The Winter Ball

The blizzard swept through Magisbury, freezing the waterways. Though the streets were empty, thin trails of smoke wound from chimneys, and windows flickered brightly. In the Upper Palace, the king sat alone in his chessboard Throne Room. In the Lower Palace, the fire mages cast Little Match Girl on every lamp and fireplace until each one blazed twice as strongly.

Airi spent the snowy days in the perpetual summer of the Sunroom, flying kites and climbing trees with Nestor. The fish were very still in their little pond. Had they fallen asleep, too?

Other times, she read books with Mildred in the Library of Living Spells under the mural of The Sleeping Princess.

Once, Airi bumped into Prometheus in the hallway. "Where are you going?" she asked, surprised. He usually preferred to stay in the Astronomy Tower.

Prometheus looked down and said gruffly, "I'm visiting Wick and Tallow in the hospital wing. They're asleep."

"Oh."

Everyone seemed to have someone to visit in the hospital wing. It had gotten so full that they'd begun converting classrooms to temporary hospital rooms, too.

Throughout the dreamlike peace, Airi held her breath. The blizzards would let up eventually, and then the sky would be visible again. What would it look like?

One day, the roar of the blizzard finally died down, and the skies cleared.

Airi opened the door to Marianne's office and saw that she wasn't the only one who'd received a message from the Head mage. The first-class mages were already gathered inside: Mildred, Nestor, Prometheus, Feldspar, and Wendolyn. Only Narcissus was absent. He must be at home.

“His Majesty has invited us to the Winter Ball," Marianne said. A new vase sat on her desk. Inside was a single pink camellia, beautiful as the day it had bloomed. "It's a few weeks from now."

“A ball,” Wendolyn said incredulously. “Has that old fool lost his mind at last? What is there to be celebrating?"

Marianne giggled. “Oh, Wendy. I know how shy you are, but this is no time to be fussing!”

Wendolyn looked like she wanted to protest more, but Airi and Mildred glared at her.

Smiling gratefully, Marianne continued, “His Majesty has requested that all mages attend. At this point, there aren't many of us left. 3 third-class mages, 10 second-class mages, and... us."

"I don't understand. He's never invited us before," Wendolyn said, crossing her arms.

Marianne smiled at Wendolyn. "Well, Wendy dear, it's symbolic. Even if he invites all the nobles rather than selecting his favorites, the Ballroom will be emptier this year. Inviting the mages will make it look better for him. Besides, a party's a party! Everyone, decide what to wear!"

The Winter Ball was held in the Ballroom, the largest room in the palace. Diamond chandeliers dripped from the vaulted ceiling, scattering spots of light onto the whirl of gowns and suits below. Ordinarily, much of the light would have come from the stars, shining through the glass ceiling, but tonight, the diamonds did the trick.

“They don’t seem to think it’s the end of the world,” Airi said, watching the nobles dance. Her hair was pinned above her head with the star shard. “Or maybe they’re just really good at pretending everything’s fine.”

“No,” Mildred agreed. She slipped her gloved hand into Airi’s. “Shall we pretend too, just for a moment?”

Airi stood, heart beating quickly.

The lights went out, plunging the room into darkness. Airi squeezed Mildred's hand tightly.

A gasp filled the Ballroom as overhead, another meteor shower rained down, the biggest and brightest yet, cascading across the glass ceiling like fireworks. It lasted for an eternity, lighting up the Ballroom in strange colors.

There was a deafening crash, like the entire palace was falling down, and all of the people in the Ballroom fell to the ground, asleep—all except the first-class mages, and Airi.

Through the glass roof of the Ballroom, they could all see it—the darkness, seeping through the crack in the sky like ink across a page.

Prometheus was the first to speak. “If we go as far underground as we can, to the Library of Living Spells, we can probably resist the effects of disorder for another week. Two weeks, if we pour all our mana into a barrier spell.”

“I wonder which one of us will fall asleep first,” Nestor said. It was such a morbidly innocent question, but suddenly, Airi couldn’t breathe. Her heart beat like a trapped crystalwing, straining against Curiosity petals.

No matter what order they went in, she would be the only one left in the end, all alone with the demon while her friends slept for eternity.

Following the others downstairs to the Lower Palace, she felt oddly detached from her surroundings. Whispers gathered in the back of her mind like cobwebs. Soon, they seemed to cackle. Soon. Her heart beat too quickly, as if something were tapping on it from the inside, eager to escape.

She hadn’t expected the end of the world to be this way. She’d expected hordes of people screaming and bemoaning the end, herself calmly sipping tea in their midst, secure in the knowledge of her survival. She’d expected to feel a sense of gratification for having survived. After all, that was what she wanted most, right?

So why did she feel emptier by the second?

Obviously, she didn’t want to be alone with the demon in a ravaged world. That was the easy explanation. But it seemed more than that—

She stumbled, missing a step on the stairs.

“Clumsy,” Mildred said, catching her by the arm and giving her a small smile. Even at the end of the world, some people could still smile.

They reached the Library of Living Spells, descending past the statues of the great mages, who watched over them like guardian angels.

“I’m so glad I got these reading couches installed!” Marianne said. “Aren’t they cozy?” She sat down on one, and Wendolyn sat beside her. Narcissus sat across from them. Prometheus lay down on one of the couches and went straight to sleep.

Airi drifted over to a study table. This had to be a dream. Mildred sat down next to Airi, Nestor sat on the other side, and Airi came to a terrible realization.

I don’t want this world to be destroyed.

The thought was more terrifying any monster. Now, there was no running away from the truth: it was her fault that the world was ending. From the moment she’d made the bargain, the knowledge of her own guilt had snuggled into her rotten heart, growing bigger with every lying breath, every smile she gave Nestor, every note she wrote to Mildred.

Feed me. Feed me. Look at me. Love me, she had begged the inhabitants of this world. And now that they loved her—some of them, at least—she was going to kill them all. She would eat this world, and move onto the next and the next and the next, forever hungry.

The Mother of Plenty had been right; Airi was a monster. She looked down at her smooth crystal limbs. Whose hands were these? They seemed to belong to a stranger. She wasn’t even sure if she could die anymore. But she had died once before. Surely she could do it again.

How had she died last time?

Oh, right. Kazuko had killed her.

But why?

A few months ago, Airi would have shrugged. “She had anger issues,” she would have said, laughing it off. “She was mad that she got caught.”

Now Airi closed her eyes. She thought back to the principal’s office, but instead of focusing on the words they’d exchanged, she pictured Kazuko’s face. The hurt in her eyes as Airi cheerfully lied about their friendship. The little hitch in her voice when she opened her mouth to protest. Her sharp exhale, watching Airi run out the door without a backward glance.

Airi opened her eyes. She knew what she had to do.