Sips Co. Fairytale
Chapter Nine - Xephos and the Seven Dwarves
Part Nine (Final)
By: MPNFF/CAM
Thunder rolled in from behind the hills, causing the dwarves to curse as they pushed their dwarven legs against the earth. As the seven ran in single file, small drops of rain pelted lightly against their helmets with a pang. This light rain quickly formed into strong, fat drops that shot down like rockets. The animals ahead dashed through the forming mud along the trail, their fur becoming damp and soiled. The path became slippery under the fourteen metal boots that stamped their soles into the soil, causing a couple dwarves to slip. They rose quickly, not about to get lost in the herd of the others.
Lightning spiked down around the cottage, making the old hag gasp. She pulled up her long hood of her cloak, noticing the sudden heavy amount of rain. But no change of weather could spoil her mood. Her deed was done, and she could now rest easy knowing she was the fairest. She planted her shoes into the wet earth, closing the door behind her.
Galloping, chirping.
She heard it all suddenly, rotating her body 180 degrees. Pieces of a puzzle clicked together inside her head, for those were the sounds of the animals previously. Panic shot through her, and she took the opposite trail from the one that led home. It was difficult to run, considering she was in fact in the body of an 80 year old. Still, her bony body clicked as she attempted to run.
The dwarves had eventually made it to their cottage, and from there they split up. Three went into the cottage, desperate to know if Xephos was alright, and the other four had spotted the old hag. Knowing of her devious tricks and magic, the dwarves were sure it was the Queen and followed her.
Bashfuldew, Sleepydew, and Happydew barged through the door in a rush. As they stepped in, they wished they hadn't once their eyes fell on the sight before them. Bashfuldew fell to his knees, which wasn't much of a fall for him. Tears formed in his black beady eyes as he eyed Xephos. He looked to be sleeping peacefully, which was the only upside to his appearance. Bashfuldew quickly put his head to the Prince's chest, listening carefully for a heartbeat.
There wasn't any heartbeat, not even a faint, slowing one.
"Oh, god..." Honeydew covered his mouth, standing up once again. "Xephos..."
"Oh, a Jaffa Cake!" Happydew cheered, despite the fact that Xephos was lying cold on the ground. Happydew waddled over to the cake that was only inches away from Xephos' limp hand. A bite had been taken out of it, and Bashfuldew was fast to notice. Happydew picked the Jaffa up, his mouth watering.
"Ah, hello, precious!" He mumbled, opening his mouth, the Jaffa Cake now inches from his mouth.
"NO!" Bashfuldew yelled, running towards his double. He threw out his hand, and-
The Jaffa Cake dropped to the floor, no other bites taken from it.
Bashfuldew sighed, relieved and thankful. If Happydew had eaten the Jaffa who knows what would have happened! Happydew gasped.
"What's wrong with you?! It's a Jaffa Cake! It's not like its- ohhhh." He blinked, observing the scene again. "Isn't Xephos just sleeping...?"
"Sleep?" Sleepydew yawned, stretching out his arms, wavering from side to side. "I like that... mmm... idea..."
Before Sleepydew could reach the ground, Bashfuldew and Happydew were at the dwarf's aid, holding him up by his muscular arms.
"We need to get the damned Queen! She's done this!" Happydew said, a devious smile on his face. "I love a good murder- let's go!" With that, he began to drag Sleepydew out of the doorway, along with Bashfuldew's help.
X
Deep in the cellar part of the palace, a scrawny, bony crow pecked at an Alchemy spell book. The current page viewed the spell of a Poisoned Pastry, along with its effects and how to break the spell. Some of it had to be continued on the other side, and with great effort, the crow had managed to get his beak under the page. He brought the page up with great effort, and had successfully flipped it over. He stared at the page, realizing that the spell was now totally different. It now showed the spell to wish for whatever. Imitation Genie, it was called. It showed about how if you either drank, or ate, a certain thing containing the spell, you had the power to wish for one thing. It could be anything at all, in fact, but you could only use the spell once.
If you weren't the Crow or the Queen, you would be smart enough to tell that the two pages were glued together.
X
Lightning flashed directly beside the hag as she cackled her way up the large stone mountain. Luckily for her, the dwarves had taken another route. The hag presumed they were climbing up the sides of the mountain, which gave her an idea. Her slender hand grasped the side of the stone trail as she walked upwards. It had only been a few minutes, yet she was exhausted. A massive boulder came into view, and she found herself smiling. She let go of the wall, heaving up the rest of the hill, where she grabbed a large stick. Careful not to break the stick, she wedged it under the rock, beginning to push upwards. The rock crushed against the thin amount of stone holding it up, and finally it just gave up and rolled off the thin surface. The hag cackled harder now, stepping towards the edge of the platform.
"How do you like th-" A loud crumbling interrupted her, and she looked downwards. Sure enough, the thin surface had begun to crack and crumble rapidly around her feet, and before she knew what was happening- she was falling to her death.
The seven dwarves pushed and shoved their ways to what was left of the platform, wanting to hear her screams as she fell. They all listened as the sound of her cries and pleas faded out, and they all looked to each other, grateful that the horrid Queen was finally gone. They knew that she would never be able to cause trouble in the world again.
A sudden whoosh of pressure smacked against Honeydew's back. It only lasted a few seconds before dying down. Honeydew only blinked. What had just happened...?
"What the-" He turned around to find all six dwarves missing from their places behind him. Not only that, but he felt... different... His vision was now higher up, and instantly that told him he had grown taller.
