the situation."
"This is the prophecy we got from the greenlings, remember?" Leah said.
"Oh, yeah, I remember that. That was like years ago," Maryann replied.
"Right. And we are now in the greenlings' past."
"I am so confused," Nora said.
"Time doesn't flow linearly in Fairyland," Isabella said. "Remember what happened when we got out?"
"Yes."
"So relative to the point in time we entered Fairyland the first time, we are now in the past," Leah said. "This is the queen. We're the elements that helped her. Except we haven't done it yet. It's a time paradox. We have to help the queen now because we've already done it before. That's why I have a copy of the prophecy with me. I've always kept a copy in my pocket because I knew eventually the paradox would have to be resolved."
"So you're saying we have to fight that monster again?" Maryann asked slowly. "Because we already did and so we can defeat it in the future?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, this is insane," Nora huffed. "But I get what you're saying."
"Does anyone care to explain the situation to me?" the queen asked impatiently.
Leah turned to her. "We understand there is some sort of monster that is endangering your people, and you need our help to stop it."
"Yes, exactly. Since you seem to know so much, how do we stop it?" the queen asked.
"Well, why don't you tell us exactly what's going on," she countered.
"Wait, why?" Maryann asked. "We already know it's going to work out."
"Um, I don't trust time travel stuff. The future is never certain."
"Did you learn that watching TV?" Nora asked snidely.
"Look, being mixed up with magic at all means nothing is certain," Leah snapped back. "And now we're in the middle of some kind of sci-fi time paradox? Yeah, I'd rather treat this like it isn't a done deal, okay?"
Nora looked abashed. "Sorry," she muttered.
The queen looked both confused and worried. "Would any of you care to enlighten me?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Sorry," Leah said. "Please continue, your Majesty."
"There is a creature hunting my people. It comes from the borderlands of the dream realm. I know not whether it escaped or was exiled."
"Why is it coming after your people?" Maryann asked.
"I am not sure. It must feed off of something we have, although I don't know what. Our people have no great treasures or magics. However, there aren't a lot other creatures here with any magics or treasures." She sighed. "Perhaps we are merely unlucky and in its way."
"And your magic can't stop it?"
The queen shook her head. "It's not real enough. Just as creatures such as myself are not quite real to you humans, there are creatures that are not quite real to us. It comes from too near the dream realms to have enough substance for my magic to really stop it or contain it. I believe it may become more real the longer it stays here, but by then it may be too late for my people. I thought by summoning elements from your world, I could increase my magical abilities."
"So we have to help give the monster shape, just like the prophecy said we did," Leah said to the others.
The queen flew into the middle of them. "You are discussing prophecy? You knew you would be called upon to help me?"
"Um, yes."
"Prophecy is often misleading," the queen said doubtfully. "May I see this prophecy?"
"Um, I don't want to mess up their timeline," Leah said to the others.
"I don't think it will be a problem to let her see it," Isabella replied. "If she asks, we just won't tell her when the next fight is."
Leah reluctantly handed over the paper.
The queen read through it and her purple eyes widened. "This tells we shall be victorious for now, but the creature will return and must be vanquished again with your help. Such strange words that I do not understand. Where did you get this?"
"From a king of the greenlings, in the future. Well, your future. Our past," Leah answered.
The queen read through the paper again. "Very well." She handed it back to Leah.
"That's it?" Nora asked. "You don't have any more questions?"
"I am but a small creature with small magics but I have seen great and terrible things during my reign," she replied primly and sternly. "That time can be twisted like this is no surprise to me, nor does it truly affect the matter at hand, which is saving my people. This prophecy says we win, and hopefully we do, so do you have any insight on how to give a thing without substance some kind of shape?"
Maryann opened her mouth to answer and then realized she didn't have an answer. "Um. It would have been nice of us to write that down."
"There must have been a good reason we didn't," Isabella said. "Maybe it's because we couldn't figure out how to put the answer in a riddle."
