"Looks like we're headed back to the theatre," Jeremy said, as they sat round Nicole's table. "Let's hope Jake isn't anywhere, otherwise I'll use my judo on him."
"He's not going to let us into the theatre," Nicole replied. "He'll know if we're there we want to get to the mirror."
"Tempted to make him eat a slice of his own pie," Robin added.
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Which we binned. No. Maybe. Although."
Nicole and Robin looked at him. "What?" Nicole said. "Seriously, what?"
"What if there's more than one way into the hidden world?"
"Oh, oh, you might be right. Waverly said portals. Her world and ours use portals to travel back and forth. But, how do we find one of these portals?"
"The same way we found werewolf guy," Jeremy replied. "You sniff the dust, we go look for someone who knows a way in."
"They're not going to let us in without a price," Nicole said. "One thing I'm learning about magic folk they like those using their services to pay."
"Bridges," Jeremy replied. "We cross them as needed. We could either head back to the restaurant, or Angelo might be able to help again. We should have asked him when we had the chance."
"The restaurant," Nicole said. "Rex might be there. That saves me using the dust. And, I have a feeling Angelo will ask us for something more."
"Okay, the restaurant," Jeremy agreed. "If he's not there we'll have to call on Angelo and pay his price."
Nicole entered the bedroom, Waverly sleeping the long sleep, lying down beside her, wishing this wasn't happening, wishing they were doing the things they had done the day before, wishing life was normal, predictable, knowing that would never be the case. "I will do anything to get you back, you hear. I'll not stop until I figure all this out. He's not having you."
Kissing Waverly on the forehead, leaving her in the protection of Robin, they headed back to the place fast becoming their regular haunt. Entering Nicole spotted Rex behind the bar, waiting for him to finish serving another customer. "Hey pretty lady back so soon. What can I get you and your friend?"
"A portal to the other world."
Rex's eyes darted back and forth. "Two strawberry daiquiris coming up."
"That's not what I asked for," Nicole replied. "Where are the por..."
"Take the drinks," Rex interrupted, his eyes meeting hers.
They watched as Rex made their cocktails, sliding them over, Nicole noticing a piece of paper under hers. Rex winked, moving off to serve more customers. Picking up her drink she read the address, handing it to Jeremy, the pair staring at each other. "A cathedral," Jeremy whispered. "We're into Dan Brown territory now."
"The Da Vinci Code never had werewolves, or fairies, as far as I know," Nicole replied. "You any good at deciphering cryptic messages set within a European religious landscape?"
Jeremy giggled. "You read it too. It wasn't that bad to be fair. Not as bad as Fifty Shades of..."
Nicole gasped. "Okay, okay, I read it."
"Let's go see what this cathedral has to offer," Jeremy said. "I'll be Langdon."
Standing outside the Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street the pair had no idea what to do. It wasn't the place to go asking if another world existed behind mirrors, fearing the cops would be called and they would end up having to explain themselves, which would be rather hard to do given they too couldn't believe how their lives had changed in the space of a few days.
Nicole pulled the bag of dust from her pocket, knowing she had only two pinches of it before having to hand it over, not wanting to short-change a wizard. "It's the only way," she said, extracting a little, inhaling, Jeremy grabbing her arm.
Entering the cathedral, the light, the scale, the majestic atmosphere lifted Nicole off the ground, Jeremy tethering her by the waist, hauling her into a pew at the back. "Sad thoughts, sad thoughts," she repeated until her body came back down to earth. Her eyes scoured the area, tourists and worshipers mingling, no one she could identify as being magical. She was about to give up when she spied an elderly man slowly making his way along a side aisle, a bucket and mop in his hands.
"Old janitor guy to our left," Nicole said, motioning with her head she had her person, scared to leave the pew in case she ended up pinned to the ceiling of the cathedral. Jeremy took command, instructing Nicole to hook her feet under the seat in front and hold on for dear life. She watched as the pair made their way back to her, the man bowing to her as he approached. "Troy."
Nicole bowed in response, accepting it wasn't only her distinctive hair making her stand out. "Dust," she informed, her arms hooked over the back of the pew for stability.
The elderly man chuckled. "Ah, those were the days. Guessing Rex sent you. My grandson. Good boy. Studying to be a doctor."
Nicole nodded. "We need a way in. My friend is under a spell. We need the forever flower and essence from her folk."
"A way in. Do you have the necessary paperwork?"
"What?" Nicole replied. "No, do we need it?"
"If you are to use this entrance, then yes."
"Okay, where do we get the paperwork?" Nicole asked.
"And five thousand dollars."
"Fine. That part is easy enough."
"Did I say five, I meant fifty thousand," the janitor corrected.
"Fifty!" Nicole exclaimed, several visitors looking over. "Fifty," she whispered. "I don't have fifty."
"Well then, it's a good job this entrance is free," the janitor replied, his chuckle now irritating her along with his weird sense of humour. "I may have been pulling your leg."
Nicole stared at the old guy, debating whether to hug him, or punch him in the face. "Guessing we don't need paperwork either."
The janitor shook his head. "Follow me. Try not to float off."
Entering the catacombs underneath the basilica, they followed Rex's grandpa to one of the private burial vaults, the symbol of a swan above the door, Nicole nudging Jeremy who had already seen it. "Err, is this entrance safe?" Nicole asked, worried this might be another trap set by the wizard.
