Iris's POV

One time while in an amusement park, Karen lured me into riding a roller coaster. The after-ride feeling was amazing but during the ride, when the roller coaster dropped down from a height, I felt some inexplicable vibration inside me, like all my insides, were sinking.

That's how I feel now. I can hear my panicked scream and my throat aches badly, probably from all the screaming but I can't see anything. Everything around me is pitch black.

My chest bumps into hard ground and the smell of wet soil and grass fills my nostrils. I feel a stronghold on my left hand and hear the ragged breathing of myself and someone else. Then I remember about Kevin. My eyes fly open.

My eyes focus on a very unfamiliar place around me. This is obviously not the park. It looks like a forest. I turn to my left to see Kevin laying in a similar position to mine.

"K-Kevin?" I call out feebly and he groans. My hand releases its grip on his arm and I weakly sit up straight. I don't have a clue where I am. I look around for the mirror and find it right between me and Kevin.

"Iris, where the hell are we?" asks Kevin, his eyes focused on the canopy of trees above us.

"That mirror, it took us here," And that's when my panic sets in "Jesus Christ, where the hell are we Kevin?"

"Isn't that what I just asked you?" he asks. I manage to stand up and hold on to the tree next to me for support because my head is still spinning. Once it stabilizes, I look around. This is definitely a forest with extremely tall trees.

"Karen wasn't lying. That mirror is not normal. What are we gonna do now?" I ask stupidly earning a glare from Kevin.

"I came with you, why are you asking me?" says Kevin. I pick up my bag from the ground and search for the letter. I reread the letter to find any clue on what to do after arriving here but in vain. And that's when I hear the voice.

"Iris? Kevin? Are you here?"

Our head snaps in the direction of the sound

"Karen? Is that you?" Kevin calls out.

Just then, a figure emerges from the trees, clad in a blue maxi dress, with locks of her brown hair falling over her shoulders. Her brown eyes focus on us for a second and the brightest smile I've ever seen on her spreads across her face; she comes running towards us.

I stand there speechless and frozen in the spot when I see her. She engulfs me in a very tight hug and peppers my cheeks with kisses while I stand there gaping at her.

"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies, Iris!" Karen teases.

"Oi! No hug for me?" asks Kevin with a stupid pout. He should never do that. Unlike me, who turned stone upon seeing her, Kevin literally lifts Karen in the air when they hug each other.

"You're here...Karen, where the hell are we?" I gulp.

"You have officially arrived at Eponine. I will take you to my place and then explain everything in detail." Karen explains.

"Karen, I can't wait anymore. How did that mirror bring us here? We were at Street Park." I argue but she smiles.

"I told you. That mirror is a portal, and the only known mode of transport to and fro the normal world where we lived, to this dimension," she explains.

"Well, traveling through it...I'm not kidding, it felt like we were on a roller coaster. I loved it!" Kevin states with an amused face as if that was the best thing in his life. 

How does his brain even work? That thing sucked!

"I know right! That the best thing about traveling through the mirror." agrees Karen.

"You guys are crazy!" I scoff, rolling my eyes

"Okay guys, time to get serious...I'm taking you to the palace," states Karen.

"THE PALACE!?" I and Kevin exclaim simultaneously.

"Yeah...it's a long story, I'll tell you guys once we reach there." 

****

"WOAH!"

I blink multiple times to adjust to the sudden sunlight hitting my eyes. As my eyes regain focus, what stands before us is a magnificent...no, a splendiferous castle. It was just like the ones we see in Disney movies.

I freeze in my tracks upon seeing it.

"You live here?" asks Kevin sounding just as surprised as I am.

She nods. "Yeah, ever since I reached here, that is where I live." 

The view from this spot is just brilliant. The forest is at an elevated part of Eponine, so when we look straight, we can see the palace, a beautiful lake on the right side of the palace, and what looks like the Garden of Versailles on the right side. I can even see small boats floating on the lake. It's just absolutely breathtaking.

We make our way to the palace and stop in front of the giant golden gates made of gold grills decorated with flowers and leaves made of silver and copper. A guard, dressed in a bronze-colored armor with a spear greets us. Karen tells him something and he bows before leaving.

