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The highest room in the tallest tower in a forbidden, overgrown forest housed a once-lively young woman.
Briar Beauty has finally succumbed to her destiny of a hundred year’s sleep.
Occasionally she would hear birds chirp - She wished she could understand them like her old friend Ashlynn - and very distantly, the sound of beings walking through the forest - but after seven months - another 1993 to go, I think - it was already very boring.
Suddenly, sweet smoke had filled her nose. Something was happening that wasn’t there before. Was she getting out early? Students had wanted to throw away their destinies in high school - was this her prince…?
"Briar! It is you!"
The result was even better; Her best friend and future Queen of Ever After had suddenly, somehow, appeared in the room.
"…It’s good to see you." Briar could almost imagine Apple White looking sweetly, sadly forlorn down at her friend. "I know you can’t respond, but I thought you’d like to know - my destiny. It’s starting. Next week, as a matter of fact."
Briar was as happy as one could be near comatose. Apple had wanted to fufill the duties of her matriarchal line since they were nursery rhymes.
"My mother…she’s actually changed, though. I’ll look in the mirror, and she’ll scoff and tell me to put it down, how she is and will forever be the fairest in the land. At first she would bake with me - with us, when we were small, you know - but now she wants nothing to do with me. I know the stepmother was a variation later in my story - but I never thought the alternative would be my mother."
So Raven had left their story then. In her current state, Briar didn’t quite blame her, but wanted to comfort a sniffling Apple all the same.
"I guess she’ll become royally ruthless next week. My father doesn’t have the energy anymore to stand up to her." She was silent for so long, Briar thought she had left, until she said, very quietly, "I miss you, you know. The end - goodbye, Briar."
The smoke was there and gone again.
Being magically asleep had a few bonuses.
Her life was hers to rewatch in crystal clarity, all of the laughter, the mistakes, the parties. Some she chose to relive slowly, others quickly.
Most often relived was her high school days, being awake and free and having the magic at your fingertips to do whatever you wanted with life. Eventually, she got to the point where she could recite every word of any day within her mind. She would give anything to be in Crownculous - it would put her to sleep, but…
The furious sound of someone running up the old stone steps reached her, before the door opened with a slam.
Panting. Then the door shut quietly. Whoever it was had a lopsided step as they made their way further into the room.
"B-Briar it’s me." Apple again. How long had it been? She was just beginning her destiny last…week…
"The guards - the ones I’ve known all our lives, Briar - she sent them after me, to kill me. "
Silence from Sleeping Beauty. Of course.
"I’ve been running and avoiding them for days. I know it’s all a part of the story, but she seemed to mean it. When she gave the order - "
I’d love to run.
“Her eyes…”
Even for my life at this point.
“They looked the same right after we found out that my father had died. Like she was pleased. Like she did it.”
Apple gasped for breath. “I haven’t found the cottage yet, but Briar I’m so scared.I’d stay here forever after, but…that’s not how the story goes.” More footsteps, then the sound of her dropping onto the cushions Briar assumed were still on the floor. “I’ve got to stay here the night. They didn’t follow me, so we should be safe.”
For a long time, Briar heard nothing but slow crunching; Apple was probably eating her namesake, something she did when she was worried - but this time was more painful than before, and it hurt Briar to hear her friend tired and fearful for her life from her own parent.
Briar wanted more than anything to go To hex with destiny, wake up, and comfort her friend.
But magic is stronger than willpower.
Apple’s last visit had been quite a few years ago. From her foggy count, Briar guesstimated at about fifteen or twenty.
Her voice had actually gotten squeakier. Several times Briar mustered up the energy to turn toward her in order to hear. But she did sound happier.
"I saw Hunter again!…Of course, he was sent to kill me, but even then he only wanted to see me again. He was actually quite late. He was supposed to rescue Red Riding Hood - you remember Cerise? - but he could never find her. Headmistress Le Fay will not be happy if there is no Red Riding Hood."
So Grimm had left. Or died. Briar could find nothing ill to say of their old headmaster. Perhaps a tad stuffy, but he wanted was was just and true.
"The dwarves I live with are nice, even if the cottage is rather small. I cook and sing and have taught them to clean. It’s not just right, but it’s a home.”
"I must be careful, however. I should’t even be here, I’m certain my mother will not rest until I lay dead and her title of The Fairest is secure for lifetimes. I’d rather her be dead - and my having a stepmother - instead of her being like that, so very much."
This time, before leaving, Briar felt Apple touch her hand “Can you believe it’s only been twenty five years? It’ll be worth it, our Happily Ever Afters, I swear.”
That was fifteen years ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My brothers.
Somehow Briar had forgotten she had ten younger siblings, and even now she had forgotten their names after sixty years.
There was a dragon’s roar somewhere.
Probably too old to play pirates in the garden with my jewelry. Probably have their own queens and children now. Probably have grandchildren, and oversee great balls, or - they may even be dead.
