White

From her most secret of chambers in the deepest part of her castle, a woman watched the world as shadow consumed it. She held an enchanting figure, but the beauty was not that of innocence and purity; it was instead a cold, heartless beauty that froze people to their cores.

Her mirror before her swirled in a somewhat hazy image of the turmoil that was settling in on the lives of innocents. A little girl, scared into muteness due to self-guilt. Another girl so consumed by a lust for revenge that she barely knows why she's fighting anymore. Two lovers, ripped apart by an internal darkness.

She watched, and she smiled.

"What makes you so happy?" A voice rang out from the surrounding darkness, causing

the queen - for that was what she was - to whip around, making the mirror's image go black. Frantic eyes darted around the room in an attempt to find where the noise came from. She knew that voice.

"Mother? Do you know who I am?"

"S-Snow White?" The woman stammered, terror running through her whole body. She

had been certain of her daughter's death, so how was she here?

"That's right." The voice said, and the queen saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning to face that direction, she saw her daughter step out from behind a pillar. Her body was covered in a dark cloak, a hood around her head that hid her eyes from sight. A scarf was tied around the lower half of her face.

"I killed you! I poisoned you with my apple!" The queen screamed out, taking a step back.

Her hooded daughter made no movement after her, but instead uttered a single word.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why would you try to kill me? Don't you love me?" The pain in the young girl's voice was

obvious, but the woman's heart had long ago been turned to stone concerning her daughter.

"No, I do not love you." She spat. "It's your beauty, daughter of mine. Your beauty is so great, that it rivals mine. That is simply something I cannot stand for."

"I see." The girl paused, looking down before continuing. "Am I still beautiful?"

"Of course! Look at you! The perfect pose, the elegant curves, the fair skin. You're sickeningly beautiful." Her mother shouted, unable to contain herself. There was a moment of utter silence in the room before Snow White reached for her hood, pulling it back and revealing her ice-blue eyes that bored into the queen's heart. The cold ruler noticed a scar over her left eye that hadn't been there before. Had she received it on the way here?

Then the girl began unravelling the scarf, revealing a sight that the queen wished she could unsee, but had burned itself into her mind.

Snow White's elegant, rosy face had been scarred and maimed horribly. Jagged lines slit by a shaky hand went from either corner of her mouth to her ears, turning it into a grotesque smile. Many smaller scars covered her face, and her beautiful white hair was messy and scraggly. The girl waited for a reaction.

"What… what happened?" The queen asked after a moment, too shocked to fully comprehend the sight before her. Tears started trickling down the scarred face as she stepped closer.

"I… I did this for you! I want you to love me, like a mother should!" She shouted out in a shaky voice that rattled the queen's heart to it's core. The scars stretched horribly as Snow spoke, causing the woman to wince and close her eyes. In the darkness this brought, however, she also was met with silence. When she opened them, Snow White had stopped.

"Perhaps… perhaps you still think I'm beautiful." She said softly. Reaching into her robes, she pulled out a long, curved blade. The queen instantly recognized it as the one that the huntsman she had hired owned, except now it was stained with red. Those ice-blue eyes flicked back at the queen.

"The only other way, then..." She pondered softly before putting on a grim, determined face.

"The only other way is to make you more beautiful than I am."

The queen attempted to spring out of the way, but was seized by a strong pair of hands. She wondered how Snow had become so strong, but all thoughts were interrupted as she saw the jagged blade on the knife raise itself above her. In that moment, she stared death in the face, and paled as the fullness of the situation hit her.

She let out a shriek, but was silenced soon afterwards. Never again would the wicked queen see the light.

When the guards came, they opened the chamber doors only to stumble at the sight inside. A beautiful girl lay on top of the dead body of their queen, sobbing. A blood-stained knife lay discarded nearby.

"Come back, mother…" The girl choked out. The lifeless body gave no response back. Cautiously, the head of the guard stepped closer, and the girl snapped her head up to look coldly at the man.

"Y-You killed her…"

"I only wanted her to love me!" She screamed. The guards piled out of the room in fright, and barred the door behind them.

"What now?" One asked the captain. He sighed, rubbing his temples.

"I dunno. Just… leave her in there, I guess. We can have someone come take a look later."

"I guess that would work-" The captain was interrupted as a shriek sounded from the chamber. The all moved a little quicker, eager to get away from the awful sounds coming from the tortured soul who caused them.

For the first time, they had seen to just what extent a person would go for love.