Title: The
Ice Prince or Such a Marvelous Rose
Author: Meiran Chang
( bonking_bishies @ swirve.com )
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: DorlianXSylvia,
1+R, 6+2, 3+4, 5+Dorothy, 6x9, 2xH
Warnings: shonen
ai, AU, fairy tale, angst, verrrrrrry mild self-insertion in, like, the
last sentence. I made Dorlian a total OOC wuss >_<. Also, I've played
fast and loose with family relationships and situations.
Comments: Ohhhhh
pretty please? --> bonking_bishies @ swirve.com
Archive: 6X2ML Archive
can have it. Otherwise, please
email me, I don't bite.
Disclaimers: I do
not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters, they belong to Bandai and Sunrise
and the American rights are owned by Cartoon Network. Please don't sue
me, I'll just cry a lot. Also, the original story of "Beauty and the Beast"
is by Mme Leprince de Beaumont and not mine either. I don't own anything
except... the original portions of this piece of fiction...whatever they
are.
Dedication: To the
6X2ML, because they're darlings all and the inspiration for this
fic.
The
Ice Prince
Chapter IX
After a few minutes, Duo got up and started exploring the mansion
properly. He figured he should familiarize himself with his surroundings or
he'd get lost, which would be uncomfortable and embarrassing. Besides, the
manor had more than enough in it to hold his attention. He took off his slippers
and held the pair of them in his hand as he wandered around, enjoying the
feel of the plush carpet on his bare feet. The walls of the hallways had
thick tapestries hanging from them, depicting peaceful things like a glittering
lake bordered by white trees. There was the occasional suit of armor or display
of weaponry, though it was rare. There were no likenesses of people. The
windows were huge, giving a wonderful view of the gardens. It was all very
quiet, with an old, wistful quality.
It was also fascinating. Some of the rooms were unbelievable. Duo could
certainly understand the Beast's motivation -- if the stories about Beasts
were true, and the Beast really did have to spend all of his time in this
manor, no wonder he'd chosen to change a few things around. One chamber sparkled
like the enchanted mirror in his room until Duo had to shield his eyes on
his way out. Another was filled with exotic birds flying around freely, winging
their way in and out of the open window whenever they had a mind to. Yet another
one had wall tapestries which would show different absurd scenes depending
on what pure pitch his voice reached, a trick he discovered when he stubbed
his toe on the threshold and yelped in pain, and the picture of a castle
on one of the tapestries dissolved into an image of a larger-than-life potato.
When Duo realized he couldn't hear himself, he'd gone so high, he eased his
way out of the room, grinning at the tapestry of a bear waltzing with a bathtub.
In due time Duo even found his way to the gardens. Gingerly pushing open
the glass doors, he slid his feet back into his slippers and meandered down
the paths. The slight chill didn't bother him, and the cool breeze was refreshing.
There were all kinds of plants growing beyond the short balustrades separating
path from garden. The snow was splashed with bright bits of color, weeping
willows shading the gardens from the worst of snow-glare. Duo could even spot
black roses here and there -- all the more lovely when viewed in full, healthy,
living bloom. He kneeled down next to a delicate cluster of them and touched
one of their petals. He had never really paid much attention to flowers before
-- in the city, they were usually dead or plastic, and in the country, he'd
always been far too busy. Now, though, with absolutely nothing to do, he
had the leisure to reach out and feel how soft the petals of a living rose
were.
There was a multitude of butterflies. A particularly beautiful one patterned
a majestic orange and black fluttered towards him and Duo stayed still as
the butterfly landed on his shoulder, antennae quivering against his cheek.
It stayed for only a moment before passing on, but it was a good omen and
made Duo smile. Other butterflies stayed amongst the flowers or in the great
trees. The garden was springtime in the snow, the aesthetic best of both polar
worlds.
Sometime in the afternoon, Duo went back inside, his nose and cheeks red
from the cold wind. Breathing the fresh air had done him some good and made
him feel a lot more cheerful. It had also made him feel rather hungry, and
he realized that he had had very little breakfast and that it was more than
time for lunch. As the food he'd eaten the previous night hadn't gone down
very well, he was looking forward to eating and tasting the food.
Considering the wealth of everything else in here, it was bound to be magnificent.
His bright mood dimmed briefly as he thought of Relena's cooking, which
he would miss terribly, but he pushed the melancholy aside. He could not
return to his home soon, and at any rate, he could always look at his family
in the enchanted mirror. After a bit more wandering, Duo, to his pleasure,
happened upon the Dining Hall.
He surveyed the food on the table critically, just to make sure that it
hadn't been there for days. It looked fine, so he sat down and ate. Once
done, he leaned back in his chair, satisfied. He hadn't had food that good
since his twelfth birthday party back in White Fang when his father hired
the king's chef. Pity about the birthday cake, though. After discovering
who was responsible for the beheading of her doll Madeleine, Relena had pitched
him into it....
His reminiscing faded as the sound of music permeated his consciousness.
Duo strained to hear the faint melody, and his eyes widened as he recognized
the strains of his and Quatre's favorite duet, Tokimeite Harmony, played with
only flute and violin. He pushed his cushioned armchair back from the table
and listened closely, homesick again. As the song reached its end, flute
and violin falling silent, he closed his eyes. It had been beautiful. Quatre
would have loved it.
