Cause I'm only a crack , in this Castle of Glass .

                                                                                          -Linkin Park

****

The door swung open and the old lady limped inside, followed by Hazel, Ced and Cindy.

The tinker's shop was a mess. Shards of glass were strewn on the floor; broken glass, broken dreams. The greyness of gloom cast its shadow upon it.

" Please, sit down."  The woman smiled with joy. Hazel felt a surge of sympathy within herself.

They took a seat around a small table.

" I shall make tea for you all."

As soon as the lady was out of sight , Hazel sighed, "No wonder she has to steal from others. This place is in such a decrepit state."

"I don't quite understand why we are here." Ced said.

" She helped us." Cindy said .

" But there was certainly no need of doing this. A waste of time." Ced argued.

" Tea's here ! Sorry, but I have nothing to serve with it." The lady placed the tray on the table.

"This will suffice, thank you."  Cindy said.

As Hazel finished drinking the contents of her cup, the lady suddenly whimpered.

" Are you okay ?"  she asked, alarmed.

" Oh yes. Would sir and my dear ladies please accompany me to the inside of the shop ?" the lady said, hiding her pain behind a smile.

They followed the old hag. Strangely, the place gave Hazel a sinister vibe. Something was amiss.

"This exhibit is a testament to my ancestors' craftsmanship and the years of hardwork it took for them to hone their skills." Her face shone with pride.
A beautiful display of glass-work and a never ending series of ornate mirrors of ever shape and size, lined the walls. 

"Cover your eyes or you shall be blinded by the gleam of the magical mirrors !"

" Wait." Hazel said, as she noticed the lady's feet. She was wearing...shoes made of iron. They glowed red hot.

" What is it , Hazel ?" Cindy asked.

"Her shoes."

The lady's smile disappeared. "I have been cursed."

" What sort of a curse ?"  Ced asked.

" One that puts me in eternal torment." the lady sobbed , " A curse that cannot be undone."

" Who put it on you ?" Hazel asked, cautiously stepping away from the her.

" Why , don't you know her ? You worship her for what she did to me. You call her brave, for the fate she condemned me to! You say that I am evil, but so was she. You believe that my punishment was fair. But only the mirrors know the truth.

"They are the fairest." Her eyes gleamed.

" I was made to dance to death , dance till I burned, till my flesh was sundered from my blood. I was killed by my own daughter."

Ced unsheathed his sword and charged at her. The blade slashed across her arm, making a tear on her sleeve, leaving a cut that dripped blood.

She smirked and closed her eyes. The wound vanished.

"Silly boy. They don't train you very well these days, do they ?"

"It won't work, because of the mirrors!"  Cindy said.

" Yes. What a bright young lady! It is the mirrors !" She laughed.

A sudden force made Hazel buckle down under her own weight. Her eyelids were heavy with exhaustion. The woman was clothed in a cloud of mist and her eyes shone neon.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall. Tell me, who is the fairest of them all?"

****

Hazel woke up in a secluded room. She stared at her reflection in the mirror that stood in front of her.  Her eyes were dark and her face, ashen.

Hazel touched the glass that served as a barrier between their worlds.

" Who are you ?"  she asked.

" I am you. You are me. We both are the same."

" You are me." Hazel repeated, in a trance.

" I am inside you. The true essence of your being. Your reality." , she said as she trudged towards Hazel, stretching a hand forward.

" You are...a cripple." Hazel said.

" Yes, I am. I am powerless, like you."

" I am not like you ! "

" You cannot lie to yourself. They are all mistaken."

She quivered. "About what?"

"You know what I mean! You are no saviour, Hazel. You've been trying to play a part all this while."

" No !"

" You are so useless, so much like me." the voice hissed, " Crippled within. So worthless. Look at this light, this halo of divinity around me. My eyes burn to look at it. My fingers tremble when I try to touch it."

"Power."

" Yes. But I am unworthy."

The image flickered, showing Ced and Cindy.

" You are not what we thought." Cindy said. Ced picked Hazel up. She hung from his shoulders, like a burden.

" What is happening ?"

" It's over. We lost. We trusted you to do something you were never capable of."  he said .

" But...but what will we do now? There must be a solution! Where are you going? "

" Nowhere with you." Cindy said gravely. The pity in her eyes was enough to drive Hazel mad.

" Stop ! Stop !" She tore her hair in frustration. Unstoppable tears rolled down her cheeks.

Gran Luella sat in front of her.

" Gran ! It was all a dream, wasn't it?" she asked, hopefully.

" You were wrongly chosen . It was a mistake ...on my part . All my faith is lost ." Gran stared at her, her grey eyes pensive and regretful.

