A Black Bird's Cry-A Mulan OUAT Fanfic

Prelude

Prelude

20 Years Earlier

Even the wind whispered about the two children that were born that day. Word about the destiny foretold for them had spread like wildfire within the small city, and ears from everywhere were perked for the screams of a young woman going into labor.

Inside her palace, Fen paced the floors rapidly, holding her swollen belly while doing so, protecting her unborn children from any harm. The queen was sharp enough to know that she would not live out this day, as the Prophet did not lie. She was not afraid of death, but afraid, rather, of what would become of her children. The Prophet had told a disturbing truth about them, one she could only pray would not come true, but it was no longer up to her to stop that destiny.

An overwhelming exhaustion overcame Fen, who staggered to the nearest wall and placed her sweaty palms on it to support herself. She had very little time to make preparations. Very little time to carry out one more task in an effort to protect her daughters. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, for she had no time to waste. Reaching up to her neck, Fen unclasped the necklace she always wore, and took a last look at the medallion. On it, was inscribed the word "peace". She let out a harsh laugh as the prophecy from the Prophet came once again into her mind.

"Is this really what you want to do?" a voice from beside her asked. Fen did not get startled.

She looked up at a man as wise as he was old. His eyes were soft, yet there was a darkness to them that saw pain and suffering. His face was kind, yet the scars that graced it told a different story. This was a man who had guided Fen through the toughest of times and had been like a father to her. He had lived through countless generations and taken on a countless amount of experience. Everything that Fen had struggled with, her had been there for guidance. The queen absorbed every last feature of this man whom she loved so dearly, and whom she would be soon parted with. This man was the Prophet.

He gazed at her skeptically as she spoke her answer.

"No, but it is what I must do."

"Often, it is striving to avoid a fate that makes it come to be," the Prophet said quietly, his words laced with knowledge and wisdom.

"It would be wrong as a mother, to deliberately hold back from doing something that could protect my children for the time being."

The man seemed to understand that there was no use in arguing with a mother bent on protecting her children. "If it is your wish, then I must oblige."

With his approval, Fen held the medallion up to her lips and blew a soft breath at it. Instantly, the sides melted away into golden dust, spilling like a waterfall on to the queen's feet. All that was left in her hand was a minuscule vial that had but a drop of liquid in it. Holding it in her hand, Fen felt the power that it held inside it, and she could feel the bodies inside her squirm with angst. This much power was dangerous to her and her children. Without a second thought, Fen grasped the man's hands and let go of the vial.

The effect the power left on her body was one that she could no longer come back from. It's time she thought. And that was when the pain began. Nothing could have prepared Fen for the shocks of childbirth. She fell on the ground, shivering. The man ran to her side, and knelt beside her. He waved his hands, and Fen found herself on her bed, resting on the silk mattresses.

Every moment she felt like letting go, until she saw the old man standing beside her, clasping the vial in one hand, and her sweaty palm in the other. She knew that she owed it to him, and to her children to stay strong until the end, to let both of them see their mother for once, and most of all, to be assured that the vial was hidden.

Time lost meaning and became a blur among the screams from Fen, the sweat that dripped down her forehead, the tears that rolled down the Prophet's face, and then finally, the cries of two children. The Prophet reached out and took the two girls in his arms, waved his hand, and revealed them to Fen, clothed and blanketed. The pain on Fen's face diffused, and between labored breaths, she managed to put out a smile. She took both children in her lap.

"They– they are– so beautiful," she panted. The Prophet's face softened at the sight of the two children, and tears welled up in his eyes. He prayed that his vision wasn't true, and that these sisters would stay together until the end. Fen looked up at the man, and there was alarm in her eyes. "Hide it–" she rasped, "Make sure that they won't find it."

"I need to bind their names to it to do so," he whispered, "Tell me, what are their names?"

Fen closed her eyes in thought for a moment, and looked down at the twins. She grasped the hand of the first one.

"Tai-Lin." She put her hand on the cheek of the second one, "Mulan."

The Prophet waved his hands, and Fen's words glowed blue as the sound-waves froze. He closed his eyes, and whispered a spell, and they shattered like glass and were swept into the vial. Once they made contact with the liquid, the solution began to bubble and the room rose in heat. Sweat beads dripped off of Fen's nose, and both Tai-Lin and Mulan began to cry. The Prophet began to tremble as he said the last portion of the spell. A burst of energy bubbled out of the vial and swept through the palace and through the entire city. The Prophet held the children tight to protect them, and motioned to hold Fen's hand, but she withdrew. She was slipping away, and she knew it, and she knew that no amount of protection could save her now. Once the energy entered her system, the queen was thrown against the wall, and she landed, her limbs stretched at awkward angles. The Prophet felt something inside him break seeing someone whom he loved so dearly sprawled on the ground, lifeless. He tightened his grip on her children.

Once the vial had calmed, an eerie silence took up the palace. Debris littered the ground, and an occasional torn page of a book would be carried by the wind. The Prophet's head was bowed, holding the hand of the queen, and keeping the two girls pressed by his chest. In his other hand rested the vial, its contents now glowing a dark blue. He held it to his heart and winced in pain as the hot liquid merged with his skin and entered his system. He looked down at his hands and saw a dark blue color creeping down his veins, and his hands shook with the power of it.

Looking at Fen's body and the city that stretched out under the palace, the Prophet made a promise.

"Mulan, Tai-Lin, I promise to protect you as long as I am alive."

The liquid in his veins seared, and the Prophet collapsed.