Obie was about to continue spoon feeding me my own backstory when suddenly both our trains of thought were derailed by the slow crescendo of sound coming from the small pool of water. Bubbling, churning. It must be part of my curse, nothing so pure and good as that perfect cold water could withstand my rank stank. I may be small and mousey, but I sure went through apothecary grade perfumes and bath salts. Was it the filth from my tarnished bruised skin I left in the cool pool that angered the water so?

No, this was witchcraft. A familiar voice cut through the turbulent surface.

“Archer?”

As my horrible name rang out through the clearing the water began to still, revealing a familiar face reflected in the ripples that matched the familiar voice. And familiar titties. But no, her eyes were up there. But no, I couldn’t look her in those eyes now knowing what I know. Tits. But she didn’t know that I know what I know. Eyes. But—great big bouncing balls of fire—try not to stare at her tits!

“Andromeda?” 

My throat was so dry from nerves, it sounded more like a croak, the croak of a Bogmogog Frog…. Involuntarily, I gasped as the memory of the witch’s familiar lunged at me. I looked to Oblegaimon, or where he used to be—now just a puff of cat shaped smoke, he himself was out of sight.  He discreetly leaned out from behind his hiding place amongst the reeds and gestured with a paw for me to act natural.

She is still your sister, after all. She doesn’t know that sick lore I just dropped on you. Feign ignorance.

I took a shuttering breath to stabilize my fragile yet perky frame.

“Sister! Great—thank you—howdy on this morrow! How… are you doing this?”

I moved closer to the pool to examine the tits-I mean-the reflection of my sister. I waved my hand stupidly over the surface. Was she here? Was this a portal?

Andromeda laughed dismissively, “Aw, Archer! You’ve always been a dullard.”

 She was right, it was a good thing this family was cursed never to find love, for while I was gifted at math and a badass archer what man could love one who was so inept at every skill desirable in a woman, not to mention so naturally thin and perky?

My sister continued, interrupting my self-deprecating thoughts, “Do you not recognize this to be a conjuring call? Mama just had long-distance conjuring installed in the Reflection Pool.”

I guess that made sense, we often used the Reflection Pool to make local calls to each other within the grounds of the family estate. Ringing a sister out of ear shot when dinner was ready, or notifying a sister in a garden when the ever so uncommon visitor showed up, or Andromeda would use it just to call up a certain sister to tell her ‘nice face, start any pitch fork riots with that thing?’ and hang up quickly with a snicker (which would without fail make the certain sister who received the call cry because undoubtedly that certain sister’s face would quite regularly cause pitchfork riots.)… (Me. That certain sister is me.) With this new technology, what prank call madness had Mama just unwittingly unlocked? Not to mention my witch sister now could call upon me no matter my whereabouts.

“Honestly, dear sister, I was worried after you did not return home last night. We all were worried. I am so pleased to see you are well.” Andromeda was always better at the things I did not excel at—singing, dancing, having boobs, acting—but even her prowess could not mask the whisper of vexation that dripped from her words. “Indeed, but we are beside ourselves with worry. Before I ask what happened… Where are you?”

‘Dear sister’? ‘Beside ourselves with worry’? ‘...You’? And no mention of how much I resemble a skid mark in granny pantaloons? Maybe she was no such master of acting…

“I am behind Oblegaimon’s stove! Judging by the stream, I think it opens to the clearing in the western quadrant of the Finifugal Wood—”

MROOOOWWW

 Oops. It was the first time Obie had made an actual cat noise all night. He flung his black body at me as I finished giving our exact location to the Bogmogog Witch, unwittingly. He clung to my shoulder and batted my head helplessly. It was too late now, might as well keep feigning ignorance. Wait, I’m bad at acting. This was just genuine ignorance.

“—Obie’s here, too.”

Andromeda laughed, not her usual laugh, she betrayed a bit more jeer than usual, then caught herself. Perhaps we were all ignorant today. 

“Oh, what luck! Now that I have your coordinates, I shall fetch you… posthaste…” 

Her conjuring transmission ended abruptly, leaving the smooth surface of the pool and my bewildered reflection looking back at me…. But also, the reflection of a tall, lanky, black haired, chiseled jaw boy about my age standing directly behind me, with eyes so familiar…. as if from a dream.

“Oh gods, a boy?!” I whirled around, Obie flung from my shoulder by the centrifugal force, to see no beautiful boy standing where he should be according to the reflection. I whipped back around to study the reflection again. He was gone. It was just me now.

 What are you doing? Screeched the cat, shaking himself off in the reeds. We must make ourselves scarce before your dear sister ‘fetches’ us!

“I… I thought I saw someone… But now there is a distinct lack of insanely gorgeous guys appropriately my exact age and physical type here presently…” my voice trailed off dreamily.

Obie opened his mouth as if to say something but was again interrupted.

“Or is there?” said a stately voice that rang out across the clearing as, from the far end of the small clearing, another reveal was commencing! From through the trees came princely boots.

He was such a contrast to the first potential love interest in the reflection. The second boy I had ever laid eyes on, my head spun in mathematical love triangle equations. I will describe him in more detail in a second, but he was so…

Princely. Maybe even… elven.