"Why must the answers be in riddles?" the queen asked.
"This creature knows everything that's written down," Leah explained. "I don't know why, but that's what we found out. But it doesn't mean it understands what's written down."
"Ah, I see," she said. "You disguise the truth in riddles using references it does not know. It can read the words but it does not share your experiences. It is dangerous to make words appear to say something they do not, or hide what they truly say, but in this instance I understand why you must take such risks."
"So this is something that we can't hide or figure out how to hide, or something so obvious we didn't think we'd need to tell ourselves how to do it," Isabella said. "Before, er, later, we trap it with words. Maybe that's the solution. We trap it with words now to give it the shape it will have later."
"You trap it with words?" the queen repeated. Her violet eyes opened wide. "A naming. We must perform a naming."
"A naming? Like, give it a name?" Leah asked.
"Well, yes, in simple terms, but in a world such as this, that is one of the most difficult of rituals."
"Are you sure?" Maryann asked.
"As sure as perhaps you are. You say that this creature is connected to words when you encounter it again. That gives me insight on its nature. You say that you ultimately trap it with words. It is bound to words and so words bind it. It does not have a name but I can give it a name, at least one that will bind it. What did I call it?"
"The Serpent's Shadow," the redhead answered.
The queen nodded her blue head. "Yes, I understand. I know what must be done and I know how you will help me." The queen tried to explain her plan in great detail, but when it became clear the band wasn't following her line of thinking nor understood the particulars of the magic she was describing, she switched to a simpler explanation which consisted of, 'stand there' or 'do that.' She also enlisted their help in finding various ingredients for her ritual and eventually they ended up in a different, round clearing with a pile of rocks, twigs, and leaves, and although they hadn't seen the sun through the thick trees, the fading light suggested it was sun was setting.
"I sense you have iron in your possession," she said. "May I see it?"
Confused, Leah drew out the antique fireplace poker.
"Excellent. While I myself have no allergy to this metal, many creatures here do. It will help with protection. Follow me and draw a circle."
Leah did so; this kind of magic she was actually familiar with and the poker had been chosen especially because it was made of wrought iron.
"So is this dangerous?" Leah asked.
The queen was busy carefully arranging each gathered item within the circle. "The naming ritual and your role in it is not intrisically dangerous to you. However, we are attempting to bind an unreal, dangerous creature to a different plane of existence. Such acts have an inherent amount of risk."
"Like what?" Nora asked.
"The creature will likely attack us. The binding may not work, which could lead to wild magic. I can't tell you the specific risks of wild magic a
s that is highly variable. But I have seen wild magic lead to a meteor shower underground."
"Okay, yeah, that sounds pretty wild," Leah said. "How does that even work?"
The queen raised an eyebrow. "Exactly as you think it would, even though it should be impossible."
After several more minutes of the queen placing the items in what seemed to be a random pattern, she instructed them to stand at the edges of the clearing. Isabella was directly in front of the queen, Maryann was behind her, Leah was on the left, and Nora was on the right.
"So I know you explained this, but I didn't get it, so can you please try to tell us what's supposed to happen?" Maryann asked.
"First I will seal this circle to protect us. Then I will use a spell to call the creature to this spot. I am sure it will respond. Then I will start the naming ritual to bind it. We should be safe, but its powers are vague and the circle may not provide sufficient protection."
"Why not?" Nora interrupted.
The queen sighed impatiently. "My kind of magic must be very specific. If, for example, I wanted to protect myself from being struck by lightning, the spell would do only that. If I encountered a lightning imp, the spell would not protect me from it attacking me because it is not specifically lightning. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"The naming ritual is complex and long at the best of times. All you must do is stand where I have placed you until the spell is completed. Do not move! I have used your elemental natures to add... how can I put this... add reality to the spell. In any event, you should not be harmed by this but do not move."
"How do we know when the spell is complete?" Maryann asked.
"The Serpent's Shadow will assume the form you remember it to be, and if I understand your prophecy well enough, it will flee. Now, are you ready?"
