Chương 9: A Time Goddess

I woke up in my room; it was late afternoon. If the two-day repeat was going to happen again, it was supposed to be soon—this evening or tonight. I hadn't actually caught the exact time when it happened before... Oh, please let these two days repeat one more time! I couldn't be locked in my room forever! Not to mention being the center of every bit of gossip in town. That was even worse. And... I think Cinderella now thought we were friends or something? This wouldn't do. I still hated her. Very much so.

She did help me with my clothes, but what of it? She was a servant, was she not? A servant with critters-talking friends... What did that mouthy mouse say to me? I tried to remember. Said she didn't like me? Called me awful people? Why… she was just a stupid little rodent! Next time I see that talking mouse, I will definitely give her a piece of my mind and put her right in her place! Oh, but I was bored. I needed to wait a few hours to see if the days would repeat, and I wasn't allowed to leave my room. And...

what if the days didn't repeat? What if I needed that magic from Lucifer again to make it happen? If I remembered correctly, he had clawed my face fiercely! It... was truly painful! I definitely didn't want that again. But if that was the only way to reverse what I did at the palace... maybe... Anyway, I needed to find the stupid cat first. But I couldn't leave my room! I could try to sneak around the house, but... oh, if Mother caught me! I know, I had a better idea!

"CINDERELLA!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, pulling the string that rang the bell down in the scullery.

"CINDERELLA! CINDERELLA!!!"

"Coming, coming!" I heard her voice. I had to wait for what felt like five whole minutes until she finally opened my door.

"Yes, Drizella?" she said.

"Fetch me Lucifer," I demanded, "and be quick about it, too."

"Fetch... Lucifer?" she repeated dumbly.

"Yes, are you deaf?"

"But... Lucifer... well, it isn't as simple as it sounds," she said.

"Lucifer barely agrees to come even when I make him food. And he certainly doesn't like being ordered about."

"What, you're talking to cats now, too?"

"He doesn't talk, of course, he is a cat after all," she smiled at that, "but he definitely understands what I'm saying. Like... like the birds!"

"Oh, not the birds again," I groaned.

"Listen, Cinderella, it's very important. I... I can't tell you why. Just bring me the wretched beast. Just scoop him up—he is just a stupid cat, after all!"

"I can't possibly do that," she said.

"He'll scratch me, and I'll bleed all over! But I know what to do. I'll get some cooked sardines and cream—those are his favorites—and lead him to your room. But you need to let him eat, or he will get mad."

"Yes, sure, do that," I said. And she was off. She treated that cat like the Grand Duke himself. Cinderella really should have possessed some level of self-respect; to position herself even below the lazy house cat is just embarrassing, really.

"Come on, Lucifer!" I heard Cinderella say after some time, coaxing the cat.

"You want this, don't you?"

"No, this way!" she scolded.

"No, I'm not giving it to you out here! Come with me!" I sighed; it was taking forever. Why couldn't she just grab the fat cat and bring him in? Finally, the door opened, and she set the fish and cream on the floor. Then she just stood there in my room.

"That's it, you can go now," I informed her. She looked at me.

"I don't require any more of your services," I added dismissively.

"Oh, but I'm curious," she said, tilting her head.

"What do you need Lucifer for?" I sighed again. You just couldn't find good servants these days. I got up from my bed, gently pushed Cinderella out of my room, and closed the door in her face. Lucifer was quick to start munching on his snack, and I ruffled his head, like you're supposed to do with cats. He hissed at me, He liked it, too.

"Now, Lucifer," I turned to him, "we have some business between us!" He ignored me and continued munching. I already felt incredibly stupid talking to a cat. But Cinderella said he understood when spoken to. It was a silly idea, but talking rodents were silly too, and yet they existed. Munch, munch, munch. Lucifer kept on eating.

"So you understand," I said, "and you're just ignoring me?" Munch, munch, munch.

"I know you somehow put a curse on me!" I told him.

"To make these two days repeat!" He looked up at me for only a second, then returned to his fish and cream.

"Maybe you're affected by this too and don't remember," I said. Gosh, but I felt stupid talking to a cat!

"But just so you know, I did save your life!" Again, a glance at me, then back to his food. Munch, munch, munch.

"Stop that!" I told him, and started to shake him, interrupting his munching.

"MRRROW!" and then, "Hisssss!" He bared his teeth at me, too. I took a step back, suddenly terrified of him scratching me again.

"You... You insolent! Ungrateful beast!" I scolded as Lucifer calmly returned to his snack.

"I know you did it! You must do it again! Do you hear me? I need these two days to repeat again! And..." I thought for a moment, "No scratching my face this time!" Munch, munch, munch.

