(NARVI)

It was all Vali's fault.

I thought going through the portal would be enough for him. But no. He insisted on going back again and again to make sure it always ended up at the same place—of course it did. Why would it take us to a different spot every time?

"It's worth being sure," he said, smugly looking back at the opening in the stone on the other side.

"I wanna go home. What if Mum comes looking for us?"

"Stop whining. She's never come after us before." Vali found a sharp stone and scratched a letter into the right side of the cavern we came through, marking it clearly with our last initial.

My heart jumped. "Don't do that. What if someone else comes by this place?"

"You worry too much." He swept his hands against each other when he was done and sighed. His eyes scanned the field before us. "I can't wait to really see what this place is all about. We'll come back tomorrow with more supplies."

I groaned while my stomach sank. "Do you have to get me into trouble, too?"

"Of course I do." He stepped right in front of me so I couldn't edge away from him. "Narvi, I promise I won't ever leave you behind. Now you say the same."

The air was thicker in the new place somehow, and a deep breath filled me better. "Alright, I promise."

"Say it. We won't leave each other behind."

"Fine." I ran my hand through my hair to keep it from blowing in my eyes. "No leaving each other behind."

"That means whatever I do, you're coming with me. Same for you. We come here together, or not at all. Swear it's only for us."

Another huff from me. "Aye."

"Good. Now come on." He didn't wait and jumped back into the cave, pulling me home the same way he commanded me from sleep in the morning.

Landing on Vanaheim made me feel lighter, like we were swimming instead of standing. It wasn't scary or strange, but our world changed somehow. It was darker. Yet our sky was better—the purple was prettier. The moons that would soon crest over the horizon watched us closely and made me feel safe.

Vali didn't waste any time and threw his satchel down to find the candles he brought with us. "I want to see your cold trick again."

I sat beside him and picked at my fingernails. While I didn't regret sharing this secret with him, I still wished for answers that would tell me what it really meant.

He ignored my hesitation. "Why did you show Nanny before you showed me?"

"I didn't mean to. She was helping me light the bonfire kindling, and—"

"You got to light the bonfire kindling?" he asked with high brows.

I sighed. "She was only teaching me how. If you'd been with us, you woulda seen it, too."

He rolled his eyes and lay two candles before me and two for himself. "Go on."

"Anyway, she tried to direct my hand differently and grabbed me. I told her to stop and she wouldn't, she just kept twisting my wrist, and I got so angry, I just..." I splayed my fingers like I did that day, only then, a rush of cold air came off of me. "It put out all the flames we'd started. She said cold magic didn't belong there, and then she walked away. Since then, I feel like she's been angry with me."

"Nobody can ever be angry with you," Vali said, though he talked through his nose like he didn't really mean it.

I was anxious to make sure he wasn't upset, too, so I snapped to light one of the wicks and nodded for him to join me.

Vali took his candle and shook the hair from his face. "You go first. Talk through it."

"Right. Talk." I focused on the flame, which danced in the light breeze like a person whose arms were high above their head. It waved. It had such spirit in it. Like Nanny said, lighting a fire was like giving life. But did that mean putting one out was like death? Was that why she looked so upset?

"You're not talking."

"Sorry." I cleared my head, and the flame stopped its dancing. It was still and waiting for instructions. "I...I wonder if it's a kind of command. But that can't be it, or my hand wouldn't change. So much of you changed." Instead of sending energy through my eyes or my mind, I bowed my head and exhaled slowly to concentrate on how my whole body felt. "It comes from inside."

A tingle in the center of my chest moved outward, down my arm, speeding up by the second. I opened my eyes as the tickle reached my fingertips. The instant it did, the flame went out.

"I felt something this time," I whispered, not looking away from the small trail of smoke that lifted into the air and the quickly clearing color of myself. "It wasn't a spell or a trick. It's just...me."

"Okay, okay. My turn." Vali leaned closer to his candle. The way he stared at the fire—puffing his cheeks the way Mum did while joking, focusing so hard his face turned red—it made me chuckle.

He looked at me sideways. "I'm trying my best."

"Well, what did you feel last night when it happened?"

"Annoyed." He blew out the flame so wax wouldn't drop on him. "You're so good at so many things. You can do things I can't. It doesn't feel fair."

