"Oh, Liana…"

"I know…"

The two stared at the barren field that used to be full of flowers. They'd hoped with enough care and nurturing, they could become the most beautiful flowers, growing through even the hardest conditions. They thought if they could do it, surely the flowers could too.

But the flowers hadn't survived the storm, nothing in their garden had. The various wooden arches set around it were all collapsed or missing entirely, the tools they'd abandoned for survival's sake now long gone.

"Well, let's salvage what we can." Alexa whispered with a depressed shrug.

Liana looked around, searching for anything to cheer them up.

Her eyes landed on a single daisy that had miraculously survived. She picked it up to show her love, giving a gentle smile.

The look alone eased Alexa's worried mind.

Alexa set down the basket of flowers after counting them. It was barely enough to make two bouquets, small ones. "That's it. All the flowers we have. Even if we sell them all, the money will never last us until next growing season!"

"Of course it will, it has to." Liana insisted, giving her a quick squeeze. "Now, take a look at this!"

Alexa looked down to see the mirror they'd received the day before. She wouldn't have believed it was the same one if she hadn't seen Liana scrubbing at it for so long.

It was made of gold and glass that shimmered like a crystal-clear lake, the kind you could see your reflection in. Which was perfect, seeing as it was a mirror. It was lined with purple, pink and red flowers made of little jewels.

"Whoa." Alexa breathed. "Now that's magical."

"Isn't it?" Liana asked excitedly. Her face melted into concern, realizing the obvious: "That woman didn't know what she had, we should give it back to her."

"Liana, it was a gift, a very beautiful gift." Alexa reminded her, grabbing the mirror from her. She looked into the glass before glancing at their coin purse. "You know…"

"Don't even think about it!" Liana smirked, snatching it back. "This mirror's probably been through it as much as we have, no way are we selling it!"

"I was only kidding!" Alexa laughed even though Liana knew she was lying. It would be smart to sell the mirror… but she knew in her heart it was special. It was the way it took their smiles and reflected them somehow even brighter, like the mirror itself was trying to give them the strength they needed to keep going. Maybe it really was magic.

"Hey, let's get to work."

"I'm blindfolded on this carriage ride that they call life," Liana sang, tilling a new field.

Alexa sweeping away the stray leaves and soil from the path. "Keep trying to make it 'round that next curve, knuckles white and holding tight~"

"So here I go! Taking the curve," Liana smiled as they met at the end of the field.

"But I know that I'm never alone." Alexa traded the broom for the livelier dance companion. "I think of you,"

"And how you never let me go!" They spun, holding on to each other tight.

Liana dipped her love, giving her the opportunity to start planting the seeds into the field. "I feel connected!"

"Connected!" Alexa echoed as she patted the dirt over the seeds.

"Protected!" She swung her around the rest of the field, making sure to keep a firm hold so Alexa wasn't scared to fall.

"Protected!" Alexa trusted Liana with her life, and didn't worry about being dropped when she was in her arms.

"It's like you're sitting right with me all the time!"

"You hear me." Liana twirled away to get water from the nearby well.

Alexa grabbed a nearby watering can before skipping back. "You hear me!"

"You're near me." They met at the center of the garden, faces flushed from the work and smiling.

"You're near me!" Liana made an exaggerated bow to fill the metal can.

"You're near me." Alexa giggled, trying to hold on as the water can got heavier.

Liana helped her carry it, gently guiding her hands to pour sparingly as to not drown the flowers.

"And everything else's gonna be alright."

"Cause nothing can break this!" Liana grinned, stepping back to view their new garden.

Alexa grabbed her hand, looking lovingly at her as opposed to the garden. "Nothing can break this…"

"Nothing can break this tie!" They were going to finish the song with the last note until Alexa suddenly kissed Liana.

"Connected!"

Liana whipped around in shock before placing her arms up in front of her girlfriend. An unknown voice had finished the song for them.

Alexa peeked out from behind her, wondering who had come out to the middle of nowhere, only to sing with them.

They glanced at each other nervously before nodding in agreement. They had to sing again to lure the intruder out.

"'Cause nothing can break this…!" Liana scanned the edge of the garden.

"Nothing can break this!" Alexa looked in the garden, only for her eyes to land of Liana's basket. She pointed to it.

"Nothing can break this tie!" Liana tiptoed over before taking out the mirror.

"Connected! Connected inside!" Instead of their own reflections, they were face to face with a girl around their age. She had light brown hair crowned with a wreath of flowers and bright blue eyes that lost their sparkle the moment she noticed them looking. "Ah!"

"Are you… real?" Liana asked in shock. This must be why the mirror felt so alive, there was a person trapped inside it!

"How'd you get in the mirror?" Alexa asked at nearly the same time, fully accepting of this despite how strange it was.

"I'm nobody." The girl insisted, tears coming to her eyes. "Nobody at all! Just pretend you never saw me!"

"Wait, stay!"

"Please don't go!"

She vanished in a swirl of sparkles, leaving them staring back at themselves.

The girls exchanged glances in worry. She'd looked so scared, how could they get her to open up? Well, they'd have to get her out first.

"Two Voices." Liana suggested quickly.

