Chapter 4: Bibbity, Boppity… What?
"You didn't really think you could go to the ball without my knowledge, did you?" Melinda asked. Finally recognizing the blue material as a sad excuse for a ball gown, Tavia and Victoria let out peals of cackling laughter at Raven's misfortune and lack of seamstress skills.
Raven stared at Melinda with an unreadable face, pointedly ignoring Victoria and Tavia's laughter and Melinda's triumphant smirk.
Silently, Melinda handed the dress to Victoria. The dark-haired girl took one look at the poorly sewn dress, and handed a corner to Tavia.
"It's just such a shame that the seams are ripped, isn't it, Tavia?" she asked, looking at her sister diabolically. Catching on quickly, Tavia nodded and pulled on her edge of the dress. The skirt and bodice of the dress ripped cleanly apart.
Raven resisted the urge to wince at the sound of ripping fabric, as Victoria and Tavia continued ripping the material she had bartered for.
After a while of feeling her insides churn with every rip, Raven was relieved to see Tavia and Victoria tire of ruining her gown with no outward reaction from Raven. They let the last shreds of fabric float morosely to the ground.
"I hope this teaches you that no good can come from undermining my authority," Melinda told Raven, who stared back coolly. A knock from the front door echoed through the house, and Tavia rushed to the nearest window.
"The carriage is here!" she informed everyone excitedly.
The two sisters raced out of the room, ornate gowns rustling. Melinda held back for a minute.
"I expect all the floors to be scrubbed by the time we return," she commanded. Without another word, she brushed past Raven and went outside to join her daughters in the stagecoach.
Raven didn't move until she was sure she heard the carriage rumbling away. Once she was positive they were gone, she turned around and ran out of the room. She sprinted down the stairs and across the front foyer to the back door. Opening the door, she ran through the garden, tears burning in the back of her eyes.
She didn't let herself stop until she had reached the small clearing in the far reaches of the backyard. She flung herself to her knees and rested her head and arms on the lightly swaying swing.
Finally, she let seven years of tears flow.
She cried for years of Melinda's abusive tyranny, for her father's death, for the story that Melinda had destroyed the other night, for missing the ball, and just for the sake of crying.
Eventually, she ran out of tears, so she allowed herself to just sit with her head resting on her folded arms in the garden she had loved growing up in.
"I am most delighted that you are no longer crying," a soft voice spoke behind Raven. Jumping, Raven turned around to see a pretty red-haired girl sitting in her mother's spot on the fountain.
"Who are you?" Raven asked, trying to hid the waver in her voice. She examined the girl closely. Her skin appeared to be a healthy shade of orange, and she had green eyes that could rival Gar's sparkling emerald orbs. She wore a purple dress that only reached her thigh, and had a pure silver bodice and gloves made of matching sliver fabric.
"My name is Starfire," she replied. "I have come here to assist you."
"Starfire," Raven repeated. "But… that's a fairy name, isn't it?"
"Yes," Starfire replied, nodding enthusiastically. "I am a fairy godmother."
"You don't seem… old enough to be a fairy godmother," Raven pointed out skeptically.
"True," Starfire admitted. "In human years, I am around the same age as you. So, perhaps then, I shall be you're fairy god-friend?"
Raven nodded uncertainly, but she didn't want to hurt the strange fairy's feelings, so she added, "All right, we'll be friends." The fairy beamed at Raven. "But you still haven't told me what you're here to help me with."
"I shall help you go to the ball, of course," she answered, smiling.
"I'm not going to the ball," Raven replied. "I don't have a dress to wear, and even if I did, Melinda would catch me."
"Not if she cannot recognize you," Starfire pointed out. Suddenly, as if by magic, Raven noticed a dark blue square of folded fabric sitting on the fairy's lap.
"The cloak," Raven gasped.
"The evil stepmother, Melinda, did not see it when she searched the attic and found your dress," Starfire explained, standing up and walking over to Raven. She placed the soft cloak in Raven's hands.
"So, I suppose you're the one that made it appear in the attic in the first place?" Raven accurately guessed.
