I looked and saw the great stone castle standing before us; a bronze plaque identified it as Foan Castle. We had gotten here a few hours after emerging from a well in the real world.
We went inside and I asked a staffer if he heard of the princess in the mirror.
"Of course I know about it," said the man. "The previous king used to show it to visitors. I guess you are here to see it."
"Of course," I replied.
"The new king put a stop to that when he was crowned."
We went upstairs to the throne room. Perhaps the king could shed light on this subject.
Some importamnt-looking man dressed in rick clothing stood inside the throne room.
"Excuse me, sir," I said. "I would like to know more about this princess in the mirror."
"We've had this mirror for generations," said the minister. "The king is in the basement. You might want to see him."
"Okay," I said.
We headed down towards the basement. The basement was not as well-decorated as the rest of the castle. There was a guard standing in front of the door.
"No one is allowed inside while the king is in there," he said.
"I'd like to speak with him when he leaves," I replied.
I could hear faint voices coming from the other side of that door. I had leanred to listen intensively, after my experiences in various caves throughout the world.
The door opened ands this man came out, dressed in fine clothes. He was a lot younger than the king of Reidock, perhaps in his late twenties.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm an adventurer traveling the world, sire," I replied. "I have heard of the princess in the mirror."
"You may not see the princess," said the king. "If you have other business you may speak with me in the throne room."
We went upo to the throne room, where the King of Foan sat on his throne.
"We just want to see the princess," I said.
"There is nothing for you to see down there," the king replied. "It is best if you continue on your travels."
"I guess that's that then," I said, turning to leave.
"Wait a minute," said the king. "I've a request."
"What is it, your Majesty?" I asked.
"Have you, by any chance, heard of the Mirror of Ra?"
"The Mirror of Ra," said Barbara. "We have the Mirror of Ra, my lord."
"Please, show it to me."
Barbabra showed him the mirror.
"We'll go down to the basement then," said the king.
"That was really throughrtful fo you to bring the mirror," said Muriel.
"A mirror that can hold a princess," replied Barbara. "I figured why not bring a magic mirror of our own. Maybe we can find the truth of this situation."
We headed back into the basement and entered this room. It was bare except for this mirror mounted in the back. The mirror itself looked very much like those haunted mirrors back at the Mirror Tower, the ones which could cast Mimic and mimic us.
The image behind the mirror was that of a young woman with blond hair, wearing this fancy gown.
"I hope this works," I said.
I lifted up the Mirror of Ra. Nothign happened so far with the princess in the mirror.
Looking into the Mirror of Ra, I could see the relfection of the princess in the mirror.
And I could see some shadowy figure behind her, like a demon.
oooooooooo
"A long time ago, a princess fell in love with a prince of Foan Castle," said the king. "But the magician Miralgo interfered."
"So Miralgo put her in the mirror?" I asked.
"Probably. there aren't many details. Communicating with the princess inside is difficult as we apparently can't hear each other."
"There was a tower in the lake north of the castle," said the minister. "To open the door, cast the spell Identify. But the tower fell long before any of us were born."
"We'd better check it out," I said.
oooooooooooo
After purhcashing two suits of thick armor and leaving Foan Castle, we headed north, fighting monsters who stood in our way. In the middle of the lake was a well. Gpoing down, we met this old man.
"Do you know anything about the tower that was here?" I asked.
"It fell before even I was born," replied the old man. "But I still dream of it. It stands in an ocean of sand."
It was clear to us we had to go back to the dream world.
ooooooooooooo
We went to Dhama Shrine and used the well there to go to the dream world. We changed character classes in the shrine. I changed into the superstar class, and Muriel changed into the thief class. We then went to the Medal King's castle to receive a platinum sword from him. After that, we got onto the flying bed and flew towards the desert which was southwest of Dhama Shrine.
The tower stuck up from the desert like an excited man in a strip club. It was apparently made of sandstone. I noticed that it was in very good repair.
