“We’re so screwed!” Neil cried as he shrieked at the sight of the dark beast coming their way.
“Shouldn’t we at least try to fight it?!” Rey asked.
“Dude, the size of that thing could crush us alone. We’re no match.”
“Krystal is right. We’re chickens.”
“Wherever Krystal is now is probably better than this!”
“Come on! Why don’t you fire an arrow or something?!”
“Wait! What’s that?!”
Rey looked up to see someone coming down from the sky. The dark beast was seemingly distracted by the sight. The closer Rey looked, the more he realized he knew exactly who he was looking at. Dropping from the sky was Sana. She drew out her trishula, unleashing a gorgeous fire from it towards the eyes of the dark beast. The dark beast began to tumble as its eyes stung from the fire. The ground shook as the beast got down to the ground. Sana landed before Rey and Neil. Rey was shocked to see her, but he was even more shocked that she changed clothes as well. She was wearing a short-sleeved red blouse with an orange saree cloth draped around her with matching red pants.
“Sana, what are you doing here?!” Rey exclaimed. “And you changed clothes?!”
“That’s the least confusing thing at this point,” Neil said.
“I was looking for you, and we stumbled upon that fairy tale book. Then, we ended up here,” Sana said.
“We? Who’s we?” Rey asked.
“Me and Zayn. I don’t know where he ended up though,” Sana said.
“Damn,” Neil said. “All of us are scattered at this point.”
“You mean Krystal isn’t with you?” Sana asked.
“No. She disappeared after stepping on some arrow thing,” Neil said.
“Okay, I know we have a lot to talk about, but we should maybe hide somewhere before the beast wakes up,” Rey said.
“Let’s go back to the cave!” Neil exclaimed.
Sana nodded and followed Rey and Neil.
***
On the other hand, Krystal got up from the bed and looked around her surroundings, getting increasingly confused. She didn’t understand how she got in the new place to begin with. Her incredibly long hair was tiresome and dragging.
“How did I even get here?” Krystal asked. She went to the nearby door and tried to open it, but it was locked tight. “Great. How the hell am I gonna get out of here?!”
Krystal looked at the window again. She walked towards it and shouted, “Hello! Anyone out there? Hello!”
Krystal could faintly hear a voice nearby. The person was saying hello, and they sounded familiar. She looked outside the window and was stunned. Way down on the ground was Zayn. He was wearing a gray kurta with purple pants and silver sandals. She said, “What are you doing here?! And why do you look so nice in that outfit?”
“What?”
“Never mind! Pretend you didn’t hear that last part.”
“Okay…what happened here?”
“Well, me, Rey, and Neil got zapped into this fairy tale book. We were in the same story, and somehow, I ended up here and now I have this ridiculously long mane.”
“I’ll need to come up there. We can communicate better when we’re in close contact.”
“You can’t. I think everything is locked. The door won’t open.”
“There’s another way. Let down your hair.”
“What?!”
“You just have to do it.”
“Why the hell would I do that?!”
“Ask less questions and throw down your hair.”
Krystal looked at her long braid and sighed. She grabbed hold of all her hair and threw it down out the window. Her braid went all the way next to where Zayn was. Zayn grabbed hold of her hair and began to climb up the tower with it.
“Oww!” Krystal exclaimed. “Watch how you grab my hair! I don’t understand how anyone would think this is practical. If the girl in this story had to go through this, imagine what else she went through!”
Before Krystal could complain some more, Zayn had arrived by the window. She didn’t know why, but she found herself to be flustered as he was nearby. She watched as Zayn quickly drew out his wand, transforming it into his clarinet. He said, “You might want to stand back.”
Krystal nodded as she took a few steps to back away. Zayn began to play his clarinet in the B-flat major scale. Twisting sand began to flow out from the clarinet onto the bars, building up further and further until it encased them like a cocoon. Zayn waited a moment before he kicked the bars down and entered the room.
“I’ve never seen you use your sand like that,” Krystal said.
“Well, it can work like that. Are you okay?”
“Not really! I don’t even know how I got here! How did you get here?”
