Crossover II Evalius

Chapter 18 The Truth About Evalius

Chapter 18
The Truth About Evalius

    Aria stood, stunned. She had no idea what to do or even say next. Recalling the day Mr. Evans made his first appearance and how he gave her the creeps, Aria had the sensation that he would be challenging to deal with as a villain.

    “So Myrtle, the one that got away,” Mr. Evans, known here as Lord Argarion, continued, “You have not yet told me why you have come back.”

    Aria’s insides leaped as she had just remembered she still remained in Myrtle’s body. She desperately tried to pull herself together but her mind continued to run wild. What did he mean by one that got away?

    “Um, you have a plan,” Aria stated attempting not to come off as too anxious. “And it involves the other world. Am I right?”

    He smirked quite viciously in his velvet red robes. “I see you are as clever as ever, Myrtle for you are quite right. I have grown quite tired of choosing a young girl from this world so I have decided to look elsewhere. I must say, I have found quite the vivacious young lady. Strong, free-spirited she is, a lot like you. This girl will be perfect for my next bride.”

    Concealing as much emotion as possible, Aria reflected over everything he revealed. At last everything was starting to come together. Lord Argarion came to her world in search of a bride and his eyes fell on Kendal. That definitely explained all the flirting as well when he was there as Mr. Evans. Since student –teacher relationships are inappropriate Argarion must have sent Edmund there to lure Kendal to him.

    “Well, I best be off.” Lord Argarion repositioned himself on his horse. “It was good to see you again, Myrtle.”

    As he rode off, Aria felt a series of chills run down her spine. It turns out, this man is even worse than she thought he was when first seeing him.

    “Aria?” a comforting familiar voice called from behind. “Is that you?”

    “Adora!” Aria smiled, never more glad to see her redheaded fairy friend. “How did you know it’s me?”

    “We could sense that you had come to this world so I used my wand to track you and it led me here,” Adora explained in distress, beads of sweat on her forehead. “What are you doing so close to Evalius and how did you end up in Myrtle’s body?”

    “Well, since no one would tell me about Evalius I wanted to find out for myself what it is all about,” Aria replied stubbornly, then softening. “I used Myrtle’s wand to try to get the information I needed from her and…”

    “You used Myrtle’s wand? Aria, princesses are not suppose to perform magic. It can go terribly wrong!”

    Aria ran her fingers through her hair, looking down. “Yeah, I know that now.”
   
    Adora’s disappointed rage only seemed to build up. “What were you even doing with Myrtle’s wand in the first place? You told us it was lost!” She paused growing redder in the face as she realized something else. “Us fairies would have known if you had used Myrtle’s wand in this world so you must have done it in yours, which means Myrtle is there. How long has she been there? Instead of using magic on her, you should have immediately come to us and tell us where she is!”

    Aria felt her own body fume. “So what, so you and your sister fairies can kill her? I won’t let that happen!” 

    “Aria, she is evil.” Adora put her hand up trying to sound calmer. “My sisters and I are prepared to so whatever it takes to keep you safe. As long as Myrtle lives you are in danger.”

    “If she wanted to do something bad to me she probably would have done so by now.”

    Adora gasped. “Has she been there a long time?”

    Aria met her eyes. “Ever since before the ball. She told me some interesting things about this world. Apparently my story here is over so I guess I don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

    Adora sighed as she gazed down. “So I see you know the truth about how things work here. Still, this is different. Every other time, the prince slays both the dragon and the witch and he and the princess live happily ever after. Verna believes getting mixed up with another dimension messed your story up.”

    Aria gazed up as she then inquired, “I’ve also been wondering, since you fairies seem to know how everything turns out in the end, why did you send me to another dimension if you already knew Myrtle was going to lose?”

    Adora considered her words. “It’s difficult to explain. All the other fairies that turned bad and tried to kill the princess were merely upset about not being invited to her celebration. With Myrtle, it was more complicated than that. Unlike any of the other fairies before her, she had ties with Evalius. Verna feared it may affect the outcome of your happily ever after.”

    “So let me get this straight.” Aria put her hand on her head as she absorbed this. “Lord Argarion was the one who turned Myrtle evil.”

    Adora nodded sadly. “That was what I was told, but I do not know the details about what happened while she was in Evalius or what led her there in the first place.”

    But Myrtle does, Aria thought to herself, instead asking, “So in Galatia good triumphs evil, always. Does that mean in places such as Evalius, evil always wins?”

