Big Zen Hats:The Final Hatting

Anastasia Ruther died yesterday at the age of 49. The former tightrope-walker, who was crippled in a tragic accident which also took the life of her fiancé, died last night in her sleep. Police suspect foul play though, as she was so young and the child who was helping her, Lily Tulidge, was missing since this afternoon. Tulidge's sister claims that Ruther came back alone from her afternoon walk and told her that her sister was on her way home. Ruther has no surviving relatives, both parents are dead and her twin sister, Genevieve, died when they were 7 in an accident.

Part 1

"Why do you think Edaniel told us to come back early today?" Vincent wondered as he and Dinah once again made they're way back to the mausoleum.

"I have no idea, but Edrear said the next vault was going to be important." Dinah replied. "I hope we finish soon."

"You still want to learn to ride the unicycle?"

"You still want to have that deli name a sandwich after you?" Dinah retorted.

"Touché"

"What does that mean?"

"It's French, it has something to do with fighting. I saw it on TV once."

"What combination for your sandwich are you working now?"

"I'm thinking chips and pretzels with some chocolate cake."

"Perfect for the snack-happy person one the go." said Edaniel from on top of
Vincent's head.

"Ahh!" Vincent jumped and fell backward, "Did you have to do that.  Last time someone did that to me there were hairpins everywhere. Speaking of which you look like you need some." Edaniel's hair looked beautiful, slicked back and shiny it 's make a fifties bad boy swoon with envy. His tail however was bent at right angles and the tip looked like it had gotten a really bad perm.

"It's a weird day today. And whatever happened to the jammiest, that other sandwich you thought they would love."

"It was the jammiest sandwich ever, they just thought it was a little too jammy."

"Jam's alright but I prefer a good old-fasioned cup of noodles myself. The pretzel man makes the best."

"Why would a pretzel man be making cups of noodles?"

"Cuz they're the yum-yums. You're dream is to have a sandwich named after you?"

"No, my dream is to own a 1978 Chevy Cavalier. This is just a challenge."

"Crazy prep-school kids."

"Anyway," Dinah interjected, "Why did you want us to come back early today Edaniel?"

"Because moonslice, the swashbuckling adventure you'll be taking today, along with super- duper me and Edrear will also be incredibly dangerous."

"Moonslice?"

"It's already a weird day today, I thought why not make it a little weirder. Plus you're outfit doesn't help." Dinah was wearing a white dree, white shoes and white hair accessories, that much white isn't usually seen outside of bridal stores.  IN stark contrast to her Vincent had more black on than a church full of mourners.

"So come on kids, let's get started."

***

Dinah tossed a gold coin she had found into the hooded angel's cup and they descended into the sunken mausoleum.

"So what's new in the world today?" Edaniel asked from his perch on Vincent's shoulder.

"Well Canada invaded the US," Dinah commented.

"I always knew those Canadians would rise up against us one day. So what's happening with you kids, you get a day off from your prep school?" Edaniel asked, suddenly wearing a military uniform.

"I don't go to school," Dinah replied, "Aunty decided to take us on a weekend vacation starting tomorrow, in case anything happens but I'm going to have to convince her not to take us."

"You're in luck kid. It just so happens that this next vault you're going to do counts as three. Hey maybe me and Edrear can take a vacation too. We don't get very many vacations. Maybe we can go kayaking." He was now wearing board shorts

"What about when you have no agents? And why does the next vault count as three." Vincent asked.

"Nah, that doesn't count. We're not working so it's technically not a vacation. So how's that unicycle-riding going?"

"All right, I only fell five times today."

"I once tried learning to ride a unicycle. It's theoretically easier but in reality it's harder than waltzing. I went around to many times once and let me just say the dance floor was really slippery after that. That is a true story of kibbles and beatings."

"Wha?"

Fortunately they were interrupted just then by the arrival of Edrear. "Hello Miss Dinah, Master Vincent. I trust you are doing well."

