Disclaimer: I don't own the Disney Princess or their movies. They belong to Disney, of course. Everybody knows that. To this guy, Peires, there might be some lemon scenes or anything related in that sort of way in future chapters, but the right thing to do is just wait. So last time we saw these guys, they had just found the mysterious book of classical fairy tales and whatnot.
But little did they know, that it's anything but normal and they had quite a surprise waiting for them. So here we are, back to where we left off previously. Enjoy the story and be sure to PM me or review the story to let me in on anything.
Ishmael jumps up to take his turn as he swipes over each pages of Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales to get one that he felt would more likely catch his intrigue.
Clearing his throat he began to narrate, "The Little Mermaid!"
"Isn't that the one where girl gives up her fish body in order to get with a dude to give a soul or something?" Akhteer asked curious since Ishmael didn't seemed to be the religious type.
"Not...really." Ishmael answered going back to reading. "Ariel is the youngest of King Triton's seven daughters and has a vast fascination with the world of humans despite her father forbidding such contact with the surface. One day while out exploring, she and her best fish friend, Flounder, find a sunk ship and salvage the human items in it. When all of the sudden, A SHARK ATTACKS!"
Frazzled by Ishmael's yelling, Avery ducks under a table in a matter of seconds. Silas takes this as his cue to read next.
"They outwit the shark and after escaping him the two fish people go to the surface to talk to a bird named Scuttle to identify the objects."
Newton makes it his turn, flipping to the next page as he mumbles, "After giving Ariel and her fish thing stupid info on the stuff she suddenly remembers that she needs to see her dad or something. Taking her random crap and somehow she's being watched by eels."
"Hurrying back home, King Triton and his crab composer, Sebastian, are angry at Ariel who missed a concert and even more so once Flounder slips that they went to the surface as well. Triton orders Ariel to never go back to the surface again, believing it's dangerous. Reminds me of my own dad except not as shitty." Giles said after read his part, passing it on to Magnus.
"Ariel goes off to her secret grotto to vent over her dad banning her from the surface. With her and Flounder along she muses about the stuff she has and how she wants to be part of the human world. This chick sounds like a hoarder." snarked Magnus.
"She is not! She's just curious!" snaps Ishmael, how he'd rather be in the ocean rather than the surface. The freedom of it all, the weirdness and unexplored potential.
Coming back from his thoughts he reads again, "Sebastian sneaks into the grotto, having been assigned to watch Ariel by her father. Despite revealing himself to her and Flounder, the mermaid spots a ship sailing in over them. Excited, Ariel swims up to the surface and toward the ship, watch a party happening on board."
"Stalker." Dane mutters before given a glare by Ishmael.
"The mermaid spots a male human named Eric, and remarks to herself, how she has never seen a human this close before." The boys start to notice Ishmael shaking somewhat as he reads the book. "Just then, a storm moves in and destroys the ship. Among the chaos of the raging storm, Ariel looks around for Eric and finds him floating unconscious in the sea. Saving him from drowning she carries him to the shore, where she sings to him about how she longs to be with him in his world but is forced to leave when others approach. It was at this moment she falls in love with him and becomes even more determined to accomplish her dreams of living alongside humanity."
Ivan notices his friend looking forlorn, placing a hand on his shoulder before taking his turn.
"Back in her ocean-y kingdom, Ariel's sisters..." the hippie starts before looking a few of the others, pleading eyes of "how many" being shown at the slight brightening.
He continues ignoring his horny friends.
"Anyways, Ariel's sisters notice her humming dreamily, giving them a notion that she is in love." Ivan reads again.
"Or she might've just tried some really good seaweed." Luke says sarcastically.
"Ease off." Vernon said, telling of the emo boy's interruption.
"Ariel thinks about a plan to somehow see Eric again, but Sebastian tries to talk her out of it, telling her how life under the sea is better than the world up above. Fight the man, Ari!" Ivan says in support of her.
Avery quietly taps on Ivan's shoulder, as he's given the the book for his turn.
