Healing Hearts

by KidatHeart5

The Arrival

Days after the canister was found, the entire castle was preparing for the arrival of Lady Evelyn and her daughters. The princes barely talked to each other after the incident the other day. Despite their discovery, they never uttered one word about it to their father. Some thought that Alpheus wouldn’t care about the canister, but Discord thought that the king would discard their mother’s precious gift in some way. To keep their father from finding out about the canister, the brothers agreed to solve the mystery of the decoder rings if each ring and letter was drawn on paper. Each brother got a copy and tried to solve the enigma that surrounded the canister. Alas, it proved to be too difficult for them.

No matter how tensed out they were about the container, they distracted themselves with the excitement of the visitors coming. They couldn’t wait to impress at least one of the girls when they came to the castle. Only a couple of the brothers weren’t interested in romancing Eve’s daughters. Some of the other brothers picked out who they wanted to woo. Negaduck and Aku wanted to charm the ladies, but they had to remind themselves to keep distant at the same time. They would not allow themselves to fall in love after what happened to Salene. Romance wasn’t worth the heartbreak, but if they were to have suitable wives, they had to play the flirt card.

On the day Lady Evelyn and her daughters were to arrive, Discord went out to the garden to air his excitement and anticipation. He giggled and squealed in ecstasy as he floated around the garden. Even though there were reminders of his mother everywhere, he was too keyed up about the arrival to care.

He then began to sing, “I wonder…I wonder…I wonder why each little bird has a someone…to sing to…sweet things to…A blithe little love melody…” He went to the gazebo on the far end of the garden as he sang, “I wonder…I wonder…If my heart keeps singing…will my song go winging…” He reached the railing of the gazebo and put his arms on it as he finished, “…to someone…who will find me…and bring back a love song to me?”

He gazed out to the bay and mainland affectionately from being distracted by such enchanting thoughts of being in love. Still, he worried if anyone would love a creature such as him. Despite this, though, he kept hope in his heart as he walked back to the castle with a wistful smile. In the foyer, something caught Discord’s eye. He was surprised to see Bill Cipher reading Romeo and Juliet by the fireplace!

He floated to his triangular brother and said in a patronizing tone and a snide look on his face, “Why, Billy, I didn’t know you read Shakespeare.”

Bill said, “I’m only doing it to brush up on the old wit and charm. Bet the ladies love this kind of stuff. How’s this?” He cleared his throat and recited, “’But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and…So-and-so is the sun.’”

Discord laughed while holding his stomach and kicking his legs in the air, “Is that the best you can do?”

Bill scowled, “Hey, it’s not easy reading Shakespeare, Jigsaw Puzzle!”

Suddenly, they heard a great shout. Footsteps echoed down the grand stairway and more screaming followed. Soon, they saw Zeb wearing only a towel, but to their surprise, he was blue! Bill Cipher and Discord snickered at seeing their brother like that.

Zeb leaned over the railing and shouted in anger, “Discord, you sabotaged me! Look!” He ran down the stairway and towards his brothers as he shouted, “Look what you’ve done to my fur! LOOK!”

Discord chuckled, “But it’s a great color on you.”

“It’s hideous! You replaced my fur conditioner with a bottle of blue dye!”

“Well, look on the bright side. You might be a better sight for the girls.”

“No! No! I do not want them to see me like this!” He then sighed, “I want them to see the me you guys have always seen.” He slumped down in a chair and put one paw on his head while his left arm drooped to the floor. “Now that Lady Evelyn and her girls are almost here, I don’t have time to wash this off.”

“Oh, come now. It’s just a quick fix.” With a snap of Discord’s fingers, Zeb’s dyed fur was back to its original purple color.

Zeb chuckled as he looked up to Discord, “Thank goodness for your chaotic powers. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t get anything done quickly around here.”

Discord then scoffed, “As if I’m a maid.” Maid attire then flashed on him before he continued, “I only help clean the rooms and deal with important emergencies.”

A page then poked his head in the room and said, “Excuse me, Your Highnesses. Lady Evelyn has just sent a message from Kuiper. She and her daughters will be arriving in less than an hour.”

Discord gulped, “And if there ever was an emergency, it’s now!”

In less than a second, the three brothers sped out of the foyer as fast as the wind.

---

Thankfully, all six princes got prepared in time to wait in the throne room for the arrival of Lady Evelyn and her daughters. Discord and Bill Cipher were practically bursting with excitement while Zeb managed to contain his anticipation with a confident pose. Aku and Negaduck were excited, but they kept a stone face to maintain their royal status. Tirek, however, expressed the very emotions he felt inside: apathetic. He did like reading the adventures Evelyn herself had recorded, but he saw no reason to get excited over her visit. After all, she had become another noble and nobles were to be treated with respect, not wild gushing and tiresome praise.

When a herald blew a fanfare, Discord squealed, “This is it! This is it!”

