You read the first riddle over and over again to yourself as you and Raven left the school, crossed the Troll Bridge, and entered the Village of Book End. The cobblestone main street was mostly empty, the shop fronts quiet, doors closed, as if the village were in mourning. The news of Maddie’s banishment must have already spread.

Raven: Whispers three, whispers three…Glowing in forests… curses, I can’t make sense of it. You know who is really good at solving riddles?

Y/N: Maddie, and we can’t ask her. How about Kitty Cheshire? She’s a Wonderlandian, too. I bet she’s royally good at riddles.

Raven: But she’s terrible at keeping secrets. How about Lizzie Hearts?

You winced.

Y/N: I rather not drag anyone else in this. I had to pretty much fight Ruby to keep her from coming. And, honestly, I don't feel all good with you coming along either.

Raven: Tough luck. Besides....

Y/N: Further proof that Maddie is indispensable! We can’t risk asking her, but we should go to the tea shop, anyway. The riddle mentions tea twice. It’s our best clue.

And right now, your only lead. You had about 21 hours before you were banished alongside Maddie.

Raven: But… but Maddie will be there all day with her dad, and imagine how she’ll feel when we can’t talk to her.

Y/N: Raven, we’re doing this for her, and if telling her would break the spell…

Raven stopped before the red front door of the Mad Hatter of Wonderland’s Haberdashery & Tea Shoppe. She took a deep breath.

Raven: Okay, but this is going to be terrible, because not only can’t we talk to Maddie at all… well, we can’t even risk thinking about the spell while we’re with her.

You nodded.

Y/N: Right. Maddie sometimes hears, um, a voice she calls the Narrator, and that ‘Narrator’ reports on what people are thinking.

She figured you would have known about that.

Raven: Alright. Clear your thoughts.

You took a deep breath let your mind go blank and opened the door.

The first thing you noticed was the quiet. Usually the tea shop was full of chatting customers, their conversations like the harmony to the melody of piping teakettles and clinking silverware.

The Mad Hatter was sitting at one of the empty tables. His large, black-and-white-striped top hat in his hands, his thinning mint-green hair exposed.

Mad Hatter: No room! We’re closed!

He was always shouting silly things like that, but this time you believed him.

Mad Hatter: Oh, it’s you, Raven Queen.

The Mad Hatter smiled wide around his bucked front teeth.

Mad Hatter: How is a Raven like a writing desk?

Raven: Neither is able to feel happy today.

The Mad Hatter nodded, and his smile slipped away.

Mad Hatter: I’m going with her, of course. Closing up shop. Do you think they like tea in Neverland?

Y/N: I've heard they prefer coffee, unfortunately. We were hoping to get some tea from you just now.

The Mad Hatter looked at you.

Mad Hatter: Ah, you just be Ozzie. I have to thank you for your wild idea to join us in our banishment.

That was....nice?

Y/N: Do you know what kind of tea would involve willows and whispers and glowing in forests?

Mad Hatter: Ah, will o’ the wisps tea! An exotic brew. Never made any in the shop… always meant to…

He looked around wistfully at the walls covered in doors, the empty tables set for a teatime that wouldn’t come.

Mad Hatter: I’ll just go fetch my copy of Recipes for Teas, Tales, and Time.

The Mad Hatter went into the kitchen just as Maddie came out. You stiffened. You heard Raven squeak.

Maddie: Ozzie!

Maddie hopped over to them on one foot.

Maddie: And Raven! I knew you’d stay with me on my last day. I knew you didn’t forget about me after I hopped off.

Raven shook her head but pressed her lips together.

Maddie: Sometimes I hop when I’m sad. Because it’s hard to stay sad when you’re hopping. Your feet bounce your middle and your middle wants to laugh. Try it!

You stood on one leg and hopped. You didn’t feel like laughing.

Maddie: Raven, are you gloomy and goosey again? You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be okay. In Neverland. With the— ah— ah— ACHOO! Excuse me. With all the pirates and things. I just… I’ll miss you so much. When I think about it, I want to…

Maddie screwed up her face as if fighting off tears. She took a deep breath, bent one leg, and hopped madly around the room. She returned with her smile again in place.

Maddie: Hey, why are you two so quiet?

