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happily-evil-after · 2 years

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Between Happily & Ever After [Chapter 1: Damien]

As the moon rises over the cobblestone streets of Arendelle a silvery light is cast upon the otherwise darkened city. The silence that permeates the streets is broken by the heavy sound of footsteps running to safety. A girl, no older than sixteen sprints down the city’s main street, she trips, scraping her knees on the stones beneath her. Quickly she picks herself up and runs for the secrecy and safety of a nearby alley way. The girl peaks out from behind the alley wall just in time to witness two guards running past.

“I think the thief went this way, come on, before she gets away.” One guard shouts as they continue running down the main street, not noticing the cowering girl.

As the light from the guards’ lamps fade off into the distance, the girl lets out a sigh of relief. She leans her back against the cool alley wall, sliding down until she was sat on the ground, her knees tucked to her chest. Her heart was racing, the sound of blood flowing in her ears filled the otherwise silent night with a roar. She still can’t believe that she made it out of there without being caught.

The girl looks down at the item in her hand, a small thing easily concealed within her palm. She holds it up to the moon light to get a better look at it, a large white jewel, clearer than glass but it shines with a brilliance that she has never seen before. She had heard that the jewel resided in the home of one of Arendelle’s wealthiest nobles, she knew that her only hope at surviving the month was to get that jewel and pawn it for as much money as she could get. She hadn’t expected such extreme security measures though, but she knows she shouldn’t be surprised, Arendelle isn’t what it used to be.

Two years ago, the event known as ‘the Fade’ occurred, and nothing has been the same since. Not even the most powerful magic users were able to explain why this happened, but a powerful dark magic infected the all the lands. Overnight, dozens of the most important people in the realm suddenly faded away without a trace, from royalty like Queen Rapunzel and King Flynn in the Kingdom of Corona, to powerful beings like the Fairy Godmother and Merlin the Wizard, none were spared. This left their children to take their place, for better or for worse.

The strange thing is, at first the Fade was assumed to be the work of one of the many wicked villains that plotted the demise of all the good in the world, but when the matter was looked into, all the villains had been subjected to the same fate. All were at a loss, and with the disappearance of all the most important and powerful figures in the lands the realms were thrown into chaos. When Queen Anna and King Christoff vanished their son Prince Sven took the crown and has been doing his best to run the kingdom, but since the Fade, crime has been running rampant in Arendelle as many were left homeless and destitute.

As the girl shakes her head, trying to push away the terrible memories of the last two years, she realizes that the silver light of the moon no longer lights the ground around her. She looks up at the sky and all she can see is a deep inky darkness. She looks around, her vision unable to reach farther than a few feet in front of her. The sounds of the night also cease to fill the air; the sound of a pin dropping could be heard it was so quiet. The girl’s heart began to fill with fright, she had no idea what was happening to her.

“Well, it seems that someone has gone and gotten herself in a bit of trouble.” A voice echoes out from all around, as if the darkness itself is speaking to her.

“Wh-who are you? Wh-what’s going on?” The girl’s voice trembles as she questions the entity.

“Oh, how terribly rude of me, I have forgotten my manners…”

As the voice trails off a dark figure steps out from the all-consuming shadows in front of the girl. The first thing she notices is his piercing green eyes, they were unlike the natural green that could be found in the eyes of regular people, these eyes glowed with an otherworldly energy that put the girl at unease. She might have assumed the entity before her was a man but the horns upon his head betrayed his unhuman blood, though she could have missed them for they were nestled in his raven black hair. In his hand, he held an intricate golden staff, in the shape of a deadly cobra and he was clothed in rich silks of red and black. He was adorned with various jewels with a golden coronet that wreathed his head, the sign of royalty, yet around his wrists golden manacles were clamped, the symbols of a servant.

“…you may call me Damien,” he bowed with a flourish. “And your name is?”

“I-Ingrid. M-my name is Ingrid.”

“Well, Ingrid, today is your lucky day, for you seem to be alone and in trouble, and I am a very good friend to have.” A sly smile spreads across his face.

“You, want to help me?”

“Why of course, I mean what are friends for? I help you, and you help me, that’s what friendship is all about.”

“Are you my fairy godfather?” The girl asked, trying to search for an explanation as to why such a being would be offering to help her.

