VERY Alternate universe, tangled one-shots of life in the dark kingdom.
They aren't supposed to be canonical or even be perfectly connected. Just writing practice with some plot bunnies that have been bothering me for a while now.
Yes. I know his given name was supposed to be Horace. But I started thinking up these stories before that was revealed. So Horace is his first name. And he hates it. So he goes by his middle name, Eugene.
-Tangled-
He was almost six years old, and the young prince had never paid much attention to the large doors on the far side of the throne room.
His eyes always managed to find their way to the large empty pedestal across from his father's statue. Fantasies of his future self carved from stone, standing tall and strong among his ancestors, regularly managed to capture his attention every time he entered the chamber.
The door had never been interesting. No one ever went in, and no one ever came out. Part of him wondered if there was anything on the other side at all. Perhaps it was just an empty room, that no one had ever bothered to put use to. Or perhaps it was a simple storage room. filled to the brim with old relics and dull biographies. Boring in every sense of the word.
Until one day, just a few weeks shy of his sixth birthday, he heard something from behind the door.
Not a true voice. More like an emotion, that could be almost heard when felt. Similar to the vibration of clock tower bells and the first sweet chilly sip of Uncle Quirin's apple cider.
Whatever it was, felt happy.
Soft and cool. But excited, in a quiet sort of way. Like nighttime snow or fireflies in the trees.
The first time he heard, or perhaps felt the presence, he had been with his mother. The happy cawing of the Queen's ravens still ringing in his ears as they returned from their visit to the rookery tower. He held her hand dutifully as they passed the hallway. Still laughing at how one of the fledglings had tried to nest in his father's mustache.
When he felt it, Eugene stopped short. Looking back and pulling his mother as he tried to turn around.
He had pointed to the large doorway. The one next to his father's imposing statue. Then he tried to explain to his mother why he had stopped, that there was someone beyond the door. How he heard a strange whisper.
At that moment, Queen Alexis' face lost at least three shades of color. Without a word, she scooped Eugene up into her arms and ran down the hall, then up to the royal chambers. She threw open the door then slammed it behind her. She sat on the bed and held her son close to her heaving chest.
It took a long moment for Eugene to realize that his mother was crying. Shaking, and clutching him tightly to her, afraid to let go. But when Eugene asked what was wrong, she would not answer. He decided it was better just to stay quiet.
Yet the strange feeling had left words burned into his heart.
"She's there..."
Who was she? he wondered only to himself.
-Tangled-
Later that day, he would tell his parents that he had imagined it.
He had just been playing, he insisted. A fit of whimsy that he had heard something behind the door.
King Edmund and Queen Alexis, known to Eugene as Dad and Mom, had questioned him fiercely. Worry etched deeply on both their faces. But eventually allowed the matter to rest. Looking more relieved than Eugene could truly understand.
Before the next hour struck on the clock, the King and Queen had announced to the castle staff, that the three royals would go on an outing for a few days. A camping trip in the forest across the gorge.
Eugene would later look back and realize that his parents had been trying to distract him from the mystery. And it might have worked. If not for the mysterious dream that struck him ill that very night.
-Tangled-
At two in the morning, an aged nursemaid had barged into the royal chambers. The woman was experienced in the ways of children and worried parents. So with the bravery and wisdom that came along with gray hair, she firmly woke the King and Queen and told them that their son had suddenly fallen ill.
Edmund stood close to the Prince's bed. The Brotherhood, his three bravest knights gathered around him. Quietly discussing the matter. A very real fear that the Opal stone was the cause of the Prince's sudden sickness.
Edmund grimaced. Recalling his wife's terrifying account of the previous day. If the Opal stone was calling to the prince? Whispering to him, as it once had to the King...
His missing arm ached at the thought. The stone had driven him to the brink of madness. Thoughts not his own had clouded his mind. Only after his futile attempt to destroy the opal, had his mind cleared. The doors to the chamber, never to be opened again.
The devestation to the kingdom had been widespread. the castle had taken great damage. Black rocks had spread further away than ever before. Homes destroyed beyond repair. Lives had been lost.
Only his wife's infinite calm and collected words had soothed away the horror of what Edmund had nearly brought upon his kingdom.
