Hey all!
Here's the first official chapter of Jacqueline!
Just to say now, it's based off the movie 'Mirror Mirror', you know in case no one read the trailer, which is basically a different re-telling of Snow White. Also, this will have some major plot changes given these characters are monsters and yes this will have very minor genderbending, considering it's just the one character.
Also, I do not own Mirror Mirror or Monster High or any of the original characters retaining to either…but I do own Jacqueline!
Prologue
"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away…a baby girl was born."
The wind howled as the snow was thrown about against the stone walls, almost drowning out the pained screams of a woman in child-birth. Almost being the keyword.
Within a dimly lit chamber, the poor werecat woman was crying at this point in her effort to bring her child into the world. Pacing outside the door, her husband, a handsome fire elemental, was sick with worry for his wife.
But then, a different cry filled the air: a baby's cry.
With a sigh of relief, the fire elemental rushed into the room to find his wife cradling a small bundle in her arms, a beautiful, serene smile on her face. "Heath…" She breathed out, "Come meet your daughter…" The smile was infectious, it seemed, for everyone wore one, even the fire elemental, as said monster walked over to greet his new child.
"Oddly enough, a human girl with skin pure as snow was born to a werecat and a fire elemental."
It was odd, to find the girl indeed looked very human save for how white her skin was a small shock of black hair like her mother tipped with some of her father's yellowish-blonde, but when she opened her eyes, which were a bright ocean blue like her mother, they just couldn't bring themselves to care.
"They named her Jacqueline, probably because it was the most original name they could come up with."
The newly made father noticed his wife's breathing was slowly becoming ragged and uneven. It raised concern as she began to cough.
"As far would have it…Jacqueline's mother died from childbirth."
Weak, the young red and black-haired werecat placed a chaste kiss on her newborn's forehead, whispering to both her and her husband, "I love you…" Before she slumped against him, her blue eyes closing as her chest stilled.
The nursemaids gasped in horror, the older ones rushing to the werecat's aid as Heath tried to shake her awake as he cried in alarmed-sorrow, "Tora? Tora! Toralei!" All that could be heard after his cries was his daughter's own.
"Left on his own…"
The young fire elemental was greatly heartbroken by his wife's death, but what kept him going every day was seeing his daughter's beautiful, smiling face.
"…her father spoiled her."
"Catch me, Daddy!" Five-year-old Jacqueline giggled as she rushed through the tallish-grass in the garden. The young father laughed as he playfully chased her around the benches and statues, "You better run, you little rascal!" She squealed with laughter as he tried to catch her.
"He could afford to, of course. He was the king."
In her room, Jacqueline was playing with the other young servant girls when her father came in. The servant girls quickly curtsied to their king, while Jacqueline rushed to hug her father, who seemed to be hiding something behind his back. He smiled at her confused look before revealing a small violin. Jacqueline had developed a deep love for music, so he had her own instrument made for her. Jacqueline loved it.
"The King loved his daughter and all his subjects loved him."
Everyone in the kingdom, human and monster, took part in the yearly celebrations. Everyone danced and sang in content of another successful year of growth for both the people and the land. Even in the castle, everyone was alive with music and laughter. Mostly laughter, since Jacqueline would drag her father onto the dancefloor with her.
"The kingdom was a happy place, where humans and monsters alike could live together in peace and sing and dance night and day…apparently, no one had a job back then: just singing and dancing all night and day. But I digress. The king raised the little girl by himself."
King Heath smiled as he watched the now seven-year-old Jacqueline play a slightly bigger violin with practiced ease as her instructor watched proudly as he played the piano.
"Grooming her to one day lead."
As the king had her read various history books and write about the events of the past, he became distracted by the soft gleam of his signature weapons, which had been placed on display on a wall. Twin blades made of iron and silver fastened to black metal with dark red leather on the grips and blood red sashes were tied beneath the hilts. It served as a reminder of not only his past as a great warrior, but also of the fact that Jacqueline would be at a major disadvantage if she were to fight other monsters.
"But over time, he realized there were some things he couldn't teach her. So he sought out a new queen."
Everyone was surprised when he began searching for a new wife, going as far as traveling great distances in hopes of finding a suitable bride. It wasn't too long before he returned with news, that he had found his new queen. It put many off, even Jacqueline with how he would talk of her, it almost sounded like a dark obsession, but no one spoke of it, having never seen him so happy since the passing of Queen Toralei.
"This queen was the most beautiful woman in the world."
Standing next to her father, Jacqueline watched anxiously as the carriage containing her future stepmother got closer. She had many rumors of her, most of her great, exotic beauty, others of her not so beautiful attitude. But Jacqueline only hoped for the best as she kept her smile in place as the carriage door opened.
"She was intelligent and strong…and just to clarify, she was me."
The woman was indeed beautiful in Jacqueline's eyes, a monster to boot: a mummy. Her skin was a deep bronze-tan with the traditional eyeliner and golden yellow eyeshadow to bring out her beautiful purple eyes. Her most unique feature was her long hair; it was a beautiful teal-blue color to match the color painted onto her lips, streaked with black and gold. However, as beautiful and warm as the woman was on the outside, Jacqueline could feel a strange coldness coming from her.
