The sun had barely peeked over the hills when Mina exploded out of the inn like a firework with legs.
"ADVENTURE TIME!!" she bellowed, boots on the wrong feet, satchel swinging like a wrecking ball.
Kai, halfway through tying his laces, winced. "You forgot your water."
Too late.
Mina hit a puddle at full speed, slipped, and executed the most dramatic back-flop in recorded history. SPLAT.
Kai walked over, trying and failing to hide his grin. He offered a hand. "Graceful."
"I meant to do that," she groaned, grabbing it. "Gravity check. Still working. Rude."
She popped up, hair full of leaves, jam still on her cheek from breakfast. "Let's roll before the world realizes we're late!"
They left the sleepy village behind, stepping onto a forest path that glittered like someone had spilled starlight on the night before. Birds sang in three-part harmony. Glitterbugs the size of thumbnails dive-bombed Mina's hair like they were auditioning for a shampoo commercial.
Midday, in a grove of luminous trees that hummed like church organs, Kai suddenly staggered.
"Ow what the"
He yanked up his sleeve. Two tiny puncture marks, already black.
A neon-green serpent with wings slithered away, flipping them off with its tail.
"Spirit-snake?!" Mina squeaked. "That's a legendary jerk!"
Kai's vision swam. "Fantastic."
He sank to one knee, already sweating.
Mina dropped beside him, panic mode activated.
"Okay okay okay don't die on me, pretty boy!"
She slapped both palms on the wound. Golden light flared then poofed into a single daisy that bloomed on Kai's boot.
Kai blinked down at it. "Wrong target."
"SHUT UP I'M CONCENTRATING!"
Second try. This time the light held, racing up his arm like liquid sunrise. The black veins retreated. The snake's poison hissed out as purple smoke.
Kai exhaled, shaky. "You're full of surprises."
"You're full of venom," she shot back, hauling him up. "Next time duck."
He laughed actually laughed and the forest laughed with him.
By dusk they reached the edge of a lake that reflected the sky upside-down.
And above the lake?
A city floating on nothing.
Platforms of cloud and crystal drifted like lily pads in the air. Bridges of woven moonlight connected them. Lanterns bobbed like fireflies. Boats rowed through sky instead of water.
Caelumbre the Floating Market.
Mina's jaw dropped so hard it nearly hit the ground.
"I WANT TO LIVE HERE FOREVER AND MARRY A CLOUD."
Kai snorted. "Don't trade your soul for a smoothie."
A gust of wind lifted them gently upward. They landed on the main platform with a soft whoosh.
Instant sensory overload.
Merchants sold bottled laughter that made you giggle for an hour. Shadow jars that whispered secrets. A woman offered to buy Kai's first-kiss memory for three gold and a pet phoenix.
Mina accidentally kicked over a stand of floating fruit.
"BANISHMENT IN THREE… TWO…"
They were saved by a tall, half-drunk rogue with a crooked grin and a map tattooed on his forearm.
"Jino," he announced, slinging an arm around Mina. "You break it, you buy it or you owe me a favor."
Kai pulled Mina back by the hood. "We'll take the favor."
Jino needed the Compass of Whispers stolen from the Twilight Wing a corridor that turned intruders into their worst fears.
They snuck in.
Traps triggered.
Kai's hair turned neon green.
Mina's reflection aged her to 90 in seconds.
"NOT THE WRINKLES!" she shrieked, punching her own reflection.
They grabbed the compass and bolted.
Jino kept his word.
"You want truth? Oracle Tree. Through the Sky-Gate. Only idiots or legends try."
Mina beamed. "We're both!"
They sprinted to the arch of pure starlight.
It didn't open.
Mina grabbed Kai's hand. "Together?"
He laced fingers with hers. "Together."
They closed their eyes.
Trust. Breath. Chaos and calm.
The gate EXPLODED open in a supernova of light.
They tumbled into a suspended garden of impossible beauty.
At the center: the Dualroot Oracle Tree trunk split light and dark, branches braided like lovers who would never let go.
Its voice shook the heavens.
"YOU COME SEEKING TRUTH."
Kai stepped forward. "Why does the magic call us?"
The tree roared.
Vision slammed into them like a meteor.
Kai saw: a pale-haired girl on a cliff, kingdom burning behind her, hands blazing with silver fire that could unmake stars.
