The Curse of Once Upon a Time

Chapter II: A Story Atlantis Never Told

Atlantis had loved Serenity with every piece that she could have. Serenity was just a little girl in a world that was too small for her dreams. Atlantis wanted Serenity to live a better life than she had. She did anything in her power to make Serenity happy for as long as she could, which wasn't that long.

Any story that popped into her head, Atlantis told. I should know. I made most of the stories. I didn't tend to focus on just one or two people, but Serenity Wioax was an important little girl. She just didn't know it yet.

All of the little towns have a secret. And Aoiski was no different. Serenity's great-something grandfather, Abraxus Wioax, had formed Aoiski with his brother, Endymion Asoki. Abraxus and Endymion were brothers by law, not by blood.

Endymion had married Abraxus's older sister. However, she passed away from illness before they could have children. Endymion never remarried, so Abraxus was the only of the two to reproduce. According to Serenity, they'd been around since the dinosaurs.

When she had been really little, she and Atlantis used to joke that Serenity's father's mother, Daphne Wioax, had scared the dinosaurs so much they'd left their family alone. For a little while, dinosaurs had been the topic of Serenity's drawing.

But Abraxus and Endymion shared a secret that only the Wioax family knew. Their belief in paranormal stemmed from the story of Thalia Wioax Asoki. Serenity had never heard the story of what happened to Thalia and neither had Salvadore.

Atlantis wished that she could have told Serenity everything, but it couldn't have been a secret if Serenity had known. The world is a place full of lies and secrets. People don't like to believe it and that's why stories aren't supposed to portray it. It makes people realize how horrible the world is.

Even the sweetest people have secrets. Atlantis was an example of just that. She had sworn to keep shut and had done just that. So it remained that Serenity didn't know. She remained just as clueless and important as always.

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The last thing that was on Serenity's mind was eating dinner with her family. She would have done anything else. She would have thrown herself into a volcano to burn to death rather than have a sit-down dinner with her family. But the closest volcano was too far away and she was stuck.

Serenity's family wasn't the worst. By no means was it the worst. But to her, they were too proper and fancy. Unpleasantly pleasant. Every day, except for weekends, they were forced into eating dinner together.

"Serendipity, could you set out the glasses?" Calliope, her mother, called as Serenity was coming down the stairs.

If there was one thing other than her lungs that Serenity hated about herself, it was her name. Serendipity Hero Wioax. She didn't think that it suited her at all. She preferred being called just Serenity, but often her parents or grandparents said Serendipity rather than just Serenity.

"I can't." Serenity said. "I'm busy."

Calliope sent her a look. "Busy with what?"

"Um, homework." Serenity lied. As if she would ever put the effort into finishing her homework. "I have to grab a book for a report."

Calliope sighed. "You should be getting that done before dinner."

"Can I go?"

"Serenity, set the table and you can get your book after dinner." Her father, Arrow, called from the living room.

Serenity rolled her eyes. She walked to the counter and picked up the plates. "How come Salvadore never has to set the table?"

"Salvadore gets his schoolwork done." Calliope said.