"Hey bro, Canada invaded the U.S."

"I hope fish war does not affect Miss Dinah or Master Vincent."

"Nah they're going on a vacation. This vault is finally helping somebody."

"Uhh," Vincent said, "Why did Edrear say 'fish' where he should've said the word 'the'?"

"Oh he's got a rare illness which prevents him from saying the word 'the'. Like I said it's a weird day today. He says some random word where he's supposed to say 'the' to show where 'the' is supposed to go. It's kind of entertaining."

"So are you going to tell us why this vault counts as three or are we going to keep talking about random things?" Dinah suddenly interjected, "I have a unicycle to learn to ride."

"Sweet Loretta, I almost forgot!" Edaniel said, hitting himself in the head, "Sit down kiddies and find something snuggly, this is going to be a long story."

***

"The vault you are going to do today is extremely dangerous, let me make that clear right now. I'll explain that in a minute but first you need to know why there are three souls in one vault."

"There was supposed to be only one spirit, but this person in her life 'died' in three ways. First her heart, then her body then finally her soul. The people linked with this were dragged along with her into the vault, so when you complete each part you're actually freeing part of her and the other person. The first person is her sister, who died when they are young. The second is her fiancé, when trying to save him she crippled herself."

"What about the third." Dinah inquired.

"No-one ever reached that part so we don't know."

"Why did no-one ever reach it?"

"And now my moonslice, we come to the dangerous part."

***

"You kids already know that most ghosts dream of the way they died. Well this one's dreams are so powerful that they influence the world around her. Upset her enough and she'll dream you out of there. Not dead but gone, and not just out of the vault. You literally disappear. Another thing you have to know is that you can only change the dream when she allows it. For her the dream has become reality, I'm not sure if she even remembers if she's dreaming anymore. You can only interrupt the dream in the first two parts when she's not there or distracted. In the third you're going up against her yourselves. She is one of the most difficult vaults you will have to do. Are you ready?"

Vincent and Dinah were a little shocked, they had never heard Edaniel speak seriously before. They felt a sliver of fear pierce their hearts. They had faced a lot of bad things, but they wondered if from this one that one, or both, of them wouldn't be coming back. But they had to go anyway, they didn't have a choice.

"We're ready," they said in unision.

"All right then!" exclaimed Edaniel. All the traces of seriousness had evapourated but if you listened closely enough, you could hear the forced jollity in his voice. He was afraid too.

"Here's the plaque." Edaniel pointed to a small gold plaque, plain but it just seemed wrong, twisted somehow.

The plaque read:
The Three
Once a whole now in three
Will this one ever be
Quite as whole as it once was
If taken up you must finish because
If left undone
This broken soul will kill you every one

First the heart
So young when taken
Then the body
So far badly broken
Then the soul, the hardest of all
This is when the one did fall

Find the statues all are broken
Into the bowl, throw a token
Something beautiful and alive
And let the good in you strive
For to save this broken ghost
You will need each other the most

***

It didn't take long to find the statues, they stood out against all the others. The first looked perfectly normal except there was a ragged hole in its chest. The second was missing one leg and both arms, which looked as if they'd been broken off, and was doubled over in pain. The third was the creepiest of all, it leered at them, hands outstretched as if to grab them. But its face was twisted in pain and indecision, like if there were two conflicting forces in its mind, on wanted to hurt them and the other didn't.

"Beautiful and alive, what could that mean?" Dinah murmered. Suddenly a butterfly landed on her shoulder, the first living thing she had seen in the in the gravedyard. Its delicate wings were covered in bright colours. "Beautiful and alive, just maybe." She cupped the butterfly in her hands, it made no attempt to fly away, only fluttered its wings a few times. "Let's hope this works," she whispered as she brought her hand to the edge of the bowl. As if it knew what to do the butterfly jumped into the bowl. As soon as it landed a brilliant light filled the graveyard.