"Despite the crab's efforts to stop her from going to the surface, Ariel slips away, following Flounder back to the grotto wherehe surprises her with a statue of Eric that he has somehow salvaged from the destroyed ship and added into her collection. She thanks him but then faces the stern Triton, who is very upset to learn from Sebastian that she has rescued a human being from drowning. Oh no..." Avery says knowing that this was not going to end well before continuing. "Shocked and enraged that she is in love with that human, he loses all his temper and proceeds to destroy all the human objects in her grotto with his trident, including the statue of Eric. She tries pleading for him to stop, but to no avail. Devastated, she breaks down in tears, and an ashamed Triton leaves regretting what he has done. Sebastian, who has accompanied him, try to console her, only for her to tell him to leave."
"Maybe if you hadn't slipped up, you stupid crab, than we wouldn't have this problem!" Ishmael said, furious at the fictional crab.
"Oh well what would you do if you were confronted with the friggin king of the ocean, lover boy?" Zen asked snidely at what he as his friend freaking out over nothing.
"I'll go next." Finn announces before another fight could be broken out. "When the crab and Flounder leave the cave, two eels appear and try to convince Ariel to see Ursula the Sea Witch. At first Ariel becomes frightened, having heard of the infamous sea witch and refuses. The thought of how she might become a part of the human world becomes too great as she follows the eels to Ursula's fortress."
"Fortress? You mean like the-" Elijah begins asking excitedly.
"Not that type of fortress, E." Luke said in annoyance as he decides to have a turn as well. "The very dumb mermaid, her fish, and the tell-all crab go to see Ursula who's an octopus lady. They know she's not trustworthy. They know she's done bad things. Ariel knows bad stuff might happen by associating with her, but she still decides to sign a contract where she gives up her voice and has to make a guy kiss her in a span of three days or else she's screwed."
"Luke, aren't you being a little harsh on her?" Dane asked not feeling up to Luke's cynicism.
"Hey, Belle got to at least know her hairy bastard before deciding to jump him? And three days? Seriously, that ain't enough time." Luke explained.
"Yeah but this isn't just about getting a guy. She loved the human world before seeing Eric and so she wants to be there too dude." Ishmael interjects before signaling Dane to take a turn.
"So Ariel makes the deal, getting legs and turning human and- Wait. I heard that when she touches the ground in her human legs it feels like glass to her. My god! This much be torture for her." Dane theorizes before returning to the story. "She ends up on the beach naked in only her seashell bra..."
Once again he stops as he notice Ishmael's smile suddenly growing wider, along with a few of the guys lost in thought of the nude girl. Dane sighs, looking back at Luke and Avery who weren't acting like perves, before deciding to drop the book on the table to get the others back to the plot.
SLAM!
The noise shakes the boys back to reality as Dane begins to read again.
"They meet Scuttle again as Sebastian and Flounder update him on what had gone down. The seagull decides to help Ariel, finding her a sheet of a sail for her to wear as clothes. They're found by Eric's dog, Max, who leads his owner to Ariel. Eric finds her familiar as the girl who rescue and sang to him, but because she can't talk neither can confirm this."
Akhteer is passed the book and continues, "While Eric is disappointed that the girl he's talking to isn't the one he's been pining for, he's still a decent guy and bring her to his castle for a place to stay and be cared for. When Eric and Ariel eat dinner Ariel gets excited over the the human things before her like combing her hair with a fork and trying to play a pipe like an instrument."
"See, she's curious and so happy to be on land." Ishmael defends.
"The next day, Eric takes Ariel on a tour of his kingdom, teaching her to dance and letting her drive a carriage." Vernon summarizes. "The last stop before heading back to the castle is a rowboat ride in a lagoon where the animals and around them try to create a romantic setting for the two humans."
"It almost works with Eric trying to guess Ariel's name and failing before Sebastian just whispers it to the dumb boy." Zen reads, looking ahead at what he's about to read next and glancing at Ishmael. "Uh... so the two almost kiss. But don't because Ursula's eels tip over the boat resulting in them heading back home."
"Cock blocks." Magnus says snidely before Elijah takes his turn.
