Friday.

Luna’s favorite day of the week. It was the time of the week when she and anyone else at Lilith’s, be they students or even teachers, could go to Duncan Practice Field for flight training all day long. Two flight courses were simultaneously run, one for novice fliers in the morning, intermediate fliers in the afternoon and a high difficultly course for advanced fliers all day long.

The best part of this particular Friday? All the students and many professors were away on their respective field trips, which meant no one was using the practice field other than herself and Iris. Fortunately, for them, the school was willing to continue letting them use the field every Friday.

So, after finishing their morning workout and having breakfast they grabbed their flying gear and made their way to the school.

Upon arriving, they immediately went to the field and prepared to train. Luna had opted to wear her combat suit and shoulder-length cloak to hide her facial features. Little was expected of her appearance to begin with, so why start now? Iris, however, had to change out of her slender pastel blue shirtdress and into something more suitable for flying before she could begin training.

Another slight delay later and the two were ready to begin.

The Ice Sorceress turned her attention to the practice field. Above it, 212 blue and 20 green rings were floating in the air. The beginner’s course was marked by the green rings, all of which stayed low to the ground. In contrast, the blue rings were spread all over the field at varying heights, marking the path of the advanced course. The stark contrast between the advanced and novice courses was shocking to say the least.

Dubbed by most students on campus as ‘The Gauntlet,’ the advanced course was an unforgiving flight training course that was both respected and feared. It featured a large section of tricky turns, forcing one to fly about in a wide variety of directions, even backward at several points.

The two most notorious turns were The Apex and The Drop, the latter following the former. The Apex started with a vertical climb of twenty meters, followed by an immediate 180 that forced most fliers, including Luna, to slow down. Immediately after The Apex was a turn known as The Drop, a pair of rings forming a 90-degree turn parallel to the ground 30 meters directly below the previous turn.

Of the two, The Drop was obviously more dangerous. The elf had seen many students come crashing into the ground and break something after trying to take the turn too fast. She’d even done that herself a couple of times.

Watching students do laps in The Gauntlet was popular too. Even students who couldn’t fly came to watch, especially on Friday nights when students who could fly organized races amongst themselves. It was the only time of the week Luna wasn’t regularly looked down upon. With her high win-rate, she’d even garnered a moniker around campus, the Queen of The Gauntlet.

The title was both embarrassing, and yet at the same time something she was quite proud of.

Students weren’t the only ones who used The Gauntlet though. The teachers who could cast Flight would often come out and practice their flying skills for a while as well. In fact, it was thanks to the teachers and Iris’ constant requests that the advanced course was created in the first place.

Stepping onto the field, Luna could almost feel the adrenaline rush she was about to experience. Something about the challenge of The Gauntlet always excited her. Then again, she loved to fly. It made her feel free. Next to her, Iris was fiddling with her gloves.

“Remember Luna, just do things like you normally do. Pushing yourself is fine, but don’t overextend.”

“Don’t worry Mist-,” Luna said, catching herself in one of her bad habits. “-Sis. I learned my lesson yesterday.”

“Good. Let’s get started.”

Luna gave her companion a confirming nod, and watched as Iris took a few steps before suddenly stopping. The girl then turned on her heel to face her.

“Hey if I can make it through the course in 4 minutes and 20 seconds, can I try your essence?”

The elf didn’t know what to make of the request. While she knew she could produce the essence much quicker thanks to her practicing, she was still uncertain about letting Iris try it. Given what happened to her, it had the chance to go horribly wrong.

But then again, if it motivated Iris, was there really any harm in it? And on top of that, the time she was making an offer with was five seconds under what her last known time was. It’d be impressive if she could pull it off.

“Sure, why not?”

The Abjurer visibly became giddy. For a moment, Luna felt that perhaps she made the wrong decision. But it was no use worrying about it now that Iris was excited.

Instead, it seemed better to start training. Luna began running forward while incanting the flight spell. With a jump, she yelled “Flight.”

