Work Text:
There exists a castle at the edge of the world, overlooking a long-lost sea. It is said to be inhabited by a boy often described as the ‘fairest of them all,’ and a blindfolded, mirror-bound maiden who is well regarded as his only living rival to the title. Named Vil Schoenheit and Lily Tenebrae respectively, the two of them exist within this time-locked castle, sugar-sweet compliments and thinly-veiled vanity passed between them like the sharing of a candy apple. Though picturesque, travelers are warned away from too-close proximity to this tiny little kingdom by the sea—for the dense woods surrounding the castle are dark with their own buried secrets. Lily and Vil may be the fairest of them all now, such warnings dare whisper: but had they always? No one seems to know, for sure.
So, the surrounding villagers say: it’s better to let the timeless prince and princess of the castle live within their cyclical regard for themselves and for each other, than to dare break the status quo that keeps their kingdom safe. The candied apple made of saccharine words and secret smiles will only continue to flourish under Lily and Vil’s continued care, and the crowns that adorn each of their heads will only burn further—one golden bright, and the other abyssal dark—as the eternities continue to pass. And as they do, the people will continue to wonder: will they ever look away? Will they ever break from this endless cycle? And again: no one seems to know.
Dare not you venture deep,
into the kingdom of the fairest ones of all;
For though upon their surface lies a picturesque beauty,
before sickly sweet smiles so many doomed hearts fall.
