The Trampled Rose
The taxi ride was short. The fare was inexpensive. The pain, however, was wrenching. It was as if Hell itself had chosen to set its hounds upon her heart. She, she who in the high courts of the Disney Kingdom famous for her self control, had almost broken down and cried in the back of the automobile. How… pathetic. She was surprised, and grateful, that the taxi driver did not notice.
Maleficent would just of died laughing at that sight. High and mighty Princess Aurora, Queen of the Rose Realm and Lady of the Morning Star, bawling like a newborn babe. Oh, would not that make her existence! Not that the two held any animosity, but like so many of the villains Maleficent was born with the passion to hate all that is good and just.
Correction, was good and just.
Yes, she had seen it all. The younger courts could not see it, but the Trinity could. Snow White, Cinderella, and herself were charged with maintaining the Kingdom's integrity. It was their duty, as given by Loremaster Disney. They, alongside King Mickey, would uphold all that was righteous for posterity, to be a beacon of light for the coming Consummation. The Great Unveiling Time.
Yet the hearts of men are easily broken.
The Trinity first felt the change after the Second Millennium after Jesus Christ came to pass. Snow White's realm was first hit. The land waxed barren. The people went hungry. The storm cloud rallied around, destroying the country side and mangling ships and coastal areas.. Evil walked the land, up and down, to and fro in it. This disaster she brought to King Mickey's knowledge. The good queen pleaded for the King to take action, for now the Evil had started spreading to thee other kingdoms, as Plague sowed its fruit, and the people spoke of things that stalked in the Darkness that should not of even been awaken. Things with claws and teeth, and a thirst for warm blood. The citizens started disappearing in the nighttime, ravaged on the road or dragged from their beds and eaten. All that was left were the morbid remains of stripped skeletons. The Night became a by word for Death.
The cry fell on deaf ears.
The Once and Eternal King spoke and said that hard times have come and passed, yet here we stand. Do what we have done before and all will be made right. Yet these words did little to help the rulers for all, both of the Old and New Courts, suffered. The Grim Reaper took his harvest and the children of the Kingdoms sang Death songs.
Help was offered, all that could be done was done. The fae gave their aid, yet even they could not explain nor solve the mystery of the Evil. Storage houses were opened, food was distributed, quarantines were passed to straiten Plague's steps. The magicians plied their craft to heal the infirmed and slow or even halt the storms. The riders and their hounds went forth, through forest and dale, oceans and deserts, light and darkness. Yet all could not halt the Evil, for it hid in the realms betwixt the realms and still sated it thirst for souls. Plague gave new "gifts" to thee unfortunate, and the storms raged on, ravaging what could be grown or saved.
During this wicked waking the once proud Morning Star felt that for all her majestic power she was reduced to the strength of a newborn babe, for she could sit back and hear the broken crying for a savior. There was nil of a thing she could do except give aid and comfort where it was needed. Even in her dreams she heard in to the Void, though not a whisper nor a rumble, but a heavy breathing, as of one possessed of an Eternal Hunger. She felt helpless, alone, and…
Shattered.
And then HE came home, back from the search for the Evil. All was good. All was well. The pieces started coming back together. Even Evil hid its face, ceasing and desisting its wicked ways. The land bore life again. The people lived and laughed again. All was content.
Then it happened. And all went black.
She knew, beyond a shadowof a doubt, that the Hunger had never left, only changed form. For now it was not in the streets, not the forest, neither the body nor in the skies. Now it took refuge in the soul, and where it was all things grew corrupt and warped. She knew it first hand…
She did not know what to do. To be frank, what had happened had never, never, happened before in all the Kingdoms. It was made all the worse by the laws that prohibited escaping it, and it was topped as if some madman's dessert by a final realization.
That if she told others about it, she would have to admit three things. The Disney Magic was gone, That Happily Ever After did not exist, and…
She was trapped in a waking nightmare..
A volley of gentle taps rang at the door, followed by a sweet and quiet voice. "Rose, it's time for the masquerade. Are you ready?" It was Aunt Fauna!
"Oh, snap," Briar thought as she shot up from her mourning, the bed stained in tears. She had completely forgotten about the party!
No, this wasn't going to be a long day.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.