The Other Side of the Mirror

Epilogue

Some say time has a painful beauty, for it endlessly passes, waiting for no one, forever mocking us with its sacredness. It is a force as powerful and permanent as love.

It inevitably cast its bewitching spell over the land and slowly everything began to return to normal...well a new normal for the realm.

When the bright light of the four crystals faded from the visions of everyone present that night, the world around them appeared as it had been. Those who had been lost were dead no more, and the ground never once trembled again.

But there were two who were not brought back, and all that remained of them was a pile of ash on the grass.

They were gone, but not forgotten...

Facing guilt and remorse every day for the way she acted under the corruption of the Earrings of the Knowhere, Priscilla took it upon herself to learn everything she could about the dark magic of the realm and the worlds beyond and used her knowledge to warn and educate others. Despite her sadness of the implications that her despicable actions had on so many others, she did everything she could to make it up to the ones she hurt and found peace in being able to help others.

She is happy.

Marcie held a meeting with the Guardians of the other five realms and they all agreed that humans born to Wisps no longer had to be sent to the human world. They also agreed that Vivian, Nora and Albert be granted permission to visit whenever they pleased. Her compassion, generosity and wisdom led her to being awarded the lands most prestigious medal.

She is happy.

Taking full advantage of her new permission, Vivian visited her sister every day and they spent endless happy hours together. While it took her some time, she also forgave her grandmother for the poor way she once treated her sister and her mother. They spent several peaceful evenings poring through old photo albums, which hadn't seen the light of day in a long time, full of pictures of Rhea, Vivian and Nyx. At first it was hard for Vivian to look at them, but now she looks at them with fondness not sadness, cherishing the short but happy time she spent with her mother.

She is happy.

Since she was not allowed to go the human world, Nyx stayed with Marcie and lived happily in the palace. She is next in line to the position of Guardian, after all she is five minutes older than her sister. Every year, on the anniversary of the fateful day, she returns to the weeping willow and places a single forget-me-not in the clover bed surrounding the trunk. To honour her mother's memory she named the realm's peaceful river after her. She hoped Christiana would be pleased. Like her sister, she misses their parents dearly, but she knows that, somewhere, they are happy and watching over her and Vivian.

She is happy.

Albert and Nora visited the realm every so often to see their granddaughter and build bridges with the Wisps. They also took up the rumba to keep them fit in their ripe old age. Despite not being very good at it, they still have fun and spend more time laughing than dancing.

They are happy.

And, somewhere, far up in the sky, two new stars embedded in the thick blanket of night shone down, casting a soft glow over the realm. While we will never know, I like to think that they too are happy.

And so, dear reader, we have reached the end of this tale. To face goodbyes and feel sorrow are both parts of living and, sadly, as long as we live we can never escape this. But as long as we live, we determine our destinies and our future is a blank page.

May we meet again, in another time, another place, another story...