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The Cursed Prince

Summary:

Long ago in the kingdom of Gotham there was a large christening thrown for the new Prince Jason, who was born only a few weeks prior. Everyone in the kingdom was invited, except for the Joker. The evil fairy who would crash the party and curse Prince Jason to die on his sixteenth birthday, to suffer with the voices of phantoms in his head and unmanageable anger until he would prick his finger on a spinning wheel.

A short story based on these prompts:
"What other secrets did you keep from me?"
"Yellow"
"And the moral of this story?" "Not everything has a moral. I don't have one either."
"Phantoms"
"We tried, but it just didn't work out."
"Cruel Summer"
"If we get caught kissing in a small, dark, kind of shady alleyway, it's on you."
"Clouds"
"Would you just stop treating me like something you're trying to fix?"
"Kisses"

With the added prompt of "Royalty"

Notes:

Yall're getting so many works this week and then I'll disappear for at least a few weeks before posting randomly again. It's inevitable. Thank the goddess Issa for this. She creates these events I write for.

Work Text:

Once upon a time, there was a king, queen, and two little boys. The littlest child was but a mere baby, born a few weeks prior. Named Jason, the young baby was a bright and happy boy, not unlike his older brother Dick. The family was elated, overjoyed with the birth of Jason. They decided to throw a large party, a christening, to welcome Jason to the kingdom. Invites were sent out throughout Gotham from the socialites to the orphaned street kids. 

 

Thousands of people lined the streets and courtyard of the castle. Some brought lavish gifts, while others brought only the clothes on their backs and well wishes for the new prince. As the days passed and the crowd dwindled, the only people not to give the prince were the fairies. The fairies were busy, so they would have their own day to bestow gifts and blessings. 

 

There were three powerful fairies known as the sirens. Ivy, Selina, and Harley. They descended into the throne room elegantly from a ray of light. The three flew up to King Bruce and Queen Diana, bowing before explaining their gifts. 

 

Ivy gave the gift of beauty and strength- to be beloved by the kingdom and to be the strongest of them all. To lift ten men at once, and be able to carry more than the kingdom’s strongest horse. He would be handsome, just like his family, and be adored for his charming personality. 

 

Harley gave the gift of intelligence. He would constantly be looking to grow and learn. A book lover, and a need to spread his knowledge to others. He would be able to do math in his head and remember anything he read. Jason would know a multitude of languages, able to converse with neighboring kingdoms with ease. 

 

It was then that the most powerful and evil fairy interrupted the proceedings- the Joker, a fairy of great violence and madness. Initially uninvited, the Joker heard of the christening and was greatly offended by the exclusion. He planned and planned until he came up with the ultimate plan. To crash the party and to curse Jason Wayne to suffer. 

 

With a great burst of fire, the Joker appeared before Bruce and Diana, with yellow eyes and a red smile splitting his face in half. His face had long lost any color, creating a ghastly appearance. He laughed and laughed as it was revealed that he had never been invited, even though he was irate. The Joker was easily offended, and so he cursed the baby in his anger. 

 

Jason would grow up strong, loved, and intelligent. He would be handsome and kind, but he would be cursed with a temper. Jason would be quick to anger, and it would cloud his judgment. He would hear voices, the phantoms of the dead. They would tell Jason things, making him believe in fallacies. That he wasn’t loved or worth anything. Then, on his sixteenth birthday he would prick his finger on a spinning wheel and die. 

 

Then, before the guards could attack the Joker, he disappeared.

 

It was an uncomfortable silence after the Joker left, only to be disrupted by Selina. She had yet to give her gift to Jason, and for her gift she changed the curse. She couldn’t undo it, for the Joker was too powerful and the curse too complex. 

 

Selina changed the curse so that Jason would fall into a deep death-like sleep rather than a true death. He would be awoken by true love’s kiss if the curse were to come into fruition. Jason would still have the phantoms in his head, and be prone to anger, but it would not rule his life like the Joker had wanted. He would be able to distinguish what was real and not, thus being able to see the fallacies and lies for what they were. 

