Sometime between when Snow and Peter arrived the Pied Piper had slipped into the town hall with his living doll, Odisa. The pair were silent and took a seat roughly in the middle of the room on the side that Rumpelstiltskin had sat on. All the tension in the room amused the piper. If the mayor kept them waiting much longer he wondered who would start fighting first Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel or Snow and Aka. His bet was on Rumpelstiltskin and Rapunzel.

His attention didn’t stay anywhere for too long. Really he’d just rather this meeting would be over and done with soon. After all he had preparations to make. The full moon would be soon and he would need to find a young maiden whom he could harvest their soul so that his dear Odisa could continue to live. His thoughts shifted a bit when he glanced at Gretel. The girl was the youngest here and surely her soul wouldn’t be too tainted. Normally he wouldn’t consider attempting to take the life of resident of Never After. It was much more convenient to travel to a random village and offer his services as a piper instead to get what he needed. This time was different since he had to stay for this stupid town meeting. Gretel would be a good alternative, but he would also have to deal with that twin brother of hers to get what he wanted. No, no, no he needed to focus and stop thinking of such foolish things.

----------------------

Jack gave Red a small smile. Red was one of the few that didn’t seem to think it was so weird for him to have a chicken that followed him around. Truthfully the youth had a crush on Red, but he’d never admit it because even if he did he doubted anyone would take him seriously. Most of the other town’s people considered him to be the town fool of sorts. Even with all that happened most of them won’t let him live down the fact that he traded his family’s cow for magic beans. The very thought of the taunting angered him, but he kept calm.

The place seemed to be filling up rather quickly, but there was still no sight of the mayor. He shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. What was taking the mayor so long? The chicken in the seat beside him was no longer making noise, instead its attention turned to the wolf that had entered. Anyone could guess what was going through the little hen’s mind as it stared at the predator.

Rumpelstiltskin:

'This is taking too long. Where's that mayor? I've got things to do.' Russ complained in his head. He hadn't minded Alice sitting near him, he rather enjoyed her random outbursts often wondering what she had actually been thinking. He didn't like-like her, but he thought she was interesting. Russ wasn't one for romance at all, and God forbid he ever got married one day. His luck, one day he'd end up with a Rochelle clone. That thought made him shudder rather noticeably. His icy eyes noticed some little stones on the floor, probably brought in from the last meeting, and he picked them up with a devilish smirk. The stones rolled around in his hand before he started flicking them towards Rochelle, aiming for her precious head.

---

Rapunzel:

Peter's music had temporarily distracted Rochelle from her thoughts. She enjoyed his music a great deal. She never talked to him, or really anyone for that matter, but she enjoyed his music. When he stopped playing, she mentally applauded before returning to her thoughts. She didn't look at anyone, just kept her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her. That was until someone decided to act up. Without moving her attention, Rochelle's hair undid itself from the braid and slithered across the floor to wrap itself around Russ' seat and yank the seat from under him. She made extra sure to make his face hit the seat in front of him before he hit the ground. He wouldn't be majorly hurt, just embarrassed. Hastily Rochelle's hair rearranged back into the braid. A slight smirk crossed her lips as Russ sat stunned on the floor, holding his nose.

Reta skipped along with her brother on the way to the town hall. Unlike most of the others they sat near the front to get a good view of the Mayor. Of course she regretted not thinking of some kind of prank to pull here at the meeting, but she hoped that someone else had thought of it. She giggled lightly to herself. She was always happiest while she was with her dear brother.

The young girl leaned close to Les. “Do you think someone will get a good prank in on the Mayor today,” she whispered in his ear. Her pale eyes had a slight mischievous gleam to them. Since they were in public Reta had put on her sweet and innocent act, for the most part. She made sure to sit in her seat like a lady, keeping good posture even while she whispered things to her brother. This act was something she always fell into when around other people when she wasn’t being a trouble maker.

Reta shifted in her seat, it was like she could feel eyes on her. It made her uncomfortable which caused her to scoot a little closer to her brother. The feeling she got caused a shiver to go down her spine. The mischievousness she had been expressing before was now gone and replaced with being more alert. Her guard was up and was signified by placing her left hand close to where she always kept her set of daggers hidden.

Aurora fluffed her hair as she sang to the animals around her, her voice echoing around the woods that were near the entrance of Never After. Oh, how she loved to sing! She was blessed with beauty, music, and the gift of not dying! However, she was cursed with the color pink being associated with her. How... boring! Feeling as if she were about to rip her hair out, the female let out a loud sigh, remembering the town hall meeting. As she kissed the small bird perched on her finger, she let it fly and made her way to the entrace of the old, hollowed out town hall willow tree.

Aurora opened the entrance door and blissfully hummed a small tune of hers as she did so, making everyone aware of her presence. After all, who didn't like looking at her face and hearing her lovely voice? It was as lovely as Snow White's! The perfectly curled blonde saw everyone as expected, but did happen to catch the scene of Rapunzel and Russ. She let out a small snicker and sat herself next to Rapunzel, touching her hair, "Oh, Rapunzel! Didn't I tell you?" she began, her red lips pursed, "If you're going to hurt poor Russ, might as well take out a couple of teeth!" She smirked and crossed her arms and her legs as well, humming a small tune to herself, satisfied with the advise she had given the younger girl who was such a beauty herself! Quite the talkative thing, Aurora was.