Immediately, her body lifted off the ground as she willed it to pass through the ring in front of her. A moment later, she heard Iris takeoff as well.

“Flight.”

The elf didn’t hesitate to push ahead of the Abjurer. On top of being the faster of the two, she was also the more advanced flier. Until last week, her goal was to push that advantage in hopes of eventually becoming an aerial combat mage. Now, she wanted to build her skills not just to prepare for that possibility, but to also prepare for the possibility that she would be Polaris’ apprentice.

Twisting and turning through the rings, she contemplated just how quickly she could get through the course. The fastest person she’d seen get through the course was Ms. Moore, a Transmuter Magus who was a teacher at Lilith’s, who flew through the course in almost three minutes. Of course, she had miles more experience with flying, having been in the military for well over a decade and being raised in a Tier 1 city.

As for herself, the Evoker’s current goal was to break four minutes. Out of all the students at the school, only nine were under five minutes, and of those nine three were close to breaking the four-minute barrier.

The main issue with breaching the four-minute mark was the finesse part of the course, which made up the majority of the course. The sharp twists and turns forced one to slow down and think instead of blazing through as fast as possible.

But it was this finesse that was forcing those who consistently practiced on this course to get better. In just two years of practicing it, the elf had gone from an entirely average flier to a much more efficient and advanced one. She certainly still had a long way to go, but she was much better than before.

Making her way through the course with relative ease, the Evoker contemplated how she could shave off even more time. Flight became naturally faster with consistent practice, but there were definitely things she could work on. Getting one’s turns tighter in all directions was definitely something that always needed work.

Perhaps the best ways for her to improve her time was being more aggressive with both The Apex and The Drop. Keeping her pace at those two points was difficult because of how tight the turns were. If the rings were spread further apart from one another there wouldn’t be an issue, but they were almost right on top of one another which forced her to slow down. The only way she could get through those two turns faster was to tighten her turns, bringing her full circle in her thoughts.

For today then, Luna supposed that the best approach was to focus on adequately adjusting her turns. Perhaps she’d even feel a bit faster.

And so she pushed her speed as fast as she felt comfortable with. Ring after ring passed by her until everything started to blur.

The elf increased her speed a small amount with every lap, and with each increment came a slightly greater strain on her body as she bobbed and weaved her way through the course.

But there was a limit to how fast she could fly, that was a given. Taking The Drop faster was pushing her closer to the ground. Having wiped out several times in the past, including breaking her clavicle twice, she was cautious.

After flying for about an hour at the max speed she felt comfortable with, Luna decided to push herself a little further. As it would turn out, that would be a painful mistake.

As the elf increased her speed, she made a minor miscalculation of when she should have begun to decelerate for The Apex. Before she could readjust, she’d already overshot the second and third rings.

Quickly, she adjusted herself and came to a halt then began her descent. However, as she descended, she again miscalculated her speed and before she could come to a full stop, ended up crashing into the ground going about 15 kmh.

Immediately, she reached up and touched the back of her neck. Thankfully, her resonator stone was still intact. Whatever enchantment had been cast on it to make it durable, it certainly was doing a good job of keeping the resonator intact.

While she was collecting herself, Iris flew overhead.

“Get up slowpoke, it hasn’t been two hours yet,” the Transmuter called out.

Not wanting to be shown up by her adopted sister whom she’d already lapped once, Luna picked herself up, rubbed her bruised tailbone for a moment, and took back to the air. Before their morning training session ended, she would re-lap Iris and then try to lap her again, though the latter was unlikely to happen.

Fortunately, Luna wasn’t a stranger to crashing while training on The Gauntlet. She usually wiped out at least twice each Friday. Unfortunately, there was no cleric on standby to give her a minor cure wounds, so she had to suffer through the aching of her buttocks.

Thanks to all the practicing she’d done, it didn’t take her long to catch back up to Iris. It was always fun to surprise the girl when she could, but with her tailbone hurting she knew now wasn’t the best time for surprises. Avoiding further injury was a priority.