 

There was a large search for the Joker that went on for years. Even searching past Gotham and neighboring kingdoms, there had been no sign of the fairy. In that time, two more princes and a princess were born. Princess Cassandra, Prince Timothy, and Prince Damian. 

 

Meanwhile, Jason continued to grow up in the castle surrounded by his family. He was loved and cared for, even when he screamed and cried from anger. The royal family was very patient, and with the addition of a royal therapist he seemed to improve. He could easily distinguish the fake from the real, and although he couldn’t ignore them he could work past it. Jason was so, so kind but it was hidden behind a tough exterior. One that was difficult to see through, especially by King Bruce. 

 

The main source of contention in the palace was between the father and son. Jason felt like their only interactions were based around his curse, like he was being treated like something Bruce was trying to fix. Especially when he didn’t know of his own curse. Jason thought he was the black sheep for no particular reason, someone who was a disgrace. It led to more anger, which led to a never ending circle of frustration and acrimony. 

 

It all metaphorically blew up on Jason’s fourteenth birthday. He had been playing with his brothers and sister when the rage had taken over. The curse had started to become worse. A simple game of “Knights” with toy swords had ended after Jason had gotten angry and broke Tim’s arm after pushing him out of the tree, or “tower” they were supposed to be protecting. 

 

Luckily, no other harm had come to anyone (or worse for Tim). However, Bruce had had enough. He loved his son, but Jason was becoming a danger to his siblings. The young teen felt terrible, hiding in his room since the incident, but it was time to create some countermeasures. Clearly the therapy wasn’t enough, and Jason had to be sent away for his protection. 

 

Jason had been rightfully hurt after he was informed of his curse. After all, the rest of the family and kingdom had known. He had demanded to know any other secrets kept from him, where it was revealed that the fairy who cursed him had never been found. That nobody else was cursed, but they all knew. That there was a cure, but if Jason knew it couldn’t happen. Saddened by the information, Jason agreed to being sent away for his safety. He still had two years, but with the way the curse was headed he would become more volatile. Jason didn’t want to be a danger, and therefore would leave with the three good fairies to an undisclosed location. With Bruce’s decree to be rid of all spinning wheels, the curse would optimistically never come to fruition. They had tried to keep Jason in the castle with family, but it just didn’t work out. 

 

It was that cruel summer that he left. Tim’s arm had been put in a sling, and the entire family were sad to see him go. However, it was what was needed. Harley, Selina, and Ivy were kind to take him in, and brought him to a small cottage in the woods. It was a three day walk, but Jason was thankful the fairies would let him stay. But it was there that he met Marinette, their daughter. 

 

That cruel summer turned into something beautiful. Marinette and Jason got along beautifully, both willing to try new things that the other enjoyed. Whether it be cloud watching on warm days or reading inside on rainy ones, the two found solace with one another. Immediately becoming close friends, over the course of the summer they became closer and subtly fell in love. So subtle not even they knew. 

 

 Jason was still prone to violent outbursts, but for some reason Marinette could always calm him down. Not even his family was able to do it, instead having to wait until he had tired him out. But in the forest, he found peace with Marinette. Marinette would drag Jason into the forest to pick berries and talk with the animals, helping the injured ones and dancing along to a tune only the two knew. Playing in the streams and climbing trees, the two were in their own world throughout the entire summer. 

 

Marinette knew full well what the curse was. Jason had told her everything he knew, from the Joker to exactly what he experienced everyday. The voices that plagued his thoughts, the anger that clouded his vision green. Yet, Marinette accepted him fully. Neither knew what would break the curse and stayed away from the future, choosing to live each day to the fullest. On the bad days Jason would lay in Marinette’s lap as she played with his hair while she would talk and sing. On the good days Jason would teach Marinette how to fight.

