Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Norah pondered deeply as she stared at the screen of her laptop with pounding music from her headphones. She had been working on her own fiction for almost a week now, squeezing all the free time she had between finishing her homework and bedtime to craft every paragraph like how a skilled sword-maker would forge a new sword.

On this Friday night, with her parents out and free from distraction, she was confident she could finish her latest chapter.

Norah felt a hand tugging at her dress. She looked down and discovered it was her younger step-sister Aurora, dressed in yellow and wearing her adorable little hand-made paper princess crown.

Norah took off her headphone and asked, “Yes, Aurora?”

“Norah? Are you doing homework?” Aurora asked.

“No. Do you need anything?” Norah said absent mindedly as she surreptitiously locked her laptop screen. Aurora continued looking at her blankly as if she was still waiting for a reply.

“Oh, sorry.” Norah got off her chair and crouched down to Aurora’s eye level. “Is there something you need?”

“Can I borrow your toys?” Aurora asked, pointing at the figurines that decorated Norah’s top shelf.

Norah bit her lips in thought. She didn’t want to lend Aurora her precious Lemurian Legends figurines. Those figurines were expensive and fragile, and she knew Aurora wanted to use them for playing. Norah needed to entice her to play with something else.

“No, I can’t. They are too heavy for you. But I can lend you some of my smaller toys. Want to see them?”

“Okay.”

Norah retrieved a container from her cupboard and opened it on the floor. From fairies to turtles with ninja weapons, there were little figurines of all shape and sizes from every disparate cartoons Norah used to watch since she was of Aurora’s age. They were much cheaper and most of them were broken anyway, so Norah had no qualms giving them to Aurora.

“Do you have that one?” Aurora pointed back to the top shelf. “The one that looked like a mouse.”

“You mean Robert? Ah, lucky for you, I happen to have one. Give me a sec.” Norah emptied the box to search, and she found a figurine of Robert the mouse archer. The figurine was a much cheaper action figure she bought years ago from a toy store. Some of its paint had chipped off and one of its leg joints was glued stuck. Otherwise, it still looked fine.

“Here you go.” Norah handed Robert to Aurora.

“Thank you.”

“Why don’t you pick more?” Norah further enticed Aurora.

Aurora picked a several more figurines until she had an armload of them. Happy with her selection, she carried them back into her bedroom.

Norah swept the entire content of the box back in, and went back to her laptop. She unlocked the screen and resumed her task; writing the latest chapter of her Lemurian Legends fanfiction.

Lemurian Legends was a fantasy-themed television and toy franchise that had existed in various incarnations over two decades. Although the cartoon originated as a television tie-in to the toy line, fans loved its dark stories and complex characters. As a result, it had spawned three different continuities, multiple spin-offs in novels, comics, and, not to mention, countless lines of toys.

The current generation was the third reincarnation, and there was no better time to be a fan. After years of limbo existing only in the back aisle of toy stores, Lemurian Legends was rebooted with a high-budget and critically-acclaimed animated series. Subsequently, the fan community swelled with newcomers, and they brought with them budding artists and aspiring writers like Norah.

Norah typed out the final sentence. The final draft of her next chapter of her own fanfiction series was almost ready. She posted it on to her beta reader group page on the Lemurian Legends fanfiction website, LL Fiction.

Under her username ‘Nordwarf’, she wrote under the description, “Latest chapter of my fanfic, please read and comment, all comments appreciated!”

Norah waited five minute before a chat window came up. It was her best friend and fellow fangirl Penny, whose screen-name was ‘Treearcher12’.

Treearcher12: I’ve read it from front to back. Great work! Your grammar still needs work though

Nordwarf: Grammar is hard :,(

Treearcher12: LOL better turn yourself in for your word crimes

Nordwarf: My spellchecker is literally a lie. I’m going back to m$ word

Treearcher12: Weird Al is LITERALLY going to smack a crowbar on your stupid head

Nordwarf: Let it go, let it go

Treearcher12: You just planted an image of Hound Dolf singing that on the mountain in my mind LOL

Nordwarf: (manly voice) the cold never bothered me anyway…

Then, another one of her friends, Hailumbra joined in the chat.

Hailumbra: Hey gals, how it’s going?

Nordwarf: Hey! Haven’t seen you since we met at the convention. What have you been up to IRL?

Hailumbra: Research conference and stuff. Sorry for not keeping in touch. :(

Treearcher12: It’s okay, we understand.

‘Hailumbra’ was the handle of Stacy, a post-graduate biology student almost ten years her senior. They met in person for the first time in a fan-organized Lemurian Legends convention three months ago. They kept in touch online afterwards, but Stacy hadn’t been very active online lately.

Hailumbra: I’ve read your draft. It’s pretty good, but I think you may have written Fabio a bit out of character. He would never say such nasty things to Gen.

Nordwarf: Don’t worry, they’ll make up later.

Hailumbra: Yeah, but i still think it’s too nasty of him.

