#odyssey

MEANWHILE...

Rian has insisted that he does not want to ride in a stroller... but once they start into the park, the bright sights and sounds have him wide-eyed and half-clinging to Flo's leg. "I can't walk with you hanging on, sweetling." She says patiently to the boy. "Don't you want to go see the animals, and the fairy tales, and circus tent?" A solemn nod. "Then you must let go of mama." A solemn shake of his head.

Bluebell gives Julius just the slightest nudge, and the Satyr crouches next to Julius. "How about if I give you a ride on my shoulders? Then you can be up high, and still see your mama as well as the other things?"

A long moment of contemplation before Rian nods. "Kay." Flo blushes a little, and murmurs to Julius, "Thank you, you needn't have offered..."

The Satyr gives her a smile. "It gets us moving, and might win me a brownie point or two with my lady. Up we go!" And Rian is lifted into the air and onto the Julius's shoulders.

Bluebell beams at him, and then smiles to Blossom. "Where wouldst you like to visit first, flower-child?"

Blossom trots "Well, I like shopping. I want to see the circus. I like petting zoos. Uhm.. gosh, all of it?" She almost bounces with excitement

"Miss Gwen mentioned wanting to do some shopping, so perhaps we can all visit the gift shop after lunch?" Flo suggests. Julius turns and leads down a pathway, "The Storybook village is just around the corner here, it seems a good place to start."

Storybook Lane is bright and cheery, with lifesize statues of fairy tale characters as well as props made to be played upon! A Cinderella is frozen mid-twirl next to her pumpkin carriage, a mighty Paul Bunyan stands taller than any troll today, and Humpty Dumpty is perched precariously upon a wall.

Alice holds her flamingo croquet mallet while the White Rabbit stands alongside, and what once was a witch's gingerbread house... or perhaps Santa's cottage? It's hard to say, but it now seems to be a candy shop! The smells of fudge and fresh roasted nuts covered with cinnamon and sugar waft along the air.

A small train runs along a track on a loop throughout the Storybook area, and a carousel chimes tinny music merrily as children and adults alike choose a seat, upon any variety of animal, each dressed for a party!

"Oh" And suddenly Blossom is almost speeding towards Cinderella. "She's a lot like me"

"A princess, or a washerwoman?" Bluebell teases as she follows after.

Rian gazes WIDE EYED at the statues and reaches out to pat at the white rabbit. "Bun." Julius chuckles, "Yeah, I like rabbits too, kid."

"Well, bit of both" Blossom laughs "I was so ordinary, now I feel like a princess"

the girl clearly thinks, despite her chores at home, that being a centaur is the best. Folks pay attentionn to her now

"Shall we get some snacks?" Flo asks Bluebell, and the two ladies step over to the candy shop.

As Blossom admires the princess setup, she hears a voice, sweet and cloying, rising over the tinkling music in the background.

"This time the bird threw down to her a dress that was more splendid and magnificent than any she had yet had, and the slippers were of pure gold. When she arrived at the festival in this dress, everyone was so astonished that they did not know what to say. The prince danced only with her, and whenever anyone else asked her to dance, he would say, "She is my dance partner."

When evening came Cinderella wanted to leave, and the prince tried to escort her, but she ran away from him so quickly that he could not follow her. The prince, however, had set a trap. He had had the entire stairway smeared with pitch. When she ran down the stairs, her left slipper stuck in the pitch. The prince picked it up. It was small and dainty, and of pure gold."

Her eyes widen. She had thought the slipper was glass, but this is still magical

She sees a small group of children seemingly enthralled, sitting before a lovely lady seated on the highest toadstool in a circle of mushroom-shaped benches.

The lady has long flowing golden locks, a delicate circlet in her hair, and a gown that shines in the sun. To Blossom's fae vision, the aluminum and plastic crown takes on the gleam of precious metals and gems, and the shiny acrylic is smooth silk and lace. Green eyes turn to glimmering emerald, and the points of delicate ears are seen through her lovely locks.

Her eyes widen as she sees Blossom in turn, surprise and a little startled.

"Hello?" Blossom whispers "My name is Blossom"

The lady purses her lips, pondering, but one of the children reaches up and tugs daringly at the hem of her dress. "The story, the story!"

She gestures to Blossom, beckoning her closer to listen and join the children if she wishes.

She does, quietly curling nearby

A nod, and the lady raises one delicate finger to her smiling lips, and continues the story.

