The Servant and The Mouse

By: ShifuSheep

Some people have a knack for finding strange things. Strange things always seem to find Zane Legends. This time, Zane woke up in a dark room, the only light being from a dim candle on the far side of the room. Zane was laying on a wooden bed, draped with soft sheets. He racked his brain for answers to why he was in a strange room, but came up with none. The last thing he remembered was reading a very fantastic version of classic fairy tales, then things started to blur. Zane pulled himself out of this bed and looked around this room. The bed was along the long side of the small rectangular room. The room seemed to be on the top floor of a house, since the ceiling on the opposite side of the room from the bed was slanted. Under the slanted ceiling was a drawer, a mirror, and some clothes. In front of the bed was the door, with several strange carvings pressed into the rounded passageway. Next to the bed on the wall was a small window, barely bigger than Zane's torso. The floor was a hard wood floor, which hurt Zane's feet since he wasn't wearing shoes. The only things Zane had on were his Breakfast Friends pajamas.

Zane walked towards the door, hoping to look around for clues about this strange house. However, when he went to turn the doorknob, it refused to open. "Sausages!" Zane said under his breath. He was stuck in the room. "Might as well explore, I suppose." He muttered, walking towards the mirror. He picked up the small mirror, which was on a stand, and looked into it. At first, he saw his own sleepy expression, with droopy eyes and a familiar Y shaped scar. Zane was about to reminisce about how he gained the scar when the mirror suddenly became foggy. The image distorted into something new. Replacing Zane's head and upper torso was a disembodied head, floating in the middle of clouds of purple smoke. "Who picks up my mirror? Who dares?" Said the disembodied head, "Speak up, say what you must share!" Zane was at a loss for words. This magic mirror, it was like something out of a fairy tale! After a few moments of silence, the mirror -- or rather, the person inside the mirror -- narrowed his eyes. "Hey, you are not my owner, the pirate. You are a new person, someone else, a new mate!" Zane finally found his voice and spoke up. "I-I'm Zane. Zane Legends. I was in my own home, in my own bed, when I found myself here! Now, now I'm trapped in this strange room. What should I do?" The mirror tutted, then replied to Zane's inquiry. "I cannot give you advice, but I can show you this. Anyone you want to know? Anyone you might miss? You must ask me in a rhyme. Don't just stand there, don't waste my time!" Zane thought of his parents and siblings back at home, and thought that he should ask to see them. Gathering his confidence, he spoke to the person again.

"Mirror, mirror, tell me no other, I would like to see my mother." The mirror became foggy again, then cleared to show an image of his mother, sleeping peacefully in bed. Zane sighed, reassured that he was the only one in a tough spot. The mirror returned to the head of the man. "Who else would you like to see? Who else, who would it be?" Zane thought again. The mirror had mentioned some sort of pirate. "Mirror, mirror, if you please, show me that pirate, give me some ease." The mirror flashed to a picture of the pirate, sitting in a darkened room. "Argh, that boy is goin' to wake soon enough. I've gotta sell 'em soon, they won't like if I delivered a servant too late..." Zane was flabbergasted. He wanted to know more, but the imaged flicked back to the man in the mirror.

"Wait, wait! What did he say about me being sold? Go back, go back!" Zane said anxiously. He couldn't be sold as a servant! He'd never see his parents again! Not to mention he was getting famished, who knows how long it would be until he got a meal if he was sold! "I'm sorry, Zane, that I can't do. The rest, I'm afraid, is all up to you." Zane placed the mirror back onto the stand and looked frantically for something that might help him get out. He searched the drawers, finding socks, shoes, and... a mouse? Zane picked up the mouse looking at it curiously. "Ey, put me down!" The mouse suddenly said, struggling to jump out of Zane's cupped hands. "What? Wait a minute, no! You can talk? What's happening?" "Of course I can, idiot! Now let me go. The boats are leaving soon and I need to hitch a ride to the mainland!" Zane had an epiphany. To the mainland? Maybe if he got on that boat, he could avoid the pirate and get back home. "Is this the only boat that's comin' around? Is there, say, a servants' boat?" "Eh? Servants' boat? Nah, all the servants' go on Cap'n Perneray's boat at sunrise to be sold at a different place. I'd know, my uncle Grimy went on that boat. He came back, said the food there was terrible. Anywhosle, lemme out!" The mouse squirmed and shuffled, but he was no match for Zane's grip. Zane stuffed him in his shirt pocket and sealed the button. "You'll be useful later," he said, then returned to his search.

Zane found a golden coin, some over-sized clothes, a candle, a pocket watch, and a stick in the room. Nothing of real value. But when Zane took a closer look at the stick, there was something odd about it. It let out a soft humming noise. It also had small inscriptions near the fatter end. "Hmmm, I wonder if this is some sort of --" BANG! A stream of jet blue light shot out of the stick and shot out of the wand, blasting into the window and shattering the glass. Zane could hear roaring from below, and heavy footsteps. The captain, Captain Perneray, he was coming! Zane had to move, and fast. He took out the still fighting mouse and cupped him in his hands again. "Alright, we can get to that boat together, but we have to be quick. The captain is coming, and if he finds you, let's say, in one of the drawers, he won't be to happy. So you'd better make up your mind real fast." It didn't take the mouse too long to figure out an answer. The mouse pointed to the drawers and said, "Behind the drawer is a small tunnel that some of the other servants-to-be tried to dig to escape. Cap'n was too lazy to fix it. Let's go!"

Zane felt as though the tunnel was too easy, and he was certainly right. It led them both straight to the front door, which was also teeming with Captain Perneray's goons. The goons drew their guns, but Zane was faster. He drew the stick he found in the room and blasted the goons with beams of green light. Zane and the mouse ran for the ship. They were getting closer and closer, then BAM! Zane was hit with a flash of yellow light. "Arr!" A strangely high pitched voice said triumphantly. "You're not the only one with a magic wand!" Zane was hit with another flash, this one green. It felt as though his insides were turning out. He writhed with pain as he was hit with another barrage of green flashes. Finally, just as Zane held on to his last breaths, Captain Perneray leaned over his weak body. "Wake up," he whispered.

Zane lifted his head with a jolt, his breath ragged. He looked up at his younger brother and sister, who both had flashlights and paper in their hands. They were giggling uncontrollably as Zane shooed them both out of his room, extremely irritated.

Zane took one look at his book of fairy tales and threw it across the room. Never again, he thought. Never again.