“Sana opened the fairy tale book, and we got zapped into it.”
“Wait, is Sana not with you?”
“No. She may have ended up in the story with Rey and Neil.”
“Speaking of stories, why’d you tell me to throw down my hair?”
“So, you don’t know the story of Rajamani?”
“Rajamani?”
“It’s the story of a maiden with incredibly long hair that gets abducted by an evil witch away from her kingdom. In the story, she lets down her hair for the prince to climb up and rescue her.”
“Seriously? When did you read this story?”
“I read a lot of books when I was in…well, in my childhood.”
Krystal could sense Zayn was withholding information, but she found it was best to not question it.
“Anyway, I meant to say, I read a bunch of different stories at that time. My mom is half Iranian, so she had all these books of folktales from Asia. This story was one of the ones I read,” Zayn said.
“I see. I honestly didn’t expect you to read folktales.”
“Well, it was the best thing I could indulge in at the time. Anyway, we should focus less on small talk and get out of here. “
“You’re right. You want to try breaking the door? I would, but I’m not sure my sonic bell can do that.”
“Well, there’s another route.”
Krystal was puzzled, but she noticed Zayn looking at the window. She shrieked and said, “You want us to jump out the window?! Are you nuts?!”
“I know it’s scary, but I have a feeling you have to.”
“Wouldn’t breaking the door be easier?! I thought you at least had that much knowledge.”
“Look, we don’t have time to break the door and run around the tower to find an exit. There’s another reason I have, but it’s best to explain after we jump.”
“You mean after I die?”
“You’re not going to die. I’ll hold onto you as we jump.”
Ugh. I don’t know about this. My heart rate is going up, Krystal thought. I guess I have to trust him.
“Fine, let’s just do this already,” Krystal said as she walked towards the window. She looked down, startled by the height of the supposed jump. She gulped, unsure if she could handle it when suddenly, Zayn grabbed hold of her around her waist.
“Is this okay?” he asked. Krystal nodded, feeling flustered but secure. She wrapped her right arm around Zayn, so she could hold onto him.
“Ready?”
Krystal nodded. Zayn proceeded to jump along with Krystal. She held her screams inside as they dropped down to the ground. Zayn quickly drew out his clarinet to emit a sound energy beam that allowed them to gently bounce onto the ground. Krystal took a deep breath while Zayn looked at her and said, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks. Now explain why you needed to do this instead.”
“If I’m correct, our best way of getting of the story is by completing it. You see, in the original story, Rajamani is rescued by Prince Mahendra and they escape by jumping out of the window.”
“Oh! So, how did I end up here? I mean, I left from the other story and landed in this one.”
“Do you remember anything before you got here?”
“I remember I stepped on something. It looked like an arrow.”
“An arrow? That means you must’ve gone to the next story. The arrow was probably a way of doing that.”
“That is a possibility. So, if you think we have to complete the story to get out, what happens next?”
Before Zayn could answer, he sensed a presence coming. He looked up, seeing a woman with a dark, long-haired mane, wearing a wine-red saree, and silver cuff bracelets floating above in the sky. Seeing her made him realize something.
“Krystal,” Zayn said.
“Yeah.”
“This is the part where we run.”
“What?!”
The woman immediately shot dark energy blasts from her eyes towards Krystal. Zayn got Krystal out of the way, and he grabbed hold of her hand. The two of them ran as the woman continued to launch her attacks.
“You can’t run away, Rajamani!” the woman shouted as she launched a dark energy blast from her hands.
“I’m not Rajamani!” Krystal exclaimed.
“Don’t tell her that!” Zayn said.
Krystal got struck in her back by the beam, alarming Zayn. He quickly countered with a sound energy beam from his clarinet, striking the woman in the face. It bought them some time, so Zayn quickly got hold of Krystal and took her under the refuge of a tall plant that was leaning downwards, creating a shade effect. It was amongst several other plants and provided good cover. He signaled Krystal to keep quiet as he kept an eye out for the woman. Krystal controlled her breathing as she rested against the plant, still feeling the pain from the attack.
