“Better than any of the paintings and texts made it out to be. I even got to see Zemlya.”

Zemlya was Mach’s neighbor planet. It was there where the musae meteors originated. No one knew how or why they came to be, but the sight was one of a kind, an infinite amount of powers shining bright in that iridescent array of planetary rings. Zemlya itself was devoid of intelligent life, the constant barrage of meteors had surely thwarted any chance of it forming eons ago. But every four hundred years, the two planets drew close enough that Mach’s gravity pulled at the rings and gave way to the event known as Meteora.

“And your friends?” Perry continued, “How did they fare?”

Nellie swallowed. Her mouth had gone dry before she could respond. “I think they were pretty happy. I didn’t stay with them for long.”

“Ah.” Perry leaned back, scratching his head. “Well I hope they come around at some point. I’m sure it’ll be tough to keep them away now that you have the Geo.”

“Yeah…” Nellie kicked a leg out from under her, swinging it loosely as she averted her eyes. “Thanks again for everything, Dad. I think I should get going.”

His eyebrows shot up at that. Perhaps he felt as if he had begun to spoil the moment. “No, of course. I won’t keep you.”

Nellie nodded a final goodbye and made for the still running car. Perry was right when he’d said that she would have plenty of time before the theater cleanup, and so Nellie quickly decided on where she would drive and christen her new gift. The observatory, she grinned, as if there was ever a doubt. A picture of the car from the overlook up there would make for a cool post. 

The roads were light as she maneuvered her way out of the neighborhood and into the western reaches of the foothills. She drove with the cool wind in her hair, blasting the few pop songs found in the bowels of her otherwise stripped down, shoegaze music collection. The trees were dense in the upper part of the hills, vibrant in their orange and red autumn coats. She knew the winding path well, countless trips by bus or with Arashi had impressed it on her mind, so when she passed through a tunnel and a small brown sign came up in the distance she knew it was time to turn without even reading it. Comet Hill Observatory, veer right.  

And then she met traffic. A long line of cars sat waiting outside the observatory gates. But why? It was already mid-afternoon, why would a tourist spot like this be closed on a weekend? Arashi hadn’t mentioned anything about it the night before. Those at the front of the line were turning around as soon as they got the chance, she saw them speeding by as the cars in front of her filed ever closer to the entrance. 

As she drew nearer, Nellie saw a security guard walking down the line, stopping at every vehicle to explain why they couldn’t enter. He wore a navy uniform, with a Cinder Sky patch emblazoned on his chest. The observatory had originally belonged to Comet Hill’s neighboring city, built so far away to escape the ever present mix of fog and fumes that hung over Cinder Sky Valley. Over time, a population hub sprouted and took on a name to commemorate its first edifice. The amount of scientists that frequented the facility grew in number, they worked with farmers seeking to escape the agrarian life to build up a sustainable commercial center away from Cinder Sky. The docks, schools, and restaurants followed suit after that, and before long the town of Comet Hill had its place on Nithica’s map.

“I’m sorry Ma’am, the observatory is closed today,” said the security guard once at her window.

“How come?” Nellie demanded.

“We had an incident last night,” the guard recounted. “A group of kids broke in to watch Meteora from the observation deck.”

Nellie felt her eyebrows rise. That’s genius! The risk of experiencing Meteora from a sight like that would have been thrilling to say the least. If only she had thought of that last night instead of allowing the Sorairos to nearly kill themselves on their desperate race back home. Perhaps they would have all received an Instrument then.

 So even though she too was forced to turn around, Nellie brushed off the disappointment at missing her photo op and turned up her music as she drove off. It was time to meet for the theater cleanup. She couldn’t have the others thinking she was late because she had missed out on a meteor.

• • •

“It really wasn’t a big deal…”

“Nellie, you saved his life!” Jalen grinned with stars in his dark brown eyes. 

They were backstage, surrounded by fourteen-or-so members of the Reem crew. It'd been Heather's idea to postpone their cleanup until after Meteora. And everyone - including the theater administrator, Irene - had agreed, hopeful that by then they would all have Instruments to brag about. 

