Into the Gray

by Geanna Culbertson

  My jaw had dropped lower the longer Lenore spoke. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. The antagonists had magic dust reserves? That equaled energy, weaponry, and money! What the frack?!

  My brain surged, I felt the need to gripe at Lenore, but I resisted and took a deep breath.

  Same team now.

  I shook my head. “I need to process all of this. Send me back to where I came from please.”

  “Very well.” Lenore held up her wand.

  “Actually, one last sec.” I rushed to Debbie and hugged her tightly. “Please be careful.”

  “You too,” she replied, returning the embrace.

  I stepped back and signaled I was ready. Lenore raised her wand again, but this time she paused. “Crisanta, whether you care or not, I am growing to respect you. When channeled properly, your boldness and outlier personality can be very useful. Your Pure Magic may still corrupt you in the end, but not for making tough choices or defending our realm like you did today. Whatever other people might say, what you’ve done here is put the greater good first. There is nothing more respectable than that. I should have seen it sooner.”

  Lenore waved her wand and in a flash a magic comet consumed me. Seconds later, I found myself in an alleyway. I drifted forward to discover the streets of the village where I’d left Chance—the bench we’d been sitting on across the road. He wasn’t there anymore, but that was probably for the best. Once I recovered from the nausea of the magic transport, I walked along the road alone, mulling over what I guessed was Lenore’s attempt at an apology and the unsettling notion that she had respect for me.

  Having someone you hated respect you was a weird thing. It made me question if my disdain for the woman would fade over time. I sort of hoped it wouldn’t. I didn’t like or agree with Lenore’s core methodology and felt if I ever forgot that, I would’ve lost a piece of myself that mattered. Still, she had granted me a great, previously unknown sense of liberation since yesterday—letting me use my magic without being judged, letting me get the job done without being condemned for my tactics. That turn of events had led me to where I was now.

  I felt encouraged. I felt less insecure. I felt like I’d reached a stronger state of peace than I’d achieved in months because I knew what I was doing. I was going to live in the gray proudly and be the best hero I could be. Anyone who disagreed with my methods and tried to shove me back into traditional ways of viewing light and dark could keep their opinions to themselves. The wicked didn’t understand dedicating one’s heart to goodness and justice no matter the cost. The morally righteous didn’t understand putting aside conventional ways of thinking for the sake of really moving the needle in the fight against evil. I was trying to walk a tightrope between both understandings. If people didn’t get it, that was their problem, their lack of experience. And to quote Merlin, and apparently some girl named Taylor Swift, “Haters gonna hate.”

  s I exited the castle elevator at the top, a huge winged form spiraled down to land on the runway. I braced myself against the downdraft, then jogged forward when Lucky had successfully settled.

  “Hey guys!”

  I hugged Daniel and Girtha while Kai and Javier were still dismounting. I’d spent the remainder of my day exploring the village alone, but returned when Daniel called my Mark Two and said they were inbound.

  “Chance has some sweet digs,” Girtha commented, marveling at the structure. “This place is impressive.”

  “Wait ’til you see the inside,” I replied, patting Lucky on the snout. “Just keep a look out for Chance’s family. They’re not all as nice as him.”

  “That’s not surprising given that he sets the bar so high,” Daniel commented sarcastically.

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” I glanced behind me and saw Chance, Blue, and Jason coming out of the castle.

  “What up?” Blue said as they approached. “How was the flight?”

  “Exhausting,” Kai responded.

  “Says the person who’s only made the trip once,” Javier responded. “Chance, man, does your castle have a chiropractor like Gordon’s does? I love riding, but I’ve got a killer neckache.”

  “Yeah, I’ll take you there now,” Chance said. “Jason and Blue, can you show everyone else the way to the guest rooms. Dinner is in an hour. Crisa, did everything go okay with Lenore?”

  Daniel rounded on me. “What happened with Lenore?”

  “She summoned me again,” I said. “I helped her rescue some people, including my Fairy Godmother Debbie, from rebels and learned about a pretty terrible development regarding what the commons have been up to lately.”

