Stay With Me (1/1)
(AN: A brief Philora drabble done for bbyprincessrory on tumblr. She's such a sweetheart, and I figured she'd definitely like some Phillip x Aurora happiness as a surprise present. AU Enchanted Forest, where Mulan and Aurora have finally found a way to bring back Phillip's soul.)
-x-
The taste of the potion was bitter and sour on her tongue. She bit back the desire to spit out the inky black substance as it slithered down her throat like a poison, coating her throat with a thick film of repulsive slime. It burned, hot and acidic, as it slid down her esophagus, and the princess's gut instinctively clenched as she fought the urge to retch the precious liquid back up again.
I have to do this. For him. Aurora swore internally, stealing her resolve and draining the last sticky drop from the glass flask pressed to her lips.
She swallowed, rolling her tongue across the roof of her mouth and scrunching up her face in disgust at the aftertaste. Her nose wrinkled, and she felt very much like a cat that had just licked something foul.
The stoic gaze of the warrior looked on, her face implacable and steely across the stone alter where the prince's body lay prostrate. If Aurora hadn't known better, Mulan would have almost appeared disinterested, but the tiny twitch at the corner of her teak-brown eyes and the way her fist clenched hard into the brass filigree of her sword hilt told otherwise.
"This will work." Aurora murmured breathily, gazing hard into the warrior's face. Her azure eyes flashed with determination, crackling with strength and sureness. "It has to work."
Mulan jerked her chin up in a tentative nod, her face still tightly controlled. "It would be best if we hurried, princess. The elixir's effect may not last long." The swordswoman's voice was pitched low to hide the fearful thready waver of hope that lay nestled deep beneath the measured words.
Aurora nodded, dropping her gaze of crystalline blue to study the pale, blanched face of her one true love. Eyes icy as a winter lake roved over the pallor of his bloodless lips, examining how everything about the prince seemed slightly faded in death.
The corporeal body of Phillip had remained suspended upon the magical alter-saving his flesh from decay's cruel touch- yet his features were somehow changed. The rosy flush of his cheeks that always seemed present was now a washed yellowed paleness. The crinkles that squeezed at the corners of his eyes when he laughed were made smooth. Even the soft chestnut of his curls seemed somehow devoid of the normal luster, the highlights glinting pale and sickly in the sun.
Tears pricked at the edge of the princess's eyes as she wove her thin fingers into the hair of her lost prince. It had been so long since she'd touched him. An eternity since she had found safe harbor cradled in his arms; centuries, it seemed, since she had kissed him. The soft tip of her index finger traced the gentle bow of his top lip.
"Phillip." She whispered, praying beyond all hope that somewhere his soul, floating aimlessly in some darkened nether-realm, could hear her plea. "I am here, my love….I have found a way...Now, please, come back to me."
Hot lips crushed themselves to cold lifeless ones. Aurora pulled her prince, cupping his head and winding her fingers into his tangled tresses, and kissed him with the white hot intensity borne of months of brokenhearted grief. She poured her heart and soul into the kiss. Every moment she had thought of him, every day she had wept alone, every laugh they had shared together was twined into her passion.
He was her everything. He was her heart's truest love.
The potion acted as soon as her heart flared with fullness. The pulse of true love's kiss ripped from her core, darkened and tainted by the ensorcelments she had previously ingested. The normally silvery aura of affection was riddled with spidery veins of black, as the fabric between worlds tore asunder with a terrifying splintering.
The air felt as if it was being pulled from around them, and oxygen sucked itself from Aurora's lungs as the dimensional rend yawned before her. The gaping hole to the nether-world had been smashed open and what lay beyond was nothing butt utter blackness. It was as if all light, all sound, all color was being wrenched from the world and pulled towards a single thrashing portal, dragged inescapably towards the void. She felt the solidity of the bier beneath her shudder.
Aurora felt her lips form Phillip's name, her vocal chords twanged in what would have been a shout, but no sound escaped her. Misty lights flickered at the edges of her vision, blurring in and out of focus, as the souls were set free. Hundreds and thousands of the ghosts flitted about, foggy and ethereal. Aurora realized with a thrill of terror that each spirit was nigh indistinguishable from the others. Phillip's soul could be anywhere. She screamed in silent rage and agony.
So close. They were so close. She could not fail, not now. Not after all she had been through, fighting against all odds to reclaim him. She refused to accept defeat. They were bonded body and soul, and she would not lose him again.
A tiny spark of hope pricked at the edges of her consciousness, and desperation made her cling to the notion.
Acting fast, she closed her eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and called out to him with all her heart. She willed herself to think of every second they had shared, opening herself up like a beacon, pulling out with all her spirit in search of him.
If she could not call his name with her voice, then she would beckon him with her very soul itself.
"Come Phillip," her heart sang "I am here, dearest. Follow me back to where you belong. I love you." She would be his light; she would guide him home.
A terrifying quake ripped through the earth as the spell began to fade. The portal shook, fazing in and out of existence, contorting into shapes unnatural as it struggled to seal itself and return the worlds to balance.
"No!" Aurora cried, her hand reaching out as the fabric of the universe knitted itself back together. The gateway narrowed to a pinpoint before her eyes, sucking the stream of souls back into the beyond. It had not been long enough. Surely Phillip's soul couldn't have made it through in time to find its body. She was too late.
The princess slumped to the ground, broken sobs welling in her chest. All was lost. The old hag had given the girls only one potion. Only one chance to reach into the nether-world, and they had wasted it. An animalistic keening tore from Aurora, splitting the air with auditory agony as she felt her heart cleaved in twain.
She'd tried, and she had failed him. Again.
"Aurora." Mulan whispered, her voice sounding strangely thin and far away.
The princess clenched her eyes shut and leaned her forehead against the gritty basaltic stone of the bier. Tears flowed freely and saltily, pooling on the tip of her nose and dribbling onto the uncaring stone.
He was gone.
A soft touch, flicked across her ear as she languished. The warm caress of a calloused thumb brushed under her chin, sweeping across her cheeks and tipping her head up with a cupped palm.
"I told you not to come after me." Croaked a familiar male voice, vocal chords rough and creaky from months of disuse. The princess gasped, eyes flicking up to see the scraggly crooked smile of her prince beaming back.
"Phillip!" She whispered with a rush of stunned relief. For a moment she stayed completely still, drinking in all the details of his face, like a rose soaking up the sun. Warmth and love danced in his eyes, like twin fires burning with vibrancy and vivaciousness. He eyes crinkled and his cheeks flushed with joyous elation. She ran her fingers over the planes of his face, memorizing each and every inch of him.
"You saved me, Aurora. I heard you. You were calling me. You lead me back to my body." The prince whispered, rolling sideways and reaching out to pull his beloved close.
Phillip leaned up, the heat of his breath whispering and tickling along her throat.
"I love you too." He murmured, as he claimed her warm lips with his own.