It was a cool spring evening as the guests arrived one by one at Lord White’s home in Zausberg. Lumi White met each guest at the door with a smile on her face. The slumber party had been her idea and she was anxious to make it memorable. First to arrive was Raessa, princess of Baghdad. 

“Woooo!” She cried, fists raised above her head, a small satchel swinging from one fist. Lumi jumped at the exuberant princess. “I’ve been looking forward to this all week!” 

“Thank you for coming, Princess Raessa,” Lumi said.

“Oh, pish posh on the ‘princess’,” Raessa said as she swept by Lumi into the house, “What a lovely home!”

“Thank you.”

There was a knock on the door as Lumi directed Raessa to the front room. Lumi turned to the door and let in Verity Monroe. She was gazing up at the sky as Lumi opened the door. 

“Verity! Welcome!” Lumi said softly.

Verity smiled. “And Eva, don’t forget Eva.”

Lumi looked confused. “Eva?”

Verity slapped herself on her forehead. “Oh, I forgot. Never mind.”

With a quizzical smile she let Verity in and to the room to the right. 

Lumi swept into the kitchen and checked on the snacks. As she rearranged once again the berliners on the tray there was another knock at the door. She rushed out the kitchen to greet her next guests. Lucha and Penny Smythe stood there as Lumi opened the door. Penny beamed at her while Lucha stared off at the bushes. 

“Hello, Penny. Hello, Lucha.” 

“Thank you much for inviting us,” Penny said, Lucha continued to stare at the bushes. 

“Come in, come in! Let me show you to the party. ”Penny and Lucha followed Lumi to the front room where the guests were chatting in front of a low fire in the fireplace. Lucha growled slightly at Verity. There was a loud knock on the door. “Coming!” Lumi shouted as her heart thumped in her chest. There was only one guest left. The one she was most excited to see. Trying to seem nonchalant to her guests she still walked to the door a bit faster than normal. She threw open the door. “Fran—” Lumi stopped as she was faced with a young blonde girl dressed in very strange garb. Lumi gasped. “Who are you?”

The young girl stood with her legs apart and her hands on her hips. She threw back her head and said: “I am Melody Gearhart!”

Lumi stared at her, her mouth agape. “W-what are you doing here?”

“I am a Stela hero, too. I travelled halfway across the galaxy for this party!”

“Galaxy?“ Lumi said, flustered, “Um, come in then?”

Melody strode past Lumi into the house, she watched the young girl join the women. 

“Who was that?”

Lumi spun around, her breath caught in her throat. Francis smiled at Lumi. “Hi.”

Lumi ran and jumped into Francis’ arms. “I was afraid you wouldn’t show.”

“How could I not?” Francis said nuzzling Lumi’s hair. “Come on. Let’s go in.”

Lumi hurried to the kitchen. Francis entered the front room, Penny was chatting with Raessa as Lucha and Verity circled each other, sniffing. Melody sat near the fire scarfing down the berliners.

Lumi came in looking around baffled. “Where did my platter of berliners go?”

Melody shoved the last pastry into her mouth, “Sho shour…but sho good!”

Lumi sighed. “I’ll get some crackers. Maybe some cheese…” she left again.

Francis collapsed into an overstuffed chair. Raessa clapped her hands. “Let’s talk about boys!”

“Ugh,” Francis groaned, “No, thanks.”

“Pass,” said Verity, glancing at the seemingly empty space next to her.

Melody made a face, “Boys? Ick!”

Penny smirked. “Well, there is a certain handsome detective back home. Isn’t there, Lucha?”

Lucha growled.

Lumi walked in with a wooden board with cheese on it and a bowl of crackers. “I have snacks!”

“Yay!” said Melody, “I’m starving!”

“So,” said Francis reclining back in the chair with her hands behind her head, “What should we do now?”

“Scary stories!” said Rasessa.

Francis rolled her eyes. “Living with my mother is scary enough.” Penny glanced at Lucha who seemed to shy away. “Our lives are scary enough.” Verity sighed. “Tell me about it.” Lumi covered her ears. “Oh, no! Not scary stories!”

Suddenly Verity had a cushion hit her in the face. “Pillow fight!” Melody cried and threw another one at Penny. Penny shrieked. Lucha jumped up and grabbed the pillow before it hit the ground and flung it back at the girl. 

“Yes!” cried Francis. She stood up and grasped the pillow that was wedged between her and the arm of the large chair. Taking aim she launched it at Lucha who dodged the fluffy projectile easily. Francis cursed and was about to grab another pillow when she felt something strike her rear end. Turning she saw Lumi giggling, cushion in hand.

“Oh, ho,” Francis said picking up another pillow. Lumi cried out and ran around the chair to avoid Francis’ retaliation.

Cushions and pillows flew through the air. Giggles and screeches and growls filled the room. Until a deafening crash made everyone freeze. A pillow lay on the ground, the remnants of a broken ceramic vase spread out beneath it. 

Lumi covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. “My mother will kill me.”

Francis picked up the pillow, shook it, and pushed the shards of the vase under a couch. “There,” she said, brushing her hands loudly, “Problem solved. No one’ll know.”

Lumi looked over her shoulder. “She’ll know.”

“Speaking of mothers,” said Raessa, “Let’s talk about our mothers.”

“My mother passed away,” said Penny sadly.

“My mom died saving us,” Melody said.

“I killed my mom,” Verity said in almost a whisper.

“My mother was a wolf,” said Lucha.

Everyone except Penny stared shocked at Lucha and Verity. 

Francis cleared her throat. “My mom is a controlling psycho bitch,” she said, scowling, “With a big butt.”

The women turned their attention to Francis then started laughing. Even Lumi laughed behind her hand.

The laughter died down as everyone looked past Francis at the entrance. Queen Faye stood in the archway of the front room. “A slumber party,” she said with a voice of ice, “And why wasn’t I invited.” The women looked in shock at the queen then all of them burst out laughing. 

The queen arched an eyebrow and picked up a pillow.