Like my parents.
A tear rolled down her face. Her big, wild family, all grown up and responsible. She wondered if anyone remembered her - of course they knew Sleeping Beauty was in a tower, but did they remember her name, remember how fairy fashionable and lively she was? Remember how much she liked salted caramel hocus lattes? Remember how much she loved them?
I’m just a figurehead languishing away. She thought, before sinking again into black dreams.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the ninetieth year when she saw her would be prince, and she was pleased to find that he was both handsome and that she was not horribly far behind fashion trends.
Tall, dark, and riding upon a white steed, it would be some years before he actually came across her. For now she saw an initial view of him racing throughout countrysides, inquiring in cottages in the forest and full towns alike about the resting place of Sleeping Beauty.
He read magically changing newspapers (Briar swear they were titled The Blondielocke’s Press), now-ancient tomes, and even the old Yearbook of Ever After High, where he lingered on her picture long enough for her to be surprised.
I had forgotten what I looked like. And yet Apple’s appearance remains clear as looking glass.
Struck by a thought, he closed the book and raced out of the Great Library of the school.
She felt herself finally being dragged from the deepest levels of sleep. The handsome prince she had seen years earlier was standing over her, dirty, tired, and with a sword covered in purplish blood, but ultimately happy.
"Princess Briar." He said slowly. But she only had eyes for the other person in the room.
"A-Apple? Is that really you?" She said, rubbing her eyes and looking beyond his shoulder.
It, in fact, was not Apple, but a very close lookalike. Her blond hair was steadily darkening at the ends, and her eyes were brown.
The prince stood up again, “Milady, this is Queen Gala Apple, and I am Prince Tobais, Son of Othello.”
Briar looked back at Tobais, “Thank ye verily for waking me from slumber. I’m sorry to be continually distracted, but this woman -“
Queen Gala stepped forward and curtseyed. “My grandmother would always tell me tales of the reckless and brave Sleeping Beauty when I was younger. I’ve wanted to meet you since I was but a girl.”
"She insisted upon coming." Said Tobais, "Helped me slay the dragon and everything."
Briar nodded slowly, slightly sad. This is a world of magic. But are all of my friends dead…?
But her savior knew the question she would ask.
"Queen Apple died thirty two years ago. But we can take you to her memorial in due time."
So that’s it.
Somehow, a great worry seem to lift off of her (or perhaps sleep fatigue). Briar felt better knowing that despite the struggle, Apple had received her birthright.
"I’d like that."
After Briar had subsequently been rescued,cleaned and fed, and reintroduced to Ever After at large, she stayed with a great-nephew who was married to a girl from a fairytale about golden swans.
She was to be married within a year, but for now found solace in talking with people and making new friends, finding that she could still throw a hexellent party. Occasionally, she would come across a character with a surname of Ella or Hatter (Had Wonderland been restored to glory?), but always felt hesitant in approaching them, as if she would instantly snap to the past, mention an old incident where she was the only participant still living.
Eventually, mere months before her nupitals, she did find her way back in the Village of Book End. Everything had a quaint, fairytale charm about it, with slightly updated exteriors. Wishing Starbucks was still there, as was Throne Furnishings. The Gingerbread Boutique and Glass Slipper shoe store had merged into a triple-story shopping plaza she couldn’t wait to see inside, but instead found herself walking past it, walking past everything, to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Shoppe.
The shop was relatively crowded. Soon enough, a chair walked up to Briar and, laughing, she sat upon it as it walked her to a table under a mobile of hanging stars emitting a soft glow.
"Princess Briar!" A tall teenaged girl appeared out of nowhere, her hair cut long in the front and uneven in the back. Paige Hatter. "Right pleased to meet you. Or is it Queen now? Princess Queen?"
"Just Briar is fine -"
"Righto. I knew you’d be here soon, be it today or yesteryear. I know just what to give you." She shook a teapot out of her overlarge sleeve and followed with two cups and saucers. "Cheerberry Brew. Just seems like you could use a bit of picking up! Those wee biscuits Ma makes us give are in the oven. Shall be back."
With a curtsey that ended in her clicking her heels, Paige left and Briar was alone. Again. It just snuck up upon her at points. She found her energy from other people, and after one hundred years, it felt like she would never be energized enough. I’m still eighteen - well, one hundred and eighteen - i’ve got more life to live than just about anyone else. But I still feel like I missed a prime part, like I abandoned my friends in order to be ‘safe’.
"Briar?"
Queen Gala Apple was before her. The rest of the shop had stopped to stare in awe as she walked through to the back, holding something wide but fairly slim before her.
"Gala! Sit down, please."
She did so. “How have you been getting on? It must be hard. I’m sure it is. Familiar places and no one you recognize. I understand you met Sunny Lockes? and Fauna Huntsman?”
