Leighton was volunteering at the library, just like she did every Wednesday after school. She lived in a small town, so her parents let her walk home by herself. After all, the library was only a few blocks away from her house.

“Leighton?” Called one of the librarians, Jemma. “Can you look around and make sure everyone leaves? We’re closing in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Leighton answered, and began wandering the sections, kindly asking everyone to leave. Just when she was about to tell Jemma that the library was empty, she heard a strange sound and saw a bright light coming from the large fantasy section.

She ran over and discovered a sight she certainly was not expecting. She saw a woman.

“Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? What is going on!?” Leighton exclaimed.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” the woman looked distraught. Her deep brown hair was in tangles around her face. Her clothes were muddy and torn, and her face was streaked with tears. “What matters right now is for you to call my son. Here’s his number.” She handed Leighton a crumpled paper with a phone number written sloppily on it.

“Okay, I’m trusting you right now,” Leighton began, “but if this son of yours is going to come here and murder me, I’m going to be very upset!”

“I promise that’s not going to happen!” the woman said, with a hint of a smile on her face. “Now can you please call my son? I promise he’ll answer all of your questions once our problems are solved.”

Leighton dialed the number. “What should I tell him?”

“Tell him that he needs to come here as fast as he can. Tell him that we don’t have long before something bad happens. Tell him he needs to come before I hurt someone.”

Leighton nodded. What a strange thing to tell your son! She ignored that; the woman seemed too desperate not to help.

The woman’s son picked up immediately. “Hello? Who is this?” He demanded.

“Uh, this is Leighton Blake,” she began, “a woman who claims to be your mom told me to call this number.”

The son gasped on the other side of the phone. “Don’t just sit there and say nothing! Go on!”

“She said to tell you to come to the library, quickly, before something bad happens, and...”

“And what?” The young man practically shouted.

“And to come before she hurts someone,” Leighton said, making it sound more like a question.

She heard the boy mutter, “That’s definitely my mother,” before he told her he’d be there as soon as possible, and hung up.

Leighton turned to the woman, “Your son is on his way...” she said, trailing off when she saw the woman.

Her eyes were glowing violet, and her feet were floating inches off the ground. She was no longer crying.

“Do you think I care about that terrible child?” She roared. “I’ll kill him when he comes here, just for the fun of it! In fact, I’ll start now.” She floated out a window and down the street. It took Leighton a moment to realize she should follow her.

She followed the woman outside, but she couldn’t see her. She thought it would be best to go to her family and then warn the police. She wanted her parents to be safe.

Leoghton had only started walking when she heard a deafening BOOM! followed by smoke rising from the direction of her house.

The woman floated past Leighton and breathed, “I thought it would be most painful to you if I rid you of someone you love.” She laughed, and flew inside the library.

Leighton’s face paled. She ran all the way to her home, and nearly fainted at what she saw.

Her house was no longer there. In it’s place was blackened rubble and a pillar of smoke. This made Leighton burst into tears.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket, hands shaking. Maybe her parents weren’t home yet.

She read the two most recent texts. One was from three minutes ago, from her mom, and it read: Where are you? It’s getting late, and Dad and I want to make a special meal. The other text was from her one and only friend, Harper. My family is at your house, waiting 4 U. What is taking U so long?

Having no one to comfort her, Leighton curled into a ball on the sidewalk, and cried.

Leighton stood on the field, texting. Seriously, after what happened—TWO YEARS AGO—I need an explanation. Who ARE you people? TEXT ME BACK.

“Oh, who am I kidding,” she muttered to herself, “It’s not like he’s going to text me back.” Every week—and sometimes everyday—Leighton sent a text to the son of the crazy woman. He never texted her back. She sighed, layed down on the grass and yelled at the top of her lungs, thinking she was the only one left on campus this late.

“Are you okay?” A voice asked.

Startled, Leighton bounced to her feet and brushed the dirt and grass off of her clothes. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said to the boy who had heard her yelling.

“What are you doing still at school this late?” He asked.

