Angel - In Dreams

“It’s all sooo pretty, Mama,” said Andraia in an eight-year-old’s sing-song voice. She skipped from one object to another. It was a rare occasion when she got to go to a store, so she wanted to take in every bit. The store itself was actually more of a shack with goods sold by an old woman, but to Andraia’s young mind it was glorious.

“Be careful and don’t break anything,” her mother instructed while bargaining with the old woman over a sack of flour.

“I won’t,” she replied and headed for the back of the shack. She stopped when a glimmer caught her eye. She went to examine what had glimmered, but only found her face looking back at her, surrounded by stone. A mirror. She had only seen one in her lifetime. That one had belonged to a noble that had been passing by her village. The object had fascinated her, but she had never gotten the opportunity to get so close to one.

She reached out her hand slowly, and touched the cool glass. The mirror rippled under her touch. She quickly pulled her hand away and the mirror shimmered, then went back to its original form.

The old woman noticed the girl touching the mirror, and was shocked at what had happened. The girl is so young, and already holds power over the mirrors, thought the woman. She watched as the girl put the mirror back quickly, afraid that she had broken it. She doesn’t even know what she can do. Her thoughts were interrupted by the mother calling her daughter to her.

“Come, Andraia. We must leave now.”

She reluctantly followed her mother out of the shack. The woman watched as Andraia quickly glanced back at the mirror one more time before she left.

“Such a shame. She may never know what kind of power she possesses.”

The Nine Kingdoms - Present

Wolf stopped running after he thought he was at a safe distance. What was that thing?! Never in the kingdoms had he ever come across something like that. Oh well, I’ve got to go find Tony, he thought and ran off again.

Verdana Village - 422 years ago

Andraia ran through the pouring rain. Mother is going to be so worried, she thought. She’d been taking a walk in the forest when this terrible storm had come up. She found it hard to run because of the mud-soaked paths. I’m going to be late. I was supposed to be home before dark. My parents are going to kill me.

After running a little ways further she finally spotted her village. After getting a bit closer she realized that it something was wrong. It was too dark, too quiet. Where were the cooking fires? She stopped when she came to one of her neighbor’s gardens. Why did the scarecrow look funny? She walked up to it slowly. It looked bigger than it had been yesterday. Had they made another one? The closer she got the more and more she became aware that something was very strange about this particular scarecrow. When she’d gotten within a couple of feet of it, a flash of lightning lit up the sky.

“Ahhhhhh!” she screamed as she realized that the scarecrow was her neighbor. His bloody face looked down at her blankly.

Andraia turned and ran as fast as she could. She had to get help. She ran into the shack where his wife and son should be. Wouldn’t they have noticed he was missing? she thought, afraid of the answer to her own question. As she slowly entered the hut, something inside of her told her what she would find. There on the floor lay a young boy. His thick blood and unblinking eyes told Andraia that he was dead. The hut had been completely wrecked. Whoever had done this had also taken all of their valuables. She walked back out of the hut. She found the mother’s body a few feet from the house. What happened here? Why hasn’t anyone come to help? Then it hit her. This hadn’t just happened here.

Home, was her only thought as she took off for her own hut. She only stopped once when she nearly tripped over the bloody body of a young girl. She stopped for a second to stare into the horrified face of her best friend. Noo. I have to go home. They’re still alive. They have to be.

She started for her home again and arrived a minute later. It was dark. Andraia was about to run inside when she heard sounds coming from behind her hut. She made her way to the back of her home slowly, then stopped suddenly at what she saw. Three men stood around her father who knelt on the ground, his hands bound behind him. Her mother lay on the ground nearby. Her mother didn’t move. Andraia couldn’t see her face because she was laying on her stomach. A puddle of crimson blood began to form underneath her mother’s body.

NOOOOOO! she screamed over, and over inside her head, for she dared not scream out loud.

“I asked you to spare her!” Her father yelled at the men, his voice mournful but full of rage all the same.

“Ha. Like we were going to do a thing like that.”