"Don't move. Seems easy enough," she replied.
Leah groaned. "Now you've done it."
"I did not jinx us!"
"Ladies!" Isabella snapped. "Your Majesty, we're ready when you are."
The queen hovered in the middle of the circle about four feet off the ground. She spoke in a language they didn't understand, but the effects were visually obvious. A purple light appeared in the already drawn circle in the dirt. Then circles of light appeared beneath the band and the queen; Isabella's was pale blue, Maryann's was flame-red, Nora's was dark blue, Leah's was dark green, and the queen's was the same purple as the light that surrounded the clearing.
"Well, at least it's easy to see where we need to stand now," Leah thought.
For a few minutes, nothing else happened. Then darkness quite unlike night descended and surrounded the circle. The glow of the circles seemed to pale and the queen's chanting started to sound muffled. Then they started to hear whispers emanating from the darkness. At first they were indistinct but angry-sounding. The whispers became louder, more clear, and resolved into a single voice that had echoes of voices they knew. The voice grew louder still as though trying to drown out the queen.
"Stupid. Dumb. Ugly. Foolish. Crazy. Lying," said the voice, among other insults. "Run away! Go away! Stay way!" said the voice, among other warnings.
"Why do you want to be musician and waste your life?" Nora heard her mother yell.
"Stop daydreaming and pay attention!" Maryann heard her elementary school principle saying to her.
"Not now, Leah," Leah heard her father say, over and over again.
"Uh-oh, here comes weirdo Isabella," Isabella heard a middle school bully say.
More voices overlapped and echoed with each other. "Shut up! Get out of my way! What's wrong with you? You're stupid! You're in the way!"
The band members tried to shut out the horrible voices by putting their hands over their ears, but that didn't seem to work.
"Lazy! Ridiculous!" The voice and the echoes became a cacophony of the general insults, racial slurs, and specific hurtful words and statements. The voice seemed to know every hateful, angry, terrible thing that had ever been said to them and was repeating those things over and over and over again through the echoes.
Everyone of the band members wanted to run away, but they stayed within the glowing circles.
"Go away!" Maryann tried shouting back, but her voice was lost in the din.
"Shut up!" Nora yelled. But she only heard the cruel echoes of what others had said to her.
Isabella wanted to try to use magic to make the horrible noise stop but she was afraid that would interfere with the queen's spell.
Leah got down on her knees within the circle, put a hand on her crucifix necklace, and started to say the prayers should would normally use with a rosary only she didn't have one of those with her. She didn't yell but concentrated on the reciting the litany. The hateful onslaught seemed to lessen.
By the dim light of the circles, the others could see that Leah was now down on her knees. For a moment they were afraid she was hurt, but Nora quickly realized what she was doing. Nora also got down on her knees, put her hand on her cross necklace, and started to recite the Lord's Prayer. Maryann caught on and started to say her own prayers. Isabella had no one to pray to, so she recited some mantras she had been taught.
The voices seemed to lose power over them, and they continued their praying and chanting for what seemed like a long time until there was a bright flash of purple light. This was followed by a shrill shriek and a brief glimpse of something very large, black, and long smashing through the forest while howling in pain.
The queen was lying on the ground and looking much more gray than blue. They rushed over to her.
"Your Majesty!" Maryann said. "It's getting away."
The queen's breathing was uneven and shallow. "I-I know," she said in a low voice. "It is injured. There is only one place nearby for it to take refuge. A cave. A cave that was cursed long ago." After two attempts, she put her fingers to her lips and let out a piercing whistle. "I have called for aid."
"Is there anything we can do?" Maryann asked.
"I am overtired. That creature was powerful. It attempted to distract me with cruel voices."
"Us too," she replied.
"Yes. It is indeed linked to words as you said." She struggled to sit up. "You have my thanks."
"I don't think we did anything," Nora said.
"You have done more than you know."
