The Floating Room

by Brian Olsen

  “To make me become the Common King again,” I say.

  “Yeah. Not just that, though.” She taps her chin. “I mean, I remembered you were, like, my absolute best friend before, but in this world, we weren’t that close. I wanted to fix that. And I did!” She puts her hand to her heart. “We totally had that bonding moment in the woods, and you shared a secret with me, and even though it was a secret that was actually about me so I already knew, you didn’t know that I knew so it meant so much that you trusted me!”

  Her clothes change. Just for an instant, she’s dressed in a long, flowing, white gossamer gown. Her red hair is up, entwined in an elaborate crown. She gasps and touches it, but it fades. Her hair falls and she’s dressed in jeans again. “Oh, we’re getting close!”

  Zane and Alisa look at me, worried, but I keep my eyes on Jasmine. “Then Kenny’s doing this? Amplifying Miller’s power, so he can shatter the illusion of the Moment?”

  “Only partly.”

  “Huh.” Zane stares up at the dancing fairies, his eyes losing focus. “Kenny was an important part of casting it in the first place. I remember… The Moment was such a big spell, we needed Kenny to amplify everyone’s magic.”

  Alisa tilts her head. “That’s right. He lived far from the capital, though.” She touches Zane’s arm. “After you lost your last big fight with the Common King, and Liefer came up with the idea for the Moment, I helped him recruit Kenny.” She shakes her head. “I didn’t know yet what that would mean for the magical creatures.”

  Jasmine leans forward, an excited expression on her face. “You’re remembering! That’s awesome! Zane, do you remember your last fight with Chris yet? That was a biggie. Everything changed after that.”

  “No. I’m just getting…flashes. Random stuff.” He shudders. “I don’t like it. I don’t want it.”

  “Alisa does, though. She likes remembering. She doesn’t want to like it, but she does.” Jasmine scoots forward in her seat so she can take Alisa’s hand. “Your power should have given you more memories back on its own, like mine and Mr. Miller’s did. You’ve been fighting it.”

  Alisa flinches from Jasmine’s touch but doesn’t pull away. “I like who I am now, Jasmine. I don’t want to be someone else.”

  “But you’re not someone else.” Jasmine squeezes her hand once before letting go. “You’re still you. I’m still me. You’ll see. How about you, Chris? Anything?”

  “Nothing.” I tap my head. “He’s still locked up tight, Jaz. And he’s not getting out, even if you end the Moment.”

  She sits back and smiles. “We’ll see.”

  Where the hell is Liefer? Lily must have seen Alisa’s message. Even if they bounced away like I did, they should have gotten here on foot by now. Something must be wrong.

  I don’t know what to do if we’re on our own. Jasmine can knock us out any time she wants.

  “So,” I say, “you’ve been using Kenny to make you more powerful?”

  “Oh, no.” She shakes her head. “Well, not much, not until today. Mostly he’s been boosting Mr. Miller to help keep them hidden. No, I didn’t remember Kenny until he attacked you in the park. That was lucky!” She claps her hands. “Once I knew about him, we had a real plan. If his power could create the Moment, then it could end it, too.”

  Nate suddenly yells, “You all right over there, Kenny? You sure you want to be helping with this?”

  Miller puts a hand on Kenny’s head. “He can’t hear you, Nate. Kenny believes he’s saving the world from the horrors of the Common King. In his mind, he’s at the center of a fierce battle, amplifying the powers of the forces of good. I’ve been prepping him for this all week.” He nods at me. “I was able to reuse a lot of the illusions I used on you, in fact.”

  That’s it. That’s our way out of this. I don’t look at Alisa. Not even a glimpse. I hope Zane doesn’t, either. We don’t need to. She’ll figure it out. If Kenny’s under an illusion, Alisa can truth him out of it. If he stops amplifying their powers, the Moment won’t break and we’ve got a fair fight. She just needs time to work.

  “Clever,” I say loudly. “It worked on us, it worked on him. This was all your idea, Mr. Miller?”

  Jasmine cuts in. “No! It was mine!” She jerks her thumb at Miller. “He was so desperate, he suggested we kill your dad just to see if it would shock the Common King awake.”

  I’m already cold from the ice throne but now I feel a lot colder. I glare at Mr. Miller. He looks away.