"Yep. Talkative, but sweet as sugar in porridge." As Blondie would say.
Gala seemed to have heard the unspoken thought. She unearthed the object in her hands;
A Yearbook. Marked as the Fourth Century of Ever After High’s induction. With Briar Beauty written in large, pink, sparkly handwriting across the front. The Queen pushed it across the table.
"When you bought this, everyone had signed it, you just had never read their comments."
Briar took a sip of her tea before continuing. Paige was right; It was fruity and bubbly and felt like it was seeping into your brain, telling you that all was well.
Hey, Briar…we may not have been as close as peas in a pod or spellever, but you were always pretty nice to me. Good luck in your long sleep.
~ Raven Queen
Raven, the one they thought had damned them all, had signed. Turns out she had ushered in a new era of tales, where new stories were being born from those in their family’s fairytales leaving or changing them up. Knowing that she was a hundred year too late to leave her destiny almost wiped the cheerful effects of the tea clean out, but she kept reading.
I was jealous of you. All of you who were promised princes and love. But now…well, this will be too late for any of us, but I’m saying I’m sorry. No matter how you had to earn your HEA, I thought it was worth it. Not anymore. Not even if I might have to die before my time. I’ll try and live some life for you too.
~ Duchess Swan
The more she kept reading, the harder it was for her to focus. Dexter, Cedar, Ashlynn, Maddie, Lizzie, Alistair, Daring, Blondie, Hunter, Bryce, Cerise, Darling…everyone she had ever known since childhood had written these words to their friend whom they would never see again. How often she had helped them study, how she was always there to make sure no one walked out looking like a royal fairy fail, how she made everyone laugh.
Briar flipped past the pictures, to the long, blank pages in the back of the book. “Where’s Apple’s message? She had to have written one, I’m so sure of it.”
Out fell an envelope tucked into the back, patterned with a smooth brown marble coloring, sealed with apple-red wax and a seal of her initials.
Gala sat as Briar shakily opened the letter and read to herself.
To Princess Briar Beauty
Briar
My best friend;
I waited so long to write this, having no idea what to say. I look at the yearbook I’ve placed this in, the notes our friends made, and found I could write nothing down. It took me this long to put into words how much you mean to me. As children, we meant the world to each other and even now, as I write this as a Queen, I still hold you in the highest regard.
While everyone expected me to be ‘on’ one hundred percent of the time during our time at Ever After High, in those moments I would falter, you would always be there to offer me reprise. I had to be the rock, the anchor, the shining light for so many and you were there to be mine.
When I escaped from my mother that dark evening, even in sleep again, you were there for me.
I know it was our - your - destiny, but I resent even more now your curse. You dropping off to sleep as we played as children, if only for a minute or two. It was a constant reminder that one day you would succumb to this, and it would be, in my eyes, permanent.
Magic - the thing I had put so much faith in as a child - would steal my best friend. Being poisoned would last for but a few months in my case - nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to what you would endure.
You are still at the forefront of my mind throughout my reign. Should we need to throw a ball, I lament that you aren’t there. Unfortunately, fun details tend to make my head spin, though I can count how much taxes in grain the millers owe upon a pence.You put everyone, including myself, at ease, and brought out our best. If ever there are new dignitaries to meet with, new things to learn and memorize, I put on my glasses and my music and dance and think. In private, but I do it all the same.
I also regret only visiting you three times, so very young into your sleep. I always had the intention to return, but it was getting very dangerous for me to travel - and yet intentions mean nothing. When I was subsequently rescued, married, and brought to rule, time flew faster than I could have imagined.
Though I did get close. Without the knowledge of the guards, my subjects, or even Daring himself, I took my daughter on a journey. Deep into the forgotten forest, where we could see the tallest room in the tallest tower. Yours.
And I said “Here, Briar Apple. This is where she sleeps. Your Godmother. I wish so badly we could have been queens together.”
I am not sure who exactly will give you this letter, but I’m sorry it will not be me. Magic can only keep one alive for so long, however, it can ensure that you will read these words and think of our friendship that I believe still continues to this day and evermore.
I need not be so formal when talking to someone I consider a sister, so, in conclusion,
From your best friend forever after,
Apple White
It had taken Briar a few moments to realize that her eyes were full of tears. Only when Gala asked her what it said did she comply and reread the letter aloud, the tears finally falling down her face. Apple hadn’t forgotten her at all, it was the complete opposite. There was no blame toward Briar for going through with her destiny.
And her granddaughter, the current Snow White, was sitting in front of her, looking down, trying not to cry as well.
They sat in silence for a while. Minutes. Until Gala said quietly “Well? What is your next move?”
And Briar was finally certain upon it. “The day is young and so am I, so I’ve decided to live. To remember good friends and make new ones.”
"But no one will replace Apple, will they."
"Oh no, I don’t think they will."