LingLings Magic

The Trio

She came on a wind, symbolic of grace and beauty. The people beneath her schemed and planned and loved and betrayed, but she no longer cared.

She glided even faster, letting out a loud honk to the uncaring world. All who heard it could hear bittersweet pain and joy in the thick vibrations, and all the geese bowed their heads and honked back.

Soon she was flying over a dense, dark forest. She landed in a clearing and folded her wings.

A small voice called out to her from the darkness. "Amy?"

She lowered her head and melted into the shape of a tall, graceful girl with black hair, brown skin, and sparkling eyes. "Yes, my dear?"

A figure materialized out fo the shadows. He had dark hair and an awkward posture, as though not knowing what to do with his body. Looking at him, you would've sensed something a little off, as though not quite there yet. "How do I look?"

Amy pursed her lips. "Like a male. There's something missing, though."

The male sighed. "Maybe I should stay in the shadows."

"No, no. You might be named Shadow, but there are darker shadows, and there are lighter shadows that are exposed to more light. What I'm saying is, you need some exposure to the light."

A cloud suddenly zoomed right in front of both their eyes. The boy, Shadow, melted into the darkness around them.

As a figure jumped off the cloud, Amy yelled to Shadow, "Come back! It's Viv!"

"Viv?" asked Shadow's head, seeming to stick out of the blanket of darkness that covered the woods.

The figure that had descended from the cloud gave a small bow. "It is Vivi from heaven!"

"The trio is together!" Amy shouted in happiness, contrary to her earlier somber mood. "And today I met Shadow and Shadow met Viv! Yay!"

"You guys were too slow, so I had to come find you." Viv gave Amy a small smirk.

"Ugh. I was only a little late."

"It's been forty hours!"

"I was practicing, alright?" Seeing Viv's suspicious glance, Amy added: "Plus, Shadow's hard to find! He literally lives in the middle of nowhere!"

"I have to hide from my mom," Shadow inserted with a sheepish smile.

"Fine. Whatever. Come on, let's go! Everyone is waiting!" Viv jumped on her cloud and started gliding with a gleeful smile. "Race you!"

"Hey! Cheater!" Amy shapeshifted and took flight.

When the two girls arrived at the edge of the first, Shadow was already there.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Viv asked.

"I'm the shadow. I can materialize anywhere there's shadow."

"You need to change your name," Viv noted. "Or else everyone keeps saying 'shadow' and don't know which shadow they're talking about."

"You can change your name to Mozart," Amy suggested.

"Nah." Shadow thought for a moment. "Nate."

"Nate? Is that your real name?"

"Isn't that your name on one of your accounts? It's short for Natalia, right?" Amy noted.

"One, it was Natalie, not Natalia. Two... it's just Nate now." Shadow looked at his supportive friends.

"Oh, okay," Amy said.

"We should get going," Viv said. "We're gonna be late. Shadow-I mean Nate-you don't know the way, right? How do we guide you?"

"Just fly. I'll follow from below." Nate melted into the shadows with a wave, and the two girls took flight.

As Amy flew, she thought of the news overbearing her. Looking down, she saw occasional glimpses of Nate slipping through thee patches of light between the shadows, jumping through them with speed as though each patch had to be crossed as quickly as possible to avoid contact. Beside her, Viv glided confidently on her cloud. Noticing Amy's glance, Viv gave her a bright smile that warmed her heart.

The news could wait.