The library in Edgerest smelled like old paper and disappointment.
Lumi Valgus Roheline stood on her tiptoes, reaching for a book on the third shelf. Her long green braid swung behind her as she stretched, the chunk of hair covering her left eye threatening to fall into her face. Almost... almost...
"Need help?" Lucky's voice came from behind her, amused and proper as always.
"I've got it," Lumi insisted, fingers brushing the spine of Fundamental Casting for Beginners.
"You clearly don't."
"I clearly do."
A playing card appeared in Lumi's peripheral vision, pressed against Lucky Saroosa Kaart's forehead. Lucky's bright pink eyes closed in concentration, her drill-curled ponytail bobbing as she tilted her head. The card shimmered, shifted, and suddenly Lucky was holding a small step stool.
"Here," Lucky said, setting it down with practiced elegance. "Try now."
Lumi wanted to refuse on principle. But the book was right there, and her arms were getting tired, and Lucky was already giving her that look—the one that said I'm being patient with you because we're friends but also you're being ridiculous.
She stepped onto the stool and grabbed the book.
"Thank you," Lumi muttered.
"You're welcome." Lucky transformed the stool back into a card with a casual flick of her wrist and tucked it into her pocket. She had dozens of them, always ready, always useful. Because Lucky had magic. Real, incredible, boundless magic that could turn a simple playing card into literally anything she could imagine.
And Lumi had nothing.
"That's the third spellbook this week," Lucky observed, following Lumi to their usual table by the window. The library was mostly empty—it usually was. Most elves didn't need to study magic. They just had it. "Are you sure you want to keep trying?"
"What else am I supposed to do?"
"Accept that maybe you're just—"
"Don't say it." Lumi dropped into her chair and opened the book with more force than necessary. "I'm not giving up."
Lucky sat across from her with perfect posture, hands folded in her lap. At ten years old, she carried herself like minor nobility, which she kind of was. Her family owned half the businesses in Edgerest. Meanwhile, Lumi's family owned a cottage and some vegetable gardens.
"I'm just saying," Lucky continued carefully, "that if ninety-nine percent of elves are born with magic, and you're in the one percent that isn't, maybe you're supposed to focus on... other things?"
"Like what? Feeling useless?" Lumi flipped through the pages, scanning the spells. Fire manipulation. Water conjuring. Basic levitation. All things every other elf their age could do without thinking. "Mother can make flowers grow with a thought. Father can levitate books and know anything he reads instantly. Even you—"
"My magic gives me headaches."
"Because you overuse it making step stools for short friends."
"You're eight. You're supposed to be short."
Lumi glared at her over the book. Lucky smiled back sweetly, because Lucky knew exactly how to be infuriating while looking innocent.
Edgerest stretched outside the library window, nestled at the edge of the vast forest that gave the town its name. The trees were massive here—ancient things that had stood for thousands of years, their branches creating a canopy so thick that some parts of the forest never saw direct sunlight. The town itself was built in harmony with nature, wooden structures woven between living trees, magical lights floating through the streets as afternoon turned to evening.
It was beautiful. Everyone said so. And everyone who lived here had magic to match—plant speakers like Mother who could coax gardens into impossible growth, knowledge seekers like Father who could absorb information just by touching a book, elemental casters who could summon fire or water or wind with a gesture.
Everyone except Lumi.
"What about this one?" Lumi pointed to a spell labeled Minor Illumination. "This is supposed to be the easiest cantrip in existence. Literally just making light."
"And you've tried it seventeen times."
"Maybe the eighteenth will work."
Lucky sighed but didn't argue. She pulled out a deck of playing cards and started shuffling them idly—a habit she had when she was thinking or bored or both. The cards moved through her fingers with practiced ease, never falling, never fumbling.
Show off.
Lumi held her hand out like the book instructed. Palm up. Fingers slightly curved. She focused on the mental image of light—warm, gentle, floating above her palm. She could picture it perfectly. Could almost feel it.
Nothing happened.
"Try saying the incantation," Lucky suggested.
"The book says most elves don't need the incantation after the first few times."
"You're not most elves."
That stung, even though Lucky probably didn't mean it to. Lumi gritted her teeth and tried again, this time whispering the ancient words written in the margins. Her hand tingled. For a moment—just a moment—she thought she felt something.
Then nothing.
Again.
"Lumi—"
"One more time."
"You're going to frustrate yourself—"
"One. More. Time."
Lucky fell silent, cards still shuffling in her hands. Lumi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and focused everything she had on the spell. On the feeling of magic she'd never possessed. On the light that should appear.
Please, she thought desperately. Please just work.
Her palm remained dark.
When she opened her eyes, Lucky was watching her with an expression Lumi hated—sympathy mixed with pity. The kind of look people gave to wounded animals or lost causes.
"I have magic," Lumi said quietly. "I have to. Every elf has magic."
