When Riel had accidentally bumped into Mino during that first encounter, she was embarrassed, but she didn’t expect Lonnie to start a conversation. Then, she didn’t expect Mino to actually ask for help. Then, she didn’t expect that they would do so much to help her.

  She hadn’t wanted to help Mino. She had her own problems, and how was she supposed to figure those out if she was constantly focusing on other people? Even now, as she watches Mino walk up the hill towards the Door, Riel clings on to some of that resentment.

  But if she’s being honest with herself… Riel thinks Mino is cool.

  She keeps a bright smile on her face. She doesn’t let things trouble her, like they’re just ocean waves rolling over her back, leaving her untouched. She doesn’t even remember who she is, but she’s not afraid or falling apart. She hasn’t ignored her problems, but she still takes the time to express care and interest in the people around her. Yeah, Mino is cool, even if Riel doesn’t really like how much she understands.

  So Riel is a little sad that she’s leaving. She feels a little bit afraid on Mino’s behalf, because Mino isn’t scared enough of the Overground. She could get hurt up there. Riel understands and doesn’t understand why she wants to go. She understands the feeling of not knowing, of that nagging in the back of your heart that’s pulling, always pulling, even if you’ve firmly decided time and time again to turn away from it. But the Overground isn’t worth satisfying that feeling.

  Riel shudders. She can feel the heavy weight of it even now. The dread, the pull, the anger and fear. She never wants to come this close to the Door again. She never thought she would have to.

  As Mino walks up the hill, Lonnie asks, “What should we do now?”

  Riel looks around, shading her eyes. “We’re not going back the way we came,” she says. “That guy could still be lurking around.”

  “Is there another way?”

  “Should be.” There’s a moment of silence.

  “Riel… where are we gonna go?”

  Riel looks over to Lonnie. He’s twisting his hands together, watching Riel with uncertain eyes. Riel isn’t sure what to do. She just feels tired. Nothing has gone how she expected since they left home. She doesn’t even remember what she wanted to do. Being so close to the Door makes hateful, scared feelings rear up inside and it takes all her energy just to lock it all away. She doesn’t know what to do.

  “You decide. You say where we’ll go. And then we’ll go.”

  Lonnie’s face lights up. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’m tired.” Riel doesn’t say everything she feels, but Lonnie seems to understand that she means more than just tired. He reaches out and takes Riel’s hand.

  “Okay,” he says. “Let’s go back to the air rail.”

  Riel holds onto Lonnie’s hand and they leave the path, moving through the trees. They circle back around toward Sundra. By the time they get to the station, Riel is moving slowly, sleepy and mildly lethargic. She doesn’t even muster up enough energy to be grumpy as the young, bubbly attendant ushers them into a rail car.

  She falls asleep with her head in Lonnie’s lap.

  She opens her eyes, and she’s sitting in the train. The world is painted in pastel light, bright and soft. Riel looks out the window to see that the familiar cavern walls that border the Underground are gone. All that is there is clear water, stretching out for as far as she can see, and miles of open sky. The air rail is steady and constant as it travels, hovering over the tracks. The speed creates wind that sends ripples through the water.

  Riel turns away from the windows. Mino is sitting across from her, smiling brightly. The two of them are alone.

  “Hello!” She chirps. Riel narrows her eyes, instantly suspicious.

  “You remember what I told you, right?” Mino giggles. Her voice is hard and high pitched, cracking frequently. She’s… speaking?

  “What—”

  “You should tell Lonnie,” Mino interrupts. “Wanna see what’ll happen if you do?”

  “Wait… Mino, I’m confused. Where is Lonnie? Why—”

  “He’s waiting for you. Want to see him? Let’s go!” Mino stands, grabs Riel’s hand, and pulls. She pulls Riel through the side of the train like it’s a bubble that doesn’t pop, and they walk out on top of the water.

  Riel pulls away in fear, and the moment she lets go of Mino, she begins to fall through the water. She sinks down and down and down…

  And falls into a blurry, colorful garden.

  “Riel!” Lonnie calls out. “There you are, I was looking for you! Ready?”

  Riel turns, and Lonnie is there, wearing a smooth, silky vest and a nice shirt, along with a pair of fancy slacks. Riel looks down. She’s still in her dirty, sweaty shirt and pleated skirt. When did he change?

  Lonnie reaches out to Riel. She goes along with it, confused. Lonnie leads them towards the front of their home. Before turning to open the door, he gently kisses Riel’s cheek—

  Riel squeezes her eyes shut and blushes, hard, before opening them again to someplace different. Lonnie is gone again, and the loss hits her harder than she thought it would.