  “Conference call?” Jason asked.

  I nodded. “I’ll explain the whole story on the call we already have scheduled for tonight after we use the potion on Mauvrey.”

  “Does anyone else have a bad feeling that things are about to change irrevocably?” Kai asked as we headed toward the castle.

  “Only every day since junior year started,” Blue replied. “You get used to it.”

  To accommodate our large group, Chance’s family had converted one of the castle’s conference rooms into a private dining area for us. We were grateful for that; it meant no more tense meals with the other Darling kids.

  Since we’d agreed not to talk business until later, the mealtime we spent together felt almost normal. True to her MO now, SJ arrived late due to potions training. I found her dedication admirable, though it made me sad since it meant spending a lot less time with her. I’d have to get used to it. When you were good friends with someone, you accepted that you had different interests and priorities and simply had to value any time spent together at all.

  “There you are!” Javier said when SJ arrived.

  “Working hard or hardly working, SJ?” Blue asked.

  “Says the protagonist who likely spent her day frolicking in the village and free-fighting in the castle combat arenas,” SJ responded.

  “Touché.” Blue grinned.

  “Speaking of the village,” Jason said to Blue. “There’s a knife-throwing tournament tomorrow with a barbeque after. You and I could go together, Blue, and you could enter.”

  “Wouldn’t be fair,” Blue commented while sipping her soda. “I’m better than everyone else.”

  “She’s modest too,” Girtha added.

  “Shut up,” Blue replied.

  We all had a good laugh. I laughed a bit less when I noticed Jason’s disappointed expression. Had that been his attempt to listen to my advice and make a move on Blue? Was that supposed to be him asking her on a date or something?

  Geez, if I couldn’t tell, how was she meant to?

  “Well, who can say what any of our schedules will look like once we have concluded with tonight’s main event,” SJ said. “Our conference call with the others is in forty minutes. We should proceed to the tower now and do this.”

  “You haven’t eaten yet,” Kai commented, offering her a basket of rolls.

  SJ held up a restraining hand and stood. “I will eat later. Shall we?”

  Our group trooped up to Mauvrey’s tower. The mirrors now leaned against the hallway just outside the room. We couldn’t risk Mauvrey’s memory potion going bananas and splintering the looking glasses like Merlin had warned.

  Door closed, the nine of us stood around Mauvrey’s bed. The princess breathed steadily as ever. I itched with excitement and curiosity. I didn’t know what came next, but we’d waited a long time for this part of the storyline to move forward and truthfully, I was ready to focus on something other than the plot surrounding my Pure Magic. Whatever obstacles came with breaking this sleeping curse would be cake compared to the emotionally draining struggle of balancing my character with my power. Saving yourself was way harder than saving others and I wanted to focus on saving Mauvrey and Mark.

  “Is everyone set?” SJ asked.

  We nodded and SJ approached Mauvrey, two objects in hand. One was a marble-sized portable potion that glowed a d
istinct shade of lavender. The second item looked similar—like a purple glowing portable potion—but was contained within a glass orb the size of an orange.

  “A couple of things to note,” SJ said, pivoting around to face us. “First—this potion recreates crucial memories that affect Mauvrey. Most of those should be from Mauvrey’s life and perspective; however, since Tara’s life clearly had an important impact on Mauvrey’s, there may be some memories of hers mixed in here too.”

  “And the second thing?” Javier asked.

  “No one panic when the effects take hold,” SJ instructed. “From what Merlin and I predict, the memories should be drawn from Mauvrey and consume us like reality, but we will still be in this room.”

  Blue and I exchanged a glance.

  SJ gestured for Chance. “Help me, will you?”

  He stepped forward.

  “Open Mauvrey’s mouth,” SJ instructed.

  He gently used two hands to open her jaws, parting her lips, and SJ dropped the smaller portable potion inside. “Close it,” she ordered. “It will dissolve in a moment.”