Nordwarf: Hmm, now that you said it I think you may be right. I need to rethink the dialogue.

The first beta review for her fan fiction then appeared on the website. In it, Stacy, writing under her handle, written a brief and succinct critique of her latest chapter, mostly focusing on the problematic characterization of her characters.

Nordwarf: Thanks for the great critique, I see what I can do.

Hailumbra: It is a pretty good chapter, I look forward to reading it again. :D

Norah saw another notification of a new review. She clicked on the link to read it.

Llrulez298: this is the worst piece of crap ive ever read i hate you fake geek girls you only like LL because it is cool and trendy and you ruined LL and season 4 is garbage cos the stupid writers kept pandering to you stupid girls putting all this gay love crap you should all burn in hell go back to your barbie dolls and disney crap you-

Norah couldn’t read another word of the feverish page-long rant, and she turned away. She felt anger boiling up inside her and threatening to burst out into rage. It took her all of her self-control to resist flinging her cherished laptop against a wall.

Penny and Stacy noticed the review too, and they took action.

Treearcher12: Oh boy not one of those trolls again.

Hailumbra: Reported.

Treearcher12: Me too.

Hailumbra: Banned in 3… 2… 1…

Treearcher12: Aaaand it’s gone.

Norah refreshed the page. Indeed, the fatuous comment had been replaced with the message, “This review has been removed for violating the site’s community guidelines.”

She checked the poster account. To her relief, the account had been deactivated. In addition, she realized that the account was only a day old, and all of the twenty plus comments and reviews he posted over the past hour had been censored too. It was another disposable account being used by a troll.

Nordwarf: Thanks gals. Seeing that thing almost gave me high blood pressure.

Treearcher12: No problem. We never stand alone.

Hailumbra: Fangirls need to stick together.

Nordwarf: Aww thanks gals. :)

Nordwarf: Btw that account was only a day old. Looks like it’s another troll account.

Hailumbra: That means he’ll be back once the IP ban is lifted.

Nordwarf: Gaaaaah.

Treearcher12: I saw that guy in action before. He literally copy-paste the same copy-pasta rant on every fanfiction he sees on this site.

Nordwarf: Sounds like he needs a new hobby.

Hailumbra: More like he only troll fanfic he thinks are written by female writers. I saw this guy before in Lemurian Daily Chronicles…

Hailumbra: …and he just couldn’t stop going on and on about how we girls ruined LL and we should all burn in hell. |-(

Norah sighed. The past two years she had being active in Lemurian Legends’ online fandom had hardened her against discrimination from older fans, especially those who prided themselves for being fans since the original television series aired more than two decades ago. Unfortunately, the anonymous user still managed to get under her skin.

Nordwarf: Oh my god what is the deal with that guy anyway? Well, assuming he’s a guy.

Hailumbra: Oh yes he’s a guy. This guy already gained a reputation elsewhere. His first username was garycool2004, so we call him Gary.

Treearcher12: 2004? Is that his birth year? Are you saying he’s still a kid?!

Hailumbra: He behaves like one, but I’m not so sure he’s actually one…… D:

Treearcher12: Ewwww

Hailumbra: Whoever he is, he’s been perma banned from everywhere. Not even LemuFellowship.org wants him, and trust me, that site is the already the biggest cesspool of the community.

Norah looked back at the beta review page. There haven’t been any new posts since the abusive user had been banned. She decided it was time to stop for the night.

Nordwarf: Hey gals, I think I should turn in for the night.

Treearcher12: Have a good sleep gal.

Hailumbra: Don’t worry about the comments, we’ll help to keep the trolls away.

Nordwarf: Thanks. Good night.

Norah logged off from the website, still feeling upset over the awful comment. She decided she should calm herself down with orange juice.

While sipping chilled orange juice in the kitchen, Norah decided that all things considered, that awful comment was not worth getting angry over. Sure, it used some really awful languages, and she stopped reading it before it could get any nastier, but in the end it was all meaningless drivel, sprouted out of some sad person's twisted mind who saw fit to make threats against innocent people just because they don’t like the direction their beloved cartoon had taken.

Norah had already experienced and overcome rough spots in her real life, especially during her pre-teen years after her birth father abandoned her and her mother. A little nasty comment on the Internet was nothing in comparison, she could get over it. All she needed that night was some time to cool off.

Norah’s cell phone chimed with a message. It was her mother, informing her that they would be returning a little later than planned, and also reminding her to put Aurora to bed at nine sharp. Norah texted back her reply. Then, she decided it was a good time to check on Aurora.

Chapter Text

Outside Aurora’s bedroom, Norah heard noises from inside. Feeling both curious and a bit worried for Aurora’s safety, she knocked on Aurora’s bedroom door.

“Aurora, may I come in?”she called out.

When there was no reply, Norah opened the door, and a strange sight greeted her. Aurora was swinging her toy sword in the air while making her own sound effects. Norah’s toys were lined up behind her as if they were in battle formation, facing down Aurora’s own soft toys at the other end of the room.

