“I don’t understand,” the Sea Witch spoke naturally. She stretched her neck then opened and closed her left hand to stretch her fingers. Her right clutched my hunting knife.
“You can talk normally,” Lonna commented, keeping a cautious distance.
“I have many voices under my complete control,” the Sea Witch responded. “Not all Mer people can cheat me of what I am owed. Who are you, dear?”
“Mother?” Humilde floated forward, her necklace flashing as words projected out of it. “It’s me, Humilde. I made a deal with this mermaid and these children to bring you back to life. This is our cousin, Lonna Langard.” She turned to us, her expression joyful and hopeful. “You gave me what you promised. Thank you. Now I will do the same.” Humilde made a grasping motion with her hand and the Midnight Law flame emerged from her pocket. It shone brilliantly in the shadiness of the sea.
She lobbed the flame toward Chance, who caught it so to speak. The flame floated above his palm until he pulled out his pocket watch with his other hand and touched it to the flame. Our magical prize absorbed into the timepiece, which glowed green in return. We crowded around the prince and saw the word “Patience” appear on the watch’s face. When it faded, a quarter of the clock remained green and glowing.
“The first important key to a relationship,” Jason commented. He glanced at me. “That checks out.”
“Now what?” Chance said, looking around. “Shouldn’t another portal lead us to the next challenge?”
“Only if we pass a test associated with that,” Girtha said.
“This royal mermaid woke me?” the Sea Witch exclaimed in disbelief. Our attention darted down to the exchange. “Well, it seems that stupidity in our bloodline is an ongoing trait.”
“Um, Mother,” Humilde said, clearly surprised that the Sea Witch wasn’t giving her more of a reaction. “Don’t you recognize me? It’s been many years; I’m so happy to see you.”
“Yes, yes, it’s been a long time.” The Sea Witch waved her off. “Don’t make this all about you, Humilde dear. I have been asleep for what feels like eternity, and you are telling me that a Mer princess is the one who woke me up?”
“Lonna is offering us a place in her palace, Mother,” Humilde said timidly. “We can have another chance. A new generation is here. Maybe others will be more accepting of us in a different Mer kingdom? If we stop making magical deals that have terrible consequences, perhaps they’ll see we’re not the monsters they make us out to be.”
“Ha!” The Sea Witch shook her head. “Humilde, darling, I love how optimistic you are even as I question your intelligence. Do you honestly expect people to simply open their arms and welcome us? We are different. We cannot fit their mold. We only have each other.”
“But that in itself could be enough . . . right?” Humilde said. She seemed to shrink before her mother’s conviction. “You were alone for many years, and I spent many years alone when you were fossilized. We never had each other before, but now we do. You and I could support one another going forward. If I believe in you and you do the same for me, perhaps we can inspire others to have that same confidence in us. And even if they don’t . . . at least we can be strong together.”
“As you said, you’ve gone without a role model for too many years, Humilde.” The Sea Witch shook her head. “But yes. We can be strong together. Let me show you how.”
The Sea Witch suddenly glowed blue. She squeezed her fist and Lonna lit up too; our friend shrank to the size of a doll. The Sea Witch darted forward and grabbed her in one hand.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Arabeth rushed in, shining with her own blue energy. The water around the Sea Witch bubbled. The woman screamed as it boiled and steamed around her.
I was impressed. When Arabeth told us her power was boiling water, I wondered how helpful it could be, apart from making a nice cup of tea. Now I understood.
The Sea Witch released her grip on tiny Lonna, who swam away, but her next move was far worse. The villainess surpassed the pain of the boiling water and focused her power on the five spider sharks, which grew six times their size. One plowed into Arabeth, knocking her to the side and ceasing her exertion of power.
“Wait, hold on!” Humilde protested.
“They were my pets before they were yours, darling,” the Sea Witch said. “Attack, boys.”
The other sharks darted at us. We scattered, all except Michael. He glowed blue and held up his hands. Two spider sharks headed straight for him halted. They were consumed by the same aqua energy that Michael projected.
