As my dad's words sink in, an image of my seven brothers sporting a tuxedo and bowing infront of the new dance teacher before the beginning of the ballet performance clouded my mind. I almost choked when my last brother George caught me laughing lowly. With me and my seven short-tempered brothers around,my home is no less than a fish market. Except now. Dad dropped the bomb that my brothers will be taking ballet lessons.

"Why?", my second brother Brandon questioned. The image in my brain changed to my sixth brother Finn hesitating to wear the ballet slippers and dad giving him an earful.

"It's our royal family tradition," my dad said leaning back into his arm chair,"You all are supposed to dance on your elder brother Aaron's coronation day."

"There is no way I am going to dance infront of all the guests in the coronation party," my fourth brother Damon shouted.

"Besides, the ballot is for GIRLS!",my third brother Clark remarked, "Our little sister, Becca will be happy to help. She will dance and we will cheer for her."

"Oh really! Remind me George, who cried on the top of his voice to go to knitting classes with me?" I snapped at him.

"Of course it was Clark!" George laughed,"And when I commented that knitting is for girls,he smashed my face."

"That was different. I love knitting..." Clark stammered and when I smirked he shoots his hands up in the air admitting his defeat.

Dad typed something on his phone before looking at my fifth brother.

"You are hauntingly silent Elijah," my father remarked.

Elijah adjusted the collar of his shirt for a minute and turned towards the exit - " If we have to dance on the coronation day,then excuse me I have to go and break my ankle NOW."

Everyone in the room including my dad bursted into laughter.

"Didn't I tell you to stop watching those daily soap operas with Becca? I expect you all to dance on the big day." my dad managed to speak while laughing.

"You are quite the dramatic one bro!" Finn remarked.

Our noise finally stopped when someone knocked on the door.

"The door is open. You can come in, Aurora!" my father shouted.

A lady in the trailing white dress came into the room, and for a second I wondered if she was the princess that I imagined while reading the fiction. She was as beautiful as an ice sculpture.

"Thank you Lord Mikaelson for choosing me for this job," Aurora thanked my father.

Her voice was light and sweet - silvery. Like her eyelashes. There were silvery lights in her dress when she moved, too. But her hair was gold, almost as pale a gold as mine. Her eyes were like kitten's eyes: round and jewel blue. At her throat, she wore a necklace with a stone of the same vivid color. She did a little pirouette, and I saw that what I had vaguely taken for the train to Aurora's dress was actually her hair. Her curly hair flowed like molten gold down her back to spill over the floor, trailing behind her.

"It's my pleasure to have you. You can call me Joseph or Jo," my dad started, "These are my seven sons and my daughter Becca. And please take care of their dance outfits too."

Aurora nodded and stared at all of us for a moment.

"Almost all of their eyes are brown and black. Olive skin and all are brunettes except the girl. I will select their outfit colours accordingly. Not a problem Joseph." Aurora said.

"Well, Thank you Aurora. The responsibility of their dance and outfits is on you.", my dad said and turned towards the eight of us," It's about time that I should leave. I have some urgent work in our neighbouring town. I will be back the day before the coronation. Behave well all of you!"

We nodded.

Though my brothers initially made a fuss about dancing,they all are surprisingly silent like they were in some sort of trance. No one spoke a single word. Probably,it's because their dance teacher turned out to be a beautiful girl instead of a strict old woman. Argh! Boys will be Boys.

"12 at midnight everyday!I will teach you everything about ballet dance," Aurora started, "Wear something comfortable and don't be late."

I expected that atleast one of my brothers will refuse to learn dance at the odd cinderella hour but no one uttered a word. That's so strange!

What's brewing in their dumb little heads?

When the clock striked twelve, Aurora led the eight of us onto the terrace. I almost shivered when the cold air touched my face. The moon penetrates the fog but the stars are too weak to do the same.

"When the canvas turns dark, I carve my path to fulfill her vision", Aurora started singing, "I will neither hurt a woman nor let a man fall. He will always stand tall through time to time with no pain."

Her voice was angelic. We stood there while she sang.

