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"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." - Roald Dahl
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TTerrified screams were all Aura could muster as she plummeted towards the ground. The wind rushed through her ears at a deafening volume, making it impossible to hear anything but her rapid heartbeat.

Bailey quickly tucked her arms and legs close to her core, accelerating her speed to catch up with her friend. The two struggled to keep their eyes open as Bailey yelled at the top of her lungs for Aura to get ready for impact.

Aura squeezed her eyes shut as she dove into a leafy canopy of trees. Bracing for her body to collide with the ground, she drew a final breath into her lungs and pulled her arms closer to her chest. Moments passed as the rushing air came to a sudden halt. The muscles in Aura's body relaxed as she hesitantly opened one of her eyes. She was met with dark green grass nearly an inch away from touching the tip of her nose. Carefully, she stretched out her trembling arms and laid her palms onto the soft earth. Slowly, Aura lowered her hovering body until the entire front of her figure touched the ground.

Aura slowly took deep breaths, letting the sweet scent of irises crowd her senses. The flowers calmed her heartbeat, allowing her to sit up.

She scurried to her feet and frantically took in dense oak trees as tall as skyscrapers painting the landscape in a rich shade of green. Thick foliage filled in the space between the trees, soaking up the sunlight peeking through the canopy of leaves. Aura snapped her head around as she attempted to regain her bearings.

Bailey rushed over to her friend, putting her hands on her shoulders in an effort to capture her attention. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

Aura evaded her questions, hurriedly scanning the trees. "We need to find Cora."

A wave of relief crashed over her as the sound of her sister calling her name reached her ears. She spun around and out of Bailey's grasp to see her sister step out from behind a thick tree trunk.

Carolyn ran to her sister, pulling her into a tight hug until they both regained their composure.

Aura broke away from her sister's arms and looked over her shoulder at Bailey. "How did we not die from that fall?"

Bailey hesitated. "Well..." Her gaze shifted between her hand and theirs.

The twins looked down at their hands to see the gems of their rings glowing with a light golden sheen.

Carolyn sputtered out questions at a rapid speed, baffled by the incandescent band on her finger. Aura remained silent, sending silent prayers up to the heavens above as she desperately clung onto what little amount of fortitude remained within her.

"I gave you those rings as more than a sign of friendship or a birthday present," Bailey divulged. "Think of them as protection talismans."

"In what world does jewelry protect someone from a plummet of 15,000 feet?" Carolyn flinched at each rustling of a bush and snapping of a twig stemming from deep within the forest, grabbing onto her locket to feel something she knew was real. "Where the hell are we?" She fought to remain on her feet, leaning down to rest her hands on her thighs to conceal her trembling.

Bailey slung a maroon cloak over her shoulders, retrieving the rest of their items from the forest floor. "I'll explain everything to you on the way — honest." She passed a dark brown cloak to Aura and a midnight blue one to Carolyn. The sisters slung on their disguises, shooting leery glances at the brunette.

"Why are you looking at me as if I'm going to kill you?" Bailey asked with a raised brow as she opened her satchel.

"I don't know, maybe because two minutes ago we were in an attic in suburban Massachusetts and now we've fallen into some forest that definitely reminds me of every horror movie I've seen," Carolyn snapped, crossing her arms.

With a roll of her eyes, Bailey pulled out a small gold compass and an aged, yellowing map. She studied them for a moment before pointing to her left. "We need to go northwest. There's a refugee camp not too far away from here that will house us."

"A refugee camp? What do you know that we don't?" Aura sputtered out.

"If we don't leave now, we are risking being killed." Bailey's voice was filled with a dark urgency that sent shivers down her friends' spines. "I am begging you, please let me answer your questions once we reach safety."

Despite being emphatically untrusting, the twins stiffly nodded and tentatively followed their evasive friend through the thick foliage. It wasn't long before a beaten dirt path came into view. As they walked, the twins tried to take in their new surroundings, far too fearful to admire the wildlife hidden in the brush.

Soon bushes started to crawl out onto the path, and the canopy of trees gradually thickened. Faint at first, but quickly crescendoing, the click-clack of hooves clobbering on the dirt rose not far ahead of them.

Bailey quickly pulled the twins off the path as a team of black mares pulling a carriage came into view. As it neared the girls, the driver forced the horses to a stop. Bailey eyed the carriage, tensing at the silver crest of a wolf that was mounted on the door. "Keep your hoods up. Don't look at anyone and don't say a word."

The twins did as instructed as the carriage door smoothly opened.

A broad-shouldered man exited the stagecoach, and, with his hands behind his back, sauntered over to the three. His beady grey eyes raked over their bodies as his tall frame loomed over them.

