It isn’t until a few months after returning to the Underground that Mino gets a real opportunity to learn about her flowers. On the Overground it would be spring by now, though the Underground doesn’t change very much between seasons. By this time a good number of the blooms have sprouted, forming a patchy laurel around Mino’s head. They’ve formed especially thick around one of her eyes, making it much more difficult for her to see.

  Bee is sitting with her on the stools in the kitchen, playing with her hair. Iris helped her cut it to shoulder length a few days ago. Wilder beams over at them, Iris at his side, while the two bake cookies. Mino likes it when Iris cooks with Wilder. Though it’s fun to watch when Wilder cooks by himself, it gets… messy.

  “I heard some talk today,” Bee says, catching everyone’s attention. “There’s a coupla kids that run a shop in Portis, and rumor has it that they know everything it is you need to know, for the right price.”

  Mino wonders what he’s talking about for a second before realizing. “You think they could tell me about my flowers?” She asks, leaning forward.

  “A couple of kids?” Iris raises a brow. “How do some kids know so much? No offense, Mino.”

  Mino shakes her head, yellow bouncing in her vision. “None taken.”

  Bee leans back against the counter. “Wilder’s age, or something,” he clarifies. Ah. Wilder turned twenty a few weeks ago.

  “New friends, then!” Wilder enthuses, striking a dramatic pose with spatula in hand. “We will learn of the secret behind Mino’s strange affliction and fix it if we can!”

  Iris shakes her head. “It’s so odd,” she says, looking at the flowers. “The healers said it wasn’t any kind of illness, but I’m still suspicious.”

  “When are we going?” Mino asks.

  “Why not when those two dorks are done baking. Think you can wait ‘til then?” Bee asks, shooting Mino a wink.

  Iris places a sassy hand on her hip. “Perfection can not be rushed, darlings.” Everyone laughs. Iris smirks and kisses Wilder’s cheek before crouching down to check the oven.

  “About five minutes left,” she announces. “Then we can pack some to take with us, sound good?”

  Mino grins. Wilder and Iris’s cookies are the best.

  Soon the four are ready to head out, and they start down the long hill through Finlow, waving to people that they see on their way. Then poor Wilder trips over a loose stone and ends up tumbling down the slope, unable to stop his momentum. Mino, then Iris run after him. A huge smile grows on Mino’s face. Wilder veers over to a tree and catches himself, spinning around the trunk. Then Mino crashes into him, followed by Iris and all three of them tumble to the ground. By the time Bee catches up, grinning widely, the three are roaring with laughter.

  When they finally make it to Finlow’s air rail station, there’s a car just about to leave. They settle down into open seats Iris brings out the cookies, sharing with everyone around. They’re still warm and a little sticky. Mino munches down three in a row. She gazes out the window as the rail rocks and land passes by.

  Over these past few months, Mino has started to remember things. Not much, not much at all. Only vague images, maybe the sound of someone’s voice here or there. Only one of these vignettes was from before she lived in the Underground. Iris asked her one day if it bothered her, having so much missing. Mino had answered pretty much immediately, “Not really!”

  And that’s true. Even if she thinks about it longer, really digs in to her core, she isn’t bothered by it. Being in the Overground, even for only a few days, was not good. The people ignored her, or hurt her, only looked at her with suspicious eyes and hands on hilts of weapons. Animals hid from her—from any humans they saw. Even the wild dogs were skittish and thin. The day was too hot, the night too cold. The sun was too bright and hurt her eyes. Her head began to pound shortly after she emerged from the door and it didn’t stop until she delved back under the rock.

  She doesn’t need to remember anything from a place like that.

  And though she sometimes misses knowing things about Bee and Wilder, and it’s a little awkward to have to start all over with friends who know more about her than she does about them (like Lev, the guy with fire magic!), it doesn’t bother her. She’ll make new memories, forge new connections, and be able to build a long and happy life here.

  She is only twelve, after all.