Raul and Max had been the first ones to show up. Arashi was traveling to The Pharum that day so they had come by bus, though without Yuè who had stayed at home so that Tei would be able to make his weekly tennis lessons. The errand was meant to be a small punishment for Yuève's behavior at the fair, but Nellie knew that Tei wasn't happy about it either since he preferred staying at home with his video games over doing anything remotely athletic. Arashi had also given her sons money to replace their sister's crown from the play, so before anyone else could arrive, Nellie had the boys take the Reem costumes back to the rental store on the other side of town. She expected them back at any moment now, but if she were being honest, part of her was relieved that no one in the crew around her had received a meteor, they had all remained aeons like her, putting off any immediate discussion of the Instruments. 

“Was it cold?” Adelinde, one of the stagehands, asked.

“Of course it was cold,” snorted Ozzy while leaning over the railing of the backstage staircase. “Winters almost here.” 

Cassidy, a background actress who’d played multiple roles throughout the show, shook her head from across the crowd. “I can't believe no one else helped you guys.”

“I think I was just the first to act,” said Nellie, biting her lip. She couldn’t help but kick herself for being so desperate back then. She had jumped into the water without so much as a second thought all because a meteor was in her sights. “It all happened so fast.” 

Adelinde gave her a warm grin. “Thank the stars you were there.”

“I didn't know you could swim,” admitted Drew, another member of the backstage crew. 

“She's from Mantua dude.” Spencer rolled his eyes, as if the correlation between her talents and her childhood home should've been obvious. 

“Yeah,” Nellie nodded, happy that the conversations were moving quickly enough to keep her mind busy. “My house was right by the water.”

“Did you see the news this morning?” interjected a meek Mabel. 

Nellie shook her head, lips pressed shut. She wasn’t about to detail how the morning had gone for her.

“They interviewed the trucker,” Mabel continued, straightening up as all the eyes suddenly fell on her. Despite her performance in the lead role last night, Mabel was clearly not used to the attention she warranted. “He said he wants to repay his saviors somehow.”

“He's a muse, right?” Ozzy chimed in with a wry look in his eyes. He, for one, never seemed tired of hearing his own voice. “You have to take advantage of that.” 

A collective groan from the crowd followed. “Ozzy…”

“What? Don't tell me getting a statue made wouldn't be the coolest thing.” He crossed his arms over his chest, defiant. “Better to get to him now before the Rosid makes him an offer.”

Their past week at school had been spent learning about the different opportunities the Edenʼs Rosid offered musae. After Meteora, the Rosid’s delegates were sent throughout the world to find volunteers who were willing to use their powers to help generate otherwise perishable resources, round up rogue musae, or aid in the construction and maintenance of large infrastructure projects. These musae were often compensated handsomely, and some would even help with the sculpting of monuments that would last for generations to come. If anything, Nellie thought she’d be doing those things herself. She didn’t really care to make use of someone else’s abilities for her own vanity.

Nellie sighed, maintaining a lively mask for her friends was beginning to tire her out. “I don’t think I’ll be asking for any statues.” 

Ozzy’s frown deepened into a V, but before he could reply the crowd dispersed into smaller groups to continue separate discussions about Meteora and the musae who had posted on social media. Nellie meanwhile surveyed the stage, taking notice of all the props and set dressings still lying around. There wasn’t too much left to pick up, and she preferred to be out of earshot from any further talk about the Instruments, so she didn’t bother telling anyone to keep cleaning. 

The streamers they’d used to imitate the Instruments littered the floor on the wings of the stage. Nellie set her eyes on them when all of the sudden, the backstage doors slammed open followed by an ‘Ahem’ loud enough to turn heads.

Silence fell throughout the theater as everyone spun to see Miguel standing in the doorway with a stack of catering trays in his hands. Despite his large frame, and the broad-shouldered letterman he wore, Miguel seemed a smaller presence than usual. Not as if he were shrinking into himself, but penitent instead as his eyes scanned the crowd before him. 

