BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
the alarm in their mothers room went off as all four sisters stirred and immediately woke up. It was time to get ready for their flight to Disneyland. Their mother was first to get up and made breakfast for them, (even though Sage insisted on cooking her own meals), save for Emily who served herself cereal and Quinn who had a couple of poptarts. Once they all got dressed and ready, they all hustled outside to the car with bags in tow and tickets in their hands.
"It's weird that it's rainy in the middle of July." Kayla remarked upon looking at the rainy sky and letting a couple of raindrops fall on her extended arms.
"C'mon Kayla!" Quinn snapped as they immediately placed their stuff in the car and all hopped in. Sage was in the front seat next to their mother while Quinn and Kayla sat on opposite side of the window seats, leaving Emily to sit in the middle. As they drove they sang along to radio music or watched everything pass by the windows as their mother drove them to the airport. Suddenly their mom's phone began to ring as Mrs. Artiste answered it.
"Hello?" she asked and her smile vanished. "what do you want?"
the sisters watched and listened as their mother's tone went sour. She was really mad at somebody, yet the only ones who had her phone number were a few work friends and also...
"Here," Mrs. Artiste said to Sage, handing her the phone. "It's your father."
Sage was the first to answer their dad who put it on speaker and handed the phone to each of her sisters, first Quinn then Emily and finally Kayla. They talked about how they were doing and going to Disneyland with their uncle and what they plan on doing once they get there and the fun they were going to have. They each told their dad that they miss him and he stated that he missed them too and wished he could see them at the airport but he had work and after they all said their goodbyes Sage hung up and gave the phone back to their mother who shoved the phone deep in her purse. The family was quiet the whole way over to the airport. Finally they arrived and as they moved past the busy hustle and bustle of people there, waited for an hour, and got past security, they made it to the door that lead to their flight and handed the flight attendant their travel tickets.
"Please be good, Listen to your older sister, and stay together, got it?" their mother said as she hugged and kissed each one who all said "Yes." and went down the hall and inside the plane and to their seats. Kayla and Emily were behind Sage and Quinn, but Emily began to squirm in her seat and leaned forward.
"Sage, can I sit with you instead?" Emily pleaded to Sage.
"Sure thing kiddo."Sage said turning to Quinn."Do you mind sitting with Kayla?" Quinn obeyed and both she and Emily switched places right about several minutes before the plane flight captain ushered everyone to stay in their seats and after a couple of minutes of flight safety regulations, the plane finally took off into the sky.
It took forever, but they finally arrived to Los Angeles, California! the sisters couldn't stop talking of how much fun they were gonna have as they took out their luggage and proceeded out of the plane with the other passengers and out of the airport where they noticed a familiar man with a sign saying: 'Artiste sisters'
"Uncle John!" Emily shouted as she ran to her uncle and both hugged. Quinn, Kayla, and Sage followed behind and also gave their uncle hugs and kisses.
"Wow look at you all!"said John astonished as he examined each of the smiling sisters. "The last time I saw you girls you were smaller, Emily was still a baby, kayla was like ten-ish I think, and you all didn't dye your hair different colors."
the sisters giggled. Their mother had white hair and purple eyes that they all enherited, and all of the sisters, except Kayla, had brown eyes which they got from their father. However, each had their white hair dyed to different colors: Sage had metallic purple with her hair in a bob haircut with layers. Quinn dyed her hair black and sometimes kept it in a braid that stretched to the middle of her back. Kayla dyed her hair coral and kept it in a ponytail. Emily, like Sage, had her hair at shoulder length and kept her white hair but talked of dying it either pink or blonde when she gets older to Quinn's age someday.
"C'mon then my little lambs, let's get movin'." said Uncle John as the sisters followed him to the car and as they drove to Disneyland, they started singing to Disney Mania songs the whole way and after a while their uncle talked about how great it is to work at Disney Studios and the benefits it has as the sister asked questions and he answered each one.
"So Sage, your going to college I hear, that's good." Uncle John said as Sage smiled and talked about what she wanted to do and study, but each of the sisters' moods turned sad as Kayla looked out the window, Emily tried to be happy for Sage and listen to her hopes and dreams but it made her upset, and Quinn put in her iPod earphones and listened to music.
"what do you girls think of it all?" Uncle John asked the other three, who all snapped her heads and answered.
"Great" Kayla said. It didn't feel good to her not at all.
"It's going to be good for her and all!"Quinn said with a fake smile.
"It's going to be different without her." Emily said truthfully. All the sisters looked at her and Uncle John tilted the rearview mirror and looked at Emily who he noticed had a sad expression.
"It'll be alright, you'll have Kayla and Quinn" Uncle John said putting on a smile for the youngest sister, who looked at him but her expression didn't change a bit. The car became uncomfortably quiet until their uncle broke the silence.
"Say when we get to Disneyland we should take a group photo at that statue with Walt Disney and Mickey to commemorate the day. How 'bout that?"
All the girls smiled warmly at their uncle.
