forbidden fruit | kalon kit readopt

[Firedancer77]

Rumplestiltskin isn't supposed to get the girl.

Cinderella is supposed to marry the prince.

And yet, here we are.

[Firedancer77]

Prince Cassidy has an...interesting relationship with his parents, to say the least. That's to be expected when you're the child of a fairy tale character. However, Cassidy's relationship with his parents is particularly complicated, even by fairy tale standards.

Mainly because he's the child of Cinderella and Rumplestiltskin.

To be fair, he wasn't supposed to find out. But how was he not going to figure it out when he found himself capable of magic, something neither of his parents or their lines had any affinity for? Sure, there were mutations, but the chances of it being because of that were astronomical at best. Besides, what were the chances he would develop the ability to spin material into gold on top of that, of all things, without having some sort of relationship to Rumplestiltskin? Those odds were practically impossible...especially when factoring in the fact that his mother had met Rumplestiltskin before.

A fairy godmother. That's what many stories said Cinderella had. The thought made Cassidy want to laugh. Rumplestiltskin, a fairy godmother? He couldn't think of anything more ridiculous. No, his father, with his natural affinity for dealings with magic, made a deal with his mother. He'd help her go to the ball for three nights, and in exchange, wanted her to owe him a favor. She'd agreed.

He had never learned the official details of the relationship, namely because his parents didn't actually know he knew about his true origins. After all, he'd kept the fact that he even possessed magic hidden; Cassidy was forever grateful that his powers had manifested late. Who knows what would have happened had they appeared when he was younger, when they'd be more at risk of being volatile? Cassidy shuddered to think of what might have happened to his mother (and to him) had his magic been discovered.

Still, whatever the case, somehow Cassidy was born, and he did not bare the striking resemblance to the princely father he should have had. After all, Cinderella had married her prince charming, so wasn't Charming meant to be his father?

Cassidy does not know whether his mother has yet to actually return the favor that Rumplestiltskin holds over her. The trickster can't have forgotten, so what is he waiting for? Has it already been completed? Cassidy has never even been given the chance to lay eyes on his real father, and though he'd never admit it, does secretly long for the chance to do so.

Since finding out the truth, it has put a strain on both his relationship with his mother (due to his frustration at not knowing the truth before that point) and his relationship with his father (due to him not actually being Charming's son), and Cassidy isn't sure what he's meant to do to fix that. So instead, he busies himself learning how to use the magic he inherited from his dad, though he does so in secret; not even his mother knows about his abilities. Cassidy isolated himself from any of the family around him, ironically growing closer to the one parental figure in his life that is absent in the process.

He tells himself that it's better this way.

He's said it enough times now that he almost believes it.

[Firedancer77]

Cassidy learned a long time ago that everyone in the world was out to take care of only themselves. No one really cared about anyone else. Everyone was selfish...so Cassidy adapted. Whether he wanted to be or not, he had to look out for himself and himself only, because no one else was going to. It was a fact that he initially grieved being forced to admit, but when his magic finally manifested, things changed.

Soon after learning about his magic, Cassidy began to close himself off to others. He'd always been a quirky, quiet kid, but now he was actively choosing to isolate himself. He was intelligent, perhaps too intelligent for his own good, and knew that his presence often made others uncomfortable; he'd heard people say that they felt something sinister around him, something that made them feel like their blood had frozen and their bones had shattered. He'd never understood why till he'd learned of his magic, and had always done his best to be as good of a kid as possible to make others wish to be around him in spite of the terrible feeling they experienced, but once he knew why, he didn't see much point in continuing the charade.

Instead, he began to pour his time into learning his craft. Cassidy throws himself into the things he likes to do, often neglecting to care for himself due to his intense focus on a goal, and his magic is no different. He'd spend hours pouring over books to learn as much as he could about magic in general, scouring the castle library for anything and everything that could help him learn while also trying to avoid suspicion. He got surprisingly good at lying, though it helped that no one had any reason to suspect him of having ulterior motives; after all, why would a kid who'd been good for such a long time suddenly be up to no good? Besides, it wasn't like Cassidy was doing anything wrong (besides putting his mother at risk for being exposed as having had an affair), and he made a point to never lie. Instead, Cassidy would simply twist the truth.

At first, he did so for necessity, but as he experimented with his magic, Cassidy realized that he had a knack for twisting words. Soon, it became a game of seeing just what he could get away with saying, while all the while never technically lying to anyone. It got old soon enough, but it taught Cassidy what he needed to know. When he needs to, Cassidy can turn on the charm and charisma, using anything and everything to his advantage.

