Chapter 44: Call

Lillian sat in the dining hall, confused about what she should or shouldn't be doing. The servants came into the room and cleared everything up in a flash, barely casting a glance her way.

What did I agree to? Just what could it be?

He said something about a meeting, right? Meeting for what? And why would he want me there? I haven't shown anything that would prove I am a good asset to the meeting.

Everything's happening too fast, I can't figure out anything, nor can I keep up.

Compared to Roman's one, this wish is much harder than I expected. I thought everything will be ok once I revealed what he held closest to him but nope. Nothing changed.

Well, they seem closer. At least that's there.

Speaking of Roman … Is Jasmine ok?

_____________

"I am not ok." Jasmine gasped, holding the light up to reveal another fifty different tunnel entrances. Her dress and face are caked with dirt and her hair tied up in a bun. "I need a bath and I need to sleep. How long has it been since I saw Lillian? I hope she's fine."

She walked to one of the entrances, seeing the mark she made on it, she turned away to another entrance. Almost all of them had marks and Jasmine collapsed to the ground, tried and frustrations welling up in her.

She rested her back against the wall and laughed, "If only Rose could see me now. Is she doing ok? I pray they are ok."

"I'm not making any progress if only I could use my magic." She sighed taking a sip of water from the water bag in her bag, remembering how she ran when she first used her magic to find the King as the creatures came out of nowhere and started chasing her.

The inscriptions are also behaving strangely, wriggling like worms occasionally, with more and more of it appearing every time she looked away.

Taking out a book from her bag, she flipped the pages that she filled copying the inscriptions down while she rested. Opening to a new page, she began filling it with the new inscriptions that just appeared.

"I should send these to Lillian. Someone might be able to interpret them." Jasmine thought, then sighed again, "Thankfully, I know the King is still safe. But … for how long?"

Before they left, Margaret cast a spell on Jasmine and the King so that, if they ever separated and one or the other was in a life-threatening situation, the other would appear.

They were about to include Lillian but she disappeared and they didn't have the time to wait.

She's just in her own world most of the time.

Jasmine smiled. No matter how cheery she tries to portray herself, there's always something so off about her. Her smiles hardly ever reach her eyes.

"Well, that's it." Jasmine placed the pen down and took out the mirror Lillian called her in. The second time she called, the mirror didn't disappear from her hands so she shoved it in her bag and continued walking around.

"How do I call? Do I just command?" Jasmine laughed while inspecting the mirror, "This feels like Rose the first time she tried to use a smartphone in Lillian's world. Goodness."

The mirror she held was purely made from Aquamarine, from the handle to tiny details on it. The handle is shaped like the trunk bottom of the Old Sage and the head of the mirror looked something like the Old Sage's branches and bush of leaves.

Maybe I should treat it as a phone?

"Uhhh … Call, Lillian? Please." Jasmine said, hesitantly. The surface of the mirror gently rippled as soon as she said that.

"It's working." She held the mirror up to her face, trying to be as gentle as possible. "Thank you for working."

"Jasmine?" Lillian's face came into view. She looks a little tired and not as cheery as before but … she looks happy to see her.

"Hi, Lillian. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Oh, Jasmine, I'm so glad you called. I was just about to call you and you wouldn't imagine my surprise when the mirror appeared by itself. How are you doing? You look …"

"Dirty?"

"No! Why would you think that?" Lillian pouted. "You are beautiful no matter what."

Oh, no. I made her upset.

"I'm sorry, Lillian." Jasmine apologized, flashing her a soft smile "I was only trying to make a joke."

"It's ok. I was just acting anyway. So, did you find him?" Lillian gave her a big toothy grin.

Cute.

"No. I've just been stuck here the past couple of days without any sign of progress and I end up in the same place over and over again."

"That's really annoying. Are you sure you don't want my help? I can come down there and we can ****** some, ****** and ******, with *******. What do you say?"

Ah~ I forgot about that.

"Lillian?" Jasmine slowly strung her name out, sending chills down Lillian's spine.

"Y-yes?"

"Please tell me you aren't using those languages in the palace and are maintaining proper speech and decorum." She asked, smiling but her intentions were anything gentle.

