Disclaimer: I don't own the 10th Kingdom and never will.
A/N: Thanks to the person who reviewed this story before. For anyone who does read this please leave a review(a long one is greatly appriciated. That goes especially for you friend from LP)
In Dreams
Virginia stared at herself in the mirror. The wedding dress was beautiful. Wendell had the royal courtier make it for her. She sighed. It was her wedding day, she should be happy. She was happy, she loved Wolf and wanted to marry him, but she still hadn't told her dad about the baby. She wasn't sure how he'd react. Would he think that was the reason she was getting married? Would he try and kill Wolf? She hoped that when he found out that he would be happy for her. She was, just nervous. She hoped she would be a good mother, but a tiny fear lingered in the back of her mind. What if she turned out to be like her own mother? The thought terrified her. The more this thought came to her though, the more determined she became though. She would try her best to be a good mother to this child, whatever it took. Now she just had to tell her father.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony stood in the grand ball room of Wendal's castle. His little girl was getting married. He still couldn't believe it. He knew Virginia loved Wolf and that Wolf certainly seemed to love Virginia, but he was her daughter for goodness sake, he was supposed to feel this way.
He thought about all that had happened in the last 2 months. He had been an unappreciated janitor until he and his daughter were wisked away to this magical land. He was now an advisor to the grandson of Snow White, he had found his wife after 14 years and she had turned out to be an evil queen, and his daughter was marrying a half-wolf. The thought of Wolf made him think about something else that had stuck in his mind for the last month and a half. Why had he called him grandpa? He managed to convince himself he was just joking, but the idea that Virginia might really be pregnant still bothered him. If she was pregnant she would have told him by now right?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf jumped around excitedly. Today he was finally going to get to marry Virginia. He wore a tux (like the one he had worn to the coronation) that made him look extremely handsome. He was even more hyper this morning than usual (which was hard). He was getting married today, and in several months he was going to be a father. Wolf knew Virginia still hadn't told her father that bit of news, but today he was to0 excited to care. He checked himself over in the mirror one more time, and ran out of the room to go and find his best man, Wendal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"If they only knew." said a woman to no one in particular. She stood in a dark room staring into a very large mirror. In the mirror she could see Wolf leaving his room. She had been watching all of them for quite some time. "You fools," she said. " You're happy now, you think it's over, that you've defeated the threat to the kingdoms. Cristine was nothing compared to me."she thought to herself. She had watched the Queen. Her plan had been a good one, but she had made many foolish mistakes. She should never have trusted the half-wolf and she should have killed the girl when she had the chance. The girl. She had been struck down by her own daughter. What an idiet.
Of course in her defense she had done a better job than her sire. She'd watched the old witch fail as well, but she was more powerful than either of those ammitures. She also knew not to trust anyone. You couldn't get betrayed that way.
"Have your fun now, I have waited and watched for centuries, I can wait a little longer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The wedding guests had all arrived. Virginia stood at the entrance to the ball room. As soon as she had looked and seen Wolf standing there all worries she had had before evaporated.
Tony took her arm as the wedding march started. He stared at his little girl.
"Virginia, I love you. You know that right?"
Virginia looked at her father fondly.
"I love you too, Daddy."
As soon as they had made it to where Wolf was standing the bishop began the ceremony . A little while later he pronounced Wolf and Virginia husband and wife. When they leaned into kiss even Wendell had to choke back tears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The mysterious woman just watched and smiled an evil smile to herself. "Soon," she thought "Very soon."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been two days since Wolf and Virginia's wedding and they had spent most of that time alone together.
"mmm." sighed Virginia as she rolled over to look at Wolf sleeping, and to her surprise she found him already staring at her.
"Why hello," said Wolf, and began to nuzzle her neck.
"Wolf", Virginia giggled. She retaliated by kissing his chest then moving upwards till she had made a trail of kisses to his neck She was about to kiss him on the lips when she backed away suddenly.
"Where are we going to go on our honeymoon?"she suddenly cried. They had completely forgot about it because they had been so busy.
"Huff puff, I completely forgot." Wolf began to scratch his temple.
"How about the 2nd kingdom? I want to see where you grew up."
"Really? I haven't been there in quite some time."
"Then it's time you went back." said Virginia as she started to kiss Wolf again. Wolf let out a little growl and eagerly returned her kiss. (Well since I don't wright lemons we're going to leave them alone for awhile.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia opened her eyes and found herself on a path in the woods.
"How'd I get here?" she thought. Suddenly she found herself running, but she didn't know why.
"What's going on?"she yelled to no one imparticular, not really expecting an answer. She looked behind her as she ran and saw Wolf running behind her.
"Run, Virginia, run."
"Run from what?"she thought, but didn't stop. After running a while she looked back to see if Wolf was still behind her. When she didn't see him she stopped suddenly, only to find herself at the edge of a cliff that she hadn't seen a minute ago. She tried to balance herself, but her attempts were futile, she fell off the edge and started to scream when she felt someone grab her hand.
"Wolf, oh thank god, Wolf." she looked up, but didn't see her husband staring back, instead she saw another all too familiar face.
"Hello dear,"said Cristine, "It seems I am once again in a position where I can finally be rid of YOU."Christine smiled down at her coldly.
"Mom?" asked Virginia uncertain."But you're... "
"Dead." Christine finished for her. "Well, I guess I am aren't I, but of course you would know that wouldn't you? It's not every day you kill someone, especially your own mother."
Virginia stared up at her horrified. "I... I didn't want to. You were strangling me. I would never have..." she couldn't finish. She didn't know what to say to her. She had killed her mother. Her mother. How could she have done something like that? And now here she was, the same mother she had murdered was the only thing keeping her from falling to herown death.
"Look at yourself, Virginia. You are no better than me. I never killed you. Just think if you could murder your own mother, what will you do to your child?"
"Noooo!" screamed Virginia, and then her mother released her hand, and she felt herself falling into the abyss.
"NOOOO". she yelled and sat up in bed. She wasn't dead. It had been a dream, just a stupid nightmare. Virginia looked over to Wolf. He hadn't woken up. That was strange. Wolf was a predator, always alert. On any other night he would awaken if he felt her jerk suddenly. She felt soft fur brush against her leg. It was his tail. The fury appendage was wagging back and forth frantically. "He must be dreaming," she thought, "Probably about sheep." ,she sighed and rolled over to go back to sleep. His tail began to wag harder. "What is he dreaming about?" she thought before drifting off to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf followed the scent of his prey. He had been following it for quite some time, but for some strange reason couldn't remember what he was tracking. It didn't matter, the wolf in him was at full force. He slowly made his way through the forest, so not to disturb whatever it was that he was hunting. He was getting closer. He snifed the air again, but this time found a more familiar scent, one he enjoyed even more than bacon or lamb. His eyes flashed yellow, but quickly faded.
"Virginia?" Wolf called out into the darkness of the woods. He momentarily forgot about his prey and went towards his mate's scent. He walked for several minuets, but couldn't find her.
"Virginia, where are you?"
"Right here, Wolf."
He turned to find her starring at him coldly.
"What's wrong?' he asked, something about her smelled wrong.
"Oh, nothing. I just woke up this morning and realized I had married a filthy animal. Nothing big." she continued to smile in that evil manner.
"Cripes. Virginia, what are you saying?" He couldn't believe what his creamy, dreamy girl was saying to him.
"Isn't it obvious? It was a mistake for me to marry a savage monster. You should have been burned along with your parents."
Suddenly Wolf found himself tied to a stake like he had been in Little Lamb Village. He smelt burning flesh and looked over to see his parents tied to their own wooden stakes near by. Except their's were fully a blaze and their faces twisted in utter agony. No. Not again. He couldn't go through this again. Why was Virginia doing this? He tried to shut out the screams of his parents, but he couldn't. It was exactly like he remembered. That night so long ago would forever stay burned into his mind.
"Oh, Wolfy." He stared down to see Virginia standing at the base of the wood pile on which he stood. She was holding a torch, a flaiming torch.
"Virginia, no." he pleaded. How could she do this? He began to wimper. It was all he could do. He didn't know what to say.
"Time to say goodbye, animal.",she smiled that cruel smile one last time as she lowered the torch and lit the wood on fire. Wolf began to howl and then his animal side took complete control. He forgot who his executor was , all he thought about was escaping. With his wolf strength he managed to break the ropes and leap off of the stake and onto Virginia. She never had a chance to scream. A stunned look was forever frozen on her face as Wolf's canines tour through the soft flesh of her neck. When Wolf came back to himself he gasped in horror when he realised who's limp body it was that he now held.
"What have I down?" he cried to himself. "Nooowoooo." His cries turned to mournful howls as he held Virginia's bleeding body in his arms.
Then he woke up. What did I do?! What did Virginia do?! A thousand questions shot through his mind all at once. He glanced over at Virginia. He could hear her soft breathing,and the beat of her heart. She was okay, it had only been a dream. He scratched his head nervously. Then ever so carefully he wrapped his arms around his mate protectively. Wolf laid that way for the rest of the night afraid to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning when Virginia woke up she found Wolf holding her closely. She didn't mind though. She knew she should get up, but she felt so good in his warm arms. Wolf stirred beside her. He knew she was awake.
"Good morning, Wolf."
Wolf was unusually quite, but he managed to get out a quiet hello. He was still thinking about his dream. He couldn't forget Virginia calling him a filthy animal or him holding her dead corpse in his arms.
Virginia waited for him to start talking about breakfast, but he said nothing, just stared at her with those hazel eyes of his.
"Are you okay?" she asked. He simply nodded, no further reply. "What's wrong?"
"Uh, I'm just nervous about going back to the 2nd kingdom.", he replied quietly. He wasn't really lying, an image of his burning parents flashed into his mind.
Virginia just stared at him. She had a feeling he wasn't telling her everything, but she didn't push it.
"How about some breakfast? don't you want some bacon?" She smiled as his eyes lit up with anticipation. He had completely forgotten about bacon. He jumped out of bed and started to get dressed.
Virginia watched him smiling. He was depressed, but would still get that excited over bacon. She slowly got up and began to get dressed herself. As she did this she began to think about the dream she had had during the night. What had it meant? It was just a dream right? Still the image of her mother's cold face calling her a murderer wouldn't leave her mind. Was she a murderer? Wolf's voice broke through her thoughts.
"Huff Puff, come on Virginia. The bacon awaits."and with that Wolf ran out of the room. Virginia followed, but Wolf was gone by the time she had made it through the door.
"Well," she said to herself,"at least he's back to normal." she started to walk down the hall when she felt herself get sick.
"Not again!" she covered her mouth and ran back into the room.
(Author's note: I don't know what she would throw up in, but there is no where else for her to go. I guess she can throw up in a bowl or something.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Anthony, is something the matter?" King Wendell asked his friend. Tony seemed to be in some sort of a stupor at the moment.
"Uh what, oh Wendell, no no nothing's the matter." Tony stuttered. "Okay, I kind of had this weird dream, and I guess it kind of got me thinking about some stuff." Tony's brow furrowed as he went back to his thoughts.
"Would you like to tell me about it?" Wendell asked concerned. He could tell this dream had really bothered his friend.
"Okay, it was really strange. I was standing in the mirror room, and somehow Christine was there. She told me to look into the mirror of truth, and I did, and it wasn't Cristine standing next to me, I mean she was wearing the same clothes, and her facial expression was the same, but her face was Virginia's. I looked next to me and Virginia was there just like she was in the mirror. Then she just started to laugh and laugh, but it wasn't happy laughter, it was evil laughter, and then I just woke up. I guess what I'm afraid of is that Virginia will end up like her mother." Tony sighed letting his head slump down. "Cristine started to show signs of going crazy after Virginia was born. I just ..."
"You're worried about what Wolf said before he went through the mirror, aren't you?" Wendell cut him off. Wendell looked at him and nodded. "I'm sure Wolf was just joking with you, but whatever happens you just have to remember that Virginia is not Christine, she's Virginia. Just be happy for them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Virginia finally came downstairs, she found Wolf, Wendell, and her father already eating.
"Virginia, are you okay, you've been up there for a while?" Wolf asked with genuine concern. Virginia gave Wolf a look.
"I was just getting dressed. I just took my time." Ugh, what a bad excuse, hopefully her father and King Wendell would buy it. Wolf understood, because he said nothing else about it. Her father, however, looked worried.
"I should tell him." she thought to herself, but then forced the thought out of her mind. She wasn't ready yet.
"So what is this I here about the two of you going to the 2nd kingdom for your honeymoon?" asked Wendell changing the subject.
"Oh, I wanted to see where Wolf grew up, besides I haven't even been in the 2nd kingdom yet." Replied Virginia, she was glad for the subject change.
"When are you leaving?" asked Tony.
"We haven't decided yet?" Wolf said in between bites of bacon."It's up to Virginia."
" Well, we might as well leave soon, how about today?" Virginia said eager to get out of the castle.
"All right then. I'll have a carriage prepared for your journey."Wendell said with a smile.
"Thanks, Wendy." said Wolf, finishing his last piece of bacon. With that Virginia and Wolf excused themselves to go pack.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Fools." laughed the woman. "Going to the place of his past will only make my job easier." She stared into the mirror and watched as Wolf and Virginia left the room. To think, these were the four who saved the nine kingdoms. How had Christine been defeated by these people? She smiled to herself. Her dreams had already begun to disturb them, but it was only just the beginning.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf and Virginia had been riding in the carriage for about an hour. Wolf was a little restless in the cramped space, but he didn't complain. Virginia laid her head on Wolf's shoulder. He put his arm around her and sighed as only he can. Virginia smiled and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she stood in the mirror room of the castle. How had she gotten here?
She noticed the Mirror of Truth was shimmering. She walked over to it slowly and peered into the depths of it's reflection. She gasped at what she saw. She wasn't alone in the reflection of the mirror, her mother stood behind her. She swerved around quickly to find her mother now standing in the room.
"Hello, my daughter." Christine said with a cruel smile. She reached a hand out and stroked Virginia's cheek, but then drew it back swiftly and struck her full force across the face. Virginia fell backwards in shock.
"That was for murdering me." Christine hissed at her stunned daughter.
"I didn't murder you. it was self defense. You tried to kill me. You tried to kill everyone."
"I would have killed them too if it hadn't been for that ungrateful animal."
"He's not an animal."
"Oh, but Virginia only a monster could love someone like you. You killed your own mother in cold blood. No matter how many times you tell yourself that it was an accident or that you did it out of self defense, you will never be able to believe it. Will you? You know the truth don't you? You can deny and deny and deny, but you will always know in your heart that you murdered me. Why Virginia, what will your own child think knowing what their mother did? The child will think you are a monster, just like you think I am."
"Noooo. No. No. No." Virginia sobbed as she woke up in Wolf's arms. What, a dream? It was another dream? She looked up to find Wolf starring down at her. There was worry in his eyes.
"Are you all right? You fell asleep and then just woke up screaming. Was it a bad dream?"
Virginia didn't know what to say. She didn't want to scare him, but she felt like she should tell so he could help comfort her, but then decided making Wolf worry would just be selfish of her so she decided to take the easy way out.
"Yeah. It was just a bad dream, nothing to worry about?" she studied his face to see if he believed her, but only found pity.
"Was it about your mother?" he asked with understanding that said he knew what she was going through. He had lost his parents too and knew how hard it was.
"Yes." Virginia replied quietly.
Wolf could tell she didn't want to talk about it so he just held her and let her cry.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony stared up at the ceiling of his room. He couldn't fall asleep.
"Maybe I'm afraid of having another one of those stupid dreams." he thought to himself . he shouldn't do this to himself. If Virginia was pregnant she would have told him. This thought was coming up to much in his mind lately. Wendell was right. Wolf was just kidding.
"Arrrggg. I can't fall asleep this way!"
Tony got out of his large bed, got dressed and walked out of the room. He didn't know where he was going, but heck it was a big castle, he could just walk around for a while. He made his way down the hall quietly because he was unsure weather or not any one else was still awake. Despite all the candles the castle was dark at night. Shadows danced on the walls. It was actually quite creepy. He continued to walk trying to ignore the shadows. Wait. Had that shadowed just looked like a woman?
"Tony, what are you doing? First, you're paranoid that a half-wolf might have gotten your daughter pregnant, now you're seeing ghosts." he said to himself quietly,"And now your talking to yourself. Oh great."
He continued to walk until he noticed a strange light coming from the mirror room. Only two people had a key to this room: Wendell and Tony. so what was going on in there. He unlocked the door and went into the room slowly. If someone had gotten in he wanted to sneak up on them. He peered around the room. There was no one there. He took one last look around when, and was about to leave when he saw where the strange light was coming from. It was the Mirror of Truth.
"Just like in my dream" thought Tony. He made his way over to the mirror has if drawn by the hypnotic light. He peered into the reflection and...(dramatic pause. lol) gasped at what he saw. he wasn't in the reflection at all, instead there was a woman whose face was completely covered by a black hood. He was too stunned to move.
"This can't be real." he cried.
"On the contrary Dad, it most certainly is." Tony watched in horror as the woman pulled back her hood to reveal Virginia's face smiling coldly at him. he Tony was so shocked that he ran out of the room.
When he had made it back to his room he finally stopped running.
"You didn't see what you thought you saw. You've just been stressed lately, and has started to hallucinate. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real." Tony tried to reassure himself that his mind was playing tricks on him, but in his mind he knew what he had saw real.
"What is it with this place?" after saying this he finally managed to fall asleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf starred at Virginia laying beside him in the bed. (They had stopped at a small inn on the way.) She was so beautiful. He still couldn't believe she had married him, or that they were having a cub. Wolf was more nervous about going to the 2nd kingdom than he had let on to her. The dream he had had bothered him. In the nine kingdoms a dream wasn't always just a dream. What if something bad was going to happen? He knew Virginia would never do to him what she had in the dream, but he was more worried about the other way around. He didn't think he could hurt his mate, but what if he did? He would kill himself for sure. There would be no way he could live with himself. Besides if he did hurt Virginia Tony would kill him any way.
Wolf closed his eyes and somehow he fell asleep.
When Wolf opened his eyes he immediately smelt smoke. Smoke!? Was the inn on fire? He looked around and realized that he was no longer in the inn.
"Oh Cripes, where am I?" he began to scratch his temple, frustrated. He looked around and realized he was in Wendell's castle. But how had he gotten here? He didn't have any answers just lots of questions. The only thing he did know was that he needed to find Virginia and whatever was burning.
He ran out of the room and down the hall. Wolf realized that he had been in he and Virginia's room. That information didn't really help much. He still didn't know where Virginia was.
He finally found her scent at the end of the hall. She was close by. Wolf turned the corner and to his surprise somehow found himself at the grand entrance of Wendell's castle. Cripes! He and Virgina's room was on the third floor. He was very confused, but his mate's scent went out the door so he continued on. As soon as he stepped through he heard Tony call his name, but it wasn't a cheerful greeting, instead it was full of hate.
"Wolf." Tony walked over to Wolf and stared at him with eyes that were a mixture of extreme hate and extreme pain.
"How could you? You killed her you animal! I thought she was your mate for life, your one true love, and this is how you show your affection?" Tony pointed at a body laying near by. It was Virginia. Her throat had been ripped out.
"Noooo! Virginia, oh Virginia!" Wolf rushed over to her and held her lifeless corps in his arms. this all seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember at the monument from where.
"Tie him to the stake and burn him ." ordered Wendell who until now Wolf hadn't noticed was standing there. Two guards grabbed his arms and began to pull him away from Virginia.
"What? No I didn't, I couldn't!"Wolf pleaded with Tony, but Tony's gaze was hard, cold he would never be able to convince him.
"She loved you, you know , and this is how you repaid her." this time Tony's tone was sad, but filled with no less hate for Wolf.
The guards tied Wolf to a stake. He smelt the burning of wood again, but it wasn't from his pile, it was from two beside his. He hadn't noticed them before either, but then he recognized the two agonized people tied to the stakes as his parents. Why did this image still haunt him after all these years? Wolf looked down to see that Tony was lighting his pile now. Soon he would join Virginia. He let out a long mournful howl, and this time did not struggle as he felt the heat of the fire against his legs.
Wolf awoke with a start. Another one of those dreams? Why was this happening? He would never really hurt Virginia, would he? He looked over at her like he had before, but this time something was wrong. very wrong. He reached over to touch her and when he pulled his hand away it was covered with blood. He turned Virginia over and gasped in horror at the site of his lovely Virginia with her throat lacerated. Her eyes stared blankly forward with a look of utter horror. He licked his dry lips, but when he did this he tasted something vaguely like copper. He put his other hand to his face and when he pulled it away found blood on his fingers. He had killed his precious Virginia, and this time it wasn't a dream.
"NOOOoWoooo!"
"Wolf, Wolf. Wake up!" Wolf's eyes flew open and he starred into the eyes of his beloved.
"Virginia, you're okay, you're okay." he hugged her over and over and kissed her repeatedly.
"I am so sorry, Virginia. I would never hurt you. I'm so sorry."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They had started their journey again, not long after day light. After Wolf's dream, neither he nor Virginia had managed to get back to sleep anyway. Virginia worried about Wolf. She had asked him about his dream, but he had only replied that he didn't really want to talk about it, so she tried to change the subject to something else. It was their honeymoon right? They were supposed to be happy, not bothered by silly nightmares.
"Wolf, what was your family like? You never really told me much about your past." Virginia hoped that Wolf would open up to her. She was curious about Wolf, and wanted to know things about his family. He'd told her during their first full moon together in Little Lamb Village that his parents had been burned, but he hadn't said anymore about it.
" My father was a wolf named Jacub. You see wolves are different here then in your kingdom. They walk up right, and resemble humans, except they have fur, tales, and snouts, and ears similar to the wolves of the 10th kingdom."
So that's how it worked. She had wondered how a wolf and a human could mate. It explained a lot that they didn't walk on all fours.
"So your mother was human?"
"Yes, her name was Catrina. You see her family wasn't happy about her marrying my father, but she didn't care. Most people thought wolves were filthy, dangerous monsters. A lot still do." A sadness swept over Wolf's eyes.
'He must be thinking about his parents being burned." thought Virginia. She would have to get his mind off of that.
"Did you have any siblings?" Wolf's eyes lit up at this.
" I had two. A brother named Colin, and a sister named Lica. I was the oldest. I'll never no why they named me Wolf. Original huh?" Virginia smiled.
"I like your name. It's perfect for you."she kissed him softly. Wolf did his puppy whimpering, so she kissed him again only this time more passionately. (No, you sick people they are not going to do it in the carriage. That's disgusting.)
"Anthony! Wake up."
Tony looked up to see Wendell looking at him obviously annoyed.
"Oh, I'm sorry Wendell. I didn't get any sleep last night." Tony rubbed his eyes while he said this.
"Not another dream?"Wendell asked concerned.
"I wish." Tony confessed." It was really strange. I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk. Then I saw something
coming from the mirror room. I decided to go in and make sure there was no one in there. When I went in the Mirror o Truth was, well glowing. When I went over to it there was this strange woman in it that looked like Virginia, just evil."