"May we help you, Your Excellency?" Bailey, as politely as she could, asked with a small curtsey. Keeping their eyes diverted from the man's piercing stare, Aura and Carolyn followed Bailey's movements.

"Yes, actually." He spoke in a slimy growl that could nauseate the strongest of stomachs. "My men and I were riding through and couldn't help but wonder why three young ladies, like yourselves, would be wandering through the forest. Alone."

Bailey hesitated slightly, selecting her words prudently. "We're going to visit a friend in Crystia, Sir."

The man's sharp gaze intensified as he searched Bailey's face. His gaze soon drifted over to the twins, an evil glimmer reaching his eyes as he inspected the faded black Converse on Carolyn's feet. Her face grew pale with shameful realization as she followed his gaze.

A smirk slithered onto his face. "Then my men and I will escort you. You never know what dangers may be lurking in these woods," he said casually.

"Thank you for your kind gesture, Sir, but we can manage the rest of our journey. May your fate stay true." As Bailey turned to walk, the man grabbed her wrist and turned her back to face him.

"That wasn't up for opposition." The official turned to the small fleet of soldiers waiting on horseback behind the stagecoach. "Get the chains." The men jumped off their steeds with iron cuffs in hand.

Bailey's tense stance softened when she heard a faint rustle of leaves. She eyed a nearby tree to catch a glimpse of the fletchings of a pack of arrows before being pulled to the side of a horse. The rusty metal scratched her skin as handcuffs clamped around her's and the twins' wrists.

The twins snuck a glance at Bailey who simply mouthed, "Stay calm."

Carolyn ignored her friend's wishes and kneed her captor in the groin, making him double over in pain. In one swift motion, the ringleader was at her side with a sharp blade held up to her throat.

"Try that again and we won't be so forgiving."

Carolyn took in shaky breaths and squeezed her eyes shut as one of the soldiers gripped her chains and mounted his horse.

The stoic caravan lurched forward as they continued on the path. As they sluggishly traveled down the road, the same faint rustling followed. It went unnoticed by the soldiers, but Bailey eyed the thick foliage carefully. A hawk soared over the group, loudly calling out into the wilderness.

A forceful whirr pierced the air as two arrows lodged themselves in the dirt in front of the carriage, spooking the horses and driving the carriage to a halt. More arrows began to rain down, surrounding the group.

"Get down!" Bailey screamed before diving into the dirt, covering her head.

The twins were quick to do the same, just as an arrow knocked the soldier next to Carolyn off his horse.

The twins kept their heads down but couldn't block out the sounds of arrows flying through the air, metal clashing, and the screams of the soldiers. Suddenly, Aura and Carolyn felt themselves being hoisted up from the ground and thrown onto the backs of horses.

Before she could even open her eyes, Carolyn's chained wrists were wrapped around a muscular body and she was moving at a rapid speed. When her eyes did open, the trees were a blur of deep green and the sound of battle quickly faded.

"You alright back there?" the man in green in front of her called over his shoulder.

Carolyn tried to forcefully swing her arms over his body. "As I'm being abducted for the second time? Let me go!"

She looked over to her right in the midst of her protests to see Aura seated in the same position on a different horse. Her eyes were squeezed shut; her delicate face scrunched up into a look of pure terror. She held onto the large man in front of her like her life depended on it, and as far as she knew, it did.

Bailey, behind a taller man on a third horse, matched the two other steeds' speed and looked over at the man Carolyn was seated behind. "How much further 'til we reach camp?"

"Twenty faids," the man replied in his deep voice. His accent sounded similar to a British one, like Bailey's, and like the people they had come across in the forest so far.

"A friendly captor, lucky me," Carolyn mumbled as she watched the forest whirr by. The small fleet of horses veered off the path and began trekking through the untamed woods. They jumped over logs and roots, weaved their way through mazes of thick trees, and ducked under low-hanging branches.

When he felt they had put enough distance between them and the soldiers, the man in green slowed his horse to a trot, with the others quickly following his lead. The entire time they traveled, all the twins could do was take in their new surroundings and create an endless list of questions they needed answers to.

"We sure scared the cac outta them, didn't we boys?" The man Bailey was sitting behind called to the other men in the party.

"Yeah, your face sure made them run for the hills, Scarlet," the large man on Aura's horse retorted in his deep growl of a voice.

The other men howled with laughter, all except the man in green. Carolyn didn't even feel the slightest inkling of humor vibrating through his body.

"Hold on," the man in green said quietly to Carolyn before whipping his horse's reins, diving down a steep hill into a wide dell. The other men followed them as they once again broke into a gallop.