"Of course. I maintain p-"

"Lillian? Why did you stop?"

"AHHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Lillian's eyes widened and panic became thick in her voice.

"Lillian?"

"I'm doing my best." She finally answered. "It's not perfect but, I'm trying."

"Ok. As long as you don't argue with the King then we are fine." Jasmine's smile froze midway when she saw Lillian's fidgety gaze when she said 'don't argue with the King'.

"Lil-"

"Did I tell you how attractive the King is?" Lillian quickly started speaking, "He has this extremely long black hair and always wears long flowing robes and gold. He's so attractive I feel like crying just from seeing his face."

"What about compared to our King?"

"Ohhh~ That's bad, Jasmine. You can't compare both of them."

"Really? Why not? They are both Kings. Is it their age?"

"No, not that. Both are beautiful but they have very different kinds of beauty. You can't compare a sunset to a garden of flowers but they are beautiful none the less. Oh, is there a way we can capture images like with a cellphone here?"

"Hmmmm~ I don't think so. But you can ask the Princess. How's the wish going?"

"Ugh. Where to begin?" Lillian asked, then began recounting everything that happened, up until that point as fast as she could.

"So you're sure that the wish isn't fulfilled yet?"

"Yes. It's just a gut feeling but I know it isn't granted yet. Does that make sense?"

"Yes. I understand. Maybe you need to dig deeper. After all, you are the Fairy Godmother of Love."

"That's what I've been wondering about. Just how am I- Oh- Yes?" Lillian looked away from Jasmine and began walking, the mirror in her hand.

"Yes?" Lillian asked, pulling open a door and hiding the mirror behind the door so Jasmine could only see the white wood.

"I brought these for you to change into."

"You didn't have to, Princess. But … thank you."

"It is my pleasure. Now, go get ready. I will send someone to escort you to the meeting room."

"Alright. Thank you."

"Oh, yeah, the book." Jasmine bent down and picked the book that she wrote on up while Lillian turned from her persona back to her normal face and body.

"Are you still there, Jasmine?" Lillian asked, clutching the mirror in one hand and the clothes in another.

"Yes. Was that the princess?" Jasmine asked, still not looking up from the book as she flipped through the pages.

"Yup. She's a good kid. She's so lucky to have a father like the King." Lillian grabbed the pillow and screamed into it as Jasmine finally looked up.

"Why don't you just accept the King's proposition then?" She teased.

"No! I want to date him. What will happen if I become his daughter? Don't tease me like that, Jasmine, I actually felt my heart breaking." Lillian spoke, dramatically placing her hand on her heart.

"Ok. Ok. Sorry." Jasmine giggled. "Oh, Lillian. I need to ask you to do something. I know you're busy bu-"

"No! I'm ready! Tell me anything."

"You're so enthusiastic about work being given to you."

"That's because … you don't really talk to me much except to check up on me. And, you've always been helping me so selflessly. So I want to be able to do something for you too." Lillian said, nervously scratching the back of her head.

"OK, Lillian. I need you to see if you can interpret these symbols." Jasmine used a faint amount of her magic and sent the book over from her side to Lillian through the mirror.

"Wow, magic is convenient." Lillian grabbed the book and smiled, just then she realized something. "Wait … why are you using magic? Those creatures will be after you."

"Oh right, that was how your body separated from your consciousness right?" Jasmine placed her hands on her face, a thought coming to her.

"Jasmine?" Lillian called, concern filling her voice.

"Hmmm? Oh, you should go get ready, Lillian. I will take care of things here." Jasmine smiled at her but Lillian felt more uneasy with that smile.

"Y-you're not going to do anything stupid, right?"

"Who do you think I am, Lillian? Now go. I need to keep looking … Again."

"… Ok. Take care. Call me if anything happens."

"Sure. All the best, Lillian." Jasmine waved as the mirror turned dark. She shoved the mirror into her bag and released a deep breath along with a large wave of magic.

Threads of light immerged from her fingertips and entered the entrances, moving like spider webs being woven together as they entered deeper and deeper in.

"I knew it. Now," She began retracting them the moment they reached dead ends at every corner of the tunnels. "Come to me."