Chapter 20
"Annie Un-blinded"
Annie was standing near the edge, gazing into the water, looking at her own reflection. She looked at the spell again, and looked down again.
She was beautiful once more! The same image as that in the magician's book and in Deathwater's.
"I wonder if this spell grant eternal beauty as well" she thought. "It would be fun never to age, never have to work out, never have to bother to do all those tedious beautifying things….:" her thoughts went on, thoughts that were pushing her to do wrong.
"A life of beauty. Beauty like that of a god! People would fight over my beauty."
She was on the first word of the spell when she felt the presence of someone else other than herself in the deck.
She turned around and gasped.
"Aslan!" she cried with mixed emotions.
"My child, I believe you've taken something that does not belong to you" said Aslan kindly.
Annie suddenly felt her cheeks go pink. She tried to slip the page back into her pocket, but failed to do so.
"It's alright, Annie. There's nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. What's been done is done. We must now only face what's to come."
"I'm sorry" was all Annie could say very quietly.
"Why did you get that page? Tell me honestly, it's fine" Aslan said in a very calming voice.
"It promises beauty."
"Is that what you want?"
"Yes!"
"Why?" Annie was surprised by the Lion's question.
"Because...i just do."
"Why?" the Lion asked once more, urging more this time.
"With beauty, everything will be perfect. Everything will be so much better" she said, imagining the life she'll have if ever she conducts the spell.
"Do you really believe in that?"
"As much as I don't want to, and I really do hate to admit it, but yes, I do believe it. Wow, that was shameful."
"Annie, have you ever heard of the saying that 'Beauty is a curse'?"
Annie looked down at her feet, remembering that her grandmother used to tell her the same thing.
"Yes. My grandmother told me that when I was younger."
"What did you think of it back then?" Aslan asked.
"I told myself that I wouldn't allow beauty to destroy my morality. I don't think I lived up to my promise" Annie said feeling very much ashamed.
Annie faced the ocean once more. She felt the page on her hand, brought it up, and threw it into the ocean.
"I forgot to ask, why are you here?" Annie asked to Aslan, but when she turned around, she was alone.
She looked around for a while, and soon returned to her room.
Her mind was buzzing with questions, and as usual, she attempted to answer them.
"Why had he left when I threw the page away? Was he even real? Was Aslan really there, or was it some apparition, or my imagination?" she asked.
She attempted to answer her questions. "What if he wasn't real? What if he was? How did her even get on the ship? How'd he get off? "
"Annie, who are you talking to?" Marina asked.
Annie realized that she was speaking out loud, and woke Marina.
"Sorry!' she whispered.
"Is there a problem?" Marina asked.
"No, sorry. Go back to sleep now."
Marina returned to her slumber, and Annie made sure to speak her thoughts mentally.
"Maybe he left because his job was done. Maybe he came here to stop me from doing the spell, and when I was stopped, he left. That makes sense, doesn't it?" she said mentally.
She decided to stop thinking and sleep.
She was thankful that Aslan stopped her from doing something that could have destroyed her life. She knew she was getting herself into something foolish, but the thought of beauty blinded her of rationality and sense.
That night, she vowed to never allow vanity to take over her life. She came close to suffering gravely of the consequence, and she saw the ugliness of it all.