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“We had it wrong the whole time,” she cries. “The Ritual we know isn’t working to stop the mana surges, because that’s not… what it does,” Victoria says slowly.

I nod, making rapid notes as I analyze what we saw. “Clarabelle redirected the earthquake’s energy meant for the factory and channeled it to split the worlds into two instead. But it didn’t seem like her plan to make all the magic end up on one side, huh?”

Kat’s mom’s eyes widen. “So who would benefit from having all the power concentrated in one world and keeping it that way…”

The floor creaks; someone’s stepped into the space. They must be right behind me, because Victoria’s eyes lock with mine.

For a second, Victoria’s face goes slack and ashen with betrayal as a new realization forms, but we’re not privy to her thoughts.

It’s just a split second, because she nods at the newcomer.

I recognize the same way Kat sets her jaw, the same glimmer of stubbornness in her eyes.

There’s something else, something like determination written all over her face.

“Is it time, then?” Victoria asks. “Let’s go. I know what we need to do to end this.”

I turn around, but there’s nothing behind me except for the civil rights exhibit. The memory is over. It’s just Kat and I standing in the center of the spell diagram. The jars of focus ingredients are all dust and ashes.

Kat grimaces. “If we had one more second we would have seen who it was! Whoever told her it was time for the Ritual that day— that’s who Mom suspected most of tampering with it.”

“Someone she knew,” I muse.

“I wonder if it was someone on the council,” Kat says darkly. She collapses on the floor, ducking her head and cradling it in her hands. “I hate this. All this work, and we didn’t get anything useful.”

I shake my head with conviction. “That’s not true! We have everything we need, and your mom figured it out, too—she had a plan. And even if she didn’t get to carry it out, we can .”

Kat looks up and stares ahead into the night.

I open my notebook to a blank page, my heart pounding fast, my pen twitching like it’s final exams and I’ve just got the world’s most intense essay prompt.

I can do this. We’ve got all the puzzle pieces right here.

I start with making sense of what we learned, beginning with the sequence of events and the goals of each mage in their work.

1. Clarabelle’s spell breaks the world into two to save tons of people

2. Jìngyi joins the spell, and the two worlds stay connected (portals?)

3. Yazmin et al. stabilize this with time-release (mana surges and earthquakes that happen over the years)

4. Most of the mana happens to be in Kat’s world? Mana still comes through portals

5. Shannon Mayfield said her ancestor “found” the first portal—so Richard took advantage of this to control it

6. He is credited with “working with” Jìngyi to create the Stabilization Ritual to “stop” Clarabelle

7. This spell he made must use a version of what Yazmin et al. did, but WHAT IF the mana surges are just that energy trying to release? The worlds coming back together?

8. When the Ritual is recast, it prevents that epic earthquake, by releasing some energy and keeping portals open

9. The Order wants to keep Ritual being cast perpetually so they always are in power and can keep making money

10. Prophecy about the Ritual ending forever when a Woo participates

11. Victoria Woo time travels and learns the original spell

“It makes total sense,” I say, nodding as I review my notes.

“Our two worlds were originally one—which explains why there’s so much mythology about magic in mine.

And there is mana in my world, but only around the portals or during the surges.

And I can cast spells, and my friends—it isn’t a matter of who is magical or not, it’s not like anyone has a special gift—”

“It’s the energy source. All the mana is in my world.

” Kat gets up and packs up the inert ingredients listlessly, shoving everything into our bags.

“I wonder if the Ritual actually brings our worlds close together just enough so the one with too much mana can release some into the other world.” She holds the cheongsam, fiddling with the embroidery on the collar.

“You know, Jìngyi and Gregory Sutheim’s bodies were found, but the other three mages weren’t.

People always assumed they were injured during the quake, but I wonder if they were the first people to go over to your world. ”

“Maybe it was random,” I think aloud. “We’re not parallel worlds—the populations must have just shifted when it split.”

“The worlds are still connected because of their love,” Kat considers.

“Clarabelle went to your world, and Jìngyi was left in mine.” She stands and pulls up something on her runebook.

The schedule of portals. “That’s it, then,” she says shakily.

“Now we know what happened, and it didn’t work.

” Grief and bitterness seep into her voice.

“All they did was delay the inevitable. Maybe Clarabelle should have just let that original spell run its course, maybe then we wouldn’t be trapped in this endless and hopeless cycle!

” Kat throws up her hands and huffs. “Come on. You want to take the 11:14 portal or the 2:00 A.M. one home? Either way we have to get to the Arts District.”

“It did work,” I say, crossing my arms. I feel like I know Jìngyi and Clarabelle now, having felt their fears and hopes and desperation flow through me in the memory.

They loved and they lived, and they died that day.

“They saved the city from being obliterated, they saved those workers in that factory, and it sounds like Richard’s spell would have broken the world anyway—”

Color starts in Kat’s cheeks as her voice quickens.

“What they both were afraid of, it did happen—people in power taking advantage of others. The magic, the convenience of it. Someone has paid the price. All magic has a cost. If you don’t pay it…

The spelltech factories, they all started with that breakthrough.

Jìngyi and Clarabelle didn’t know how far it would go, how people don’t use magic on their own anymore and—it’s just made everything worse. ”

I think about the feeling of the weight of the world surrounding me, all that power, waiting for me to do something with it. I can imagine that energy with nowhere to go… would build up. Like a dam waiting to break.

Ideas start churning inside me; getting in the zone like this is what I’m meant to do, problem-solve and help people. I feel confident. Even if I’m not an academic genius mage, I know I’m good at this and I can figure out the solution.

Kat’s mom must have decided to do what Jìngyi did, rewrite the spell to change the intention. Kat said she was trying to rewrite the framework, but she got summoned to the Ritual right after this memory.

What if she told whoever she saw last about her plan? And they made sure it didn’t happen.

But we can do that now. If we participate in the Ritual and use the original intention of love and protecting people and connection—we can make the world whole again.

And the original energy has been released over time, so we’ll have to face whatever’s left, but at least the world will have an opportunity to heal. And the mana surges will stop.

Kat’s waiting for me by the stairs. I shoulder the other messenger bag, tuck my notebook into my pocket, and catch up to her, breathless.

“That’s it,” I say. “I know how we can fix everything.”

Kat stares at me, her mouth falling open in shock. I must have been half writing, half talking as I brainstormed, so it probably doesn’t all make sense, but I can explain it.

“What are you talking about?” Kat asks as we exit the museum. “You’ve just been muttering nonsense about history, events that we can’t change. You haven’t even answered my question—we have to get going in order to catch the streetcar. Which portal do you want to take home?”

I look over the schedule open on Kat’s runebook and tap the one on May 22. “This is the day the Ritual is scheduled,” I say.

Kat raises her eyebrow. “So?”

I grin at her, full of determination. “Let’s fulfill that prophecy.”