“Fight back. Protect,” Michael ordered. The spider sharks turned on their brethren. Michael flicked his eyes to the Sea Witch. “They may be your pets, but my power is controlling sea creatures.”
With four spider sharks fighting each other, only one was left. It came after me and Girtha. From her position, Arabeth boiled water around it. Bubbles and steam formed over the creature, slowing it down and blinding it temporarily. Girtha and I dove into a concealed part of the abyss wall. We were safe, but the others weren’t. From our hiding place, I saw the Sea Witch glow blue again, and so did Chance and Jason. They shrank so small I could barely see them. I had no idea where Lonna was either.
The Sea Witch stabbed my knife into the rock to be rid of it then she started to grow. Energy consumed her form as she kept increasing in size, laughing maniacally as she went. Soon she’d be back to her terrifying fossil height. Humilde floated backward as her mother’s size escalated. She had her back to Girtha and me.
Steam started to fry one of the Sea Witch’s tentacles, but it served only to draw her attention to Arabeth. The Sea Witch lashed out with her free hand and grabbed Arabeth, squeezing the girl tightly.
“Where are you, little princess Lonna?” The Sea Witch called.
“Humilde!” Girtha shouted from our cavern.
“Girtha!” I hauled her back before Humilde could spot us. “Shut up. You’re going to give away our location.”
“Blue, I have an idea.”
“You and your ideas.” I rolled my eyes.
“Blue, seriously, this can work. Please. Crisa told me to trust my instincts in a dream last night. But I need you to trust me too. At least right now.”
I paused, remembering Crisa’s plea for me to do the same thing. My innards cringed. Then I scowled but let go of Girtha’s arm. “Fine.”
“Humilde!” Girtha called again, sticking her head out of our hiding place. Luckily—surprisingly—Humilde didn’t alert her mother. Instead she darted over to us and swam into our shared crevice.
“Listen to me,” Girtha said. “Your mom is wrong, but you’re wrong too. Love from other people is important, but it only solves half your problem. That alone can’t give you what you need. The acceptance has to come from you first. You need to have confidence in yourself in order to move the needle. Show people who you are. Be proud of your unique voice and stop using these fragments of stolen ones.”
Humilde looked genuinely sad. “How can I show them when I have no voice to start with?”
Girtha reached into her backpack. She took out the Book of Speech Spells and flipped to the page bookmarked by the quill. She opened it then pushed the book toward Humilde.
“Let me share my voice with you,” Girtha said. “It’s strong and it no longer makes apologies for being different. This spell will share my voice with you forever. We’ll be linked. We can both use the voice at the same time. The only catch is that our souls will also be linked—if you die, I die, and vice versa. I’m willing to take that risk for you if you make me a promise to stand up for yourself and look within yourself for acceptance first.”
Humilde’s eyes darted from Girtha to me to the book. The Sea Witch’s cackles and spider sharks smashing each other into the rock shook our hiding place. Humilde looked toward the cavern exit, but Girtha called her attention back.
“Change for yourself,” Girtha said encouragingly. “Whether other people follow the lead or not, start wit
h that, and I promise you, it will be worth it.”
Without waiting for approval, Girtha signed her name on the contract page. The book shimmered silver and her writing vanished.
Girtha held out the quill to Humilde. Our hiding place trembled even more from the Sea Witch’s booming laughter. Then someone screamed, and my eyes shot desperately to Humilde, whose gaze was locked with Girtha’s. Another moment and . . . Humilde grabbed the quill and signed.
The silver energy from within the text swept up and went down both their throats and encircled their bodies. Their eyes filled with shimmering energy. Finally the effect ceased with a bright flash. Both of them coughed. Humilde reached for her throat.
“Did it work?” She spoke with Girtha’s voice—lips moving and everything.
“It did,” Girtha said. “Now please prove me right.”
Humilde glanced at us and then zoomed out of the cavern. “Mother!” she shouted.
