Trapped In A Fairytale

ヾ ₍ ⸙ᰰ۪۪ CHAPTER TWO ──̇─̇─̇─❒͡ a strange beginning; choose your words carefully, and think wisely . . .᭢

Shit. I completely forgot that Ben and Audrey were dating before the first movie in the franchise. Wow. Just goes to show how unimportant that is: not even I, who had to watch the movies at least five times because of Clarisse — my younger cousin who loves the characters of Evie and Uma — remembered that.

A destined couple, as you can see. Yes, I'm being sarcastic, and all for the simple reason of not seeing any potential in those two since the first time I saw them together on screen. Still, Audrey didn't deserve what Ben did.

Who ends a relationship with a song that was meant for another girl? Yes, I remembered the fact that Benjamin was enchanted by the love cookie/potion made by Bertha and blah-blah-blah — I take this very seriously, as you can tell —,but I can't understand the need for this nonsense that the plot created, all to emphasize to the audience how worthless the relationship was to Ben.

Yes, I understood the reason behind it, but I also knew there were other ways to show that to the audience, much betterways to do it — and less lazy, it's important to add, although it's not unknown that Descendants isn't the most well-crafted franchise in the world —, and that bothered me quite a bit in the first movie. And this comes from someone who has a relatively strong distaste for Audrey's character.

Gods, I think I'm going to need to talk to this future king at some point. Or maybe end the relationship, to spare the suffering—

Wait a minute! In this universe, Audrey has a sister, something I was — almost — sure was not introduced in the movies and should make some difference in the universe, even if small. So, maybe there was a slight chance that Florian and Rose weren't together—

- "Your dream boyfriend is here and you're not rushing to meet him?" - I could have openly cursed with the speed at which my hope had been trampled if it weren't for the aforementioned younger sister who had just said that, awakening a certain interest in me.

I diverted my attention from the messenger to the brunette at the end of the table, focusing my gaze on her, a look of confusion now dominating my entire face. To my surprise, that was enough to make her shrink back as if she feared being burned merely by the power of my stare. I had to force myself not to roll my eyes.

I needed to get used to these reactions as quickly as possible, or I was going to have a breakdown just imagining the things this character had done to her own family.

- "Is it so impressive that I don't want to see him once in my life?" - The question came out faster than I could stop it; my tone laced with a good amount of sarcasm. And something told me I had used the passive-aggressiveness that was already characteristic of the character.

This was met with a confused expression from the younger girl; she even tilted her head slightly to the side, furrowing her brows and squinting her eyes in my direction, seeming to forget the fear that had dominated her just a second ago.

Watching this, realizing I had said the wrong thing, something that the 'original' Audrey would never do — yes, I wanted to make my own decisions, but I wasn't looking to draw attention to myself, and only now did I notice that this was going to be a hassle —, I was quick to backtrack on my words.

- "On second thought, I think it would be more practical to bring him here." - This was met with a shocked blink, but it was already better than looking at me as if a new head had grown on my neck. - "Ben and Au— I mean us!" - I affirmed in a tone louder than necessary upon realizing the mistake I was about to make in front of so many people.

My little shout even startled one of the maids, who was approaching the enormous table with a tray in hand, to the point of dropping it, along with the cups she was carrying for who knows what reason; the pieces — possibly very expensive, what a tragedy for the king and queen's wallet — of porcelain shattered on the floor in dozens of pieces, mere meters from me.

Shit! What the hell! Could this get any worse?

You know what? I don't need an answer to that. Please, let nothing worsen.

- "Me and Benjamin, I mean—" I forced a smile on my lips, and I could catch out of the corner of my eye the butler at the entrance stifling a laugh. However, the blond man was quick to raise one of his hands, hiding his amusement from curious gazes.

Well, at least someone is managing to have fun in this big disaster, even if it's at my expense.

- "We haven't eaten together in a while, so I think it would be good for our… relationship."

Even though the younger girl, who I had just now realized I didn't know her name, still seemed somewhat skeptical of my words, the messenger finally moved, stating something about soon bringing the prince to eat with us.

With that, I took the moment to shift my gaze to the table, surprised to see my plate already prepared: a medium cup of tea, three very thin and small toasts, a few strawberries scattered on top of the toasts, and some blackberries around the plate, which seemed to be just for decoration.

