Chapter 6: The Curse of the Swan

Flashback: The Enchanted Forest

Princess Snow White was stumped. "So…what do we do now?" Her entire brilliant plan of escape seemed shattered. The boatman was out cold, the guard was as well, and they were still trapped inside the castle with the Evil Queen just upstairs.

The mermaid slapped her golden tail on the ground, seemingly restless with all of this chatter. Her golden eyes kept glancing up the stairs where more humans were likely to emerge and she let out a low hiss of anxiety.

The white wolf glanced at the gondola boat, still bobbing in the confines of the castle grotto. "What if you and I take the boat ourselves?"

Snow shook her head, "The guards will see us outside and become suspicious of there not being a driver." She glanced at the unconscious boat steersman she had knocked out earlier. He was heftily built and there was no way that either she, nor Rayne in her human form, could fit into his outfit and pass off as a boat driver. Disguises had worked for her in the past but not this time.

There came a sudden raising of voices from the stony stairs above, reminding the three of them that there was still a ball going on and a chance more guests could descend upon and discover them. Snow quickly moved towards the mermaid, hoping to move her away from the open position at the bottom of the stone steps she was at.

At her touch, the sea maiden attempted to jerk away with a small hiss and a fearful look that surprised and almost offended Snow. Then she understood, despite having saved her from those horrible men earlier she really was a stranger to this mermaid; they only knew each other through Rayne. If their roles were switched, she certainly would be wary of some alien human who had just laid out two-fully size guards from the castle.

"I'm sorry," she quickly said, "I did not mean to scare you."

The golden eyes of the mermaid narrowed, as if contemplating the statement of the human, then she seemed to concede. She shrugged her shoulders and wrapped her arms around the furry neck of the wolf instead. The creature managed to drag the fish-woman so that she was perched on the rock ledge above the dark waters. The tips of her tail touched the water and she seemed to sigh in relief at the feeling of the water.

That gave Snow an idea. "Ariel managed to swim me away from the Evil Queen once. Could she do the same?"

The wolf and the mermaid both glanced up at the princess, their expressions both astounded.

Snow was at a loss. What had she said that was so phenomenal? "What is it?"

The wolf lifted a furry eyebrow. "You'll have to stay underwater a long time to get past the guards and out of sight from the Queen's men surrounding the castle."

"Well then we won't surface."

Rayne raised her furry eyebrows further. "From what I've experienced humans need to breathe!"

But Snow was already stripping off her outerwear and her shoes; it would only drag them as they made their escape underwater. She sat down on the cold stone steps leading into the deeper water, clad only in her underdress and corset. "Then I'll just have to hold my breath longer. Unless you have a better idea?"

To that question, Wave's eyes lit up as if with an idea. She gestured at Rayne to lean closer then rasped a few words in mer-tongue to her. The wolf-girl looked perplexed. "I hadn't thought of that but yes, I suppose that could work." She turned to Snow. "She says she has an idea for keeping you under the water and out of sight. I think it will work." Snow opened her mouth to ask her to clarify, since it seemed to be such a brand new idea but the wolf had already turned and trotted over to the lever that opened the gates. "Ready?" she asked Snow. "I'll pull open the gate then dive in after you guys."

Snow and Wave both nodded, the former slipping fully into the water and the later following her with nary a splash around her fin. Snow held back a gasp as the coldness of the water struck her like a blow to the gut and she fought to stop her teeth from chattering. The mermaid seemed to sense her discomfort for she came right over and wrapped her arms around Snow's back, getting a firm but gentle grip. Her golden eyes bore into Snow's forest-green ones with a gentle expression that said, Trust me.

"Alright, here we go!" Rayne howled as loud as she dared and then threw her whole weight into pulling the lever. The gates finally swung with a creaking louder than was comfortable, but they were finally open!

Snow felt the small but strong hands of the mermaid pull her under the water after she had a taken a deep breath. Here we go!

They were propelled away from the shallow waters of the castle grotto and into the main streams faster than Snow would have ever thought possible. Whoosh! Even when Ariel had pulled her away from the clutches of the Evil Queen on the docks she had never gone this fast underwater.