"If... if you don't make the days repeat..." I started, trying to think of a threat suitable for a cat.

"I will have Cinderella spank you!" If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Ignored...

"And… I will make you eat only dry corn with the chickens!" At this, he looked at me again and gave a small hiss before returning to his food. So it did seem like he understood at least. Good. He finished his snack and turned to leave, only to find the door was closed.

"MEOW!" he meowed.

"What, you can't open the door yourself?" I teased him.

"MMRREEEEOWWW!!!" He let out a horrible screech and started scratching the wood with his claws.

"Stop that!" I said.

"Hey! You'll ruin the door!"

"MMRREEEEOWWW!!!"

"Quiet, you! Everyone will hear." Then the door suddenly opened—by itself! No! By Cinderella!

"You!" I barked at her.

"You were behind the door the whole time! You... you eavesdropped on me!"

"I was... waiting for Lucifer..." she said sheepishly.

"Oh, forgive me, but I was so curious!"

"How dare you," I snapped.

"Have you no shame at all?"

"But the things you said," Cinderella murmured, "and yesterday morning, too... is it true? Do you have this... this magic?" Had she heard it all? And... did she actually believe it? Could I tell her? Should I? Cinderella wasn't stupid; maybe she could offer some advice. And if the days repeated, she would forget all about it in a few hours anyway. If they didn't, no one would believe her regardless!

"Come inside," I told her. As Lucifer hurried out of his imprisonment, she stepped in, and I closed the door.

"Why..." I started hesitatingly, "why would you even believe such a... mad story anyway? Hm?"

"I just don't see why you would lie about it," she said.

"And furthermore, to... a cat!"

"Well, let's say that it's true," I started.

"Hepopitical."

"Hypothetical," she annoyingly corrected.

"Yes, that," I said.

"Let's say this is the second time for today and yesterday, and everything happens just like last time, but only I notice it! And if I do things differently, well... things change!"

"That..." Cinderella started, "sounds like an amazing gift!"

"You... you think so?"

"Of course," she smiled dreamily.

"It's a magical power! To know what will happen. To change things for the best, so everyone will be happier!" So everyone will be happier... Sure.

"But some things change even when I do nothing," I said.

"Like, the last time, it was Anastasia who got the mouse in her cup, not Mother." Cinderella let out a small laugh and covered her mouth.

"Anastasia? Oh, but that would be so much better!"

"You still got a million chores as a punishment," I pointed out.

"Well, maybe a few less."

"Oh, I see," she said.

"I'm curious, what else was different in this... other time you saw?" Oh... but I couldn't tell her. Not really! If I told her that she went to the ball too, she would know that this time I hid the fact that she was invited! She would know that I actually prevented her from meeting the Prince, falling in love with him... and probably making all her dreams come true. But... but also, for some reason, it had ruined me. Made me despise myself. For some reason... that was what happened. And Lucifer had almost died...

So many awful things had happened.

"Drizella, don't cry!" she said, and I suddenly noticed the tears stinging my eyes.

"You don't have to tell me, if it was... if it was hard." I immediately wiped the tears away. Oh where did those come from anyway!?

"It's completely fine!" I said angrily.

"Nothing important happened, really! You got punished, we had stupid music lessons, a boring ball, and that was it."

"Oh, I see." She didn't believe me, of course—not after I had just teared up! But it looked like she wasn't going to press the issue, either.

"But..." I wanted to change the subject back.

"Why do you think the mouse was in a different tea tray this time? Everything else was the same, except for that. I truly don't understand it at all."

"Hmm, let's see," Cinderella said, contemplating this for a long moment.

"Oh, I know!" she said, her pretty eyes lighting up as she snapped her fingers.

"It's a random thing. Poor Gus escaped from Lucifer that morning, and he could have hidden in any cup. It was just random of him to choose. So every small change might affect his... choice. Maybe you did something different. I know! You didn't ring the bell and call for me this morning. I bet last time you did call me, like... well, like every other day." Ah... that sounded... smart. Logical, too. But...

"Whats a 'random'?" I asked. I hoped she wasn't just inventing silly words to sound smarter.

"Random means it happens by chance," she explained patiently.

"There wasn't really a reason for Gus to choose a certain cup. So even the smallest change made him choose a different cup." Gus... Gus was the name of the mouse? Oh, it was complicated, but I think I understood. That meant...

"I could have gotten the tray with the ugly mouse in my cup, too!?" I said angrily.

"Yes," Cinderella smiled at me.

"But it's silly to be scared of little Gus. The poor mouse is terrified himself. He couldn't hurt a fly, really he couldn't!"

