The Enchanted Mirror Part 2

There was a lot on Lily’s mind when she had stepped through the door. She had just learned a few days ago that she was a witch and now she was walking in a dark passage, not knowing when or where the end would be. Would it take her to her desired destination? Would it lead her to trouble? Or would it simply go on forever? These thoughts haunted her, as inseparable as her own shadow. Though she tried to shake the feeling off, doubt and uncertainty filled her. Wandering in the darkness, she spotted a light ahead, and where hope should have been filling her was the constant instinct of danger ahead. Her brain was telling her to turn around but she pursued her heart and continued forward, trembling ever so slightly as she pushed the emerging door in front of her open.

  Stepping toward the other side of the door, Lily noticed two things. (1) The sky above her wasn’t the sky, just the ground above them enchanted to look like it, and (2) all the people were not ugly and were not riding broomsticks and did not look like the witches she had imagined. There was a vast amount of land which was crowded with people - all women - who traveled from one place to another with a wave of their hands. 

“I made it!” Lily exclaimed, “The door led me right to the witches’ underground kingdom!” Lily looked around to make sure no one was coming and hid behind a strange plant-like house, putting the mirror in front of herself, and visualized herself wearing a dress like the others to blend in. Her purple pajamas formed into a plain but decent blue dress and her hair became magically combed. She looked out at the densely populated underground city and eyed the time on her digital watch, 10:15 A.M. She must have been walking for a lot more time than she thought. 

Lily looked ahead and wondered, how will I ever pull this off? Instead of sulking around, Lily hid the mirror behind the house and stood up more straight to show her confidence, marching forward and trying not to meet anyone’s eyes. 

“Hey, you!” Someone called, “what’s your name. I have never seen you around here.” Lily turned around, and behind her loomed a broad-shouldered woman with a yellow dress. 

“I- um, it’s,” Lily stuttered, “Sorry I am late, I’ve got to go.” She hurried off quickly before the woman had time to even blink. Hiding behind the same plant house, Lily took a deep breath and decided to camp-out for the night. As she ate her stale bread she couldn’t help but think how her parents were doing at this moment. She hadn’t even left them a note. She sighed and a noise interrupted her thoughts. 

“Psst, over here,” a voice called. Lily jerked her head in the direction of the sound. She stepped back. “Wait don’t go,” the voice called again, “Are you new here? You are an intruder, aren’t you? It’s ok, I won’t turn you in.”

“No, I-I am not an intruder,” Lily lied

“I can tell you are lying, my specialty is that. Good thing that I am on patrol duty and not anyone else.” The woman stepped out of the bush. She looked young, like 20 years old and she smiled warmly, her golden curly hair falling around her face. She seems nice enough, I guess I can trust her. 

“I am Lily, and yes I am new here.”

“Well then come here, we don’t want anyone to know that. By the way, my name is Ginny.” The woman beckoned her to come. She was wearing a flowing dress with large flowers on it, and hung from her shoulder was a brown leather Boho purse, resembling those in the 1980s. Carefully grasping the mirror from its hiding place, she followed Ginny towards a house in a distance made entirely of words.

Random words in different sizes and fonts made up the door of the house and sentences made up the structure of the house. Lily stared in disbelief as Ginny casually pushed the door open and ambled inside. On the inside, Ginny's house looked so much like Lily's that she became homesick again. “So,” Ginny sat down on the sofa, “Tell me, how did you find our kingdom?”

Lily shuffled her feet and looked down nervously, “I, umm, it’s kind of a secret,” she said not wanting to reveal the magic mirror. 

“It’s ok, you can trust me. I am pretty sure you are not on Empress Glinda’s side. Guess what, I am not either. I am just pretending to be like the rest of the witches. Some of Livia’s supporters are still alive and have a secret coven. There are only about 10 of us.”

“You are not on Glinda’s side?” Lily was so happy she practically glowed, “Can you help me then? Livia has chosen me to overthrow Glinda but I don’t know how. She said that I am a witch in her note.”

“Livia’s alive?” Ginny said surprised.

“No, no.” Lily began to explain to Ginny everything from the top except the mirror. She listened carefully, interested in what Lily had to tell. 

“Well if you are a witch, then we have to find your specialty.”

“What’s a specialty?”

“Every witch has a specialty. My specialty is detecting lies. Some of the common ones are fire and water but many people have rarer specialties like always winning or even running very very fast. Usually, finding your specialty is easy. It’s something you're really good at.”

