Crowns and Curses

by V. B. Marlowe

  “Oriana?” Molly called.

  “I’m out here,” a voice called from the balcony.

  Molly stepped deeper into the room. A sudden burst of air made her shiver. She pulled her cardigan sweater tighter around her as she stepped onto the balcony.

  Oriana had one eye closed, looking through a telescope at something far above her. There were two other telescopes on either side of her. They were large and intricate looking like something you would find in a planetarium. “There’s been a shift in the tides,” Oriana said. “Lots of comets tonight.”

  “May I have a look?” Molly asked.

  Ori stepped away. “Sure.”

  Molly remembered her brother having a telescope when they were younger, those his was nowhere near as fancy. She had never had that much interest in it. Molly bent over and peered through the lens. She gasped at the brightness of the stars and how closed they seemed to her. She felt like she was actually in the sky and that she could reach out and grab one. “See anything interesting?”

  Oriana reached for a thick notebook from a small metal table nestled in the corner of the balcony. “No, not aside from the increase in comets. Being trapped inside for so long totally threw off my observations and any patterns I had been watching.”

  Molly groaned. “Great.”

  Oriana flipped a few pages in her notebook. “I don’t know when the next Blood Moon will be, but if I had to take a guess, I would say within the month.”

  Molly closed her eyes tight. They were nowhere near ready. She was going to have to try something to get Allison’s mind working along with Isleen’s cooperation in finding the next location.

  Molly tucked her hands into the pockets of her sweater. “Okay. That’s good to know. In the morning, now that the beanstalks have been removed and everything can return to normal, we can focus solely on this.”

  Molly started to head back inside. “Ms. Dillinger?”

  She turned back to Orianna. “Yes?”

  "When we find the next pen, and it comes down to deciding who gets it, how is that going to work?"

  Molly shrugged because she honestly didn’t know. “I don’t know. We’ll think of something.”

  Oriana stepped away from her telescope. “Well, let’s say girls like me, and Allison, and Isleen—girls like us who are vital in finding the location of the pens, we don’t have a chance of getting it do we?”

  Molly wasn’t sure how to answer that because it would be a decision for Ms. Bea to make, not her. But Oriana was correct. The three of them were needed, especially Allison.

  “I mean, think about it,” Oriana continued. “How are you going to get to the rest of the pens if one of us is gone?” She gave a small smile. “I don’t mind really. I’d just like to know where I stand so I can adjust my expectations.”

  Molly understood that. “It’s something I will discuss with Ms. Bea and Ms. Halifax. Don’t worry, Ori. We’re going to find a way to get all of us out of here.”

  Oriana nodded and turned back to her telescope. Molly meant what she’d said. Although the girls were Bea’s priority, this was about everyone being free. Herself, Owen, the Glam Squad, the house staff—everyone needed this curse to be broken.

  Molly left Oriana alone and made her way back to her bedroom with a lot on her mind. She settled down at her desk eyeing the stack of fairy tales that rested in the center like a mountain waiting to be conquered.

  As far as fairy tales went, she was the most versed in Grimms,' but since they had already found the pen belonging to the brothers, she needed to focus elsewhere. She thought of each girl and the fairy tale she represented and read them again. Little Briar Rose, Rapunzel, Little Red Cap, Hansel and Gretel, the Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Beauty and the Beast, and Alice and Wonderland. Molly had fallen asleep at her desk and awakened the next morning with her face buried in the book. After a quick shower, she threw on a polo shirt and some capris before heading down to breakfast. Things were about to kick into high gear. She and the girls had a lot of ground to cover.

  When Molly entered the study, there was a lot of excited chatter going on. The girls seemed to be in much better spirits since the beanstalks had begun to come down, even though Owen and Donald were still hard at work clearing them away. Everyone lay in various positions on the floor except for Isleen, who sat on the couch crossed-legged reading a book and Allison who was hunched over a desk at the back of the room. Though her back was turned, her left arm moved back and forth vigorously as if she were coloring something.

