Twins Amber and Calcite couldn't be any less alike. Where Cal is happy to stay at home with his piano and guitar, Amber has a desperate need to see unknown places and explore the wilds. Chasing a childhood dream into the jungle of Selvadorada, Amber finds a dream cut short...and Cal finds himself living for two lives, instead of just one.
Amber: …how many rulers did they go through in five hundred years? Sheesh!
Moonstone: Amber? Honey, do you have a minute?
Amber: huh–oh, sure thing Mama!
Amber: What’s up?
Moonstone: Well, I wanted to talk to you about this going to Selvadorada plan of yours.
Amber: Oh. Mama, I’m not going until I’m a real archaeologist. That’s a long ways away! You don’t have to worry or anything.
Moonstone; Honey bee, I’m your mother. I’m always going to worry.
Amber: Mama…
Moonstone: Just…Are you sure this is something you want to do?
Amber: Of course I’m sure! …Mama, what’s wrong?
Moonstone: Nothing, I just. Well, I worry you might get a little too focused on this, honey. You’re a lot like your Ma that way.
Amber: Ma said that, too.
Amber: But isn’t that a good thing?
Moonstone: Not when it costs you everything around you. How can I put this…*sigh* What I’m trying to say is you know what you want, and you’re going to get it, and we’ll support you the whole way…but don’t forget you have a lot outside of that, too.
Amber: Mama…I’m not gonna forget that I’ve got you guys…
Moonstone: Not just us, but a whole life, too! Life is more than just getting to a placement, honey. There’s all kinds of things you might miss if you’re too focused on just one thing, and I don’t want that for you.
Amber: Like what?
Moonstone: Like time with your friends, and your family. Experiences besides university, like games and camping and movies and just hanging out with one another.
Moonstone: Just…promise me you’ll take things slow, too. You’ve got plenty of time to see Selva when you’re older, but there’s stuff you’ll miss doing as a kid that you can’t get back.
Amber: …okay. Okay, I promise. I’ll do more than just study. Just…*yawn* later, okay?
Calcite: So long as there is a later? She said that?
Amber: yeah! It was really weird…I’ve never heard Mama that sad before!
Calcite: What do you think that was about?
Amber: How should I know? I don’t think she wanted me to hear it either–oof.
Calcite: Sorry! You could ask Gramma? She knows a lot about weird stuff.
Amber: I might…it was really weird.
Calcite: Hey, maybe Mama can see the future, since she can’t see the…the present?
Amber: Cal, that kinda thing only happens in stories!
Calcite: I’m just saying!
Firefly: You will look after everyone for me, won’t you?
Ori: *woof*
Firefly: Thank you. When it is time, we will speak of this. In a way where you can actually speak back to me!
Ori: *Woof*
Firefly: …someday, Ori. Someday, I expect answers.
The next day…
Maré: Girls on one side, boys on the other!
Palus: Hey no fair! We're outnumbered with Canela here!
Amber: All’s fair in Pirates, Pal!
Amber: Dread Captain Amber sails the savage seas, plundering all she sees!
Calcite: –Captain Palus! Dread Captain Amber off the starboard bow!
Canela: Cannons to full power!
Calcite: It’s a hit!
Palus: Pirate cannons don’t have power settings, Canela…
Canela: no? They do now!
Amber: Ugh…why is it always so hot here…
Calcite: It’s a desert, Am.
Canela: At least there are many clean pools here!
Corona: You lived with your Gramma, Canela?
Canela: Yes! Abuela Caraméla. She is my father’s mother, but he was worried she was getting too old for me to stay there.
Amber: You must miss her. I can’t imagine Gran and Gramma not being there.
Canela: We talk on the phone every night, but it isn’t the same. You can’t hug someone through the phone!
Palus: Someday you might be able to! They’re building holo-touch tech and you could…
Calcite: Oh, brother…and you call Amber obsessed.
Amber: hey!
Palus: You are. …and I guess I am too but come on! Think about it! Being able to touch somebody as far away as Sixam! Without having to go to space!
Corona: Pff! I’d rather stay right here and have everyone I love with me, thanks!
Amber: How can you homebodies stand it!? Everything’s so boring here!
Calcite: Hey, boring’s nice! Nothing changing, no surprises…it’s safe like that.
Canela: It is boring, though…a little excitement is nice sometimes. Adventure!
Amber; Ha! I knew I liked you, Canela.
One night…
Corona: Amber…I wanna go home…
Amber: Cor…you’re like, right next door. We were gonna hang out and play games all night…
Corona: I want my Moms!
Firefly: What is this now?
Amber: I think Cor’s scared.
Firefly: Corona, darling, what’s the matter?
Corona: I don’t…I wanna go home, Gramma…
Firefly: You can if you really wish to, but you have been looking forward to this for days! We have your favorite snacks, and that Star Guardian game you all like so much…you do still like it, do you not?
