The Land of Stories: Rewriting the narrative

Chapter 4: Princesses and Plans

Aurelia was sitting in her room feeling sorry for herself. The council had done nothing about the statues, and it bothered her. Ok, so they'd checked every statue in the kingdom and covered the transformed ones up. And put up posters asking for information. And checked the library records for spells that could have been used. But apart from that, NOTHING. Aurelia knew the statues were part of something bigger, but the council seemed to disagree.
"I'm sure it was just someone messing around. Maybe a witch who's annoyed at the power the Fairy Godmother weilds. Nothing to worry about, that's for sure. Now please concentrate on your training." Emerelda told Aurelia after the fourth time she brought it up.
Even Coral started to get annoyed.
"It's a mystery to us all, Auri. But we have more urgent stuff we need to focus on. So someone changed a couple of statues. Big deal! That's yesterday's news - literally." She gave Aurelia a reassuring smile - or at least tried. The young fairy was not prepared to give up, however. If the Fairy council wouldn't investigate, Aurelia would. After all, they were so certain she wasn't one of them. Why should she call off the search for answers just because they had? The quest must continue.

☆

Alexandra Marie Bailey sat in one of the many guest rooms in the Charming Palace, surrounded (unsurprisingly) by books. Transformation and Transportation hovered in the air by her left shoulder. The Complete Collection of Charms and Curses - a magically enhanced book with many more pages than it appeared to have - lay on the bed next to her. The Fairy Godmother's Guide, written by her grandmother, sat on the desk to her right. Shielding Spells and How To Use Them floated above her head, and Mother Goose's Big Book of Counter Spells was in her lap as she flicked through it, determined to find out how to change back the statues. A little voice in the back of her head told her that what she was doing was stupid; that it was just a couple of statues that some idiot had transformed for a joke, but Alex's gut told her that something was wrong, and if there was one thing Alex had learned in her adventures, it was to always trust her gut.

"Godmother?" A sharp rap came at the door, waking Alex from her study-induced stupor. She sat up suddenly and the floating books crashed to the floor. She sighed and clicked her fingers in their general direction. The books jumped up and formed a neat pile on her desk, and Alex brushed her dress down.
"Come in, come in." The door opened and a beautiful young woman stepped in. She was twenty-four, with wavy red-brown hair in a low bun and kind golden eyes. She wore a lavender dress with flowing sleeves and a dark purple trim, with dark purple shoes and a gold tiara with an amethyst. Alex got up and hugged her goddaughter, and she hugged back equally as hard. It was still a strange sensation for Alex, being the godmother of someone only about twelve years younger than her, but it was Charming Kingdom tradition.
"I love your dress, Hope! Violetta would be jealous!" Alex laughed.
"Thanks! Mum's teaching me to sew so, you never know, maybe I could make my own dress!"
"That's fantastic! But..." Alex looked appraisingly at the outfit. "There's something missing. May I?" Hope obediently struck a pose, and Alex laughed. She held her empty hand out towards Hope's neck, and fastened the clasp of a necklace around it. It was an amethyst on a gold chain, and matched Hope's tiara. The princess gasped.
"I love it! Thank you, Godmother!"
Alex smiled benevolently as Hope admired the gem.

"Oh, I remember what I came up here for!" Hope said with a tinkling laugh.
"You mean apart from greeting me?" Alex asked, pretending to be offended.

"Well, yes, that, of course. But also dinner is being served soon." Hope smiled and left the room. Alex watched her with eyes full of love. Princess Hope had a rare gift: no matter the situation, she could always make people feel better. Alex spun in a circle, Cinderella-style, and a shower of silver sparkles transformed her travelling dress into a simple yet elegant green ballgown. Alex sighed: she felt like herself again.

☆

Aurelia scribbled furiously on the parchment, ignoring the cramp in her hand. She could hear the Council's voices in her head: If only you worked hard with your training! If only you concentrated your attention on something more positive! But, just like in real life, she ignored them. She worked so energetically on her 'devious, genius' plan, she spilled ink on her bed.
"Oh FRUITCAKE!" She shouted, and was immediately annoyed at the mildness of the exclamation. "UNICORN POO AND... THORNBUSHES! ARGH!"
"Are you alright, Aurelia?" Tangerina called from the stairwell, after hearing the peculiar outburst.
"Sorry, Tangerina! Yeah, I'm fine, just... dropped something." Aurelia lied, knowing if she told the truth the orange fairy would ask what she was writing.
"Well, why don't you use a mending spell if it's broken? You know, the one you learnt last Tuesday?" Tangerina called again, already fast losing interest.
"Oh, yeah! Thanks!" Aurelia experimentally pointed a finger at the ruined parchment and muttered a few words. The ink slowly began to disappear, as if it was spreading in reverse, until it was just a dot on the page. Perfect! Aurelia thought, and continued to write as enthusiastically as ever.

"Oh hey, Aurelia! Whatcha doing?" A small fairy with light green wings and light brown hair landed on Aurelia's shoulder. Aurelia tried to hide the parchment from view.
"Oh, nothing much, Trix. Just, uh... work Rosette set me."
"Oh yeah?" The tiny fairy put her hands on her hips. "Why are you hiding it, then?"
"Uhhh... because it's top secret Council stuff and not for prying eyes (?)"
Trix huffed. "Aurelia, please. I've been friends with your mother ever since she first came to the fairy kingdom. You're planning to do something the council doesn't want you doing."
"You can't prove that! Please, Trix, don't tell anyone! I-" Aurelia was cut off by Trix.
"I'm not finished! You're planning to do something the council doesn't want you doing..." the fairy took a deep breath for emphasis "...and I want to help you."
"You WHAT?" Aurelia was shocked. Trix giggled.
"It's been ages since I had an adventure! Ooh! I'll go and get Noodle! It'll be just like old times!" The fairy flew away giggling, leaving a stunned Aurelia sitting on her bed. A few minutes and minor adjustments to the plan later, Trix was back with another fairy. She was bigger than Trix, with a permanent grin, curly brown hair and bright yellow sundress which matched her wings.
"Hiya!" The new fairy waved. "I'm Noodle! You're Alex's daughter, huh? You sure look like her. So what do you need our help with?" She rubbed her hands together like a villain from an Otherworld book. "Gosh, I haven't been this excited since we stole that book for Alex!" Aurelia was floored.
"You stole a book for my mum?" She managed to gasp. "WHEN?"
"Oh, about twenty years ago." Noodle waved her hand like it was no big deal. "She was fourteen, fifteen? She didn't ask us to, we were helping her of our own accord." She declared bravely.
"Our friend Merkle never let us hear the end of it." Trix rolled her eyes. "Which is why she's not invited on this adventure."
"Plus, she works for the Council now." Noodle said with another eye roll. "Law-abiding little party-pooper."
Aurelia grinned wider than she had since the transformation of the statues.
"Ladies, let's meet back here tomorrow and have a little... discussion." She said, feeling brighter and more hopeful. Trix and Noodle nodded and smiled wickedly. The adventure had begun.