"Roo-sa-lind," Captain Garrett croaked as soon as they touched the ground again, making them all jump. "What are you doooing here?"

"Garrett! We must talk!" The fairy ran to her friend who emerged from behind the reeds growing at the water's edge. She embraced him, not caring that the large toad was dripping wet.

Garrett, taken aback by the fairy's behaviour, put one of his arms over her shoulders soothingly, while he pushed his large hat, which threatened to slip off his bald head, back in place with his other hand.

He really only has four fingers... Hans mused, observing them, his thought making Rosalind turn round to scowl at him.

"Shall we walk, Roo-sa-lind?" Garrett croaked after a few moments, glancing at Louise, Hans, and Orangebeak, who stood silently nearby, unsure of what they should do.

The Captain seemed quite shy for someone his size, Louise thought, even as Rosalind, respecting her friend's timidity, agreed. She put her arm around Garrett's waist while he kept his on her shoulders, and the two vanished among the thickly grown reeds.

"What shall we do now?" Louise asked, trying to suppress a yawn, as they watched the tall grasses sway for a short while in their friends' wake, then still again. They had not slept much the previous night, and the girl was tired.

"Why don't you rest for a while, Miss Louise, Master Hans?" Orangebeak proposed.

The bird spread one of his black wings to indicate a patch of thick, green moss growing in the shadow of a weeping willow. The tree grew so close to the lake that its long, supple branches caressed the water's surface with the tips of their elongated leaves.

"How about you, Orangebeak? Are you not coming?" The girl demanded as she and Hans reached the willow and sat down.

The blackbird shook his head, "I'm going to catch myself some breakfast, Miss Louise. Call me once Princess Rosalind is back, will you, Master Hans?"

Then he was off, chirping loudly, as he flew towards a small copse of trees growing close by.

Louise yawned again as she laid down, thinking that the moss was even softer than Rosalind's bed.

Hans lay down next to her but could not close his eyes. The place was incredibly interesting, there were so many things to see and explore.

While his friend fell asleep, he studied the texture of the moss, admiring its squishiness and its earthy smell. A soft breeze brought new, different scents, some coming from the meadow full of wildflowers, others from the lake, and mixed them all up, creating a unique, unforgettable fragrance.

After a while, overcome by somnolence, he closed his eyes, too. But as soon as he started to drift off, the long and thin branches of the willow whispered as their own slumber was disturbed by a sudden gust of wind, and a couple of its silver-green leaves landed on the boy's face.

Hans sat up, giving up on sleep. Leaving Louise to rest undisturbed in the shadow of the tree, he approached the shiny water spreading in front of him. Kneeling at its very edge, he ran his fingers through it. It was amazingly clear blue, so cool, and inviting...

Maybe he could have a swim before Rosalind returned, he mused, looking at his face reflected by the smoothly undulating surface of the lake.

But... Since when did his green eyes look so dark... and his brown hair so... auburn and... long...

Intrigued and curious, he leaned farther and farther above the water, watching his face morph into someone else's, until he found himself face to face with a girl, smiling at him mischievously from beneath the surface.

Surprised and a little scared, he lost his grip on the slippery bank and, with a loud splash, fell head first into the lake.

As soon as he reopened his eyes under the water, he saw the strange girl in front of him. She was hiding a smile she could not suppress politely behind one of her hands, as her long, red hair floated around her pale face like a veil caught in the wind.

Hans reached for his glasses, wanting to adjust them to see the creature better, only to find out that he had lost them. He moved around frantically, trying to spot them in the surrounding blue water. Suddenly, he caught sight of a bright flicker in the depths underneath, where a stray sunbeam reflected off one of his quickly disappearing lenses.

Before heading towards the resurface for breath, he indicated the glasses to the girl, hoping that she would understand how very important they were for him and help. She nodded, and as she turned around swiftly and swam away to catch them, Hans noticed that the girl had a scaly, iridescent fish tail instead of legs...

A mermaid! he thought, as his head broke the water's surface, and he took a deep breath.

Soon, the mermaid was back next to him, his glasses in her cold, white hand.

She was... unusual and... beautiful. Her dark red hair was so thick and long that it covered her shoulders completely, then fanned out around her from where it was dipped in the lake. Its colour stood in stark contrast to her pale face sprinkled with freckles and her large green eyes, a few shades darker than his.

"What is your name?" Hans asked the mesmerising creature.

The mermaid observed him curiously for a while. Smiling, she pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose, the same way he had done it a few times before. She touched his hair, and the collar of his shirt, then pointed between his wet clothes and the bank, still without saying a word.

Hans nodded, and they both swam towards the shore.

"I'm Hans," he tried again as he climbed out of the lake, but the mermaid only shook her head, pointing to her lips.

She sat on the shore next to him, her scaly tail half-hidden in the water.

"You can't speak, can you?" Hans asked even as he heard Rosalind's voice somewhere behind them.

"Their voices can only be heard under the water."

Hans turned around, finding Rosalind, Garrett, and Louise standing nearby.

The mermaid waved and smiled at the fairy in greeting. She then leaned towards the closest reeds, and one of her pale arms disappeared among them as she reached for something. Soon, she passed Hans a yellow flower.

"Hmm... thank you," he said politely. Puzzled by the mermaid's gesture, the boy looked to Rosalind for explanation.