Aurora felt a soft spot for Rapunzel, but her narcissistic ways made it impossible to care for her entirely! It was all about her, her, her! The blonde cleared her throat before leaning against the chairs in front of her, resting her head in her arms, "Hello there Snow White, Rose Red, Wolf," she greeted, nodding towards Cheshire and then beast, "Hello Beast, Peter, Piper, Hansel and Gretel!" She greeted them as well. The woman sat happily, staring at all the charming men and women in the room, "Hello Red, Hello Alice!" She waved from the other side of the room towards the other two. Finally, Aurora left the best for last, her gaze scanning over the man with the chicken, "Hello there, Jack, how've you been?" She cooed, then looked at the hen next to him, waving at Henrietta with a small smile. Oh, the strange and unusual did fascinate her so!

----------------------

Peter, who had been silent the complete time, had finally sat up plucking his guitar strings a few times before looking over the now almost filled hall. He let a smirk place on his lips, a little fangy smirk at that. How wonderful, having everyone together. There was Wolf, Cheshire, Ariel, Jack, Pied Piper... Mentally, Peter noted them in his head as someone's certain hair slinked its way over to Russ' chair. What? Peter thought, floating in the air in a position that made him look like he was lying down on his stomach, his guitar strapped to his back, his ankles crossed and his hands propping up his head, staring interested at the long, lovely hair wrap around a chair and Russ' face going splat on the chair in front of him.

With that, Peter let out a loud, echoing laugh with pointing included, "Oh god! Oh god! Did you guys see that?!" He asked everyone in an excited tone, the once depressed man snapped out of it in a second of that prank, floating a bit lower and closer to everyone, his legs crossed Indian style now, still floating. That was great, "You really got man handled there, Russ!" He joked with a toothy grin, stifling his laughter the best he could. When he thought about it, he found everyone a bit attractive here. A little bi-curious maybe, but none the less, still a child at heart. His dark eyes made his way towards Beast and his smile dropped, giving a sort of grossed out look before turning back to watch what Russ' response to that.

Peter was completely oblivious to everyone's feelings about each other and thought it was all a game, wanting to play follow the leader all over again just like his days in Neverland. Oh, how he wished he could go back to those days... but the children.. they grew up, and Peter... well, he didn't like grown ups.. The red, all the red... Peter snapped out of his small schizophrenic flashback and smiled happily, watching as Aurora made her way in and sat near Rapunzel. Her voice was heavenly and made Peter's heart flutter, nonetheless, she was too old at heart and Peter hated that about Aurora, but waved at her anyway from her greeting. That little prank on Russ was inspiration for Peter to play on the Mayor, splendid! Peter gazed upon Rapunzel, interested, then lost his thought process, gliding over towards Hansel and Gretel, as he did he playfully pulled off Red's hood and rustled Alice's hair before finally making his way towards the two kids, "Hey kids!" he said with a smile, floating over their heads, "What new tricks have you got for me today?"

:Aka:

Aka stared at the ground as her dark emotions filled her. It was like a black cloud was hanging over her. She could even feel the advancing storm. That would mean that this was the calm. The thought almost made her laugh. Everyone in this room was hardly calm. If one person got mad there might even be a fight to the death. It would be complete insanity.

Only when Cheshire appeared did Aka escape her thoughts. She had barely noticed anything else. That was what was the gap between Aka and Snow. Snow noticed everyone but Aka was slow paced and could only focus on one thing. She decided to focus on Cheshire for the moment. With him in the middle she finally relaxed. She hated being so close to her sister. Every moment was enough to make Aka go as mad as Hatter. Aka wanted to thank the teleporting cat somehow. Maybe later once she could get away from Snow. But then again that would be a challenge. Even though Snow was older than Aka was she tended to seem like the younger one, always clinging to Aka. It felt wrong to know that Aka was honestly three years and two months younger than Snow.

:Les:

Les looked at his sister as they sat and chatted. Whenever they were together they perfectly matched eachother. Not just in looks, but actions as well as feelings. He nodded happily, not surprised that she spoke exactly what he had been thinking. He whispered back to her as he smirked mischievously. "I hope so too. I want to to his face red with rage! How fun that would be? We could call him apple head or a carp fish. Carp fish are ugly and he simply hates that!"

Les was only excited for a few moments. He noticed his dear sister tensing up. He could feel some man staring at her and it made him mad. How dare a man look at his Reta. How dare they make her fun end so shortly. Les held his sister protectively as he looked back at the people behind him. He spotted Pipper and his icey blue eyes glared at him. Les wouldn't hesitate to kill a married man who dared look at Reta AND dared to be a two timer. It disgusted Les that a guy could be so quick to betray his lover. When Peter spoke up he tore his glare over to the flying child. His expression changed from that of a killer to one of a normal young boy.

Les grinned evily now. A part of him liked Peter. Of course not as much as Reta, but he still enjoyed the male he considered to be a childhood friend. He was the only one Les would allow to get close for the time. He felt a mutual dislike for grown ups. Not fun in the least. "You will have to wait and see."

Red flushed slightly as Jack smiled back as her. She didn't know what it was, but something about him.. and Henrietta of course, made her smile. Yes, Henrietta definitely made Red giggle. The way she always responded to Jack as if she were really speaking. It made her wonder if Henrietta really was aware of everything happening around her. And that whole thing about animals having almost a sixth sense for emotions. Oh, Red would love to be able to talk to her!

Suddenly, Red's thoughts were interrupted by Aurora and her insincere greeting to her. Red rolled her eyes. The only reason Aurora had even bothered noticing her was because she hated her. Red had no idea why, but Aurora definitely didn't like her. Though, it didn't bother Red much. She didn't care much for Aurora either. She emanated ignorance and narcissism. It stunk up the place, filling Red's lungs. She wanted to gag. There were far too much feminine hormones bounding around the room at once.

