The End

Out of all the inhabitants of that world, only the three first-class mages in the Astronomy Tower witnessed the end of the world. Those three mages saw the speck of blue light disappear into the darkness, and for one terrible moment, they all thought, This is the end.

Then there was an explosion of light that seared itself into their minds, and the darkness split like an old walnut shell. A hundred thousand rainbow colors scattered across the dome as newborn stars winked into existence and found their places in the sky. Green, red, violet, pink, yellow, orange—and plenty of sky-blue ones.

The colorless landscape stretched all around Airi. It felt immediately familiar, as if all of life had been just a fleeting dream.

This time, she wasn’t angry. She didn’t ask why or curse anyone’s name. She was dead. This was it. There was no “what’s next?” Only a comforting finality.

A face came to mind, clear as a photograph: black hair and sky-blue eyes, crinkled from smiling. Mom was long gone, and it was time for Airi to follow.

“You’re feeling peaceful.”

The voice startled Airi. Behind her, a figure had materialized, glowing pastel blue. Airi knew, even before she turned around, who it was.

“Esther... you haven’t faded away yet.”

The blue-haired child smiled. It seemed to come more naturally to her now. “This isn’t death. This is only a dream.”

“What? Then, the demon—”

Esther took Airi’s hand. “Don’t be afraid. The demon is gone. It can’t come back to this world.”

“Then how am I not dead? I was supposed to die.”

“Do you want to die?” Esther tilted her head.

Airi cradled Esther’s small hands and thought of ten mages who hadn’t wanted to die, either. Marianne’s burning village. All the terrible sights that she had witnessed came flooding back. Even with the demon gone, there would still be monsters.

“No, of course not. I want to live.”

Esther smiled. “Then follow me.”

They walked through the darkness, though Airi wasn’t sure where they were going. In the background, she heard a whisper, like wind through the trees at night. “Once,” the wind seemed to whisper. “Once upon a time.”

A scene materialized around them. Airi found herself in front of the doors to the Dining Room. Her hand passed through the knob like smoke.

“It’s a memory,” Esther said. “Watch.”

Mildred approached the door and turned the knob, balancing a sandwich and a book. She entered the Dining Room, eyes skimming over the mages who clamored for her attention, before settling on a person sitting at Marianne’s table: Airi herself. For the briefest second, they made eye contact. Marianne laughed, Airi smiled politely, and Mildred turned away. Airi saw her past self get up from Marianne’s table, drift over, and sit down beside Mildred. Her past self didn’t see the joy that lit Mildred’s eyes.

They walked on, and more memories appeared: Mildred the great first-class mage, giddily writing notes at the crack of dawn. A paper bird that flew too far and landed in Airi’s hand. Fleeting snatches of eye contact, like midsummer sun. The wonder on Airi’s face as she watched goldfish dart around in Wendolyn’s watery windows.

The whispers were becoming clearer now. It sounded like Mildred’s voice. “This way,” Esther said, quickening her pace.

More memories appeared. Airi’s expression, defiant yet a little afraid, as she shook her head and fastened her cloak. Airi remembered what she’d been thinking then: No, I’m not going back to Magisbury. I’m going to become unbreakable, no matter the price.

A wintry ballroom crusted with diamonds, a note slipped between gloved hands. One dazzling moment before it all collapsed.

Dark sky. Airi nowhere to be seen. Mildred went to her desk, picked up Airi’s final note. Airi saw her face change—disbelief, then terror.

A new scene. Mildred, running through the Library of Living Spells. She pulled The Sleeping Princess from a shelf and levitated through the hole in the ceiling, flying past the statue of her younger self, who smiled curiously.

Another scene. Mildred, kneeling on the floor, quill scratching furiously on blank parchment. She flipped to the last page of The Sleeping Princess, where the princess lay asleep in her coffin, and tore it out. Then she inserted the new page, which had a new illustration along with the text: a princess opening her eyes. The illustrated princess had black hair and sky-blue eyes.

One final scene. A pitch-black sky and the sound of Nestor crying. Mildred, looking at the crystal piercing Airi’s heart, the blood that pooled around her body. There was grief in her eyes, grief and hope, as she pulled out The Sleeping Princess and began to read.

Airi followed the sound of Mildred’s voice through the darkness. She could hear the words more clearly now.

“...she fell to the floor, fast asleep. Everyone in her kingdom fell into a deep sleep as well, and all hope seemed lost, for the princess was trapped in a dream.”

Airi kept walking, following Mildred’s voice.

“But in her dream, the princess met a little river who had run away hundreds of years ago. Now the river was ready to return home and rest.”

A wooden door appeared in the distance. With every step, the warm light grew brighter. Airi touched the lamb’s-head knob and thought of Esther. Where had she gone? She started to turn back—

“Don’t look back,” Esther’s voice echoed, somewhere far behind Airi. “I’m going somewhere else, but we’ll meet again someday.”

Airi opened the door. She couldn’t see anything on the other side, but Mildred’s voice grew louder, as if she were speaking right next to Airi’s ear.

“The little river retraced its steps to the great ocean where all life originated. In doing so, it helped the princess to find her way to the waking world, safe and sound. The curse was lifted from the kingdom, and they lived happily ever after.”

Airi stepped through the door and the darkness vanished. She slowly opened her eyes. All the night’s stars were there, shining like old friends. Around her, she saw familiar faces: Nestor, Marianne, Narcissus, and of course, Mildred, who looked at Airi with all the warmth of her ice-blue eyes and closed The Sleeping Princess.

“The End.”