Disclaimer: I own none of the characters!

Notes: So here it is. The beginning of the last major fairytale for this story. I want to thank everyone who has followed this story and left comments and for the fanart and everything. It always means so much to me. So with enough of me rambling, read on!

Once upon a time, there lived a young princess who had hair black as night and skin white as snow. Threatened by the young girl's beauty, the evil queen of the castle sentenced the beautiful princess to death. Little did the evil queen know, the princess had run away to find sanctuary among seven dwarves within a forest. So the evil queen, infuriated with the princess for being alive, discarded her beauty and took on the form of an old hag. She went to the beautiful princess and offered an apple—a cursed apple, blood red in color. The princess took a bite from the apple and fell under a dark spell, forcing her to sleep until true love's kiss broke the spell.

This is not that story. For there is no princess.

But there is a prince.

Heavy doors flew open, reverberating throughout the dark castle. A man shrugged off his coat and with a wave of his hand, it soared to the cloak stand. With another wave of his hand, a glass of deep red wine was produced and the man smiled, pleased with his use of magic. Large, black crows, perched on wrought iron decorations cawed and ruffled their feathers.

He walked down a corridor, sipping his wine. With each step he took, hanging candles would flicker to attention, providing him with the light he needed to see. He reached a round room and with barely a blink of his eye, the candles lit up.

Except one.

The man adjusted his glasses, narrowed his eyes and only then did the candle respond. The man huffed and turned to the mirror hanging on the wall.

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall," he hummed, "who is the most powerful sorcerer of them all?"

Silence fell around him as his echoed voice faded. He waited, patiently watching his reflection in the mirror. Slowly the glass started to darken. It became like liquid, trickling out of its silver frame, but it never reached the floor.

Instead, the liquid curved up to create a glistening wraith of a creature. Its tail was still attached to the mirror, but a body had formed. A faceless, featureless upper body of a creature, its skin sleek and shiny and solid black.

You are

The sorcerer smiled, pleased with the mirror's response.

But be warned that upon the blue moon, another will rise at the turn of his seventeenth year. One just as powerful, if not more than you

The old sorcerer lowered his glass. "And who might this young sorcerer be?"

Skin kissed from the sun. Hair the color of deep chestnut. Eyes like coveted emeralds. Your very son, Eren Jaeger

The sun was bright and perhaps a bit too harsh. It never bothered Eren, he was used to working in the heat. He would drip buckets of sweat for hours and it never bothered him. And even after living with Levi, in the comfortable luxury of the castle, he was still capable of working in the sun and not feeling faint.

So his current concern wasn't for himself; it was for Levi.

Over the last few weeks, Levi had made it a point to cater to whatever Carla needed. And most of what she wanted was help around their house. Tending to the garden, caring for the animals. It was nonstop and Levi never once complained.

But Eren saw the haggard look on his face. The circles under his eyes grew darker. He was paler. He looked weaker. And it wasn't because of his curse. It was from all the physical work he was suddenly being put through. Even with his strong build, Levi was not accustomed to it.

"Ma…please give him a break," Eren pleaded. "He's working his hardest."

"Eren, he agreed to help."

Eren groaned and stormed outside to help Levi chop more wood. Levi looked up and wiped sweat from his face. He was shirtless, scars across his body wet and glistening in the sun. Dirt covered his hands, plastered on with sweat and topped off with shards of split wood. To Eren it was completely foreign because Levi was never dirty.

He smiled and Levi paused, ax down on the chopping block.

"Yes?"

"Take a break."

Levi shook his head, grabbing another piece of wood. "Your mother needs this wood chopped before dinner. I'll take a break once I'm finished."

Eren pouted.

"Well, let me do it!"

"Eren, that wasn't a part of our agreement. If she wants me to do something, then I intend to do it. Not push it off onto someone else," Levi firmly replied, hacking the chunk of wood in two. "I'm on a mission to prove to her that I'm worthy of you and I'll do whatever I have to."

Eren huffed quietly and watched Levi push aside the wood he had chopped into a pile.

"Levi!" The two of them looked up to see Carla walking across the yard, a cup in her hands. Levi wiped his hands on his pants and turned to better face her.

"Miss Jaeger?"

"Take a break," she said, offering the cup of water to him. "I think that's plenty enough wood to cook with tonight."