***
For Sana, Rey, and Neil, the three were taking cover inside the cave. Rey looked at Sana, who seemed to be strategizing something. He asked her, “Okay, you have a plan?”
“What makes you think I have a plan?”
“Because you’re thinking too hard.”
“At least one of us is thinking here.”
“Hey! It was my idea that we hide in the cave!”
“Rey, how long can we sit in this cave like ducks?” Neil asked. “We have to do something to get out here.”
“What can we do?” Rey asked. “This story makes no sense! I thought after Krystal left and Sana came, she’d be the same character. But look at her getup!”
“Rey, didn’t I tell you this story before?” Sana asked.
“Yeah, and I don’t remember,” Rey said. “All I remembered was the title and the ten-headed monster.”
Rey’s words made Sana realize something. She was trying to figure out the logistics of the story, and how it tied to a solution to getting out. Something finally clicked for her.
“I think I’m starting to understand something,” Sana said.
“Okay, share,” Neil said.
“You two mentioned a barrier when you tried to run away from the dark beast, right?” Sana asked. “The barrier is probably preventing you from leaving because the story hasn’t been completed.”
“You mean like we should be following the story?” Rey asked.
“Something like that. This whole time you’ve been trying to find an exit or something to get out of the story, but stories don’t just end like that,” Sana said. “I think to get out, we have to complete the story.”
“You mean complete it exactly how it was originally written?” Neil asked.
“Not exactly. See, these stories aren’t exactly like the ones I read. The one we’re in has a dark beast, so I can only assume someone or something casted a spell on this book to change that aspect of the story,” Sana said. “If we’re going to get out, we have to complete the story in a way that’s authentic to the way it is set up right now.”
“And how do we do that?” Neil asked.
“I know! You must remember the details of the story, right?” Rey asked.
“Based off the clothes, you two are the village boys that befriend the princess,” Sana said. “In the story, the two boys go into hiding after the princess’ supposed demise.”
“Demise?” Neil asked. “You mean Krystal could’ve gotten hurt or something?”
Sana pondered for a moment, remembering that Rey told her about Krystal stepping on an arrow before disappearing. It made her think that she must’ve exited the story, rather than disappeared.
“No, I think Krystal went to the next story. That’s what the arrow probably meant,” Sana said. “But I think the story must’ve replaced her with me once I entered.”
“How? You’re wearing a completely different outfit than what she wore,” Neil said.
“In the story, when the princess disappears, the two boys try to fend off the monster, but struggle to do so. They plead for the princess to come back, and she reappears, fully transformed,” Sana said. “She rises as the avatar of fire, Agni.”
The details of the story started to come back to Rey as Sana explained them. After thinking for a bit, he said, “So, if you hadn’t come to the story, we’d be stuck here forever?”
“Consider yourselves lucky,” Sana said, shaking her head. “Anyway, Agni takes out the monster and everyone is saved.”
“Hold on. I’m not gonna stand in the background while you get to have all the action,” Rey said.
“Yeah, me neither!” Neil exclaimed.
“You don’t have to. Remember, we’re taking on the story in our own way,” Sana said. “I have a plan that should work.”
***
On the other hand, Zayn and Krystal were still hiding under the giant plant. The plant’s shade protected them, and Krystal found comfort in how it almost felt alive, like the plant was trying to conceal them. Its soft yellow color was pleasing to her eyes. Krystal could feel the pain from the attack was going down a bit. She looked over at Zayn, who was rather quiet. She couldn’t tell if it was because he was actively looking out for the woman or if it was something else.
“Something on your mind?” Krystal asked.
Zayn turned to Krystal and said, “Huh?”
“I asked if something was on your mind.”
“Why do you ask?”
“You’ve been staring into nothingness for the past few minutes while I’m over here in pain. You haven’t even bothered to ask if I’m okay!”
“Are you complaining to me after I saved us both?”
“Complaining?! You think I’m complaining?! You think it’s cool that I sit here like a duck while you drown yourself in your loner thoughts?”
