Hansel and Gretel: Let's Try This Again...

Chapter 5: Gretel

After the joke I'd played on my Casanova brother, I figured he'd take Kiki to bed. I thought that Hook was a real sleeper, but I was oh-so wrong.

Hansel slammed the door, and Hook laughed behind me. He'd hid in the closet, for fear of being hit by my brother for being found in a bedroom with me. I'd told him that he wouldn't care(a lie), but he'd told me he just wanted to be safe(another lie). We fell onto the bed, uncontrollable laughter spewing from our guts at our interruption of my brother's romantic adventures. I knew I should have let him and my friend have some couple-time together, but when I get an opportunity to make a fool of him, I rarely pass it up(Just kidding, love you, Hansel!)

The music played softly downstairs; a quiet melody from an orchestra. I shook my head, sitting up. Captain Hook followed suit. "What is it?" "The music... it's..." "Terrible? Horrible? Horrific? Disgusting?" My face went serious. I turned to him, trying not to smile. "Boring." We both cracked up, and he grabbed my hand, tearing out of my room after kicking the door open with his booted foot.We ran through the corridors, giggling at the loud, booming noises our shoes made as they hit the floor. Finally, we stopped and threw our boots into a laundry shoot and let our bare toes squish the soft carpets as we dashed toward the grand staircase. "Wait," I stopped him, almost making him fall backwards. We'd stopped in front of a huge room with a door that had beautiful letters written on it:

The Grand Dressing Closet

Our eyes met and went wide. I threw my head back and laughed as he pulled me inside the now open door.Slamming it behind me, I turned to see a huge room with the ceiling as high as a skyscraper, clothes on so many shelves and levels. A spiral staircase led up the middle, with small points that you could stop and grab something from every level. Shoes and purses and dresses and skirts and shirts and pants and suits, it was the motherload of all clothing!With a quick smile to Hook, I grabbed an armful of dresses and pulled back a curtain on one of the dressing rooms.

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And that's when I found it; the dress of my dreams. Black and beautiful, it complimented my pale complexion and blonde hair. The gold accents on the skirt made the ballgown all that more amazing. My brown eyes stood out against my skin, and when I looked in the mirror, I felt like a princess(which, trust me audience, I rarely do.)I stepped out of the dressing room, pulling on a pair of my signature combat boots(you never know!) and pulling my triad necklace back over my head. When my hair fell over my shoulders, it felt a lot longer than the last time that I'd checked. It had been a long time since I'd had the time to get it cut...But when Captain Hook pulled back the curtain on his room, I gasped. Head-to-toe in a black suit, he looked stunning. His ship boots had returned to his feet, but they didn't seem to clash with the ensemble. He shifted his hat, smirking at me and looking me up and down.He reached his hand out, the smile never fading from his face. "May I have this dance, m'lady?" I nodded, taking his hand, and he twirled me around the clothes-covered floor, kicking blouses and scarves out of the way.Once we'd made it to the door, he opened it and motioned me out. I giggled, and dashed through it. The Captain took my hand again and we were off toward the staircase.

