The soft smell of fresh pages lingered, the air feeling full yet comforting. Window panes dyed deep colors of violet, crimson, orange, and lemon transformed the sunlight passing through them into something calmer. Pale floorboards made from the tula trees in town contrasting with the deep shadows melting into the walls looked lovely. Mosaics decorated the small shop, tiles of aqua and chartreuse swirled into images of castles and dragons. A skylight made of the same cathedral glass had kind lines of light sifting through the bookshelves cluttering the store. Behind the checkout counter stood numerous cupboards with glass doors, showcasing rows upon rows of interesting artifacts and ingredients. Outside stood a wooden post with the name of the store, which would echo in the minds of passerby: "Totio's Teakettle"

The place had been built by Sera's grandfather. Her family's bloodline was particularly skilled in the craft of potion making, and that talent was passed down to Sera the day she was born. There was always something comforting about the old shop. It stood on solid ground for nearly three centuries. Without it something felt missing. She had certainly longed for the chime of a new customer coming through the door more than her own fiancé. And that was something Sera felt too guilty to take responsibility for.

She had met Erim her first year at Monarch Academy. He had been interviewing new students for a class that no longer seemed relevant when her face had made his heart flutter. Sera had never made anyone feel like that. It was terrifying. Having that much control over the actions of someone who wasn't you. She thought she could fall in love with him. After his graduation she didn't know whether to focus on her studies or her future, as if both were no longer involved with one another. She was still trying to make sense of it.

The color of light shifting from a mellow mood to a blood apricot cued Sera to start sweeping behind the counter to close up shop for the evening. Dust clouds animated in the air as the bristles of the broom heaved dirt and grime together into a neat pile. After a moment, a resounding ding travelled from the entrance to Sera's ears. She was always bothered by those who chose to come in twenty minutes before closing.

Rolling her eyes to the back of her skull, she tied her patched apron across her waist and greeted the customer with feigned delight.

"Welcome to Totio's Teakettle, what can I brew or bottle for you today?" she said through clenched teeth, a forced smile burning through her cheeks. She refused to be yelled at by her father for bad manners, at least not again.

"I'd like a potion of persuasion, I have a friend who needs a talking to." A high pitched tone of voice tickled her senses before she could recognize the more than welcome face of a companion she cared too deeply for.

"Glade! What are you doing here in Meadow?" Standing a few feet in front of her was Glade Plaeria, her straw-colored hair reaching down to her forearms. The light bleeding from the outside seemed to meld beautifully inside of her strawberry irises. "I came to pick you up."

Sera felt confused, her lips losing their smile into a genuine frown of worry. "Pick me up for what? I thought you'd be halfway to Monarch by now."

"And I thought the same about you," Glade said. "Until Terris mentioned otherwise. Did you really think you were just gonna keep it a secret, that I wouldn't notice that my best friend was nowhere to be found?"

Sera's expression of bewilderment shifted into one of reproach. "No...that's why I told Terris to tell you." Terris had always been more understanding when it came to the decisions of others. When Sera had been proposed to, she had made the executive choice to leave Monarch Academy and train to own Totio's Teakettle as a permanent profession. She wanted to fall in love as badly as anyone, and without any outside distractions Sera had figured that might have been possible.

The red in Glade's eyes became livid as she started to speak. " No. You can't be serious. After everything you've been through? Countless hours of studying, performing millions of tedious tasks and working the dead into the grave and you thought it would be a good idea to give up now? Even with you so close to getting your scroll?"

"Even then. I need to make sacrifices if I'm going to make my future marriage work-" You'd think Sera had triggered an explosion.

"ERIM. SO THIS IS ABOUT ERIM? WHAT TYPE OF MAN LETS HIS FUTURE WIFE THROW HER LIFE AWAY TO BECOME A POTION SHOPKEEPER? I SWEAR TO THE LUMINARY THAT I WILL RIP THAT MAN APART." Mumblings of horrific forms of language spewed from Glade's mouth. If Glade wasn't the tiniest wicked alive it might have been intimidating. But it came off as more of a tantrum.

