OH NO! What the hell is this?! I wrote another fic when I'm supposed to be updating my fics?! Well, I can't help myself. I've got an active imagination and if I can't write down what's on my head, I would get a headache. That's my problem and why I got many in-progress fics in my profile.

As the title suggest, this story will talk about love. But unfortunately, I'm not talking about romantic love. At least, not yet. We'll be talking about other types of love rather than romantic love. Why not romantic love? Well, that's on me I guess. I can't write romance—the type that implies passion between lovers and also because I'm not interested about it. Instead, I'm more fascinated the other types of it. And I've been wanting to write about it and I thought this would be my opportunity.

Alright, enough with all the talks! Let's get on with the full summary below!

Chapter unedited. There might be some mistakes.

Arise, BRANDO

A story of fairy tale… a tale of every young women's dream.
A prince; a charming individual and a dashing smile with a penchant for various topic.
A blushing maid; a damsel in distress who wanted to be saved, wanting to leave her stifling home.
And most of all…
Love; an unconditional emotion between lovers.
A kind of tale that transcends fiction and reality. Even existing in dreams.
Yes… even if it was only a dream, for this particular maiden, it was already more than enough.

Helen Brando neé Victorious was satisfied with her life. She fell in love and married the man she loves. She ran away from her home when her parents disapproves of their passion and now lives in the home with the man she loves. And a growing seed is budding within her, created by the union between her and the man she loves.

Ah… it was like a dream come true.

This everlasting love between her and the man she loves… she hoped it will stay forever, unchangingly and ceaselessly. With this growing life that was planted within her, it would surely make their love in each other last for eternity. As long as she will nurture this, as long as she will cherish the child as it comes out in this world, she will love the child the same as she cared for the man she loves.

And she hoped… that the man she loves also thought the same thing as her, loving and caring the child created by their passionate union.

And it will be a dream she looked forward into the future.

Helen conceived a child with hair and eyes of gold. It was a boy, a healthy baby boy, crying in her bosom. Seeing and hearing her baby crying beside her, she can't stop the tears flowing from her eyes. This child is the symbol of union between her and the man she loves and he finally came in this world. She will protect him and nurture as he will grow until his adulthood. This baby boy will be her symbol of conviction.

And then another one came in their doorstep. A healthy baby girl with hair and eyes as white as pearl.

It was a strange newborn child, an albino, her distant memory recalled but doesn't seem to be one since the child wasn't white as sheet, only fair and not looking sickly at all. But despite of the baby girl's bizarre complexion, she accepted her as if she was her own child.

The boy's name will be Dio after the brilliant Diamond, and the Italian word of God. The girl's name will be Sky after the Heavenly Sky, symbolizing the home where Gods dwell. And both of them will be the catalyst of the bond between her and the man she loves.

But that night, they got into a quarrel for the first time.

It has been a year since the baby siblings came to Helen and they had grown into healthy small children. Dio has the potential to grow into a strong and brilliant boy, she witnessed it when he can walked and stand on his own and can already form sentences, although still gibberish, with 'mama', 'papa', even the formal 'mother', 'father', but one thing that stand out the most was when Dio pointed at his father and said to him, 'croak', which immediately broke her into tears of laughter because Dio just unknowingly called his father a frog.

But unfortunately, his father and the man she loves didn't agree at Dio's accidental humor. For some reason, ever since the babies, their relationship has turned into a bad state. He always smells alcohol whenever he comes into bed and sometimes doesn't arrive home and only comes back in the morning. There's a certain itch in the back of her head at the signs she can see that maybe… maybe he… but she refused to believe. Despite his bad side, she knows that the man she loves is still there.

And as for Sky… the girl was always the subject of Helen's worry. She can definitely see the same potential as Dio, slowly catching up to him as she can stand up on her own but at times, she can't balance herself and just crawl. But the cause of her worry was because the girl easily cry over smallest thing like loudly closing the door as if she was startled. She was hard to comfort compared to Dio and it takes hours to calm her down until she falls asleep from exhaustion of her cries.

That wasn't the thing that worried her the most. In fact, it was because she won't speak at all. Even though she can make small noises like yelping and crying, even laugh at some point but she can't talk—even only as gibberish or maybe even just a single word, there was nothing at all.

She wondered if there's something wrong with her. But she can't see anything from her. Was there a cause of her silence? Is she afraid of talking? Was there something she was afraid of?

She doesn't know. All she can hope when she grows up, she will finally speak.

Helen can see Dio will grow up to be a handsome man. With his blonde hair and gold eyes that enhances his look, she knows he will become a charming man. He would become someone's prince—to a princess with fair kindness. And then, they would fall in love with each other, lived together and had children. Ah… what a perfect future. It would be too good to be true. But she can't force her own vision to him, she knows he has his own will and his own grasp of future. She can't control him with every things he will do but she wanted him to have a good future and not live through suffering.

