Chapter One

Mireo and Kelae spent half the day on the roof of their home, listening to the mountain cities hum below them. The sunshine soaked through the sisters, scratching under their dark copper skin. Kelae fussed and tweaked at a mass of metal pipes, gears, and cloth. She swore it would become a flying machine before summer’s end. Mireo observed the progress while she stitched up their best friend’s dress.

Kelae wiped her wrist across her forehead and leaned against one of the more secure bars. “Cutting it close... sure you can make it?”

“I’m almost done. Are you gonna be ready to leave after the show?” Mireo made her next five stitches a prayer to every Spirit: please let Kelae have packed.

“Yes! Haha, yes, I am!” Kelae waved her wrench in a tiny celebration. “Pretty sure I got everything, anyways.”

Mireo groaned. “Just tell me that when the sun’s down and the temperature’s dropped, you’re not going to suddenly remember that you forgot your poncho and ditch us.”

“Don’t worry.” Kelae winked. “I’ll just borrow from you if I forget stuff.”

Mireo closed her eyes and squeezed the needle against her palm. “Oh no. Nooooo no no no. You’re not prepared at all, are you? This is exactly like last time.”

“No, that was totally different! You can’t just tell someone who’s never been camping to think of it like a sleepover.”

Mireo nearly threw her hands up in the air, but remembered her stitching. “Forgive me for trying to give you more credit than you deserve. It turns out that camping takes preparation. How about that!”

“You shoulda just given me a list. Or packed for me. I’m a very busy lady, after all.”

Mireo swore a yellow bird perched above them rolled its eyes for her. “I guess any future catastrophe we have is on my head, then.”

“Guess so.” Kelae watched Mireo sew. Her smile twitched in odd little movements, threatening to break. “Query. You think Eglantine’ll be up there, where we’re going hiking?”

“Witch or plant?” Mireo bit off a loose string.

“Ugh, really? The witch.”

“Haha. IIIII kinda doubt we’ll see her. It’s not a small mountain.” Mireo could see the peak shine green out of the corner of her eye.

“I didn’t say see her. I just... do you think she’s still up there? Like, existing and doing her thing?”

She chuckled. “’Doing her thing’. We haven’t had any indication that she isn’t. So I guess, yeah, she most likely is.”

“Yeah, good point.” Kelae slid back under the machine. She resumed work for thirty-nine seconds before jolting back upright. “Oh no, Mireo.”

“Oh no, me.”

“What if she’s dead?”

The question spread in silence.

“...Kel, how long have you been sitting out here?”

Kelae banged her wrench on her toolbox. “It could happen! She lives by herself. Mother of days. What if she slipped and fell in the bath? Holy crap that’s horrifying. And she’s like a zillion years old, y’know.”

“Is that an exact number?”

“Oh, because the official record of ’as old as the country herself’ is so much more precise. Pfffff.”

“Well, since she is not your ordinary senior, I think it’s safe to assume she has not left this mortal coil. She’s probably spell-guarded her bathtub.”

“Yeah. Fair point. Still, though, wonder how she’s lived so long.” Kelae pursed her lips and stared at the jadesong dragons lumbering over the western peaks. “Maybe communing with griffins.”

“How about because she’s magic and she also walks up and down the mountains all the damn time? Good exercise, just saying.”

Kelae shrugged. “You think she’ll actually give you anything you ask for?”

Mireo quirked an eyebrow, but kept her concentration on Ilyn’s dress. “How am I supposed to know? I never met her.”

“Ugh, geez, and here I thought you were THE expert on the witches of Aovire.” Kelae grinned. “Know what I would wish for?”

“Hmm?”

“Ability to finish things the second I touch them.” She pushed her glasses up her long nose. “I know like, the journey is supposed to be what makes it worth it or whatever. But whoever said that first didn’t have to work with hot metal for a whole summer.”

“Ha.” Mireo continued stitching. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be holding construction on the roof then.”

“Tell me where else I’d have room! And also so where Mom wouldn’t freak out at me.”

“Hahaha, she’s bound to catch you sooner or later. You should just stick with the hoverboard, Kel. It’s completely capable of flight. And, as an added bonus, it’s not a death trap.”

Kelae’s nostrils flared and she planted her fists at her hips. “Excuse. You. Just because you have no sense of adventure doesn’t mean that’s true for the rest of us.”