“I don’t want to go home to my aunt,” Leighton said. “What’s your excuse?”

“I’m waiting for someone to pick me up,” the boy said, looking around.

“Well, you do know the bus picks up on the other side of the campus, right?” Leighton asked, recognizing the boy as a new student from her math class. “And it left three hours ago, so you might want to call a parent.”

“I know,” The boy said.

“Okay,” Leighton said. “Uh, what’s your name?”

“Oh, it’s Liam,” he said.

“Cool!” Leighton said, and shook his hand. “My name is Leighton Blake.”

Bing! Leighton’s phone went off, and she glanced at it to read the text. It was from the woman’s son! Turn around. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.

Leighton immediately turned around. There was a sixteen year old boy walking towards her, which was odd, because she was sure no one else was around.

The young man stood in front of her. “Um, hi,” He said. “I’m Jake, and you—”

Leighton cut him off. “I need an explanation. Now.”

“Just a minute,” Jake said. “I need both of you to know that you are both involved in this. You two are the only two people in the world who remember what really happened the night of Leighton’s family’s death. Everyone else thinks it was a car crash, but a girl deserves to know the real reason why her parents died. And Liam should know why I appeared in his bedroom one night.”

Leighton and Liam nodded.

“Let’s start from the beginning,” Jake began. “I come from very far away. No one knows if we’re on Earth, another planet, or in another dimension. Long ago, witches discovered this world, but we can talk more about that another time. Three years ago, an evil fairy twisted my mother’s mind to do her bidding. She sent my mother to this world, where her mission was to take everything ‘magical’ about Earth and make a new kingdom back where I’m from. Luckily, for a brief moment, she was able to beg a twelve year old girl for help. Soon after that, the fairy took control and killed Leighton’s family.”

“And friends,” Leighton interrupted.

“And friends. So, anyway, my friends and I tried to fight her off, but it was no use. No one could find the fairy, so we had to kill my mother,” Jake said, sadly. “But that doesn’t mean she failed. There is a kingdom in my world that has no right being there, and as long as it exists, your world will be a sad, unhappy place. I need you two to help me bring the magic back to Earth.”

“Uh...” Leighton began. This was a lot to take in.

“Why did you wait two years?” Liam asked, an angry look on his face. “The world has been seriously depressing since you left.”

“We weren’t ready for you two yet. Just because you two weren’t asked to help doesn’t mean we weren’t trying before. Sadly, the armies didn’t succeed,” Jake explained.

“You couldn’t get your magical armies or whatever to save the world, so you asked two teenagers. Smart move.” Leighton said, sarcastically.

“Actually, you two should be pretty successful. Fourteen is old enough to be betrothed in the kingdoms.” Jake said.

Leighton’s face went pale. She looked over at Liam, who was taking this all surprisingly well.

“So you live in a magical medieval world?” He asked.

“That would be correct.” Jake smiled. “So, are you two coming?”

Liam looked at me.

“Um, I did want to be away from my aunt..” Leighton said.

The boys looked at her eagerly.

“Okay, I’ll go,” she said, a smile breaking out on her face. “I always did want an adventure!”

“Let’s go!” Jake exclaimed, grabbed each of their wrists, muttered something, and huge breeze shoved them into a swirling blue haze.

The wind swept them through the air, or what seemed like air. It felt like Leighton was being flung through a light blue blur. Then, it changed. Leighton felt less like she was flying, and more like she was being shoved through something thick. The blue was darker now, and she found it hard to breathe. Just as she was fading into unconsciousness, the blue lightened and Leighton could breathe again. She looked around for Jake or Liam, but all she could see was blue. Then, just as suddenly as the wind had swept her up, it threw her face first against the ground.

Leighton lifted her head to look around. There was a large castle down the dirt road she had landed on, and a medieval-looking city behind her. She noticed both Jake and Liam had landed on their feet, while she had gotten a face full of dirt.

Leighton stood up and glared at Jake. “I didn’t mean right now!” She exclaimed.

Jake shrugged. “Sorry, but you should have expected that from a place full of magic.”

