Meeshell Mermaid had barely come out of the main building when a white, purple-streaked projectile nearly knocked her off her feet.
She was shocked at first, but upon recognizing who was the one embracing –more like squeezing- her was none other than Melody, the pink-haired teen had relaxed and returned the gesture. She was truly mortified that something could happen to Melody while she was fighting some evil dragons (which currently where floating above their heads, unsure of where to land, as if they had remembered they've done something wrong and were very sorry, and to whom Rosabella was now making signals at), hundreds of feet up in the air, according to what she saw in Blondie's nearly ridiculously fearless reportage.
It's not every day that your crush hugs you like this, just after a battle had taken place and some major events had happened.
"What?" Melody exclaimed, eyes wide as saucers.
Meeshell immediately went redder than a red delicious. How could she say that out loud without even noticing? What would she say to Melody now? The girl had been so amazingly charming to her since they met and collaborated musically. Besides, with such an ex-girlfriend like Briar Beauty, why would the DJ have that kind of interest in her? What if she saw her as silly or childish? She was a couple years younger…
The Little Mermaid's daughter was so enclosed in her mini-panic attack that she didn't notice that Melody was going through a similar process.
She was confused, mainly because she swore Meeshell was as straight as a harpoon, but this was some pretty great news. She had pondered confessing after the battle was over, but the girl was so shy and fragile, in a way. She didn't want to push things too far too soon. But how do you say 'Hey, I've liked you for a good while so no prob. Why don't we date?' after you just got off a dragon and out of a battle against the Evil Queen's minions? Okay, there was a way or too but she didn't have the time to decipher and apply them. It was now or never, before some freaky thing happened and teared them apart like it did with Raven and Apple, Darling and Holly.
But this was even better than the best case scenario she had on her head.
With this going on in her brain Melody did the only rational thing her mind and body could agree on, and this was pulling apart from a stunned Meeshell and planting a firm kiss on the girl's lips.
Several moments passed before Meeshell internalized the fact she was liked back and being actually kissed to demonstrate it (which was a feat for her considering her shyness), but fortunately a time not as nearly as long transcurred before the light pink-haired girl kissed back.
A couple seconds and the two girls parted, flushed and pretty much exhilarant.
A good thing happens today, for a change, Melody thought as she saw her lipstick had mixed with Meeshell's, resulting in a sweet shade of fuchsia, but quickly averting her train of thought when she remembered all that transcurred in a few hours. Raven, Apple, the Evil Queen, Daring, the poisoned apple… Hey, wasn't Briar going to explain her something? Where was she even? They had to find Briar. But right now, all Melody wanted was to share her thoughts with the beautiful girl in front of her.
"Meeshell, I've wanted to do that for a while now, but today was the day I realized obstacles appear unexpectedly and sometimes they stop your plans altogether. Freaky stuff happened today and I have a feeling that more will be happening, and I don't want to risk another day without you knowing that I have the biggest crush on you." Melody took Meeshell's hands in her own and stared at her intensely. The Little Mermaid's daughter had a goofy smile plastered on her face, and nodded, expecting the future Pied Piper to continue.
"Meeshell Ariadna Mermaid, would you be my girlfriend, hoping we go as far as forever after?" Melody finally asked.
"Well, I can't say no to such an enchanting introductory speech, can I? Oh, Melody, of course I would!" Meeshell said nearly in hysterics.
Melody planted a firm kiss on Meeshell's lips that went responded immediately. But before they got too distracted they had to help their friends.
"Meesh, believe me I want to spend as much time with you as possible but we need to find Briar. She has an inkling to all of this mess." The white-haired girl stated, looking everywhere for Sleeping Beauty's daughter. She then realized she probably still was in the arena, since she didn't spot her usual entourage of fairy tales nor Cerise's hood.
The light pink-haired teen's face fell the tiniest bit before she remembered what she had seen on the school's screens earlier. But she didn't know the full extent.
"What really happened, Melody?" she asked with such severity that it put Melody out of place for instants.
Melody began pacing towards the arena, pulling Meeshell with her by her hand, entwining their fingers.
"Just the most dramatic plot twist in the history of Royal drama."
"I am lost." Daring's voice was croaky and Dexter barely got what his brother said.
"I don't know what to say, Daring. We are all confused about this." He said, wanting to show the other boy it wasn't just him who was left out in the blue. But really, what in the kingdom just happened? If it was confusing before, when the destined couples were virtually non-existent, it was way worse now that it had been forced. Dexter wasn't that good at charming ladies or anything a Prince Charming would traditionally be good at, but he knew something was off. He couldn't tell Daring until he was sure of what it was, though. Lifting his older brother's spirits only to have them down again was unnecessary.
Daring took the crown from the top of his head and stared at it longingly. Was he worth the title of Prince Charming? What was he going to do from now on? There were too many questions and absolutely no answer. His baby sister was going through a crisis as well, but Daring wasn't able to pick himself up and go to her, and that made him feel worse.
"Whoever said being fairy tale royalty was an easy peasy thing." The blonde boy stated.
In a corner of the Mirror Dimension, Saundra Queen's panic attack was still going on.
How? How was it possible? Out of all things, this had to happen. It wasn't enough that she'd had to encounter Snow White again, no, her daughter had to fall for Bianca's. And fall hard for that matter.
