Elena's Choice
Chapter One
Elena may've had the body of a sixteen-year-old girl, but she was born fifty-seven years ago. And it didn't matter how developed her mind was-her body had been on this Earth for fifty-seven years without ever knowing one of life's greatest pleasures.
Well, she hadn't exactly been on Earth. The world inside the locket wasn't Earth-based really. It had so much magic…
But something was clearly wrong with Elena. Though she kept a straight face, met with ambassadors, planned events, spoke with the council about duties she needed to perform and other things that required being taken of, she felt dejected by something. But she couldn't tell her abuela or abuelo.
She had dreamed the night before that Isabellle hadn't been in the palace when Shuriki had taken over. Then when she walked in, instead of killing her as Shuriki had done to mami and papi, the evil sorceress erased Isabelle's memory, and Esteban's memory of her being his cousin.
In Elena's dream, Isabelle grew up not remembering Elena, or her grandparents, or her mami and papi. She didn't even recall her inventing spirit.
She grew up serving Shuriki, and then married Esteban…
Then when Elena came to rescue the kingdom, bring back music, make the place better for Jacquins…Isabelle fought against her. Now in her 50's, she was formidable…
"I'm your sister!" Elena pleaded. "You must remember me!"
"I'm an only child," Isabelle said. Then Shuriki came upon the scene and mocked Elena, who waved Shuriki's wand upon its owner.
"Where did you get that?" Shuriki asked.
"From someone who freed me from my prison. I've come to take back my kingdom."
"too bad, though," Shuriki sneered. "You can't use it."
Elena, as always, wanted to prove her wrong. She waved the wand, said the word she heard Shuriki use before, green smoke appeared…
But it hit Isabelle. And she fell on the ground, heaved over…
Elena rushed over to her and gave her a canteen. Isabelle miraculously wasn't dead, and she drank the water…and her appearance began to get younger and younger…
Till she stopped at Elena's age. And then Isabelle shouted her sister's name. They embraced. Shuriki stood over them, now, though, gleefully, with the wand. "Prepare to die!"
"Sis, we have to try something new to beat her!" Isabelle exclaimed.
"You mean like, run?" Elena asked.
"No," Isabelle said. "You're going to have to trust me."
She handed Elena a muffin, ordered her to eat it, and swallowed one herself.
Shuriki started to say the word. But Sofia ran in, grabbed her wand end and Shuriki was doing her best to shake her off…
Isabelle then pushed a goblet of tea toward Elena. The latter drank it, her first beverage in over forty years…
Then she felt a rumble in her butt. She looked askance at Isabelle.
"Trust me, and just fart," Isabelle said.
Elena, so happy to be with her sister, decided to obey this once. After all Isabelle was technically older than her even if they were both teenagers in appearance now..
Both of the girls farted, hard. They didn't hold back at all. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
YOOOOOOOOOIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
"Ick, Isabelle, your farts smell nasty," Elena said, though she wore a smile on her face.
"There's nothing Shuriki hates more than being dominated by teenagers, and here we are doing just that," Isabelle said.
When they turned around, both Shuriki and Sofia were standing stock-still as if frozen in place.
Elena ripped the wand out of Shuriki's hands, snapped it in two, and Shuriki fell away in a pile of dust. Sofia became unparalyzed, and the kingdom was saved…
But Elena woke up, and when she kept having this dream, she realized something serious was going on.
A week later though, a new dream came.
In this one, Naomi slipped into the palace at night and kidnapped Isabelle. She hid her in a broken down ship, gagged and tied up. Elena sent out search parties, checked with Isabelle's teacher, and looked for Isabelle herself. Nothing.
In the dream a month passed before Isabelle returned. When she did, she was bleeding in places, had a slash across her cheek, bruised on her abdomen. She looked horrific…
But she was smiling. And she invited Elena into her bedroom wanting complete privacy elsewise. When Elena heard about the kidnapping, she wanted to kick Naomi off the council and out of Avalor permanently.
