Rhyming Names

The next morning, Mildred was gone. She had left another note on the desk. ‘Did you eat my food?’ was underlined twice.

Airi picked up the quill and wrote, ‘Thanks for the sandwich :P’

She ventured out into the halls with a smile. The Upper Palace was off-limits, so she headed down to Lower II again. She decided to look for Nestor. She’d have to retrieve the star shard from her; it was her only weapon against monsters.

Children swarmed the hallways, laughing, talking, blocking the way. Weaving through expertly, Airi searched for Nestor. Could he still be skipping class?

She peeked into a nearby classroom, which was filled with children around Nestor’s age.

“Who can tell me the difference between lithic and limbic mana?” the teacher asked. She was a strict-looking woman with a loose blouse and wavy hair that fell over her shoulder.

Three children got it wrong before a girl with red hair in braided loops raised her hand.

“Lithic mana is crystallized and solid, and limbic mana moves around,” she recited.

“Excellent, Susie! Well done,” the teacher said. She sounded like she was trying (and failing) not to show favoritism. “Now, let’s see a show of hands. How many of you have actually seen limbic mana before?”

No one raised their hand, though Susie looked like she wanted to.

The teacher smiled. “Well, that’s expected. Most mages—even first-class mages—never get a chance to see limbic mana, because it’s so unstable. You can imagine it as a mix of liquid and light. Today we—”

She saw Airi’s head in the doorway and frowned. “Can I help you? We’re in the middle of Mana Studies.”

Airi stuffed her right hand into her pocket. “Oh, sorry. I was just... looking for someone.”

“A student?”

“My younger brother, Nestor.” Airi saw recognition in the students’ faces, glances and flashes of teeth. Was that a good or bad sign? It didn’t matter. These kids were literally six years old. She had no reason to be sweating.

“Oh, Nestor. I didn’t know he had a sister. He’s absent today, actually,” the teacher said. “He had a note from Mage Hestia, but...” She picked something up from her desk and gave it to Airi.

It was a permission form the size of a postal stamp. Marianne must have used Henry’s not-quite-perfect duplication spell to make the form. Airi squinted at the microscopic pink letters. She could just barely read the words.

‘I, [Mage Hestia], hereby grant the student, [Mage Nestor], permission to visit [Argument Room] during [Elementary Mana Studies].’

The Argument Room?

“I couldn’t read any of it,” the teacher confessed.

“Yeah, me neither,” Airi said. She dropped the scrap of parchment back onto the teacher’s desk. “Thanks, though. I’ll ask Mari—uh, Mage Hestia.”

She left the room, trying to convince herself that the giggles she heard were only inside her head.

The Argument Room was on Lower I, which meant more climbing. When Airi entered, she saw two adult mages on stage. Airi scanned the audience but didn’t see him. Where on earth was that kid?

She glanced at the stage. She recognized one of the mages as Henry and the other as the blonde mage he’d been talking to. Confused, she lingered in the back row. She’d thought they were friends by the way they’d acted, but they seemed to hold opposing views.

“Henry, are you seeing yourself?” the blonde mage asked, deadpan. The audience laughed as if they were watching a comedy show. “You’re the last person I’d trust with spell safety.”

“Oh, come on,” Henry said, turning to the side so that the audience could only see the cruel, silver-haired half of his face. “See, you can’t even tell from this angle!”

The blonde mage’s mouth twitched.

“Besides. Even you can’t deny how useful Red Riding Hood is,” Henry said. He said dramatically, “I know you miss my beautiful face, but sometimes a little sacrifice is necessary for the greater good of all mages, huh?”

The audience cheered and clapped, waving copies of Red Riding Hood. The blonde mage said, pursing her lips, “What even was the original topic of this argument?”

Someone shouted, “Henry’s new spell!”

It was quite entertaining to watch, but Airi forced herself to leave the Argument Room. She had to find Nestor.

An hour earlier, Nestor had fled the very same room, fighting back tears. He’d managed to get down two floors to the Sunroom before falling to his knees by a pond. His spellbook, River Runs Away, had thumped to the dirt.

He’d prepared his points all night, while the other kids slept or told secrets or cast spells under their blankets.

He’d given the audience a big smile. “Hello, everyone! My name is Nestor and I’m really excited to show you my new fairytale, River Runs Away. It’s a spellbook that can manipulate water!”

His argument hadn’t been with one mage—spellbook defenses were open to the entire crowd. A mage in the crowd had stood, signaling that he wanted to talk, and the spotlight had swiveled to him.

“The Great Ocean is the first of the Legendary Tales. We’ve had it for over a thousand years, and it’s worked perfectly without any additional revisions. Why should we use your spell?”

“Because, um, because—” Nestor had tried not to sound nervous. “Because my spell can control little bits of water. The Great Ocean is good for lots of water, but mine... mine is more precise.”

The audience hadn’t even let him get to the second point.

Nestor stared into the pond’s distorted surface. He picked up his spellbook and looked at the title he’d proudly written. He’d failed himself. And worse, he’d failed Airi, his only friend! She’d believed in him; she’d pinky-promised. She’d even gone to the dungeons because of him. What would she say when she learned that Nestor’s spell hadn’t even been accepted by the mages? Would she stop believing in him?

He considered tossing the spellbook into the pond.

“You’re sad,” a voice said, behind him. He turned and saw a girl with blue hair and antlers covered in pink flowerbuds. “No, not sad. You’re disappointed."

“Huh?” Nestor hurriedly wiped the tears off his face. “How did you know?”

The girl looked at him with sleepy pink eyes. “I can read your mana.”

Nestor sniffled and started to cry again, hugging his spellbook to his chest. He wished this girl would go away and stop looking at him with those dull eyes.

“My name is Esther. What’s your name?”

“Nestor.” Nestor blinked, forgetting to cry. “Hey, our names rhyme!”

“Nestor and Esther,” Esther repeated, as if savoring the taste of the words. She was silent for a long time.

Nestor turned back to the pond. Getting to Magisbury used to be his dream. But now all he could think about was home, the sheep and the crystals on the plains. And Mom. Since the mages hadn’t liked his spell, should he go back home?

“The spell.”

“Huh?”

“Your spell that got rejected. Give it to me.”

“Why do you want it?” Nestor asked warily. Was Esther making fun of him, like how the other students made fun of his accent?

“I want to read it. I already read all the other books.”

“Huh?” Nestor tilted his head. “You... you read all the other books? What do you mean?”

“I read all the other books. That mage gave me a book to read every week.”

“Who’s ‘that mage?’”

“That white-haired one who talks a lot,” Esther said. “I read the one about the sleeping princess. That one was my favorite."

Nestor hugged the book tighter. Was he even allowed to let someone else cast his spell, if it wasn’t approved? Was he allowed to cast it himself?

Esther seemed to read his mind. “I can’t cast spells. I’m like the girl with mana on her hand.”

Nestor sat up straight. There could only be one girl with mana on her hand. “You saw Airi? When?”

Esther thought. “She came to visit me. Maybe she’ll come again.”

Airi was here in the Lower Palace! She wasn’t in the dungeons anymore! In his joy, Nestor handed River Runs Away to Esther.

“I’ll give it back tomorrow,” Esther said. She drifted over to the trunk of the cascading purple tree and sat down. Not only did she not look away from the page, but she didn’t even blink.

Nestor didn’t feel so sad anymore. He got up and dusted himself off, and that was when he saw his one and only friend enter the Sunroom. Airi!!