Chapter One

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A Strained Family Reunion

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Snow was adjusting her red ribbon, using the mirror to guide her to make sure it sat upright on her head. Her short, ebony hair surrounded it neatly, nothing out in sight. She hummed in approval. Next, she made sure her hoop earrings, which were her weapons in disguise, are properly secured on her ears. 

Snow hovered over them, particularly her ear lobes. A memory of when she first met the weapon came flashing through her mind. Silena, her guide, was going through the weapons in the weapon room with her, mandatory as everyone needed to have a weapon. From daggers, to swords, to axes, to mallets, none of them fit in Snow’s hands. They felt wrong one way or another. Like they were too big, too small, she couldn’t hold them right. She couldn’t remember how long they were in there, but Snow recalled her being tired and defeated, turning to tell Silena to give up and try again next time, when her brown eyes caught sight of a pair of gold hoop earrings. 

Now usually Snow wasn’t a hoop earrings kind of girl, especially ones that big. But something about the pair called to her, pulling her forward like some invisible magnetic attraction. And when she picked them up, it felt so right. From there, Snow knew she found her weapon.

“Oh!” Snow gasped, backing away. She almost ran into her mother. 

“Watch where you’re going, ma cherie,” Snow’s mother, Margaret, scolded. 

“Sorry, mama.” Snow said, though her mother was already leaving as she spoke. 

Her mother had been walking around the house with an edge on her shoulders. Constantly checking, rearranging, cleaning, dusting the house like her life depended on it, and to her it did. Margaret LaBlanc was seconds away from snapping at anything and everything that went wrong, so Snow tried her hardest to not mess up. 

All this happened a few days ago. In the middle of dinner, her mother was teasing a flustered Snow when she suddenly got a call. Watching her pick the call, Snow watched as her mother went from neutrality, to shock, to horror. When the line plucked, the phone slipped from the woman’s hands, hitting the table and then the floor. 

“Mom?” Snow had called out. She received no response. “Mom? Mama? Are you okay?” 

“For the love of–Oh why, why do they do this! I thought they wanted to cut me off, this isn’t cutting me off! Although they did say they would check in, I thought that was years away!” Margaret fretted in french. She slumped on the table, pulling her black hair that was very similar to her daughter’s. 

“What’s wrong, mama?” Snow asked, leaning forward. 

“Oh, my baby,” Margaret cooed worriedly. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but your grandmother is coming to visit.” 

Since then, her mother has been trying to get the house neat and tidy. It wasn’t so bad, Snow only had to watch out for her mother’s fussiness, the stress making her worry about every detail. Like the good daughter that she was, Snow corporated, listened to every word she said and didn’t argue once. Not like she did before, but for this special occasion, her mother was very sensitive. 

Not much is known to Snow about her extended family. When they left France, she was only a few months old. And even then, she has no recollection of ever visiting them and vice versa. No pictures, videos, Snow wasn’t even sure if her mom had any siblings or cousins. Before, it didn’t bother her past the point of curiosity. But now that they were arriving for the–seemingly–first time since they moved away, it was a combination of anticipation and weariness. 

Snow White- Percy Jackson¹Where stories live. Discover now