take back the narrative

Title: Sugar Cookies

Muse: Eira

Eira skipped around the hall, holding open the well-decorated box of cookies for people as she did. She loved baking; it helped keep her in the present. And making people happy made her feel happy.

So the witch joyfully made her way through the school. She stopped in front of someone and held the box open. “Sugar cookie?”

Title: Cheaper Than Therapy

Muse: Willa

Right hook, left hook, roundhouse kick. Right hook, left hook, roundhouse kick.

Willa viciously attacked the training dummy, keeping her breathing as steady as possible. She had her hair tied up in a bun, and the gym was the only place someone would ever find her without her cloak.

She’d been back a while. A pretty good while. And she was getting her friends back, gathering a pack, learning about herself... but she was also getting hateful notes, graffiti on her house and locker, shunned by her own family for something she couldn’t control-

Landing one last devastating blow, the dummy broke off its post, slamming into the far wall and ejecting a puff of sand. Willa took a few deep breaths, trying to settle herself. She stood still and just stared at the dent in the plaster. “You know, I can smell you behind me. Would it kill you to announce yourself?”

Title: A Diplomatic Trip

Muse: Aphrodite

Aphrodite held up her chin, walking down the hall with the grace a princess was expected to in Auradon… sort of. She’d never been good with walking. She was a mermaid, after all. Swimming was much more natural.

It wasn’t really a surprise for her when her foot caught on her dress and she fell to the floor, everything she was holding scattering around her. Aphrodite muttered Atlantican curses under her breath, quickly reaching to gather her books.

Title: Swimming

Muse: Fergus

Fergus looked out at the pool, trying to keep his breathing steady. The water was a dark and mysterious mistress, even in a contained building. He was always afraid of water growing up, always afraid of taking the wrong step on the edge of a lake, afraid of slipping under the surface. Just the thought sent a chill up his spine. But here… maybe he could take steps towards conquering that fear.

He shook out his arms, trying to stop his hands from trembling. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. It’s a contained space. There are people around. I won’t be hurt.

A tap on his shoulder jolted Fergus out of his thoughts. He looked over at the person next to him. “I’m-I’m sorry, did you say something?”

Title: Ballet

Muse: Eve

Eve tightened the ribbons on her pointe shoes. She took a deep breath, looking around the large room. She hadn’t seen such a large dance studio in… well, ever. The one she’d learned to dance in wasn’t even this big. It gave her a feeling of freedom knowing she had more space to move in.

She turned on the radio and closed her eyes as she got into position. One, two, three, one, two, three.

Eve launched herself into the dance, not even bothering to open her eyes. She knew the routine well enough that she didn’t need to see what she was doing in the mirrors. The angel moved with inhuman grace and elegance. She began a fouetté turn, carefully counting the beats.

But then, the sound of clapping rang through the room - and broke Eve’s concentration. Her eyes shot open. She stumbled, but caught herself before she could fall. She looked up at the person sheepishly.

“Er… Hi,” she said awkwardly. “I was… I was just practicing. Did you need the space?”

Title: Static

Muse: Prue

Prue sat in the corner of the room, sketching while listening to music. She was doing something rather simple, really. A basic drawing of her surroundings.

She hummed along quietly. Then her headphones shorted out. Again. She sighed and yanked them out. “Stupid static.”

The spirit girl went back to her drawing, not bothering to look up at the person who was suddenly standing before her. “What?”

Title: Living Dead

Muse: Ziva

On the outside, she was simply sitting there, zoned out, frozen by a lack of focus.

But that wasn’t the case. Not in the slightest.

No, no, Ziva was reliving - living? - a memory. Not one of hers. Because, invisible to everyone else, above her stood a man, a dead man, a dead man who’d heard the news that there was a living person who could help him. And on the inside of her mind, Ziva was trapped, underwater, unable to swim to the surface. Drowning. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t breathe-

She jolted back to the present, barely able to keep herself from screaming. She looked down at her now-cold lunch. “Jesus…” She reached up to rub her face, but stopped halfway, realizing there was someone there but not looking up to see their face. “Go away.”

Title: Squirrel!

Muse: Scott

Scott stared out the window, eyes focused on a squirrel wandering the garden. Sometimes he truly was nothing but a large dog. He wanted to chase. Chase, chase, chase.

The room sounded C sharp. The paint on the walls was bright, very bright. Almost distractingly so. How did anyone get work done at this school?

He blinked a few times, realizing someone had sat down near him and tried to talk. "Huh? Sorry, I was busy staring at a squirrel out the window. Did you say something?”

Title: New Normal

Muse: Sam

Sam picked up a book from the shelf and grumbled into his cell phone. “You stab it in the heart.”

“What?” came the garbled voice of his brother.

“Stab it. The heart.” Sam looked around, trying to keep his voice down and out of anyone else’s attention. Not that that was easy when his brother had bad phone reception.

“Sammy, I can barely hear you.”

“I said, you stab it in the heart!” Sam nearly yelled, flinching at himself. The librarian shushed him, and he nodded silently. His voice shook a little as he continued, “Okay. Are you guys cool? Can I have a normal life for five minutes now?”

“There’s no such thing as normal for us, Sammy,” Dean replied, and then he hung up.

Sam shook his head. “Yeah, whatever.” He grabbed another book from the shelf while putting his phone in his pocket. He turned around, intending to head to a table to start his homework, but ran straight into someone. He stepped back, clearing his throat and keeping his eyes down. “Sorry. I, uh… didn’t see you.”

