The Lost city of Atlantis

Chapter 2

She woke up, gasping and blinking. Her face was drenched in cold sweat and the fairy was stood beside her, her hands gripping the curtain in shock. She shakes her head and flies over to Alice.

“Come, let’s get you dressed and ready to meet the family.” Alice swings her legs out of the bed and follows the fairy to a door just next to the bed. The fairy opens it to reveal a spotless bathroom, equipped with a sink, toilet, a bath the size of a large paddling pool and a shower. There were wash bags scattered around the room, boxes of new wash kits, and make-up. The fairy pulls a flannel out of one of the wash bags, places it on the sink and beckons Alice forward. Alice gasps when she reaches the sink. The scent of rose petals was floating up from the pink water in the sink. Warm water, with spirals of steam floating up and the scent of roses filling the room with a scent so intoxicating, that Alice began to hum and sway to the sound she was creating. The fairy snapped her out of it by throwing the flannel at her.

“Too much I think,” she mutters to herself. “Wash your face, and do what you need to. You have five minutes before we choose your dress, and another ten to fit you in it.” The fairy flies out the room, and closes the door behind her, leaving Alice to herself. Alice dunks the flannel into the rose water and washes her face, washing away the sweat and discomforting feeling she had received from her dream. Once she finished, she used the toilet and brushed her hair. She sighed and her mind drifted to the Deans, who would surely be worried about her. She looked at herself in the mirror and for the first time, she noticed that the fairy was right. There was a shimmering quality around her, just like water. It only lasted a second, for as soon as she focused on it, it vanished.

“Great.” Alice whispered. “I really am ill.”

“Alice.” The fairy snaps from the other side of the door. “Hurry up!” The door swings open and Alice finds herself being dragged again, this time to the bed where three dresses lay innocently. A rose and lavender one, a peach and fuchsia one and a tan and navy one, each with a set of colour coordinating ribbons with it.  “Choose.” That was all the fairy said, indicating to the dresses. Alice picks up the Rose and Lavender one, and the fairy clicks her fingers, and the other two vanish. “You’ll need to change manually, I’m afraid. If I can’t touch you, my magic won’t do much.” Ten minutes later, she was dressed in the dress and ribbons. The dress trailed along the floor, and the ribbons joined her hair in cascading down her back. It was an odd feeling to be dressed in a dress fit for royalty, but clearly not a royals dress in this strange place. Her natural blonde hair had a slight red tinge to it, and the fairy narrowed her eyes as she placed a pair of white pumps in front of Alice, who slips her feet into them and follows the fairy out of the room and down a series of corridors, which seemed to bleed colour and magic. Fairies and nymphs darted along the corridors.

“Now,” the fairy says as they move up a third set of stairs. “When we reach the royal family’s dining room, and I present you, do be sure to curtsey. You know how, I’m sure?”

“Course, I did ballet for two years.” Alice demonstrates a curtsey to the fairy whose eyes fill with relief as Alice clears the curtsey with a perfection only reached by professionals.

“Oh, and please use proper English in front of the royal family, Alice. It does not do to talk in short hand, or slang in front of those who have the authority to chop off your head, or banish you from the city, or throw you in the dungeons without the slightest second thought.”

“Of course I will. I’m no stranger to the ethics of talking to and being around royalty. I’ve met the whole of the royal family in England, and that was at most of my ballet performances.” Alice tells the rather confused fairy.

“England?” She repeats in a dazed tone. “You mean … you’re from the human world?” Alice hums in response, not noticing the panicked expression that crosses the fairy’s face. “Humans don’t usually have a shimmering bubble around them. The royal family will know what it is, if not, I know someone who can help. Come on, we’re running late as it is.” They pass a portrait of what Alice guessed to be the royal family.