Wind whipped through Deja's dark, unruly hair as she gazed out towards the distant horizon. On clear summer days, like this one, Deja felt like she could see to the ends of the earth itself.

          In her heart, she knew better.

          She knew that the pale blue was not the result of the natural sky, but the magically generated barrier that separated the kingdom of Cerullis from the dangers beyond.

          Of course, that didn't stop her from dreaming of what it might be like beyond the walls, whatever it was had to be better than living in the Cogs, living off the crumbs swept from the tables of the Elite.

          "Deja Valeiros! Are you up on that roof again?"

          Deja hunkered down low against the tin siding which was already beginning to grow uncomfortably warm beneath her. She could hear the protesting creaking and groaning of the ladder as her mother climbed towards her hiding place. She held her breath as first a head emerged, the dark hair tightly braided and pinned so it wouldn't get in the way while the older woman worked. Next came a pair of shoulders, strong, square shoulders accustomed to long, hard hours of manual labor.

          "Deja," her mother said again, her voice tired. "What have I told you about coming up here?"

          The young woman said nothing, hoping her mother was only guessing at her presence there and might give up the hunt if she thought her daughter to be hiding elsewhere.

          "I can see your foot," her mother said.

          Deja jerked her bare sole towards her and cursed silently.

          "Enough child, I've told you time and again it's not safe to be up here," her mother said. "Besides, you're too old to be up here daydreaming the day away, I need your help in the cafe."

          "But mom," Deja protested with a loud groan.

          She hated working in the cafe.

          Mostly, she hated the way the eyes of the miners had started lingering just a little too long ever since she'd begun 'filling out', or so her mother had named it.

          "You can work in the back," her mother said, reaching out to slap her foot which had slipped forward again. "And make sure you put some shoes on before you come down. Did I raise a daughter or a monkey?"

          With that, the older woman disappeared from view, the ladder creaking and protesting in the wake of her retreat.

          Deja sighed inwardly and slumped back against the side of the house. She regretted it instantly, cursing as when the back of her arm came into contact with the now hot siding. Rubbing ruefully at her tender arm, she sighed and cast one final longing glance towards the horizon.

          Though she often dreamed of one day taking to the skies, she also couldn't help but wonder if this was all life had in store for her. Was she destined to spend day after day scrubbing dishes and serving beer?

          No, she thought as she scrambled noiselessly down the ladder, not if she had anything to say about it anyway.

          "It's about time," Josie exclaimed when Deja finally made her way into the cafe, wearing proper shoes just as her mother had instructed. Josie held a tray laden with mugs of beer and ale and motioned with a jerk of her head towards the kitchen. "Your mum says you don't want to work the tables. There's a tub full of dishes in the back with your name on it."

          Josie was an older woman who Deja heard claim had once been beautiful. Time had since ravaged her once delicate, fae like features. With her pale, paper thin skin and thin figure, she looked more skeletal than fairy. If she were honest, Deja wasn't sure how she managed to heft the heavy trays around the way she did.

          "Well, off with you girl, them dishes won't do themselves," Josie insisted before hurrying off to serve the rowdy crowd of miners looking to let off a little steam after spending a night in the mines.

          Deja sighed, shoulders slumping forward as she made her way slowly towards the double doors leading into the kitchen. She paused at the bar where a lone man sat hunched protectively over a large wooden mug.

          "Mornin' Eon," Deja said, noting the man's disheveled clothing looked even more unkempt than usual. Though his dark skin made it difficult, she swore she could see a bruise blossoming outwards across his stubbled cheek. "You get in a fight?"

          The man merely offered a grunt in response before taking a long pull from his mug. He set it down with a heavy thud and after a moment glanced towards her.

          "Don't you worry none about old Eon," he said, offering her a toothy grin. From this new angle there was no doubt in her mind that he had gotten into some sort of scuffle. With who was the real question. There were few men in the lower district that came close to Eon in size and fewer still who could move the way he did despite the bulk. That anyone managed to give him that shiner was in and of itself a miracle.

           "What did mama tell you about gettin' into fights?" Deja asked, placing her hands on her hips in much the same fashion as her mother did when she decided it was time for a lecture.

          "She said, 'Eon, don't you dare be bringin' no fights into my cafe or you'll have to find another place to drink till you can't stand straight, and sleep it off afterwards'," Eon replied in a high pitched voice Deja presumed was meant to mimic her mother. It made it hard to keep a straight, serious face when he did things like that. "Which I didn't. This happened up the street a ways. You know I don't want to bring your mama any trouble. She's been too good to me."

          Deja sighed and shook her head. "You eat anything or are you on a liquid diet now?"

