Cinderella Dressed in Ashes

20 Fable’s Charm

“Axel,” Fable said while her brother wasn’t paying attention. “Axel!” she shook him

“What is it?” Axel’s eyes were glued to Loki’s phone again. He’d decided to reread the Dreamhunters Guide in case he’d missed something. “I’m think I’ve figured out something.”

“Like what?” Fable asked.

“I think,” Axel raised his head, posing like a genius inventor, “that I know who Loki’s father is.”

“Really?” Fable said. “Who is it?”

“Let me just think about it for a minute,” Axel walked back and forth in the room. “It’s kinda impossible, but there is no other explanation.”

“Come on, Axel. Tell me,” Fable insisted.

“Not now,” Axel raised a finger. “I need to research something on the internet first. Then, if it all falls together, I swear I’ll dig Sherlock Holmes up from his grave so he and you will both know what a genius detective I am.”

“Sherlock Holmes is dead?” Fable wondered, “So sad. I thought he was really cool.”

Axel’s face reddened. He approached his sister as if he was about to eat her.

“What’s wrong, Axel?” Fable backed off. “There’s still a bag of Sticky Sweet Bones somewhere.”

“I am not hungry, Fable,” Axel grunted. “I’m angry. Sherlock Holmes isn’t even real. He is a character in a book!”

“Oh, that?” Fable laughed, “as if Snow White and the Evil Queen aren’t!”

Axel felt confused, “Well—I—never mind,” he waved his hands angrily. “We’re not going to fight over imaginary people who are actually real.”

“You’re right,” Fable patted him. “Since you’re not going to tell me who Loki’s father is, let me tell you something.”

“Ah. You were trying to say something,” Axel said. “So what is it?”

“This is a bit, if not totally, crazy,” Fable began. “So bear with me and be patient please.”

“What is it, Fable?” Axel knotted his face on purpose, trying to play Fable’s dad. “You’re not going to tell me you’re in love with someone and want to go on a date. You’re too young for this.”

“No, that’s not it,” Fable was unusually polite.

“So what is it?”

“I think I know how to free Loki from Carmilla’s Fleece,” she said. Axel wondered why she’d been so calm.

“You do? That’s awesome,” Axel said.

“It’s not that easy,” Fable said. “Let me tell how it works first. Carmilla controls Loki through the Fleece, right?” she said. “I don’t know what a Fleece is made of but I think of it as part of Loki’s soul. In this case, Carmilla is controlling him the way you control a dog with chains, creating some kind of connection, controlled by one of the two sides.”

“Can’t you just skip the details,” Axel said. “Let’s just save him now, and I promise I will do my homework myself for a week as a reward.”

“It’s not that easy, Axel. Please listen,” Fable said. “I know of a spell that can break almost any kind of bond.”

“Which will metaphorically cut the Fleece? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes,” Fable said. “Only in magic, it’s done in another way. The spell I know will bond me with Loki.”

“Now you lost me.”

“It’s simple. It is like possessing someone’s body. A lot of clairvoyants do it,” Fable said.

“How does it work?” Axel said.

“Basically I will have to stay very close to this purple light, and hopefully if the spell works, I will be part of Loki’s body. Not for long, but long enough to bring him back to his senses,” Fable said.

“I can’t permit you to be alone with Loki,” Axel said, “and certainly not inside his body!”

“It’s only spiritual, Axel,” Fable explained.

“You mean you can’t kiss?”

“No!”

“OK then. So how is this going to bring him back to his senses?”

“Don’t you get it? Carmilla controls his soul through his Fleece. His soul is what controls Loki’s body. If I enter Loki’s body for a brief time, I will break the connection.” Fable said. “Loki’s Fleece will be useless because she will be connected to me, and she can’t control me through Loki’s Fleece. It has no effect on me.”

“And what will you do in that brief time?” Axel asked.

“I’ll be able to pull the stake from Shew, I guess,” Fable said. “It doesn’t matter. I am sure I will figure it out then.”

“No, I can’t let you do this, Fable,” Axel objected. “This is too dangerous.”

“Please don’t talk me out of it, Axel,” Fable said. “I want to help Loki, and the thought of doing the spell already scares me, so I need your encouragement.”

“You said it yourself,” Axel said. “This is a dangerous spell. It means your soul, or whatever that is, will be inside the Dream Temple. Didn’t I tell you being inside leads to insanity while the dream is locked?”

Fable lowered her head, unable to utter a word. She really wanted Loki’s and Shew’s love to prevail. This crazy fairy tale world wouldn’t mean much to her if she lost any of them.

“Listen to me, Fable,” Axel walked toward his sister and hugged her. “I might be harsh on you sometimes, and I know I am not the best brother in the world, but I can’t bear the thought of living without you. I love Loki and Shew, but think of it, Fable. This is not our fight. We’re not one of those fairy tale characters. We are simply two nerdy orphans and we only got each other. Do you understand?”

“I do, bro,” Fable hugged him tighter. “I just wanted to help. I can’t stand it being here, not knowing what’s happening in the Dreamworld.”

“That’s my sis,” Axel said. “Besides, what would Itsy and Bitsy do without you?” he hated his sister’s spiders, but if it made her laugh he didn’t mind pretending to love them.

“You hate my spiders, Axel,” Fable said.

“Who said that? Just wait until we get back, and I promise you I will feed them both myself.”

“And you need to let Itsy sleep next to you in bed,” Fable had to take advantage of the moment.

“But of course,” Axel gritted his teeth behind her back, imagining all the possible ways to choke both spiders, “as long as I don’t have any girls sleeping over.”

Fable hit him lightly in his stomach, “I just remembered it wasn’t going to work anyway.”

“How so?”

“I need Loki’s full name to posses his body, We call it true name in magic. Each person has a true name that without the spell doesn’t work,” Fable explained. “I remember he told us that Blackstar wasn’t his real name. It was given to him by Charmwill, which makes me curious to know if you really discovered who his father was.”

“OK,” Axel said and went back to grab his phone. “I will tell you now about my genius discovery, but first you have to tell me more about true names.”

“It’s easy,” Fable said. “Remember the old Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale every one heard as a kid?”

“Of course,” Axel said. “I always suspect it has to do something with Professor Rumpelstein. The names are similar.”

“Maybe, but that’s not the point,” Fables said. “In the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, which I assume you know well, the imp who has stolen a firstborn promised his mom he will return her child only is she could guess his true name. And then later she does, and has control over him and is able to kill him.”

“So?”

“So we all though this was just a story when this is a part of true magic,” Fable said. “To make a spell work on someone, especially very powerful spells, the witch or the performer needs to know someone true name, which usually their real name. But in the a world like a Kingdom of Sorrow, I assumed a true name is something even deeper than that. I am just assuming.”

“And I learned something new from my sister today,” Axel said proudly, scrolling his phone. “Now, in order to tell you my new discover about Loki’s father, I need to send one last message to Genius Goblin. I need to ask him something. The man is a guru.”