Once upon a time…
There was a boy who did not know fear.
He was a good, obedient little boy who followed the rules and did what he was expected to do. He lived in a castle, a kingdom where he was the star. The kingdom rejoiced when he was born, faeries came to give him gifts with music, beauty and cleverness.
But they spited the wrong witch and she came with a curse in her midst, death on her tongue, and they all cried as she enacted her revenge. Death upon the poor prince let him die at the cusp of becoming a man.
And so he grew up, talented, beautiful and clever, filled with curiosity but laced in caution. The world was his to take. The people were his spinning marionettes that did everything he said because they loved him even when he saw right through their smiles and compliments.
He read their thoughts. It was his gift that allowed him to see the secrets of them all. He knew, so much, more than he cared for, his father's adultery, his mother's unhappiness. It was a curse, a cruel curse from the evil witch and one he did not care to have.
So when death came knocking at his doorstep, oil lamp and spinning wheel in hand, he apprehensively pricked his finger on the needle and bled.
Once upon a time…
There was a girl with only cinders and rats for company.
She was a sweet and kind-hearted girl, who suffocated in the darkness, trapped in a tower, without windows and air by those she thought loved her. A tower guarded by dragons, trolls and giants with no chance of escape.
She had a witch's gift, a curse, which made her see beautiful things, terrible things, that all came true. But none of it was her fault. It wasn't her fault that she predicted that young town boy James' death of the fever or Grammy Mildred cooking raisin bread on Sunday or her grandson not returning from war.
It was all meant to be. None of her doing, the witch's curse only showed her, whispered it to her like snakes and tempting apples.
She wanted to dearly, gravely, run away from the cold castle of blue flames and red dressed knights. She'd dress in bear skin and hide in the forest while she waited for the moon and she could be a girl again.
But no, she could never do that. So she lied in her cell of cinders, rats and dreams that would never come true and slept. She would pretend she was a princess waiting for that special kiss to wake her up.
Once upon a time…
There was a prince and princess who met at a ball.
She escaped from the cold castle, past the dragons and guards, and she was dressed so beautifully in a gown of silver silk, the color of the stars. With her glass slippers, they danced all night and when the clock stroked twelve, she ran back to the arms of her golden-haired prince.
The copper-haired prince waited and she came back the second night, dressed this time in a gown of shimmering gold, bright and vibrant like the sun. They danced once more and she left again, leaving one of her glass slippers.
He tried to find her and the shoe fit with a girl with long dark curls and chocolate brown eyes. So different from his princess' coal black hair, blood red lips and snow white skin. But she was warm, real, and his black bride, his little imposter, made him happy.
His white bride, his real bride, came back the next night, dressed in her bear skin, she watched them with sadness in her eyes and threw the other glass slipper away.
The copper-haired prince married his black bride while the white bride watched on, slipping peas under the imposter's mattress, trying to show the prince the truth. But he was blinded by thorns in his eyes and in her heartbreak the white bride threw herself into sea, the sea foam as white as snow.
"Once upon a time…."
"Dad!"
"What is it?"
"Not another one."
"And why not?"
"I don't like your fairytales. They always end sadly."
"Not every story ends happily, Renesmee."
This is an experiment I call 'Fairytale Composite', basically I referenced a lot of fairytales and integrated them to the story. I had fun, I've been wanting to do an Edward/Alice fic for a while now.
The fairytales used were The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Bearskin, Katie Woodencloak, The White Bride and Black Bride, The Princess and The Pea, and The Little Mermaid.
'snakes and tempting apples' is a reference to the story of Adam and Eve while 'red dressed knights' is inspired from Alice in Wonderland.
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