  When they get to Portis, they start moving closer to the center of the community, where the buildings are tall and narrow. Mino counts the colors as she walks: plum, teal, cardamom, rust.

  “I thought it was somewhere around here,” Bee says, frowning and looking around. “It’s a small place, pretty much overflowing with all sorts of weird stuff. Big windows, midnight blue paint. That’s what I heard, anyways.”

  “You mean that one?” Mino signs. She points across the street.

  “Let’s go see,” Wilder asserts, marching over. Mino and the others hurry to follow, dodging all of the other people bustling about. By the time they catch up to him, he has flung the door open and entered the shop.

  Mino glances back at Bee and Iris, then catches the door and follows Wilder. He’s already out of sight somewhere within the crowded shop. A pale young woman is standing behind the main counter, counting through a stack of records with thin fingers. She tugs at the sleeve of her thin, wooly cardigan. She has silver hair, not grey, but silver, tied up in a ponytail that reaches down to the small of her back. Some curls have fallen loose in the front, however, framing her delicate looking face. She glances over when she notices them, and Mino realizes that her eyes are the exact same silver, glinting like liquid in the light.

  “Oh!” She exclaims softly. “Um, are you here to b-buy anything? Oh, wait, not that you have to, you can just look around… or not, no pressure…”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  She seems to wilt before their eyes, and Mino feels really bad. Mino grips the edge of the counter and boosts herself up to girl’s height. She boops her nose, then returns to the ground so she can sign. “I like your hair!”

  The young woman flushes pink. “U-um,” she stutters. “Thank you, flower girl.”

  “I like your hair too, sugar.” Bee says. “Looks cute.” Mino looks at him.

  “Oh!” She says. “Um, thank you, um, oh no… um…” Mino looks at her, squinting. Hmm.

  “Chillax,” Bee advises. “We won’t bother ya.”

  “Torin, could you get over here? I need a hand.” A vaguely annoyed voice shouts from deeper within the shop.

  “Yeah!” Torin responds. “One second!” She rushes off, out of sight behind overflowing shelves.

  “This place has a lot of junk,” Bee says, spinning around to take everything in. “Cool junk, though.”

  “Where did Wilder disappear to?” Mino asks.

  Bee frowns. “Iris is gone too… I bet she went to go find him. They’d better not be up to any funny business. I’m gonna kick her a—” he freezes, then glances down at Mino. “I’m gonna kick her. Yeah. Let’s go find them.”

  Mino giggles and takes Bee’s hand so he can lead the way while she looks around. There are all sorts of curious objects in this place, maps and chandeliers and houseplants and so much more. She spots a broomstick in one corner, and a dusty carpet hanging from the ceiling. Every single lamp in the shop is lit, and there’s a lot of them—which is good, because they’re practically the only light source. Tall shelves and mismatched cabinets make the shop into a precarious maze. It’s difficult to see further than four or so feet in any direction.

  Bee stops, and Mino peeks out from behind him. Iris is holding Wilder against one of the shelves, and they’re kissing, Iris’s hands on his hips. Mino snickers. Bee drops her hand and walks forward. Uh oh.

  Mino doesn’t watch and doesn’t listen to the arguing. She busies herself with a small thingy, trying to figure out what it is or what it does. It feels like solid metal but moves like water in her hands. It doesn’t have a price listed on it.

  She looks up when Torin and a taller man appear, likely drawn by the volume. The young man has a mess of golden curls, with bright gold eyes and shining freckles to match. However, his personality is anything but sunny. He’s wearing a black jacket and white tee-shirt, wine red skinny jeans, and what looks like eyeliner. His brows are scrunched together, a stormy expression painted across his face. Mino is in awe. This guy looks cool.

  “Oi, what do you two think you’re doing? This is a shop, not a boxing ring!” The man shouts. Bee and Iris quiet down, still exchanging glares. Poor Wilder’s face is beet red.

  “Now are you gonna buy anything?” The golden man asks brusquely. “Or are you just loitering?”