  Molly took her seat before the girls. “We really need to get refocused. According to Oriana, the next blood moon could happen in as early as a month from now.”

  All eyes went to Oriana who nodded. “Yes, it’s true. I missed a lot by not being able to look outside and my pattern-keeping is all messed up, but I for sure can tell you that we don’t have much time.”

  “How do we even know where to start?” Gretchen whined. “Allison hasn’t been able to tell us anything.”

  As if to answer Gretchen’s question, a noise came from the back of the room. Allison scribbled all over the paper forcefully. Molly rose and hurried over to see what she was drawing. The others followed. Looking over Allison’s shoulder, Molly saw that she had been writing the number three over and over. Big threes. Little threes. Threes upside down and turned on their sides. Allison was pressing so hard on the paper that the point had broken through in some places, but she wouldn’t stop.

  “Three?” Tress asked. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know,” Lily said, “but it means something important for her to be writing it over and over. It’s definitely a clue. I knew she would come through.”

  Molly leaned against the bookshelf muttering, “Three, three, three,” to herself. Three was an important number. If you were religious, it represented the Holy Trinity. Deaths were said to come in threes. None of that had anything to do with fairy tales though, so Molly shifted her thought process thinking of the girls and their stories. Her gaze landed on Oriana’s doll-like golden curls. “The three bears.”

  All eyes went to Oriana, and Allison stopped writing immediately. She dropped the pencil and hunched over the desk, breathing heavily as if she were exhausted. Marina put her arm around Allison’s shoulder. “Goldilocks and the three bears? We’ve read that story plenty of times and no offense to Ori, but there’s just not much to it. Just a nosey little girl poking around in someone else’s house.”

  “That’s what most people think,” Molly said as a flood of information came rolling back to her. She remembered exploring the topic in her literature class during her sophomore year at the university. The assignment was to take a children’s story and find the hidden meaning or message. There was always one if you looked deep enough. “Let’s sit,” Molly said. The girls followed her back to their places on the carpet. Marina gently led Allison over to join them. Even Isleen who hadn’t moved from the couch had closed her book to look on.

  Jolie settled down by Molly’s feet. “Marina’s right though. Three bears made some porridge and went for a walk in the forest while it cooled. In the meantime, a little girl stumbled upon their cottage. She tested their porridge, chairs, and beds until she found the right one for her. The bears came home and found her, and she ran away in fright. Is there something else?"

  Molly nodded. "I think so. First of all, what you've told is the version that most people know, but I also know that you must have read the original by Robert Southey. There are some differences. For one, in Southey's version, there wasn't a Mama, Papa, and Baby Bear. There were three male bears who were described as big, small, and wee. And Goldilocks wasn't a little girl with blond curls—she was an old hag who wasn't very nice. When you think about it neither was Goldilocks. They were both intruders who had no self-control when it came to the possessions of others."

  Isleen folded her hands over her chest. “Accurate. Ori is always taking perfumes from my vanity without
asking.”

  “Shut up, Izzy!” Oriana snapped. She turned her attention back to Molly. “What deeper meaning do you think there is to my story?”

  Molly thought back to her class. It had been one of the most interesting. "My professor brought up an interesting theory dealing with the topic of everything being too hot or cold, too hard or soft, or just right. Like our planet, for example. If Earth were any closer to the sun, it would be too hot to sustain any life. If we were any farther away, it would be too cold for us to live on, but our position is just right. It's not too hot or too cold."

  Lily frowned. “Okay. That’s interesting, but what does that tell us as far as finding the next pen?”

  At that moment Allison rose and walked over to a bookshelf. She pulled down a brown book with gold lettering that looked as if it weighed a ton. An Atlas. She brought it back over to the floor as the girls crowded around. Molly joined them on the floor. After a minute, Allison stopped flipping pages when she got to Antarctica. “Cold.”

  A bolt of realization shot through Molly. “That’s it. We need to go to a place that’s too cold, too hot, and one that’s just right.” Allison nodded then she went back to the desk and started drawing again.