The music decided him -- it was unlikely that the Beast was going to eat
him. The Beast had simply put too much effort into him. Giving him that massive
library room, enchanting that mirror for him with a little note on top telling
him he was 'prince and master,' giving him clothing and a comfortable bed,
letting him crawl all over his mansion, letting him into the gardens, feeding
him, and having his favorite song played him during lunch. Not even sacrificial
victims received that much attention.
Somehow Duo reached his room again, and he spent the remainder of the afternoon
looking through it. There were books on every imaginable subject, his wardrobe
was fit for a peacock king, and once he steeled himself, the enchanted mirror
was a fun toy. He wandered through the aisles of the library which took up
most of 'Beauty's Room' and drew out books with interesting titles. There
were quite a few: 'Eloquence in War and Peace' and 'God's Perfect Soldier'
by Treize Khushrenada, 'Machine' and 'Metal Savior' by Tubarov, 'Split in
Two: An Autobiography' by Lady Une, 'My Stint as a Revolutionary' by, of all
people, Quinze the instrument-maker, and 'Lone Healer' by Sally Po. He would
have picked out 'Zero Visions' by Tranto and 'An Empire Mine' by Mariemaia
Khushrenada-Barton, too, but by that time his arms were loaded -- the books
were heavy -- and he figured that the volumes should be enough to keep him
occupied for quite some time.
Duo returned to his little corner of the room and placed the books on the
night table. Then he examined his wardrobe. One of his pet fascinations back
in White Fang had been clothing and designs -- well, until the bards became
so annoying that he'd had to resort to a Shinigami priest's frock to try and
make them go away -- and after his family had moved, he hadn't been able to
indulge himself the way he'd have liked to.
The Beast, it seemed, was prepared to indulge him all he wanted. The variety
of his wardrobe was dizzying: long robes he'd trip over if he ever wore them,
plaid and pinstriped bathrobes, zoot suits with padded shoulders, outrageous
hats topped with feathers and fruits and stuffed birds and trimmed with ribbons
and lace and all sorts of fripperies, capes and half-capes in every color
of the spectrum, lavishly decorated tunics of silk, velvet, and cashmere in
colors bright and dark and shimmering with narrow sleeves and wide sleeves
and button cuffs, skirts (?!) with petticoats, sleek shimmering skirts, skirts
which swirled easily, skirts patterned with birds and flowers and blocky geometric
figures, skirts that were solid blocks of color, miniskirts, pants (phew)
with wide bottoms, loose pants, tight pants, just-right pants, pants which
needed thoughtfully provided belts, pants with drawstrings, pants which rode
low on his hips and pants which, when pulled up all the way, reached to halfway
up his chest. There were even dresses. It was bewildering, as if the Beast
weren't quite sure if Duo was a boy or a girl.
There were other accessories provided, too. Slippers lay beside stilettos,
bandanas hung beside gloves, thick winter socks and skinny dress hose lay
tangled in an amorous embrace, and in a massive velvet-lined box, Duo discovered
enough jewelry to keep the court of White Fang happy for a year.
Amazed and delighted, he took nearly everything out of his closet and spent
hours trying on his new wardrobe. For a laugh and because he was feeling mischievous,
he even tried on some of the women's clothing included, complete with tiara
and peacock-feather fan. He threw his braid over one shoulder, fluttered
the fan, swirled his skirts around, and grinned -- he made a very believable
girl -- as the mirror set his reflection off with pink and purple sparkles.
As amusing as it was disturbing, eventually he recognized the fact that
he needed to put the clothing away or he'd end up sleeping on it, so covered
was his bed by the apparel. The thought of ruining such marvelous clothing
by rolling all over it -- the thought of even wrinkling such wonderful
garments -- was sheer blasphemy to Duo, who hurriedly went about putting the
clothing away. Occasionally he would allow his fingers to linger over delightfully
soft fabric or pause to admire an exceptionally lovely pattern, but he managed
to discipline himself and got the clothing back in the wardrobe in a minimum
of time.
After finishing the Herculean task of putting everything where he had found
it, he folded the clothing he had chosen for the next month and put it in
the chest of drawers. He wanted to put the next day's clothing on a chair
near his bed for easy access, so he looked around and discovered that a rather
plushy armchair had conveniently materialized to his left. He didn't waste
time wondering where it had come from and instead quickly folded his clothes
and put them on the armchair. Then he glanced outside the window.
The sky was bathed in a red and orange glory of a sunset. It looked like
White Fang's famous Tropical Passion Fruit Punch. The food analogy brought
his attention to the fact that he was hungry again, it having been several
hours since lunch.
He asked the mirror, of which he had grown quite fond during all this time
because it insisted in framing his reflection in sparkles color-coordinated
with his outfit, where the Dining Hall was. Duo had grown quite fond of the
enchanted mirror because it insisted on framing his reflection in sparkles
color-coordinated with his outfit. He asked the piece of glass where the Dining
Hall was, and the mirror sparkled obligingly and showed him a first-person
view of the long corridor outside, then a turn to the right, then another
long corridor, then a turn to the left, open the first door on the right,
go through that room and open that door, and there was the Dining
Hall. Duo realized that he had eaten there when he arrived and that he'd
eaten lunch there and that it was really shameful that he hadn't memorized
its location by now.
"Er... could you run that past me one more time?" Duo asked, scratching the
tip of his nose. "Don't think I quite caught it..."
The mirror sparkled happily and obliged. It took three more renditions before
Duo was certain he had it all down. He thanked the mirror, which blossomed
in the blush-pink sparkles Duo had come to interpret as its version of giggles,
and went off on his way.