“Why is everything…”
“The fires.”
I stared at her in horror before standing to my feet to look around. I didn’t see any fire.
“You can’t see the fire here. Seattle is safe for now.” I frowned. Had I spoken out loud? “But so much of the surrounding area is burning. The sky has been red for weeks.”
“I… didn’t know that was possible,” I muttered, taking a step to look around. In the distance, I spotted a figure that I could tell was a spirit. She paced along the fence, and at first, I assumed it was the same woman I’d seen along that street dozens of times. After a second, the figure clarified in my vision, and I felt my blood turn cold.
“Lindsay.”
I shouted her name and began sprinting for her, but as I got closer, she didn’t notice me.
“Lindsay!” I called, reaching for her. My hand passed right through her. At that, she paused to look around, but it was like she couldn’t see me, so she kept pacing.
“She can’t see you. We aren’t here.”
“What do you mean?” I turned to face the reflection. She looked like she was on fire herself the way she was reflecting the orange light. I frowned. “This… this isn’t real?”
“Not yet,” she said calmly, walking past me, silently bidding me to follow her as I had before. My eyes trailed on Lindsay’s translucent figure as I followed behind my reflection.
“Where are Daath and Syrion?”
“They’re not of consequence at the moment,” she said coolly. This angered me. How could they not be important? Since the moment we’d met, they’d been some of the most important people in my life. I couldn’t imagine living without them, and I wanted to know what had become of them in this hellish world.
“This.” She stopped walking as we reached a lot where a small grocery store used to be. “This should be your concern.” I knew this place well; Lindsay and I did all our shopping there. The ground had been ripped up and now was just dirt. On top of the dirt rested about two dozen bodies. I reached for the arm of my reflection and grabbed onto her for support, feeling as though I was going to faint as I recognized some of the cold faces. In the distance, I heard shouting, someone begging for help. I looked around but couldn’t pinpoint where it came from.
“What happened? We stopped Minerva!” I felt my eyes fill with tears and my face grew hot. “I don’t understand. Why is this happening?”
The gray figure shook her head. “Nothing has happened yet. This is a vision.”
I felt a wave of relief. “A vision? Why? What causes this?”
“Minerva had already knocked the scale out of balance,” she explained, looking back into my eyes. I locked mine into hers, trying to process what she said. “This is what she intended to cause. Even with her death, the world is still on a path to end up like this.”
“So, how do I stop it?” I felt hot tears slip from my eyes. As I wiped them away, I noticed that things had changed. The sky was no longer orange, and my reflection no longer looked like she was on fire. We were standing in the same spot, in front of the grocery store, just as I remembered it. No, it was better, actually. The sky was a clear blue, the lawns around the area were green, and the grocery store had expanded like they’d wanted to do for years. I watched the door as Lindsay exited the store, carrying bags of groceries to her car. I gasped and held my chest, overwhelmed by the relief at seeing her and all her vivid coloring. I looked back at my reflection, who had returned to her original state as well, purple hair and all.
“I didn’t need to tell you it’s your job to stop that future,” she said as she examined me. “You just knew.”
“I… I just couldn’t imagine letting that happen and not doing something to stop it.”
“Exactly,” she nodded. “That is what was meant to be. Minerva wanted chaos. You stopped her, but her actions still have consequences. You know you are Queen. Just as Daath keeps order in the Underworld, you must restore order in this one.”
“How do I do that?” I stared at her.
“I don’t know. But you must.”
I frowned, the purple fire around me flaring once again. “It’s your job to tell me.”
“No,” she shook her head calmly. “It’s your job to figure it out.”
I felt a frustration bubble within me, but I wasn’t sure if it was at her stubborn reply or my own fear about this situation. I was about to argue further when out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed a door that I hadn’t seen before. It was freestanding in the middle of the parking lot and made of that darker color moonstone from the door I’d seen before. “What’s that?”
My ghastly reflection nodded at the door, and that was the extent of her answer. I rolled my eyes in frustration and went to open it.
I had never seen anything as horrifying as what the Floor had shown me about Earth. However, that was mere child’s play compared to what I saw when I stepped through the black door. I wasn’t familiar with the area I was in, but I recognized the royal palace of the fae realm a few miles away. Surrounding me were small homes that I would classify as
