The Twin Prince and Warrior Princess

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. Desmina flicks her wrist, the fire grows.

“SSSSSSS” she hisses at the fire. “SSSSSS” the fire hisses back.

The fire is her only company. Well, the fire and her minion, Papá Chihuahua, who lay in the corner of the cabin, whimpering. A few hours earlier, Desmina and Papá escaped from the castle tower, where they had been locked for years. Once upon a time, Desmina and Papá were royalty- the Twin Prince and Warrior Princess of the Chihua Kingdom. But their magic was too strong, too powerful, too dark. The King was terrified of them- he knew if he let their magic run wild, the Kingdom, and his control, would collapse.

“I must protect you,” the King lied, kissing their foreheads “from those who want to steal your brilliance and oddness. My children, you must be hidden.” A cloak descended on the Prince and Princess that day, they became ghosts. Desmina and Papá were sentenced to isolation.

In these years of exile, Desmina watched her brother die. He used to be a boy, a clever Trickster King who would run around the castle, casting spritely love spells. But Papá lost himself in the darkness, he endlessly lay in the corner of the room without moving, without speaking. Until one day, he transformed himself into a dog, a Chihuahua, never to be human again. At least in his dog form he would nuzzle Desmina, lick her hand when she felt lonely.

In those years, Desmina died too, victim to her own madness. She was no longer Nina, the sweet and curious child who enchanted the fruit fairies in the garden. In the silence of the tower, she became bitter, angry, vengeful. She would scream at the top of her lungs, desperate for the King to hear her pain. Desperate to be freed. She punched the stone walls until her knuckles bled, tearing the bricks off them. But there is a powerful protection spell on the tower- she could not escape.

Until today. Desmina and Papá sit in the corner of the tower, huddled next to the fire that was always burning, their only source of warmth. Papá Chihuahua yelps and peers up at Desmina, with a sparkle in his eye. He jumps through the fire. Desmina gasps. But Papá emerges with no burns- he barks, wags his tail, and spins in a little circle. For the first time in a long time, Desmina laughs. Her brother is still a Trickster. She looks down at her hands, bloody and disfigured, spits on them, and places them in the fire.

“Ow!” she exclaims, feeling fooled by Papá. She snarls at the pup and quickly pulls her hands out of the fire. But the fire does not extinguish- it engulfs her fingers. She thrusts her hand forward, and a small flame ball bursts outward, setting a chair on fire. Startled, Desmina stares at the burning chair, which spreads to their bed. She feels empty, but curious- why hadn’t she been able to burn things in the fire before? Did the blood ignite the spread? She wishes that she could set herself on fire. Maybe her death would provide liberation. But the fire, still burning on her hand, does not seem to incinerate or hurt her. She crawls to one of the openings in the wall, fire crackling all around her. The opening is blocked by a black film- the protection spell. Desmina breathes, her lungs filling with smoke, and places her bloody, fiery hands on the film.

The fire rips a hole open. Desmina screams and Papá starts growling. Air!! Stars! Rain!! The Full Moon bright in the night sky!! Desmina would cry if she had time. But instead, she grabs the film with her hands, widening the hole until it’s large enough to crawl through. The winds whistle around her as she peers outside. They are about 100 feet from the ground. Jumping could mean death. But the tower is engulfed in flames and they are dead anyways- they had been dead the second they entered the tower. If she died, at least she would die looking up at the Moon. “Jump,” the wind seems to whisper, “fly.” Desmina grabs Papá, pinning him to her chest, inhales, and falls backwards. In the moment between her breaths, the Universe expands. The stars twinkle above, Desmina is enchanted by the Gemini Twins. The Moon grins.

Just as they are about to hit the earth, a gust of wind sweeps below her, breaking their fall. Desmina begins laughing hysterically as she feels the muddy earth in her hands, the fire extinguished by the rain. Papá jumps off her and chirps excitedly- they made it!! For a split second, they feel the grand bliss of freedom. But Desmina quickly gets up, covered in dirt and wet with rain. She runs.

Papá and Desmina run straight into the enchanted forest, leaves crunching under their feet. When they were children, they heard rumors about the evil spirits- the ghosts, ghouls, and goblins that lived in the forest. But Desmina doesn’t care. She is a ghost herself, a powerful witch finally free from the chains of imprisonment. Or so she thinks. As they run, a maniacal laughter echoes through the woods. “You think you are free, naive witch??” a spirit mocks, “you have entered another nightmare.”

Desmina ignores the taunts. She ignores the ghastly bright green eyes peering from the trees. She ignores the branches that attempt to snatch her wrists, her waist, her ankles. She ignores the howling of the werewolves.

Desmina trips over a branch, which wraps itself around her ankles. “AAAAAaa!!” she screams as the branch drags her backwards, towards a black opening in a tree’s trunk. “aaaWOOOOoooOOO”. Suddenly Papá appears by Desmina’s side. But he is no longer a Chihuahua- he transformed into a werewolf. Papá snarls and bites the branch with his sharp fangs, ripping it apart. He puts Desmina on his back and leaps, galloping through the forest.

