Chapter 16: You Can Fly!

Peter Pan

Peter didn't know how long he'd been flying. He grew up working the circus route with his parents and one day trapeze work turned into flight. Peter still remembered the moment he first flew.

He had just done a triple backflip on the beam and he was so excited that he leapt too early to reach the trapeze. But he felt so elated, so full of joy, that in that moment: he flew. It was just for a brief moment at first but Peter began to practice. He found that when he thought about wonderful and happy things like pranks and pizza and peppermint bark he could fly for hours.

He was a hit at the circus. He made so much money, his parents let him forge out on his own and leave show business. Peter couldn't tell you what made him choose to live in Waltville. Perhaps because the remote forests and mountains were perfect for flying. Maybe because everyone seemed so naive and friendly and easy to prank. Maybe something else had called him, Peter wasn't sure but he knew there was some serious magic going on.

Something about Peter had always been magical. He could sense when a circus magician knew a real spell or two. Peter wasn't sure who or what had infused him with magic but he knew he could smell it on people.

That Briar Rose girl, the one that like died but didn't. Dripping with magic. Faerie magic, which is magic in it's purest form.

Her friend, Scariel, definitely some magical being, probably a mermaid, he had met some of her kind before.

Beastly Prince, cursed af. Something big and bad and scary.

Angelina, terrifying. Very strong disguise but he could sense a faerie.

He knew Tink was a faerie. She knew he knew. They had never talked about it but they had an understanding.

Peter guessed some magic had probably summoned him to this town full of magical oddities and he was going to find out. He needed a partner in crime, not Tink, she was too spiteful. Someone naive and eager. Peter liked people who resisted growing up. They got it.

Peter flew up to the roof of the Darling-Smith residence. He had to be careful because he knew they had guns.

He slid down to Wendy's window. It was shut for the Winter but the house was old and Peter was strong enough to break the frozen latch.

"Who's there?" Wendy startled awake as Peter landed in the window.

"Your friend. Peter Pan." Peter turned on his phone light and shown it in her face.

"Peter, what are you doing here?" Wendy gasped.

"Showing you how to fly." Peter grinned.

"Are you offering me drugs?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.

Peter had been right to pick Wendy. She believed in magic and it wasn't long before they were canvasing the winter sky for signs of something magical, something that was the key to all the magic in Waltville.

"Would you look at that, Wendy?" Peter landed on the roof of an empty mountain lodge, his green compression gear keeping him warm.

Wendy landed next to him in a big puffy coat. "What's up with those stars?"

"They seem to be in the process of aligning. I'm not an astrologer but that must mean something." Peter pointed to where a string of stars seemed to be aligning.

"I hear that alignment takes months to complete." Wendy shivered. "Do you think it's what's summoning all the magic to Waltville?"

"I would, except, people have been living here with magic in them for years, not just a few months." Peter thought out loud.

Just then, a black form covered the sky. A dragon-like beast with black leathery-wings and curved talons shrieked towards them.

"Wendy, watch out." Peter grabbed her hand and they took off into the night, flying.

"It's getting harder to think lovely thoughts, Peter." Wendy cried out as the monster chased them through the air.

Wendy stumbled in midair. The monster snapped it's jaws at her. Wendy screamed. Peter dove towards her. There was a biting of teeth and a flapping of wings and suddenly everything went dark.

Cinderella Tremaine

"I'm so sorry this happened to you." Ella reached for Peter's hand.

He pulled it back. He looked pissed and honestly, Ella couldn't blame him. She would hate being cooped up in a hospital bed.

"Are you two the Raid Area 51 and free the aliens fan club or something?" Peter glared at Cinderella and Belle. "Because what attacked me wasn't an alien."

"How can you tell?" Belle raised an eyebrow.

"I've never seen an alien." Peter crossed his arms and winced in pain.

"But you've seen a magical creature before." Ella said softly.

Peter pouted. "I'm not crazy."

"I know." Ella smoothed out her old brown skirt. "I've seen magic at work too and so has Belle. That's why we're here. We believe you."

Peter smiled.

"We just want to get to the bottom of this. See if we can find out what attacked you and why?" Belle pulled out a notebook.

