Welcome back to A Fairytale Legacy! This begins a special two-parter episode in the lives of the Fantasy family.

When we left off, Christopher was beginning to fully recuperate over the absence of his daughter and wife when the family received a threatening invitation to a ball, where they would find Vassilissa, who had been missing for many days. Little did the family know that the ball was actually going to be a special ritual that Vassilissa was being “trained” for. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, the spares raised their infants into toddlers and children, and Jasmine promised that once Jacqueline and Jillian grew up, they would be allowed to have a playdate with their cousins.

At the Hearts Mansion…

“… and then, dearie, you must rip open the heart just as it is turning acid green. That way, it will exude all of the juices

and fungi that were attached to the fibers connecting the chambers.”

“Oooh… and then what?”

“Are you taking notes, Vassilissa?” Hetty asked suddenly, without looking up from the cauldron.

“You made me take notes yesterday on this…” Vassilissa reminded her teacher softly.

“Ah, well then. Once the juices are ripped out, you may take out the heart. Stir it three times clockwise, once counter-

clockwise, and then watch as it oozes with such power! Muahahahahaa!”

Vassilissa couldn’t help but stifle a giggle. Hetty was truly insane, even if she didn’t know what the witch was talking

about.

All of her teachers were nice, especially Jan and Lee, who taught her about the history of vampires and supernaturals

and how they were created. Even Heather’s lessons were funny, where she learned about class and elegance (which to

her surprise, Heather had a lot of). Dave, however, was no fun at all.

They would spend hours punching and kicking the punching bag. He gripped it with such force that it was like an

immovable object, and hard as she beat the thing, she had aches and bruises from hours of work. She even had to drink

disgusting protein shakes that were the color of mustard.

“Can we take a break, Dave? Pleeeeeease?”

“I’ve been exercising for hours and hours and this punching bag is getting annoying! A.And I’m just a little girl. Why do I

need to know how to fight?”

“Little girls are rotten and evil, and they deserve to be punished. You will punch the punching bag for as long as I tell

you, and you will enjoy every bloody second of it. Ask me once more to stop, and you can go outside to the obstacle

course.”

“But Dave—”

“That’s it! Out, out!”

“Ugh. This is so stupid. Dave’s a stupidhead,” she said to herself, as she got up. “All he wants to do is get busy with Miss

Vanessa. Stupid werewolf.”

She kept on falling,

And tripping,

She had little drive to get up again.

“Why did my family make this happen? Why?” she asked herself, crying. “If I had been with them, I wouldn’t have to do

any of this stupid stuff.”

“Really?”

“Oh, Caroline! I didn’t see you, Mistress, you gave me a scare.”

“Mm. Are you enjoying your training.”

“Not really, Mistress, I don’t see the point of it all. I know I have to be ready for my ball, but I don’t even know what’s

going to happen at this thing.”

“Come Vassilissa. Let us go to your room for some tea.”

“…and I really just don’t like Dave. He’s so mean! The training is fun in some ways, Mistress, but in others, I don’t want

to do any of it.”

“You must do it, Vassilissa,” Caroline said calmly.

“Would… would my family have made me do this?”

“Your blood relatives are disgraceful filth. You are better off in the slumps than you are with them. Would you like to go

there?”

Vassilissa shook her head.

“I have such high hopes for you Vassilissa. When you grow up, You will be a great sorceress, far greater than Hetty... You

will be stronger than any of the counts or contessas. You will rule all dimensions. But first, you must empty your mind

about those people. They have done garbage for you."

“Unless you’d like to live with garbage.”

“No Mistress, I didn’t know my place… I’m sorry.”

“At this ball, we will perform an ancient ritual. A ritual that will be performed on you. You will receive such great power

from all of Hetty’s work on the potions and you will become the queen of this land. You and I will be the Queens of

Fairytale Springs, and we will deal out vengeance against your family, who think they are right to rule.”

“Good night, then, Mistress,”

“Good night, my dear,” Caroline said, smirking at the girl’s obliviousness to her lies.

Caroline walked upstairs and met Vanessa in a dank, dreary room. “All dressed for the ball, Vanessa?”

