✲´*。.❄¨¯`*✲。❄。*。¨¯`*✲

Jemmea

Today was the day. Once I tolerated the party I would be out of here. There was a knock at my door accompanied by a "Miss Pegasus."

I stood up and opened the door. Croquet stood there with a gown.

"I am not sure that will be flattering on you, but you should try it on anyway," I said sarcastically.

He came in and hung it on a hook. It was silver with a sweetheart neckline and lace covered corset. The long skirt was made of light fabric and continued lace with a slit that ran up the front.

"Your father requests that you wear this tonight, and when I say 'request'," he turned to me, "I mean you will wear it." It was lovely, but not what I would have chosen. It would not make for the ideal escape dress; but, I would have to make it work.

"I'll leave you to it," he grumbled before he left.

I shook my head as I stared at the thing. "Well," I conceded, "might as well do it now." I started to detangle the dress from its hook but, once I turned it around, I noticed that it had a corset that needed to be laced up. Doing a brief investigation, I found that it was the mechanic to hold me in it and not a simple decoration. I stopped, staring at it as I began to play out the physics out in my head.

Lacing myself into this would be near impossible. Even if I could pull the strings correctly without being caught in their web, I doubted I could get them tight enough to hold the dress up like I'd need. I could get Jude to help, but even though he was strong enough he would probably be too cautious to do it tight enough. I needed someone who understood how this girly shit worked and would be a little violent with me…

Goddammit. My arms fell and I tilted my head back. This was a purposeful puzzle given to me by my father and I did not care for the solution. "Fuck!" I cried before I hung the dress back up and left the room.

When I reached her door I just stared unhappily at it for a moment. Finally, I uncrossed my arms and knocked. I immediately heard her chihuahua start to yap. "Cinnamon, stop," I heard her scold through the door. "Come in!" I heard her call cheerfully. She had no reason to think it would be me and I doubted she would have sounded so merry if she knew.

I opened the door to find her turning back around from scolding her dog, who now lay distressed in its decadent bed in the corner. Thankfully it remained quiet after a couple growls. I hadn't been to her room in a long time. She had redecorated and accumulated quite a bit since I was last here.

Max liked his little girls, but recognized the difference between us. I was feminine and Effie was very girly, which sounded similar but looking at us was distinctly divergent. This difference reflected in our rooms. My room consisted of lace and clean lines. It was lavender, white, and grey with vintage overtones, not trendy like hers. Everything in her room was white or pink with accents of turquoise or black. There were lots of furs and ruffles about, including her sheets and curtains. Her pillows were monogrammed and she had lots of her things on display with plenty of mirrors around. The one over her wide dresser had lots of jewelry hanging off and around it. She now sat at her vanity, which was overflowing with carefully organized makeup.

Effie had her eyes on the door to see who entered, moving as little as she could with a hot iron wound around a lock of her hair. When she saw it was me she rolled her eyes and turned back to her mirror.

"What are you doing here?" she scoffed, releasing the curl and fluffing it with her other hand.

I turned my head further as I closed the door behind me. Effie liked to have her things on display. As I looked I noticed my missing heels mixed with hers on a shelf that was as high as she could reach. "So that's where they went," I remarked.

"It's not like you were using them," she retaliated as she rolled up another lock, annoyed.

Between the shoes and myself was a golden gown hanging up. "You got one, too," I muttered. Wondering if it had the same intricacies, I reached out, twisting the dress on its hanger. It didn't.

As I released it, it seemed somewhat familiar. I looked back at her. "Are you trying to look like that cartoon to make him happy?" I asked distastefully.

Effie only looked at me through her mirror. Her reflection narrowed its eyes at me. "What cartoon?" but looking back and forth between the dress and her reflection she realized, "Oh you mean the princess. She was ok, not my favorite. All those stupid books." I narrowed my eyes at her. "Even so it seems I'll be the belle of the ball," she said happily, then chided, "and if your dress matches your corsage then you'll be the ice queen."

"Corsage?" I echoed, confused.

"Yeah," she replied, then saw my confusion. "Wrist? Flower? I have two, I'm supposed to give you one. Which one is obvious. Then I have a boutonnière for Jude."

She saw I was still confused and scoffed, again fluffing her curls. "Honestly," she muttered disdainfully to herself before saying, "They're right here."