Levi took the cup and fell onto the chopping block, stretching his legs out. "Thank you."

"Eren, go grab a chicken."

"But ma—"

She tugged on his ear and Eren stormed off to the chicken yard.

"That boy," Carla sighed. She smiled down at Levi. "I'm sorry I'm putting you through this."

"It's understandable," Levi replied. "I did some fucked up shit to you and Eren when I took him so it's only fair."

"You catch on quick."

Levi laughed and quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, would you like to sit down? How rude of me…"

"No, rest up," Carla said, shaking her head. "I'm fine."

Levi slumped back onto the block gratefully.

"Have your friends come to visit you any? I know they've all been staying around the inn," Carla said.

"They have. But I told them I've been busy. They respect my need for space."

"They're wonderful people. All of them. Though the tall one keeps…smelling…"

"Mike. He does that."

Carla laughed. "And the fairy girl is amazing. She's brought by flowers and they're just beautiful. And the witch, Hanji, brought by tea leaves earlier today. I've spoken with Irwin, too. You keep good company."

"I try."

"And they all seem fond of Eren…Which is very important since he'll be living with you. I was worried he'd be in a place where the people were unfriendly but they're all very kind. I won't be too worried about him over there."

Levi tried to hide his smile at her words. "You'll always be welcomed there. If you ever wanted a change of scenery."

"Thank you, Levi."

"Would it be alright if I took Eren out on a date tonight? Hanji said there would be shooting stars out."

"Of course. I think he'd like that." Carla said it without a hint of hesitation in her voice.

It was then that Eren came running across the yard, chasing after a squealing chicken. Carla shook her head and went to help him as Levi went back to work, carrying logs of wood to the house.

After dinner and after Carla had gone to bed, and with some extra convincing from Mikasa, Eren and Levi left the house. They walked down that dirt road, fingers linked together. Levi carried a basket of sweet pastries and Eren had a lantern to light on their way back. The sun had barely set, so there was still a faint light cast over the horizon.

There was a lake, not too far away, with a perfect view of the sky. It was barely a five minute walk after leaving the small town. They followed the woven path until they saw the lake in the clearing.

Eren removed his cloak and laid it across a grassy patch of earth. The two of them curled close, fingers interlocked and eyes on the clear sky. Beautiful streaks of blue faded into darker black, the stars a dazzling display of silver. The waters were calm, still and dark, a perfect reflection of the starry sky.

Shooting stars whizzed by, leaving behind trails of stardust.

A cold finger on Eren's chin broke his enchanted gaze and he felt Levi's lips against his. He smiled, kissing the prince back.

"I love you, Eren."

"I love you, too."

Their words were exchanged as soft whispers, meant only for each other. Falling against each other's lips in a sacred prayer.

Their kisses turned from sweet and chaste to heavy and passionate. Hands found their way under shirts and tangled in hair. When they pulled apart, both of their faces were flushed with color.

"Umm…it's sort of been a while, huh?" Eren asked. His words were timid but his voice came out husky and needy. Levi kissed him again.

"I brought a bottle of oil if you're interested."

"Oh, am I ever."

Levi fell back against the red cloak, tugging Eren on top of him. Eren reached into the bag Levi had brought for the small bottle of slick oil. Kissing him again, Eren sat up.

"Are you sure you don't want to lead…?"

"I can instruct," Levi said, running his hand through Eren's hair. "Working nonstop has done fucking wonders on leaving me sore."

"You'll be worse tomorrow," Eren teased.

"It'll be worth it."

The morning's dew woke Eren up, way before Levi. They were both still naked, their clothes crudely thrown over their bodies. There was a thin fog lingering over the water, the sun dissipating it the higher it rose. Birds sang through the trees and ducks quacked as they floated across the water.

Eren sat up and looked down at Levi. He was sleeping peacefully, lips parted in a silent snore. Eren smiled, the night's bliss still on his face. He ran his hand through Levi's hair, wet with mist, and a little groan escaped the prince's throat. He pulled Eren closer, snuggling in to him with a shiver from the cool air.

Sighing contently, Eren reached around to pull the cloak over their bodies. He paid no attention to the blue-purple flowers that had bloomed overnight. And he certainly didn't notice that the flowers were only scattered around his side; not around where Levi slept.

And he certainly didn't notice the watchful crow that had seen it either.