A little info before you read. The Disney characters are based off the original animated movies and none of the sequels. For the first two chapters I know some people may not recognize the names of the Evil Queen and Prince Charming from Snow White but that is their original names even though never mentioned in the movies. Some people know this already but others don't. I wanted to give all characters a personality. They are true to their animated characters from the movies but there is more to them. It's not like Once Upon a Time, I changed circumstances but not personalities. Don't sell them short though they all have strong personalities
The air was chilly. Snow White shivered as cold water dripped from the trees and fell on her arms. She pulled her blue cloak tightly around her shoulders as her brown horse trotted nervously. It wasn't the cold rain that was making her shiver. Snow White couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was ridiculous. The last time she felt this kind of terror, was the day she fled into the dark forest. That was the day she found out from the huntsman that her stepmother wanted her dead and she was vulnerable, all alone in the world.
The evil queen was killed five years ago, so the uneasy feeling didn't make any sense. There was nothing left to fear…or was there? Why did these people request to meet her in the wood alone? Who were they and what did they want? Snow White and her husband Florian had been hearing rumors of strange evil occurrences going on by passing travelers. They received a letter from another kingdom, they desperately wanted to meet Snow White, the queen of this land.
Snow White rode slowly and cautiously on the trail. Her brown horse, Gentle Bear, suddenly backed up as if startled. Snow White tried to soothe him but she too was alarmed as a black horse appeared in the mist. At first Snow White was frightened til she saw the woman rider. She was the most beautiful woman Snow White had ever seen. She had hair that was long and gold like the sun. Her cheeks were bright and rosy, her lips red as a rose on the kind face. The woman wore a regal sky blue gown, dark blue cloak and a shiny crown in her hair. Along side the woman approached another horse, this one was white with a young man on it. He was dressed like a royal knight with sliver armor and a red cape.
Snow White was weary of these strangers and backed away slightly. The woman put up her hand. "It's ok don't be afraid! We mean you no harm." She said to Snow White kindly.
The man gave her a calculating look. "Are you Snow White? The queen of this land?"
Snow White began to relax but only a little, these must be the ones she was supposed to meet. "I am. You must be King Philip and…Queen Aurora?"
The woman looked slightly uncomfortable. "You can just call me Aurora…though I think I prefer Rose since it was the only name I've ever known til recently."
"Never mind." Philip waved his head impatiently. "We didn't mean to alarm you or King Florian your majesty, but a familiar darkness threatens to reappear. I thought that it was best that you be aware of it, for it may be heading this way."
"What is this evil? Why request to meet me in secret like this?"
"Well, we didn't want to lure our enemies to your kingdom." Aurora replied. " You can't trust anyone these days. Evil seems to find it's way and we needed to be sure we could trust you, and you are who you say. Also the reason we asked to meet with you because we wanted to ask if the rumors were true. That there was this princess, the most fairest in the land whom was woken from a sleeping curse. Is it true? Are you that princess?"
If Snow White's face wasn't already so white it would have been pale. The dark sleep was not a topic she wished to discuss. "Er…yes but what does that have to do with anything?"
Aurora bit her lip, "Because…we have some experience with sleeping curses. We believe that both our experiences may be linked."
"Yes," Philip nodded. " The curse on my wife was caused by a dark fairy by the name of Maleficent. I defeated her over three years ago and we all assumed she was dead. However from what we were told by the good fairies…they fear she maybe returning. Dark magic is on the rise, there are mystical forces at work. The fairies are uneasy. The dark magic is growing stronger."
Snow White didn't want to believe such evil was coming but these royals seemed sincere with their concern. Something was wrong, especially if they had to leave their kingdom.
"I don't know of Maleficent" Snow White said. "The only such curse that I fell under was caused by Queen Grimhilde, my stepmother. She poisoned an apple that put the sleeping curse on me when I bit into it. I think I would feel much better though if we discussed this at the castle with my husband."