          "I'm fine," he replied before jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, "but you best be going about your own work before Josie gets a hold of you."

          Deja looked over to see Josie, tray empty, approaching the bar with a scowl carved into her bony face.

          "Right, I best be getting to those dishes," Deja replied, "See you later, Eon!"

          "I'll distract her," Eon called after her as she ducked beneath the bar.

          "Mornin' Josie," she heard Eon call as she dashed through the doors into the kitchen.

          Deja was up to her elbows in hot, soapy water when she heard the door swing open. Assuming it was Josie come to check on her progress, Deja began to scrub with more vigor at the plate she held in her hands.

          "You've barely put a dent in the pile. You're hopeless."

          "Well if you're so great, why don't you do it?" Deja asked, grinning as she turned to see her best friend Abraham leaning casually against the counter. He smiled and pushed away from the counter.

          "Move over, shorty," he said, rolling up his sleeves. "Let the master show you how it's done."

          Deja made a face. "You grow a few inches and all of a sudden I'm shorty," she replied. In truth, Abraham had grown more than just a few inches. To Deja it seemed as though he had shot up overnight, now towering over her by half a foot where they had once been on near equal footing.

          It wasn't the only change. Months working in the mines had turned the once pudgy boy nicknamed Ham by all the local kids into a lean, slim, and rather handsome young man.

          "Do you ever miss it?" Deja asked as Abraham dunked his hands into the water.

          "Miss what? This?" he asked, lifting a dented metal pot from the water.

          "Yeah," Deja replied. "Do you ever wish you had stayed here instead of going into the mines?"

          He shook his head. "Nah," he said without hesitating.

          Deja turned away, trying to hide her frown.

          It felt like someone had dropped a lump of burning coal in her chest and she wasn't quite sure why.

          "I mean, the money has been great," he continued, seemingly oblivious to how uncharacteristically quiet she had grown, "my mom only has to work one job now and if I save up I can afford to send my younger sister to school in the Central District."

          "That's great, Ham," Deja said, taking out her frustrations on a hapless plate..

          "I will admit, there is one thing I miss," he said, his voice so quiet that Deja found herself compelled to look up at him.

          "Oh?" She asked, feeling the burn lessen as her heart thumped.

          "Yeah," he replied with a firm nod. "I never knew how much I would miss it until it was gone."

          "Who?" Deja asked, only to correct herself a moment later, "I mean what? What is it?"

          "The food! Every time your father opens his lunch pail we all crowd around just to get a whiff of your mom's cooking."

          "The food," Deja repeated, bristling. "All you miss is the damn food?"

          Without warning, Abraham began to laugh. It was the sort of laughter that came from the deepest part of a person, shaking their entire body as it worked its way out.

          "What's so funny?" She asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt.

          "You," he said when he could finally breathe again.

          Deja scowled, not understanding.

          "You have a terrible poker face," he said, shaking his head. "Of course you know I miss you the most."

          Deja rolled her eyes, trying to act like she had no idea what he was talking about, but the tension building within her eased and she could breathe easy again.

          "No one calls me that anymore you know," he said, turning back to the dishes.

          "Calls you what?"

          "Ham," he said.

          "Well, I'm not no one, Ham," she replied. Despite the scowl she wore, there was laughter in her eyes.

          "No one in their right mind would ever dare to imply otherwise," Abraham replied.

          Deja snorted and splashed water at him.

          "Hey, you better watch it," Abraham warned, "or I might forget the reason I'm here."

          "I thought you couldn't stop thinking about the food?" Deja replied, sticking her tongue out at him. Abraham laughed.

          "You know, it doesn't matter how old you get, you'll always be a brat," Abraham said with a smirk.

          "Why are you here?" Deja asked as she set about drying the dishes that Abraham was diligently washing.

          "Are you free tonight?"

          "Sure," Deja replied with a casual shrug.

          "Can you meet me at the Mirror Pools at sunset?"

          "Just what are you up to Abraham?" Deja asked, placing her hands on her hips as she regarded him with narrowed eyes. The Mirror Pools were a dozen or so deep, clear, perfectly circular pools filled with water colored a bright blue by the Cerullium. They were located on the outskirts of the Cogworks, the remains of old mine shafts that had been drilled deep into the earth in search of the much coveted magical mineral.

          When the sun set on a clear day, the surface of the pools shimmered like liquid silver and you could see your reflection clear as if you were looking into a mirror. The most mysterious thing about the pools was that no one knew where the water had come from. One day someone had gone out and the once empty shafts were filled to the brim. Many speculated an underground spring but no one really knew for sure.

          "Meet me at sunset and you'll find out," Abraham replied with a smirk. "Now, let's finish these before Josie comes back here and boxes your ears."