"Phillip," she sighed without even bothering herself to turn around. "You know, I could have found a job by myself."
Phillip laughed out loud. "You wanna play the strong independent girl now, Sleeping Beauty?"
Aurora held back a groan as she was about to snap at him, her cheeks starting to turn red with anger, when a sweet little voice interrupted her.
"Hey, Aurora! You're so pretty, I love you!" A little girl wrapped her tiny arms around the young woman's legs, making her smile, almost forgetting the fury which overwhelmed her a few seconds earlier.
"Hello, little one!" She kneeled before the girl dressed up as herself — well, as Princess Aurora — and stroke her cheek gently. "So I see there are two Auroras today, aren't there?" She chuckled lightly.
The little girl shook her head dramatically. "No, you are the only Aurora. I am just a smaller version of you."
The young woman widened her eyes in confusion. That child was surprisingly smart for her age. She threw an eye at Prince Phillip. He was dealing with two little Belle and Ariel who were sitting on his thighs as he was kneeling to the ground. He laughed when the two little princesses tried to reach out to his sword.
"Ahah!" He laughed. "No, no, princesses! That's not for you. This is for princes to slay and kill some fearsome dragons, not for delicate and graceful girls like you."
Aurora couldn't help rolling her eyes discretely. Then she reported her attention on the tiny version of the Sleeping Beauty. Of herself. This was going to be difficult.
"So tell me, little princess," she gave her a warm smile. "What Princess Aurora can do for you?" She took her tiny white hand into her own.
The little Aurora looked down in shame, and Aurora frowned in concern. What could possibly make that child so sad?
"I don't want to be a princess!" The girl burst out suddenly, throwing herself into the Sleeping Beauty's arms. Aurora froze in astonishment before she put her arms around the little girl's shoulders awkwardly.
Phillip gave her a questioning gaze, which she pointedly ignored.
"Uh... well, it doesn't matter," she began hesitantly, slowly pulling back. "But that is for you to choose, darling. No one will force you to become a princess if you don't want to." Aurora added with a depth she didn't know she had in herself, cupping her chin into her thin hand.
Tears fell from the child's eyes, the little girl wiped them away with one quick move, before she smiled sincerely. "Thank you, Aurora."
And the group of small princesses left, running towards the Castle, shouting and laughing, just as they had come. Aurora and Phillip were too dumbfounded to ask them where their parents were.
The Sleeping Beauty remained speechless as she watched the kids moving away, until suddenly, she felt a breath on her neck.
"How funny." Phillip scoffed. "This little capricious girl makes me think of someone..." He left his sentence open and stood up, leading towards the direction the children had taken. "Come now, we have some autographs to sign."
She arched an eyebrow, utterly annoyed, but chose not to say a word, and she followed him to the Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Her castle.
After a morning quite busy with signing autographs, taking pictures, giving hugs and smiles, Aurora was finally ready for the Parade. It was 2:50pm and everyone was getting ready on their Parade float.
The young woman placed herself at the front, next to Phillip. She looked over her shoulder, trying to distinguish a dark shape which should be hiding behind the false plastic dragon but she saw nothing.
"What's wrong, love?" He took her arm in what was meant to be a soothing gesture. "Looking for something?"
She shook her head absently. "No, it's all right." She looked away and reported her interest on the view which spread right in front of her, that was to say Snow White's float, and Snow White laughing loudly, while the Evil Queen turned away from her in a swirl of her cloak, apparently peeved.
Prince Phillip nodded in silence.
Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice coming from below. She didn't even start to try and comprehend why hearing this voice caused her to smile.
"Firstly, it is exactly 2:50 and as you must know, we must be on our float at 2:50, so technically speaking, I am not late. Secondly, this float is not the first one to move and I am already here, so there is absolutely no timing issue. And thirdly... well, what I was doing is none of your business, boy! So now, stop making a fool of yourself and shut your mouth. You're embarrassing yourself, you fool!" The voice was very curt and dry, and the poor employee was looking at its owner as she was climbing the scale to get on the float.