"Like your dream." replied Wendell absent mindedly as if he were deep in thought. " The Mirror of Truth shows things as they truly are, but I don't believe Virginia is evil."
Then a horrible thought crossed Tony's mind.
"What if it was telling the truth abut the future, not the present."
"Your saying that you think your fears abut Virginia are going to come true?" asked Wendell stunned at what his friend was saying.
"I don't know what I'm saying. I guess my mind was just playing tricks on me because I've been worrying about those kinds of things lately. I don't think my daughter is evil, I'm just afraid that....that..."
'She'll end up like the Queen, and that the mirror was bringing reality to your fears." Wendell finished for him. They'd already had this conversation once, but he didn't know what to tell Tony. The Mirror of Truth usually did exactly what it's name suggested, tell the truth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What are you afraid of?" There she had said it. Virginia had been building up the strength to ask Wolf that question, and she had finally done it.
"What do you mean my dreamy, creamy girl?" asked Wolf with only a half wolfish smile. He hadn't expected that question and wanted to steer her away from it.
"Wolf, I'm serious. What's been bothering you? Why are you afraid of going back to where you grew up?"
Wolf's eyes lost their brightness and his head slumped down.
"I'm afraid of what I'll find there?" Wolf confessed.
Virginia didn't know what to say. She figured it had something to do with his parents.
"Wolf, tell me more about what happened to your parents."
Wolf stared off into space as if he were looking back in time.
"They were accused of a horrible crime. You see my mother was botroved to another before she met my father. She didn't love him though, the engagement was arranged by their families. One day she was taking a walk in the woods when she was attacked by a bear. She screamed and tried to run, but the bear was too fast for her. My father was in the woods near by, and heard her scream. He raced to where she was being attacked, and fought the bear off. When he saw her it was love at first sight. That's the way it works for most wolves."
Virginia smiled at that.
"Your parents told you all of this?" she asked urging him to go on.
"Yes."
"What happened next?"
"Well, my mother wasn't sure what to think at first. She had always been taught that wolves were dangerous, but this wolf had saved her life. Of course she soon fell in love with my father and because she knew her family would never accept him, they eloped. They lived in a cabin, head three children, as lived happily ever after. For awhile."
Virginia watched as Wolf's eyes got that sad look in them again.
"You see the man she was engaged to was furious with my mother. He felt that she had deeply embarrassed him by marrying a wolf instead of him. He tried several times to get my mother to leave my father and marry him, but she always refused. When I was 15 he had finally had enough. It will never be proven whether he did it himself or not, but his farm was recede. His live stock was killed and his barn was recede. He blamed it on my father of course, but huff puff Virginia, my father would never have done something like that. It wasn't even a full moon, but the other villagers believed him." Once again Wolf's face got that far off look as if he could see that night playing in his head.
"The villagers came that night. They tied my parents to stakes and burned them together in the village square. the man who had accused my father forced me and my siblings to come and watch. My brother and sister were still young, so I stood in front of them so they couldn't watch, but I did. I couldn't tear myself away. Oh, that night is still fresh in my mind. The look on my parents' faces as they choked out their last good-byes. Afterwards, they took my siblings away. I tried to stop them, but there was nothing I could do. They tried to lock me up, but escaped and ran into the woods. That's how I spent the next several years of my life. Wondering from village to village, trying to hide who I am. Some how I end up back in my old village one night. It was a full moon, and when I saw his farm I lost it. I had eaten all of his sheep by the time they caught me. I spent the next eight years in the prison. The rest as they say is history." By the time he had finished his story, Wolf's eyes were filled with the sorrow that only comes from recalling one's past.
"Wolf, I'm so sorry. I had know idea." said Virginia, hugging him.
"No, you deserved to know."
"Wolf, it's time you got out of your slump." Virginia had come up with the perfect plan to perk Wolf up again.
"What did you have in mind?" Wolf asked, interested.
Virginia stuck her head out the window and called for the driver to stop. She took Wolf's hand and got out of the carriage.
"It's my turn to be It." she whispered into his ear.
That wolfish grin appeared on Wolf's face and he eagerly followed after her.
"Wolf and I have been cramped up in the carriage for a while, and we just wanted to go for a walk." she told the driver. He nodded while trying not to smirk. With that Virginia headed for the woods with Wolf jumping excitedly behind her.
After their "walk" Virginia and Wolf went back to the carriage and took a nap. Virginia was the first to fall.
When she opened her eyes ( whoa, dejja vu) she was in the middle of a forest. She looked at her surroundings, trying to find her barring.
"Virginia."
Who was that?
"Virginia?"
She started to go towards the sound.
"Virginia, where are you?" The sound came from behind her now. She turned quickly expecting to see someone behind her, but there was just darkness. She became frightened, and suddenly found she was holding something in her hand. It was a small dagger. How had she gotten this? It didn't matter, she might need it to defend herself against who ever kept calling her name.
"Who who's there?" she called into the night.
"Virginia." was her only reply.
"Virginia, I know your there. Come to me Virginia."
Who was calling her? The voice seemed familiar, she just couldn't remember who's it was.
"Where are you?
"I'm here Virginia." as this was said she heard a sound in the trees behind her. She jumped around and with a swift motion she lunged the dagger into the bushes, and nearly jumped back with horror when she felt the dagger hit it's target, followed by a familiar howl of pain.
"No, Virginia. No."
She ran into the trees to find Wolf lying on the ground bleeding.
"Wolf! No. No. What have I done?"
"Virginia, behind you." were his final words as he died in her arms.
"Oh, Virginia. First you kill me then your husband. What kind of a person are you?"
She tried to turn around, but it was too late. She felt a scrape on her neck. She turned to find her mother starring at her, the poisoned comb in hand. Virginia touched where her neck had been cut, and felt blood.
" What an ironic twist of fate? Killed by your own weapon?" as soon a she heard this everything went black.
Virginia's eyes flew open. Her heart was pounding and it took her a few moments to remember where she was.
"It's okay". She told herself, " It was just another one of those dreams. Your safe. In a carriage somewhere in the 2nd kingdom by now, with Wolf." Wait a second. Where was Wolf? Hadn't she been leaning on him when she fell asleep?
"Wolf?' she asked turning her head, but he was gone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Gone? Where could he have gone?
"Stop!" she yelled to the driver. As soon as the carriage had stooped she jumped out and started to run. She stopped when she realized that she didn't know where to run. Where to look. Why had he left? Why would he do this to her? Was he going to come back?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf ran through the forest. he didn't know where he was going he just had to run. He looked up at the sky as he ran, and saw the full moon shining down at him. He hadn't known there was a full moon tonight. Wasn't that several days away? How could there be a full moon tonight?
He finally stopped when he heard a noise.
"Wolf."
Who was that? Wolf sniffed the air trying to catch the scent of is caller. He smelled no one.
"Silly Wolf, you can't smell me."
Huh? Who was this person? He couldn't rely on his noise, so he decided to follow his ears.
"That's it ,Wolf. Come to me."
Every wolf instinct that he possessed told him to turn back, that there was danger ahead, but all he could do was go on. Something was pulling him to the voice. Then as he was coming to a clearing, he saw a dark figure standing in the middle of it.
"A little closer, my little wolf."
As he got into the clearing, he noticed that the figure was a woman, but her face was hid by a cloak. He sniffed the air again, but found no scent.
" Now Wolf, what did I tell you about doing that?"
Wolf starred at the woman, not sure what to do. Then she started to lift her hood...
Wolf opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of the woods again. Except this time he soon realized he wasn't asleep.
"How did I get here?" he asked himself. Where was he? Where was Virginia?
"Virginia?" he called out into the darkness, but there was no reply.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How could he have just disappeared?" cried Virginia to no one imparticular. Mostly because she was alone.
"Did he just jump out of the carriage and run away?"
She was mad now. Where was he? She'd been walking for three hours and there was no sign of him.
"Wolf!" she called out for the umpteenth time, but as before there was no answer. "Urrrgggg! Why did I ever decide to go look for him alone?"
When Wolf had despaired from the carriage she hadn't known what to think. So she decided to go look for him. She told the driver of the carriage to wait for her, but if she wasn't back in five hours to go back to King Wendell's castle and get her father. She had figured that Wolf hadn't been able to get far if he had ran, but there had so far been no sign of him.
"I should probably go back." she thought, but how could she go back? How could she just leave him? What if something had happened to him and he hadn't just left?
"Wolf, when I do find you, I'm going to kill you!" she yelled into the trees.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
" Not if I do first."she said as she smiled the same cruel smile. "Not if I do first."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
" What do you mean she's somewhere in the middle of the 2nd kingdom forest looking for him?!" yelled Tony at the driver.
"How could you just leave her there looking for that stupid wolf?"
"I'm sorry , sir, but she told me if she didn't come back to come get you."
Tony couldn't believe what he had just been told. Wolf had disappeared, and his daughter had disappeared going to look for him.
"I'm going to the 2nd kingdom." he announced to Wendell who stood near by, and had been waiting for Tony to say this.
"Of course. I will get a horse mounted for you." ( I know it's not really realistic for him to go alone, but I just want it to be Tony.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf walked through the forest. He was lost. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd been really lost, but he was now. He tried to catch the scent of something familiar, but found nothing. He still had no idea how he had end up in the woods. Had he walked in his sleep? That seemed unlikely, he'd never walked in his sleep before. The last thing he remembered was the dream. Had the dream had something to do with it? It had been so strange, almost like it was real, maybe even more than the others that had recently plagued his sleep.
Suddenly a vaguely familiar scent filled his nose. Where had he smelt that before? Then suddenly he knew. He took off through the trees, going towards the holder of the scent. When he came to a clearing he stopped. It was similar to the one in his dream, but smaller. He wasn't surprised to see the figure standing in it either. He had expected to see her.
"Why hello, Wolf. I've been waiting for you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia stopped to rest. She'd been walking for more hours than she could count now. It was too late to go back, the driver would have been long gone by now.
"I might as well stop and rest." she thought, and sat down with her back resting against a tree. She knew she probably shouldn't go to sleep in the woods alone, but she was just to tired. Even though she tried to fight it she eventually fell asleep.
When she opened her eyes she knew it was a dream. She didn't know how, she just knew.
"Virginia." a familiar voice called, but it wasn't a cold voice it was a warm, friendly voice.
She turned to see Snow White standing behind her.
"Snow White? Is it really you?" Virginia asked, not sure if her mind wasn't still playing tricks on her.
"Yes, Virginia, it is me. I need to speak with you. you are in great danger.
"What else is knew?" she sighed, more adventure wasn't what she wanted right now." Is this a dream?"
"Yes, and no. I am speaking to you through your dream, but we must speak briefly. I am having trouble shielding your dream from her.
"Her?"
"An evil woman has been using dreams to terrorize you."
"You mean those dreams, with my mother. Someone was controlling them?"
"Yes, and you must hurry before it is too late."
"Too late for what?"
"You must find her if you want to find Wolf."
"Wolf? Do you know where he is?" she was getting more frantic now.
"Yes, and it will be revealed to you soon."
"But, how? I have no idea how to find him or this woman."
"Do not worry Virginia. All will be reviled soon. I must leave you now, but I will tell you this. The woman who seeks to hurt you is very powerful, but you must remember that all is not as it seems. She will try to trick you as , but you must not give in." And with that she disappeared.
"What do I do now ?" thought Virginia, but her answer soon came when she felt someone shaking her, and she woke up.
"You're all right!" Tony exclaimed, clearly relieved.
"Dad? but how did you get here?"
"I rode all night and found you here. You're only about a mile away from the road.
What? She must have made a circle in the dark , and not realized it. Wait? The dark? For the first time she realized it was light. She must have slept all night.
"Wolf? have you seen Wolf?"
"No." answered Tony with a slight bit of anger in his voice.
"Dad, I don't think he left on purpose. Remember when I told you about meeting Snow White at Dragon Mountain. Well, she came to me in a dream, and told me about this woman who's been trying to hurt us through our dreams. I think she knows where Wolf is."
Dreams? Was that why he'd had all these dreams lately? He decided not to say anything about his own dreams, he didn't want to worry her.
"Why did he just run off like that?"
"Dad, I told you I don't know, but I have this feeling that something bad has happened to him..."
"You are right about that."came a voice from behind them, before Virginia could finish her sentence.
Virginia and Tony wurled around at the same time. Standing in front of them was...(Drum roll please.) A woman. She was dressed all in black and a hood covered her head.
"Were you looking for me." she said with an evil sneer.
"Who are you?" asked Virginia staring at the strange woman. She couldn't see her face, it was completely hidden by the dark hood.
"Wouldn't you like to know." sneered the woman.
Then Virginia understood.
"You're the woman who's been haunting my dreams."
"Ahh, so someone told you did they, maybe a dead queen?"
"How.."
'Oh, I know a lot Virginia. Much more than you will ever dream of knowing."
Tony watched all of this dumfounded, where had he seen this woman before? Then it hit him, it was the woman he'd seen in the mirror. He hadn't been imagining it.
"You messed with the Mirror of Truth?!" accused Tony.
"Quite correct. So you aren't as stupid as you look."
Virginia thought about all of this. Who was this woman? Wait she messed with mirrors, and she knew about Snow White!
"Are you Snow White's stepmother?" asked Virginia, sure she had figured it out.
The woman's reaction was not at all what Virginia had expected.
"You mean Marina? Ha! That puny little witch was nothing compared to me. Do you think she learned to control the mirrors on her own? Who do you think taught her how to use the magic?"
"You mean?" Virginia choked out.
"Yes, she was my apprentice, but she was a fool, and her vanity caused her end. She could have been great, but her jeoulsy of Snow White caused her down fall."
Virginia was shocked.
"But, that would make you..."
"Over 200 years old? Oh, I am much older than that."
Virginia didn't know what to say. She was utterly shocked. How could she face someone that was more powerful than the original Evil Queen. she wondered if Wolf knew about the Queen's teacher. Wolf! She had completely forgot.
"Where's Wolf?" Virginia asked the woman, trying to sound threshing.
"Oh, don't worry the father of your child is still alive, for now."
"What!?" yelled out Tony, who Virginia had nearly forgotten was there." The father of your child?!"
Tony stared at his daughter, both angry and hurt.
"Oh, no." thought Virginia.
"Ooops. Have I said too much?" said the woman with a smile.
"Tell me where my husband is!" Virginia yelled at the woman, now very angry.
"Why should I tell you. Wouldn't that ruin the fun of having you look for him?"
Virginia was stunned. The woman did kind of have a point no matter how cruel. She had to give the woman a reason to tell her.
"Well, um, if you don't at least give me a hint, then we'll never find him and you'll get tired of ,um, waiting." Virginia replied unsure.
"I suppose. Well, he's in the 2nd Kingdom."
"What!? That's it? We'll never find him!" Virginia yelled clearly irritated. The trolls had nearly made her dance in hot slippers, and her mother had tried to kill her, but at least they hadn't irritated her!
"What did you expect? A rime? Whether you can find him or not is not my problem." And with that she vanished. There was no puff of smoke, no lights, she just was gone. Virginia blinked to make sure had seen what she thought she'd seen.
"Now what do we do? We'll never find Wolf!"
"Was what she said true?" asked Tony, he hadn't said anything because he had been thinking about that statement.
Virginia liked her dry lips and turned to face her father. She should have told him earlier. why hadn't she? She'd never planned for him to find out this way. All she could do was nod. The woman had known what she was doing, but how?
"Why didn't you tell me?" Tony asked, his voice steady, cold.
"I wasn't sure how you'd react." she replied, "Look are you okay with this?"
"Uh, yeah." Tony said clearly lying. Virginia knew he was, but they didn't have time for this now. They could talk later.
"Let's go find Wolf." she started to walk out of the forest, with Tony reluctantly following.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf howled at the moon through his barred window. He had been in this room for what seemed like forever. His blood was hot, he needed to run, to hunt.
"It's not fare is it?" he heard a female voice ask from behind him.
"No." he growled/said back. He didn't need to turn. He knew her scent now.
"Would you like to be free?" she asked.
"You know the answer to that."
Suddenly he was in an open field. He howled at the moon again and ran into the trees. His prey was near. He could smell her.
"You must kill her." said the voice again.
"No!!" he screamed and stopped. What was he doing? He'd never hurt Virginia.
"The Evil Queen let you go for the same reason."
"I know, but I didn't kill her."Wolf felt like he was talking to himself, sense he couldn't see anyone else. But he knew she was there, he could smell her.
"Why?"
"Because I love her! She is my mate!" he growled back.
"But you killed her now?"
"What?! No!"
"You don't believe me? Look at your hands."
He did and found blood. He looked at the ground, but knew what he would find. Virginia lay there dead.
"You see? You killed her for me."
"Noooo! I would never harm her! Nooo!"
When Wolf woke up he found himself in a dark room. He tried to move, but found he was chained to the wall. He knew she was coming long before he heard the footsteps. Her scent told him of her approach.
"Well, good morning Wolfy." she was dressed like before in black with a hood that covered her face.
"Why do you do this?" he asked, expecting no real answer.
"Because I enjoy it of course."she smiled as she looked at Wolf. "I understand why Christine chose you."(hey, I do.)
"I will never do anything for you. You can't make me hurt her."
"On the contrary, my little wolf, you killed her in your dreams, did you not?"
"Those were dreams, not reality." He knew she must have been causing his nightmares, but he didn't know how.
"But dreams are an exaggerated reflection of reality, Wolfy. With a little push, who knows what could happen."
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am the true master of the mirrors. Maybe you've heard of my apprentice, Marina."
"Snow White's stepmother? But you would be hundreds of years old?'
"Actually, I'm 435 to be exact," as she said this she removed her hood, "do I look it?"
Wolf stared at the woman before him. His look was one of total shock. She couldn't be that old. Her hair was raven black, and her eyes were a shade of green he'd never seen, he couldn't describe.
"Guess not." she replied with a smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia and Tony had walked for hours, before they came to small village. Tony watched his daughter. He couldn't believe she was going to have a baby. He hadn't meant to be so cold, it was just that he hadn't expected it. He thought Wolf had been joking when he called him grandpa, hey it was Wolf!
Tony just couldn't shake the feeling that Virginia had ruined her life by marrying a guy that she just met about two months earlier. What if she had just married him because she was pregnant. He didn't want her to throw away her life.
"Virginia, I think we need to talk."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How can you be 435 years old?" asked Wolf.
"Now, now Wolfy. Why should I give away all of my secrets?"
"Cripes! What does it matter? You're just going to kill me soon anyway."
She walked up to Wolf so that they were face to face and smiled.
"Who said I was going to kill you right away? I'm having way to much fun."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia and Tony sat in a tavern. Virginia sat nervously waiting for her father to start. She had hoped this wouldn't come up again, but she knew they would have to talk evitually.
"Virginia, I have to know. Did you marry him because you're pregnant?"
What? How could her father think that? Couldn't he see that she loved him?
"Dad, I married Wolf because I love him! Why can't you just see that?"
"I just don't want you to throw your life away, that's all."
"Throw my life away? I'm finally happy, Dad. I love Wolf, and I'm happy about this baby. My whole life I've been afraid to let people in, and now that I have, I'm finally happy."
Tony looked at his daughter and a smile started to creep up on his face.
"I am happy for you then."replied Tony.
Virginia smiled and a tear ran down her face as she hugged her father.
"Of course, I'm still going to kill Wolf after we rescue him."Tony joked.(Well, half-joked.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You should like me, you know."
"What!? Why?" Wolf growled.
She walked over to Wolf again, standing inches from his face.
"Because, I know everything about you. All of your fears, your secrets. Yet I do not judge you." her words seemed almost sincere.
"And you think Virginia does?"Wolf asked angrily.
"She burned you didn't she?"
"That wasn't Virginia. That was one of your dreams. You burned me, not her. You were the one who caused all of those images."
He watched as she slowly walked over to the middle of the room, and out of the darkness a mirror appeared. the mirror was large, much bigger than the traveling mirror. It looked beautiful, but evil at the same time.
She ran her hand over the cool glass and it came alive with a brilliant purple light. Wolf watched as the image on the mirror became an all too familiar one. It was his parents burning. He tried to look away, but like always he couldn't.
"You mean these?" she asked.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Look, Dad, we aren't going to get any help in this village so we might as well leave, okay?"
"Virginia, we need to at least ask for directions or something?"
"Ask for directions to where? We don't even know where we're supposed to be going!" Virginia sighed from frustration. They'd been looking for nearly a day now, and had found nothing. No even a clue as to where to go. Aren't evil bad guys supposed to set a trap with clues or something?
"Well, maybe someone here has heard of this woman, and knows where she lives."replied Tony.
"What woman are you looking for?" asked a young female voice from behind them.
Tony and Virginia both turned to look at the same time. What they saw was a young woman, no older than Virginia, looking at them.
"Excuse me. I apologize, but I couldn't help, but over hear that you were looking for someone, I thought I might be able to help." The woman smiled at them sweetly, her green eyes shining.
"Uh, we were looking for, a um, a witch."said Virginia nervously.
"A witch? Well, I don't think there are any witches in this village. We try to avoid them."
"Well this is a very old witch. She claims to be the teacher of Snow White's step mother." added Tony, hoping the woman wouldn't think him crazy.
A tiny look of fear crossed the woman's face
"Do you know of her?" asked Virginia.
"Why do you wish to find her?" asked the woman, now sounding a little nervous herself.
"I think she kidnapped my husband." said Virginia. She had a feeling by the way this woman was acting that she did know of the mysterious witch.
"She's kidnapped you're husband?"
"Yes, and we have no idea how to find her?"
"Well, I have heard of her. You see there is an old tale that says she lives somewhere around here, but no one has ever tried to look for her."
"Could you help us?" asked Tony.
"I guess I could."
"Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. By the way I'm Virginia and this is my father Tony."
The woman's smile returned as she brushed her black hair from her face.
"I'm Andraia."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf sat in the dark, alone now. The woman was gone. He didn't know where to, didn't care either. He looked to where the mirror had been. He couldn't see it any more. Luckily she hadn't let the whole image play out. He didn't know what he'd do if he had to go through it the whole thing over again. That's probably why she did it. She wanted to keep him sane. He pulled at his chains again, with no luck.
"Cripes! I'll never get out of here!" he yelled/whimpered aloud.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So do you know where we're going?" asked Tony.
"According to the stories, we are on the right track." replied Andraia, a little annoyed at Tony. He'd already asked that question a dozen times.
"Just ignore him." whispered Virginia, "This is a really nice thing you're doing for us."
"Oh, I don't mind. Besides, I've always wanted to see if the stories are true."
"Tell me about these stories."
"Well, they say that a very old witch who lives in these woods was the first to use the magic mirrors."
"So she really did teach Snow White's stepmother?"
"You mean Queen Marina?"asked Andraia
"Yes."
"Well that's what they say, but sense she told you herself, I guess it's true." she paused for a second hesitating. " I have to know. What did she look like?"
