Sam's POV

"A magic mirror? Really?" I asked. Carly just smiled proudly. "What are you gonna do next? Name your children Hansel and Gretel?"

"Actually, I was thinking that I'll name the girls over the Disney Princesses and the boys over the Princes," she replied, oblivious to my sarcasm.

"Okay, let's get on with this," I directed the conversation back on track.

She raised her hands and performed something like a spell. "Mirror, mirror on the floor, show me the Queen, the enchantress I call!"

The mirror's reflective surface warped into something like a whirlpool and soon, a figure was seen. It wasn't very clear, but it was good enough for us.

"Queen Marissa?" I called. "Is that you?"

"What do you wish to know, my dear?" she asked. "Ask away."

"Queen Marissa, Freddie is under some kind of spell and we need your help!" I started.

She thought for a while. "What symptoms does he exhibit?"

"We're not sure, but he seems to be really aggressive and firm," Carly explained.

"Are there any physical features that you noticed?" she asked. "Like, the color of his eyes or any marks on his body?"

"Hmm..." we thought for a while. "Oh yeah, he had this little heart-shaped mark on the back of his left hand."

Carly looked at me, confused, "How'd you know that?"

"It was obvious," I stated. "Did you see the way he held Valerie?"

She grinned. "You're jealous."

"No, I'm not," I argued.

"You are so jealous," she repeated, adding a 'so' for emphasis.

I rolled my eyes. "So, what does that mean?"

"Is this the shape on the back of his hand?" the Queen emerged again and waved her hands, making an image appear on the mirror.

I studied the image carefully and brought my thoughts back, trying to match things up. "Yes! That's the one!"

"Oh dear," the image disappeared, replaced by the silhouette of the Queen. "This is terrible."

"What's terrible?" Carly asked, anxious.

"Fredward has been struck by the most powerful of all love potions," she continued. "And the effects of the potion is almost irreversible!"

Carly and I gasped.

"So, there's still hope?" I asked.

"Yes, but the chances of him returning back to normal isn't very high," she sighed. "It takes a powerful mage to break it. And among the people of Seattlonia, only two people can do it."

"And who are they?" Carly inquired.

The Queen kept silent.

"Come on, Ms B," I grew impatient. "Just tell us already!"

"Sam, you don't talk to the Queen like this!" Carly lectured.

"It's okay, Carly," the Queen said. "I was just lost in thought."

I raised my eyebrows. "What were you thinking about?"

"When I was younger, I was struck with the same love potion," she replied. "I never would have thought that my dear Freddie would be struck with the same one too."

"What happened?" Carly asked.

"While I was still enchantress, I met a man named Lewbert," she started her story. "He was sweet at first, but I was too engrossed with my enchantress duties that I never thought of him in a romantic way at all. He tried to grab my attention whenever he had the chance and one day, I found myself in a dimensional void."

I looked at Carly, concerned. "Do you think Freddie could be trapped in that void too?"

"I think he may be," Carly replied. "If he is, we have to save him!"

"So, what happened after that? You broke free from the spell, right?" I asked.

She said. "Hardly. I was saved by the light element."

"Me?" I confirmed.

"Not really," she replied. "It was the previous light element. He realized that I was in danger, so he cast a spell on me. Do you still have the book of Prehistoric Prophecies?"

I thought about it. "I think so. Why?"

"There's a barrier spell in there," she continued. "You can try it on Fredward, if you want. But it requires a bit of ingredients."

"Sure, why not?" Carly smiled. "Anything for a friend."

"Good, you best be on your way," she rushed. "We don't have much time left. If I remember correctly, when I was in the dimensional void, I could see my memories being scattered throughout space. But day after day, the memories start disappearing. You only have about four weeks left before the spell is totally irreversible and he can no longer remember anything about the past."

We nodded as we headed back to our house to find the book. It had almost been a year since I read that book. And I think I misplaced it somewhere...

"Now, where is it?" I mumbled as we searched the entire house, every nook and cranny. Mom was out with her new boyfriend to catch a show and Melanie went out with Pete for dinner, so the place was quiet and the only ones at home were Carly and I. "Why can't I find it?"

"Sam, I searched the living room and I can't find it," Carly said. "I'll search in Melanie's room."

"Okay," I continued with the treasure hunt, until I came across a leathery surface. "Wait, I found it!"

Carly came bursting into the room, excited.

"Now..." I opened the book and tried to find the correct spell. "Here. Love potion magic: How to break the spell. It says here that we need to conduct a ritual."

"What kind of ritual?" she asked.

"Some kind of counter-spell," I replied as I continued reading. "'The subject has to be placed into a magic circle, as shown in Illustration 23.9, where the spell of ancients will be chanted backwards.'"

I flipped the book to the contents page, searching for the spell of ancients.

"Okay, the spell of ancients," I said. "Wait a second, the words don't even make sense! They're like, jumbled up together or something."

Carly snatched the book away from me. "Let me see. Yeah, you're right."

"Maybe we're supposed to read it this way," I replied.

"I don't know," she stated. "Perhaps we can ask Pete about it. He managed to activate one of the spells in the book when he captured you. Maybe he knows how to activate the spell of ancients."

I looked at the words, studying them. "Let's split up."

"What?"

"I mean, one of us goes to find Pete, while the other finds the ingredients for the spell," I explained. "You see, there's still this small part about the spell... 'During the ritual, a cauldron will be prepared where a lock of hair from a tiger (for nobility), two spiders (for courage), two Palladium blades (for strength) and a drop of a lion cub's tears (for innocence).'"

"Oh, okay," she replied. "Then I'll go look for the ingredients. You stay here and find out more about the spell-casting."

I stopped her before she left. "No, I'll go look for the ingredients. You're a princess now, Carly. If you leave the kingdom for too long, there will be many royal duties left unattended. No matter how important this is, you still have take responsibility for your duties."

"Wow," she exclaimed. "I'm impressed."

"Of my charismatic speech abilities?" I asked.

"No, I'm just surprised that you know what 'responsibility' means," she replied.

I rolled my eyes. "Haha. Very funny."

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you soon," she said, tearing up. "You have to take good care of yourself, okay?"

"Don't worry, Carls," I replied. "I'm gonna be fine."

"I know you'll be."

We gave each other a deep hug and she left to return to the palace. She brought the book along with her so she could decipher the text while I took down the ingredients that I had to collect on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget.

"Come on, Sam," I started to motivate myself. "You know you can do it. Freddie will be waiting for you to save him. But he's just another friend. Not my boyfriend. He's the damsel in distress. Just the damsel in distress."