by L. C. Mawson
“And, finally, we have Engineer.”
The last woman had short, bright blond hair and was grinning at Freya.
“Hi!” she greeted. “Pleased to meet you!”
“What about you?” Doc asked Freya. “I didn’t get your name.”
“I’m Freya,” she told them with an awkward wave.
“We can talk more later,” Doc told her. “I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
Freya nodded, not mentioning that it was still early in the day. She’d rather just deal with one person at a time.
“So, you’re all named for your jobs?” Freya asked.
“We have names too but... They’re personal. We do not disclose them lightly.”
“I understand.”
“The others will want to talk soon, to figure out how to settle this. We’d rather not be responsible for the end of Creation.”
Freya nodded, doing her best to hide her reluctance at the idea of having to deal with a gaggle of strangers. “Of course.”
AS SOON AS DOC LEFT her alone in the room, Freya gave a frustrated groan. She hated strangers, so seven of them were a nightmare, no matter how nice they seemed. She didn’t have the energy to deal, she decided, as she threw herself onto her bed. She had expended all of it just to approach the girl and talk with her grandmother. And now she had to figure out how to outwit a Faerie.
As soon as she had thought that, a small spark of light appeared at her window.
She sighed, getting up and opening it.
“That had better not be you, Peter,” she grumbled, deciding that she just didn’t care if it was rude.
What was he going to do? Curse her?
To her surprise, the spark grew to the size of a young boy, instead of remaining small.
“We got off on the wrong foot before,” he said, looking sheepish.
She rolled her eyes. “Gee, ya think?”
“I came to apologise.”
Freya frowned, folding her arms. “From the way the others were talking, I didn’t think Fae apologised.”
Peter shrugged. “Not usually but... The way you looked at me before you left reminded me of how Hope used to look when she was disappointed with me.”
Freya felt a little awkward at that, sitting on her bed as her hand went up to twist the pendant beneath her top. She always played with it when things got awkward.
Peter’s eyes locked onto it as it became visible and she remembered that it had been her grandmother’s. She had been awkward with him bringing up Hope, and she had immediately started playing with her necklace. Smooth.
“This was hers, right?” Freya asked, deciding that breaking the silence could hardly make things worse.
Peter nodded. “Yes. Our mother gave it to her when she... Just before she died. It was the only thing she had of her own mother.”
“And I should leave it to my child when I prematurely die?” Freya joked, but it fell flat, with Peter wincing in response. “Sorry. I didn’t think...”
“It’s okay. I just...” He shook his head. “I wanted to talk to you about Zoe.”
“You’re going to leave her alone?”
“You know that if I did that, I would have to go and do the same to another child. What are you going to do? Follow me indefinitely?”
Freya bit her lips together into a grim line. She hadn’t really thought about it like that. But, equally, there had to be a million other children in far worse situations than Zoe’s. She had grown up with some of them.
“She has a family.”
“I know. And I know that her spell is going too far. I would have stepped in before if I had known that it would interfere with the seals.”
“And now?”
“Now that they’ve been breached, there are only two options. Either you reach the end of Snow White’s story before the seals are permanently disrupted, or I withdraw my magic from Zoe entirely. She can’t withdraw just you from the spell anymore. Not without stranding the Dwarves here.”
Freya glared at him. “Clearly, I would vote for door number two.”
“I know, but... This isn’t for fun, Freya. There was an incident with some Demons and some of us died. We need to replenish our numbers.”
“Then choose someone else.”
“It takes time. I spoke with the others, and most of them want me to see it through with Zoe. They don’t believe it will take you that long to wake up from the curse.”
“Peter, I have no one to wake me from the curse. If you do this, I will die. We all will.”
“There was one alternative they suggested.”
“What?”
“You.”
Her mind took a moment to process that as she blinked at him, disbelieving.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“But you said that Fate wouldn’t let you take me when I was younger.”
“Some of us think that it would be worth Fate’s ire. Your power is not negligible, Freya. You will be used as a pawn if you stay here.”
“And I won’t be if I go with you?” she asked sarcastically.
“Look, at least in the Glades, I can look out for you.”
“I have people looking out for me here. I have Amber.”
Peter glared at that. “And you honestly think that she won’t use you as a pawn?”
“Look, Peter, I know the hand she played in Hope’s death. But she has yet to steer me wrong.”
Peter sighed, shaking his head. “I’m just giving you your options, Freya. Either take Zoe’s place, or play out the curse.”
She let out a frustrated groan, gently knocking the heel of her hand up against her forehead a few times. “Just... let me think about it. Okay?”
“Okay. Just don’t take too long. If you’re put under the sleeping curse, then it’s all over.”
He left Freya alone at that.
FREYA STAYED IN HER room for only ten more minutes after Peter left. There was nothing for her to do, and she figured that it was better to just get all of the talking out of the way.
The end of the world wouldn’t wait for her anxieties.