"Well, I uh, didn't really see her. She was dressed all in black, and she wore a hood over her face."
"Oh" she replied, almost disappointed.
"I think we should camp here for the night." said Tony from ahead of them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Do you know any more about Mariana?"asked Virginia later that night. She and Andraia sat around the small camp fire talking while Tony slept.
"I know that she came from my village. She was the prettiest girl any one had ever seen. She had many suitors, but she fell in love with a prince. The prince was Snow White's father. The prince didn't love her though. He fell in love and married another.
"Snow White's mother."put in Virginia.
"Yes. Mariana was enraged. She ran away from the village, and somehow found her way to the witch we seek. They say the witch taught her how to use the magic of the mirrors. When she was older she learned the queen had died. She evitualy learned went to the king, and he married her because of his loneliness."
"How come I've never heard this story before?" asked Virginia when Andraia was done.
"It is only known around here. Most have never heard of the witch."
"I hope Wolf's okay." said Virginia looking up at the moon.
"Wolf?" asked Andraia.
"My husband. He's from the 2nd kingdom."
"Is he a wolf?"
"Half-wolf."
"Don't worry. A lot of people around here are afraid of wolves, but I'm not."
Virginia smiled warmly at the woman.
"Thank you, for all of your help."
"Oh no, it's a pleasure.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wake up Wolfy."
Wolf bolted awake. He hadn't even realized that he'd fallen asleep.
"What do you want now." growled Wolf.
"Oh, Puppy, I just wanted to show you something." she walked over to the center of the room, her black hair flowing behind her. Before she got to the center of the room, the mirror appeared again.
Once again she ran her hand over the glass, but this time a completely different image appeared.
Wolf gasped at what he saw. There in the glass was Virginia asleep on the ground, and Tony a little farther away.
"Huff puff, what are you going to do to them?" growled Wolf.
"Oh, nothing much, Wolfy. Just watch and learn." as she said this she began to rub her hand over them mirror again, and this time Wolf saw Virginia, but she was no longer sleeping, she was walking around inside of Wendell's castle.
"It's a dream." Wolf said to himself a little to loudly for the woman heard him.
"Yes, it is. Another one of those pesky dreams." she said this with a smile and Wolf watched as she stepped into the mirror and disappeared. She had been doing the same thing to her! Poor little sausage. Wolf watched Virginia's dream. So far nothing terrible had happened. The he saw her. it was the woman, only Virginia called her mom. Why? Then the it came to him. She had taken the form of Virginia's mother so she could haunt her dreams.
"Mom, I didn't murder you!" screamed Virginia from the mirror. Wolf whimpered. He couldn't stand this. All he could do was watch while his mate went through this torture. Of course, she had known this. That's why she had made him watch.
"Of course you did. Don't you remember dear? You killed me, then you killed your stupid mutt of a husband."
"Nooo!" screamed Virginia from the mirror, and he winced when he saw what Virginia had seen. The image showed her outside now, and nearby was a stake like the one's his parents had burned on, except it wasn't his parents burning, it was him! He watched the horrified realization come over his beloved's face as she realized she was holding a burning torch in her hand.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Noooo! How could I have? Nooo!" screamed Virginia. She was about to scream out again, but she felt someone shaking her.
"Virginia! Wake up! Wake up!"
It was Andraia.
"What happened?" asked Virginia still dazed.
"You were having a nightmare!"
"What? It was a dream? It was so real." Then she sighed. It was just another dream, just like the others. This was the second one where she killed Wolf.
"Are you okay?" asked Andraia.
"Uh, yeah. I was just disoriented, that's all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf growled in frustration.
"Cripes! Cripes! Cripes!"
He was alone in the dark room again. Where had that witch gone anyway?
"Well I not exactly looking forward to her return anyway?" he thought to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"It isn't that farther now." said Andraia. "But there is a village not to far away. We should probably stay there tonight."
Tony didn't argue. They had been walking all day, and he was tired. He'd been watching Andraia most of the day. He'd woken up the night before and found her missing, but he hadn't asked her where she went. He'd fallen back asleep, and didn't know when she came back.
"It's just a mile from here."said Andraia.
They arrived in the village ten minutes later and went to the tavern to eat.
"So doesn't anyone miss you back in your village. I mean won't your family wonder where you went?" asked Tony.
"No, I am afraid I have no family."replied Andraia.
"Oh, I'm sorry." said Virginia sympathetically.
"No, I'm used to being alone."
"So how much farther is the place the stories talk about?" asked Tony.
"Oh, we should probably get there before dark tomorrow. We should go to sleep now, and wake at first light."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
" Oh Wolfy, did you miss me. Sorry I was gone all day. I had some business to attend to."
Wolf didn't' know what she meant by this, but didn't dare ask.
"Did you enjoy the show last night? My little pet?"
Wolf's only response was a growl.
"What a shame. I did."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning they awoke at dawn at set out again. Virginia was worried about Wolf. She really hoped he was all right. Who was the woman who was the woman terrorizing them anyway? Maybe she should ask Andraia more about her?
"What else do you know about this woman?"
"Not much. No one knows where she came from, and her name is unknown. Like I said not many people even know she exists." replied Andraia. "Oh, wait! This is the path! I guess at least part of the legend is true."
Virginia looked at the path. It was even worse than the Deadly Swamp. The path was dark, very dark, and trees surrounding it were twisted in bizarre positions. That wasn't the worst part though. /the disturbing part was that there was no sound coming from the path. The rest of the forest was filled with the chirps of birds, the scurries of scuffles and rabbits, but the woods surrounding that path were silent.
"We have to go in there?" asked Tony.
Without answering Andraia started onto the path. Virginia looked around nervously. She'd always heard that the most horrible sound was dead silence. Now she knew it was true.
"I can't believe it's real!" said Andraia ahead of her on the path.
"How will we know when we get there?" asked Tony.
"I guess we'll just know ." replied Andraia.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Virginia thought about Wolf, and Tony thought about what he was going to do when he found Wolf.
"Oh my!" Virginia heard Andraia say from ahead.
"What is it?" asked Virginia running to her. She stopped when she saw it. It was amazing. What stood before them was a crystal wall. Virginia couldn't see anymore of it, because of the trees.
"I suppose this is what you meant?" said Tony in au.
"How do we get in?" asked Virginia walking over to it, followed by Tony. She ran her hand over the surface. It was cold, ice cold.
"Oh, that's simple, Virginia." said Andraia from behind them, but she sounded different. Not sweet like before, but cold. As cold as the great wall before them.
Virginia turned to look at her.
"Andraia?"
"Virginia, Virginia. You really shouldn't trust strangers." As she said this walked over to the wall and rubbed her hand over the surface like Virginia had, except this time a mirror appeared.
"They might not turn out to be a stranger at all." she said with a smile, and Virginia recognized her voice.
"You're.."
Before she could finish Andraia grabbed her a shoved her into the mirror.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello again Wolfy."
Wolf groaned. She was back.
"Look just kill me why don't you. Huff puff, just get it over with!"
"Wolfy, I'm afraid I don't need you anymore. You see you've lived out your usefulness as bait."
"What do you mean by bait?"
" Bye, puppy, I'll miss you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia opened her eyes to find herself in a dark room. She tried to move, but she was chained. A noise come from across the room.
"Who's there?" she asked.
"Just me."
Andraia walked out of the shadows, and stopped in front of her.
"You! You tricked us!"
"Yes, I suppose I did."
"Where's my father, and what did you do with Wolf?"
"Oh Wolf. Well he was just bait, and unfortunately he out lived his usefulness." she said this with an evil smile.
"You, you?"
"Yes. I didn't enjoy it though, he's very handsome. I'll have to look into getting me a wolf of my own."
Tears formed in Virginia's eyes. He was gone. She couldn't think about that now. She had to be strong. She had to survive. Not only for herself, but for their child. That's what Wolf would have wanted.
"What about my dad?"
"Oh him. Well, I'm afraid he won't be joining us....for the rest of his life."
"No! You killed them both. Why? Why did you destroy my family!?"she yelled, choking back tears.
"Virginia, the answer is simple. I'm over 400 years old. You get board."
"Nooo! No, no." Virginia screamed, and then she began to cry. She couldn't take it anymore. Her mother had at least had a reason, but this woman. She was so evil, that she killed people for fun.
"NO! How could you?! You.."
Virginia's eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath. She couldn't believe it. It was another dream. Well part of it any way. She looked around the dark room. She was still in the room, still chained to the wall, which meant Andraia was really the evil woman.
"So you woke up. Did you enjoy your dream?"
"You! Why why are you doing this?" Virginia screamed, her voice filled with rage.
"I told you in your dream. That part was true."
"What about Wolf and Dad?"
"Oh them? Well I'm not done with them yet. Still too much fun to be had."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony rubbed his head. It still hurt from the fall. How had he gotten here anyway?
"Hello? Is anybody here?" he yelled. Then he looked at his surroundings for the first time. He was in some sort of tunnel, and the walls were made out of the same ice cold crystal as the wall outside, except these were kind of blue. A very light icy blue.
"Oh great! How am I going to get out of here?" Tony griped. Seeing no other option, he began to walk.
"It really is cold in here." He complained, rubbing his arms.
"I really do hate this pla..." But before he could finish something fell through the wall on top of him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf howled as he fell to the ground. Well actually something broke his fall. He shook his head(like he did after he got out of the water when they wee sneaking into the castle.) then looked around trying to figure out where he was. He sniffed the air, and to his surprise caught a familiar scent.
"Tony?!" asked finally relishing what he was sitting on was his father-in-law.
"Oh no." said Tony looking up. "Wolf?! Get off of me!" he yelled.
Wolf jumped off of Tony, and then turned to help him up.
"Huff puff! How did you get here?"
"I don't know. Andraia, she pushed Virginia through a mirror, and then me, and I woke up here."
"Virginia?! Where is she, and who's Andraia?" asked Wolf excitedly.
"We met her in a village. We thought she was helping us, but she turned out to be the witch."
"Her. I've spent the last couple of days chained to wall, while she made me watch horrible things through her mirror." Wolf growled. "Oh cripes! Now she got Virginia!" this time he growled/whimpered.
"Wait what's this about you getting my daughter pregnant?" Tony asked him with a glaring look.
"Oh so you know now." Wolf said nervously.
"Virginia told me, well after that woman dropped a pretty obvious hint." Tony continued to glare at him.
"Well isn't it great, Tone? You're going to be a grandfather."
"Yeah well%^%^%^()(##!%%*&(~~~~~~&^&()(* we (&@@@!~~~~~~~~~!!@#()___++__(*^$@@!@ can 5^^***~~~@@#)_+
(^%*_)(?????~~~~~~~~~~~~~!@#%$^&**)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5647
65
6\8\\9\09\000%^^%&^&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~
##$^*()___++___#@~~~~!!@@#%^^&()_++_(*(*)
$%%&_)*&%~~~~!@#%$^*&VBGJU&)_+*^%$$
DO NOT EJUST YOUR BROWSER! I AM IN CONTROL NOW!
THAT'S RIGHT IT'S ME THE SINGING RING. I HAVE'T EVEN BEEN METIONED ONCE IN THIS FANFIC SO I'V TAKEN OVER! (says this singing in that toon.)
FOR ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WHO HAVE A PROLEM WITH THIS I HAVE A SONG FOR YOU....
ATTENTION WILL THE REAL SINGING REAL PLEASE STAND UP.
I REPEAT WILL THE REAL SINGING RING PLEASE STAND UP.
WE 'RE GONNA HAVE A PROBLEM HERE
LOOK LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN A SINGING RING BEFORE.
I RETURNED AFTER I WAS IN A FISH...WAIT HE DIDN'T JUST SAY A FISH DID HE?
BUT RING WHEN SHE SAID NO WASN'T IT WIERED?
WHY CAUSE HE DIDN'T BUY THE MIRROR?
THROWING ME IN THE WATER, GETTING EATEN BY A FISH!
I'M THE REAL SINGIN RING, YES I'M THE REAL SINGING RING
ALL THE OTHER SINGING RINGS ARE JUST IMITATING SO WON'T THE REAL SINGING RING PLEASE STAND UP, PLEASE STAND UP.
WAIT? WHAT'S GOING ON?! NOOOOO! ANGEL! NOOOO!AHHHHHHHH!
(Okay, sorry about that. That ring took control of my fanfic for a second there, but I got it back!)
"Well, we can talk about that later." said Tony with a bit of announce to his voice." What are you doing anyway?"
Wolf was walking around the tunnel sniffing the air.
"I'm trying to pick up a scent to follow...wait....I found one! this way." and with that he took off down the tunnel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Want to watch,Virginia?" asked Andraia looking into a large mirror in the center of the room.
"Watch what?" asked Virginia nervously.
"Oh, my game, with Wolf and your father. You see it's just begun."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tone I think we're getting closer." Wolf got no reply. "Tone?"
He turned to find that his father-in-law wasn't behind him.
"Tony? Where did you go?" he growled.
He started to walk back the way he came, but there was no Tony.
He sniffed the air for his scent, when he found it followed it till it stopped at one of the walls. The scent didn't trail off, it just stopped. As if he'd gone through the wall. He didn't know what to do, so he continued walking.
He was sniffing the air when he heard someone call his name.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Not again!" yelled Tony. He had fallen through one of the walls and ended up in another tunnel.
"Where's Wolf?"
Tony walked down the tunnel. This one, like the others was made of crystal walls, except these were green. "This Andraia is really starting to get on my nerves." He grumbled to himself. "If I get out of this, I'm never leaving Wendell's castle again. Wait what's that?" He made his way over to a shimmering part of the wall, and realized that it was a mirror. But it wasn't the mirror that surprised him it was the person he could see Tony the other side of the mirror. Wolf!
"Wolf!" He yelled into the mirror hoping he could here.
Wolf, who had been making had walking by sniffing the air, stopped at turned to face him. He looked over to the wall with a confused look on his face.
"He must not be able to see the mirror from that side."thought Tony.
"Wolf, there's a mirror here."
Wolf reached out and touched the wall. The mirror shimmered for a second.
"Tony? Cripes, how did you get in there?"
"I don't know I fell through one of the mirrors in the wall."
"I'll come through to your side."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You think I'd make it that easy?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf stepped through the mirror. When he came out the other end he didn't find Tony though. Instead he found another empty tunnel.
"What's going on here?" he growled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia watched the display with horror. This woman was playing with them. She didn't want to rule the kingdoms, or destroy a house, but just play cruel games with people until it no longer amused her.
"How can you be so cold? I mean is there even anything you want from this?"
Andraia looked at Virginia and a cold smile crossed her face.
"Yes. The entertainment of it all, but also there is something I want."
"What's that?" asked Virginia nervously.
"My mirrors."
"Your mirr.." she started to ask what mirrors, but then realized she was talking about the ones at Wendell's castle."
"You see that stupid apprentice of mine stole them from me, and now I want them back."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wolf!" yelled Tony. Where had he gone? He'd come through the mirror, and instead of coming out the other end he disappeared.
"Maybe if I go through the mirror I'll end up where he is. But what if he got vaporized or something? Ugggh! If I don't find him Virginia will kill me." Tony looked at the mirror.
" There's only one way to find out." he said stepping through the mirror.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony stepped out on the other side of the mirror. He looked around the cave. He turned to look at the mirror behind him. He could see where he had been on the other side. Tony had gone straight through like Wolf should have. This brought up a disturbing question. What had happened to Wolf?
~*~*~*~*~*~
Andraia gazed into her large mirror. The game she played with Tony and Wolf shone where her reflection should have been. She'd never gotten board of the power of the mirrors. They had always brought her great amusement, just like they did now.
She turned to face her captive. The girl tried to remain brave, but Andraia could read the fear in her eyes. She'd seen that look in many eyes during her lifetime.
"How can you be so cold, so evil? What drives you to be this way? Most who are evil dream of world domination, but you, you're just evil for no reason." stated the girl.
Andraia remained silent. She thought about what Virginia had said, and this made her think about her past. After living for hundreds of years, and managed to block most of it out, but since meeting this girl she started thinking about it again. First, around the campsite that night when they'd been talking, and now again she found herself remembering. Noo! She mustn't remember! Not that, not now!
"It is none of your business, girl!" Her usual calm, cold voice came out rushed and angry. What was happening to her. She needed to concentrate on getting her mirrors, and on Tony and Wolf, not the memories. She must forget! She had to forget.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"I'm never going to find a way out of this place!" growled Wolf as he continued to walk down the long tunnel.
"I wonder what happened to Tony?"
He continued to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and (you guessed it!) walk. Finally, after walking for what seemed like a long time. He stopped when he saw another mirror.
"I wonder where this one goes?"
He was about to go through when suddenly a furry yellow object jumped out of it and starting attacking him. He struggled to keep it from biting his neck, and had managed to hold it at arms length when he noticed what it was. It was a rabid Pokemon! (Mwrahahahahah!)
"Pinkachew, pinkachew!" it growled.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" yelled Wolf, and he quickly through it back through the mirror.
"I'm think I'll go find another mirror." He said and hurried off down the tunnel.
(Uh, I don't really know what just happened in my story. Let's just say I have a sick mind.)
Wolf struggled for a second, but then managed to throw it back through the mirror.
"Well that was strange." She quickly dismissed the incident, and changed the mirror image back to Tony.
"Hmmm. He might be useful to me. I might be able to use him to get my mirrors back. I'll let him live...for now."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What the...?" Virginia was shocked. Andraia had just flipped out. No sarcastic or cold comment. What had happened? For a second there the untouchable woman had lost her control.
"I wonder what caused her to do that?"thought the
Verdana Village
427 years ago.
"It's all sooo pretty, Mama." said Andraia in an eight year olds sing song voice.
She skipped from one object to another. It was a rare occasion when she got to go to a store, so she wanted to take in every bit.
The store itself was actually more of a shack with goods sold by an old woman, but to Andraia's young mind it was glorious.
"Be careful, and don't break anything." her mother instructed while bargaining with the old woman over a sack of flour.
"I won't." she replied and headed for the back of the shack.
She stopped when a glimmer caught her eye. She went to examine what had glimmered, but only found her face looking back at her, surrounded by stone. A mirror. She had only seen one in her lifetime. That one had belonged to a noble that had been passing by her village. The object had fascinated her ,but she had never gotten the opportunity to get so close to one.
She reached out her hand slowly, and touched the cool glass. The mirror rippled under her touch. She quickly pulled her hand away, and the mirror shimmered then went back to it's original form.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The old woman noticed the girl touching the mirror, and was shocked at what happened.
"The girl is so young, and already holds power over the mirrors." thought the woman.
She watched as the girl put the mirror back quickly afraid that she had broken it.
"She doesn't dosen't even know what she can do."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the mother calling her daughter to her.
"Come, Andraia. We must leave now."
The reluctantly followed her mother out of the shack. The woman watched as Andraia quickly glanced back at the mirror one more time before she left.
"Such a shame. She may never know what kind of power she posses."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The Nine Kingdoms
Present
Wolf stopped running after he thought he was at a safe distance. What was that thing?! Never in the kingdoms had he ever come across something like that
"Oh well, I've got to go find Tony." he thought and ran off again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verdana Village
422 years ago
Andraia ran through the pouring rain.
"Mother is going to be so worried." she thought. She'd been taking a walk in the forest when this terrible storm had come up.
She found it hard to run because of the mud soaked paths.
"I'm going to be late. I was supposed to be home before dark. My parents are going to kill me."
After running a little ways further she finally spotted her village. After getting a bit closer she realized that it something was wrong. It was too dark, too quiet. Where were the cooking fires?
She stopped when she came to one of her neighbor's garden's. Why did the scarecrow look funny? She walked up to it slowly. It looked bigger than it had been yesterday. Had they made another one? The closer she got the more, and more she became aware that something was very strange about this particular scarecrow. When she'd gotten within a couple of feet of it, a flash of lightning lit up the sky.
"Ahhhhhh!" she screamed as she realized that the scarecrow was her neighbor. His bloody face looked down at her blankly.
Andraia turned and ran as fast as she could. She had to get help. She ran into the shake where his wife and son should be.
"Wouldn't they have noticed he was missing?" she thought afraid of the answer to her own question. As slowly entered the hut, something inside of her told her what she would find. There on the floor lay a young boy. His the blood and unblinking eyes told Andraia that he was dead. The hut had been completely recked. Whoever had done this had also taken all of their valuables. She walked back out of the hut. She found the mother's body a few feet from the house.
"What happened here? Why hasn't anyone come to help?"
Then it hit her. This hadn't just happened here.
"Home." was her only thought as she took off for her own hut. She only stopped once when she nearly tripped over the bloody body of a young girl.
She stopped for a second to stair into the horrified face of her best friend.
"Noo. I have to go home. They're still alive. They have to be."
She started for her home again, and arrived a minute later. It was dark. Andraia was about to run inside when she heard sounds coming from behind her hut. She made her way to the back of her home slowly, then stopped suddenly at what she saw. Three men stood around her father, who knelt on the ground, his hands bound behind him.
Her mother lay on the ground nearby. Her mother didn't move. Andraia couldn't see her face because she was laying on her stomach. A puddle of crimson blood began to form underneath her mother's body.
"NOOOOOO!" She screamed over, and over inside her head, for she dare not scream out loud.
"I asked you to spare her!" Her father yelled at the men. His voice mournful, but full of rage all the same. "Ha. Like we were going to do a thing like that."
Before Andraia could react the man who'd said that brought a knife across her fathers throat. he never had a chance to scream as he fell to the ground dead. Andraia turned her head. She couldn't stand to see the blood. "No. She thought no more blood. They shall spill no more blood. It is too late for my village, but I keep them from ever hurting anyone else." she thought and turned to run.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The Nine Kingdoms
Present
Andraia stared down at Virginia coldly.
"You think you're strong don't you?" she asked.
"I suppose I am in some ways." was the young woman's reply.
"When you killed your mother, and you looked into her blank, dead eyes, how did you feel?"
Virginia remained silent.
"Why would you ask me something like that? If you know as much about me as you claim, than you should already know the answer to that question."
Andraia watched as Virginia's eyes got a bit teary.
"She still morns her. Of course I mourned too. No. Stop. You're trying to remember again. You must never do that. You must leave the pain in the past." thought Andraia.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verdana Village
424 years ago
Andraia found herself outside of a familiar shack. She hadn't been to this shack in years, but something had brought her here tonight.
She walked in the small hut, and her memory of this place came back. This is where she had been so long ago. Where she had seen...
"The mirror." she finished out loud.
She wondered briefly where the old woman was. Andraia figured she was probably dead somewhere in the village with everyone else. Luckily, the raiders had missed this place.
She didn't have to look hard for the mirror. It seemed to call to her. She held the small object in her hands. Somehow she knew exactly what to do.
She touched the surface of the mirror, but this time did not pull away when the glass rippled. Instead she moved her hand of the glass. Back and forth. Back and forth. The mirror began to glow brighter and brighter, and the surface rippled more rapidly until there was a grand explosion of light.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony walked through the tunnel.