Mireo rolled her eyes. “I do too have a sense of adventure. It just doesn’t entail getting myself half-killed.”

“Going on carefully charted hiking trails that even five-year-olds can handle does not count as having a sense of adventure.”

“If I recall correctly, Kelae, the last time you came hiking with me - NOT camping, hiking - you started crying because it was too hot and you forgot your burn treatment.”

“Untrue and unfair! You know heat makes the burn feel worse.”

“Okay. I’ll give you unfair, but untrue? Let’s be real here.”

Kelae scoffed. “I know what you should wish for. To not be such a butt.” She retrieved a wrench from her tool bag and strained at a stubborn gear.

Mireo hmmmed. “I’ll consider it when you do likewise.”

“What would your wish be, anyway?”

“Obviously to be an only child.” Mireo dodged a flying screwdriver and laughed.

Kelae hoisted herself to her feet and stomped over to retrieve it. “I was just curious. Land sakes almighty. Rude.” She jabbed Mireo in the side as she walked back.

“Geez, Kel. I don’t know. That’s not really an easy question.” Mireo pressed her teeth against her bottom lip. Ilyn’s dress draped around her bare calves. The rosy fabric felt smooth and soft against her skin. “What about you?”

Kelae said nothing for something that stretched like a minute. Her voice took on a faint, dusky tone when she answered. “I guess I don’t know, either.” She fastened on a washer. “Probably for you to finish this for me. But you will anyways, cuz you love me. Right?”

“Pssht. Right.” Mireo broke off the thread and knotted it. She stood up to examine the dress. Lace ruffles erupted from the skirt at the waistline. Anyone else would never have known that only hours before, Ilyn had put a fantastic rip in it.

“Woooow! That’s some fancy stitchin’.”

“...Thanks.” Mireo slung the dress over her shoulder and checked her watch. “We need to be at the studio in like, twenty minutes, or Ilyn will be really pissed.”

“I’m sure.” Kelae spent another minute fastening screws and fiddling with her machine. “You don’t hafta wait around. I’ll catch up on the hoverboard.”

Mireo clicked her tongue against the inside of her cheek. “Okay then, be that way.”

“Okay, I will.”

Mireo folded the dress into her bag and slid down the ladder into the living room. Her boots sat underneath Kelae’s mess of jackets and scarves. She sighed as she freed them from the pile, and pulled them on. Another watch check indicated she still had sixteen minutes and some change until Ilyn started panicking.

The question remained: helibus’ deafening drones or monorail’s claustrophobic atmosphere? Because Mireo did not have the speed necessary to descend seventeen levels of city. If only it were next week, then it would be her turn for the hoverboard.

Kelae announced her presence by thwacking a helmet on Mireo’s head. “Y’know what, better just ride with me.”

“Agh, no, I’ll take the rail!”

“You can’t. I took the rest of your change to buy more screws. Didn’t have enough of the right size.”

Mireo placed her hands firmly on her sister’s shoulders. “How many times must I ask why you do this. Why.”

“Sorry, I remembered like thirty seconds ago. I’ll pay you back... er, soon.” Kelae clipped on her own helmet and linked arms with Mireo. “Let’s go!”

-

Hoverboards must have been nice for people who weren’t danger junkies: efficient, speedy, footholds for two riders. Nobody else in the city seemed to take that last point to mean the manufacturer intended them to fly at ninety degree angles. And yet, Kelae found the thought of upward flight incomprehensible.

Wind whistled around their ears and pulled back on their long curls. Between the city’s clamor and Kelae’s manic laughter, Mireo couldn’t be sure anyone heard her yells for help.

“Better hold on tight, we’re comin’ in for a landing!” Mireo gripped Kelae tighter as the hoverboard swept in towards the road. They leveled with the ground, still gliding a safe distance above the crowds.

Mireo found her ability to properly speak once her heart stopped threatening to burst from her chest. “Was that supposed to be funny?”

“Ray, please. You screaming over a little seventy-hundred-foot drop? That’s hilarious.” She cackled when Mireo pinched her side.

“How much time do we have left?”

“Like five minutes? Relax, we’re practically there.” Vibrations shook through their feet as they picked up speed and flew towards the large rainbow-colored banners.