"I tried to send a dress as well, but I am not very accurate with my magical aim," the fairy explained, blushing prettily. "But up close I can accommodate everything that you may need for this gathering."
"What are you going to do?" Raven asked.
"Much," Starfire replied simply. "Now, where is it that I have left my wand?" Raven shrugged and watched as the girl searched her pockets, which Raven was almost positive hadn't been there a minute ago.
"I remember now!" the fairy exclaimed suddenly. "I put it away."
Raven's eyes widened as she watched Starfire pull a long, thin wand out of the air.
"Now, first we need a pumpkin," she said, pointing her wand at a rotting pumpkin in one corner of the garden.
"A pumpkin?" Raven repeated incredulously.
"Yes, a pumpkin," Starfire confirmed. "But tonight, it shall be a carriage."
Floating a few feet above the ground, the fairy aimed her wand at the rotting vegetable. With a skillful wave of her wand, green sparks surrounded the pumpkin and, before Raven's astonished eyes, it transformed into a silver coach.
The carriage was round, and the wheels looked like the spiraling vines of the vegetable it had been made from. As the last of the green sparks fell to the ground, Raven took a step towards it and touched it lightly, as if afraid it might disappear. It didn't.
Raven looked over at Starfire, who beamed with pride.
"Next, we shall need six mice," she replied. With a flick of her wand, six struggling rodents floated out from holes in the ground and trees and were set in front of the carriage. Another flick and the mice were replaced with shimmering stallions.
"And a newt!" a squirming lizard was transformed into a blank faced, gray-green skinned coach driver.
Standing back, Starfire and Raven admired the final work.
"Now, the only thing missing is your dress!" Starfire squealed excitedly, having reached the task she enjoyed most.
"Do what you want," Raven told her, holding her arms apart. Nodding, Starfire floated above the ground again and pointed her want at Raven.
"This spell requires words," Starfire told Raven conversationally. Thinking for a moment, she smiled and recited, "Bibbity, Boppity, Boo!"
Raven gasped as the green sparks hit her. She had almost been afraid that they would burn her, but they tingled and felt refreshingly cool on her skin. As they danced across her body, she could feel her clothing shift and change. She closed her eyes, waiting to see the final outcome.
Finally, she felt the tingling sensation die down, and she opened her eyes.
A flowing white skirt covered her lower half, from the bottom of her chest, to the ground. Around her waist was a belt of dark red rubies that matched the brooch that fastened the cloak. The top of her dress was made of black fabric with long sleeves that had white cuffs and black material that wrapped around her hand. On the backs of the black material that covered her hands were two more of the rubies. The entire dress was made of an unworldly material that was soft, smooth, thin and sturdy, all at once.
"Wow!" Raven whispered, looking at the beautiful dress. "This is…"
"You have not seen your slippers yet!" Starfire pointed out excitedly. Cocking her eyebrows, Raven lifted the hem of her dress and examined her new footwear.
Glass slippers covered her feet, shimmering in the moonlight. As beautiful as they were, Raven couldn't stop herself from seeing them in her mind's eye, breaking and piercing into her feet.
"They won't break when I walk or dance, will they?" Raven asked hesitantly. The fairy let out a bubbly laugh.
"Of course not!" Starfire assured. "They are made from Tameranian glass; glass made in the fairy city of my birth. It is most strong."
Raven nodded. Walking over to the fountain, she gazed at her reflection in the water. Her face had been wiped clean of any soot, and her violet hair was combed and shining. Smiling lightly, she turned to the fairy.
"Thank you," Raven said to the orange-skinned girl. "I owe you so much."
"You owe me nothing," Starfire insisted humbly. A strange, longing expression crossed her face. "However… if it would not be too much trouble- and really, it is fine if you wish to say no-, but perhaps I could… accompany you to the ball?"
Raven nodded at the hopeful looking fairy, who let out a delighted squeal.
"We must go at once!" she exclaimed, flying toward the open door of the silver carriage, and pulling Raven behind her with surprising strength. Raven clambered into the coach (which, surprisingly, didn't smell like pumpkin) after her and sunk into the velvet seats. There was a slight shudder, and the carriage was magically lifted from the ground.