"Oh, wolf." It was merely a whisper but she knew he had heard her. Despite what their fairytale portrayed them as, Red truly liked him. He was a great friend and he had the same love of the dark and the forest as she did. Not only that, but they both loved to hunt.

Red's hood had been pulled off by Peter, "Oh." She growled at him in a low tone, then stopped herself. She couldn't let her darker side get the best of all. After all, she knew Peter was only playing. At times, it was sort of charming and amusing.

Oh how Aurora angered Red. She knew that Aurora hated her but going after Jack and Henrietta? That was low. Red wasn't exactly sure of what she felt for Jack, or any other male here in Never After, but Red did know that whomever she showed interest in Aurora was sure to steal them away. She thought everything belonged to her and everyone loved her. As if the town wouldn't be able to function without her sheer beauty for everyone to stare at. Red flung her dagger at the wall again, wishing it was the naive, narcissistic princess.

Snow would let out a soft sigh before turning her attention from away from her sister. Why did she hate her so much? Her eyes would look up when more people filled the town hall and she would smile when she sees her close friends, Rochelle, Ariel and Aurora join as well. She would give them a soft wave before her eyes also fell onto Peter. Him and his guitar surely did take her mind off of things for a moment. Chesh and the Piper were there as well and she lets out a soft giggle when Chesh pops up infront of the Beast's face. Her eyes would meet with the Beasts for a moment before the turned looking at Russ as he made a fuss about the Mayor being. But he had a point, where ist he Mayor? Mostly everyone was here, we were just missing him.

Alice was snapped out of her thoughts about cake.. or was it flowers? No, it was watches. Oh, Alice liked watches. Especially the kind that you could watch the gears. They were shiny and moved.

Flowers were pretty. Not as pretty as bunnies tho- wait. Hadn't someone called her name? Oh yeah! Aurora.

Alice sort of liked Aurora. Or did she hate her? Alice couldn't remember witch. Aurora wore pink. Alice didn't like pink but she supposed that it suited Aurora. She was rather ditzy and girly. Oh! Now Alice remembered! She like Aurora, but she couldn't stand pink.

"Stink.. wink.. PLINK!" That all rhymed! Rhymed.. what rhymed with rhymed? Chimed? Oh! Alice clapped, rhyming was fun. "Sun.. Oh! That's rather hot, isn't it?"

By the time Alice remembered to wave back at Aurora Russ was toppling over. Alice sort of liked Russ. She felt like he understood her. But Alice didn't like Rapunzel. She was mean.

"Split ends, Rapunzel?" Alice giggled, making people angry was fun. She got to watch them get all whirled up.

Alice gasped as her hair was ruffled, "Peter!" She liked Peter. Alice knew that for sure. HE was nice, and fun, and sort of cute.

"Meter.. " She was lost again.

Wait! Alice really wanted to be able to stay on track. At least when it came to Peter. Alice realized she liked him. Quite a bit. But she would never admit it.

Where was Hatter? Alice liked him too. He was fun. And he always brought Alice tea!

"Chesh is a mess!" She called out as the fact that Chesh was now in the room was brought to her attention. He wasn't exactly nice, but he was fun to be around. He slinked around all day and lazed about. Just like any cat.

Wait, was Chesh sitting next to Beast? Alice really liked Beast! "Rawr!" It wasn't a meant to be mocking but it probably came out that way. Alice didn't noticed though. It was the only thing she could muster to let him know that she acknowledged his presence. Then almost instantly she was pulled back into her mind.

"Hmm.." Her fingers looked strange. Why did they call then that? "Fin.." Finished? "Gers" Alice giggled. She had no idea that the "gers" pert was for!

Hatter smiled to himself, blue eyes had been following after everyone as the walked into the town hall, the funny thing was that not a single one of them had noticed that he was there watching from the shadows of the trees. He had made sure that he was going to be the last one to enter the place even though Lucifer was going to be last, he had a feeling that it was going to end up that way. He chuckled to himself as he waited for everyone to get settled in before he slipped inside, sneaking up on Alice. He picked up some of the female's hair, kissing the end of it before he made the way over to the spot that the mayor was going to be at, taking his seat, kicking one leg up as he procured tea and tea cups from his pockets. "It is a very terrible day don't you think? With all that rain outside.....even you poor dead souls are still lingering about." he said to them as if he was mourning the lost of them, sure most would have taken what he had done to Alice as a sign that she was his but it was the greeting he had always giving her since the moment she had crossed into his story for a brief moment or two. "Oh dear. It seems as if you poor dears are cheerful for once." he said as he frowned, in fact they did not seem happy, and it was actually a nice day with the sun out and everything, though he had said that it was bad and that they were all dead, just showed how mad he was though not as mad as Alice.

Beast sat back watching everyone show up, he nodded at each as they entered, even if he disliked some of them, especially peter there was no reason for him to not be civil towards them he thought. His mind though was racing, the actual beast was screaming at him, 'They all hate you! You are nothing to them, but a bomb that they know WILL go off!' the Beast chimed in his head making Beasts eyebrows furrow under the shadow of his cloak. 'Shut it! you Cretin' Beast thought back as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The constant struggle in his head made him lose track of what was happening in the town hall until he snapped back looking at everyone again. He scanned the room and noticed that people had moved around making him wonder what he had missed, though he was sure if it pertain anything to him he would be addressed again. He thought about people in the room and his past interactions with them, some had been favorable and others like peter were ones that could never heal and put them at odds.