"Almost every elf," Lucky corrected gently.
"I'm not different. I'm not broken. I just... haven't figured it out yet."
Lucky reached across the table and put her hand over Lumi's, stopping her from trying the spell again. "You're not broken. You're just you. And honestly? You're more interesting than half the elves in this town who think having magic makes them special."
"Says the girl who can turn a playing card into anything she wants."
"Says the girl whose best friend is stubborn enough to try the same spell eighteen times and still not give up." Lucky squeezed her hand. "That's not nothing, Lumi."
Lumi wanted to argue. Wanted to insist that determination didn't matter when everyone else could do actual magic. But Lucky's smile was genuine, and arguing would just make the pity worse.
"Fine," she said, closing the book. "But I'm taking this home. And I'm trying again tomorrow."
"I know you will." Lucky stood, transforming her deck of cards into a small bag with a thought. She winced slightly—the telltale sign of an oncoming headache. "Come on. Your mother invited me for dinner, remember?"
Lumi had forgotten, but she nodded anyway. They left the library together, stepping out into Edgerest's evening streets. Magical lights drifted overhead like lazy fireflies. Elves passed by, some nodding politely, others ignoring them completely. A woman made vines grow up a building's side to repair the roof. A man conjured water to wash his shop windows.
Magic. Everywhere. Always.
And Lumi walked through it all, holding a spellbook she couldn't use, next to a friend who could turn cards into miracles.
"Hey," Lucky said as they walked toward Lumi's cottage. "Want to know a secret?"
"What?"
"I think you're going to surprise everyone someday." Lucky's pink eyes sparkled with mischief. "Magic or no magic. You're too stubborn not to."
Lumi didn't believe her. But she appreciated the lie anyway.
Her cottage sat near the edge of Edgerest, where the town began to blend into the forest proper. It wasn't grand like Lucky's family estate, but it was comfortable—two stories of warm wood and climbing vines, with windows that always seemed to catch the best light.
"We're home!" Lumi called, pushing through the door.
Father looked up from the couch where he sat surrounded by floating books. Literally floating—they hovered around him in a gentle orbit while he read one, absorbing its contents with that faraway look he got when his magic was working. His pointed ears twitched at their entrance.
"Ah, Lucky! Good to see you." He gestured and the books drifted toward the shelves, filing themselves away with practiced precision. "Mirela's in the kitchen. She's been working on something all afternoon."
"Thanks, Mister Roheline!" Lucky said with perfect politeness.
They found Mother exactly where Father said she'd be, stirring a large pot on the stove. Her green hair—the same shade as Lumi's but shorter—was tied back with a vine she'd probably grown herself. The kitchen smelled like herbs and vegetables and something sweet Lumi couldn't quite identify.
"There you are!" Mother turned and smiled, wiping her hands on her apron. "How was the library?"
"Fine," Lumi said, which wasn't technically a lie.
"Lumi tried Minor Illumination eighteen times," Lucky added helpfully.
"Lucky!"
Mother's smile softened into something that looked too much like sympathy. "Well, persistence is a virtue. Dinner will be ready in about an hour, but I made something for you two in the backyard. Go look!"
Lumi perked up immediately. "What is it?"
"That would ruin the surprise. Go on, both of you."
They didn't need to be told twice. Lumi grabbed Lucky's hand and pulled her through the cottage toward the back door. The garden was Mother's pride and joy—rows of vegetables and flowers and herbs all growing in impossible abundance thanks to her plant magic. But today there was something new.
Near the far corner, where the garden met the forest edge, vines and flowers had been woven together into a small alcove. The vines formed walls and a roof, thick enough to provide privacy but with gaps that let in dappled sunlight. Inside, soft moss covered the ground like a carpet, and flowering vines hung down like curtains.
"It's perfect," Lumi breathed.
"Your mother really outdid herself," Lucky agreed, already stepping inside. The space was just big enough for both of them to sit comfortably with room to spare. "It's like our own little hideaway."
They settled onto the moss, and Lucky immediately pulled out a playing card. She pressed it to her forehead, thought for a moment, then shook it. The card transformed into a small candle, already lit, its flame casting warm light across their faces.
"Show off," Lumi muttered, but she was smiling.
"Someone has to provide the ambiance." Lucky set the candle between them and leaned back against the vine wall. "So. What do we do in our secret hideaway?"
"Talk about stuff?"
"What kind of stuff?"
Lumi thought about it. "Dreams, maybe? Like... what we want to do when we're older?"
Lucky's eyes lit up. "Oh! I'll go first. I want to visit Mirstone. The entire city. Every street, every shop, every magical academy they have."
"Mirstone?" Lumi sat up straighter. She'd heard of it, of course—everyone had. The biggest magic-producing town in all of Token, where the most talented elves gathered to study and practice and push the boundaries of what magic could do. "Why there?"
