"They lived happily ever after."
Chapter 3 The Ending and The Beginning of Cycles
After that night, he returned to his castle only to order a royal funeral to be held in his kingdom the next day. For her. It was a grand funeral, filled with hundred of colorful flowers, thousands of people and a full orchestra.
A white coffin carved with the most intricate details with a royal swan painted in gold on the lid was becoming the center of the ceremony. Of course, it was empty, aside for a tiny little box, there was no body there. She had vanished after all, the only remaining of her was a white feather that she had given to Fakir. The author refused to bury it.
The funny thing was the ceremony was more fitting to be a wedding instead of a funeral.
Perhaps it was.
Only the bride was dead and the groom had said "I do" to another bride a month before.
It would had been a beautiful wedding.
.
Too late.
.
Fakir was there, holding her last gift close to his heart. Mourning for their almost love. Perhaps her love for him wouldn't had been as strong as her love for the prince, but they could had started over with a new story: their story. "The Duck and The Knight."
He would had courted her properly, proposed to her in the most romantic way she wanted it to be, showered her with affection she needed and made her borne his children. If the prince didn't want her in this lifetime, then why she didn't give him a chance to be with her for once?
They could had been happy.
She denied happiness for both of them
She wanted to simply vanished with her almost-tainted-heart.
The author couldn't make the dead came back to life. It was only Fate who could.
He walked through the stairs to where her coffin was. He closed his eyes solemnly while putting his right hand back above his heart with her feather in it and his left hand of the coffin. After betraying her trust last night, by handing the prince her letter and by wanting to cut his arms and follow her to death, it was the last thing he could do for her. His duck.
Everyone was silenced.
"I swear..."
Words of oath to fulfill all her wishes that she asked of him filled the palace's garden. He only added one of his own: a knight's promise of loyalty and protection for her if she ever given the chance by fate to live. With that, he kissed her coffin like he would do to her as his bride.
The silence continued for a moment of respect as the sorrowful music was played to accompany the prayer for their savior.
The savior that they had abandoned in her helplessness.
It was a good thing for them that burden of their sin would be shared among fellow common sinners .
Very good indeed.
The burial procession then started.
Meanwhile, the unknowing princess did not know what to feel. Rue was sad to know that her only friend had chosen to fulfill her ending, but she was more worried about her prince who looked as empty as he had been before he gained a heart. She thought he needed her love to heal, to recover from loss of a dear friend, his savior who had returned his heart when nobody else cared. So she stood by his side wearing her black veil.
She mourned for the one who left and the ones who were left behind.
.
She should had mourned for herself.
.
For Karma knew what she had done before, how tainted black her heart had been.
Everyone could choose their own path, either good or bad. No matter what their circumstances were.
Poor people could choose to work honestly until they died for small amount of money and they also could choose to steal-kill-deceive other people to live in luxury. -Greed
Abused souls could choose to stand tall and prevent other people to suffer their fate and they could also choose to abuse other people for their pleasure of revenge. -Wrath
Jealous hearts could choose to improve themselves and they could choose to backstab-destroy-badmouth those better ones.-Envy
Denied lovers could choose to love their loved ones in a different way or they could just force those they claimed to love to submit to their will. –Lust
Sinners could admit their sins while asking for forgiveness-repentance-punishment and they could also close their eyes from their faults and weakness- admit of no wrong. -Pride
Capable bodies could choose to use their own power to fulfill their needs and they could also choose to beg from others to fulfill their needs for them.-Sloth
Prosper families could choose to share their wealth with others and they could also choose to use everything strictly for their own satisfaction.-Gluttony
Her obsession with the prince had led her heart astray.
She wouldn't had been tainted by raven's blood if she had chosen to be good.
She could had just disobeyed her father's order to do something bad.
Yet she coveted the prince with possessive-obsessive-jealous emotions and her father offered him for her in exchange of her obedience.
She chose her path.
She only had sacrificed herself at the end because she had known her father truly would not had given her the prince after all.
She could had shown her repentance, if only she had said "I do not" and let go her sole object that blinded her at the first place.
If only she had been caring enough to ask the prince's feeling for her before the wedding, for he never said he loved her. He couldn't had.
That part of him had been with Tutu at the time.
His exact words were "If possible, I desire to make Rue my princess."
Where was the love?
Yet the words had bound him to her.
He was practically her suitor-turned-prisoner after he got his heart back.
She could had also asked for her so-called-friend's heart for the prince, for even as a duck she still could nod or shake her tiny head.
That was if she really cared.
About the prince and the duck.
So Karma decided her punishment, for her previous and current lives, fortunately she was still granted an end. Unlike the prince.
At least the pain would stop.
For several lifetimes.
.
.
And The Prince.
The Living Groom for the day.
