A second, though less powerful, snowstorm had arrived in Hidden Springs. As fluffy flakes tumbled from the sky, covering the twins' jackets, they had a discussion outside the palace gates.
"Alex, this is crazy," Anastasia shook her head. "You mean you think you can resurrect Dad? It just doesn't work like that. Once someone dies, they're dead."
"Not true --"
"Of course it is. It's happened throughout the course of history. Once someone dies the body decomposes and becomes dust. Simple."
"Not entirely true. Ana, did you forget? We DID turn plush toys into real people, didn't we?"
"Yeah, but that was different. We had the use of a special potion."
"But what if we could do it again? What if we could use the same principle on Dad's ghost?"
Anastasia shook her head. "Alex, this is crazy!"
"Yeah. Crazy enough to work."
While Anastasia went in the house, Alexandra set out to the elixir store on the other side of town.
The icy mountain air pressed against Alexandra's skin as she trudged through the snow. "This must be it?" she asked herself as she came across a small wooden building hidden in a thicket of frozen bushes. surrounded by ornate wrought-iron fencing.
Morgan Beaty was the clerk working that frosty evening. He was a new arrival in town, and as a newcomer, was fascinated with all the strange stories circulating about a fountain of youth and of mystical beings inhabiting the wooded areas. But the strangest story he was to hear so far was yet to come.
Alexandra approached his counter. "May I help you?" he asked, just as he'd asked everyone else who came into the shop.
"Yes, I understand you're an elixir shop?"
"We're an elixir shop, but we're more than that. We are practitioners of the ancient science and art of alchemy. Are you looking for elixirs, alchemy supplies, alchemy texts, just what do you have in mind?"
Alexandra took a deep breath and told her story. "So, you see, I'm looking for either an elixir or ways of looking for an elixir to turn him back into a real person."
Morgan could not believe what he'd heard. "This is one strange story. You mean to tell me that your mother, the Queen of Hidden Springs, received a call from the science lab, and she went there with your father's urn and he was partially resurrected?"
"Yes."
"And now he's a ghost walking around in the palace."
"He's essentially in an in-between state. He can do everything we can but he also floats in the air and can walk through walls."
With his mouth still ajar, he shook his head from side to side. "Uh -- uh -- uh," he managed to mutter after standing silent for five minutes, "Um, I'm not sure we have an elixir like that in this store. But I'll be sure to research it for you."
While Alexandra poked around the shop she came across a strange painting. "Who is this?" she asked Morgan.
"I'm not sure," Morgan replied, "the picture was here when I came. The shop's owners had it."
"I see."
"You know," called Morgan, interrupting Alexandra, "I think you might want to contact the science lab, as this sort of thing more belongs to that realm than this one. But I'll continue to research this."
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