"Oh did I forget to mention, her dream is so powerful it leaks out of the vault and changes the surroundings as soon as the vault it is open." Edaniel's voice asked.

"I think you did," replied Vincent.

And then the light faded and everything changed.

***

They were now standing in a large green meadow, full of little hills and valleys. The edges of the meadow were fringed with trees, but these were different from the ones Dinah and Vincent were used to. They did not lurk so much as just be.

"Listen," Vincent said, interrupting the silence that had settled. They listened and heard the sounds of laughter and voices coming from one of the valleys.

"Children," Dinah said, "And they're coming this way." Sure enough, in a few moments they could see the children running their way.

"Me and Edrear will go hide for a bit. This part is easy, we'll come back as soon as it's time." Edaniel whispered. Before Dinah or Vincent had a chance to say anything, they had already disappeared.

"Yes go on, leave us to deal with the extremely dangerous ghost," Vincent grumbled, but before he could say anymore, the children were in front of them. Up close Vincent and Dinah could see they were twin girls, both brown-skinned and dark-haired but one with green eyes and the other's were blue. The green-eyed one was holding a fair-skinned doll with blond hair wearing a pink dress and an M on her chest, her sister's was  brown-skinned with dark hair and was wearing a blue dress with an L on her chest. The green-eyed one was glaring at them in an unnerving way, no child should have that penetrating a stare.

"Hi!" exclaimed the blue-eyed one," I'm Genevieve and this is my sister Anastasia. Her doll's name is M. Alice and her nickname is Marty. My doll's name is Sweet Loretta, she doesn't have a nickname. Will you watch us while our mom goes in the woods? She said we could ask you so we could play for a while longer. Please? We'll be good."

"It's only for a bit," murmured Anastasia. She seemed wary of them for some reason.

"Um, all right we will," agreed Dinah, a little flustered by Anastasia's stare.

"Yay!" Genevieve hollered and she and her sister resumed their game.

"You'll never catch me you old flobbity snakeface!" she shouted.

"I will with my army of magic zombies!" her sister called back.

They sat down and watched the sisters play, until finally both of them sat down and seemed to be acting out the last scene.

"The prettiest princess will save you Sweet Loretta, with Marty's magic wand!"

"Yay we're saved and now everyone can wear Big Zen Hats! And now the swashbuckling adventure is over how can I repay you?"

"Forget it, kid. It's Chinatown. But now it's naptime and we must sleep until the next adventure comes." And both girls promptly fell asleep.

"Told you this part is easy," said Edaniel's voice from behind them.

"Why did you leave?" Vincent whispered angrily.

"Because I don't think the children would have come if they'd seen a green cat thing and a guy who has the inability to say the word 'the'" Edaniel whispered back, "Now pay attention, it's about to begin."

Out of the sky dropped a hawk, it swooped low and picked up Sweet Loretta. Immediately Genveive woke up. "Sweet Loretta!" she cried and chased after the bird. All of this happened in an instant.

"Come on," Edaniel whispered and they took off after the little girl and the bird.

***

"Wow she can run fast," Vincent panted. They had followed the girl into the woods and were only just managing to keep up with her.

"I don't think it's her. I think we're only allowed to catch up with her when the time is right," Dinah replied, "It's like Edaniel said, in here we're only allowed to do as she tells us."

"Actually-" Edaniel began but was cut off when Edrear sudenly stopped and he was flung off his shoulder by his momentum.

"Hey," he complained, rubbing his head, "Whaddya do that for?"

"I think I know what we have to do," Dinah whispered. The bird had dropped Sweet Loretta on a messy pile of branches that spanned a ravine. And about to cross it was Genevieve.

***

The ersatz bridge could barely hold Sweet Loretta, let alone Genevieve. And there was no soft pile of leaves to catch her in the ravine. There were a lot of rocks though, and a small stream that ran through the ravine.

"We can't let her cross that," Vincent said.

"I have a plan," Dinah replied, "Just follow my lead." She snatched up Edaniel and held him above her head.