"Please don't, sis," Isabelle begged. "She won't hurt me again. And if you ban her, I won't have anyone to fart on when I'm frustrated."
A moment before, Isabelle had been laughing hysterically as she told Elena how she had to flatulate when Naomi was about to slash her arm with a knife, and Naomi dropped the knife, clutching her nose…and after half an hour begged for more.
These were just dreams though. Naomi wasn't like that. Shuriki had been beaten by having all of Avalor come to take her on. Sure some of the circumstances were true. But Naomi was completely trustworthy…
However, Elena was neglecting to notice something about the dreams, or trying to ignore it. She desperately would not have wanted her mind to follow that trail.
The thought came to her one day, though, as she was signing a document Armando handed her, that maybe if she wrote down the dreams, she could understand them better.
So she started a dream journal. And then she thought way back…
The night before Shiruku came to the castle, Isabelle had accidentally let out a fart when playing a game with Elena. The latter had tried to ignore it, but the cute way Isabelle moved when she farted had grasped hold of her imagination…
And then she spent forty-one years in an amulet, being passed from princess to princess till she could find the one who could free her, who happened to be Sofia.
Then a few nights before these dreams started, Elena had read a book Mateo had loaned her. In it there was a story about this tree with a beehive. But the bees have abandoned the hive long ago, the story goes, and the tree is waiting for the right girl to come along, consume the honey and…
Become a farting princess.
Silly, right? As if trees had feelings…
Except that Elena wanted to ask Mateo about that story. But she also worried he might react in a negative way, or see her as revolting forever afterwards.
What had he said when he lent her the book? "Read this collection of stories when you have time. Then please ask me about any that pique your interest. I want you to make use of it."
There was a story about olaball, and one about fencing. One about Jaquins, and one about the Noblins.
Even a tale about the Fountain of Youth.
The recollection of which caused a very bad thought to enter Elena's head.
What if she ripped the petals of the aging flower from the island with the Fountain of Youth and put it in Isabelle's drink? Only until she was about Elena's age, and then they could go to the tree and Isabelle could eat the honey and become a major farter…
But that tree couldn't exist. Bees wouldn't abandon a hive. And it would hurt everyone to age Isabelle, even the young inventor herself might not like it.
And who the hell would want to be a fart princess?
Elena didn't have any answers. She hoped Mateo would, but how could she bring this subject to his attention without risk?
And most importantly of all, was she sane? She just wanted to smell Isabelle's fart.
Perhaps Zuzo would have an answer and wouldn't shun her afterward. She should chec with him.
Wait maybe she didn't have to do any of this. Perhaps she could just write it out. Stories: Isabelle fights worse and worse foes, improving her fart.
The Adventures of Fart Princess Isabelle, Defender of Avalor!
That would satisfy her craving. It had to. She would write them, in her spare time. But she'd have to keep them secret. Her entire reputation could be ruined if they were discovered.
She decided to write them in the old code Isabelle and her had made up. Well, mostly Isabelle. So only two people on Earth should be able to understand them.
And as she wrote the first chapter of one, she felt relieved. During her duties, she could focus better. She didn't feel that she was obsessing over her sister in an unhealthy way.
And best of all, no one would ever know about this side of Elena…
Or at least they wouldn't if all went well. But life could have its craziness, and things might not go well forever…
Like the day Mami and Papi died. Sure, Elena, abuelo, abuela, and most importantly Isabelle had been saved.
But things could've been prevented. Elena might've already lived a great deal of her life by now.
But then she wouldn't know Mateo or Naomi or Gabe. Or anyone else she had met since her return.
Whateer, she didn't regret nothing. She would write these stories,, to prevent something that would require regret from happening.
Good thing Isabelle only wore gowns as well, that helped Elena keep her cool…
But in storyland, Isabelle would fart. And villains would cower in fear, for Fart Princess is here.
She jotted that down. That'd be a great catchphrase.
"Please don't ever find this, Isabelle," Elena said, as she wrapped up the chapter half an hour later, before preparing for bed.