After only a few minutes of swimming Snow's lungs began to burn…

Big, beautiful mountains with lots of fresh mountain AIR. Immense ballrooms with long windows and plenty of breathing room. That fresh morning air right when I wake up in my latest hideout. Air, breathing, more air. I just need to concentrate on that and do nothing else, Snow thought as she was propelled underwater further and further from the castle by the Golden Mermaid.

Who am I kidding? Her thoughts were starting to get more extreme as she felt her lungs shrivel even more. I am going to drown here? She was now aware of only the cold water enveloping her, the iron grip of the mermaid around her torso, and the fact that she could not move in any purposeful way.

Involuntarily, she attempted to gasp and take a breath but it was to no avail. As if sensing Snow's decision, the fish-woman simply clamped a small but powerful hand over Snow's nose and mouth, cutting off any efforts at inhaling the water and drowning. Snow panicked and really started to struggle. Just as she felt she would pass out from lack of air, the mermaid's small hands turned her around in one swift motion and clasped her numb cheeks. Then, a face was thrust forward towards hers and a pair of lips was forced over her own…suddenly she found herself inhaling!

Oh that feels much better, Snow thought as she felt her lungs filling up and her mind clearing. She stopped struggling and concentrated only on inhaling. Once her lungs were satisfied and she was able to focus she found herself staring into the beaming face of the Golden Mermaid, the gills on the sides of her neck were flapping wide open and her golden eyes flashed merrily.

Better? Waverly asked with raised eyebrows and a small tilt of her head.

Snow managed to nod. At once, the mermaid readjusted her hold on the princess and propelled them both away.

Well that was…different, Snow thought as they swam away. Never thought that would happen to me…another woman's lips on my own.

The mermaid surfaced near a driveway to the castle but then had to duck under quickly as a whole slew of the Queen's soldiers came marching along. Hopefully they had not been seen.

Snow and Waverly surfaced again just beyond the castle grounds, in a small grove of willows and the princess gasped for air, again and again. Getting out of the range of the guards was taking longer than she had originally expected. How long are we going to have to keep swimming like this?

Suddenly, Waverly's head whipped towards the forest opening in the grove, fear written on her features before she squeezed Snow closer.

"Wave? What's…?"

The mermaid placed a single finger on Snow's lips, silencing her as effectively as if she had used a gag. Snow could only watch as the waters parted around them and no less than half a dozen heads emerged from the water before she could ask what was going on.

Snow White's eyes widened when she saw them.

In all her imagination about water nymphs she never imagined they would look quite like this. All her childhood picture books depicted the water maidens of the lakes and ponds as beautiful, waif-like, and completely harmless. These women…the moonlight teased the blue/greenish in their hair, almost making it glow as it fell around their angelic features and pale eyes. And those eyes were narrowed and looking right at them! Try as she might, she could not get over the idea that those eyes glowed with a feral anger, something she had only ever seen in the eyes of the Evil Queen when she had been thwarted yet again by Snow White's bandit antics.

Waverly tightened her hold on Snow's shoulders; the pressure felt both reassuring and frightening to the princess. She knew just how vulnerable she was now if the mermaid herself was intimidated by these fellow water maidens. Waverly turned so that Snow as behind her and somewhat out of the line of sight of the nymphs.

"Why do you disturb our home sea-hag!" shouted one female, her face the very picture of fury.

The mermaid pulled back her lips and hissed loudly, startling Snow quite a bit. She knew mermaids were not dainty creatures but rather fierce, apex predators but somehow, for whatever reason, it always surprised her to see them act as such.

"You do not belong here!" screeched yet another. "Go back to your polluted salty mess of a home!"

Waverly hissed again adding a chuting sound that Snow knew was an insult right back. At the movement, the body of the mermaid shifted so that Snow was visible to the water nymphs. She saw every single set of eyes turn to her, and then narrow with rage.

"A human! You dare bring a human here!"

"We must kill it! It will reveal our location—"

"Sent it to the bottom of the lake—"

Snow was aghast. She had no idea her presence would cause such trouble for her mermaid escort. She tried to be reasonable. "No please wait!" she called out and tried not to sound terrified. "I mean you no harm; my friend was just taking me away from the castle—"

Her head was forced underwater and, because she had been talking at the time, a big mouthful of lake water went into it. She almost choked but then whoosh! She was back above the water, spitting and coughing for all she was worth. Waverly had tried to flee underwater but had been forced to surface when a water nymph dove right in front of the two. They simultaneously lunged and Waverly was forced to let go of Snow.

