Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

briar1
/brʌɪə/
noun: briar; plural noun: briars
1. any of a number of prickly scrambling shrubs, especially a wild rose.

---
A lone kingdom sits at the ends of the lands, where great snow-capped mountains loom as guardians surrounded by a dense forest where not even the bravest of warriors dare to venture. Pastures, villages, and busy towns dot the land, with strips of beaches and ship ports scattering the coastal line. And in the center of the kingdom of Edolas lies a great castle, possessing an army as strong as 100 dragons, with a royal family to match.

And today when the royal subjects open their eyes from their slumber, so does a baby boy, already bundled in royal velvet as he is greeted for the first time by his parents, the Queen and King Faust. Barely the length of his mother's forearm, he squirms under the fabric as dark hair covers his tiny head, not a blemish marring his face. The King looks with great pride as the Gods have finally gifted him an heir after years of trial and misfortune, the baby who would one day rule the kingdom as great as he did, as did his father, and his father's father. With gentle hands, he picks up his son and carries him to the castle balcony where a massive crowd waits below. Only a name that displays the power of the kingdom and the monarchy would be proficient enough for the boy, as he already defied the odds of birth. Faust lifts his son to the crowd and announces for the first time, "Crown Prince Jellal Faust!"

Trumpets fanfare and the audience roars while the Queen lies in her bed, baiting her last breath.

---
Three weeks have passed since the death of the Queen and Prince's birth, and the court had decided to commence the christening of Prince Jellal. The massive throne room still held both chairs, but only one is occupied by a solemn king a bassinet laying before him, as one by one, guests arrive to bestow their blessings and gifts. Dukes and Lords line for miles outside to catch a glimpse of the future king, and at the very end of the procession arrives the Exceed, renowned for their blessings and magical powers, everyone awaits to see what they bring for the royal baby.

A blue exceed bounds forward first, "I, Happy, give Prince Jellal the gift of strength! May you use it to bring us lots of fish! Aye!"

"Ugh, you must be serious." a trim white exceed rolled her eyes and crossed her paws as she made her way to the crib with another black cat.

"I, Charle, give Prince Jellal the gift of knowledge with grace," she said laying a scarlet rose next to the infant's head.

The black exceed, unlike the pristine coat of the other two, had a various amount of scars marring his body, as his duties went beyond royal baby blessings. Pantherlily was in charge of the protection of the royal family, and now his duties would be exclusively for the safety of the Prince.

Tenderly he looked down at the baby and a smile grazed his cheeks, but before the exceed could lift his whiskers to speak, an explosion of black smog filled the room and the crowd screamed and leaped to duck under palace furniture, while Pantherlily shifted form and joined a bard of knights to surround the crib. The King's eyes began to darken and furrow upon recognition of the ominous figure standing in the middle of the throne room.

Porlyuscia. Nobody from this kingdom had any knowledge of her origin, the only information anyone could gather was that the woman held strong dark magic, to be feared if you even made as little as eye contact with her; reclusiveness to the outside world had given her a deep distastefulness to humans, especially to those in powerful positions.

The air was dense with anxiousness and smog, and the only movement came from the king rising from his throne, "What reason do you have being here Porlyuscia?"
The thick smoke settled densely along the floor as a path cleared from the end of her long crimson cloak to the crib.

"King Faust, I thought we would be on good enough terms for you to invite me to the birth of your son? The newly crowned prince! What great luck, after years of being unable to produce an heir, I'm sure you and the Queen were elated... My condolences of course." she reached a hand out to take a long fingernail to begin to graze the side of the baby's cheek.

"ENOUGH!" the king marched towards the witch and Pantherlily had already drawn his sword pointed at her neck.

"How dare you come back into my kingdom demanding to see my son after you killed my wife! There is no place for you here!" The sword came closer to the witch's neck and held steady even with the snarl growing on her face.

"She got what she had coming for her, dirty humans procreating more of their kind, forgetful of your sins," she seethed under her breath, "For my reasons coming here is the same as your own lovely exceeds, to bless and gift this child."

"Come one more step toward the Prince and your head will be your only gift." The exceed threatened, while nobody else dared to move.

"Ah kitty, if I don't give my gift I can and will demolish this entire castle before your little dagger could show me any threat." The atmosphere turned to ice, as did the guests, for the kingdom recovering from the loss of their beloved queen, couldn't handle the death of another royal.

Meanwhile, King Faust weighed his options before lifting his palm,
"Pantherlily... Let the witch give her... gift." The sword began to lower, but not before Pantherlily could counter, "But my king! Who knows what evils she could bestow on the Prince-"

"Please Lily, let her continue." The King walked his way over to the crib, jaw clenched tightly and his hand resting on the hilt of his own sword. "Please begin."

Porlyuscia strengthened herself and rose her hands, one hovered above the baby and the other stayed vertical in the air,
"I, Porlyuscia, grant Prince Jellal the age to king-hood, but before the sun sets on the night of his coronation, his finger shall be pricked with an anima crystal and his life shall be ended."

