If his mother saw him now... what would she say?

Would she be upset with the way he’s lived thus far? Would she cradle his head to her chest as she used to, apologizing for her selfishness in creating him, and forcing him to suffer through such hatred? Or would she be proud that he was still surviving against the world that had worked so hard to get rid of him and all the other innocent children of Incubi and Succubi?

He couldn’t remember her face or recall her voice at all nowadays, but he still remembered her beautiful colors. Her soothing smile.

Her dark curly hair and warm coffee eyes, and her hands that were always so gentle yet apologetic. She gave birth to Rupert to escape a wretched fate, so one could argue that he was merely a tool for her to avoid marriage with a man that frightened her, but she never made Rupert feel as such. She showered him with as much love as she could in her sickly state, and died trying to ensure he would still be loved after her death.

She was the most wonderful woman he had ever met, and there would be no one like her ever again. Or, at least, that was what he thought.

He spent fifteen years in the castle, slaving day after day on continual routine, making medicine and selling it to those in need anonymously through the king and his knights, for people feared to come to his store due his draconic appearance. Eventually, a young mage- the only mage in the entire four kingdoms that could control magic, and was employed by the royal family- gave him a necklace that would allow him to alter his appearance long enough to head to the sights of destruction and injured, so he could tend to the wounded and sickly personally should they be unable to make the trip.

As the time passed, he met some strange ones- a family brought to the castle by order of the king and queen.

And with them was a woman so wonderful. One so accepting of him that it hurt, for he knew he could never have her. She was the younger twenty-one-year-old sister of the reticent, stubborn young man he had begrudgingly taken on as an apprentice- as well as the cousin of the very mage who had helped him. More than that, just like his mother, she was frail.

Frail and small, and oh-so sickly.

She would have died long ago, had the mage not taken things into his own hands. From birth she was sick, frequently spitting blood and becoming dizzy. The poor woman was often unable to leave her bed as a child, and this still held true even in her adulthood. The magic of the land rejected her body, and despite the efforts of her cousin it was slowly killing her.

So while the feelings grew stronger, neither acted upon them.

Instead, she tried to help him get with her friend- or, rather, someone she wanted to befriend, and has been trying to for quite some time- someone who adored the woman's older siblings and didn’t fear him at all, and whose eyes he could feel following him whenever they were in the same room together.

But the pain in his heart was true, and the horror that dawned when King Charles and Queen Selena's eldest son, the crown prince, declared that the sickly woman was to be his wife was indescribable. Despite her health, despite her wishes, she was being forced to wed- and there was nothing no one, not even Rupert, could do to stop it.

And a few years after the wedding- when she was twenty-four, after the grief and depression and pain became too much, trapped in the highest room in the tallest tower by her obsessive husband, isolated from those she loved, rarely allowed visitoted- Rupert had grimly delivered some horrid news... which ultimately broke her, and the young woman threw herself out of the only window she was allowed to have in her room.

He had done his best to reach her, but his hand felt short. Rupert could only watch with horrified eyes her thin body, a body covered in suspicious bruises, hidden by the thick red fabrics of her dress, splattered against the ground.

The world that had been moving around after so many years of silence, came to a stop once more.

The obsessed, dirty blond haired prince, who was now king, fell into mourning- so deep in his own despair he locked himself away, broken and unable to function. His younger brother was forced to take the lead, and Rupert… passed on his title to his apprentice, heart no more than a cold hollow in his chest. The worst of this all was just how familiar he found this situation.

They were clearly two separate people, so why? Why did it feel like history was repeating itself around him? Why can’t Rupert just watch the people he cares about, and who actually care about him, live?

Rupert hasn’t felt this empty in years. Decades, even. Despite his youthful appearance, time still passed on so slowly. So… agonizingly… slow. And he was tired of it.

So he left.

Rupert returned through the ring of mushrooms to the land of strange creatures and silvery blue grass, and came home to the cave he spent many years of his life in. Approaching the dragon that opened its sapphire eyes to greet him… Rupert collapsed.