“Indeed, your grace. I’ll be needing a long drink of blood and I will not return until the night of the ball.”

“Very well. How is the prisoner doing?”

“She’s fine, I expect. She’s been sitting in that corner since we captured her at dawn….”

“As you can see, Heather had a bit of fun with her face… Anyway, the alien is locked up in Hetty’s lair, since she thought

it best to separate them.”

“Very well, very well. You have truly outdone yourself Vanessa.”

The prisoner began to stir.

The prisoner’s eyes shot open, and she got to her feet.

“Caroline.”

“Leave us, Vanessa. I want to have a little chat with my sister.”

“What are you going to do to us?”

“It’s rather simple, Carla. I’m going to kill you,” Caroline said laughing to herself, as though there was some enjoyment

in torturing her sister in such vile ways.

“W.w.why?”

“Quite simple, Carla. We’re having a little party to destroy the legacy family, and what better a way to celebrate than to

slaughter you to repay you for all of the suffering you did unto me during our childhood and teenage years.”

“CAROLINE!” Carla shrieked, her face dripping with tears, smudging the makeup that Heather had ridiculously etched

onto her face. “I’m your sister! I’m your damned sister!”

For a moment, Caroline felt something between them… a rushing exchange of energy that was unfamiliar to her.

“Even when you have nothing…?” Caroline murmured, “you still feel compassion?”

“You are weak and pathetic. Enjoy your last few hours while you can, sister. Fear not, for I am a loving sister, and I will

make your death quick and painless… not like the pain that you gave to me…”

“Caroline, I beg of you. Even if I should die, do not kill Andromeda… do not do it! I warn you, it will haunt you!”

“Such love is disgusting, Carla. I have killed far more people than you can bear to think of. The death of two common

folk who were found in the depths of a godforsaken forest will harm nobody at all.”

“Good night Carla. It’s been nice knowing you.”

“It’s gonna be okay,” she told herself, trying to hear her mother’s voice somewhere. “It’s gonna be okay… Andie and I

are going to be with Ben again… it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay.”

She was still not convinced by the time she passed out.

*** *** ***

“Come one, Malcolm, you can do it!” Emilia said. The two children looked at the stick covered llama so intensely that

the silence was great enough to hear a pin drop.

“KIDS! MALCOLM, EMILIA! MICHAEL GET OVER HERE!”

“The baby’s coming!” Judy screeched, as she entered her labor pains. Malcolm and Emilia had both been good babies,

not pushing too hard during birth, but this child was tearing open Judy’s belly as though it was equipped with a

chainsaw.

Judith looked at her new daughter’s face. The baby giggled, and Judith knew what to name her.

“Welcome to the family, Gertrude Goodytwoshoes.”

“Mommy had a baby! Hooray, hooray!” Emilia and Malcolm were ecstatic at the thought of a new sibling to play with.

They hugged each other tightly as their mother proceeded to go to the kitchen, where the headmaster and their father

were talking.

“We would be pleased to have Malcolm and Emilia in our academy. Drive them up to the building tomorrow and I’ll

have our secretaries create their records. Have a good night– and congratulations on your newest daughter!”

“Thank you, Mr. Walter, thank you very much.”

“You alright, hon?” Michael asked his wife.

“I’m fine… that baby was a handful, I’m telling you.”

“You should go rest up,” Michael said, concerned. His wife seemed to be limping and wobbling on her feet.

“No, I’m fine, really. Why don’t we go upstairs and play a game of bridge, or poker or something?”

Gerti was put in her crib, and the pair retreated to their recreation room, where Michael started to deal out cards for a

game. They were silent during the first few hands, but then Judy asked, “How’s the pet shop going?”

“Pretty well. We got the Number One Pet Shop in the village award, so we’ve had a lot more customers since then. Miss

Crumplebottom shows up a lot, though. She complains about the cats. And I was also approached by a family who were

interested in buying the shop.”

“Apparently they’re breeders from the Three Lakes, and they offered a lot of money up for it.” He paused, before saying, “I think I’m going to accept the offer.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s not like the pet shop is needed to achieve my lifetime want. And now that Gerti’s born, I want to be home with the kids. I might take a part time job at the general store or something, once we have raised twenty kittens and puppies, but that’s it.”