Right before Ariel got into the forest, she happened to glance down at her shimmering dress. Hmmm this won't do at all.Pausing she closed her eyes for a moment and then snapped her fingers. Instantly, her dress changed from the blue it had been to a vibrant green that went beautifully with her flaming red hair and made her sea green eyes stand out even more than they already did. Much better.

She continued on into the woods, finally coming up on the town. It wasn't that bad of a place but she just couldn't stand being crowded like that. How could those people stand to be so close to each other? She preferred the open space of the lake although it would be nice if she had someone to share it with. Shaking her head and ridding it of her thoughts she finally made her entrance into the town hall. From the corner of her eye she noticed Hatter drop in behind her. Right before he passed her to get to Alice she said softly, "Always have to be the last one in, don't you Hatter?" Smirking she looked around. Everybody seemed to have already found themselves a seat. There were still a few left in the middle and she went and sat down right next to Russ, not caring if he minded or not.

Chesh shot his trademark grin over at Beast. "Well of course I will! We always seem to have a very interesting time when I happen to come over. Maybe next time I'll bring us a vistor. He very much enjoyed hanging out with Beast in his drafty castle. It was one of the rare places he could actually relax. Now if he could just get the guy to lighten up a bit so they could have some real fun.

He had noticed that rose had seemed to relax a bit when he had sat down. He was very intrigued by her and was well aware, as was everyone else, just how much she hated her sister. It was something he just couldn't help but help along sometimes. He leaned over Snow's lap, just enough to be in the way. "By the way Rose, if you ever feel the need to just get away let me know. I know a few places to go and things to see that I think would interest you." He almost purred out the last word before straightening up and watching the rest of the room, keeping his eye on Rose discreetly.

His eyes lit up as he saw Hatter enter the room right after Ariel. Now there was someone he could always count on to have some fun with. He seemed to always have some of the strangest thoughts, but that was what was so intriguing about him.

Shin had heard Red and turned his head in her direction with a great big wolfy grin. It had been quite a while since they had went hunting together. He would have to make it a point to talk to her after this foolish meeting was over. Quite abruptly, he shifted into his human form for a minute and made a strange symbol with his hands. It was something they had come up with to let the other know they wanted to talk away from everyone else without anyone being the wiser. He didn't bother looking to see if she had seen and instantly shifted back into his massive wolf form.

It looked as though everyone was here. Where was that blasted Lucifer? Leave it to him to keep them all waiting forever. Shin sniffed at the air, hoping he would be able to scent the man coming.

:Aka:

For a few moments Aka found herself warming up to Cheshire. He was really the only one who seemed to really see her. In a way she liked him even more than Beast. While the wild man would never looked at her with any interest, but Cheshire seemed to like her. Aka showed a rare smile to Cheshire as she heart rate seemed to speed up. Maybe Cheshire had even won her over more than the rest of the guys. Aka would never admit it but she had loved cats and hated dogs since she was a child.

She tore her face from Cheshire as she realized that she was blushing. Geez, she was usually better at hiding such things. But the thought of being with Cheshire had caused her heart to panick and her face to show it. Feeling slightly awkward Aka found herself staring at the floor. When she spoke she sounded awfully shy and her voice was naturally soft since Aka couldn't speak very well. Whenever she talked it made her seem weak and everyone called her cute. She ended up getting embarrassed and decided to only speak when she had to. "I would like that, Cheshire." She could feel herself blushing more as she spoke his name.

Chesh's tail had been swishing back and forth as he looked around the room and had twice almost whacked Beast and Snow in the arm or leg. He was well aware of where it was swinging and was careful not to actually hit anyone. At least not yet. He had the entertaining thought of letting it hit Snow in the back of the head, only to see if it would make Rose laugh but he decided not to do it quite yet.

His ear twitched slightly as he heard Rose's response. Turning his head, he couldn't help himself but grin as he saw just how red her cheeks had become. It seemed that he had flustered her and humor shone out through his eyes. "Please feel free to call me Chesh, or actually in your case, call me anything you like." She was adorable when she blushed but he had enough sense not to say anything about it, no matter how cute it was. "Perhaps,if you would like, we can talk more about getting away after the meeting?" He had the sudden urge to run his fingers through her pretty hair and wondered if she would mind if he actually did it.

:Aka:

Aka slowly began to look at Cheshire as she stopped blushing for the most part. Aka took off her very light pink top hat and her rose red hair fell out of place. Usually Aka liked to make her hair much shorter by using her top hat but at times she liked it better when it was all the way down to her hips. "I want to call you by a name you like so Cesh will do." She set her top hat back on her head as she looked at Cheshire, finally feeling happy. "Like I said, I would love to go somewhere with you."

She thought about possible places they could go. They could journey to lots of places in Never After. Some of them were really nice in her mind. She tried to think of a place they would both enjoy themselves. Then the perfect place came to her mind. "How about the forest? We could get really far away if we walked down the forest's path."

The room was darkened by drawn curtains with only the light of a single candle flickering against the richly furnished surroundings. Bookcases filled with many novels ranging from Minor Arcana to Pornography lined the walls. Heavy and darkly colored drapes spilled over a dark Mahogany bed-frame of ornate design. The room itself spoke of pompous posh personage safely hidden within the drapes.

The dark solitude was interrupted by a soft knocking on heavy wood door. The two servants meekly entered the room knowing they had awakened the prince late. The brother and sister held hands, afraid of whatever twisted punishment the prince would come up for them. Taking a moment to brace themselves, they went about their "morning" duties. Ritually drawing back the curtains and snuffing out the candle they started pulling out his clothes for the day.