They fell into silence. Maryann was concerned for the queen, but Isabella was wondering how they were going to get out of Fairyland with the queen being so weakened. Soon a group of four greenlings burst out of the forest carrying a litter. They helped the queen onto the litter. She was looking better, but still obviously exhausted.
"We will go to the circle. I can still get you home, I believe."
"Oh, no, we don't want you to hurt yourself," Maryann said.
She waved her hand. "I understand my limitations. Follow."
They followed the queen and her litter-bearers. They were surprisingly fast for having such short legs.
"Your Majesty, before we go, take this," Maryann said, and took off her twisted silver ring. "I think this could be helpful to you."
The queen took the ring. "Indeed, silver is quite valuable in this realm and will be an aid to my magic," she said, and put it on like a crown.
"You'll also need this," Leah said, and handed her a copy of the prophecy. "I'm sure you'll copy it down to something a little easier for you to manage."
"Yes."
"Should we give ourselves a better message for this time?" Maryann asked. "It would have been nice to know what to expect."
"If we didn't before, we shouldn't now," Leah replied. "We really don't want to mess with time paradoxes. Or if we really want to push our luck, whatever we write on may just get lost before we get here the first time."
"I guess," Maryann said, looking annoyed and confused.
"Are you ready?" the queen asked.
"Yes," Isabella ans
wered.
"Thank you again." She raised her blue hand, and in a flash of purple light, they returned to their world.
It was quite dark in the park when they reappeared. The first thing they did was check the time.
"3 AM? Damn it," Nora sighed. "Isabella, does that match?"
"Nope. According to my watch, it's only 10:47 PM."
"Well, last time we got out early and that was way weirder," Leah said.
"Yeah, but this time we might end up with a ticket on the van. The park closed hours ago, even with the festival," Isabella countered.
"Oh, damn it." She pulled a flashlight out the emergency kit. "Let's go."
There was indeed a ticket on the van for illegal parking. Isabella put it in her purse to take care of later.
"What's that song? The one that goes, 'Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin', into the future?'" Maryann asked.
"'Fly Like an Eagle,' by the Steve Miller Band," Nora answered promptly.
"That was our day. Slippin' into the future."
"I could do without that."
"Yeah, me too." She sighed. "I liked that ring. I mean, I know I had to give it away so I can get it back, but still."
"You can always get another one if you really want," Leah said.
"I might do that. And maybe I'll write a song about this."
"It would be nice to get something out of this," Nora said dryly.
"Hey, we saved a whole village of nice little goblin people," Leah replied sharply. "That's definitely something."
"Okay, yes, that was the right thing to do," she conceded. "I'm just a little annoyed we lost so much time today. The right thing seems to set us back."
"I'm sure it'll all work out in the end," Maryann said cheerfully.
"You would think so," she muttered.
"You'll see. One day we'll be famous and we'll have to do all kinds of interviews and famous people will ask us where we get our inspiration," she replied brightly.
"And what will we tell them?"
Maryann opened her mouth and shut it again. "You know," she said, looking flustered, "that's a really good question. We should probably think of some answers before hand."
Nora rolled her eyes and kind of laughed. "Oh, Maryann."
The redhead got out her notebook. "Okay, help me out here..."
And they headed to a hotel for a short night's sleep before getting on the road again.
The Lyrics:
Everything new becomes old
Everything old is new again
The past and future get mixed up
And I don't know where I've been.
This place seems familiar
Does it seem familiar to you
Are we just walking in circles?
Or is this just déjà vu?
Refrain: 'Round and 'round we go
On this strange circular trip
But there's a twist in the middle
When walking on a Möbius strip.
We're run this circuit before
We've been around this track
I thought we were going forward
But maybe we're going back?
Everything old is new again
Everything new becomes old
History will repeat itself
And time will start to unfold.
Refrain:
This has already happened
We've done this before
Why is this happening again?
Going around is such a chore.
How can there be a loop
In what's supposed to be a line?
Better do what's already been done
And everything will