Mina saw: armies marching across time, stars falling like rain, a crown broken in two, a shattered mirror showing a face that was not hers but felt like it should be.
They staggered, gasping.
The tree's voice softened to thunder-whisper.
"The Sleeper wakes. Her name was stolen. The world will call her Elysia Valmont. Reach her before the storm does or everything burns."
Mina grabbed Kai's sleeve, eyes shining with tears and fire.
"We're going to Aurelis."
Kai's grip tightened. "Full speed."
The tree's final words chased them as the garden crumbled:
"RUN FAST, CHILDREN OF EARTH. THE STORM HUNTS THE SLEEPER… AND TIME RUNS THIN!"
The platform shattered.
They leapt across collapsing bridges of light, feathers and stardust whipping past.
One last crash and they landed on a hilltop under open sky.
Mina flopped onto her back, arms spread like she was trying to hug the entire sky.
Kai collapsed beside her, still laughing, chest heaving.
"You almost died four times today."
"Five," she corrected, holding up fingers. "Snake, green hair, collapsing garden, your face when I said we're partners forever, and the existential crisis you're about to have."
He turned his head. Moonlight painted silver across her freckles.
"Why are you doing this, Mina?"
She blinked. "Doing what?"
"Helping me. Chasing prophecies. Running east with a stranger who's clearly hiding something."
Mina rolled onto her side, propping her head on her hand.
"Because you have the saddest eyes I've ever seen, pretty boy. And because the universe literally drew us a glowing map in a fountain. And because…" She hesitated, then shrugged. "I don't know. It just feels right. Like I've been waiting for this chaos my whole life."
Kai stared at the stars, voice low.
"I'm on orders."
Mina waited.
"My family felt the surge. The same one that cracked the sky. They told me to find the source and… report back." He swallowed. "Or stop it. Whatever it takes."
Mina whistled. "So you're a spy."
"I'm a hunter."
"Same thing, just fancier cloak."
He huffed a laugh, but it died fast.
"I wasn't supposed to bring anyone."
Mina reached over and flicked his forehead.
"Good thing I don't follow orders."
She rolled closer, close enough that their shoulders touched.
"Listen, Kai. Whatever your family wants, whatever the storm wants, whatever the girl with the cracked crown wants… we'll figure it out together. Not because you're on a mission. Because I decided you're my mission now."
Kai turned to look at her. Really look.
For the first time in years, the weight on his chest felt a little lighter.
Mina grinned, soft this time.
"Besides," she whispered, "someone has to make sure you eat something that isn't brooding and tragedy."
He smiled small, real, unguarded.
"Deal."
Above them, the new constellation shifted again, slowly forming the shape of a stag with antlers of fire.
Mina rolled onto her back, chest heaving.
"I want pancakes. And a nap. And maybe a medal."
Kai burst out laughing real, bright, unstoppable.
Mina leapt up, fists in the air, and screamed at the heavens:
"EAST HO, MOTHERFUCKERS!!"
The shout echoed across the valley like a war cry.
A second later, an ancient granny in a patched cloak hobbled out of the treeline, carrying a basket of glowing mushrooms. She squinted at the two idiots on the hilltop.
She recognized the vibe immediately.
"Floating Market brats, eh?" she cackled, voice like gravel and thunder. "SKYWARD, YOU IDIOTS! SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE THE CLOUDS DROP A METEOR ON YOUR THICK HEADS!"
She shook her walking stick for emphasis, then hobbled off muttering about "kids these days."
Mina's jaw hung open.
Kai wheezed until he cried.
The sky rumbled almost like it was laughing with the old woman.
Mina turned to Kai, eyes sparkling.
"…I think the universe just told us to be quieter."
Kai wiped his eyes.
"Or to scream louder."
They looked at each other.
Then, together, at the top of their lungs:
"EAST HO!!"
The granny's distant voice floated back:
"I HEARD THAT!!"
Far away, in the infirmary of the Academy of Flickering Stars, Maria woke with a gasp.
Her hand flew to her chest. The Tear burned warm, steady, certain.
And for the first time, she wasn't alone in the dark.
Somewhere between sleep and waking, she heard two voices on the wind:
A boy laughing like sunrise. A girl shouting "EAST HO!" at the top of her lungs.
Maria smiled without knowing why.
The storm was coming.
But so were her people.