Okay, so this chapter is more of a filler one I guess… sorry.
Once upon a time, there was a selfish prince who had no love within his heart. There was an enchantress who knew of this and punished him for his cruelness by transforming him into a beast.
The only way to reverse this horrible fate was for the beast to fall in love with someone and earn their love in return.
One day, the prince's opportunity had come. A beautiful girl, who was lost in the woods, arrived at his castle.
The two grew close, and the beast indeed fell in love with the girl, but alas she had to leave to find her missing father. The beast would never know that girl loved him too…
Ahiru fell to her knees, clutching the shard to her chest.
'What have I done? I messed up again. Why do I keep hurting those close to me?!'
She shut her eyes and squeezed the shard tighter. The gem around her neck started to glow. The bear's eyes grew large with awe. "That gem! How did you find it?"
Ahiru looked up at the bear, then down at her necklace. She held the gem in her hand.
"My mother."
"Well that gem can break the curse."
Ahiru's head shot up, "Really?"
"But Ahiru," Rue interrupted, "If you give that to Fakir you won't be able to walk on land again."
Ahiru looked to Rue, "That's right isn't it. But if it'll cure Fakir…"
"Your half of the jewel may not respond to your friend," The bear continued, "But the other half should."
"So where is the other half?" Rue asked.
"I am afraid that is unknown…" he said sorrowfully.
Ahiru and Rue took their time going to Autor's home, mostly for Ahiru's sake, who was still beating herself up for what had happened. The shard was still held tightly to her breast. Ahiru's mind had left for some other world. A world full of sorrow and guilt. Even after they arrived at Autor's, Ahiru was still lost in a depressing daze.
"Ahiru…" Mytho spoke, trying to bring her back to reality. Ahiru slowly turned her head to him.
"He's in here." He said quietly, opening the door for her.
Ahiru glanced inside. She could see what looked like a mound of fur that was breathing heavily on the floor. Ahiru dropped the shard and slowly approached the furry mass. When she was close enough, she whispered: "Fa… Fakir?"
It moved to reveal a head. The head was a mixture of different creatures. The most dominate traits were between a wolf and a bear. It was horrifying. But what gave Ahiru comfort was Fakir's emerald green eyes that had not changed.
"Ahiru?" He whispered.
She dropped to her knees and placed a hand on the side of his face. It was taking everything she had not to cry at that moment. She slowly wrapped her arms around his neck. He returned the embrace.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, "This is all my fault. If I had listened to the bear, I wouldn't have hurt you!"
Fakir blinked, "Who said you hurt me? You didn't do anything wrong."
They looked at each other. "But you wouldn't be like this if I had-"
"Ahiru. Stop blaming yourself. You didn't intend to do this. This is just one of those unexpected things."
Ahiru nodded sadly. Then Ahiru remembered.
"But I can still fix this." She said pulling off the dark violet pendant. "The bear said this gem can cure you."
She tried handing it to him, but Fakir only shook his head.
"You need it more than I do…" Fakir closed Ahiru's hand around the pendant.
She was really fighting the tears now. "Then… then I'll find the other half of the gem!"
"But your mother said no one knows where it is."
"I'll still find it and fix this."
With a new drive, Ahiru got up without thinking and ran out the door.
"Wait, Ahiru!" He was about to run after her when Autor stopped him.
"If you go out there you'll be driven out of town!"
"But what if something happens to her! That Ben Drosselmeyer is still out there."
"You're going to have to trust that she will be safe. Right now, we need to find out more about your uncle."
Fakir fought back for a bit, but eventually gave in. But he wasn't happy about it!
Ahiru arrived at the lake and shouted: "Mother."
Right on que, Liesel arose out of the water.
"Ahiru, why are you here by yourself? And where is your pendant?"
Ahiru had forgotten she had taken the pendant off. She immediately placed it back around her neck.
"I had come and talk to you. Mother, I-I…"
"What's wrong?"
"I… turned Fakir into a beast!" She forced the words out, quickly and painfully.
Liesel was shocked. She came as close to her daughter as she could, and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm sorry my dear."
"But that's why I came to talk to you. I need to know where the other half of the gem is."
"Alright," Autor said after looking over all the information everyone found, "Here is what I can tell you about your uncle. He was the brother on your mother's side. He had a great attachment to her. He was not known for writing. There were records of him going into a mental institution. And then it says he just disappeared."
"But does any of this help us?" Fakir frowned, "There has to be more to this!"
"Well well, don't I have a curious nephew." A voice said.
Everyone turned to see Ben with his back against the door frame.
"What do you want?" Fakir snarled.
"Ha. Beast or human, you don't change much."
"Cut the crap and tell us!"
"Alright alright. I bring a message from our great grandfather."
"Ahiru, I told you. No one knows where it is." Liesel informed her daughter.
"I know. But maybe, if you tell me where you found the first half, then I can find the other half and cure Fakir."
Her mother sighed. "It's just not that easy. Many of the rare gems have fallen into Drosselmeyer's hands. And the few he does not have, are lost to the wilderness. Legend says they were stolen by greedy creatures."
"But you still haven't told me how you found this one!" She said pulling on the gem.
"It was given to me. Someone by the name of Edel."
Ahiru's eyes lit up, "Ms. Edel?!"
Liesel smiled, "The very same. It was she who gave it to me, right under Drosselmeyer's nose. Right after your father…"
"My father?" Ahiru repeated.
Liesel caught herself and quickly said, "That's a story for another time! Point is, I did not find that gem."
"But we have to try! Please mother."
Liesel sighed, "Alright, I'll do what I can to search for it. But you need to go back to your friends, okay?"
"But I want to help right now!"
"You can tomorrow, the sun is about to set." Ahiru nodded, a little let down.
"There's a certain character in this story Drosselmeyer is getting board with. And unless that character starts knowing their place, they will be taken out."
"And just who is this character?" Mytho glared.
"Oh you will find out soon enough." And Ben vanished, leaving the rest of the occupants uneasy.
Within a few minutes Ahiru arrived. She looked more let down than usual.
"Are you okay Ahiru?" Mytho asked.
She did not say anything. "Ahiru?" She seemed to be lost in a trance.
"Ahiru!"
"What?" she said snapping back to reality.
"Where were you?" Rue asked.
"I talked with my mother about the other half of the gem. She said she would start looking. And I know we're going to find it." She showed a hopeful smile.
A/N: A new search begins. Is the other half of the gem in Drosselmeyer's possession? Or lost to the wilderness? And now there has been a small snip it of Liesel's past. Just what is it? And what about this character being taken out? Who could it be?
Quotes for the next chapter The Little Mermaid:
"If you're not okay, you can just say so."
"It's not easy to feel this useless…"
"Ahiru? Is it really her-zura?"
"You must not open it. Not if you want to see the pain all over again."
"Please dance with me one last time Ahiru…"
I just want to say thank you to those that are still reading and leaving reviews, especially James Birdsong. It means a lot to me that people are enjoying what is happening!
And PLEASE send me stories from ballet or fairy tales! THANK YOU!