  Jasmine slaps my knee. “Good thing I was there, right? I was like, ‘Um, Mr. Armstrong is super nice and he’s like a second dad to my boyfriend and also he’s the husband of the only other ally you’ve managed to find, so, no, we won’t be doing that.’ He’s such a dummy, right?”

  I force a smile. “Right.”

  “No, using Kenny was all my idea. Miller didn’t even know about him until I told him. And Miller wanted to use him right away but I knew even with Kenny’s help we wouldn’t have enough power. The two of us aren’t enough, and your mom’s word isn’t any good for something like this.” She looks back at Miller. “He wanted us to recruit more of our old servants since I was remembering so much, but I had a better idea.” She throws her hands up and coos in delight as a cluster of fairies swoop down and fly around her arms.

  “The fairies?” Zane asks.

  “The fairies!” She jumps up and stands on her ice throne to get closer to them. “Tannyl was wrong, their magic is awesome! They’re not limited by one word like a logomancer. They can grant any wish! So we made a bargain with them. I told them that if they put the world back as it was, I’ll be queen again and I can make a law that says fairies are allowed to go wherever humans are and they can make any bargains they want and humans have to agree to them!”

  “Wow.” I nod. “That sounds…kind of…chaotic.”

  “I know!” She jumps off the throne. “It’ll be crazy! Won’t that be great! Who knows what’ll happen? The fairies loved the idea.”

  “And that’s why you were so adamant to get the fairies next?” Zane asks. “The whole cutesy girlie thing was an act?”

  She frowns at him. “It’s not an act, Zane. Fairies are pretty. But yeah, that’s why. I was afraid I was going to have to buy us all plane tickets to London, but Chris stepped up!”

  Miller says, “We weren’t certain even the fairies would be enough. So it was my idea, and I hope you can concede this much, Your Majesty, but it was my idea to weaken the Moment with some public displays of magic and magical creatures.”

  Jasmine rolls her eyes and plops back into her seat. “Ugh. You’re so gross. Yes, fine, whatever, it was your idea, Mr. Miller. Congratulations. But I mean, I actually made it happen. I freed the lightning bird. I gave that wolf lady her memories back and told her where to find us.”

  “And the minotaurs?” Nate says. “The minotaurs, Jasmine? Who killed those people? People from Charlesville? Our neighbors?”

  For the first time since we arrived, Jasmine looks hesitant. Her eyes dart around and she frowns. “I guess. I mean, I told Miller where to find the trophy and he found it and put it in the park. But…yeah, that was my idea, too, and I let them out.” She tilts her head. “Was that wrong?”

  Miller starts, “It was neces—”

  She slams her palm down on her icy armrest. “I wasn’t asking you, Muln!” She takes a breath. “Mrs. Armstrong? You weren’t crazy about the idea.”

  My mom, who’s been standing silently through most of this, stiffens a little. She speaks slowly, choosing her words carefully. “Innocents coming to harm is sometimes unavoidable, of course, but it’s not a desired outcome. With the lightning bird, you were on hand to send it back to the coin if necessary. With the wolves, you could have let Chris teleport away at any time. The minotaurs, even with your powers amplified, seemed…uncontrolled to me. Messy.” She bows. “Forgive me for speaking so plainly.”

  “That’s okay.” Jasmine puts a finger to her chin and furrows her brow, th
en nods. “Okay. I’m officially sorry for the people the minotaurs killed.” She beams. “There, Natey! See! I’m still your Jasmine!”

  I take the opportunity to look at Alisa. She sits rigidly on the stool. Her hands grip the edges of her seat, but her fingers are flexing, tapping against the ice. Her mouth is closed but her lips move slightly, as if she’s trying hard not to say aloud whatever she’s thinking. She’s looking at Jasmine, not Kenny, to avoid giving herself away, but that must be making it harder to do what she’s doing.

  I don’t see any change in Kenny. He’s still sweating and saying, “Amplify,” over and over.

  Jasmine catches me looking around and notices Alisa’s odd posture. “Alisa?” she asks. “Are you all right?”

  “She’s having a hard time,” I say quickly. “She’s worried about Tannyl.”

  “Oh!” Jasmine clasps her hands to her heart. “He’ll be okay! He’s be free when this is done! They’ll all be free!”