  The prince obliged and then stepped away from Mauvrey, as did SJ. For a second, everything was still. Then Mauvrey’s eyes snapped open. Her eyeballs glowed the same purple shade as the portable potion only much brighter, casting purple beams of energy at the ceiling.

  “Here we go,” SJ said. She chucked the bigger orb at the floor beneath Mauvrey’s bed. It shattered and shimmering fog swirled around the space in tight clusters like snakes, expanding to coat everyone and everything. When the vapor dissipated we were in a throne room. The scene seemed hazy and the colors were a bit distorted, like standing in a fading dream. Equally blurry people walked around us, unaware of our presence; though my friends and I were perfectly clear.

  “Thank you for joining us,” a male voice boomed.

  We turned and I recognized Mauvrey’s parents seated on the thrones at the front of the room. At their side, holding the king’s hand, stood a small child. She was maybe three years old with brown hair in two braids—not Mauvrey. I was certain of it. The gathered guests bowed before the royals. That’s when I noticed the bundle in the queen’s arms.

  “It is a joy to celebrate the birth of our second daughter, Princess Mauvrey Weatherall of Tunderly,” the queen said, holding up the baby.

  The fog suddenly thickened and swirled around to consume us again. When it thinned, we were in a playroom. Before us, two little girls cavorted happily. The brunette, the one I’d seen in the previous vision, was about seven and the younger blonde girl seemed close to four. She was undoubtedly Mauvrey.

  Mauvrey hugged her sister. “I love you, June! You are the best big sister ever!”

  June turned her head and coughed a bit but squeezed Mauvrey back with a big smile.

  More fog. When it parted this time, a still-young June lay in a hospital bed. Machines were connected to her, beeping steadily. Mauvrey watched over her sleeping sister with great distress.

  We were consumed again a second later and the next vision was ghastly more morose. Mauvrey and her parents stood in a cemetery. A large processional gathered behind them. Everyone was dressed in black. They converged around a gravestone inscribed with the name Princess June Alvara Weatherall.

  My friends and I looked at each other as the scene changed. Through the fog I heard a little girl’s laughter. Then the smoke cleared and my friends and I materialized in a lush field of wildflowers. A big castle sat in the background.

  Mauvrey ran around playing, her blonde hair bouncing off her shoulders. She was a few years older than she’d been in the cemetery scene, maybe seven. Suddenly, another girl appeared. She was a few years older than Mauvrey and had platinum blonde hair.

  “Who are you?” Mauvrey asked.

  “My name is Tara,” the girl replied. “My mom works in the castle. Do you want some company?”

  “That could be nice,” Mauvrey said. “Mommy and Daddy do not usually let me go outside the castle for play dates. Are you sure you want to play with me though? I am a lot smaller than you.”

  “Yeah, it could be fun,” Tara said. “I don’t have any siblings, so my mom brings me to work sometimes. I get lonely in this big castle.”

  Mauvrey’s small face shifted with sadness. “Yeah, me too.”

  The next few scenes were quick flashes of Tara and Mauvrey playing together. The changes from scene to scene were so fast that the fog never fully dissipated. It entwined our image of the girls with billows of purple vapor. The last scene in this sequence featured Mauvrey hugging Tara. The two had aged a couple of years since they’d met.

  “I am glad I have you, Tara,” Mauvrey said. “You have been like a big sister to me and I want you to know that even when I go off to school next week, I will always love you and look forward to our time together when I return.”

  “Do you want to have one last sleepover before you go?” Tara asked.

  “Sure,” Mauvrey replied.

  The fog swallowed us and transported the scene to the woods after dark. Mauvrey’s castle loomed in the background. Tara stood under a tree, waiting. Then Arian emerged from the forest’s depths. He was in his teens, a bit leaner and without the scar I’d given him on the side of his face. I was taken aback to see him so much younger.

  “Good luck,” he said to Tara, handing her a folded piece of parchment, a small bag holding some kind of black loose substance, and two vials. “The rest of our team is already in Dreamland expecting her. If all goes well, I’ll see you with your new face soon.”