He curled around its tail, letting his dark blue hair sprawl around him, and remaining in complete and utter silence the man let the tears finally fall. He eventually fell into a deep sleep, unmoving and never eating for many more years. It was almost like a spell had been cast.

Perhaps that was the case- many strange things happened to him in the past during his stay inside this cave, but it could also very well just be his abnormal blood. His exhaustion, his pain; it was encompassing his very being, leaving him cold and numb.

And not once did Rupert move from that spot. His memories played through his mind, every smile and every laugh he had come to witness, every gentle touch and word of assurance and affection. All the love he could never keep.

And it… was so lonely.

Rupert was always lonely. He lived his life alone. Hated, despised. His only company for so long was a dragon that couldn’t speak, and more than once he was nearly killed. Yet this loneliness was unlike any other, and it left him suffocated.

Defeated.

He saw no point in continuing on anymore- not if everyone ends up dying in such tragic ways. This demonic bloodline of his truly was a curse. A curse that brought an end to all those he loved, leaving him and those involved to suffer even more.

Rupert… he was unable to save anyone. Despite having all this knowledge in his head, and having these two hard working hands that could cure a disease or save a person bleeding out from the brink of death, it was always the ones most important to him that he could never save.

“You foolish child…” A voice sighed, and the half-demon tensed. The dragon tail he was curled against suddenly whisked itself out of his sight, and when he turned to observe the dragon Rupert was momentarily blinded by a light. “Just how long do you intend to grieve?”

Rupert blinked, and alarm soon washed over his features. “W… What…?”

A pale blue hand reached out towards him, long and sharp dark blue nails brushing his cheekbones, and a pair of sapphire eyes he knew all too well were staring deep into his- yet instead of being accompanied by that of scales and sharp teeth, Rupert saw a humanoid face with navy blue horns and long black hair that reached the floor of the cavern.

“Is the loss of that human truly so difficult to bear?”

Rupert knew. He instinctively knew right away that this was the dragon, yet he never would have fathomed it could transform. Even more, he could suddenly see small creatures- those with wings similar to the creature in front of him, which were glittering like that of the starry sky. The smaller creatures' wings were of all sorts of colors, varying from reds to blues to yellows and to greens, and suddenly Rupert realized-

It was these creatures. These… winged beings… that had played all those pranks on him while he grew. Who had taken his things and hid them, who had changed his hair and eye color for giggles, and had randomly gifted him supplies. All of it was them. The butterflies who granted him the ability to read- who had caused him no harm, so he dismissed the possibility entirely. It was them.

All this time...

“It pains me, my child.” The beautiful blue creature in front of him said, their lips tilted down in a heavy frown. Black lashes fluttered and they leaned in close, and able to sense the danger from the magic that radiated off their very body Rupert dared not move. The deep voice rang in his ears, rattling down into his very bones. Pale pink sink hung from their long, masculine form. “Seeing you like this, after you helped us so much; I simply will not stand for it.”

The ethereal being stood, taking Rupert with them, and the man was stunned to see they were actually taller than him. Him, Rupert, who has been the tallest at a whopping six foot five for decades, and who was now forced to look up at this towering being of six foot nine. They ran their fingers through his hair, and he listened as they hummed.

“Tell me.” They said. “What is your wish? Deep inside your heart; tell me, and I shall grant it. All it shall cost you… is your name.”

His… name?

“Give it to me, and I will treasure it. You will have my protection beyond this cave, and through it your wish will be granted. Now...”

They leaned down close, hands sliding down Rupert’s shoulders to his biceps, grabbing and pulling him close to whisper in his ear.

“...what do you wish for?”

Rupert didn’t know. He… stopped wishing a long time ago. He learned early that they would never be granted, after all. If they could, he never would have become like this. The people he cared about would never have died in such awful ways.

His grandparents and his mother… he couldn’t prevent their deaths. His sister was doomed to die the moment she was conceived.

But the woman he loved?

Rupert closed his eyes, thick brows furrowing as he leaned into the being’s touch. Their hands ran through his hair, nails brushing gently against his upper back. This was the dragon that had kept him company for so long, who had- in its own strange way- tried to raise him. The touch was soothing, yet unfamiliar, but…

If the being was truly as powerful they claimed to be, then…

“I want to go back.” Rupert’s deep, gravelly voice uttered, a bit raspy from having spent so long in silence. “To the start of it all.”

