The Curse of the Blue-Eyed Owl

"A CURSE?!" The three royals gasped. Raven nodded her head.

"What kind of curse?" Asked Blondie.

"And how do you know?" Added Briar.

"He doesn't look cursed to me!" Apple said.

"Uh... a very bad kind of curse." Raven fibbed. "Like I said, I learned about it in General Villainy. And of course he doesn't look cursed, that's the point."

"What point?" Blondie asked.

"The owl looks beautiful, so people want to take him home as a pet. But after a while, the curse sets in and they regret it." Raven explained.

"What exactly is this curse?" Briar asked.

"Ohhhh...erm...it's really bad." Raven said.

"But what KIND of bad?" Blondie pressed

"Yeah, there's all kinds of bad." Briar pointed out. "Bad-hair-day bad, flunk-a-test bad, have-your-zipline-break bad, fall-asleep-in-the-middle-of-a-party bad, I HATE that one..."

Raven blurted out the one thing that was guaranteed to convince Apple not to adopt Rotbart as her pet:

"Destiny-altering bad!"

"WHAT?!" Apple shrieked.

"You're kidding!" Briar said.

"THAT thing can re-alter destiny?" Blondie added in disbelief.

"Yup. When a person adopts a blue-eyed owl as a pet, their destiny goes majorly off-track." Raven said with all the authority she could muster.

The three royal girls stared at Rotbart in horror.

"Oh my Grimm, Apple!" Blondie said. "You can NOT keep it!"

"No way!" Briar said. "I mean, your destiny's been affected enough already!"

"It's just not right!" Blondie added.

"Raven, is there anyway the curse can be lifted?!" Apple asked urgently.

Rotbart stared at Apple. She still wants to keep me?! He thought in disbelief.

Raven shook her head. "I'm afraid not. It's a genetic thing and there's no way to get rid of it."

"Oh." Apple said sadly.

"You'll have to let him go, Apple." Raven said gently. "You've done a lot for him already, but he can't stay."

"Absolutely not!" Blondie said emphatically.

"Look, I'll take him to Baba Yagga." Raven offered. "She'll know what to do with him."

"OK...but can I say goodbye first?" Apple asked.

"Uh...sure?" Raven said. Apple picked up Rotbart and whispered into his ear hole:

"Goodbye, B.B.. I don't know why, but I like you very, very much. Even though I haven't known you very long. I want to keep you with me for always, but now I know I can't do it. Like I said, I have a responsibility to my subjects, and I have to put that first. Even when I don't like it. Anyway, I hope you'll get well soon and be happy forever after. And if I could break the curse on you, I would." And then she quickly kissed him on his head.

"Apple, don't kiss that thing!" Blondie said. "The curse might rub off on you!"

"It doesn't work like that!" Raven said as she took a very stunned Rotbart from Apple's arms. "Apple will be fine now. You'll see."

"Come on Apple," Briar said in an effort to cheer her BFFA up. "We'll find you another pet!"

"Yeah, one that isn't cursed!" Blondie said.

"I still can't believe it!" Raven said to Rotbart later that day. She had carried him back to his room and now he was in human form and redressed and re-bandaged.

Rotbart glared at his sister. "What can't you believe? And be very careful before you say it..." He said dangerously.

"Right," Raven scoffed. "Like you'd attack me after I saved you from a life as B.B. the owl."

"I would have escaped some time..." He growled defensively.

"Come on, you were BEGGING me to get you out of there!"

"Humph. Well...what IS it you can't believe?"

"That Apple wanted to make YOU her pet!"

"That's not so unbelievable. I'd make a very good-looking pet." Rotbart said. Although he still had a hard time believing that Apple found him that attractive as a bird. Were his eyes really that appealing?

"Yeah, but can you imagine what would've happened if Apple found out?!" Raven said.

"I'd rather not." He groaned. He would have probably wound up stuffed. At best.

"Yeah, some things aren't worth pondering." Raven agreed. "Besides, it's much more fun to imagine what your life would have been like as B.B.." She added with a wicked-little-sister grin.

Rotbart glared at Raven as she airily continued: "it would have been quite a life, Rotty. Think about it. Tea and biscuits every day, being carried on satin pillows, having your talons done at the beauty parlor, cheery ribbons around your widdle neck, and, best of all, your sweet princess singing you to sleep every night. You'd have loved that wouldn't you?" She teased.

"What I'd love is for you to shut-up!" He said as he threw a pillow her.

"Pillow fight? Oh it is on like fairy song!" Raven said as she hurled one back.

"You'd throw a pillow at an injured man?!" Rotbart said in mock shock as he threw it back. "And I thought you wanted to be a good guy!"

"You're not a injured man. You're a pain-in-the-butt!" Raven playfully retorted as she smacked him on the head with another pillow.

"Doofus!"

"Jerkface!"

"Sissy!"

"Stink-Brain!"

"Barf-Bag!"

"B.B.!"

"HEY!"

And the two sibling collapsed on the floor laughing. Just as they always did after a pillow fight.

But that night, as Rotbart got ready for bed, he had to admit that Raven was right; it seemed incredibly ironic that Apple should love him as a bird and hate him as a human.

I guess birds really are better than people. He thought as he recalled how Apple kissed him goodbye. But humans were also pretty interesting; it was funny for him to think that someone who could be so shallow, petty, and selfish could also be so caring, generous, and selfless at the same time. Clearly, there was far more to Apple than Rotbart had initially thought.

I suppose Apple White really is a heroine after all. He admitted to himself.