We sat in silence while the birds bothered us above. I wasn't sure how to comfort him for this, since he wasn't wrong, but I wasn't trying to do more than he could. I wished I could trade him. Wished he could have more. Give him the way I could hear things that weren't being said. Let him know what it felt like when someone else touched me. Help him understand how it wasn't a choice.

"You can do this." I kicked my chin forward. "Try again."

Vali had a short temper, but he forgave quickly, and my words to encourage him lit up his face.

With his fire reignited, I coached as Father would. "Close your eyes and breathe slowly. Match me." I sucked in a long inhale through my nose, held it for three seconds, then took just as long to release.

Vali did the same, nearly whistling through his nose when he let go.

"Forget the candle. Think about your heart. You. Like only you can control it."

He didn't need to speak to prove how hard he tried. A creeping wave of blue came down his arm, like every heartbeat pushed it closer.

"Yes. Keep going."

Another feast of air and Vali's fingertips nearly matched the hue of our clear sky. Swirls of frost snaked up the candle and suffocated the flame. But more than that—all of Vali's exposed skin now carried that same translucent, oceanic tone.

He opened his eyes at the sound of the flame sizzling to nothing, but he held both hands out to watch the color recede. "Wow..."

I gulped, happy he had a new gift but still concerned we had no idea what it meant. "Vali—"

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about this if you won't," he said while winking at me.

It had only been a single day, yet somehow it felt like a year's worth of discoveries. Just for us.

(Bk)

Vali didn't bother hiding his excitement the next morning and woke me the same way, by shaking the beds. "Wake up!"

My head throbbed with a headache from restless sleep. Most of my dreams were the same repetitive scene that came to me often—an empty void, save for myself. No one came in or out, and there were no mirrors. I yelled for anyone to answer, but I was alone. Those nights always felt like my mind hadn't relaxed at all and spent the hours bored for nothing.

I waved him away and covered my head with my blanket. "Not yet, Vali."

"Yes, yes, yes. Get up." He yanked the blanket clean off me and ran from our room to rush through his chores.

I was caught between hating him and being equally excited. After a few deep breaths, I chose the latter and forced myself to stand.

Mum was like me and enjoyed sleeping late, so I wasn't surprised that she wasn't up yet. Vali's writing was messy and he struggled to spell everything he wanted to say, so he made me write her a small note that we were going back to our fictitious fort. Tiwaz flicked his tail at us before we left the house, like he knew I wasn't fully being truthful, but I shook off the idea that he would tattle on us.

The air was clearer than the day before, and warmer, too. I forced Vali to stop and drink water frequently on our way to the portal. He grumbled every time we did, but deep down, I was certain he knew it was wise.

"I copied the map last night," Vali said, pointing to his satchel. "That way, we don't have to bring the whole book."

"Are you sure we should leave anything behind?"

"You want room to bring things back, don't you?" He grinned widely, already planning to return with mementos.

All that meant to me was evidence of what we'd done. "We shouldn't take anything with us. What if we can't hide it?"

"Obviously, we'll only take things small enough to hide." He tapped his temple like only his mind could conceive of it. "I'm not saying we should bring half the other realm back with us."

Our portal cave came into view, and we stopped chatting to reach it faster. Our rope trick to get home made no difference, but I packed a rope anyway, just in case we found a cliff or other obstacle. Vali did as he planned and unpacked most of his satchel by the entrance except for his copy of the map, leaving room for whatever he hoped to find.

"No leaving each other behind," Vali said, nodding at me as he took the first steps up the rocky entrance.

"Aye."

Even after the multiple tries the day before, I was anxious for what the portal might do. Traveling through it felt like falling, dropping my stomach while speeding my heartbeat. The light was too blinding and the darkness too vast. We drifted through space and even time—if we left in the morning, was it morning there, too? Or did they have their own separate moonrise to help us gauge how long we spent exploring?

Vali landed first and moved away from the exit so I wouldn't bump into him again. I still struggled on the ground. My body was heavy and I was weak, already exhausted from doing nothing.

He stood proudly and sucked in a loud breath. "A good day to conquer this place, I think."

