As if the Shadehands didn't already have enough to worry about. Though, truth be told, I did not know exactly what was keeping my friend so quiet. Knowing them, it could have been anything at all, from what I did the night before, to the electric lights, to a bad dream. 

So, after both of our mothers insisted I talk to them, I made my way upstairs to Eishen's room. 

I was not expecting to find them on a stepladder, paintbrush in hand, adding some stars to their mural on the ceiling as they quietly muttered Shadehand incantations, as if trying to memorize them. 

"Your ceiling gets more and more impressive each day."

They hardly acknowledged me, as they stepped down the ladder, putting away the pallette and brush, careful not to stain the long scarf-like piece of fabric that flowed down their back. "What do you want, Theo?" 

"Are you mad at me? In my defense, our mothers are the ones asking this." 

Eishen sighed and folded the stepladder. "Only a little. I'm more confused than mad, but regardless, that's not what's on my mind the most." 

"What is it then?" 

They stayed silent a moment. "How much did you tell my mother about the runes we found?" 

"Nothing at all, I thought you should." 

"My mind is stuck on those. I was looking at the ones I had written down and trying to understand them. Remember how I explained that they felt either like a new translation, or like something ancient?" 

"I do." 

"They're new." 

I raised an eyebrow and sat on the edge of their bed. "You seem sure of yourself." 

Eishen looked around their room until they found a piece of chalk. They did not hesitate before hastily drawing on their wall. They were clearly well-versed in runes; I still hadn't met anyone who drew them with such ease and grace. Still, they were careful to only put a dot where the last line would be, lest they activated something they shouldn't. 

"These three here are modern runes. They're the three basic ones we learn as children when we start experimenting with Shadehand magic; shadow, light, and life." 

I nodded, recognizing them. "What about it."

"Well, their ancient versions were quite different, they looked like..." they took a moment to draw more runes. "This. Now I know you can't read them exactly, but do you see the difference." 

I stood by the wall they were drawing on and studied the runes. At first glance, the ancient ones looked entirely different from the ones the Shadhands of Leylen used. But little by little, overlapping details caught my attention. 

"It looks like the new ones are each only part of the ancient ones, and somehow turned? Mirrored?" 

"Almost - they're only turned a few degrees - mirrored or upside-down runes can be disastrous. Which brings me to..." they picked up the notes they had taken at the factory, copying the runes on the wall. 

"I think these three correspond to what's already written. Do you get it now?"

I had a look at the runes we had found at the factory, and suddenly, their ideas became clear to me. "Oh f*ck." 

"Indeed! Like from ancient to modern, some parts are missing, but they're also upside down and mirrored. It's baffling and insane and should not work but I can feel the magic just from reading them and- well- hmm."

"What is it?"

"The new Light rune hurt me the one time I finished it, like touching a doorknob after spending a day in socks. I can feel that energy emanating from it. I don't dare try the other two yet. For now, I just want to translate the rest."

I was far too impressed to hide a grin. "You're amazing, Eish. But what does this have to do with painting your ceiling?"

"I needed a distraction," they said sheepishly. "Reading the whole incantation of the ancient Life rune was something I realized I had never tried and it rolls off the tongue nicely, so I kind of just... got caught in a loop doing just that. The rhythm of it is nice. Nicer than the bits I got figured out from the new runes, anyway. Those are just... boring and to the point." 

"Maybe that is the goal?" 

Eishen stayed quiet, but their brow furrowed and their lips tightened just a little; they were trying to piece something together and were stuck.

"Anyway, we should tell your mother about what happened at the factory." 

Something fell over Eishen's face then; something I didn't recognize. 

"You probably killed someone, Theo... that's not something we can just brush away with odd runes." 

It was still 'we', always 'we'. "You're doing just that though?"

"I am, because if I let myself think of the blood on that knife, I- ugh, I cannot get the image out of my mind without throwing myself at something entirely different. And what is even more odd is how little it seems to affect you." 

"Right now, I'm more worried about you and your kind." 

I knew where Eishen wanted to take the conversation, but in truth, they were entirely correct; having possibly taken a life... for Eishen, I would have done it twice. 

"Right..." they said with an exhale. "Which is why I am trying to focus on the runes rather than what's gotten into you." Their golden eyes caught mine, finally, and they tilted their head, looking worried. 

"Are you okay, Theodore?" 

The question reached a deep part of me that held onto something that was difficult to put into words. I brushed it off instead. "Not Theo? Goodness, you're worried." 

"I am." 

"I'm fine." 

I wasn't lying. 

I truly thought I was fine.