"Until death do us apart"
The vow was broken as soon as it was out of his mouth. For The Bride was no longer in the world of the living even days before The Wedding. He stood there, watching from above with his out-of-the-place white suit. On his ring finger laid a single golden band; its match buried 6 feet-down under, never touched the skin of its supposed-to-be wearer. It was so similar to the one that he had worn until last night, but it was engraved with The Bride's name instead.
He wanted to be selfish now, he wanted to stop sacrificing himself for others.
He could had stopped The Tragedy, if he had let himself to be cruel for once.
He would had stayed by The Bride's side, even if she couldn't escape her body.
They would had been married, without caring about their different nature as duck and human, without caring about heirs, without caring about his kingdom.
If only they had not cared about the rest of the world and had been honest with their hearts.
.
"They lived happily ever after."
.
What would he give to get a chance to have those simple words written in the end of Their Story.
He stood there for longest time, with eyes so empty that it was almost too sad to be even imagined.
These characters had not yet known their own endings for this cycle. Thus, they said their forever goodbyes to her with at least amicable way.
The Author lived true to his oath. He tried to be happy again, he tried to forget her, he tried to love again. Although he never wrote again, he tried to find his own happiness in his dancing and became a teacher at their old school. Then, he found a girl with fire inside her soul, matching his own fiery spirit.
At first they bickered, challenged each other, and finally they fell in love with one and another. He died as an old man with three children and a handful of grandchildren. He lived happily and died peacefully just like his duck's wishes.
The Prince was at first unaware of his continued immortality. He grieved for a year and then got back to his obligations managing his kingdom. The Black Princess though, suffered due to his treatment of her. He would still smile at her, talk to her and accompany her through stately events and ceremonies, yet he never visited their room any longer.
At first she thought it was his grieve for a friend that had loved him that made him like that. Guilt, perhaps, because she died in front of him by telling him of her love. She tried to console him, to make him forget about the past, to love her once more.
She did not know that he never loved her at the first place, he did truly love 'the friend' that had died due to feelings of love for him, that he had divorced her in his mind on the day of The Funeral but still let her had the position, the royalty benefits and the friendly term of his company.
She was becoming insecure then, doubting his love for her and fearing rivalry between herself and a dead duck all over again. So she confronted her husband one night; demanding to know his feelings for her and the duck. She had finally asked so he told her.
.
First strike.
.
After that night she no longer cared for his love, she refused to compete with a dead duck for his love again and again; she feared more for her position. It was a kingdom after all, if she could not provide an heir she would be eliminated from being a princess. No matter what the prince assured her of her position, the people would riot against her. She tried to seduce him, tempt him into her bed, only to end up in failure. She tried to preassure him with the obligation of giving an heir for his kingdom, but he still returned to his own room, never spared a glance on her.
Yet after 10 years, the whole kingdom realized the state of The Prince's ever present youth. He was supposed to be 26 by now, yet nothing had changed about him. As long as The Prince could not die, they didn't need another heir to the kingdom. With that, The Black Princess lost her support to the joining of the royal couple for an heir. The people no longer respected her as a princess, for she was no use to them, even The Prince had been rumored to no longer favor her.
She became more and more disturbed with the past of each year. The stares she received from the servants, the nobles, the people had been cruel and unnerving. She was also growing older and older while The Prince did not. When they went together side by side, they looked like a couple, then brother & sister, and lastly mother & son. She turned to be more obsessed with her looks, with his youth. One day when she looked in the mirror and saw how old she was without her mask compared to The Prince.
.
Second strike.
.
She cracked.
She wanted him to die for robbing her of her happiness and life. So for one last time, she tried to stab The Prince when he was asleep, yet The Prince's wound healed as soon as the blade grazed his skin. The Prince could only look at her with disbelief as the guards took her away from him. For the attempt of killing the royal, she should had been sentenced to death by hanging but The Prince pitied her state and commanded The Black Princess to be sent to the exile instead: in the mountain at the border of the kingdom. On her journey to her new place, people showered her with stones, rotten fruits, dirty water, stabbing words.
.
Third strike.
.
She was no more.
She killed herself at the end by jumping from the cliff. Her once beautiful face destroyed by the force of the gravity towards the surface of the earth.
At least she was granted her ending.
.
Another one hundred years passed for The Prince.
Stuck in his immortality and his kingdom.
Silver locks framed his ever present young face with his sorrowful golden eyes.
His curse was said would be ended when his heart returned as whole.
He never thought that his heart would never be completed without the last piece:
Her Love.
.
It was hard for The Prince to keep living for another hundred years.
Before, he had lost his heart so he had been unable to feel pain.
Compared to this, it had been really easy for him to be the puppet, the doll.
Now he had to live while doing his duty to his kingdom, while regretting of the past everyday, while breaking yet another heart, while yearning for The Bride as his heart was broken and whole at the same time.
If there was a hell on earth, he would be burn within it everyday.
.