“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”
“The only thing ridiculous here is that you haven’t said much of anything since we started hiding here. There’s nothing ridiculous about me wanting you to show care for me!”
Krystal realized how strong her words came off upon seeing Zayn’s stunned expression. She found herself flustered, unsure as to why she said what she said. She turned around for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.
“Okay, sorry about that last part. I think I came off too strong,” Krystal said. She could feel her cheeks were getting red.
Zayn found himself to be a little flustered as he tried to figure out what to say. He looked at her and said, “No, you’re fine. I should apologize. I wasn’t paying attention to anything else this whole time and you’re in pain. Are you okay?”
“I’m feeling a little better.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I explained things before she showed up and attacked us.”
“Who was she by the way?”
“She’s Rajamani’s stepmother, Tanveer. She’s the evil witch that kidnapped her when she was a child, wanting to auction her for her magical hair.”
“Okay then…that’s pretty dark. So, now what?”
“Well, we have to follow the rest of the story to get out of here.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m just thinking we might have to approach this differently. Like, think about it for a moment. No matter what the story is, all these fairy tales have something in common.”
“And that is?”
“They’re all about the battle of good verses evil. Sure, there’s unique morals in all of them, but the overarching theme is there.”
Krystal’s words made Zayn see things differently. Maybe she was onto something. He didn’t know for sure, but with the way things were, he figured there was no harm in going with Krystal’s approach.
“So, you think the important thing is to take down Tanveer?” Zayn asked.
“I think if we take her down together, we have a chance of getting out of here.”
“Okay, in that case, I may have an idea of what we should do.”
“You do? But we don’t know where she probably is now?”
“I was watching for her, and she may be in the forest right now, waiting for us. It’s what she did in the original story.”
“All right. Let’s hear this plan then.”
***
It didn’t take long for Zayn to explain his plan to Krystal. When they agreed on everything, they set out to put it into action. They made it into the forest and Krystal walked off on her own while Zayn hid amongst the trees and bushes. The forest was dense and oddly quiet. The tree branches hung like the hands of a witch reaching for its prey. Krystal gulped. She tried to remain calm, trusting the plan and Zayn. As she walked further into the forest, she said, “Hey, Tanveer! I’m here now.”
Krystal waited for a response. She tried to refrain from clenching her skirt to not look scared. It didn’t take long for her to sense a presence coming near.
It was Tanveer. She hovered before Krystal, seemingly ready to take her away with her sharp purple fingernails.
“At last, you finally come back,” Tanveer said. “It’s not like you have a choice.”
Krystal smirked and said, “Think again.”
This was Zayn’s cue. He rushed out from hiding, launching a sound wave from his clarinet at Tanveer. With Tanveer distracted, he stood by Krystal as she transformed her wand into her sonic bell. She launched a sound wave from her sonic bell to further boost Zayn’s attack on Tanveer. A visibly irritated Tanveer quickly rose back from the ground, her neck twitching as she tossed a dark energy beam towards Krystal like a football. Zayn quickly pulled Krystal out of the way as the energy beam hit one of the trees.
Zayn looked at Krystal and said, “Are you okay?”
“I’m good. Dodging is a lot harder with this much hair!”
“You’re gonna have to use it as an advantage somehow? Think of anything yet?”
“No! I’ve never exactly fought with ten feet of hair before.”
“I’ll keep her busy while you get an attack ready.”
Tanveer created a spiraling dark energy beam in her hands and tossed it while Zayn countered, calling out “B-flat major!” He played his clarinet in the key and a spiral of sand emerged, countering the energy beam.
Krystal tried to think of a way to use her hair to attack. It was crucial as Zayn told her that in the original story, Rajamani destroyed Tanveer with the powers of her magical hair. Krystal had to do that in combination with her sonic bell. She realized she had to trust herself that she could make it work, but it was hard to think on her feet so quickly.
