Memories and Prophecy

It was well past midnight when the celebrations of Aurora's return finally died down for the night. The children were snug in their beds, as were the parents and other adults of the village, but in a small inn, Aurora lay in her bed, her hands behind her head, not tired at all. So many thoughts were dancing through her head; it was all happening so fast. One minute, she was in New York, being rescued by this Darien guy, running from trolls, then she was here, being honored with the finest food and being offered gifts that she could never dream of. She sighed, sitting up, rubbing her eyes. She had memories of her father, telling her stories of the queens before her, but none of her stepmother. She began to wonder if she was really the person that everyone thought she was. There was a soft knock on the door.

I swear if that's one more person coming in here to offer me another pillow, I'm going to throw one of the six that I already have at them. "Come in," she said, tying her hair back.

The door opened slowly, revealing Darien at the door, peeking his head in. "May I come in, Your Highness?"

"Please, don't call me that, and yes you can come in, Darien."

He nodded, stepping in and shutting the door. "I just thought that I would tell you that Sara and Siobhan are sleeping soundly in their rooms and I was getting ready to go to bed. We'll have to get an early start tomorrow morning. Queen Red Riding Hood the Fourth wants to meet with you."

"She does? What will I wear? I don't have any clothes with me."

"Well, I was thinking that we would leave at dawn so we wouldn't draw attention to ourselves and just go on foot."

Aurora nodded. "That sounds okay, I suppose."

"Well, it's your call, Aurora. I'm not going to override your decision."

"Darien, it's not like that at all. It's just that…one minute, I'm just another person in New York, an almost starving actress, the next, I'm here in this fairy tale kingdom and the only recollection of this place that I have is my biological father." She sniffled, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't even know who I am, Darien. I want to be Saiyuri, but I can't. I'm Princess Aurora." She began to cry softly, holding her head in her hands.

Darien didn't know what to do. He was just standing there, watching the most beautiful person in the Five Kingdoms cry her eyes out because of a loss of identity. He went over to her slowly, sitting on her bed and taking her in his arms, letting her cry on his shoulder, her warm tears leaking onto jacket as she cried.

"I shouldn't be using you as a tissue, Darien."

"It's all right, Aurora. I don't mind at all."

Eventually, her tears slowed and she brought her head up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, looking at Darien.

"I'm sorry. I must look like crap right now."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. I still think you're beautiful."

She looked at him, smiling softly.

"There's that beautiful smile I've been waiting for," he chuckled, patting her hand.

She chuckled as well, smiling a bit more. "So do you have any stories for me?"

"Well, can you keep a secret?"

"Are you kidding? I'm a very good secret keeper," she stated proudly, grinning and moving over on the bed so Darien could sit beside her.

"Do you know why everyone calls me Wolf," he asked, fiddling with his hands, as he moved to sit beside her.

"No," she said, looking at him.

Just then, Aurora felt something touch her arm. She looked down, seeing something that was gray and white...and furry.

"Oh, my God," she said, looking at him and the furry object, then back up at him. "Is that…a tail?"

He nodded, scratching the side of his head, his eyes briefly turning yellow, whimpering softly.

"You're…you're really a wolf…aren't you?"

"Well, half wolf, but when full moon comes around, you definitely don't want to be around me. I usually hide around that time."

"Then…how did you find the mirror?"

Oh, no. What do I do now? If I tell her the truth, she'll run away with her friends in the middle of the night. She doesn't know her way around the kingdom. She'll get lost…or hurt. "Well, to be honest, I was in jail and I was released," he lied, lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling. "I came here and literally stumbled through it."

"So it was you that howled at my friends and I?"

He nodded, a little embarrassed.

"What were you in jail for?"

"Sheep worrying. In case you haven't noticed, people aren't really that fond of wolves."

"Oh, well…that I can understand. Is there anything else I should know about," she asked, looking down at him.

"Well, do you know why everyone was so happy that you returned? It was because of the Prophecy."

