Fairy Tale Ending

Duckie was floating lazily in her lake when Fakir came walking up, he was a little later than usual today but she didn't mind because he was still coming. Though the fact that he didn't have any of his writing materials was strange, he always wrote by the lake. Duckie paddled closer to the dock as Fakir came to the edge and sat down, pulling a beautiful white and guilt envelope out of his pocket.

"We got a letter today, I thought you might like to read it with me." Duckie moved closer to look at the envelope as he showed it to her. 'To Sir Fakir and the Lady Duckie' was written in a neat, flowing script upon it. Duckie quacked excitedly, it looked like a letter from Mythos and Rue!

Fakir carefully opened the envelope and read the contents out loud while Duckie hopped up to read over his shoulder.

Dear sir and madam,

You are cordially invited by his majesty, Prince Siegfried, and her highness, Princess Rue, to take luncheon at the royal palace on the day of summer solstice. A carriage will be sent for you to the Gold Crown Town Tower mid-morning. We eagerly await your arrival.

Sincerely,

Mythos and Rue.

Duckie flapped her wings and quacked excitedly as Fakir finished reading the invitation, she was so excited about visiting her friends that she didn't know what to do with herself. Tomorrow was going to be a great day!

Fakir and Duckie were waiting right on time the next morning on the tower's balcony when a golden carriage drawn by a pair of pure white swans arrived. It looked very much like the one that had carried Mythos and Rue back to Mythos's fairy tale, Fakir suspected it was but Duckie was too busy quacking at the swans excitedly to pay much heed. The carriage ride had Duckie just as excited; the swans carried them higher and higher into the sky until they were above the clouds. A short distance away from where they emerged from under the clouds was a shining white castle with guilt roofing shimmering in the late morning sun floating on the clouds as if they were solid ground. It was a breathtaking sight that awed even Duckie into silence, if only momentarily.

The swans landed in a channel leading up to the entryway where the royal couple awaited their guests' arrival. Rue smiled and went over to take Duckie from Fakir for a hug, giving Mythos a chance to give Fakir a warm handshake. "I've missed you both, it's good to see you." Duckie hugged Rue back, it seemed the feeling was mutual.

Rue handed Duckie back to Fakir and took Mythos's arm so the royal couple could give their friends a short tour of the castle. They led them through several hallways, showing off drawing rooms, a large banquet hall, a dance gallery, and ending in the throne room. Mythos and Rue stepped up onto the dais their thrones were on while Fakir placed Duckie on the floor in front of it and stepped to the side. Duckie looked around with confusion in her large eyes but stayed where she had been placed.

"Duckie," Mythos stated in an authoritative voice, "For returning my heart to me and your tireless efforts to save Gold Crown Town I am rewarding you the title of Countess. Arise, Lady Duckie."

The little yellow duck stared up at her prince with tears in her eyes, she couldn't believe what he was doing for her. Before she had a chance to do anything else Duckie felt her whole body become enveloped in a warm glow. There was a blinding flash of light that blinded her for a moment, then everything returned to normal. Duckie looked up at Mythos with even more confusion in eyes, only he wasn't as high up anymore. And neither was the dais, and when she glanced over at him Fakir was now at about eye level with her instead of looming over her like a giant. Duckie looked down immediately and nearly fell over from the shock, instead of a round, feathered body with webbed feet attached she saw a girl's body wearing the very dress she had once imagined herself in while dancing with Mythos so very long ago. Not knowing what else to do Duckie "Qua'd" incredibly loudly then quickly covered her mouth; she wasn't going to turn back into a duck when she was finally a girl again.

"It worked!" Fakir said rather loudly from off to the side. "I wasn't sure if it would but look at you, Duckie... you're a girl again."

"I quacked but I'm still a girl," Duckie replied, still confused but a little more sure of herself.

"Of course not, dear. You're not wearing the last heart shard anymore." Rue stepped down from the dais to hug Duckie again. "With this spell you will always be a girl, even if you quack."

Duckie's eyes teared up as she hugged Rue back. "I can't believe you guys did this for me! It means so much!" And then the floodgates opened: everything Duckie had wanted to say but couldn't since she had returned came out in on long, babbled sentence.

Or it would have but Rue motioned for her to hush. "We have a picnic luncheon prepared out in the garden; you can talk all you like while we eat. Come along, it's this way." Rue took Duckie's hand and led her out into the perfectly manicured garden where a blanket was spread out on the immaculate grass with two large wicker baskets set neatly on top while Mythos and Fakir ambled after them.

The four friends talked out on the grass far longer than lunch lasted, until the sun had sunk rather low in the sky and was just starting to threaten of the dusk that was to follow. "Oh, look how late it's getting. I suppose we should be heading home soon," Duckie observed.

Rue, Mythos, and Fakir gave each other meaningful looks before turning back to Duckie, "You're right, let's head back inside," Rue said warmly. With that they all got up and cleaned up what was left of the lunch, everyone carrying a basket or bundle as Mythos led them to the kitchens. Once the remains were dropped off with a very friendly cook, who spent the entire conversation insisting that his majesty hadn't needed to do such menial labor and Mythos insisting that he hadn't minded, the royal couple led their friends back to the throne room where the others turned and looked upon Duckie with somber faces.