  “Free for what?” Zane asks. “Free to be slaughtered again?”

  Jasmine shrugs. “That’ll be up to Chris.”

  Miller harrumphes. “They won’t be free to slaughter innocent humans again, I’ll say that much.”

  “That!” Jasmine shouts, slamming the arm of her throne on each word. “Will! Be! Up! To! Chris!”

  The clearing is silent, apart from the incessant buzzing of fairy wings.

  Miller bows, slightly.

  Jasmine smiles. “Sometimes the help don’t know their place. But don’t worry about Tannyl, Alisa! Whatever happens to the other elves, we won’t hurt him! He’s different.”

  “Different how?” Zane asks.

  She curls her lip. “Don’t be dumb, Zane. We know Tannyl. He’s people.”

  “So are all the other—”

  I cut him off. I don’t want to antagonize her. “I thought fairy magic was weak, Jasmine? That they could only grant small wishes? Even all the fairies together shouldn’t be able to rewrite the world.”

  “Re-rewrite, you mean!” She laughs. “Come on, Chris. Isn’t it obvious?”

  A fairy swoops by my head, twirling and hooting in ecstasy. His light is glaringly bright.

  “Kenny,” I say. “He not only amplifying your magic. He’s amplifying the fairies’ magic.”

  She claps. “Isn’t it perfect?”

  “He’s strong enough to do that? Amplify three hundred thousand fairies?”

  “Three hundred thousand four hundred and two,” Jasmine corrects. “And no, even if he had his real memories back he couldn’t do that. But…and I was so smart when I thought of this…he’s amplifying himself, too! The fairies are, like, turbo-charged!”

  Kenny’s shirt is soaked through with sweat now, and I think Miller’s hands on his shoulders are as much to keep him upright as they are to facilitate the illusion.

  Come to think of it, Miller doesn’t look great either. His eyes are closed and he’s grimacing. Almost like he’s having to work harder to keep whatever Kenny’s seeing going…

  “Is that safe?” I ask. “For Kenny?”

  “Oh, no.” Jasmine shakes her head. “Not at all. He’s burning himself out.”

  “Jaz!” Nate shouts. “Kenny’s your friend!”

  She shrugs. “Kind of? Anyway, he won’t die. Not if we finish this soon.” She bites her lip. “Probably.”

  “Probably?” I say.

  She nods. “Once the Moment is broken he can rest. It’s taking a while, but there are a lot of moving parts here. All our powers are amplified to protect us from you, plus the fairies need a lot of juice. They’re not used to doing big magic like this. And they’re not only breaking the Moment. They have to make sure we keep our new memories after it breaks, and they’re preventing Liefer from teleporting in, and they’re protecting Nate and your father from being erased! I thought of everything.”

  “What about all the other people?” Zane jerks his head towards the ice cage. “Besides the two of them?”

  “What about them? I don’t even know most of them.”

  “What about your parents?” I ask. “They weren’t around before the Moment. You don’t want to hurt them, do you, Jasmine?”

  She furrows her brow. “No…but…they’re still in Europe. I couldn’t…” She shakes her head. “I kind of forgot about them. That’s weird.”

  “That’s the Nightmare Queen. Not you, Jasmine. You care about people.”

  From the way she rolls her eyes, I think that was the wrong thing to say.

  “I told you, Chris, there’s no difference. Jasmine, Nightmare Queen, same person.” She shrugs. “I can’t keep everybody safe. There are too many people in the world. We had to make a separate bargain for Nate and your dad, plus another to create the magical barrier so you and Liefer couldn’t surprise us. We’re running out of stuff to promise the fairies. Fairies love making bargains, you know. And they’re really good at it.”

  “Yeah, I’ve heard.”

  “We wanted you three here. That’s why they only sent you walking distance away. But Liefer’s bouncing all over the world! He won’t be able to stop! I’ll bet he’s so mad! Alisa, can’t you imagine his face…” She leans forward. “Alisa? Are you sure you’re all right?”

  Alisa’s eyes lock onto hers and she smiles. “Oh, I’m great, Jasmine. You were right, getting my memories back is helping a lot.” She stands, points at Kenny, and shouts, “Truth!”

  Miller staggers backwards, away from Kenny, as if Alisa’s spell shoved him. Kenny’s eyes snap open and he stops saying his word.