Before she knew it, Zayn was being pinned down by Tanveer’s nails. She knew she had to step in. Krystal immediately grabbed hold of her braid, whipping it like a lasso as she threw it and it wrapped around Tanveer’s arm. Krystal rang her sonic bell against her braid, and the sound wave rippled through her hair as it combined with the golden glow that shimmered through the strands. The powers of the hair and Krystal’s sound wave struck Tanveer, releasing her from Krystal’s grip as she fell to the ground in defeat.
Krystal quickly rushed to Zayn, helping him get up. She asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Zayn said. “Nice work by the way.”
“Look at you! You’re actually complimenting me!”
Before Zayn could say anything, he could feel something shaking beneath the ground. A portal began to open, taking Zayn and Krystal with it. It wasn’t too long until the two had landed back in the library. Krystal looked at her hair and clothes, seeing they had returned to normal.
“Yes! Hello, normal long hair!” Krystal exclaimed. “I can’t believe we did it!”
“That’s a relief. Imagine if we ended up in another story.”
“What about the others? Do you think we can do something?”
“If we open the book again, we’ll get sucked back in the story. We have to trust they know how to get out like we did.”
“You think they know?”
“They have Sana on their side. There’s no way they won’t know. For now, we can wait here for them.”
***
Sana looked outside the cave, trying her best to remain hidden. She could see the dark beast was still outside. She looked at Rey and Neil and said, “All right. We got one shot at this. Ready, Neil?”
“I don’t know about this,” Neil whimpered. “You’re sending me in like a headless bird.”
“Come on, man! You got this!” Rey exclaimed.
“We’ll back you up sooner than you think,” Sana said.
Neil gulped as he looked outside. He took a deep breath and said, “Okay. I’m going in.”
Neil immediately charged outside, screaming like a lunatic. Sana put her hand to her face in embarrassment while Rey began to chuckle.
“All right, dark beast! Come and get me!” Neil exclaimed as he flailed his arms.
“That idiot,” Sana said, rolling her eyes.
“He’s really taking this role seriously,” Rey giggled.
Neil waved his arms to get the beast’s attention. It didn’t take long for the dark beast to let out a loud growl as it stomped its way towards Neil. It moved its paw to grab him. That’s when Sana and Rey jumped in. Sana immediately struck the beast’s paw with embers coming from her trishula. The beast stepped back as Rey transformed into his beast form while Neil transformed his wand into his bow and arrow.
“You overacted,” Sana told Neil.
“Hey, I’m not a professional!” Neil exclaimed.
“Well, you’re a professional goof!” Rey laughed.
“All right, focus, guys. Remember the plan,” Sana said. “Neil, attack the legs. Rey and I got the rest.”
“Got it!” Neil exclaimed as he prepared his bow to fire. He charged up his energy for the perfect ice arrow and struck it at the beast’s feet. Its feet were frozen solid, providing the perfect distraction.
Sana and Rey got to work. She directed Rey, and he jumped, pouncing onto the beast’s body. He lifted his paw, using his Ember Claw attack to pierce his fiery claws into the beast’s chest. These distractions allowed Sana to keep close eye on what the beast’s next move would be.
The dark beast seemingly had enough. It was boiling with rage. Suddenly its face began to transform, shocking Rey and even Neil as he too watched. The beast grew an additional nine heads, each one with the same scary face. It didn’t take long for all ten heads to emit dark energy beams towards Sana, Rey, and Neil. Rey fell off while Neil turned to Sana and said, “Now it decides to be the ten-headed monster in the story?!”
“Don’t worry, I’m prepared for this,” Sana said. “Neil, aim for the heads on the left.”
“What?!”
“Just do it! You need to fire at least four arrows.”
Neil realized he didn’t have time to think as the heads started launching a dark energy wave towards the group. Sana quickly charged up the wave with her trishula and said, “Rey, aim for the heads on the right! Leave the two in the middle!”