  Isleen stood from the couch and smoothed out her emerald green dress. “I guess this is where I come in. Even though you all hate my guts and live to annoy me, you can’t find those three places without me or my magical map.”

  Unfortunately, that was true. When Ms. Bea first created Everly Academy she gave each girl a magical gift that would aid them. Before she had gotten to know Isleen, she’d given her one of the most important instruments, a map that showed the location of every alter realm on the planet as well as what dangerous villain lived there and how to conquer it. Molly also knew that Bea vehemently resented her decision, but once the gift was given it couldn’t be taken away. The map was useless to anyone but Isleen. To anyone else’s eyes, the map would just be a piece of blank paper. Being dependent on Isleen for important information was no easy feat.

  Everyone groaned. This was an excuse for Isleen to go on a power trip, but Molly didn’t want the situation to get out of hand. “Remember, Isleen, this is for your freedom too. According to you, you want to get out here more than anyone.”

  Isleen smirked. “Sure. Or maybe I hate them all so much that I’m willing to suffer just to make sure they never get out of here.”

  Marina sighed. “Izzy, come on.”

  Isleen raised an eyebrow. “Isleen,” Marina said quickly, correcting herself. “You know very well that we don’t have this kind of time to waste.”

  Isleen glared at the mermaid before turning to Molly. “First, who gets the next elixir? I nominate myself.”

  “We will discuss that once we have it,” Molly said.

  “See, that’s not a good enough answer.”

  Gretchen tossed a pillow at her that missed by a few inches. “You’ve got a lot of nerve after what you pulled the other night.”

  Molly’s eyes darted back and forth between Gretchen and Isleen. “What did she pull the other night?”

  Lily shot Gretchen a sharp look before answering the question for her. “Nothing. Just being her typical annoying self.”

  Isleen kicked the pillow back in Gretchen’s direction. “I swear, you guys don’t know how to get over anything. I need to go to my room for peace and quiet to figure this out.” She grabbed the atlas from where Allison had left it on the floor. “I need not be disturbed.” Everyone exhaled once she left the room.

  Gretchen got up and flung herself on the couch as soon as the door had closed behind Isleen. “I really, really hate that she has that gift. It’s the most important and the one person we can’t trust has it.”

  Jolie shook her head. “Guys, let’s just be really nice to her for the time being. It sucks, but we need her so just play along.”

  All the girls nodded in agreement as Allison brought another piece of paper over to Molly. “Find.”

  Molly took the paper from Allison. On it was three crudely drawn boxes that looked like tiny treasure chests. Molly looked at Allison. "This is what we have to find?"

  Allison nodded. "Key."

  "We find the boxes and get a key?" Lily asked. Allison looked at her friend and nodded. Lily took her hand and squeezed it. "Good. Good job, Al. Now, do you know who our enemy is? Who do we have to fight to get the pen and what do these three things have to do with that?"

  Allison stared at Lily for a while before going back over to the desk. The girls waited patiently as Allison drew some more. Then she brought her paper back over to the group. Molly took a good look at it. Allison had drawn a door and a key. "I think this means to get to the enemy we must get a key to get us through that door."

  Yes, Allison scribbled on the paper.

  Molly felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. At least now thanks to Allison they knew what they needed to do and hopefully soon Isleen would tell them specifically where they needed to go. Isleen was a wild card, but at that moment, their fate was in her hands.

  17

  MOLLY

  ISLEEN HAD BEEN ABSENT from lunch and dinner, and she hadn't come outside at any point during the day, so Molly decided to go to her room and check on her. From the small window in the door, Molly saw Isleen sitting at her desk, hunched over something. She knocked gently.

  “Go away!” Isleen snapped.

  Molly didn’t have time for Isleen’s diva act. She pulled the set of skeleton keys from her pocket and let herself in.

  Molly closed the door behind her, noticing the scent of fudge brownies in the air. A plate of them rested on the edge of Isleen’s desk. As Molly moved closer, she realized that even though Isleen had several atlases wide open that she was actually focused on a book of Mad Libs.

