A look at an explanation, a theory, and a chance at redemption.
As a boy, I had a younger sister. She was bright and full of energy and she was able to effortlessly win the heart of everyone who met her.
The day she was born, the entire kingdom celebrated the birth of the new princess. The celebration was grand and over the top and overall amazing to a young prince who knew little more than the inner walls of his home.
Some people actually believed that the princess possessed some kind of natural magic as anyone who had found themselves in her presence had immediately became enamored with her. At first I thought it was ridiculous to think that a baby could be putting a spell upon those who had looked upon it when it couldn't even form coherent thoughts yet.
However, I immediately knew that there was something about my baby sister that was different from anyone else I had ever met the second I laid eyes on her.
She already had a few tiny, fang-like teeth that made her seem oddly endearing. Her hair was a soft golden yellow color, a lighter shade than our father but a darker shade than our mother's, small tufts peeking out from under the blanket that she was swaddled in. She was small with pale skin and two dainty little hearts on her cheeks. The strangest thing, though, was the fact that her clear blue eyes seemed to flow with some kind of barely contained power and, as the infant looked into my eyes, I could feel my skin crackle with magic.
I was immediately caught under the spell that the child has been known for unconsciously casting.
As I was her senior by six and a half years, I naturally took it upon myself to be her protector and make sure that no harm ever came upon her. I taught her to to say my name and smiled proudly as she managed to babble out "Owon" between quickly growing fangs.
The sharp baby teeth that cluttered her mouth were become more deadly by the day and I knew that it wouldn't be long before the curse took hold of her as it had myself. It was because of this reason that I had begun to study the dark magic of our Grandmother Eclipsa. I did not want my dear little sister to suffer that same fate of solitude that I had been forced to bare. At this point she was the only reason I had to stay in my personal prison.
It took me nearly four years to find the answer to the problem that had plagued me since the birth of my sister. There was only one was to keep her from becoming a monster. I had to become a monster. And neither she nor anyone else could ever know.
I smiled at the talkative four year old and gently lifted her up into my arms in a dramatic arc.
"Orion, do you think that mommy will ever really love us?" My dearest sister asked with sad eyes.
I frowned, "Do you think that mommy doesn't love you?"
"She loves us because we are the future. She hates us because of the fact that we aren't right. Grandma did something and now we're wrong."
I looked at her, puzzled as to how she was so perceptive, "Where did you get that idea?"
"I heard mommy say that she wishes that Grandma had never run away and never left her with us "disgusting monster spawn"," she said with large eyes and downturned lips.
Never had I hated my mother more than in that moment. Maybe Eclipsa was right when she cast the curse. Maybe our mother really was a monster.
I had to stop it though. I could not allow my sister be neglected because of something as superficial as her looks. I had made my decision.
It wasn't difficult to fake my own death and it wasn't all that hard to remove the curse from my sister. All it took was a sacrifice of true love and that was something that I would easily do for my sister any day. What was hard was leaving my sister behind.
"Orion!" I heard her calling as I was attempting to escape through the window, a cloak hiding my even more monstrous than usual appearance from the world.
"Star?" I whispered softly, feeling her small, fleshy hand grab my clawed one, "What are you doing out of bed?"
"I wanted to make sure that I said goodbye," she said as she gave me a sad smile, her mouth fangless except for a few sharper than normal canines.
I bent down to give her one last hug, "I love you Stardust."
"I love you Toffee."
The use of the nickname that she had called me whenever it was just the two of us had nearly broken me. It took every bit of strength that I had to walk away from the little girl that had taken over my world from the first moment that I had laid eyes on her. It was the hardest thing I had ever had to do.