The world he lived in had changed drastically. People no longer believed in magic. Books and stories about them were considered as fiction; something that was not real. There was no longer animals that lived independently and equally as humans; their place was limited to the zoo or the wild or in the houses as domestic pets. No longer could they walk hand in hand with humans. People nature too had changed dramatically, many of them were filled with seven deadly sins; only small numbers of human that survived without being corrupted in them.
His kingdom, luckily, had striven among the new world. It had survived several wars, natural disasters and other disturbances. He was still their ruler, but he had to hide his immortal state due to changing circumstances in their world. The knowledge of him and his curse was limited among the higher-ups in his kingdom and was passed through generation after generation. He had taken an orphan child to pose as his child and the next ruler with few conditions: that he would always do what he asked and he would only may father one child as the next heir. He didn't need another complication in ruling his kingdom such as power struggle among posers.
His raven blood was proved to be useful in the times of wars. He became cunning, and almost cruel when he wanted to protect things that were precious to him. His kingdom might be small, yet the power that it yielded among other countries was beyond significant. The rulers of other countries knew rumors about him, The Prince who would not age or die. They feared him for what he was in their eyes: a monster. Few knew about the truth of his nature, even more fewer the ones who knew his face and appearance.
He kept searching for his princess' existence throughout the years; hoping there would be a new cycle for him to seek his ending. Every time he saw a girl with sunset hair, he would chase after her, only to find each time the girl was not The Bride. He was even more worried in the times of war, afraid that he would be too late again to save her, that he would only find her lifeless body on the street, full of blood. Thankfully, the bodies he found were never hers. Another part of his worry was if she had been born as a duck once more, there would be no way to know which one was her if that was the case.
So he waited and searched still for The Bride to wear his ring, to repeat his vow and to live happily with him.
For a hundred years.
With his kingdom's power, he managed to place his people across the world to find her. The technology in the current era had let him maintaining flows of information between countries within seconds. He also searched for her by himself in his kingdom; walking from one region to another and coming back to his palace once in a month to make sure everything under control. Currently, he was on one of his little trips to the outskirt of his kingdom.
She was there.
Laughing happily with her friends while running as freely as the wind.
He could only stand still as if the clock stopped for a magical moment.
He did not know what to do.
Without realizing it, glittering tears had made their ways in his face.
Finally.
The Bride was alive.
His punishment had ended.
A new cycle started once again.
.
Thank God.
.
Authoress's Note: I forgot to check on reviews when I uploaded the second chapter. So now, here is my response:
To: Peter, chapter 1
Yes, yes...I am cruel...but I think the real author far more cruel than me. Somehow...Thanks for the review.
To:Emey Troy, chapter 1
The sad thing is...I would have been a Fakir-Tutu fan also if the ending was right. I know how Fakir loved Tutu with his melted-ice heart... that is why I can't be cruel to him. He was, after all, the last one who stayed with Tutu at the end. I am truly thankful for it. Still though, it needs a lot of courage to read fiction that supports other than your favorite pairing. I still can't read Fakir-Ahiru fic no matter how I supported them until I watched the final episode. You are truly brave to consider this possibility.
To:spocketlaine, chapter 2
I am truly grateful for your lengthy review. It encourages me to know that there is someone out there who truly enjoyed my writing. This is my first story after all...so I didn't expect anyone would really like it. I am originally not a writer, but more like an actress-in-training; therefore, it's kind of hard to continue the story like I wanted to. I knew how to pour each character's heart, but I have no way in creating a scenario for them or dialogues for that matter. I could make a storyline, but I do not know how to make it flow without getting too sweet and fluffy or getting too fast-paced. You are also the first person who cried reading this story. Thank you. Really,really, really thank you.
To:Acumichi, chapter 2
Thank you, Acumichi for reading this fiction and reviewing it. I am glad that you like it. I will try to write more...I have the concept in my mind how they will interact in this new world, but I am really helpless in deciding its pace and dialogues. I still will try though, even it takes me forever to complete. I hope this third chapter will satisfy you for quite sometime...
To:kohiookami2, chapter 2
Hello there, kohiookami2. No, it's not bad to cry. I, myself, cried when writing this story. Although it was because how different it is to 'the ending'. This story itself is my salvation, an ending that I can accept in my heart and my head. I hope it could be one for you too. Thank you for feeling for this story.
To:DRAGON, chapter 2
I am sorry if this is not what you expected, DRAGON. For me this fiction can end things that did not end in the real series. I am sorry if you do not feel the same. I am also sorry I can't give Fakir a tragic demise like you wanted, because for me he was not at fault at all... Nothing major anyway. He was also the one staying at the end. He was the one who made our ending 'not completely tragic'. I am thankful for him although in Tutu's position I would not be able to love him after such a shock at the final episode. You guessed right though, for that *****'s ending. I still hate her after all.
Well, if there is anyone who would want to help me in commenting and reviewing the continuation before I post it, please tell me. Thank you for reading and reviewing. I treasure all of you, readers. Once again thank you.