"Safe enough," the janitor replied. "The Swan family are old. One went rogue, very bad seed, banished from this world. Good riddance I say."
"Only he's the one we're fighting," Nicole added.
The janitor studied her for a moment. "You will need this," he said, pulling a frayed piece of string from his pocket, a lump of black stone dangling on the end.
"What is it?" Nicole asked.
"An amulet. A protection against bad seeds. Not much use to me now."
"Thank you," she replied, slipping it over her head.
"Best keep it out of sight," the janitor instructed. "Many a folk would pay a handsome price for such an item."
"Sir, how do we get to the hidden world?" Jeremy interrupted, eager to be on their way, knowing the clock was ticking down. "And, how do we get out?"
"You really are new to this," the elderly man replied. "The tomb in the far wall, trace the name with your finger. There'll be enough time for the both of you to enter. When you're done in the homelands return as you went. The vault is never locked, nor the church."
"Thank you," Nicole said.
Standing before the tomb, Nicole moved her index finger along the narrow groove cut into white marble, tracing the name Jeremiah Svane, the action causing her muscles to tense. The thought of the wizard having done the same almost made her stop, knowing if she did Waverly would be lost to her. As her finger reached the final curve of the 'e' the letters began to glow, the intensity increasing until she could no longer watch, only the sound of stone rubbing on stone made her return her gaze, a gap in the wall opening sufficiently large for one person to walk through.
Nodding to Jeremy she entered first, bright sunlight compared to the dimly lit vault making her squint, the delicious smell of freshly cut grass hitting her nose, the melodious chirping of birds in the trees mixing with the gleeful chorus of children playing nearby. Jeremy joined her, noting their location for their return journey. "This is not what I was expecting," he said, surveying a scene reminiscent of the English countryside, which he had never visited but guessed would look very much like where they were standing. A narrow path led away towards a quaint cottage, the pair heading in that direction, a young woman in the garden hanging clothes out to dry on a washing line.
As they approached she stopped what she was doing, rubbing her hands on her white apron, smiling at them as if they were old friends. "Welcome, welcome. Haven't seen you before. Come far?"
"New York," Nicole replied. "A church."
"My grandfather let you through. Welcome."
"You're Rex's sister," Nicole observed. "Your accent."
"Cousin," the woman replied. "You know Rex?"
Nicole shook her head. "Not really. This place is different."
The woman tilted her head. "From where?"
"From Riddle Me Do. We need to get there urgently."
"Ah, I see. Yes, very different. The curse of perpetual winter stops at the boundary. So sad what the wizard did and that girl he holds captive. So sad."
"No, no, she's free," Nicole replied. "We rescued her. She's in New York in my apartment."
"That's wonderful news. So many have tried and failed. You must be very brave."
"Or, stupid," Jeremy interrupted. "The thing is she's under his spell again and we need to get the essence from her folks or she'll stay asleep."
"Oh, that's dreadful. His wicked work is a burden on all of us, whether we are directly affected, or not. Come, let us go inside. We have much to discuss."
Entering the cottage, the woman cleared a space on the kitchen table, an infant gurgling away in a high chair at one end, waving a rattle in his tiny hand. Pulling down a stone flagon from a shelf, she poured them each a glass of amber-coloured drink, offering it out, Jeremy making eyes at Nicole by way of a silent instruction not to partake in whatever they were being served.
Nicole placed hers back on the table, waiting for the woman to join them, watching her lift her own glass. "To your good health," she said, taking a mouthful. "It's dandelion beer. I shouldn't be drinking this time of day, but it's nice to share it with guests."
Nicole lifted hers to her lips, a sweet scent of honey on her nose, a rich smoky taste on her tongue. "It's good," she said, nodding to Jeremy to try. "So, how do we get to Riddle Me Do?"
"It's a long way and you will need to cross the border. I would take you to the nearest village, but I have the children to look after."
"If you could tell us how to get to the village that would be enough."
"You can borrow my cart. It knows the way. So long as you bring it back."
"Of course. That's very generous of you. We're not used to..."
"To kindness," the woman said, guessing what Nicole was about to say. "The land of perpetual winter was once like here. Peaceful, joyful. We traded with their people freely. That is until the wizard put a stop to it all."
"Can he be defeated?" Jeremy asked. "Has no one tried?"
"There are those who tried. I believe the girl you rescued, her parents were the last as far as I know, bereft at the fate of their daughter. No one has tried since. Or, if they have he must still be alive for the curse remains upon the land."
"If he's defeated the curse would be lifted," Nicole qualified, turning to Jeremy. "Maybe we're doing this all wrong. Maybe we're playing the game his way, not ours."
"I hear you," Jeremy replied. "But, we have a hard enough challenge ahead of us, without trying to get rid of this wizard guy."
"If we got rid of Swan we wouldn't have to do all this."
Jeremy shook his head. "I'm not so sure. I for one do not want to take the chance and lose her."
"It depends where the spell was cast," the young woman interrupted. "If the wizard is defeated in these lands his evil deeds are cancelled here, only here. If the fairy princess fell under his spell in your lands he would need to be defeated there. But, it would mean the spells he cast here would remain forever."
"So, that settles it," Nicole said. "We carry on, get the essence, find the seeds, make the antidote, save Waverly, then we can plan how to rid this place of his evil once and for all. And, there's me thinking Christmas was going to be fairly dull this year."