The herald then announced, “Your Majesties, I present to you Lady Evelyn and her six daughters!”

The doors were opened and there she was, their childhood hero. Evelyn looked exactly like she had in the illustrations of her books: her soft brown hair – now tied up in a French bun – her kind blue eyes, and her regal face to match the power she possessed – status and magic-wise. Her lean physique allowed her to be agile and super-fast when she was a traveling witch. Although she was semi-retired from the evil-busting-and-adventure business, she was quite a force to be reckoned with in extreme situations.

Negaduck, Bill Cipher, and Discord had theirs eyes and mouths wide open with awe as Eve came into the throne room. Aku and Zeb were also enthusiastic to see their hero in the flesh, but their smiles and eyes were less wide than three of their brothers’. Even Tirek’s eyebrows lifted from their normal furrowing position in wonder. The gaze of the princes then turned to the girls who followed their mother in the room. Needless to say, they were each a wonder to behold. The princes were also surprised to see that one of the girls had a deep red skin color in contrast to the light skin the rest of her sisters shared with their mother. For Discord, this sparked an interest in her because she was different from the other girls.

After she and her daughters lined up in front of the royal family, Evelyn bowed and said, “Your Majesties, my daughters and I are honored to be here today. From eldest to youngest, my girls will give their names.”

The daughter with deep red hair and eyes bowed first and said, “I am Garnet.”

The girl with the deep red skin also had violet eyes and blue hair with gray streaks. When she bowed, she said, “I am Teardrop.”

Discord thought it was a fitting name for her, given that her eyes were shaped like giant teardrops with the points angled towards her nostrils.

The next girl had blonde hair and blue eyes. She said when it was her turn, “I am Genesis.”

Bill Cipher whispered to his brothers, “She’s a keeper.”

Next was a girl with blue eyes behind glasses and shimmery blue hair in a rope braid. She bowed and said, “I am Juno.”

The girl after Juno had red hair slightly lighter than Garnet’s and yellow eyes also behind glasses. When she bowed, she said, “I am Sheba.”

Bill whispered again to his brothers, “That one’s a good choice, too.”

The last girl shared her mother’s brown hair and blue eyes, although her eyes were a bit lighter than Eve’s was. She bowed and said, “I am Eden.”

Alpheus then said, “Welcome to Venupil, ladies. I’m sure the Quincentennial Ball will go spectacularly with your help.” He faced his sons and said, “Why don’t you take Lady Evelyn’s daughters to their guest room while I go over the preparations with their mother?”

The princes bowed to their father and said in unison, “Certainly, Father.”

The brothers then escorted the young ladies out of the throne room while Evelyn stayed behind with Alpheus. As they were walking down the hall, the princes could tell that some of the girls looked apprehensive towards them.

Bill Cipher whispered to his brothers, “Hey, guys? Notice how three of them are looking at us funny?”

Zeb said, “I think it’s because of the way we look.”

Discord added, “Of the six of us, I don’t know who’s the best-looking one.”

Negaduck smirked, “It’s probably me.”

Aku rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, “Oh, sure, Mister I’m-Covered-With-Feathers-And-I-Wear-A-Mask. That’s bound to make you mysterious.”

Tirek joked, “Probably too mysterious for your own good.” The brothers – sans Negaduck – snickered at that.

Garnet crossed her arms and said, “You know, for princes, you don’t seem like the prim and proper types to me.”

Sheba added, “More like snarky and snippy.”

The girls giggled at that.

Aku smirked, “Oh? It seems to me that you girls aren’t so above it all, then.”

Genesis pointed out with a shrug, “Hey, we aren’t perfect.”

Discord said cheerfully, “Neither are we!”

Teardrop smiled, “It’s a good thing we found common ground after all. Otherwise, it would’ve been a long week for us.”

When they came up to a door at the end of the bedroom hallway, Tirek gestured, “This is where you’ll be staying for the week. Your mother will be sleeping in the Blue Room.”

Eden asked, “Are all the rooms in the castle named by color?”

Discord explained, “Just the bedrooms and guest rooms.” He pointed his thumb towards his bedroom as he said, “I got the White Room.”

Zeb said “Green Room.”

Negaduck said, “Red Room.”

Bill Cipher said, “Yellow Room.”

Aku said, “Black Room.”

Tirek said, “Gray Room.”

Discord added, “Dad sleeps in the Purple Room and there’s a Brown Room for other guests just in case.”

Juno asked, “Which room did we get?”

The draconequus grabbed the doorknob with his talon and chuckled, “You get…”

When he opened the door, the girls chuckled at the sight of an orange slice floor mural in the middle of the round room.

Teardrop smirked at him and said, “Let me guess, the Orange Room?”

Discord winked at her and said, “You got it.”

Bill Cipher explained, “You see, we thought that since the room was round and it was called the Orange Room, we decided to paint an orange slice on the floor as a way to be funny.”

Genesis remarked, “Well, I definitely think it’s funny.”