Aurora looked behind her to see Maleficent in all her mean and cold glory straightening up and placing herself right behind the dragon, which was actually supposed to be... her.
The young woman didn't look away and the older woman seemed to feel the insisting gaze set upon her for she turned her head towards the front. She lifted a curious eyebrow. When their gaze met, they stayed still for a few seconds during which neither of them averted their eyes. Without looking away, the wicked fairy slightly bowed her head. Aurora couldn't surpress a chuckle as she did the same. Maleficent smirked, and the Sleeping Beauty couldn't say why but that devious smile made her quite not at ease. A chill rolled down her spine as she finally took it upon herself to avert her gaze.
"Are you ready?" The employee yelled at all the Disney's staff. A loud general "yes" made itself heard and the employee activated a switch, causing all the Parade floats to move, following the rails that were going through almost half of the park ground.
She reported her attention in front of her. Everything she could see were children, parents, teenagers, adults, couples and all sort of people all reunited to see the characters of their childhood parading right before their eyes. For most of them, it was a dream coming true.
Phillip murmured something in her ear but she couldn't hear because of all the noise that was drowning the place.
And she did what she had been told: she smiled, she took Phillip's arm, she made a few dancing steps, she waved her hand towards the cheering and crying crowd. She was dancing with Phillip when she startled sharply. Some screams were escaping from the public as their float reached it. She looked around, stunned. She looked at Phillip. He simply rolled his eyes.
"Oh, she's insufferable!" He stared at the back of the carriage. "Maleficent, please! That's enough. You're scaring everyone!"
The older woman was alternatively stretching her arms to the sky and aiming it at the terrified people, laughing mirthlessly, which could make her appear quite the insane, maniac witch. Her smile faded away as she gave the prince a haughty glare of pure disdain.
"This is my job, Prince Phillip," she snapped coldly. "Everyone is doing his bit here. Now, if you would grant me the favor to go back to your silly, dreamy show of true love and happiness ever after — or whatever you wish to call it — and let me work as I please... I would be extremely grateful."
Prince Phillip only growled and looked away in defeat.
The fact that Maleficent had managed to hush her boyfriend with one single sentence was kind of endearing to Aurora, and so, even though she couldn't start to understand why, she couldn't take her eyes off the mysterious woman. At first, she didn't know what was so disturbing about her, but soon enough, she understood.
It was not that she was playing the bad role, nor that she was doing it very well, making people scream and step back with horror. No.
Aurora frowned as she observed Maleficent howling with laughter right before the shouting, terrified children. A hundred of children traumatized by one single scene; the hypnotizing of Princess Aurora by the wicked fairy that led to her pricking her finger. And now that very villain were threatening them for real, of course they would be scared.
Yes, the most frightening thing was probably that Maleficent was actually enjoying it.
"Hey, Aurora." A soft voice called cheerfully. "You did a great job at the Parade!"
The Sleeping Beauty turned around, smiling. "Thank you Cinderella, you were not bad yourself."
Cinderella giggled as she came closer to her new friend. "Well, I guess we are the perfect princesses people are expecting us to be.
Aurora suddenly looked down, scowling. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she muttered, gritting her teeth.
Cinderella put a sweet hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I was joking." She chuckled in an attempt at cheering Aurora up. "Of course, we are not princesses. We are actually far from those insipid naïve girls, now aren't we?" And Cinderella gave her those kind of looks that were normally reserved for old friends that could read your mind in one second. "Oh, by the way, are you coming with us tonight?"
Aurora frowned, tilting her head to the side. "Tonight? Why? What's happening tonight?"
The blonde looked at her blankly. "Oh, I see. Your idiot prince didn't tell you. Well, sometimes we hang out together — I mean, all the staff — at the bar just near the park entrance. It's called The Fairytale and it's kind of cool, actually, if you give it a shot. You should really come." Cinderella offered her an encouraging smile.
The Sleeping Beauty raised a hand to her forehead, seemingly lost in thought. "You said there will be all the staff, you meant... really everyone?" She asked hesitantly.
