It was the throne, from the throne room, and it was empty, with only a large diamond crown lying on the seat. She looked over to her mother.
“Why is the seat empty, except for that crown in this painting? Shouldn’t it be a painting of an old queen or something?” she asked.
Her mother shook her head, “No, it used to have my mother in it before she gave up the throne and left, but has been empty ever since. Legend has it that when the true queen returns to the castle, the painting will change” she explained to her.
“Why did your mother leave this place? Where did she go?” she asked, yawning.
“She is over on Mount Olympus with the Greeks. That is actually where most of the gods and goddesses went to once Elysia took over. One day, hopefully, you will be on this painting, sitting on that throne” she told her.
Abby shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know about that, I don’t feel very queen like right now” she said, yawning.
Jasmine walked up to her and put her hands on her shoulder, “You need sleep to renew your body. You have used too much magic today, and your body must rest so it can finish unlocking the rest of your powers” she said.
Abby looked down at her arm, which she noticed was still bright red.
“Am I going to stay red forever? I don’t think Tom would find me too attractive if I did” she said.
Jasmine smiled and shook her head, “No, you should be back to normal by the morning time. Don’t worry about Tom, the time does not move the same here as it does in the human world. When we go back tomorrow, only a few hours will have passed, instead of an entire day, so for now, just sleep” she told her, pointing to the large bed.
Abby yawned again and looked down at her dress, and wished she was wearing comfortable cotton pajamas, and just as suddenly as the dress appeared, so did some red flannel pajamas.
“I could get used to this” she said, smiling as she was sliding into bed. She never even heard her mother and Jasmine say goodnight or even leave the room because as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.
Chapter 19
The next morning when she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the warm sunlight streaming in through the curtains and she almost forgot where she was. The day before had almost seemed like just a dream, but as she came fully awake and saw the queen’s bedroom, she knew that it was all real.
She stretched her arms over her head before standing up out of the magnificent bed and looking around the room, wondering for a second where her mother and Jasmine were. Just as she was about to turn and find the bathroom attached to this room, one of the walls caught her eyes.
It was the painting of the throne she had seen last night, only now there was a woman sitting in the chair. As she walked closer, she was finally able to see her own face staring back at her from the painting. It was her sitting in the chair wearing the green dress that she had been wearing the day before with a small smile on her face; it was like looking into a mirror the painting was so realistic.
She backed away from the wall, her heart beating and was thinking that she really wished she could see her mother right now, when the wall next to her suddenly became a large window. She walked over to it and looked out and saw her mother and Jasmine standing in the Southern Gardens talking to lots of other creatures, including a small unicorn whose horn was silver, instead of gold, like the one she had met the day before.
Everyone walking around the garden looked so happy and as she looked down at the glittering grass, felt that it was happy too. She sighed, wishing she was at home; she really missed Tom, and her small apartment. Then the little lights came and blocked her vision. When they all disappeared again, she was standing back in her bedroom in Dallas, still wearing the red flannel pajamas.
As soon as she realized where she was, she ran to the kitchen to grab the wall phone. She dialed Tom’s number and waited while it seemed to ring forever. Finally, he picked up the phone.
“Hello?” he said, with a hopeful sound to his voice.
“Tom, it’s me Abby, I’m back at my apartment, I’m sorry I was gone so long.”
Abby waited but only heard silence for a minute.
“Hello?” she asked again.
Finally he spoke, “I’m sorry, you just surprised me with that, I didn’t know what to say. You have only been gone for about an hour, that isn’t that long” he said.
Abby remembered what her mother told her about the time being different in the Other World.
“Oh, sorry. We really need to talk. Can you come here, or I can come there?” she asked.
“I’ll get your things you left and come to you. I need to know what is going on with you and what the hell happened here” he told her. Abby nodded, even though she knew he couldn’t see her.
“I know, come on over and I promise I will tell you everything. You just have to promise to believe what I tell you, because it is going to sound a little crazy” she said.
He laughed, “After what I saw, I will for sure believe whatever you tell me” he said.
She smiled, “Good, see you in a few minutes, I love you” she said holding her breath.
“I love you too Abby” he quickly responded.
She let out the breath she was holding and hung up the phone smiling; at least he still loved her, that was a good sign.
She walked over to her closet and as she was looking through her clothes started to think about how she could just make clothes appear back in the other world and wondered if it would work here too. She closed her eyes and thought; I wish I was completely dressed in jeans and my favorite ruffle shirt.
She felt her body become warm and opened her eyes and nearly laughed when she saw that she was wearing exactly what she had thought of.
***
About thirty minutes later she heard a knock on her door. She practically ran to the door and pulled it open without even looking into the peep hole to see who it was. She was happy to see that it was in fact Tom standing there, with his hair still as disheveled as when she had left him. He was holding a bag filled with her things in front of him and in his other hand was a beautiful bouquet of bright wild flowers.
