FUKUSHŪ

CHAPTER 2

Mukashi-mukashi, there was a princess who lived in a beautiful white castle. She had all the rich soil in the world, but the only thing that missing in her life is companionship. Living alone in a faraway land with no other creatures other than herself, she made everything around her from ice. That's the only entertainment that would keep her company.

One day, a lost deer sat in her ice garden. At first, she left it alone, for she knew that the deer would be leaving soon. But, alas, the deer would stay in her garden, night after night. Puzzled, the ice princess approached the deer ever slowly and unsurely touched the deer. The soft fur reached her senses, the deer not running from her touch. From then on, every day she would approach the deer, giving it food of fish as that was the only thing that she could manage to find for it.

As time goes by, she grew to love the deer. But the deer is a living thing; as such its time will come when the deer will leave her. The day is when she, like always, approaches the deer to give it food, but it just laid there, unmoving nor breathing. She knew, the deer had left her. She felt lost, sad and grieving. Sitting on her throne, she would cry day by day, grieving for the deer. Until one day, a fairy came to her and said "Dear child, why are you sad?". The princess raised her head to face the fairy "My friend, the deer has left me alone. Why must it die?"

The fairy sat next to the princess, touching her cold black hair "Child. All living things will die someday. Nothing is immortal and eternal. Losing our loved ones is what we all must face."

The princess hugged the fairy and cried on her bosom "If there is no eternity and immortality, then I don't need friends. I don't want to feel sad. But, knowing the deer made me know the lonely feeling. What should I do? Please, help me, cast away all these feelings."

"Is that what you want, my child?"

"Yes...I don't want these feelings; lonely, sadness, grieving...take it all away from me."

"If that is what you want, then, that is what I'm giving to you" The fairy put her hand on the princess chest and cast a spell. At the finishing of the spell, the princess's beating heart slowly stopped as white ice began encasing it in a transparent wall. With it, the vibrant black eyes of the child turn to blue and her black hair turned white. The princess from then on became a living doll with no heart and feelings...

"Well, Son-sama, it is a very nice classic story. So, what happened next to the princess? I bet some prince in shining armour on a white horse will give her a kiss and save her like many other fairy tale stories." The driver joked, his eyes turning to the rear-view mirror in the car.

"You think so?" an answer came from the woman, leaning comfortably on a black leather passenger seat of the luxurious car. With it, brown cold eyes turned towards the rear-view mirror, now focusing on the driver's face in the reflection. The action caused the driver to feel nervous and shiver from the sudden cold air around him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, the driver tried to make his reason "Well, most fairy tales go like that, Son-sama."

"Haha.." the other occupant in the car chuckled. "I bet you haven't heard about Shrek"

The chuckle from the backseat lightened the atmosphere in the car.

"She...reck- what? Ah, Son-sama, we have arrived." The driver stopped the car and immediately made his exit to open the door on the passenger.

Putting on her black aviator sunglasses, the woman walked out from the car. Her Hazel brown eyes peered from her glasses at the small white building with a black double glassed door. The doors split in both directions as she approached it, her feet leading her inside the building as she was met with a nostalgic scent. The air reaked of alcohol and smoke, the room was dark but in charming way she found as a few lights were still on. She was met with pairs of eyes from visitors sitting on a bench facing the bartender, a man wearing a nice suit with a bottle and glass in his hand on the other side. She walked towards the bar, her eyes catching sight of another visitor sitting at the corner accompanied by beautiful, sexy woman dressed in a very alluring outfit. A very expensive looking cigar hung on his lip with a glass of wine in his hand as he laughed aloud; giving the impression he was having a good time. A very typical high-end bar which only served rich customers, she thought.