“Well, you could have at least warned me!” Leighton yelled. “I just landed in the dirt!”

Liam ignored them and pointed at the castle. “Uhh...”

“Oh,” Jake said, “That’s the castle. Welcome to Rukhen!”

Jake led them down the road to the castle, where the drawbridge was being lowered. As soon as the bridge hit the ground, a young woman wearing an old-fashioned dress ran out. Jake picked her up and swung her in his arms.

Liam made a face.“Yup,” he whispered, “definitely not America.”

Leighton giggled.

Jake motioned for them to follow him into the castle. The drawbridge was raised behind them as the entered a grand hallway and entered a large room housing three thrones and many tables.

“This is the Great Hall!” Jake said, and gestured at the room they were in. It was truly spectacular.

Then the girl spoke up. “Hi!” She said. “I’m Allison. My parents are over there.” She pointed to an important-looking couple entering the hall. “They’re King Frederick and Queen Lilabeth of Rukhen.”

Leighton nodded. “So you’re a princess?”

“Yes,” Allison smiled. “Now, let us all walk and Jake and I will explain everything you need to know.”

Jake started talking before they left the room. “There are four kingdoms: Rukhen, Lucatna, Montrevorda, and Mirage. These kingdoms all have magic, one way or another. Rukhen gets it’s magic from the dragons. You probably didn’t notice this before, but the castle was built on the border of a mountain range. On the other side of the mountains, there is a castle carved into the rock. That is the castle of the dragons. They give our kingdom gifts, like protection, that help us thrive.

“Lucatna doesn’t have much magic, only the magic gifts they recieve from witches and dragons every now and then. Yet somehow, it is still able to be a great kingdom, and has never been a threat to Rukhen.

“The people of Montrevorda have the strangest magic of all. Somehow, the royal family has learned how to manipulate the world around them. They can create winds, water, fire, anything you can think of. They’re pretty frightening and no one wants them in charge, but they quickly made it clear what happens to people who defy them.

“Mirage is the kingdom I told you about, the one stolen from Earth. It doesn’t really have a name, but everyone calls it Mirage because, well, it really is just a mirage.”

“My turn to bore them,” Allison said. “The kingdoms are all on separate continents. Separated by water, trade is more difficult, but so is war.”

Leighton nodded. This all made sense... except for the dragons.

“Ah, here we are,” Jake said as they reached a door. He opened it, revealing a large courtyard full of blooming flowers and one...

“Dragon,” Leighton breathed.

Liam stood there, eyes wide and mouth open.

“Hello,” The dragon said.

“Dragon can talk,” Leighton said.

“Of course I can talk,” the dragon laughed. “I have this,” it held out its talon, showing them a braided robe wrapped around its wrist. “These were created for dragons. It makes humans able to understand us, and we can understand humans.”

Leighton nodded. “Okay...”

“I assume I have some explaining to do,” the dragon began. “Long ago, dragons and humans were at war. Humans took up too much space; there was nowhere left for us dragons. The war ended when Rukhen offered their large mountain range. We’ve been living there ever since. Shortly after that, a witch came to the dragons. She had stumbled upon a land of dragon-like creatures—Earth, of course—and wanted to know what to do. It became a place for criminals. Anytime a dragon did something terrible, they would be sent there to start over.

“Then, all of a sudden all the creatures were gone. Replaced with humans. Earth was no longer a place for dragon criminals, but for human ones. But, with all the dragons, humans, and even fairies sent there, Earth got magic of it’s own. There were a few monsters in the mountains and woods, and beautiful landscapes—some of which had no magic at all.”

Then, Jake was talking again. “One day, a fairy decided she wanted it all for herself. She mastered mind control, and, after testing it on a few unfortunate souls, she sent my mother, a powerful witch, to take it. You know the rest.”

“Woah,” Liam said.

“Woah is right,” Leighton agreed. “So, here, fairies are bad, witches are good, and dragons are...”