The princess floundered a little in the water before she got her legs under her and managed to stay afloat.

Waverly was fighting three nymphs at once. Her fangs and sharp, strong nails flashed as she twisted and ducked and punched and even slapped with her tail. Snow did her best to evade because she knew she was less than useless with a fight in the water, and somehow managed to get away from the worst of the splashing fighting mermaid and nymphs. Suddenly, a stranger's head surface in front of her, then a small feminine hand shot out and gripped her throat tightly.

"Die human!"

Snow pounded on the arm with her fist but it was like trying to snap a huge tree branch. She felt herself being pushed backwards, the water cascading around her, and her throat closing up. Just as she felt her lungs were about to burst, a white furry figure seemed to sail over her and landed on top of the assaulting water nymph.

Rayne snapped her mouth over the woman's neck just before there came a burst of water droplets and she disappeared. The canine was paddling dog-like into the chaos of the water battle, before turning to Snow and yelling in a very clear human voice.

"Swim! We'll handle them!"

Snow did not need to be told twice; she took a deep breath and glided away. She tried to move fast back towards the river but just as she felt she was away from the fight strong set of arms closed around her chest, pinning her arms to her sides.

She struggled in the iron grip for a second but then saw the flash of golden scales and realized it was Waverly. The mermaid held her tight and whooshed the two of them away, pumping her tail as fast as possible.

Back in the Castle…

"For this is a vow of everlasting love…" the princes' mighty voice carried over the entire assembly, strong and clear for the entire world to hear.

Everlasting love? What is he talking about?

Siegfried's words echoed in Odette's ears. She wanted to scream. She wanted to hit him and throw him out a window like Snow White could have done. She wanted to reach out and grab Siegfried by the shoulders and shake him hard, beg him to recognize that the woman in front of him was not her. She wanted to hate him for not seeing it himself, not seeing that the evil Von Rothbart was tricking him. But she knew she could not do any of those things. No matter how much it was killing her to see the man she loved pledge to someone else, she could never hate him. She loved him.

"All of this can end Odette," Von Rothbart had come up behind her and was leaning over her, his mustache brushing her left ear in an nauseating way as he whispered into it, "I can stop him and make him silent; I can wave him silent with one fleck of my hand and he will not be able to finish what he is about to say. If you will just agree to one simple thing—" he leaned closer still, his cheek grazing Odette's own. She shivered and tried to yank away but the magic still had her frozen to the spot, "—marry me!"

Had he seriously just said that? What was it going to take to make him realize that would never happen! He could turn her into a bird, a worm, a frog for all she cared and it would not happen. Her people, her land would suffer greatly with Von Rothbart as its ruler; that she knew. She was a princess, and a princess had to look after her kingdom…no matter what the cost.

Odette's expression was ice-cold. "I…will…not."

"—a vow for you and for the entire world—"

"This is your last chance princess!"

"—that I make now—"

"You'll never be a human again; you'll die as a swan."

Siegfried, please no! It's a trick!

"—to Odette!"

Noooooooooo!

It felt as if the very earth beneath her feet had opened and swallowed her whole. The magical hold on her had been released, but Odette was too much in shock to notice. She swayed precariously, feeling her very heart break into a million little pieces and scatter to the winds. It was over then. Siegfried had pledged his love to the wrong girl.

She felt the damning change come a second later: the down feathers growing on her fingers, the hunching of her neck, and then the sprouting of white wings on her own arms. Odette fought it, she fought it as she had never before, and managed to half-crawl, half-walk on legs as heavy as stones past the threshold of the outer columned hallway into the light of the Great Hall. All eyes were still on the 'happy' couple in the center of the crowd so no one noticed her for now…all she had to do was get Siegfried to turn around and see her…

Her doppelgänger was facing her so she was the only person to notice her struggle. As Odette painstakingly came closer, the imposter reached her hands up and clasped Siegfried's face to gently guide him into a kiss. Her cold cruel eyes were on Odette the whole time.