  “These help me relax,” she explained. “How can I help you, Ms. Dillinger?”

  “I came to see how you were coming along finding those locations.”

  Isleen chuckled to herself as she jotted a word down in a blank space. “The locations?”

  Molly tried not to roll her eyes, but there really was no time for Isleen's games. "Yes. The locations. As in where we need to go to find the next pens. As in the pens we need to get out of here—something you seem to want very badly."

  Isleen sighed heavily. “Oh, that. I found those a couple of hours ago.”

  "Izzy!" Molly yelled, snatching the Mad Libs book and the pen from her. "Why didn't you say something earlier? We're kind of in a hurry here."

  Isleen shrugged. "It was really hard. This would be a lot easier if I had access to a laptop and the Internet. Information is always changing, and books become outdated. Before Dru could always sneak into Ms. Bea's office and borrow hers but now . . . we just really need the Internet." Dru had been cursed with a painful skin condition, but Ms. Bea had countered that by giving her the ability to camouflage. She could make her skin blend perfectly with her surroundings.

  Molly understood Isleen’s point. “I’ll talk to Ms. Bea about it. So, what did you find?”

  Isleen lifted the atlas and pulled another book from underneath, opening up to a bookmarked page. “The first place we have to go is too cold. It’s a mythical land called Thule.”

  Molly had never heard of that. “Thule? Where is it? What is it?”

  “It’s an alter realm off the coast of Iceland. Think of it as an invisible island made of ice. It’s said to be surrounded by a frozen sea. As far as what’s there—I don’t know. There’s not a lot of information on it. None that I can find in a book anyway.”

  Molly made a mental note of Thule and tucked it away. She was amazed at how many places existed on the earth that man had no clue about. "What do we have to worry about in Thule?"

  Isleen drummed her fingers on the map. "A fascinating creature actually. Formally she's known as a Yuki-onna."

  “A Yuki-onna?” Molly repeated.

  “Yes,” Isleen answered. “She’s also more common
ly known as a snow girl or snow hag. The Yuki-onna are very beautiful. They have long flowing black hair and blue lips. They are tall and beautiful with white or sometimes transparent skin that helps them to blend in with their snowy surroundings. You’ll find them wearing a white kimono for the same purpose. The Yuki-onna was created from the spirit of a woman who died during a snowstorm. Sometimes they take on the form of a snow cloud. Something really cool is that she has this lethal snow breath that she can use on people. If she blows it on you, you’ll freeze to death. Kind of like a reverse dragon. Isn’t that awesome?”

  Molly shivered just thinking about a ghost who could kill with her ice breath. “It would be if we were watching a movie or reading about her in a book, but actually having to face her, not so much.”

  Isleen shrugged. "I don't think she's so scary, she's tricky though. You just can't fall for her mind games. Sometimes she'll be carrying what appears to be a crying baby, and she'll try to hand it to an unsuspecting traveler. If you take the baby in your arms, you will be frozen in place like an ice sculpture."

  “How do we defeat her?”

  “We can’t physically,” Isleen answered. “The Yuki-onna is a spirit. She’s not alive. We have to get her to let us pass. She tends to spare those she finds beautiful, so I think I’ll be fine. She may also spare you if you make her a promise but you sure as hell better keep it or she’ll come for you and do God only knows what. That’s all I know about her.”

  That was a whole lot for Molly to take in.

  “Okay. Good. What else?”

  “Next is the place that’s too hot. Thinis. It was the capital city of one of the first empires of Egypt. Its existence is documented in ancient text, but the ruins have never been found so who knows?”

  “What do we have to pass when we get there?” Molly asked.

  "Ammit," Isleen replied, flipping a page in a tattered book. "She's a demoness from the Egyptian underworld." Isleen handed the book to Molly.

  One the page was a drawing of Ammit. She appeared to have the body of a lion, the back legs of a hippo, and the mouth of a croc. "What a strange looking thing?" Molly said. "What does she do?"