Stifling a laugh, Sera began her attempt to calm Glade down. "No, you don't understand-"

" THERE'S NOTHING TO UNDERSTAND, SERA. IF I SEE ERIM WALK THROUGH THAT DOOR-"

"He doesn't even know!" Sera's soothing voice rose with the strength of a waterfall, immediately cooling Glade to the touch, her long locks of hair tangled in her fingertips like rays from heaven gracing human flesh.

"So...you chose to leave just like that? You want to leave me behind?" Her eyes resembled freshly watered roses, streams of transparent tears trickling down flushed cheeks.

"No, Glade, this isn't about you, or Erim, or even me. It's just-I think it might be the better option."

Glade looked hesitant. "Is that what you want?"

"I don't know." Sera said.

"You don't know, or you don't want to know?"

" No I know, I mean I don't know. Well, I'm not sure." Sera had been stalling.

Glade hushed away any lingering feelings of remorse. "That wasn't what I asked. Do you want to go back or not?" Sera swallowed dry air.

"Well, no. I mean, yes, I-" Sera took a deep breath before continuing, Glade's eyebrows curled upwards. "Yes I want to go back. Of course I want to go back. I want to see the academy again, I want to earn my scroll and do something great with myself, I'm just not sure if that's what's right for me. If I'm being selfish for being ambitious. If I'm even enough." Now Sera was the one getting emotional, droplets of her frustration making their way to the floor, absorbing into the white wood.

"Sera, what do you think would be best for you?"Glade stood ferociously strong, her feet planted firmly on the wooden planks of flooring. She had looked a foot taller. Sera had always wanted even a speck of the confidence Glade could produce. "Staying here at the Teakettle's been your life since you were a child! Years of labor has been poured into managing this shop for your family and for what? Do you remember the first thing you told me when I asked you what you were doing at Monarch?"

"What?" Sera was clinging desperately to every word.

"You told me that your biggest fear would be doing the same thing for the rest of your life. That standing still watching the world go by wasn't humbling or endearing. It was scary. Erim isn't what's holding you back. It's not even yourself. It's this feeling you get when something doesn't feel right after everything's been going good for a long time. You think that the closer you get to your dream the more you have to lose. But please, Sera, please come back with me. Without you, what am I gonna do?" Glade said with a proud sort of resolve.

The tense empty space that had crowded both of them was shoved aside with the simple sound of laughter. Sera was laughing.

"You're right, I know you're right." She wiped away her tears first, then grabbed a soft handkerchief from her apron pocket and swiped away at Glade's face.

"And since you're already here, can you do me a big favor?"

Glade looked up excitedly. "Whatcha need?"

"Can you help me sweep?"

~

    A veil of darkness had crept inside every corner of Meadow as Sera and Glade swatted away at crooked branches, hopping over stones of cobble. The shape of the trees that grew so close together inside the woods began to form tall, playful figures. Each twig twisted into shapes of horrifying apparitions. Sera was on edge.

"Can't we just get to your house on foot?" Sera said.

After closing up the Teakettle, Glade had convinced her to spend the night at the Plaeria estate, a colossal mansion dressed in fine vines, freshly trimmed by the hundreds on staff.

"You know that'd be impossible. The house is protected under a vale, remember?" Glade looked back at Sera as if this was something she had been told a million times.

    In actuality, she had been told this once. She had met Glade at Monarch and never even realized that she had lived in the same town. This wasn't exactly a surprise when she heard Glade's last name, however. The Plaeria family name belonged to one of the wealthiest and well-renowned bloodlines of the age. Talented wickeds known for their legendary enchantments including the Blade of Dissus, a greatsword forged with wicked blood for the royal family. Ironically it had been used to hunt down wickeds until the turn of this new century.

As for the mystery behind never noticing the Plaeria's presence inside of Meadow, the most affluent wicked families lived under a vale. And even with only a basic knowledge of vales, anyone would know that walking through them is never an option. Their powerful enchantment being able to conceal the largest of spaces. She faintly recalled Monarch Academy having a vale itself.

Sera had always wanted to be gifted at spellcasting. Instead she got bottles of elixirs and slicing off the toes of corpses. Perfect. "How much farther before we get to the warp?" Sera had forgotten how easily fatigued walking more than a mile could make her.