“I’ll help you with whatever decision you do, Michael. If you want to stay home, then I can’t keep you from selling the

place, but if you feel like you’re giving up too much, I’m still here with the kids.”

“I love you, Judy,” said Michael, beaming.

“I love you too, dear. All in.”

The next few days were very eventful. Gertrude grew into a very precious, but extremely naughty little girl. After her

birthday, she was put in her crib to sleep. Only minutes later did she come crawling out with a grin on her face.

Wherever trouble was, she never seemed to be too far.

She was also a bit of a brat, kicking and fighting when it was time to eat, sleep and potty. Judy had to push her down

with both of her hands just to get her to use the toilet.

“No wanna potty! Bad mama!”

Judy chuckled. “You mischievous little princess.”

For the most part, though, Gertrude was a true delight, and made everyone smile. Even the cats got… some enjoyment,

from her constant tugging, hugging and stealing of their toys and cat food.

Michael’s lifetime want was to Raise 20 Puppies and Kittens. At first, Michael started off by purchasing a pet shop, and

hoping that breeding would help him financially and with his lifetime want. However, since he was determined to sell

the shop, it was time for some cats to get busy.

Mimi and Sandy were very unfriendly to each other at first, but eventually…

… three new kittens came into the house. Pipsqueak, Yahoo and Snowy were born, starting Michael’s goal.

“Kitty! Pwetty kitty, pway wif me!”

Oh boy, thought Snowy.

*** *** ***

“You know we’re going to have to put all of this away to make space for the kitchen, right?” Ivory reminded her

husband. He stared at her eyes distractedly. He never expected to be in the spot he was– married, and with five

children, four being a set of quadruplets. Ivory had come into his life in the most unexpected time and place– his

brother’s wedding. He didn’t know if this had been his original plan, but he would never pass up any of it for the world.

“How about we enjoy it while it lasts? “

“Hon. Time to wake up,” Ivory mumbled. A groggy Jack rose his head and looked at the clock on the wall.

“Ten. Way to early on a Sunday,” he said, stifling a yawn.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! DAAAAAAAAAAADDY!”

While Jack was not completely hopeless at being a parent, Ivory settled into potty training, feeding and teaching the

quadruplets to do their daily activities was a challenge. Ivory seemed to grasp being a parent much quicker. Lyra and

Wolfgang were both relatively easy to handle, but they did not enjoy potty training at all.

“Come on, Wolfie, why can’t you be a good little kid like Lyra?” Jack asked.

“Don’t wanna potty.”

It seemed that at every corner, Jack would find his kids.

It drove him to some point of insanity.

Naptime, at 4:00 was his favorite time of day. The quadruplets were in bed, and Grace was doing her homework or

otherwise studying. It was quiet, peaceful, and he had time to empty his mind of his thoughts.

It helped when Grace played the piano. The girl was getting very, very good at it. She was playing songs by Beethoven,

Mozart, Chopin, Hayden and even some that Jack himself didn’t know how to play.

She had been a child for so long, and with all of the free time she had, there was a lot of opportunity to practice. Jack

had held off on her aging up so that she could be in line with her cousins.

It was only a matter of time before she asked again. “What’s up, Gracie?”

“Oh, well… Daddy, I know that you already told me to wait, but I really, really wanted to have a party with you and Ivory,

for my birthday.”

“I… Grace, I’m really sorry you’ve had to wait so long. I just want you to be the same age as your cousin Malcolm, that

way you two won’t be lonely when you go to college together. You want someone to hang out with, right?”

She nodded. He felt great pity inside him, and realized that since Malcolm already was a child and in school, there was

no need to wait any longer.

“You can celebrate your birthday tonight with the quadruplets. That way you should be in line with Mal.”

“Thank you, Daddy! You’re the bestest ever!”

“Come on, Wolfie. Time to get you and your brother and sisters all grown up.”

“Time to twirl,” Jack said. Was this really happening? His wife and him watching five children age all at once? Real or

not, he treasured the moment.