"Hey Genevieve," she hollered, "I have something for you."

Genevieve turned around just as she was about to step onto the braches. "A snuggly!" she squealed and raced toward Dinah.

"Here you hold onto him for me," Dinah told her. The little girl proceeded to squeeze Edaniel until his eyes bugged. For his part, Edaniel managed to pretend to be a stuffed toy. "Now come on," she instructed Vincent and Edrear as she hurried to the bridge.

She delicately pulled a branch out of the pile, "I'm going to lie down on the branches and Vincent you lie down too and hold onto my ankles while Edrear holds onto yours. I'll try and pull the doll back to me with the branch."

"But Miss Dinah, what if zombies branches collapse and you fall?" Edrear asked.

"This is the only plan we've got."

***

"Don't you dare look up Vincent," Dinah said. Almost her whole body except for her feet was on the branches, with Vincent behind he gripping onto her ankles so tightly his hands turned white. Edrear was crouching and held onto Vincent's ankles.

"Have you got it?" Vincent hissed. Genevieve could only squeeze Edaniel for so long. Soon she would come for her doll.

"Almost," Dinah whispered back. The stick was only a few measly inches from the doll. "I have to go a little further."

"Wait no-" but before Vincent could finish Dinah had already wriggled forward and dragged her feet onto the branches.

Dinah used the stick to pull Sweet Loretta to her. "Got it!"

"Finally," Vincent sighed with relief and he and Edrear dragged Dinah back onto the ground.

Dinah's dress was no longer white, the whole front was covered in dirt and she had lost one of her ribbons. But she was smiling.

"Come on. Let's give that little girl her doll back."

***

"I believe this belongs to you," Dinah said, handing the little girl her doll.

"Sweet Loretta!" she exclaimed, hugging the doll tightly. There was a flash of light and standing before them, no longer a little girl but a grown women, was Genevieve. She still held her doll closely to her chest.

"Thank you," she said, "And good luck." With that Genevieve flew away.

"Well that wasn't so hard," Edaniel commented.

"Wasn't so hard!" Vincent exclaimed.

"Trust me kid, this next one is going to be difficult. And now we should be going. Snap my fingers here I go!"

Edaniel didn't actually snap his fingers. All they did was blink and everything changed.

Part 2

The trees and the ravine had vanished. Now they were standing in the middle of a busy town, all around them voices cried out:

"Extra! Extra! Sale at the fish-flavoured ice-cream shoppe."

"Cups of noodles for sale, cups of noodles! Nothing tastes better than a good ole cup of noodles."

"Oh my Lord there are hairpins everywhere!"

"Hey where did my shoe go?"

This last statement was made by Dinah, who noticed that her shoe had mysteriously disappeared.

"It must've fallen off when we pulled you off the branches" Vincent replied.

"No time for that now," Edaniel said.

"Cheese boy who was selling newspapers gave us this one. And it tells us where cake spirit is," Edrear elaborated.

He held open the newspaper for them. The head line read Local girl returns, comes back with circus.  Looking back at them was Anastasia.

"Oh did I forget to mention?" said Edaniel, "Anastasia is the spirit."

"You seem to be doing that a lot," Vincent remarked.

***

"Well do we have a plan?" Vincent asked. They were in the circus grounds, all around them were performers and spectators but there was no sign of Anastasia.

"I came up with the last one, it's your turn" Dinah answered.

"I have nothing," said Edaniel

"Neigoatsr do I," Edrear said.

During this time Vincent had been staring thoughtfully at the main tent.

"I think I might," he said slowly.

***

"...so all we have to do is put on some costumes and pretend to be part of the circus" Vincent finished. The others blinked at him in the gloom of the costume tent.

Edaniel was the first to comment. "Won't people kind of notice that we're kind of not in the circus."

"Maybe," Vincent acknowledged.

"So your whole plan hinges on the hope no-one will notice we're not in the circus?"