She never wanted him or Sky to suffer, the kind of suffering she experienced under the man she loves. Three years of drinking and coming home late at night, violence eventually became a prominent occurrence since then. But she was fine with it. As long as he does it in their bedroom, obscured from the eyes of the siblings—their children, she is determined to endure it. He may order her to drag herself in the mud, bathe herself in a dirty river, she trust that the man she loves is still there. He's just there, hidden behind his eyes, hidden within his crooked attitude.

She trust him.

But despite herself, there are times her trust would wane—sometimes spontaneously when they had their usual fights. But in the end, she's still firm of her trust of him. She will never give up on him. And the reason why she never gave up is because of Sky.

Even though she still haven't spoken a single word ever since, the girl would always hug her every morning, eventually turning into a routine that she found herself looking forward when morning comes as if Sky knew she was in pain, easing her into her soft comfort of embrace. She would held her in her arms in return, silently crying at the crown of her head and allowed herself to drown in her tears.

If Dio is her Dream, then Sky is her Hope.

Just like her brother, she can see a beautiful woman that will be turning heads of every men in the room. But compared to Dio, her beauty is more ethereal, possibly enhanced by her white hair and steel gray eyes. Helen wondered about Sky's biological parents to have this waiflike appearance of hers but she guessed that didn't matter anymore. If they abandoned her in their doorstep, they must have no longer needed her and rejected her by turning her into a Brando.

But still, it worries her. She doesn't want her daughter to grown up mute. She knows she can speak but Sky preventing herself from doing it for some reason. Every time she would teach Dio how to read and write, she would bring her in their session, hoping that through her lesson, she would speak—even just for a single word and it would be more than enough. But instead, she found out that Sky was a proficient in writing than Dio who was proficient in speaking.

Losing all hope, she decided to take the last straw as she went to church and prayed.

Then one year later, Sky finally spoke.

Helen had started wearing longer dresses with longer sleeves. The reason was already obvious. She is determined to not show anything to her children—their children. She refused to show any signs of marks under her garments. She will stay defiant until the end.

The beatings had worsen everyday ever since she had become a devout follower of church. The reason behind it was more than enough. It was to give thanks to the Lord for the miracle He bestowed to her daughter who can finally speak and is catching fast to Dio, her brother in their lesson as she found out that Sky was a fast learner. She thankful of all the things He granted upon them.

The man she… no, Dario had become an abusive husband and she hoped he would stay that way, not inflicting pain to their... does he even see the siblings, especially Sky as their children? But that doesn't matter. The fact that he haven't raised a hand against them was more than enough.

The lesson she gave to the siblings became lessen since she became a follower. But she made sure in every spare time she got, she would dedicate herself to Dio and Sky, teaching everything she had learned when she still under the grasp of her parents, bringing them books to read for them.

It was probably the happiest moment in her life. Even though she was free from her own delusions of love but she was still tied to it. But that didn't matter. Seeing how her children growing brilliantly on their own.

She hoped it will stay like this forever, unchangingly and ceaselessly.

But two years later, everything came into worse. When Helen came home from the usual session from the church, she was shocked at the sight of Dio tending the bloodied red cheek of Sky. She went to them and asked what happened. Sky answered—and admitted that she was bullied by other children, the wound on her cheek was the aftermath when Sky fought back against them. Dio attested with her, telling his mother that he encouraged Sky to fight back if everything has gone into worse.

She wanted to scold both of them. Dio for telling his sister to get into fight and Sky for her unladylike behavior but she decided against it. Scolding is not what they wanted, especially for Sky as Helen attended her wounds before her daughter went for a bath, leaving her and Dio in the living room.

And then Dio told her the truth.

"It's not a bully. She wasn't bullied the whole time. It was Father who did it."

And her blood boiled in anger.

It was the first time she dominated an argument against Dario. She screamed louder than him, fought harder than him, cursed vulgarly than him; it was the first time she felt this kid of exhilaration—fueled in rage for the sake of her daughter. If only, if only, he didn't raise his hand against Sky, this side of her would not have awaken. Her anger was not perverse nor driven with pettiness, she's genuine having a war against her abusive husband who had made her life miserable ever since Dio and Sky came to their lives.

So this is why they said a mother's rage is not to be underestimated.

That's what Helen realized through their dispute as Dario ignored her for the following days before he'd go back to his abusive self.

In the following year, Helen noticed her deteriorating health. The figure that she been proudly nurturing since her youth was now barely there, the outline of her ribs was getting more prominent if she stands in front of her mirror and her former unblemished skin was now covered in abuse and bruises.

To think she got this in return for the sake of love… It wasn't funny. She can't even find an irony about it. She wanted to scold her foolish self, go back in time and slap herself silly that not all fairy tales ends in happy ending, especially if you fall in love to a wrong person.

