Jayden

Lily White guided us into a heptagonal room, an extension behind another hidden mirror-door to the room I had a ‘rude awakening’ in, so to say. 

Unlike the one before it, this was entirely white. 

White ribbons hung a few feet above our heads like balloons filling the room for a party. The ends of each ribbons gathered in a circle under the domed ceiling, forming a canopy of white in the shape of a full bloom flower. And on each of these petals were tiny inscriptions that were almost invisible at first sight. 

The walls that extended from the canopy of white were each painted in a shade of the rainbow. Portraits of seven girls in different stages of elaborated costume and hairdo of the respective colours adorned each individual walls. Under the portraits were bronze plates with golden script wordings emblazoned across them. 

The one closest to the door was a wall of light merlot. Cethosia Red, it read. A glass bottle filled with semi-transparent red liquid was placed beneath her name plate. Rapunzel was reflected upon one of the thin silver strips swimming in the bottle, similar to the ribbons that filled the room.

Next to it were identically decorated ‘shrines’ of varied shades. Apricot, marigold, viridian. All of them appeared entirely different from one another but the patches of dark ink around their eyes and the grand monarch wings behind their backs proved they were undoubtedly Blue’s sisters.

Out of the seven walls, two had portraits that were covered in a thick draping of maroon that revealed only a glimpse of the names underneath. One read Atala Magenta and another Pieris White. 

Both glass bottles were filled with murky grey liquid with a smooth crystal stopper each to seal the bottles off. The words in them were dark and sank to the bottom in a heap of indiscernible black ink. The lifeless way the liquids appeared didn’t exactly portray anything worth celebration.

And the last of them, Celastrina Blue.

The names Pinocchio and Cinderella swirled in her bottle of bright sapphire. 

She looked exactly as she was minutes (hours?) ago when she was in her full fairy godmother getup. Only, the one in the portrait had chubbier cheeks and a carefree smile. The person herself looked as if she hadn’t slept for days with eyes that were nearly glazed over and fidgety hands that couldn’t help but rub against one another repeatedly. 

I should be the nervous one here. Moving statues, oversized caterpillar, murderous tunnels...it seemed almost a miracle that I am still in one piece now.

“What you need would be a spell that transcends realms,” Lily said, tapping a manicured finger to her chin as she flitted through the ceiling of ribbons. She ducked in and out of the white maze, surprisingly fluid with her bejewelled massive wings. 

When all ribbons were flipped and all silver inscriptions read, she lowered herself to her feet and shook her head. “I am afraid we do not have such a spell with us here.”

I slumped my shoulders in defeat. If the Mother of fairy godmothers didn’t have a clue about what to do, who were we to do anything?

“But,” she continued with a smile that made hope soar in me again, “Maybe my sister can help.”

I turned to Blue instantly but she didn’t share my excitement. In fact, she looked perplexed beyond belief. 

“You want us to ask Lilac Black for help?” Blue asked incredulously, the crack in her voice indicated whoever this Lilac person was, she wasn’t good news.

Lily White nodded enthusiastically in reply, missed (or dismissed) Blue’s devastated look. “She should know the necessary spells.”

“But Lily—!”

The two launched into a heated debate where Blue tried to make Lily see why it’s impossible to seek help from Lilac Black, however desperate we might be. Lily on the other hand seemed unconcerned.

“Who’s Lilac Black?” I whispered to Herman, eyes still on the invisible ball flying back and forth between the two. 

“She’s—”

“A witch,” Blue answered for him. A wild look rippled in her watery eyes. It was then I realized, she wasn’t against Lilac. 

She was afraid of her. 

Blue shook her head and turned to Lily again, imploring her with her eyes to tell her there was another way, another person to seek help from. She looked as if she was more willing to arrange a meeting with the devil himself than to spend a minute longer with Lilac. Never have I seen her as small and vulnerable in the last thirty over hours.

I combed my brain for the list of fairy tale villains. The sea witch who stole a girl’s voice, the children-eating witch, the Evil Queen of poison apples, the psycho king and his chamber of dead wives, the mad little man who’s obsessed with his own name—even if Lilac is a witch, she’s still a fairy godmother’s sister. 

What could be so bad about her?

Lily didn’t seem worried in the slightest when she brought up the name. Even now she looked entirely relaxed, sipping away her cup of tea as if the thick air of nervousness that choked the room didn’t affect her in the slightest. 

Quirking an eyebrow, Lily set down the cup with a soft click. “A witch or not, as I said, the only one who could help you is Lilac—”

“Someone called for the Mother of Darkness?” a sudden voice cut Lily short. 

From beyond a puff of green smoke, a tall, willowy woman dressed in floor-length dark abbey-robe appeared. Her deadly pale hands were folded neatly in front of her, above a dark green orb perched on a wooden staff—one that was so dark, it almost appeared black. What I initially thought was a headdress turned out to be horns, real, magenta-black horns. 

Any five years olds would recognize those. 

The enchantress of thorns and the centuries old sleeping curse. 

Maleficent.

A raven swooped in through the pixies’ exit, a little bottle of red liquid attached to its leg. The enchantress stroked its feather with one hand and regarded each of us in turn with a lopsided smile, her pace deliberately slow as she passed by Blue.

Blue looked worse than a live wire about to snap.

Lily White wasn’t kidding when she said Lilac is her sister. One of the legendary villains just waltzed into the heart of the good guys’ camp and no one stopped her. No giant insects, no autopilot statue guards, no mob of furious pixies—nothing.

How could they view me as a threat but not someone who can turn into a fire-breathing dragon? Fairy tale’s logic.

“Flower essence from the first blooms of my garden,” Maleficent announced in that particular voice that made my skin crawl. The crow on her shoulder croaked in greetings as she sank into a mock curtsy. 

Lily accepted the glass bottle with a slight nod. A pixie in purple that had been hovering around Blue fluttered to her side and zoomed out of the window above with the bottle in hand. 

“I almost couldn’t recognize you,” Lily began, barely casted a glance at the departing pixie, her hands folded in front of her in a gesture mirroring Maleficent’s. The two were a striking contrast of pale pink and dark purple.

“Just a change of pace,” Maleficent shrugged. “So have you”. Her gaze travelled from Lily’s elaborated hairdo to her feet where a pair of pink shoes peeked out. 

The ghost of a smile found its way to Lily’s lips. “What brought you here, Atala Magenta?”

It took me a whole five seconds before the name sank in. My eyes darted to the walls of the rainbow and there it was, her name on the covered wall. 

Maleficent was a fairy godmother? 

“Well, before that,” her voice slithered across the room just as I turned and our eyes met. Her neon green ones locked onto mine, her gaze sending invisible chains that bound and paralysed my limbs. I froze as a smile crept up her scarlet lips. 

“What do we have here?”