“Light power blast! Boom!” Aurora shouted. She picked up a yellow ball and threw it at the soft toys. The soft toys fell over.

“Yay! We defeated the monsters!” She cheered, her sword raised triumphantly.

Norah stifled her laughter. Aurora looked so adorable.

Aurora spotted Norah, and she turned to her sister with her sword pointed at Norah.

“Stop!” Aurora shouted. “Who are you?”

Norah threw her arms up in surprise. “Whoa! It’s me, Norah! Your sister!”

Looking bewildered, Aurora put down her toy sword. “Norah, is that really you? Why are you in Magicland?”

“Aurora is staying in character,” Norah realized. Finding it too adorable to resist, Norah decided to play along.

“Oh, yes! But I don't know how I got here,” Norah said. She glanced at the door behind her. “I think I came in through a magical door in my home.”

“Close it, quick! We can’t let the dark monsters escape to the other worlds!” Aurora urged.

Norah closed the door behind her.

“Norah, will you like to join us in fighting evil?” Aurora challenged her sister.

Norah was surprised to by Aurora's offer. Aurora had never asked her to join in one of her play sessions before. She was almost ten years older than Aurora and they shared very few common interests. Norah had always assumed that Aurora, at best, saw her as an adult relative. An alternative parental figure of some sort, but neither a sibling nor a friend to play with.

Yet, upon seeing Aurora looking up to her, eagerly waiting for her answer, Norah decided to give it a shot. She did not want to disappoint Aurora.

“Oh no, is there evil afoot here?” Norah gasped, pretending to sound terrified.

“There is a very evil queen of darkness ruling Magicland. We must destroy her and free all the nice people living here!”

“Why, yes, of course I will fight!”

“As a princess I give you my second most powerful sword.” Aurora drew out another cardboard sword, made from the white packaging box of the house’s new washing machine. “This sword has the power to control time.”

Grinning, Norah knelled down to accept her new sword. “I am eternally honoured, princess Aurora.”

“Now Norah, I want you to meet my friends.” Aurora held up a tear-drop shaped soft toy with a face on it. “This is Igniculus, his light power helps me to distract the enemies.”

“Hello, Igniculus.” Norah recognized the toy as a freebie that was given out during her school’s water conservation talk.

Aurora pointed to a little dwarf. “This is Finn. He has fire and water and lightning powers. He is always scared but he is still good at fighting.”

“Why is he scared?” Norah asked.

“He’s just a little scaredy cat,” Aurora said with a chuckle.

Aurora then picked up two jester dolls, one with a smiling face, and the other a frowning face. “These are Rubelle and Tristis. They’re brother and sister, and they are jesters who used to live in a circus until the evil queen destroyed their home because she doesn’t like circus. They shield us and heal us when we get hurt by the monsters.”

Aurora then picked up the Robert figurine Norah had just lend to her. “And this is Robert. He joined us because he is looking for treasure.”

“What sort of treasure?”

“Shiny treasures! The mouse people were all very rich, but an evil spider had stolen them all and he needed to find them.”

“Looks like you’ve formed quite a team.”

“Oh, you should take this.” Aurora handed paper stars made of glitter paper to Norah. “These magic gems give you extra powers. Carry them with you.”

Aurora turned and raised her sword. “Now, on to our next adventure! We are going into the volcano to defeat the evil spider!”

Aurora carried the pillows on her bed to the floor and build a crude looking mountain out of the pillows. She then retrieved a spider toy from her toy chest and placed it under the pillow mountain.

“Oh look, it’s the spider! Everyone, fight!” Aurora yelled.

“Fight!” Norah repeated after her.

“Finn, use your fire spell!” Aurora picked up a red ball and threw it at the spider. It missed. “It didn’t work because it’s a fire spider! Norah, use your time magic!”

Time magic? Norah quickly improvised. She raised her cardboard sword and cried out, “I am now casting a spell that will freeze the spider for a short period of time. Freeze!”

“It worked sister! It worked!” Aurora jumped up and down excitedly. “Charge!”

Aurora ran towards the spider and hit it with her sword. The spider toy bounced on the pillow and hit back at her. “Oh no, it attacked me! I’m hurt! Rubelle, heal me! Norah, keep attacking it!”

Norah went up to spider and gently knocked it with her sword.

“Rubelle had healed me! Now I shall use my light magic power!” Aurora raised her hands, made a circular motion with them, and made whooshing noises with her palms outstretched at the spider.

Norah kicked the spider toy over.

“We won! We won! The spider is dead!” Aurora cheered, jumping up and down. “Robert got his treasures back!”

As she jumped, Aurora’s hearing aid fell off. Aurora’s smile faded.

“Norah? I can’t hear anything. Norah?” Aurora sound frightened.

Norah sprung to action. Dropping her cardboard sword, she bent down to Aurora and held her still.

“Aurora, hold still.” Norah picked up Aurora’s dangling hearing aid and carefully replaced it on back on Aurora’s right ear.