"Don't say that too loud. Someone might hear you and mark us a threat." I got to my feet and took in the view, still in awe of how the world appeared almost filtered, like a cloth of blue covered everything. The grass was just grass, but it was lush and coated in dew. The trees were just trees, short and bushy and unimpressive, yet they were untouched and had their own spirits. Every rock surrounding our tiny clearing looked like it had a face—though I wondered if that was because I worried so much about us being caught.

Vali ignored my warning and pulled out his map. "Which direction do you think is which?"

"How would I know?" I glanced at his parchment, but nothing would make sense without a reference. "Let's get higher. See if anything's familiar."

He agreed and marched forward, though I continued to glance back where we came from every few steps. Finding our way back was just more important than anything else we stumbled across.

Vali climbed faster. He was stronger. Pulled forward by his own curiosity.

"Wait for me," I yelled, worried I might lose sight of him.

"Come on," he grumbled without slowing down.

"Vali, you'll get lost. Stop." I fought with my feet, which stuck to the ground somehow, like magnets pulled me toward it. "What are you looking at?"

He reached the top of the hill and stopped. His silhouette against the blue sky reminded me of Father.

"Do you see something?" I hollered, not sure if he heard me.

Vali didn't respond or even turn toward me. He was transfixed on whatever was ahead.

A new fear struck me. I was falling again. What if we were captured? What if we were lost? We didn't know if this place was even safe. And if we got hurt...

"Stay there," I barked at him once I was close enough to be sure he could hear me. "You said we wouldn't leave each other behind. But you kept running, and you ignored me, and—"

"Shh," he said, holding up his left hand when I stood at his side. "Look, Narvi."

The view took my breath the same way it stole his. Was it real? I rubbed my eyes like in a dream, but nothing changed. Beyond a sprawling, dark trail of trees was a sparkling golden city unlike any stone fortress in our home. We weren't far—perhaps only an hour's walk down the hill—but returning to our vantage point would be a chore of unknown time if we didn't have enough water.

Vali finally stirred and looked at his map again, marking it with charcoal. "That line across the water there has to be this," he said, pointing to a straight line on the page that ended at a scramble of letters in curling writing. "What's it say?"

I agreed that the object cutting toward the horizon had to be the landmark, but why didn't the city have a name? "It says...the rainbow bridge to the...Bifrost. Bifrost?"

"I don't know that word. You must be saying it wrong."

I shrugged and glanced across the scene again. "So many people here. I can almost hear them from the streets down there."

Vali tipped forward to listen. "What does it sound like?"

"It's...humming? No, whistling. Someone's whistling." I shook my head. "It's too loud to be all the way down there."

"I hear it, too." He took a few steps, scoping his face from side to side, like an animal twitching its ears.

Above us, a screeching bird—larger than any I'd ever seen—flew into the trees between us and the city. A wave of air followed it and rustled my hair, sending a tingle up my neck.

Vali froze and waved me toward him. "Here. Here, now."

I tiptoed. My ever-present and growing sense of dread almost throbbed in my mind. Was it the animal? A building? Something far worse and much more dangerous?

"Do you see him?" Vali whispered, pointing through the trees to a patch of light.

I didn't at first, but the bird that landed on his arm flapped its wings and emphasized him. His blonde curls expanded the shape of his face, making it seem too large for his body, though he couldn't have been much taller than Vali. A red tunic and brass details made him look like one of the trees, blending in with the bark and falling leaves.

"Animal speak," Vali said with a grin. "Even you can't do that."

"So?" I folded my arms tightly. "Doesn't mean he's—"

"Aye, there!" Vali yelled to the stranger, folding his map to wave frantically.

The bird flew away and the boy flashed an annoyed glare in our direction.

"Maybe we should go back," I whispered, trying to avoid eye contact with the stranger.

Vali didn't care and kept shouting. "What's your name? Come closer."

The stranger hesitated and searched all around before standing. He spoke only as loud as he had to, as if the forest itself had ears and required reverence. "I'm Modi. Who are you?" The boy crunched closer over the dried foliage. "Haven't seen you before."

"I'm Vali. This is Narvi," he said, pointing and forcing me to stand straighter.

Modi took in the view of us and flashed his eyes back and forth. "Why are you dressed like that?"

I tugged at my clothes and wished I could disappear. If my tunic had a hood, I would've immediately covered my head. I stood out compared to both of them with my arms fully concealed.

Vali, smooth as ever, had no signs of concern on his face. "Our Mum made us wear these."

