Almare - The White Mirror

They were silent for a while, staring out over the troll army. Virginia would miss Wendell. There was something about having a king with you that gave you confidence.

Finally, Wolf asked the inevitable. “How do we get across?”

Virginia didn’t know. It would take them an awfully long time to go around, because there were only fields surrounding the camp. The side they were on, the beanstalk forest, was the only place that offered any cover.

“Easy,” Acrotis answered, looking up at the sky. “We’ll go through the clouds.”

“They’re too high,” Virginia protested.

“There are different types of clouds,” Acrotis explained. “These seem to be just above where fog would appear. The carpets can go that high. It’s not half a mile up.”

Tony almost sobbed, but Virginia accepted it as a good idea. Without another word, she sped upwards. She clung to the carpet as it flew almost vertically into a cloud. Acrotis was right. It wasn’t that far.

Virginia was enveloped in swirling white mist. It was thick, and she could barely make out the forms of the others as they arrived near her, even Tony. She started off again in what she desperately hoped was the right direction. She couldn’t see the ground. It was strange to think that there were hundreds of trolls and other monsters beneath her. Virginia just hoped she didn’t run into the head of a giant, but she knew they weren’t that tall.

Acrotis flew past. She seemed so excited again that she was just barely containing herself. Virginia flew up to her. If she was going to have to live with Acrotis much longer, maybe she might as well try some conversation.

“What’s it like living with Cinderella?” Virginia asked after attracting her attention, or what there was of it at least.

Acrotis shrugged. Typical teenager. “Fine. She’s nice.”

“Do you know who your parents are? Don’t answer if I’m being rude,” Virginia added awkwardly. She didn’t want to offend her.

“Yes... but I don’t remember them,” the girl said, eying Virginia. “They died.”

“I’m sorry.” Virginia shifted uncomfortably. “My mother’s dead, too.”

“Oh.”

Acrotis didn’t seem to want to talk anymore, and Virginia didn’t either, what with where the small talk was headed. She urged the carpet on.

The cloud was thinning out. They had been flying slowly for about twenty minutes, not wanting to all burst out of the cloud at once over a group of trolls. Now they slowed even more. They emerged from the cloud one by one, as to not attract attention. When they looked back, the army was far behind and below them.

“Thank God,” cried Tony. “They’re gone. Now we can all go kill ourselves in peace.”

Virginia couldn’t help laughing. It was ironic.

They dropped lower to the ground. There were some trees scattered around, but they didn’t add up to a forest. Wolf said they were still in the Third Kingdom. There was only one more small kingdom to go before they got to the sea.

For Virginia, the wait was endless, and the others could hardly keep up with her. When she finally sighted it in the distance, Virginia streaked toward the sea at breakneck speed.

There was no denying it was beautiful, the most beautiful ocean in any world, Virginia’s or the Nine Kingdoms. It was a perfect fairy tale ocean, blue and clear. The sun sparkled off the surface of it like the sea was a field of diamonds. It was all the more beautiful to Virginia because somewhere inside was Patrick.

They descended onto the beach. It was early evening, and a tiny twinge of orange was beginning to form around the sun. Virginia realized that she hadn’t eaten since yesterday.

“Now for the magic breathing rings,” Wolf said to keep them all on task.

“Yes, where are those ‘Sea People’ anyway?” Tony asked, looking around. “Not that I really like the sound of ‘magic breathing rings’ any more than I like the sound of ‘magic carpets.’”

“Shh!” Acrotis hushed him. She pointed out across the sea. Virginia followed with her eyes.

A tail disappeared into the water.

“Oh, don’t tell me that’s a Sea Person?” Virginia almost groaned. She had envisioned little tribes of people living by the sea, not in it.

“Why am I just not surprised?” Tony inquired.

The mermaid, as Virginia saw from behind the safety of her carpet, was swimming onto the shore. She was a young girl of about Acrotis’s age, with long brown hair intertwined with sea reeds and a green tail. She sat in the surf, swishing her fin with a huge smile on her face.

“Welcome!” she cried happily, though her voice was croaky. Virginia assumed it was probably from always using it underwater. “My name is Raelee, and Cinderella sent me here to take you to Eulonia.” She coughed violently.