If he can, at the very least, save her from that terrible fate- from being forced to wed that obsessive prince and from taking her own life, then Rupert would give anything. It was just who he was, and it was how desperate he felt. For just one person he cared about to be happy, he’d give it all up.

He’d go through all that suffering again, just to change her future. There was no way she had wished for death; the look in her eyes that day... it had been a look Rupert had seen many a time in his reflection. She didn't want to die. She just wanted an escape from her current situation. 

So... Rupert will give her an escape. One the that doesn't involve death. 

He'll save her, like she saved him.

The being paused upon hearing that, something almost bordering concern flickering in their sapphire blue eyes, before they pulled back and curled a finger to their chin. “That’s not impossible for one such as myself, although…”

They went deep into thought, eyes closed momentarily before they gave him a firm nod.

“Yes. If it’s like that… very well.” Sapphire bore into emerald, and the being held out a hand expectantly, palm facing upwards. “Your name, my child?”

Right. As foolish as this was, the man could no longer bring himself to care. He reached out and placed his hand over theirs, and muttered four simple words.

“Sir Rupert... Raymal Duprees.”

The moment he spoke his name, a cold wind picked up in the cave and all the geodes began to glow. The ethereal being before him seemed to do so as well, their eyes lighting up in the darkness, starry wings expanding and rising high into the air.

“It has been given.” They declared, voice echoing off the glimmering cavern walls. Their words seemed to carry a power, and that power carried through the earth itself. “With this deal, your wish shall be granted! Through it, fate shall be changed.”

“What…” Rupert could barely form the words, blinking several times as a wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him. He was no longer certain if this was reality, or perhaps a very heart wrenching dream. “...No, who… are you?”

A smile. Pale blue lips tilted upwards, with sharp teeth poking out from behind.

“Astarias.” They whispered.

Hands reaching out, they grasped either side of his face and leaned down, lips brushing softly against his forehead. His legs buckled, and the world around him began to spin as he fell forward.

“Sleep, my child, and awaken anew. Back to the day you first arrived in this land. Your memories will be gone, but the heart will remember… so do not forget.”

He collapsed in their arms, and the one named Astarias looked down at him so gently.

“I have raised you. I will sleep from this moment forth, but that fact will never change. You, who are of forbidden and mortal blood, will always have the protection of the fae.”

For Astarias is the king, and none would dare oppose him nor the son he had come to adore.

“Come to me again… and I will ensure you remember.”

That was the promise and that was the deal; the power of a name given to fulfill a wish. Time would be rewound, but things shall not be quite the same. Others may be affected similarly to Rupert- be it through mind or body. Time will pass, and the half-demon shall return to Astarias once again… until the day of fate finally arrives.

“You shall not be alone in this new life.” The faerie king promised, running his long fingers through Rupert’s long blue hair, shifting to sit and let the boy reside in his lap. “Your friends, allies, and that mortal woman… Play your part, and all shall be well. My dear son…”

No.

Astarias leaned down and pressed his lips atop the man’s head. “My great nephew. This new life, the fae will stand beside you proper.”

Rupert has only to awaken and he shall be but a child once more, and when the decades pass those he recognizes will come to him- different, yet the same. A human of great magical power, orphaned and alone, wandering into their land and into his arms seeking help, a woman with nightmares of her death and the abuse she suffered, spitting blood and falling into misery, desperate for even one person to believe her frightened ramblings, a heroine who originally despised life itself but now took the fate of those around her into her own hands, determined to rewrite the original tragedy, and an illegitimate elven prince- abused and abandoned, knowing time has rewound, and refusing to suffer a second time.

But, most of all, a villainess, who believed herself to be the main character- unknowing the truth of the land she was reborn in, selfishly seeking what she could never have- and a human prince, who would blame himself for all eternity for destroying the one he loved.

All of this is to lead to one goal-

A True Happy Ending.