They followed a small stream for a couple of miles until returning to higher ground.

The small convoy slowed their horses to a walk as the distance between each tree increased and the ground became more traveled. The faint sound of a crowd reached the twins' ears as they neared a thick wall of foliage.

The man in green whistled to one of the men behind him who shot a bullseye hidden in the thick leaves of a towering oak, causing the wall of ivy to part and reveal a bustling camp situated in a large clearing.

The group eased their horses through the crowd before reaching a large pen where a group of chestnut stallions grazed. The pen keeper nodded at the man in green with a smile before opening the gate. The rider then carefully detangled himself from Carolyn's chains and helped her dismount before the pen keeper led the horse in.

For the first time, Carolyn could finally get a good look at the man who helped her escape. He looked about eighteen years old, with warm beige skin. His golden-brown hair was mostly hidden by a dark green bycoket that matched the shade of his almond-shaped eyes. His strong jawline was clenched as his calloused hands inspected the cuffs around Carolyn's wrists.

Aura ran over to her and hugged her the best she could.

The man in green looked to one of his comrades. "John, grab one of my arrows."

The giant of a man did as he was asked and brought back a simple, yet expertly crafted, arrow.

The man in green jabbed the sharp arrowhead into the cuff's lock and fiddled it back and forth until the lock let out a soft click and fell off of Carolyn's wrist. He repeated the same actions with her other wrist and the other girls'.

"Thank you," Bailey said with a smile before pulling the man into a tight hug. Aura and Carolyn exchanged a look as Bailey turned to the twins. "This is Robin. Robin, this is Carolyn and Aura."

Robin nodded stiffly to the girls. "Pleasure. Sorry our first introduction wasn't exactly ideal."

"Ideal? We almost got kidnapped!" Carolyn exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"Arrested, actually, but with the stunt you pulled you almost got yourself killed," Robin was quick to reply, causing Carolyn to let out a small scoff.

"Well, we're lucky you stepped in when you did," Bailey said with an appreciative smile. "But why on earth were you staking out in the trees, hmm? Were you trying to ambush the tax carriage, again?"

"Tax carriage?" Aura said, her eyebrows knitting in confusion.

Robin shrugged, handing the arrow back to John. "Sheriff taxed Nottingham a little too hard this month, so I simply wanted to give what's rightfully the townsfolk's back to them."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on." Carolyn began listing on her fingers, "Nottingham, a greedy, pervy sheriff, and a man in green called 'Robin'...we wouldn't happen to be in Sherwood Forest, would we?"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "...Yes? Where did you think you were?"

Carolyn turned to Bailey. "I guess I'll just add that to the list of things you failed to mention."

Bailey grimaced. "I was planning on it, but the Sheriff interrupted."

"You don't strike me as a professional criminal," Carolyn said, turning back to Robin with her arms crossed.

"That's what makes me so good at it," Robin replied dryly. He cleared his throat before turning to Bailey. "I trust you can give your friends a tour of camp?"

She simply nodded in response.

"Great." Robin walked over to one of the horses and opened the compartment on its saddle, pulling out four large burlap pouches clanging with coins. He threw one to each of the men before mounting one of the chestnut steeds in the pen. The other three men followed Robin's lead before the calvary of four galloped into the foliage.

Aura spun to face Bailey. "Spill."

Bailey walked to a nearby dark grey boulder and leaned against it, gesturing for her friends to join her.

"Where are we? Because it's pretty obvious we aren't in Massachusetts anymore," Carolyn said, crossing her arms.

"We're in Fabula."

Before either of her friends could speak, Bailey quickly continued, "I know it sounds insane, but I'm from here. Not England."

"So... where exactly is here?"

"That mirror in your attic was a portal, it took us here from Earth..." she trailed off, unsure how to broach the subject. "You know those old books of fairytales we found—you two were confused by the happily ever afters. It sounds entirely impossible, but those stories live on in this world. The princesses, and the villains, are all real."

"I fell through a mirror today that transported me to the Sherwood Forest. I don't know that I believe in impossible anymore," Carolyn stated soberly and stared at her shoes.

"Let's say for a moment that what you're saying is true," Aura began in a dubious tone. "Why are we here? And why was Gran hiding a mirror in an attic that could bring us here?"

Bailey took a deep breath, rubbing her sweating palms onto her skirt. "Because...because you're from here too."

"No, no. We were born at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. You saw the records in the attic!" Carolyn exclaimed, pointing toward the direction from which they came. "How could we be from here?"

