Chapter Thirty One

Mr. Andersen sat on the sandy shore as he observed Melody talk with his creations. At least, attempt to talk with them.

It was truly fascinating to watch.

"You were drowning in the ocean, and someone saved you. Remember? She rescued you." Melody pointed to Atiana, who could only smile back as a means of communication.

"Truly? It was you who saved me?" Not-Alex stepped forward and embraced the little mermaid. Atiana nodded and looked up dreamily into the prince's eyes. "Then you are my rescuer. You are my love."

Here was the part of the story where Hans would write the happy couple to kiss. The kiss would seal their love for all time; the prince would declare to the masses he had found his bride. A wedding would be arranged where the kingdom would spend an entire week celebrating with singing and dancing. Possibly, Mr. Andersen would allude that he had been invited to the party and telling the story had interrupted his enjoyment of the festivities. That is where the story would end; a traditional ending with a wedding and the promise of many happy tomorrows.

But Atiana was not kissed by the prince. They stood there, gazing happily at each other. The next time the prince spoke, he said, "Fair maiden, who are you and from whence did you come?"

This was the beginning of the cycle from his original story. It was as if the characters forgot their conversation with Melody. Atiana could not speak, Melody was forgotten, so the prince would try and take the unknown damsel into the castle, only to be stopped by Melody's intervention and her explanation of events.

"Melody, you have tried talking to them for hours and it hasn't changed anything. Let's think of something else. At least," Mr. Andersen scratched his head, "I think it's been hours. It's very hard to tell time when you're in a book without a sunrise or sunset."

"Why isn't it working?" Melody dropped down defeated beside the older gentleman.

"Perhaps…" Mr. Andersen started, but then decided to not finish that sentence. He dreaded to say his fears out loud. A story could become something special to each individual reader. The story would become theirs and mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people. But the story belonged to the author as well. In truth, the story belonged to the author first. And when it was published, the story became written in stone. The fates of the characters were set; their actions and outcomes already determined. Even if they kept forgetting about it as his eyes were now witnessing.

"What?" Melody asked, when he stopped talking.

"Well, there is a third person who comes into the story now. Perhaps we need to move to the next part when she is introduced."

"It's worth a try." Melody sighed.

After much coaxing, Atiana led them through the white void that was at the top of the stairs. They ended up inside the palace banquet hall next. There was an assembly of singers and dancers entertaining the prince who sat at a table. Atiana, now properly cleaned and dressed in a beautiful gown, rushed forward to join in. Mr. Andersen watched as the words he had written were brought to life. Atiana danced more gracefully than the rest of the dancers. The prince smiled as he looked on and applauded, causing Atiana to blush.

"This isn't the part we need. If we could move on further."

There was more difficulty this time in getting Atiana's attention. But they were able to move through the next several voids to get to the part the author had in mind. They were in a banquet hall now, in the castle of the neighboring kingdom. This was the part when the prince met the princess and discovered she was the one who rescued him from the shore.

The banquet hall was unique in appearance. Where the other castle, the one Melody had likened to her castle in Tirulia, was visualized in great detail, this one was not. There was a long table set with a feast. Tall windows lined the walls. There were no colors except the ones on Atiana and Not-Alex. It was as if they were inside a pencil sketch with all the greys, white, and light blues.

The strangest sight of all was the princess.

The future bride of the prince had no appearance. That is to say, she had no physical features. The body had arms and legs, complete with hands and feet, along with a neck and a head, but there was no hair. No nose. No eyes or mouth. Even the clothes the princess wore was nothing more than a simple blue dress void of any adornments.

"Dare I ask who this reminds you of?" Mr. Andersen turned to Melody. Although the princess was a strange sight to behold, the figure was not an ugly monstrosity that struck fear into their hearts.

It was as if this character had been visualized without any imagination.

"I didn't think about her that much; she doesn't remind me of anyone. She was just the mean, evil person keeping them apart." Mr. Andersen noticed how the princess's skin became a shade greyer, the dress a shade more purple, and the fingernails started to resemble claws as Melody spoke. "But I guess it's not fair to say she's evil. After all, she wasn't trying to maliciously hurt the little mermaid."

To Mr. Andersen's relief, the princess's colors became lighter again and the claws disappeared.

"Melody, just now, you were able to manipulate her appearance."

"What does that mean?"

"Truthfully, I don't know. I suppose it means you are able to change some things. Try telling the prince the truth now."

Melody took in a deep breath to prepare himself. "Prince, you remember almost drowning?" Her talking distracted him from the princess who he was gazing at with adoration, even if she didn't have a face.

"Yes, Melody, I do."

"Atiana was the one who rescued you. Not her."

"Yes; you have told me before."

"Wait, you remember!" Melody threw her arms in the air. "Then marry Atiana! Not this princess."

"I don't know if I can." And a small frown appeared on the prince's bearded face.

"Please. Try. Just try."

The prince turned to the assembly, which was nothing more than the same two faces duplicated over and over. Mr. Andersen recognized the male faces to be that of the servant Grimsby, and the girls faces to be that of the servant Carlotta. The faces appeared over and over on the crowd who stood idly by, void of color, waiting to hear the prince's proclamation. Atiana stood by, her face hopeful and only able to plead with her eyes for the prince to declare his love towards her and not the other woman.

"You are she who saved me." Not-Alex looked towards Atiana, his face in deep concentration as if he was trying to defy his fate. His hand reached out toward Atiana's, and the little mermaid lifted her hand out to his.

As if pulled by strings, Not-Alex was turned so his hand grasped that of the other princess and continued to speak to her the words found deep in his heart. Atiana in turn wept silent tears as she watched her love adore another. Mr. Andersen noticed the slump in Melody's shoulders as she observed her plan fail yet again.

"Maybe if we try it at the wedding scene…"

"What's the use? You heard what the prince said. He knows, he just can't change the story."

Melody walked over to the table and grabbed an apple to bite into. The food was not proper sustenance as the bite revealed nothing inside; the apple was nothing more than an empty shell which appeared to be made of paper mache.

"Oh, dear. Are you hungry? When was the last time you ate?"

Melody spit out the piece of paper. "Not since the dinner before getting trapped in here."

"Why, that was days ago!"

"I don't feel hungry." The princess shrugged.

"Why don't I pop out of the book and see if I can bring you back something? Oh, why didn't I think of this before!" Mr. Andersen slapped his forehead. "I really was only meant to be a scout. Should someone else come in so you could talk with them? Your mother, perhaps?"

"My mom? Oh, Mr. Andersen, could you?"

"I don't see why not. Attina enchanted the bracelet for anyone to use it. Come along, Sixpence."

Mr. Andersen scooped up his cat, who had curled itself up on the sketch of a cushion, and wished them out of the book.

The author expected to find himself in the same room as last time. Or inside the palace at the very least. Instead, he found himself in a strange place where he only knew two things.

The first was that the room was dark.

The second was that there were sparks everywhere.

"Ah!" Mr. Andersen began to jump from foot to foot to try and avoid the sparks while getting someplace safe. Sixpence meanwhile jumped several feet in the air where she was able to cling to an exposed rafter. The cat continued to "meow" as the explosions noises continued. As Mr. Andersen managed to get to a part of the floor where it was free of sparks, he managed to hear someone else screaming beside himself.

Off to the side was a strange little man dressed in purple, holding a candlestick held in one hand.

"Who are you!"