We peered out as the Sea Witch looked down. Humilde shone with massive amounts of blue light, as did her shrinking mother. Humilde was bringing her back down to size!
“What? No!” The Sea Witch shouted as she shrank, releasing Arabeth in the process. The spider sharks minimized to their original forms, and Lonna, Chance, and Jason grew back to normal. Thankfully, all of my crew seemed okay. Girtha and I swam over as Humilde extinguished her power with a dramatic whoosh of both hands.
“Humilde, how dare you?” her normal-sized mother snapped. “You are as unsightly and unacceptable as I am. And yet you choose to side with people who will only ever see and judge your differences instead of someone who shares your struggle?”
“Mother, I no longer want to see myself as unsightly and unacceptable,” Humilde declared, Girtha’s voice ringing strong. “If some people see me that way, fine. Let them judge. But I want to be happy. I don’t want to spend my life like you, hating the world because I was born different and other people seem to have it easier.” She glanced at Girtha. “I’m going to try and change so that I can love myself. Whoever else wants to get on board with that can, but I am not doing it for them. I am not living for others, or in spite of them, anymore.”
A tense moment passed.
“You are not my daughter,” the Sea Witch said bitterly. “And I am ashamed of you.”
Humilde looked hurt, but she nodded. “Well, I’m not ashamed. Not anymore.” She floated backward to join Lonna, me, and Girtha. “Now be gone, Mother. You have your life back; be grateful for that and return to the dark cave you raised me in. You will let us leave the abyss without any further conflict. And you will never come near any of the Mer kingdoms or you will have me to deal with. Our opinions of what this world can be may be dissimilar, but our powers are the same, and I promise I will counteract any havoc you try to wreak.”
The Sea Witch glowered at her daughter. “You’re placing your faith in the wrong people, dear. You will regret this decision.”
“I am placing faith in myself, Mother. I only regret not making that decision sooner.”
The Sea Witch glared at our congregation a final time. Then the angry, wicked woman swam away into the depths of the abyss.
“Lonna?” Humilde turned to our mermaid friend timidly. “Is your offer still good?”
Lonna smiled. “Always, cousin. I am sorry it took so long.”
“Hold on. What just happened?” Michael asked, coming closer. “And why do you sound like Girtha?”
“Girtha offered to share her voice with Humilde,” I said, still in disbelief. “They used a spell from the Book of Speech Spells.”
I looked at Girtha, my feelings about her in conflict, but my voice speaking the truth. “Girtha was the key to all of this,” I said. “What she’s gone through made her the hero amongst us with the strongest sense of self, so she knew how to relate to Humilde.”
Humilde turned to Girtha. “You risked a lot for me. I am in your debt.”
“Debt not needed. You’re part of the gang now, Humilde.”
Humilde cracked a small smile. “I rather like that. I’ve never been a part of a ‘gang’ before. Thank you for showing me the way to this ending.”
“You’re welcome,” Girtha said with her matching voice. “Thank you for being patient while we found it.”
At that, a green portal appeared in the abyss. We had completed our first Midnight Law test.
ne thing I definitely did not understand about heroes—the recovery time. My friends were always able to jump up so quickly after taking a hit. As I returned from my brief spell of unconsciousness, I did not feel like leaping back to my feet. I needed another minute before I could get up. This was not a girl thing. And it was most definitely not a princess thing. It was a human being thing. Not all of us were equipped to shake off a beating so easily.
“SJ?”
Mauvrey’s voice seemed far away. I blinked at the bright Oz sunlight. I had been training regularly with Merlin so I could keep up with my heroic friends, yet—frustratingly—I had been the first person to get taken out of action by Eva’s attacks.
“Are you okay?” Daniel’s face came into focus and he offered me a hand up. I silenced an unladylike grunt as I grabbed my slingshot from the ground and accepted his assistance.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Well, for starters, I passed the Midnight Law test,” Daniel said. “When I told Glinda my realization about Eva—that villains need to be patient in order to strike when the time is right—that portal opened.” He gestured left and I beheld the sparkling green portal. “Not the lesson of patience I expected the quest wanted us to learn, but there you go. As for Eva, I crushed one of your Realm Tearer potions in her mouth and she disintegrated. I’m not sure if she is dead or not. Any thoughts on that?”
