The woman on the velvet couch is hammering in another nail, this one above her navel. I look over at my mother, who is hyperventilating.

"We can leave," I say, trying not to sound worried. "Do you want to leave?"

The crowd "aaahs", the inch-long nail halfway through the woman's skin.

"No," my mother says, wiping a hand over her slick, pallid forehead.

"Someday my Prince will come," Princess Lilac said to herself as she stared out the barred window of her prison cell. "And when he finally gets here, I’m going to kick his ass!"

She turned as she heard the bolt on the large metal door disengage, the door swinging open on squeaky hinges. Miranda, the nastiest witch in the Kingdom, walked in, carrying a tray heaped high with sandwiches and snack cakes and a small ceramic tea set.

As soon as she arrived, Satonia called the Children, but none approached their Mother. She could see them in the distance, small flying objects playing in the sky.

"I don't understand what happened," Satonia said. Jemp, the robot, had not moved since they arrived, having immediately attached itself to an audio-visual unit in the room. A human female sat cross-legged with her hands clasped in front of her.