"Yes, of course." Cinderella nodded vigorously, reveling in Aurora's obvious interest. "I will introduce you to my friends here, you'll see, they're all nice people. It would be a good way for you to meet people and make new friends around here."
Fine, this might be my only chance... I need to take it.
"All right, I'll come." Aurora smiled warmly. "So, when do we go?"
"Yes!" Her friend almost shouted in victory. "Oh, don't worry. I'll come to your room and we'll go there together. Just be ready at 9pm."
Aurora chuckled. "Fine, then I'll see you later, then."
As the blonde was climbing up the stairs to her floor, Aurora smiled slightly to herself.
It seems it's time to open yourself to the world and break free from all the clichés you've trapped yourself in.
Cinderella opened the door of the Fairytale.
'You'll see, they're all cool. Here, follow me," the blonde invited her in. Aurora followed her inside the large dark room. It was indeed rather dark, but the wooden tables, the led-lightened shelves behind the bar and all the cheery chatter filling the place participated in making it a surprisingly cosy, warm place.
They passed ahead of a table full with princes and princesses talking and laughind loudly. The young woman recognized Tiana, Rapunzel, Pocahontas, Belle and Ariel among others. When the two blonde princesses approached the group, Belle and Ariel smiled widely and came to meet them.
"Cindy, I see you have found yourself a new friend, yet again," Ariel exclaimed, looking directly at Aurora. "Hi. As you may have noticed thanks to the red hair, I am Ariel."
"Hello Ariel, I am Aurora." Aurora answered softly.
"Don't worry, Aurora." Cinderella bent slightly towards her, talking into her ear. "She may seem a little crazy when you see her, but she's awesome." She laughed whole-heartedly, soon followed by Belle.
"I see." Aurora suppressed a laugh, but all the way remaining calm and quiet.
"Yeah, very funny, blondie." Ariel puffed on her red fringe, rolling her eyes. "I may be crazy, but I am not as weird as her." She giggled, elbowing her friend Belle with unexpected vigor.
"All right, let's assume this was not a miserable attempt at revenge..." Belle gave her a false-annoyed look. "Hello Aurora, I am Belle." She smiled at the new comer, and Aurora was sure she had never seen such a sincere smile before.
"Hello Belle." She bowed her head in response.
"Great. Now that you've met my best friends, you need to meet the others! Come, Sleeping Beauty." Cinderella took her arm once again, urging her away.
"Oh!" Aurora widened her eyes in surprise. "We are leaving already? But—" She looked above her shoulder towards Ariel and Belle.
"Yes, yes! We'll come back later, don't worry," Cinderella cut her off.
Aurora gave an apologetic gaze at her two may-be-new friends and followed the blonde towards the back of the room.
They arrived at the bar where they found Jasmine, Elsa, Megara, Aladdin and Hercules. Cinderella waved her hand towards them, move to which they all answered by a warm smile, except a provocative wink coming from Megara. Aurora smiled too, in lack of a better answer, as she sat at the bar next to Cinderella, looking around in curiosity.
Another group was drinking and having fun at the other side of the bar. Phillip, Flynn Rider, Gaston, the blonde bitch of Atlantis — she couldn't remember her name — and Snow White were all exploding with laughter while Flynn seemed thrilled to share some of his funny stories with them.
Cinderella hadn't stop talking while they were ordering drinks but suddenly, she froze and looked at the left back of the room. Aurora frowned, following her friend's scared gaze. Lady Tremaine was leaning against the wall, talking with the Evil Queen and Mother Gothel. Unlike their heroe companions, the villains were not shouting nor laughing at loud. They were on the contrary very silent and discrete, and that was only making them more threatening.
"What's wrong, Cinderella?" Aurora asked, worry slowly gaining her at a speed she couldn't quite fathom. There was no reason to be afraid, they were at Disneyland, for Heaven's sake!
"Oh, nothing." Cinderella put her head down, visibly embarrassed. "I am sorry, Aurora. I really wanted to introduce you to everyone but I have something to do right now. Will you be okay without me? I mean, you can always go and meet the others without me but..."
"Of course, go Cinderella. There is no problem. I'll be fine, don't worry." She smiled, putting her hand on her friend's arm in a soothing way, despite her own inexplicable wariness.