It feels like they are running for hours when they come upon the abandoned cabin. The spirits are not as loud here, but Desmina knows they are lurking. She knows they are watching her every move, waiting for her to fail, to falter. But they do not know that she is insane. Desmina would burn down the whole forest if she had to. She would kill every goblin and werewolf, rip every tree from its’ roots. She would do whatever she had to to be free.

But for now, Desmina and Papá need to rest. Luckily, the abandoned cabin provides some refuge. As they step inside, the floorboards creak. Blood is stained on the ground, Desmina wonders what foolish human found their demise in the enchanted forest. Papá lay down in the corner of the room, transforming back into a Chihuahua. He whimpers, his body bruised and bloody from fighting off the evil beings of the Night. Desmina pecks his head and walks over to the window, sitting on a nearly broken chair.

In front of her- a table. And a candle. Desmina looks at her hands, dirt and blood caked on the crevices. She rubs them together, imagining a warm fire. She feels a spark, and a surge of energy running through her veins. Desmina smiles, and takes a breath. She rubs her hands again- three times, and then breathes into them. A fire ignites. She points her finger at the candle and voila- it lights. Desmina flicks her wrist, the fire grows.

“SSSSSSS” she hisses at the fire. “SSSSSS” the fire hisses back.

Desmina watches the fire, her eyes grow big, deranged. She rises from the chair and bursts through the door. No rest for the wicked.

Desmina glances behind at Papá, who stands at the doorway. “Arf!!” she barks at him, gesturing her head to the trees. Time to set it all on fire. She storms into the forest, the ghosts beckoning her again. “Dessssminaaa,” the wind hisses, “I will kill you.”

“NOOOOOO,” Desmina screams, her yell silencing the spirits. “I will kill YOU. I will kill anyone that gets in my way.” The words spilling out with vitriol.

Papá returns with firewood. “Good boy,” Desmina croaks, regaining the power of her voice she lost long ago. She places the wood on the forest floor, throwing the kindle of dead leaves unto them. She kneels down, looking at Papá Chihuahua dead in the eye. Papá whimpers, staring back with sadness and fear. He licks her hand as if telling her to stop, to remember the kind girl she once was. But Desmina has no fear, no desire to be weak. Her sadness is buried in the anger. “Bite me,” Desmina snarls and shoves her hand in Papá’s mouth. Papá cries, and bites down hard.

Desmina laughs. She loves pain. Her hand starts bleeding profusely. With her other hand, she snaps her fingers and a fire appears. She directs it to the wood, and a flame ignites. She squeezes her blood into it. The fire grows ferocious.

A golden fairy buzzes by. “Nina,” they sing, “do you remember me? Don’t do this.” Desmina swats the fairy away. “Nina,” The fairy’s voice grows deeper and louder. “You will regret this.” The fairy begins transforming into a goblin, oozing with green blood.

“Nina is dead. Do you think I’m scared of you? I’m not scared of anyone or anything.” Desmina kicks the goblin in the nose and it transforms back into a fairy, fluttering away in shame.

“I call upon the elements.” Desmina screams into the night sky. “I call upon fire!” She spreads her fingers wide and the fire grows. “I call upon Earth!!” She grabs a fistful of dirt and throws it into the flame. “I call upon AIR.” The wind howls around Desmina and Papá. “I call upon water!!” She squeezes her blood into the concoction. “I call upon the Twins.” She peers up at the stars and to her brother, who cowers a few feet away, tears flowing from his puppy eyes. Desmina wipes away a tear, which falls into the fire. She can not be emotional now, she can not be stopped. “ I call upon Selena- The Goddess of the Moon!!” The werewolves howl in the distance to the Full Moon. “I call upon the Dark One!!”

The earth shakes underneath Desmina and Papá’s feet. Desmina falls to her knees. A thunderous boom cracks in the sky and a strike of lightning hits the earth. Desmina shields her face from the fire, which grows larger and larger, a hole leading to the Underworld opening.

A cloaked figure rises from the hole. The Dark One. They float in the air, the fire dancing beneath them. “You called??” A voice booms from underneath their hood. “Witch, what is your desire?!”

“Dark One, I revere you!!” Desmina remains bowing on the earth. “My desire is revenge!!”

“Revenge is a dark mistress,” The Dark One warns. “If it is revenge that you want, you must split your soul from your body. You must join me, become a Warrior of the Underworld.”

“I will do whatever I need to do,” Desmina whispers, tears now flowing down her face. “I want to be free from this pain, from this horror. I want to be free from this prison.”

“So it must be done.”

The Dark One lifts their hand and Desmina is gripped by their power. Her body begins levitating from the ground. She loses her breath, it feels as if she is being choked. Snakes sprout from her head, hissing around her ears. Desmina looks down, Papá has transformed into a beast, a demon of the Underworld. He sits patiently by The Dark One, their minion now. Desmina kicks her hovering legs. What has she done? She did not mean to sell the soul of her Twin, she wanted to save him- save him from herself. Desmina looks up to The Dark One, into the blackness behind the hooded cloak. Who are they? For a split second, Desmina catches a glimpse of the whiteness in their eyes. Does grief reside there?

Everything goes black.