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Summary: SoRiKai retelling of Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.
Once a year, on the longest day, when the sun was highest in the sky, the Seeker of Darkness knew he could ask a single question of a mirrored pool in the forest. The oracle that lived in the water would answer him with perfect truthfulness.
Every summer solstice he traveled alone to the forest, through the golden trees, to the hidden oracle, to ask his single question. And every year, he asked the same: Dear oracle, powers lowest and high, who is the one who will cause me to die?
For all the power in the world, or in all the worlds under the sky, would be worthless in death.
When the oracle reveals that Riku is fated to kill the Seeker of Darkness, Riku fakes his death and escapes across the sea. But the oracle can still see him there, and the Seeker will not allow him to escape.
This fic was written for the SoRiKai discord's Fairy Tale event. I was writing to fill the prompts "Curse," "Exile," and "Royalty." The "curse" is a bit abstract, maybe, but I think it fits.
The story is a retelling of the Scottish fairy tale "Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree." This tale is a variation on Snow White, and involves a lot of recognizable elements from the more well-known Snow White versions. My favorite part of this specific variation is that it actually has what's darn close to a canon poly happy-ever-after ending!
Because I wanted this to be a one-shot and fit all the elements of the tale in, it's written in a "fairy tale style" or as much as I could. So it's 3rd person omniscient, which isn't a perspective I'm used to writing! I hope it "sounds" like a fairy tale being told. Though maybe someday I'll write a more fleshed-out version that sticks to a closer character perspective.
If you want to read the original tale for comparison, here's a link to it!
( The Oracle )
