The next morning, cloth tight inside her fist when her eyes opened, she lay in bed for a moment, thinking.
Hali couldn't remember much of her dream from the night before, but she had woken up tasting salt, her chest tight. All she remembered was a pair of silver eyes, belonging to the person she was trying to forget.
She blinked, clearing away the remnants of sleep. The sun was high in the sky, shining through the window, illuminating the dust falling through the air. She stared at it, mesmerized, until she realized what the position of the sun meant. It was late, and she needed to have left before now.
Once upon a time, her parents would have woken her, but that too had disappeared with the incident, her parents seeming to decide it was a courtesy too good for her.
Downstairs, Hali could hear Sev moving around, and she knew that her parents had woken him. There was no time to feel rejected.
She needed to get to work. When school had ended, and she was constantly free, no friends to hang out with, she had gotten a job.
She hadn't thought it possible, but there was one person who hadn't heard any of the rumours, who didn't know about her. And so Hali had found a way to spend her days.
The Mage was an old woman, who lived in isolation on the far outskirts of the woods. She was kind, and had been willing to take on a totally unqualified young girl. Hali was constantly grateful for her, and though she had no grasp of magick, she could help the Mage find important ingredients, or read her books.
The pay wasn't much, but the Mage let her take leviathan leaves for her parents, and was infinitely patient with Hali being unable to remember any recipes.
Max had been the Mage's apprentice, until he quit, seemingly out of nowhere, a few days before he started the rumors.
Hali had never told the Mage that she had a connection to Max, and the Mage never brought him up, so Hali could almost pretend he had never existed there.
She quickly brushed her teeth and splashed some water on her face, pulling her hair into a hasty braid before walking over to the window.
Hali took a deep breath before throwing herself out. Though she flew every day, she was always apprehensive at what might occur when she took that first jump, worried that her wings wouldn't unfurl in time. As always though, her wings were open before she hit the ground, and then she was flying through the tangled woods, twisting to avoid branches.
She coasted to the Mage's cottage, located at the base of a large elm, between two shrubs of juniper. She was blind, and disorganized, and the door was blocked, whatever in its way too heavy to push out of the way.
Sighing, breathing out a quiet laugh, Hali walked around to the window.
Peering through the open frames, Hali smiled softly. The Mage turned her head, looking at Hali with milky blue eyes. Her aim was so direct, Hali thought for a moment that she could actually see her. But no, after another second of one sided eye contact she turned away, and walked to her books, muttering something about her new project. Hali heard the words 'another world' as she made her way to the exit, undeterred.
Hali was about to cough, to announce her presence when what the Mage had said truly dawned on her.
"Another world." She whispered aloud, unable to stop the thoughts of Max and Amara.
The Mage's head whipped toward her, and she walked with alarming speed over to the window. "Who is it?"
"Sorry, ma'am. It's me."
"Oh! Hali."
"I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's alright. Now, I need you to read through my spellbook. FInd the information on portals."
Hali pursed her lips. Why did the Mage have to be working on something to do with portals, and other worlds? It was throwing Hali's mind into turmoil, the night's sleep not having cleared her mind enough. Still, she nodded, before remembering the Mage couldn't actually see her. "Yes ma'am."
Reading silently, a plan started to form in her head, without her even truly noticing.
Portal:a doorway that connects two distant locations separated by spacetime. Portals may have 1 or more counterparts, so that an object entering a portal could be transported instantaneously to any one of an array of places. A portal can transport you through time, into a parallel world, to a place on the same plane of existence, or a different galaxy. A parallel world may exist for the sole purpose of housing other portals, each of which could leap anywhere in time and space.
Portal jumping is extremely dangerous, as it is possible to transport yourself out of the space time continuum, in which case we can assume immediate death.
Hali hesitated. Immediate death did not sound good. She hadn't settled the debate of risking her safety to save Max and Amara, and seeing the words printed on paper made her stomach turn.
Why would she risk everything for them? Max who had betrayed her, Amara, his sister, who, though sweet, was barely more than a stranger now. What possible reason did Hali have to risk her life for a boy she hated? But she told herself that she wouldn't fall for Max's charm again.
She knew that before the incident, her family would have risked everything for her. If she just reminded them of that, and made Max tell them the truth, that the rumours he had spread were just that - rumours, it would go back to how it was before. Hali's family would forget what they were told, Hali would forget how she was treated, and they would be happy again. Maybe Kirin would even come home.
Everything would go back to how it was before.
Death was only a chance, not a certainty. She was too strong to die before she saved them.
Hali dropped the book, shaking her head violently to clear the thoughts. The subconscious plan scattered, and she let out a breath, reminding herself that she hadn't even decided if she would save them or not. She didn't want to die.