“Alright. Aurora, can you hear me now?” Norah asked, softly out of caution.

Aurora nodded. “Yes.”

Norah breathed a sigh of relief. “Is there anything else you need?”

Aurora shook her head and resumed her playtime as if the accident with her hearing aid never happened. She picked up Robert and carried her over to the pillow volcano.

“Thank you Aurora! We got back our treasures,” Aurora voiced Robert. “And because you are such a good princess, I’ve decided to help you. Can I join you?”

“Yes Robert, you can join us!” Aurora happily answered to herself.

Norah giggled. Aurora had such an active imagination.

Chapter Text

“Let’s fly out of the cave!” Aurora ran a circle around the room making more whooshing noises. Aurora then pointed at her bed and gasped.

“Norah, look! The mountain is moving! It’s a mountain giant!” Aurora tiptoed back to the pillow mountain and leaned in, pretending she was listening in to the mountain giant whispering.

“The mountain giant says thank you for defeating the fire spider inside him. It has been making him ill. In return, he would carry us up to our next destination!” Aurora said happily.

“Oh joy! Now we don’t have to walk all the way there!” Norah joked.

“The floor is shaking! The mountain troll is carrying us up! Hang on!” Aurora crouched down. Norah followed suit.

“We’re here! Look, there is a magic mirror. Maybe it’s a shortcut to the evil queen’s castle,” Aurora said, pointing at a mirror in her bedroom. “Let’s try it.”

Norah shrugged. “Okay, let’s try it.”

“We’ve walked through the mirror. We’re in the castle.” Aurora then gasped at nobody in particular. “Oh no! The evil queen, she’s been waiting for us! She captured all of us!”

This was Norah’s moment to shine. Norah puffed up her chest. “Don’t worry Aurora, I’ll save you-”

“No Norah, that’s wrong.” Aurora broke character to interrupt Norah. “You’re supposed to be evil now.”

Norah was taken aback. “I’m evil now?”

“Yes, you’re the evil stepsister. You tricked me into stepping through the mirror and get captured by the evil queen.”

Norah felt like a piece of her inside had withered. “But – but I love you Aurora.”

Aurora laughed. “No silly, we’re just pretending! You’re just pretending to be my evil step-sister, and I’m just pretend to be captured by the evil queen!”

“Oh, okay.” Norah sighed. It was just part of Aurora’s play, she told herself.

Aurora sensed it too. “Norah, are you sad?” she asked , worried about her stepsister’s sudden mood swing.

“Sad? No, I’m not sad,” Norah put on a brave, happy front as she said. “I know we’re just playing. I don’t mind playing the villain. It’s just, I don’t want you to think that I don’t love you.”

Norah felt vulnerable after her confession. This was the first time she truly shared her feelings with Aurora. Ever since she first met Aurora, she had given herself the pressure to be something akin to Aurora’s parental figure. She could not place her finger why she did that. Maybe it was because of their age gap, or maybe because Aurora looked so vulnerable with her hearing impairment. With her facade as an infallible adult broken, Norah felt like she had somehow failed Aurora as her sister.

Aurora went over to Norah and held her hand. “Norah, I don’t want you to be sad. Please don’t be sad. I love you.”

Norah was touched by Aurora’s gesture. Norah never doubted that Aurora genuinely loved her, but it was nice to hear those three words of assurance.

“It’s okay, I’ve been over-reacting. It’s no big deal,” Norah assured Aurora, smiling for her sake. “Come, let’s continue playing.”

“Hold on, let me think of something.” Aurora rubbed her chin as she thought of a compromise. Then, Aurora told Norah, “Alright, I’ll make a change. Your name is now Nox. Pretend Nox is your real name and you’ve only been pretending to be my real sister.”

Norah was cheered by the concession Aurora made. “Okay, I’ll be Nox, your evil fake sister.”

“Very evil,” Aurora added gleefully.

“Very, very evil!” Norah’s sadness dissipated as she embraced her new role.

“Let’s start over.” Aurora then raised her arms with a mock look of terror. “Oh no! Norah why did you lie to me?”

“I am sorry Aurora, but I am not your real sister. I am Nox, the evil queen’s daughter! And I am going to lock you up! Ha ha ha!” Norah hammed it up to the maximum, and it was surprisingly enjoyable.

“No!” Aurora screamed as Norah picked her up, carried over to her bed, and gently put her down on the bed.

Norah used Aurora’s blanket and pillows to build a crude shelter over Aurora. “This your prison. Enjoy your stay, forever!”

“Oh no! I’m trapped. Somebody help me!” Aurora cried from inside the pillow prison. “Can someone free me? Anyone?”

Aurora became silent. After ten seconds of silence, Norah realized Aurora was waiting for her to make up the next scenario. Norah then noticed a toy she was familiar with, and she had an inspiration.

“I don’t think she’ll mind if I’m just re-enacting a scene from the cartoon,” she thought as she picked up a toy of Oengus, the burly yet honourable warrior of the bear clan. She also found a collection of toy crows and alligators, and she arranged them in a straight row facing Aurora in her pillow prison.

