My eyes abruptly flung open.
E-Eh?
I looked around the strange scenario in unbelief.
Red shiny threads of my magic gently floated around the frozen atmosphere. The lips of the fairies were still open like they were yelling, the tear of my crying sister didn't meet the ground and the bloody mouth of my mother failed to produce any scream as the atmosphere was surrounded by an peculiar pin-drop silence.
It was like... I was in another world...
It seemed like the time itself had stopped. Everything else was frozen except me..
Only me.
My eyes wandered around.
Even the trees had stopped hovering by the wind and evening birds that flew on the air stood immobile as though they had been petrified by the Greek demon Medusa.
"W-What.. Is happening here?"
I whispered as I slowly walked upon this frozen world.
"Am.. I.. Trapped in a magical illusion..? Is it because of Fairies.. "
I looked at them abruptly rubbing my chin but.. Then...they, are frozen too.
"So.. What could... "
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"Meaow..."
A cat's purr suddenly cut through petrified air. And, I abruptly noticed my wrist beaded with the strange spirit mark glow brightly.
The mark of the spirit animal.. Could it be..
I immediately turned my neck behind me and true to my thoughts, a purplish black cat with a glowing diamond forehead sat before me washing himself, undisturbed by the weird atmosphere.
I abruptly ran towards it.
"Mr Whiskers.." even my voice sounded very hollow, I noticed.
"Meaow..?"
"Are you the one responsible for this illusion!? What is this place? Where am I? And.. A-and, why is my red thread magic randomly scattered all around the air. "
I asked it.
The cat looked up in a human manner as, I stared at it's wide blue eyes.
Can it understand, what I am saying? And wait!.. If it's not an ordinary black cat.. And, And.. If this creature is my spirit animal..Can it talk!?
Admiration filled my eyes as the black diamond headed cat simply stared back at my hazel green irises, as though it wanted to say something but..
"Meaoww.." was it's only reply..
I abruptly slouched my shoulders. Man, this is so uninteresting. How can a cat talk or be a spirit animal..?
I must be becoming crazy. I thought to myself when the cat suddenly stood up and walked towards my mother and pointed it's paw to some dim yet sparking green light .
I rubbed my eyes to check whether I am dreaming, if I am not already and walked towards it.
I peered towards the light to see the object that was nothing more than my precious childhood treasure that I always carried around.
It looked so ordinary.
If I didn't calculate the fact that, the grim book glowing with a green light and was now randomly stuck still, in this time frozen red atmosphere with my threads floating every where like the irregular cytoplasm in a human cell.
"M-My Grim Tale book!.. But.. "
The green light grew more brighter as I stood before it and the pages of the book automatically rolled to a particular fairytale.
I abruptly looked at the black cat in astonishment and as though it gave me a permission, it gently nodded it's head.
I took a deep breath and read the glowing lines that lied before me.
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"Once upon a time, in the city of Arlenda,....A great holiday was decreed to celebrate the birthday of the beautiful princess, Aurora. And, on this joyful day is where our story begins.
The baby gifted with many presents by the visitors. But, the most precious of them all there the "Fairies.. of... Goodness" ...
My voice choked as the earth suddenly trembled as the a white blinded the atmosphere and green sparkles suddenly surrounded the bewitched bad fairies...I gulped and continued.
"And, those were the gifts..
A sudden pressure exerted from the book as the spirits of the frozen three fairies slowly twirled towards the book and..
"The gift of beauty.. The gift of song and ....the gift to undo the curse that has laid upon by thee evil!"
Completely sucked out the enemy into thin air as though the book had swallowed them.
Now, that the enemy was utterly defeated..A momentary pleasure immediately filled my heart on the frozen atmosphere.
But, soon.. I felt my head turn very heavy. This power.. It must be too much for my own body to control... I thought and went into a deep state of unconciousness.
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"Lady Rottenstein..Lady Rottenstein! Anastasia!.."
I abruptly opened my eyes again at the sound of my name being called and found myself staring at the deep blue eyes of...
" Prince Zenon..?" I whispered softly when the prince abruptly stopped shaking my shoulders and helped me rise up.
"What are you doing here..? Aren't you supposed to be in the battle.. ?.."
"What are you talking about Lady Rottenstein? Of course, I did and we defeated them."
"But,..the enemy was too.. "
"Hussh.. Now, don't you know by now that, I would rush to your aid when you are in trouble.." he whispered softly as my cheeks burned with a thick blush.
I abruptly shook my head.
"Then...If you are here?.. Everything, I had experienced for now is just a dream!!"
I screamed with my palms holding his face and quickly got up excited.
"Then.. That mean, the fairies!?"
"What fairies ..?"
"And, Time freeze, Cinderella and.. and my.. Mother is s-still.... "
But, my excitement soon dissolved into thin air, when I see Drizzella still crying over my wounded mother, a little steps from hear with the maids and the butlers acting as her background.
My face abruptly turned pale and my lips died out as I felt Prince Zeno's gentle arms hold my fingers and whisper...
"I am... sorry.. Lady Rottenstein..."
I abruptly shook of his clasp and ran towards my injured mother.
"Mom!.. "
My feet rushed towards the strong woman who gave birth to this failure and immediately crawled down before her dying body.
Drizzella tugged closer to me and rubbed off her tears on my dirty gown.
"Mom.. Please...don't..." my laments were more like begging. My eyes turned glossy as more blood leaked from mother.
The dark clouds slowly covered this dreadful sunset, just like the darkness that was simultaneously filling my broken heart. My mom gently caught hold of my cheeks and smiled.
A single ray of sun shine escaped through the dark clouds and fell on my mom's smiling face.
"Anasta-chan... You have done well... "
Said the 34-year old woman softly, the words as a kid, I had dreamed and waited for many years for this day of finally being acknowledged by the one person I dearly loved and finally learnt what true love is through her existence..
My mother.