"We're practically there." Glade pointed ahead towards a great poplus tree, the top not even visible. The trunk was massive, the bodies of the two wickeds comparable to ants standing underneath a tree stump. The branches were soft and flexible, flowing gently down with leaves reaching shades of lilac and crystal, twinkling brightly with their own light. The tree felt alive, almost its own being. Poplus trees were ancient and respected, growing with a magic no wicked could ever understand. And this particular tree was the entrance to the warp.

Glade outstretched her hand, touching the deep red bark that resembled the shade of her own eyes. She had told Sera that her parents had considered naming her Poppy after the poplus tree, her eyes shaded as deep as its wood. Sera thought the name almost would have suited her. Glade disagreed. Her fingertips were close enough to touch the heart of the tree, Glade's eyes closed in concentration. After a moment, she had seemed to find what she had been looking for before whispering something loud enough to be heard. A spell.

"Apri mi hi miq ego mus paen Plaeria"

The cracks behind the tree started to split apart, a sound that resembled stones breaking could be heard throughout the forest. In less than a minute, a narrow opening had appeared leading into the poplus, the fresh smell of wood reminding Sera of the Teakettle. Glade started walking faster than Sera had noticed, muttering something that sounded like "Let's go." before disappearing behind shadow.

Sera moved quickly, having to turn her body sideways in order to weave through the gap in the tree. Once she had reached far enough inside, the hole seemed to close abruptly. Nothing but blackness took over her vision as she started to feel around a way forward, right as millions of tiny gems glistened around her. They were buried inside the tree, each a shade matching the poplus leaves that were hanging low on the outside. Soon they guided her into an enclosed clearing where Glade had been waiting.

"The tree is beautiful." Sera told Glade with a look of astonishment.

"Dad says our ancestors put wards of protection around the tree and crystals of growth to thank the poplus for us using it." Glade shrugged. "It's always reminded me of home."

Behind her was a large circle carved into the floor of the tree, inside of that being a labyrinth of symbols with powerful meanings. The lines carved were faintly glowing with azure, deepening the shadows of the girls faces which both held expressions of fear.

"Well, let's get this over with. I hate warps." Glade said. "I'm gonna need your help."   

Glade took Sera's hands in her own, her palms coated with cold sweat accompanied by an endless shaking. They were both facing the warping circle, with Sera looking focused and Glade looking nauseated. "Just repeat after me."

"Tah mas ode hi muh"

Both of them had shouted the phrase one after the other, before coming back together in unison. The spell had echoed inside every crevice of the makeshift room, vibrating energy towards the warp which had come alive with blue flames.

The circle's light had grown considerably brighter. The following stones reflected the same blue lightwaves, and the fire had become transparent. Voices from the warp had started whispering an ancient wicked language, all of which was hardly audible amidst the sounds of Sera's heartbeat.

"Okay, no offense, but I'm gonna go in without holding on to you." Glade had let go of Sera's hands, easing her way to the other side of the circle.

"I always end up getting hurt when I try to jump in with someone else."

Glade had started backing up farther away from the warp before exhaling an anxious air. After reaching one of the hollow walls of the poplus, she began to sprint towards the circle with shouts of adrenaline. Once breaching the outer lines, her body had seemed to be devoured by the fire inside of the warp. She was gone in less than a second.

Swallowing saliva, Sera gasped for a minute to register how utterly alone she now felt. The voices coming from the warp began to grow louder, each distinct tone crawling inside of her ears making its way to her mind. The more audible the voices become, the less time she would have before the warp would close.

She started to slowly back up before tip toeing closer to the carvings on the ground, the flames warming the outside of her skin. Heat began to rise, the sweat across her forehead forming a cooling layer of air that stopped her from trembling.

Not wanting to rush, she slowly etched her way to the outer layer before accidentally grazing the top of her toe with the fire surrounding the warp. With that minor action caused a whirlwind of force to yank her body towards the gravity of the ground, falling hard on her side as she was vacuumed towards the center of the circle. She managed a last minute shriek before vanishing away into the fire, leaving behind a cacophony of screams following the dimming of light which had enveloped the warp. The inside of the tree now stood silent.