 

It had been Marinette’s sixteenth birthday when Jason had confessed his love for the girl. Ecstatic, she returned his feelings, and they began to date in secret. Forest berry picking turned into hidden kisses in caves and dark alcoves, promising to blame the other if they were ever caught. Never further, as they didn’t want to rush anything, even with Jason’s curse. They loved each other too much to move quickly with their relationship. 

 

Then, as if the two years had passed instantly, it was time for Jason to return to the castle and to his family. Marinette would stay at the cottage for an extra day before going herself, to give time for the royal family to reunite. 

 

Jason set upon his journey with the three fairies, trusting Marinette would make it on her own, and she did. However, it was too late, for Jason’s curse had come to fruition. He had been sent into a violent rage on the night he came back- his sixteenth birthday. A rage so terrifying not even King Bruce could hold him down for long. Try as they might, his family could not bring Jason back to his senses, fearing he would kill someone in his rage. As such, they locked Jason in his room and hoped he would tire himself out. 

 

It was not the case, for being alone was exactly what the curse required to take hold.

 

It was Harley, Selina, and Ivy who noticed Jason’s quiet first. They looked in his room to see him on the floor unconscious. By his side was a spinning wheel, as if taunting the three fairies. All over the walls was “HAHAHAHA”, truly mocking the family and friends of Jason for not being able to stop the curse. 

 

After that, they had moved Jason to a new room while they cleared the old one. That was when Marinette had arrived. She had been just as devastated by the news as King Bruce, Queen Diana, and Princes Dick, Tim, and Damian as well as Princess Cassandra had been. She had fled up to his bed and cried for hours, before setting herself into a steely resolve. Marinette would find the Joker, and get him to reverse the curse himself. She knew Jason was sleeping under a magical coma, but he deserved better. So, when she was alone she kissed his lips one final time before setting on her journey. 

 

Completely unaware her kiss had broken the curse. For Marinette had left before Jason had gotten his bearings, leaving one of her hair ribbons behind with a note stating where she was going.

 

It was another year before Marinette returned. It had taken months and lots of magic (she was the daughter of three powerful fairies), but Marinette had tracked down the Joker to a castle in the mountains. There she had fought through hundreds of guards, not even giving the slightest thought to the bloodshed caused. Her large fairy wings were splattered with blood, a sign of her magical power. 

 

The Joker had taken a look at Marinette’s wings and had lost his smile. The wings on a fairy were dependent on the magic they held, growing in size as the fae’s power reserves grew. The Joker had lost his wings due to a betrayal years ago, but they had been the largest at the time. Harley, Ivy and Selina had moderate wings, but they would never have been a match for Joker. 

 

Marinette showed no mercy to the clownish fairy after he told her he was unable to reverse the curse. He had gone on a monologue, trying to buy time from his imminent demise, being cut off when Marinette asked for the moral of the story. He didn’t have one. The Joker had admittedly put up a fight, but it had been no contest. He had turned into a large dragon, attempting to burn Marinette. However his attempts proved futile, as Marinette was the unrevealed queen of the fairies. Something that was revealed as soon as she turned into the most powerful mythical creature- a phoenix. 

 

The Joker had never stood a chance, and was quickly defeated. Marinette took his head before flying back to Gotham, a much quicker journey in the air than on land. She gave the Joker’s head to King Bruce and Queen Diana, where she had been reunited with the three good fairies and Jason. 

 

Marinette had been shocked to discover Jason was awake. When she learnt it was true love’s kiss who broke the curse- and nobody had kissed the boy except for her. All of the curse had been broken, from the sleep to the phantoms in his head. The rage had been quelled, and he was free. 

 

After that revelation, the two were betrothed. As Prince Dick would be taking over the kingdom, Jason was able to become King of the fairies, ruling with Marinette. The two were married in the forest they had fallen in love in, and would live happily ever after.