An Arcane Scrapbook Collection

DWC /// Day 21 - Once upon a curse

Silence filled the dark halls of the castle as the prince walked through them. Not even a faint

torch was there to light his way and the one he had brought him had sizzled and burned out when he entered the thorned wall.

No sound other than his footsteps and shallow breaths could be heard in the entirety of the castle. It served for an eerie atmosphere, enough to force any other brave soul who made it this far to turn around and leave.

But not this prince. He was determined to break the curse cast on the Briar Castle. Even if it was the last thing he would do.

His path led him up a narrow staircase to the top of the highest tower in the castle. An unsettling aura started to surround him the higher up he went, progressively making it harder and harder to breathe, forcing him to stop every few moments to catch his breath. But eventually, he made it to the top where he found a thick wooden door.

Easily the door swung open as he touched the handle, granting him entry into a wide circular room. Sitting in the middle was a spinning wheel with a chair beside it. Despite having been there for hundreds of years, there wasn't a speck of dust on it, as was the same with the rest of the castle.

A bit further, against the wall was a large bed and lying in the middle was a young woman, skin as white as snow, and hair the colour of the early sunshine. She was stunning in every sense of the world, truly as beautiful as the legend had told. But she looked so cold. Her eyes closed and her hands folded over her stomach as long elegant silk covers draped over her body.

The prince inched closer, gently resting his hand on her forehead, brushing a few strands of her hair away as he scanned her face carefully.

He knew what he needed to do. Kiss her on the lips. Carefully, gently, and all of this would be over. All the people in the kingdom would be awoken and the world could go back to what it once was.

That's what the three women had told him.

He leaned down, gently pressing his lips against her cold ones. It was a brief kiss. But as he pulled back, he saw her eyes flutter open. She looked up, a soft smile settling on her face as she extended her hand out for him which he allowed, leaning into her touch as she cupped his face in her hand.

"Thank you, my love..." she whispered. Her voice, sweet like honey, so soothing... so reassuring. "...for awaking me..."

The prince's eyes darted open as he felt his throat close up. A sudden wave of panic engulfed him as he clawed at his neck, trying to no success to gasp for air. He stumbled back, falling with a thud onto the floor, wheezing as he tried everything he could to breathe, his face turning blue before his body suddenly went limp.

The princess rose from her bed, glancing at the now-dead prince only once before making her way to the window, looking out into the world as the once green valley turned a dark shade of grey, reflecting the ever-darkening sky above.

Devoid of colour, and worse of all, life.

She smiled to herself, a look of victory on her face. "At last... Death has awoken."

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For today's prompt I had to take an old Grimm's story and rewrite it with a twist! Eyyyy