Of course, I know her from long ago. Like any other child, someone—presumably my mother—must have told me her story when I was a kid. Even though I can’t remember my past, such fairy tales must be rooted deep down in my psyche.
Although Loki never believed in fairy tales, he still couldn’t dismiss the importance and affect they had on people’s lives. It was hard to imagine meeting someone who hadn’t heard Snow White’s tale, but it was possible that some people didn’t know about a certain religion, country, or food. When it came to fairy tales, everyone knew about them as if they were the one and only language uniting the world. Loki suddenly understood why Charmwill described his Book of Beautiful Lies as the most important book to mankind. If the world couldn’t agree on one religion, or one nationality, or even one perspective of what is good and what is evil, they agreed on fairy tales.
“No, he isn’t here to kill you,” Fable finally uttered on behalf of Loki. “He wants to know how you died,” Fable continued. Snow White didn’t turn back. She was staring at Loki with those black eyes. “He wants to know what made you,” Fable shrugged. “The way you are now—”
“Not that there is anything wrong with that,” Axel drew upon flattery like a magician pulled rabbits out of his hat. “In fact, you look…you look so—” Although Axel didn’t mind being a hypocrite to save his life, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that she looked beautiful. He shrugged so loud it echoed in the castle.
“So gross,” Lucy spit out. “Princess my—”
“Don’t listen to them,” Fable broke in. “We’re here to help you. We know there is something wrong…” Fable looked around her, afraid she’d offend the castle. “We know there is something wrong with this castle,” she whispered. “We know that you spared our lives—Loki’s life. You saved us, now let us help you. Allow Loki to get into your dream without controlling it.”
Although Snow White’s eyes didn’t change, that golden tint shimmered momentarily in them when Fable mentioned helping her. Loki noticed it only happened when she was looking at him, and only when she liked something she heard or saw.
“Is that true?” Snow White asked Loki, her voice was pleading for him to say ‘yes.’
Loki nodded, only once. Words couldn’t escape his mouth. Part of it was that he didn’t want to lie to her. Killing her was still his only hope to return home if he chose to, and it wasn’t easy to shake a feeling that had ran in his veins for so long. But he still wanted to enter her dream and know what happened to her in case he changed his mind.
“Can you tell me what happened to you?” Loki managed to say.
Snow White didn’t reply. She looked as if she were trying to remember. Her silence was even scarier than her rage.
“I can’t say,” she finally spoke. In a most mesmerizing moment, she lowered her head down as if she was embarrassed she didn’t remember. Her peaceful gesture made everyone sigh, all except Lucy.
“Seriously? Are you buying into her tricks?” Lucy said.
“How so?” Loki asked Snow White.
She raised her eyes to meet his, this time they were the beautiful blue. She held Loki’s hands, and he found himself giving in to her, and loosening his grip on his Alicorn.
Snow White looked at him as if searching for something or someone behind his eyes. No one had looked at him this way before. He didn’t know what it meant.
“There is so much I want to say but can’t,” Snow White whispered. Her eyes gazed to the left and then to the right as Loki narrowed his. She looked up at the ceiling and back at him. Her eyes were telling him she couldn’t speak because of the castle and that he had to do something about it.
Fable slipped behind Snow White again and mouthed the following words behind her back: I don’t think the Baby Tears will be enough to enter her dream. We have to get her out of the Schloss, and—
Loki didn’t wait for Fable to finish her sentence. “I’ll get you out of here,” he told Snow White. He didn’t care about the Schloss’ anger, although he could already hear its walls vibrating louder, like a giant about to wake up.
“Not so loud. The Schloss can here you,” Fable gritted her teeth. “If you’d only listened to all I had to say,” she rolled her eyes.
The castle started shaking, and Snow White’s eyes changed to black again. She stared around her at the shaking interiors. She looked like a child afraid her parents would catch her doing something wrong.
“You have to go now, Loki,” Snow White said. “I don’t think it will let me get out.”
“No,” Loki stepped closer to her. “I will enter your dream. I want to know what happened to you.”
“You can’t as long as I’m trapped in here,” Snow White screamed over the now deafening roar of the Schloss. With the castle controlling her, she was going to turn into her other self soon; they needed to hurry.
“Then I’ll get you outside, and perform the ritual there,” Loki insisted.
“I can only survive forty two minutes outside, or—“