Title: Calendar

Muse: Nari

“Growing up in a household that uses two calendars is so weird sometimes. I mean, I know my birthday on the solar calendar, but we celebrate it based on the lunar calendar. So even though I was born on September 23rd, my birthday is actually on the 24th this year, because that’s the 17th day of the month of the Rooster on the Korean calendar.”

Title: Confused

Muse: Milo

… yeah, that was an understatement.

Milo could not find anything, at all, for the life of him. This was not the best time to be directionally challenged. He looked down at his map, thoroughly befuddled, trying to look around and try to get his bearings.

“Nope,” he sighed. “Nope, nope, nope. Can’t do it. Nope. Screw it, I’m asking for help.” He looked around, hurrying over to someone walking by. “Hey, hi, hello, hi, uh, I’m new, and I’m really bad with maps. Can- Can you help me out? I don’t know where I am.”

Title: Staying Dry

Muse: Mackenzie

Mackenzie hummed to herself, scrolling through messages from her nod. Devon had gone antiquing with Charlie and their siblings to find things to decorate the new house. She smiled softly, wrinkling her nose when she scrolled past a picture of an old painting. She hadn’t liked it at all. It looked creepy.

The oracle’s eyes shimmered gold, glowing slightly. Sprinklers? Sprinklers. She shook her head, blinking away the glow. “The sprinklers are about to turn on,” she instinctively blurted out. She looked around. Thankfully the courtyard seemed empty other than herself. So why…?

Mackenzie froze and stared at a person who had been standing close enough to hear her. Shit. “Uh… My mom works here. So-So I know the schedule.” She cleared her throat. “Sorry. We should get somewhere to stay dry.”

Title: Hunting Games

Muse: Luna

An old plaything. Now they’d be much harder to fool, depending on the idiot. Axel. Jocelyn. Margo. They’d be more difficult to convince of her cover of turning a new leaf. Not like the fools of Auradon. Luna knew it would be difficult… but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still play. Maybe even convince one or two that her “falling out” with Sabrine meant something to her.

Yeah, that was something she could use…

Luna smirked to herself, hiding it quickly under a smile. There was one. She skipped up to them. This would be fun. “Hey there. Long time no see, old friend!”

Title: Now or Never

Muse: Hale

“Take off, last stop. Countdown till we blast open the top. Face first, full charge. Electric hammer to the heart.”

Hale bounced in place, imagining he was singing to a real audience instead of an empty music room.

“Clocks move forward, but we don’t get older, no. Kept on climbing till our stars collided. And all the times we fell behind were just the keys to paradise!”

“Don’t look down, ‘cause we’re still rising up right now! And even if we hit the ground, we’ll still fly. Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever, but live it like it’s now or never!”

He laughed, flipping his hair out of his face, reaching back with one hand to quickly turn his amp up a bit louder.

“Hear the noise in my head. It’s calling out like a voice I can’t forget. One life, no regrets. Catch up, got no time to catch my breath!”

“Clocks move faster 'cause it’s all we’re after now. Won’t stop climbing 'cause this is our time, yeah! When all the days felt black and white, those were the best shades of my life!”

“Don’t look down, 'cause we’re still rising up right now! And even if we hit the ground, we’ll still fly. Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever, but live it like it’s now or never!”

Hale spun around, grinning when he noticed a person standing in the door. Oh, HELL yeah! He winked, bouncing between his feet as he started singing directly to them.

“We ain’t searching for tomorrow. 'Cause we got all we need today. Living on a feeling that’s been running through our veins.  We’re the revolution that’s been singing in the rain!”

“Don’t look down, 'cause we’re still rising up right now. And even if we hit the ground, we’ll still fly. Keep dreaming like we’ll live forever, but live it like it’s now or never! It’s now or never!”

He laughed, throwing his head back. “WHOO!” Breathing hard, he grabbed a small towel from a nearby chair, wiping his hands. “What’d you think, man? Enjoy the show?”

Title: Bad Day

Muse: Emala

Emala reread the letter again. Surely she’d read it wrong the last five times.

Emala -

I wish I was writing with better news. I know we promised to visit, but we’ve hit complications. Gold came back. This time the ship wasn’t left unscathed. We’re stranded in Tortuga while we wait for repairs.

I’m sorry that we’ll miss meeting your friends. Soon, my angelfish, I promise.

Emala shook her head, crumbling the letter into a ball and throwing it as hard as she could, putting her head in her hands. Stupid Gold. Stupid cannons. She wished she could just remember everything about that day, but she couldn’t. She sighed heavily, looking up abruptly at someone tapping her shoulder.

“What?!” she snapped.

Title: Teenage Dirtbag

Muse: Elizabeth

Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Try again,” she whispered to herself. She pulled her headphones back over her ears, shaking her arms and hands out before grabbing her drumsticks again, using the end of one to press play on her computer.

One and two and three and… The metronome ticking was drowned out by the sound of the song starting. Elizabeth nodded along, playing along with the music, quietly singing along and closing her eyes. “But she doesn’t know who I am, and she doesn’t give a damn about me. Cause I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby. Yeah, I’m just a teenage dirtbag, baby. Listen to Iron Maiden, baby, with me.”

The vampire opened her eyes, yelping loudly at the sight of another person in the otherwise empty band room. She quickly reached over and paused the music, pulling her headphones off. “Hi. Hi, sorry, I was just- I didn’t see you come in.” She cleared her throat, hiding behind her hair.