The company on the beach simply stared in bemusement for a second, but Raelee didn’t seem to expect an answer anyway.

“I brought you your rings.”

She grinned and held out to them four beautiful gold rings. Virginia looked at them, but didn’t take one.

“How did you know we were coming?” she asked. Virginia realized later that it might not have been the most polite thing to say at that moment, but again Raelee was undaunted.

“Cinderella sent a water nymph ahead of you. She thought it might be nice if you had someone waiting for you, so you wouldn’t have to go out in a boat or something.” Raelee giggled, but her laughter soon turned into a coughing fit and she had to duck under the water to clear her throat.

“Sorry,” she said as she resurfaced. “So anyway, here you go. Underwater breathing rings. Just slip them on a finger and you’ll be able to breathe.” She coughed. Virginia cautiously took a ring and handed the rest to the others.

“The rings will also give you enough endurance to swim all the way to Eulonia,” Raelee went on. “Humans just wouldn’t be able to make it otherwise. They’ll let you see underwater when we go too deep for light. And, very importantly, they’ll protect you from the tremendous force of water pressure pushing down on you as we get closer to the bottom. Otherwise, every bone in your body would be crushed to dust.” She smiled and coughed almost simultaneously.

Virginia suddenly did not feel well. Very soon, there would only be a thin band of metal standing between herself and a gruesome death.

“So you don’t need one?” Wolf asked.

“No, no, of course not.”

“Hold on,” said Tony. “What’s Eulonia anyway?”

“Our underwater city,” Raelee explained. “I guess in your world you would call it the Lost Continent of Atlantis, or something. Our famous queen lived there during the Golden Age,” Raelee said proudly, and coughed. “She was known only as the Little Mermaid.”

“The Little Mermaid?” repeated Virginia. “But she’s a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, not a Grimm.”

Raelee smiled. She was always smiling. It was very annoying. “Where do you think he got all his stories from?”

No one had an answer.

“Anyway, we should get going,” Raelee continued. “The queen expects us back in an hour.” She coughed and ducked under the water again, then resurfaced.

Virginia wasn’t sure about this at all. Swimming to the bottom of an ocean had seemed easy enough from a couple hundred feet up in the air. Now it didn’t. The only thing that made her slip the ring onto her finger was the thought that Patrick was closer with every minute that passed.

“What about the carpets?” Wolf asked.

“Oh, well, I suppose you won’t be needing them anymore, will you?” Raelee giggled. “They don’t like water very- cough- much. The nymph Cinderella sent said that you could leave them up here for when you come back. They’ll know what to do.”

Virginia could have sworn her carpet made an indistinct nodding motion before it sped away with the others to find someplace it would be comfortable in. She suddenly felt very vulnerable.

“Follow me,” Raelee said. She dived under the water and came up again a few yards away, waving at them.

Acrotis was the first to walk into the water. Virginia followed, ignoring the sudden cold piercing her body. But then something strange happened- she could feel warmth spreading into every inch of her body, starting with the finger that the ring was on. She also felt instantly that she could swim, swim, swim, and never stop until her baby was in her arms. Adrenaline filled her, and this feeling also originated at the ring, sweeping through her. She wasn’t aware of much else but the urge to move.

Virginia dived under the water with a great splash. Wolf and Tony followed, the rings obviously having the same effect on them. As Virginia’s lungs began to ache, she tried to take a breath. Water filled her mouth, but as it went down her throat it turned to air, and she exhaled bubbles. It felt very strange, but her mind was still not focused on anything but swimming, much less something as simple as breathing. Why was I worried about it in the first place? she wondered vaguely.

Before long the shore was far behind them, and above them also because they had dived so far under. Virginia was sure to keep Acrotis in sight since she was following Raelee. The ocean started to become darker as the water filtered out the light, until Virginia could not see her hand in front of her face. Then the ring’s power kicked in, and her vision came back to her. But at the same time the water was getting heavier, and Virginia felt as though if she were pressed any flatter, she would become two-dimensional. Then the great weight was lifted.

Virginia swam as fast and as hard as she could. The city was close. She could feel it.