Fraility of Diamonds and Cherry Blossoms
Once upon a time in ancient Japan, there was a magnificent lake, clear as crystal. It was perpetually untouched, smooth as a mirror's surface, undisturbed by wind or rain, snow or animal, man or spirit. This lake was ringed all about by sakurabana, cherry blossom trees of great splendor, whose blossoms never fell but filled the air with their sweet fragrance all year round. These trees, and the lake that fed them, were protected by a spirit, a cherry blossom fairy of great power.
She was female, appearing on clear, starlit nights as an ethereal young woman with long, red-gold hair and eyes that seemed to glow green with the life of her cherry trees. Her sanctuary was isolated, so few people ever saw her, but those who were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of her never forgot that sight---a sweetly-smiling beauty in a kimono embroidered with sakura blossoms, whose skin was pale as moonlight and whose eyes held the glimmer of the stars.
However, despite her human appearance, she was still of the spirit world, affected by none of the emotional complexity humans were subjected to. She had no idea of duty, for she only looked after her trees because it pleased her to do so. When she disliked, it was hatred, and when she liked, she loved with all her being. And so, when a handsome foreign prince passed through her sanctum with his train, she fell whole-heartedly in love with him, and there was room for nothing else in her thoughts.
The fairy appeared before him one night, while all of his companions were sleeping, and offered the prince eternal youth and everlasting life, if only he would stay with her forever. The prince was amazed and awed by the otherworldly presence-yes, and slightly afraid, for he had in his homeland heard many tales of the spirit-kind, and how they would never release a mortal once they grabbed hold-but he had, he explained, a purpose. "I cannot," he said, "accept your generous offer. I am on a journey to meet the foreign princess I am to wed; our marriage will go far toward cementing the friendship between our two lands."
"Do you love this princess?" asked the fairy, to which the prince responded,
"In truth, I have never met her. But she is known as a kind, virtuous maiden, and though I love her not it may come to pass that one day I shall. In any case, it is my obligation to take her to wife, as it will benefit my kingdom and so my honor demands it."
As explained before, spirits have no concept of human ideals such as honor, or at least fairies do not. "Obligation," "honor," and "duty" were only words to her, syllables to be heard and then forgotten, important only because they came from the lisp of her beloved. The fairy wondered if her love perhaps were made to forget those words and the meaning they held for him, if he would not stay with her then. She decided that yes, he would, and in her thoughtless innocence believed that there was nothing wrong with "helping" him to forget.
\ She decided all of this during the day, while the sun was too harsh for her to manifest herself, and when the sun sank below the hills and the stars shyly emerged beside the ivory moon, she came once again to the prince.
"I am glad to see you," he greeted her, "as my people and I will be leaving tomorrow. We must make haste if we are to reach our destination in time for the wedding to take place."
The fairy smiled happily as she said, "There is no need for you to leave, ever again."
The prince felt a feeling of foreboding then, a sense of something dark to come. It is here, we know, that he should have turned, called for help, rallied his attendants, done something, anything. But he did not, for he didn't really believe that this gentle spirit could truly harm him. It is true, she could not hurt him physically, and would not even if she could, but there are other ways to harm a mortal man. He stayed where he was, and the fairy's eyes sparkled as she came forward and kissed him lightly on the forehead.
At first he was startled that she could touch him, for aren't fairies, like other spirits, corporeal? What he did not know was that this particular fairy drew her power from the moon, the stars, and the sakura trees she cared for. On this warm summer night, all three elements were at their full strength: The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, the stars had suddenly become brilliant, and the moon was a luminous pearl that glowed bone-white in the velvet-dark sky. It was at this time that she could perform her most powerful spells, and the one she cast now was nearly unbreakable indeed. It wove skeins of invisible glass around the prince's heart, binding him to her and erasing those parts of him that knew honor, duty, and the ability to put others before himself. She did not know that when she did this, she destroyed a part of him that was as essential to the prince, and indeed to mankind, as the air they breathe or the blood that flows through their veins. When that part of the prince's heart was sealed away, he became less than human, a man in form alone, his mind now hers to command. And the cherry blossom fairy saw this and smiled.