Okay. I had no idea that Audrey had issues with eating. Or was it more about her putting too much pressure on herself as a princess? She was the next in line for three kingdoms, so it was to be expected that her mindset wasn't in the best condition. Yes! It was definitely about her being pressured beyond her limits, both by her grandmother and by herself.

I vaguely remember hearing something similar from a school friend who also really liked the movies in the franchise to the point of reading some of the books and even watching the animations — and I always like to remember that even though my friend liked the franchise, we both agreed that the universe wasn't very well constructed. However, this was… very little food, even for a simple breakfast.

Audrey, what are you going through?

For the first time since the beginning of that day, I found myself feeling empathy for the girl whose life I had invaded, taken over her body, and consequently, perhaps ruined her life.

Shit! I need to stay strong. I can't cry now. Come on, Driella, take a deep breath! You can hold this together. You can deal with this. Just get through this morning, find out the girl's name, talk to Benjamin, and then you can—

Wait, do I have to go back to school? No, no, no! Not happening! I'm not going back to the damn school! Or was it a college? You know what? Screw whatever these mediocre fantasy beings call it in this world.

I'm not going through school again, much less acting like one of the mean girls who made my school life a living hell all those years ago. I refuse. This is evolving into a whole new level of torture.

I didn't realize I was gripping the handle of the teacup tightly, clearly trying to vent my frustration on something, just to avoid ending up shouting out loud, as had happened on other occasions in my life. However, to my sudden luck, a voice called for me before I could break the porcelain.

- "Miss Rose, I regret to inform you, that Prince Benjamin insists on speaking with the princess privately." - The messenger informed me, and that thankfully was enough for me to notice that his presence had returned.

I had gotten lost in my memories of school, the worst ones possible, to my misery. This wasn't something new for me, obviously, but it always left me frustrated, feeling like I had lost something important.

Still, even with that feeling in my chest, like an itch I couldn't scratch, I ignored everything and turned my chin to look in the direction of the messenger, forcing a smile on my lips.

- "Did he provide anything that indicated what he wanted to discuss privately?" - Upon finishing, I felt several gazes on me again, watching me with distinct emotions, which fortunately I was unable to identify. I did my best to ignore it, seeing no reason to waste time on that.

Evidently, this was practically a red flag, an indication that I had said, once again, the wrong thing, something that was different from the original Audrey. However, I couldn't find it in me to care. At least, not at that moment.

- "I'm sorry to inform you that no, Princess Audrey." - He bowed afterward, appearing extremely regretful for not having thought of that. The act of bowing, as normal as I knew it to be in matters involving royalty, almost made me furrow my brows rudely.

I guess being royal isn't for me; all these bows are starting to irritate me.

- "However, I will remember this for next time." - There was so much confidence in his words that I did not doubt them.

This, ironically, made me think of something: why did I feel that most, if not all, the servants seemed to walk on eggshells whenever they spoke to Audrey? I wanted to talk to someone about that. To know if I was right in that assumption, but I also feared that doing so might draw unwanted attention to me. Therefore, I said nothing. I dignified myself by biting the inside of my cheek, waiting for the man to finish his speech.

- "But, if it pleases you, I can go back and ask the prince what he desires."

That could be quite useful, as it would spare me the headache of having to pretend to be Benjamin's girlfriend. However, something told me that if I intended to appear at least somewhat like the Audrey these people knew (even though I refused to be a bitch), the last thing this princess would do would be to leave her 'dream boyfriend' waiting.

For a brief moment, I wanted to stay here, purely out of curiosity to observe how the servants interacted with her younger sister. I already knew they were quite different in terms of personalities, but I had just arrived in this place, so I didn't know how far that line could be crossed.

Besides, from which part of the family did Audrey inherit this aggressive and rude behavior? I was almost certain it wasn't from Aurora— although in the Descendants universe, you can't expect everything to be like the classic animations; the existence of all these princes and princesses, kings and queens, all living in one timeline, that is, living in the same century, was already something impossible, but that's a topic for another day —, much less from Prince—I must correct myself, now it should be King Phillip.

I made a mental note to think about that later, maybe when Benjamin left and I could hide in my room for a while, perhaps even a few hours, if I was lucky; I could almost feel a slight headache forming thanks to this entire conversation.