He smiled softly not moving out of bed. He had awoken earlier and already dressed himself. He had been merely waiting on the pair of the fraternal twins to issue their punishment for being late. Sitting in his bed with his arms crossed in anticipation for them to draw back the drapes of his bed. As the drapes opened he shot both of them the evil eye under his raised eye brow followed by a twisted grin.

"And just where have my naughty little kittens been?" Guiltily they both bowed their heads and begged for forgiveness.

"Well, Tweedle Deedee and Tweedle Dum you have both caused me to be late for my little meeting." Still unsure of their punishment as his cold as steel eyes stared them down. He noticed the nervous DeeDee playing with the fabric of her apron. "[I]Heh[./I]" He laughed to himself. "As you wish DeeDee. What a marvelous mind you have." confused the twins glanced at each other. "You and your brother may change clothes and accompany me to them meeting. All shall see your failure as evident by your foolish attire. Hurry now and change yourselves you've already both made me in-excusably late."

The Prince got up noticing Tweedle Dum holding back his anger. Smiling he walked toward him and whispered in his ear. "Now now we both know how badly you and your dear sister need this job. Don't do anything stupid again. Or it's your poor old uncle that will pay the price."

~

The twins changed as quickly as possible and sent for the "Wheels of fortune" the prices name for his chariot. Stepping onto the back Lucifer motioned for the twins to join him. DeeDee in her taller brother's baggy Butler uniform and Dum in a WAY to short maids uniform. He held back tears of embarrassment to not give price the satisfaction. However the sad look and the empathy DeeDee felt for her brother was enough for Prince. With a smile he cracked the whip and the horses took stride.

"Honestly," He laughed at the twins, "I would have arrived fashionably late anyway."

"Oh! Hatter!" Alice beamed as he took his seat. "Why do fingers have such a name? What does it mean anyway?" She loved that she could talk to Hatter about anything and he'd be able to follow along as if he were inside her head. Well.. more or less.

Even though the day was a beautiful day to most, Alice agreed with Hatter. "Perfectly dreadful." She smiled up at him as she swiped a cup of his tea when he wasn't looking.

Alice sat back in her seat lazily as she sipped the tea. "Twinkle twinkle little BAT how I wonder where you're AT up above the would you FLY like a tea tray in the SKY!" She giggled as she yelled the words that rhymed. When she had finished reciting the short rhyme, Alice had found that her cup was now empty. "Who drank my tea!?" She yelled. Alice was infuriated. She rarely got angry but when she did it was already too late to calm her down. It was almost guaranteed that she would do something terrible.

Without thinking twice, Alice swiped another cup from Hatter, this one empty as well, and chucked one at Aurora and one at Rapunzel. "Filthy princesses! Think the world belongs to you!" As soon as the words left her lips, Alice had forgotten the hole indecent.

She stood and walked over to where Beast, Snow, Aka, and Chesh were sitting. "BEAST!" Alice grinned down at him. "Why put yourself in a position where you have to be near these two?" She pointed to Snow and Aka. It wasn't that Alice disliked either, but now Alice had gotten herself riled up and it was highly unlikely that she'd be able to bring herself back down without some sort of assistance.



Red smiled as she noticed Shin change into his human form and send her their signal over the sea of people, letting her know that they would speak in private as soon as this pointless meeting concluded. "Come, puppy. Sit with me." Red whispered as she drummed her fingernails on the seat next to her. She flicked her hood back up so her eyes were encompassed in a shadow.

Once again prying her dagger from the wall, Red smiled. Due to her constant aggression, that one part of the wood wall now had a visible hole.

A crashing ripped Red out of her now mechanical thoughts. Alice had thrown a cup at Rapunzel and Aurora. Red laughed, served them right! She didn't necessarily care for Alice, but she certainly made things interesting. And in instances such as this, Red was thankful that Alice had somehow gotten her hands onto and object that could be used as a weapon.

Red's eyes lit up with crooked glee. She wondered what might happen if Alice was given a dagger or two? Maybe Red would make sure that happened..

Beast was listening to Cheshire and rolled his eyes shaking his head slightly before he turned his head to look at Snow, Aka, and Chesh. He cleared his throat slightly before his large hand reached out and grabbed the scruff of Chesh's neck, pulling him back into his seat, "Chesh.. now its not nice to push your craziness on others." he said slight annoyance in his voice. He always enjoyed Chesh's company, but sometimes Chesh came across pushy to him and in a way he got slightly jealous over how easily he talked to the women in never after. He sat Chesh down holding the back of his neck for a moment longer till he was sure he was sitting down, then he let go and looked at the swishing tail, "Watch the tail.. or ill start pinning it to other donkeys." he said jokingly as he eyed it until the out burst from Alice made him look forward.

He watched her throw the cup and raised an eyebrow before he noticed her walking towards him, he opened his mouth softly about to speak when Alice yelled at him, taking him back for moment. Beast smiled and laughed softly, his voice echoing slightly, it was calm and reassuring as it floated from his mouth. He looked over to the others sitting next to him and then back at Alice, "Why, i did not choose who sat next to me.. i was here almost first, my dear Alice." Beast spoke in a slightly regal tone, he spoke more often in royal tones, more out of his upbringing then everything that happened after he changed. He knew things were tense in the building, and Alice was having an outburst which could and had set things off in the past so he had to get her to calm down quickly. Beast reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing his black hair with silver highlights that fell just to his shoulders, slightly rugged, but still regal in design. He smiled slightly reaching out and grabbing Alice by the waist hoisting her up and bringing her to sit on his leg, "There.. now you can sit here and ill be sitting closer to you then them.. happy?" he said smiling, a rare real smiled coming across his face as he chuckled. He squeezing Alice lightly, he liked her outbursts and she to him was in the same category of friendship as Chesh, he enjoyed their company and Alice was always fun to be with.