"But the dark magic what if it follows us? You will bring danger to your people,"
Philip began to protest
It was Snow White's turn to reassure them. She smiled " Our castle in the clouds is protected with white magic and charms." She explained. "Florian's father took precautions when the evil queen ruled my kingdom. They still did trades with my kingdom but naturally they didn't trust her due to her practice in the dark arts. Evil will not be able to penetrate the kingdom gates, it would be safer if we don't discuss such matters out in the open like this."
"Please lead the way then." Aurora began to shiver, and had the same look of fear on her face. She didn't want to be out here any more than Snow White did.
Without another word Snow White led the way back to her home. It was a silent and rather tense ride. Snow White felt almost certain that she could trust Philip and Aurora but her history of trusting strangers made her doubt her judgement. Still what Snow White said was true, if they were evil Philip and Aurora wouldn't be able to cross the gate of the kingdom.
When they arrived in the surrounding village of her castle, the subjects all looked at her with adoration as they always have when they laid eyes on her. Snow White smiled warmly at them, she always ordered them to never bow to her but to just smile and say hello. This time they bowed, but she suspected it was for King Philip and Queen Aurora. They were so elegant and far more regal than even Snow White's stepmother ever was.
"Your people are so charming Snow White." Aurora said with awe, "They seem as kind as you, you must be a wonderful queen."
Snow White blushed "I don't know about that."
"My dear you are a great queen too." Philip told Aurora pointedly. "The people have loved you since the day you were born."
Aurora sighed, "It still doesn't feel real to me Philip, I can't help but feel like that."
They finally arrived in the court yard of the castle where they were greeted by King Florian. The first thing he did was approach his wife and embrace her in his arms the moment she dismounted her horse. He had not wanted her to go out alone but Snow White insisted that he stay behind. This was his home more than it was hers. The people needed him. Snow White had been terrified to go out alone, but for the love of her people she had decided to obey their request. She wanted to be sure to earn their trust first.
"I'm fine my dear husband." Snow White said reassuringly. She let out a sigh of relief, she felt safe to be back in Florian's arms. He always made her feel safe.
"I can't help but worry about you my gentle lady." Florian stroked her cheek, " Not since the time I thought I lost you forever."
"Please let me introduce to you the king and queen from across the sea." Snow White said. "This is Philip and Aurora, they have important matters to discuss with us."
"My apologies," Florian addressed their guests as Philip helped Aurora off her horse. "I was concerned for my wife." He shook Philip's hand, and kissed Aurora's hand lightly.
"There is no need for apologies, I understand." Philip held Aurora's hand and looked at her tenderly.
"Let us go to the dining hall shall we? You must need food and drink after your long journey. Or perhaps you should find a room to rest in first?"
"I fear there is no time for rest." Philip sighed.
"Then let us discuss this over dinner and wine shall we?" Florian lead the way into the castle and addressed his servant "Please send for food and wine for our guests Gustav. To the small dining hall."
Philip and Aurora followed them into the dining hall, it was small with a round table. This was the place Snow White and Florian liked to dine alone together."
Florian waited for the wine till he spoke. " I understand there is a problem we need to discuss. It must be quite serious for you to abandoned your kingdom."
"My mother is still alive and she is overseeing the kingdom. The good fairies will protect her." Aurora explained. "The darkness has not been seen yet in this part of the world yet, but it is coming from the south. We actually believe it will make it's way to the north, your kingdom will be hit before ours. It is still unclear when though.That is why we came to warn you. The only thing we know is that Maleficent may return by dark magic, and the only place we know that may have any signs of dark magic is close to your kingdom. We came to investigate and to ask you some questions. Mostly we are quite curious about the sleeping curse that you were under." She looked to Snow White.
Snow White flushed and looked away from Aurora. Philip drew in a breath of frustration "Snow White please there is no-"
"Enough Philip," Aurora said sharply. "I'm starting to think perhaps what happened to me isn't similar after all. Snow White was poisoned by a potion. However it was different for me."
Florian raised his eyebrows, "How is it different? You were woken up from the sleeping curse the same way were you not Aurora?"