If she thought her heart was broken before that was nothing compared to the pain Odette felt now seeing the lips of another woman over Siegfried's. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out except a small honk. Just before her eyes clouded over with the limited coloration of a bird's view, it looked as if Siegfried was being enveloped into a massive black shade…with the outline of a black swan with burning red eyes.

Then…her thoughts, her memories, her very being…were no more. She was a swan.

Outside the Castle…

Snow noticed the mermaid had stopped stroking her tail and was now surfacing in a secluded riverbed, well out of the way of the castle and its surrounding guards as well as the willow glade guarded by water nymphs. Snow's head broke the surface and she heaved in the blessed air that flooded her lungs. Waverly giggled at the sight.

"Hey!" Snow feigned offense. "Some of us are not lucky enough to have gills or a tail!"

The mermaid shrugged then helped Snow up onto the grassy bank. Snow wiped some mud off her face and glanced down at her dress. The article was completely in tatters, streaked with green algae and covered in mud, useless to its previous owner now. I'll have to thank that duchess for her dress, if I ever see her again. A snap of a twig to the right bank caused both the mermaid and the princess to tense before a furry head poked itself out of the dense forest brush. Rayne shook off the excessive moisture, spraying the two of them with muddy droplets, then stepped back and shifted to her human form.

"Good to see you two," she said with relief as she helped Snow further onto the bank then crouched next to the river's edge and touched the mermaid's cheek.

Snow coughed and coughed, trying to get the still-excessive amounts of water out of her mouth. My gods, what an experience.

"Glad you made it out," Snow answered. She glanced over her shoulder back at the palace, thinking about her friend inside. She could not help but worry about Odette and leaving her there. "I wish I could have stayed, made sure she got through."

"It was too dangerous for you to stay," Rayne said quickly. "The Evil Queen or one of her knights would have spotted you."

Wave nodded her agreement and, pumping her tail so that she could reach, she touched Snow's right cheek in a reassuring kind of way. The princess was a bit startled at the intimacy of the touch but, then again, perhaps the water battle had made a better impression of her to the mermaid. That she was a human to be trusted.

The mermaid gestured to the open expansion of the river, making swimming motions with her hands. She seemed to be telling them that she was leaving back to the ocean. She chirped a few sounds and Rayne smiled at her.

"She says she was glad to help and that she is glad the princess got her true love," Rayne said. "She wants to get back to her husband though."

Snow nodded. "Of course, I completely understand." She took the mermaid's hand in her own. "Thank you Waverly."

The mermaid ducked her head a little and her shoulders raised themselves, a bit bashful at thanks being directed at her. Rayne leaned forward and gave the mermaid a kiss on the lips, startling Snow a little, as the other woman slowly lowered herself into the water.

Then she was gone.

"You know, she was not quite what I expected," Snow could not help but comment.

Rayne gave Snow a quizzical look. "How so?"

"Well…she's not as-" she struggled for a good word to explain"-as gentle I suppose as I expected. I always thought mermaids were—"

"Gentle sea maidens who spend most of their time combing their hair on rocks and swimming after boats?"

Snow was perplexed. "Well, yeah."

Rayne gave a snort that was almost wolf-like. "I think you'll find mermaids are remarkably similar to wolves. Apex predators, not just sea maidens."

"Is that why you and her…why you said goodbye with…"

Rayne smiled, genuinely amused. "I know humans think of kissing in such a way that should only be restricted to lovers but wolves do not, and neither do mermaids for that matter." She gazed towards the end of the river. "We were just saying goodbye, nothing more." She then turned to Snow. "Speaking of which, I think it's time we said goodbye too."

Snow smiled and enveloped the wolf in a hug. "Thank you for your help Rayne."

"You're very welcome." The wolf glanced back at the castle. "And I am sure your friend is doing just fine."

Back Inside the Castle…

Since the ensemble was watching the prince and the princess, no one noticed the bird lift herself upward and fly out of the castle window. Except for one who hated all forms of love so she deliberately looked away as the royal couple kissed. The Evil Queen Regina's dark eyes crinkled in confusion at the sight of the swan. "Now what are you doing here?" she asked out loud to the strange sight of a large swan flying out of the castle.