"I have a prophecy?"

"Yes. The Prophecy says this: 'Two queens inhabit the Kingdom of White. One is by marriage, the other is by blood. One is evil, yet the other is good. Poison is the way the evil queen will strike and that is how the rightful queen shall defeat her. The One who is queen by blood will return twelve annuals after her disappearance, one month before the coronation of the throne of White.' After that, my memory's a little vague with the Prophecy, but that's the general idea of it."

"So, my stepmother is the queen by marriage?"

"Yes."

"And I have to defeat her someway while using some kind of poison?"

"Pretty much."

She sighed heavily. "I can't do that. I don't have enough guts to do it."

"You'll figure something out," he said, looking down at his tail, which was now in her lap. "Do you want to touch it?"

She looked at him, her eyes wide. "What?"

"My tail. Do you want to touch it? It's just like a dog's tail."

She giggled, placing her hand nervously on the tail, moving her hand against the grain. Darien gasped, shuddering and whimpering.

"What?"

"With the fur, not against it," he said, scratching the side of his head.

She laughed, now moving her hand with the fur. He sighed contently, closing his eyes.

"So do I have any other relatives?"

He nodded, smiling softly as she continued to pet his tail. "You have two grandmothers, Snow White and Cinderella."

"Are they still alive?"

"Well, Cinderella is. She's the one who's planning your coronation ball at your father's palace in the Fourth Kingdom. Snow White, however, passed away a number of years ago."

"Well, what about my father? Is he still alive?"

"Yes, but he's been missing since Antony took you away to that place where I found you."

"Oh, no! My…well, my adoptive dad. I forgot all about him! I didn't tell him where I was going!"

"He's fine. He should know by now. He'll come here," Darien said, standing up. "If you need me, I'll be sleeping under the stars."

"But the innkeeper saved a room for you."

"I'm a wolf, Aurora. I like sleeping outside," he said, opening the door. "Sweet dreams."

She smiled, watching him shut the door, laying on her bed and closing her eyes.

Meanwhile, back at Azkadellia's palace, Azkadellia was pacing around her mirror room, waiting for Darien and the trolls to come back through the mirror. She went over to the other mirror, looking at it.

"Mirror, talk to me. Where is Wolf?"

"He is back in the Five Kingdoms, my queen."

"What? But how can that be? He stepped through the traveling mirror here. Where is he now?"

"I don't know, my queen. I can't see them."

She sighed. "Well, we'll try making contact with him tomorrow. I'm much too tired to deal with this mess tonight."

Just as she said that, Phury and Rhevenge stepped through the traveling mirror and they weren't alone. They had an older man with them. He was at least in his forties, wearing a NYPD uniform and he was barely conscious. Azkadellia smiled, going over to the trolls.

"Who have you brought me," she asked, standing in front of them.

"Someone to might spark some memories," Phury said, grinning as he pulled the cop's hair, making him look up at the queen.

Azkadellia smiled, looking down at him. "Well, well, well. What have we here? If it isn't my former Captain of the Guard, Antony."

"Azkadellia, it's lovely to see you again. What has it been, twelve years?"

"You know how many years it's been, Antony. Now, where is Princess Aurora?"

"To be honest, I have no idea."

"Oh, you little liar. She's in the kingdom, isn't she?"

"I don't know, Azkadellia. Honestly, I don't."

She smirked, looking at the trolls. "Take him down to the dungeons and chain him up. I'll send the guards down there in the morning to have a little fun."

The trolls smirked, dragging Antony out of the mirror room and down to the dungeons. The Huntsman came in, a proud grin on his face.

"Shall I go and begin the search for the Princess now, my lady?"

"No, Huntsman. I'll send you when I'm ready. Now, go to bed. We'll have a long day tomorrow."

The Huntsman nodded, bowing before Azkadellia and leaving the room. Azkadellia smiled happily in the mirror, going to her room. Soon, she would be the fairest of the all once again.