"Creatures that match the description of the beasts that attacked you are called Gwythaints and they serve a demon called the Horned King." Ella explained. "One attacked Aladdin and I on the night of Homecoming."

"Were they after your magic dress?" Peter chuckled.

"My magic shoes, I think." Ella smiled. "You know a lot about this."

"I know a lot about magic. I can smell it. That Rapunzel girl. Magic af. Light magic, probably healing. That homecoming outfit of yours was definitely faerie magic."

"Rapunzel?" Ella began to think.

Belle took notes. "Is this why you and Wendy were attacked? For knowing too much?"

"I think we stumbled on something when flying." Peter gave a cocky grin.

Ella gasped with delight. She loved flying.

"Oh you can fly, how cool. Now tell me the real tea." Belle said, unimpressed.

"We saw a constellation of stars forming, a slow alignment. Even the second star to the right was moving." Peter said gravely. "I don't know what it means but that dragon-thing attacking me doesn't bode well.

Ella and Belle exchanged worried glances.

Ella thought she'd visit Briar Rose/Aurora while she was at the hospital. She walked down the corridor to Briar's room.

"Are you sure we're allowed to visit her?" Belle asked.

"I did at Christmas. Her family likes me." Ella approached the room.

"Excuse me, Miss. What are you doing?" A tall doctor with a twisted beard stepped in her way.

"I'm here to visit my friend. Maybe pray a bit at her side." Ella explained. "The family has allowed me to see her before."

"The patient is not to see anyone. Her condition is highly sensitive. We can't have germs from the outside world coming in. Even her family is barred." The doctor stepped in between Ella and the door.

Ella glanced through the door's window to see, for the briefest moment, a winged and horned figure in a haze of green flame watching over Briar Rose." Ella gasped.

"I'm having you removed. Security!" The doctor called.

"That's not needed. We're leaving." Belle pulled Ella away.

"Security!" The doctor bellowed and the girls took off running.

Ariel Triton

Ariel sat across from Eric at Tony's, feeling weird as he ate salmon.

"You okay, Ariel?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's a gorgeous evening." Ariel smiled.

It really was a gorgeous night. Eric looked casual and handsome in a blue v-neck. Ariel was loving the blue zipper dress she was in and the way her hair poofed. The lights in the restaurant were soft and gentle and the snow fluttered to the ground outside. Everything was perfect.

"How's the swim team?" Eric asked.

"It's great. I'm a natural." Ariel choked after those last words.

"I'm thinking of joining the basketball team." Eric said thoughtfully.

"That's a great idea. I love trying new things." Ariel lit up.

"I do too." Eric beamed. "What new things are you going to try this year?"

"Jasmine wants me to try out for the cheer team but I don't know…" Ariel looked down at her pasta.

"You totally should. You have so much energy. You'd be great at it." Eric smiled.

"But some of those girls are so mean." Ariel got quiet.

"Try out with a friend. I'm dragging Flynn and Aladdin to basketball tryouts." Eric shrugged.

Ariel was nervous but cheerleading sounded fun and she didn't want to look like a coward in front of Eric.

"I can't believe you're making us do this." Anna muttered as Ariel led her and Moana to cheerleading tryouts.

"Come on." Ariel pleaded. "I really want to do this and I need support if I'm going to face Vanessa."

"Fine." Anna sighed.

"But this better be fun." Moana crossed her arms.

"I'm so sure it will be." Ariel perked up.

It was not fun.

It was brutal.

There were flips and sprints and push ups in the hot sweaty gym. Anna slipped on the shiny, sweaty floor. Vanessa kept yelping orders like a dog barking at an intruder.

She'd have them spell random words in cheer form like dolphin and mom's spaghetti. She'd make them spin in circles until they were dizzy then have them do jumping jacks. She made them practice kicks and splits until their legs were sore.

Ariel had been holding her leg behind her back for almost ten minutes. It killed. Vanessa stared her down. "Everyone else can stop, except Elmo over here. You keep stretching."

Ariel rolled her eyes and sucked up the pain. She was going to be a cheerleader.