You cleared your thoughts, focusing on anything other than....no, you wouldn’t think it. Instead, you think about bunnies. Cute, little, fuzzy bunnies with wiggly noses.

Maddie: Ozzie, why do you keep thinking about bunnies?

You cleared your thoughts. Bunnies, bunnies, bunnies…

Maddie giggled.

Maddie: I love bunnies, too. Are you trying to cheer me up?

BUNNIES. BUNNIES. THINKING ABOUT BUNNIES.

You felt a light sweat begin to glisten on your forehead.

Maddie: Something strange is going on...

Maddie looked at you while squinting through one eye.

Maddie: Narrator? Why are they acting squirrelly? Like squirrels without hats even?

Maddie tried to get the Narrator to explain, but the Narrator’s job was to observe, not spoil secrets.

Maddie: Secrets? What secrets?

Just what Raven and you were… um… Bunnies. So many bunnies.

Maddie: Narrator? You too?

Mad Hatter: Here it is!

The Mad Hatter returned from the kitchen.

Mad Hatter: I found the recipe in this book. And I found the book in a hat. And I found the hat in a closet. And I found the closet under the table, though how the closet got under there I’ll never know.

You read the recipe as quickly as you could. You had to get out of there soon or she would.....

BUNNIES. BUNNIES!

You handed the book back to Maddie’s dad, and you and Raven turned to leave.

Maddie: You’re leaving? You’re just going? But… but I… I was hoping....

You didn’t look back. BUNNIES. You ran outside, Raven following, both of you breathing heavily as if you’d been holding your breath as well as your thoughts. You kept running down the block till the tea shop was out of sight.

Raven sat on the edge of a fountain and covered her face with her hands.

Raven: Did you see Maddie’s face? She thought that I didn’t care.

Y/N: Let’s get this over with fast so you can explain. According to the recipe, we’re going to need to find will o’ the wisps in the Enchanted Forest and make them into tea, which could take hours, and this is just the first item of six. We’d better split up.

Raven nodded.

Raven: I agree. We have less than a day to solve all the riddles, collect the items, learn the spell, and use it to defend Maddie and stop you both from being banished.

Y/N: Right. So, I’ll go chase will o’ the wisps? And you can tackle the next incomprehensible item on the list.

You waved good-bye and ran. Every minute you took crossing the school grounds, the footbridge, and the meadow toward the Enchanted Forest was one minute less in the day. You tried not to think about the Kingdom Management quiz the day after tomorrow, or that paper due in Funding Public Interests, or that work sheet for Experimental Fairy Math you were supposed to be doing, or....

Maddie.

Right now, Maddie is more important than protecting perfect grades. A good ruler thinks first of their own subjects. Uh, people subjects, not school subjects. Hocus focus, Y/N!

The moment you crossed under the canopy and into the shadows of the Enchanted Forest, a white streak slammed into your chest, knocking you to the ground.

Y/N: Ah, hey, Kansas. Good to see you, buddy.

You sat up and looked at your furry companion. Although, it looked like he got smaller. You tilted your head confused.

Y/N: How are you.....

The stag suddenly grew back to his usual size. Then, he shrunk down to the size of a medium sized dog. Though, you did get an idea.

Y/N: Kansas, mate, I’m trying to find a will o’ the wisp. Can you help?

Kansas reached forward to touch his cold black nose to your’s, then he launched herself off your knee and began to run. You followed her loping white shape deeper and deeper into the forest. The shadows were so dark they gleamed purple.

They reminded you of the Evil Queen. She hadn’t been quite as scary as you had imagined. She was just Raven’s mother, right? She was helping you, wasn’t she?

Besides, as evil as she was, the Evil Queen was still an elder with a lot of knowledge and experience, and you thought it wise to learn what you could. From the Greatest Evil There Ever Was. As you went about on her errands. Collecting spell ingredients.

Up ahead was a clearing with a grand gray willow tree at each end. From afar you could see a glowing sphere about the size of a baseball bobbing above the ground on a breeze. Suddenly it disappeared. You had spotted these will o’ the wisps in the past, but until reading that passage in the Mad Hatter’s recipe book, you hadn’t understood what they were.