Norah sneaked up to the pillow prison and placed Oengus next to Aurora.

Aurora gasped. “Who are you?”

“I am Oengus. I am the prison guard,” Norah voiced Oengus with a deep, husky voice. “Are you really Princess Aurora?”

“Yes, it’s me! Are you going to eat me?”

“No. I am a noble warrior, not a mere beast. Tell me, how did you end up in such a predicament?”

“We were tricked and captured by the evil queen. Can you please help me?”

“The evil queen! She enslaved me and my people, and I’ve longed to join the rebellion. Promise me you’ll help to free my people and I shall help you. Will you do so?”

“Yes!”

“Then I shall break you out.” Norah then disassembled the pillow prison. “The other prison guards are here! Prepare for battle!”

Aurora retrieved her cardboard sword and swung it. “Oengus, how do you fight?”

“I am very strong. Watch me! Roar!” Norah had Oengus charged towards the line of prison guards and knocked half of them down in one swoop.

“Good work Oengus!” Aurora followed suit and knocked down the rest of the guards. “Now we shall save our friends and go after the evil queen.”

Aurora hopped over to where her comrades were, still where she left them. “I’ve freed my friends, but the queen is missing. She has fled for the ocean. Let’s follow her.”

“The ocean?” Norah was about to ask why she chose the ocean, but she turned down the idea knowing that it doesn’t have to make sense.

“Yes, the ocean. I hope you know how to swim, Oengus.”

“I can definitely swim, though I can’t swim very fast,” Norah answered for Oengus.

Aurora laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you.”

Chapter Text

Aurora ran around her room once more, and then she proclaimed, “We have reached the ocean, but we still can’t find the queen. Perhaps she went underwater too? I think we need someone to guide us underwater.”

Aurora then hopped over to Norah. “It’s your turn to think of a new character, Norah,” she said to Norah.

“My turn?” Norah asked, surprised.

Aurora nodded. “We need someone who can go underwater and help us find the queen. Can you think of one?”

“Hmm, let me think.” Norah went to the corner of the room where Aurora had placed Norah’s old toys. To her delight, Norah found Genovefa, her favourite character of all in Lemurian Legends.

“Hi, my name is Gen and I am a fish-girl. I live in my village near the sea.” Norah voiced her with a higher-pitched voice.

“Hi Gen,” Aurora responded. “I am Aurora and I am on a quest to defeat the evil queen. Will you help me?”

“I will love to, but my grandpa told me to stay here while he searched for other villagers. He has been gone for days and I’m worried. Will you help me find my grandpa first? He will be very angry if I leave without telling him first.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you find your grandpa,” Aurora promised.

“He went to the entrance of our water temple, over there.” Norah paused to erect a pillow structure on Aurora’s bed that looked vaguely like a temple.

“Let’s go!” Aurora hopped over to her bed. Norah then unveiled one of her hair troll figurines.

“Rarrr! Don’t you dare come any closer!” Norah bellowed.

“A troll!” Aurora drew her sword. “Are you working for the evil queen?”

“Yes little girl. Now run away or I may decide to eat you and all your friends for dinner!”

“I know you are up to no good. Where is Gen’s grandpa?”

“Ha ha ha! Don’t you see? All of them are gone.”

“Gen’s people are gone?”

“Yes. I ate them all!”

Aurora looked genuinely horrified. “No!”

Norah suddenly regretted what she said. Aurora was just eight years old, how can she possibly handle something as grim as that? She regretted pulling story ideas wholesale from the canon storyline, and she was sure she had just traumatised Aurora.

Defying Norah’s expectations, Aurora regained her jovialness again, shouting, “You are a very evil troll! We shall punish you for eating Gen’s friends and families!”

Norah breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps Aurora was still too young to understand.

“Finn, use lightning attack!”

“No, not lightning!” Norah flayed the troll figurine around.

“Igniculus, shine your light in his eyes!”

“Argh, I hate the light! I can’t see!”

“Robert, fire your arrows! Oengus, scratch him!”

“Argh!”

Aurora charged up to the bed and hit it with her cardboard sword. Norah toppled the troll figurine backward in response.

“The troll is dead, but so is Gen’s grandfather and everyone in the village. What should we do?” Aurora asked aloud. She then turned to Norah. “Norah, what do you think?”

Norah shrugged. “You just have to tell her.”

“I hope she won’t cry.”

Aurora hopped back to where Gen was left behind.

“Gen, I am sorry. A troll ate your grandpa and all your people,” Aurora said remorseful to the toy.

“No! I lost all of my friends and families!” Aurora made crying noises for Gen.

“The troll works for the evil queen. We are chasing her underwater.”

“The queen is behind this? Then the queen must pay! I can fight too, so let me join you! We can bring justice for my people!” Gen proclaimed triumphantly.

“Yay! We have a new friend now! Let us go underwater!” Aurora then turned to Norah and asked outside of character, “Norah, what is Gen’s special power?”