" Give me another chance. I...I want to help them. Let me go back..."  Hazel pleaded.

Gran looked away. " There is no going back."

******

Ced opened his eyes and heard a piercing cry. Someone was behind the mirror, kicking and hitting the glass, cracks developing on its surface.

" Let me out !"

Ced stepped back, shocked. It was him.

"What happened ?" he asked himself .

" Help me! Free me!"

"I...I don't know how." Ced said, helplessly.

He saw his sister look back at him.

"Cin ..Oh my god !"

Her wrists were bloodied from the shackles bound around them, her eyes were bloodshot and lifeless.

" You promised. You told me that you would be there for me , always. But you ran away from your duty. Like a coward!"

" No Cin ! I..."

" You lied. I believed in you, when no one did . I was wrong !"

" But .."

Her head was removed from her neck in the flashing moment of a blade.

" NOOOOOOOOO!" His screams echoed to the beyond.

His reflection reappeared.

"You hide from me. You do not believe in yourself." he said, " We have managed to evade them, up to this point. But they are inching closer. What should I do this now? Should I face them or run away?"

But he could not move, his legs were frozen, held back, by tangled strings of the past.

***

Cindy saw nothing.

The cold face of the looking glass was as empty as a blank slate.

No ways to pursue. No future ahead. A meaningless, fruitless existence.

The mirror reflected the void inside her. 

*****

Light slowly sept away, yet Hazel held onto it.

" Hazel ? What happened ?"

A little Hazel ran to her mother's arms.

" They all say that I am crazy, that I am weird and a liar. But mom I didn't lie !"

" Yes, my dear. I know that you didn't." She stroked her hair.

" Mom , why am I not like them ?"

" Cause you are different, my angel."

" You are completely helpless." the girl in the mirror said, "A puppet in the scheme of things. A misfit in every world. You will never belong." Her reflection told her.

That moment she knew something that the Hazel in her reflection didn't.

"Maybe you are right. Perhaps, things will never be perfect and I might just end up being a silent witness to most events in my life.

"I may never be normal, but I am already so much more."

****

" Where are you going to hide now, weakling?"

" Go away !" said Ced.

"Scared are you?"

His head hurt, as every word penetrated  his mind. 

" Where will you hide now ?"

" Nowhere !"

The glass shattered under the force of his blade. The reflection disappeared. But he did not stop.

He continued stabbing the demons that lay within.

*****

Not a word in her mind, or on her lips. There was nothing to say or feel.

" Cindy !"

Cindy collapsed into Hazel's arms, and looked around passively. Ced broke the mirror into pieces.

" We need to get out." Hazel said.

"The Evil Queen..." Cindy whispered.

"But how ?" Ced asked , "How can we escape this maze?"

The Queen's face was reflected on every surface.

" My dears ! Searching for me, are you? You cannot reach me." she let out a cackle, "There is no way out." 

Sometimes , it is our strengths that serve as weaknesses.  Hazel suddenly knew exactly what Snowflake had meant.

" The mirrors !"  she exclaimed. "They are the source of her power. The only way to defeat her, is to destroy them." Hazel said.

" There are millions of them here !" Ced said.

" Blade is not the only weapon." , Hazel said, " Cindy knows what I mean."

"It wont work, Hazel." Cindy said.

" What are you talking about?" Ced asked. He was ignored.

" It will. It has to." said Hazel. 

" That was single chalice. I am not capable enough."

" What ?"  Ced asked again, much to Hazel's annoyance.

" I trust you." Hazel encouraged, "You have to try."

Cindy sighed and began. She channelled all her sorrow and hope and wove all the emotions that she had buried deep within herself into melodious, melancholy tunes. Gently, her voice rose, getting shriller with every breath. Hazel and Cedron were forced to cover their ears.

The mirrors burst into a million fragments; slivers of glass flew in the air and fell to the ground like hail and snow.

Cindy dropped down and closed her eyes.

" She is exhausted." Hazel said, "But she succeeded."

They looked around for the Queen, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"A pity, I was really looking forward to beheading the hag." Ced said.

Hazel rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, someone caught hold of Hazel, pressing a dagger against her neck.

Ced pointed his sword at her.

"No ! Don't move. Or your friend can say adieu to her life." she said. Hazel felt her cold breath against her skin.

Hazel glanced at Ced and gave him a determined nod.

As he stepped forward , Hazel stamped the foot of the queen, with all her might. The dagger fell from the queen's hands, as she dropped down, shrieking  in agony.

The sole of Hazel's boot was steaming with heat.

Ced pushed his sword into her heart and the Evil Queen crumbled into ashes.

****

Author's note :

Mentally exhausting chapter .