Talkings and Transformations

And another Tale Thursdays, as well as the last of Fantasy February’s post, has come upon us. Does anyone believe March is almost here? Because I don’t…anyway, here is the sixth (and, so far, craziest, perhaps because of the large character cast) of the Brown Sisters shorts.

If you want to see the original post, it is found here.

Summary: I despair over doing this but here it is! So after a Rumpelstiltskin-style scam and a Rapunzel-call for hair, Amelia and Olivia Brown (sisters of 23 and 25, if I’m remembering correctly) are transported to a fairy tale village in the Hindu-Kush mountains and meet Jackson Mateo Jimenez (17) and a genie named Mahsa. Those two, seeing the girls, take them to a cafe too mee the rest of the gang+a frog prince: Silvia (17), Holly (23), Marcos (very near 19), and Ranaldo (22). Some discussion ensues, including a small revelation that Marcos and Jackson are brothers and also not very much from this world (though Marcos, apparently, has strange powers…). Eventually, this discussion leads into the revelation of a evil group called Opaque the gang is tracking down. And apparently, the genie says the girls can help…that means they stay! Because A) Olivia would have stayed anyway. B) Curiosity. C) Compassion (and the author needing an excuse to make them forgo practicality and stay in this world). Wonder where the genie sent them to trap this “Niraj”? Also, I wonder WHY they are trying to catch this Niraj (asides from the usual urban fantasy trope of don’t let normal people discover magic!/don’t let the evil guys win!)

Past Stories

1. Scammers and Sisters
2. Rants and Rapunzels
3. Greetings and Genies
4. Introductions and Interactions
5. Stories and Siblings

Sure there was such a thing as teleportation magic. And sure fairy tales now existed.

That is to say, Amelia was travelling with two half (or quarter blood?) fairies, a frog prince (turns out, the prince thing had been literal, though Olivia wasn’t sure why her sister had thought it as figurative), and two brothers (one with strange and not fairy-tale-related powers, for that matter Amelia wasn’t going to ask about).

Still, this forest they were stomping through in France was rather ridiculous—a page from a fairy tale, honestly. What did this have to do with–what had that genie said before dissapearing?

Oh right…what did this French forest have to do with…Australia (that was all Amelia had gathered from the fairy tale chatter.)

“It’s okay,” Jackson cheerfully assured the girls after seeing Amelia’s apprehensive glance at the forest besides a French highway. “Apparently, the Red Riding Hood prophecy was already fulfilled thanks to a wolf curse way back in the 1800s. So going to see Holly’s grandma is perfectly safe.”

Amelia decided not to question that bizarre statement, especially since she knew thanks to Ranaldo and Marcos that the fairy tales of present were apparently fulfilled or unfulfilled (and highly inaccurate) prophecies.

But Olivia had no such qualms. “What do you mean?” she asked the young man as they trudged through a couple of branches.

Jackson craned his head at Olivia. “Oh, you heard of werewolves? That’s basically what happened, except without the full moon, a bloodstained white cloak, and a dangerous chant to expel the curse overtaking the French fairy tale population.”

“You realize that only brings up more questions, right?” Olivia laughed, crashing into a branch and nearly bowling into Marcos and Holly, much to Amelia’s amused exasperation (mostly because this was a constant occurrence). “Oooh…sorry,” the woman blinked, grinning sheepishly as Marcos steadied himself with his crutch.

“It’s all right,” Marcos mildly told her, not looking very bothered. He frowned when Olivia, after dusting herself, gave him a roguish look of surprise. “Yes?”

“You have a nice voice,” Olivia chuckled, patting the teenager on the back. “First–or maybe second–time I heard it, in fact.”

Amelia sighed and kicked her sister in the back of the knee softly. “Stop being weird, Olivia. You’ve already overturned us in enough trouble anyway.”

“And we’re just about here,” Holly broke the conversation as she broke through one last couple of trees to reveal a quaint little cottage.

The cottage was–of course and obviously–a log cabin, complete with a little garden and small fence around it. The wooden front door, the girls saw as they came closer, had a French “Welcome!” engraved into it. There was even a clothesline to the side of the house.

So…fairy tale.

“OHHHH!!!” Olivia squealed, causing her six companions to jump and/or look at her. But she ignored them, jumping to the house. “This is suuuuch a cute little house!” Olivia gave Holly a reproachful beam. “Why didn’t you tell us that the item to help us defeat your evil Niraj was in such an adorable abode?”

Holly blinked, cautiously stepping towards the cottage. “Umm…what?”

“What did we say about being weird?” Amelia sighed as the group followed Holly into the home. She grabbed her sister by the arm and dragged her into the dark home.

Wait…dark?

“Grandma?” Holly called out to the darkness, looking as nervous as her companions were (well, except Olivia, who was fascinated by this fairy tale page brough to life).

“Holly?” a raspy, ancient voice called out from the darkness. “Is that you?”

Exchanging a cautious glance with the frog on her shoulder, Holly called out. “Yes, it’s me. Are you there?”

“I’m here all right,” the voice chuckled in a way that Olivia could only label villainous.

“I’m right here…” the voice growled as she materialized in front of the sisters and growled. (A/N: I do know how to write, right?)

Red glowing eyes? Unnaturally large fangs? Fuzzy ears?

Amelia screamed and bolted, trying to grab Olivia and go. But her sister stood rooted in place, fascinated by and unafraid of the old lady’s half-transformation.

The older girl blinked twice in complete fascination. “What big teeth you have, Grandmother!” Olivia whistled, crossing her arms and leaning forward.

“Olivia!” Amelia hissed as she saw Holly and Silvia readying spells at this sudden apparition.

The wolf-grandmother barred her teeth. “All the better to—”

“Eat me with?” Olivia laughed, much to Amelia’s chagrin.

Really, Olivia was one day going to give Amelia a stroke from all the stress she put long-suffering little sister through! That day may be today, actually…

For the creature before them suddenly shut her mouth and gave a dainty grandmotherly laugh, which was more frightening than the barred fangs. “I was hoping you wouldn’t notice,” she chuckled, her expression one of delectable murder.

“Yeahhh, I’m not sure why you thought that was work,” Olivia replied casually, tapping a finger on her cheek. “But don’t you eat only little girls, wolf-granny? Because I may be 155 centimeters tall, but I’m not really a little girl.”

“Ol. I. Vi. A!!!” Amelia tried again, desperately wishing the fairy-touched girls would hurry up with their spells. She would have actually jumped forth again to grab her sister, but Marcos was keeping her back (with a surprising amount of steadiness despite his foot)—almost as if he’d had experience in dealing with impulsive actions.

The granny barred her fangs once again. “Oh, but I am very hungry…”

And that’s when Holly and Silvia fired. Gold and green magic shot from their hands and wrapped around the grandmother-turned-wolf.

With a blast and the sound of a howling wolf, the chaos dissipated.

Haha…wasn’t THAT FUN?!?!

*heavy breathing* Okay, but in the next one, things will be much clearer.

But with that, this wraps up February! So…thoughts, criticisms, etc.? I’m always looking for improvement! 🙂

 

Image credit: https://intuitivewritingguide.wordpress.com/2019/09/06/im-not-that-stupid-red-riding-hood-prompt/

 

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