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It’s a normal day in Cinderellasburg. The sun is shining, the mice are squeaking, and the sun hits Chloe’s face perfectly when she opens her curtains.
Chloe brushes her teeth, smiling into the mirror to make sure all the plaque is gone. She searches her closet for the clothes at the back, throwing them on the bed while making a mental note to call someone to do the laundry later.
She gets ready as she normally would, styling her hair and putting on her signature blue clothes. Her mom has always poked fun at her for wearing the same thing every day with little to no variation, but Chloe says it’s organization. What’s the point in wearing something different every day when you have important things to get to?
Closing the door to her room, she heads down the winding stairs to the wafting smell of her mother’s cooking. Ella (as she refers to her mother in her head sometimes, but never out loud as to avoid showing blatant disrespect as Chad always did) loves to cook, and Chloe’s glad, as whatever she makes always tastes great.
— — —
“Mom?” Chloe asks. She’s only six at the time, and smiling up at her mother with a grin on her face, although she’s missing her incisors.
“Yes, darling?” Ella kneels down, making sure that her pancakes don’t have a chance of burning if she leaves them for a while. “What’s going on?”
“I was just wonderin’, how do your pancakes taste so, so good?” She cheekily grins. “There’s gotta be a secret thingy!”
“I think you mean ingredient.” Ella thinks, making the expression with her face, eliciting a giggle from Chloe. Well, of course! When I was in high school, I went to—”
Chloe cuts her off. “Nerlin Academy! I know! It was in the book you used to show me!”
Ella softly smiles. “It was Merlin Academy, sweetheart. But I’m glad you remembered! When I was there, I had a roommate. Her name was Bridget, and she was the sweetest girl around! She made the best cupcakes. And you know, her special ingredient was passed down to me!”
“You still haven’ told me, ma mère! What’s the thingy?” Chloe’s drumming her feet on the ground excitedly, anticipating her mother’s answer.
“Flamingo feathers!” Ella makes jazz hands, but stops abruptly when Chloe frowns.
“But doesn’t that hurt the flamingos?” Chloe looks up at her mom, with a frown on her face.
“Of course not! Bridget always told me that the feathers are best picked from the ground, and then washed so as not to hurt the animals.”
Chloe responds. “Where’s Bridget? And where’s Wonderland? I don’t think it’s part of Auradon…”
“It isn’t. But don’t worry your pretty little head about it! Oh no- the pancakes! Qu'est-ce que j'ai fait pour mériter cela?”
Chad, hearing the fire alarm ring, rushes downstairs and somewhat heroically douses the fire in extinguisher foam. It gets rid of the fire, sure, but that day they had to have cereal instead of her mom’s special pink pancakes.
— — —
Her mom’s cooking again today. But, unlike normal, she has to make it to her Swords and Shields match, so she skips the fresh meal for a protein bar she grabs from the fridge.
“Ma chérie, you don’t want me to pack something for you?”
“Oh, no! It’s okay, I had a big dinner yesterday.” She remembers. It was some sort of old, founding father holiday, back when Cinderellasburg was still called the High Grasslands. The food was really good, with cinnamon rolls imported from the Kingdom of Roses, and a home cooked blueberry syrup.
“Okay, honey. Just remember to be safe! I know the tourney grounds aren’t far, but Chad can drive you!”
“I’m sorry, and excuse my language, but please don’t expect me to let that buffoon drive me to the most awaited Swords and Shields match of the season.”
“...” Ella leans in, and whispers in Chloe’s ear. “Never tell him I said this, but sometimes I think so too. Remember when he thought that the carriage automatically knew where we wanted to go, and somehow had no idea that there was actually someone driving it? And he was sixteen, too…” She sighs to herself, but then looks at the clock. “Slippers, it’s 10:30 already! Go on!”
Chloe quickly hurries out the door, carrying her bag on her back as she walks down the road. The match starts at twelve, sharp, and it takes her ten minutes to walk, so she thinks she should be fine.
— — —
The Swords and Shields match is about to start, and Chloe can feel the electricity buzzing around the stadium. It gives her chills. Looking over at her opponent, for the first time since a near miss at practice, she feels a bit scared. Of course Li Lonnie, daughter of Mulan, is going to have a good way with a sword.
Looking at the countdown clock, the girls bow to each other before readying their stances.
