"We're all so glad you could finally join us, Merida." A dozen voices chimed sweetly. Princess Merida, the newest princess, shifted awkwardly in her seat and brushed a strand of fiery hair from her eyes.
"It's, um, a pleasure to be here." With her loud Scottish accent, no one else knew what to think of her.
Snow White smiled kindly. Her large ruby lips parted to reveal straight white teeth. She was young, most likely not even sixteen, but her innocence gave her a certain beauty. With hair as black as ebony and skin white as snow, she had been the first princess spoken to life in Disney. Though naive, her heart was in the right place and she had encouraged the others to accept the new princess even if she was different.
"Where are you from again?" Cinderella asked. After living as a servant for most of her life, she was a little OCD and continued to rearrange the tea cups, despite the servant's protests. Every princess ball featured Cinderella straightening and reorganizing things that didn't need to be moved. Her blonde hair was perfectly coifed, blue eyes wide. Everyone thought she would slip out of her cleaning habits, but had quickly learned you couldn't teach an old dog a new trick.
Merida was obviously uncomfortable by all the regal, if not eccentric girls in the room. Aurora, who at sixteen was younger than her, nodded maturely for her to answer Cinderella's question. "Scotland." She said.
Aurora looked interested. "I've never been there, is it nice?"
She had the most interesting eyes of anyone Merida had ever seen. They were large and a subtle shade of violet. Merida had heard rumors that she had been blessed once by fairies, and she was very pretty with long golden hair that stayed in place, something Merida never had.
"I dun know, I like it, but I've never seen anywhere else."
Ariel, a younger looking red head smiled dreamily. It was funny, she was the same age as Aurora, but seemed much younger. She had been introduced as the Little Mermaid, which Merida found fishy as she had two legs and no tail in sight. Her blue eyes were slightly unfocused. Of all the princesses, Merida had liked her story the most. "I think I'll have Eric take me to Scotland." Ariel decided.
"I'll go to. I would love to see far off places." Belle chimed in. For someone who married a monster, she was very pretty with olive eyes and thick chestnut hair. Merida made a mental note to talk to her later; she did seem to like exploring.
Jasmine, an Arabian who was eighteen, cocked her head to the side. "Do you hear something?"
Pocahontas, who didn't really seem comfortable anyways, stood and wandered to the window. "The wind picked up. And there's lightening."
"We should prepare for the worst." Mulan said gruffly. "Can any of you use a weapon?"
Rapunzel, who had come before Merida, half raised her hand. "I can use a frying pan."
Mulan frowned, her almond shape eyes confused. "I don't know about that as a weapon."
"It's really handy!" Rapunzel lit up, her green eyes sparkling. "When I first met Eugene…" Everyone tuned out her rambling.
"It's just a storm." Tiana laughed when Rapunzel finished her story. She had an accent and skin as dark as something the princesses had called chocolate. "A fryin' pan or sword ain't gonna protect y'all from wind."
There were a few others gathered there, the 'non official princess'. Snow White said they were invited because Merida herself was not in the official lineup. There was Jane, Wendy, Alice, Kida, Maid Marion, Esmeralda, Megara and Giselle. They twittered among themselves, not really joining in with the others.
"I don't feel well." Aurora announced, pushing her chair back and standing. Sweat was beading on her forehead and her eyes seemed cloudy. "The only time I've felt like this is when Maleficent out me in a trance and made me prick my finger." She said, trying to keep the mood light. "Snow White, do you think you have a place where I could possibly lie down?"
A large flash of lightening and rumble elicited a scream from the girls. They all chuckled awkwardly for being afraid.
"We must be close to the eye of the storm." Tiana said, fidgeting with her green dress.
"Child, you are the eye of the storm." A cold voice hissed.
Everyone froze, hearts beating a frenzied dance. No one dared to move, except Aurora, who stumbled backwards in fear. "No. It can't be you." Her voice was a whisper, barely squeezed from her throat. "You- you died. Phillip told me, stabbed you!"
"That he did." The icy voice chuckled. "But did you not think I was powerful enough to escape death?"
"What do you want?" Aurora sobbed.
There was a click of a staff on the marble floor as a woman emerged from the darkness of a pillar. She had high cheek bones placed perfectly above ruby red lips. She was beautiful, but like a deadly snake, more likely to bite you. A raven cawed, perched on her black clad shoulders.
"Did you miss me Aurora?" She smiled. "This time, sweet princess, you won't win. There will be no prince on a horse, or fairy godmother to ensure your happily ever after. This time, we win!"
With a victorious smirk, she smashed the orb of her staff on the ground, red smoke pouring out. Merida couldn't move as it entangled itself around her, a burning cold sensation turning her veins to ice. She struggled uselessly, but the world started to fade, become blurry. The next thing she knew, it was all black, and nothing could be felt at all.