theshatterdome | a tale as old as time.

As in every story, there was a villain.

Villains don’t always have a purpose beyond causing trouble, but in all fairy tales old and new there will always be at least one intent on causing as much catastrophic damage as they possibly can if just for the simple sake of being able to do it.

The kaiju are one such entity; large and oozing blue from every orifice of their body, they’re demonic creatures born of dark magic, hideous monstrosities that plague the lands, destroying seaside villages and towns alike. They strike without warning, without fear, and without remorse.

Something had to be done.

The king of the southern realm and his son teamed up and fought back, but the monsters were precisely that – monsters, and there was no weapon in the known world that could defeat such creatures.

So in their desperation, they turned to the blackest of magics, the darkest of hearts in order to destroy the onslaught. Whatever the price, they would pay, but the cost would be steep. But in times of war, there is little opportunity to think on such things and so the die was cast, the cards dealt and the game played. Certainly, the kaiju were vanquished, but just what vanquished them was nearly as terrifying as the kaiju themselves.

The curse swept through the land in a cloud of choking, black smoke, covering every home and garden, every street and every castle. It clouded vision, blackened tongues and deafened ears. People became specters, hovering in the in between, the twilight realm – not really here, not really there, neither living nor dead. They stayed in perpetual fear, an existence far, far worse than death.

And the prince himself…

Well. Who could ever learn to love a beast?

But not all hope is lost; just as magic always has a price so can a curse always be broken. A single rose sits in the east wing of what was once a great castle, slowly wilting, dying slowly as it nears the prince’s twenty-first birthday.

His actions – his curse – had doomed his kingdom but saved the world. It - if - he can redeem himself, if he can love and be loved in return, then and only then will the spell be broken.

* * *

As there always must be a villain, so must there always be a hero as well – though not always in the packaging that one might assume. The hero of this particular tale is but a simple merchant who travels the world selling unusual wares in order to feed his family and pay for their housing. His eldest brother, a farmer called Yancy, tilled the land and pushed the plow while their sister kept house and harvested the most beautiful flowers from their garden that anyone in the northern kingdom had seen.

Magic, people whispered, she must be magic to be able to grow such beauty despite the snow, but Jazmine always insisted it was equal parts talent and sheer luck. Her flowers, Yancy’s crops and Raleigh’s incredibly ability to charm nearly anyone kept them alive, safe, and happy.

It was a difficult task, keeping three people fed and with a roof over their heads but between the three of them they managed – they simply had to. There was no other choice.

Sadly, as many heroes are wont to have tragic pasts, their mother died some time ago, leaving them with a father who simply went mad with grief and wandered off into the night, abandoning his children and leaving them with nothing but their own skills in order to survive. They’d had to grow up quickly and fend for themselves, and as hard as it might have been they always had each other.

Things do happen, unfortunately, and it's Raleigh that falls ill and it's Yancy that must take the cart to market. Yancy is, however, unfamiliar with the routes and finds himself completely and utterly lost in the dark forest, and it's Yancy that finds himself prisoner, his horse thundering its way home. It's Raleigh that awakens in the dead of night to the poor thing crying and he creeps out, careful not to wake his sister, leaning heavily against its side as he realizes with sinking dread that it is riderless.

So he pulls himself up, murmurs into its ear, take me to Yancy and off he goes, arriving at the gates where he more falls from horseback than he dismounts, dragging himself inside where he collapses.

"Please, my brother.."

Chuck has lived alone in his castle for longer than he cares to remember, since defeating the kaiju.

...well perhaps it's only been a few years but to the young man it feels as an eternity, an eternity alone with his invisible servants and his father nothing more than a spectre, about as use as any of the attendants. At least he's not constantly in Chuck's ear, reminding him of the nearness of the deadline to breaking their curse. That's a small mercy.

He's started wondering what the point would even be of trying to break it; he's been disappointed time and time again, has let his people down time and time again. He doesn't even want this newest interloper here, but he stole a rose, one of the many blooms Chuck has been obsessively cultivating as though any of them could replace the slowly dying flower up in his tower. He can't let that go

Chuck should have listened to his protests more when he pleaded to be let go, spoke of his remaining family that needs him. It would have prepared him for the sight of another visitor riding up to his gates.

It's curiosity more than mercy that has him allowing the gates to be opened (but slammed shut immediately once they're brought inside by the servants). He allows them to bring the brother in, to set him by the fire and to have soup brought to him once he awakens. To have the brothers reunite before nearing, keeping to the shadows of the room.

Raleigh doesn't remember passing out. He doesn't remember being brought in, or settled in a chair by the fire. He doesn't know who did it or how it happened, but he's also being presented with a bowl of soup, a weak thank you all he's able to manage before he's inhaling the warm liquid.

What he certainly doesn't expect is Yancy to appear, stumbling in and falling to his knees by Raleigh's feet.

The soup is quickly abandoned and they embrace, Raleigh checking over his brother's face, checking him over for wounds but finding none.

"What happened -- Shadow came back alone, I thought -- I thought you were dead--"

"How did you find me?" Chuck's voice is a low rumble from the darkness.

He knows already Yancy came across them because he was unbelievably lost, but for his brother to find him is no coincidence.

Chuck might suspect that he knew all along where to find this castle--that this is some trick.

Yancy automatically puts a protective arm in front of Raleigh, despite knowing it is completely and utterly futile.

"The...the horse." He says, tipping his head and peering over Yancy's arm. "It...showed up riderless...and so it took me back here."