The announcer booms. “FIGHT!”
The crowd silences in anticipation, watching the two battle it out. In fencing fashion, the girls have to try and hit the other whilst dodging incoming attacks. However, their swords have special collapsible points. If you get touched, you lose; but if your sword collapses you lose as well.
Chloe and Lonnie started circling each other, and through the helmets you could see they were both poised for battle. Normally games go until five points, but the championship match only has one round, so you could see both girls vying for an opening to commence the formal battle.
Chloe took the first step forward, her foot grazing the floor, as she lunged towards Lonnie, who was caught off guard and had to awkwardly sidestep to avoid the other.
The duel almost looked like a dance, the way the two were moving almost in sync. Each strike was calculated perfectly, until a fumble where Lonnie attempted to strike Chloe’s sword. Chloe had been able to anticipate the hit, and avoided it entirely.
As the two girls parried and countered, it seemed like there would be no end in sight. With one swift maneuver, Chloe thrust her sword to Lonnie’s left, causing her to tilt to the right. In that same motion, she knocked the sword straight in the center as it collapsed.
The crowd roared. Chloe, herself, felt pretty honored for such an uproar. However, she soon realized that the roars and congratulations she thought she heard were actually screams. People ran, and as she assumed there was an immediate threat, Chloe did too, leaving Lonnie to her own devices. She seemed like she knew what she was doing, though.
In the training room, Chloe grabbed her trusty sword, Thiago. She knew that she’d probably be okay with her sword by her side. Running out, however, she was surprised to see two people dressed in all red, both holding full decks of cards.
One, who looked like she was about Ella’s age, approached her. Keeping her hand on her sword every step this woman made, Chloe made the first move, using a tactic her mom had always taught her. Always introduce yourself.
“Hi! I’m Chloe Charming, daughter of Cinderella and King Charming! Welcome to Cinderellasburg! I haven’t seen you around; are you new here?” Chloe tries to put on her best Charming patented smile.
Twirling her cards between her fingers, the older one comes up to her. Chloe thinks it’ll be off with her head next before the woman breaks out into a smile.
“Oh, hello! I’m the Queen of Hearts, but you can call me Bridget! Oh, how fun it is to meet another Auradonian!” She twirls around, clapping her hands joyously, before explaining to Chloe’s confused expression.
“Well, you see, Wonderland is what you would call a different plane of existence. The only way to get to or from it is a guarded rabbit hole that only few people can pass through, just that nobody has in a while. The last time I came here was to study at Merlin Academy.”
A look of realization crosses Chloe’s face. “Are you the Bridget my mom always told me about?”
“Ah, yes, you’re Ella’s daughter! Cards, I don’t know how I forgot I need to drop by to see her!”
“I can show you the way to the castle— if you’d like, of course.”
The lady—Bridget, she cheers. “Hurrah! Let’s go!” She uses her hands to motion to the door.
As they leave the building, Chloe notes to herself that everyone seems to be missing from the streets, almost as if they’re afraid. There’s also a carriage adorned in red and heart patterns she’s never seen before.
Bridget takes her pack of cards, pulls one out, and tosses it like a shuriken. A knight flies out, and immediately salutes her.
“Can you take us to the Charming castle, please? It’s… oh my! I don’t know! Chloe?” Bridget tilts her head towards Chloe, as if goading her for an answer.
“...Oh, yeah. It’s just down the road.” Snapping her out of her daze, Chloe opens the carriage door as Bridget and the girl, surprisingly quiet, both head inside. The card knight hops onto the horses on the front and Chloe has to hang on to the side of the carriage as the knight starts at an extremely fast speed.
— — —
In a blur, they’re at the castle. Chloe’s surprised that it only took two minutes. The Charming carriage normally takes five. Then she realizes it’s because the roads are empty.
She hops down from the carriage, as Bridget and the girl come out right after. Taking two blank cards out of her deck, Bridget shakes them and the carriage and knight both disappear.
They walk into the castle, where Chloe can see her parents talking about something trivial, but their attention is diverted when Chad comes down the stairs and yells loudly “It’s the Evil Queen of Hearts! Everyone, run!” and proceeds to run away screaming and flailing his arms.
Chloe shakes her head. He still screams like a girl.