Modi nodded. "No one ever comes to this part of the forest. It's usually empty."

"Not anymore." Vali chuckled and stretched his back. "What's not to like about this place?"

"You're not from the city, are you?" Modi asked with a cautious, slow tone.

I blurted, "We're visiting," all while eyeing Vali sharply. Magic or not, he was a stranger. Couldn't be trusted. Couldn't be too careful.

The three of us awkwardly traded glances. Up close, Modi was a little taller than Vali, and his accent reminded me of Mum somehow. Brass buttons and leather padding covered his otherwise simple tunic, making him look more grown up than we were in our outfits of brown. His blue eyes stood out from the rest of his pale face, free of freckles, unlike me. But if we'd found him at home rather than here, it wouldn't have felt so strange, would it?

So I broke the silence. "Vali and I are gonna make a fort. Wanna help?"

Modi beamed like he'd never been asked to play. "Really?"

"Sure!" Vali said. He got to work immediately, picking up every loose twig in sight for a pile to build with. Even without a plan, he didn't hesitate.

Our first day exploring the strange new world wasn't what I expected it to be, but I was grateful that the first thing we found was a friend.

(Bk)

Three times we went back to our secret little portal, skipping every other day as Mum made us do chores. Three times we met Modi and played until moonrise. Well, we called it moonrise. He called it something else—sunset—which felt odd to me.

The fourth time we came to visit at first light, Modi was already behind our fort stone wall, building it higher. If he knew how we traveled, he didn't say it, though Vali said it was smarter to keep him in the dark and put the fort some distance away from our portal; Modi knew we weren't from the city, but that was enough.

As soon as we came into view, Modi jumped and waved us closer. "Come on. No time to waste today."

"Where are we going?" Vali asked, matching his enthusiasm by leaping over the wall.

Modi grinned with a shine in his eyes. "To the city. You said we couldn't see it unless we left early."

My stomach twisted. It felt like a trap. No way to get out of it or say no. You planned this? Why?

Vali threw his arms into the air, "Finally. Nothing worth taking home from around here anyway. I want to see what's down there."

"Don't you think it's—"

"Narvi, it's just a visit. If we watch the sky, we can be back in time."

Modi nodded expectantly and led the way, confident we would follow. As he whistled, a flock of wings flitted behind him, keeping him company if we wouldn't.

Vali looked at me sideways. "You told him he could play with us. No backing out now."

I swallowed hard. It wasn't worth arguing with Vali over whose made Modi our friend, him or me. But if I couldn't leave Vali behind, he couldn't leave me, so we both had to go.

Every step down the hill was heavier than the last, and the towers of gold grew taller and taller the closer we came. Vali and Modi joked and pretended to fight invisible enemies using sticks as swords while on the way, and I took the time to mark the trees so Vali and I could get back alone if we had to. Just when I thought my nerves would fray from worry, a lilt of music rising over the wind caught my ears. Singing and strings. A few drums.

A party in the streets?

The city came to life and had no wall like our fortress. The forest ended and the streets began. Modi and Vali skipped ahead on a stone-paved road that was lined on each side by market stalls. It reminded me of Don, only the people were entirely different; like Father and Mum, they were tall. So very tall. They smiled at us without blinking at our clothes, unlike Modi, who still thought we dressed oddly; compared to him, we did, but the adults dressed simply, too. Their accents, like Mum's, were stiff and slow. No one greeted us with an "Aye", though more than one chuckled when I said it.

"We're almost there," Modi said, pointing to the gilded castle before us. "That's my home!"

I caught up to Vali and smiled, grateful for his bravery. If it had been up to me, we would've never used the portal a second time, let alone come this far. "See anything you'd like to take back?"

"Only everything." He bumped my shoulder with his. "Told you not to worry."

The streets became steps and a wide entrance that swallowed everything that entered it. We were insects under a raincloud. Unlike the city streets, this place was quieter and more controlled. Instead of shops lining the walls, a few lone soldiers stood in golden armor and stared straight ahead like statues. Every voice bounced off the walls, so we said as little as possible. While there had been the odd child outside, Modi was alone here. He walked through the palace halls without a care, more than knowing them. He belonged here.

Modi huffed to himself for a few minutes after we arrived, turning side to side to look for someone or something. His disappointment smelled sour.