:Aka:

Aka looked at Alice as she threw at fit. Really, if she wanted to be near Beast she could just do it. Aka didn't care if the girl took a spot. She liked Alice because she had such a vast mind set. The girl could think outside of what was going on. Aka found it to be quite creative. Though she was a bit jealous of how easily Cheshire and Alice could make friends.

As soon as Cheshire was tooken away Aka could feel herself getting nervous. A shadow cast over her face as she became uneasy. No... She didn't want Cheshire to leave her alone. Aka didn't want to be near Snow anymore. The panick rose within her until she stood up, causing her chair to fall. She felt sick to her stomach now. She had to get away. Without picking up the chair Aka began to dash towards the doors only to be stopped by the enterance of the ugly mayor.

The girl seemed to freeze in place as she sensed something awful. She could feel herself getting madder at she thought her dark thoughts. Aka stoo right where she was and didn't plan to move. Even though she was about to faint she stood right in the mayor's way. How she hated the mayor. Aka changed from panicked to more of a dark killer. She wouldn't move out of the way for such a pathetic leader. She glared at the door and waited for the mayor with all the hate she could muster. "Ugly catfish is coming." This time Aka spoke bitterly so she sounded more of her own age.

A hint of sanity washed over Alice right before she was picked up by the Beast. She blushed slightly and bit her bottom lip to keep from giggling. For some reason Beast made her feel dizzy. She couldn't explain why. Then again, she couldn't explain why she did many things.

Though Alice was just five years below Beast she tended to act much younger. Alice doubted the Beast would ever see her as anything more than a friend. A friend that he considered much younger than himself. "Nineteen, five, and twenty-four." She said like a stanza from a poem, elegance dripping from every word.

Alice frowned, realizing she would soon slip away again. No! You can do this.. They like you better when you're sane.. Prove to them all that you can be more than a babbling idiot! Frantically, Alice searched for a way to show everyone that she could be sane. "Th-the... Hollllllo-HOLLOW!"

That was it. She couldn't say anything more before insanity once again took her in it's grasp, pulling her under.

Alice looked up and into the Beast's eyes. By now she was too far gone to tell him anything acknowledgable. She giggled as she saw Chesh's tale swish to and fro. "Mine!" Alice lunged forward, still on Beast's leg, in an attempt to catch Chesh's tale.

Peter grinned at Les and Gretel. Both were so cute yet tricky in their own way. To him, they were like his brother and sister, or their kids! The man felt a toothy grin plaster upon his face about to speak once more. That was before he heard a cup being thrown, a screech, and Alice shouting her own insanity. Now, Alice was a sweet girl, but at times Peter felt bad for the way people treated Rapunzel and Aurora. He had talked to them briefly and they seemed fine before,"Don't get into too much trouble, kids," he spoke with a laugh and ruffled their hair before floating off towards the two princesses, "You girls look like you need a song to cheer you up," he spoke with still his famous, charming grin on his face as his eyes scanned both of the girl's faces. Peter unlatched the guitar from his back and began to play another tune just for fun as morose as his other ones making it opposite from cheering them up, his eyes still focusing on Aurora and Rapunzel, but at the same time glancing over at Alice and Beast a few times as his music filled the town hall room.

Fucking. Beast. Peter thought with a sigh. It wasn't like he hated Beast, but he hated the guy. Before his eyes shifted to Jack and Henrietta, Peter thought for a second, "Hey Henrietta, sing for us!" He said with a big laugh, floating over the heads of everyone as he continued to play. Poor Jack only knew he was joking. Peter loved to hear Henrietta cluck away to the music. It was a nice touch. The boy finished his song and placed it in Rapunzel's lap, "Hold this for me really quick," he insisted, knowing Rapunzel probably didn't play music. Peter never really talked to her, but she was all so funny in making Russ' life a living hell. He chuckled to himself absent mindedly before flying off to stand in front of beast and Alice, "Hellooo Alice." Peter cooed, ignoring Beast's presence altogether. He couldn't stand that tight wad, "Wanna.. play a game?" He asked her, knowing the answer would probably be yes.

His smile grew wider as he simply took Alice from Beast's lap, scooped her up and placed Alice on his shoulders to carry her around, "See ya, Beastie." He teased with malice as he floated up in the air once again, carrying Alice on his shoulders. He made sure to hold her legs so she wouldn't accidentally fall off, but all the same he flew around the room a few times as fast as she wanted him to then, with Alice on his shoulders, winked at Rapunzel and took back his guitar, "Thanks girls," he stated with a laugh once again, his feet touching the ground to let Alice off his shoulders if she liked, "Alice, you want to stay or be put down?" He asked simply, looking up at her, his dark eyes staring into hers.

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Aurora was busy looking at her freshly painted red nails since that was all she could do to herself without looking completely different. The princess lusted for blood, death, to torture someone. She was on edge and the dwarfs were beginning not to be enough for her royal self. As her eyes scanned the room, she uncrossed her legs then crossed them back again as she looked at Jack and Henrietta. As she was about to speak, she screeched from a cup hitting her in the side of the face. How dare Alice the little psychotic bitch do that to her! Aurora rubbed her cheek and stomped on the cup still it was nothing more than the dust of dust particles! She growled to herself impatiently. Lucifer had BETTER come soon, or her royal highness would have to have another talk with him. Not that it made a different, but in all honesty she just loved his voice. His charm was almost as equal to her charm and that would all show soon enough.

