Cursed and Doomed
Written by erisvendetta
summary: He was cursed, she was predicted with death. Both longing for a cure to save their lives. But reality stays that kept them apart. He could only stare at her solemn beauty from his glass enclosure as she dances in the rain. Gruvia. One shot.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Never was, and never will.
xXx
The dark night sky was slowly being covered by grey clouds that held the tears of the heavens. Silent rumbles was heard as thunders pass everytime the lightning flashes in the sky, creating a massive display of light that seemed like two glowing entities playing chase. There was a storm brewing up until the witch's couldron, but not even one tear had fallen from the sky's pale cheek.
From afar, his dark eyes gazed at the only person standing in the middle of that dull, massive castle courtyard.
His rain woman. Her arms outstretched to her side to welcome the coming rain, head tilted up towards the sky making her long blue hair cascade down to her lower back like waves on the beach. The baggy, old servant's clothes she wore had not concealed her glorious beauty and grace as a princess. Her dark blue eyes looked up in the sky with sadness evident in them.
He knew why she was sad, why light had been long gone in those oceanic orbs she had. She never was happy, growing up knowing that her mother had died at her birth, allowing her father the king to remarry another woman who had two kids of her own.
A new mother.
A new queen.
with stepsisters.
Soon after the marriage, the king had died, leaving her to her stepmother's care. A care that turned her into a servant in her very own home. With torturous tasks that not even a young child could do, but somehow she had managed to live through and grow up. But this was not all that had taken her smile away. His rain woman, his princess, was cursed on the day that she was born. A curse that decrees that on her sixteenth birthday, she will die, which was exactly a year from now. Knowing this fact, plus the misfortunes that she had in her life, there was no doubt that his rain woman had lost all reason to smile nor be happy.
He wanted to touch her, to hold her close to him and wipe away all the sadness in her heart. To save her from her dreadful curse and say all the things that he had been wanting to say ever since he had been brought in that castle and had seen her somber beauty. But how could he? He was stuck in that god forsaken mirror with a curse that slowly turned his heart into ice.
Who would have thought that that old hag was an enchantress?
Out of impulse and immaturity, since he was young back then, he had drove the old woman away from his home when he knew she desperately needed shelter from the bitter winter. It was then went she had shown her real self and hexed the curse on him. A curse that ice will slowly eat up his heart until he was 21 and die, also locking him up on that mirror where he will serve a self centered queen, which was his rain woman's stepmother. The only remedy he had was if he had learned to love another and earn her love in return. But being trapped in that mirror, he only learnt to love his rain woman to a fault. But he could never earn her love in return. He could never speak to her nor to touch and hold her close to him, to let her feel the love he felt for her. He could only gaze at her serene beauty from afar.
One by one tears had fell from the heavens, touching his rain woman's pale cheek. The rain had started to pour down the earth. A tiny smile tugged at her lips as she welcomed the crystal veil that hung from the grey night sky. He noticed that everytime it rains, his rain woman was a tad bit happier, even if she was soaked to the bone. It also made him happier whenever she was under the rain since it was practically the only way to touch her and be close to her. Being in the mirror had its pros and cons, if it had kept him from the real world, it could also let him travel everywhere he pleases as long as there was a reflection to be seen. In this case, he could be with her whenever it rains because of the water's reflection.
With the rain, he could touch her pale skin and caress her serene face. Although he could not feel her warmth nor the softness of her skin, but it was fine for him. Even though he knew she could not hear the words he say, he still whispered to her ear how much he loves her and how happy he was even for a brief moment that he could be with her as she dances in the rain, how he wishes that he could really hold her and wash away all her worries and the sadness in her eyes. God, she was beautiful, even when misery covered her oceanic orbs. But with the rain pouring on her, a faint light had appeared in her eyes, making his heart flutter at the sight.
He wanted for that moment to last forever, so he could be with her for a long time. But it seemed like fate was taunting them as it had ended that shower after just a few minutes when it had started. Now with the tears from the heavens gone, his rain woman was back to her somber facade. Dissapointed that the rain had not lasted long. She dropped her hands to the side in the same time that he had returned to his mirror. He wanted to stay and watch her from the puddles outside, but he sensed that his mistress, the queen that owned his mirror, was fast approaching.
From his view, he could only glance at his rain woman outside as she still continued to look up to the sky, hoping that the rain would return. With a silent click, the door in the room where his mirror was hidden was closed by the queen, her dark hair was straight and let lose as it reached her lower back, dissapearing beneath her regal robe that flowed behind her slender figure. Eyes as dark as his was pinned towards his direction, an intense gaze from her slanted eyes. With slow and steady strides that held grace and power that could easily intimidate any person, she approached him, standing directly in front of the mirror.