Teardrop agreed, “Me, too.”

Sheba raised her hand, “So do I.”

Garnet then gave a sly smile and grabbed her sisters as she said, “Girls, I have an idea.” As she escorted her sisters inside the guest room, she turned to the princes and said, “We humbly thank you for welcoming us into your home and this room in particular. We will see you all at dinner.”

After the door was closed, Discord said playfully, “Uh-oh. The sisters are plotting.”

Zeb chuckled, “Yeah. Reminds me of the times we used to pull pranks on the servants and even our parents.”

He, Discord, and Bill Cipher chuckled at that, but the other brothers stood in silence until Tirek began to walk away, saying, “Let’s just prepare for dinner.”

This made Discord sad that three of his brothers didn’t want to revive the good times they once had. All he wanted was for him and his brothers to be close again, just as the sisters were.

---

The dining hall was decorated lavishly to impress Lady Evelyn and her daughters. Eve and Alpheus set up a new arrangement for the princes and ladies to sit. From the head of the table to the end on the king’s left side, there was Garnet, Zeb, Juno, Discord, Teardrop, and Tirek. On the other side, there was Bill Cipher, Aku, Negaduck, Eden, Sheba, and Genesis.

Evelyn then came into the hall after everyone else was seated and said, “Well, I guess I’m the last one to sit down.” When she sat down in the chair at the end of the table, this elicited uneasy glances from the princes and Alpheus in particular. Eve asked in concern, “What’s wrong?”

Alpheus stammered in awkwardness, “Oh, um…It’s just that my wife used to sit in that chair. I didn’t plan for it to affect me this way. Forgive me.”

Eve said in understanding, “I get it. You’re just not used to someone else sitting in this chair.”

“I’m sure we can figure something out for future meals. But for tonight, this is the arrangement.”

While everyone was eating the meal, Eve pointed out, “We’ve got so much to do tomorrow if we want the ball to be an absolute sensation. There’s decorations, the catering, the invitations. Oh! And don’t forget practice for singing and dancing.”

Zeb spat out his drink, “Singing?!”

Negaduck coughed, “Dancing?!”

Bill Cipher said, “We haven’t done that since…you know…”

Juno pointed out, “It’s a tradition in Jijasuma for the hosts themselves to entertain the guests.”

Tirek said, “Unfortunately, I feel the need to bow out of the tradition.”

Discord scowled, “Oh, come now. We should at least honor Mom’s memory in some way.”

Negaduck shouted, slamming both palms against the table, “Well, Salene isn’t here right now!”

This upset Discord greatly. Without another word, he disappeared in a flash.

Alpheus muttered, “Oh, dear…”

---

Discord sulked as he lied on his bed. He never understood why Negaduck insisted on calling their mother “Salene”. It was like the queen was never their mother to begin with.

Knock-knock-knock!

A voice said from the other side of the door, “Discord? It’s me, Lady Evelyn. May I come in?”

Discord’s ears perked up and immediately, his upper body shot upwards into a sitting position. He turned to the door with a smile on his face, replacing the frown that had been there moments before. “Oh-oh, Lady Evelyn! Come in!”

When Eve entered the room, she could see he was trying to contain his excitement by putting his closed-up hands on either side of his chin and practically squealing with joy. After she closed the door behind her, she chuckled, “I take it you’re the prince who sent me 25 fan letters, four of which I answered because they were the only ones that had questions in them?”

Discord said, “Right in the ballpark.”

“Then you’re definitely one of my mega-fans.”

“My brothers and I absolutely love your stories. The action, the beauty, the gravitas. You have put so much passion into your books, Eve.” When he caught himself, he covered his mouth and exclaimed, “Oops! Should I call you ‘Eve’?”

“It’s fine. You can call me ‘Eve’ or ‘Evelyn’. Just don’t call me anything derogatory. That’s reserved for my foes.”

They both chuckled at that.

Eve then asked tentatively, “By the way, why does Negaduck call your mom ‘Salene’?”

Discord sighed agitatedly, “He would rather just forget that Mom was even our mom in the first place.” He then added sadly, “A lot of my brothers want to forget Mom. I’m just trying to keep her memory alive, but no matter what I do, they always push me and anything involving Mom away.”

Eve suggested, “Well, maybe they’re still hurting from her death. Another way to look at it is that they’re all adopted like you, so maybe some of them remember their original families before they came to Venupil. They could’ve lost them before and Salene – I mean, your mom’s death reopened those wounds in their hearts.”

This made Discord consider what she said. If Eve was right, then maybe everyone was still hurting from the queen’s death. The only thing he could do was at least try to bring them closer so they could heal. After all, it helped him, Zeb, and Bill Cipher. The rest of the brothers and their father shut everyone else out after Salene died, so maybe talking and bonding could help them as well.

Author's Note:

The song Discord sings in the beginning of the chapter is “I Wonder” from Sleeping Beauty.