She jumped and hugged him around his neck, practically tackling him in the process. After she finally let go of him, he came into her apartment and she put the flowers into a vase that was in the kitchen and put the bag of her things on the bar and pulled him into the living room, ready to tell him everything.
Twenty minutes later, she had told him everything, up to the point of calling him on the phone. She sat in silence while he gathered his thoughts, waiting for his reaction. Finally he looked over at her.
“I’m glad you aren’t all red anymore” he said.
Abby burst out laughing, “That was not what I expected you to say” she said.
He smiled, “I know, it’s just hard to believe all of this. But after what I saw, I know you aren’t lying to me about it” he said.
She felt her heart swell, “So you still want to be with me?” she asked him.
His eyes went wide, “Of course I do, I love you Abby, how could you even think that I wouldn’t want to be with you?” he asked her.
Abby smiled and scooted over and sat on his lap and put her arms around his neck.
“Make love to me, this time without all the turning red and crazy magic stuff?” she asked him.
He leaned forward and kissed her gently, then stood up off of the couch with her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
She didn’t hear anything from Jasmine or her mother for the rest of the weekend, and she enjoyed the silence, even though she was worried that they didn’t know what had happened to her.
Chapter 20
She had spent the entire weekend with Tom, holed up in her little apartment, only leaving once to grab some groceries from the supermarket. Once Monday morning came around, she knew that she had better go to work, or Jasmine would probably send in the squat team to find her. As she kissed T
om goodbye, she started to walk over to the shop, and as she started to approach it, she noticed something odd out o the corner of her eye.
It looked like a very big butterfly at first, but as she slowly edged closer, she saw that it was a tiny faerie, kind of how you would picture tinker bell to look. She had brown hair, a yellow dress, and pastel green wings. She was about the size of a forearm, too large to be a bird, but much too small to be a person. Abby slowly approached her and saw that she was looking right at her.
“Hello? Who are you?” she asked the tiny faerie.
“I am Isabella, your mother sent me here to make sure you were okay” she answered back with an oddly loud voice for such a small creature.
“Hello Isabella, I am doing pretty good so far. Can you tell my mother that I will come and visit her at the castle tonight?” she asked.
The tiny faerie nodded, “Yes, princess, I will be happy to. Goodbye!” she said smiling.
Before Abby could answer her though, she disappeared, leaving orbs of light around her similar to the ones she had seen before, only smaller.
She smiled and continued to the store where Jasmine was already inside, getting the register ready for the day, looking quite human again. She pushed open the door and walked inside, expecting Jasmine to be angry with her for not telling them she was leaving. Jasmine looked up as the door jingled and smiled.
“Abby, I am so glad to see you, I was scared you were mad at me and wouldn’t be back” she said as she practically ran up to her and grabbed her into a big hug.
Abby hugged back, “I thought you would be mad at me for leaving the other day” she told her.
Jasmine pulled her away and looked into her eyes, “No, we felt you leave, but we were actually surprised that you managed to leave without using the portal; how did you leave exactly?” she asked her.
Abby shrugged, “I’m not sure, I just wished I was home, then there I was, in my apartment” she said.
Jasmine shook her head, “You are so much more powerful that you will ever know, and I am happy to be able to be the one to teach you to use your magic” she said seriously. Jasmine let her go as they walked over to where Jasmine was getting the register open.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, I just met up with Isabella outside” she told her.
Jasmine laughed, “That doesn’t surprise me, I know your mother was worried about you, and she knows that only truly magical people can see pixies, so she sent her to check up on you. Your mother and Isabella have been good friends for centuries now, so it makes sense that it would be her that she sent. Did you send good news to you mother?” she asked her.
Abby nodded, “Yes I told her I would meet her tonight at the castle, just to let her see that I’m okay and I am not mad or anything” she told her.
Jasmine clapped her hands together, “Great, let’s go ahead and get the store open, then when it closes this afternoon, we will start your training” she said, heading to the door to turn the sign to open.
***
Abby watched as Jasmine shut and locked the door while pulling the shades down over the windows. She looked around the store at all of the small objects on the shelves and hoped she didn’t accidently break anything by trying to use her magic.
Jasmine turned around, “Follow me” she said, gesturing toward the back room. Abby was still worried, as there were just as many things to break in the back room as there was in the front.
“Are we going to be careful? I don’t want to break anything here, I would feel really bad about breaking your merchandise” she told her.
Jasmine smiled and shook her head and Abby followed her to the back room. They parted the curtains and walked in and just as Abby was going to ask where they were going to be doing this, Jasmine walked to the wall that held the large filing cabinet where she kept all the paperwork for the store. Abby looked over at her confused, but didn’t say a word as she watched her make her fingertip turn red, then touched her finger into a grove on the cabinet she had never noticed before.
Abby heard a small clicking noise, then as Jasmine pulled her finger away, the cabinet slowly dissolved until it was completely gone, and in its place was a small door. The door was too small to walk through normally, so after Jasmine opened it for her; she crouched down and went through it.