    “Yes, Aria.” Adora’s eyes grew in plead. “That is why you must stay away from there before Lord Argarion chooses his next victim.”

    “He already has,” Aria muttered softly thinking of Kendal.

    Adora grabbed her arm. “Its not you, is it?”

    Aria shook her head. “It’s my frie… well, a classmate.”

    Letting out a sigh of relief, Adora uttered, “Oh, thank goodness. The best thing you can do now is stay out this. If you were to get involved, something terrible may happen to you as well.”

    “I can’t just sit back knowing something bad is going to happen to someone and not do anything about it,” Aria protested.

    “Well, if you can keep your friend from coming into this world she will likely be fine, but with Myrtle there that may be difficult.”

    “Myrtle’s not the one aiding Lord Argarion. It’s Edmund,” Aria informed her.

    “Still, it would be better for your sake if you were to let us take care of Myrtle, Aria.”

    Aria felt her anger rise, yet again. “I’m not going to let you kill her! Besides, this isn’t even about me anymore, it’s about Kendal.”

    Aria stopped to think of the irony of this situation. Kendal always acted as though the world revolved around her. Now, that there was, in fact, something all about her, Kendal remained completely unaware of this.

    Adora broke the silence. “What am I suppose to do, Aria, not tell the other fairies about Myrtle?”

    “Yes, please Adora,” Aria begged. “I might need her help to figure the rest of this out. Please, just pretend like you don’t know about Myrtle.”

    Adora raised her eyebrow. “You really believed she’s changed, don’t you?”

    Aria nodded with big eyes.

    Adora sighed. “Fine. I really should not be doing this, but to be quite honest, I have no idea how to handle this situation. However, if Myrtle does try anything, us fairies will have no choice but to get involved. You do understand, right, Aria?”

    “Yes, thank you, Adora,” Aria replied gratefully, and then paused to look down at her body. “Do you by any chance know a way I can get back into my own body?”

    “Now that you are in a fairy’s body, that wand should do whatever you want now,” Adora explained as she let out a sigh.

    “Really?” Aria huffed out a frustrated breath. “Why didn’t Myrtle just tell me that?”

    Adora smiled, trying to hide the smirk. “Still quick to trust your new friend?”

    “She probably just wanted to see what it was like to be me for a day,” Aria suspected. “Besides, aside from manipulating Kendal into kissing Walter, she didn’t do anything too bad. She even helped me make up with Derek.”

    Adora frowned. “I did not realize you and Derek were having problems.”

    “Yeah, well when you go to a ball filled with perfect princes wanting your hand in marriage, your boyfriend tends to get kind of upset,” Aria grumbled.

    Adora briefly put her hand on her head. “I tried to tell Verna the ball was a bad idea. She just would not listen. Her word always must go.”

    Aria sighed. It seemed like of all the fairies, Adora was the one with the best judgment. Not wanting to start a mutiny among the sister fairies, she did not point this out.

    Instead she asked, “If I were to use this want to get me back to the lake, would it work?”

    “Your wand should get you wherever you need to go as long as it’s in this world,” Adora replied. “Do you want me to come with you?”

    Aria shook her head. “No. I want to talk to Myrtle alone. Just please do not tell the others fairies about her, okay?”

    Aria felt relief, as the last thing she observed before disappearing was Adora nodding sincerely. Reappearing in front of the lake, Aria gazed down at the wand surprised that it actually worked. She stepped into the lake prepared for that uncomfortable jerking feeling, found Myrtle’s car where she parked it, and drove back to her house. Checking the time in the car, Aria saw that it was 7:30 pm. She found that she disliked driving even more in the darkness than in daylight.

    As she pulled up in front of her own home and knocked on the door, Aria tried to think of a believable explanation to tell her parents.

    Elizabeth opened the door, confused, but still smiled. “Um, hello.”

    “Hi, Mrs. Rosenberg.” Aria ignored the odd feeling of referring to her own mom as Mrs. Rosenberg as she continued, “I am Ms. Malone, Aria’s English teacher. I, um… I was incredibly impressed with a poem she wrote for class and wanted to talk to her about entering it in a contest.”

    Elizabeth’s befuddled expression only seemed to heighten, but nevertheless she opened the door wider so Aria could come in.

    “Aria!” Elizabeth called the girl she thought was her daughter upstairs. “You teacher is here to discuss a poem you wrote.”

    Myrtle appeared at the stairway and gracefully walked down, smiling. “Is she now? Yes, I meant to tell you about that, Mom. Well, I suspect Ms. Malone, right now, will want to discuss this poem with me alone.” She directed her gaze to Aria. “Am I right?”

