Welcome to Pine Cone

The move took a little over a month to complete. While Hilda was recovering, Javier began packing up and selling furniture, personal items, and clothing in preparation for the move to Pine Cone, a town that was deep in the forest dedicated to logging and cattle ranching. 

Reluctantly, Dolores agreed to the move. Thus, on the 5th day of the month of Luaan—more than a month after Splendor's attack—the Redberry-Fablet and the Briner family departed from Espliego. 

The doorbell of the Redberry-Fablet family's apartment rang. The family had decided to rest and sleep early that day since, early the next day, they would head to Azuriel to catch their flight to Pine Cone. Dolores opened the door and saw Maya.

Throughout the entire month, various friends and classmates of Cristina and Hilda had visited the family to wish them good luck. Hilda, also hating hospitals, had demanded to be transferred home to recover. Besides, it was the only way she could make sure her father—and above all, Dolores—wouldn't touch her things.

The apartment next door already had a "For Sale" sign. Maya stepped inside the dwelling and looked around. There was nothing left except a few plastic chairs, canned food, and rags to get through the night. Maya walked straight to Cristina's bedroom.

"Hello..." Maya whispered. Cristina gave her a small smile. She couldn't look to her friend straight in her eyes. "I just... I just came to say goodbye."

"Thank you..." Cristina said in a whisper. Neither of them spoke for a while. The only sound was Hilda's voice talking on the phone. "Hilda is recovering quickly..."

"Cristina... About what I told you the other day," Maya interrupted. For the first time, the friends looked at each other.

"I... I'm sorry," Cristina apologized. "It's... I mean... I have Alex."

"You shouldn't," Maya said, raising her voice, which startled Cristina. "Witches are forbidden from having partners with the Magic-less. Someone must have told you."

It was true that Circe had already told her that. But the rule came with a trap: they had told her knowing that Maya would manipulate her into believing it was an absolute truth.

"Tomorrow I'm leaving Espliego," Cristina began to say calmly. "Once I arrive in Pine Cone, the rules change. Besides, I'm still 15, and I don't know what the future holds. For now, I'm staying with Alex."

"I'm not giving up," Maya told her as she walked out of Cristina's bedroom toward the apartment exit. "I promise we'll meet again, and then..."

"We'll still be friends, right?"

Maya didn't say nothing. She took a deep breath, fighting back not to say any word and hiding how deeply hurt she felt. They didn't say goodbye. Cristina closed the door and sighed. It was time to go to sleep.

★★★★★

An hour after dawn, the Redberry-Fablet family, along with Circe's family, went to Azuriel. Hilda began complaining the moment they arrived to the highway. Her body still hurt, though the group knew she was exaggerating.
"The damn road still hasn't been fixed," Hilda said as she looked out at the Espliego landscape.

Collapsed buildings, burned trees, and the semi-destroyed highway were still visible. They simply let her complain for a while until she got tired and finally fell silent, turning to message her friends.

Azuriel was a rather small town, insignificant compared to Espliego. Even so, it looked imposing, almost as elegant as its neighboring town. Upon arriving at the airport, both families met with the Briner family. Two hours after arriving at the airport and having breakfast, they departed for Pine Cone. The flight lasted about 11 hours.

After landing, Cristina sent a message to her friend: "We've arrived at Pine Cone. They told me it's only 5 hours from Crystal Citadel, the capital. Maya once told me that's where the Mozart Conservatory is. Soon I'll go to the town known as Hyperion to train my powers and learn magic."

All day long, Caleb did not reply to the message. Cristina watched her phone all day long, checking if she has a response. There were some from Maya, from a few teachers and friends from Azulona, but none from the person she desired. Cristina remembered Caleb's feelings perfectly. Besides, in his mind and imagination, he still owed Alex an apology.

Pine Cone lacked large buildings and luxury clothing stores. It was a rural town where the houses were made entirely of wood. The climate felt more pleasant and less aggressive. Autumn in that place was a bit warmer, filling the atmosphere with orange and red tones because of the tree leaves.

It was a boring place for Hilda. There were no cinemas, no recreational spots, and the school was small. For Alex, it was a place straight out of a dream, even a fairy tale. Magic-less people coexisted with witches, and they had even managed to turn the town into a harmonious place for both. As a territory governed by Helios, most of the magic users belonged to that clan.

The first few days after the move, Hilda began to resent the decision: she was constantly bored, complaining that there were no cinemas or stores and that the television only had public channels. Fed up, Javier sent her outside to walk and find something new to do.