"Later that night, Eric begins to consider Ariel as more than friendship after a talk with his servant. But soon after he sees a young woman, walking and singing on the beach with a familiar sounding voice." Elijah pauses, to look back at Ishmael. "Calm down dude, it's just a story. Magnus how about you go next?"
"The next day, Ariel wakes up to the seagull telling her that Eric is getting married. Unfortunately as she's rushing down the stairs to meet him it turns out the Prince is with another girl." The Scottish boy reads as he notices Ishmael being pat on the back by Avery before taking his turn with story.
"Eric and the mystery girl known as Vanessa leave on a boat to get married as a heartbroken Ariel watches from afar..."
"Is this the part where she stabs the guy in order to get back to the sea?" Asked Luke nonchalantly.
"...No." Avery answered nervously.
"Awww." Came a bored, monotonous whine out of the goth's mouth.
"Anyways, the seagull spies on Vanessa as she's getting ready for the wedding, seeing her reflection in the mirror it's discovered that Vanessa is actually Ursula! Flying back to Ariel and friends Scuttle tells the moping three about the disguised sea witch." Ivan reads shocked for some reason.
"Sebastian orders the seagull to stall the wedding with the help of a bunch of animals and Ariel and Flounder try to reach the boat to stop the wedding before the sun sets." Newton rushes as he reads.
"After enough stalling, Ariel arrives just as the seashell holding her voice and hypnotizing Eric breaks. She regains her voice with Eric realizing Ariel was the girl he's been searching for. Just as the two are about to kiss making Ariel permanently human the sun sets, turning her back in a mermaid." Finn read.
"Ursula takes Ariel back to the ocean where she is soon confronted by King Triton who demands Ariel's release. Unfortunately the contract Ariel signed cannot be broken so Triton gives himself up for Ariel's freedom. Taking the crown and trident Ursula steps forward to become the new Queen, but before she can use the trident she's attack by Eric with a harpoon. Sending her eels after him, Ariel tries to take the trident away from the sea witch, but instead they aim the trident at the the eels, accidentally killing them." Luke narrates almost enjoying it too much.
"As Ariel and Eric reunite at the surface a now enraged Ursula grows into a giant version of herself. High on top of a bigger Ursula, the mermaid and the human jump off the giant woman as she begins to control the ocean, bringing storms and sunken ships as the sea witch tries to kill the heroes. Luckily, while Ursula is too busy trying to kill Ariel, Eric takes one of the risen sunken ships and steer it into the sea witch, stabbing and killing her in one final swoop with the pointed front." Giles continues excited.
"With Ursula dead all her spells and contracts are broken resulting in the restoration of Triton and merpeople to their original forms. Ariel is still a mermaid however. Triton realizing Ariel and Eric truly do love each other turns Ariel into a human for her to be with him. The couple marry and Triton let's go of his daughter and prejudice." Ishmael concludes happily before sighing wistfully.
"Okay, my turn." That's when Magnus took over the book and turned some pages, silently trying to find the picture of the girl with the mane of red-colored curls. When he did, he blushed madly, unable to fight his inner desires. But when he finally got a hold of himself, he started to acknowledge the story that girl comes from. It was an old Scottish folktale and since he's Scottish himself, he was sure that this would be one he could enjoy.
"The Bear and the Bow by an anonymous author." He read aloud to the others.
"Must've been written in medieval times." concluded Ishmael. "I hear that authors from Middle Ages aren't very well memorized."
Magnus ignored the swimmer boy for a moment to start reading the tale, beginning with the prologue as he read, "In the Scottish kingdom of DunBroch, a young princess named Merida was given a bow and arrows by her father, King Fergus, much to the chagrin of her mother, Queen Elinor, who wants to perfect a traditional ladylike image in her daughter. While retrieving an arrow in the forest, he encounters a will-o'-the-wisp, which disappears as she reaches out to touch it. Upon returning to her parents, the demonic bear known as Mor'du attack. Fergus battles the beast singlehandedly, losing a leg in the process."
The rest of the boys shudder in fear, sans Luke. Avery was most afraid as the start of the tale began with a frightening twist. Magnus continued the rest of the story.
"Years later, the young princess grew into a fiery teenager-"
"As opposed to what? A dried-up hag?" interrupted Elijah unceremoniously and obnoxiously.
