The blessing of magic, without the knowledge of how to wield it, eventually becomes a curse.

In the time of legends, thousands of years ago, two adolescent girls with golden eyes and inky black hair were running through the hills of the mystic highlands. 

Rolling ridges that were covered with tall grasses, green from the spring rains, stretched towards rocky crests on the horizon. The sun was high overhead, and these mischievous twins were often late for their afternoon meals.

In their glee, they had not known what was below their feet, and soon stepped together into nothingness. They fell into darkness, tumbling and cracking their small bodies along rough surfaces until they rolled to a stop. Sobbing and bleeding, they reached their small hands out to find one another. 

Devoid of their sight, they held hands and began to grope through the cavern that trapped them, unsure if they headed towards freedom or deeper into their earthen prison. 

Time felt stretched out, like eternity passed in a single breath. Fear devoured their hearts and the sound of staccato sniffles echoed throughout the labyrinth. After endless searching, they saw a glimmer in the distance.

The soft, golden glow was a beacon of hope.

Rushing towards it, hoping to find the sun shining on an exit, they were dismayed to find a trinket instead. Sitting on a stone altar was a bangle of fine, threadlike metal that weaved in a swirling pattern to shape a curved teardrop. The sisters moved to the large square table and inspected the precious item, but became distracted by the altar itself.

The stone was polished to a perfect smoothness, to the point that it appeared to be black glass. Their identical twin faces were illuminated reflections on the mirrored surface; however, two faces did not look at them. Rather, hundreds did. Reflections that reached endlessly into infinity.

With her hands trembling in apprehension, the first sister picked up the fine piece of jewelry. They would need its light to help find the way. Leaving the mirrored altar behind, they continued in their search for freedom. The rocky walls around them began to close in, making the pathway too small for them to continue holding hands.

Without the reassurance of her sister’s touch, the second twin began to fall prey to the clutches of despair. Her feelings weighed on her like chains, slowing her steps and making her breathe raspy, until she could no longer move. The shadow of her sister stretched long as she got left behind.

The first sister seemed to intuitively feel the distance growing between them and turned to look back. Seeing her twin huddled in on herself, clutching her clothes in a grip that was too tight, she hastened to return. To provide comfort, she offered the radiant object to her sister. 

As soon as she touched it, the fine threads of metal slipped, and the bangle seemed to unfold. Two curved teardrops formed, the tips connecting to make an infinity symbol. Each sister held an edge and gently pulled to separate them. 

With the bangles sitting delicately on their palms, they looked at each other with a mix of excitement and worry on their faces. The look a child gives when unsure if they have broken something important, but is still thrilled with the result. 

Each now possessing a small beacon, they continued together through the cave. The shadows were not so oppressive anymore, and they found their way.

When they stepped outside again the mystic highlands welcomed them. The wind tickled the tall green grass, and its collective sway gave the hills the appearance of breathing. The sun was still high overhead, as if no time had passed during their confinement.

Grasping hands, they bounced and squealed at their newfound freedom. Their celebration was interrupted when one of the girls dropped her bangle in her jubilation. Picking it up, they inspected the treasure they had found in the light of the sun. 

As if by instinct, they both slid the fine jewelry onto their arms. Once in place, the metal began to glow and dissolved into their flesh. The lines appeared as tattoos on their skin, the peak of each tear pointing towards the girl’s open palm.

Startled by what had happened, the twins reached for one another, clasping forearms. The tips of the tears touched and an infinity symbol glowed bright white, binding them together. The bright light grew to fully envelop them and then burst in a flash, throwing them apart. 

Raising confused faces to look at one another, they saw that their black hair had turned silvery white. Eyes went wide processing the sight, for they had long served as a mirror of familiarity to one another. 

Slowly, each girl looked down at her own hair, confirming the change in herself. They still appeared as twins, but did not understand the extent of the transformation that had occurred. What had this unknown magic done to them?

Little did they know that they would spend an eternity failing to solve this mystery.

Wrinkled old hands sat on a keyboard, perfectly still.

Reliving the memory of when magic had taken their lives always made Tena feel morose. At the time, she and her sister had foolishly thought themselves to have found a great treasure. 

Tena unconsciously rubbed the sprawling brown lines on her liver-spotted forearm. She and her sister hadn’t found a treasure; they had found a maze, and pain was the only way to navigate it. The truth was that they had never made it out of the winding dark cavern, and after all this time, they were still lost.

The color of their hair hadn’t been the only transformation that day. Unwanted immortality had been put upon them as well. Even though they had not sought this strange magic, it had unknowingly been bestowed upon them.  Now, in her endless lifetime, she had never found a way to rid herself of its curse.

Without the hope of death, she’d decided that if anyone else ended up in this terrible position she wanted to give them a gift. A map to navigate the maze, though she hoped no one else would ever need it. Human minds were not meant to endure so much trauma.

Wiping tears from her golden eyes, she began to type again, her thoughts organizing themselves as the words appeared on the screen. Her reverie didn’t last long, as an irritating buzz filled her ears. She pressed a button on her desk phone to speak to the unknown visitor.

“Yes?”

“Package delivery, ma’am.”

“Leave it at the door.”

“Uhm…” the voice hesitated, “it requires a signature.”

She sighed and got up from her desk, her stooped back grateful for the chance to walk about. Glancing outside her office window, she saw the city street alive with activity and the driver waiting on the apartment building’s stone steps. 

Tena never had packages delivered here, and she even required all residents to utilize the post office down the block. Deliveries were a weakness that had been abused in the past.

Leaving her office, she made her way outside to see the uniformed man waiting for her. She signed for the medium-sized box and waited for the driver to walk away.  Once alone, Tena began to shake the box aggressively.

“LEAVE. ME. ALONE!”

People passing on the sidewalk eyed her suspiciously—naturally curious about her antics but not enough so to stop. She looked unhinged. Her angry impulse now fulfilled, she pulled open a flap and threw the box down the steps as she retreated to the door.

A barn owl burst out of the box, flapping frantically, and swooped towards her. As the owl hit the threshold of the door, gold flashed briefly. The bird reversed three seconds back in time, wings flapping in the wrong direction and taking the body just far enough back to fly into the invisible barrier again. 

The owl glitched continuously until Tena punched it, sending it far enough backwards to escape the trap. Screeching, the owl flew away.

The old woman cackled and held up her middle finger as she watched the bird disappear from her view.