"It wasn't really a curse though. Wasn't it a merely dark prophecy?" She looked to Philip.
"You maybe right." Philip looked disappointed. "Snow White may have already confirmed our suspicion, which makes things more troubling. Maleficent was a dark fairy that made dark prophecies and wishes. She created the prophecy of Aurora's death that was only overturned because a good fairy created a loophole. Instead of death, Aurora would just be in a sleeping state until love's first kiss could wake her."
A light shone in Snow White's eyes. "Oh so it was the same! Everything turned out fine in the end. Love is supposed to be light of the world that defeats darkness."
Philip sighed, "You don't seem to know much about fairies. Fairies create wishes, they are powerful on their own without having to practice magic for they are born with it. Good fairies have moral and ethical limits, but of course dark fairies like Maleficent did not. There are dark sorcerers in this world that have practiced magic and possibly learned some dark curses from her."
"So you believe that the evil queen learned how to create the poison from Maleficent? That perhaps she learned magic through her?" Florian asked. "What makes you think so?"
Aurora looked sad as she spoke, "Not long before my father died he told us something odd about Maleficent. The year I turned fifteen, just one year before the prophecy came to pass, there was some strange activity coming from the forbidden mountain. He said the rage coming from there was beyond terrible. Well at first my father and the kingdom thought Maleficent was angry because my whereabouts still remained unknown. It turns out it wasn't the case."
"Apparently the good fairies and everyone else didn't realize til much later that once a prophecy is made there is no stopping it. Well the good fairies I suppose knew that but they hoped that somehow by hiding Aurora they would prevent it. That was their mistake. Maleficent didn't need to find her, she wasn't concerned about her dark prophecy not coming true. You see the rage wasn't because Aurora wasn't found. King Stefan, my father King Hubert and our kingdoms all heard the rumors about Snow White. That she had died and yet somehow woke up by a kiss. The year Aurora turned fifteen, Snow White had woken not long before that. Maleficent was worried. Her prophecy would still come true but she feared that it would be reversed."
Finally Snow White began to understand, "So she realized that love was more powerful than she thought. Maleficent had a good reason to worry then!"
"Exactly. The only reason she wanted to find me was to keep an eye on me. If I were to fall in love, Maleficent had to take care of the situation. The day before I returned to my kingdom she finally discovered me and learned about Philip so she had him kidnapped. That way he couldn't break it." Aurora said.
"I'm kind of surprised she didn't just kill me." Philip shuddered Snow White could tell this incident haunted him still. "I think what she wanted was to keep me locked away forever and watch me suffer, that was part of her pleasure I suppose. Thankfully though I had some help from the good fairies."
Florian took a sip of his wine and looked thoughtful. "Hmm…I still don't understand what makes you think she can come back. She was killed."
" Flora, one of the good fairies, told me of a strange dark cloud forming from a far away land." Aurora replied. "There was an evil disturbance. She told me dark tales of the things Maleficent could do. She thinks Maleficent may have created a resurrection spell. However only a human can do it, and the only way to finish the spell is with these three books called The Fire Dark Books."
"You think someone is trying to resurrect her? Why would anyone want to, seeing how horrible she was?" Snow White shook her head in disbelief.
"It could be from a person who can only get what they want through Maleficent. She works the same way a fairy godmother would, she grants people wishes but they could be terrible and mean ill will to others. Maleficent would grant any dark wish for anyone. As you can imagine, wishes could be out of hatred, jealousy or desire for revenge. These are things a fairy godmother would never do. Fairy godmothers only help those who deserve it most and never grant a wish that would cause harm, not even to their enemies."
Snow White look horrified. "Imagine the horrors Maleficent could cause! We can't let this happen! Florian?"
Florian put his arm around her in reassurance, "It's ok, I am here." He said gently to her.
"These books you speak…you say there is a curse that can help bring people back to life?"
"Flora said it only resurrects fairies, not people. However because it's such a forbidden curse a good fairy will lose their soul and become evil. Bringing anyone from the dead is a crime against nature." Aurora said.
