Selene

"Like how the man in the moon is?" I ask. The wood under my fingers is rough. We threw open the window, hoping it would grant us a better look at the moon.

"It would appear so," Matias says. His tail swishing back and forth. 

"But how are we supposed to get her out of there?" I ask. Panic starts to claw at me. "Is there a spell called, how to take the witch out of the moon?" I almost laugh.

"Are you alright?" Matias looks at me from the corner of his eyes. 

"Of course I'm not alright!" I throw my hands up and turn to face him. "I just did my first ever spell, and it was both terrifying and thrilling at once! Something that's supposed to be evil isn't supposed to fill me with... with..." I throw my hands around as I look for how to describe it. "With a warm feeling! It felt good. What does that say about me? What does that mean for what Mama will think?"

"We already went over this," he says. He doesn't say it condescendatly, more like he's just stating a fact. 

"But now it's actually happened! It's different now!" I turn my back to the window and sit down. I lean my head back against the wall. Tears trickle out of my eyes. "I know that the moment the town founds out I did magic that I'll be cast out of town, I'll live on the outskirts just like you and Eve. Anytime I go into town, shops will be closed for me, people will run away from me." I sniff. "And I don't know if I can actually handle that. And what if..." I don't want to voice it. I already know what Matias will say.

"It won't matter that they treat you that way," Matias says from somewhere above me. "You and Eve will be able to make your own fun, to find a way to deal with it."

I sniff. "I don't doubt that. But... how can I cope with it? I've grown up with the town treating me like everyone else, and then for them to just cast me out?"

"It won't be easy." He jumps down from the sill. "But eventually you won't even notice it."

I turn my head to look at him. "Has Eve stopped noticing it?"

His silence tells me everything I need to know.

"And what about my mama?" I ask. "What will she do without me?"

"I'm sure she can find help in town."

My breath rushes out of me. Would it really be that easy to replace me? I dig the palms of my hands into my eyes. I need to stop thinking about myself right now. I need to focus on helping Eve. Without removing my hands from my eyes, I ask, "Do you have any idea what spell will get Eve back?"

It isn't until what feels like a long time of silence that brings my hands down from my eyes. I look at Matias who is already looking at me. "You don't need to help us anymore if it's costing you so much."

"I- No I want to. It'd be wrong to not help." What would be the point now anyways? I've already been outcasted by magic, what would one more spell do? "Plus, we're so close. We know how exactly she's stuck in the moon, so we just have to get her out. Do you really want to quit this close to the finish line?"

"Well no..." His tail is still.

"Then come on!" I stand up with more energy than I have. "Lets find that spell." I start my way over to the bookshelves. Pretending like I'm not still freaking out. 

"I don't think this'll have an already written spell."

I freeze and slowly turn to him. "What do you mean?"

"I've never heard of a spell that takes someone out of the moon."

"But couldn't there be a spell about untrapping someone from somewhere?"

"Well... maybe. But even if there is it's not the type of magic Eve practices."

"So where can we find the spell then?" I really hope he'll say that there's a coven nearby, or that there will be a witch library somewhere. 

His tail starts to swish behind him. "We won't be finding one."

"There isn't some witch library nearby?" I ask with a gulp.

He shakes his head, his eyes closing briefly as he does. "Unfortunately not. Even if there was I'm sure some humans would burn it down."

He's probably not wrong there. "So then what can we do?" I ask, noticing how the moon has lowered in the sky. "And will we be able to save her tonight?"

Looking over his shoulder he says, "We'll have to make our own counter spell, and hope we can finish it before the sun raises."

"Make our own counter spell?" I grip the table. I had just done my first ever spell, and now he expects me to make one out of nowhere? That sounds even more terrifying. How can I just whip up a spell out of nowhere? Especially since I've never done anything magic related before today except running away from it. 

But... it's to help Eve. To bring her back to earth. 

"We'll have building blocks," Matias says, turning back to me. "The spell Eve used will be the biggest help since we can use the reverse spell from it. Then we'll just have to figure out how to separate her from the moon."

My head spins as I try to understand what he's telling me.

He must sense this because he stands up and rubs his head against my arm. "If you don't overthink it, it's not that daunting."

"Easy for you to say!" I snap, tearing my arm away from him. He jumps backwards with wide eyes. "You grew up with magic around you! You are magic! Of course it wouldn't be daunting to you."

He looks at me as if I struck him. "I am just trying to help you calm down."

"I don't need to calm down." I tear my gaze from him and look up at the ceiling. Counting to ten as I take deep breaths. "Just walk me through it in the most simple steps you can."

"Selene..."

"Let's not, Matias." I look back down at him. "If I think about how this will be my second spell it'll only scare me more. And I don't think it's a good idea for me to be worrying when performing the spell. So just walk me through the steps, okay?"

He nods. "I can do that."

"Good." I push a strand of lose hair behind my ear. "Where do we start?"

"We start with you walking away. Get a drink of cold water and refocus. You can't do this being as emotional as you are." I go to argue with him but he beats me to it. "I don't say that to be mean. You can't cast a spell properly if your mind isn't cleared."

I nod. He does make sense. "I'll be back in a couple minutes then."

His eyes seem to glow in the dim light, and even as I turn I can feel them watching me. 

***

"Is moon girl sad?" A fluttering of wings sounds behind me.

I turn with a smile. "Haven't you seen, I'm not moon girl so much as Eve is."

Calchas turns his head to the side, one eye settles on me. It sends a shiver down my spine. "My bad," he says. "Is moon lover sad?"

My brows lower. "Moon lover?"

He bobs up and down. "Yes! Yes! Moon lover does spell!"

I look down at the cup, the water inside of it is crystal clear. If only the path ahead of me was too. "I have done a spell. And I really don't know how I feel about doing another one."

"You will do great."

Bringing my gaze up to Calchas, I fight tears back. "You really think so?"

"I see so."

Something in my stomach flutters to life. "Do we bring Eve back safely?" I place the cup behind me on the counter. 

The crow doesn't say anything else. He just stares at me as hope and determination fill me back up. "Thank you, Calchas." I walk over to him and pet his head. "Thank you for your strange words of encouragement."

He turns his head one way and then other. "You're welcome." 

Chapter word count: 1,375

Total word count: 18,048