Without thinking, Aurora chewed on her lip almost to the point of bleeding before she saw Peter come up and play a tune. How nice it was. The blonde looked over at Rapunzel sitting next to her and read her facial expressions with a small giggle. How cute they would look together, both musicians. If only Peter would grew up for Rapunzel! The woman with crossed arms smiled whole hearted at Peter, nodding in thanks for his tune. What a wonderful sound it was. It all seemed like a blur, but then Peter was giving his guitar to Rapunzel and flying off with Alice.

"Oh, dear," Aurora spoke softly, shaking her head, her hand covering her dainty, pretty pink lips, "Rapunzel, seems like you have some competition, my dear," she spoke with sarcasm and a wink, letting a laugh escape her lips before paying attention back to her own, evil thoughts and plots. Honestly, she didn't see what Peter saw in Alice. She was crazy as hell and Aurora knew men would love someone like herself instead of a psychotic female. Then... when she thought about it, she herself was psychotic. This made Aurora roar with laughter at her own thought, proving to the others around her she was as crazy as she thought she was. What was she to do next? Rip off Alice's legs or gut perfect Red? She'd probably have the twins help her, and they wouldn't protest if she told them it was a prank! Aurora continued her laughter before quieting down and sensing a presence near by. She could sense that evil, sadistic charm that she loved anywhere. Lucifer, and gaining in on the town hall close and quickly. Aurora straightened up and moved her seat, heading towards the very front where the podium was and where Lucifer would speak, quieting down instantly. She knew what he was capable of and they were far past her own, evil ways.

Beast laughed as Alice moved around on his leg trying to get Chesh's tail, he liked how childish she could be at times, they were her bursts of insanity he was sure, when she was sane you could almost, almost hold a conversation with her. He furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips as Aka ran off towards the door, 'Shes in a darker place at the moment... that's not good, i guess i should talk to her soon before things go south.' he thought not paying attention to most of the room. He looked back over at Snow and Chesh trying to figure out what could have caused the storming off of Aka, completely oblivious that it was his actions that, out of the best intentions, were the cause. He was so lost in thought he didn't even notice that Peter had floated over towards him, until Peter spoke which snapped Beast back towards the front looking at him cocking his head slightly.

Beast listened to Peter, wondering what he was up to as he looked from Alice to Peter, just before Peter picked her up and started away. Peters taunt didn't go unnoticed by Beast and instead beast froze staring forward for a second as he tried to take another breath. Peter almost always set him off and Beast knew that, so he had to try and control himself with everyone here. His heart thumped once in his chest, Beast swore it had to be loud enough to be heard to those around him as the real beast tried to push forward into the front of his mind. Beasts head pounded suddenly, his mind wrestling with himself as he looked out, frozen in time, not breathing or even twitching. During this time his eyes slowly turned black, the black creeping out of his pupils and covering the rest of his eyes slowly, the only real noticeable outward sign that he was having an internal battle with to monster inside.

'That THING! just disrespected you! Don't let that slide, KILL!' the animal in his head screamed out at him grasping at the dark thoughts in his head to try and take hold. 'NO, it will be ok, I will let you out later, not here not now... ' Beast thought back as he tried to stay calm inside so that the animal couldn't actually get a hold. 'He always does that.. you can't let it go... let me deal with it weakling!' it screamed back as it kept trying to get out. 'No.... you don't discriminate between people and you will just attack everything, hurting even those who are innocent.' Beast reasoned back trying not to think about how very few of them were really innocent in any way. All this time, the black creeped through his eyes, and he sat there motionless more like a statue then a person.

Alice smiled as the Beast held her. She would never show it, but just his touch brightened her day and slightly brought back her sanity. He was warm and strong. Alice realized that she sort of liked Beast's other form as well. He could be temperamental, but then again so could she. Focusing on catching Chesh's tail, Alice realized that she was gaining more of her sanity. Strange.. the time between her insane and sane moments were becoming less and less. Alice hoped that she would eventually be able to hold on for as long as an outward conversation would take. Before Alice slipped away again she turned to Beast. "After the meeting.." She blushed, unable to finish the sentence despite her current burst of sanity.

"Peter!" It was gone as quickly as it came. Her thoughts swept away with her insanity and forgotten by the presence of Peter.

Alice nodded vigorously, fully excited to play Peter's game. In a moment, Alice was once again being lifted and this time placed onto Peter's shoulders. Right before she left the Beast's lap, Alice ruffled his hair and smiled. Then Alice was being flown around the room. "I'm a plane!" Alice called out, her arms outstretched. Then Peter stopped and landed. Alice hears Peter's question but was too distracted by her internal thoughts about fire.

Fire was pretty. It also hurt if you touched it. Was that like sharp things? Sharp.. Daggers were sharp! Daggers were shiny. Shiny.. Alice liked shiny things. Aurora's hair could be shiny. She wore a lot of shiny jewelry too. Like her crown!

Alice plucked Aurora's crown off her head and held it adoringly in her hands. "Look, Peter! Treasure!" Alice placed the crown back on Aurora's head and slowly pet her hair. "Like a soft puppy!"

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Will this meeting ever start? Red couldn't stand being in a room with so many people at one time. It was exhausting. She preferred the solitary of the woods. It was quiet, dark, and she could be herself without any interference from the other inhabitence of Never After. And free of the "excitement" that was inevitable when they were all around each other.