  “What…?” Kenny chokes out. “Where…what happened to the fighting? Everything was burning… Mr. Miller, do I still have to…” He wobbles, falling forward, but catches himself with his hands. “I don’t feel good. Alisa? Is that you? ”

  Jasmine thrusts her hands out at us. “Nightmare!”

  I’m in my house again. The Common King, filled with fire, floats above the bodies of my dead friends and family.

  I don’t scream. I flinch but I don’t collapse. I’m afraid, but I’m prepared. And it doesn’t feel as real this time.

  “Truth.”

  Alisa’s voice cuts through the dream and I’m back in the clearing, back in my seat. Zane stands up slowly, recovering from his own nightmare. Alisa’s still standing. I don’t think she succumbed to her nightmare at all.

  Jasmine backs up, putting her ice throne between us.

  Alisa flexes her fingers.

  A shadow forms at Zane’s feet.

  I stand.

  “Sun.”

  Thirty-three

  A fireball thrown towards Mr. Miller knocks him further away from Kenny. He’s still got the book, so I’m careful not to hit him. Just brush him back.

  A dragon flies over the clearing, casting its shadow on us. It screeches and dive bombs, snapping its enormous jaws, but Alisa shouts, “Truth!” and it vanishes.

  “Stay on Miller!” I say to her. “Don’t let him mess with what we’re seeing!”

  She runs across the clearing, positioning herself between Miller and Kenny. Mr. Miller makes a break for the surrounding forest, but Alisa shouts her word again and he disappears, nothing but an illusionary decoy. The real Miller materializes in front of her with his fist raised. She punches our former history teacher in the nose and he staggers back.

  Zane shoves me aside, shouting, “Shadow!”

  My mom’s behind me, about to grab me and no doubt freeze me solid. Instead, Zane’s shadow engulfs her, restricting her movements. Her frantically-darting eyes vanish last behind the blackness.

  I turn on Jasmine. She steps out from behind her ice throne with a smile.

  “No more nightmares, Jasmine,” I say. “Without Kenny’s help, you’re not strong enough to get us all.”

  “My powers aren’t all in the mind, Chris, and there are a lot of strong fears here I can use. Do you know what your father dreams about?” She throws her hands in the air and shouts, “Nightmare!”

  A spider a
ppears. A really, really big spider. Dad shrieks from inside his cage.

  I didn’t know Dad was afraid of spiders. But come to think of it, when one gets in the house, he always does let Mom take care of it.

  I’m not afraid of spiders, usually, but usually they’re not the size of a minivan. I don’t know what kind of spider it is, probably not any specific type since it comes from my father’s imagination. It’s black with gross white hairs all over, and it’s got eight thick legs and four glossy eyes, two big ones in the center and two smaller ones on either side. Huge fangs drip sticky saliva and in front of its mouth are these two things that sort of look like smaller limbs and I’ll bet they could grab me and hold me tight while it ate me up. I’ve seen those on spiders before but I don’t know what they’re called. It’s not really important right now but my mind is racing and it’s getting closer and I think I was wrong about not being afraid of spiders.

  “Don’t eat him, spider,” Jasmine yells. “Web him up!”

  I don’t think the spider’s listening. I trip backwards over Alisa’s ice stool and the arachnid looms over me. It rests one gross leg on my chest and snaps whatever those mouth-things are in my face. I’m making noises, probably embarrassing ones, but it’s hard to focus enough right now to say anything coherent. The spider’s fangs snap and it makes a hideous hissing, sucking sound and that’s enough for me to finally remember that I have super powers.

  “Sun!” I scream. “Sun, sun, sun!”

  I use my default attack, the one I don’t have to think about, and the spider burns. The flames make its thick gross hairs smolder, but the monster doesn’t seem bothered. Hot spider drool hits my face and runs down my chin.

  I scream my word again but I only get out, “Suuuuu—” because I’m breathing fire as I say it. That’s new.

  It does the trick. The jet of flame is too much even for a magical imaginary monster and vaporizes most of its head. I close my mouth and the spider’s decapitated body, still burning from my first attack, shudders and falls onto me. A pallid green ichor oozes out of its neck – or whatever arachnids have instead of necks. Doesn’t matter. The stuff gets all over me and it’s disgusting.