The room immediately rose in gasps of anger, with some of the braver knights launching arrows and swinging their swords toward the witch's cloak, but when the dark smoke finally cleared from the room, so had the witch and any sign of her presence had completely vanished.

The king launched himself towards the prince's cradle, only to see the baby had been unharmed, save for a dark blood-red sigil swirling around his right eye.

"Pantherlily."
"Yes, your highness?" the exceed still in his large knightly form knelt before his king,
"You have not given your blessing have you?"
"N-No your highness, that foul-mouthed witch had stopped me from doing so."
"Then please, Pantherlily, to the best of your abilities what can you do to reverse the curse?"

"Well," the exceed stood up and hovered above the prince, "Undoing a curse of death is quite difficult, especially coming from the strength of that swine's magic, but I think I may have a solution." Shifting back to his original form he perched himself on the edge of the bassinet and rubbed his paws together,

"I, Pantherlily, use my blessing to weaken the curse laid by Porlyuscia the Witch, for instead of death coming to the Prince upon being pricked by the anima, he will enter a deep sleep, and the full curse cannot be broken unless an individual of great loyalty and love towards him may arise him from the slumber." a small aura of light rose from the baby as he continued sleeping, oblivious to any of the events that had occurred.

The sigil had stayed resting on his face.

"I am sorry your majesty it was the most I could do."

King Faust picked up the Prince, "You have done enough Lily, now I want you to take the baby far from here, hide him from the castle and any kind of magic, make sure he doesn't as much as look at an anima, and do not ever bring him back until coronation."
the king took an uncharacteristic pause as he cradled his son for what may have been the last time,
"I want full detailed reports on him and expect you to report to the castle immediately when called... Your duty is to your Prince and your kingdom only, do you understand?"

Pantherlily gingerly took the baby in his paws, "I understand your highness." and began to soar out of the palace.

"As for the kingdom, I want every anima, every piece of magic, every sign and sigil to be burned to the ground! Anyone who even relatively associates themselves with magic shall be persecuted, hung, burnt, absolutely no exceptions!"

Knights, guests, and members of the court scrambled out of the room and the remaining two exceeds nervously followed suit, a feeling of unease about the night's outcome.

The king sat back on his throne, arms crossed and features dark, it was understood from that point forward that the kingdom's era of peace had officially ended, and it was now up to him to rule with an iron fist and a poisoned heart.

Chapter Text

Laying far beyond palace grounds, away from the common eye, the forest is conveniently avoidable, making it just as easy to fear. Many tales come from foolish travelers and brave knights alike, taking the challenge of entering - only to return trembling with fear-clouded eyes, or to never be seen again.

However, a very small number of inhabitants have seen to make the woods their own, able to make it into an impenetrable fortress of security and soundness, perfect for social outcasts and a royal duo.

A log and stone-built cottage lies just beyond a river and a wide glade, a rare oasis. Inside resides an aged exceed, tall and built for strength and power; his once shiny slicked black fur is now spotted with thin silver hairs, a piece of his left ear missing from a fierce battle years ago, and his infamous scar still marring his face.

To many he is known as Pantherlily, the respected and feared exceed knight and commander of the Edolas' Royal Family who lives in solitude somewhere on the outskirts of the kingdom. But unbeknownst to most, a man with navy hair and a striking red tattoo across his eye regularly shares his company.

The seemingly unassuming man is the long-missing Crowned Prince Jellal, who escaped to the inner corners of the forbidden forest as a baby, where he was raised by the exceed in order to shelter him away from a destined curse of death placed upon his birth.

Within these 20 years, Pantherlily had allowed the Prince to venture with him on expeditions to neighboring kingdoms and islands. Thus the young prince had found himself a love of travel, reading, and the alignment of the moons and stars. Jellal had also learned to become proficient in self-defense with staff and sword, to the exceed's delight, allowing the young prince to become a strong, independent, and well-read man.

"Lily! Welcome home! I hope your day at the fields went well!" Mystogan came out of the kitchen to greet the massive man-cat who had already flashed back into a small kitty-like creature.

To this day, Pantherlily had neither told the Prince of his curse, identity, or the exceed's own true place of work, only providing that the two lived in the forest as a convenient way to do trade and commerce between kingdoms and that the kingdom of Edolas was simply not a city worth venturing into. Any work Pantherlily had that involved the kingdom, was just a simple knightly duty working as a training guard.

"Ah yes Mystogan it was a busy day, the council has just decided to elect a new captain of the king's guard, they're very young but fiercely loyal," he perched himself on the counter where a large jug of water waited, "I admit, I am a bit hesitant about them receiving such a large position at their age, but I have hope. The entire castle seems to be on edge these days."

Mystogan had always dutifully listened to Pantherlily's stories about the inner royal politics, the same one he himself had no intense desire to see, the travels the two of them would take revealed all he needed to know about all types of empires, and Edolas, a kingdom once great with power and regal, was gone to war and darkness when the queen and crowned prince died, driving the king to become malevolent with his rule, enforcing knights to persecute citizens at every corner and having all magic to be banished and destroyed. It didn't take much work to persuade Mystogan to not cross the border into Edolas, and living in the cottage allowed no one to bother them either.