I thought about spending a good part of the day (since, unfortunately, I ended up in this world at seven in the morning on a damn Saturday) in some library, having the chance to gather some new information about the world and the tales that existed here. Or perhaps about the political situation (if there even was one), but I didn't know if there was any here yet. And it would be quite strange if one of the residents of the house/mansion asked if there was a library in her residence. Or maybe not? Well, that's something to think about later.

- "That's not necessary, Mantos." - I almost rolled my eyes at the sight of surprise covering the messenger's face upon hearing his name pronounced. But the uncomfortable feeling was passing, so I would probably soon start to simply ignore those actions.

Yes, they are perfectly valid, and they even gave me a hint of how poorly Audrey treats her staff, to the point that it's a surprise among the employees when the princess refers to them by their names, indicating that Rose made a point of not doing so. However, for me… it wasn't something funny; it was just quite infuriating.

Honestly, out of all the characters in this damn franchise, why the fuck Audrey?

• •

Less than ten minutes later, I was being led to another room, the messenger in front, leading the way, and I a little behind the man, trying to memorize the path.

The hallway captivated my attention for a few moments, and I found myself observing the paintings; there were at least four different paintings of three women, all dressed in different colors, looking irritatingly cheerful in contrast to me. And, just by glancing at one painting for a second, I knew it was the three fairies from Aurora's story; Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. The mentioned aunts, if the cabin in the sister's speech served as a clue.

I momentarily wondered if those fairies would notice my slips in the princess's speech, or if, even though Auradon hadn't used magic like twenty years ago — I thought that was extremely stupid on their part, especially if you put the Fairy Godmother in the middle of my reasoning, but whatever, the kingdom is theirs, not mine —, they would notice that something was off with their niece.

It seemed that the more I thought, the more work I was going to have to deal with. What a load of crap.

As I followed the messenger down the hallway, I also began to notice the grandeur of the place. All the hallways we passed were long and wide, with walls decorated with colorful tapestries that seemed to depict historical moments of the kingdom, like the three fairies, and a small statue of Aurora's spinning wheel.

I noticed how small the latter was, almost like Maleficent, even though she had almost destroyed the entire kingdom by making the princess fall asleep, still seemed small in comparison to everything else (unlike the three fairies, who were evidently remembered fondly), which seemed much more important to Aurora and Phillip. This almost made me laugh, imagining how furious the dark fae would be if she knew this. Perhaps Maleficent would even have a fit.

Putting my thoughts aside, I observed the crystal chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling, illuminating the path we walked with a soft and welcoming light, almost making me feel comfortable. The polished marble floor reflected the light of those same chandeliers, creating a brilliant effect that gave the corridor an air of elegance.

The tall windows along one of the corridors offered me a view of the lush gardens of the place, where colorful flowers and majestic trees created a serene, almost magical setting, which almost made me roll my eyes.

How was it possible that even a garden seemed extremely beautiful compared to everything I had ever seen in my life? It was unrealistic. It was… actually this must be the closest thing to a damn fairy tale. A fucking fairy tale.

Each step I took echoed through the corridor, reminding me of the importance of the place I was in and the responsibility that now rested on my shoulders.

What I wouldn't give for a joint or a cigarette, I didn't care. Wait, do they have cigarettes in this place? Do they… have drugs? I was fully aware that this was a terrible time to think about those possibilities, but my mind loved to do this to me: think completely random things at the most inconvenient moments.

Alright, Driella. Don't think about joints. Don't think about cigarettes or beer (it wasn't my favorite alcoholic drink, but in these moments of desperation, I would be grateful if a beer fell from the sky). Don't think about drugs or illicit substances. Think of Ben; about what you can get from him and the information you could gather.

Like for example… at what point in the story am I? Am I on the day the island kids arrive? A few days before? A few days later, perhaps? I confess it would be fun to try to talk to Evie or Jay since they were some of the few characters I could see myself having a conversation with, even if it was brief. I still wasn't sure how it would feel to look at Carlos, given that the actor passed away and I… I liked Cameron since I grew up watching Jessie and he was my favorite character.

Anyway — yes, I'm fully aware that I'm ignoring yet another elephant in the room, but better than feeling sad —, I would have the answers to that later, but I was still stuck in a damn thought…

The question about drugs and cigarettes didn't leave my mind until I found myself in front of a new door, one I was sure Benjamin was behind the oak wood.

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