arse. You want us to protect him, and keep him away from everyone's hate."

"Hate, hate... They all hate. Why? What happened? I'm so sorry..." Regret babbled meaninglessly, holding himself. Tsubasa prompted him up by tugging on his arm lightly, and he took to her immediately, seeking solace in any form.

"That wasn't my intention, it was hers," the witch corrected, gripping Regret's shoulder's firmly.

"What, that old piece of glass? And maybe ol' King Cole?"

"Don't be crass," Tsubasa muttered. "You remind me of Wrath that way."

Betrayal shrugged, walking towards the door. "He understands me better than our other brothers." Before he closed the glossed, wooden door, he looked pointedly over at Regret. "I hope you're not mad at my teasing, Regret."

The flaxen boy blinked in surprise, looking up from crying into Tsubasa's chest, where her dirty light-blue shawl was stained with his fluid. He hesitated in answering. "M-Mad?" he repeated dubiously.

All at once, the benign expression on Betrayal's countenance transformed into a jeer. "Oh yes. I wouldn't want you to send me another apple, now would I?"

Regret's throat tore out an anguished cry, and his brother laughed coldly before slamming the door to the castle's top-most tower in his wake.


Ending A/N: And voila! The prologue is done! x) The chapters will get longer, don't worry, they always do.

So yes, in case it wasn't obvious, this will be loosely based on the fairy tale, Snow White. Only some points will actually be like it, obvious symbolic meanings - like the apple that comes up in this chapter, for instance. Or the sleeping man (hmmmm, I wonder who that could be? xD). Btw, I think it's probably obvious who "Tsubasa" is, but if it isn't, then I am happy :D

Remember to watch sweetsweetsorrow43's video(es)! :DDD

Review and/or critique, please!