"Thank you," the blonde answered quietly, but never meeting Aurora's gaze. "I will see you tomorrow then."
"Yes, of course." Aurora smiled again, this time in a desperate attempt at giving her friend some courage for whatever she was about to face, but Cinderella remained definitely insecure, or it was shame, or fear.
The Sleeping Beauty watched her as she lead towards her well-known stepmother. Lady Tremaine smiled coldy as Cinderella approached her. She slowly placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder. Cinderella lowered her head in submission, and Aurora could not help but gasp in shock as she saw all the villains laughing together, looking at Cinderella. The blonde princess seemed to keep perfectly quiet, and that was quite unusual coming from Cinderella. That strange behaviour only caused Aurora to be even more worried. As she was about to stand up and rescue her friend, Lady Tremaine and her stepdaughter left the bar.
Something odd is happening between these two. This is not normal. I will have to ask Cinderella.
She drank what the barman served her in one go, payed and walked towards the group at the other side of the bar, group she had wished to avoid, but well. A princess ought to be polite, doesn't she?
Phillip smiled widely as he saw her coming closer, then he turned towards his friends.
"Hey, guys. I want you to meet Aurora. Love, this is my friends. So, Gaston, Flynn, Elga, Snow White, here she is!"
"Wow. She is so beautiful!" Snow White exclaimed much too joyfully. She stood up and planted a kiss on Aurora's cheek. "Nice to meet you, Aurora!"
Aurora froze in astonishment. "Yes, uh... It's nice to meet you too, Snow White.'
The others laughed loudly, causing the young woman to frown in confusion.
Those people certainly are weird. I don't think I understand them. I'm not sure I want to, either.
They all greeted her with a wave of a hand or a simple "Hi" or "Hello", which was perfectly fine by her.
"So tell me, love, how do you find the park?" Phillip asked her, placing a possessive arm around her shoulders.
"This is great, actually. There are a lot of things to do." She answered absently, with no real conviction.
"Of course there are!" He scoffed. He did a lot of that, and that always was annoying to Aurora's ears, even though she never said. "Now come, we're going to the nightclub near the train station." He dragged her towards the entry of the bar as his friends all got up and followed them.
Aurora abruptly freed herself from the prince's grip. "No, thank you," she refused politely, "I think I will stay here a little more. And then I'll just go back to my room. It's my first day. I'm quite tired, actually."
"Oh, but that's not funny, love!" Phillip blinked at her, as if she'd just said the most absurd thing in the world, crossing his arms on his chest. "But fine. Then I'll see you later, my princess." He winked at her, and she was appalled to notice this was much less appealing than Megara's wink.
"Yes, see you later." And Aurora went to sit at the bar again.
He doesn't understand a thing. She sighed deeply.
She heard a slight wrinkling of fabric right next to her, but she didn't flinch. She wasn't in the mood for caring tonight.
"I see being a princess is not that easy," a deep voice said.
She froze instantly.
Maleficent.
Of course. Cinderella said everyone was coming here, so why wouldn't she?
She turned her head slowly towards the older woman.
"Well, I guess being a villain is not easier," she said quietly, warily, "but honestly I can't say which one is the worst right now..."
Maleficent chuckled, that low and enchanting sound causing Aurora to shiver delightfully.
"I suppose nobody can, indeed." She locked her gaze into Aurora's. "Well, since we are both here to forget about our miserable lives, would you mind if I offered you a drink?" Maleficent asked, her dark red lips raising a provocant, unsettling smile.
Aurora looked down. "Uh... I, uh... Yes, why not," she answered shyly, before smiling back oddly. The smile seemed unnatural, even to herself.
"Very well." Maleficent waved a hand towards the waitress. ''I know exactly what you need."
"R-Really?" Aurora sputtered, widening her eyes in pure astonishment.
"Yes. A purple cosmopolitan and a rose desert, please." She ordered the waitress in an authoritative tone. The kind you do not want to defy.
The Sleeping Beauty stared at Maleficent, speechless.
