I went back to the museum again with the folder in hand determined to make the faerie, who called herself the queen, release everyone she sent to the shadows. The first two times, I wasn't even able to step foot near the door, but the third time I was able to go inside the museum.
"What do you want, stupid child?" The Faerie that I heard before asked, showing herself, she looked just like the faerie in the painting, "I won't send your friend back until the seven years are up. With the exception of finding me a lover too." I opened the folder facing myself, so she couldn't see what I was looking at.
"So, what kind of lover do you want, miss faerie?" I asked. She looked flabbergasted, like she wasn't expecting me to see or hear her.
"I want someone who will live long with a good personality," the faerie said, "And I don't care how they identify as long as they don't identify as a man. If they like pretty dresses it's definitely a plus." I took all the men out and put them on the table. I took a pencil and went through the rest to find who she was looking for. I was able to narrow it down to three girls, two were faeries and the other one was a tree nymph. Luckily they were all on the same page.
"So out of these three, who would you want?" I asked, holding up that page. The faerie looked at the profiles carefully.
"They're all very pretty," the faerie said, "But I think I like the flower faerie, Rosalind."
"Okay," I said, "I'll bring her here. I'll be right back." I quickly grabbed the discarded papers and went to find Rosalind, who was lives very close to the museum according to her profile.
"I'm guessing she chose me," Rosalind said, "She's such a silly child, all she has to do was come out and talk to me. We could've been friends years ago."
"Yes, she chose you," I said, "But how did you know? This is the first time we've ever talked."
"I hear everything in this forest," Rosalind said, "Now, let's go."
"Okay," I said. So I brought her to the museum with no trouble and opened the door for Rosalind to go inside. After a few hours, Rosalind opened the door and gave me a look.
"Elsie wants to talk to you," Rosalind said, "She calls herself 'the Queen', because that's what the other shadow faeries call her."
"Okay," I said, "Thank you for letting me know, miss faerie."
"Call me Rosalind," Rosalind said. I went inside to see Elsie with rosy cheeks and a big grin on her face.
"Miss Queen?" I asked.
"Oh, hi," Elsie said, "Um... Since I agreed to send everyone back, if you did this for me, I will do so. You and your boyfriend should come to our wedding." I was dumbfounded, how did they progress so quickly?
"When is it?" I asked.
"Next year in the winter, right before the first flowers of the year bloom," Elsie said, "It might seem abrupt, but we already decided on it." Elsie snapped her fingers. "Everyone I trapped will be back in a few minutes, it takes a few tries before I can let them out after all."
"Will they be with the person they disappeared next to?" I asked. Elsie nodded.
"Of course," Elsie said, "That's what I agreed to after all."
"But I'm the only one who could understand you, miss Queen," I said, "Nobody else could because you're speaking the language of faeries."
"Oh," Elsie said, "So, what should I do?"
"If you promise that you'll never send people to the shadows again," I said, "I'll let you do it how you used to bring people back." Elsie frowned.
"I promise," Elsie said. She snapped ten more times and Isaac appeared wearing what he wore when he disappeared, with his backpack on his back. "Now take him and go."
"Let's get out of here," I said. Isaac nodded and we left the museum. Isaac didn't even notice Rosalind, who was sitting on the window sill outside the museum. I nodded to her and she nodded back.
"I sure hope my cousin came home too," Isaac said, "I did find her, but she disappeared a little bit before I came back to you. What were you doing in the museum again anyway?"
"You don't even want to know," I said.
"Try me, Benny," Isaac said.
THE END
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