But now, If the stone wanted his son. Edmund didn't know what could be done.
Throughout the night, doctors and healers were ushered through the prince's door. But none of them could agree on the ailment or cause of the mysterious illness of the prince.
Queen Alexis cradled her shivering son. Completely oblivious to the chaos erupting around his bed. Eugene's brow furrowed in discomfort as sweat beaded across his skin. Muttering nonsense words, too quiet for anyone to hear except the Queen's close ear.
A word? or a name? Alexis would never be sure. But her son quietly called out for something all through the night.
-Tangled-
Eugene's fever broke after sunrise. And upon waking, Eugene felt perfectly fine. Hardly tired at all, which only made the orders to stay in bed all the more torturous. But his parents insisted, even as the doctors remained stumped at the prince's illness and rapid recovery.
-Tangled-
All of a sudden, Eugene found himself escorted from lesson to lesson by at least one member of the Brotherhood. None of them would give him a straight answer when he asked why he was abruptly under armed guard.
His father had also taken a sudden enthusiastic interest in his lessons. Often taking charge of Eugene's training himself. Teaching the young prince whatever struck the King's fancy. One such "lesson" had found father and son spending an entire day "training" with wooden swords. But Eugene could see the worry in his father's eyes when he thought his son was not looking.
Eugene's mother was by far the most afraid. Of what, Eugene still didn't know. She hardly spent a moment away from his side for days after his fever. She spent hours in the nursery with him, playing any game he wanted.
And Eugene would admit that he took some advantage of her concerns. He had wormed a few extra deserts and had gotten out of more than one bath.
But in no uncertain terms, the Queen had forbidden him from going anywhere near the throne room, let alone the mysterious door.
The very act of barring him from the door only fueled his curiosity. What was once just a door, now held endless possibilities.
Cursed treasure? Perhaps a captured wizard? The ancient ghosts of all the royal ancestors depicted in the Hall Kings, all gathered together?
His mind now buzzed with wonder at what could be beyond the mysterious door.
Yet he forced himself not to think about it. Everyone he loved was so worried, and Eugene knew that he was the cause. A night of illness and the mere mention of the door seemed to have driven everyone he cared about into a frenzy.
He wouldn't lie to his parents. They had just never asked if he remembered his dreams from the night he had fallen ill.
The comfort of rationalization was hollow, but he still kept his dreams to himself. Even as fragments had followed him through the next few weeks of dreams.
-Tangled-
The first night, a crown of teardrops had glittered in his hands.
Another night he was suddenly he was atop a great white stallion racing the wind itself as they flew over clouds.
Once, a pair of giant red foxes had chased him through a black tunnel.
Eugene would always wake up to his fingers tingling when he dreamt he was climbing a stone tower a hundred miles tall. He knew with a burning certainty that the most precious treasure in the world was at the top.
But then once he reached the top, he would be trapped.
He was somewhere small and dark, with no escape, then there was water all around him. He couldn't breathe or move, then a sharp pain in his gut and a fear unlike anything else filled him.
Icy chains strapped him to the floor as a horrible monster stalked toward him, a single silver fang glistening red. All his hope was lost.
Until, just as it did every night, the warm golden light surrounded him.
And he felt nothing but peace.
In every dream, it was there. Like liquid sunlight, climbing, and falling like glowing vines. Twisting and waving in the wind. Always wrapping around him, not trapping or constricting. But an embrace, soft and warm. He was safe and surrounded by golden silk.
And he heard someone singing.
And he would wake up, and he would feel lonely, without knowing why.
-Tangled-
With time the young prince would forget this dream. As is the way with young children. Keeping his secret all to himself, it slipped away from him within the year.
But now and then, Prince Eugene found himself whistling a tune that he could never quite place and could never remember the words. And something in his heart always warmed when he finished the final note.
Like someone was with him, singing along.
-Tangled-
Added a few little things. just to flesh out the story a bit. Enjoy.
The day Eugene heard the moonstone and the night he got sick were rapunzel's birthday and subsequent kidnapping. I think the Moonstone "knew" Eugene would be important and close to the sun drop/rapunzel and just wanted to let him know that she was in trouble. But the message was lost.