Finally they arrived at the Disneyland Gates and with their tickets, they entered the magic kingdom as they all became nostalgic and looked around the place as they made their way to the Disneyland hotel where they checked into their room and after leaving their belongings in the hotel room, they went back to the magical world.
" let's take that photo shall we?" Uncle John said as they walked and found the statue and asked a mother of two small children to snap a picture of them next to the Walt Disney statue and after the shot, they all looked at it and smiled.
"So, what do we do first?" Uncle John asked excitedly as all the girls looked at each other with big smiles.
The girls walked every inch of Disneyland. hugged and met the mascots, hugged the princesses, rode on most of the rides, and finally came to the gift shop as they looked at all the Disney toys, costumes, and souvenirs.
"It's a good thing I brought my one hundred dollar bill!" Kayla said to her uncle as she pulled out the bill for all to see as Sage smiled at her Autistic sister. Emily went further ahead and as she explored she found an aisle where there were plushes of Oswald the lucky rabbit and smiled.
"I've seen him on the cover of that Epic Mickey game I found in a game store one time." Kayla said as she came over to Emily as she read the name tag on the rabbits ear.
" 'Oswald...the lucky...rabbit'." Emily said as a grin grew on her face and she hugged the toy cartoon rabbit tightly. "I want to have it!"
After their uncle paid for their souvenirs (who insisted that Kayla save her one hundred dollar bill and let him pay), they decided to head for the Fantasyland section (of course, they took the train to get there) and looked at all the amazing rides and props placed there with more Disney mascots to hug and interact with. It was when Emily noticed a Alice in Wonderland themed area and ushered her sisters to come see it as they went past a building called Through the Looking Glass Maze.
" Let's go in!" Emily said excitedly as she charged in with Kayla following ahead of her.
"I'll race ya!" Kayla called to Emily as they both disappeared inside the large building laughing.
"EMILY! KAYLA!" sage and Quinn cried as they followed their younger sisters inside.
"Girls, get back here!" Uncle John called to them but stopped near the entrance.
The sisters ran deep in the maze and saw it was dark, save for the small lights above and were surrounded by not only mirrors and glass walkways that made everything look expansive and trippy, but also wonderland props and decorations that would make anyone feel like they literally stepped in Wonderland.
"Emily!" Sage called out.
'Kayla!" Quinn screamed.
" Me and Kayla got seperated!" Emily called out from somewhere in the maze.
"I don't like this anymore!" Kayla cried, she sounded further away.
Great, Sage thought. Now their sisters were lost as Sage and Quinn walked down the maze together, despite Quinn suggesting of splitting up in the maze to find Emily and Kayla.
"We're staying together and that's final!" Sage said to a concerned Quinn.
Suddenly they felt a strong vibration underneath their feet, causing them to fall on their knees.
"What was that?" Quinn asked Sage who's eyes darted only for the shaking and a loud rumbling to happen again.
"was that part of the maze?" Emily called out.
"EMILY! KAYLA! DON'T MOVE!!! STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND WELL FIND YOU!!" Sage yelled to the top of her lungs hoping her two younger sisters would hear. Soon, Sage heard muffled screaming outside the building as the shaking happened again only more violent than before as the whole building rattled and props fell and broke apart. It was an Earthquake!!!!
Sage struggled to her feet and tried to keep balance as she grabbed hold of Quinn's arm as she pulled her up to her feet and both ran and tried to avoid falling debris and most of the mirrors and glass walkways shattered and electrical cords fell out and of place as sparks danced. Sage could hear Emily screaming and Kayla calling for help. suddenly a opening split between Sage and Quill as both sisters tried to hang on but both hands slipped and let go as Sage watched as Quill fell through one of the mirrors as it rippled like water before shattering. she couldn't believe what she saw it couldn't have been real!
"QUINN!!!" Sage screamed before loosing her balance and fell backwards to a mirror, but as she held onto the sides of the mirror, another horror came to her mind: the mirror was trying to pull her in!
Sage held onto dear life as the mirror's hold became stronger and pulling her in deeper as the earthquake continued all around her as more and more of the building fell apart and she suddenly heard Emily's scream followed by Kayla's and the fear that they could've been sucked through a mirror too crept into the eldest sisters' mind!
This couldn't be happening! This is Disneyland! nothing bad like an earthquake or man-devouring mirrors could happen here, right?
Sage wanted to think this until her grip suddenly loosened and she got sucked through the mirror and fell through a strange holographic void and as she fell, the horror and confusion was too much to bear and she blacked out, the last thing she heard was her three younger sisters screaming in terror, calling out each other's names and begging Sage to save them!
(yen Sid POV)
Destiny, as we all know, is a funny thing. It controls us just as it guides us, but many of us try to avoid or fight against it, but we can never truly escape destiny, for it is like the ocean, it can never be controlled, nor can it be outrun when we choose to fight against it. However, one can control their own destiny if one has the patience and understanding to accept that Destiny is based more on the choices and actions we make each day and the consequences that come out of it rather than a cruel and unseen puppeteer, and in the end can define our future, molds us as characters, predetermines our way of life, and our fate when it is over.