Froggy had no idea how to free himself from the mirror, but he knew he’d never find an answer by lingering around Morina’s basement for eternity. So, putting one webbed foot in front of the other, Froggy journeyed into the great shadowy world surrounding him until Morina’s basement disappeared from sight.
He wandered aimlessly through the darkness for what felt like hours, but he never found anything. It was so dark, he couldn’t see his hands or feet, let alone something he might collide with. With every step, he worried he had made a grave mistake by leaving the basement and feared the oblivion would drive him insane.
“Please, let me find something that proves I’m not alone,” he prayed aloud. “I just need something—anything—that can guide me to help!”
Suddenly, a speck of light appeared in the distance ahead. It was only the size of a pinhole but seemed as bright as the sun against the darkness. The discovery filled Froggy’s stomach with butterflies—maybe he wasn’t alone after all! He ran toward the light as fast as he could, and it grew into the shape of a tall rectangle—perhaps it was a door! As Froggy neared the anomaly, he realized it was another plate of glass, and his spirits sank. Had he walked through the darkness in a giant circle? Was the view of Morina’s basement the only thing that existed in the dark world?
Froggy’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed that the glass plate was much taller and wider than the plate he was used to. Perhaps he had found something new! He peered into the glass and found, not the missing children as expected, but a massive great hall with pale brick walls, green curtains, and silver chandeliers.
“My word—it’s a palace!” Froggy exclaimed happily. “Wait a moment, I recognize this place! I’ve been here many times before—it’s the entrance hall of the Northern Palace! This must be the view from another mirror! The darkness must somehow connect the two mirrors.”
Suddenly, hundreds of other square and rectangular plates of glass appeared all around him like floating windows. The bizarre phenomenon startled Froggy so much, he croaked—it’d been a while since he’d been excited by anything. He looked through the glass plates and saw into sitting rooms, drawing rooms, bedchambers, and hallways—all locations he recognized as well.
“I can see through all the mirrors in the Northern Palace!” Froggy said. “This must be how the man in the Evil Queen’s magic mirror was such a capable spy! He was using the darkness as a path between mirrors!”
The discovery made Froggy’s heart flutter. Perhaps the more he learned about the strange dark world, the closer he was to finding a way out of it. He desperately searched all the mirrors for someone to communicate with, but oddly, he couldn’t find a single soul in the palace.
“That’s peculiar,” he said. “I’ve visited Chandler and Snow White a number of times and their home has never been this empty.”
Finally, Froggy peered through a small circular mirror and found a cook in the palace’s kitchen. She looked exhausted and was placing a bottle of wine and three glasses on a serving tray. The cook must have felt Froggy’s eyes, because she stopped what she was doing and looked up before he could say anything.
“Hello!” he said happily.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” the cook screamed.
She dropped the tray and glass shattered across the kitchen floor. Her reaction was so dramatic it scared Froggy, and he impulsively ducked out of sight. He wasn’t really surprised by the cook’s response, though—his appearance usually gave people a fright. He couldn’t imagine how alarming it’d be to see an enormous frog in a mirror when they weren’t expecting it.
“WHAT’S GOING ON IN THERE?” yelled a gruff voice.
Froggy peeked through the mirror again and saw a soldier storm into the kitchen, but he was unlike any man Froggy had ever seen. The soldier was seven feet tall and had an unusually flat, square body. The number three was displayed on the upper right and lower left corners of his armor, and three symbols shaped like clovers were set in a line down the middle.
“Forgive me, sir!” the cook pleaded. “I was fetching wine for the emperors and thought I saw something in the mirror!”
The soldier glanced at the mirror, but Froggy ducked out of sight before he could be spotted again.
“Stupid woman,” the soldier said. “Quit this foolishness and get back to work! Any more nonsense and you’ll be thrown in the dungeon!”
“Yes, sir,” the cook said with a bow. “It won’t happen again, sir.”
The cook quickly swept up the mess, placed three new glasses and a new bottle of wine on her tray, and hurried out of the kitchen.
“I don’t understand,” Froggy thought aloud. “Who are these emperors? What happened to Chandler and Snow White? And where are all the servants and guards who used to work here?”
Froggy followed the cook from mirror to mirror as she traveled through the palace. She entered the spacious dining hall, and Froggy appeared in the mirror above a large fireplace. He had been inside the Northern Palace’s dining hall many times before, but he barely recognized it anymore.
All the portraits of the White Dynasty had been removed and replaced with paintings of a red-faced queen, an old hag wearing an eye patch, and a pirate with a hook. The three people pictured in the paintings sat around the table, enjoying a feast that could have fed hundreds. Froggy thought they were unattractive in their portraits, but they were even more hideous in the flesh. The barbaric way they scarfed down their food was equally unpleasant to witness.
“Your wine, my emperors,” the cook said, and bowed to the table.
“IT’S ABOUT TIME!” the queen yelled, and hit the table with a clenched fist. “How dare you keep your emperors waiting! Do it again and you’ll lose your head!”
“My deepest apologies,” the cook said.
The cook trembled in the emperors’ presence and could barely keep her hands still enough to pour wine into their glasses. When she was finished pouring, she bowed and rushed out of the room. The pirate and the queen raised their glasses before taking the first sip, but the hag didn’t join them.
“None for me,” she growled. “I’m not much of a drinker.”
“To us,” the pirate toasted. “May the three great emperors continue their mighty reign as the conquerors of the new world!”
“Hear, hear,” the queen said. “And may our upcoming invasion go as smoothly as the last!”
The pirate and the queen clinked their glasses together and drank the wine in one gulp. The hag wasn’t in the mood to celebrate and angrily threw a half-eaten lamb shank across the room.
“How much longer will we have to wait?” she moaned. “It’s been weeks since we heard from the witch! How cruel of her to tease us with such a conquest, then force us to stay put! Our army is ready—why can’t we invade the new world now?”
“The new world?” Froggy whispered to himself. “What are they talking about?”
“I agree with Westie!” the queen said. “It’s impossible to enjoy the luxuries of this world when we know there are far greater pleasures in the other. What is taking the witch so long to contact us? I’m starting to doubt her competence!”