"I hate this place. I hat this place. I hate this place...Ahhhhhh!"
He was cut off when he felt the ground disappear from beneath him. He fell and fell.
"I'll probably fall forever." As soon as he thought this he hit the hard, stone ground.
"Dad!" he heard Virginia cry from somewhere nearby.
"Why hello, Tony. Nice of you to drop in."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verdana Village
424 years ago.
Andraia made her way back to her home. She knew what she must do. She understood her power now, and plan to make use of it.
When she got there she found the men raiding her hut.
"Get away from there!" she yelled angrily.
"Are you talking to us?" asked one of the men.
Andraia turned an ice cold gaze on him.
"Yes." She said coolly, confidently.
She touched the mirror in her hand, and then pointed towards the previous man.
A mirror appeared beneath him, and the man fell into the dark silent bottomless pit of nothingness.
"Noo." yelled another one of the men.
Andraia waved her arm, and he went flying into the mirror also.
The remaining man looked at her with horror filed eyes. It was the same man who'd killed her mother and father.
"Mercy." he pleaded.
She looked at him. Her face showed no emotion, but rage.
"Mercy?" she replied in a mocking tone. The mirror beside the man on the ground disappeared.
Andraia turned to walk away.
"Thank you." said the man.
Andraia turned around.
"What?! Did you actually think that I would show you mercy. You didn't show my mother mercy! Or my father." she yelled with intense rage.
A mirror appeared behind the man. Andraia yelled with rage, and the man went flying into the mirror.
"Noooooo..." he yelled, but was cut off as the mirror vanished.
No emotion shown on Andraia's face. Just coldness. Intense coldness.
She walked to the back of her hut where she found her parent's bodies. She careful dug two holes, and buried them side by side. (Don't ask me how she just did.)
She knew she must leave this place. After what she'd done she knew she'd never be the same. Andraia stared down at her parents' graves. She whispered goodbye, but shed no tears. She would never be able to shed tears. She was cold now. So cold.
"W-why are you doing this?" asked a nervous Tony in front of her.
The fear in his voice amused her. It had been so long since she'd felt terror like this. An innocent victim scared out of their mind, unsure of what was going to happen to them. The power of knowing that you controlled that person's fate. Oh, it was so addicting. But like any addictive drug, the pleasure came with a price. It ate away your soul piece by piece until there was nothing left, but darkness.
Andraia didn't care though. She knew she was evil and cold, and perfectly fine with that.
" I need you to do me a little favor, Tony."
Andraia made her way over to the fear stricken Tony slowly. She stopped when his face was centimeters away from her own.
"You don't mind doing me a favor, do you?" she asked in a strange mixture of pure sweetness and pure evil.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony looked at the woman before him. It was hard for him to believe that someone so beautiful and fragile looking could be so hallow and evil inside. He drew on all the courage he had and replied to her last statement.
"Why should I do anything to help you? You're nothing, but cruel and evil."
"You say that as if it's a bad thing." she smirked.
Tony didn't know what else to say. Was she going to force him to do this favor?
"Now, Tony, stop playing around. I really need you to do this favor for me."
"What is it?" asked a once again nervous Tony.
"My mirrors. They were taken from me. I want them back, and you, Tony, are going to get them for me."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Cripes, I'm lost again. Actually I was never found, Oh, I'm starting to confuse myself." cried a weary Wolf as he ran through yet more colorful tunnels. He'd gone through numerous mirrors, and down even more tunnels and corridors, but no Tony, no Virginia, and no witch.
"What's a wolf suppose to do? I'm never going to find a way out of here. Which means I won't be able to save Virginia, and that woman will probably kill her." he began to whimper uncontrollably.
"Wolf, stop that now is not a time for such things. Virginia and Tony need you to be strong." said a woman's voice.
Wolf looked around frantically for it's source, but to his dismay and confusion found none.
"Now I'm starting to here voices."
"Wolf."
"You're not real go away, oh cripes now I'm starting to argue with imaginary voices." he began to whimper again.
"Wolf, it is I Snow White."
Wolf's head jerked up.
"huh?"
"Look behind you."
He turned around to see yet another mirror. The figure of a woman, with black hair and pail skin looked back at him.
"S-Snow White?"
"Yes, Wolf, it is me. I've come to help you. Virginia and Tony are both at the mercy of the mirror mistress now."
"How do I get to them?"
"You must travel through this mirror. Come time is running short."
Wolf quickly went over to the mirror and stepped through.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How do you plan on me doing that?" asked Tony.
Andraia smiled at him.
"You will go to the castle and get them for me. I can't possibly go myself. I have captives here. If I go you will release her and attempt to escape. If I send you, however, I can use her as collateral. No mirrors. No precious Virginia. Understand?"
Tony nodded slowly.
"Good. I knew you had to be smarter than you looked."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia, had watched the whole thing in silence. Her mind kept drifting back to Andraia's little episode. What had triggered it? Had she said something? She had to try and touch whatever buttons, she'd pressed before. It was their only hope.
Virginia tugged at her chains. It was useless. She'd never be able to break free that way. She had to try and get to Andraia, but how?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Andraia walked calmly to her mirror. She touched her fingers to the cool surface. The glass shimmered alive, and on the other side was the mirror room of Wendell's castle.
"Are you ready, Anthony?" she asked politely.
Tony's only reply was several choice curses under his breath.
"I heard that. You're not being very nice you know."
Tony grungeinly made his way over to the mirror.
"Now just get the mirrors, and pass them through." she instructed calmly as if her were a child.
Tony swallowed and started to step through the mirror.
"Owww!"
Andraia and Tony turned around to face the source of the noise.
"Wolf!" cried Virginia with a mixture of surprise and relief.
Wolf pulled himself from the floor having just fallen through a mirror in the ceiling.
"What?!" yelled Andraia. "How did you...?!"
She didn't bother to finish the question because she'd already figured out the answer. Snow White! The dead queen had somehow found a way to manipulate her mirrors!
"Well, well. The more the merrier." she stated trying to cover her ever rising anger. Ever since Virginia had stirred those memories in her it had been harder to keep such things in check. Her usual passive, cold debonair was becoming harder and harder to sustain. What made her nervous was that she didn't know why.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf stood boldly before her. His dark eyes glared at her. His hate for her all too apparent. But then why shouldn't he hate her? She'd hurt his mate. Hurt all of them.
Of course it is essential to keep such emotions under control. Hate had a way of taking over and inedibly controlling it's host. The product of such an event stood before him. She was not the first though. No, there had been and will always be many others. Snow White's stepmother and even Virginia's own mother stood among those who'd fallen to the darkness of this emotion.
It was even worse in Virginia's world. Wolf had watched the news once. He'd been horrified to discover what went on in that world every single day. The Nine Kingdoms could be brutal, but it still paled in comparison to the cruelty of some people in the 10th Kingdom.
"Release them." he said at last. Unfortunately it came out not quite as aggressive as he'd planned.
"Excuse me?" asked Andraia, as a slightly amused smirk played over her lips. "Why should I? Because you came falling in here? Because you were brave enough to stand before me? I'm sorry, but you're going to have to give me a better reason than that, Wolfy."
A low growl released it's self from Wolf's throat.
"I said let them go!" roared Wolf.
"Funny, I remember saying no." was Andraia's reply.
"Fine," growled Wolf, his eye's flashing green. "Have it your way."
Andraia gasped as Wolf lunged at her. The force of his blow caused her to fall backwards and she felt the familiar metallic liquid engulf her. Andraia and Wolf (who hadn't managed to stop himself in time) fell through into Wendell's mirror room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wolf!" shouted Virginia as she watched her husband fall through the mirror behind Andraia. She jerked at her chains with all of her strength. Still freedom refused to come.
"Dad, help me get unchained!" she yelled to her father who was watching Wolf continue to fight Andraia on the other side of the mirror.
Tony rushed over to her.
"How am I supposed to get you out of these?" he asked frantically.
"I don't know!" she yelled back starting to lose her patience. "Just do something! Wolf needs our help!"
Virginia was about to say something else when she felt herself fall into the wall. A mirror had suddenly appeared behind her, and she'd fallen through.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony looked around the room for something to break the chains, but the cavern like room was bare save for the large mirror.
"Virginia, I can't find anything to..." he said turning to face his daughter again, but stopped when he realized that she was no longer there.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia looked around the room she'd tumbled into. It took a second to realize that she was no longer chained.
"Where am I?" she asked aloud not expecting an answer.
"Virginia." said a familiar voice.
"Snow White!" Virginia cried turning to a mirror that had appeared in the wall behind her.
"Virginia, I freed you from your chains by bringing you here, but you must listen to me. Time is running out. Andraia will soon have all the mirrors, and then there will be not limit to her power. She will also posses the traveling mirror. If she can travel to another dimension than..."
"I understand." Virginia finished grimly for her. If Andraia was able to go to her world there's no telling what the apparently bored psychopath would do.
"But how do I stop her? I can't fight her. She'd simply will me through a mirror to who knows where."
"Virginia, you can not beat her by fighting or over power her, but there is another way. You've already started, and now you must finish. Andraia was not always this cold. She was driven to be this way by a terrible occurrence in the past. Without knowing it you've begun to make her feel confused. She's losing her control of her anger and hate, and if pushed enough you may be able to break her further."
"So that's why she started to act strangely." thought Virginia.
"There," said the dead queen pointing to another mirror that had appeared on the opposite wall. " I have learned how to manipulate Andraia's mirrors, but my powers are limited. That mirror will take you back to the room that contains your father, and Andraia's main mirror. I will take control of that mirror, but I can only do it for so long. The rest is up to you. You see not everyone can control mirrors and harness their power. You, Virginia, have inherited some of your mother's abilities. This will enable you to order the mirror to show you Andraia's memories of that fateful night while I have seized control of it."
Virginia took a moment to take it all in. She could control mirrors? She brushed the thought away. She'd have time to think about it later. There were more important things to do now.
"Thank you.." said Virginia before walking through the mirror leading back to her father.
To say her father was confused to find his daughter had disappeared from the room in the split second his back had been turned was an understatement. Tony wore a shocked expression and paced the room muttering something that Virginia could only make out as a few choice curses and the statement "I really hate this place.", which he repeated several times before realizing that his daughter was once again in the room.
"Where were you?!" he cried.
"I was getting help from Snow White. I don't have time to explain now. There's something I have to do." explained Virginia as she rushed over to the mirror. She could no longer see into Wendell's mirror room. She preyed Wolf was all right.
"Okay, mirror..." Virginia stopped. What should she say? She didn't exactly go around commanding magic mirrors to do her biding. Oh well. It was never too late to start something new, right?
"Mirror show me the memories of Andraia." as she said this she reached out a hand to touch the glass. It hesitantly rippled under her touch, then shimmered to life.
Virginia gasped as a flood of images entered her mind. She watched the shifting memories as they played through her head. She didn't just see the memories of that night, but Andraia's entire life.
The rush ended seconds after it had begun.
Virginia now understood. She knew what had happened to Andraia, what drove her to be what she was. She'd seen her memories of a happy child hood, then the memories of the night her village was slaughtered by mad men. She'd seen her slowly go colder, and angrier, and more full of hatred as time went on, and her power over the mirrors had increased. Andraia had slowly developed into a monster. Virginia had also witnessed Andraia's crimes over the centuries. She'd watched the way she'd tortured Wolf with images of his dying parents, the way she'd sent them all terrible dreams. Of course they weren't the first. Andraia had destroyed many lives in her lifetime.
Virginia turned to look at her father, who now appeared even more confused than before.
"I know what I must do now. I know how to defeat her." was her only form of explanation.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf struggled with Andraia on the floor of the mirror room. He lunged for her shoulder in an attempt to bite her, but was stopped when ,with surprising strength, Andraia through him off of her, causing him to fly into the nearby wall.
"I grow tired of this." she hissed in a voice full of venom. Andraia got to her feet and walked over to where Wolf had landed. A smirk appeared on her face.
"This ends now, Wolfy." She glanced around to discover that the mirror leading back to her home had vanished. Her fight with the half-breed had caused her to lose control of it. It didn't matter though. She could always create another.
Andraia placed her hand on the wall behind Wolf, and a mirror appeared.
"Time to go through the mirror, Wolfy."
She was about to kick Wolf through the mirror, but instead was surprised when he caught her ankle midair.
"Ladies first." he said before jumping up and throwing her through. He took one glance around the room then jumped through himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What exactly do you have planned?" asked Tony. He was about to ask more, but was cut off when Andraia came flying through a recently opened mirror. Shortly after Wolf stepped into the room .
Andraia moaned as she tried to get up. Her hard collision with the floor had caused her some pain.
Virginia walked over to her slowly.
"Andraia, this must stop." she said in a gentle, but commanding voice.
The mirror mistress just glared at her, and rose to her feet.
"Stop? No, little Virginia, this will not stop. Not until all of you are dead. Can't you see? I am more powerful than all of you put together! More powerful than your precious Snow White! Maybe not physically," she said throughing a glare at Wolf, " but what I cannot match in strength I more than make up for in magic. So you see, whatever you do to me, you will never be able to stop me. No, this will not end, well not until you finally give up."
Virginia simply stared back at her. A look of almost confidence played on her features.
"I know what happened to you, Andraia. I know about the night your parents were killed."
Andraia, who had begun to walk over to her mirror, stopped dead in her tracks. She turned towards Virginia partly shocked and angered at the same time. What game was the little heroine playing now?
"What are you talking about?" she demanded angrily.
"Snow White helped me see your memories through the mirror. I now know what happened to you, and why you are what you are."
"You don't know a thing about me!" roared Andraia, who was now enraged.
Virginia's face grew more serious.
"Look at yourself, Andraia! You have let your hate and rage takeover. You no longer feel the loss of a life. You've actually come to enjoy it. That's right, I saw all of your memories. I saw what you've done to people over the years."
"Do you honestly think I care what you think of me?! I'm going to kill you anyway." Andraia's face now softened to a look of evil amusement.
Virginia ignored her comment and continued.
"Andraia, when your village was slaughtered you released a power from inside of you. A child should never have to suffer through what you did that night. You were too young for such power, so instead of using it for justice and good, you used it for revenge. Your hate fueled your power, but it also made you cold. It ate away at your soul until there was just hate and emptiness left. You no longer held remorse. You couldn't even cry for your dead family!"
Is that what you want to be?! Someone who's so cold and hallow inside that they can't even feel the lose of those they love?!"
Andraia's face once again filled with rage.
"What do you know?!" she demanded. "You don't...can't possibly begin to understand what I felt that night! Sure you lost your mother, but look at all you have left. I had nothing! I was alone. A little girl all alone with no where to go. I had to shut out my feelings! I had to become cold! I would have died from the pain, and loneliness otherwise!"
Virginia just looked at her. Could she possibly be right? Virginia recalled some of the memories she'd recently experienced from the mirror. No. No that was no excuse. No excuse for the pain she'd inflicted on others.
"Maybe you had to shut out the pain, but that was no excuse for what you've done. Take a look in your precious mirrors, Andraia. You've become what you once hated so much!"
The shock of Virginia's words left Andraia speechless. Was what this girl said true? In what was left of Andraia's heart she knew it was. She'd long ago felt herself falling farther and farther into the darkness, but had been unable to stop. Her pain and hate might have started with the murder of her friends and family, but in the end she'd inevitably created her own hell.
Andraia turned away from Virginia. The rage in her cooling. She walked slowly towards her mirror. Clutching the edges, she stared into it's dark depths.
"Mirror, show me." she said quietly.
Nothing happened.
"Mirror, show me!" she yelled. "Show me the truth."
If the man made object of silver and glass had been alive it could have been described as hesitating. As if not wanting to bring the pain of what was to come to it's mistress, but after a moment it shimmered and Andraia stared at it's surface. Stared at the image of herself.
The mirror mistress gasped, almost pulling away. Cold, emotionless eyes stared back at her. Those eyes, however, was not what shocked her the most. No, it was the blood. The crimson life fluid covered her.
She backed away, but her image merely smiled back at her evilly. For the first time in centuries terror came to the one known as Andraia. The horror of seeing her true self, covered in the blood of the innocent lives she destroyed. Lives that had been like her own when she was a child.
She dropped to her knees, but could not look away from the horrible image.
Virginia walked up behind her.
"Mirrors never lie, Andraia." she said calmly.
Andraia simply continued to gaze at her reflection.
"What have I done?" she thought to herself. "What have I become? All this time I thought I liked it. Thought I thrived on the pain of others, but now...now I realize that I...don't."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Andraia wailed.
Her fists collided with the smooth glass with hate filled force, but this was not hatred for Virginia, or even hatred for those that had murdered her family. No this was hatred for herself.
The mirror shattered from the impact. Shards of glass fell around Andraia, and a bright light filled the room as the power of the mirror was released. The light quickly dimmed, though, until the room was once again dark.
Andraia looked around at her destroyed mirror. Her empire lay in pieces on the floor. An unfamiliar emotion entered her heart. What was it? She couldn't be sure. It had been so long since she'd felt this emotion. Could it be sadness? If it was it was not because of the destruction of her mirror. No, it was something else causing this alien feeling to stir inside of her.
She slowly reached and picked up a large shard of glass. She studied the reflection in it. The previous image no longer smirked back. It was now her regular reflection.
As Andraia continued to look at the image, she noticed a small drop of water appear on the surface of the glass. She studied it curiously. Another shortly appeared, then another. Before long they began to fall to the glass in a steady stream. Her eyes burned, and that's when realization hit her. They were tears. Her tears.
Andraia hugged the mirror to her chest and felt the gentle wait of Virginia's hand being placed on her shoulder just as the flood gates opened and the tears began to flow.
There for the for the first time, Andraia, was able to shed tears for the death of those she'd loved.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Epilogue
Their return to Wendell's castle (via a mirror supplied by Snow White.) had been a joyous one. The three once again were considered heroes, and a large banquet was held in their honor.
One of the three, however, couldn't seem to share in the happiness of the occasion. Her mind kept drifting back to the woman who now sat alone in the dark cell (which Wendell had insisted on putting her in before arrangements could be made at the Snow White Memorial Prison)of Wendell's dungeon.
She was the only one that had truly seen into Andraia's soul. The only one that had shared her memories, and for a brief second, felt her pain. Virginia hadn't told anyone, but for an instant during the memory rush, she'd felt that pain Andraia had talked about. Virginia was glad it had only lasted an instant. She'd understood why Andraia had been forced to lock it away. The sudden crash of emotional turmoil was to much for any one person to bare alone.
Andraia had been right about one thing. Virginia's pain had nowhere compared to her own. Virginia had lost her mother, but she had Wolf and her father to help get her through the grief. Andraia had had no one.
"Was it right to just lock her away like that?" she thought to herself.
Sure Andraia had cause pain and turmoil herself, but when you went to the root of her evil was it really her fault? She'd been a child when her power was released. A reckless child that didn't truly understand her power, or how it should be used. Should a child be held responsible for taking a path they were too young to understand?
Virginia didn't know? All she knew was that same child, now centuries later, was a broken woman, destroyed by her own pain, grief, and hatred for herself.
They didn't have any trouble bringing Andraia back to the castle. The sudden wash of emotions had, in a sense, returned her to the child-like state of mind that she had once been robbed of.
Why had it happened to her? Why had she been cursed with so much pain? Andraia could have used her power for so much good, like Snow White. Was it something that a person decided inadvertently by their own actions or was it just cruel fate?
"What's wrong, cream puff?" asked a concerned voice from beside her.
Virginia turned to the man who had interrupted her thoughts and forced a smile.
"I'm all right, just thinking about some things."she said, trying to sound cheery.
Wolf looked at her curiously, not believing her answer was completely truthful, but also sensing that she didn't want the subject pushed any farther.
"Okay, want some food?" he asked that wolf smile of his shining on his face.
Virginia giggled. Same old Wolf.
Wolf's smile grew wider. He was glad to have cheered her up.
"I'm going to my dad." said Virginia to Wolf who was chewing on a piece of meat.
He nodded and went back to eating.
As Virginia walked out on to the balcony where she had noticed her father, she couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the "talk" Tony had had with his son-in-law shortly after their return. She hadn't heard all of it, but the part she did had involved advice from one father to a father-to-be, and death threats if he ever hurt Tony's "little girl".
"Hey, Dad!" Virginia called through the crowd of people who had gathered to hear the tale of the heroic Tony's latest adventure. Of course Tony's tale had been edited and revised in certain places, not to mention exaggerated a bit.
"Oh, Virginia! Um..sorry guys...I'll finish the story later." The crowed hesitantly walked away and Tony went over to his daughter.
"So are you glad to be back?" asked Tony, in a very cheerful mood. He loved the hero treatment.
"Aren't you the one who kept saying 'I hate this place.'?" replied Virginia smiling warmly.
"Well it's not so bad when you're not fighting trolls, curses, and evil sorceresses." stated Tony matter-of-factly.
"Or when you're getting the star treatment." said Wolf coming up behind them, and wrapping one of his arms around each of the father/daughter pair.
"Ha ha." said Tony with mock irritation. Mock because it was true.
"So where are we going to go now?" asked Wolf with eager anticipation looking out at the vast kingdom before them.
"Go? What do you mean go?" asked Tony.
"Why on an adventure of course!" stated Wolf. "Heroes are supposed to have many adventures."
"Hmmm, I know where we could go." said Virginia. "The most dangerous place I know."
Wolf's eyes lit up with child-like curiosity.
"Where?" asked Tony, not really wanting to going any where dangerous again for a while.
"New York." she said. " We could go back for a visit. Besides I never told Grandma about Wolf. " she said the last part shyly. She wasn't looking forward to explaing to her Grandmother that man that tried to eat her was now Virginia's husband and the father of her grandchild.
"Besides," she added. "It will give Dad's head a chance to shrink back to normal size."
"Hey!" cried Tony while Wolf and Virginia laughed.
Things were finally back to normal.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Despite the cheer above, there was one person in the castle not celebrating. Andraia rocked back and forth in her dark cell. She still clutched the shard of glass, but she'd long ago dried out her supply of tears.
The guilt of all she'd done filled her heart. So many emotions had built up inside of her, and their sudden releasing had nearly been to much for her. Any weaker person would have been killed, but Andraia had a strong will. That will is what kept her alive the night her parents were killed. It was what kept her alive now.
Her strong will hadn't been able to protect her mind though. She was plagued with images of people she'd tortured. Images she'd once found joy in. Images she now felt guilt for.
Andraia continued to rock. Some how a tune came to her through the tangled mess that was now her mind. It was a tune her mother had sung to her when she was a small girl.
Andraia began to hum it to herself, and the pain eased a bit. It would be a slow process, but evitually Andraia's grief and pain would ease.
As she sat there humming, Andraia recalled warm memories of her parents, and despite all the pain and guilt she smiled.
