ℌ𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔦𝔩𝔶 𝔈𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔄𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 ~ Ⓩⓞⓓⓘⓐⓒⓢ

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 3

Precisely two hours after the zodiacs had all finished breakfast, the Fairy Godmother appeared in the lawn of the mansion, all sparkly magic wands and beautiful silk gowns. Leo was the first to see her, having seen the centuries-year-old woman who somehow still looked like she was barely thirty through one of the countless windows adorning the living room, where the group of twelve had been making small talk. 

"The Fairy Godmother's here!" Leo called as soon as she saw the figure dressed in a gold silk gown and decked with various pieces of jewelry. She swiveled around to face the others again and found the others merely staring at her, with the exception of Aries, who was already heading to the double doors hurriedly. 

Leo blinked at the ones who were still seated and gestured towards the doors. Thankfully, they seemed to get the gist and stood up, though with quite a bit of grumbling, walking to the entrance. Leo followed, a few steps behind.

The Fairy Godmother walked to the entrance to find the doors already ajar and the zodiacs standing behind them.

At that moment, the distinction between the heroes and the villains became painstakingly clear. While the heroes greeted the fairy with cheery grins and waves, the villains merely nodded (Pisces, Gemini, and Libra) or gave tense smiles (Cancer, Sagittarius, and Virgo). 

The Fairy Godmother gave them all a warm smile and quick wave. "Hey, zodiacs!" she said, her melodious voice twinkling like little silver bells. "How are you guys finding your new home?"

"It's great!" Aquarius answered, taking the initiative. "And also... um, kinda easy to get lost in?"

"Yeah, it really is something else," Scorpio agreed. 

As the other heroes voiced their assent, the Fairy Godmother smiled. "That's great to hear." While she had clearly noticed that the villains weren't saying anything, she decided to let them join the conversation whenever they were more comfortable.

"Anyway," Aries said hastily, "please come in." She indicated for the others to clear a path for the Fairy Godmother to come in.

"Thank you," the Fairy Godmother said with a smile. As she headed into the house, she began her talk. "So, I'm glad that all of you seem to be finding the house suitable to your tastes. I know it's only been two days since all of you have arrived, but I wanted to just get this over with as soon as possible."

"The rules and regulations?" Cancer asked, making sure to keep her voice sweetly innocent. She had little doubt, given her and Libra's conversation with Aries earlier in the morning, that this group of twelve would manage to break half of the directives within the first week.

"In a way, yes," the Fairy Godmother admitted, bringing about a round of groans from the zodiacs. "But I will be honest: there isn't much, and I have utmost trust that you will break none of them." The look she gave them made it clear that she did not have utmost trust in them to not break the rules, however.

As they stopped in the living room, each taking their respective spots, the Fairy Godmother continued while sinking into a plush white armchair. "That being said, rule one: Don't destroy this house. Really basic, I know. But very necessary, I've found."

"So... we can't destroy the house?" Sagittarius spoke up. 

"No, you cannot destroy the house," she replied, but she did give a wan smile. "The last time that happened wasn't great, though it certainly was... something. A lot of money went into repairs as well. 

"And rule two: Please try to get along. And don't cause trouble because of arguments or disagreements. Again, rather basic and obvious.

"Rule three: Always lock the doors. Once again, really self-explanatory. 

"Rule four: Don't set fire to the grounds? I don't even know why we have that one, and it's really specific as well, but there's that."

"Wait, hold on," Scorpio cut in. "Does that mean we can set fire to the house?"

"On purpose, no, because that counts as destroying this house, and it also violates rule five, which I will get to in a second," the Fairy Godmother answered. "However, I understand that accidents do happen, so just putting that out there.

"And, lastly, rule five: Don't destroy anything in the house. Like I said, I know accidents can happen, so it's fine if anything accidentally occurs. And I also really don't care if there's a mess, as long as it's cleaned up. And I'll check in monthly, so you can all look forward to that. But yeah, that's pretty much all I'm here for. So just five rules, and they're all really basic. I don't know if you need to write it down, but if you do, feel free to. So... any questions? If you don't have any, I'll leave, and I won't bother you anymore for a month."

"Actually, I do have one question," Leo said. "School?"

"Oh, yes, school information." The Fairy Godmother nodded. "I'll come next month with more details, because August is when school will start. Right now, it's in the middle of July, so you do have a few more weeks before school starts. But yes, you will go to school in Fairytale High, so be prepared. Any other questions?"

As the zodiacs all shook their heads no this time, the fairy rose and began to head towards the doors. "All right, since none of you have any more questions, I guess I'll see you again next month. Or if there's an emergency and you need me, I left my phone number in the envelope you all received. You can call if needed."

"All right," Libra responded. "Okay then. Thanks."

The Fairy Godmother nodded in response. "Of course. And best of luck, zodiacs. Thank you."

She offered a beaming smile as she exited, closing the doors on the way out. Leo watched her lock the gates again after slipping through them. The fairy then glittered away. 

"Okay, so that wasn't as bad as we expected," Scorpio decided. "I mean, we can literally pull off everything as an accident, right?"

"Um, no," Aries said, staring at her. "If you set fire to your bed once, and then you do it again, you literally cannot say, 'Oh, it was an accident!' twice. No one will believe you."

Scorpio sighed. "Fine."

"I mean, she's right," Libra remarked glumly. "No one will fall for the same trick twice."

"But people fall for same tricks that seem different twice," Gemini theorized. "Right?"

"Yeah," Taurus agreed.

"So," Cancer began excitedly, "if what I'm thinking is what you're thinking, Gem, then this should be able to work. For example, if I set fire to my bed the first time, we make up a believable lie or something. The second time - and this is purely hypothetical," she added, seeing Aries and Leo death staring her, "the second time, we say... say, Sag did it. And they might believe us. Or, you know, we can always say Gem did it because of his powers."

"True," Sagittarius concurred.

"Ok." Aquarius nodded. "That's smart."

The others, with the exceptions of Pisces, Leo, and Aries, nodded in agreement.

"How about we set nothing on fire?" Leo suggested. "How does that sound?"

The nine troublemakers exchanged looks before staring at her and said simultaneously, "Boring."