She sighed. The more she stays with Dario, the more her days gets numbered. But she had to stay strong, she still had Dio and Sky to take care herself. She can't trust Dario with them living under his thumb, she won't allow that to happen. She can't let him influence them with his… smelly, foul attitude and grow into a mentally unstable adults.

Don't dwell in the negatives, stay positive! She reminded herself. Even though she's no longer frequently went the church, no longer a devout follower, she still visits the church whenever she had time since she had dedicated herself to teach Dio and Sky to various, complicated topics upon their request. And she can't exactly refuse their call.

It was a short-lived happiness as she found out in the following months that she had an incurable illness.

Helen won't tell them. They can't know the truth. It will only sadden them. Dario especially doesn't need to know. He doesn't deserve it. She don't want his pity if he suddenly pretends to care about her today then slap her senselessly for tomorrow. And if he does care, she wanted him to suffer through it. He can cry to her, apologize to her, and beg for forgiveness to her but no matter what, she will never return the gesture. He would have to do that when she was already in her grave.

It has been a year since she found out about her sickness. Incurable might not be the right word about her sickness; they still haven't found out the cure of it. Some medicine are still in its testing stages so they can't carelessly give it away, especially to a commoner woman like her, fearing that it might worsen the illness instead of curing it.

Putting that grim thought aside, Dio and Sky are now eight years old. If they were born in noble family, Dio would definitely come out as top student, mastering everything without a sweat. And Sky would closely follow after him, a student so good at everything yet not mastering all of it. Helen can attest to that as their personal teacher, home schooling them.

The problem about Sky's muteness was no longer there, even though there are still moments of silence but at least it was a contemplative silence. And she had a terrible penchant for asking questions in curiosity; if you don't answer her questions immediately, she will follow you stubbornly until she got her answer. But at least it was more than enough, she was no longer preventing herself to speak. Helen accepted that attitude and she eventually found it as a charming side about her.

Ah… seeing her children growing into a healthy young man and woman—she wished she can see that future. She wanted to witness their experiences in life, teach them how to overcome it, lift them up if they feel down and push them forward to the future—she wanted to become their observer. If her illness takes her first than her will to survive, she had no choice. Every organism in this world dies at some point and the human beings are no different. She will accept death and she doesn't fear it. She will resign to it if the Grim Reaper decides it is finally her time to pass on.

Perhaps that resignation of hers influenced her at some point, where Helen no longer fights back against Dario. She eventually thought to herself that if she is going to die soon, might as well Dario hasten it with his abuse. Just like her, Dario will die soon but despite herself, she was no killer—she refuse to go down in the path of darkness and killing him would be too good for him. She wanted him to suffer greatly by living miserably.

With all those thoughts swirling intensely in her brain, she sat beside the window, gazing outside the window and listening to the heavy rain from the graying skies. The sky is crying. She chuckled humorlessly at her own metaphor. With all the vast clouds above the heavens, there is no way the sky is crying for her. She's just a single mortal in this endless world, dwelled by beings with different standings and understandings how the world works. And there's no way the world knows about her, the feelings she carried, the hardships she carried, the wounds she bear, it can't possibly cry for her, let alone the sky.

She sighed. But still, she is tired. She is tired of everything. She wanted to give up. She wanted to leave but she can't. She bring herself to walk away from the man whom she loved in the past because… she laughed, because there's a certain part of her that still cared about him.

What a bad joke. What a life she had led herself into. Despite Dario had mistreated her multiple times, she still… still… but she can understand. Strangely, she can understand why she feels like that. After all, she is the man she chose and continued to stick with him, who else would she latched into? She gave her affections to him, gave up her noble status for him and surrendered her body to him, why would she not give up on him?

Because her pride would not allow her.

She wanted to laugh at her own realization. Unbelievable, it was almost unreasonable but she can understand. Of course, she can understand. Who else who can know about herself but herself? It was laughable. Her life was a comedy, and people will surely laugh at her. She was pathetic and foolish, to the point where her foolishness led her life. It was a one big joke that she can't help but laugh to herself.

No matter. That realization won't change a thing. Sooner or later, she will die soon. With all the burdens she carried and the awareness she recognized about herself, she will carry it to the grave.

It was time to rest, leaning back at her chair. She is tired for today and the siblings are already fast asleep. And when tomorrow comes, everything will continue as usual.

She closed her eyes as she drowned in her dreams.

And the last thing she can remember is her Sky crying beside her.

She smiled.

Helen Victorious… even if she didn't lead a victorious life, she was satisfied enough.
For now, the curtain falls for our fallen princess.
The story will continue at the perspective of our main characters, Dio and Sky.

*writes Dio is her Dream, Sky is her Hope part* *Hopes and Dreams from Undertale suddenly plays*

Man, this was depressing as hell to write… this might be the first time I wrote a chapter where it spirals into a character's death…

Anyway, when is the next update, you might wonder? It depends how this chapter reception to you readers. Reviews, follows and favs is the lifeline of this story.