"But what does that say for-" Snow White said.
Aurora smiled, "Technically you weren't dead! That was the work of dark magic, also unnatural. Dark magic can be defeated by light remember? I guess I should have explained it better. Anyway, Flora also told us these three Fire Dark Books have different curses in them but the resurrection spell is so big that each part of it is in three different books. So basically someone would need all three books to translate and preform the ritual. It's not an easy spell to cast, but Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are extremely worried that someone will get a hold of those books if they hadn't already done so... They can detect the future, especially if there is darkness on the horizon. Someone is determined to make it happen."
"Do you have any idea who?" Florian asked worriedly.
"We don't know who yet" Philip said. " But we think one of her books may be nearby…in Queen Grimhilde's castle. Your castle Snow White."
There was an uncomfortable silence as they all stared at Snow White. She was looking straight ahead as if not listening. Her mind seemed to be a million miles away. She looked disturbed.
"My dear?" Florian addressed her looking worried.
"That place." Snow White whispered. "That dark awful room. I went in there when I was a child some time after my father died. There was this black book…I touched it and it burned my hand. It felt like fire! I had to put my hand in the water. Down in those rooms she kept her potions. Skulls and skeleton bones were everywhere. When she caught me down there she was livid! I never went back but I believe you about the book! She must have had something like it!"
"Do you think it's still there?"Philip asked.
"I never went back there, I couldn't even go there after she passed. I was too afraid."
Florian looked to Philip, "I have investigated Queen Grimhilde's castle many times. I found her hidden passage when she never returned. That was when I tried to find Snow White. I found the same room she described, and there were many books and potion vials. I may have noticed one book that didn't look like it had been worn or even used. It looked flawless as if new."
"Was it black? With a red symbol on it?" Philip asked urgently.
Florian tried to think. "I couldn't bring myself to touch it or even be near it. It was a weird feeling. I think from what Snow White said about the book she mentioned, if it was the same book I saw, it couldn't be touched. I didn't know what to make of it but if there is such forbidden magic that must be it."
"King Florian I insist we head over to that castle immediately. I don't know where the other books are being held but if we can get our hands on this one we may be able to stop this abomination. If Maleficent returns the whole world will be in danger." Philip stood up from his chair.
Florian stood too, "I agree. I fear we have no time for rest. I must hurry and prepare for the journey."
"I-will come as well." Snow White said her eyes full of terror.
"No I know how her castle terrifies you-"
"It's not her castle it's mine. Or at least my father's. Grimhilde was nothing more than a monster dwelling in it. No this is my responsibility as well. Had I been brave enough to go back I could have gotten rid of her evil domain in the dungeons long ago. I should have burned that book myself."
"I think we are all in this together," Aurora said. "We all need to be there for our kingdoms, this dark magic is something we must stop. I think we need to give Snow White and Florian time to prepare for the journey. How far away is this castle?"
"It's only a day and half. We only need few provisions."
"That settles it." Snow White said firmly. "I will go and get the appropriate clothes and Florian ready our horses?"
"Yes and I will have Gustav send food for the journey."
Snow White left the dining hall and went to her room. Aurora had followed and offered to help. Snow White gathered a large sack and made sure to put in a warmer cloak for Florian. She also needed to find gloves and other warm clothing.
"You may need better riding shoes." Aurora advised. "Traveling these past days made me thankful I brought boots. They may not be pretty princess shoes but they are practical and actually comfortable."
"I think Florian may have some from his youth I can borrow." Snow White said as she searched the closet.
She was feeling rattled and her hands seem to be shaking. While she tried to hide it, Aurora couldn't help but notice.
"Hey are you ok?" Aurora asked.
"Yeah I guess." Snow White stared at Florian's blue cloak as if not really looking at it.
"Is it going back to the Queen's castle that's bothering you?"
"I don't know, I think it's more than that. Um Aurora can I ask you a personal question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to…but…"
Aurora raised her eyebrows, "What is it?"