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We reached it, and the music stopped when the entire ballroom halted the dancing at the sound of the horns when we were announced as "Captain Killian Jones and Princess Gretel!" (Yes, I did get to keep the title).We looked at each other, the entire room expecting us to descend the stairs. I smirked first, and Hook nodded. We walked to the banister, and we slid down, laughing all the way down. Once we'd made it to the end, we jumped off and landed at the same time. "Hit it!" I yelled to a group of instrumentalists that had come in per request.'Bombshell Blonde' started playing, the bass strong and solid. The Captain twirled me around and we danced and danced. Once the song was over, another more modern one began and Hook and I sat down at a table to rest."That was so much fun!" I laughed, out of breath. He nodded, then looked at me; face suddenly serious and flushed. "Hey, Gretel, I was wondering if maybe-" He started, only to be interrupted by a huge crash coming from the entrance doors of the ballroom. Everyone turned, and there they were; Candor and Katrin, back from the dead. (technically one is back from banana too)And Captain Hook stood, already oh-so ready for the battle. I smirked and stood beside him, eyes bright. He took my hand and I looked up at him. He was perfectly still now, looking toward our current enemies with an unforced smile. I followed suit, and they came through the door. Everyone else in the ballroom ran screaming; hiding under tables and chairs or behind pillars and ice sculptures. Soon, Candor and Katrin had made it to the center of the ballroom, scanning it for people of interest. Once Katrin's eyes had settled on me, her strides grew longer and more forceful. I could feel the heat radiating off of her from feet away, but I didn't even flinch when she was nose-to-nose with me. Her eyes flashed red, but no smirk or smile graced her lips. "You. You created the bitch that took my life. You made me into this, Gretel!" and with that screech, she pulled up her hand into a fist and pulled back. I was ready for the blow; I deserved it. But I guess not everyone there thought that, since Captain Hook reached out and grabbed it. "I don't think so, devil." He said without hesitation. Her eyes went wide, wondering how he could possibly have known what she was. "Little skill I learned from my dear father," He said, closing his fist around hers; I could hear bones cracking. But Katrin just smiled back evilly. "Haven't you learned anything from being without your daddy?" Her voice began to raise, and through Hook's fingers I could see a red light. "Parents LIE!" That was when the red light grew even more intense, and finally the pair's hands exploded from each other. Katrin, obviously ready for the blow, just slid back on her heels and when she came to a stop across the ballroom, her hand was gone! But I noticed small fingers growing out of her bloodied wrist ,it was growing back!The Captain, on the other hand, wasn't as prepared. He was thrown back and had left a body-sized indent in the opposite wall. Slumping to the ground, his eyes closed. I dashed toward him, worried for his life. "Not so fast, Princess!" A heard the shrill voice of the transgender witch ring out behind me. Ducking to avoid his blow of cotton candy colored flames, I kept my pace steady and being thankful that I had put on the combat boots. I yelled for Kiki, but she wasn't within range. So, using the best skills that I could, I sent a ray of help to Lee; hoping that since I had given her her powers, maybe I could reach her through our connected minds.My prayers were answered when a battle cry rang out from a familiar voice. And Lee came running into the room, Ijan jumping off from her back with claws extended toward Candor as Lee changed direction to Katrin. "I killed you once, am I really gonna have to do it again?!" I laughed despite myself and slid across the ground on my knees to avoid a falling pillar and get to Captain Hook.Now that those two had become occupied by my backup, I had to deal with Hook. "Hook! Are you alright?!" He nodded. "My good hand," he chuckled. The blood on it shined in the light of the candelabra (now swinging from the force of the battle blew) above us. I stood and reached down, grabbing onto the replacement for his other hand; a shiny hook. After helping him up, I ripped off a piece of a nearby tablecloth and wrapped it around his bloodied hand. He smiled. "Good as new," He said, giving me a reassuring look after seeing the worry on my face. "It's not, but that's the best I can do for now. Until then..." I said, turning to fight going on behind us. "We have company."After catching my obvious lead, Captain Hook ran after me into the battle. It seemed that Ijan and Lee had less than a stranglehold on the fight, so I knew we'd have to jump in at some point. Why not now?I closed my hands into tight fists, and when I re-opened them there was a matching fireball in each one. Smirking, I looked to Hook, who had the giant knife they'd used to cut the large pig at dinner. He seemed just as ready as I was. Jumping forward, I threw the balls at an unexpecting Candor. He was hit by the first, but caught the second by throwing Ijan into my line of fire. The cat flew across the room and hit another pillar. "Silly girl, taking on the one who taught you all that you know!" He whispered some words and a fog settled over the room."Hook! Where are you?" I said, trying not to make it obvious where I was, just in case Candor was planning a sneak attack. Then, I backed into someone wearing a heavy leather sailing jacket. He hugged me close, fearing the same thing I was. "Do they know-" I covered his mouth, shushing him. I shook my head and we kept each other close as we slowly moved through the smoke.It began to clear, and I saw movement across the room. Using my air powers, I blew myself across the room. It cleared the fog, and I was directly behind Katrin. Making a huge downward motion, I threw water onto her flamed wings. She called out; a scream of agony that the entire castle could hear. I saw some of pedestrians hiding covering their ears and looking to escape. Some made it out the doors while others ducked lower into their hiding places."Go back to Hell, Devil!" I screeched, forcing more water onto her and she shrunk to her knees. "I will make you pay for this, Gretel! I curse you to forever be trapped in other bodies,no one will remember your so called beauty!" And with that, she turned to wet ash on the floor and the curse was immediately cast. I could feel myself changing, and then I saw it in the slight reflection of the ballroom's window; I looked like who I was thinking, Katrin. The rush of remembrance of what she had been before Lee had killed her came flooding back and I had taken on her form. Realizing what I had become, my knees collapsed and I fell to the floor crying.