Blinding Light: A Sleeping Beauty and Snow Queen Remix

Chapter 8

A/N: Viviana Morales exposed as the cute witch she is^^ Unfortunately the complexion is off but oh well.

Viviana's ears were still ringing unpleasantly.

Jeanette had half-screamed the entire time the plane had been descending, saying she thought her ears were about to fall right off her head, they hurt so bad. Which, to be fair, Viviana had felt the same way. But having Jeanette half-screaming next to her hadn't made the pain any better. It had crushed her optimism temporarily, and she had grumpily stormed off the plane, glaring at anyone who so much as looked at her for a second too long.

Even now, in a car on the way to the hotel she would spend the night in with her friends, she was still in a black mood. In fact, her mood was dark enough, that Preisha hadn't dared to complain right away once they had retrieved their bags and left the airport.

Preisha was complaining now though. Just not to Viviana, even though Viviana could hear everything her familiar said.

"We are never doing that again! I was stuck in darkness for hours, and the noise? Awful! Not to mention I couldn't talk to Viv. What happened to her though? I know why I'm upset, but she's not saying anything!"

"Well... she fell asleep on the plane, and she hasn't been the same since she woke up." Santiago whispered. Viviana pretended not to hear him, her thoughts absorbed entirely by her dream with Princess Isabelle.

She still didn't understand what had happened.

Dream traps were rare, and most times diagnosed accidentally as comas. But they were quite different. A person trapped in a dream could only wake up if they outsmarted the trap, or some different condition was filled for them in the conscious world.

The fact that she had been able to wake up, implied that it was not a dream trap. At least, not for her.

But she could not help but wonder if she had truly spoken to Princess Isabelle. The dream was too detailed and immersive to only be a dream.

And if she truly had spoken to the Princess, did that mean it was the Princess's dream trap? Was the Princess not really in a coma at all?

No. That can't be right. It's a medically induced coma. It has to be... right? What would even be the point of trapping the Princess in a dream? Is it for her own good because she's dying? IS IT EVEN A DREAM TRAP THEN? Agh, so confusing!

Preisha poked her nose out of Viviana's shoulder bag, which was sitting on the taxi floor between Viviana's feet. Preisha nosed Viviana's knee, and Viviana jumped, glancing down at her familiar.

"What are you shouting about?" Preisha asked.

"Nothing." Viviana grumbled.

She felt Jeanette and Santiago exchange a concerned look, but she didn't bother turning her gaze from the taxi window to find out if they were actually having a conversation with their eyes. She couldn't wait to crash at the hotel. Then, maybe she could get back into the dream and have a more in-depth conversation with the Princess, and get more answers.

***

Viviana muffled a frustrated scream with the pillow when she woke up the next morning.

At first she was happy, and refreshed, until she realized she had dreamed of nothing. That meant no progress, no answers, and no idea if her way for saving Princess Isabelle was more complicated than she'd originally thought.

"Again, Viv?" Jeanette mumbled sleepily, sitting up in her bed nearby. "I thought sleep would help y- Viv! It's 3 o'clock! Go back to sleep."

Viviana pulled the pillow off her head to glance at the clock properly. It did in fact say 3, not 8, like she had originally thought.