"What? You are more than eighteen, are you not?" The dark woman asked, arching a sceptic eyebrow.
'"Oh! Yes. Yes, of course. I am 21."
The waitress gave them two glasses, one filled with a deep purple liquid, the other full of a scarlet red mixture.
Aurora frowned, suddenly suspicious. "What is it?" She asked, gesturing to the odd-looking drink.
"Something which suits you perfectly. Drink, princess."
Aurora took the strange beverage and started examining it carefully. Maleficent grasped her glass and took a sip of her purple liquid, her red lips pursed into an amused smirk.
"Drink it, I say," she urged her with that piercing black gaze.
Aurora tilted her head to the side, baffled. She was sure she had already heard that sentence somewhere, but she couldn't remember where...
"Touch it, I say."
Of course! That was one of Maleficent's most famous lines in the movie Sleeping Beauty.
The real Maleficent in front of her rolled her eyes as if she were able to read her mind, which could be the case. Probably was, actually.
"Oh, dear Satan." She growled. "Come now, princess. I am not going to poison you. That would be pretty unwise of me, don't you think? It is very good, you should really taste it."
The Sleeping Beauty finally gave up and took a deep breath before she dipped her lips into the red glass. As she felt the fluid flowing down her throat, she closed her eyes, feeling all the flavours mixing into her mouth and overwhelming her brain.
"Oh! This is really sweet and... intense at the same time. What is it?" She questioned, a gleam of excitement floating in her blueish eyes.
"Rose liquor, rasberry, mint and rhum," Maleficent explained. "Some refined and delightful ingredients fitting for a woman like you."
Aurora looked down, feeling suddenly dizzy. She chuckled lightly. "Well, I will take this as a compliment then. Thank you."
"You may."
The princess looked up to meet Maleficent's gaze. They stood still for a short while in an awkward silence, before Aurora finally looked away, clearing her throat. She believed she saw the fairy smile out of the corner of her eyes.
"So, do tell." Maleficent put her glass down on the counter and turned her head fully towards the Sleeping beauty. "What is wrong with your prince?"
"Oh, that." Aurora sighed, posing her glass on the bar as well. "Actually, he is my boyfriend. In real life, I mean. And he is the one who found me that job so he thinks I owe him and that I would do nothing without him. And he may be right." She rested her chin onto her hand, playing with the decorative cherry hung up on the top of her glass.
"Then I say you have to prove him wrong..." Maleficent whispered, her voice sipping with enigma. She had spoken those words so quietly Aurora wondered whether she had truly heard them or if they were just part of her imagination.
"But I can't." the Sleeping Beauty shook her head desperately. "I mean, I don't know how."
"Well, it is quite simple actually." The dark woman smiled mysteriously while stirring her purple mixture. "You just need to prove him you are not the perfect princess he thinks you are."
"But... how?" Aurora repeated, turning her head towards Maleficent in a sharp movement.
The wicked fairy let out a sarcastic laugh. "I suppose that is a good start already." She made a circular move with her hand, encompassing Aurora, the counter, and herself.
The young woman stared at her blankly. "What do you mean?"
"You see, there are many ways to break the rules..." Maleficent started, never parting with her mystery, and leant in closer. Aurora froze in anticipation. The older woman reached out and brushed Aurora's lips with her fingertips. Slowly, sensually. The Sleeping Beauty opened her mouth, as if to touch the cool finger, taste it. But then, the fairy stroked her cheek softly.
"And I bet having a drink with an older woman — a villain, what is more, the very woman the princess should hate the most... is merely one way out of so many."
All of a sudden, Maleficent straightened up, to Aurora's greatest regret, and stood up, placing her hand on the counter, tapping her fingernails on the wooden bar.
"Now, I shall take my leave." She said, bowing her head gracefully. "Good night, princess."
Aurora didn't manage to articulate a single word and one second later, the frightening and yet so alluring woman was gone.
The Sleeping Beauty took a deep breath she wasn't even aware she was holding before, and looked down at her hands. She noticed her whole body was shaking.
Good night? After that? Ah. Nice joke.