Trials of the Moonlight

Heksens Hus

"Well, I've never heard anyone mention a tree that went to some witch's cottage either."

"Okay, fair enough."

The fairies chittered and zipped ahead. Once again, they found themselves in an indistinguishable part of the forest with nothing of note. The fairies hovered closer to the ground, making a noisy fuss. Elsa used her magic to move the snow out the way – a hole covered up by wooden boards. It became clear that they were the first ones to find it; like the rotted tree, it was hidden from mortals, but Jack and Elsa were different.

"So this is the portal?" Elsa wasn't impressed. How was anyone supposed to fit through it? Jack remembered what came next, 'use your blood to open.' He knelt down close to the wood, bit into his thumb, and then pressed it until a drop of blood splattered on top of it. Small specks of red landed on the white snow. There was a soft, hissing sound, and the baby fairies quickly tumbled back into their satchel. Elsa felt the ground shift right beneath her feet and she tugged on Jack's sleeve to pull him away.

The wood began to break and fall into the monstrous cavern as the hole grew wider and wider until a stairway appeared before them. The darkness it led to was such a foreboding presence that it made both of them shudder. Now that she knew it would be Jack going alone into the depths, it was Elsa who hesitated before letting him go. But neither had a choice, they'd taken too many steps to back out now.

"Don't worry." He tried to reassure her.

Elsa looked at him and gave his jaw a gentle stroke. She believed in him. That was when she remembered, "Oh! The key!" She grabbed the silver key from her pocket and gave it to him. "Just in case you need it."

Jack tucked it safely into the satchel with the fairies, whereupon seeing the parchment rolled up in there reminded him this task's rule: No magic. How bad could it be if he couldn't use any magic, right? He gave Elsa a (hopefully) comforting glance before he descended.

...

He had gone so far below that there was no light left, nor any sound of the wind or trees. He knew something had changed only when the sound of the wooden steps suddenly turned into a tile floor. Jack looked back up the stairway; how far down was he? If he called Elsa's name, she'd never hear him! There were only two things Jack noticed about the hall he was currently in: it was so wide that he couldn't feel walls on either side of him, and it was completely dark.

Out of habit, Jack opened his palm to summon his magic as a light source, then he remembered. "No magic." He told himself. Was there anything to help him see? It was... pitch black. A chill went down his spine right as he recalled whose domain he was in. She had to be here watching, listening, waiting. If he couldn't use his magic to fight back, then what would he do? All he could think was to do whatever the stupid note said and get out of there pronto.

Jack felt the satchel rumbling at his hip, the fairies were eager to get out. He opened it and they fluttered in front of him, their wings creating echoes in the darkened hall. He could tell where they went, as they always stayed ahead of him. One chirped excitedly as he turned his first corner—light! A lantern that was hanging on the wall. He sighed with relief and grabbed it from its sconce. What caught his attention next was the fact that the hall didn't go much farther from where he stood.

He took a look at the wall next to him; there were several portraits of strange-looking individuals. Jack couldn't tell if they were real-life portraits or just bizarre artwork. There was only one that appeared relatively average; a family painting. A mother, a father, a daughter... daughter. This was Amelia's home! The fairies sensed Jack's tension and they hovered closer for protection; he was starting to wonder just what the Man on the Moon was using them for. But now one thing made sense: why a key had been left so irresponsibly at the shack she secretly practiced her experiments in.