Dancing on Strings

The Queen

Mai opened her eyes and woke, as she had done so many times before, on the bank of the lake, looking towards the dream palace.

She looked over her shoulder, to the hill she'd spent much of the last four months sat on top of, testing and expanding her powers, sometimes alone, sometimes with Griffin beside her, guiding and watching and marvelling over how her powers outshone his despite him being in the dream world so much longer.

This time, as she pushed to her feet, she didn't climb the hill, but turned towards the broken, abandoned, discarded version of the palace across the lake and walked to the shore, looking at the dull palace across the glassy water.

This was it.

This was the last place she could think of.

If not here, there was no other 'below the palace'.

The door was not in the banquet halls.

It was not below the island in the main Dream World.

This place, in the World of Dreams – where she and Griffin could dream up whatever they wished – this was the last place she could think of.

Reve was sure she'd never find the door.

But then he also assumed she could not fly nor breath under water without him. As far as she was aware, he didn't know she was the reason behind whatever shock wave had shaken the castle.

Not that she knew what had caused it either.

She looked at the broken palace ahead.

She had never asked Reve why this copy of the palace they lived in was so desolate. But then, she had never asked him why he hid himself away from the other gods or what he had done do cause his retreat into hiding.

The most she had ever got was that it had been a collision of interests; he had been outnumbered and had locked out the world that didn't agree with him.

She half wondered if, if she knew the reasons, she'd sympathise with his reasons for hiding.

But she doubted it.

Not when he entertained himself and chased his loneliness away with the collections of thousands of people to lock away as each lost his interest.

Perhaps he was chasing something.

Or someone.

And no one in his collection lived up to that need.

That expectation.

But somehow, she doubted it.

She pursed her lips into a thin, hard line and looked to her right as something glimmered on the shore a dozen meters away.

Her brow rose.

There was a young lady stood on the shore.

She was dressed in white.

Her blonde hair was loose around her shoulders.

She was pretty and gazing at the castle with dreamlike eyes.

Her figure was ghostly and shimmered, not quite part of Mai's plane of existence.

A hazy swan boat drifted towards her and the girl took a step towards it.

"Hey!"

Mai called over before she even realised it was her voice speaking.

She hadn't even expected the girl to hear her but she stopped and looked towards Mai.