“On your left,” she called out as she soared past the other sorceress.

“Already!?!?” the girl stammered as she futilely tried to keep up.

It wasn’t long before the Ice Sorceress was a body length ahead of her Water counterpart. It wasn’t for the lack of speed either. It was thanks to the experience she had over the her companion.

Fortunately for the remainder of the first training session she did not crash again.

Over the course of the day, they were able to squeeze in three and a half two-hour training sessions. Eventually, Luna felt like she’d had enough for the day and returned to the ground to relax, watching Iris dart about for a little while.

It was around 5 o’clock now. The sun was beginning to set and Luna felt baked. She loved intense training, but the summer heat always got to her.

Iris broke off from her current lap and flew toward her, coming to rest about a meter above her.

“Done for today?”

“It’s the heat. I wish I was a fire mage, then I’d be able to go all day and night.”

“Oh you poor Ice Mage. Make a few chunks of ice to keep yourself cool. You’ll live.”

“Funny.”

“Well I suppose let’s wrap it up for the day. Ready for the timed lap?”

“Right. I almost forgot about that. Alright, go get ready. I’ll even give you a running start.”

“I’ll do it fair and square,” the Transmuter replied with a cocky smirk.

With those words, she walked to a ring located a few turns after the Apex. The girl shook out her limbs and stretched a bit. Then she got into the goofiest starting position the elf had ever seen, causing her to fall into a fit of giggling. As the Ice Sorceress calmed down, she pulled out her Message device and held it in front of her.

“Start it,” Iris shouted as she took off and began making her way through the course.

Luna clicked the stopwatch start button on her Message device, then settled back against the hedge bushes while watching her Mist- adopted sister go to work.

For the elf, watching another mage quickly work their way through The Gauntlet was mesmerizing. It was as if they were dancing around the air.

Iris, in particular, had an odd style of flying. Whereas the Ice Sorceress’ was aggressive, the Abjurer’s was refined and looked much more delicate. She appeared as if she were a butterfly flying through the course. A very fast butterfly at that.

That didn’t mean Iris wasn’t fast though. Much to Luna’s surprise, the Water Sorceress was plowing through the course. The bluette certainly felt a little caught off guard. Her adopted sister must have been putting everything she had into her current run.

At the pace she was going, the girl might just complete her lap in time.

Luna continued to watch the Water Sorceress make her way through Twist Alley, a segment of about 125 rings in close proximity to one another that were known for their challenging turns in all directions, including two corkscrew loops.

The mesmerizing sight of a mage moving about the air in all manner of directions was certainly a spectacle. Luna counted herself lucky that she was able to witness such a wonderful sight. After all, the high level of stress the course put on one’s body certainly wasn’t for the faint of heart.

Soon, the Abjurer was climbing The Apex, and then flying down through The Drop. Instinctively, the Evoker jumped up to her feet as her counterpart came within centimeters of the ground. The girl just laughed while pushing onward as if nothing had happened. If Luna hadn’t known better, she’d have assumed the girl had a death wish.

With only a fraction of the course left, the Evoker looked at her message device. There were only 30 seconds left for Iris to complete the course in time. It should be feasible, given her current pace.

“Come on Iris, just a little further,” she cheered.

That little bit of support seemed to give the girl a boost, as she continued to blow through the course like a shooting star across the midnight sky.

As she hit the last ring, completing her lap, Luna looked at her stopwatch. The Water Transmuter had just made it.

“Impressive, you made it with half a second to spare.”

“Yes,” Iris exclaimed while fist-pumping. She was drenched in sweat and panting hard, but still persisted in speaking. “Now you have to keep your end of the deal.”

It seemed the girl was a little too eager to get going now though. An uneasy feeling overcame the elf. If the girl went through what she did, she wasn’t confident that she’d be able to forgive herself. But she did make a deal, and had to follow through with it.