Before Andraia could react, the man who’d said that brought a knife across her father's throat. He never had a chance to scream as he fell to the ground dead. Andraia turned her head. She couldn’t stand to see the blood. No, she thought, No more blood. They shall spill no more blood. It is too late for my village, but I will keep them from ever hurting anyone else, she thought and turned to run.

The Nine Kingdoms - Present

Andraia stared down at Virginia coldly. “You think you’re strong don’t you?” she asked.

“I suppose I am in some ways,” was the young woman’s reply.

“When you killed your mother, and you looked into her blank, dead eyes, how did you feel?”

Virginia remained silent, then said, “Why would you ask me something like that? If you know as much about me as you claim, than you should already know the answer to that question.”

Andraia watched as Virginia’s eyes got a bit teary. She still morns her. Of course, I mourned too. No. Stop. You’re trying to remember again. You must never do that. You must leave the pain in the past, thought Andraia.

Verdana Village - 422 years ago

Andraia found herself outside of a familiar shack. She hadn’t been to this shack in years, but something had brought her here tonight. She walked into the small hut and her memory of this place came back. This was where she had been so long ago. Where she had seen... “The mirror,” she finished out loud.

She wondered briefly where the old woman was. Andraia figured she was probably dead somewhere in the village with everyone else. Luckily the raiders had missed this place. She didn’t have to look hard for the mirror. It seemed to call to her. She held the small object in her hands. Somehow she knew exactly what to do. She touched the surface of the mirror but this time did not pull away when the glass rippled. Instead she moved her hand over the glass. Back and forth. Back and forth. The mirror began to glow brighter and brighter, and the surface rippled more rapidly until there was a grand explosion of light.

The Nine Kingdoms - Present

Tony walked through the tunnel. “I hate this place. I hate this place. I hate this place...Ahhhhhh!” He was cut off when he felt the ground disappear from beneath him. He fell and fell. I’ll probably fall forever. As soon as he thought this, he hit the hard, stone ground.

“Dad!” he heard Virginia cry from somewhere nearby.

“Why hello, Tony. Nice of you to drop in.”

Verdana Village - 422 years ago

Andraia made her way back to her home. She knew what she must do. She understood her power now and planned to make use of it. When she got there she found the men raiding her hut.

“Get away from there!” she yelled angrily.

“Are you talking to us?” asked one of the men.

Andraia turned an ice cold gaze on him. “Yes,” she said coolly, confidently. She touched the mirror in her hand, and then pointed towards the previous man. A mirror appeared beneath him, and the man fell into the dark silent bottomless pit of nothingness.

“Noo,” yelled another one of the men. Andraia waved her arm, and he went flying into the mirror also.

The remaining man looked at her with horror-filled eyes. It was the same man who’d killed her mother and father. “Mercy,” he pleaded.

She looked at him. Her face showed no emotion, but rage. “Mercy?” she replied in a mocking tone. The mirror beside the man on the ground disappeared. Andraia turned to walk away.

“Thank you,” said the man.

Andraia turned around. “What?! Did you actually think that I would show you mercy? You didn’t show my mother mercy! Or my father,” she yelled with intense rage. A mirror appeared behind the man. Andraia yelled with rage, and the man went flying into the mirror.

“Noooooo...” he yelled, but was cut off as the mirror vanished.

No emotion shown on Andraia’s face. Just coldness. Intense coldness. She walked to the back of her hut where she found her parents’ bodies. She carefully dug two holes, and buried them side by side. (Don’t ask me how; she just did.)

She knew she must leave this place. After what she’d done she knew she’d never be the same. Andraia stared down at her parents’ graves. She whispered goodbye, but shed no tears. She would never be able to shed tears. She was cold now. So cold.

The Nine Kingdoms - Present

“W-why are you doing this?” asked a nervous Tony in front of her. The fear in his voice amused her. It had been so long since she’d felt terror like this. An innocent victim, scared out of their mind, unsure of what was going to happen to them. The power of knowing that you controlled that person’s fate. Oh, it was so addicting. But like any addictive drug, the pleasure came with a price. It ate away your soul piece by piece until there was nothing left but darkness. Andraia didn’t care, though. She knew she was evil and cold, and perfectly fine with that.