No one said a word until the ex-King Anuris himself began. “Hey everyone. I, umm, wanted to–” 

“Mess with us again?” Hasan huffed a laugh. He, along with Raul, had shared most of his scenes with Miguel and had been at the end of his roughhousing and crude jokes. 

“Weren’t you satisfied yesterday?” Erin crossed her arms in distaste. Her biggest scene consisted of an intense back and forth discourse with the character of Armani, but because Mabel's delivery was so much different than Gabi's, Erin had been thrown off when responding to some of the more minute reactions between their characters. And though Miguel wasn’t directly responsible for something so small, the actors felt encouraged to take their frustrations out on him since there was no one else to blame. “Who are you gonna pick on now?”

 “Guys, c'mon…” Miguel sighed, tilting his head back so that his hair fell away from his remorsefully wide eyes. “That’s not why I’m here. The show yesterday was so good. Gabi left, but I stayed behind to watch and I couldn’t tell you how bad I felt that we got in the way of all the work you all put into it. I’m sorry, I really am.”

The apology took Nellie by surprise. Not once had she thought Miguel was self-aware enough to acknowledge how his actions affected others, and as she looked about the crowd she saw a similar shock flicker across the crew’s faces. Eager to break the awkwardness however, Miguel moved to a nearby table and set down the trays he’d been holding. The food was still hot apparently since he came away shaking his hands in a fervent attempt to cool them off.

“That couldn’t sound any less patronizing if you tried,” scoffed an unimpressed Ozzy.

“What did you bring?” Adelinde asked, ignoring Ozzy as the other theater kids followed with murmurs of their own. 

“Pita wraps. It's the least I could do to make it up to you all.” Miguel ran a hand through his hair and continued, “But I'm serious, I genuinely think everyone did a fine job. You too Jalen, Nellie was right to trust you.”

Jalen gleamed at his praise, but at the first mention of food everyone else around him cheered and clamored towards the catering table bringing a swift end to the moment between the two lead actors. “Ey!” Miguel cried, “Chill! Let me open them first.”

The first tray contained a bag of plates and utensils that Mabel passed out to the others. And while they all frenzied over the falafel and gyro options for their wraps, Nellie made her way over to confront Miguel. “This was a good start,” she patted his shoulder to thank him and draw his attention. “But I hope you also have something to say to Max.”

“I, uh…” he stammered, his eyes wide and dark in the dim backstage lighting.

Nellie shrugged, feigning a glance at her phone. “He should be here soon.”

“Can’t you just pass the message along?” 

“Nope,” Nellie shook her head, waving a hand in dismissal. If he was going to keep overlooking Max then she couldn’t wait to see the shock in his face when he found out the kid he’d seen as small and benign was now a muse. “It’s your funeral buddy.”

Miguel scowled, as predicted, unsure of what she meant. But to his credit, he didn't seem interested in pushing the matter any further. The line for food cleared in front of them so Nellie moved to grab one of the last lamb wraps. She wasn't in a mood to eat, so the savory mix of sauces and earthy flavors were veiled in the blandness of indifference, but after having missed breakfast the food in her stomach still felt good. 

The stage fell into peace as the different friend groups split and broke into the sounds of eating or the laughter of shared memories between bites. Watching over them from a seat on the staircase, Nellie couldn’t help it as she felt her smile sour with melancholy. She’d been in charge of this group for months now and yet, without her friends there, she still felt out of place among the other students. She found herself wondering if she would still have simple moments like these with the Sorairos now that they were all musae. Change was good, but always bittersweet, she knew that now after having moved around so much in her life. And yet, like with Meteora the previous night, she couldn’t shake the feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach.    

Despite his initial peace offering to them, Nellie noticed that Miguel was also having a difficult time finding a place among the crew. Having joined their play because of his girlfriend, he never really associated with the rest of the drama kids unless they were involved in one of his scenes. In the end he ended up sitting near, not with, some of the guys who had worked as stagehands throughout the show to enjoy the pitas that’d been left for him.