"If we were born here like you say we were, then does that mean our parents could still be alive?" Aura looked at her friend with big, wistful eyes. "I mean, if our birth certificates were somehow forged, then that means there's a possibility that the newspaper article could be, too."

"I wish I could answer that, but I honestly don't know." Bailey sought desperately to console her friends. "You have to understand, I wanted to tell you—"

"—When you talk about the fairytales," Carolyn started before Bailey could assuage her guilt. "Do you mean that they're supposed to have happy endings?"

"It's a long story. One that I think you should hear from your grandmother."

Carolyn let out a deep sigh. "Is that everything you know?"

"That's the gist of it."

"So why keep it from us all this time?" Aura spoke up, hating how the hurt caused her voice to sound weak.

"I feared the reaction I'm receiving right now. I didn't know if you would believe me, and I didn't want you to be mad at your Gran for her not telling you."

"There's no way that she could keep all of this from us. Why would she hide an entire world for 16 years?"

"I can't speak for her." The brunette took the sisters' hands in her own. "But I can speak for myself. I'm so sorry for not telling you sooner, but I knew that it wasn't my secret to share."

As the trio got up to walk the camp, the twins' minds raced with never-ending questions. How could any of this be real? If this was their new reality, then how were they to deal with it?

They passed clumps of shabby canvas tents and children pretending to fight with sticks as swords and with large pieces of bark as shields. As they neared the heart of the camp, the clanging of blacksmiths' anvils reached their ears and the smell of fresh-baked bread overwhelmed their senses. Situated in the very center of the camp was a large fire pit where men were piling roughly chopped wood. As they walked around the stone-lined pit, people whispered to one another, their eyes glued to the twins.

"Um...why are they all staring at us?" Aura asked suspiciously.

Bailey's eyes darted around, her mind searching for an answer. "They don't get a lot of newcomers, that's all," she quickly sputtered out, sounding as if she was reassuring herself more than her friends. "Hungry?"

Bailey led the twins to a larger stall where a long line of people clutching worn wooden bowls patiently waited. Behind the lopsided wood counter, a woman with peach skin and long copper hair stood over a large stone basin filled with steaming broth.

Carolyn nudged Aura who followed her sister's gaze.

"Who is that?" Carolyn spoke to Bailey in a low whisper as to not draw attention to herself.

She couldn't help but be slightly taken aback by Carolyn cutting through the tense silence that had fallen over them.

Bailey gave a warm smile to an elderly woman who handed small pieces of bread to the trio. She let out a contented sigh, turning her head towards the twins as they moved through the line. "That would be Marian."

Aura's eyes widened. "As in Robin's Marian?"

"The one and only," Bailey spoke stiffly through a tight-lipped smile. "She and Robin have been attached at the hip for a couple years."

"So, what," Carolyn raised her eyebrow at Bailey's tense posture, "We don't like her?"

As they neared the young woman Bailey mumbled under her breath, "Let's just say she doesn't like me."

The twins held out their dishes to Marian, who did a double-take when Bailey caught her eye.

"Bailey Pic?" she spoke in a soft melody before revealing a pearly white smile. "I thought we weren't supposed to see you for a few months?" Her accent matched that of the other people the twins had met, but was far more proper, with a hint of hauteur.

Bailey feigned excitement, failing horribly. "Hi, Marian. Had a slight change of plans."

Marian scooped a portion of clear broth into each of their bowls. "Well, seeing you is always a pleasure."

Carolyn's eyes lit up at the sound of passive-aggressive tones in the two girls' voices. "I don't think we've met." She outstretched her free hand to shake Marian's. "I'm Carolyn, and this is my sister Aura."

Marian carefully studied the twins' features, warily extending her hand. "Delighted." She promptly turned her attention back to Bailey. "I'd best get back to serving, I wouldn't want to keep the people waiting. I suppose I'll see you at Oílume?"

Bailey gave her a half-hearted smile before leading the twins through the rest of the line.

"What's the 'Oílume?'" Aura asked in between gulps of watery stew while Bailey continued the camp tour.

She led them down a small path where older women were milling flowers into vibrant powders. "It's our way of saying celebration. It's become a tradition here in order to give thanks for what people do have." Bailey looked behind her shoulder at the twins. "You'll love it, I promise."

"Okay, Bailes I've got a question," Carolyn interjected.

Bailey turned around fully.

"When do we get to go home?"

"Only a few hours from now. We'll leave late tonight to not attract any unwanted attention. If we stayed overnight, your grandmother would be worried sick by the time we got back."

The twins' tensed up at the thought of confronting their grandmother.

By the time Bailey finally finished her tour, the sun had already begun to set and the fire pit at the heart of the camp was lit ablaze. The twins had hardly heard a word of the rest of Bailey's speech as they wandered through camp, their minds too wrapped up in the impossibility of their circumstance.