A roaring laughter erupts from his mouth, ringing in the air, sending a chill up Ingrid’s spine. “Of course not, I would never count myself amongst the ranks of those loathsome do-gooders, besides, I do say that they would not approve of your sticky little fingers.” He wipes a tear of laughter from the corner of his eye. “But I, on the other hand applaud your thievery. You and I have come to know the bitter truth of the world, that sometimes the wrong thing is the right thing to do.”

Ingrid feels the pit in her stomach lessen as her actions are validated. Damien is right, she did what she had to, to survive. Despite her rationalization she could still feel the jewel burning from within her jacket pocket, the guilt still getting to her. She never would have thought to do something like this in the time before the Fade, her mother had taught her better, but her mother wasn’t here anymore, another victim of the chaos. Yet, what had her mother’s good heart gotten her? Nothing but death and despair.

“I-I’m not sure.” She stutters, her conscience conflicting in her heart.

“Come on, what is there to be sure about?” Damien paces around Ingrid as he attempts to convince her. “I can take you far away from this land, just imagine, your own cottage in the countryside, with enough money to live comfortable the rest of your life.” Suddenly Damien is right behind Ingrid, leaning down, whispering in her ear. “All I require is that little jewel in your pocket and all your troubles are over. What do you say?”

Ingrid stares at Damien’s outstretched hand, contemplating her choices. This is all she could ever want, this was the whole reason for stealing the jewel in the first place, to make a better life for herself. Still, there was something about her new ‘friend’ that she didn’t trust, something deep within her soul was telling her not to trust him, every fiber of her being was screaming that the moment he got what he wanted he would toss her aside, leaving her to a grim fate. But what choice did she have? No one else would make her a better offer, on her own she was lucky if the jewel could get her a spot on a boat out of Arendelle, and then what was she going to do?

Ingrid takes a deep breath and stares Damien deep in his glowing green eyes. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal.” She grabs his hand, and with a shake their deal is sealed.

“Splendid,” Damien’s face breaks out into a wicked smile, that makes Ingrid believe that she has done the wrong thing. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, the jewel, and I will send you on your way.”

Ingrid reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out the brilliant white jewel, with a shaking grasp, and hands it over to Damien. He snatches it greedily from her hands, as if he fears it will dissipate into the darkness, and he places it somewhere amongst the folds of lavish fabric.

“Nice doing business with you. Now stay out of trouble my dear Ingrid, or we may meet again, and you wouldn’t want that. Ta, ta.” And with that, Damien waves his hand, and a swirling cloud of black smoke consumes the young girl and whisks her away.

Far away from the kingdom of Arendelle, across the Misty Sea, past the island kingdom of Corona, on the farthest shore of the kingdom of Ulstead, a dark castle rises from the midst of a cursed wood. In the highest room in the tallest tower of the castle, in a swirling mist of dark smoke, Damien appears, magically transported from Arendelle to his own home. He takes his newly acquired prize out and takes a good look at it. The white jewel shines with an unmatched brilliance, mined straight from the Gemstone Mountains by the Dwarves themselves. There weren’t many gems like this still out there anymore, but this one was particularly special.

Damien still can’t believe how easy it was to manipulate that young girl into making a deal with him. Usually, the people he makes deals with want things like love, or extreme wealth, or power beyond comprehension, but all the Arendellian girl wanted was a cottage in the hills with a bit of gold, it almost makes Damien laugh just thinking about it. But anyways, she is unimportant, in fact Damien has already forgotten her name. Even this jewel was only a steppingstone, the real prize is lain out before him.

Damien makes his way to the large table in the center of the room, a massive map inlaid upon it. The map depicts the entire world of Yensid, with all the realms and kingdoms, from the blistering heats of the desert kingdom of Agrabah to the home of the gods upon the towering Mt. Olympus. According to legend the world of Yensid was crafted by a powerful wizard by the same name, no magic user before or since has reached the power of Yensid the great, though many have tried, Damien included. Damien looks out at the land before him and sees what is his for the taking, he has aspirations larger than any villain before him, and one day he will rule it all.

Damien takes a moment, staring at the kingdom of Agrabah, nestled in the farthest southwestern corner of the map, one of the largest kingdoms, though it is surrounded by a deadly desert. This is where Damien spent most of his childhood, many of the few fond memories he has are within the walls of the city of Agrabah. He thinks back, remembering the wafting scent of the various spices, the sound of the merchants haggling in the marketplace, the sweet taste of sugared dates lingers on his tongue if he thinks hard enough. But Damien hasn’t gone back to Agrabah since he was a child, the bad memories outweighing the good.