"Duckie," Mythos said in as gentle a voice as he could, "I hate to tell you this but if you leave the fairytale the spell will be undone."

"Oh... really?" Duckie was crestfallen; it was like having her fondest dream handed to her then being ripped cruelly away. "Well, it's not so bad I suppose. I can be a girl when we come visit and be a duck when we go home. It's better than not being a girl at all." Duckie tried to smile while a single tear rolled down her face.

"Oh Duckie, don't cry." Rue wiped the tear from Duckie's face and said in her most comforting voice, "You can stay with us; you'll have your own land and a lovely house in our kingdom. If you like you can stay at the castle, I have a room prepared just for you already while you get used to your new title and we can dance together every day."

"And I'll come visit every chance I get," Fakir said. "Every solstice and equinox and on all the holidays, even the anniversary of the story coming to an end. It'd be a lot better than going back to being a girl." His tone implied that he thought she was an idiot for being so gushy, but his eyes had a telltale moister at the corners.

Duckie shook her head violently, "No. That won't do! What about your promise, Fakir? You promised to stay by my side, how can you do that when we aren't even in the same world?"

"Don't be such a moron, would you really rather go back to being a duck than staying as a girl here with your friends?" Fakir argued back angrily.

"Yes, if being a girl was really that important to me I wouldn't have given up the last heart shard and you know it!" Duckie was all out yelling at this point, though it wasn't as effective because her voice was already starting to go hoarse from an entire afternoon of talking, not to mention her first time speaking in months.

Mythos and Rue left them to continue arguing like they always did before Mythos cleared his throat and stepped up onto the dais. "That's quite enough of that now. Fakir, come kneel before us."

Fakir gave a quick glance at Duckie, who only shrugged, before following Mythos's order and went to kneel before the royal couple. "Fakir," Mythos started in his most regal voice, "You were once a knight who gave his life to protect your liege, you have served me faithfully since finding me in the streets, and you were the one who wrote the end of the story that had kept us all in its thrall. For your loyal service I return the title of Knight from your previous life and all the lands and rights attached to it. Rise, Sir Fakir."

As Duckie watched a bright light enveloped Fakir for moment before fading away and revealing a pure white tunic with green embroidery along the edges and matching leggings. Fakir looked down at his new attire in mild confusion, then looked back up at Mythos in realization. Mythos and Rue were smiling down at him as they watched his reaction. "Now you don't have to leave either, or did you forget you were part of the story too?"

Duckie squealed in delight and ran over as Fakir stood up, "Oh please say you'll stay too! You know I won't stay otherwise and I'm sure Charon will be happy for you! Why, he can be the one to come visit us on holidays if he wants to. And we can all practice dancing together and I'm sure it'll be wonderful!" Duckie continued to gush on for a bit longer while Fakir just looked back at Mythos and Rue.

"Well... I... thank you. Thank you both, you two were scheming this ever since we started making plans for Duckie, weren't you?" Before they could give a proper response Duckie was pulling Fakir into the middle of the long throne room.

"Come on, let's do a pas de deux! Just like back at the academy." Fakir rolled his eyes and let her pull him into the open area.

"You're probably so out of practice that you'll fall over just trying to do a pirouette." Duckie glared at him angrily but Fakir simply guided her into a starting position and began dancing with her. After watching for a moment Rue asked Mythos to dance with her as well, he simply nodded in response and the two walked gracefully to the middle of the room. And the four of them danced happily ever after.

It feels so... rushed. I mean the story's pace, I spent a goodly while typing this so the writing itself should hopefully not feel rushed. I just... I suppose I wanted to jam a lot in and I wasn't sure how. I dunno, I'm pleased enough to post it and I enjoyed finally getting this story out of my head but I'm not quite satisfied. Anyways, few notes to follow.

Just a LOL moment: I didn't realize until the final read through that in the invitation I had given Fakir and Duckie the proper pronouns for the Titles I ended up giving them even though I meant those as a generic "Sir and Lady" and did a lot of research to try and find proper Titles for Mythos to bestow on them. Well, it was always planned for Fakir to become the knight again, but I did a lot of research for Duckie. Ah well... I suppose now it just looks like foreshadowing. XP

I had no idea what to call that tower you never see until the last episode. Really now, they never call it anything, I'm not even sure if it's at the center of the town or not (though they usually are in fiction). I had imagined Duckie having a conversation with the swans pulling the carriage but since most swans are in fairy tales are mute (it's a breed) and I suspect real swans don't sound like they're from fairy tales (I suppose they squak) I could either translate what they were saying, which goes against why I don't translate for Duckie the rest of the time, or cut it out altogether. And yes, the castle was very stereotypical. Love it or don't read.

The outfit I pictured for Duckie is a specific one from either the first or second episode, she imagines herself dancing with Mythos and we see a still image (painting maybe) of Duckie in the middle of a pas de deux with Mythos while wearing a white tutu with matching white armlet ruffles and her hair up in a simple bun. Later she thinks to herself that Mythos does look better with Rue and we see the same still image as before but with Rue in Ahiru's place. I really liked that outfit and wanted her in it again.

And hooray with punny last lines! In case you didn't figure it out: it's a play on "And they lived happily ever after."