Elia

“Elia, you should try this on!” Juniper yelled at me from halfway across the store. “It’s totally your color.”

After browsing a bit longer downstairs, we had migrated up the escalators into the massive women’s clothing section. 

Elia had never seen an escalator before. Or a chandelier. I couldn’t believe it. 

It was almost adorable how she kept insisting we go back down to ride up the escalator again and again, almost as if it was an amusement park ride. 

No. Not adorable. Annoying. She was my bounty. 

Every time we would ride up the escalator, she would stick her head out past the railing and gaze upon the towers of merchandise, occasionally pointing out her favorites and insisting that we must check them out when we returned. 

The displays seemed to stretch on for eternity, customers swarming around them like honeybees in a hive. The high-vaulted ceilings and polished marble walls only added to the effect, their grandiose façades sparkling from the abstract art fixtures hung throughout the store.

Above the escalator hung a grandiose chandelier, strands of crystals strung in complicated patterns, almost resembling a spider’s web. The strands hung so low you could almost touch them, like pieces of the sky, so close yet just beyond reach. 

It was a Maximilian's tradition, reaching up to glide your hands through the sea of crystals. Everyone from young couples to families to tourists would try to do it, lifting each other up to touch the sea of stars.

This escalator was famous for it, going up a full five floors at a leisurely pace, splitting through the heart of the store. It functioned more as a tourist attraction than a mode of transportation, its gilded stairs greatly contrasting from the usual iron grates.

I mean, yes, it was a little dangerous, but isn't all fun a little dangerous?

We were behind a pair of newlyweds on our first trip up the escalator. They were completely smitten with each other, evident by how they couldn't stand to be apart from one another. The lady was gripping onto her husband's arm as if she was hanging on for dear life, like at any second the gods might try to tear them apart.

"Darling," he looked down at her and smiled. "Would you like to try to run your fingers through Maximilian's famous ocean of crystals?"

"Oh honey," she chuckled. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course, my dear."

The smitten man grabbed onto his wife's waist and lifted her up into the air, his eyes sparkling with joy.

"Young lady," she asked me. "Would you mind taking a picture of us?"

The woman reached into her pocket and pulled out her corpcell, her full attention on the man holding her.

I grabbed the corpcell from her and smiled, swiping to the camera setting and selecting photo.

"Of course."

It was magic, the sea of crystals. That was the only way I could explain it. The only way it was possible. I knew magic didn't exist, but nothing could explain how the sea of crystals captured every single onlooker's awe. The crystals chimed into a beautiful, dissonant melody as the lady parted the sea with her fingertips, the air sparkling with a sense of grandeur and elegance.

I snapped a few pictures of the couple, then decided to shoot a quick video, unable to truly capture the special moment without sound, without recording the magic.

As we reached the fifth floor, the man slowly lowered his wife to the ground. As soon as her shoes touched the stairs, she dove into her husband's arms.

"That," she chirped breathlessly. "That was beautiful."

Juniper grabbed my suitcoat and turned to me, a distant smile lighting up her face.

"Can I try?"

"You want to go on the escalator again?" I asked.

"Yes!" she replied. "Just once more, I promise. I just want to see if I can reach the crystals. I promise, all you will have to do is stand there."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "You don't want to explore the store more?"

"No. I have to try this."

"Alright," I stated. "I'll find us some stairs so we can get back down."

I was tall. Not professional athlete tall, but tall enough for people to take a second look. Not going to lie, it wasn’t a very useful trait to have. Sure, I could reach the highest shelves, but it didn’t really help with the whole blending in thing that comes with being an IX operative.

Today, I was wearing wedge heels, part of my typical WellCorp employee getup. It only added to my height, and I towered over the shoppers around me. 

With the added height, I could easily reach the crystals above. 

Juniper, not so much. 

It was on our second trip up the escalator that she decided she wasn’t getting off until she touched the chandelier. 

On the third trip, Juniper stood on her tippy toes, yet she still could not reach the crystalline jewels. 

On the fourth trip, she jumped and jumped and jumped, just out of reach of the crystals. 

Until she slipped. 