The End
A/N: Thanks to the person who reviewed this story before. For anyone who does read this please leave a review(a long one is greatly appriciated. That goes especially for you friend from LP)
In Dreams
Virginia stared at herself in the mirror. The wedding dress was beautiful. Wendell had the royal courtier make it for her. She sighed. It was her wedding day, she should be happy. She was happy, she loved Wolf and wanted to marry him, but she still hadn't told her dad about the baby. She wasn't sure how he'd react. Would he think that was the reason she was getting married? Would he try and kill Wolf? She hoped that when he found out that he would be happy for her. She was, just nervous. She hoped she would be a good mother, but a tiny fear lingered in the back of her mind. What if she turned out to be like her own mother? The thought terrified her. The more this thought came to her though, the more determined she became though. She would try her best to be a good mother to this child, whatever it took. Now she just had to tell her father.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony stood in the grand ball room of Wendal's castle. His little girl was getting married. He still couldn't believe it. He knew Virginia loved Wolf and that Wolf certainly seemed to love Virginia, but he was her daughter for goodness sake, he was supposed to feel this way.
He thought about all that had happened in the last 2 months. He had been an unappreciated janitor until he and his daughter were wisked away to this magical land. He was now an advisor to the grandson of Snow White, he had found his wife after 14 years and she had turned out to be an evil queen, and his daughter was marrying a half-wolf. The thought of Wolf made him think about something else that had stuck in his mind for the last month and a half. Why had he called him grandpa? He managed to convince himself he was just joking, but the idea that Virginia might really be pregnant still bothered him. If she was pregnant she would have told him by now right?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf jumped around excitedly. Today he was finally going to get to marry Virginia. He wore a tux (like the one he had worn to the coronation) that made him look extremely handsome. He was even more hyper this morning than usual (which was hard). He was getting married today, and in several months he was going to be a father. Wolf knew Virginia still hadn't told her father that bit of news, but today he was to0 excited to care. He checked himself over in the mirror one more time, and ran out of the room to go and find his best man, Wendal.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"If they only knew." said a woman to no one in particular. She stood in a dark room staring into a very large mirror. In the mirror she could see Wolf leaving his room. She had been watching all of them for quite some time. "You fools," she said. " You're happy now, you think it's over, that you've defeated the threat to the kingdoms. Cristine was nothing compared to me."she thought to herself. She had watched the Queen. Her plan had been a good one, but she had made many foolish mistakes. She should never have trusted the half-wolf and she should have killed the girl when she had the chance. The girl. She had been struck down by her own daughter. What an idiet.
Of course in her defense she had done a better job than her sire. She'd watched the old witch fail as well, but she was more powerful than either of those ammitures. She also knew not to trust anyone. You couldn't get betrayed that way.
"Have your fun now, I have waited and watched for centuries, I can wait a little longer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The wedding guests had all arrived. Virginia stood at the entrance to the ball room. As soon as she had looked and seen Wolf standing there all worries she had had before evaporated.
Tony took her arm as the wedding march started. He stared at his little girl.
"Virginia, I love you. You know that right?"
Virginia looked at her father fondly.
"I love you too, Daddy."
As soon as they had made it to where Wolf was standing the bishop began the ceremony . A little while later he pronounced Wolf and Virginia husband and wife. When they leaned into kiss even Wendell had to choke back tears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The mysterious woman just watched and smiled an evil smile to herself. "Soon," she thought "Very soon."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been two days since Wolf and Virginia's wedding and they had spent most of that time alone together.
"mmm." sighed Virginia as she rolled over to look at Wolf sleeping, and to her surprise she found him already staring at her.
"Why hello," said Wolf, and began to nuzzle her neck.
"Wolf", Virginia giggled. She retaliated by kissing his chest then moving upwards till she had made a trail of kisses to his neck She was about to kiss him on the lips when she backed away suddenly.
"Where are we going to go on our honeymoon?"she suddenly cried. They had completely forgot about it because they had been so busy.
"Huff puff, I completely forgot." Wolf began to scratch his temple.
"How about the 2nd kingdom? I want to see where you grew up."
"Really? I haven't been there in quite some time."
"Then it's time you went back." said Virginia as she started to kiss Wolf again. Wolf let out a little growl and eagerly returned her kiss. (Well since I don't wright lemons we're going to leave them alone for awhile.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia opened her eyes and found herself on a path in the woods.
"How'd I get here?" she thought. Suddenly she found herself running, but she didn't know why.
"What's going on?"she yelled to no one imparticular, not really expecting an answer. She looked behind her as she ran and saw Wolf running behind her.
"Run, Virginia, run."
"Run from what?"she thought, but didn't stop. After running a while she looked back to see if Wolf was still behind her. When she didn't see him she stopped suddenly, only to find herself at the edge of a cliff that she hadn't seen a minute ago. She tried to balance herself, but her attempts were futile, she fell off the edge and started to scream when she felt someone grab her hand.
"Wolf, oh thank god, Wolf." she looked up, but didn't see her husband staring back, instead she saw another all too familiar face.
"Hello dear,"said Cristine, "It seems I am once again in a position where I can finally be rid of YOU."Christine smiled down at her coldly.
"Mom?" asked Virginia uncertain."But you're... "
"Dead." Christine finished for her. "Well, I guess I am aren't I, but of course you would know that wouldn't you? It's not every day you kill someone, especially your own mother."
Virginia stared up at her horrified. "I... I didn't want to. You were strangling me. I would never have..." she couldn't finish. She didn't know what to say to her. She had killed her mother. Her mother. How could she have done something like that? And now here she was, the same mother she had murdered was the only thing keeping her from falling to herown death.
"Look at yourself, Virginia. You are no better than me. I never killed you. Just think if you could murder your own mother, what will you do to your child?"
"Noooo!" screamed Virginia, and then her mother released her hand, and she felt herself falling into the abyss.
"NOOOO". she yelled and sat up in bed. She wasn't dead. It had been a dream, just a stupid nightmare. Virginia looked over to Wolf. He hadn't woken up. That was strange. Wolf was a predator, always alert. On any other night he would awaken if he felt her jerk suddenly. She felt soft fur brush against her leg. It was his tail. The fury appendage was wagging back and forth frantically. "He must be dreaming," she thought, "Probably about sheep." ,she sighed and rolled over to go back to sleep. His tail began to wag harder. "What is he dreaming about?" she thought before drifting off to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf followed the scent of his prey. He had been following it for quite some time, but for some strange reason couldn't remember what he was tracking. It didn't matter, the wolf in him was at full force. He slowly made his way through the forest, so not to disturb whatever it was that he was hunting. He was getting closer. He snifed the air again, but this time found a more familiar scent, one he enjoyed even more than bacon or lamb. His eyes flashed yellow, but quickly faded.
"Virginia?" Wolf called out into the darkness of the woods. He momentarily forgot about his prey and went towards his mate's scent. He walked for several minuets, but couldn't find her.
"Virginia, where are you?"
"Right here, Wolf."
He turned to find her starring at him coldly.
"What's wrong?' he asked, something about her smelled wrong.
"Oh, nothing. I just woke up this morning and realized I had married a filthy animal. Nothing big." she continued to smile in that evil manner.
"Cripes. Virginia, what are you saying?" He couldn't believe what his creamy, dreamy girl was saying to him.
"Isn't it obvious? It was a mistake for me to marry a savage monster. You should have been burned along with your parents."
Suddenly Wolf found himself tied to a stake like he had been in Little Lamb Village. He smelt burning flesh and looked over to see his parents tied to their own wooden stakes near by. Except their's were fully a blaze and their faces twisted in utter agony. No. Not again. He couldn't go through this again. Why was Virginia doing this? He tried to shut out the screams of his parents, but he couldn't. It was exactly like he remembered. That night so long ago would forever stay burned into his mind.
"Oh, Wolfy." He stared down to see Virginia standing at the base of the wood pile on which he stood. She was holding a torch, a flaiming torch.
"Virginia, no." he pleaded. How could she do this? He began to wimper. It was all he could do. He didn't know what to say.
"Time to say goodbye, animal.",she smiled that cruel smile one last time as she lowered the torch and lit the wood on fire. Wolf began to howl and then his animal side took complete control. He forgot who his executor was , all he thought about was escaping. With his wolf strength he managed to break the ropes and leap off of the stake and onto Virginia. She never had a chance to scream. A stunned look was forever frozen on her face as Wolf's canines tour through the soft flesh of her neck. When Wolf came back to himself he gasped in horror when he realised who's limp body it was that he now held.
"What have I down?" he cried to himself. "Nooowoooo." His cries turned to mournful howls as he held Virginia's bleeding body in his arms.
Then he woke up. What did I do?! What did Virginia do?! A thousand questions shot through his mind all at once. He glanced over at Virginia. He could hear her soft breathing,and the beat of her heart. She was okay, it had only been a dream. He scratched his head nervously. Then ever so carefully he wrapped his arms around his mate protectively. Wolf laid that way for the rest of the night afraid to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning when Virginia woke up she found Wolf holding her closely. She didn't mind though. She knew she should get up, but she felt so good in his warm arms. Wolf stirred beside her. He knew she was awake.
"Good morning, Wolf."
Wolf was unusually quite, but he managed to get out a quiet hello. He was still thinking about his dream. He couldn't forget Virginia calling him a filthy animal or him holding her dead corpse in his arms.
Virginia waited for him to start talking about breakfast, but he said nothing, just stared at her with those hazel eyes of his.
"Are you okay?" she asked. He simply nodded, no further reply. "What's wrong?"
"Uh, I'm just nervous about going back to the 2nd kingdom.", he replied quietly. He wasn't really lying, an image of his burning parents flashed into his mind.
Virginia just stared at him. She had a feeling he wasn't telling her everything, but she didn't push it.
"How about some breakfast? don't you want some bacon?" She smiled as his eyes lit up with anticipation. He had completely forgotten about bacon. He jumped out of bed and started to get dressed.
Virginia watched him smiling. He was depressed, but would still get that excited over bacon. She slowly got up and began to get dressed herself. As she did this she began to think about the dream she had had during the night. What had it meant? It was just a dream right? Still the image of her mother's cold face calling her a murderer wouldn't leave her mind. Was she a murderer? Wolf's voice broke through her thoughts.
"Huff Puff, come on Virginia. The bacon awaits."and with that Wolf ran out of the room. Virginia followed, but Wolf was gone by the time she had made it through the door.
"Well," she said to herself,"at least he's back to normal." she started to walk down the hall when she felt herself get sick.
"Not again!" she covered her mouth and ran back into the room.
(Author's note: I don't know what she would throw up in, but there is no where else for her to go. I guess she can throw up in a bowl or something.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Anthony, is something the matter?" King Wendell asked his friend. Tony seemed to be in some sort of a stupor at the moment.
"Uh what, oh Wendell, no no nothing's the matter." Tony stuttered. "Okay, I kind of had this weird dream, and I guess it kind of got me thinking about some stuff." Tony's brow furrowed as he went back to his thoughts.
"Would you like to tell me about it?" Wendell asked concerned. He could tell this dream had really bothered his friend.
"Okay, it was really strange. I was standing in the mirror room, and somehow Christine was there. She told me to look into the mirror of truth, and I did, and it wasn't Cristine standing next to me, I mean she was wearing the same clothes, and her facial expression was the same, but her face was Virginia's. I looked next to me and Virginia was there just like she was in the mirror. Then she just started to laugh and laugh, but it wasn't happy laughter, it was evil laughter, and then I just woke up. I guess what I'm afraid of is that Virginia will end up like her mother." Tony sighed letting his head slump down. "Cristine started to show signs of going crazy after Virginia was born. I just ..."
"You're worried about what Wolf said before he went through the mirror, aren't you?" Wendell cut him off. Wendell looked at him and nodded. "I'm sure Wolf was just joking with you, but whatever happens you just have to remember that Virginia is not Christine, she's Virginia. Just be happy for them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When Virginia finally came downstairs, she found Wolf, Wendell, and her father already eating.
"Virginia, are you okay, you've been up there for a while?" Wolf asked with genuine concern. Virginia gave Wolf a look.
"I was just getting dressed. I just took my time." Ugh, what a bad excuse, hopefully her father and King Wendell would buy it. Wolf understood, because he said nothing else about it. Her father, however, looked worried.
"I should tell him." she thought to herself, but then forced the thought out of her mind. She wasn't ready yet.
"So what is this I here about the two of you going to the 2nd kingdom for your honeymoon?" asked Wendell changing the subject.
"Oh, I wanted to see where Wolf grew up, besides I haven't even been in the 2nd kingdom yet." Replied Virginia, she was glad for the subject change.
"When are you leaving?" asked Tony.
"We haven't decided yet?" Wolf said in between bites of bacon."It's up to Virginia."
" Well, we might as well leave soon, how about today?" Virginia said eager to get out of the castle.
"All right then. I'll have a carriage prepared for your journey."Wendell said with a smile.
"Thanks, Wendy." said Wolf, finishing his last piece of bacon. With that Virginia and Wolf excused themselves to go pack.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Fools." laughed the woman. "Going to the place of his past will only make my job easier." She stared into the mirror and watched as Wolf and Virginia left the room. To think, these were the four who saved the nine kingdoms. How had Christine been defeated by these people? She smiled to herself. Her dreams had already begun to disturb them, but it was only just the beginning.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf and Virginia had been riding in the carriage for about an hour. Wolf was a little restless in the cramped space, but he didn't complain. Virginia laid her head on Wolf's shoulder. He put his arm around her and sighed as only he can. Virginia smiled and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she stood in the mirror room of the castle. How had she gotten here?
She noticed the Mirror of Truth was shimmering. She walked over to it slowly and peered into the depths of it's reflection. She gasped at what she saw. She wasn't alone in the reflection of the mirror, her mother stood behind her. She swerved around quickly to find her mother now standing in the room.
"Hello, my daughter." Christine said with a cruel smile. She reached a hand out and stroked Virginia's cheek, but then drew it back swiftly and struck her full force across the face. Virginia fell backwards in shock.
"That was for murdering me." Christine hissed at her stunned daughter.
"I didn't murder you. it was self defense. You tried to kill me. You tried to kill everyone."
"I would have killed them too if it hadn't been for that ungrateful animal."
"He's not an animal."
"Oh, but Virginia only a monster could love someone like you. You killed your own mother in cold blood. No matter how many times you tell yourself that it was an accident or that you did it out of self defense, you will never be able to believe it. Will you? You know the truth don't you? You can deny and deny and deny, but you will always know in your heart that you murdered me. Why Virginia, what will your own child think knowing what their mother did? The child will think you are a monster, just like you think I am."
"Noooo. No. No. No." Virginia sobbed as she woke up in Wolf's arms. What, a dream? It was another dream? She looked up to find Wolf starring down at her. There was worry in his eyes.
"Are you all right? You fell asleep and then just woke up screaming. Was it a bad dream?"
Virginia didn't know what to say. She didn't want to scare him, but she felt like she should tell so he could help comfort her, but then decided making Wolf worry would just be selfish of her so she decided to take the easy way out.
"Yeah. It was just a bad dream, nothing to worry about?" she studied his face to see if he believed her, but only found pity.
"Was it about your mother?" he asked with understanding that said he knew what she was going through. He had lost his parents too and knew how hard it was.
"Yes." Virginia replied quietly.
Wolf could tell she didn't want to talk about it so he just held her and let her cry.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony stared up at the ceiling of his room. He couldn't fall asleep.
"Maybe I'm afraid of having another one of those stupid dreams." he thought to himself . he shouldn't do this to himself. If Virginia was pregnant she would have told him. This thought was coming up to much in his mind lately. Wendell was right. Wolf was just kidding.
"Arrrggg. I can't fall asleep this way!"
Tony got out of his large bed, got dressed and walked out of the room. He didn't know where he was going, but heck it was a big castle, he could just walk around for a while. He made his way down the hall quietly because he was unsure weather or not any one else was still awake. Despite all the candles the castle was dark at night. Shadows danced on the walls. It was actually quite creepy. He continued to walk trying to ignore the shadows. Wait. Had that shadowed just looked like a woman?
"Tony, what are you doing? First, you're paranoid that a half-wolf might have gotten your daughter pregnant, now you're seeing ghosts." he said to himself quietly,"And now your talking to yourself. Oh great."
He continued to walk until he noticed a strange light coming from the mirror room. Only two people had a key to this room: Wendell and Tony. so what was going on in there. He unlocked the door and went into the room slowly. If someone had gotten in he wanted to sneak up on them. He peered around the room. There was no one there. He took one last look around when, and was about to leave when he saw where the strange light was coming from. It was the Mirror of Truth.
"Just like in my dream" thought Tony. He made his way over to the mirror has if drawn by the hypnotic light. He peered into the reflection and...(dramatic pause. lol) gasped at what he saw. he wasn't in the reflection at all, instead there was a woman whose face was completely covered by a black hood. He was too stunned to move.
"This can't be real." he cried.
"On the contrary Dad, it most certainly is." Tony watched in horror as the woman pulled back her hood to reveal Virginia's face smiling coldly at him. he Tony was so shocked that he ran out of the room.
When he had made it back to his room he finally stopped running.
"You didn't see what you thought you saw. You've just been stressed lately, and has started to hallucinate. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. It wasn't real." Tony tried to reassure himself that his mind was playing tricks on him, but in his mind he knew what he had saw real.
"What is it with this place?" after saying this he finally managed to fall asleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf starred at Virginia laying beside him in the bed. (They had stopped at a small inn on the way.) She was so beautiful. He still couldn't believe she had married him, or that they were having a cub. Wolf was more nervous about going to the 2nd kingdom than he had let on to her. The dream he had had bothered him. In the nine kingdoms a dream wasn't always just a dream. What if something bad was going to happen? He knew Virginia would never do to him what she had in the dream, but he was more worried about the other way around. He didn't think he could hurt his mate, but what if he did? He would kill himself for sure. There would be no way he could live with himself. Besides if he did hurt Virginia Tony would kill him any way.
Wolf closed his eyes and somehow he fell asleep.
When Wolf opened his eyes he immediately smelt smoke. Smoke!? Was the inn on fire? He looked around and realized that he was no longer in the inn.
"Oh Cripes, where am I?" he began to scratch his temple, frustrated. He looked around and realized he was in Wendell's castle. But how had he gotten here? He didn't have any answers just lots of questions. The only thing he did know was that he needed to find Virginia and whatever was burning.
He ran out of the room and down the hall. Wolf realized that he had been in he and Virginia's room. That information didn't really help much. He still didn't know where Virginia was.
He finally found her scent at the end of the hall. She was close by. Wolf turned the corner and to his surprise somehow found himself at the grand entrance of Wendell's castle. Cripes! He and Virgina's room was on the third floor. He was very confused, but his mate's scent went out the door so he continued on. As soon as he stepped through he heard Tony call his name, but it wasn't a cheerful greeting, instead it was full of hate.
"Wolf." Tony walked over to Wolf and stared at him with eyes that were a mixture of extreme hate and extreme pain.
"How could you? You killed her you animal! I thought she was your mate for life, your one true love, and this is how you show your affection?" Tony pointed at a body laying near by. It was Virginia. Her throat had been ripped out.
"Noooo! Virginia, oh Virginia!" Wolf rushed over to her and held her lifeless corps in his arms. this all seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember at the monument from where.
"Tie him to the stake and burn him ." ordered Wendell who until now Wolf hadn't noticed was standing there. Two guards grabbed his arms and began to pull him away from Virginia.
"What? No I didn't, I couldn't!"Wolf pleaded with Tony, but Tony's gaze was hard, cold he would never be able to convince him.
"She loved you, you know , and this is how you repaid her." this time Tony's tone was sad, but filled with no less hate for Wolf.
The guards tied Wolf to a stake. He smelt the burning of wood again, but it wasn't from his pile, it was from two beside his. He hadn't noticed them before either, but then he recognized the two agonized people tied to the stakes as his parents. Why did this image still haunt him after all these years? Wolf looked down to see that Tony was lighting his pile now. Soon he would join Virginia. He let out a long mournful howl, and this time did not struggle as he felt the heat of the fire against his legs.
Wolf awoke with a start. Another one of those dreams? Why was this happening? He would never really hurt Virginia, would he? He looked over at her like he had before, but this time something was wrong. very wrong. He reached over to touch her and when he pulled his hand away it was covered with blood. He turned Virginia over and gasped in horror at the site of his lovely Virginia with her throat lacerated. Her eyes stared blankly forward with a look of utter horror. He licked his dry lips, but when he did this he tasted something vaguely like copper. He put his other hand to his face and when he pulled it away found blood on his fingers. He had killed his precious Virginia, and this time it wasn't a dream.
"NOOOoWoooo!"
"Wolf, Wolf. Wake up!" Wolf's eyes flew open and he starred into the eyes of his beloved.
"Virginia, you're okay, you're okay." he hugged her over and over and kissed her repeatedly.
"I am so sorry, Virginia. I would never hurt you. I'm so sorry."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They had started their journey again, not long after day light. After Wolf's dream, neither he nor Virginia had managed to get back to sleep anyway. Virginia worried about Wolf. She had asked him about his dream, but he had only replied that he didn't really want to talk about it, so she tried to change the subject to something else. It was their honeymoon right? They were supposed to be happy, not bothered by silly nightmares.
"Wolf, what was your family like? You never really told me much about your past." Virginia hoped that Wolf would open up to her. She was curious about Wolf, and wanted to know things about his family. He'd told her during their first full moon together in Little Lamb Village that his parents had been burned, but he hadn't said anymore about it.
" My father was a wolf named Jacub. You see wolves are different here then in your kingdom. They walk up right, and resemble humans, except they have fur, tales, and snouts, and ears similar to the wolves of the 10th kingdom."
So that's how it worked. She had wondered how a wolf and a human could mate. It explained a lot that they didn't walk on all fours.
"So your mother was human?"
"Yes, her name was Catrina. You see her family wasn't happy about her marrying my father, but she didn't care. Most people thought wolves were filthy, dangerous monsters. A lot still do." A sadness swept over Wolf's eyes.
'He must be thinking about his parents being burned." thought Virginia. She would have to get his mind off of that.
"Did you have any siblings?" Wolf's eyes lit up at this.
" I had two. A brother named Colin, and a sister named Lica. I was the oldest. I'll never no why they named me Wolf. Original huh?" Virginia smiled.
"I like your name. It's perfect for you."she kissed him softly. Wolf did his puppy whimpering, so she kissed him again only this time more passionately. (No, you sick people they are not going to do it in the carriage. That's disgusting.)
"Anthony! Wake up."
Tony looked up to see Wendell looking at him obviously annoyed.
"Oh, I'm sorry Wendell. I didn't get any sleep last night." Tony rubbed his eyes while he said this.
"Not another dream?"Wendell asked concerned.
"I wish." Tony confessed." It was really strange. I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk. Then I saw something
coming from the mirror room. I decided to go in and make sure there was no one in there. When I went in the Mirror o Truth was, well glowing. When I went over to it there was this strange woman in it that looked like Virginia, just evil."