"There you are," a voice boomed from the right. It wasn't aggressive or harsh, simply loud, but it still made Vali and me jump.

"Father!" Modi squealed along with his shoes on the mirror-shined floors and he leapt into the arms of a man even taller than our Father and easily twice as wide. "I brought you my new friends!"

Vali's self-assured grin dropped. He put his hands behind his back and stood as straight as possible, the same way he would if Father were to test us on our skills. Finally, he reflected the same fear I started with—unsure and unsafe.

I echoed his stance, though my feet couldn't hold still. Too late to run away. Trap fully closing in.

For all that Modi thought we were peculiar, his father was oddly wrapped in a hard shell of leather and metal. Behind him, a flowing drape of red fell off his shoulders and followed his every move. Our father wore something like that once, so long ago I could hardly remember it, but he favored green the same way Mum did. Even with nothing in his arms but Modi, this man was, by himself, a weapon.

Modi laughed while his father flipped him upside down and placed him on the floor again. "This is Vali and Narvi, Father. They've never seen the palace before."

"Is that right?" He knelt in front of us and smiled, but I saw a lion instead of a man. His blue eyes matched Modi, but I saw a storm. He tried to sound kind, but all I could hear was a buzz coming off him—as if his very body was ready to strike.

Vali felt that, too. He leaned backward to avoid him, certain of a shock.

The man hummed awkwardly the longer we stood in place. "Children are normally excited to see me. You're not from Asgard, are you?"

Asgard? Is that what this place is called? I glanced to Vali and shook my head when he didn't answer for both of us like he normally would.

"Well, where's home for you?"

"Vanaheim, sir," I mumbled. Vali bumped me to stay quiet.

"Wow. Vanaheim?" He chuckled, showing off more of his teeth. "You know, my mother was from Vanaheim. My name is Thor. You are both welcome here as long as your family intends to stay."

We barely responded. What was there to say?

"Why don't you raise your faces and let me have a good look at you, hmm?" Thor leaned a little closer to Vali and squinted. His close investigation made my heart pound ever faster. "Are you sure we've never met before?"

"N-no, sir."

"You're so familiar." Thor shook his head. "What's your name again? Perhaps I know your parents."

"My n-name is Vali Lokison, sir."

Thor shot to his feet, looming over us. "Loki? Is he here?"

Vali found my hand and squeezed while shaking his head. His panic flowed into me. We shared it.

Thor turned away, dissolving his kindness and barking at Modi. "Take them back. Wherever they came from."

"But, Father—"

"I said, take them back." He didn't say much else, not that he needed to. His word was final.

I pulled Vali when I ran away, keeping him with me. Modi yelled for us to stop, but I didn't. Through the palace's slick floors and back outside to the crowded streets, I ran. Vali kept my same pace even though he was faster. He trusted my instincts and the trail I followed. I raced through the forest and didn't release him until the cave—and our escape—was in sight.

But the instant I let go, Vali fell. Scratched his face on something close enough to threaten his right eye. He hissed and put his hand over it while scrambling to stand again.

"Vali, I'm sorry—"

"What did you do?" he screamed, crying from pain and fear and whatever else was raging through his veins. "You told him where we came from. Might as well have taken him back here."

"I...it was an accident. I didn't know what to say."

"Now he knows too much. Knows Father's name. Did you see his face? If that man comes back to Vanaheim, it's all your fault!"

"My fault? You were the one who wanted to come back here."

"It was supposed to be our secret. Now it's ruined." Tears streamed down his face, carrying a line of fresh blood along with them. He crawled into the portal cave before me, running away from me as much as he was running away from Thor.

I jumped in after, not surprised to see him running home on the Vanaheim side. My feet tripped over each other while I chased him through the familiar thicket. It was still far too early for the moonrise, but my eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness of our world. A tickle in the pit of my stomach lodged itself there. What if he was right? What if we'd trespassed and now were in trouble?

Vali charged through the gates of our fortress, but I didn't worry that he would tell Mum. Somehow that would've meant more trouble for the both of us. Instead, I was in for an even worse fate:

Complete silence.

Mum cleaned Vali's scratch and admonished him for roughhousing, which earned me a scowl that cut to my core. We ate dinner without talking. Did our chores without talking. Went to sleep without whispers and plans for more mischief. Three days he kept a wall of barbs between us, longer than he'd ever spent angry with me.