“You go ahead and take care of the dress,” said Kelae as they slowed to a stop in front of the large quartz doors. “I’m gonna lock this up and get us tickets and seats and stuff.”

Mireo nodded and went inside. It disarmed her to see the arts center so empty compared to the roads outside. Strains of string instruments tuning echoed from farther down the marble corridor. Soft chatter and laughter filled gaps in the silence.

The dance studio sat in between the restrooms and a small art gallery. Rainbow banners marked the indigo, teal, and aqua quartz entrance. It could be so hard to miss.

Ilyn stood just inside the studio, bouncing on her toes and twisting two tawny locks together. The sun had granted patches of new freckles to her amber shoulders. “You’re just in ti – whoa, your hair.”

All the air left Mireo’s lungs for half a second, and heat rushed to her cheeks. “Oh. Kelae flew us here, and you know how... well. Ugh. How bad is it?” She ran a hand through her shaggy bangs.

“Not bad at all. You look gorgeous.” She winked and brushed a stray hair from Mireo’s cheek. “So. Did you fix it?”

Mireo wordlessly removed the dress from her bag and held it out at full length.

Ilyn’s happy shriek drowned Mireo’s “You’re welcome.” She grabbed Mireo’s hand and pulled her into a dressing room. She slipped out of her leotard and swapped it for the dress. It billowed around her long dancer legs. “Aaaaaah, thank you so much! You’re the greatest, Mireo.”

Mireo grinned and rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s nothing. I’m glad I could come to the rescue in your time of need.”

Ilyn threw her arms around Mireo’s shoulders, nearly lifting her off the ground. “How do I look?” She spun on one foot, her hair and dress twirling with her. She caught herself on Mireo’s arm.

Voices and footsteps filtered in under the door. “You, um, you look…” Mireo pulled away, crossing her arms. “You really look beautiful. May as well be a wisp.”

“Thank you. That’s sweet.” Ilyn leaned in, looking at Mireo through her eyelashes. “If I’m a wisp, does that mean there are rhuzyska out and about?”

Mireo inhaled; her lungs filled with Ilyn’s sweet cinnamon scent. “There might be. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from any potential shadow monsters.”

“Ha! Tell me, which one of us spent half her life in the actual wilderness? That’s right, it’s me.” Ilyn took Mireo’s hand as she pushed against the door, leading her out to the dressing room filled with floral arrangements. “So I believe I’ll protect you.”

“I feel so reassured with all twenty pounds of you serving as my bodyguard.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m basically unstoppable in the face of ghastly spirits and other creatures.” Ilyn wrapped a freckled arm around Mireo’s shoulders. “Better stick close. This hallway is dangerous.”

“What would I do without you?” Mireo bumped hips with Ilyn.

“Don’t know, don’t want to know. Who else would fill up your day with last-minute favors, and then thank you with reassurances that I think you’re wonderful and I love you?”

“Kelae.”

“…Okay, fair enough. But it’s different because she’s your twin and I’m your best friend. We basically signed up for each others’ nonsense.” Ilyn sat in front of a large mirror. “For you, that means things like braiding my hair. Please and thank you?”

“You’re preemptively welcome.” She combed her fingers through Ilyn’s tresses and sorted them into thirds. “So… you’re playing the Star Witch this year?”

“Yep.” With the flick of a wrist, Ilyn pulled a sprig of white phlox from midair. “Have you heard the good word about the girl who killed a thousand stars from a thousand galaxies?”

Mireo knew that line was coming as soon as she broached the subject, but it didn’t make it any easier to hear. It disarmed her to see her friend in a role that Mireo had learned to hate. The proud. The vindictive. The girl who would see worlds burn for the sake of the gone.

“I’m sorry. I know most traditions don’t see the Star Witch as a hero like back… like in Rudérin.” Ilyn shrugged. “I get it.”

Mireo sighed, twining Ilyn’s hair around her fingers. “No, it’s fine. You’re fine. It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s just… weird to hear. And see, I guess. You’re not really like… that.”

“It’s called acting. Pffft. Can I just… ask you to keep an open mind?” Ilyn met Mireo’s eyes in the mirror. “I know what you’ve been taught. I think there’s room for pleasant surprises.”

Mireo blushed at the fire in Ilyn’s green eyes. “Okay. I can do that.” She took the phlox bud and stuck it in the braid. “There you go, Star Witch.”