“Hey!” I wrapped my arm around her waist just before she fell, pulling her to my chest. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She looked up at me with an exasperated look and pointed up. 

“Do you even see what’s above you?” she sighed. “Look! They’re like raindrops, perennially frozen in time. Aren’t they beautiful?”

Well, yes, they were beautiful, but we were in a public place and she was just jumping around on an escalator. 

Juniper was a public menace.

“They are pretty, I know,” I replied. “But you almost got hurt. I can’t let you do something like that again.”

“I just want to touch one,” she stated. “Is that so wrong? Look at them. They’re like magic."

She tried to wriggle out of my arms, but I was not letting her go until we got off this escalator. No way, not when she almost fell off just a few seconds ago.

But slowly, ever so slowly, I began to lift her up.

“Wait, Juniper,” I smiled. “Lift up your arms.”

She raised up her arms and let the smooth stones skim her fingers, the chandelier’s crystal waves parting with her touch. 

“It’s…” she gazed up in awe. “It’s beautiful.”

It was beautiful and adventurous and terrifying. She was beautiful and adventurous and terrifying.

And just the thought made me queasy. 

But every once and a while, I let my guard down and found myself smiling, the rush of the moment muddling my brain. I looked up and watched as her hands glided through the crystals, her golden hair trailing like a flame behind her. 

And now here I was, standing in a dressing room, dressed in overpriced clothes and brain still muddled as fuck.

“Elia!” Juniper yelled from just outside the door. “I’m tossing another dress over to you and you absolutely must try it on. It’s so pretty and absolutely covered in glitter! It won’t be itchy like the other ones, I promise!”

Three seconds later, a purple-feathered monstrosity was hurled over the side of the door. 

I picked it up and glared at it. 

This had to be the worst one yet.

Sure, I knew that styles were different on Gamma-8 and Xylia. I had taken enough foreign diplomacy seminars, and, I promise, I kind of paid attention. But I didn’t think that fashion fads would be that different.

The misshapen blob on the ground looked like something someone’s grandma would wear. Actually, not even someone’s grandma. It looked way too itchy for even her. 

Outside my door, I heard another yelp.

“Please, Elia!” I heard Juniper shout. “It’s really pretty. I just want to see you in it once! Just once, I promise.”

Ugh, fine. 

I slipped off my shirt and slid on the monstrosity, careful to keep the itchy feathers away from my skin. 

It didn’t work. I still itched. 

I looked in the mirror, hoping that somehow my intuition was wrong and this dress was actually super pretty once I put it on. 

It was plum purple and entirely covered in glittery feathers, their itchy ends poking into my gut. The shape didn’t help much either - it was puffy and round, making me look like a massive grape and accentuating all of my worst features. 

“Are you changed yet?” I heard Juniper yell from the other side of the door. “I really want to see it! Isn’t the glitter beautiful?”

I anxiously turned around and opened the door, hoping that maybe, somehow, this hideous sack would turn into something beautiful. 

Outside stood Juniper, still dressed in her gray work uniform. 

Why was I the only one playing dress-up?

It took her a second to look up at me, her eyes fixed on the sales section like an ouxia stalking its prey. 

Juniper looked me up and down and let out a breathy sigh.

“Oh.”

She struggled to contain a laugh, her face beginning to turn red as her cheeks puffed up.

“Oh what?”

“It’s…” Juniper tried to reply. “You look nice, but I just think it isn’t your color.”

“Really?”

“I think that’s it. That must be it.”

“Okay.”

I turned around and reached for the fitting room handle. 

“You,” Juniper paused and quickly muttered as I turned around, dodging my gaze. “You still look really beautiful though.”

She looked up to meet my gaze and flushed bright red, turning away.

We fell into awkward silence.

“So should I take it off?”

Juniper looked up again, a small smile painting her face, her cheeks still tinged with pink. 

She glanced at my outfit and tried, then failed, to disguise her chuckle as a cough.

“Sure,” she replied, still coughing. “But! Don’t put on your clothes yet. I still have one more for you!”

I would try on a hundred more outfits just to see her laugh again.

Shit.

What was wrong with me?