Corona: I do…okay. Okay, I’ll stay a while…but I can go home later if I want, right?
Firefly: I will walk you back myself, no matter what time of night it is. I give you my word.
Later…
*laughter*
Maré: And then she–she does a belly flop right into the pool!
Amber: Ugh don’t remind me!
Palus: That was a pretty bad landing, Am.
Lacus: Worst landing ever.
Calcite: Shut it, Lac. You belly flopped a few times yourself.
Corona: Right in front of Canela, though…that had to sting. You kinda like her, don’t you?
Amber: Ugh, not like that! She’s…I mean she’s great but I…ugh, just thinking of kissing somebody makes me sick.
Calcite: Ma said we couldn’t kiss somebody until we’re sixteen anyway.
Corona: Your Ma’s weird. …so when people kiss in movies, Am, that makes you sick too?
Amber: No, just the thought of me doing that with somebody else. It’s so messy looking…ugh.
Corona: guess that means you don’t wanna get married, huh.
Amber: Ugh, no. I’m good on my own, thanks! I’ll be too busy with work anyway.
Maré: I hear that! Mom and Dad are so sappy:…
Palus & Lacus: UGH!
Palus: Does that mean you wanna get married, Cor?
Corona: Someday, yeah! I wanna find a partner, someone who I can be with like Mom and Mommy are….
Maré: Oh, you mean really loveydovey and sappy? Keep looking, cousin, that’s a long time away!
Amber: You wanna get tied down to one place like that, Cor? Why?
Corona: It’s not a place, Am, it’s a person! I mean, sure, I like the Springs and wanna stay here, but if I’ve got someone else we could live anywhere.
Calcite: Homebody Corona, moving? Hahaha.
Amber: Wow. And you call Ma weird.
Calcite: I mean…we’re all kinda weird…
Everyone: Speak for yourself!
The next morning….
Firefly: …know that I love you, and will always be with you…
Spinel: …mmph. ..’Fly?
Firefly: Here, Spinel. To Calcite, my sweet Prince…
Firefly: If you are reading this, it means I am gone…
Spinel: What’re you up to, love?
Firefly: Writing letters for the children. For when I am no longer here.
Spinel: That’s–are you feeling okay? Should I call for a doctor–
Firefly: *chuckle* Spinel, I am fine. It is just…well, it is a part of how my people prepared for death. My parents wrote me letters when I was perhaps two or three years old. They lived quite a bit longer than that.
Firefly: it is simply custom.
Spinel: Oh. Phew. You scared me, I thought…
Firefly: No, there is plenty of time left before that. Here–I can finish these later. Lay with me.
Spinel: Do you ever regret it? Saving my life back then?
Firefly: Never. Not even for a heartbeat.
Spinel: But you gave up your magic, and a whole lot of years…
Firefly: That is true. But they would have been lonely years, and magic could not give me the love you and I have shared these past decades.
Firefly: If I had a chance to redo that day, I would change nothing. …Well, I would change a few things, but saving you would not have been one of them.
Spinel: *snorting laugh* Yeah, I know what you mean.
Spinel: I love you, Firefly.
Firefly: And I you, Spinel. Queen of my Heart.
Saffron: Thank you for helping outside, honey bun.
Calcite: Sure thing, Ma. I’m gonna go play with the others now, okay?
Saffron: Scoot!
Calcite: Am? …Gramma, where’d Am go?
Firefly: Back to her room. She said something about extra reading?
Palus: Ugh, not again! AMBER WE’RE GONNA PLAY STAR GUARDIANS WITHOUT YOU!
Amber: GO AHEAD!
Corona: Go left, go left–I said left, Pal!
Palus: That was left!
-
Maré: Amber doesn’t know what she’s missing.
Calcite: …I’d trade her for the peace and quiet.
Corona: You’re not going back to Selva for Harvestfest?
Canela: We don’t really celebrate it the way you do? My Abuela sent some recipes with me, and Papa is going to…try and cook. We might just order in.
Amber: Sounds like Uncle Skye.
Lacus: Hey, Dad’s not that bad–okay no he is.
*kids laugh*
Firefly: Hm…
Calcite: Um…Knight to…G2.
Firefly: –drat! Excellent move.
Firefly: Will you be staying for Harvestfest, Artemis?
Artemis: I can’t–I’m covering the overnight shift at the clinic that day so I’m gonna have to leave tonight.
Saffron: We can make you some stuff to take back, though.
Artemis: Absolutely! Here–both of you help me!
Harvestfest Weekend…
Calcite: Come on, Am! You promised we’d go play Space Explorers this weekend.
Amber: Cal–
Calcite: Your books can wait one day, sis!
Amber: Oh, alright fine.
Calcite: They fly on to explore another day! Where will they go next?
Amber: …heh. Anywhere but here.
Amber: Argh…fine, yeah, it is!
Calcite: Haha, told you!