As she straightened back up she gasped, she was in one of the brightest rooms she had ever seen, with tables of objects she had never seen before lining the walls, which were so white, they almost hurt her eyes. Jasmine walked over to the first table and pointed at a long blue stick.
“Do you know what this is?” Jasmine asked her.
Abby shrugged her shoulders and said, “It looks like a wand, but that seems too obvious.”
Jasmine laughed, “That is exactly what it is, but we do not need to use them, as we get our magic from the Gods, and therefore only need our hands” she explained.
Jasmine handed the wand to Abby and she took it into her hand, surprised at how warm it felt, she looked back up at Jasmine.
“Then who uses them?” she asked her.
“Most magical creatures do, some fairies, pixies, and even humans who were gifted with some magical powers. There aren’t many of those around though, humans don’t believe in magic the way they used to, so a lot of humans who should have magic do not” she said while taking the wand back from Abby and laying it back down onto the table.
“Why do only some fairies have to use them?” she asked her, confused.
“Well” Jasmine started, “Some fairies are more powerful than others. For instance, you noticed how my wings were larger and brighter than the fairies you saw walking about castle.”
Abby nodded and Jasmine continued, “You see, the more powerful the faerie, the bigger their wings. Once their wings become a certain size, they no longer have to use a wand. Some fairies never get that far, and some are born without having to use them, like me” she told her.
Abby nodded, “Well, that does make sense. Elysia didn’t need a wand and her wings were almost as large as yours are” she said.
Jasmine smiled, “Exactly, now let’s move on” she said.
Jasmine then picked up something that was too small for Abby to see and turned back to her.
“Do you know what this is?” she asked her. Abby looked at what appeared to be a small crystal marble, that had a purple center.
“Is it a marble?” she asked her, wondering what a marble had to do with magic. Jasmine shook her head and handed the marble to Abby. Abby held it in her palm and looked at it, but didn’t see what was special about it. Abby looked back up at Jasmine with a confused look on her face
“It is what we call a ‘Seer’s Orb’, but humans like to call them Crystal Balls” she said. Abby looked back down at the orb and looked at it while Jasmine explained to her how it worked.
“It is small now, but it becomes bigger when you use it. Think about what you would like it to show you, and it will” she explained.
Abby held the orb in her hand and thought about Tom and how she would love to see where he is right now. Just as she thought it, she felt the orb get hot and she opened her hand and looked down at it. It was now glowing purple, as thought the center of it had come to life. Then, it flew out of her hand and up into the air, where it hovered in front of her, growing to the size of a bowling ball.
In the middle of the orb she saw Tom’s face smiling and she watched as the picture cleared and it was as though she was watching a movie inside of the orb. Tom was standing in front of a flower shop with a bundle of wild flowers in his arms as he spoke with an older woman, who was also holding a bundle of flowers.
She thought to herself that she wished she could hear him, and then as though the orb knew what she wanted, she could hear his voice inside her head.
“My car should be here in just a second, he told me he was on his way” Tom said to the woman, who was nodding.
She watched as his limo pulled up in front of him and the driver jumped ou
t and ran to the back of the car to open the trunk. Tom and the woman followed the driver and both laid their flowers into the trunk. Tom turned back to the lady.
“Thanks for the help Gladys, Abby loves wild flowers, and these will be a great surprise when she gets home from work tonight” he said.
Abby’s heart flipped as she watched the woman nod and say something back to Tom, although she couldn’t hear what she was saying. She looked up from the orb and caught Jasmine’s eye.
“How do I make it little again?” she asked her.
“You just need to thank it for showing you what you asked of it” she answered.
Abby looked back down at the orb and said, “Thank you orb, for showing me what I asked of you” and then watched as it stopped glowing and became a small marble again as it fell back into her waiting hand. After she put the orb back on the table, she looked around the room again.
“What exactly is this room? I never would have guessed this was back here, I mean, the store doesn’t seem this big from the outside” she asked.
Jasmine laughed, “No, this room doesn’t really exist in the mortal world. It was created in kind of an in between place. Any magic done in here is not detected by anyone, so people can practice their magic without having to worry about anything. Especially when the person practicing is as powerful as you are” she explained.
“Are you ready to keep going?” she asked. Abby nodded, ready to get started.
Chapter 21
Later that night, as she was unlocking her door, she heard music coming from inside of her apartment and remembered for the first time what she had seen in the orb earlier. As she pushed open the door, all she could see was a sea of color. She looked closer and noticed for the first time all of the flowers that she had seen Tom buying. Some were in vases all over the apartment, while others were right on the carpet leading to her bedroom.
While looking around she listened to the music playing and almost laughed when she realized it was a Barry White song, it just seemed so cliché. She put her purse and keys on the small table next to the door and walked to the first bouquet of flowers that she saw in a vase. They were wild flowers, exactly as she had seen in the orb, only there were much more of them than she even imagined, he must have taken more to his car after she had stopped watching.
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