"Did you have nightmares? When you were, you know, under the sleeping curse?"
"Nightmares? I don't think so. None that I can remember." Aurora said thoughtfully. "Why do you ask? Did you?"
Snow White bit her lip. "Yes, all the time. Not only that but I still get them. So it isn't normal is it?" Her heart fell.
Aurora put a comforting arm on her, "What kind of nightmares?"
"Well when I was under the curse, I had strange images of…I'm not sure what they were. Maybe ghosts? Frightening monsters? There was this god he called himself the God of Death. I felt like I was swimming in this pool of water, constantly swimming. I couldn't stop and it was dark. When I go to sleep at night, they still appear."
"Is it every night?" Aurora asked.
"No…but most nights."
"Have you told your husband about these nightmares?"
"No, but once or twice I woke up screaming and he comforted me. Florian assumes that it was just a random nightmare. I never told him though. I don't want to burden him."
Aurora gave her a sympathized look "How awful! I think maybe it was because of Merryweather I didn't have those nightmares. It seemed that Maleficent was just punishing everyone else and I was just a pawn in her whole revenge scheme. I suppose she would have had me suffer had she thought about it. If Maleficent herself created it, she was likely the reason you suffered."
"Yeah I'm sure Queen Grimhilde would have been overjoyed had she known about the extra torment."
"What was it that she had against you anyway? It couldn't have been the crown, she was legally the queen til her death am I right?"
Snow White nodded as she put clothes into the sack. "The huntsman said she was jealous of me. That she had gotten completely mad with it. I know she never liked me very much, but I never thought she hated me enough to want to kill me."
"How old were you when your father died?"
"I was ten years, my father went on a mission and he was killed by a wild animal." Snow White answered.
"And your mother?"
"Died while giving birth to me."
Aurora frowned and sat on Snow White's bed, as if unsure what to do.
Snow White suddenly was concerned. Poor Aurora must have been exhausted, it was such a long journey after all.
"Would you like to rest for a bit? Maybe you should, it must have been a long time since you slept."
Aurora scoffed "I think I'm fine, I had plenty of that remember?"
"You just seem weary."
"I'm fine, I was just thinking." Aurora looked at Snow White oddly. "You know, what Maleficent did to me and my parents was bad enough. She caused our separation, she stole our past. I never had a childhood with them, and I know how much that hurt them more than it did me. I never think about the prophecy too much because the very thought scared me. You know the saying that ignorance is bliss? I think I finally understand it."
Snow White nodded and sat on the bed with her. "Yes, I know what you mean. It felt like my world had turned upside down the moment the huntsman almost killed me and told me to run. It was shocking and terrifying…but things ended up working out in the end. My life wouldn't be what it is now."
"I know. I just feel so foolish for being angry now though." Aurora had a look of guilt in her eyes.
"What were you angry about?"
"Well from being lied to, one minute you are a peasant girl living with her aunts, next thing I know I'm a princess going home. I knew nothing of the curse til it broke. Now…what was I so mad about? I was loved, cared for my whole life. The good fairies loved me as their own, and they kept me safe. You on the other hand, well you were all alone. There was nobody there for you except a cruel stepmother. You were her servant, and she tormented you all that time. I just can't imagine all you went through. Yet here you are, this sweet loving caring person. I don't think you realize how strong you are, to be who you are despite everything."
Snow White looked sad, "It seems we have both suffered in different ways. I think what upsets you most is that you didn't have the time with your parents. I learned in life it isn't the amount of time that matters, its what you do with the time. You got to meet your father and know him, as short lived as it was. I think its sad to be victims of such evil creatures. We did nothing wrong except simply exist. But we are loved Aurora, we have friends and we meet new people everyday. Despite the circumstances I'm glad to have met you and Philip. I knew you were good the moment I met you. I suppose my intuition isn't so bad after all."
Aurora smiled, "It probably isn't. Come on, lets hurry and put a stop to this monster from before she is resurrected!"