The fairy giggled as she replied, "That is her name, I think."

"It is," Garrett croaked. "Her naaame is..."

"Buttercup?" Hans guessed, looking at the mermaid only to see her shake her head.

"That's a marsh-marigold, Hans, not a buttercup," Louise told him, coming closer, wanting to see the mermaid better.

"Marigold? Is that your name?" Hans asked again, and this time, the mermaid nodded.

"That's a pretty name," Louise said, smiling at her.

"We must leave now, but we will be back tonight, after dark. We need to cross the lake, and we might need your help," Rosalind told Marigold.

The mermaid signed something to the fairy, then vanished into the water in a heartbeat, so quietly that Hans did not even realise that she was gone. If it wasn't for the yellow flower in his hand, he would have thought that he had only imagined her.

"Come on, Hans, it's getting late, and we need to stop in the forest before we return to the castle," Rosalind urged.

As Louise helped Hans to his feet, the fairy pointed her wand at him, and he was completely dry in a moment. While Rosalind embraced Garrett one more time, he took his bird whistle from his pocket and brought it to his lips. Orangebeak joined them immediately, and soon, they were ready to leave.

"See you soon, Roo-sa-lind. And dooon't worry," the Captain croaked as they took off, flying towards the forest.

"What did Marigold tell you?" Hans called to Rosalind a little later, over the noise of the wind filling his ears. He regretted having left the marigold by the lake, he would have liked to keep it, but the flower was too big to carry.

The fairy slowed down to be able to fly closer to them before she replied, "She said that she knew about me and Blue, and she would be happy to help us."

"So you can talk to the mermaids, you understand their signs..."

"Of course I do, Hans. I'm a princess, I must understand all the languages spoken in this kingdom."

"And what languages are there?" Louise asked, intrigued, as she wrapped her arms tighter around Hans' waist.

"Apart from the Mer Speak, there's Fish Language, Bat Talk, and Bee Tongue." Rosalind ticked the names off on her fingers.

She didn't have time to say much more. Orangebeak just flew under the first trees, forcing the fairy to fly in front of them again.

The trees grew increasingly closer together, blocking out the sunshine, as they penetrated deeper into the forest.

"We don't have much time." Rosalind sighed, looking towards the sun once they caught sight of it again. It was nearly at zenith when they soared above a large clearing.

The moment they landed, they were surrounded by a group of loud and excited Tree Elves and Flower Fairies, who led them to a place where there was a large, broken mirror arranged on the grass. There were still quite a few pieces missing from it, both Louise and Hans noticed.

When Rosalind finally managed to calm the fairies and elves down, they started to talk one at a time.

"These pieces of the mirror are not dangerous anymore, Princess, we disabled their curse with our magic," one of the winged Tree Elves, wearing a large brown shirt, a pair of tight green trousers, long pointed shoes, and carrying a magic wand secured to the wide silver belt at his waist, said.

The Tree Elves seemed quite similar to each other at first sight, Louise thought. Their faces, hair, and hats were all different, though-- some wore caps made of chestnuts, others of acorns or walnuts... They all looked cute, she mused observing them, then blushed as one of the elves noticed her attention and winked at her.

"Many pieces are still missing, though," another one added.

"I know," Rosalind said sadly. "I've lost one shard in the lake, and I'm sure that quite a few are on the other side..."

"But look at this one," a Flower Fairy carrying a new piece of glass landed next to Rosalind, followed by another Tree Elf. "It's different from the others. There must be one more broken mirror somewhere."

"Amarylisa!" Rosalind called, embracing the blonde fairy dressed in a long, red and white striped dress. "And Aspen, of course." She smiled at the elf.

"Princess," he bowed, smiling back at her, as he laced his arm around Amarylisa's waist.

"Let me keep this piece, then. We are leaving tonight, we might find more of these on our way," Rosalind said, taking the shiny shard, much smaller than the others, from her friend and putting it in a pouch hidden among the folds of her gown.

"But where will you go? None of us have seen Blue or any other butterfly in weeks," Amarylisa asked.

"I... I'm not sure," Rosalind admitted, glancing at the group of elves and fairies moving busily around the mirror as one of them had just brought another shard. "But I must find him."

Amarylisa nodded and looked lovingly at Aspen, who pulled her closer.

"We understand," the elf told Rosalind. "Shall I come with you?"

"No, thank you. I need you to stay here, look after my friend, and try to find as many pieces of the mirror as you can. Hans and Louise will come with me," Rosalind said, pointing at the two.

"Are you humans?" Aspen asked as he shook Hans' hand and bowed to Louise.

"Yes," Hans replied politely, catching Amarylisa raising a questioning eyebrow at Rosalind.

"Yes. The girl," the fairy replied to her friend's mute question. "But let us go now, or we will be late," she added quickly when Hans' puzzled thoughts reached her mind.

Just what are they talking about? he mused, but he felt that this wasn't the right moment to ask.

"We hope to see you again soon!" Aspen called to them as they settled among Orangebeak's feathers one more time and left the ground.

They weaved their way carefully through the maze of tree branches, Louise and Hans ducking their heads just in case, till they finally flew out of the forest. Orangebeak then soared high above the meadow sprinkled with wildflowers of all imaginable shapes and colours until, like the previous night, they descended at the beginning of the gravel lane leading towards Rosalind's castle.