“A deal’s a deal,” the elf admitted while putting her message device away.

“Cool, wait here, I’ll go get changed.”

Berfore Luna could respond, Iris had already taken off sprinting toward the changing rooms, leaving Luna to wonder what she’d gotten herself into.

But for some reason, she felt a mild, thrumming pain beginning to form in her chest. It was around where her core was, and it certainly wasn’t pleasant. Instinctively, Luna reached up and touched her resonator stone, only to discover that it was slightly warmer than usual. Was there some sort of fluctuation in the resonance?

After a moment, the intense sensation faded, leaving her to wonder

Luna and Iris sat on the lounge, staring out at the bay while the sun set on the opposite horizon. By the time the two returned from Lilith’s it was already after six. A couple of hours later, dinner had been made and Luna had taken a well-earned shower, shifting into comfy clothes for the night.

The elf studied the girl next to her. Clearly Iris was excited, but at the same time she seemed nervous. Before proceeding, it would be best to make certain the girl was ready for what came next, as the odds of things going terribly wrong was high enough.

After all, if her experience was anything like Luna’s, she’d be a wreck by the end of it. That was something which the Evoker was almost certain she wasn’t ready for.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this sis? It’s going to be a bit… intense.”

“Come on, what’s the worst that can happen? I suddenly live some deep dark nightmare of a memory that I’ve been trying to hide for years? I’ll be fine Luna.”

The fact that Iris mentioned the very thing the elf went through when she consumed her essence was unsettling enough to make her nearly back out. How would the girl react when presented with that very reality?

Then again, Luna couldn’t just renege on their agreement without giving away what she experienced, and revealing what happened wasn’t something she was willing to do.

“I’m just making sure you’re prepared is all.”

“Hey, I didn’t nearly severly injure myself doing that sub 4:20 lap for nothing. Come on, let’s do this.”

The image of Iris coming out of The Drop was still fresh in the elf’s head. The Abjurer did take dangerous risks, but then again, Iris wouldn’t be so careless enough as to intentionally do something that may have killed her.

Reluctantly, the elf would have to keep her end of the deal.

“Alright, tilt your head back, close your eyes and open your mouth.”

“Sure,” the girl replied, flinging her head back and opening her mouth as if she were expecting someone to pour a shot of alcohol into it.

Luna sighed.

“Iris, please don’t ever start drinking. Then I’ll actually have reason to be concerned about you. Also, this’ll take a few minutes, so just keep your mouth open.”

“Uh-huh.”

The elf closed her eyes and began to meditate. The process was becoming much easier now that she’d learned to shift her essence about within her, and she didn’t feel like she had to be in the yard when she wanted to will it about. So long as she wasn’t completely tapped out, she could produce her essence with ease.

It only took her about four minutes to enter a fully focused state. Slowly, she willed her essence to collate on the tip of her index finger.

Drip. Drip, drip, drip.

Four drops immediately came off of her finger. Luna dug deeper and forced the last dregs of what was left within her to form a fifth drop, which promptly plopped into Iris’ open maw.

“Alright, swallow.”

The Transmuter did so, then blinked and looked at the Ice Sorceress. So far one thing was confirmed: the essence wasn’t launching its consumer into a full-body experience immediately.

“Huh, that was a bit different than I expected. And why do I recognize this taste?”

There was another confirmation: her essence tasted like something familiar yet forgotten.

“Just give it a moment. Think hard about the taste.”

The other girl raised a brow at her and then put on the most focused face she could muster. Little beads of sweat began forming on her forehead soon after. Satirically, the girl raised an arm up to wipe away sweat from her forehead. Her acting may have been exaggerated, but it was somewhat funny nonetheless.

“Are you sure this works for-“

Suddenly, the girl’s irises flashed a bluish-white before she completely stopped in place. Luna could only assume it was the same as when she began experiencing her past memory.

“Iris?”