Still, the more easily manipulated those around him were, the more Cassidy began to isolate himself. He grew colder, more distant, especially after he stopped playing his game of manipulation. If he was being honest with himself, he was tired. Tired of people being stupid. Tired of hiding what he was. Tired of keeping secrets. He didn't do anything about that tiredness though. Instead, Cassidy just grew jaded towards others, becoming more irritable as the days went by. Soon, it was bad enough that his parents caught on, but Charming and Cinderella had no idea what to do with their son that they no longer recognized. They tried to get through to him, but Cassidy was untouched by their attempts to break through to him.

So they sent him away.

At boarding school, Cassidy had no pretense to keep, no facade of who he'd been before. No one knew anything besides the fact that he was the son of Cinderella and Charming, and it was freeing. Cassidy was able to be grumpy and jaded without anyone thinking that he was suddenly, radically different. Instead, the other students were initially shocked that a prince could be so jaded and harsh, but quickly grew to just understand that that was who he was. Not many tried to do anything to get to know him, instead just staying out of his way for fear of angering the brooding boy whose initial bullies quickly proved to be an example of what would happen if you messed with him; no one knew what exactly happened, but after messing with Cassidy, each bully had something terrible happen to him. That quickly made most steer clear of the prince, which was what he wanted. Though he still kept his magic a secret, feeling some sense of fidelity to his mother and not wishing to see her exposed and punished for her crimes (and not wishing to hurt his father figure, Charming, by revealing the truth of his mother's deception), Cassidy didn't mind. It was something he didn't want to share anyways; his magic was his, something no one else knew about, and something about having it as his secret made it special and precious. It worked out well.

The few that did press through Cassidy's cold exterior, however, quickly found a boy who was ultimately quite clueless in interacting with others. The prince had never had a proper friendship, and so became so standoffish because he did not want to risk being hated. He has a severe lack of trust for others, but also has a deep seated wish to be accepted that he has repressed to a point where he barely even realizes it is there, since he is seemingly doing everything in his power to be rejected and isolated. He often says exactly what he is feeling as bluntly as possible to those he's close too, and does not often outwardly show many emotions besides irritation. He is working on being a bit more delicate in his presentation, depending on what he is going to say, if it's someone he actually cares about that he is speaking to. He also has proven himself to be quite good at reading other people's emotions, and is fairly decent at reading others' motivations, though his pessimistic view of what motivates others tends to skew things so that he only sees the negative ulterior motives. Still, Cassidy ultimately is an awkward boy who sees the world in a poor light due to circumstance and so has tried to close himself off to others. And if you can make it through his tough, outer shell, you'll find a fiercely loyal, honest friend who will protect you by whatever means necessary, one who is intelligent and stubborn and grumpy and motivated and an absolute mess to deal with, but a good friend nonetheless.

[Firedancer77]

What Prince Cassidy is capable of doing with his magic:

• Spinning straw (among other thread-like objects) into gold
• Making magically-binding deals
• Temporarily transforming something's (or someone's) appearance
• Making items appear and disappear (these items come from/go to a different place - they are not just created from thin air)
• Convincing others to do what he wants
• Short distance teleportation

He is not quite sure what he will be able to do with his magic as he grows and continues to hone it, but he can sense that he is not done growing, and that he (and his magic) will get more powerful with time.

[Firedancer77]

Sinners by Lauren Aquilina - A song that essentially sums up how Cassidy came to be. Cinderella knew she wasn't meant to be with Rumplestiltskin, but she was anyways, and Cassidy is the result of that.

The Dark by Beth Crowley - Cassidy's magic is not...good magic. It's not the light magic of fairy tales that grants wishes on stars. Much like his father, Cassidy's magic is dark, and though he once feared the stories he heard about those with dark magic, now Cassidy experiences it himself, and he does not fear it like he once did. Even though everyone around him warned (and warns) against dark magic, they don't know that Cassidy has already dealt in it, that he practically breathes it, and though he does not trust it, he wants to master it so that he can. He doesn't know what effect it will have on him, but he will find out, if not for any reason but because he wants to see what it can and will do. It doesn't scare him anymore, not the way it used to.

My Version of You by Beth Crowley - When Cassidy finally meets his dad, it will feel perfect. Rumplestiltskin will be everything he dreamed of...until he isn't. Cassidy has all these expectations of what his father will be like, and in the end, Rumplestiltskin will not fit that picture. The dream he's had of having a mentor, someone who understands him, a father who knows what he's going through, will be shattered when he realizes that the life Rumplestiltskin chose is not a life Cassidy wishes to follow. And when he realizes that, it's going to crush him.

Midnight by Beth Crowley - This is essentially how Cassidy envisions a conversation revealing his origins going. To reveal he is not a true heir to the throne, that he has dark magic, that he is the son of Rumplestiltskin and Cinderella, would have so many rippling effects. He doesn't know what such a revelation would do to him, and if he's being honest, he doesn't want to find out. However, if he were to trust someone enough to tell them, and believe that it wouldn't change how they looked at him, maybe, just maybe, he could tell them. He just prays no one finds out without him choosing for them to do so.