Author's Note:
If you have not read Seese 2 Exist - The Potion, you may want to read it first. Although in theory this can be read as a standalone story, it contains information that may leave you wondering what is going on or what has happened previously, as references are made to events from the first part.
As with the first part of this story, this is primarily a story of romance centered around the Fantasy side of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. It is primarily non-erotic, (though this part of the story comes closer to being erotic than the first part). This story also centers around a lesbian woman searching for love of her own, but it is more focused on the romance aspect as opposed to the act of sex between two consenting women, (again, with the exception of dialogue referencing such acts and one very brief "scene" between two women). As such, please read it as it is intended to be read.
I may still write more stories featuring Esmeralda, as that was my intent when I published the first part. However, as I wrote the first part, I already had ideas for this second part/sequel/conclusion to the Seese 2 Exist storyline.
In any event, comments are always welcome, either publicly or directly to me, and I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
JT
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Prologue
The Chamber, in which sat The Mirror of the Wronged, still felt warm. Esmeralda stood, smiling as she watched the scene of The Wronged and The Lock - Kelly and Michael - sing to each other. As with the final moments of her 273 previous successful assignments, the scene began to fade. The Mirror of the Wronged returned to what Esmeralda and the other members of The Bound thought of as its mortal form, nothing more than a large, ornate dressing mirror.
Lareth had left The Chamber only moments before, having tracked Esmeralda down and offered praise on behalf of The Council for her work on the assignment she just watched fade away. Esmeralda had, in Lareth's words, done exceptionally well, having exceeded The Council's expectations by formulating a potion that allowed The Wronged - Kelly - to begin righting the wrong, the mistake, perpetuated upon her at birth.
That assignment had been unusual in that Esmeralda needed to devise a way to physically change Kelly's birth sex; not simply her gender, as she been born a male and identified as such. No, the mistake Kelly faced wasn't that she felt as though she had been born in the wrong body, she actually HAD been born in the wrong body.
To make matters worse, Kelly the boy was in love with The Lock - Michael - and there was no way Michael was ever going to return that love to Kelly while she was a male. Esmeralda's potion provided Kelly with the chance to become the woman she was supposed to be, meant to be. But for the change to become permanent, Kelly had to find a way to make Michael fall in love with her. Only then would the problem be corrected forever.
Esmeralda's solution did not come without a price, however. As with all assignments received from The Mirror of the Wronged, The Wronged individual only had 72 hours - 3 days - to successfully right the wrong they had been subjected to. Failure came at a great cost, to be sure, for failure meant a complete erasure from existence, as if The Wronged had never been born.
Unbeknownst to Esmeralda until after the successful completion of the assignment, Kelly was safe the very moment she awoke after her metamorphosis from male to female. Michael was already in love with Kelly the woman she now was. The woman she had always been in the eyes of all but her. And thanks to the love of The Key, Kelly and Michael were now on track to live a happy existence with each other.
Not all of Esmeralda's cases revolved in The Wronged needing to find love in order for their destiny to be fulfilled. In fact, not all situations even involved humans. Oftentimes The Key or The Lock were mere inanimate objects that played a role in correcting a mistake. Or sometimes both, as had been the case Esmeralda handled before she was assigned to help Kelly.
In that case, a man, Elijah Daniels, had been wrongfully terminated from a job when an idea he had was stolen by a co-worker who submitted the idea as his own and falsely claimed Elijah was attempting to steal the idea. It was a simple case, really, and even though Esmeralda did not know the identity of The Key that would unlock The Lock, and would have been prohibited from identifying The Key if she had, she was able to give Elijah a hint by telling him to leave no stone unturned.
The 'stone' - The Key - in that case was revealed to be nothing more than an old manual typewriter. Under that typewriter was a sealed envelope - The Lock - addressed and mailed to Elijah from himself four years prior. He recognized it immediately and knew without opening the envelope the contents contained detailed plans of his idea. Upon taking unopened envelope and its contents to his former employer, Elijah was able to prove the idea had been his all along, for on the envelope was a postmark showing the date it had been mailed. Only after showing the postmark to his former employer did he open the contents and reveal the detailed plans. Elijah was given his job back and the co-worker terminated in his stead.