"Everything okay?" The Mage asked, concerned.
"Yes." To distract herself, Hali asked the first question to come to mind. "Why are you the only person left practicing magick? Why did everyone else stop?"
"Spellcasting is about emotion; you have to convince the spell that it wants to be cast. If it agrees with your intentions, or is moved by your emotion, it will be cast, but if it disagrees, or is unimpressed, nothing will happen, or, worse, it will backfire spectacularly." Hali nodded, already knowing that information. She didn't know where the Mage was going with it, but shrugging, she leaned back in her seat, listening. "I've only seen a spell backfire once, when I was young. Maybe only 2 or 3. I barely remember anything, but I do know that it was the main reason that magick dwindled, before everyone else stopped. At that point I was fifteen, and my family were the only people left practicing. The only thing I can recall is that people died when that spell backfired. He was playing with starlight, and people died." The Mage let out a heavy sigh. "Nobody talked about what happened. At first, they were all in shock, but then they just didn't want to believe that it was real. They still don't want it to be real. And because of that, that fear, magick has become all but a dead art."
"And now it's just you." Hali muttered, without thinking.
"Well, me, and my old apprentice. His name was Max. He showed a lot of promise. But he quit, and so magick will die with me. I don't know if he even remembers any spells."
Hali flinched, wishing she hadn't given an opportunity to talk about Max, but the Mage looked so sad that she couldn't help but say quietly, "He remembers. All of it."
The Mage looked at her sadly. "You know him?"
"I used to. I thought I did. We...grew apart."
"He was a good boy. Would've done anything for that sister of his."
"He really loves her."
"I just wish I knew why he left."
"You deserve an explanation." And there was yet another reason to go get Max. So he could explain himself to the Mage.
Their parents were dead, and while Amara had many friends, none would care enough to find her. Max had only had Hali. The officials wouldn't do anything. They were still trying to find a way to control the population, a girl who would only grow up and give birth to more, and a boy who would cause pregnancy would not be missed. The orphanage, much like the officials, wouldn't care. They wouldn't search for 2 more mouths to feed.
The only person who could find them was Hali, and she hadn't made up her mind yet, either way. She would just focus on working for a while, and see where her thoughts went. Deep down she knew that she would probably end up going after them, but she might as well let him suffer there for another day before she truly decided, and before she started looking for a way there.
She went back to reading, thinking that a portal could work, if she did go after them. It was probably her best option. She couldn't think of any other ways.
Portals can remain open for up to one week until closing. If the energy source that opened the portal is strong enough, it can be opened for upwards of one month. The energy source needed to open the portal for even a few seconds is equivalent to that of a lightning bolt.
Portals can rest dormant or disguised while open until someone touches them or goes through accidentally. There can appear to be nothing but air where a portal exists.
Hali nodded. It made sense. Max and Amara must have stumbled upon a recently activated portal that had been lying dormant until they walked through, not knowing.
Maybe it was still open. Maybe tomorrow she could go to the cliff and try to find the portal. Try to go through.
She shrugged, and returned to work, putting it out of her mind for the rest of the day.
* * *
That night, she made the decision. As apprehensive as she was about going after them, and facing Max again, she was ready.
And it wouldn't be all bad. She'd get to travel. She'd get to see new places, experience something other than the stifling silence of home for the first time in so long. She'd get to see Amara. Amara had been like a little sister to her, but when she stopped seeing Max, she'd stopped seeing Amara too.
Honestly, it wasn't just that Max tried to keep them separate. There had been opportunities for her to see Amara, or spend time with her. But she had been almost afraid. Afraid of how it would feel if Amara didn't believe her. To have someone that close to her not trust her would destroy Hali. It would be as bad as when her parents took Max's side. She wasn't sure if she could face that sort of heartbreak. Not again.
But now she had to. She had no choice. And so all she could do was hope that Amara would have faith in her.
Hali knew that nothing could compare to what she felt when Max started lying, and she prayed that the memory of that feeling would be enough to stop her from truly reuniting with him.
Subconsciously, she knew that she would always want him back, no matter how much she hated him, or how long he was gone for. But she still hoped that his charm wouldn't overcome her, and that she would see him for what he really was: cruel.
Max held a special place in her heart, and he had dug his claws into her. She couldn't just brush him off and realize that her love for him was meaningless. She still wasn't ready to move past him. She couldn't stop thinking that their friendship had been real, though she'd been able to move past everyone else.
It was time to sleep. She couldn't obsess over the past any longer. And so she dozed into fitful rest, tossing and turning all night.