"Despite Queen Elinor's lessons on queenly responsibilities and ladylike behavior, Merida only wants to go out to shoot arrows and go on her own adventures. One day, after having her day off of lessons Merida returns home to her parents with them breaking news to her of marriage." proceeded Magnus, disregarding the comic book geek and silencing him with a glare.
"So what? Most of these girls get married. What's the big deal?" Giles shrugged, not seeing why one such princess would go against marriage.
"Umm... marry for love? Remember?" Silas reminded him in a matter-of-factly tone.
"Maybe she's gay?" suggested Ishmael.
"Or here's a novel idea, maybe she's just not interested in marriage." Magnus replied, knowing more than any of the rest.
"In that time period? Yeah, right." remarked Newton disbelievingly.
"Anyways, Elinor tells her that three lords will bring their eldest sons, and she will have to marry one of them in order to keep the alliance between the four clans." continued Magnus, trying to get on with the story and wanting to see what happens next.
"That's pretty heavy stuff for a teenager to deal with. Especially a princess." retorted Dane.
"Well, yeah. Most of your girls at least had a choice in who they want to marry." Magnus told them all.
"Wait, our girls?" queried Avery, lifting an eyebrow.
As such, the rest of the boys were sharing fishy stares at one another as it was clear that most of them were, in fact, growing odd crushes on some of the fictional female protagonists in the fairy tales. But it was a strange thing to fall in love with somebody who didn't even exist in the physical world. Even Avery was falling head over heels for a certain preteen princess.
"Merida, not feeling good about the whole 'marriage' and 'becoming queen' kind of runs off and into her room where she starts swinging her sword at the bed frame." Silas took his turn to read from the book, not wanting to divulge into that conversation.
"That sounds therapeutic." drawled Luke sarcastically.
"Her mother attempts to warn her by telling her a story of four princes given land to rule by their ailing father, but because of one of the prince's pride and refusal to follow his father's wishes, his kingdom was destroyed." Then Ivan read next.
"What does that story have to do with marriage?" asked Akhteer confused.
"Ahem..." shushed Magnus sharply before continuing, "Reminding Merida of this tale, Elinor explains that turning down the betrothal could cause harm to their own kingdom."
"Sounds like my mother." Finn responded, making him think of his own strict mother who has nothing better to do besides breathing down his neck.
"Merida and her mother separate as they try on their own to figure out how they wish the other would listen. Merida laments that she feels she's not ready to be Queen, while Elinor talks to King Fergus about what she wants Merida to be. The next day, the lords and their first-born sons arrive to Dunbroch to compete in the Highland games for Merida's hand. Apart from sharing boring tales of accomplishments and all three clans going at each other's throats before a skirmish ensues, the Highland Games begin. Merida suggests archery as the start."
"So she likes archery too?" replied Newton with a smirk.
"While the first two had no adequate luck on their hands, the third and final suitor struck the arrow right in the center. As the crowd and his clan cheered him on, Merida took the opportunity to prove to her parents, the clans and the entire kingdom that she was not one to let a knight in shining armor solve her problems and that she wanted her freedom more than anything. Ignoring the angered protests of her mother, Merida shot perfect arrows in all three suitor's targets in perfect synchronization, including the final one where her arrow split throw the first one, breaking it into two and puncturing through the target entirely."
"Holy shit." gasped Silas, covering his mouth.
"She'd probably beat you in any archery competition." mocked Giles.
"I can shoot a perfect target, even with my back turned or my eyes closed." Magnus retorted back to him before he carried on with the tale. "This lead to a huge spat between the feuding mother and daughter, with Merida even going so far as to slice at the family tapestry with her sword, severing a line between her and her mother's woven self. Beyond furious, Elinor retaliates by snatching her bow and tossing it into the burning fireplace."
"Wow." Newton said in an almost befuddled expression. "And I thought my own dad had his moments."
"This crushed the rebellious princess's heart like thin glass, causing her to break down into tears and run away on her trusted horse, despondent and emotionally broken. That's when she had run into a cottage with assistant by the will-o'-the-wisps, belonging to an aging witch disguised as a simple woodcarver. Merida begged for a spell to help change her fate, to steer her away from her given path for a better one. The spell comes in the form of a tart."