"The king also has a massively annoying cough that's disrupting his work and making the council's life so much harder." the exceed sighed as he took another gulp from the mug.

"Lily, you always talk like you're actually sitting with the royal council! And I always thought someone in your position would be more worried about training guards, I never know why you're so obsessed with that vile king." Mystogan smirked, knowing that Pantherlily took his job seriously, despite whatever position he may be in, and getting a dig at that discipline had successfully irked the exceed to the young prince's delight.

"Gods, Mystogan I wish it were that easy." Lily, looking defeated at this point, took a seat at the small dining table across from him, as a steaming cup of tea was poured and brought to his whiskers, "How's the research going?"

"Not terrible, I'm almost finished on my notes on political strife between the islands and land-locked countries with the upper side of the continent, I've even read a bit on the generational rule of Edolas." Mystogan had been focused on learning as much as he could about the surrounding cities around the continent, since he and Lily spent a considerable amount of time with travel and trade, it was best to be well-rounded.

Lily looked over with a sad pit of pride, knowing that all the studying and expeditions were for preparation of making his boy into a king, and the oblivion made it even more painful to witness, knowing there wasn't anything else to do until it was time.

"Well done Mystogan, but I do have more news to tell you."

"Hmm?" Mystogan shut one of the many leather-bound books scattered across the table the two of them shared.

"I'm going to have to spend more time in the kingdom, the new captain is having us all go through training techniques and armory. We must be properly prepared, and that means my time between Edolas and here will be further apart."

In reality, Pantherlily himself was going to have to train the new captain with the ins and outs of the kingdom and castle, as well as how to manage an army as big as they had without turning every single village into a bloodbath just for the king's entertainment.

"But you already are going more than three days a week! And we still have to visit the Isle of Azalea! They just created a new type of alloy that the city of Camellia is interested in investing in, we were supposed to be an intermediary for them!" Mystogan threw his hands up before crossing them over, clearly pissed.

"I'm so sorry my boy, but these things just must be done, and I'm positive you can handle it yourself." tired from both the conversation and the earlier part of his day, the black exceed floated away to get some well-deserved sleep as the blue-haired man huffed, not at all satisfied with the latter part of the conversation.

---
Meanwhile, at a grand stone-built behemoth of a castle, a rugged woman knelt before a grey and grizzled king. Her long wavy hair as scarlet as a fresh wound sat on top of tanned skin, littered with scars and gashes from long hours of battle and combat.

It took literal blood, sweat, and tears for the woman to claim the position she had now, with the fierce loyalty and power she held towards the kingdom running for decades in her family's blood, made her the best candidate for her newly appointed position - Captain and Commander of the Royal Edolas Guard - so much so that the king had chosen her out himself.

The deep fire in her eyes with the burn of relentlessness and fervor was something King Faust had never seen before besides in his own.

"Your majesty I want to once again express my gratitude for your blessing in making me captain of the royal army guard, I promise not to let you or the kingdom down."

"Now Erza, you have always seen this coming, even at the young age you are, you come from noble warrior blood, and your experience and talent reflect this. You should acknowledge the title and ack- the responsibilities-ack," the king doubled over in his throne as he coughed into a handkerchief, looking down distastefully at the fabric.

Erza stole a glance, barely seeing dark specks covering the silky surface.

"Your Highness... has your health been recovering or would you like for me to call for the doctor?" there was little information about the king's ailing health that even most palace staff had no detailed knowledge of, let alone the general public. However the rumor mill still ran, and as the king made fewer appearances, the times he would appear with sunken eyes bloodshot in rage and restlessness, it had seemed to serve a good enough explanation.

"No need Captain Erza, take your place, and let us commence the meetings today."

"Of course Your Highness." the knight stood from her position and came beside the king's throne, her gaudy sword and staff proudly withdrawn as a trembling Lord stumbled in, being forcibly held by two guards.

This specific "gentleman" had skimmed out on months of taxes, including rumors of him dealing in international magic trade.

"Please, p-please your majesty! This is baseless hearsay conjured by traitors! You should be coming for them! Not me! Please your majesty our families have always been generous to each other from the time of our ancestors!" the prison-spent malnourished man had crumpled before the throne bowing repeatedly apologizing to a new charge with every breath.

"I'll pay the tax back! I'll pay it tenfold if need be! Please your Highness please!"

No one else in the throne room had even batted an eye towards the lord's pleading behavior, for it was far too common and served nothing else but a source of entertainment in the palace.

"Ah, old comrade, please do not tell me you think I am so naive to believe that I would drag you all the way here to my throne on some taxes," Faust rose his hand beckoning the knight, "Now Captain Knightwalker, would you like to remind our ancestral friend what we do to those who deal with magic in our kingdom?" The king shifted his head towards the captain, her steely gaze locked onto the sorry excuse of a man.

The king was pleased to see a smirk spread on her face right before she lifted her trusted Ten Commandments staff over her head.

"We show them no mercy, your majesty." the large staff swung down, and the whimpers and whines that bounced off the throne room's walls crescendoed to dead silence.