“Hey,” Freya said as she walked downstairs, alerting the others to her arrival. “So, I just had an interesting chat with Peter.”
Doc raised an eyebrow. “He was here?”
“Yep.”
“What did he want?”
“Me, apparently. He said that he would let Zoe go and stop the curse if I took her place as a Faerie.”
“But... Aren’t you too old?”
“Apparently not.”
“It may not be necessary. Not if the story plays out before any permanent damage is done to the seals.”
“Do you think that’s likely?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know anything more of what’s going on than what you told me,” Doc informed her.
“All we know is that we’re here to make sure your prince gets to you,” Lawyer interjected. “That is our role in the story, is it not?”
Freya sighed, nodding as she passed them the Snow White book. “This is the story the Fae are working from. But we’re going to need a different strategy.”
“Why?” Engineer asked brightly.
“Because the spell requires true love’s kiss to wake me up. I don’t have anyone.”
“That can’t be true,” Builder argued. “What about your parents?”
“Dead.”
“Siblings?”
“In Japan.”
“Friends?”
She sighed. “Just one close one and he... He’s not my prince. Trust me.”
The Dwarves exchanged looks that raised Freya’s hackles.
“Look, let’s just find another way, okay?”
“There may not be one,” Lawyer told her bluntly. “You may have no choice but to take the Faerie’s offer.”
“She’s right,” Miner chipped in. “If you fall into the sleeping curse with no way to wake up, we’ll be trapped here. It’ll weaken the seals betw
een the worlds and eventually the Shadows will leak through.”
Freya groaned. “Is there no one who would be concerned by that? Who would step in to stop them?”
Doc shrugged. “We’ve kind of been out of the loop for over a century.”
“Amber?” Freya asked, before turning to the others. “My guardian’s a ghost, I’m not just talking to thin air.”
Doc pulled her HoloEyes down as Amber appeared, nodding at her. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“You too,” Amber replied. “It has been so long since anyone but Freya could see me in this form, and now two in as many days.”
“Eight,” Freya told her, having noted that the other dwarfs had all brought out HoloEyes of their own. “I’ve got to get a pair of those.”
“Dwarven technology was always ahead of ours,” Amber told her. “It’s not surprising that it continued that way.”
“Amber, Doc tells me that the seals between the Old Worlds might weaken as long as they’re here.”
Amber frowned before reluctantly nodding. “I... I do not have the power I used to wield. I can’t sense how well the seal is holding up, but Doc is right. The spell that drew them here is most likely continuous, rather than a separate transfer and return. If that’s the case, then it will weaken the seal.”
“And that means Shadows, right?”
Amber paled. “Freya, I cannot impress upon you how much that cannot be allowed to happen.”
“Is there no one who will step in? Even Fae cannot want this.”
Amber shook her head. “The Fae don’t care, Freya. They feel they have been abandoned. They were originally a... a genetic anomaly. With no home of their own. They don’t care if this whole Creation goes up in flames. You cannot imagine their depths of loathing towards the Creator for not including them in Her plan.”
Freya wanted to point out that they cared enough to offer her the chance to take Zoe’s place, but she didn’t much feel like telling Amber the things Peter had said about her. Not when there still might be another option.
“Do you think this is deliberate?”
“No. They’re not entirely suicidal. But they are arrogant. They won’t believe the worst will come and, even if they do, they will think it worth the risk.”
Freya sighed, nodding. “Alright. I’ll call Mel and see if she can turn anything up with all of the new information we have. If she has nothing by tomorrow... I’ll return to Peter and take his bargain.”
“Are you sure?”
Freya’s fists clenched of their own accord, but she unfurled them carefully, crossing her arms. “We’ve got to think about the bigger picture,” she eventually said, her voice heavy. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go ring Mel.”
MEL, UNFORTUNATELY, had nothing new to add. She made Freya wait while she told her Coven Head about the threat to the seals.
Her Coven Head’s response was that Freya should stop hesitating and let Peter take the girl, hoping that he would stay true to his earlier word and let her out of the curse. Freya had assured Mel that that was the plan, even though she knew that option was no longer viable. But Mel didn’t need to know that. Not when her Coven Head might want to interfere, possibly at Zoe’s expense.
“Bad news, I take it?” Amber asked as Freya hung up.
“Apparently Witches have no problem with sacrificing innocent girls.”
“I would guess that that’s perhaps a bit unfair, but Witches are nothing if not pragmatic.”
Freya sighed, rethinking all of the information they had. “What about Zoe’s grandmother? She said that she used to believe in fairies when she was young. She might know something.”
“It might be worth looking into.”
“Could you do it? As Ms Pearson, I mean? The age similarity might make her more open to you.”
Amber frowned, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
“I would rather avoid using Ms Pearson right now.”
“Why?”
Amber sighed. “She wasn’t well when I first possessed her. The toll of my magic on her body has only exacerbated the problem.”
“So...?”