Faerie is a realm alongside our own, invisible to most. Only its residents—fairies, pixies, sprites, and such—move freely between it and Ever After. Sometimes, on full moon nights or right after a rainfall, one may catch a breath of Faerie flowers, their rich scents passing briefly into our world. Besides Faerie’s residents and the occasional aromas, another traveler from There to Here are the will o’ the wisps.

One of Faerie’s most beautiful flowers is the enchanting dandyrose.

At the end of a dandyrose’s life, it erupts into a puff of downy white seeds called will o’ the wisps. They are so light they sometimes catch a breeze in our world and cross over, especially near willow trees.

They disappear and reappear as they move back and forth between Faerie and Ever After. Will o’ the wisps glow in the nonmagical light of our realm. They follow whispers, and so serve as an interesting ball in the pixie game of Wisp Whispering.

Not until you stood on the edge of the clearing could you hear the whispers.

Tiny pixies flew around the field, some guarding the goal zones by each willow tree, others surrounding the glowing ball, whispering madly at it. Half wore blue jerseys, half green, both sides tackling each other, trying to keep members of the opposite team away from the ball.

When the will o’ the wisp disappeared, the two pixies on the sidelines began screeching words you didn’t understand. Both teams of pixies spread out over the field, forming a grid pattern.

A few moments passed, and the pixies waited, spinning in place, watching. When the ball winked back into existence farther down the field, the nearest pixies swooped to it, tackling one another and whispering at the ball to follow, follow.

You tiptoed up to the two pixies who were hovering off to the side; one in blue, one in green, who you assumed were the coaches.

Y/N: Pardon me. I’m sorry to interrupt your fascinating game, but I need a favor, please.

One of the pixies flew by your ear, buzzed loudly, and flitted away. The other made a noise you would swear was laughter.

Y/N: Um, I really need a will o’ the wisp. It’s to help a friend?

The pixies were screeching at the players, completely ignoring Apple now.

“Can you help me, please?” Apple asked.

The pixies glanced at you and returned their attention to the game.

You sighed. They weren't as easily influenced as people were. Harder to persuade. Perhaps they didn’t speak your language.

You knew someone who surely spoke theirs.

Y/N: Kansas, mate, do you think you could find Ashlynn Ella?
------------
You waited for only a few moments before Kansas returned with Ashlynn in pursuit.

Y/N: Wow, that was fast.

Ashlynn: I was nearby waiting for… someone…

Ashlynn cleared her throat.

Ashlynn: Kansas said you needed my help?

Y/N: Yes, I need to make will o’ the wisps tea for… something…

You also cleared your throat. Apparently, you both had secrets.

Y/N: And I was wondering....

Ashlynn: Pixies!

One of the pixie coaches yodeled, and the two teams flew off the court and straight to Ashlynn, buzzing around her, tidying her hair, giving her tiny kisses on the tip of her nose and ears. Ashlynn giggled. They jabbered in high voices you couldn’t understand any more than you could understand the buzz of a honeybee, but Ashlynn had no trouble.

Ashlynn: It’s so good to see you all, too. Who’s winning today? Really? Wouldn’t that give the blue team three straight wins? I see, how fascinating. Yes, I’m sure the green team has an excellent chance. I see you recruited two new whisperers. Oh my, now don’t tell me that, you know my fondness for moths. Yes, of course I’ll let you get back to the game, I was just wondering, do you have a spare wisp my dear friend Y/N could have?

There was indeed a spare wisp wandering just out of bounds behind a willow tree. Several pixies from both teams whispered it over to Y/N. You thanked them and held the glowing thing in your hands. It tickled your palm like a static-electric feather.

Before it could disappear, you removed your  ring from your finger and threaded some of the wisp through it. The Mad Hatter’s book had said only metal would ground the wisp in Ever After until it could be brewed.

The pixies returned to their game, and Ashlynn watched them for a few moments, cheering moves you didn’t quite catch.

Ashlynn: I should go, I have to, uh, meet that someone.

Y/N: Thanks, Ashlynn!

You turned and hurry off to get to the next riddle.

You felt the will o’ the wisp vibrate in your hand, as if it had caught a breeze in Faerie and would have passed over if not for the little gold ring anchoring it in Ever After. You began to run. You needed to get that wisp into a teapot and tackle the next riddle.

This was going to be a long day. But, for Maddie’s sake, would it be long enough?