Hail the Queen

The Ocean Opens Part 3

I woke up wearing a dusty rose gown made of three layers of thin, flouncy fabric. I was back on the purple beach, the black water at my front. The wind whipped through my hair and caressed my skin. I revelled in the feeling of the cool breeze.

The skin at the back of my forehead itched. I grabbed two fistfuls of fabric to keep from scratching. I couldn't stand that feeling. I mistakenly thought it would stop once I made it home.

Meg's presence was behind me before she ever spoke or moved. She didn't have to tell me she was there, I could feel her. Even if I hadn't been able to sense her behind me the whispers were going on about a girl with yellow hair wearing a red robe.

I whirled around to face her, the hem of my skirt kissing my smooth legs. She looked much better down here. She had been looking sicker and sicker with each passing day in the human realm. Her white skin had nearly gone gray, and there had been dark circles under her eyes. Here she looked beautiful. Her blond hair was vibrant, shining straight and smooth down her back. Her skin was the color of fresh cream, and her complexion was flawless. Her coffee colored eyes were brighter, shining with a new purpose.

Meg was wearing a maroon robe that I had never seen before. Attached to the robe was a hood that trailed down to her lower back. She smiled as she looked at me. "We're home," she said victoriously.

"What happened?" I asked, "The last thing I remember is being at the serving window waiting for my eggs."

"We had to get rid of those human bodies," she said simply, "There was only one way to do that."

"Did...did you kill me?" I asked hesitantly.

She nodded, "I had to. It was the only way home."

"But..." I didn't want to ask how she had gotten herself down here. I already knew. The whispers at our backs told me before I could ask. They told me she used the same pencil she had stabbed me with. They showed me everyone standing in the cafeteria, gasping and screaming at the sight of my carcass. I saw her standing over me, Anita rushing toward her.

"I have a place in your castle don't I?" she asked, "We're in this together, aren't we?"

While Vitalis was my oldest friend, Meg was my closest. Though we had only known each other a few years we had gotten very close in that time. We went everywhere together, it seemed a ridiculous notion for me not to give her a room in the castle.

"Of course," I said.

"Good," she replied, "I don't want to be out here wandering these woods for eternity."

I wasn't sure what woods she was referring to. I had only ever made it as far as the ocean. Vitalis had showed me other things, but they were like flashes of photographs. Snapshots in my dreams.

"We probably don't have long before this place falls apart," Meg said, looking around. "We need Vitalis to take us to the Intemperance."

I wrinkled my nose, "Why would we go there?"

"We only have so long before things go south," she reiterated, "The barrier between the mortal world and the Afterworld is going to crack open, and soon. We need to know how much time we have. Leiandros can make us a time turner that will give us a countdown."

No one, to my knowledge, had any idea what would happen if a new ruler wasn't crowned before the eighteen years were up. Since I didn't know the specific date of the last ruler's death I couldn't be sure how much time I had.

"So how do we fix it?" I asked at the risk of sounding ignorant.

"We have to retrieve the souls that have escaped," she said. She was looking out at the black water, scanning the sea in search of Vitalis.