"Like your dream." replied Wendell absent mindedly as if he were deep in thought. " The Mirror of Truth shows things as they truly are, but I don't believe Virginia is evil."
Then a horrible thought crossed Tony's mind.
"What if it was telling the truth abut the future, not the present."
"Your saying that you think your fears abut Virginia are going to come true?" asked Wendell stunned at what his friend was saying.
"I don't know what I'm saying. I guess my mind was just playing tricks on me because I've been worrying about those kinds of things lately. I don't think my daughter is evil, I'm just afraid that....that..."
'She'll end up like the Queen, and that the mirror was bringing reality to your fears." Wendell finished for him. They'd already had this conversation once, but he didn't know what to tell Tony. The Mirror of Truth usually did exactly what it's name suggested, tell the truth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What are you afraid of?" There she had said it. Virginia had been building up the strength to ask Wolf that question, and she had finally done it.
"What do you mean my dreamy, creamy girl?" asked Wolf with only a half wolfish smile. He hadn't expected that question and wanted to steer her away from it.
"Wolf, I'm serious. What's been bothering you? Why are you afraid of going back to where you grew up?"
Wolf's eyes lost their brightness and his head slumped down.
"I'm afraid of what I'll find there?" Wolf confessed.
Virginia didn't know what to say. She figured it had something to do with his parents.
"Wolf, tell me more about what happened to your parents."
Wolf stared off into space as if he were looking back in time.
"They were accused of a horrible crime. You see my mother was botroved to another before she met my father. She didn't love him though, the engagement was arranged by their families. One day she was taking a walk in the woods when she was attacked by a bear. She screamed and tried to run, but the bear was too fast for her. My father was in the woods near by, and heard her scream. He raced to where she was being attacked, and fought the bear off. When he saw her it was love at first sight. That's the way it works for most wolves."
Virginia smiled at that.
"Your parents told you all of this?" she asked urging him to go on.
"Yes."
"What happened next?"
"Well, my mother wasn't sure what to think at first. She had always been taught that wolves were dangerous, but this wolf had saved her life. Of course she soon fell in love with my father and because she knew her family would never accept him, they eloped. They lived in a cabin, head three children, as lived happily ever after. For awhile."
Virginia watched as Wolf's eyes got that sad look in them again.
"You see the man she was engaged to was furious with my mother. He felt that she had deeply embarrassed him by marrying a wolf instead of him. He tried several times to get my mother to leave my father and marry him, but she always refused. When I was 15 he had finally had enough. It will never be proven whether he did it himself or not, but his farm was recede. His live stock was killed and his barn was recede. He blamed it on my father of course, but huff puff Virginia, my father would never have done something like that. It wasn't even a full moon, but the other villagers believed him." Once again Wolf's face got that far off look as if he could see that night playing in his head.
"The villagers came that night. They tied my parents to stakes and burned them together in the village square. the man who had accused my father forced me and my siblings to come and watch. My brother and sister were still young, so I stood in front of them so they couldn't watch, but I did. I couldn't tear myself away. Oh, that night is still fresh in my mind. The look on my parents' faces as they choked out their last good-byes. Afterwards, they took my siblings away. I tried to stop them, but there was nothing I could do. They tried to lock me up, but escaped and ran into the woods. That's how I spent the next several years of my life. Wondering from village to village, trying to hide who I am. Some how I end up back in my old village one night. It was a full moon, and when I saw his farm I lost it. I had eaten all of his sheep by the time they caught me. I spent the next eight years in the prison. The rest as they say is history." By the time he had finished his story, Wolf's eyes were filled with the sorrow that only comes from recalling one's past.
"Wolf, I'm so sorry. I had know idea." said Virginia, hugging him.
"No, you deserved to know."
"Wolf, it's time you got out of your slump." Virginia had come up with the perfect plan to perk Wolf up again.
"What did you have in mind?" Wolf asked, interested.
Virginia stuck her head out the window and called for the driver to stop. She took Wolf's hand and got out of the carriage.
"It's my turn to be It." she whispered into his ear.
That wolfish grin appeared on Wolf's face and he eagerly followed after her.
"Wolf and I have been cramped up in the carriage for a while, and we just wanted to go for a walk." she told the driver. He nodded while trying not to smirk. With that Virginia headed for the woods with Wolf jumping excitedly behind her.
After their "walk" Virginia and Wolf went back to the carriage and took a nap. Virginia was the first to fall.
When she opened her eyes ( whoa, dejja vu) she was in the middle of a forest. She looked at her surroundings, trying to find her barring.
"Virginia."
Who was that?
"Virginia?"
She started to go towards the sound.
"Virginia, where are you?" The sound came from behind her now. She turned quickly expecting to see someone behind her, but there was just darkness. She became frightened, and suddenly found she was holding something in her hand. It was a small dagger. How had she gotten this? It didn't matter, she might need it to defend herself against who ever kept calling her name.
"Who who's there?" she called into the night.
"Virginia." was her only reply.
"Virginia, I know your there. Come to me Virginia."
Who was calling her? The voice seemed familiar, she just couldn't remember who's it was.
"Where are you?
"I'm here Virginia." as this was said she heard a sound in the trees behind her. She jumped around and with a swift motion she lunged the dagger into the bushes, and nearly jumped back with horror when she felt the dagger hit it's target, followed by a familiar howl of pain.
"No, Virginia. No."
She ran into the trees to find Wolf lying on the ground bleeding.
"Wolf! No. No. What have I done?"
"Virginia, behind you." were his final words as he died in her arms.
"Oh, Virginia. First you kill me then your husband. What kind of a person are you?"
She tried to turn around, but it was too late. She felt a scrape on her neck. She turned to find her mother starring at her, the poisoned comb in hand. Virginia touched where her neck had been cut, and felt blood.
" What an ironic twist of fate? Killed by your own weapon?" as soon a she heard this everything went black.
Virginia's eyes flew open. Her heart was pounding and it took her a few moments to remember where she was.
"It's okay". She told herself, " It was just another one of those dreams. Your safe. In a carriage somewhere in the 2nd kingdom by now, with Wolf." Wait a second. Where was Wolf? Hadn't she been leaning on him when she fell asleep?
"Wolf?' she asked turning her head, but he was gone.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Gone? Where could he have gone?
"Stop!" she yelled to the driver. As soon as the carriage had stooped she jumped out and started to run. She stopped when she realized that she didn't know where to run. Where to look. Why had he left? Why would he do this to her? Was he going to come back?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf ran through the forest. he didn't know where he was going he just had to run. He looked up at the sky as he ran, and saw the full moon shining down at him. He hadn't known there was a full moon tonight. Wasn't that several days away? How could there be a full moon tonight?
He finally stopped when he heard a noise.
"Wolf."
Who was that? Wolf sniffed the air trying to catch the scent of is caller. He smelled no one.
"Silly Wolf, you can't smell me."
Huh? Who was this person? He couldn't rely on his noise, so he decided to follow his ears.
"That's it ,Wolf. Come to me."
Every wolf instinct that he possessed told him to turn back, that there was danger ahead, but all he could do was go on. Something was pulling him to the voice. Then as he was coming to a clearing, he saw a dark figure standing in the middle of it.
"A little closer, my little wolf."
As he got into the clearing, he noticed that the figure was a woman, but her face was hid by a cloak. He sniffed the air again, but found no scent.
" Now Wolf, what did I tell you about doing that?"
Wolf starred at the woman, not sure what to do. Then she started to lift her hood...
Wolf opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of the woods again. Except this time he soon realized he wasn't asleep.
"How did I get here?" he asked himself. Where was he? Where was Virginia?
"Virginia?" he called out into the darkness, but there was no reply.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How could he have just disappeared?" cried Virginia to no one imparticular. Mostly because she was alone.
"Did he just jump out of the carriage and run away?"
She was mad now. Where was he? She'd been walking for three hours and there was no sign of him.
"Wolf!" she called out for the umpteenth time, but as before there was no answer. "Urrrgggg! Why did I ever decide to go look for him alone?"
When Wolf had despaired from the carriage she hadn't known what to think. So she decided to go look for him. She told the driver of the carriage to wait for her, but if she wasn't back in five hours to go back to King Wendell's castle and get her father. She had figured that Wolf hadn't been able to get far if he had ran, but there had so far been no sign of him.
"I should probably go back." she thought, but how could she go back? How could she just leave him? What if something had happened to him and he hadn't just left?
"Wolf, when I do find you, I'm going to kill you!" she yelled into the trees.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
" Not if I do first."she said as she smiled the same cruel smile. "Not if I do first."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
" What do you mean she's somewhere in the middle of the 2nd kingdom forest looking for him?!" yelled Tony at the driver.
"How could you just leave her there looking for that stupid wolf?"
"I'm sorry , sir, but she told me if she didn't come back to come get you."
Tony couldn't believe what he had just been told. Wolf had disappeared, and his daughter had disappeared going to look for him.
"I'm going to the 2nd kingdom." he announced to Wendell who stood near by, and had been waiting for Tony to say this.
"Of course. I will get a horse mounted for you." ( I know it's not really realistic for him to go alone, but I just want it to be Tony.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf walked through the forest. He was lost. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd been really lost, but he was now. He tried to catch the scent of something familiar, but found nothing. He still had no idea how he had end up in the woods. Had he walked in his sleep? That seemed unlikely, he'd never walked in his sleep before. The last thing he remembered was the dream. Had the dream had something to do with it? It had been so strange, almost like it was real, maybe even more than the others that had recently plagued his sleep.
Suddenly a vaguely familiar scent filled his nose. Where had he smelt that before? Then suddenly he knew. He took off through the trees, going towards the holder of the scent. When he came to a clearing he stopped. It was similar to the one in his dream, but smaller. He wasn't surprised to see the figure standing in it either. He had expected to see her.
"Why hello, Wolf. I've been waiting for you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia stopped to rest. She'd been walking for more hours than she could count now. It was too late to go back, the driver would have been long gone by now.
"I might as well stop and rest." she thought, and sat down with her back resting against a tree. She knew she probably shouldn't go to sleep in the woods alone, but she was just to tired. Even though she tried to fight it she eventually fell asleep.
When she opened her eyes she knew it was a dream. She didn't know how, she just knew.
"Virginia." a familiar voice called, but it wasn't a cold voice it was a warm, friendly voice.
She turned to see Snow White standing behind her.
"Snow White? Is it really you?" Virginia asked, not sure if her mind wasn't still playing tricks on her.
"Yes, Virginia, it is me. I need to speak with you. you are in great danger.
"What else is knew?" she sighed, more adventure wasn't what she wanted right now." Is this a dream?"
"Yes, and no. I am speaking to you through your dream, but we must speak briefly. I am having trouble shielding your dream from her.
"Her?"
"An evil woman has been using dreams to terrorize you."
"You mean those dreams, with my mother. Someone was controlling them?"
"Yes, and you must hurry before it is too late."
"Too late for what?"
"You must find her if you want to find Wolf."
"Wolf? Do you know where he is?" she was getting more frantic now.
"Yes, and it will be revealed to you soon."
"But, how? I have no idea how to find him or this woman."
"Do not worry Virginia. All will be reviled soon. I must leave you now, but I will tell you this. The woman who seeks to hurt you is very powerful, but you must remember that all is not as it seems. She will try to trick you as , but you must not give in." And with that she disappeared.
"What do I do now ?" thought Virginia, but her answer soon came when she felt someone shaking her, and she woke up.
"You're all right!" Tony exclaimed, clearly relieved.
"Dad? but how did you get here?"
"I rode all night and found you here. You're only about a mile away from the road.
What? She must have made a circle in the dark , and not realized it. Wait? The dark? For the first time she realized it was light. She must have slept all night.
"Wolf? have you seen Wolf?"
"No." answered Tony with a slight bit of anger in his voice.
"Dad, I don't think he left on purpose. Remember when I told you about meeting Snow White at Dragon Mountain. Well, she came to me in a dream, and told me about this woman who's been trying to hurt us through our dreams. I think she knows where Wolf is."
Dreams? Was that why he'd had all these dreams lately? He decided not to say anything about his own dreams, he didn't want to worry her.
"Why did he just run off like that?"
"Dad, I told you I don't know, but I have this feeling that something bad has happened to him..."
"You are right about that."came a voice from behind them, before Virginia could finish her sentence.
Virginia and Tony wurled around at the same time. Standing in front of them was...(Drum roll please.) A woman. She was dressed all in black and a hood covered her head.
"Were you looking for me." she said with an evil sneer.
"Who are you?" asked Virginia staring at the strange woman. She couldn't see her face, it was completely hidden by the dark hood.
"Wouldn't you like to know." sneered the woman.
Then Virginia understood.
"You're the woman who's been haunting my dreams."
"Ahh, so someone told you did they, maybe a dead queen?"
"How.."
'Oh, I know a lot Virginia. Much more than you will ever dream of knowing."
Tony watched all of this dumfounded, where had he seen this woman before? Then it hit him, it was the woman he'd seen in the mirror. He hadn't been imagining it.
"You messed with the Mirror of Truth?!" accused Tony.
"Quite correct. So you aren't as stupid as you look."
Virginia thought about all of this. Who was this woman? Wait she messed with mirrors, and she knew about Snow White!
"Are you Snow White's stepmother?" asked Virginia, sure she had figured it out.
The woman's reaction was not at all what Virginia had expected.
"You mean Marina? Ha! That puny little witch was nothing compared to me. Do you think she learned to control the mirrors on her own? Who do you think taught her how to use the magic?"
"You mean?" Virginia choked out.
"Yes, she was my apprentice, but she was a fool, and her vanity caused her end. She could have been great, but her jeoulsy of Snow White caused her down fall."
Virginia was shocked.
"But, that would make you..."
"Over 200 years old? Oh, I am much older than that."
Virginia didn't know what to say. She was utterly shocked. How could she face someone that was more powerful than the original Evil Queen. she wondered if Wolf knew about the Queen's teacher. Wolf! She had completely forgot.
"Where's Wolf?" Virginia asked the woman, trying to sound threshing.
"Oh, don't worry the father of your child is still alive, for now."
"What!?" yelled out Tony, who Virginia had nearly forgotten was there." The father of your child?!"
Tony stared at his daughter, both angry and hurt.
"Oh, no." thought Virginia.
"Ooops. Have I said too much?" said the woman with a smile.
"Tell me where my husband is!" Virginia yelled at the woman, now very angry.
"Why should I tell you. Wouldn't that ruin the fun of having you look for him?"
Virginia was stunned. The woman did kind of have a point no matter how cruel. She had to give the woman a reason to tell her.
"Well, um, if you don't at least give me a hint, then we'll never find him and you'll get tired of ,um, waiting." Virginia replied unsure.
"I suppose. Well, he's in the 2nd Kingdom."
"What!? That's it? We'll never find him!" Virginia yelled clearly irritated. The trolls had nearly made her dance in hot slippers, and her mother had tried to kill her, but at least they hadn't irritated her!
"What did you expect? A rime? Whether you can find him or not is not my problem." And with that she vanished. There was no puff of smoke, no lights, she just was gone. Virginia blinked to make sure had seen what she thought she'd seen.
"Now what do we do? We'll never find Wolf!"
"Was what she said true?" asked Tony, he hadn't said anything because he had been thinking about that statement.
Virginia liked her dry lips and turned to face her father. She should have told him earlier. why hadn't she? She'd never planned for him to find out this way. All she could do was nod. The woman had known what she was doing, but how?
"Why didn't you tell me?" Tony asked, his voice steady, cold.
"I wasn't sure how you'd react." she replied, "Look are you okay with this?"
"Uh, yeah." Tony said clearly lying. Virginia knew he was, but they didn't have time for this now. They could talk later.
"Let's go find Wolf." she started to walk out of the forest, with Tony reluctantly following.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf howled at the moon through his barred window. He had been in this room for what seemed like forever. His blood was hot, he needed to run, to hunt.
"It's not fare is it?" he heard a female voice ask from behind him.
"No." he growled/said back. He didn't need to turn. He knew her scent now.
"Would you like to be free?" she asked.
"You know the answer to that."
Suddenly he was in an open field. He howled at the moon again and ran into the trees. His prey was near. He could smell her.
"You must kill her." said the voice again.
"No!!" he screamed and stopped. What was he doing? He'd never hurt Virginia.
"The Evil Queen let you go for the same reason."
"I know, but I didn't kill her."Wolf felt like he was talking to himself, sense he couldn't see anyone else. But he knew she was there, he could smell her.
"Why?"
"Because I love her! She is my mate!" he growled back.
"But you killed her now?"
"What?! No!"
"You don't believe me? Look at your hands."
He did and found blood. He looked at the ground, but knew what he would find. Virginia lay there dead.
"You see? You killed her for me."
"Noooo! I would never harm her! Nooo!"
When Wolf woke up he found himself in a dark room. He tried to move, but found he was chained to the wall. He knew she was coming long before he heard the footsteps. Her scent told him of her approach.
"Well, good morning Wolfy." she was dressed like before in black with a hood that covered her face.
"Why do you do this?" he asked, expecting no real answer.
"Because I enjoy it of course."she smiled as she looked at Wolf. "I understand why Christine chose you."(hey, I do.)
"I will never do anything for you. You can't make me hurt her."
"On the contrary, my little wolf, you killed her in your dreams, did you not?"
"Those were dreams, not reality." He knew she must have been causing his nightmares, but he didn't know how.
"But dreams are an exaggerated reflection of reality, Wolfy. With a little push, who knows what could happen."
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am the true master of the mirrors. Maybe you've heard of my apprentice, Marina."
"Snow White's stepmother? But you would be hundreds of years old?'
"Actually, I'm 435 to be exact," as she said this she removed her hood, "do I look it?"
Wolf stared at the woman before him. His look was one of total shock. She couldn't be that old. Her hair was raven black, and her eyes were a shade of green he'd never seen, he couldn't describe.
"Guess not." she replied with a smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia and Tony had walked for hours, before they came to small village. Tony watched his daughter. He couldn't believe she was going to have a baby. He hadn't meant to be so cold, it was just that he hadn't expected it. He thought Wolf had been joking when he called him grandpa, hey it was Wolf!
Tony just couldn't shake the feeling that Virginia had ruined her life by marrying a guy that she just met about two months earlier. What if she had just married him because she was pregnant. He didn't want her to throw away her life.
"Virginia, I think we need to talk."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How can you be 435 years old?" asked Wolf.
"Now, now Wolfy. Why should I give away all of my secrets?"
"Cripes! What does it matter? You're just going to kill me soon anyway."
She walked up to Wolf so that they were face to face and smiled.
"Who said I was going to kill you right away? I'm having way to much fun."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia and Tony sat in a tavern. Virginia sat nervously waiting for her father to start. She had hoped this wouldn't come up again, but she knew they would have to talk evitually.
"Virginia, I have to know. Did you marry him because you're pregnant?"
What? How could her father think that? Couldn't he see that she loved him?
"Dad, I married Wolf because I love him! Why can't you just see that?"
"I just don't want you to throw your life away, that's all."
"Throw my life away? I'm finally happy, Dad. I love Wolf, and I'm happy about this baby. My whole life I've been afraid to let people in, and now that I have, I'm finally happy."
Tony looked at his daughter and a smile started to creep up on his face.
"I am happy for you then."replied Tony.
Virginia smiled and a tear ran down her face as she hugged her father.
"Of course, I'm still going to kill Wolf after we rescue him."Tony joked.(Well, half-joked.)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You should like me, you know."
"What!? Why?" Wolf growled.
She walked over to Wolf again, standing inches from his face.
"Because, I know everything about you. All of your fears, your secrets. Yet I do not judge you." her words seemed almost sincere.
"And you think Virginia does?"Wolf asked angrily.
"She burned you didn't she?"
"That wasn't Virginia. That was one of your dreams. You burned me, not her. You were the one who caused all of those images."
He watched as she slowly walked over to the middle of the room, and out of the darkness a mirror appeared. the mirror was large, much bigger than the traveling mirror. It looked beautiful, but evil at the same time.
She ran her hand over the cool glass and it came alive with a brilliant purple light. Wolf watched as the image on the mirror became an all too familiar one. It was his parents burning. He tried to look away, but like always he couldn't.
"You mean these?" she asked.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Look, Dad, we aren't going to get any help in this village so we might as well leave, okay?"
"Virginia, we need to at least ask for directions or something?"
"Ask for directions to where? We don't even know where we're supposed to be going!" Virginia sighed from frustration. They'd been looking for nearly a day now, and had found nothing. No even a clue as to where to go. Aren't evil bad guys supposed to set a trap with clues or something?
"Well, maybe someone here has heard of this woman, and knows where she lives."replied Tony.
"What woman are you looking for?" asked a young female voice from behind them.
Tony and Virginia both turned to look at the same time. What they saw was a young woman, no older than Virginia, looking at them.
"Excuse me. I apologize, but I couldn't help, but over hear that you were looking for someone, I thought I might be able to help." The woman smiled at them sweetly, her green eyes shining.
"Uh, we were looking for, a um, a witch."said Virginia nervously.
"A witch? Well, I don't think there are any witches in this village. We try to avoid them."
"Well this is a very old witch. She claims to be the teacher of Snow White's step mother." added Tony, hoping the woman wouldn't think him crazy.
A tiny look of fear crossed the woman's face
"Do you know of her?" asked Virginia.
"Why do you wish to find her?" asked the woman, now sounding a little nervous herself.
"I think she kidnapped my husband." said Virginia. She had a feeling by the way this woman was acting that she did know of the mysterious witch.
"She's kidnapped you're husband?"
"Yes, and we have no idea how to find her?"
"Well, I have heard of her. You see there is an old tale that says she lives somewhere around here, but no one has ever tried to look for her."
"Could you help us?" asked Tony.
"I guess I could."
"Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. By the way I'm Virginia and this is my father Tony."
The woman's smile returned as she brushed her black hair from her face.
"I'm Andraia."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf sat in the dark, alone now. The woman was gone. He didn't know where to, didn't care either. He looked to where the mirror had been. He couldn't see it any more. Luckily she hadn't let the whole image play out. He didn't know what he'd do if he had to go through it the whole thing over again. That's probably why she did it. She wanted to keep him sane. He pulled at his chains again, with no luck.
"Cripes! I'll never get out of here!" he yelled/whimpered aloud.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"So do you know where we're going?" asked Tony.
"According to the stories, we are on the right track." replied Andraia, a little annoyed at Tony. He'd already asked that question a dozen times.
"Just ignore him." whispered Virginia, "This is a really nice thing you're doing for us."
"Oh, I don't mind. Besides, I've always wanted to see if the stories are true."
"Tell me about these stories."
"Well, they say that a very old witch who lives in these woods was the first to use the magic mirrors."
"So she really did teach Snow White's stepmother?"
"You mean Queen Marina?"asked Andraia
"Yes."
"Well that's what they say, but sense she told you herself, I guess it's true." she paused for a second hesitating. " I have to know. What did she look like?"