"And this is my story. Not hers."
Everyone save Nefera, the king's new bride, was startled with how quick he wanted the preparations done. When Heath was to wed Toralei, they were both in no rush, having wanted to get to know each other better, but now, it seemed that the sooner the better. In fact, Nefera seemed to encourage it, her smirk never leaving her face as she almost barked out orders.
"Bewitched by my beauty, the king practically begged me to marry him. I was everything to him: the stars, the moon…but a dark magic soon fell on the land."
Not long after the king and Nefera had wed, news of a horrific beast living in the woods with strange magic-like abilities filled both the towns and the castle with dread. Despite Jacqueline's pleas not to go, Heath set off to face the threat to their peace, but not before leaving her a gift.
"The brave king bid farewell to Jacqueline, leaving her a small charm necklace. An interesting gift, but more on that later."
Heath waved his daughter and wife as he rode off to face the new danger to his home.
"He rode off into the dark woods and sadly..."
Days turned to weeks as everyone waited patiently for the king's returned. Every night, Jacqueline would lay awake, hoping to hear her father's return before falling asleep with tears.
"...was never seen again."
After too long had past a few brave men went into the woods to search for Heath, but soon returned. Nefera had been watching and listening to Jacqueline play her violin when they arrived. Jacqueline had paused in her playing, her smile bright, hoping to see her father among them, only for it to fall when she didn't seem him. But when she noticed what the captain, a young minotaur called Manny, a good friend of her father, was carrying, her hands started to tremble. It was her father's cape; torn in various places.
"Jacqueline searched and searched for her father."
Despite the cape, Jacqueline didn't lose hope immediately she joined the search parties hoping to find some clue to her father's whereabouts. It got to the point she was so desperate to find him, she refused to return to the castle when it started to get late. It turned to a point she had to be carried back kicking, screaming and in tears by one of the guards.
"And when she realized he was truly gone, she was devastated."
When the weeks finally became four months, the cold truth that her father wasn't returning came crashing down on the poor girl, who broke down openly in front of all the guards, her stepmother, the servants; everyone. The only person who tried to comfort her was the friends she made in the young servant girls: a werewolf Clawdeen, a vampire named Draculaura, a water monster named Lagoona and a flesh golem named Frankie. But it did no good, the only comfort the poor princess wanted was too wake up and her father to tell her it was all a bad dream.
"The girl was now left under the care of the beautiful queen."
Throughout the whole thing though, Clawdeen was the only one to notice that Nefera never once batted an eyelid at her step-daughter's distress and it unnerved the werewolf-girl a bit.
"Ten years passed and Jacqueline grew older and blossomed; in both beauty and talent."
As the years did their haunting dance, Jacqueline did grow. Her skin never once gained much color and remained its snowy pale hue, while her raven and blonde-tipped hair grew out in waves of ebony and dark blonde, and her eyes shimmered like the sky on a cloudless day. Jacqueline kept to her lessons; she could tell you an event in the kingdom's past off the top of her head, either by her own words or word for word in any history book, she could solve number problems with little difficulty and could tell you what was what and where was where on any map. However, her talents in music seemed to grow as she did and the castle's staff truest joy was listening to her play any of the vast different instruments she had collected over the years.
"But the kingdom fell into an icy despair."
However, as the years passed, the kingdom seemed to lose its warmth and glow. A strange, eternal winter blanketed the land in a thick blanket of white, leaving the people to rely on their outside resources for support.
"As the queen realized if she wanted to remain the most beautiful woman in all the land...well, little Jackie would have to do what Jackie does best...Jackie would have...to fail."
And...done!
My first chapter of Jacqueline has been complete!
So, what do you guys think? Not bad for my first, purely Monster High fic, huh?
I kinda feel a bit bad for Jackie, but, hey, I've been told I have a tendency to be cruel to my characters, where I own them or not.
Anyway, bet ya didn't see Heath and Toralei being Jackie's parents, huh? SURPRISE *throws confetti into the air*!
Well, I just couldn't resist making Heath her father, I mean, Jackson is originally half-fire elemental, it just doesn't show until he turns into Holt for an odd reason. I think deep down...deep, deep, deep down, Heath really does care for Jackson and this is the perfect way to express that side of him!
As for Toralei...well, I honestly couldn't think of anyone else to use and it didn't feel right to use an OC, besides, like, Heath, I think she does have a caring bone in her somewhere. Besides, it didn't make much sense to me to make Abbey the mother, since she's a Yeti and doesn't share any physical traits with Jackson (should I start saying Jacqueline?:(?), while Toralei would explain the black hair and blue eyes. In all honesty, she's the only one who shares much physical traits with Jackson (Jacqueline?) that you'd think there was a small relation.
And come on, who doesn't think Nefera makes a good wicked stepmother/queen!
But, I digress. I think I did pretty well.
Hope you guys review! Until next time!