The giant gates open, and the first thing I see is a really cool fountain. Designed in a very unique manner, the water is shot out from a thin slot as a clear sheet. I can ever see our reflection on the sheet of water as clearly as though I see it in a mirror.

It takes me a while to get adjusted to this haven before I look at Karen.

"Like whatcha seein'? " asks Karen.

"Can you slap me?" asks Kevin looking straight ahead at the palace doors.

"I would gladly do it but why?" I ask, confused.

"I just want to make sure that I am not dreaming," replies Kevin, and Karen giggles. "How are you living here? No wonder why you left New York" he remarks.

The doors of the building open to a large hall and the first thing I notice is the giant chandelier above our heads. The walls of the hall are painted bronze and upon taking a closer examination, I discover that the floral designs on the walls and pillars are silver and gold on the white marble.

Our voices echo in the hall as we speak. The velvet curtains adorn the windows that look out to the lake and the garden on either side of us. Straight ahead, lies two grand staircases which curve and meet in the middle to leading to the second floor. And between these stairs, stands a golden lamp which a topped by a glass globe. On the wall behind the lamp, is a banner with an inscription in God-Knows which language.

"Karen, what is this place?" I ask, astonished at the grandeur around me.

"I know, pretty extravagant, right? I froze just like you the first time I saw it," she recalls.

"I have been to one like this before...uh...in Turkey. But that wasn't as extravagant as this one," Kevin tells.

"The one in Istanbul...hey, we went there together!" Karen reminds, giving a soft slap on Kevin's arm.

Time to pop my most awaited question. "I missed out so much on your friendship, didn't I? " I ask glaring at Karen.

"I...I'm sorry. I-I should've told you..." Karen stutters.

"I'll deal with you later. Firstly, how did you end up here?" I ask.

"I explain everything later. First, you need to refresh yourselves. I'll get you some snacks and drinks while you wait in the meeting room and after that, we'll meet the Queen." she states.

Kevin raises a finger. "I'm sorry but did I just hear 'meet the Queen'?" he asks and she nods in reply.

***

The snacks were heavenly. I didn't know I was that hungry until I took the first bite then I devoured them all. Fortunately, Kevin too was just as hungry as me and seemed wilder than me in digging into the food.

One of the palace ladies came in and told us that 'The Queen' will arrive in around ten minutes.

Karen sits beside me, with our fingers interlaced in each other. Unfortunately, my hands turn clammy and she chuckles at my nervousness. "Relax, she is a very kind woman, not like the Queens we see in the movies." Karen consoles me while slowly rubbing her thumb between my thumb and index finger.

"What do you address her?" asks Kevin.

"Your Highness"

"Typical..." I comment.

Just then, the tall doors to the room open, and a woman with brown hair, clad in a golden gown walks in. The gait is so graceful that one could mistake her for floating. And the oddest thing I notice is that she looks strangely similar to Karen. 

"Y-Your Highness" I address her and then make an awkward attempt to curtsy but the queen waves me off.

"No dear... we don't do that here," she informs, sweetly and I hear Kevin making weird noises and see him covering his mouth with his hand so as to muffle his laughs. I shoot a glare at him and kick his leg from under the coffee table.

Karen introduces us to her. "Your Highness, these are my friends, Kevin and Iris. I summoned them here to inform them about my disappearance from the mundane world." 

"Welcome my dears! I hope you like this place. I know it must be confusing for you to suddenly arrive at Eponine but you'll be used to it. It's not very different from your world. However, I reckon you will have to stay here longer." informs the Queen with welcoming hands but I notice a strong British accent in her voice.

Didn't think that Eponians would be British!

"I'm sorry, Your Highness but as you said it indeed is a lot to take in. I don't understand what you mean by stay here longer." I admit.

"And how is our good friend Karen here, connected to this world?" asks Kevin "And yes, by the way, I love this place. It's awesome! "

"You sure have a lot of questions, kids. I will answer all of them. But first, you have to know that Karen is not from the mundane world." states the Queen.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"She was born here in Eponine."     

******

A/N: Don't ya waste yer time! Jump to the next chapter!