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Ben felt soothed just listening to her, his instinctive suspicion settling, like raised hackles being smoothed down by a caressing touch.
“I am the seventh daughter of the Jade Emperor who rules this realm. You may call me Miss Seventh or Seventh Sister.”
“Are you a goddess then?” Annie inquired, finally seeming to snap out of her own head.
The woman shrugged delicately, taking another bite of peach.
“It depends on whom you ask. Here, I am just a daughter. Having a picnic by my favorite pond. Would you like to sit with me and partake of some refreshments?”
“We are looking for a way out of here,” Ben inserted, declining the invitation with a shake of his head.
“We need to get back to the real world. Specifically, to New York City where my uncle Ere is. Or, at least I think he’s still there. I know that time passes differently here than in the mortal plane.”
Miss Seventh finished her peach and wiped her hands on a handkerchief, which she tucked into the sleeve of her dress after she was done. Gracefully, she rose to her feet and faced them fully.
She was a tiny thing, Ben saw. He was over a foot and a half taller. He felt like a giant looming down on her.
“Do not worry, Benjamin,” she said with a smile, addressing him directly.
Because she was in his shadow, he couldn’t tell the color of her eyes. But he felt the weight of them.
However small her form, she was not to be underestimated. Powerful magic coursed through her.
“The Mirror will take you when and where you want to go. You just can’t step back into this realm once you’ve left it. Of course, you may return by other means, perhaps in another time. But the Mirror is only one way.”
He nodded, filing away every piece of information he acquired in this place, on this quest. He never forgot anything. One never knew when the knowledge he accumulated could come in handy.
“How do I make sure it takes me to my destination and not somewhere else?” he asked.
“Come closer,” she beckoned.
“Look inside while imagining the place and time you desire. Imagine the people you want to be with. And when the Mirror reflects what you wish to see, jump inside.”
He’d been leaning over the pond, looking down, but now he reeled back and blinked at her.
“Just like that? Jump into the water?”
She smiled a mysterious smile at him.
“Are you afraid, Benjamin?”
He remained unflustered and logical.
“Well, I don’t know you at all. You could be tricking me.”
“True,” she readily agreed, still smiling that Mona Lisa smile.
“I suppose you have to have faith. Are you ready to go?”
An involuntary shiver tickled down his spine.
How strange it was that Miss Seventh should speak of “faith” when he’d just been reflecting upon his growing lack of it.
Ben nodded, stepping to the pond’s edge.
Sai was right behind him. But he had questions of his own for the Jade Emperor’s daughter.
“I wish to see my dragon brother in his time of need, but I also want to return home. Can I use the Mirror Pond to do so?”