  My gut churned. I knew what was coming but still didn’t understand how. The scene changed and that answer was finally revealed.

  Mauvrey stretched sheets over an air mattress, which lay on the floor between a plush canopy bed and another air mattress, where Tara sat. Apparently the princess preferred to rough it on the floor beside Tara than be separated in her own big bed. The two friends said goodnight to each other and turned off the lights. My group and I remained in the room as the shadows on the wall moved rapidly, indicating the passage of time. Eventually, the clock on the wall struck midnight. Tara opened her eyes. She took out the bag with the black substance and poured the contents into her hands. It looked like sand. Black sand.

  Tara delicately pinched Mauvrey’s nose, causing the princess to open her mouth. Tara sprinkled the sand over Mauvrey’s closed eyes and into her mouth. Mauvrey huffed but didn’t wake. The sand disintegrated when it made contact with her, absorbing into the princess.

  After, Tara sat on her air mattress and waited. The hands of the clock on the wall turned speedily. At two in the morning, Mauvrey started to choke. She didn’t wake up, but her body and face seized and she began to hack violently. Then her eyes burst open. They were a frightening pure black.

  Mauvrey stopped coughing and became still as a board. That’s when the perspective shifted.

  All of a sudden, it was like my friends and I were viewing the scene from Mauvrey’s blacked-out eyes. We stood huddled together, looking up at Tara from what would’ve been Mauvrey’s vantage point.

  Tara leaned over Mauvrey. She removed the stopper from one vial, which had lime green liquid, and drank it all. Then she uncorked the second vial, which was filled with crimson paste. Tara dipped her index finger inside to coat it with the paste and ran her finger across her own forehead and then Mauvrey’s. Lastly, Tara unfolded the parchment. It was torn on one side like it had been ripped from a book. She read out loud:

  “Vessel made for just one soul,

  I take you now and assume control.

  Mind, heart, and body too,

  I commandeer every facet of you.

  Be mine in full while your soul shall sleep,

  Until such time I desire, your life I keep.”

  The words on the parchment glowed. Tara set the spell down as a magical aura consumed her body too. The girl started to fade; she got blurrier and blurrier until her physical body was a misty silhouette. Her essence came toward Ma
uvrey. Then everything went black. A moment later, my friends and I were back in the tower at Chance’s castle, the last of the purple mist disappearing by our shoes.

  I looked at real Mauvrey, lying asleep in the middle of the room. Gradually I stepped forward and did something I hadn’t thought to do until now. I gently pulled up one of the princess’s eyelids. Her eye sockets were filled with blackness . . . like I’d seen in Shadow Guardians when their powers were disrupted.

  I gazed at my stunned friends. “Someone help me get the mirrors.”

  “Thank you, your majesty,” I said. “We’ll be in touch soon.”

  I hung up my call with Queen Belleny and returned inside the tower where my friends were gathered. We had brought the mirrors back in and called up Divya, Marie, Gordon, and Merlin. Divya wore a sequined red dress with a gold headpiece, having escaped to a pantry during her sister’s wedding reception. There was a lot of background noise, but she assured that she could still hear us.

  My friends inside the tower were finishing providing a recap of the memories we’d witnessed to our absent friends when I walked back in. On a hunch I’d excused myself before the recap to call Mark’s mother one-on-one, not wanting to overwhelm her with so many people. When we spoke, I’d had her confirm what I’d suspected—Mark had to be under the same curse as Mauvrey. The queen affirmed that his eyes were also filled with blackness.

  “And then Tara’s essence absorbed into Mauvrey,” Jason concluded. He pivoted toward me as I reentered. “What did the queen say?”

  “His eyes are the same. So that’s one mystery sort of solved.”

  “The bigger one remains—what’s the deal with the crazy possession spell Tara used on Mauvrey?” Gordon said. “Can spells really be powerful enough to last that length of time?”