Amber folded her arms. “Ms Pearson has a month, maybe two, before she dies. The more I use her, the shorter that time will be.”
“So you would be a ghost all of the time?”
“Yes. It’s why I started to introduce you to the magical community. I wanted to do it while I was still here to act as your guide.”
Freya nodded. As much as it would have been helpful for Amber to talk to the girl’s grandmother, it wasn’t impossible for Freya to do it.
“Okay. I’ll go.”
Chapter Ten
Freya, despite having been given a room of her own, found herself waking on the sofa to the sound of her phone buzzing next to her. She had ended up staying awake with the Dwarves until the early hours of the morning, trying to figure out an alternative to making a deal with the Fae.
Maybe she could find a way to reseal the worlds. Except there was no one left with the power to do it.
Maybe she could find another way to break the sleeping curse. Except that the story was more than clear. True love’s kiss was the only cure.
Maybe she could avoid the curse altogether. Except that, try as she might, she hadn’t been able to avoid playing out the story so far.
“Want some coffee?” Engineer asked, her voice a little too loud for so early in the morning.
Freya nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”
Engineer passed her a mug, along with a slice of toast. “Your communication thing kept buzzing,” she told her. “The name was Damon, not Mel, though, so we didn’t bother to wake you.”
“Thanks,” Freya said, checking her phone as she bit into her toast, holding it with her mouth to keep her hands free for her phone and mug. Engineer was right, she had several texts from Damon. And, surprisingly, a couple from Jamie.
She looked at Jamie’s first, wondering what she wanted.
Hi! Did you figure things out with your mum? xoxo
Its Jamie btw xoxo
Freya smiled a little, though it faded as she decided that it would just be easier to lie.
Everything is fine now, thanks.
She paused before sending the text, adding an xoxo to mimic Jamie’s. Freya didn’t like sending kisses in texts, but she supposed it would be rude not to if Jamie used them.
As soon as her reply was sent, she moved to Damon’s texts.
Hey you still up?
How did things go with Margaret?
Are you okay?
Freya?
Did she take your phone from you?
If you don’t reply I’ll come get you
Uncle G says to leave it until the morning
K I’m going to go to sleep if you’re not responding
Going to get you in the morning if you don’t reply
Hey you up yet?
Leaving now
Freya put her phone down as she finished her toast, trying to decide on an excuse to give him. Eventually, she settled on “Sorry I took so long to reply. I had a long talk with Margaret last night. Everything is fine now. Promise.”
“Why didn’t you tell the others?” Engineer asked her.
“Tell them what?”
“That you have someone.”
Freya frowned before she figured out what Engineer was implying. “I don’t have anyone. Damon’s not mine.”
“Then why is he contacting you so much?”
“We’re just friends,” Freya dismissed with a shake of her head. “I mean, I like him, but it’s not...”
“Not...?”
Freya sighed. “Look, he’s Human. Even if you could convince him to kiss me when I’m knocked out, well... It wouldn’t work. I... I might care about him, but the laws of magic are very clear. True love is reciprocated. Damon doesn’t care for me like that.”
“You’re sure?”
Freya nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure.” She stood up, grabbing her coat.
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure that’s wise? Isn’t that, like, asking for trouble? Won’t the Evil Queen find you?”
Freya shrugged. “She doesn’t in the story.”
“This still doesn’t seem like a good idea... Where are you going?”
“I’m going to do more recon. There’s got to be another way to convince the Fae to let her go. Or, at least, force them to. If I can get a better sense of how they’re giving her their magic, I might be able to break their connection. That’ll reverse the spell and the immediate threat will be dealt with.”
“Then you’ll have angry Fae to deal with.”
“That’s why I carry a sword.”
Engineer raised an eyebrow. “You’re really new to the idea of the Fae, aren’t you?”
Freya rolled her eyes. “You’d not even been in the same realm as a Faerie until a few days ago.”
“But even I know that a sword will do you little good.”
“Okay, well, let’s cross that bridge, then blow it up behind us, when we get to it. For now, I just want to see if I can stop the Fae without making any deals.”
“I still think you should wait for the others to wake.”
Freya shook her head. “The sooner I do this, the sooner I get back and the sooner we can get you home.”
She left before Engineer could say anything more, jogging across the park to the grandma’s house.
IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE Freya reached the grandmother’s house and she found herself a little nervous as she remembered the time. She didn’t want to wake anyone.
Thankfully, as she approached, she saw the front curtains were open and the grandmother was up and dressed, pottering around the living room.
She knocked on the door, deciding to leave if there was no response to the first knock.
There was an almost immediate response.
“Hello - Oh! You’re the girl from the other day. Freya, right?”
“Yes. Sorry if it’s early. I just... I was in the neighbourhood and I accidentally took this last time I was here,” she said, showing the older woman the book.
“Oh, thank you, dear. I’m sure Zoe will be glad to have it back.”