The other girl didn’t respond. By now her eyes seemed glazed over. If it wasn’t for the noticeable rise and fall of her chest, the elf would have panicked.

Luna supposed all she could do now was wait. Unfortunately, the experience had been so sudden her first time that she didn’t get an idea of how long she was out for. Because of this, the time following Iris’ sudden dive into her memories felt much longer than it usually would have.

Idly, the elf waited for the girl to come out of her trance. Her mind wandered to and fro from topic, often circling back to the thought that Iris may experience quite unpleasant memories.

Unable to wait longer, the Evoker checked her Message device. Ten minutes had passed since Iris first entered her trance, and now the girl was beginning to become concerned. Certainly Luna hadn’t been out much longer than that, if she was even out that long.

Perhaps Iris was just acting like she was still out then?

“Iris can you hear me?”

No discernable response came from the girl.

It seemed the elf would have to wait a little longer for her to come to. And so the girl impatiently waited, feeling uneasy about what Iris was currently experiencing.

Hopefully it was a pleasant memory. If that wasn’t the case, whatever came next certainly wouldn’t be good.

The quiet of the room was slowly beginning to drive her mad. If suspense could kill, she’d definitely be dead by now.

“Hah,” the Water Sorceress suddenly trembled. It seemed like she was starting to come to.

“Hey Iris, are you alright.”

Luna reached out and grabbed Iris’ hand, which clamped onto hers like a vice grip. Iris’ expression had become one of shock. Whatever the girl had remembered, she certainly wasn’t expecting it.

“I-,” Iris whimpered before sniffling. Her expression quickly turned to one of pain and loss, as if someone she deeply loved had just died in front of her. “-I saw mom. Back when Eden was still around.”

Before the girl continued on, she let go of the Ice Sorceress’ hand and embraced her, burying her head into the girl’s shoulder.

Patting Iris on the back, Luna could feel hot tears. All she could do is try her best to calm the other sorceress down and comfort her. It was something she definitely wasn’t used to. Iris had always been the one to be there for her. But that just meant she had to do her best to be there for her adopted sister and it also motivated her to do so.

“Why… why did mom change? Were we awful children? Did we hurt her? What happened to her Iris? Why? Why?” the girl begged in a mournful voice. It made Luna feel like her heart was going to be ripped out.

Holding onto Iris tight and rubbing the girl’s back gently, Luna bit her lip. The best thing she could do right now was give Iris a gentle answer. Anything heavier than that may end up making the girl feel isolated, something which neither of them would want.

“I don’t know,” the elf consoled her adopted sister. “I wish I knew why she changed after Eden left, but I honestly have no idea why.”

Iris continued to bawl into her shoulder for several more minutes. The heart-wrenching wails reminded her of a child who’d just lost their parent. It felt like she was going to be ripped apart by the guilt she felt for allowing the girl to try her essence.

That was a mistake she wouldn’t make again. Not until she knew more about her essence and how to control it. If only Polaris’ friend would return sooner. Alas, such a situation couldn’t be helped.

When Iris calmed down enough, she let go of her and scooted back. While there were still tears streaming down her face, she’d mostly collected herself, aside from the occasional sniffle.

Luna bit her lip again. She needed to apologize, there was no doubt about that. But how she apologized was important. She didn’t want to hurt Iris in the first place, and especially didn’t want to hurt her further.

“I’m sorry Iris. I should have known better than to let you try the essence and now I’ve gone and hurt you.”

Iris shot her a look of betrayal and digust. Clearly, she was upset. Perhaps the elf had sent her the wrong message.

“Is this what happened to you the first time? What you were trying to hide?”

There was no use hiding it now. Not when Iris had experienced first hand what happened to her. She had to come clean with her adopted sister.

“Yeah.”

The elf could practically see the cogs turning inside of blonde’s head.

“Why did you make me remember those memories?”

“I honestly wasn’t trying to. I don’t really even know why the essence forces one to remember things the way it does.”