"My eyes will be the windows to his soul. They will sink into him until he surrenders."

I could hear someone screaming. I couldn't figure out who is it. I want to move my head towards the other side but I couldn't. My body is feeling like a marionette. Strings seem to take hold of my limbs and root me to the ground.

What is happening?

"Like the moon, he will be lost once the canvas turns bright. No one shall remember the lost soul. He will be forgotten. Erased from the memories."

As Aurora continues her song, the screams got louder. Someone is crying in agony and pain. At this point, I couldn't figure out whether I am asleep or awake. Maybe I am having a bad dream.

_*_

"Rise and shine sleepyhead! Otherwise you will get to eat dry fruits for supper." Clark cooed in my ear.

My eyes opened to the ceiling of my room. My head is aching. It feels like I am having a hangover.

"Get ready and come down fast! I don't want to miss my food before I become all cinderella and practice dance for the upcoming coronation ." he shouted before closing the door.

It had been 4 days since Aurora entered our lives. Her arrival brought a change into our lives. And I am unable to figure out what exactly changed. Everytime I tried to remember, all I could see are flashes of me and my brothers standing under the moonlight getting ready to learn dance. I could see Aurora's smile and I could feel the melody of her song. Everything else is blank. It's like there are a lot of holes in my memory lately.

Once I am finished getting ready, I headed downstairs to the dining table.
Aaron,my elder brother is munching something absent mindedly with a book in his hand. He is probably verifying the accounts. No wonder my dad chose to hand over all the empire to him. He is such a workaholic. Brandon and Clark are fighting over a packet of orange juice. Living with three elder brothers is crazy.

"Hey, have you all grown short or am I missing something?" I asked.

"Yes my dear sissy," Brandon started, "you are missing your eyesight. Do you mind if I take you to an eye specialist?"

"You...," I stopped in mid way when Aurora entered the room.

"Don't be late. See you in ten at the terrace." She said waving at Clark and moved out of the room.

I almost decided not to go and was about to convey the same to my three brothers. But when the melody of Aurora's song struck my ears,my legs along with my brothers involuntarily moved upto the terrace.

"There are two types of prisoners", Aurora started her stupid song.

Someone started screaming. Pain ignites in my head.

"She is the only one of her kind. She is the master of her own cage. The other kind of prisoners are as good as dead."

As she continued her song,the screams got louder and the pain started travelling down to other parts of my body.

"When time fractures,the darkness overwhelms. The sins of the ancestors will be visited upon their descendants.I will carry forward her legacy. And her curse will become the curse of an entire bloodline who once wronged a woman."

As soon as she stopped her song,the screams stopped. And almost instantly,like flip of a switch,my pain ceased to exist.

_*_

Three days has passed and the coronation day has finally arrived. It was the day my father was waiting for since a long time. It was my father's dream to see me as the queen of our small kingdom - Gardenia. True to its name, Gardenia is the home of big gardens and large edible crops. Agriculture is the primary occupation of our people.

People always wondered what will happen to gardenia after my father cum king Joseph's death considering that my dad has no sons to continue his legacy forward. But my dad has faith in me. He had always trusted me and allowed me to make my own decisions. And today I am confident enough to accept this huge responsibility as the queen.

"What are these seven statues doing in the terrace?" my dad shouted breaking my chain of thoughts, "Who put these here? Remove them and place them away in the store room. I want everything to be perfect. The ceremony will begin in a few hours."

"Dad, everything will be fine. Don't worry.", I said to calm him down.

"Becca, Go and get ready. You have a big day ahead and this day will be tiring too." my dad told me and hurriedly walked out of the place to check other arrangements.

I glanced at the statues for one last time before going away. I don't remember seeing them before in our palace. Where did they come from? And why do they seem oddly familiar?
A small part of my brain reminded me that now is not the time to analyse these statues. I need to be ready before dad comes to check upon me again.

_*_

The coronation ceremony has finally began. Dad grinned as the priest started reading from the holy book. He wore a red robe that matches with my dress. His eyebrows are glued together while listening to whatever the priest was saying.