"Well, I uh, didn't really see her. She was dressed all in black, and she wore a hood over her face."
"Oh" she replied, almost disappointed.
"I think we should camp here for the night." said Tony from ahead of them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Do you know any more about Mariana?"asked Virginia later that night. She and Andraia sat around the small camp fire talking while Tony slept.
"I know that she came from my village. She was the prettiest girl any one had ever seen. She had many suitors, but she fell in love with a prince. The prince was Snow White's father. The prince didn't love her though. He fell in love and married another.
"Snow White's mother."put in Virginia.
"Yes. Mariana was enraged. She ran away from the village, and somehow found her way to the witch we seek. They say the witch taught her how to use the magic of the mirrors. When she was older she learned the queen had died. She evitualy learned went to the king, and he married her because of his loneliness."
"How come I've never heard this story before?" asked Virginia when Andraia was done.
"It is only known around here. Most have never heard of the witch."
"I hope Wolf's okay." said Virginia looking up at the moon.
"Wolf?" asked Andraia.
"My husband. He's from the 2nd kingdom."
"Is he a wolf?"
"Half-wolf."
"Don't worry. A lot of people around here are afraid of wolves, but I'm not."
Virginia smiled warmly at the woman.
"Thank you, for all of your help."
"Oh no, it's a pleasure.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wake up Wolfy."
Wolf bolted awake. He hadn't even realized that he'd fallen asleep.
"What do you want now." growled Wolf.
"Oh, Puppy, I just wanted to show you something." she walked over to the center of the room, her black hair flowing behind her. Before she got to the center of the room, the mirror appeared again.
Once again she ran her hand over the glass, but this time a completely different image appeared.
Wolf gasped at what he saw. There in the glass was Virginia asleep on the ground, and Tony a little farther away.
"Huff puff, what are you going to do to them?" growled Wolf.
"Oh, nothing much, Wolfy. Just watch and learn." as she said this she began to rub her hand over them mirror again, and this time Wolf saw Virginia, but she was no longer sleeping, she was walking around inside of Wendell's castle.
"It's a dream." Wolf said to himself a little to loudly for the woman heard him.
"Yes, it is. Another one of those pesky dreams." she said this with a smile and Wolf watched as she stepped into the mirror and disappeared. She had been doing the same thing to her! Poor little sausage. Wolf watched Virginia's dream. So far nothing terrible had happened. The he saw her. it was the woman, only Virginia called her mom. Why? Then the it came to him. She had taken the form of Virginia's mother so she could haunt her dreams.
"Mom, I didn't murder you!" screamed Virginia from the mirror. Wolf whimpered. He couldn't stand this. All he could do was watch while his mate went through this torture. Of course, she had known this. That's why she had made him watch.
"Of course you did. Don't you remember dear? You killed me, then you killed your stupid mutt of a husband."
"Nooo!" screamed Virginia from the mirror, and he winced when he saw what Virginia had seen. The image showed her outside now, and nearby was a stake like the one's his parents had burned on, except it wasn't his parents burning, it was him! He watched the horrified realization come over his beloved's face as she realized she was holding a burning torch in her hand.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Noooo! How could I have? Nooo!" screamed Virginia. She was about to scream out again, but she felt someone shaking her.
"Virginia! Wake up! Wake up!"
It was Andraia.
"What happened?" asked Virginia still dazed.
"You were having a nightmare!"
"What? It was a dream? It was so real." Then she sighed. It was just another dream, just like the others. This was the second one where she killed Wolf.
"Are you okay?" asked Andraia.
"Uh, yeah. I was just disoriented, that's all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf growled in frustration.
"Cripes! Cripes! Cripes!"
He was alone in the dark room again. Where had that witch gone anyway?
"Well I not exactly looking forward to her return anyway?" he thought to himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"It isn't that farther now." said Andraia. "But there is a village not to far away. We should probably stay there tonight."
Tony didn't argue. They had been walking all day, and he was tired. He'd been watching Andraia most of the day. He'd woken up the night before and found her missing, but he hadn't asked her where she went. He'd fallen back asleep, and didn't know when she came back.
"It's just a mile from here."said Andraia.
They arrived in the village ten minutes later and went to the tavern to eat.
"So doesn't anyone miss you back in your village. I mean won't your family wonder where you went?" asked Tony.
"No, I am afraid I have no family."replied Andraia.
"Oh, I'm sorry." said Virginia sympathetically.
"No, I'm used to being alone."
"So how much farther is the place the stories talk about?" asked Tony.
"Oh, we should probably get there before dark tomorrow. We should go to sleep now, and wake at first light."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
" Oh Wolfy, did you miss me. Sorry I was gone all day. I had some business to attend to."
Wolf didn't' know what she meant by this, but didn't dare ask.
"Did you enjoy the show last night? My little pet?"
Wolf's only response was a growl.
"What a shame. I did."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning they awoke at dawn at set out again. Virginia was worried about Wolf. She really hoped he was all right. Who was the woman who was the woman terrorizing them anyway? Maybe she should ask Andraia more about her?
"What else do you know about this woman?"
"Not much. No one knows where she came from, and her name is unknown. Like I said not many people even know she exists." replied Andraia. "Oh, wait! This is the path! I guess at least part of the legend is true."
Virginia looked at the path. It was even worse than the Deadly Swamp. The path was dark, very dark, and trees surrounding it were twisted in bizarre positions. That wasn't the worst part though. /the disturbing part was that there was no sound coming from the path. The rest of the forest was filled with the chirps of birds, the scurries of scuffles and rabbits, but the woods surrounding that path were silent.
"We have to go in there?" asked Tony.
Without answering Andraia started onto the path. Virginia looked around nervously. She'd always heard that the most horrible sound was dead silence. Now she knew it was true.
"I can't believe it's real!" said Andraia ahead of her on the path.
"How will we know when we get there?" asked Tony.
"I guess we'll just know ." replied Andraia.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. Virginia thought about Wolf, and Tony thought about what he was going to do when he found Wolf.
"Oh my!" Virginia heard Andraia say from ahead.
"What is it?" asked Virginia running to her. She stopped when she saw it. It was amazing. What stood before them was a crystal wall. Virginia couldn't see anymore of it, because of the trees.
"I suppose this is what you meant?" said Tony in au.
"How do we get in?" asked Virginia walking over to it, followed by Tony. She ran her hand over the surface. It was cold, ice cold.
"Oh, that's simple, Virginia." said Andraia from behind them, but she sounded different. Not sweet like before, but cold. As cold as the great wall before them.
Virginia turned to look at her.
"Andraia?"
"Virginia, Virginia. You really shouldn't trust strangers." As she said this walked over to the wall and rubbed her hand over the surface like Virginia had, except this time a mirror appeared.
"They might not turn out to be a stranger at all." she said with a smile, and Virginia recognized her voice.
"You're.."
Before she could finish Andraia grabbed her a shoved her into the mirror.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hello again Wolfy."
Wolf groaned. She was back.
"Look just kill me why don't you. Huff puff, just get it over with!"
"Wolfy, I'm afraid I don't need you anymore. You see you've lived out your usefulness as bait."
"What do you mean by bait?"
" Bye, puppy, I'll miss you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia opened her eyes to find herself in a dark room. She tried to move, but she was chained. A noise come from across the room.
"Who's there?" she asked.
"Just me."
Andraia walked out of the shadows, and stopped in front of her.
"You! You tricked us!"
"Yes, I suppose I did."
"Where's my father, and what did you do with Wolf?"
"Oh Wolf. Well he was just bait, and unfortunately he out lived his usefulness." she said this with an evil smile.
"You, you?"
"Yes. I didn't enjoy it though, he's very handsome. I'll have to look into getting me a wolf of my own."
Tears formed in Virginia's eyes. He was gone. She couldn't think about that now. She had to be strong. She had to survive. Not only for herself, but for their child. That's what Wolf would have wanted.
"What about my dad?"
"Oh him. Well, I'm afraid he won't be joining us....for the rest of his life."
"No! You killed them both. Why? Why did you destroy my family!?"she yelled, choking back tears.
"Virginia, the answer is simple. I'm over 400 years old. You get board."
"Nooo! No, no." Virginia screamed, and then she began to cry. She couldn't take it anymore. Her mother had at least had a reason, but this woman. She was so evil, that she killed people for fun.
"NO! How could you?! You.."
Virginia's eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath. She couldn't believe it. It was another dream. Well part of it any way. She looked around the dark room. She was still in the room, still chained to the wall, which meant Andraia was really the evil woman.
"So you woke up. Did you enjoy your dream?"
"You! Why why are you doing this?" Virginia screamed, her voice filled with rage.
"I told you in your dream. That part was true."
"What about Wolf and Dad?"
"Oh them? Well I'm not done with them yet. Still too much fun to be had."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony rubbed his head. It still hurt from the fall. How had he gotten here anyway?
"Hello? Is anybody here?" he yelled. Then he looked at his surroundings for the first time. He was in some sort of tunnel, and the walls were made out of the same ice cold crystal as the wall outside, except these were kind of blue. A very light icy blue.
"Oh great! How am I going to get out of here?" Tony griped. Seeing no other option, he began to walk.
"It really is cold in here." He complained, rubbing his arms.
"I really do hate this pla..." But before he could finish something fell through the wall on top of him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf howled as he fell to the ground. Well actually something broke his fall. He shook his head(like he did after he got out of the water when they wee sneaking into the castle.) then looked around trying to figure out where he was. He sniffed the air, and to his surprise caught a familiar scent.
"Tony?!" asked finally relishing what he was sitting on was his father-in-law.
"Oh no." said Tony looking up. "Wolf?! Get off of me!" he yelled.
Wolf jumped off of Tony, and then turned to help him up.
"Huff puff! How did you get here?"
"I don't know. Andraia, she pushed Virginia through a mirror, and then me, and I woke up here."
"Virginia?! Where is she, and who's Andraia?" asked Wolf excitedly.
"We met her in a village. We thought she was helping us, but she turned out to be the witch."
"Her. I've spent the last couple of days chained to wall, while she made me watch horrible things through her mirror." Wolf growled. "Oh cripes! Now she got Virginia!" this time he growled/whimpered.
"Wait what's this about you getting my daughter pregnant?" Tony asked him with a glaring look.
"Oh so you know now." Wolf said nervously.
"Virginia told me, well after that woman dropped a pretty obvious hint." Tony continued to glare at him.
"Well isn't it great, Tone? You're going to be a grandfather."
"Yeah well%^%^%^()(##!%%*&(~~~~~~&^&()(* we (&@@@!~~~~~~~~~!!@#()___++__(*^$@@!@ can 5^^***~~~@@#)_+
(^%*_)(?????~~~~~~~~~~~~~!@#%$^&**)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5647
65
6\8\\9\09\000%^^%&^&&~~~~~~~~~~~~~
##$^*()___++___#@~~~~!!@@#%^^&()_++_(*(*)
$%%&_)*&%~~~~!@#%$^*&VBGJU&)_+*^%$$
DO NOT EJUST YOUR BROWSER! I AM IN CONTROL NOW!
THAT'S RIGHT IT'S ME THE SINGING RING. I HAVE'T EVEN BEEN METIONED ONCE IN THIS FANFIC SO I'V TAKEN OVER! (says this singing in that toon.)
FOR ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WHO HAVE A PROLEM WITH THIS I HAVE A SONG FOR YOU....
ATTENTION WILL THE REAL SINGING REAL PLEASE STAND UP.
I REPEAT WILL THE REAL SINGING RING PLEASE STAND UP.
WE 'RE GONNA HAVE A PROBLEM HERE
LOOK LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN A SINGING RING BEFORE.
I RETURNED AFTER I WAS IN A FISH...WAIT HE DIDN'T JUST SAY A FISH DID HE?
BUT RING WHEN SHE SAID NO WASN'T IT WIERED?
WHY CAUSE HE DIDN'T BUY THE MIRROR?
THROWING ME IN THE WATER, GETTING EATEN BY A FISH!
I'M THE REAL SINGIN RING, YES I'M THE REAL SINGING RING
ALL THE OTHER SINGING RINGS ARE JUST IMITATING SO WON'T THE REAL SINGING RING PLEASE STAND UP, PLEASE STAND UP.
WAIT? WHAT'S GOING ON?! NOOOOO! ANGEL! NOOOO!AHHHHHHHH!
(Okay, sorry about that. That ring took control of my fanfic for a second there, but I got it back!)
"Well, we can talk about that later." said Tony with a bit of announce to his voice." What are you doing anyway?"
Wolf was walking around the tunnel sniffing the air.
"I'm trying to pick up a scent to follow...wait....I found one! this way." and with that he took off down the tunnel.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Want to watch,Virginia?" asked Andraia looking into a large mirror in the center of the room.
"Watch what?" asked Virginia nervously.
"Oh, my game, with Wolf and your father. You see it's just begun."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tone I think we're getting closer." Wolf got no reply. "Tone?"
He turned to find that his father-in-law wasn't behind him.
"Tony? Where did you go?" he growled.
He started to walk back the way he came, but there was no Tony.
He sniffed the air for his scent, when he found it followed it till it stopped at one of the walls. The scent didn't trail off, it just stopped. As if he'd gone through the wall. He didn't know what to do, so he continued walking.
He was sniffing the air when he heard someone call his name.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Not again!" yelled Tony. He had fallen through one of the walls and ended up in another tunnel.
"Where's Wolf?"
Tony walked down the tunnel. This one, like the others was made of crystal walls, except these were green. "This Andraia is really starting to get on my nerves." He grumbled to himself. "If I get out of this, I'm never leaving Wendell's castle again. Wait what's that?" He made his way over to a shimmering part of the wall, and realized that it was a mirror. But it wasn't the mirror that surprised him it was the person he could see Tony the other side of the mirror. Wolf!
"Wolf!" He yelled into the mirror hoping he could here.
Wolf, who had been making had walking by sniffing the air, stopped at turned to face him. He looked over to the wall with a confused look on his face.
"He must not be able to see the mirror from that side."thought Tony.
"Wolf, there's a mirror here."
Wolf reached out and touched the wall. The mirror shimmered for a second.
"Tony? Cripes, how did you get in there?"
"I don't know I fell through one of the mirrors in the wall."
"I'll come through to your side."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"You think I'd make it that easy?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf stepped through the mirror. When he came out the other end he didn't find Tony though. Instead he found another empty tunnel.
"What's going on here?" he growled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia watched the display with horror. This woman was playing with them. She didn't want to rule the kingdoms, or destroy a house, but just play cruel games with people until it no longer amused her.
"How can you be so cold? I mean is there even anything you want from this?"
Andraia looked at Virginia and a cold smile crossed her face.
"Yes. The entertainment of it all, but also there is something I want."
"What's that?" asked Virginia nervously.
"My mirrors."
"Your mirr.." she started to ask what mirrors, but then realized she was talking about the ones at Wendell's castle."
"You see that stupid apprentice of mine stole them from me, and now I want them back."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wolf!" yelled Tony. Where had he gone? He'd come through the mirror, and instead of coming out the other end he disappeared.
"Maybe if I go through the mirror I'll end up where he is. But what if he got vaporized or something? Ugggh! If I don't find him Virginia will kill me." Tony looked at the mirror.
" There's only one way to find out." he said stepping through the mirror.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony stepped out on the other side of the mirror. He looked around the cave. He turned to look at the mirror behind him. He could see where he had been on the other side. Tony had gone straight through like Wolf should have. This brought up a disturbing question. What had happened to Wolf?
~*~*~*~*~*~
Andraia gazed into her large mirror. The game she played with Tony and Wolf shone where her reflection should have been. She'd never gotten board of the power of the mirrors. They had always brought her great amusement, just like they did now.
She turned to face her captive. The girl tried to remain brave, but Andraia could read the fear in her eyes. She'd seen that look in many eyes during her lifetime.
"How can you be so cold, so evil? What drives you to be this way? Most who are evil dream of world domination, but you, you're just evil for no reason." stated the girl.
Andraia remained silent. She thought about what Virginia had said, and this made her think about her past. After living for hundreds of years, and managed to block most of it out, but since meeting this girl she started thinking about it again. First, around the campsite that night when they'd been talking, and now again she found herself remembering. Noo! She mustn't remember! Not that, not now!
"It is none of your business, girl!" Her usual calm, cold voice came out rushed and angry. What was happening to her. She needed to concentrate on getting her mirrors, and on Tony and Wolf, not the memories. She must forget! She had to forget.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"I'm never going to find a way out of this place!" growled Wolf as he continued to walk down the long tunnel.
"I wonder what happened to Tony?"
He continued to walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, and (you guessed it!) walk. Finally, after walking for what seemed like a long time. He stopped when he saw another mirror.
"I wonder where this one goes?"
He was about to go through when suddenly a furry yellow object jumped out of it and starting attacking him. He struggled to keep it from biting his neck, and had managed to hold it at arms length when he noticed what it was. It was a rabid Pokemon! (Mwrahahahahah!)
"Pinkachew, pinkachew!" it growled.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" yelled Wolf, and he quickly through it back through the mirror.
"I'm think I'll go find another mirror." He said and hurried off down the tunnel.
(Uh, I don't really know what just happened in my story. Let's just say I have a sick mind.)
Wolf struggled for a second, but then managed to throw it back through the mirror.
"Well that was strange." She quickly dismissed the incident, and changed the mirror image back to Tony.
"Hmmm. He might be useful to me. I might be able to use him to get my mirrors back. I'll let him live...for now."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"What the...?" Virginia was shocked. Andraia had just flipped out. No sarcastic or cold comment. What had happened? For a second there the untouchable woman had lost her control.
"I wonder what caused her to do that?"thought the
Verdana Village
427 years ago.
"It's all sooo pretty, Mama." said Andraia in an eight year olds sing song voice.
She skipped from one object to another. It was a rare occasion when she got to go to a store, so she wanted to take in every bit.
The store itself was actually more of a shack with goods sold by an old woman, but to Andraia's young mind it was glorious.
"Be careful, and don't break anything." her mother instructed while bargaining with the old woman over a sack of flour.
"I won't." she replied and headed for the back of the shack.
She stopped when a glimmer caught her eye. She went to examine what had glimmered, but only found her face looking back at her, surrounded by stone. A mirror. She had only seen one in her lifetime. That one had belonged to a noble that had been passing by her village. The object had fascinated her ,but she had never gotten the opportunity to get so close to one.
She reached out her hand slowly, and touched the cool glass. The mirror rippled under her touch. She quickly pulled her hand away, and the mirror shimmered then went back to it's original form.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The old woman noticed the girl touching the mirror, and was shocked at what happened.
"The girl is so young, and already holds power over the mirrors." thought the woman.
She watched as the girl put the mirror back quickly afraid that she had broken it.
"She doesn't dosen't even know what she can do."
Her thoughts were interrupted by the mother calling her daughter to her.
"Come, Andraia. We must leave now."
The reluctantly followed her mother out of the shack. The woman watched as Andraia quickly glanced back at the mirror one more time before she left.
"Such a shame. She may never know what kind of power she posses."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The Nine Kingdoms
Present
Wolf stopped running after he thought he was at a safe distance. What was that thing?! Never in the kingdoms had he ever come across something like that
"Oh well, I've got to go find Tony." he thought and ran off again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verdana Village
422 years ago
Andraia ran through the pouring rain.
"Mother is going to be so worried." she thought. She'd been taking a walk in the forest when this terrible storm had come up.
She found it hard to run because of the mud soaked paths.
"I'm going to be late. I was supposed to be home before dark. My parents are going to kill me."
After running a little ways further she finally spotted her village. After getting a bit closer she realized that it something was wrong. It was too dark, too quiet. Where were the cooking fires?
She stopped when she came to one of her neighbor's garden's. Why did the scarecrow look funny? She walked up to it slowly. It looked bigger than it had been yesterday. Had they made another one? The closer she got the more, and more she became aware that something was very strange about this particular scarecrow. When she'd gotten within a couple of feet of it, a flash of lightning lit up the sky.
"Ahhhhhh!" she screamed as she realized that the scarecrow was her neighbor. His bloody face looked down at her blankly.
Andraia turned and ran as fast as she could. She had to get help. She ran into the shake where his wife and son should be.
"Wouldn't they have noticed he was missing?" she thought afraid of the answer to her own question. As slowly entered the hut, something inside of her told her what she would find. There on the floor lay a young boy. His the blood and unblinking eyes told Andraia that he was dead. The hut had been completely recked. Whoever had done this had also taken all of their valuables. She walked back out of the hut. She found the mother's body a few feet from the house.
"What happened here? Why hasn't anyone come to help?"
Then it hit her. This hadn't just happened here.
"Home." was her only thought as she took off for her own hut. She only stopped once when she nearly tripped over the bloody body of a young girl.
She stopped for a second to stair into the horrified face of her best friend.
"Noo. I have to go home. They're still alive. They have to be."
She started for her home again, and arrived a minute later. It was dark. Andraia was about to run inside when she heard sounds coming from behind her hut. She made her way to the back of her home slowly, then stopped suddenly at what she saw. Three men stood around her father, who knelt on the ground, his hands bound behind him.
Her mother lay on the ground nearby. Her mother didn't move. Andraia couldn't see her face because she was laying on her stomach. A puddle of crimson blood began to form underneath her mother's body.
"NOOOOOO!" She screamed over, and over inside her head, for she dare not scream out loud.
"I asked you to spare her!" Her father yelled at the men. His voice mournful, but full of rage all the same. "Ha. Like we were going to do a thing like that."
Before Andraia could react the man who'd said that brought a knife across her fathers throat. he never had a chance to scream as he fell to the ground dead. Andraia turned her head. She couldn't stand to see the blood. "No. She thought no more blood. They shall spill no more blood. It is too late for my village, but I keep them from ever hurting anyone else." she thought and turned to run.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The Nine Kingdoms
Present
Andraia stared down at Virginia coldly.
"You think you're strong don't you?" she asked.
"I suppose I am in some ways." was the young woman's reply.
"When you killed your mother, and you looked into her blank, dead eyes, how did you feel?"
Virginia remained silent.
"Why would you ask me something like that? If you know as much about me as you claim, than you should already know the answer to that question."
Andraia watched as Virginia's eyes got a bit teary.
"She still morns her. Of course I mourned too. No. Stop. You're trying to remember again. You must never do that. You must leave the pain in the past." thought Andraia.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verdana Village
424 years ago
Andraia found herself outside of a familiar shack. She hadn't been to this shack in years, but something had brought her here tonight.
She walked in the small hut, and her memory of this place came back. This is where she had been so long ago. Where she had seen...
"The mirror." she finished out loud.
She wondered briefly where the old woman was. Andraia figured she was probably dead somewhere in the village with everyone else. Luckily, the raiders had missed this place.
She didn't have to look hard for the mirror. It seemed to call to her. She held the small object in her hands. Somehow she knew exactly what to do.
She touched the surface of the mirror, but this time did not pull away when the glass rippled. Instead she moved her hand of the glass. Back and forth. Back and forth. The mirror began to glow brighter and brighter, and the surface rippled more rapidly until there was a grand explosion of light.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony walked through the tunnel.