Honeydew was slow, but not that slow. After a few moments of thinking and looking around, his mind had finally processed the fact that he was one again, and the curse was lifted.
Honeydew, now happier that he was back to his old self again, walked back to his cottage. Nothing could ruin his mood just then... except...
The dwarf's eyes widened.
"Xephos!"
X
Honeydew panted as he shut the door quietly to his cottage. He slid over to Xephos, dropping to his knees a final time. The drop was longer, he noted. He put one hand behind the Prince's head and the other around his thin waist. With slight grunting, he managed to bring both him and Xephos up and to the couch. He laid Xephos down before sitting down next to him, careful not to lay all of his weight on his legs. Tears in the dwarf's eyes, Honeydew sighed, soaking in the state of Xephos. He looked so peaceful... yet, so dead. He was paler than before now, and the look of death clouded his eyes. Removing his gloves and looking away, Honeydew gingerly used his two fingers to shut Xephos' eyes. However, when he looked back, his mouth was still open slightly. For a while, Honeydew stared at his mouth, thinking about the small moments they had shared. Bashfuldew's memory of the other night flashed into his mind, making the dwarf softly smile.
I wonder what it would be like to kiss him.
Honeydew's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Whenever did that thought enter his mind?! His cheeks turned a vibrant red, making his head snap away from Xephos. Slowly, he turned back though, the thought creeping back up on him. Something urged him on to do it, too, which made it twice as more difficult.
For God's sake! Just do it! … When he's dead? I don't know if... Shut up!
Honeydew sighed. It was as if all seven personalities, that were barely his, were arguing. If they didn't stop, a headache would most likely sprout. His eyes found the way to his lips again.
Just do it! His mind yelled angrily.
Quickly, Honeydew lunged, gently planting his lips against Xephos' cold, chapped ones. Butterflies rose in his stomach, and he pulled back. He wasn't too sure what the point of kissing him was; he was dead for Christ's sake! Honeydew slowly went back into his sitting position, burying his head into his hands.
"Oh, God, Xeph... Why did the Queen have to go and do what she did? You didn't deserve it... And now, I'm back as one... and she's dead... but," he sniffled, "you're dead, too..."
Honeydew took a few moments to sob silently, and in those few moments he didn't notice the fact that Xephos' eyelids fluttered before opening fully. The first thing that came into vision was Honeydew. But, where were the rest...? Then he remembered.
The Jaffa.
The wish.
Even though he had passed out, the wish had come true. Honeydew was no longer cursed. But, he was crying... why? Feeling sorry for the dwarf, Xephos slowly moved his hand to his bigger one, giving it a squeeze. Honeydew gasped, slowly removing his hands from his face. Noticing the smaller hand in his, he looked over to Xephos, who was now fully awake, slight concern on his face.
"Friend?"
"Xephos!" Honeydew quickly grabbed Xephos' thin body and brought him into his arms, holding him close. Xephos, not knowing what exactly had happened, only put his arms around the dwarf and patted his back.
"Why are you upset, friend..?" He asked, pulling away from the hug. Honeydew sighed, getting into the story of what had all happened.
X
"So, wait- the Queen poisoned me? Ugh! She told me it was a magic wishing Jaffa Cake! And, she was in disguise! How could I have been so stupid?!" Xephos collapsed down on the couch, head in his hands, groaning in slight frustration.
"Wait... magic wishing Jaffa Cakes...?"
Xephos looked up, a light blush formed on his face. "Um... yeah, you know, I... I wanted to relieve you of your curse... um..."
"Aw, Xeph..." Honeydew was completely touched at this. He was sure nobody else would do that for him.
There was an awkward silence before Xephos realized something. "Wait- how did I wake up?! Surely there is no way to wake me up... But, you know, it is black magic... there must have been some sort of advantage..."
"Yeah, but I'm not sure..." Honeydew trailed off. Now it was his turn to blush. Xephos noticed this and smirked.
"What?"
"Well, I... I may have... done something...?"
"What?"
Honeydew exhaled, looking away from the Prince. "I, uh... I kissed you..."
Xephos' eyes widened, and a tingling sensation formed on his lips. It was almost as if he remembered it from when he was unconscious. "O-Oh..." Besides the awkwardness of being kissed, it was touching that he would do that. But, why? He didn't know what would have broken the spell... so why did he do it? Only one answer. He had feelings for Xephos… possibly.
And did Xephos have feelings for him?
Slightly, yes.
Slowly, Xephos' hand placed itself on top of Honeydew's, the two men blushing softly. Maybe they could work something out...?
"Well, what to do now...?" The last two days had been action-packed, and Xephos was more than ready to relax. His mind flashed to the palace, and how the Queen wouldn't be able to rule anymore. And... He was the Prince...
As if the dwarf was sharing the same mind, Honeydew squeezed Xephos' hand. "You're, err, kingdom needs you."
Xephos lightly chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it does..." He stood, still holding onto Honeydew's hand. "Why don't you come with me?"
"I couldn't do that..."
"Um, well, you have to come... because I don't really know how to get home."
"Oh."
This caused the two of them to giggle slightly before Honeydew stood. The two now faced each other, and before Xephos could think, he leaned down slightly to kiss the dwarf. Honeydew melted into the kiss, shutting his eyes and leaning into Xephos.
He knew there was a spark of something interesting in Xephos, and now he could finally take the time to figure out what it was.