"Because if I'm going to have this magic, I want to understand it properly. Not just turn cards into things, but really learn what I'm doing. And Mirstone is supposed to have the best teachers in the world." Lucky's expression grew more animated as she spoke. "They say there are elves there who can transform entire buildings, who can create pocket dimensions from a single card. Can you imagine?"
Lumi could imagine. And the image made her chest ache. "That sounds amazing."
"You should come with me," Lucky said immediately. "When we're older. We'll go together."
"To Mirstone? But I don't have—"
"So? You don't need magic to travel. And you've always said you wanted to see all of Token, right?" Lucky nudged her shoulder. "That's your dream. Traveling everywhere. Seeing everything."
It was true. Lumi had said that. Multiple times. Usually when she was feeling particularly frustrated about the magic thing. "I do want to travel. I want to see the mountains and the coast and the other towns. I want to know what's out there beyond Edgerest."
"Then we'll do it together. We'll go to Mirstone and you can see the sights while I study. Perfect plan."
Lumi smiled despite herself. It was a nice dream, even if it felt impossible. "What else do you want to see?"
"Hmm. The floating gardens in Oakmere. The crystal caves near Stonemeadow. Oh! And I want to try the food in every town we visit. My mother says the coastal cities have fish dishes you can't get anywhere else."
"Your mother's been everywhere."
"That's how I know where to go." Lucky stretched out her legs, careful not to knock over the candle. "What about you? Besides traveling, what do you dream about?"
Lumi hesitated. The real answer—finding magic somehow, proving she wasn't broken—felt too heavy for their little flower alcove. So she said, "I want to see a demon."
Lucky blinked. "A demon?"
"Yeah. I mean, not to fight one or anything. I just..." Lumi picked at the moss beneath her. "Everyone talks about how they were banished to the far territories after the treaty. How they stay up north and we stay down here and everyone's happy. But what are they actually like? In person?"
"Probably scary," Lucky said matter-of-factly. "They're demons."
"But have you ever seen one?"
"No. And neither has anyone else I know. There haven't been any reports of demons trespassing on elven territories in... I don't know, forever? The treaty really did banish them to the far north." Lucky tilted her head thoughtfully. "Why do you want to see one?"
"I don't know. Curiosity, I guess?" Lumi pulled her braid over her shoulder, fidgeting with the end. "The history books make them sound like monsters. Horns and tails and no armor because they just fight with claws and teeth. But then Father says they signed a treaty, which means they can negotiate. Which means they're not just mindless creatures."
"They probably are monsters though," Lucky pointed out. "The war lasted for centuries. They killed a lot of elves."
"We killed a lot of them too."
"Well, yes, but we were defending ourselves—"
"Were we?" Lumi looked up at her friend. "I read about the battles. Both sides wanted the same lands. Both sides thought they deserved it more. Doesn't that make it just... war? Not good versus evil?"
Lucky frowned, cards appearing in her hand as she started her nervous shuffling habit. "I guess I never thought about it that way. But either way, the demons are up north and we're down here, and as long as they stay where they are, it doesn't really matter what they're like."
"I suppose." But Lumi couldn't quite let it go. Somewhere far to the north, there were creatures with horns and tails living their lives just like the elves in Edgerest. Did they have towns? Families? Dreams? Or were they really just the monsters from the storybooks?
"You're doing that thing," Lucky said.
"What thing?"
"That thing where you get all thoughtful and philosophical and I can see you questioning everything." Lucky smiled. "It's very you."
"Is that bad?"
"No. It's just very you." Lucky transformed her cards back into a single one and tucked it away. The candle flickered between them, casting dancing shadows on the vine walls. "For what it's worth, I hope if we ever do travel all across Token, we don't run into any demons. Treaty or no treaty, I'd rather not test how well it's holding."
"That's fair," Lumi admitted.
They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, the garden peaceful around them. Somewhere in the distance, Lumi could hear Father's books returning to their shelves, the soft thud of pages closing. Mother would call them for dinner soon.
"Lucky?"
"Mm?"
"Thanks for being my friend. Even though I'm... you know."
"Magic-less?"
Lucky reached over and flicked her forehead gently. "Don't be stupid. You're my best friend because you're you. The magic thing is just... a detail."
Lumi rubbed her forehead, but she was smiling. "A pretty big detail."
"Maybe. But not the important one." Lucky stood and offered her hand. "Come on. I bet dinner's almost ready, and if your mother made her honey bread, I'm getting the first piece."
"That's my house!"
"And I'm the guest. Guests get priority."
They climbed out of their little alcove, still bickering good-naturedly, and headed back toward the cottage. The candle Lucky had made dissolved back into a card with a thought—another casual display of magic that Lumi tried not to envy.
Tomorrow she'd try the illumination spell again. And probably fail again. But at least she had this—a best friend, a flower hideaway, and dreams of traveling across Token to see what the world was really like.