“There only when absolutely nessecary,” Allison finished. “Dragons rarely help us, but they don’t burn us to the ground, which we are thankful for.”

“Why waste time on trivial human problems when dragons are so much better?” The dragon said, like this was obvious.

“Um,” Liam turned to the dragon. “You never told us your name.”

“Oh, I didn’t?” The dragon laughed. “My name is—” it made an odd grumbling sound in its throat.

“Your name is what?” Liam asked.

“Most dragon names don’t have a word for them in your language,” The dragon explained. “So my name sounds the same as any dragon roar to you. But, I’d like to be called Lavender.” The dragon turned and flew off, over the mountains.

“Well, Allison said, “I know this is a lot to take in, but Jake and I have to be at dinner tonight. You two can stay here, though. Someone is waiting inside to take you to your rooms.” She and Jake left the courtyard, hand in hand, leaving Leighton and Liam alone.

“Wow,” Leighton said, after a minute or so of silence. “That was a lot to take in, right?”

“No kidding,” Liam said. “There’s one thing I can’t wrap my finger around, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Was that a male or female dragon?”

Leighton laughed. “You could have just asked!”

Liam looked shocked. “That would be rude!”

Leighton smiled. “I think it was a girl. ‘Lavender’ sounds like a girl’s name, doesn’t it?”

“You’re probably right.”

“I can’t believe you just learned magic is real and that’s the one question you have!”

Liam thought for a moment. “I’ve kind of always known it was real. I mean, some could say science is just a smart person word for magic.”

“I never thought about that. It’s a little easier to comprehend all of this now. Only a little.”

Liam laughed. “I’m sure it won’t be so strange someday.”

Liam and Leighton talked for a little longer before following a page and a lady-in-waiting to their rooms.

Leighton’s room was huge. It had it’s own bathroom, a balcony, and the largest closet she’d ever seen. The lady-in-waiting said it was the suite for visiting princesses. Leighton wanted to sit on the balcony and watch the millions of stars twinkle in the sky, but the bed was too enticing and she fell asleep the moment her body sank into the pillows.

Leighton was woken by someone knocking on her door. She groaned and looked out the window, where she could see the sun just rising.

“It’s so early,” she mumbled as she walked to open the door.

The girl who stood at the door was around the same age as Jake and Allison, around sixteen or seventeen. “Hello,” she said. “My name is Ella. I’m Princess Allison’s head lady-in-waiting. She sent me to have you fitted for clothes that, um, are normal...”

“My clothes—” Leighton was about to protest that her clothes were normal, when she realized that her jeans were probably strange in Rukhen. “Okay,” she sighed, and let Ella lead her through the castle to some sort of fitting room.

There was a woman there who measured Leighton in every place imaginable, and held fabric of every color and texture to Leighton’s skin to see what matched her skin tone. They were there for what felt like a day to Leighton, but was probably only an hour.

Then, they went back to Leighton’s room, where Ella insisted she take a bath and then proceeded to brush her hair so much that it felt like silk.

“Are we going to a ball or something?” She asked.

“A ball?” Ella laughed. “Heavens, no! We would need many more ladies to prepare you for a ball!”

Leoghton thought she could probably prepare herself for a ball, but obviously things were different in this world. “Where are we going, then?”

“Breakfast,” Ella said, like it was totally normal to spend an hour preparing yourself for the day.

Just then, the woman from the fitting room came in with her arms full of dresses. She hung them in the closet, then bustled out of the room as quickly as she had entered.

“Yay!” Ella said, and led Leighton to the closet. She pulled out many dresses and held them up to Leighton, muttering to herself until she found the right one. She helped Leighton put it on, which made Leighton uncomfortable, but she knew she’d never be able to put it on herself.

When Ella had finally deemed Leighton worthy of breakfast, she led her through many halls until they arrived at the Great Hall. Now, there were tables all around the room, surrounded by people waiting for food. Ella directed Leighton to a table in the middle of the room, where Jake, Liam, Allison, and the King were sitting. Ella sat at a table nearby.