  Riel sees two figures in the distance. They seem to be… dancing? She walks forwards, and soon is able to make out who is there. That little girl Serra, and the twisted that ate Mino’s flower. The two are waltzing, silly, lovestruck grins plastered across their faces.

  Riel shakes herself, turning away, and she opens her eyes to see Lonnie smiling down at her with his fingers tangled in her hair.

  “Ah!” Riel cries, sitting straight up and nearly hitting Lonnie in the head. “I had a weird dream!” She continues, face hot.

  “That’s nice, but you might want to lower your voice,” Lonnie murmurs. Riel looks around and sees a few people watching them. She hides her face back in Lonnie’s lap.

  “You slept for a long time,” Lonnie soothes her. “We’re almost there.”

  “Where?” Riel asks groggily, still waking up. At least she didn’t have any nightmares.

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  “You’ll see,” is all Lonnie says. Riel peeks up at him. His eyes are shining, a silly little grin spreading across his face. He boops her nose. Warmth blooms in Riel’s chest.

  Just then the rail pulls into the station, and Lonnie helps Riel up. They grab their bag and after exchanging some silver for a red token, the two leave the car. They emerge into the middle of a sweet, clean looking community. The buildings are tall with many windows. Moss sprouts in between paved stone, and vines curl around buildings, posts, and columns wherever they get the chance to. There are so many people out and about.

  “Portis,” Riel says, surprised. “But why are we here, I thought—”

  “Come on, there’s no time for questions!” Lonnie says, pulling Riel along. They delve into the streets of Portis, navigating around various folk adorned with wide, stylish hats, colorful dresses, and vest suits. Riel barely has time to process the tall homes and shops that they fly by.

  Riel had been certain that Lonnie was going to take her back home.

  Lonnie slows after a minute, glancing back at Riel and trying to conceal a grin. Then he pulls Riel ahead, slower now, and she finds herself in a huge courtyard, surrounded by glass buildings and gardens with huge, lush plants. There are people milling all around. Riel takes a few steps forward, and then spins around slowly, taking in everything around her. Her eyes widen.

  “Lonnie… this is—”

  “Central Garden. Do you like it?”

  “Like it? Lonnie!” Riel turns back to him and grabs his hands, a huge smile lighting up her face. “How did you—what—why did—but—”

  “Shh,” Lonnie hushes, putting a finger up to Riel’s lips. “Don’t you want to look around?”

  Riel nods furiously, blushing, and grips Lonnie’s hand a little tighter.

  The main courtyard wraps around a serene, circular pond. Tall trees with drooping leaves that drift in the breeze induce a secluded feel. Looming bushes with bright flowers line the walkways, wild and untrimmed. Riel basks in the feel of the place, feeling settled for the first time since… since all that time ago, when she was digging with Lonnie in their own courtyard, back home. Has it really only been a few days? It feels as though everything has changed.

  They proceed into the greenhouses. There are plants of every shape and size there, flowers, trees, shrubs, herbs, spices, rarities, common weeds, underwater corals—all of the varieties Riel has read about, never seen. In a specialized section, there are even a few plants Riel remembers from before, helped to flourish with carefully crafted grow lamps that mimic the glow of the sun.

  Animals, birds, and insects live in these habitats as well. This is the most of any wildlife Riel has ever seen in the Underground. She remembers Alaric telling her about them—in most of the Underground, occurrences where an animal can be observed are few and far between. Some people keep pets, but only few. Not many animals wander down here, and when they do, they often need to be cared for and homed with others of their kind in order to continue living down here.

  Riel skips through a side door and directly into the next greenhouse. The plants here are greener, smaller, and there are more people here in what look like uniforms, carrying bags of dirt, hoses, spray bottles, and trays of little pots all lined up in mostly neat rows. It’s a nursery.

  They even sell seeds and seedlings!

  “Lonnie,” Riel pleads. “How much money do we have?”

  “Enough,” Lonnie says, smiling.

  “Are you—”

  “Enough.” Lonnie repeats. He places a number of silvers in Riel’s hand. For a moment she is still, then she envelops him in a blissful hug. Her eyes water, but she refuses to cry.

  “Thank you,” she whispers. Then she’s off to find new plants to acquire.

  *****

  After Lonnie and his parents took her in, Riel hadn’t known what to do with herself. She alternated between quietly watching her hosts interact, listening to Lonnie speak to her, and lashing out: destroying books, blankets, smashing food into the floor. She threatened Ethel with her knife. She felt trapped in the bedroom, in the kitchen.