"Now, where we we, my lovelies?"

"The shoe! The shoe!" They pipe up.

"Oh, yes. ...the prince marveled at the shoe, as it was small and dainty, and of pure gold."

"The next morning, he went with it to the man who lived outside his castle, and said to him, "No one shall be my wife except for the one whose foot fits this golden shoe."

The two sisters were happy to hear this, for they had pretty feet. With her mother standing by, the older one took the shoe into her bedroom to try it on. She could not get her big toe into it, for the shoe was too small for her.

She affects a look of surprise and dismay. "Now, what should she do?" Gazing at the children, gently encouraging.

"Order a bigger size?" One girl ventures. "No, don't be dumb, she has to fit THAT shoe." A boy says.
"Hold her breath!" "Put it on her cat!" Are other suggestions, and the lady laughs, a sound like delicate bells tinkling.

"She would try to make her foot smaller" Blossom guesses

A brilliant smile to Blossom, like a ray of sunlight warming her through the clouds. "Why yes, my dear. I see you are very wise."

She nods, and continues...

"Then her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot."
The girl cut off her toe, forced her foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the prince. He took her on his horse as his bride and rode away with her."

Gasps of surprise from the children! The lady smiles, a lovely smile, and reaching out, she gently smooths the hair of one little girl, and pats a lad who laughs at the idea on the shoulder lightly. A glimmer, as glamour passes from the imagining children over to the Sidhe.

"And do you think they lived happily ever after?" She asks, querying with an unsure tone. "Is that the end?"

At the wise part, Bloosom preens

Then a ggasp! Why hadn'tt they just used shrinking cantrips??

"No!" "Nooo, what about Cinderella?" The disappointed cries from the children.

And then a gasp from behind them, and a worried call, "Blossom? Blossom, please come back over here." It's Flo calling her.

Bloosom looks over at Flo and frowns and mouths "But the story..."

The lady shoots a glance over at Flo, and it's all the kinain can do to not sink to her knees in a bow. Even so, she drops her gaze, and cannot look quite directly at the lady.

"Oh, don't ruin her fun." Says the Lady, and she beckons, "You may join us and listen if you wish..." Flo shakes her head, and clasps her hands tightly.

The story continues...

"And so, the price and his chosen lady rode on. And wouldn't you know it, they had to ride past the grave, the very same grave where Cinderella's mother lie in rest. And there, on the hazel tree, sat the two pigeons, crying out:

Rook di goo, rook di goo!
There's blood in the shoe.
The shoe is too tight,
This bride is not right!

Delicate hand motions mimic the wings of a bird, and she smiles as she sing-songs the lines. The lady is a skilled storyteller!

Then he looked at her foot and saw how the blood was running from it. He turned his horse around and took the false bride home again, saying that she was not the right one, and that the other sister should try on the shoe."

Blossom looks at the glamour dancing about, or tries to. She's not used to this kind of glamour, it's not like the bale? Is it

"Pigeons aren't MAGICAL birds." One of the boys says, frowning. "It should be an owl like in Harry Potter."

A small frown from the lady, and she corrects him. "You are not listening then, young prince. Have you not heard the story? Magic can exist in many things that seem simple. A twig of Hazel became a mystical tree, and leaves into a gown of gold and silver."

He shrugs, looking bored with the store, and the Lady continues. The magic is not like the balefire, no... more like tiny flower buds opening their faces to the sun, or the soft burble of bubbles coming to the top of a still lake. Somehow the Lady is making it come up from the children, and gathering it!

This is fascinating, "It's true, magic came inn bubble gum cards and toads in Harry Potter, those seemed ordinanry, at first"

"Indeed, young princess." She praises Blossom, and goes on.

"But the prince insisted on it, and they had to call Cinderella. She first washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down before the prince, who gave her the golden shoe. She sat down on a stool, pulled her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, and it fitted her perfectly.
When she stood up the prince looked into her face, and he recognized the beautiful girl who had danced with him. He cried out, "She is my true bride."

The stepmother and the two sisters were horrified and turned pale with anger. The prince, however, took Cinderella onto his horse and rode away with her. As they passed by the hazel tree, the two white pigeons cried out:

Rook di goo, rook di goo!
No blood's in the shoe.
The shoe's not too tight,
This bride is right! 

Again, a SIGH from the boy who had insisted that pigeons are dumb. The lady turns her attention on him, frowing, and focuses her gaze on that boy in particular.