The four toddlers went down onto the floor, paused and stared at each other for a few seconds…

And up came four very sassy and stylish children, ready to make their parents smile with their loveliness and possibly

drive them insane with the mischief that they could achieve.

Then it was Grace’s turn. She blew the candles out, making a wish and wishing hard. She stepped down from the stool,

turned around, and spun.

Grace was a truly stunning teenager.

“She turned out gorgeous, Jack,” Ivory said. With a little more flirt, she added, “I can see where she got it from.” She

tugged tight on the collar of Jack’s shirt, and the two of them escaped to their bedroom.

Meanwhile, the children had some fun playing cops and robbers together.

The children were all very bright, especially Joseph and Wolfgang. They were accepted into the local private school

after a quick visit from the headmaster, who arranged for them to be put in as soon as possible.

Carmen was just as bright as her brothers and sister, but she preferred to slack off.

“This homework is so dumb,” Carmen complained. “Why do they make us do this stupid stuff?”

Lyra shrugged. “Carmen, whatcha get for number four?”

“I dunno, I’m still on number one.”

“When they weren’t doing homework, though, all of the children were doing their favorite things. Lyra liked to lock

herself in her bedroom and paint pictures, with the promise that she would get better and better as she went along.

Ivory promised her that she could hang each and every single one of them up.

Carmen was the most playful of her siblings. She liked to look through trunks in the closet and find costumes and wigs

and dance around, pretending to be a ballerina.

All of the children learned how to play piano, though that was something that Jack pushed. Grace helped her siblings

with the piano, and sometimes, they even learned violin from their father.

Day or night, there was always the sound of a sweet violin, deep piano music and an intense vibration from Jack’s

guitar.

“Mooom! Phone for you!”

Ivory pulled on her clothes and then ran to the phone.

“Hello?”

“Ivory, hi. How are you? It’s Jasmine, dear.”

“Oh, hello Jasmine,” Ivory said. Her mother-in-law sounded tense on the other line. “Is everything alright?”

“I hate to tell you this, Ivory… but we’re in danger. All of us– Robin, Me, You and Jack, Michael. A few nights ago, we

received a threat from a woman who said she had Vassilissa, and we think this people might be plotting against the

family. I’m not sure how big of a threat this is, but none of us are safe.”

“You and Jack need to come to the castle when you bring your children. Don’t answer any phone calls you don’t know,

and don’t answer the door. Make sure it’s locked all the time. We don’t want to take any chances with whoever these

people are.”

Ivory couldn’t breathe.

“Ivory? Hello?”

Children in danger… Villains…

Ivory couldn’t think straight. Her mind was exploding with fearful thoughts. Her children were all at school, but as she

thought about it, they could easily be snatched away by whoever this people were on their way home. Her thoughts

were a little bit irrational, but fear made anyone question their safety.

“Ivory? I bought some pizza for dinner.”

“We have to go to the castle tomorrow. Jasmine says… she said that we’re in danger.” Ivory explained the phone call,

and Jack’s smile faded.

There was an awkward silence between the two of them. Jack suddenly felt a strong paternal bond with his kids– he

would not let anything happen to them.

“It’ll be okay, Ivy. Our kids are going to be just fine.”

“How do you know?”

“It always is fine,” Jack said reassuringly. “There’s nothing to fear. If these people threatened us, they want something,

and my father won’t care how much it is. We’ll stop these people and we’ll save my niece.”

*** *** ***

“Come on, Jacqui. Time to grow up.”

It was time for another birthday. Birthdays were supposed to be filled with joy and celebration, but ever since Vassilissa

had run away, the only usual attendants were Christopher and Robin, since Scarlet was missing and Jasmine was

working hard at fighting crime.

Christopher closed his eyes and tried to empty his head of the judgments he had against himself and this family. His life

would have been much less stressful if he had stayed in University, without the sadness, but he loved Scarlet, and he

loved his family and this was not what Scarlet would have wanted if she was in the right frame of mind. He would make

sure that it was a good birthday for his daughters.

“Blow out the candles, Jillian!”

“Pwetty pink candles!”