  The courtyard was peaceful.

  Riel hid behind rosebushes and dug in the ground, scratched at the fence. She watched leaves drift across the earth, watched flower petals fall. She moved dirt around and listened to conversations half—heard through open windows.

  There were a lot of plants, in the courtyard. When she first arrived they were well maintained. She watched them begin to droop and wilt as time passed, as she struggled to stay still and calm around Ethel and Alaric. As she attempted to say more than a word to Lonnie. As she shut her knife in Lonnie’s desk drawer and fought through the panic that flooded her body without it.

  One day, she realized. The plants were dying.

  She looked around herself. A dry, long abandoned wooden bucket was lying a few feet away. Riel blinked and moved towards it, picked it up. There was an old spigot in the wall. She filled the bucket with water. She carefully poured it in the dirt.

  The next day, the plants looked greener. She gave them more water.

  The plants had ended up dying anyways—turns out plants can drown, too. But something had clicked in Riel that day, really clicked. She had sat out behind some of the plants and didn’t go inside for meals until Alaric was the one who came out to look for her. When he did, she pointed at the plants and didn’t stop until he sat down, told her about them. Then, she went inside, sat at the table, and ate.

  Things weren’t perfect after that. But they got better.

  *****

  Lonnie finds her again at the circular pond of Central Garden. She’s cradling her new things in her hands: several packets of seeds and one small pot containing a baby silver-tree. It twists and curls in interesting shapes around itself, with white bark and silvery-green leaves. It’s gorgeous.

  “Are you happy?” Lonnie asks. Riel looks up and gives him a bashful but content smile.

  “Thank you so much,” Riel whispers. “I’ve dreamed of coming here, and now you… you’ve been really patient. I’m sorry.”

  “No, I’m glad!” Lonnie exclaims, settling next to her. “I know you love gardening, and I know you’ve wanted to come here ever since you heard about it. I like gardening too, just not as much as you. It’s nice being here… especially with you.”

  Riel blushes, curling slightly into herself. “You… you could have chosen anywhere in the world to go,” Riel says. “I would have followed you. Why did you pick here?” Why didn’t he bring her back home at the first opportunity?

  Lonnie looks at Riel in a way that can only be described as soft. Riel is astonished as his cheeks grow pink. Is he embarrassed?

  “I wanted… I don’t know. I just wanted to be with you. And I like seeing you like this. Happy.”

  Lonnie takes a deep breath before continuing. “Lately you’ve seemed less happy. And I don’t know why. And I guess you don’t have to tell me why, but… if you decide to leave, you will tell me, won’t you? Or at least tell someone… mum or da? I just can’t stand the thought of you disappearing and me never knowing what happened to you—”

  “Lonnie, I’m not leaving.” Riel says. Is that the truth? How can she live as Lonnie’s sister? Does she have to? Will Ethel and Alaric make her leave if she doesn’t agree to this? She really doesn’t think so.

  Should she listen to what Mino told her?

  “I think… I think we should go back… home.” Riel says.

  “Really? Are you sure?” Lonnie asks, but Riel can see in his eyes that he’s excited.

  “Yeah. I think so.”

  “Thank you,” Lonnie says, and leans over to give Riel a big hug. “I’m worried about you, you know. But I think things will be okay.”

  “Yeah,” Riel says softly, and pulls back. She looks away and carefully places her seeds in the rucksack. “Want to take this? I’ll carry Silvy.”

  “Silvy?”

  “Yes. The plant?”

  “Ohhhh.”

  *****

  Riel had grown up on stories of the beasts below the earth. Wicked, devilish things, with evil spells and without souls. Creatures that had no compassion, no care for anything—how could one love without a soul?

  When Riel had stumbled down here, alone, hopeless, dirty, disgusting—she thinks she really had wanted to die. She had failed the baby, who died. She had failed her brother, who died. She had failed her sister, who she abandoned. When she thought about the future, all she saw was a dull, dark, grey nothingness. An emptiness, a void. She had no dreams, no hope. She had nothing, she was nothing.

  She descended into the darkness. She could not see, her eyes would not adjust for several hours. She stumbled into trees, slid down slopes. She flinched away from distant sounds and scrambled over rocky ground.

  A boy called out to her. To her. She screamed. She tore her throat raw. She screamed and did not stop screaming, until suddenly, she couldn’t make another sound. She could only cry.

  “You’re sad,” he had said a moment later. “You’re scared.”

  Riel cried.

  “I hear you,” he said.