Christopher’s the first one to notice Bridget. He wipes his eyes as if he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “Bridget? Is that you?”
“Of course not, she jumped through the rabbit hole after the attack… Honey, do you need a drink of water?”
Ella shakes Christopher’s hand off her forehead. “No, she’s right there, mon Dieu…”
Christopher’s head jerks a full 90 degrees, and he sees Bridget standing there too. “My goodness, you’re right…” He gets up off his throne and runs over to meet Bridget, who’s just standing there.”
“My goodness! It’s great to see you again!”
Bridget claps cheerily. It seems to be a recurring theme. This woman is always excited. “Thank you! I’m glad to be back in Auradon, truly, it’s been too long.
As their parents talked to each other, reminiscing about old times, Chloe turned to Red. Talking to her parents’ best friend’s daughter shouldn’t be that hard.
“Hey! Red, was it? How’s Wonderland? Is it… wonderful? Get the pun, because it’s-”
Red brandishes a sword that Chloe never knew she had. “I know. And be quiet. Two things to note. My mother isn’t the sweet person your parents think she is, and she’s about to throw down some cards in three, two, one…”
At Red’s cue, Bridget pulls out a deck of cards from her pockets (her dress has pockets?!) and throws them down to the ground, creating a cloud of smoke. Her clothes change too, going from a light pink dress with white highlights to a black and red suit and tie, akin to what her daughter is wearing.
“It’s been nice to meet you, Ella, and you too, Chris, but I didn’t come here just to chat. I wanted to make an offer I don’t think you’ll want to refuse.”
Christopher and Ella look nervously between themselves, the change clearly startling them into a momentary silence.
In unison, they nod. Ella continues, “What’s your offer? I’m intrigued. I also didn’t think people were right to call you evil. The color scheme certainly seems to fit.” Ella nods toward Bridget’s new outfit.
Bridget nods absentmindedly to herself, and paces around the castle. At this point, all the guards have run, and every word echoes throughout the empty hall. Such cowards, Chloe thinks. Her parents need to rethink their staff choices.
“I’m glad you considered it. And I’m not evil, simply… more adept at ruling. Anyhow, my proposal was…” Bridget launches into a bunch of legal lingo that neither Chloe nor Red have any interest in hearing.
Red whispers softly under her breath. “When she gets into these tangents, she never stops.” She leans back against a wall and grips her sword tightly, leaving red ring marks on her palms as she softly lets it go. “Now that I think of it, do you have a sword-fighting arena? I’d love to learn a thing or two from you. I saw your technique during your Shields and Swords whatever.”
Chloe feigns thanks, putting her hand on her heart. “Thanks so much! I guess that one compliment validates the fact that you’ve been ignoring me for the past hour, even when I tried to make conversation!”
Red huffs, turning on her heels. Chloe can see a faint red blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. “I’m sorry about that, you know! And I do truly want to learn from you. You’re… quite talented.” At that, Red takes out her sword and points it to Chloe’s chest, jarring the latter quite a bit.
“I challenge you to a duel!” Red’s loud declaration shines above all the other voices, causing their parents to look back at them again.
Chloe, startled, lets out a gasp. Rushed, she musters, “We were just able to sneak out of here!”
Red shakes her head. “I have a plan, okay?” she whispers. “Just trust me on this one, and it’ll be worth your while if my mom says what I think she will. Just try not to scream.”
Chloe furrows her eyebrows, and almost says something before Red puts a gloved hand (where did her gloves even come from?) on her lips, in a feigned attempt to silence her.
Red repeats slowly. “I need you to trust me, okay?”
Chloe swipes off her hand. “Fine, but after this you have to fill me in on what’s going on right now.
They both turn to Bridget, who’s laughing tremendously, to the slight fear of the Charmings.
“Your parents have agreed to my decree! Wonderful! Now, according to I, the Queen of Hearts, and the Charmings of Cinderellasburg, Red of Hearts and Chloe Charming are now betrothed! It’ll bring a prosperous alliance to Wonderland and Auradon, and it seems you two are starting to get along.” Chloe can see her parents stifle laughs at that last part, but that doesn’t take away from her surprise.
Despite Red’s warning, she screams out a “What?”
It looks like against her will, she’s going to have to spend a lot more time than just a duel with Red. Hopefully it’ll get better?