Iris fell silent again as she continued to mull over the situation. After a few moments she sighed in disappointment.

“That is true, you don’t seem like you’re able to control it well,” the girl commented before looking down at her lap. “I miss Eden. And even mom. The mom from our childhood, that is.”

“I do too.”

If Eden had never left, would they still be a family? Would things have never went wrong? Now that Luna thought about it, the changes were so severe that Eden staying likely wouldn’t have changed anything. Or would she have been what prevented them from occurring?

The awkward silence that ensued was difficult to overcome. What more could be said to right the situation? Would changing the topic perhaps lighten the mood?

Iris was the one to speak first.

“Luna.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think…,” Iris hesitated before shaking her head. “No, nevermind. Can you leave me alone for a while? I need to… think.”

The elf stood up, but before she began to speak, she recalled something important: Iris saw her as an adopted sister again. They were no longer master and servant, despite what her reflexes may tell her. And so she sat down.

Now was the time she should be Iris’ rock, instead of worrying about what Iris wanted.

“Iris, I’m here for you, you know. We’re sisters,” the elf assured her adopted sister, putting her hand on the girl’s lap.

The other girl seemed surprised byt this revelation, and began to softly smile. A silent message spell bloomed in Luna’s ear.

“Did you notice it as well?”

“Notice what?”

“Oh,” the girl said while blushing her smile widening. “I’m actually pretty touched you’ve started to see me as your sister again.”

She then looked around the room as if she were trying to discern something before sighing and turning back to the elf.

“Some of my memories of mom are now different from how I remembered them. And given Polaris’ letter to you, I can only assume we’re being watched as we speak.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember how Polaris said she was surprised no elves have approached you?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it feels like my memories were altered and now have been restored to their true version.Because of that, I now realize just how quickly mother changed. A little too quickly, don’t you think? I know it’s painful, but please try to recall what you remember from that time.”

Luna eased further back into the lounge as she thought of what happened around that time. Elsie’s behavior had seemingly changed overnight. Actually now that she thought about it, the woman had changed overnight. But that didn’t make any sense. Before she consumed her essence she could have sworn the change had occurred over weeks. Now it was much clearer that it happened indeed happened overnight.

Luna concentrated harder. Her memory wasn’t nearly eidetic, but where there had been clear memories before, there were now fragments of memories. It was as if those memories had never existed in the first place. In place of where those memories originally were now lie what must have the real memories.

But it was impossible. If those memories weren’t real, then that would mean.

Suddenly, Luna realized the gravity of their present situation.

“Wait a minute, do you mean?”

“Yes.”

“But then that would mean…”

“Exactly. It’s quite possible we’re being watched even now. They’ve likely been listening in on our conversations. I’m guessing it’s you they’re after, I’m just a nobody from a noble family compared to an elf. Perhaps they’re biding their time, waiting for something to happen.”

“But why after Eden left?”

“Our eldest sister is an actual freak of nature when it comes to her perception and intelligence, remember? We were too young at the time to tell something was wrong, but Eden surely would have noticed it immediately after it happened. Perhaps Skylar too. I assume you understand the assumption I’m making.”

“That your racist father is in on this too?”

“That’s correct.”

Luna quietly took all of this in. What Iris was saying made complete sense the more she thought about it. They were already in a spider’s web, which could also explain why Polaris was keeping her distance. She may be trying to figure out how to work them out of it without drawing attention to herself. But that would only be the case if she knew what was going on, which was highly unlikely.

“However, this is all just an assumption. If only we could talk to Eden directly,” Iris trailed off as her brows furrowed.

“Didn’t Magus Burke say that he owed you a favor?”

“He did,” Iris answered, her face suddenly lighting up then darkening. “Indeed he did. But then again, there are prying ears there. We can’t afford to be bold right now, especially when we don’t know who has their sights set on you. Polaris’ friend isn’t around either. Hopefully we can trust her.”