Leighton sat at the table, next to Liam. He, too, was no longer wearing his clothes from the modern world, he was now wearing an outfit similar to Jake’s.

“You look hot,” he said.

“Excuse me?” Leighton exclaimed.

Liam’s face turned red. “No!” He said. “I meant that it’s warm enough in here, and your dress looks like it makes you ten times warmer.”

“Oh!” Leighton said, relieved. “Yeah, you’re right. I lost count of how many layers are on me right now. It’s also really tight. But, in all fairness, you look hot, too. I mean—” she sighed. “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” Liam said.

Leighton then noticed the queen walking in. She had on a dress even more extravagent than Leighton’s.

Allison leaned over and whispered, “Most queens go for a more casual dress, like yours, for less important events, but Mother believes one should always look one’s best, especially if they’re the queen!” She laughed to herself. “When I’m queen, I’m going to wear whatever I want.”

Queen Lilabeth sat down next to King Frederick at the head of the table and called out, “Let us eat!”

Leighton didn’t know how these people could eat so much for breakfast, and still be able to eat lunch later. Servants flooded from the kitchen with trays of fruits, pastries, eggs; every breakfast food in the world, and still more!

Once the food was passed out to everyone in the hall, the king turned to Liam and Leighton. “So, you two are from the Different World?” He asked.

“Yup,” Leighton said, then realized she was speaking to a king. “Uh, yes sir.”

“I understand Jake has brought you here to rid us of Mirage, is that correct?” The Queen asked, placing a fluffy pastry filled with something gooey on her plate. Leighton’s stomach rumbled quietly.

“It seems like it,” Liam said, staring at his plate.

“Well, even though you haven’t left yet, we appriciate that you are doing this for us,” King Frederick said.

“Um, no offense,” Leighton said, “but I’m kind of just doing this for Earth. Er, the... Different World.”

“Of course,” the king agreed. “You didn’t know much of here when you agreed to help. But, we are grateful nonetheless.”

Leighton and Queen Lilabeth both reached for a berry at the same time.

“Finally!” She exclamed. “A girl who can match my appetite!”

The entire room burst into roaring laughter.

“Heh heh,” Leighton stared down at her plate, embarrassed.

“Mother,” Allison said. “Don’t embarrass the poor girl.”

The room laughed even louder.

Once the laughter had died down, Liam spoke, “When will we be leaving?” He asked Jake.

“We will depart at noon today,” Jake said, looking excited. “We will take a carriage through the kingdom, then board a boat. We will first travel the seas of Mirage, restoring the things from the Different World that are in the water. We will then take a carriage or horses through Mirage.”

“We’re leaving today?” Allison exclaimed. “I have to go pack!” She ran from the room, stopping to pull Ella to her room with her.

“May I be excused?” Leighton asked. The Queen nodded, and Leighton left the room and wandered the halls.

She had been walking around for an hour or so when she came across a wall of portraits. The one closest to her was of Allison when she must have been twelve. Before that was a frame of the King and Queen. The rest of the pictures showed the rest of the royal family. Leighton found Lilabeth’s parents, but there were no more pictures after that, so she must not have been born into royalty. She also could see when a former ruler had commoner parents or Nobel parents, because they had different clothes. Some of the couples had kind smiles, and some looked more imposing.

There was so much you could learn about the royal family of Rukhen from these paintings. Leighton wanted to go home and see how long her anscestry traced back. But, she couldn’t do that.

Because she didn’t know when she would be back home.

Leighton met up with the others by the carriages. Jake explained that one was for them to ride in, and the other was for their possessions. Guards would escort them on horseback. They were just about to leave when the King and Queen approached them.

“Wait!” Queen Lilabeth called out.

“What is it, Mother?” Allison asked.

The Queen smiled. “We are going to accompany you on your journey!” she exclaimed.

“I beg your pardon?” Allison’s smile faltered. “But who will rule while you’re away?”

“My mother will,” the King said. “She was Queen once; she is qualified to rule while we are gone.”