With arms crossed I went toward the three clear cases. Observing them, I finally got to the point. "Max purposefully got me a dress that I need your help putting on."

She set the iron down and switched it off. "Fine," she sighed. I was surprised that she wasn't putting up more of a fight. I think she realized this was her element, and she was way better at being girly than I was and right now that was worth something. She also would obey our father's wishes.

As she stood, she commanded, "Stay here, I'll be back," to her dog as though she were talking to a child. She grabbed one of the clear plastic containers and came towards me. Seeing she was leaving, I went over and hooked a pair of silver heels. When I turned around she looked annoyed but continued and I followed.

When we reached my room she set the flowers down and went right over to my dress. She smiled, very happy. "It's silver," she observed. She looked back over her shoulder to smugly remark, "Mine's gold."

She pulled and twisted it, getting a feel for how it moved and what she would need to do. I dropped my heels and waited. "Yes, well I'm sure you're very proud of yourself."

"Though you're going to definitely be an ice queen, I think you're supposed to be the token Hanukkah representation for our Jewish guests. Jude and I are definitely Christmas."

"You are definitely Christmas," I corrected. "Poinsettias have no Pagan roots, they're from Mexico and supposedly represent the Star of Bethlehem. Holly, on the other hand- well I wouldn't be surprised if Jude was supposed to be representing Yule or another Pagan holiday. Jude should be Hanukah, his name is the word for 'Jew' in German-"

"Can you stop with your pointless babble, please? It's annoying." Effie released the dress and turned back to me. "What are you doing with your hair?" she asked, ignoring everything else.

I shrugged. "Brushing it?"

She sighed deeply as she observed her cuticle situation. "I'm going to have to do hair and makeup for you too."

"That sounds like hell," I replied darkly.

She glanced up at me. "Yes, well we're having guests over and you need to look like the aristocrat you are. That means like you tried and actually gave a damn." She went over and opened my vanity drawers, sifting through them. "I'll have to do it so you're presentable. There's no way you're doing that heavy shit you used to wear when you were punk or whatever."

"Why should I let you?" I sneered.

She took a selection from my drawers and set it on the top of the vanity. She finally looked at me. "Because I know you want to leave, and the cuter and daintier you look, the more likely someone is going to take you away."

I considered this and it was enough to make me concede. "That's the first time I've every heard you say something reasonable," I muttered as I sat in the chair. She smiled, taking my brush and aggressively detangling.

Finding a piece of silver ribbon, she doubled it over the top of my head. To hold it in place, she took the hair from around my face and twisted it with the ribbon above my ears. Then she took the two ends of the ribbon and tied it in a knot behind my head, allowing the remaining length to blend in with my hair. This now allowed her to easily draw on my face. We sat in silence as she worked, at least for a bit. "Why are you putting so much effort into this?" I asked.

"Because the prettier you look, the more people will talk to you. And I know how you so hate that," she replied. "And it's fun."

When she finally seemed content, she said, "Ok, you look presentable enough. Let's get you in the dress so I can go back to getting ready."

As she went over, I looked in the mirror. I didn't know how to feel about having darker eyes and lighter lips, but it was subtle enough that I still felt like myself.

When I looked back at her, she had already loosened the laces and tossed the gown at me, turning away. "Get it on and I'll lace it."

She again tended to her cuticles as I completed this task, then turned around. I waited, holding the dress on me. "Done."

As she came up behind me, she paused. Raising her hands up for a preliminary stretch, she smiled. "All right, ice witch," she began pulling on the laces, then pushed a knee into my back for leverage, "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Annoyed and uncomfortable, I tolerated it, though didn't doubt she was leaving a lovely bruise. Remarkable, really, considering the goons hadn't in my last escape attempt. But I expected this to be nothing less than what it was.

Though it felt like longer, about five minutes had probably passed when she secured the laces.

Expecting her to leave, I turned around. She looked me up and down and then commented, "Now I know what I need to top." As she turned to leave, she reminded me, "Don't forget the corsage, Daddy will be upset. It goes on your wrist."

Next Chapter: Could Have Been

"Please, Jemma, don't test me tonight. I have a lot going on," he sighed. He really looked at me. "Come sit with me, darling."