Rey nodded, turning to Neil. He nodded back and they proceeded. Neil began to fire one arrow after the next at the heads on the left. Each arrow struck each head, freezing it entirely. Rey quickly launched fireball attacks at each of the heads on the right. During this, Sana continued to charge through the dark energy wave, making her way towards the top where the middle heads were at. The two middle heads were seemingly putting more power into the dark energy wave to get Sana down, but she kept pushing. She powered her trishula through the wave, allowing its dark power to envelope it as the fiery power began to charge through it. Once she got closer to the two heads, she raised the trishula to prepare for the strike. Sana jumped, holding up the dark and fiery trishula as she plunged it through the heads, piercing it further through the body as she powered through to the ground. The dark beast split in two and slowly evaporated into dark purple ash.
Rey transformed back. He looked at Neil, whose mouth dropped wide open. He couldn’t blame him as he too was astonished at what he saw. At the same time, he knew he shouldn’t be surprised. This was Sana after all.
Sana slowly got up from the ground. Rey and Neil rushed to her side with Rey asking, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” Sana said.
“That was so awesome!” Neil exclaimed. “Now was the girl in the story as badass as you were just now?!”
“You’d have to read it,” Sana smirked.
Before anything else could be said, a portal opened and took Sana, Rey, and Neil with it. The three screamed as they were transported back into the library, returning to their old clothes. As they got up, Krystal said, “You guys made it!”
“Yeah, we did. Was there ever any doubt?” Rey asked.
“She certainly did for a bit,” Zayn said.
“Hey!” Krystal exclaimed. “Anyway, you won’t believe what happened!”
“Damn it! It’s almost midnight!” Rey cried.
“Seriously?! We were gone that long?!” Neil exclaimed.
“And we still have to write the paper,” Krystal said as she sulked into her chair.
“Why don’t you guys just ask for an extension?” Zayn asked. “I’m sure getting sucked into a fairy tale book is a valid excuse.”
“Please! Professor D’Sena is such a miser. He could care less,” Neil said. “What are we gonna do?!”
“Well, if we work fast tonight, we can get this done,” Krystal said.
“How exactly?” Sana asked.
“With the way we had to strategize in our stories, this sets up the perfect foundation for our paper!” Krystal exclaimed.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Rey said. “We can finish this with no problem.”
“All right! Let’s get cracking then!” Neil exclaimed as he turned on the lights.
“Please tell me you can get us out of here,” Sana said to Zayn. “I don’t want to have a sleepover at the library again.”
“Luckily I got my dad’s key,” Zayn said.
With that, Sana and Zayn headed out of the library while Rey, Krystal, and Neil stayed behind to work on their paper.
***
The following morning, Rey, Krystal, and Neil managed to finish the paper. Of course, it did take the entire night. So, when the afternoon rolled and they handed it in, they crashed after school for long naps.
The day after, the trio were in Combat Strategies I. Sana looked at the three of them as they were all snoring for a solid five minutes until she woke them up. Rey yawned and said, “Why do you have to wake us?”
“You want to get in trouble again?” Sana asked.
“It’d be worth it since we lost so much sleep after that whole paper,” Neil said.
Once the bell rang, students started gathering things. As Professor D’Sena cleaned the chalkboard, he said, “Rey, Krystal, and Neil, let me speak to you three for a moment.”
“Good luck,” Sana said as she exited the classroom with Prince, Heer, Zayn, and Akira.
Krystal gulped as she got up with Rey and Neil. The three walked up to Professor D’Sena. He turned around and said, “I finished reading your paper.”
“Oh God,” Krystal said.
“All right. Just tell us already,” Rey said.
“I was very impressed,” Professor D’Sena said.
“Wait, what?!” Neil exclaimed.
“Yes,” Professor D’Sena said. “The way you described the importance of combat strategies and applied them with the context of real examples was exhilarating. It was like you were actually in those battles.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Krystal said.
“Anyway, I’m happy to give you all an A on this paper. You three will pass this quarter,” Professor D’Sena said.
“Yes!” Neil exclaimed as he high-fived Rey and Krystal.
“And Neil,” Professor D’Sena said. “Try to skip class less next quarter.”
Rey and Krystal chuckled at Neil as they started leaving. Neil protested, “Me skipping class is nothing compared to what you guys do!”
Copyright © 2022 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 