“She has a magical harp, like this one,” Norah pointed at the tiny harp the figurine was had, “and when she plays it, it damages her enemies.”

“And it has time magic too, just like Nox!” Aurora added.

“Yes, just like me – I mean Nox.”

Aurora laughed. “You still think you’re evil Nox!”

“Oh, you know, there are days when I wish I can do evil things to the boys in my school.”

“Yeah, boys are gross!” Aurora agreed enthusiastically.

“If Aurora knows how gross some of them really are she won’t be laughing anymore,” Norah thought privately with a shudder.

“Gen, how do we go into the sea?” Aurora asked the figurine. Aurora then answered for her, “We take the elevator.”

“Elevator?” Norah was puzzled.

“It’s a long way down by stairs. At least a hundred floors down!”

“Ugh. Okay, we’ll take the elevator.”

“We are taking the elevator down. Whoosh!” Aurora made the motion of doors opening with her hands. “It’s a magical elevator that will take us down underwater in a second.”

“How will we breathe underwater?” Norah asked.

“I have magical powers too, and with my magic spell we can now breathe underwater.”

“Really? That’s wonderful!”

“Now, down we go! Splash!” Aurora re-enacted the noise that a very noisy elevator would have made. “Finally, we’re here! Whoa, do you see that Norah? Do you see the fishes?”

Norah looked around the room in wonderment. “Wow, it’s so beautiful! So many colourful and strange creatures!”

“It’s like in the Little Mermaid. Except the fishes don’t want to sing now because they are scared of the queen. This means the queen is nearby! Gen, let’s find the queen together!”

Norah took the figurine of Gen and walked around the room with Aurora following her. Norah felt it was a bit ridiculous, but she was having too much fun to stop.

“We’re here, we’re now at our sacred underwater temple. I can already sense that the queen is nearby,” Norah whispered to Aurora.

“Me too.” Aurora turned to the toys and whispered, “Hear that? We must be careful.”

Aurora then suddenly pointed back at Norah.

“Oh no! It’s Nox.” Norah responded by putting back on her cartoonishly evil face. “Hahaha! You may have escaped from the castle, but you’ll never escape me again!”

“Quick, Gen, use your special time power!”

Norah held up her sword. “I block you with the very sword you gave me!”

“It’s not working this time! Quick, everyone attack together! Gen, freeze her and grab her sword when you have the chance!”

“Oh no, you froze me!” Norah dropped her white cardboard sword. “Now I lost my sword!”

“We got her sword!” Aurora then pointed her own sword at Norah. “Surrender now, Nox!”

“You think you’ve defeated me? I shall transform into a sea serpent!” Norah got down on her knees with her hands outstretched. “Hiss! Now I’m a giant sea serpent!”

“Oh no, a giant – er what do you call it again?” Aurora asked in puzzlement.

“Sea serpent.” Norah remembered that Aurora was barely out of kindergarten and her vocabulary was limited. “Okay, just a snake. I’m a giant sea snake.”

“A giant sea snake!” Aurora charged forward with her sword and swung it at Norah.

“Ow!” Norah winced after Aurora’s sword hit her cheek. “Hey, watch it! I thought we’re only playing!”

“Norah, does it hurt?” Aurora asked worriedly.

“Ow…” Norah rubbed her cheek. It was only a slight hit and there was no bruising, but it stung nonetheless.

Aurora shamefully hid her sword. “I’m very sorry Norah. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she apologised.

Norah’s heart instantly softened when she realised how remorseful Aurora was. “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt. Let us reset, but no hitting this time”

“Okay.” Aurora’s war face returned. She raised her sword again at Norah, but this time without swinging it. “Now die you giant sea snake!”

“Hiss! You’ll never defeat me!” Norah taunted Aurora.

Without warning, Aurora pounced on Norah.

“I’m on the snake! I’m going to cut her head off!” Aurora shouted, her little body now plastered on Norah’s.

“Aurora, wait! You’re too heavy! Whoa whoa whoa – argh!” Norah collapsed backward onto the soft carpeted floor. Aurora’s long messy hair covered her vision. She then felt Aurora’s hand reaching into her armpits.

“Ha ha – stop – ha ha – Aurora stop it!” Norah laughed involuntarily as Aurora’s little hands tickled her all over. “Okay, okay, I surrender, I surrender!” she finally gasped out.

Aurora stopped. Giggling, she sat upright on her sister’s belly and asked innocently, “Are you defeated yet?”

Norah took a deep breath, her face red from laughing. “Yes, yes, Nox has been defeated, you can get off me now.”

Aurora got off. “So, is your story over yet?” Norah asked her.

Aurora shook her head. “No, we’ve only just defeated Nox. Now we’ve to fight the evil queen.”

Norah looked at the clock. It was thirty minutes to nine. Aurora had to be in bed by nine sharp or their mother would be very mad at both of them.