"A tart?" repeated Luke in a tone that universally translated to 'are you serious?'.
"Why not just a potion to drink or whatever?" requested Vernon.
"Anyway, Merida brought the tart to her mother in the hopes that it would change her mind about the arranged marriage." proceeded Magnus. "Upon eating the magic cake, it made her sick to her stomach, making Merida bring her to her bed."
"Let's hope it's not nausea or diarrhea." cracked Ishmael.
"The result, miraculously, was beyond the princess's expectations, for her mother had transformed into a that of a giant black bear. Her words and sentences replaced with growls and roars, her perfect, smooth skin into black fur and her hands into claws. With the shocking revelation that she had most likely misinterpreted the witch's instructions or the witch misunderstood Merida's request, she sneaks her transformed mother out of the castle away from her father and the three clans with the help of her triplet younger brothers. With no wisps to guide them, they manage to find the cottage, but not the witch. Fortunately, the witch left a message in her cauldron saying that the spell will be permanent come the second sunrise unless she can "mend the bond"."
"What does that mean?" asked Dane.
"It means the relationship between her and her mother that the grunting brat had to fuck up." Luke remarked distastefully.
"Ahem." Silas grunted towards him to remind him of his rude tone, but the goth payed no mind.
"The next day, Merida began to bond with her bear mother while trying to teach her how do perform things like a bear, such as capturing and eating fish. But soon, their trail leads them to the ruins of an old castle where Merida wonders if it alludes to the story Elinor told her in any way. But before she could put any pieces together, Mor'du appears and chases the two away. Arriving at the castle, they find that Fergus and the other clans are arguing and fighting each other, deciding that Merida is not fit to marry either of her suitors and they're preparing to into a full-out war. Merida manages to halt the ensuing battle inside by reminding them of how pride and arrogance can lead to questionable decisions that can affect them and others in ways that can't imagine. This causes her suitors to decide it's best they marry their own brides."
Ivan took the book from him to take a took, since Magnus had been hogging his turn for a reason they know to well. He then read, "While the men all celebrate, Fergus finds Elinor's torn dress in their bedroom and assumes that she had been attacked and killed by a bear. During which, Elinor is chased into the woods by the clansmen. While Merida tries to talk sense into her father, he locks her in her room while he goes to slay Elinor, believing her to be the bear that attacked her. Although her three brothers had become bears as well, they help free her so she can sew up the incision she made in the tapestry and rush over to stop her father from doing anything he would regret."
"Damn." Akhteer commented with shock. "He's actually going to kill his wife, despite not knowing who she really was."
"Merida catches up and stops her father from the killing blow. However, she has little time to reason with anyone for at that moment, Mor'du appears from the darkness, angry as ever." Luke read, unperturbed. "Fergus and the clansmen are no match for the mighty demon bear as it lunges for Merida, ready to maul her to death. Elinor rushes in to save her daughter and fights the unholy beast, ultimately leading to him being crushed by a monolith, freeing the prince's spirit so that he may rest in peace. Once the second sunrise comes, Merida tearfully apologizes for letting her pride and desire for freedom blind her judgement before Elinor returns to human form."
"Before long, Merida and Elinor are closer than ever and bed the three clans adieu as they prepare to sail away. Of course, Merida agrees to marry whomever she choses, nothing could ever sever their bond again." finishes Giles.
"Lucky her." Magnus responded. "She's the only princess I see without a love interest."
Afterwards, each boy read from the book their own fairy tales to share with the rest of the group. Finn found a story that took a different take on the story of Pocahontas, who was actually a real person. Although he found it weird that he was crushing on the strong heroine of the story, considering that she's based on the real-life woman that he recently discovered on that he's related to her, he cannot deny who beautiful she looked in the illustration. Silas and Giles took turns together reading the Snow Queen tale in which revolved around two royal sisters. The eldest born with magical ice powers which grew more powerful as she aged, which would endanger the lives of everyone around her, including her sister. But she eventually found the will it took to embrace her powers and better master them.