"Do we have a better plan?" And once again they did not.

***

"At least I get shoes," Dinah muttered, yanking on her leotard.

On the other side of the tent Vincent was trying to finish pulling his zip all the way up.

"Come on, come on," he grunted. "Yes!" he shouted triumphantly as he managed to zip it up.

Dinah, who hear the chink! turned around. "Um Vincent, your zipper broke."

"What!" he exclaimed, "Now how am I going to get out of this?"

"We can worry about that later," said Edaniel, "Now what do we do?" Edrear was wearing a deep purple leotard with a white mask while Edaniel had chosen a clown costume.

"Why?" Vincent said, "Actually never mind. Edrear can be one of the jugglers while you can be one of the clowns Edaniel. I'll ride one of the elephants."

"Where did you learn to ride an elephant?" Edaniel questioned.

"There was a special on Animal Planet."

"What am I supposed to do?" Dinah asked.

"Remember when Edaniel told us that her fiancé," he grabbed a unicycle, "You have to ride the unicycle on the highwire."

"Oh before I forget," Edaniel interjected, "You have to save her fiancé, not her."

"We need to work on your memory."

***

Dinah stood on the platform, about to mount the unicycle and ride onto the wire. Far below Vincent rode an elephant, Edrear juggled and Edaniel was having water sprayed in his face. She would trade places with anyone of them but she knew she had to do it, because on the highwire above her was Anastasia and about to swing from his platform was her fiancé.

So she took a deep breath, mounted the unicycle and began to peddle.

***

Below her Vincent looked up as he tried to keep the elephant in place. Elephant riding wasn't as easy as Animal Planet made it seem. But he had to remain in position. If Dinah missed he was the only thing between him and the ground.

***

Dinah would have loved to have been able to close her eyes, right then it was her biggest wish but she kept them open and tried her best not to look down. She was approaching the middle of the wire and soon she'd reach the other platform and have to turn around and ride across the wire all over again. She hoped he would fall soon. And then he did.

First Dinah heard the gasp of the crowd when they saw him slip. Then she heard his cry when he realized he was falling. And third and worst of all she heard the scream when Anastasia realized what was happening.

One chance, she thought I have one chance or else it's all over. She looked up and saw that he was falling nearly on top of her, but a little to her left. Close, closer, now! She reached to the side and grabbed a handful of fabric. Got him! But then Dinah realized she had reached a little too far and he was a little too heavy. It was too late though, and a second later she was falling too.

***

She got him! Vincent thought, but then his stomach grew numb. The thing he'd not even dare think had happened. She got him, but now she's falling with him!

"Hyah!" he cried and kicked the place on the elephant's neck which was supposed to make him raise his trunk. He was dimly aware of someone else falling but he was focused completely on Dinah. Please, please let him catch them, Vincent prayed. Whoever he prayed to must've liked him, because the elephant caught Dinah and the fiancé and lowered them to the ground. As soon as his feet touched the ground he transformed.

"Thank you," he whispered and flew off.

It dawned on Vincent there was a lot of activity around a spot not to far from him. From his vantage point he could see the broken body of Anastasia.

***

"Well we did it without any complications," announced Edaniel as soon as they were out of the tent.

"Besides me almost dying," Dinah said sarcastically.

"You were caught. Now shush, we're onto the last part."

Once again they blinked and once again everything changed.

Part 3

They were once again near the woods but this time they were in a clearing and the trees around them did lurk. They were very good at lurking, they looked as if they had been grown for it.

"This is the most dangerous part, now we're going up against Anastasia herself," warned Edaniel.

"If we could find her," Vincent remarked dryly. The only thing any of them could see were trees, a lot of trees but that didn't tell them anything.

"Hey what's this," Edaniel asked, "I can hear what the plants are saying. They're telling me that Anastasia has a cottage thattaway"

"Are you sure the plants are telling you this," Vincent asked suspiciously, "Or do you just not want to tell us anymore things you forgot."