Allison turned to her mother. “But Mother, you hate long carriage trips. And we will be doing a lot of walking. We will have to sleep in tents nearly every night. Surely a queen couldn’t do that!”

“Nonsense!” Lilabeth said. “A queen can sleep in a tent if she’s doing it for the good of her kingdom! And ridding the world of Mirage is for the good of the kingdom! It is located where some of the best fishing locations used to be.”

Allison sighed, “Wonderful,” she said through clenched teeth.

They boarded the carriage. It wasn’t until they had crossed the drawbridge and were making their wasps through the town that the Queen noticed Leighton’s outfit change.

“Why have you changed?” She asked. “You are wearing the outfit of a kitchen maid!”

“Yes,” Leighton said, “Well, I realized I couldn’t take of the dress I wore earlier on my own, so I traded my outfit for one another girl was wearing. She was very nice. Her name is Mary, and now she has a fancy dress!” She patted the blue dress, as if to say, I like this one better.

“But surely Allison could help dress you in the morning and evening,” Lilabeth stated.

“Um, where I come from, girls my age dress themselves. It’s kind of weird to have someone dress me.”

The Queen looked like she wanted to say more, but Allison spoke first.

“So, Jake, when will we reach the sea?” She asked.

Jake thought for a moment. “Hopefully around nightfall. Then we can stay at the best inn and board the ship in the morning.”

Leighton sighed. She was realizeping just how long this journey would take, made even longer by the queen’s constant chattering. She looked over at Liam, who hadn’t said a thing since they’d left. He was staring out the window.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Liam didn’t turn his head. “Not really,” he mumbled.

“What’s wrong?”

“I get motion sick,” he said. The carriage bumped over a large rock. “Very motion sick.”

Leighton realized how this must be so much worse than being carsick. The carriage bumped and rolled over the cobblestone streets, jostling the passengers inside. Leighton didn’t usually get carsick, but now even she was feeling a little nauseous.

She turned to her fellow travelers. “What do you guys use to help with motion sickness here?” She asked.

“We chew on ginger root,” Jake answered, pulling a lumpy, cream colored object from his bag and handing it to Leighton.

She gave the root to Liam. “Here,” she said, “chew on this. It’s supposed to help.”

Even with the ginger, the carriage had to stop more than once for Liam to settle his stomach.

After the third stop in three hours, Leighton said, “I don’t think the ginger is helping.”

Jake shrugged. “It’s the best thing we have.”

Leighton thought about how this world was seriously behind in the medical field. She groaned when she realized what some of the medical treatments would be. “This isn’t a place where doctors put leeches on you to ‘clear out the bad blood,’ is it?”

“The leeches work!” The king said.

“No, father, they do not,” Allison argued.

“With all due respect, sir—” Jake began, but got cut off by the whole carriage breaking out into an argument about wether or not leeches were helpful.

Even Liam looked away from the window to say, “Putting leeches on someone as a medical treatment is dumb. End of story.”

Eventually, they were so loud that a guard came to talk to them. “Whatever you’re arguing about, it’s not worth causing such a ruckus. Why don’t you put your disagreements aside and stretch your legs.”

“What a wonderful idea!” The Queen said. They were between towns now, in the woods. “I do need to relieve myself as well.”

“And I need to use the woods,” Leighton said.

Liam whispered, “Same thing.”

“Oh. Then me, too.”

After one more rest stop and hours of alternating between boring silence, loud conversations, and Leighton sleeping, they finally reached a town bordering the ocean.

They exited the carriage by the dock, and Lilabeth gasped. “Oh my,” she breathed. “I’ve never been to the ocean. It is truly breath taking!”

“It is, isn’t it?” Allison said.

They we’re right. The view was beautiful, even at night. Leighton noticed how many stars were twinkling in the sky. More than she’d ever seen, for sure. Even with a few street lights there were more than you could normally see on Earth.

They stayed there, enjoying the view, for a few minutes before heading to a nearby inn. Even though royalty was there, and they got the best three rooms, the beds were still uncomfortable and the room was damp.