When someone walked up to Jillian and Jacqueline, it was doubtful that they would be called twins, because the two

looked nothing alike. Jillian looked identical to her father with her mother’s coloring, while Scarlet looked more like her

mother, with her father’s coloring. Needless to say, they both loved each other very much and were inseparable.

The day before their playdate with all of their cousins, Robin called the headmaster to pay a visit so that his

granddaughters could get into private school.

“Pleasure to be here again, Robin. I trust there has been a lot of renovation in your house then?”

“Naturally, Mr. Ryan. I’ll give you a tour.”

Jillian was less than flattering in regards to her table manners when Mr. Ryan came to enjoy the delectable lobster

thermidor. Mr. Ryan tried to ignore the morsels of rice and a tiny leg that fell onto his lap and asked her some

questions.

“What is your favorite subject in school?”

“Oh, that’s easy peasy,” Jill said clearing her throat. “I like art the best, because we get to draw and paint pictures and I

can color in pink. And we get to draw other kids, which is fun, because everyone will draw pictures of me in my pretty

pink dress.”

“Interesting. You know that when you attend our school you will need to wear a uniform.

“That’s okay. I’ll wear pink bows and makeup so everyone can see me, and everyone will want to be my friend.”

“Do you have any other subjects you enjoy in school?”

Jillian pondered this for a moment. “Lunch.”

Although Jillian had answered the questions awkwardly, BJ was very pleased with his visit to the house. “I’ll make sure

that our secretaries establish their records for Monday. They’ll be in many classes together, if that’s fine by you.”

“Thank you for coming, Mr. Ryan. I’ll let them know that they’ll be together in their class assignments.”

Jacqueline and Jillian were excited about getting into private school that they could be heard cheering and dancing the

next morning. “We got into priiiivate school! YAYAY! Now I’m going to get to meet all of my cousins and new boys and

girls to hang out with!”

The door bell rang, DING DONG!

“Jacqueline, I believe these people are here for you,” Remington said.

“Who are you?” Jacqueline asked, facing her visitors for the very first time.

“We’re your cousins, silly!” a red headed girl said. In the background, past the wall, Jacqui could see many cars with

more children running out.

“Can we play?”

“Hi, I’m Wolfgang. Jack is my daddy.”

“Hi Wolfgang! I’m Jacqui. Me and you are gonna be going to school together on Monday.”

“Yay! You wanna play tag?”

Carmen and Jillian both got to know each other very well. “… So I told him that my dog has a strong taste for math

homework, and everyone in the class was laughing!”

“That’s evil, Carmen. Hey Char, you wanna play on the lookout tower with me and Carmen?”

The children go to play with one another on the basketball court and the small playground that Robin had built for

them. They partook in many activities together, some playing tag, others simply talking.

Carmen and Jillian played with each other the most, talking about their ideas for school on Monday. “I dunno, should I

wear my pink bows, or should I just stick with the ugly, boring uniform?”

“I have a hat I could give you. You wanna get it from my house after school on Monday?”

“Sure! We can come here and play games and you could even sleepover!”

All in all, the children had a fabulous time. Whether they were from the legacy household or a child of the spare, none

of them walked out of the house that night without being acquainted with each and every single one of their relatives.

In the family chapel, only footsteps away from the children’s fun, something much more sinister was going down.

Michael and Judith, Jack and Ivory and Begonia had all come as representatives of their household, aware of the great

threat to the eldest fourth generation Fantasy.

“The ball is tomorrow night,” Jasmine said, “we can’t take any chances or waste any time on this. Whoever these

people are, I know– I have a strong feeling in my bones– that this is where we’ll find Vassilissa. Even though this is a

fight I will not be entering, you are all strong and powerful enough to do so.”

Robin looked at each member of his audience with concern, but also with empathy. “I know you all have work or your

own comfort zones or families and children. I love my grandchildren very much, and I would do anything to save them.

We’re going to ask once, and not once more, if you could help me set up an attack on these people so that we can get

Vassilissa back. If you fear anything, for your lives or your families, leave this room now, and leave us in our peace.””

“I’ll go,” Jack said bravely. “Ivory will stay with our children.”

