IMPORTANT NOTICE: This is a sad excuse for a chapter after leaving you all
in the lurch for months, but it's got a point, you'll see. It's meant to be
the transitioning chapter because after this, we are transitioning from age
seven to age seventeen alright, but that's not important yet. All I'm
saying is there are reasons for the brevity of this chapter and the
suddenness of it all. It is meant to be abrupt because, well, it is. I
promise a much better chapter next because in chapter seven [next chapter]
is where everything is going to begin to come full circle, conflicts arise
from the past, et cetera, et cetera. You get it, ne? ^_~
Thanks for your patience, please review kindly if you can,
-An Apologetic Kaji Hikage
The Rose Prince: Chapter Six
Later that night in her own chambers, Sere found herself looking out at the stars above, sitting cross legged on her balcony. Ami said I looked gone. she pondered this. Gone? Perhaps she had been for a brief moment. Had she only imagined Endymion sinking, no, melding into the roses and thorns like so much extra coloring in a painting? So confusing it was for her young mind, for any one's mind if one were to put it to the questioning, but particularly for her who had been preoccupied with other thoughts.
Absently she trailed her hand through her silken hair which had been gracefully let down from its accustomed hairstyle. Now it pooled around her like the sweet and soft skirts of her nightgown, white and cool.
"It's beautiful. My mom and I used to watch this same sky. I'm sure," came a voice and Sere was not surprised, as others might have been to find Endy sitting haphazardly on the balcony ledge, his legs hanging over the side loosely.
"Endy, are you real?" she asked so quiet as the wind might have swept it away did it not breeze in his direction.
"Of course." He said this so matter-of-fact, with such no nonsense manner that she had no trouble believing what she had already guessed in her heart. Certainly he was real, as real as she, or Rei, or her Mama, as real as any of them.
"Okay." It was only one word and yet it held so much in it. The simple acceptance of one child to another, the re-establishment of a newfound friendship it was so much more than that one word.
"Sere." here he paused and Sere had cause to glance up at him. It was night of course and so the moonlight had a rather startlingly immortalizing effect on his profile. Still boyish but with that hint of maturity from so much pain that defined his features perhaps that much more to show the regal bearing he would always keep. His eyes were particularly offset by the moon-paling effect his skin exhibited, two blue orbs like the sky before a high storm and his hair was the stuff of absolute darkness.
At that moment Sere truly felt as though she were in the presence of a prince and only hoped that she could help mend his sadness. No one should be sad so young. This simple thing she knew, this thing that so many adults neglected to acknowledge. No one should be sad so young. He spoiled the whole princely look however when he ran his hand through his hair, and suddenly became all Endy once again, not so much the fairytale prince she still knew he was.
"Sere, you know, even though I am real, you are the only one who has been able to see me thus," he said so quiet she thought she might have imagined the words, just as her friends thought her to be imagining Endy. His sigh confirmed their existence however and she turned fully to face him, her eyes imploring him to explain further. She did not comprehend entirely the seriousness of the situation; this Endymion understood and smiled, if a little wistfully, that he should feel as young as he looked.
"Why?" she asked.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you have such an affinity for the roses, My roses. but then again, your new friend Mina seemed to sense my presence, even if she could not see me, and she had never before today seen My roses," pausing, he frowned in the concentration one would expect to show when a boy had misplaced something and was, having forgotten where it was misplaced, vainly trying to remember.
"She 'sensed' you?" Sere questioned, curious. Endy nodded a terse nod, as though he himself could not quite sufficiently explain it all, but knew it all the same to hold its worth in truth.
"She knew I was there. She might not have known exactly who or what I was, but she knew," he affirmed, running his hands absently through his dark hair.
Sere thought he looked older than he should have but as the moment passed, she pushed that thought away and contented herself with feeling his presence. Did she 'sense' him?
She supposed she did.
"Endy..." she paused.
"What is it Sere?" he asked and she found herself lost for words, not knowing what she wanted to ask, but knowing she lacked for something unnamable.
"Nothing," she replied and let her soft gaze trail on a path that was not quite haphazard but not smooth either, all the way up to the glistening moon. She was lost in the stars when suddenly a cold swept the air.
It was chilling and it made Sere shiver inside and out, the trembling not quite reaching her conscious mind, but fully filling out her heart.
"Sere!" Endy was beside her in a second, standing behind her, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.
"Endy, what's going on?" she shivered. A new presence entered and it was then that Sere saw her. She was young, not much older than them, or so it seemed with long blackish-green hair and the most deeply garnet eyes Sere had ever imagined, just like the crimson sunset...