"How come this sport doesn't have a real coach?" Moana raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah, on Glee they have a coach." Anna crossed her arms.

"Shush." Jasmine nudged them. "Don't question Vanessa."

Vanessa glared at Ariel. "Why do you want to be a cheerleader?"

"I have school spirit and I think it would be fun." Ariel grinned with pain.

"i hAVe scHOOl SpiRIT AnD i THiNK iT wOuLd fUn!" Vanessa mocked her. "What could you have to gain from this? You already got the best part in Lesmiz and took my boyfriend."

"I wanna try new things." Ariel said confidently.

"Ugh, fine." Vanessa pushed Ariel who collapsed on the floor. "We need new members, so I guess you're on the team."

"Thanks!" Ariel chirped from the floor.

"But you and your friends are on the bottom of the pyramid, and that includes you Jasmine." Vanessa shot Jasmine a look before she sauntered away, skirt swishing behind her.

Jasmine gasped and the rest of the girls were silent, paralysed with fear.

"I can't believe we're cheerleaders." Anna skipped to their lunch table. "Us, the weirdo girls."

"Speak for yourself. I can't believe I'm settling for a sport as lame as cheerleading." Moana sat down.

"I'm shocked Vanessa let me on the team." Ariel picked at her salad.

"Proud of you, Ariel." Eric kissed her on the cheek as he passed by. "Gotta sit with the rest of the BBall team today. See you later.`` Eric trotted off to a table stocked with Flynn, Aladdin, Philip, Hercules and Tarzan.

"Things are going well with you and Eric, huh." Anna poked Ariel.

"Yeah, I guess." Ariel smiled.

"Hey girls." Cinderella sat down at their table with a small lunch and a stack of books. "Mind if I join you."

"Of course not." Anna moved to give Cinderella more space.

"So I have something a little crazy to say." Cinderella looked really nervous.

"I love crazy." Anna smiled.

"Magic is real. Our entire town is mirrored in this nerdy board game about a war among the gods and Rapunzel is a supernatural being called the Day Flower who's been kidnapped and used by an evil witch." Cinderella threw open a page of this old game manual.

The page was entitled "The Day Flower." And it depicted a corseted maiden with green eyes and flowing golden hair covered with flowers. The hair rolled in in tresses all across the floor of the illustration. There was another picture depicting a curly-haired woman who looked like Mrs. Gothel, combing the girl's hair.

"That does look like Rapunzel." Moana said slowly.

"How did you guess she was kidnapped." Anna was pale.

"It fits the story in this game." Cinderella pointed to the page.

"That's crazy." Moana sighed.

Ariel knew magic and gods were real. She was a mermaid after all. She had seen magic at work. She knew that Anna and Moana knew about magic too from their Christmas encounter with Briar Rose.

She knew that Briar trusted Cinderella. That Cinderella wasn't crazy and that she was usually logical. She also knew that the only reason Cinderella would risk telling them such a wild theory would be because she believed Rapunzel was in real danger.

"I believe you." Ariel spoke up. "What do we have to do to help Rapunzel?"

"We have to get her out of there." Ella pointed to the picture of that malicious woman combing the Day Flower's hair.

Flynn Rider

Flynn threw a rock at Rapunzel's window. The window quickly swung open.

"You don't have to throw rocks anymore." Rapunzel whispered. "I expect you on Wednesdays."

"How you holding up blondie?" Flynn hoisted himself onto a tree branch so they were face to face.

"To be honest, I'm really bored." Rapunzel sighed. "I have a lot of hobbies. Puzzles, darts, baking, paper mache, ballet, chess, pottery, ventriloquism, candle making, guitar, knitting, sewing. But I'm so tired of doing them alone."

"I hope you don't have to do them alone much longer." Flynn leaned towards her. "I'm down for darts."

"My mom would never let that happen." Rapunzel shook her head sadly.

"Right, she wants to protect your hair." Flynn leaned close enough to grab a strand of her hair and yank.

"Owe!" Rapunzel cried.

"You'll thank me for this someday!" Flynn jumped off the branch and ran off into the night.

