The Daughter of the Northern Star

Prologue - Alana At least once in a while, everyone had a weird dream in their life, and for me, it wasn't different... Yet even that word seemed no enough for the ones I had sometimes. I always found myself in a different place, hard to describe, and the only thing I could think of was that it was almost as if I were among the stars... Lost in the universe. Darkness being around everywhere while it was like I was floating in space... As usual, I stayed there for a while before I saw the familiar purplish-blue light before my eyes. It was there, as usual, sometimes just as a distant glow, sometimes like a rope that would guide me somewhere if I followed it, but I was always too afraid to do so. I didn't know exactly why, but somehow, I felt like if I saw where it would take me, I would never be able to go home... So I always left it there... While I watched it shine from afar until I woke up. ... Slowly, I started to hear the voices that seemed to be coming from under me, as if they were under a bed or something like that ... Or at least, this is what should happen. This time, the voices didn't appear... The silence was constant, and suddenly I started to worry about what was going on as I started to feel a burden on my chest. It had never happened in any of my dreams before, and despite all the darkness, it was like the comfort that assured me that I would go back home later... So how would I do it now if I couldn't hear them? Nothing was more frightening than imagining that maybe I would be lost here forever as the glow seems to grow stronger and stronger as time went by, almost blinding me. It was something unique. Something that had never happened before as I felt my feet touch the ground in what seemed to start becoming a nightmare. ... I easily recognized the light tones on the wall, a shade of light brown that reminded me of sand and had been decided after hours of indecision on what color I should use in my room's walls... Everything seemed to be in its proper place, just like I remembered from that morning, even the clothes that I had left on the floor amind my rush to leave as I had got up late. Every little detail was there, and it almost made me feel like I was awake now, even though I knew I wasn't. There were thick and tall candles that I had never placed there on the white furniture along with the Christmas decorations... They were completely unfamiliar to me, no mattering how beautiful they were. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I kept walking, feeling how real everything felt as I ran my fingers over them. ... Everything was so realistic that I could have sworn I was really awake, but when I got to where the door should be, I confirmed once more that it wasn't real... Instead of my simple white door, I was standing before a round vanity mirror framed by a beautiful golden structure, full of unique details that I have never seen anything like. ... And it completely took my breath away... It was just too beautiful not to look, and completely forgetting how weird it all was, I took a step ahead. It was almost as if something drew me to it. As if something told me that I would be able to see something amazing in its reflection, making me keep walking. Each step was a new fear, but it didn't seem to bother me now since I just wanted to get close to the mirror while it looked so far away right now. ... Yet, it didn't stop me... Standing before it, I didn't have enough words to describe everything I felt at that moment. It was as if something had woken up inside me, and I didn't even know what. Being more tempted to see what was on the other side as if it were something like a window, I reached my hand out, and when my fingertips touched it, the same purplish-blue glow came back before the mirror started to move like the waves of the ocean to my surprise. Quickly taking a step back, I honestly had no idea what I had just done before it returned to normal, and curiosity made me approach that again... ... And again, I didn't have enough words to describe what I was seeing... Like any other mirror, I saw my reflection in it, but at the same time... It wasn't me. The person on the other side could have the same skin tone as me, the same hair color, and even the same face... However, she just wasn't me, and even the place she was... Wasn't my bedroom. The simple black dress that I wore as an old nightgown was replaced by a wonderful strapless dress that was done by the most beautiful golden fabric I had ever seen in my life, worthy of fairy tale princesses. ... And that was exactly what she could be... Like a fairy tale princess, her hair was arranged in lovely curls that fell perfectly over her shoulders as she stared at me, probably while she also tried to understand that figure that she was seeing. On her neck, she wore a simple golden cord that had something similar to a pearl in the center, and strangely that necklace wasn't strange to me... Almost as if I had seen it before, but I couldn't remember where. ... My sister loved pearls, they were her favorites, and I had already gone to so many stores with her that it was difficult to remember where I had seen one similar to what my fancy reflection wore... Seeing her getting closer, it was easy to recognize all the confidence she had in her eyes that I no longer had when she touched the mirror with her whole hand before returning her eyes to me, silently calling me to do the same. ... And as much as I wanted to deny it, something about that gesture made me nervous... I wanted to touch her hand, but somehow I knew that everything would change if I did so. ... Yet, it was just so tempting to refuse... My fingers were almost touching hers when a loud noise startled me, and I opened my eyes to the ceiling of my room... Of my real one now.