The Gathering: The New Order of Merlin Book 1

34. The signal

   Ever since Elsa had found out about the Mirror of Erised, she thought about it day and night. She tossed and turned in her bed, dreaming about the enchanted object, but in every dream, it took on a different shape: from a decorative mirror that people hung on walls, to a large free-standing one, to a small one she could fit in her drawer. She wondered if there was a trick or a spell she needed to get it to work. She wanted a lot of things that she didn't need to see in the mirror. How would the mirror know which of her desires it should show?

But tonight, she didn't dream about it. Instead, her dream morphed into a memory.

Every first day of spring, Mother went somewhere, and when she came back, she was young again. Jack and Elsa were around six years old when they secretly followed her, hoping to solve the mystery, but they lost her in the tunnels. She just disappeared as if swallowed by the rock. It had to be concealed by magic. Mother wasn't a witch but she had her ways.

Stubbornly, they kept searching for the hidden passage, and before they knew it, they chose different tunnels, got separated, and hopelessly lost. Elsa wept on the rocky floor, bruised from tripping in the dark, tired, and scared. She hated the darkness, but even more, she hated being alone.

"I won't cry," she promised herself when the darkness thickened around her. "Jack will find me. I won't cry."

She wrapped her arms around her bent legs, closed her eyes, and focused on the loud thump of her heart. She pictured her ear pressed against her twin's chest and wished it was his heartbeat she heard.

'Jack, find me,' she thought a prayer as the first tears fell on her cheeks.

She found comfort in imagining that he was with her and her hope grew to magical proportions. She always felt better when he was close. He made her feel safe.

In a few minutes, she heard quiet footsteps and looked toward the sound, afraid of what nightmare might come her way. Was it just a hag or something worse? Mother always warned them that dark creatures loomed in these tunnels and would pounce on them if they disobeyed her.

And then Jack's snow-white hair stood out in the darkness, chasing away her fears.

"Elsa!" he ran up to her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "I heard you. I heard you in my heart."

Elsa woke up slowly, wishing to prolong the warmth of the dream a little more. She loved how complete she felt whenever Jack was around. She missed him.

The day when they got lost in the tunnels was the day when they discovered their magical link. Though limited in what variety of feelings it could send, it was special. It was theirs. Mother could never take it away from them. But lately, it felt as if Hogwarts was threatening it.

It made sense. Since they were no longer stuck with each other, they had a choice of friends and activities, and the contrast between them grew. But she couldn't afford to lose him.

She sent him a signal, just a "Hi," type of feeling to check if their link still worked. He responded immediately and she breathed a sigh of relief. No, Hogwarts couldn't destroy what they had.

Later that day as they walked towards their Transfiguration class, Luna happily skipped next to Elsa. She wore one of her art projects in her blond hair today: a yellow paper flower which she tucked behind her ear. It suited her.

Elsa sometimes wished she could be as bold as her friend and proudly wear her art. Only yesterday, she created a set of beautiful snowflake-shaped ice hairpins which sparkled in the light like diamonds. If she left them in her hair, they wouldn't have melted. They came out perfect, and she wanted to show them off, but she chickened out at the last minute and took them off.