    “Yes,” Aria agreed gratefully. “Yes, we should talk alone.”

    Elizabeth showed them to the dining room, closing the doors behind her.

    “So,” Myrtle began, standing on one side of the table. “Did you find out what you needed to know?”

    “Most of it, but there are still some questions I want to ask you.” Aria checked to make sure the doors were shut tight. “First, I want to switch us back into our own bodies.”

    Aria waved the wand transferring her self back into her own body and Myrtle hers. She let out a breath of relief as she looked down and ran her fingers down her long golden hair once again. It felt so good to be her again. Looking over to Myrtle, Aria could tell she felt the same way.

    After a few moments of silence Myrtle broke it saying, “I suppose I may as well tell you everything, now, but first, why don’t you tell me what you already know?”

    Aria put her hands on the table, as she sat down on the chair, trying to recall everything she learned. “I remember you telling me that in Galatia good always wins so since everyone is so afraid of Evalius I figured that it is just the opposite there, where evil always wins.”

    Myrtle nodded as she seated herself. “You are quite right. Unlike Galatia, in Evalius there are no happy endings. There, everything always ends in tragedy. That is why stories from Evalius and lands similar do not always make it to this world, unlike your story. I doubt any parent here would want to read a bedtime story to their child about an evil dictator that always wins.”

    Aria nodded, part of her glad she finally understood, but she still had one question. “What happens when a girl gets chosen to be Lord Argarion’s bride?”

    “You see, Aria. Lord Argarion has been around for thousands of years,” Myrtle explained as she rested her arm on the table.

    “How is that possible?” Aria asked as she pictured the dark haired muscular man who rode the horse. “He looks like he’s about thirty. Is he immortal or something?”

    Myrtle shook her head. “No, he is not immortal. He has his own way of staying youthful.”

    “How?”

    Myrtle looked deeply into her eyes as she answered, “His brides. Every ten years he chooses a beautiful young girl to be his bride. At the ceremony he has his priest perform a ritual that allows him to steal her youth, leaving the girl nothing more than bones.”

    Aria gasped throwing her hand over her mouth. “So that’s what Kendal has been chosen for, to be his bride so he can stay young?”

    Myrtle nodded. “Once he gets her into Evalius, she is as good as dead.”

    Aria pounded her fist against the table. “How does he choose his bride? Why did he come here of all places?”

    Myrtle shrugged. “Usually he chooses a girl from his own kingdom, but every now and then, Lord Argarion becomes bored with that and decides to try something different, maybe a girl from another kingdom, or another world in this case,” She paused and added more darkly, “or maybe a young inexperienced fairy.”

    Aria looked up directly at Myrtle. “He choose you once, didn’t he? Adora said you had a connection with Evalius. That was it, wasn’t it? You were once chosen to be Lord Argarion’s bride!”

    Myrtle nodded solemnly. “Yes, Princess, you are correct. A long time ago I was chosen to be his bride.”

    Aria looked down, still thinking. “But I don’t understand. You said there were no happy endings in Evalius, yet obviously you somehow managed to get away from him.”

    “I wouldn’t exactly call my escaping a happy ending,” Myrtle pointed out, raising her eyebrow. “Would you?”

    Aria’s eyes turned back to Myrtle, as she finally understood. “That was when you turned, wasn’t it?”

    “You have to understand, Aria, it took quite a bit of dark magic to escape from that place. I had to kill five of Lord Argarion’s men in the process. Since it is unacceptable to a fairy to commit murder, once I escaped I was then expelled from the sisterhood of the fairies, forever.” Myrtle stared down at the floor as she added bitterly, “I tried so hard to escape from that God-forsaken place to get back to the one family I knew only to be turned away by them. I don’t think I ever felt more rage in my entire life then I did that day.”

    “But don’t they know that you only killed in self-defense?” Aria demanded. “That you had to do whatever it took to get out of there?”

    “A fairy is destined to protect life,” Myrtle informed. “For one to take life away instead is an abomination. That was how Verna saw it.”

    Aria continued to ponder over this, now at a loss for words. Even though she at last knew everything she needed, Aria still had no idea how to save Kendal from this fate.

    “There has to be a way to stop him,” Aria muttered softly, looking up to Myrtle for advice.

    Instead of staying to chat, Myrtle rose and walked to the door. “I am afraid that is not possible, Aria. Your friend’s fate is sealed. The only thing you can do now is continue on with your own life and be grateful that you were not chosen.”