She walked through the town. Hilda was surprised: the people had their own plantations, well-tended gardens, and it genuinely looked like a storybook place trapped in an ancient era. There were almost no cars, and people dressed in a way she concluded was old-fashioned: women always in dresses and aprons, and men like farmers, wearing cotton shirts and denim jeans.

“I think moving here wasn't such a bad idea” Hilda commented when she saw a group of four tanned young men carrying their farming tools.

For Alex, life in that place was also beneficial. His wounds healed faster thanks to the medicines cultivated there. In Pine Cone lived a witch who grew her own medicines and who, thanks to her healing magic even he could not think about go to hospital for his cancer treatment.

“Her name is Nana Apricot” he told Cristina. “She is a healer, and has helped me and my mother. From time to time she cooks and brings us some of what she prepares.”

“Really?” Cristina asked.

At that moment, Cristina was responsible of the cooking for the family. Ever since they arrived at the town, Dolores had done very little chores. Moving to that new town took away her stability, her lifestyle, her job, and she hadn't been able to adapt. Cristina knew her father's marriage was fragile and blamed herself for it.

“It’s true” Alex replied. “Her food, just like her medicines, are... magical! Literally. I've felt better since I started eating that woman's food. She told me she's a blessed one, a witch.”

The two decided to go for a walk. The weather didn't matter; they  both liked it. Rigel's rays warmed them just enough, and the walk made Cristina's cheeks turn a pale reddish color.

The aroma of pine, burnt charcoal, along with the smell of wood and pine needles made them keep walking, regardless of being tired. At a small shop, they bought a hot rice-based drink. Near that shop, they sat down to drink it.

“When will you start classes?” Alex asked with a touch of resentment.

He knew that when that happened, Cristina would go to Hyperion, to study and train her magic. He thought it didn't make sense. He had seen his girlfriend's magic. But even if training her magic wasn't necessary, there was one detail he still have: she was going to begin professional drawing and singing classes in that place.

“In two  weeks I officially start” Cristina commented, feeling excited, nervous, and a bit sad.

It meant separating completely from her family and friends. Only she could enter that town that still remained a mystery to her, although Circe had described what it was like.

“Then let's make worth it” Alex commented with a big, contagious smile. "You know, my grandfather wants to go to the neighboring town. He says there's going to be a festival next weekend. Let's go together.”

Pine Cone created a strange magic in the Redberry-Fablet and Briner families—and not precisely stellar or liminal. Alex's health improved, and his mother no longer worried about her son's future. The boy's grandparents also began changing their routines. In Espliego, the couple stayed home all day while peacefully enjoying their days.

With their pension almost intact, they began to travel, experiencing new routines and hobbies that helped them to have a healthier life. In weekends, Grandma Briner began helping so-called Nana Apricot cultivate her plants, something the healer agreed to.

Hilda kept complaining about her situation: her boring life that includes her school. For her was boring and small. At the same time she began to gain a certain popularity thanks to her clothing style, and her travel experiences that helped her connect with the other students of the town.

For Dolores, the adaption was harder. She couldn't practice her profession. The laws in Eastern Bird were different, and in that town no one fought, no one wanted a divorce. Javier, after thinking too much time, started painting again, something that excited Cristina. In the afternoons, after Javier's work, was an activity they both began to share.

“What if you revive your dream?” Cristina commented one afternoon after watching Dolores tired.

Cristina was excited and happy. Finally, Caleb had replied to her messages mentioning that he had been accepted for an interview at the Mozart Conservatory.

Unable to appeal to the Azulona scholarship, his father decided to go for a recommendation. The first step was done: he had sent a demo with two songs, and within a month he was called in for a preliminary interview. He couldn't say he was in just yet, but he was thrilled that they had considered him.

Having no friends in the new city where he was, he decided, with some shame and embarrassment, to contact Cristina again. In one of those chats, he told her how Alisha and Dolores had met. Alisha mentioned that Dolores used to dream of being a singer.

“A dream doesn't bring money and doesn't put food on the table” Dolores had explained. “Working as a teacher does.”

"How boring," Cristina thought. It was obvious Dolores hated her job. Working in an elementary school teaching math sounded tiring and tedious. Dolores always arrived with a headache and annoyance.

Cristina had several dreams that she bundled into one: to be a singing witch who could create beautiful illusions so people could see; she wanted to be listen. Once upon a time, she believed in dreams, fairy tales, and the magic of the stars thanks to her grandmother.

It was her turn. She was going to make people believe in those dreams people once forced her to forget. With the magic of the star that protected her, helped her, and made her believe in herself. That night, after watching the Golden Gem constellation, Cristina fell asleep, thinking about her future and how wonderful it would be to make those dreams come true.