"Setsuna!" Endy growled and Sere was unnerved. She had never seen her friend act this way before; he sounded upset and she didn't think she liked it. The only comfort she had was the warmth he emanated that assured her he was the same Rose Prince she had grown to adore shortly after meeting.
"Greetings Prince, M'lady," she added, nodding to Sere who attempted to curtsy but Endy stopped her.
"What are you here for?" he asked coolly.
"Why so cold Prince of the flora? Can't bear to see family I suppose," she floated absently in front of them, legs crossed, arms crossed and an amused visage staring out at the two.
"Family?" Sere questioned.
"Not real family my dear, but we are both magical and as such, share some similar mystical lineage, if inadvertently so," she explained amiably and Sere wondered why it was exactly Endy so truly seemed to despise this person named Setsuna. She seemed rather nice to Sere.
"Setsuna, what are you doing here? This is my palace, my garden," Endy said with such ferocity that Sere unconsciously cringed a bit under his hands. He noticed though and softened a bit, for her sake; he remembered while he only looked young, she really was only seven. "Why have you come?"
"To help you on your quest of course," Setsuna replied as if it were something all the world knew, and she was flabbergasted that he of all the people did not know.
"Quest?" his voice became edgy by the slightest hint of a break.
"Yes Prince, a quest to break the curse, you remember? Or has it really been that long..." Setsuna was cut off by Endy whose eyes widened in realization of her words.
"To break it? To restore all that was lost? What I've been waiting for all these years..." he was saying these things in fragments and Sere was sorely pressed to keep up with the conversation anyway. But she managed somehow.
"And you will not be alone. I shall be coming with you," she smirked here and Endy who at any other time would have groaned in unhappiness, seemed to barely notice.
"Endy, are you leaving?" Sere asked, tugging on his elbow.
"Eh...oh..." he looked down, and something unreadable passed through his deep blue eyes as he encompassed Sere's small hands in his. "Yes, I'm leaving, but I know I'll come back. I always return home." He smiled.
"But why must you leave?" she asked, saddened that her new friend, so quickly brought dear to her heart, should be taken from her so soon. But that was selfish wasn't it, she thought, reprimanding herself silently.
"To regain what I lost," was all he would answer and Sere knew enough even at the tender age of seven, nearly eight years, not to question.
And the next day, when Sere found herself in bed, surrounded by multiple rose petals, the scent nearly overwhelming her senses in bliss, she knew he had gone.
This was his farewell...
No, she amended that thought:
It was his, "I'll see you again." She knew that she must never forget him, though years might pass, and the fairy tale become even more distorted in the ears of others. Her heart must not forget, she knew, her soul knew.
She never did.
Thanks for your patience, please review kindly if you can,
-An Apologetic Kaji Hikage
The Rose Prince: Chapter Six
Later that night in her own chambers, Sere found herself looking out at the stars above, sitting cross legged on her balcony. Ami said I looked gone. she pondered this. Gone? Perhaps she had been for a brief moment. Had she only imagined Endymion sinking, no, melding into the roses and thorns like so much extra coloring in a painting? So confusing it was for her young mind, for any one's mind if one were to put it to the questioning, but particularly for her who had been preoccupied with other thoughts.
Absently she trailed her hand through her silken hair which had been gracefully let down from its accustomed hairstyle. Now it pooled around her like the sweet and soft skirts of her nightgown, white and cool.
"It's beautiful. My mom and I used to watch this same sky. I'm sure," came a voice and Sere was not surprised, as others might have been to find Endy sitting haphazardly on the balcony ledge, his legs hanging over the side loosely.
"Endy, are you real?" she asked so quiet as the wind might have swept it away did it not breeze in his direction.
"Of course." He said this so matter-of-fact, with such no nonsense manner that she had no trouble believing what she had already guessed in her heart. Certainly he was real, as real as she, or Rei, or her Mama, as real as any of them.
"Okay." It was only one word and yet it held so much in it. The simple acceptance of one child to another, the re-establishment of a newfound friendship it was so much more than that one word.
"Sere." here he paused and Sere had cause to glance up at him. It was night of course and so the moonlight had a rather startlingly immortalizing effect on his profile. Still boyish but with that hint of maturity from so much pain that defined his features perhaps that much more to show the regal bearing he would always keep. His eyes were particularly offset by the moon-paling effect his skin exhibited, two blue orbs like the sky before a high storm and his hair was the stuff of absolute darkness.
At that moment Sere truly felt as though she were in the presence of a prince and only hoped that she could help mend his sadness. No one should be sad so young. This simple thing she knew, this thing that so many adults neglected to acknowledge. No one should be sad so young. He spoiled the whole princely look however when he ran his hand through his hair, and suddenly became all Endy once again, not so much the fairytale prince she still knew he was.