Prince Derek of Chamberg was caught up in the romantic kiss but, ever so slowly, his mind registered something wrong. He had known something was different about Odette when he saw her walk through the front doors but this, this was just—very wrong. His entire being was rejecting the caress and he pulled away before it even lasted very long.

"My love what is wrong?" purred the woman he thought was Odette.

"You…you seem so cold Odette," Derek answered, "What has happened to you?"

Her hand came up to cup his cheek in a gentle manner, but it still felt so wrong. "Nothing my love. I am myself." She smiled coyly. "It may simply be Von Rothbart placing doubts in your mind to take away your feelings and make this curse continue."

"Yes but—"

"Excuse me!"

Derek jumped. A woman dressed entirely in black and with a very high horsetail arrangement of her hair had sauntered over and interrupted the reunion. Regina had had just about enough of the happy young couple and was the only one in the entire assembly with the audacity to come forward and break up the reunion.

"If you two 'lovebirds' are quite finished, I have important matters to attend elsewhere so I will say adieu and good luck!" She smirked as she glanced at the two of them, clearly not impressed with their display. "I am suuuree you will be very happy with yourselves; especially since you cannot seem to keep stray birds out of your own castle!" She was in the process of turning away when Derek spoke up. "Stray birds?"

Regina turned back, very uninterested. "Yes well, swans are not my forte but whatever you feel is necessary to keep in your castle by all means have those white birds flying around everywhere—"

"Odette!"

Derek leapt away from the woman he knew now to be a trick. "Where did you see her?" he demanded from Regina.

She was so startled she let her façade of Evil Queen drop for a second. "Her? That bird was a 'her'?"

But Derek was now rounding on the other woman, the woman he had kissed, the woman he had thought was his love, —and now the woman he had made the pledge that could have saved Odette, that could have broken her curse. He was going to grab her and demand an explanation when a dark mass suddenly enveloped her into a red-tinted cloud of magic. He backed up as wind and lightning swarmed around and dark magic tingled in the air. The rest of the assembly were screaming and charging for the exits, it was utter chaos.

Regina backed away as well, but not as quick, and with far less concern than the rest of the crowds. She rounded her hand and summoned a quick fireball. "Oh no you don't!" she challenged the dark swarming mass in front of her. "Dark magic is my forte."

She aimed a blast at the center of the dark form but it was simply absorbed into the swirling magic, no effect whatsoever.

"You think you are the only one who deals in Dark Magic oh wondrous 'Evil Queen'", came a loud shrilly voice from the dark mass. "I was born of a dark sorcerer and none can match me." The swirling mass finally materialized into a woman, dressed in a black and red dress with fringes flaring and eye blazing.

Siegfried drew his sword, ready to let out his fury and anger. He charged at the woman but was deflected back with a simple wave of her hand. The sword went flying out of his hand and he slammed into a wooden table.

"Oh please!" she shrilled in a mocking tone. "Surely you can do better than that."

"Well I certainly can!"

Regina flung another fireball at the sorceress' unprotected left side and managed to cause her to flounder a bit, she then followed up by waving a few iron pikes into life to bind themselves around the middle of the woman. Odile struggled only briefly before the iron melted at her touch. She then brought up her hand to send her own magic ball of energy flying at Regina when Derek jumped in front of her and deflected the magic using the sword that he had managed to retrieve.

He squared off with the sorceress and Regina did likewise. She had an almost feral grin of enjoyment on her face that startled Derek quite a bit. "I haven't had a good fight in soo long," she murmured. Derek was not sure if she was directly speaking to him but he chose not to answer, simply because he did not really know what to say to that!

Odile eyed both the prince and the Evil Queen but then turned her vengeful gaze fully on Derek. "You could have had me you stupid prince; you could have forgotten all about that spoiled princess; you could have—"

"And you could shut up!"

Regina was tired of this charade and showed it not only by her shout of irritation but also by another blast of magical force. While Odile was distracted she turned to Derek. "I think you better go."

"No I am not leaving here…"

"You're just going to get in my way," Regina spat out. Clearly she was not at all concerned for his safety but rather that she would have a good battle.

Derek opened his mouth, about to protest again but then he remembered Odette; she was out there all alone. He raced to the exit, screaming for a horse so that he could find his true love.

He would still be searching 30 years later…