I, on the other hand felt completely clueless and out of the place. But why? I have no idea. It's like I forgot something very important that I should have known. It's like a major part of my life is missing.

Each person played their role correctly as planned. Not a single mistake occurred during the coronation. The crowd which includes all my extended family, higher officials and people of gardenia cheered on cue as the priest prepared to put the crown on my head. My dad gave a marvelous speech about what the people should expect and when I stood up not a single person stood; everyone bowed.

"And now it's time to conclude the coronation ceremony with the traditional ritual of ballet dance," my dad started, "Usually the siblings of the king/queen must dance. But since I have only one daughter, I have arranged for the dance. One girl in my distant family runs a ballet dance teaching school and she is kind enough to accept my request. Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome Aurora and her students with a big round of applause."

The crowd cheered as aurora and her group walked into the middle of the room.

Soon the atmosphere became cheerful again. Dancing, singing, hugging and all around celebrating for what the future holds. The only silent and non-resilient one was none other than myself. Why am I not happy?

"No witness used to remain in the morning. There never were any people who watched the men fall," Aurora started her song. The blanket of silence covered the entire room. Everyone was dead silent like they were dumb.

"And the one who watched them fall won't be able to spill the beans. The lives of the men are the part of the debt for one wrongfully snatched."

Aurora's  hair started shining and flying in all directions like the branches of a tree. I watched helplessly as she continues her song.

The branches of her golden hair turned into small snakes in no time. She reminded me of the statue of Medusa in our family shrine.

"Once upon a time there was a king who had seven sons", she sang, "And so had another king and the one after him..and the cycle continues until we - the descendants of Medusa cast our curse on those sons. And at the end only one feminine heir will remain to carry on the legacy forward."

I watched as the snakes in the hair carry all the seven statues and as aurora walked outside leaving me befuddled. Before leaving she turned around, glanced at me and whispered  "Justice Served!". And as soon as she left the room, everyone became cheerful again and the celebrations resumed.

_*_

The next day, I woke up with a headache far more worse than the ones I had experienced for the past few days. I can't remember anything from the yesterday coronation ceremony. In fact, I can't remember anything at all from the past few days. 

Maybe my journal could help me recollect the events happened in the past few days. I rose from the bed and walked upto the journal in my desk in the bedroom.

As soon as I opened my journal, I froze. On the front page of my journal, seven names were written with black marker pen.

Aaron

Brandon

Clark

Damon

Elijah

Finn

George

Everything from the past few days came rushing back as soon as all the names sink into my mind. There were eight of us ...they are my brothers and now there is only me. Aurora turned them all into statues starting from  George to Aaron one by one each night.

I remember everything. Her song,her golden hair, the snakes in her hair staring at my brothers with red eyes and the screams of my brothers. What kind of a creature is she? A witch? A Siren? No. I remember her last song.

Aurora is the descendant of Medusa - the goddess who can turn people into stones. But why did she targeted my family? Did my family did something wrong to Medusa? I have no idea.  Maybe all those stories grandpa said about our family being Medusa's culprits was indeed true.

Have you ever had a memory where you can't tell if it actually happened or if it was just a dream? Your head can't make sense of it, so you let it go. You convince yourself it was your imagination. I did the same too. I was trying to convince myself that all I am going through for the past few days is just a pigment of my imagination.

And now I realised it wasn't a dream at all. It was real. It was all real.

My seven brothers are gone! And I have no idea about how to bring them back.

As I flipped the pages of my journal,there was a note inside. It is from Aurora. It reads:

'It's not over until it is over.'

Word Count : 2600

A/N :

I grew up listening the line - "Once upon a time there was a king in a city and he had seven sons." Literally every telugu story starts with that classic line. When I saw that prompt on Ambassadors  writing contest, it brought back so many memories that I couldn't resist the temptation to write it.

Here is my take on that telugu prompt. I added a pinch of Greek myths and a spoon of the fairy tale - 'Twelve Dancing Princesses'. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did while writing it.

_*_