"Mirror, mirror on the wall," she had started, her voice low and husky with a hint of arrogance in it.
"Who is the fairest of them all?"
Again with the same question. A question that she kept on asking him for the past years that she had owned his mirror. Because he could travel all around the world through the use of mirrors, he could see thousands of maidens through their reflection, thus making the queen ask him that question to see if she was more beautiful than them.
Of course the queen was indeed beautiful. She had a certain ambiance that intimidated everyone, earning respects and adoration from nobles and kings everywhere. Her beauty was the reason why the king, his rain woman's father, had married her, also thinking that her daughters were going to be good for his young princess. But beneath that beauty, just how purely white her beauty and complexion was, that is how dark and ruthless her heart could be. She never cared for anyone, nor even gave them a second look. All she wanted were riches, power and beauty. Youth to keep herself young, but to do that, one must be a master if the dark arts, which she was.
"far and wide I have searched," he started.
"for a beauty that would compare to yours. But it is you who remains, the fairest if them all." He concluded with his cold monotone voice. A triumphant and smug smile etched upon the queen's lips. He was tempted to say: "Of all the maidens in the land, I see a young princess hidden beneath servants rags. 'tis she who is the fairest of them all."
His rain woman.
But he did not have the heart to say it, knowing that if he did, the queen will surely kill his beloved. He knew because she had done it once to some poor maid long ago. He would rather lie and increase the pace of the ice consuming his heart than to let the queen kill his beloved rain woman.
The queen stared at him for a moment, him staring back at her with a blank gaze. A moment later her eyes caught something move from the window and she instantly turned to look at it.
"Juvia.. " she said with disgust as she looked at his rain woman who was still waiting for the rain to pour again.
"foolish girl. If she wants to get a cold, fine. But she won't be excused from her work" clearly her voice held jealousy in it. She was not blind. She could see that the girl was pretty. A fine princess even though dressed in rags and had her tiny body work hard.
"at least I'm still beautiful of all" she spat and had stormed out of the room. His gaze following her retreating figure coldly. Silently cursing her for her arrogance. His eyes softened and turned towards his rain woman that had already started to walk away, back to her tiny room down in the dungeons.
She was supposed to be the one who rules that kingdom, not that arrogant and self centered queen. That life she lived now was not fit for a princess like her, how she had to work just to eat when she could easily just call her servants to bring her the finest delicasy in the kingdom. But that devil possessed stepmother of hers wouldn't let her.
He wanted to be liberated. Not from his curse, but from the mirror that enclosed him. So that he could help his rain woman. For her sake, he'd do anything in the world, even if it would cost him of his life.
The clock struck the eleventh hour of the night, ringing 11 chimes. An hour before midnight. From his view, he saw the glass of his mirror began to glow a shimmering shade of gold, hard glass turning liquid. This had never happened before, and it scared him. His mind ran wild as he stared at it.
Was his time had finally come?
is he dying?
will he vanish from this world?
His questions were answered by a familiar serene voice that echoed in his mind. It was the enchantress that hexed him with his curse. With a surprised look, he listened to her words silently, a smile forming on him lips as she finished.
"Gray, learning to love made you change. So a chance to you I'll give. You'll have temporary liberation from this mirror, an hour every night before the clock strikes 12, you are free to roam. But at the twelfth chime, you will be forced back to the mirror. Those are the rules."
Testing the magic, he slowly rose his hand to touch the liquified glass portal, a finger pushing through. A surprised chuckle escaped his lips when he saw his hand pushed through. Seeing that it was all true, he continued to push his hand through the portal more.
Finally he could get out, even just for an hour. He could finally talk to his rain woman and tell everything his heart desires, to touch her tender skin and feel it's warmth beneath his touch. And, he could save her. Yes, he will. For her, he'd do anything.
The moment he had passed through the portal, a different sensation had taken place in him. A drive to keep his word, his unspoken promise to save the person he loves. He was finally free, even if it was just an hour every night. As long as he could be with his rain woman and save her from her curse and from her stepmother, it was all worth it.
A/N: If I had any grammatical errors, or misspelled words or any of those things, I'm already asking for your apology. This short story was inspired after I had seen a commercial on TV and it had rained hard that night. This is a mash up of four different popular fairy tales, I'll leave it all up to you guys to figure out what those fairy tales are, although its obvious that Snow White is here.
I wanted this to be a series, but I just turned this into a short fic since I'm not sure if many would read this, and I'm still finishing up my other stories, especially The Princess and The Dragon which I have not updated for months now due to my lack of inspiration.
But who knows? If I get a lot of good feedback for this story, I might get inspired enough to push this as a series. But if not, well... I'm still happy with this story as a one shot. :) I'll leave what happens next to your wild imaginations guys if this won't turn into a series!