Bailey sat in the glow of the flames and stared at the night sky. She placed her chin onto her knees as her eyes traced the few stars she could see.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Aura asked, sitting down onto the cool dirt.

Bailey sighed. "The sky used to be so much more vibrant only a few months ago." She pointed to the two moons peeking behind the rising smoke. "When I visited last you could clearly see them...now you can barely even see their outline."

Carolyn reluctantly approached the duo, sitting next to Aura and admiring the few visible stars. "Never in my life did I think I'd find myself staring up at a night sky with two moons in some alternate world."

Bailey chuckled. "The big one, Ridire, supposedly guards the sky until the sun returns, while that small one, Rúnda, keeps their adventures a secret." She shrugged with one shoulder. "At least that's what I can remember from the stories my mum used to tell me."

The festivities soon started with all of the inhabitants of the camp circling around the fire. A small group of musicians began playing an upbeat jig on fiddles, tambourines, and flutes. Children dragged their parents closer to the center and began to dance to the music. Bystanders clapped to the beat as a few of the women began to sing in an unfamiliar language.

"What're they saying?" Carolyn asked, her curiosity overcoming her apprehension towards her friend.

Bailey smiled. "It's an old wishing song. They're pleading with the moons and the stars to let things go back to what they were while keeping the love that has grown from the hardships." She perked up when two older women stepped through the crowd with baskets filled with powders and herbs.

One after the other, the women threw the colorful dust into the flames, changing it from a warm orange to a vivid purple. As they continued to toss in the botanicals, the smoke created began to morph into silhouettes of flowers and animals. The children of the camp squealed with delight as the smokey creatures descended from the sky and ran in between them. Two clouds of smoke approached the twins and transformed into the shape of deer. The fawns bowed their heads before prancing around them and joining the rest of the silhouettes.

The dancing resumed and people pooled around the fire. The twins allowed themselves to bask in the cheerful energy surrounding them, even forgetting their troubles for a few moments and that what they were seeing was once impossible to them.

Carolyn scanned the crowd, the fire making her eyes glow a glassy amber. Her eyes caught Robin on the other side of the flames, laughing jubilantly with Marian wrapped in his arms.

Carolyn laughed to herself. "And here I was thinking he didn't know how to smile."

"He just needs to warm up to you is all. After that he is a great guy," Bailey said, eyeing the couple carefully.

Soon the fire was extinguished as parents carried their dreaming children back to their tents and others continued to drink gleefully.

Bailey slowly got to her feet and slung her satchel over her shoulder. "Well, it's time we head back." She opened the bag's flap before rummaging through its contents.

Aura and Carolyn waited beside her as patiently as they could, but their bouncing knees showed their true anxiousness to return home.

Bailey froze as a cold realization flooded her mind. She double and triple-checked every trinket in the bag but couldn't find what she was looking for. "This can't be happening..."

"I do not like the sound of that," Carolyn said, her eyes widening.

Bailey looked back up at her friends. "I'm really sorry guys, but we can't go home tonight. I could've sworn I brought everything we would need with—I was in such a rush."

"Wait—so we're stuck here?" Aura asked, her breaths becoming shallower.

"—Just for tonight," the brunette reassured her. "Once the sun rises, we can get what we need and leave, I promise."

"That doesn't exactly calm my nerves!" Aura sat back down onto the ground and cradled her head in her hands.

Bailey carefully approached her, laying her hand on Aura's shoulder. "You'll be safe with me, I won't let anything happen to you."

Her words failed at impacting Aura.

"I don't know how I can trust you when you say that anymore," Aura spoke warily. She glanced down at the ground in shame when Bailey's hand dropped from her shoulder. Aura hated how her words affected her friend, but it would be a lie to say she didn't mean them.

Bailey quickly ran to find Robin, who set the trio up with an empty tent and bedding for the night.

"Get some rest. The earlier we leave camp in the morning, the sooner we can get back to Earth," Bailey said with a yawn. She closed up the tent's mouth before lying down on the mat and quickly slipping into a dream-filled sleep.

The twins, on the other hand, hardly got a wink of sleep that night, their minds haunted by all they had learned that day.

Hello lovelies!
A lot was revealed in this chapter, that's for sure!  New characters, a new world, and a whole lot of new questions that need to be answered.

Question of the day: if you were stuck in a fantasy world, which would it be and why?

Until next chapter!
♡ Melody & Rebekah ♡

P R O N U N C I A T I O N S:
Fabula (Fab - you - la)
Oílume (Oy - ee - loom)