...That makes sense. The fur that's risen at the back of Chuck's neck settles. The smell of sick and fear is thick in the air, from the two brothers.

"He can stay until he's well," he informs Yancy. "Then he leaves."

"No," Raleigh's struggling to stand up, clutching at Yancy's back. "No, why can't we both go, please--"

Yancy exhales and takes a good look in the direction that the voice is coming from, stormy blue eyes narrowing.

"Alright," Yancy says, "that's a deal."

"No, Yancy, I'm not leaving without you--"

"One of you must stay," Chuck snaps. He never had much patience, even before all this. "Your brother tried to steal something of mine," he informs the younger brother, voice a low growl.

He can't just let someone go after that.

"A Rose," Yancy snaps. "It was a rose for Jaz. That's it."

Raleigh gives him sort of a pained look and Yancy exhales and grits his teeth.

He opens his mouth to speak, but Raleigh beats him to it.

"I'll stay. Send him home. He's healthy, he's the oldest. He'll make the journey, can look after our sister."

"It was mine," Chuck half roars. "You could have had any of the riches in this castle and you chose a living thing--"

He cuts himself off because he just knows Herc would be shooting him a look and muttering something about his temper.

And the brother speaks and he stares at him, idly scratching his claws against the stone floor. "You would stay in his place?"

Both brothers flinch back at the roar, surprised into a brief silence by the intensity of his anger.

"Yancy..what've you done," Raleigh murmurs and Yancy shakes his headity, stupefied - of all things, he would have never expected fury over a flower.

"Yes," Raleigh eventually croaks out, "of course I would."

"Rals, no, don't be stupid, you're sick, look at you--"

He scratches against the floor again--he's done it often enough, the stone floors are marked up randomly all over the castle by his claws.

"You'd stay," he says, looking directly at Raleigh, not that the man can see him. ...Perhaps the glow of his eyes in the dark as the light hits his pupils. "Here. Forever."

"Yancy shut up," he hisses, shoving his brothers arm down. He understands the protective nature - Yancy can't help it. Comes with raising his two siblings for the lasts several years all by himself.

Raleigh understands. He does.

But let him do this - this one thing for him, for Jaz. It's always been Yancy that sacrifices everything for his younger siblings. Let Raleigh take this one.

"Yes," he says again, getting up and leaning against the chair. "That's what I said."

"Rals-"

"Yancy."

...Chuck shrugs, a vague motion in the shadow.

"Swear it."

If they both try to leave, Chuck will--
--well. He might let them go. It's so close to the end, Chuck's wondering if he should even bother trying to woo one of the brothers.

"Raleigh, godammit--"

"I swear."

Yancy curses Raleigh's stubbornness, and grips his idiotic, impetuous brother by the shoulder like he's never going to see him again.

"You have until morning."

He can give them that.

He turns around again, swirling his cape around himself as he leaves them in peace for the night.

As much peace as they can have with Raleigh's sentence hanging over them.

They argue about it. Shout. Yancy says Raleigh can't, Raleigh says he can. Yancy says he refuses, he will stay, Raleigh just sighs wearily at him and closes his eyes.

The deal is struck.

Raleigh wakes up in the morning with Yancy's head in his lap and an ache in his head and bones. Being out in the cold and the stress of his promise hadn't done him any favors.

There's more soup waiting for them in the morning, and the faint air of disapproval.

Raleigh should have gotten rest.

Raleigh will be able to walk Raleigh to the doors to bid his brother goodbye. Chuck has decided not to let him leave--even sick, he's not unpleasing to the eye, and there was a fire when he protected him. Chuck could stand to have him around.

Raleigh tries not to cry when Yancy is escorted out, clutching his arm as long as possible until the doors shut in his face.

"Ill come back for you--!" Yancy is shouting, but Raleigh can't hear it anymore. All Raleigh can hear is blood thundering in his ears as he slowly sinks to the floor and buries his face in his hands.

Something brushes Raleigh's back and there's a cup of tea being offered him by an invisible, soundless attendant.

Chuck's watching from the tower, drumming his claws anxiously against the windowsill and lashing his tail anxiously.

He jumps when something touches his arm, turning around to see a cup of tea being offered.

"Thank you," he mumbles, sipping gingerly at it, closing his eyes as it eases the ache in his throat.

And now -- now he doesn't know what to do. He's standing there by the front door, his captor nowhere to be seen and an enormous castle surrounding him. It's overwhelming.

He just hopes he doesn't have to stay in the dungeon.

Chuck thought about it. He had Yancy in the dungeon. He's still angry over the rose.

...but the brother is sick. He can't let him stay in the dank dungeons below the castle.

Raleigh is led to a room. There's a bath waiting for him and a soft bed. Chuck doesn't want to introduce himself yet. Maybe in the morning.

The bath is welcome and so is the bed - he lingers in the tub until he's wrinkly, finally emerging and dressing only to flop into the bed and sleep all the way through until the next day.

He needed the rest.

...and maybe Chuck wants to wait until he's well.

He may be putting off the inevitable horrified reaction, and it's not as though he doesn't resent Chuck anyway but it. It's different.

There will be breakfast waiting for him by the bed when he wakes up, still steaming, and if he wants to walk around his door will be unlocked and there are more clothes in the dresser.

He dresses slowly and eats carefully. He feels much better than he did yesterday, though he's still achey and sore but he thinks part of that might be from the ride in.

And when he finishes, he creeps out into the halls, looking around, unsure where to even start.

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