"Shush, the plants are telling me we must hurry before it's too late!" and with that Edaniel took off into the woods.

The others took after him. "Do you really think he can talk to plants?" Vincent asked Dinah.

"What other option do we have?" she replied.

Vincent sighed. "We really need to make a plan before we do things."

"Then it wouldn't be as much fun," Edaniel called back.

***

They arrive in another clearing, this one with a cottage in the centre of it. Though quite pretty, the cottage had an air if abandonment around it, even though it seemed quite clean it looked as if it had been left there for a hundred years.

"Hello?" called out a voice from the inside of the cottage. The woman it belonged to stepped out. She had blonde hair and wore a pink dress with an M embroidered on it and a dark pink cloak. It was eerie her resemblance to Anastasia's doll.

"Have you seen Lily or Ms. Ruther? I was supposed to go with them on their walk but when I got here they already left and I don't want to leave in case they come back and see me missing."

"Um, why don't you tell us the path they usually take and we'll go looking for them," said Vincent.

The woman's face immediately broke into a smile. "Thank you. I'm M. Alice by the way. Why don't you come in and I'll give you some lunch to give them in case you or they get hungry."

"All right," Vincent agreed. He and the other's walked, or in Edaniel's case was carried, into the house. It was just as dead looking from the inside as it was from the outside. Old circus posters covered the walls, they were the only decorations except for the ones on the mantel and the flower on the table. Vincent followed M. Alice into the kitchen while the others walked around the room nervously.

"Miss Dinah!" Edrear said suddenly, grabbing her arm, "Some look at this!"

"What-" Dinah began but then stopped in shock. Sitting in the centre of the mantel were Anastasia's doll, Marty and Genevieve's doll, Sweet Loretta.

"But didn't Genevieve take Sweet Loretta with her?" Dinah whispered.

"Yeah but that doesn't make a difference," Edaniel replied, "It's what she remembers is what's happening, what we do won't make a difference. Not until the end."

Just then M.Alice and Vincent came out of the kitchen. "Here you go," M.Alice said brightly, "I packed some chocolate cake and some sandwiches, Lily's favourite. They're the jammiest sandwiches you'll ever have."

They left and started in the direction that M.Alice had shown Vincent. "You don't thing that Anastasia and Lily took they're usual path do you?" Dinah asked as soon as they were a safe distance away from the cottage.

"No I don't. I saw what was on the mantel. And I remember the look on the statues face," Vincent replied. Dinah shivered as she remembered the twisted, evil features of the statue.

"Correct! And the plants are telling me that Anastasia and Lily are heading to a place you should remember. They're going to the ravine."

They started running.

***

The ravine had changed. Before where there was a small trickle for a stream there was no a roaring river, the rocks at the bottom had definitely gotten sharper and there was now a bridge that spanned the river farther upstream. Approaching from the other side were Anastasia and Lily. They were farther upriver than them, a few yards north of the bridge. There the river wasn't quite as rough and there were less rocks and more mud.

They breathed a collective sigh. They still had time. "All right here's the plan," Edaniel said.

"Wait now you're coming up with the plan?" Vincent asked incredulously.

"Hey you guys both got a turn. And my ability to talk to plants got us here."

"Fine," Vincent conceded, "What's your plan?"

"We wait until Anastasia throws Lily in the river, then you, me and Edrear will jump in after her and grab onto that conveniently placed root and pull ourselves onto the up into the tree and climb it while Dinah distracts Anastasia."

"Ok next time we go into a potentially lethal vault, we make a plan before we go in," Vincent decided.

***

Crossing the bridge, Dinah decided, was the hardest thing she ever did. Even harder than riding that unicycle on the highwire. Then she had a possibility of being saved. Now it was her alone with a ghost that could make her disappear without a trace. Maybe she could just turn around and it would be all right. But then she heard the scream and she knew it wouldn't be.