We landed the bed just in front of the door to the tower.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Hassan.
I cast Identify, and the door opened just as the minister in Foan said it would.
We all then entered the tower. As we climbed up the tower, enemies attacked us. There were winged snakes, haunted mirrors which could cast Mimic and copy us, fighting panthers that had steel claws and could do these martial arts moves, giant fat bloated dragons, huge purple lizards that could cast Chaos and confuse us, fire-breathing wyverns, and demons riuding on skeleton beasts. Muriel's Stun Breath skill was useful in paralyzing these enemies, and Hassan's Spirit Punch literally knocked these monsters to the floor.
There was not much to the tower; the onkly notable feature was this spiral staircase which we clumb. After about half an hour we reached the top of the tower. A small house stood on the roof of the tower.
"Let's go," I said, brandishing my sword of slumber.
Entering the house, the interior was centerpieced by this huge iron cauldron. This man wearing a turban abnd a robe stood inside the room.
"Miralgo, I presume?" I asked.
"What do you want?" asked the wizard.
"I command that you release the princess in the mirror."
"Release her? She who spurned me after I comforted her? She refused to be my bride, so I trapped her in that mirror. The only way you can make me release her is to kill me."
"Then that is what I shall do."
"It is you who shall die first!" yelled Miralgo.
He summoned these two demons and then cast Reflect.
I immedaitley did the Chaos Dance to confuse these two demons, which looked like men riding on clouds. One of them attacked Miralgo.
"What are you doing?" yelled the wizard.
As I kept the demons confused with the Chaos Dance, Hassan powered up and delivered the Spirit Punch, Muriel breathed the Flame Breath while Chamoro provided the healing. Miralgo attacked us with his wicked-looking scythe and cast spells at us, even the powerful spell Explodet, which did hurt a lot. I did thank God that Chamoro was there to heal us.
The battle continued on. I saw an opening, and thrust my sword of slumber right into him.
"Defeated," said Miralgo. "I can't..believe it."
He then fell, a pool of blood spreading around.
"Let's head back to Foan Castle," I said.
oooooooooooooo
Going back to the real world and back to Foan Castle, we went tio the room with the mirror.
"It's you," said the King of Foan. "Did you take care of Miralgo?"
"Yes, my lord," I replied. "He is dead."
"Let me try this incantation." the king mumbled something in some obscure language.
"Erika!" he yelled.
The mirror flashed, and then the princess fell out.
"It's you," she said. "I'm out."
"Erika," said the king. "I've waited for this. These people killed Miralgo. Without that I would not have been able to release you."
"I am Princess Erika," said the lady. "Thank you for freeing me. "
"You are welcome, my lady," I replied.
"Will you marry me?" asked the king.
"Yes, I will," replied the princess.
oooooooooooooo
We were back in the throne room, where Princess Erika explained the situation.
"My beloved died," she said. "Afterwards, Miralgo came. He was charming, and comforted me. He was just a friend. When I refused his advances, he trapped me in the mirror and told me I will not leave until I agreed to be his bride. But now I am free."
"A lot has changed in the past few centuries," said the king. "I must give a reward for these fine adventurers."
"What will it be, your Majesty?" I asked.
"I shall give you the Watergate Key," said the king. "You can use it to unlock the Watergate."
"I thank you," I said, taking the huge key.
oooooooooooooo
We were on the Ship of God, sailing through this narrow strait with high cliffs on both sides.
"It's such an interesting story," said Barbara. "I mean, imagine being trapped in a mirror and all that."
"It must have been frustrating," said Chamoro. "To see this lady and not being able to touch her."
"There's the Watergate," said Muriel.
We anchored the ship right next to the Watergate. I got out and walked to the gate. there was a huge keyhole where the watergate key could fit.
Inserting th ekey, I turned the key.
The huge iron gates swung wide open.
I got back onto the wooden ship. "Let's go," I said. "To the seas beyond."