Bows, Apples, & Roses

~ 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚂𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗 ~

Aria was breathing heavily as reality came back to her.

Jacks was still leaning over her, fingers on her heart, but now his other hand was gripping the side of the couch. He looked chilled, and Aria knew he had experienced the same thing she just did.

They made eye contact and immediately both realized that the memory they shared was very, very real.

Centuries ago they had been something way more then the bickering partners they were now. They had fallen in-

Aria didn't want to consider it.

The close proximity they were in was causing her to feel unbearably hot, she wanted Jacks as far away from her as possible, but he seemed too dazed to move. So she placed her hands on his chest to push him away but the moment her hands touched him another memory, an earlier one, the night she became the Forgotten Fate, broke through the ice...

The witch was gone and The Jade Goddess, now the Forgotten Fate, was sitting at the top of the steps of the Temple of Stars.

Every horrid and terrifying thing she'd ever done was cycling through her mind, torturing her with racking guilt.

The witch had said that she'd forget everything in three days and anything that happened in the three days would be forgotten too. It gave a small comfort to the broken Fate, knowing that all the pain she currently felt would not be remembered, but still it burned her soul to feel it. She had stopped crying and was crumpled under the starry night sky on cold, marble steps.

"So this is the Jade Goddess?" A low, mocking voice spoke from the shadows.

Ariaellis looked up from her tear-stained hands, searching the darkness for its owner.

A tall, lean figure stepped out from behind a large statue and into the moonlight.

"Who are you?" She spoke weakly, her first words since crying her heart out.

"You don't recognize me?" He flashed a grin through lips so sharp they could cut. "I'm the Prince of Hearts."

He walked closer to the crumpled girl and studied her. "How are you out in the open with that witch running about? Shouldn't you be hiding like the rest of us?"

Ariaellis met his steel blue eyes, "Shouldn't you?"

Just then a scream rang out and a flash of light followed. The Prince of Hearts whipped his golden crowned head towards it and swiftly walked the other way.

"Wait!" Ariaellis called out, he didn't stop.

She stumbled to her feet, took a step, then fell back down onto the stone. "Prince of Hearts!"

He stopped at that, slowly turning and assessing her lying on the floor.

"Please," She pleaded "Don't leave me."

He quirked an eyebrow in surprise and confusion. She saw him consider her.

Ariaellis had no idea why she wanted this michevious Fate's company, or why he turned around and picked her up, but his kindness eased her heartache ever so slightly.

~~

The Prince of Hearts was hiding out at the Temple of Stars, hoping to escape the witches entrapment, when he found The Jade Goddess looking like broken glass on its steps. He had heard of her merciless and cruel nature, knowing her reputation as the most dangerous and powerful Fate, but in this moment she looked nothing like what he had heard.

She sat, looking at her hands like as if a small gust of wind would crumble her.

Curiousity took over as he decided to find out why she was simply sitting there, "So this is The Jade Goddess?"