"Together we dream the same dream. Forever I'm here for you, you're here for me…" Liana could feel the mirror getting warmer the longer the girl inside wanted to sing with them. It was a nice warmth, one Liana enjoyed. "Wherever you go in this world I'll come along…"

"I'll come along!" The girl sang, reappearing. She smiled shyly at them before they continued to sing.

"Together we dream same dream! Forever I'm here for you, you're here for me!"

Slyder awoke with a start as he heard a voice he hadn't heard in over three years. Someone he thought had died a long time ago.

"Oh whoa, three voices… one song…!" Her sweet singing echoed around the dark cave and the longer he listened, the more certain he knew it was Melody, the muses' apprentice. He gave a chuckle, his mistress would be pleased.

Lydia hummed to herself and the statues of two beautiful women. They were her best friends, or, at least they used to be.

The moment she'd turned them to stone she'd Slyder heave them into the cave so she could be with them always but they never got to interact with each other again. It was the perfect solution in Lydia's mind.

She caressed their faces tauntingly, knowing she couldn't do anything about it. "Three long years and nothing to show for it. Not a single whisper of our home has reached my ears. You two hid it well, didn't you? Not only did you give the key to dear little Melody but you even erased it from the people's minds so I wouldn't be able to use them. Well, your efforts will be for nothing. I will get the Diamond Castle no matter how long I must wait for that girl to-!"

"Now everyday is something new… And any path we take, I'm looking forward to the way we try and never quit. The way that all the pieces fit…"

Lydia turned to see her grinning serpent, the horn on his head glowing bright as Melody sang.

"She's alive! I sense her singing somewhere!" Slyder stated the obvious. Lydia had cast the spell long ago, a way to track Melody down with her singing voice.

"Finally! I knew she couldn't resist forever…" Lydia smirked. She had the sneaking suspicion she'd been alive all this time, given her ability to weather the hardest trials. She turned to the statues. "Did you really think I wouldn't find our dear apprentice? Always the optimists! But the world is really a small and dark place, just how I like it!"

Slyder stiffened when she turned to him, ready to receive orders.

"Slyder! Bring her to me!"

"With pleasure, mistress!"

"Oh whoa, three voices, one song!" The girls finished.

"Wait, please don't go away!" Liana insisted, happy to have a new friend and singing partner.

"I won't." The girl smiled happily. "This is too much fun!"

"I'm Liana and this is my partner, Alexa." Liana introduced, Alexa giving a shy little wave. "Can you tell us your name?"

"…" Melody had been listening to Liana and Alexa since the moment they found her. She knew they were kind, good people she could trust just by how they handled themselves in the face of adversity. And it didn't hurt they reminded her of her two mothers. Besides, Lydia and Slyder were miles away and she hadn't had a soul to talk to in ages. "It's Melody."

"We taught you one of our favorites," Alexa said. "maybe you can teach us one of yours!"

"Oh, um…" Could she really trust them with the secret?

"That's a great idea!" Liana smiled, interrupting Melody's worry. "We're fast learners,we'd love to sing with you!"

Melody remembered her home in that moment and how she, her mothers, and Aunt, Lydia, would love singing together first as friends and eventually, family. Maybe these girls could be the same. "Alright, it goes like this: Believe, in all that can be. A miracle starts whenever you dream. Believe, and sing from your heart, you'll see… your song will hold the key…"

Liana and Alexa nodded to each other and started to sing along. "Believe, in all that can be!"

"A miracle starts whenever you dream!"

Slyder followed the vibrations of the spell, coming across the cottage. There, he saw Melody singing happily between her two new friends. "So… she's in the mirror…"

As they finished, Melody opened her eyes only for them to widen in fear at seeing the serpent. "Oh no! He's found me, he's seen me in the mirror!"

"Who's seen you in the mirror?" Liana asked worriedly, looking around.

"Slyder!" Melody pointed, drawing their attention to the looming beast. "We have to hide, we have to hide now!"

They only released hands once they were inside the cottage.

Liana yanked open the junk door, fumbling around for something important while Alexa and Melody looked back at her in surprise. "The cellar, go!"

"Liana!" Alexa cried, looking more terrified than Liana had ever seen her before. It made her heart ache.

"Just go! I'll be right there!"

Just then, she found what she was looking for. She snatched it up and hurried after Alexa into the cellar, just in time.

Slyder slammed the door off its hinges before squeezing inside. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"Shh, it's okay." Liana whispered to her trembling partner as they watched the serpent's shadow loom over them. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

Slyder looked around for only a few moments when he suddenly banged into a steaming pot of water that the girls' had set on for their baths that night. "Ow!"

"Sing, why don't ya'?!"

"I lead him here…" Melody realized in that moment. She should've known Lydia would've done anything to find her, even using her favorite pastime as a tracker. How could she be so naïve? Her new friends were in danger because of her!

Liana slammed open the cellar doors just as Slyder noticed the staircase. She hid Melody in her basket and left the hand mirror behind, hoping the serpent wouldn't know the difference.

Alexa was scooped up into her partner's arms as they fled their one and only home. She could see Slyder finding the mirror, taking it carefully between his claws.

"Some friends, leaving you behind like that." Slyder smirked into the mirror, unaware he wasn't talking to anyone but his own reflection.

As the serpent flew away and the girls ran into the woods, neither knew that Slyder had knocked over a candle in his search. The fire quickly spread to the thatched roof and soon it enveloped the entire cottage. It burned long and into the night.