Newton settled with the Princess and the Frog about an overworked waitress who wants to open her own restaurant. Unfortunately, her plan hit a snag when the realtors denied her and to add insult to injury, she reluctantly agrees to kiss a talking frog to turn him back into the arrogant, womanizing prince that he used to be before his unlucky encounter with a witchdoctor. However, the kiss turns her, too, into a frog and they are forced to work together to undo the spell. Eventually, they came to an understanding and fell in love with each other. Newton never had a taste for women in his life, but he was beginning to, even if he was too proud to show it.
Ivan found a story called "Rapunzel", about a girl of the same name known famously for her extremely-long golden strands of hair who has been living in isolation inside a tower outside of the kingdom since infancy. The hair, of course, is used a rope to get in and out of the tower through the window at the top and also has the magical power to heal the sick and injured, which her captor and "surrogate mother" uses to keep her youth. But when she crosses paths with a thief, Rapunzel finally sees the outside world and discovers her true origins.
The fairy tale that Zen comes across is called "The Ballad of Mulan", a Chinese tale about a girl who's aging father is called back into action by order of the Emperor when Huns begin their siege on the country. Mulan refused to allow her old father to risk his live out their in the battlefield in his weak and frail condition. So Mulan poses as a male soldier to take his place in the army, aided by a small dragon named Mushu. Ridiculed and not taken seriously at first by the other seasoned male warriors, Mulan proves her worth in the army and helps save the kingdom from the Huns. Avery looked through the pages to find the picture of the girl he found cute, but to her surprise, he found what looks to be an incantation.
"What is this?" asked Zen once he saw it.
"It looks like witchcraft to me." asked Finn, causing the others to look at him with confusion. "This has to be a magic spell."
"Don't be stupid, Finn." Ishmael rolled his eyes and shook his head at his friend's theory. "It's probably just some...uh, I don't know."
"Wouldn't hurt to try it." Avery replied, curious to see some magic happen.
"Are you sure about that?" asked Dane, feeling a shake in his voice as he said this.
"It's probably fake or something. Nothing bad could happen." Avery took over the tome and read through the incantation in Latin, "De scientia adducere tuum, inducere illos in virtute dignus est suscitant, ad magica et liber intus ab omni perturbatione securi."
There was silence in the room, a deadly silence that could be cut with a knife. Everyone in the room looked all around, waiting for something to happen. Sadly, nothing did. But before they could say anything, a page flipped, seemingly on it's own, to the next page, catching each of them off guard.
"What happened?" asked Elijah.
Few more pages turned over as if the book had a mind of it's own. What's strange is that there was no draft or fan in the room that could create a wind to blow on the pages.
"What did you do?" demanded Luke.
"I don't know." exclaimed Avery, suddenly freaking out now.
"What the fuck is it doing?!" shouted Newton, panicking.
The boys were all panicking now and growing more and more frightened to see the pages were flipping in faster pace now and then an unnatural gust of wind picked up inside of the room, scaring them all to death and leaving them all wondering what kind of magic this is. Then it got worse, it was effecting the projector, making it flicker and the wind was pushing them all back away from the book. Avery fought against the mad wind to reach the book and finally, the shoved the thing off the projector and onto the floor, closing it shut. At last, the wind and the madness was finally over.
Taking deep breaths from all the excitement and freakiness they had witnessed, they were glad it was finally over. Unfortunately, it was far from over. For the book, suddenly, lifted itself open once more, brining back the powerful wind and this time, lightning sparkled and crackled all about from the book's pages. The guys had no time to make their getaway for they were all grabbed within the magical currents of electricity and unable to move their bodies. They all screamed in terror and agony as the lightning seemed to be gripping their bodies tightly.
And then, in a final struck of powerful magic accompanied by the sound of thunder in a blinding flash of light, the boy had all vanished into thin air, leaving smoke behind. The pages of the book frantically flipped back to the beginning and close shut for good, leaving an ominous air to the deserted library.
Oh, no! The magical book they had discovered carried supernatural properties and now they've been magically teleported into it. Where does their story lead from here? Found out in the next chapters.