"I hate this place. I hat this place. I hate this place...Ahhhhhh!"
He was cut off when he felt the ground disappear from beneath him. He fell and fell.
"I'll probably fall forever." As soon as he thought this he hit the hard, stone ground.
"Dad!" he heard Virginia cry from somewhere nearby.
"Why hello, Tony. Nice of you to drop in."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Verdana Village
424 years ago.
Andraia made her way back to her home. She knew what she must do. She understood her power now, and plan to make use of it.
When she got there she found the men raiding her hut.
"Get away from there!" she yelled angrily.
"Are you talking to us?" asked one of the men.
Andraia turned an ice cold gaze on him.
"Yes." She said coolly, confidently.
She touched the mirror in her hand, and then pointed towards the previous man.
A mirror appeared beneath him, and the man fell into the dark silent bottomless pit of nothingness.
"Noo." yelled another one of the men.
Andraia waved her arm, and he went flying into the mirror also.
The remaining man looked at her with horror filed eyes. It was the same man who'd killed her mother and father.
"Mercy." he pleaded.
She looked at him. Her face showed no emotion, but rage.
"Mercy?" she replied in a mocking tone. The mirror beside the man on the ground disappeared.
Andraia turned to walk away.
"Thank you." said the man.
Andraia turned around.
"What?! Did you actually think that I would show you mercy. You didn't show my mother mercy! Or my father." she yelled with intense rage.
A mirror appeared behind the man. Andraia yelled with rage, and the man went flying into the mirror.
"Noooooo..." he yelled, but was cut off as the mirror vanished.
No emotion shown on Andraia's face. Just coldness. Intense coldness.
She walked to the back of her hut where she found her parent's bodies. She careful dug two holes, and buried them side by side. (Don't ask me how she just did.)
She knew she must leave this place. After what she'd done she knew she'd never be the same. Andraia stared down at her parents' graves. She whispered goodbye, but shed no tears. She would never be able to shed tears. She was cold now. So cold.
"W-why are you doing this?" asked a nervous Tony in front of her.
The fear in his voice amused her. It had been so long since she'd felt terror like this. An innocent victim scared out of their mind, unsure of what was going to happen to them. The power of knowing that you controlled that person's fate. Oh, it was so addicting. But like any addictive drug, the pleasure came with a price. It ate away your soul piece by piece until there was nothing left, but darkness.
Andraia didn't care though. She knew she was evil and cold, and perfectly fine with that.
" I need you to do me a little favor, Tony."
Andraia made her way over to the fear stricken Tony slowly. She stopped when his face was centimeters away from her own.
"You don't mind doing me a favor, do you?" she asked in a strange mixture of pure sweetness and pure evil.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony looked at the woman before him. It was hard for him to believe that someone so beautiful and fragile looking could be so hallow and evil inside. He drew on all the courage he had and replied to her last statement.
"Why should I do anything to help you? You're nothing, but cruel and evil."
"You say that as if it's a bad thing." she smirked.
Tony didn't know what else to say. Was she going to force him to do this favor?
"Now, Tony, stop playing around. I really need you to do this favor for me."
"What is it?" asked a once again nervous Tony.
"My mirrors. They were taken from me. I want them back, and you, Tony, are going to get them for me."
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Cripes, I'm lost again. Actually I was never found, Oh, I'm starting to confuse myself." cried a weary Wolf as he ran through yet more colorful tunnels. He'd gone through numerous mirrors, and down even more tunnels and corridors, but no Tony, no Virginia, and no witch.
"What's a wolf suppose to do? I'm never going to find a way out of here. Which means I won't be able to save Virginia, and that woman will probably kill her." he began to whimper uncontrollably.
"Wolf, stop that now is not a time for such things. Virginia and Tony need you to be strong." said a woman's voice.
Wolf looked around frantically for it's source, but to his dismay and confusion found none.
"Now I'm starting to here voices."
"Wolf."
"You're not real go away, oh cripes now I'm starting to argue with imaginary voices." he began to whimper again.
"Wolf, it is I Snow White."
Wolf's head jerked up.
"huh?"
"Look behind you."
He turned around to see yet another mirror. The figure of a woman, with black hair and pail skin looked back at him.
"S-Snow White?"
"Yes, Wolf, it is me. I've come to help you. Virginia and Tony are both at the mercy of the mirror mistress now."
"How do I get to them?"
"You must travel through this mirror. Come time is running short."
Wolf quickly went over to the mirror and stepped through.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"How do you plan on me doing that?" asked Tony.
Andraia smiled at him.
"You will go to the castle and get them for me. I can't possibly go myself. I have captives here. If I go you will release her and attempt to escape. If I send you, however, I can use her as collateral. No mirrors. No precious Virginia. Understand?"
Tony nodded slowly.
"Good. I knew you had to be smarter than you looked."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia, had watched the whole thing in silence. Her mind kept drifting back to Andraia's little episode. What had triggered it? Had she said something? She had to try and touch whatever buttons, she'd pressed before. It was their only hope.
Virginia tugged at her chains. It was useless. She'd never be able to break free that way. She had to try and get to Andraia, but how?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Andraia walked calmly to her mirror. She touched her fingers to the cool surface. The glass shimmered alive, and on the other side was the mirror room of Wendell's castle.
"Are you ready, Anthony?" she asked politely.
Tony's only reply was several choice curses under his breath.
"I heard that. You're not being very nice you know."
Tony grungeinly made his way over to the mirror.
"Now just get the mirrors, and pass them through." she instructed calmly as if her were a child.
Tony swallowed and started to step through the mirror.
"Owww!"
Andraia and Tony turned around to face the source of the noise.
"Wolf!" cried Virginia with a mixture of surprise and relief.
Wolf pulled himself from the floor having just fallen through a mirror in the ceiling.
"What?!" yelled Andraia. "How did you...?!"
She didn't bother to finish the question because she'd already figured out the answer. Snow White! The dead queen had somehow found a way to manipulate her mirrors!
"Well, well. The more the merrier." she stated trying to cover her ever rising anger. Ever since Virginia had stirred those memories in her it had been harder to keep such things in check. Her usual passive, cold debonair was becoming harder and harder to sustain. What made her nervous was that she didn't know why.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf stood boldly before her. His dark eyes glared at her. His hate for her all too apparent. But then why shouldn't he hate her? She'd hurt his mate. Hurt all of them.
Of course it is essential to keep such emotions under control. Hate had a way of taking over and inedibly controlling it's host. The product of such an event stood before him. She was not the first though. No, there had been and will always be many others. Snow White's stepmother and even Virginia's own mother stood among those who'd fallen to the darkness of this emotion.
It was even worse in Virginia's world. Wolf had watched the news once. He'd been horrified to discover what went on in that world every single day. The Nine Kingdoms could be brutal, but it still paled in comparison to the cruelty of some people in the 10th Kingdom.
"Release them." he said at last. Unfortunately it came out not quite as aggressive as he'd planned.
"Excuse me?" asked Andraia, as a slightly amused smirk played over her lips. "Why should I? Because you came falling in here? Because you were brave enough to stand before me? I'm sorry, but you're going to have to give me a better reason than that, Wolfy."
A low growl released it's self from Wolf's throat.
"I said let them go!" roared Wolf.
"Funny, I remember saying no." was Andraia's reply.
"Fine," growled Wolf, his eye's flashing green. "Have it your way."
Andraia gasped as Wolf lunged at her. The force of his blow caused her to fall backwards and she felt the familiar metallic liquid engulf her. Andraia and Wolf (who hadn't managed to stop himself in time) fell through into Wendell's mirror room.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Wolf!" shouted Virginia as she watched her husband fall through the mirror behind Andraia. She jerked at her chains with all of her strength. Still freedom refused to come.
"Dad, help me get unchained!" she yelled to her father who was watching Wolf continue to fight Andraia on the other side of the mirror.
Tony rushed over to her.
"How am I supposed to get you out of these?" he asked frantically.
"I don't know!" she yelled back starting to lose her patience. "Just do something! Wolf needs our help!"
Virginia was about to say something else when she felt herself fall into the wall. A mirror had suddenly appeared behind her, and she'd fallen through.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tony looked around the room for something to break the chains, but the cavern like room was bare save for the large mirror.
"Virginia, I can't find anything to..." he said turning to face his daughter again, but stopped when he realized that she was no longer there.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Virginia looked around the room she'd tumbled into. It took a second to realize that she was no longer chained.
"Where am I?" she asked aloud not expecting an answer.
"Virginia." said a familiar voice.
"Snow White!" Virginia cried turning to a mirror that had appeared in the wall behind her.
"Virginia, I freed you from your chains by bringing you here, but you must listen to me. Time is running out. Andraia will soon have all the mirrors, and then there will be not limit to her power. She will also posses the traveling mirror. If she can travel to another dimension than..."
"I understand." Virginia finished grimly for her. If Andraia was able to go to her world there's no telling what the apparently bored psychopath would do.
"But how do I stop her? I can't fight her. She'd simply will me through a mirror to who knows where."
"Virginia, you can not beat her by fighting or over power her, but there is another way. You've already started, and now you must finish. Andraia was not always this cold. She was driven to be this way by a terrible occurrence in the past. Without knowing it you've begun to make her feel confused. She's losing her control of her anger and hate, and if pushed enough you may be able to break her further."
"So that's why she started to act strangely." thought Virginia.
"There," said the dead queen pointing to another mirror that had appeared on the opposite wall. " I have learned how to manipulate Andraia's mirrors, but my powers are limited. That mirror will take you back to the room that contains your father, and Andraia's main mirror. I will take control of that mirror, but I can only do it for so long. The rest is up to you. You see not everyone can control mirrors and harness their power. You, Virginia, have inherited some of your mother's abilities. This will enable you to order the mirror to show you Andraia's memories of that fateful night while I have seized control of it."
Virginia took a moment to take it all in. She could control mirrors? She brushed the thought away. She'd have time to think about it later. There were more important things to do now.
"Thank you.." said Virginia before walking through the mirror leading back to her father.
To say her father was confused to find his daughter had disappeared from the room in the split second his back had been turned was an understatement. Tony wore a shocked expression and paced the room muttering something that Virginia could only make out as a few choice curses and the statement "I really hate this place.", which he repeated several times before realizing that his daughter was once again in the room.
"Where were you?!" he cried.
"I was getting help from Snow White. I don't have time to explain now. There's something I have to do." explained Virginia as she rushed over to the mirror. She could no longer see into Wendell's mirror room. She preyed Wolf was all right.
"Okay, mirror..." Virginia stopped. What should she say? She didn't exactly go around commanding magic mirrors to do her biding. Oh well. It was never too late to start something new, right?
"Mirror show me the memories of Andraia." as she said this she reached out a hand to touch the glass. It hesitantly rippled under her touch, then shimmered to life.
Virginia gasped as a flood of images entered her mind. She watched the shifting memories as they played through her head. She didn't just see the memories of that night, but Andraia's entire life.
The rush ended seconds after it had begun.
Virginia now understood. She knew what had happened to Andraia, what drove her to be what she was. She'd seen her memories of a happy child hood, then the memories of the night her village was slaughtered by mad men. She'd seen her slowly go colder, and angrier, and more full of hatred as time went on, and her power over the mirrors had increased. Andraia had slowly developed into a monster. Virginia had also witnessed Andraia's crimes over the centuries. She'd watched the way she'd tortured Wolf with images of his dying parents, the way she'd sent them all terrible dreams. Of course they weren't the first. Andraia had destroyed many lives in her lifetime.
Virginia turned to look at her father, who now appeared even more confused than before.
"I know what I must do now. I know how to defeat her." was her only form of explanation.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Wolf struggled with Andraia on the floor of the mirror room. He lunged for her shoulder in an attempt to bite her, but was stopped when ,with surprising strength, Andraia through him off of her, causing him to fly into the nearby wall.
"I grow tired of this." she hissed in a voice full of venom. Andraia got to her feet and walked over to where Wolf had landed. A smirk appeared on her face.
"This ends now, Wolfy." She glanced around to discover that the mirror leading back to her home had vanished. Her fight with the half-breed had caused her to lose control of it. It didn't matter though. She could always create another.
Andraia placed her hand on the wall behind Wolf, and a mirror appeared.
"Time to go through the mirror, Wolfy."
She was about to kick Wolf through the mirror, but instead was surprised when he caught her ankle midair.
"Ladies first." he said before jumping up and throwing her through. He took one glance around the room then jumped through himself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What exactly do you have planned?" asked Tony. He was about to ask more, but was cut off when Andraia came flying through a recently opened mirror. Shortly after Wolf stepped into the room .
Andraia moaned as she tried to get up. Her hard collision with the floor had caused her some pain.
Virginia walked over to her slowly.
"Andraia, this must stop." she said in a gentle, but commanding voice.
The mirror mistress just glared at her, and rose to her feet.
"Stop? No, little Virginia, this will not stop. Not until all of you are dead. Can't you see? I am more powerful than all of you put together! More powerful than your precious Snow White! Maybe not physically," she said throughing a glare at Wolf, " but what I cannot match in strength I more than make up for in magic. So you see, whatever you do to me, you will never be able to stop me. No, this will not end, well not until you finally give up."
Virginia simply stared back at her. A look of almost confidence played on her features.
"I know what happened to you, Andraia. I know about the night your parents were killed."
Andraia, who had begun to walk over to her mirror, stopped dead in her tracks. She turned towards Virginia partly shocked and angered at the same time. What game was the little heroine playing now?
"What are you talking about?" she demanded angrily.
"Snow White helped me see your memories through the mirror. I now know what happened to you, and why you are what you are."
"You don't know a thing about me!" roared Andraia, who was now enraged.
Virginia's face grew more serious.
"Look at yourself, Andraia! You have let your hate and rage takeover. You no longer feel the loss of a life. You've actually come to enjoy it. That's right, I saw all of your memories. I saw what you've done to people over the years."
"Do you honestly think I care what you think of me?! I'm going to kill you anyway." Andraia's face now softened to a look of evil amusement.
Virginia ignored her comment and continued.
"Andraia, when your village was slaughtered you released a power from inside of you. A child should never have to suffer through what you did that night. You were too young for such power, so instead of using it for justice and good, you used it for revenge. Your hate fueled your power, but it also made you cold. It ate away at your soul until there was just hate and emptiness left. You no longer held remorse. You couldn't even cry for your dead family!"
Is that what you want to be?! Someone who's so cold and hallow inside that they can't even feel the lose of those they love?!"
Andraia's face once again filled with rage.
"What do you know?!" she demanded. "You don't...can't possibly begin to understand what I felt that night! Sure you lost your mother, but look at all you have left. I had nothing! I was alone. A little girl all alone with no where to go. I had to shut out my feelings! I had to become cold! I would have died from the pain, and loneliness otherwise!"
Virginia just looked at her. Could she possibly be right? Virginia recalled some of the memories she'd recently experienced from the mirror. No. No that was no excuse. No excuse for the pain she'd inflicted on others.
"Maybe you had to shut out the pain, but that was no excuse for what you've done. Take a look in your precious mirrors, Andraia. You've become what you once hated so much!"
The shock of Virginia's words left Andraia speechless. Was what this girl said true? In what was left of Andraia's heart she knew it was. She'd long ago felt herself falling farther and farther into the darkness, but had been unable to stop. Her pain and hate might have started with the murder of her friends and family, but in the end she'd inevitably created her own hell.
Andraia turned away from Virginia. The rage in her cooling. She walked slowly towards her mirror. Clutching the edges, she stared into it's dark depths.
"Mirror, show me." she said quietly.
Nothing happened.
"Mirror, show me!" she yelled. "Show me the truth."
If the man made object of silver and glass had been alive it could have been described as hesitating. As if not wanting to bring the pain of what was to come to it's mistress, but after a moment it shimmered and Andraia stared at it's surface. Stared at the image of herself.
The mirror mistress gasped, almost pulling away. Cold, emotionless eyes stared back at her. Those eyes, however, was not what shocked her the most. No, it was the blood. The crimson life fluid covered her.
She backed away, but her image merely smiled back at her evilly. For the first time in centuries terror came to the one known as Andraia. The horror of seeing her true self, covered in the blood of the innocent lives she destroyed. Lives that had been like her own when she was a child.
She dropped to her knees, but could not look away from the horrible image.
Virginia walked up behind her.
"Mirrors never lie, Andraia." she said calmly.
Andraia simply continued to gaze at her reflection.
"What have I done?" she thought to herself. "What have I become? All this time I thought I liked it. Thought I thrived on the pain of others, but now...now I realize that I...don't."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Andraia wailed.
Her fists collided with the smooth glass with hate filled force, but this was not hatred for Virginia, or even hatred for those that had murdered her family. No this was hatred for herself.
The mirror shattered from the impact. Shards of glass fell around Andraia, and a bright light filled the room as the power of the mirror was released. The light quickly dimmed, though, until the room was once again dark.
Andraia looked around at her destroyed mirror. Her empire lay in pieces on the floor. An unfamiliar emotion entered her heart. What was it? She couldn't be sure. It had been so long since she'd felt this emotion. Could it be sadness? If it was it was not because of the destruction of her mirror. No, it was something else causing this alien feeling to stir inside of her.
She slowly reached and picked up a large shard of glass. She studied the reflection in it. The previous image no longer smirked back. It was now her regular reflection.
As Andraia continued to look at the image, she noticed a small drop of water appear on the surface of the glass. She studied it curiously. Another shortly appeared, then another. Before long they began to fall to the glass in a steady stream. Her eyes burned, and that's when realization hit her. They were tears. Her tears.
Andraia hugged the mirror to her chest and felt the gentle wait of Virginia's hand being placed on her shoulder just as the flood gates opened and the tears began to flow.
There for the for the first time, Andraia, was able to shed tears for the death of those she'd loved.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Epilogue
Their return to Wendell's castle (via a mirror supplied by Snow White.) had been a joyous one. The three once again were considered heroes, and a large banquet was held in their honor.
One of the three, however, couldn't seem to share in the happiness of the occasion. Her mind kept drifting back to the woman who now sat alone in the dark cell (which Wendell had insisted on putting her in before arrangements could be made at the Snow White Memorial Prison)of Wendell's dungeon.
She was the only one that had truly seen into Andraia's soul. The only one that had shared her memories, and for a brief second, felt her pain. Virginia hadn't told anyone, but for an instant during the memory rush, she'd felt that pain Andraia had talked about. Virginia was glad it had only lasted an instant. She'd understood why Andraia had been forced to lock it away. The sudden crash of emotional turmoil was to much for any one person to bare alone.
Andraia had been right about one thing. Virginia's pain had nowhere compared to her own. Virginia had lost her mother, but she had Wolf and her father to help get her through the grief. Andraia had had no one.
"Was it right to just lock her away like that?" she thought to herself.
Sure Andraia had cause pain and turmoil herself, but when you went to the root of her evil was it really her fault? She'd been a child when her power was released. A reckless child that didn't truly understand her power, or how it should be used. Should a child be held responsible for taking a path they were too young to understand?
Virginia didn't know? All she knew was that same child, now centuries later, was a broken woman, destroyed by her own pain, grief, and hatred for herself.
They didn't have any trouble bringing Andraia back to the castle. The sudden wash of emotions had, in a sense, returned her to the child-like state of mind that she had once been robbed of.
Why had it happened to her? Why had she been cursed with so much pain? Andraia could have used her power for so much good, like Snow White. Was it something that a person decided inadvertently by their own actions or was it just cruel fate?
"What's wrong, cream puff?" asked a concerned voice from beside her.
Virginia turned to the man who had interrupted her thoughts and forced a smile.
"I'm all right, just thinking about some things."she said, trying to sound cheery.
Wolf looked at her curiously, not believing her answer was completely truthful, but also sensing that she didn't want the subject pushed any farther.
"Okay, want some food?" he asked that wolf smile of his shining on his face.
Virginia giggled. Same old Wolf.
Wolf's smile grew wider. He was glad to have cheered her up.
"I'm going to my dad." said Virginia to Wolf who was chewing on a piece of meat.
He nodded and went back to eating.
As Virginia walked out on to the balcony where she had noticed her father, she couldn't help but laugh at the memory of the "talk" Tony had had with his son-in-law shortly after their return. She hadn't heard all of it, but the part she did had involved advice from one father to a father-to-be, and death threats if he ever hurt Tony's "little girl".
"Hey, Dad!" Virginia called through the crowd of people who had gathered to hear the tale of the heroic Tony's latest adventure. Of course Tony's tale had been edited and revised in certain places, not to mention exaggerated a bit.
"Oh, Virginia! Um..sorry guys...I'll finish the story later." The crowed hesitantly walked away and Tony went over to his daughter.
"So are you glad to be back?" asked Tony, in a very cheerful mood. He loved the hero treatment.
"Aren't you the one who kept saying 'I hate this place.'?" replied Virginia smiling warmly.
"Well it's not so bad when you're not fighting trolls, curses, and evil sorceresses." stated Tony matter-of-factly.
"Or when you're getting the star treatment." said Wolf coming up behind them, and wrapping one of his arms around each of the father/daughter pair.
"Ha ha." said Tony with mock irritation. Mock because it was true.
"So where are we going to go now?" asked Wolf with eager anticipation looking out at the vast kingdom before them.
"Go? What do you mean go?" asked Tony.
"Why on an adventure of course!" stated Wolf. "Heroes are supposed to have many adventures."
"Hmmm, I know where we could go." said Virginia. "The most dangerous place I know."
Wolf's eyes lit up with child-like curiosity.
"Where?" asked Tony, not really wanting to going any where dangerous again for a while.
"New York." she said. " We could go back for a visit. Besides I never told Grandma about Wolf. " she said the last part shyly. She wasn't looking forward to explaing to her Grandmother that man that tried to eat her was now Virginia's husband and the father of her grandchild.
"Besides," she added. "It will give Dad's head a chance to shrink back to normal size."
"Hey!" cried Tony while Wolf and Virginia laughed.
Things were finally back to normal.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Despite the cheer above, there was one person in the castle not celebrating. Andraia rocked back and forth in her dark cell. She still clutched the shard of glass, but she'd long ago dried out her supply of tears.
The guilt of all she'd done filled her heart. So many emotions had built up inside of her, and their sudden releasing had nearly been to much for her. Any weaker person would have been killed, but Andraia had a strong will. That will is what kept her alive the night her parents were killed. It was what kept her alive now.
Her strong will hadn't been able to protect her mind though. She was plagued with images of people she'd tortured. Images she'd once found joy in. Images she now felt guilt for.
Andraia continued to rock. Some how a tune came to her through the tangled mess that was now her mind. It was a tune her mother had sung to her when she was a small girl.
Andraia began to hum it to herself, and the pain eased a bit. It would be a slow process, but evitually Andraia's grief and pain would ease.
As she sat there humming, Andraia recalled warm memories of her parents, and despite all the pain and guilt she smiled.
The End