Father returned with new stories to spill of his time in the city, talking nearly nonstop from the moment he came through the door. It was a delightful distraction to see how Mum stared at him and completely forgot about Vali and me. Tiwaz curled up on my lap and purred hard, sensing my loneliness and the lingering tickle that never went away.

"Perhaps you can show your father what you've been working on while he was away," Mum said from the kitchen.

I shot my face to Vali. What now?

But my panic was for nothing. He was already prepared. "Oh...we took it down. Nanny said it was wrong to leave things in the forest when we were done with them."

"What a shame," she said with a sigh. "Thought you boys might find something to do together in the morning."

I mouthed thank you to Vali when they weren't looking, and he nodded to acknowledge me. For the first time since our failed adventure, he gave me a smile. We were where we belonged.

"Don't worry, Gin," Father said, standing to kiss her on the forehead the same way she often did to us. "I'm taking them to forage to the south tomorrow. You'll get your well-earned break."

Any time spent in the opposite direction of our cave portal sounded like a good idea. The more days that went by without surprise visitors, the more I was certain the stranger on Asgard would stay a stranger and nothing more.

(Bk)

Long past our bedtime, and I couldn't sleep. I stared straight above me at the bottom of Vali's bed to avoid being stuck in the same pointless dream of the white room with nobody in it. The darkness played tricks with my eyes, and I imagined our room was a portal of its own, flashing and spinning with lights and new weights on my arms.

"Narvi?" Vali whispered, jolting me out of my twilight fatigue.

"Aye?"

He shook our dual beds as he rolled to hang over the edge and see me beneath him. "I'm sorry I was angry with you."

I smiled with closed lips, letting relief make me feel lighter. "I'm sorry for everything, too. I shouldn't have taken that book. Shouldn't have shown you that portal at all."

Vali hopped down to sit on the edge of my bed, and I did the same so we'd be side-by-side. "I'm not sorry we saw Asgard. I'm just sad with how it ended, that's all."

"Well, I'm sorry for this." I pointed to his eyebrow, which still had a sizeable gash. Small enough to heal on its own, but it would forever leave a scar of how I let him fall.

"Oh..." He absently grazed it with his fingertips. "It'll be alright."

"Can I take it away?"

"You don't have to do that, Narvi. Last time—"

"I didn't know what would happen last time. Now I do." I stared into him with a furrowed brow, willing to do anything to make the sinking guilt I carried go away. "Please? So we're even?"

He looked at his hands for a moment before taking and releasing a deep breath. "Okay."

The cold trick we used to snuff out the candles was a gift we both shared, something innate within us. But this was just mine. A burden to bear. A gift and a curse and a secret. Yet if I could control it, even this small amount, it wasn't as scary. I could say it was my choice.

It was a simple gesture. One I learned from Mum. I pecked Vali in the center of his forehead, just for a second, touching my lips to his skin. When I did, I focused on the image of him in my mind and homed in on his face. The scratch above his eye—it stung. Sharply burned. I hadn't fallen, but I carried the wound. If he could heal, so would I. On my skin, it would look the same, and he would be spared the embarrassment of a scar.

When I pulled back, he gasped and fumbled with a rag on the floor. "You're bleeding."

"It'll be alright. Like you said." I took the cloth from him and pressed it on the now fresh cut. It would scab over by morning.

"No. This is enough." He shook his head quickly. "I won't let you do that ever again. Don't do that to anyone, understand? It's too much."

I grimaced at the pain but tried to stay strong and not complain. "I'm fine."

"You're not." In the same breath, he touched his own forehead again, which was smooth and left no evidence behind that he'd been hurt. Vali stared at my injury and fought with himself—an inner debate. This was bigger than portals. Bigger than cold spells. Bigger than lying about where we'd been.

"Don't tell Mum," I said, pleading with my eyes. "I know you're thinking about it."

He gaped, though he said nothing. So I was right. But he finally nodded and stood from my bed. "Goodnight, Narvi."

"Goodnight."

My twin slept above me—my other half. We'd never leave each other behind. Even if our perfect life was ruined because he couldn't help but jump through that cave again.

So it was Vali's fault. But I was good at taking things on, wasn't I?