A school of fish assembled, their silver bodies flashing as they swam in an undulating circle around the couple.
“It’s done.” Ondalune smiled, holding up the stone for all to see. In her hands, the bloodstone pulsed with a steady, healthy blue light. No longer a bloodstone, it was fully cleansed of its curse. “The Weight of the World remains intact. The connection holds.”
“I can actually feel it!” Will held up his hands excitedly and turned in a slow circle. “The ley lines are flowing so freely. It’s like they’ve been renewed!”
“You healed me,” Cosimo said. He was staring at his hand, which had a cut. The cut was bleeding.
“You’re wounded!” Ondalune exclaimed.
“It’s nothing serious. I’m just bleeding.” Cosimo laughed delightedly. “But that’s the point. I’m bleeding like an Ordinary. You didn’t only heal my burns. You’ve restored me. I’m not a vampire anymore,” he said with wonder.
Zani pressed her fingers to Cosimo’s wrist. “You have a pulse.”
Will coughed suddenly, and Zani noticed his eyes watering. She was glad she had her Lunar Lenses to hide behind. “Are you crying, Will?” Zani teased.
“No!” He waved his hand in front of his face and fanned himself. “It’s just that smell. What on earth is it?”
Ondalune wrinkled her nose and laughed in a very un-mermaid princess-like way. “I hate to tell you this now while you’re sitting in it, Will, but there’s a pretty crappy reason this rock is called Bird Rock. It’s completely covered in bird turds!”
This was the moment when Zani decided she and Ondalune would definitely be friends.
Zani glanced up at the dirigible still hovering above them, then at the Celestial Sapphire resting in Ondalune’s palm. “What happens now? To the stone, I mean.”
Ondalune smiled, the expression further transforming her face from otherworldly beauty to something warmer, more human. “Now it goes home, back to the deep, to my people. The Mer have been its guardians for centuries.”
“The curse,” Zani said, understanding blooming, “wasn’t actually in the stone, was it? It was our own limiting beliefs about ourselves that stole the stone’s light and severed connections.”
“You’re right,” Ondalune replied, cradling the Celestial Sapphire. Its light now pulsed in rhythm with the waves lapping against Bird Rock. “The curse that corrupted this stone is born from ancient and devious fear. It whispers to us that what we desire most can only come at a terrible cost. That abundance, for one, means scarcity for another.”
“Thus ensuring it’s so.” Will shook his head sadly. He stood up slowly and brushed bird turds off his pants. The problem was, now they were stuck to his hands. He looked absolutely miserable.
Zani decided to rescue him. “Speaking of abundance.” She tossed Will one of the Ordinary wet napkin packets that she kept in the side of her bag. “I don’t mean to swoop in with an ancient cursed stone and dash, but it’s abundantly clear to me we are all going to need to take long showers before the film festival tonight.”
Chapter35
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Final Scene
Thanks to the glamor Zani spelled into a bedazzled cane, Goldie had no problem showing up at the theater, looking every bit like the older version of herself. She took care to walk more slowly and carried the cane as a prop.
Ondalune couldn’t see where Cosimo was sitting in the audience from the projection booth, but she could feel his presence. She was happy to know he didn’t have to sit alone. Zani and Will had tickets to the sold out event, so Cosimo would sit with friends. Friends! It was such a novel concept for her. She appreciated Zani’s dry sense of humor and hoped that they would stay close. She suspected Cosimo could use some companionship as well. Although she feared Will might drive him crazy with questions about being a vampire.
While the theater guests were busy getting settled, Ondalune switched the second reel. She carefully threaded the alternate ending to the film onto the projector, wondering how the audience would react to this newly found footage and the alternate ending. The buzz was mixed. She’d overheard a couple of film critics questioning the timing of the lost reel’s discovery. But several fans were over the moon about it.
How times had changed since the 1930s. Burnside had been right to pull the reel then, she realized. And also right to give it back to her now. Today’s audiences were different. They were less gullible than the audiences of the past because so much more was possible with Ordinary special effects. Nobody believed what they saw on the screen was real anymore. But they were also more gullible because they no longer trusted their instincts.They couldn’t even believe what they saw in real life, with their own eyes.
The film was short by modern standards. Just under thirty minutes in total. Fourteen minutes per reel. No time to get restless. A live orchestra provided the musical backdrop to the silent film. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d seen this in a theater. She watched the audience watching the first reel, enjoying their reactions as much as she had at the original premiere.
As the second reel spun, showing viewers the “alternative” ending toThe Mermaid’s Whisper, Goldie turned the restored Celestial Sapphire over in her hand. It no longer pulsed or throbbed, struggling with the sick, restless energy it had been forced to contain. The stone now radiated something else entirely. Peace and contentment.
She felt peaceful as well, watching herself swim away to the orchestra’s overture.
At the end of the screening, the audience clapped politely and made their way back out to the lobby. From there, they went to view the costumes on exhibit or headed upstairs to the Ballroom, to the VIP reception. The members of the orchestra packed up their instruments.
Goldie remained in the projection booth, taking her time rewinding reels and placing them back in their metal cases, which she stacked neatly on the table beside the projector. There was a knock on the door.
“May I come in?” Cosimo asked.
“Of course.” Goldie held the door and waved him in. Her hand brushed against his as he passed, and she was struck by its warmth. It was going to take some time to get used to this. Warm fleshed, honey and almond toned—she found this new version of Cosimo even more delicious.