Chapter Text

“So, what does the evil queen do now?” Norah asked Aurora, hoping that Aurora would say she hadn’t thought of the next part of her story yet, so that she could prepare Aurora for bed.

“The evil queen comes back, crying, ‘No! You killed my daughter, now I shall kill you!’” Aurora said. She then looked at Norah intently.

Norah sighed. Aurora already thought of everything. “Okay, but we end this quickly, okay? You have to be in bed by nine.”

“Wait, wear that purple fur thing inside the toy box,” Aurora suddenly suggested excitedly.

“Purple fur thing?” Norah rummaged through the toy box and to her surprise she found a purple coloured feather boa. “Where on earth did you get this?”

“Mum bought it. I wore it when I played snow white’s evil queen, remember?”

“Oh, this is the one you wore for the school play!” Nora remembered the school play Aurora partook in a year ago. She played as the evil queen character and the boa was part of the props. Norah had been wondering where it went since.

Norah put on the boa. “So, I’m the evil queen now?”

“Yup."

Then, Norah got an idea. “Hey, I know what I can do,” she said, and she pulled out a black piece of cloth from Aurora’s toy box. She wrapped it around herself. “Do I look evil enough now?”

Aurora gave a thumbs up. “Much better.”

“How about this?” Norah covered half of her face with her arm like she was a vampire.

“Even better!”

“Alright.” Norah summoned up all the acting talent she had acquired as a member of her school’s drama club. “No! My poor daughter! You’ll pay for this Aurora!” she bellowed.

Norah then raised her hands and screeched, “Now, I shall use my lightning power to destroy you! Be gone!”

“No!” Aurora screamed, and she pretended to drop dead.

“Hahaha! Magicland is still mine!” Norah then kneeled down and asked softly, “Hey, what’s next?”

Aurora sat up. “My friends saved me and brought me back home.” Aurora took a minute to gather all of her comrades and arranged them in a semi-circle around her.

“Then, the ghost of the dead queen of light returned.” Aurora then showed Norah one of her own toys, which was a pink fairy doll. “And together, they use the magic of love and friendship to bring me back to life.”

“Aurora, I’ve brought you back to life, but the evil queen is still here,” Aurora mouthed for the fairy doll. “Now it is time to fight the evil queen once more. Will you do it?”

Aurora then replied to herself, “Yes, and all of my friends will do it too!”

“So, this is it? The final showdown?” Norah asked, her eyes on the wall clock.

“Yup.”

“And we end this before bedtime?”

“I promise.”

“Alright then.” Norah threw her hair back. She was starting to feel sweaty from the play. “Okay. Ready, set, go!”

Aurora sprung up to her feet, shouting, “Evil queen, I am back to defeat you once and for all!”

“Argh, I thought I’ve gotten rid of you!” Norah croaked like a witch as she spoke. “Why do you and your little friends keep coming back?”

Aurora drew her sword. “Because I have to free my subjects, and my friends are here to help! For their family, their friends, and their freedom!”

Norah snared. “Since you are all so persistent, I’ve no choice but to reveal my true self as a dragon!”

Norah did a little twirl. “Behold! I’m now a vicious dragon!”

“A dragon! That must be even worse than a sea snake!”

“That’s right, and I’m the most powerful and evil creature of all! Face your doom!”

“Alright my friends! We’ve fought hard together, and now we do it one more time! Everyone, attack!” Aurora charged at Norah.

“I use my fire breath! Roar!” Norah made hand gesture to symbolise flame coming out of her imaginary dragon mouth.

“I block it with my sword.” Aurora raised her sword and blocked Norah’s palm. “Now Finn uses his water spell and put out the flame!”

“Now I use my tail to hit you! Everyone fall down!”

“Everyone except Robert! He jumped on your tail and shot an arrow into your tail.”

“Ouch, my tail! Now I use my wings to blow you all away!”

“Oh no, you blew us all away. Rubelle, Tristie, quick! Shield us!”

“Your shield stopped my winds, but it can’t stop my claws!” Norah made swiping motion at Aurora.

“Oengus blocked your claw and cut your nails off!”

“Argh, my nails! That’s it, I’ll just eat you now!”

“I use my final attack, my super-duper powerful light blast!” Aurora formed her hands into the shape of a ball, and thrust her palms outward at Norah.

“No! The light! It’s blinding! It’s burning my skin! Argh! No!” Norah flailed around wildly, and then she collapsed backward-safely-on Aurora’s bed. She laid very still with her eyes closed.

Aurora crept up onto Norah on her bed. “Have we done it? Have we really defeated the queen?”

“I don’t believe it, you’ve won. You’ve bested me. The evil queen is now gone – forever!” Norah croaked.

Aurora burst into joy, jumping up and down and shouting, “We won, everybody! We won! Norah, we finally defeated the evil queen!”

Norah sat up. Watching her sister doing her victory dance made her smile. “Yay! You won!” she cheered with Aurora.

“We won, we won!” While Aurora jumped, her hearing aid started slipping off again.