“I need you to do me a little favor, Tony.” Andraia made her way over to the fear-stricken Tony slowly. She stopped when his face was centimeters away from her own. “You don’t mind doing me a favor, do you?” she asked in a strange mixture of pure sweetness and pure evil.

Tony looked at the woman before him. It was hard for him to believe that someone so beautiful and fragile looking could be so hollow and evil inside. He drew on all the courage he had and replied to her last statement. “Why should I do anything to help you? You’re nothing, but cruel and evil.”

“You say that as if it’s a bad thing,” she smirked.

Tony didn’t know what else to say. Was she going to force him to do this favor?

“Now, Tony, stop playing around. I really need you to do this favor for me.”

“What is it?” asked a once again nervous Tony.

“My mirrors. They were taken from me. I want them back, and you, Tony, are going to get them for me.”

“Cripes, I’m lost again. Actually I was never found, Oh, I’m starting to confuse myself,” cried a weary Wolf as he ran through yet more colorful tunnels. He’d gone through numerous mirrors, and down even more tunnels and corridors, but no Tony, no Virginia, and no witch. “What’s a wolf suppose to do? I’m never going to find a way out of here. Which means I won’t be able to save Virginia, and that woman will probably kill her.” He began to whimper uncontrollably.

“Wolf, stop that. Now is not a time for such things. Virginia and Tony need you to be strong,” said a woman’s voice.

Wolf looked around frantically for its source, but to his dismay and confusion found none. “Now I’m starting to hear voices.”

“Wolf.”

“You’re not real, go away, oh cripes now I’m starting to argue with imaginary voices.” He began to whimper again.

“Wolf, it is I, Snow White.”

Wolf’s head jerked up.

“Huh?”

“Look behind you.”

He turned around to see yet another mirror. The figure of a woman with black hair and pale skin looked back at him. “S-Snow White?”

“Yes, Wolf, it is me. I’ve come to help you. Virginia and Tony are both at the mercy of the mirror mistress now.”

“How do I get to them?”

“You must travel through this mirror. Come, time is running short.”

Wolf quickly went over to the mirror and stepped through.

“How do you plan on me doing that?” asked Tony.

Andraia smiled at him. “You will go to the castle and get them for me. I can’t possibly go myself. I have captives here. If I go you will release her and attempt to escape. If I send you, however, I can use her as collateral. No mirrors, no precious Virginia. Understand?”

Tony nodded slowly.

“Good. I knew you had to be smarter than you looked.”

Virginia had watched the whole thing in silence. Her mind kept drifting back to Andraia’s little episode. What had triggered it? Had she said something? She had to try and touch whatever buttons she’d pressed before. It was their only hope.

Virginia tugged at her chains. It was useless. She’d never be able to break free that way. She had to try and get to Andraia, but how?

Andraia walked calmly to her mirror. She touched her fingers to the cool surface. The glass shimmered alive and on the other side was the mirror room of Wendell’s castle. “Are you ready, Anthony?” she asked politely.

Tony’s only reply was several choice curses under his breath.

“I heard that. You’re not being very nice, you know.”

Tony grudgingly made his way over to the mirror.

“Now just get the mirrors and pass them through,” she instructed calmly as if he were a child.

Tony swallowed and started to step through the mirror.

“Owww!”

Andraia and Tony turned around to face the source of the noise.

“Wolf!” cried Virginia with a mixture of surprise and relief.

Wolf pulled himself from the floor having just fallen through a mirror in the ceiling.

“What?!” yelled Andraia. “How did you...?!” She didn’t bother to finish the question because she’d already figured out the answer. Snow White! The dead queen had somehow found a way to manipulate her mirrors! “Well, well. The more the merrier,” she stated, trying to cover her ever rising anger. Ever since Virginia had stirred those memories in her it had been harder to keep such things in check. Her usual passive, cold demeanor was becoming harder and harder to sustain. What made her nervous was that she didn’t know why.