Now, Esmeralda found herself frozen in place, captivated by what was happening before her. As she continued looking at the Mirror of the Wronged, a sense of shock and bewilderment washed over her. Surely there had been a mistake. As quickly as the scene of Kelly and Michael had faded, a different scene from the same moment appeared, focusing this time on The Key - Lauren - the catalyst responsible for bringing Kelly and Michael together, thus permanently correcting the wrong thrust upon Kelly at birth.
And as quickly as Lareth had left her side and walked out of The Chamber, he was beside her again.
"I know what you're thinking, Esmeralda," he said, "and this isn't a mistake. The Mirror of the Wronged doesn't make mistakes. Although...." he said, a look of thoughtfulness appearing on his face as he circled the mirror, "I have never seen The Mirror issue a new assignment so quickly before."
"You mean focus on The Key," Esmeralda said, correcting him.
"No, Esmeralda, I mean The Lock. Lauren was The Key in the last assignment. She unlocked Michael's desire to profess his love for Kelly. The Mirror is indicating she is The Lock now. Never before have I seen The Mirror set focus on The Lock, always The Wronged, making the identification of The Lock known only after The Bound is called by The Door. I have never seen The Mirror issue a new assignment to any member of The Bound so quickly, let alone to a member who had just completed an assignment intertwined with the new one." He reached up and hit the side of The Mirror with the palm heel of his hand, as if trying to knock some out of place piece into position or, more likely, as if trying to knock some sense into it.
Esmeralda looked on with amusement, but remained silent. As a member of The Bound, it was not her place to question the words or actions of a member of The Council. She had come perilously close to crossing that line when she thought she was correcting Lareth. She knew the only reasons Lareth didn't berate her for it were because he didn't view her actions as being corrective, since they weren't, and because he was rather fond of her.
In the 308 years since Esmeralda began serving her sentence to The Council, she hadn't aged a day. She was only 26 years old when The Council "rescued" her from certain death during just before the Salem Witch Trials, and the figure of that beautiful 26-year-old woman had been preserved. Although Esmeralda did not know Lareth's true age, he too had maintained the 28-year-old body of the man he was at the time he came to serve on The Council, and when Esmeralda was brought before The Council for sentencing, Lareth did not hide his desire for her.
After judgement was handed down, The Council informed Esmeralda she would be given two options upon completion of her sentence. Her first option would be to return to any point immediately following one of her successful assignments, allowing her to remain connected with The Wronged she helped. That option would mean she would become mortal, losing her powers and living out a normal life.
The other option would see her released from her binding chains and become a member of The Boundless, a group of former members of The Bound who chose to remain immortal, forever living and serving The Council in other ways, but never able to interact with humankind again. This option would allow Esmeralda and Lareth to be together at last, for Esmeralda also desired Lareth. And physical relations between The Council and The Bound were prohibited, an act which would see both the offending members of The Bound and The Council relegated to The Damned, a group sentenced to serve The Council for all eternity.
Lareth's brow furrowed in frustration. "I must say, this is truly odd. The Mirror is not indicating who The Wronged is."
"How am I to know what to do if I don't know who I am being sent to help?" Esmeralda queried.
"Under normal circumstances, I would say the same thing I always say when The Mirror issues a new assignment; you will know what you need to do and how to do it when The Door calls upon you. But this is no ordinary case, Esmeralda, and I truly do not know."
Esmeralda watched as Lareth slowly extended his right index finger toward The Mirror. As soon as his finger made contact, the scene before her froze. Under any other circumstances, the image before her may have made her laugh, as Lauren had just leapt from a drum riser and appeared to be suspended in midair. But these weren't just any other circumstances, and Esmeralda felt sick to her stomach.
"That won't hold for long. I must confer with The Council. I will return momentarily."
