Away with the Fairies

*°•○Part Nine○•°*

It was a warm summer morning in Terra Sonalis when Rosalind and her friends left the firm ground, the large leaves they were sitting on swaying gently on the undulating water.

Hans had not slept enough the previous night, so now, the moment he realised that the mermaid pulling their water lily pad wasn't Marigold, he laid down on the smooth, cool surface of the leaf, overcome by somnolence. Soon, he was lulled into sleep by the girls' soft whispers.

There is so much to see, just how can he fall asleep now? Louise wondered, observing her sleeping friend. She left Rosalind's side and sat closer to Hans, creating a shadow to protect his face from the hot, pitiless sunshine.

"He's been worrying the whole night, Louise. He didn't sleep much," Rosalind replied to her thoughts.

"But he doesn't know..."

"No, but Hans feels that there's something that you... that we are not telling him, and it's troubling him. We should tell him soon."

"Not yet, Rosalind. Please," Louise begged, burying her face in the palms of her hands. "He will be very upset."

Rosalind sighed, then nodded her agreement. "I won't tell him until he asks me again. But then..."

"Thank you, Rosalind," the girl told her, looking thoughtfully at the sleeping boy. "That's all I ask of you."

"Fine, let's think of something else now," the fairy said in a more cheerful tone, pointing her wand at their ball gowns. "These are too impractical for the journey. What would you like to wear?"

"The white dress you gave me when we arrived here, and my red shoes, please." Louise beamed at her.

Rosalind nodded, and as she waved her wand and whispered a few words, Louise's rose bloom dress morphed into the one she had asked for. Deciding that Hans looked just too cute, dressed as an elf, the girls agreed to only change his pointed shoes into a more comfortably looking pair of short boots.

"And now mine," Rosalind said, pointing the wand at herself. "I'm so bored with red, and now that my parents can't see me..."

The fairy stood up, closed her eyes, and Louise watched in awe as her red dress transformed into a magnificent azure gown. The colour suited the black-haired fairy even better than red, Louise thought.

"Thank you," Rosalind said, sitting back down and smiling at the girl. "And it will match Blue's wings much better..." she trailed off, looking at the seemingly infinite expanse of water surrounding them on all sides.

"We will find him," Louise whispered. "Do you have any idea where he might be?" she continued after a while, trying to distract the suddenly uncharacteristically taciturn fairy. She didn't want her to be so sad, Hans' worries were enough.

Rosalind nodded, and without turning to the girl, she indicated towards an indistinct shape floating above the distant horizon-- the high, snow-capped mountains, trembling and distorted like Fata Morgana.

"With the Snow Queen," she said after a long while.

From how serious her voice sounded, Louise knew that this wasn't good. "How can you be so sure?" she asked, hoping that the fairy was mistaken.

"The Tree Elves and Garrett said that they met large groups of goblins close to the borders of our kingdom recently. Some of them even got through-- they broke that cursed mirror in the air, high above our lands, and let the shards fall everywhere..."

"But what is so evil about that mirror?" Hans asked suddenly, startling Louise, who did not notice that he had woken up.

Rosalind looked at them this time as she replied, "If even the tiniest of its shards falls into someone's eye, or worse, finds its way into their heart, it changes them forever. They become cruel and cold-hearted and only see the worst and the ugliest things about everything and everyone. Most of them follow the Snow Queen into her realm. At least that's what happened the last time, even though it wasn't a mirror back then, but snow and ice."