Damien turns away from the map, steely determination in his eyes. He makes his way over to a large gold gilded mirror that hangs upon his wall. The strange thing about this mirror is that Damien’s image is not reflected into its glassy surface, only a deep darkness that one could get lost in if they were not careful. But Damien is no fool, he is an expert in enchanted items, in fact this enchanted mirror in particular he crafted himself, a feat which few but the most talented magic users have accomplished.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, awake and heed your masters call.” As Damien waves his hand in front of the mirror and speaks the incantation, a swirling energy gathers in the mirror’s depths. The energy coalesces into the image of a face, a young man, rather pudgy with a small tuft of messy ginger hair upon his disembodied head.

“Yes, my master, what is it that you call upon your servant for?” The man in the mirror speaks to Damien with a begrudging reverence, as if he is being forced to comply with his wishes.

The miserable look upon the mirror man’s face gives Damien great joy. The hardest part of crafting a magic mirror was that it needs to be inhabited by a living soul, which is easy enough, but for the mirror to be crafted properly the soul must willingly submit to be forever caged within the mirror, which few understandably wish to be their eternal fate. Luckily for Damien, his line of work has many people indebted to him, none more so than the youngest Tweedle brother, Tweedle-Dim. Dim’s borthers, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum were taken in the Fade, and without there guidance Dim made many bad decisions, decisions which led him with no choice but to be bound in service to Damien for all eternity.

“I need for you to locate for me the location of Little Boy Peep, I have business with him.”

“Are you so sure that is such a good idea master? The last time you did dealings with the kingpin of crime himself you did not end on such great terms, I’m not sure that he would be overjoyed to see you. Not that many people are.” Dim whispers that last part to himself, but Damien hears it and shoots the mirror a look of anger.

“Just do what I say, or you’ll find yourself in a ditch smashed to a thousand pieces.”

“As you wish master.” Dim’s face fades away and the image in the mirror swirls for a moment, before the Tweedle’s face reappears in the glass.

Damien’s face fades from an eager smile to an angered frown. “What happened? Why am I not seeing Peep’s location? Do I need to teach you a lesion?!” A burning ball of fire grows in Damien’s hand.

“I’m sorry master, but I am unable to locate your quarry.”

“What do you mean your unable to locate him? The power of the magic mirror extends into all realms, even those not of this world. How is it that you are unable to locate a shepherd?”

“Well, it seems that Little Boy has discovered some sort of protection from being magically spied upon.” Dim seems a tad satisfied with Damien’s difficulty. “Which given the company he keeps seems to be a rather good idea.”

Damien growls at the mirror before turning away to think on how he is going to find where Little Boy Peep is hiding out. Little Boy has always been one of the more difficult people that Damien has worked with, being the son of the infamous crime bosses, Little Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue. The Little crime ring has networks and dealings in all the realms, Little Boy is the only person Damien knows with a reach as far as his own, and even though Damien doesn’t like to admit it, when he is unable to get his hands on something, it is Little Boy that he has to deal with. With Little Boy’s army of goons, he is virtually untouchable…wait, that’s it!

Damien rapidly spins around towards his mirror, a proud smile on his face at having solved the issue. “If we can’t find Little Boy then let’s track down one of his accomplices, they are bound to know where their boss is hiding out.”

“Clever as ever master, anyone in particular?”

“Find me Giuseppe, that hollow headed piece of wood is never far from Little Boy’s side.”

Once again, Dim’s face dissipates from the mirror, the swirling energy within morphing and changing until the crystal-clear image of a large man made entirely from sturdy oak appears within the looking glass. The living puppet seems to be lurking in a small village not too far from Damien’s castle, a day’s ride, two at most. Damien prefers to travel by magic but his trip from Arendelle has left him rather tapped out, and if he is going to face Little Boy, he’ll need every bit of magic he can muster.

“Dim, tell the servants to get the carriage ready, I’m out to catch myself a puppet.” Damien’s trademark wicked smile grows across his face, causing unease to grow in, what would be the pit of the Tweedle brother’s stomach, if he had a stomach that is and wasn’t just a floating head in a mirror.

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