When the prince's men awoke in the morning, they found their liege already up, standing at the base of a cherry blossom tree. They called out to him, but he did not reply. Knowing they'd be late if they delayed their departure, they approached the prince and attempted to question him. When the he didn't reply, one man began to fear some sort of witchery, and reached out a hand to draw the prince away from the tree. There was a flash, and the prince's sword, red with blood, was in his hand, his servant's hand lying a few feet away, severed at the wrist.
The others were panicked now, and the prince's guards were called. They were determined to free their prince from whatever dark magic obviously held him, but the prince reacted to every motion made toward him with a devastating blow from his shining silver blade. Soon almost all of the men in his entourage lay sprawled around the base of the cherry blossom tree, blood soaking into the rich loam, the prince remaining in his original position, his expression unchanging.
Those men that remained decided that their prince had become possessed by some evil spirit of this foreign land, and that there was no way to cleanse him of this madness. Hastily gathering up their things, they departed the valley as quickly as possible, taking the women and children with them.
The prince gave no sign of acknowledgement, unmoving in his place under the cherry blossom tree. The cherry blossom fairy was pleased, because he had shown such loyalty to her, refusing all those attempts to take him away. She felt very happy, very much in love with him, but when the sun reached its highest point the light became too much for her, and she was forced to retreat into the center of her favorite tree.
The bright rays of the sun weakened the fairy's power, burning away from the prince's eyes some of the haze that blinded him, melting some of the crystal that had formed around his heart. He looked around him in a kind of daze, his first thought being that something horrible had magically slaughtered his men in an instant, but when he saw the sword in his hand, it's silver blade covered in drying blood, the terrible truth struck him. His fine silks were spattered with the blood of his loyal servants…blood that he himself had shed. He was stunned…shocked…horrified. He could hardly stand to think about what must have happened, but he knew that it had been caused by the fairy. He didn't know how such a gentle, beautiful creature could have caused something so violent, but the fact remained that she had; now it was up to him to decide on his course of action.
The sun burned down on him as he stood there, staring blankly at the corpses round him. He had known some of these men all of his life, and now they lay dead at his feet, slain by his hand. What of the others? He noted some were missing… Most likely they had fled, taking the women and children with them. And what would become of him now? He could not return…not after the crime he had committed. Even if he had been under the fairy's spell, that was no excuse; he should never have succumbed in the first place. He could not marry the princess now, since he could not return home… The marriage would be called off in any case, and to return to his parents would be to bring his shame back to the entire family, which he could not do.
But indeed, what was left for him? He could continue to stay here with the fairy, hoping that in time he would not remember what had happened this day… But to wish for that was cowardice, something he could not stand. He knew, deep inside, what was left for him to do; what his only option was. In order to regain what honor he could, to attempt retribution for the lives he had claimed in his bewitched state…
He looked at the sword in his hand, the blood making it a shameful sight. He knelt on the grass and cleaned it off; though it would most likely never be used again, he had always been taught to take proper care of his blade. When it once again gleamed silver in the sunlight, he steeled his resolve; this act must be done quickly, for at any moment the sun's effect may fade, and he would once again be robbed of his will.
"You drank of many lives this day," murmured the prince. "Let you drink then one last quaff."
While the prince had reached this conclusion, the cherry blossom was within the trunk of her tree, reposing in what passed as sleep for a spirit. She was suddenly "awakened" by the presence of someone she had not met for some time. With her now was another spirit, one who looked like a young man with fair skin, dark sapphire hair, and gray eyes the color of the Northern seas. Achingly beautiful, this was the herald of death, whose appearance before mortals caused their souls to leave their bodies; in effect, they died for love of him. Despite her being a spirit, the fairy had always been a little uneasy around him, and was not entirely happy to see him interrupt her time of rest. Nonetheless, she was courteous, for those such as he accorded a certain respect. "Welcome, Lord; what brings you to this humble spirit's home?"