Blossom huffs, and yes, her unseelie nature shows as she looks at the boy "You shouldn't mock stories, you migght find yourself in one you don't like"

"Quite right, young princess." The praise smoothed over Blossom like butter on fresh bread.

Turning back to the story, the Lady's voice seems to fall around the boy in soft waves as she focuses on HIM as she continues.

"When the wedding with the prince was to be held, the two false sisters came, wanting to gain favor with Cinderella and to share her good fortune. When the bridal couple walked into the church, the older sister walked on their right side and the younger on their left side, and the pigeons... well, they swooped in!"

She reaches down, and TAPS on his forehead with a fingertip, just above his eye, and says, "And PECK, they pecked out one eye from each of the sisters!" The boy startles back, his eyes now WIDE.

"Afterwards, as they came out of the church, the older one was on the left side, and the younger one on the right side, and then the pigeons pecked out the other eye from each of them!" Another tap on his forehead, and a soft burst of glamour from him as his hands fly up to cover his eyes. And thus, for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived."

Turning away from the boy, the Lady smiles gently at the rest of the children. "And so the Prince and the Princess...."

"Lived happily ever after!" The rest of the children chorus, with happy giggles. All but the one boy, who is snuffling now, as the parents who mingled nearby come to take their children on to the next attraction.

Bloosom joins in the chorus!

And eyes the boy, checkingg him for glamour now. She's not good at it, not like others

She's never seen something like that before. It didn't feel like the cantrips she had been shown. Rather, the boy seems a little dimmer now, a little less bright, though the other children are as bubbly and cheerful as before. He takes his father's hand and walks off, gaze down at the walkway rather than observing the sights and sounds of the amusement park.

As the crowd clears away, there is a soft touch, the lady leans in and lightly raises Blossom's chin with a finger. "Now, Blossom, do not worry about that son of Adam. He will dream again someday soon. Perhaps, a bit more wisely."

The Lady, on the other hand, is glowing with Glamour now.

She looks curious at that, then nods "Okay"

She actually looks... a little younger? But maybe it's just that Blossom is seeing her more closely now. Either way, she is, and was, wondrously lovely.

"I should go though, my friennds are waiting for me. SO nice to meet you" A smile

At that, Flo scurriues forward, and murmurs, "Thank you, great lady, you honor us... we must be going..." And she hurries Blossom back around the corner to the rest of the group. A voice trails after them, "Oh, do come and play with me again some day!"

"She seemed nice" Blossom says to Flo as they depart, "That boy was very rude"

Flo is taking deep breaths to calm herself, and grips one of Blossom's hands tightly. "Let's go back. It's safer with the rest of the group against... strangers."

"What's wrong, Miss Flo?" Confusion, and worry. Self absorbed she might be, but Blossom does CARE about Flo "Were you scared of that lady?"

"The Sidhe Lords and Ladies are all magnificent, and terrifying, in their own ways. Come now, Miss Bluebell bought treats. Wasn't that kind of her?"

"It was, but you..how was she terrifying in all ways? What way was she scary?" Baffled the centaur follows along

"It is not for me to say, young miss." Flo demures. "You should ask your mentors to speak to you of such things, it is not the place of a kinain to speak of her betters."

"Even if a kithain wants you to?" Curious

That surprises her a little, and she glances over at Blossom. Flo bites her lip a touch, and admits, "If you ordered it of me, then yes." Softly reluctant.

For a moment, the girl is tempted, VERY tempted, she wants to know, but then says "No, I don't think that woudl be nice of me but if something bad happened you should tell an adult kithain you trust" A nod

The smile that Flo gives Blossom is not as lovely and sparkling as the one from the Story Lady, but it warms her non-the-less. "Thank you, Miss Blossom. I will be sure to do so."

Bluebell waves them over and has fragrant paper cones with toasted almonds and pecans, hot and crunchy and sweet with cinnamon and sugar.

"I got to hear all about Cinderella" Blossom beams "is that for me?" At one of the cones

Bluebell beams at Blossom! "I like the part where her mice and animal friends are turned into fancy coachmen and footmen. Truly a pooka's finest hour!" As she hands over a cone of the tasty treats.

Rian has realized that he can tug on Julius's horns for handles as he rides the man's shoulders, and is laughing uproariously as he does. The sight washes any worry from Flo's face, and she smiles once more.

"the fairry godmother was a POOKA?" Startled by this bit of history