Red's stomach growled. Not only was she sleep deprived, but now she was starving. She needed to hunt. Sink her teeth into some forest animal, sweet blood running down her chin as she licked it up and continued to tear through the animal's raw, pink meat. Red would utilize every part of the animal. The bones she would use as handles for new daggers she would build. Red would use the fur and skin as cloth, which she would most likely make into clothes for herself.

Some might say her way of life was barbaric, but who were they? Princesses? Princes? Maniacs? Given they thought her way of life was disgusting and strange, but then again look at them. the princesses in this town grew up with maids and servants to wait on them hand and foot. How dare they think they were unfortunate. The princes here were no better. True, a few of the princes and princesses were decent people, nut the majority were spoiled brats. Believing the world should be handed to them on a platter. Why? Because they were royal. Oh yeah, they were beautiful too. Why shouldn't the world owe them something? They allowed everyone to stare at their beauty. They were a gift just by breathing. Aurora was worst of all. Poor, poor Aurora. She only has servents and a castle. She's only beautiful with every male and female head over heels for her. She needs more. What she has isn't enough. In fact, it's hell. BITCH! What else did she need!? She already had everything! DAMN IT! BITCH!!!

Red's internal ranting was interrupted by Beast's sudden change in mood. She could feel it. The darkness seeped out of him and swirled above him like a storm ready to hit. Red knew that it was virtually impossible for anyone else to notice, but years and years of watching and observing Shin made her more aware of that sort of thing. The Beast's other side was so close to pushing through. Red stood and crossed the room to him. She wasn't exactly ruining, but she was walking quite fast. The last thing she wanted was to draw the room's attention to Beast when he was trying to fight back his other side.

"Beast. Look at me." Red whisper. His eyes were now completely black. She hoped she wasn't too late. "Breath." She placed her hand lightly on his shoulders and with her other hand brushed his hair away from his eyes, her blood red nails grazing his cheek.

Piper grinned back at Les. He liked the look in the boy’s eyes. Gretel would make a challenging target, but when it came to getting a soul for his puppet he preferred easier prey because if only had one night in which to harvest the soul that was needed. His gaze shifted, going over each of the new comers. The man kept silent and to himself. He knew that all of the others didn’t like him and most likely hated him for the things he has done. Things weren’t always this way. One might say that the death of his beloved Odessa caused him to snap and go mad. Of course that story really wasn’t important right now.

“Is this meeting ever going to start,” he grumbled. The ruckus from the others was starting to get to him. Odessa slid her hand into his and squeezed it. Even though she was just a puppet she could tell what her master was feeling and at times it even seemed like she could read this thoughts. Piper looked at Odessa, his facial expression softening a bit. “Ok, ok I’ll be good…for now,” he whispered.

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Reta relaxed when Les held her closer. Her thoughts cleared a bit as well. Peter coming over was a welcomed distraction. “Well Peter you’ll just have to wait for the show.” She grinned widely at the older male. Peter was like a kindred spirit and he knew how to have fun. She liked Peter, but not as much as her dear Les. Her gaze turned back to her brother, a spark of mischief once again in her pale blue eyes. The older male showing up did give the girl a few ideas.

They had time to kill since the Mayor wasn’t here yet and the others seemed to be busy will with being themselves. Once Peter went to entertain the others Reta whispered to in her brother’s ear. “Let’s set up a surprise for our dear Mayor. I’m sure we have time since he isn’t here yet and with everyone else fighting and what not they won’t even notice.” She giggled lightly. Oh this was going to be fun. Yes, much more fun then just waiting or watching the others fight. Without another thought the girl pulled away from her brother’s arms, standing up and heading to where the mayor would be standing to talk to everyone.

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Jack was a little confused by Red’s reaction, but before he could say something Aurora appeared in front of him asking him how he was. The poor male seemed to be startled by someone suddenly speaking to him. He stuttered at first, “He..ello Aurora. I’m…umm…doing well. How..how are you?” He felt flustered for some reason. It wasn’t like he wasn’t use to talking to people or anything. There was just something about Aurora and the way she approached him that could easily get his tongue tied and his thoughts mixed up. The brown haired male shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. He felt he should say more, but had no clue as to what. He glanced back over at Red for a split second. Oh how he wished to be someone else right now. On an adventure, at his home, just anywhere, but at this meeting.

Henrietta clucked a hello to the princess, but her attention was turned elsewhere when Peter called her name. The hen clucked along to the music as if answering the boy’s request.

:Les:

Les chuckled as he watched Peter's fun. The male may be much older but he was still fun. He wasn't like the other adults were. Alice was a fun girl too. Les hadn't talked her much because Reta was easy to get jealous, but he found the girl funny. He didn't care much for the princesses but he liked the other guys. One day he wanted to be strong and big like they were so he could properly protect his sister.

The boy fell out of his thoughts as the work 'prank' caught his ears. In excitement he looked at his sister. He wanted to pull something too. He grinned as he followed his sister. There was kind of things they could do, but he knew what would get the mayor boiling. He was a pervert who liked all women too much. If he looked ugly he would probably go into hiding. Les smirked and whispered to Reta. "Shall we give him a make over?"

“A make over. What a marvelous idea.” Reta quickly started rummage through her small satchel that she almost always had with her just for times like this. “What all do you think we will need,” she asked, starting to pull a few random things out of the bag. As she took the things from the bag she placed them on the podium. First was a ball of twine, then a couple of small jars with paint in them, some seeds, and glue. There was more within the satchel, but these things would make a good start, or so she thought. “I should have brought that machine, the berries and the feathers along too,” she pouted slightly. Those would have been prefect for this. Oh well too late for that now. She glanced about the room looking for other things they could use.