  “Neither,” Iris says. “We—”

  “I WOULDN’T COUNT ON THAT!” Wilder exclaims, wide-eyed. He still looks flustered. “This is a very interesting thingy you have here. How much is it?” Is he trying to distract from what just happened? Mino tries to see what he’s holding.

  “We can settle that later,” Bee interrupts before the shopkeepers can respond. “Are you two Janos and Torin?”

  “Yes,” Mr. Sunshine states defiantly. He must be Janos, if the other was Torin. “So what?”

  “Friend of mine told me you could help us out,” Bee says. “We have a problem that needs fixing.”

  Janos chews his lip. He looks each of them over, slowly, until he seems satisfied. But then he turns to Torin for a moment, meeting her eyes.

  She dips her head in a tiny nod.

  Janos moves, waving a hand for them to follow. Mino skips ahead and hears the others behind her.

  Janos takes them back to the main counter, where they all do their best to gather in the tight space. He hoists himself up to sit on the counter as Torin moves behind it, examining something Mino can’t see.

  “What kinda info you lookin’ for,” Janos asks.

  Bee guides Mino forward. “Kid doesn’t have any magic,” he says.

  Janos looks at her more closely. His frown returns, but this time it seems more puzzled than angry. “Born down here?” He asks.

  “No. Been here more than five years, now, though.”

  “Caught any bugs recently?” Ah, he’s asking if she’s sick. Mino shakes her head. Janos hums.

  “Then why the flowers?”

  “That’s the big question, ain’t it?” Bee responds. His style of speaking has shifted a bit while talking with this guy. Mino eyes him curiously, then looks back at the shopkeepers.

  Mino catches Torin watching her. The woman jumps and turns away. “Shop’s clear,” she mumbles to Janos.

  “Alright,” Janos says, clapping his hands together. He reaches out his hand, which Torin is already placing a pair of red glasses into. He slips them on. “So we’ve got the information, you want it. Here comes the part where we discuss prices.”

  Bee leans forward. “We’ve got silver, if that’s what you want. Tanzanite, even.”

  Janos chuckles. “No, no, no. We don’t deal in things as trivial as money. We get that easily enough from people who buy our stuff. What we’re looking for is stardust.”

  “What is that?” Wilder asks.

  Janos gestures toward the ceiling. “Stardust is a rare substance usually only found on the surface. However, it’s recently been discovered that there are reserves of stardust underground, as well. That’s what we want.”

  “We don’t have any stardust. How are your customers supposed to pay you if they don’t know what you want beforehand?” Iris asks, frustrated tones lying under her sweet ones.

  “We don’t want it now,” Janos explains. “But after you get your information, and do what you may with it, you’re going to have to help us get some. Binding contract. Irreversible. That’s the deal.”

  Mino’s gaze switches over to Torin. Her eyes look hollow, like her thoughts are miles away.

  Bee glances around at the others. “Do all of us have to sign the contract?”

  Janos shrugs. “If your name’s on there, you’re responsible for finding the stardust.”

  “Me, then,” Bee says immediately. Mino frowns. People start to become more independent in the Underground when they’re around her age, but Bee isn’t as willing to let her stretch her wings as other guardians. She wonders if she’ll be able to convince him to let her help.

  “What happens if we don’t find any stardust?” Wilder asks. “If I don’t,” Bee corrects.

  Though Torin looked like she wasn’t listening, she is the one who answers. “You will have one year to complete your end of the bargain. If you fail… the consequence will be determined at that time.”

  Iris frowns. “That’s a little, well, sketchy,” she says.

  “Life works in mysterious ways,” Janos says, and he and Torin share a subtle smile. Did Mino miss a joke?

  Wilder shrugs. “The man speaks the truth! We must simply go where fate takes us,” he declares.

  Though Bee still looks wary, it also seems that he’s willing to try. Mino is so close to finally knowing the answer. She reaches up and touches some of the stems at her scalp. She can feel it in her flowers.