Despite the the condition of the room, Leighton fell asleep quickly.

“Rise and shine,” Allison said as Leighton woke. “It is about time you got up.”

Leighton groaned. “Why can’t people here ever sleep in?”

“We did sleep in, but you slept later and missed breakfast. We are leaving soon, you should get dressed.”

“Wait, I don’t have any more—” Leighton started, but Allison didn’t hear her and left the room. She sighed. “...clothes. Guess I’m wearing this.” She ran a wooden comb through her hair and headed down to the main lobby of the inn, where everyone else had just finished breakfast and we’re heading out to find their boat.

“Were you going to leave without me?” Leighton joked.

Lilabeth looked her up and down. “Are you going to wear that same outfit again today?”

“Yes,” Leighton stated, looking the queen in the eyes, “I don’t have anything else to wear.”

The queen frowned. “Fine, then.”

Leighton smiled and walked away from Lilabeth.

“Is everyone ready to go?” Jake called out. “Our luggage has already been loaded onto the the ship, and it will leave anytime.”

Everyone nodded.

“Let us be off, then!”

The ship they boarded was nothing bore than Leighton would expect from a medieval world, even if was the best boat around. It did have some very nice cabins and a clean deck, which was a bonus. In a few minutes everyone was situated on the deck and the captian pulled out of the dock and into the open ocean.

Leighton peeked her head over the edge of the deck and looked at the sea below. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was kind of terrified. She trusted the giant metal boats with motors from her home a lot more than this wooden ship. She couldn’t even see how it was moving! Leighton pushed all the terrifying thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on enjoying the view.

“It’s really great isn’t it?” A voice said from behind her.

“Ah!” Leighton jumped, startled, and nearly launched herself over the edge. She rushed a few feet away from the railing and turned to face Liam.

“Don’t do that!” She practically shouted.

Liam was laughing. “But it was funny!”

Leighton glared at him. “It was not funny.”

“Whatever you say,” He laughed.

Leighton sighed, annoyed. She changed the subject, “I was thinking, the whole continent Mirage is on was never there in the first place, right?”

Liam nodded. “That was my understanding.”

“So, when we completely take back everting about Mirage, then won’t the land disappear, too? Will we just land in the water?”

“I don’t know...” Liam thought for a moment. “Maybe? I hope not!”

Leighton agreed. “I wonder how long it’ll be until we get to... wherever we’re going.”

“Jake said it’s not that far,” Liam said. “The first thing we have to get back isn’t on Mirage itself, it’s in the water between the four lands.”

“Oh. Let’s ask Jake more about it. Since it’s from where we’re from, we might know more about it than they will.”

When they found Jake and asked him about what it is they’re looking for, he gave them a long explaination.

“What we are looking for isn’t actually something real; it’s a creature of legend. The fairy stole a tale about a woman who controls waves and brought her here, in the hopes of having the highest waves. The woman from the legend choose to live in between the kingdoms, so she could provide waves for all,” Jake explained.

“I know that legend!” Leighton exclaimed. “It’s called ‘Wave Lady.’ I know, weird title, but it sounds better in German. It’s about this woman. She wears a blue dress, but the skirt of the dress turns into the ocean. When she pulls her skirt up and down, the water ripples and waves are made. She’s said to be huge, that’s how she creates such big waves. It’s one of my favorite stories, but know one remembers it anymore. It must be because the evil fairy stole it!”

“Wait,” Liam said,” if she’s so big, then how are we getting her back to Earth? How are we getting any of these items back to Earth?”

“That is simple,” Jake said, pulling a small sack from his pocket. “I’m giving everyone one of these. If you put any part of something that belongs to Earth in one, it will immediately go back to where it belongs, and know one will ever know that it was missing. Make sure you do not loose it. It is very important.”

“Cool,” Liam said, as Jake handed them each a sack.

“So, when do we get to meet the Wave Lady?” Leighton asked.

Jake smiled. “Very soon.” He pointed to the horizon, where they could just make out the shape of a woman, gently lifting her skirts up, and down.