“And risk you getting hurt, leaving me alone like some housewife?” Ivory asked argumentatively. “I don’t think so. We’re

all in this together, and I am going to that ball tomorrow night.”

“There’s no reason why the both of you can’t come,” Begonia said, being the voice of reason. “Jack, you’re a really

strong, buff guy, but Ivory’s a werewolf, and she’ll be a great help to all of us. And the more we are, the better chance

we stand against them.”

“I will go,” Judy spoke up, which surprised her husband. “And so will Michael.” He shot her a look of confusion, but then

let her finish. “If any of the kids needs a place to stay, there’s no safer place than the castle, or even our own houses.

We can all just hire a nanny for the night. It’s money that we can afford to spend this time.”

“Money isn’t the issue. The only issue is that I want my daughter back home. Jasmine will be staying here, but it’s best if

all of your children stay in their homes. The chances that they’re going to get hurt tomorrow night is slim. They want us,

not our children.”

They continued to discuss the issue, until Robin silenced them. “Tomorrow night. We’ll meet here, with three cars, and

we’ll drive to the address that vampire gave us. Meeting Adjourned.”

*** *** ***

“Hello?”

“Hey Gracie! It’s Vassi!”

“Vassilissa, it’s you! Hey girl, how are you?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine! Listen, I need to ask you something really important. Tomorrow night I’m having this ‘ball’ type of thing over at my Mistress’s mansion, and I know it’s so random and weird, but I would appreciate it if you came. It’s supposed to be like a big party, and I’m not sure if she’s planning to surprise me with local teens, but it would mean a lot if you just came.”

“Vassilissa… I need to talk to you about this. I overheard my dad talking with my stepmom, and… you’re not safe there. Whatever’s going down at this ball isn’t going to be good for anyone. My dad said that these people who you’re with… they’re our enemies. They’re--,”

“No, no, Gracie, you’ve got it all wrong. The legacy people– my mother– are the evil ones. They never did anything good for me, and tomorrow night you’ll get to see them get duly repaid.”

“Vassi, have you lost your mind! That’s your mother you’re talking about, and your family! And me! Do you expect me to participate in something like this?”

“This is my coronation ball! Caroline’s going to appoint the Queen of this whole dimension! Do you realize how important this is to me?”

“Meaning that you’ll overthrow your own family and the innocent people in this town because some lady who ran off to said so?That’s a load of bullcrap, and I’m not getting involved.”

“Gracie, I’m just--,”

“Good night.”

“Is everything alright, Grace?”

“Fine. Have it your way.”

“If they don’t want to come, it won’t matter. She’s proven herself to be a nasty friend– the one time I asked anything of

her, she refuses me. I thought she was my friend… she’s my blood. No wonder why.”

“Vassilissa, do not disrespect them.”

“What did you say, Jan?”

“I know that Caroline has told you a great many things, but you mustn’t listen Vassilissa… You many think that your

family is evil and cruel, but your cousin just showed you a sign of love and care through telling you that this is wrong.”

“Then why are you helping me train for it? Why did you tell me all of that stuff.”

“Me and Lee did not teach you anything wrong at all. We taught you the history of this land and all who lived in it. We

never gave you any biased opinion, and furthermore, I told you of important virtues. Whatever happens tomorrow, you

must remember them, Vassilisssa. Caroline is not the woman you think she is. She has turned you from a sweet,

innocent child into an envious, hateful and confused girl. Your family must have loved you, but in a moment of sadness

you ran away, and she took advantage of you.”

“I’m sorry, Jan… but I don’t believe you.”

“I have spoken in the truest truth possible. I have always been honest, and in my heart, I love like as though you were

one of my kinsfolk. Do not forget your heart, Vassilissa.”

“I would like to be alone, now.”

The following night…The following night…

“Here we are…” Robin said, his voice losing its incessant bravery. “This is it.”

“We’re ready.”

************************************

And that’s the end of Part 8a!

What horror will come from this night? Will anyone die? Will anyone

live?! What sort of catastrophe and chaos will go down at this ball?

What on earth is going on here?!?

All these questions and more will be answered in the epic second

part to this chapter, where everything shall be made clear.

Thanks for reading! Part B should be up within a few days.