"How?" Celeste asked.
"You must come with me on a perilous journey. We must go to where Sasso lives, in the Land of Quicksand, and confront him and lift your curse." Patches said.
"So, we have to go out there again? What if he's still there?" Gema asked.
"He's not. He thinks he froze you, too." Said Patches.
"Well, as long as he doesn't come back…" Gema said. Then her mind went back to her mother's face when she saw Sasso. She obviously knew him.
"Hey, Patches, do you know why Sasso has done this to my kingdom?" Gema asked.
"Long ago, before you were even born, your father, mother, and Sasso knew each other. Your parents were friends as kids, and Sasso was jealous. Sasso liked your mother a lot, and when she was sixteen, she was allowed to begin courting. Your mother courted both your father and Sasso. Sasso and Jackson one night both showed up at Tiara Anne's door, both wanting to propose to her. Tiara Anne chose your father and Sasso vowed revenge. He let out his anger afterwards on my kingdom." Patches explained.
"My mother said something about that once, when I was about three. She was with Tiara Anne when she accepted Jackson's proposal." Celeste said to Patches and he nodded.
"Yes, Harriet knew about Sasso's vow."
"Did my grandmother?" Gema asked. She could just envision the perfect Cinderella learning that Sasso had vowed to destroy her kingdom after Jackson was king.
"Cinderella did not know." Patches said. "But I'm sure that if she had, she would have done something irrational."
"That's my grandmother for you. She's still that way." Gema said. Now that Jackson ruled the throne, she lived out her life in quiet solitude in a small room in the castle, knitting and singing to herself and watching her favorite soap operas.
"Enough chitchat. You have to come with me to the Land of Quicksand." Patches said.
"Okay, okay, we're coming." Celeste said and Gema climbed the stairs after Patches.
"Hey Patches, what was Sasso's vow in the first place?" Gema asked before they reached the top. Patches stopped and looked at her over his shoulder.
"Fairy Meadow is the birthplace of Happily-Ever-After, as you know. His vow, because his Happily-Ever-After was crushed, was to destroy it." Patches said. Gema and Celeste's eyes widened. A world without Happily-Ever-After?! Life would cease to exist!
"Come on, he's gone now. But be prepared." Patches warned and Gema was shocked at what she saw.
Everyone in the ballroom were frozen in the exact spot and position that they were in when the blue light touched them. They were pure ice! Celeste's slippers slid on the slippery floor, but Gema's sock feet caused her to not be able to walk at all without gliding. Patches dug his claws into the ice and moved slowly across it. He didn't get far, however, before all four of his paws went out from under him and he sprawled out on the icy floor.
"Stupid paws." He mumbled. "Bit slippery, isn't it?"
"A bit? A lot!" Celeste said.
"Patches, we'll never get out of here!" Gema said as she stood up, then slipped down again. Celeste was the same way not far from her and Patches was struggling to get to his paws.
"Now, now, there's got to be a way." Patches said. "Let's see; One paw at a time…" He lifted his right paw and dug his claws into the ice, following in unison with the other three.
"Gema's right, Patches!" Celeste said as Patches fell again.
"No wait, I have an idea!" Gema said as she pulled herself to her feet by gripping the edge of the table. She grabbed a platter and shoved the icy apples and other fruit off of it. Then she grabbed forks, which had not been frozen. Gema pulled her sleeves over her hands so that the forks wouldn't stick to her warm hands like Gabe's tongue did to a frozen pole when Gema dared him to lick it.
"Here, get on this!" Gema said, slipping her way to Celeste. Gema climbed onto the platter and Celeste got behind her. Gema dug the forks into the frozen floor and used them like ski sticks to glide across the floor. They picked up speed and Celeste reached out and grabbed Patches. They Platter-Skied out of the ballroom and outside the castle.
"Good work, Gema!" Patches praised.
"Thank you. Um, do you know if our rooms are frozen? I really don't want to go on a perilous journey in a ball dress!" Gema said.
"I don't think so. Try your rooms and get whatever else you can." Patches said. "Even if it is frozen, it will thaw on the way to a small pixie village we have to stop at on the way."
"Okay, Patches." Gema said and she and Celeste ran up the stairs to their rooms. Gema threw open her closet door to find her clothes perfectly unfrozen, even a little warm. She slipped her cold feet into a pair of tennis shoes and she changed into her blue jeans and T-shirt. She grabbed her CD player, headphones, heavy metal flashlight, a notebook, and a backpack. She ran outside, back into the warm air where Patches and Celeste were waiting for her.
"Are you ready to go?" Patches asked. Gema nodded.
"Then let's go."
For three days, Patches showed Gema and Celeste the way through the forest.
"Pixie Garden is not much farther up. Come on, now." Patches said, his British voice cheery.
"It's about time! We've been walking for three days now! How far is it to The Land of Quicksand?" Celeste asked. Patches looked at her over his shoulder.
"A good three weeks by foot." He said.
"Three weeks!" Gema nearly screamed.
"Three weeks. I'm hoping the Pixies will grant us the ability to fly." Patches said, sitting down. "But they're not very open when it comes to giving strangers Pixie Dust."
"Why?" Celeste asked.
"Because the last time they gave a stranger the ability to fly, he used it for evil, not good."
"Who? Sasso?" Gema asked.
"No, it was Sasso's father, Satto." Patches answered.
"So Sasso's father was evil. Maybe that's where he gets it." Pointed out Gema.
"His father gave up evil after he was born and became a merchant. But the evil was passed on to his son, and when Sasso was little, he wasn't bad. But after your mother chose your father over him, the evil in him began to show."
"Like the Jekyll and Hyde effect." Celeste said. Patches nodded.
"Exactly like the Jekyll and Hyde effect, Celeste."
"Is it reversible?" Asked Gema. Patches shook his head.
"I'm afraid not."
"Then what are we going to do?"
"That much is simple. We find Sasso and defeat him." Patches said.
"How?" Celeste asked.
"Cleverness is the key. You have to know Sasso's every move to outwit him."
"We watch Sasso and we defeat him? Sounds easy enough." Celeste said.
"That sounds easy, but it's not, Celeste." Patches said, correcting her. "Sasso himself is clever. We just have to be cleverer."
"How in the world do you be cleverer than someone?" Gema asked.
"You know their every move. You study them for a few seconds and see the action in your mind's eye. Then play by what you see." Patches explained.
"So it's like watching football or hockey on television?" Gema asked. Her mother strongly discouraged watching any sports, so Gema normally did it in the safety and privacy of her and Celeste's hideout below the pillar.
"A bit, but not really. Trust me, survival instincts will kick in and you'll fight to the bitter end, dare I say." Patches said.
"Bitter end? Patches, are you saying we're going to die?" Celeste asked. Patches shook his head.
"Sasso's bitter end, Celeste. Not yours. Hopefully the fairies will give you a potion that will give you everlasting health for a week. Those potions are called simply Everlasting Health Remedy Potions."
"And will the fairies be able to give us wings, too?" Gema asked. Patches shrugged.
"As I said earlier, I'm hoping."
"What are we waiting for? The sky to fall? Let's go!" Celeste said.
Sorry it took so long to update. This is on my account on my high school's computer drive! Please review!