"Next time you bring me a tray," I ordered her, "you make sure to check the cups for mice!"

"I... I will. But," she hesitated, "if tomorrow the time goes back again, I won't remember any of this."

"I guess." Right... that was foolish of me.

"So what do you think?" I pressed her.

"Is this... all of this... is it a good thing?"

"Like I said, it's definitely wonderful magic!" She beamed.

"A gift! By your fairy godmother, perhaps!"

"Oh... but why... I mean, why is it good?" I argued.

"What if these are... let's say... bad days, and they just repeat? It could be a curse, too!"

"Oh, no," said Cinderella.

"If this time repeats over and over, why, you can make these days whatever you wish them to be. You can learn everything, know how to make the most of it!"

"You mean like, learn how to change things?" I asked. I thought I was starting to get her meaning.

"Yes, for example," Cinderella said, growing more enthusiastic, "at the ball, each time you can talk to different people and get to know them better, or... or maybe try a different approach with the Prince. If you are patient, in one of these repeats, you might succeed. If this happens hundreds of times, why, you can do anything!" I was dumbstruck. I could... do whatever I wanted? Even win the Prince?

"But even if I do get the Prince," I said after thinking some more, "what's the use of that? It will all disappear."

"But you won't!" Cinderella insisted.

"You will gather memories, beautiful memories, of... whatever you wish. Oh, and don't forget, you can learn things! You can..." she became lost in thought.

"You can practice singing each day. Become an amazing singer, or maybe a dancer? Learn to paint, learn to write poems, if I dare say. And then, if one day the repeating finally stops, you will be a whole new person." I didn't miss that clever "whole new person" remark, but... I had to admit, she had a point. Let's say I practiced a lot, became an amazing dancer and singer, and, dare I say, a charmer. If I had as many tries as I wanted, I could win the Prince!

And then, when the repeating stopped— if it stopped—I would have the Prince, and I would be Queen.

"But I hate music lessons!" I protested.

"Drizella," Cinderella smiled blissfully at me, "if this is true, you truly have the most amazing gift. Just please use it for good. And treat people well."

"Yes, ah, sure, I will..." I mumbled, considering the possibilities. Yes, it was a great idea to talk to Cinderella. She was smart and had a lot of ideas. I could make these days whatever I wished... hmmm...

"Well, let's first see if the repeat happens again," I said.

"It could just be a one-time thing."

"I hope it does," she said, smiling.

"And I will always be happy to talk with you about it. I will believe you, even if I forget today—I know I will."

"Oh… that's good. I will," I said. Yes, I could consult with her about smart matters. Cinderella could be useful like that. And actually, if this repeated, I could even thank her! She wouldn't remember it, so it mattered not!

"Thank you," I said, a flash of weirdness passing over me, "for helping me."

"Why, you're welcome," she said, giving me one of her sweeter smiles.

"I knew we could be friends once again."

"Yes..." I said slowly...

"why not." Cinderella beamed her absolute sweetest smile at me. I winced, and she left my room. Be friends once again, she had said? What did she mean? I searched back in my memory, far, far into the past. Yes, we used to play together when we were very young, back when her father was still alive. But... we weren't really friends even then. Mother had forced us to play with her, ordered us to be nice to her.

I remembered that once we got into a fight with Cinderella—nothing serious, just a simple children's squabble. Mother had even beaten us afterward, hard. It was all to keep Cinderella's father pleased, as one of the reasons he had married Mother was so his daughter wouldn't be alone and would have friends. And look how that turned out for her. No, Cinderella, we couldn't be friends. Not now, not ever. I could use you. I could even be nice to you.

Put me in a time-repeating magic, and I could, by Jove, be polite to you. But I didn't think I could ever unhate you. It was late evening already. I rested on my bed and thought about all the things I could do. But all I could focus on was the unsolved riddle laying ahead of me. It was maybe silly of me, with all the grand possibilities waiting, but I just had to know: How had she gotten the dress and the glass shoes? I closed my eyes slowly, then glanced at the clock. It was ten o'clock already.

Maybe I needed to sleep for this to happen? Oh, but I couldn't! I was too nervous. Should I make Cinderella fetch Lucifer again? Did I need him to scratch my face again? I definitely didn't want that. I just lay in bed for hours, watching the clock. Exactly at twelve o'clock, the entire room started to spin. I felt smaller and smaller, and then everything turned black. The next thing I knew, I was still in my bed, but it was morning! I was hot, and I was so, so happy to be.

I peeled the blanket off me, smiling widely as it stuck to my legs My hair was a mess, my skin was all sweaty, and I was a time goddess.