Calcite: Trouble ahead, Captain Amber!
Amber: Take the wheel, Captain Calcite!
Amber: Picking her targets, Captain Amber opens fire–
*Sharp whistle*
Saffron: Dinnertime, kids!
Amber/Calcite: Coming, Ma!
🎶 But when all else has been forgotten
Still our song lives on 🎶
🎶 How does a moment last forever
When our song lives on 🎶
Calcite: …guess it’s back to your books now, huh?
Amber: Yep. What, miss me already?
Calcite: …you’re my twin, Am. You’d miss me too.
And so the years went on beneath the desert sun. Paths diverged, united, and continued onward towards the great unknown…
–
Amber: Who the–who files Wineburg Classical Era relics with Selvadoradan history?! They look nothing alike!
Prof. Ciruela: And now you see why I wanted you both down here with me, yes?
Canela: Si, Papa…Miradora nos cuida–did they have no system of organization?
Amber: Guess we know why that one shut down..
Canela: Well, a lack of funding does lead to certain…restraint.
Amber: *sigh* Yeah, yeah, I know…
Prof. Ciruela: Mija…
Canela: I’m just saying, Papa.
Amber: Still, they could have at least gotten us a card system…
Prof. Ciruela: They did. It just…happens to have been misplaced. Among everything else.
*All sigh*
Amber: Well, nothing to do but get our hands dirty.
Several hours pass…
Prof. Ciruela: Why don’t you girls take a break and get a coffee? This is going to take several days to sort through.
Canela: A coffee sounds wonderful. We’ll bring you one back, Papa.
Amber: …should probably use the bathroom anyway.
Canela: *laugh* How do you stay so focused on one thing like that, Amber? And especially old and boring things like this!
Amber: It’s not boring! I mean, yeah, Kingdom of Wineburg stuff’s really old and kinda stale, but it’s still history. I’ve always loved history.
Canela: Selvadoradan most of all, eh amiga?
Amber: heh, yeah. …Does it bother you? I mean, I’m not from Selva so what place do I have digging into it so hard?
Canela: It doesn’t bother me because you care enough to ask that. You aren’t in it for making money, you want to explore.
Amber: I really, really do.
Canela: So no, I’m not bothered. Besides, it means that you get to be the one to go crawling through the jungle, not me!
Amber: *laugh*
Amber: It’s not that bad, is it?
Canela: Ugh…twice as bad as the sauna at Rock’s, and with bugs–
Amber/Canela: The size of your head!
Amber: But isn’t that what Bugs-be-gone is good for?
Canela: If it works. Some of the skeletons we’ve found had holes in them that matched bug bits. It’s…quite disturbing, actually.
Amber: Maybe that’s why the worshipped the Llama. It would spit them down.
Canela: That’s certainly one way to look at things. Come on–the café should be empty by now.
Canela: So have you thought about which university you’ll attend? Several offer archaeology programs.
Amber: Well I wanted to jump straight into Alam U, but you need a sponsorship letter and I don’t wanna bug your Dad when that’s where you're going.
Canela: Amber, he wouldn’t mind.
Amber: I know! But I wanna do this myself, for myself. So I’m going to Wineburg after final placements. It’s a distinguished degree program, so it’ll be hard but…
Corona: I have full faith in you, amiga.
Amber: Heh, thanks. It’s still a couple years off, though.
Canela: Closer than when we were children, at least.
Amber: Don’t remind me!
Amber: …I’m gonna miss you, you know.
Canela: No you won’t. You’ll be so busy with your studies you won’t have time to think about my being half a world away.
Canela: Besides, if I know you, you’ll have that degree in half the time. It won’t be forever.
Amber: Ha…you know me, Canela. Always moving.
Canela: Pues, si, pero…that can be a good thing, so long as you remember to–
Amber: –look around and don’t forget life is more than studying and a goal, I know.
Canela: Ah, yes, you’ve heard that one before.
Amber: pff, only a few thousand times. Your dad, Mama and Ma, Gram and Gran…heck, even Cal.
Canela: They’re only worried about you missing out, that’s all.
Amber: What’s there to miss out on? Some tiny town in the desert? No thanks.
Canela: Not the town, but who’s in it…and it isn’t like Alam is much bigger, you know.
Calcite: So what made you want to start painting anyway?
Firefly: It was something I always enjoyed as a child, I simply…fell out of practice when I was your age.
Calcite: What happened?
Firefly: It is a…very long story, darling.
Calcite: Does it look like I’m going anywhere?
Firefly: Ha! Well, let us just say that my family ran afoul of a very angry, very evil man and things such as hobbies became much less important.
Calcite: But you still started up again after?
Firefly: Well, yes. Your Grandmother Opal was quite good and saw me considering the easel one day. She was quite insistent.
Calcite: Well, I’m glad. It looks like you were having fun.
Firefly: Would you like to try?
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