"Only business, fairy; only my work to be done."
Upon hearing this, the fairy became cautious, her green eyes widening as she realized what he meant. In the blink of an eye she was beside the body of the prince, which had fallen to the stained grass, half in the sun and half in the shade of the cherry blossom tree, his blade in hand and slick with fresh blood. He was nearly gone, and even as the fairy turned pleading eyes to lord Death she knew that her prince could not be saved.
The sapphire-haired spirit knelt beside the prince, gently moving his head to face him, locking gazes with the fallen royal. Gray, eternal eyes burned into darkened mortal ones, and with a sigh the prince's soul left his body. The gray-eyed spirit sent the prince's essence on its way to the next world, and then looked at the cherry blossom fairy, which was kneeling on the ground and weeping diamond tears. "I'm sorry," he said, "but this was inevitable. Humans are unpredictable; sometimes not even the gods themselves can control their actions. Since that is so, a cherry blossom fairy could not be assured of success."
Still in tears, the fairy wept, "All I wanted was his love, for him to stay with me forever. I was lonely, lord, that is all. I was lonely…"
The spirit gently placed a hand on the fairy's shoulder, for his heart was not as cold as his eyes and he was truly moved by her plight. "Little fairy, tell me what would ease your heart. If it is in my power to do, I will; exactly as you wish it." The fairy's tears slowed as she thought deeply, then she looked up.
"I wish to be sealed away, my lord, placed into a deep slumber until another I can love comes to my lake and my trees."
The spirit frowned. "Are you sure of that, little fairy?" She nodded.
"Yes, very. You said that you would grant what I asked if it were in your power, right?"
He nodded slowly. "Yes… And it is possible for me to do so. But I fear that there may be consequences that we cannot foresee at this time…"
"I don't care! I can't stand to be alone with only my prince's memory… I want to be sealed away, to dream of him until another comes with whom I can fall in love. Please, my lord." She finished so humbly and so pitifully that he agreed to grant her request, despite the ill feeling about it that he could not dispel. The fairy looked sadly on the pale face of her beloved, and using her magic melted his body away into nothingness, until all that remained was the core of the crystal heart she had given him, clear as glass. This she encased in a silver setting and fastened around her neck on a golden chain; having done so, she retreated to her tree. As the spell of death's herald fell upon her, she slowly fell into a deep "slumber," safe and secure in the trunk of her cherry tree.
Still harboring an uneasy feeling about these events, the remaining active spirit cast several strong protective wards over the entire area, then enchanted it so that only those with strong magic themselves could enter. He thought that this would prevent history from repeating itself; anyone who entered would need considerable magic to do so and thus would be able to resist the fairy and deal with her if need be. This was the theory, at any rate, and as content as he could be in such a case, the spirit departed… He had much work to do, as always.
The years passed by, and the fairy continued to sleep, her lake and trees untouched by time or season. Those without sufficient magic saw nothing of interest when they looked at her territory, and there were no disturbances for a great long time. Until, however, very recently…
I know that wasn't really CCS, and that it was really long for a prologue, but it was really only supposed to set up background info… It just kind of grew on its own. I'm sure you can draw character parallels; cherry blossom fairy=Sakura. (Sorry if I spoiled that for anyone.) But the question you have to ask is whether or not she WAS the fairy. She may be, she may not… And are there any guesses as to the counterpart of the prince? I mean, there're at least two dark-haired, dark-eyed foreigner guys, and I'm into both canon and non-canon couples, so that's sort of open… Oh, and since I forgot to mention, this is sort of AU. You'll see what I mean in the later chapters, if you continue to read. I hope you do, but for now, thank you just for finishing this! Please Read and Review! Arigatoo, minna-san! ::bows::