***

Vincent watched Dinah cross the bridge. He shouldn't have let her go alone. Edrear could get Lily by himself, someone had to go with Dinah and protect her. It wasn't too late to catch up with her... and then he heard the scream and he knew it was.

***

Dinah could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her lungs ached from breathing the cold air. The wind whipped her hair into her face, wait wind? The previously sunny day had suddenly turned stormy. From the other side of the river Edaniel yelled, "It looks like she's noticing us!" Before he jumped into the water after Edrear and Vincent. She could see Vincent struggling to keep his head up while still keeping the child above water.  Edrear was trying to swim towards him but somehow the water was contriving to keep them apart. And succeeding.

Finally Dinah reached Anastasia. She was standing at the edge with her back turned to her. Dinah didn't know how she heard her arrive over the noise from the storm but as soon as she was behind her Anastasia said,

"I remember you, you were there the day she died"

"Yes and no. Where weren't there really. We were there in your head."

"I don't even know what's happening anymore. Everyday the most terrible things that ever happened to me keep happening. Over and over. When will it end?"

"It's almost over. But it ends when you decide it ends."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know."

Dinah stepped next to Anastasia and caught a glimpse of her face. It was twisted with pain and indecision. Then for a moment it cleared. It might have been longer but Dinah never saw because then, Anastasia jumped into the river.

***

So this is what it feels like to drown, Vincent thought. He would've said it out loud if his mouth hadn't been full of water just then. The girl's skin was cold and clammy and her eyes were closed but he could feel her chest going up and down. Edrear was trying his best to reach him, but the water was to strong. Suddenly Edrear began shouting something Vincent couldn't quite hear. He soon found out though, when the giant wave crashed over his head. This is it, he thought, We're all going to die.  He closed his eyes and waited to drown.

Then he felt arms circle around his waist.  It's Edrear, he made it. Suddenly he felt the sun on his face and took his first breathe of air in what seemed like years. "Thanks-" he began to say until he looked into the eyes of his rescuer. It was Anastasia, and in her other arm she held Lily. But what made him stop was that Anastasia looked just as she had when she was in the circus.

***

She carried them to a small bank that was at the bottom of the cliff. Edrear and Edaniel were already there waiting for them. "I don't remember this being here," Vincent mumbled.

"I know," Anastasia replied, "I created it."

As soon as Lily set foot on the bank she transformed. She leaned over Vincent, who was too exhausted to get up, and kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks for saving me," she whispered, then flew off into the sky.

Vincent lay there for a few moments more then managed to pull himself up. "Now all we have to do is get Dinah" he said.

"Don't worry about that," Anastasia answered. The next moment they were standing in the meadow , and Dinah was right next to him.

***

"I want to say thank you," Anastasia said, "for everything. And goodbye." With that Anastasia turned and walked away. As she walked the change that had begun in the river continued. Her clothes turned white and changed, wings sprouted from her back and up ahead were Genevieve, her fiancé and Lily. When she reached them she embraced each one of them, their laughter echoed around the meadow. Then they disappeared.

"Aww," said Edaniel.

"Yeah that was beautiful, but how are we supposed to get back. He needn't have worried because once again there was a flash, and they were standing in the graveyard.

***

"Hey my shoe is back!" Dinah exclaimed. She looked exactly like she had before they left. They all did. There were only some changes, Edaniel's tail was back to normal and so was his hair.

"Aww, I can't hear the plants anymore," Edaniel frowned.

"I think that the plants are grateful for that brother," remarked Edrear, "Hey I can say the word 'the' again!"

The butterfly was still in the bowl. Dinah lowered her hands into the bowl and the butterfly climbed into them. "Go on," she said blowing gently on its wings, "You're free to go."

The butterfly fluttered out of her hands but before it left it landed softly on her forehead then flew away. If Dinah hadn't known better, she would've sworn it felt like a kiss.

"Come on Vincent, let's go," she said. But before they left she noticed something. All the statues were fixed. And they all were smiling.
The End