“I could not say . . .” I responded.
“I think it’d be wiser to believe that she’s not dead,” Julian said, dusting off his jacket. “The Emerald City can’t afford to assume otherwise. We need to be ready in case she comes back, because if she does—with those shoes and her normal powers—it’ll be a finale-level fight. I hope you don’t mind if Glinda and I return home. We need to regroup with Ozma and Dorothy.”
“What about your balloon?” Kai asked.
“We’ll leave it here for now. There’s a Y.U.R. entrance about a mile from here.”
“A what?” Mauvrey said.
“The Yellow Underground Road—it’s like a subway system,” Julian explained. “Good luck to the lot of you. SJ, please check in with me when your quest is over. We’d like to know that all of you, and Crisa, are still alive. You ready, Glinda?”
The good witch, dress torn and hair a mess, shook her head dejectedly. “I just want to say again that I’m sorry.” She looked to Daniel then the rest of us. “I should have been more suspicious when Eva asked for the shoes, and when Eugenia and Braddea died I certainly should have thought about what happened to their powers. If Eva is not dead and is out there somehow with that much magic, plotting, it is all my fault.”
Julian sighed. “Glinda, let’s not place blame. I married Eva after all, never realizing her true reasons for getting close to me.” He shook his head as if loosening a bad memory, then shook Daniel’s hand. “Good luck, kid. We’re rooting for you.” Then he pivoted toward me and put a supportive hand on my arm. “Hang in there. You can handle this.”
With that, Glinda and Julian departed.
“Okay, one flame and test down, three to go,” Daniel said. “Everyone ready to step through the next portal?”
Mauvrey raised a hand, looking pale. “May I have one moment please?”
“Why?” Kai asked.
“I would rather not say. Just . . . just hold on.” Mauvrey quickly dashed behind some rocks before the sounds of vomiting reached us. Daniel, Kai, and I exchanged a worried look. A few seconds later, Mauvrey returned, dabbing her mouth with a handkerchief.
“Um, Mauvrey?” Daniel said.
“I am fine. That was my first action s
cene in complete control of my body and it was very . . . jarring. I am ready to go now, though.”
My expression softened. I had been trying to fake it until I could make it with my action-packed friends for roughly a year. This was Mauvrey’s first go and the stakes literally could not have been higher.
“You did wonderful, Mauvrey,” I said. “If you had not fallen into that crevice and made a sneak attack on Eva, we may have lost. So, thank you.”
“Technically you should thank Kai,” Mauvrey replied as we walked toward the green, glistening portal. “When Eva attacked, Kai rammed into me and caused me to fall in.”
“It was an accident,” Kai said, grimacing. “Sorry about that.”
“Could you not have used your powers of levitation to lift her out?” I asked.
“SJ, I didn’t have time,” Kai said defensively. “I’ve only had these powers a few months, and even with Crisa’s training, they’re not that strong.”
“I would disagree,” I commented. “I saw you take control of Eva and almost kill her.”
“I can’t always garner the focus okay. It comes and goes. Don’t you think if that weren’t true I would’ve been more help taking Eva down? I got separated from you guys and couldn’t do anything about it. You’ve been experimenting with your potions for a year, and you’re the one who got knocked unconscious. Maybe you should worry about using your power more efficiently and stop making me feel bad about mine.”
I paused, taken aback by Kai’s reaction. I had not been trying to offend her, although she seemed to have no qualms offending me. Was this curtness a heated, isolated reaction or a part of her character? In truth, I did not know Kai well enough to say. She had taken my bed at Lady Agnue’s while I studied with Merlin and Julian abroad, and since she and the others came back from Dreamland, I had not spent time with her other than in larger group settings. Perhaps I should give her the benefit of the doubt.
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