"Sere, you know, even though I am real, you are the only one who has been able to see me thus," he said so quiet she thought she might have imagined the words, just as her friends thought her to be imagining Endy. His sigh confirmed their existence however and she turned fully to face him, her eyes imploring him to explain further. She did not comprehend entirely the seriousness of the situation; this Endymion understood and smiled, if a little wistfully, that he should feel as young as he looked.
"Why?" she asked.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you have such an affinity for the roses, My roses. but then again, your new friend Mina seemed to sense my presence, even if she could not see me, and she had never before today seen My roses," pausing, he frowned in the concentration one would expect to show when a boy had misplaced something and was, having forgotten where it was misplaced, vainly trying to remember.
"She 'sensed' you?" Sere questioned, curious. Endy nodded a terse nod, as though he himself could not quite sufficiently explain it all, but knew it all the same to hold its worth in truth.
"She knew I was there. She might not have known exactly who or what I was, but she knew," he affirmed, running his hands absently through his dark hair.
Sere thought he looked older than he should have but as the moment passed, she pushed that thought away and contented herself with feeling his presence. Did she 'sense' him?
She supposed she did.
"Endy..." she paused.
"What is it Sere?" he asked and she found herself lost for words, not knowing what she wanted to ask, but knowing she lacked for something unnamable.
"Nothing," she replied and let her soft gaze trail on a path that was not quite haphazard but not smooth either, all the way up to the glistening moon. She was lost in the stars when suddenly a cold swept the air.
It was chilling and it made Sere shiver inside and out, the trembling not quite reaching her conscious mind, but fully filling out her heart.
"Sere!" Endy was beside her in a second, standing behind her, his arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.
"Endy, what's going on?" she shivered. A new presence entered and it was then that Sere saw her. She was young, not much older than them, or so it seemed with long blackish-green hair and the most deeply garnet eyes Sere had ever imagined, just like the crimson sunset...
"Setsuna!" Endy growled and Sere was unnerved. She had never seen her friend act this way before; he sounded upset and she didn't think she liked it. The only comfort she had was the warmth he emanated that assured her he was the same Rose Prince she had grown to adore shortly after meeting.
"Greetings Prince, M'lady," she added, nodding to Sere who attempted to curtsy but Endy stopped her.
"What are you here for?" he asked coolly.
"Why so cold Prince of the flora? Can't bear to see family I suppose," she floated absently in front of them, legs crossed, arms crossed and an amused visage staring out at the two.
"Family?" Sere questioned.
"Not real family my dear, but we are both magical and as such, share some similar mystical lineage, if inadvertently so," she explained amiably and Sere wondered why it was exactly Endy so truly seemed to despise this person named Setsuna. She seemed rather nice to Sere.
"Setsuna, what are you doing here? This is my palace, my garden," Endy said with such ferocity that Sere unconsciously cringed a bit under his hands. He noticed though and softened a bit, for her sake; he remembered while he only looked young, she really was only seven. "Why have you come?"
"To help you on your quest of course," Setsuna replied as if it were something all the world knew, and she was flabbergasted that he of all the people did not know.
"Quest?" his voice became edgy by the slightest hint of a break.
"Yes Prince, a quest to break the curse, you remember? Or has it really been that long..." Setsuna was cut off by Endy whose eyes widened in realization of her words.
"To break it? To restore all that was lost? What I've been waiting for all these years..." he was saying these things in fragments and Sere was sorely pressed to keep up with the conversation anyway. But she managed somehow.
"And you will not be alone. I shall be coming with you," she smirked here and Endy who at any other time would have groaned in unhappiness, seemed to barely notice.
"Endy, are you leaving?" Sere asked, tugging on his elbow.
"Eh...oh..." he looked down, and something unreadable passed through his deep blue eyes as he encompassed Sere's small hands in his. "Yes, I'm leaving, but I know I'll come back. I always return home." He smiled.
"But why must you leave?" she asked, saddened that her new friend, so quickly brought dear to her heart, should be taken from her so soon. But that was selfish wasn't it, she thought, reprimanding herself silently.
"To regain what I lost," was all he would answer and Sere knew enough even at the tender age of seven, nearly eight years, not to question.
And the next day, when Sere found herself in bed, surrounded by multiple rose petals, the scent nearly overwhelming her senses in bliss, she knew he had gone.
This was his farewell...
No, she amended that thought:
It was his, "I'll see you again." She knew that she must never forget him, though years might pass, and the fairy tale become even more distorted in the ears of others. Her heart must not forget, she knew, her soul knew.
She never did.