“Well, I like to draw but I am not sure that’s my specialty.”

“Then let’s find out tomorrow! Right now you need to get some sleep” 

Meanwhile, in another part of the kingdom, the same broad-shouldered lady that Lily had met was demanding a meeting with the Empress. 

“I told you, I think there is something suspicious about this girl. She wouldn’t look at me and wouldn’t tell me her name! I have never seen her before and I know everyone!”

“Vivianne, you need to calm down,” said one of the guards, “The Empress is not here. She went somewhere an hour ago. She said she will be back in a few days.”

“Well, I need to talk to her now!” Vivianne demanded

“Sorry, no can do. 

The next day, Ginny and Lily spent the whole time trying to find her specialty, but to their dismay, nothing worked. This continued to be the case for several days but Ginny was very patient. She met every single one of Lily’s frown with a smile, every failure with encouragement, and every sad moment with cheerfulness. They both were worried about Lily’s specialty not showing up and then one day Ginny decided to use the spell. “There is one last way of finding your specialty but it can have a side effect. That’s why nobody wants to try it. It can impact the way your power works.” But by that time Lily was desperate to find out and she knew it won’t be easy to defeat Glinda, especially when Livia said that she was a very powerful witch. 

“It’s ok, I am ready.” Lily stood her ground as Ginny went into her closet to look for her spellbook. Emerging from her room, she chanted, 

“Show thy power, show thy face, so others can cower, while thou finds thy place.” Ginny and Lily waited in eerie silence. A few minutes passed and nothing moved. Then Lily’s shoulders slumped.

“It didn’t work.”

“No, It might show up after a while,” Ginny said, sounding unsure. That night, sleep did not come to Lily. She was worried that she had made a mistake and was not even a witch. Carefully without making any noise, she walked towards her magic mirror and closed her eyes, thinking of herself with her secret power revealed. The room was filled with silence as if everything was holding its breath. When she opened her eyes, she felt the same. Discouraged, Lily went back to sleep, but she didn’t know that Ginny was watching her from her room. She walked towards the mirror, just like Lily did, and traced the cracks with her long fingernails. “Hmm, I wonder what this mirror does…”

In the morning when Lily woke up, she went straight to Ginny. “Thank you so much,” she said, hugging her tight, “You helped me a lot and even spent all your time trying to find my specialty. But I don’t think I am a witch, or else I would be able to do magic already. But you are my best friend ever. Thank you for everything!” Ginny was surprised, but her eyes carried a hint of sadness as well. 

“Aww, I’m so touched. But you are wrong about one thing, you are a witch, or else you would never have come to our kingdom, it’s for witches only.” Ginny explained as Lily sat down.

“There is something I have to tell you,” Lily said, “It’s about the mirror I always carry, I feel like I can trust you with this secret, so please don’t tell anyone. It’s a mirror from Livia, passed down in our family for generations and it has the power to make anything we visualize to life. That’s how I got here.”

“Really? Wow, let me try.” Ginny stepped towards the mirror and Lily thought she saw a glint of hunger in her eye, but then it passed. Closing her eyes, Ginny thought of the thing she wanted the most, the mythical moon rose and when she opened her eyes, it stood in front of her, its silver petals stretching in the dark.

“It really does work!” she exclaimed. “Thank you so so much! You don’t know what you’ve done for me, this helps me more than you can ever imagine! Wait for me here until I come back.”

“Wait, what-?” but before Lily had time to finish Ginny had already scurried off, carrying the plant with her. Taken aback, Lily went to sit on the chair, wondering what Ginny meant by the plant helping her.

Soon, nightfall arrived and there was still no sign of Ginny. Worried, Lily wandered around town calling her name. “Ginny, Ginny! Ginny where are you?” She wandered towards a potions store that looked a century old. There, in the shadows, she could see the familiar curly hair and the dress full of flowers. “There you are, I was wondering why you didn’t reach home already.” Moving closer, Lily’s eyes caught the glint of the silver rose’s petal. “Ginny, what are you doing?” Whirling around, Ginny’s body began to morph into a completely different person. Lily backed up in horror as Ginny grew twice as big, her eyes shining with excitement. Her golden curls transformed into black and her dress, now too small, vanished and was replaced with magenta robes. Now fully back into her original self, the woman boomed, 

“I’m not Ginny, I am Glinda, empress of this kingdom and the most powerful witch alive in the universe. Now, you, my child, are about to die!”

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