Carefully, Raven pulled open one of the dark green curtains that covered the windows, and watched them float over the garden wall and down the road to the palace. Letting the curtain fall back into place, she looked over at Starfire.
"You do know that once we get closer to the palace we'll have to stop flying?" she asked conversationally. Starfire looked a bit puzzled.
"Why must we stop flying?" she asked, genuinely confused. Raven stared at the fairy for a moment. She looked like any other human; it was easy to forget that she was from another world.
"Coaches don't usually fly around here," Raven replied.
"Oh," Starfire replied, taking in this shocking piece of information. "That is most peculiar to me, but if that is the way it is here, then I shall make the carriage roll for the last mile."
Raven nodded, and resumed looking out the window. The country side, and in turn, the inner city flew past them on the ground below, and before long they were only a mile or so away from the palace.
Raven's breath caught in her throat. She had only ever seen the palace from a distance, and then, only in the day. She knew it was made of white and silver marble- a gift from the fairies-, and was a marvelous display of architect and design.
Up close, at night, it's beauty increased even more. All the lights were turned on, and light spilled onto the road to greet the guests going to the ball, making the palace seem to shimmer against the dark night sky.
"It is a most glorious sight, is it not?" asked Starfire, looking out her own window. Raven nodded. There was a pause, before Starfire spoke uncertainly. "There is something you must know."
Raven turned to look at her and the fairy continued. "The magic I used will run out at the twelfth hour of the night."
"So, at midnight, everything is going to change back to the way it was before? My dress, the pumpkin, everything?"
Starfire nodded solemnly. "I am most sorry that you cannot stay longer."
"It's fine," Raven assured her. "It's only eight o'clock now. That'll give me about four hours to spend at the ball."
Slowly, the carriage lowered to the ground, and finished its trip to the palace. It pulled up to the front of the palace and stopped. A sharply dressed servant rushed to the door of the coach and held out a hand for the ladies inside. Taking a deep breath to steady her wildly beating heart, she excepted the valet's hand and stepped out. Starfire followed her quietly, earning a few strange glances for her odd attire but ignoring it.
Stopping to make sure her cloak hood was in place, they ascended a large staircase, which lead to the giant open doors of the palace. Robin, the captain of the guard, stood at the top, greeting the guests as they entered the palace, while discreetly checking for weapons with his eyes.
As they approached, he looked at them and smiled. Next to her, Raven could feel Starfire tense and giggle nervously.
"Good evening, ladies," he greeted, bowing slightly.
"Greetings, good sir," Starfire replied, dipping into a graceful curtsy. Raven imitated the gesture, and felt undeniably bumbling.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Robin asked, blushing as he looked at the fairy.
"No, I am not," she admitted, smiling bashfully under his gaze.
"I'm almost done greeting guests, so… perhaps you would like me to… show you around the ball. Maybe even… dance a bit?" Even Raven had trouble not laughing at the poor boy, sweating and blushing as he asked without asking, if he could escort Starfire to the ball.
"I would be most grateful!" Starfire quickly accepted his offer. "Friend Raven, I hope you do not mind."
"It's fine, Star-" Raven began to reply, before being cut off by Robin. To her surprise, he was looking at her with wide eyes.
"Your name is Raven?" He asked, and she hesitantly nodded. "Are you the servant girl? The one my friend Gar met the other day?"
"No," Raven quickly replied. "No, that's isn't possible."
Robin didn't seem to believe her, but after scrutinizing her for a minute decided to go along with what she said. "I suppose you're right. I'm sure there are hundreds of girls named Raven in this Kingdom."
"I'm sure you're right," Raven replied carefully. "I suppose you would like me to leave you alone now, so you can get better acquainted."
She walked away from the couple, who had immediately resumed flirting, and entered the wide doors of the palace.
Well, Starfire's finally part of the story! Yay! Bet you weren't expecting her to be the fairy godmother, eh? Well, maybe some of you had already figured it out, but I'm sure someone must have been a bit surprised.
Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, but every time I read it over I find things that I want to change, or rearrange, or just take out completely, so who knows when I'll finally be done pickingat it. Oh well, till then!
Tammy Tamborine