She had poisoned who she guessed by the looks was her future daughter-in-law. And someone who was not Raven had woken her up. And Raven now hated her with everything she's got, if she didn't before today. Oh, and did she mention that she had to transform her high school crush into a snake and former headmaster into a frog? Okay, the last one was rather hilarious but that wasn't the point.
Bianca. Why did it always have to go back to the White family? Don't they ever get tired of being in the middle of everything all the time? Well, of course not. That's what they're meant to be, the center of attention. Hex, Bianca's name is the proof of that! Who names their child "white" when their surname is exactly that? Primrose White, ladies and gentlemen. A lady whose love for Italian culture led her to name her daughter after the color of her skin and that of her ancestors.
The Queen clan, their somewhat equal (because if it weren't for the original Evil Queen's quirks, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves would've been a pretty normal fairy tale with a regular kidnap, a boy with the nerve to defeat a few bad guys, villain, blahblahblah yadayadayada), wasn't as adept of the showbiz that came with Snow White's descent, but they weren't to avoid it completely either. Her own mother was fabulous, in the most diva sense of the word.
Ugh, not the point!Saundra snapped at herself for branching away… Yet again.
She poisoned Bianca's daughter, who was her own daughter's girlfriend or crush. Someone had woken up… Aria? Andrea? What was the kid's name? She remembered Raven exclaiming the (strangely, considering Snow White's traditional traits) blonde's name and it being obnoxious to a point… Apple! There it was. Apple. Someone had woken up Apple, meaning Raven wasn't her True Love and obviously that's not nice, although it shouldn't have been a surprise for anyone, wasn't Snow White meant to be with a Prince Charming and definitely not an Evil Queen, anyway? But aside from all that, she'd just left her birdy without a destiny, officially.
Some voices could be heard and straining her ear a little she found her current distress was only about to get worse.
She'd be placed in Snow White's castle. Bianca's castle.
What are the odds of ending in your old crush's castle? Your old crush and the guy she shouldn't have ended up with's castle? Saundra thought, feeling a lump in her throat.
Right after Apple led Braebyrn to the sty –and obviously not finding Raven there- and tended to his wound, she decided it was better to do some thinking of her own before talking to Raven. Apparently she needed time, and being honest she needed it too. The experience was far from pleasant and by the odd tension in the air, the thing was just about to get worse. Call it intuition.
Apple decided to go find her mother, and see if the mild comfort that brought could help a little. No way she was asking her mom for advice right now though, when her world was turning upside down starting for her relationship and destiny. Speaking of which, she was dreading to talk about.
It was going to be complicated, it was complicated before and was being complicated when this unexpected poisoning happened. Well, she had kinda brought this on herself by breaking the mirror but… Was this some kind of karmic comeback? Did she do something so bad that it could only be returned to her by opening a breech between her and her love? Apple didn't think so.
"Mom?" the blonde asked out loud amongst the crowd of exiting fairy tales, who watched her with a mix of amusement, surprise and even a hint of anger by a few radical Rebels.
Right in that moment, Snow White stroded gracefully out of the building and immediately spotted the mass of blonde curls that was her beautiful daughter's. "Apple! Honey!" she called, and saw Apple avoid a few people and rush to where she was. Bianca noticed Apple's eyes were red and held angst, distress, and a heartbreak that she had only seen once, at her wedding day and sported by the most unlikely person ever after.
"Mom, are you alright?" the younger White asked as soon as she hugged the older woman.
"Yes, of course. But honey, are you okay? You seem upset!" Snow White exclaimed, rather surprised. Her little apple seed was usually a collected person, rarely losing her composure just like herself.
"I don't think so, mommy. But I really don't want to talk about it… Not yet at least. Are you leaving already?" Apple's question came out in a tone that did not reflect what she was really feeling, a sensation without name that invaded her body and soul overwhelmingly. She let go of her mother, and stood with her back arched the way she had been taught since she remembered, like a Queen.
"Not yet. I am making sure Saundra won't provoke another mess again, my little apple seed. I've talked to Milton and Giles. She is coming to my castle, where she will be under permanent custody." Bianca spoke and as she did, a strange feeling settled upon her. Taking another look at her child made her put that thought aside and refocus on the subject at hand, find out what was bugging her precious Princess.
"What do you mean by miscalculating of the spell?!" Holly raised her voice in outrage.
"I mean, certain spells are delicate in how you put and cast them, and I'm afraid Raven's mom miscalculated something. Otherwise it couldn't have went the way it did." Briar explained to a small group that consisted of Cerise, Darling, Holly, Melody and Meeshell.
"Translation, something went terribly wrong." Cerise added with a face.
"What went terribly wrong, if may I know?" a voice came and everybody froze.
Raven was standing there, with a questioning look that couldn't be avoided.
A/N: IMPORTANT: Hello, guys. I apologize profusely for the huge delay in the posting of this chapter. Writing took longer than expected and personal issues came in, as in huge personal issues. But like I said, Gala Dandelion Queen does not abandon a story and that won't happen, so don't be afraid, this story will end properly and with no hiatus.
Thanks for your patience, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
GDQ out, xoxo.