"Flynn Rider, come back, you scoundrel." Rapunzel shouted after him.

Flynn raced off in the night towards Mulan's house. Her scientist father was their ticket to getting Rapunzel out of that prison.

Philip Prince

Philip was not as good at basketball as he was at soccer but he was decent. Their team was 10 points ahead and Philip had scored a three-pointer. Overall, good.

Philip passed the ball to Eric. Eric scored a lay-up. The crowds went wild. The cheerleaders raised their pom-poms in triumph. All was well.

Then he saw Angelina wink at him and he felt sick to his stomach.

"I think I need a minute." Philip whispered to Hercules.

"Naw, man, we're on a roll, we can't lose this mojo." Hercules shook him by the shoulders.

"Come on, man, we got this." Phoebus nodded to Philip.

"Alright." Philip kept the queasy feeling in his stomach down.

Flynn swiped the ball from the other team and passed it to Philip. Philip dribbled towards the basket. He leapt up and then his vision blurred.

He was suddenly in a haze of pink clouds. He saw Briar Rose, dressed in a blue gown, smiling at him. She held him and they waltzed through the clouds.

"I'm coming to you. I'll find you again." Briar whispered. "And If I know you, I'll know what you'll do."

"You okay man." Hercules's frustrated voice shook him out of the dream.

Philip found himself on the floor of the gym with everyone looking over him.

"You hit your head on the net, bro" Eric looked at him with concern. "You passed out for a moment."

"Don't worry. Philip has a habit of having episodes of drama during games." Phoebus crossed his arms.

Philip sighed. "I'm fine. We can keep playing." He leapt onto his feet.

Was it too much to ask to not be embarrassed during one of his games? Angelina glared at him and then his stomach churned and he vomited right on top of everyone's nice basketball shoes.

Anna Arendelle

"It was great seeing you cheer." Her uncle smiled as they were driven home.

"Though I could have done without seeing Philip spew his dinner on everyone." Elsa grimaced.

"Me too." Anna frowned but immediately perked up. "But at least I look cute in this uniform."

"You sure do, honey." Her proud aunt scrolled through all the pictures she took of Anna cheering.

The driver pulled up to the Arendelle mansion.

"Looks like we're here. Time for bed. Love you." Elsa jumped to the door.

"Love you." Anna hugged her aunt and strategically grabbed a stray brown hair from her aunt's purple coat. Mission accomplished.

Anna biked through the night to Mulan's house. Her aunt's stray hair in a plastic bag. Mulan met her out front.

"I got the hair." She handed Mulan the bag. "Thank your dad for me."

"You really think Rapunzel is your kidnapped cousin?" Mulan took the bag.

"I do." Anna nodded gravely. "And she's in real trouble."

"I can't guarantee my dad will have the results soon. But I'll tell him to be fast." Mulan gave Anna a reassuring smile.

Anna's heart wouldn't stop beating fast. Poor Rapunzel. She hoped she was okay.

The Princess Aurora

The Princess Aurora traversed the forest of thorns. The thorns pricked her skin and tore her dress but she kept going, leaving a bloody path in her wake.

The owl and the birds flew above the thorns, chirping warnings whenever Aurora approached a ravine or hillside that led to even deeper thorns. The birds gave her hope that she wasn't lost in the thorns, but making steady progress.

The squirrel and the rabbits danced at her feet and ducked underneath the pointy branches. They would scurry ahead and find small clearings where she could rest and nurse her bloody wounds.

Pain felt different here, more like a memory of pain than the actual thing.

Aurora sat on a stump and watched the stormy fortress that towered above the thorns. She was on her way. Philip was coming for Briar Rose, he loved her. She knew that deep down, despite how hazy her memory was becoming. She knew that Philip needed to be saved and that Briar Rose was the only one who could do it. Too bad Briar Rose wasn't here. He'd have to settle for the Princess Aurora.

A/N: Sorry this chapter was super short and that it has been awhile. I'm dedicated to finishing this story but I got caught up in other projects. Please let me know what you think. Stuff with Briar is building and Rapunzel's storyline will come to a head very soon. Next chapter takes place on Valentine's Day!