“Let me do it.” Norah caught hold of Aurora and reseated the hearing aid device back on Aurora’s ear. She touched Aurora’s forehead and realised that Aurora was sweaty. “Oh my, I think you better wash up before going to bed.”

“But Norah, my story still isn’t over yet,” Aurora whined.

“I know Aurora, but it’s almost bedtime,” Norah insisted patiently.

“It’s just a little bit more. Please?”

Norah sighed. “Alright, after you wash up and brush your teeth, we finish the story before you sleep. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Norah brought Aurora to the bathroom and watched over Aurora as she brushed her teeth – because she would skip brushing if no one was looking. Afterwards, Norah removed Aurora’s hearing aid, helped give her a quick shower, and changed her into a clean white sleeping gown.

Norah put Aurora’s hearing aid back on. “All clean? Ready to finish your story and go to bed?” Aurora nodded. “It’s almost over.”

Back in her bedroom, Aurora resumed her tale. “The evil queen has been defeated, and Magicland is free again. The old queen of light said I should be the new queen, and so I became the new queen of Magicland.”

Aurora then brought the toys back together. “My friends all became my royal knights. Igniculus became my royal advisor. Rubelle and Tristie formed their own circus. Robert went home and married a fair maiden. Oengus became my general and his army became the strongest in the world.”

“What about Gen?” Norah asked.

“Gen needed a home, so I let her stay in my huge castle. There were many rooms in the castle, so I let her stay anywhere she likes,” Aurora continued. “But Gen got lonely and sad. She wanted to live with her kind, so she set off on her own adventure to find another home with sea people like her. But we remained friends and still write letters to each other.”

“That’s lovely.”

“And we all live happily ever after. Wait, not yet. I still have more stories to tell!”

“Now?” Norah exclaimed.

Aurora giggled. “Not now. I still need to think of another one. Maybe I should write my own storybook!”

Norah was relieved. “That’s a great idea, but now it’s time to sleep. You can do it tomorrow.” Aurora climbed onto her bed without prompting. Norah took a moment to tidy up the bedroom and keep all of Aurora’s toys in her toy box. She also put the figurines she had lent to Aurora inside the toy box.

“Norah, can I keep your toys a little while longer?” Aurora asked. “Please?”

Norah paused to think. The toys had been gathering dust in her room anyway, so why not give them to Aurora?

“Well, okay. In fact, you can keep them. They’re yours now,” she told Aurora.

Aurora was overjoyed. “Thank you sister!”

“Just promise me you’ll take good care of them.”

“I will.”

Norah switched off the bedroom’s lights and tucked Norah in bed.

“Next time, when we have our next adventure, will you join me?” Aurora asked.

“I’ll love to,” Norah said without hesitation.

Norah heard the front door unlocking. Their parents have returned home.

“Go to sleep now or Mum is going to be mad.” Norah kissed Aurora’s forehead. “Good night Aurora.”

“Good night Norah.” Aurora closed her eyes, and she almost instantly dozed off to sleep.

Norah left Aurora’s room and closed the door behind her – and not a moment too soon.

“Norah, is Aurora asleep yet?” her mother asked from the living room. Her stepfather was standing beside her, loosening the buttons on his formal evening shirt.

“Yes, she’s already asleep.” Norah stole a glance at a wall clock. It was five past nine. She just barely dodged another scolding. “So, how was the dinner?”

“We got delayed when the valet accidentally misplaced our car key, but overall it has been wonderful.” Norah’s mother then looked closely at Norah, and she asked puzzlingly, “Norah, you look sweaty. Have you been working out?”

Norah felt her own forehead. “Oh, we were simply playing.”

“Playing? You were playing with Aurora?”

“Yes.” Norah felt embarrassed when she admitted it.

Her mother and stepfather were elated.

“That’s great! I’m so happy you’ve spent time bonding with your sister,” her mother said happily. “What were you playing?”

“Well, she was pretending to be a sword-wielding princess and I pretend to be her monsters. We ran around her room and threw stuff at our toys.” Norah chuckled. “I can’t believe I actually did those things, it feels so childish now. It’s fun though, and I promised to Aurora we can play again some other time.”

Norah’s stepfather sighed nostalgically. “Aurora used to love playing that with her mother. I think this is her way of showing how much she loves you.”

Norah awkwardly fiddled with her hair. She always felt awkward whenever Aurora’s late mother was mentioned. “Really? You think so, dad?”

He looked at his smiling wife, and back at Norah. “Yes, and we think you are a wonderful sister to Aurora. We’re proud of you.”

Norah glowed with joy. It was the first time since her mother remarried that she truly felt like she was a part of this family, not an outsider to Aurora’s and her stepfather’s lives.

“Thanks. That means a lot to me, actually,” Norah said softly, her cheeks blushing.

Guffawing, Norah’s stepfather pulled her in and hugged her tightly. Her mother joined in the loving embrace.

Norah never thought she would ever experience a family hug with both of her parents. It felt good. In fact, she had never felt happier.