Iris was taking on the gloomy face she did when dark thoughts clouded her mind. But now wasn’t the time for that. Now more than ever they had to stay positive. While it scared her that other elves may have dark plans for her, she couldn’t just curl up into a ball and cry. She had to show that she was ready to tackle them head-on. Both for herself, and for Iris. Plus, Felicity still needed them.

“Hey don’t look so down. We may have lost the opening bout, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go for a knockout in the second round. Let’s show them that we’re the only ones who decide our fates.”

“Right. We’ll make them regret tearing our family apart.” Iris looked about the room again, squinting as she studied it, then looked back at Luna. “But for now, let’s keep up the act,” Iris replied while turning a bit so she was facing the center of the room. “So, you really think I’m improving that much?”

Oddly enough, the silent Message spell was maintained. Luna could only assume Iris believed someone was scrying on them at that very moment, so Iris was trying to cover up their private conversation by making it look like they were talking about another topic.

“Of course, sis. Though I do have some suggestions,” the elf replied with a hint of sarcasm.

This was going to be delightful.

Outskirts of Cambridge.

Felicity clenched her hands tightly together. The day had been nerve-wracking so far and it was still morning.

She’d woken up at six and gotten ready for her day. The Enchanter had dressed up formally, making sure not to wear anything that would be considered inappropriate for a young noble such as herself. Choosing her clothes for the day was a bit difficult though. She’d refused to unpack, and thus she had to call forth most of her wardrobe from her storage ring.

In the end her selection didn’t matter though. Her mother thoroughly berated her for her choice of clothing. After, taking the abuse and threats of what would happen if she misbehaved for half an hour, she was finally allowed to make her way to Victoria station.

At the station, she was made fun of for her noticeable Australian accent and told she’d better shape up quick or else no one will want to marry her. These snobs looked down upon as if she were some useless waif that had no talent in magic whatsoever.

The thought of being turned into someone’s plaything made her sick. She had to admit, Skylar and Eden had more guts that she did.

But today, she’d had to be the brave one. She had to muster all the courage she could and ask her estranged elder sister for help. And if she refused, the future would become more than bleak.

The Enchanter looked out the window at the passing scenery and sighed. This certainly wasn’t going to be easy. Hopefully Skylar wouldn’t happen to be at the platform. That would make things infinitely more complicated and definitely cause her plan to backfire.

The train slowed as the outer buildings of Cambridge began to pass by. The enchanter sighed again as she stood up, the gnawing feeling above her left breast continuing to bother her. When the train doors openend, she wanted to be the first one off so that she could easily find her eldest sister, who’d most certainly look older now.

A few tediuous minutes later and the train came to a full stop. The doors in front of her began to open, and Felicity took a deep breath, before walking down onto the platform.

She walked a couple of meters away from the train before scanning the crowd waiting on the platform. Her sister hopefully had worn something that stood out. It would make it much easier to find her if she did.

Almost right away, she found the person she thought was her older sister.

Ahead of her was a woman who appeared in her early to mid-twenties, who stood a few meters away from the train. Her long blonde hair fluttered slightly with the gentle breeze making its way through the station. Her piercing blue eyes matched the slight frown she wore.

Her clothes also matched the air her expression gave. She wore a gray long coat, her black slacks visible underneath. She wore black-laced winter boots that added an inch to her height. The light-blue scarf was the biggest giveaway as to whom she might be aside from her face. It was the same color as Luna’s hair. Finally, she wore a pair of sunglasses on top of her head.

This was it. This was the make or break moment of her future. She had to see it through. And so she approached the woman.

“Eden, is that you? It’s been so long. I’ve been trying to get into contact with you for years but…”

The woman in front of her closed her eyes and sighed. When they opened again, they were full of wrath.

“Eden?”

“Tell me,” her elder sister coldly began, pausing for effect, ”what exactly do you think you’re doing trying to sneak around here?”

The words themselves felt like ice striking through her veins.

At that moment, Felicity felt as if her heart had shattered.