Chapter One: Sisters

The sun rose gently over the horizon over the sleeping town of Denver, Colorado, light creeped into the old house near the woods. In the window of the attic, the light slid into the bedroom of the two young girls from which our story was going to begin.

The light danced across the face of the girl tucked away under the bright orange covers. The sunlight hit her face, making her groan. She blinked and opened her eyes, groaning even more. She sat up, yawning.

This girl had bright, burning brown eyes. They were narrowed as the girl stuck out her tongue at the open window. Her hair was a vibrant red and was cut short so that it fell at her shoulders. It curled at the bottom, flaring up a little. She blew her bangs out of her face, brushing them off to the right. She stared over at the bed across from her, a body tucked under the blue blankets and sleeping peacefully.

With a smirk, the girl crept over to the side of the other bed. She wrapped her fingers around the blanket and yanked it off, revealing the slowly waking girl that was formerly under the blanket.

The girl underneath opened her eyes and slowly sat up. Her pale blonde hair fell around her in tangles as she brushed it off to the left. She blinked her icy blue eyes as she yawned into her pale hand.

"Give me back my blanket, Emma…" said the blonde. "I'm cold."

"You're always cold, Cassie," said Emma with a laugh.

"Cassandra. My name is Cassandra." Emma shrugged as she threw the blanket back at Cassandra.

"Quit whining about it. I've called you Cassie for the past fourteen years. Get used to it." Emma walked over to a hatch in the middle of the room. She wrapped her finger around the handle on the hatch and opened it. Cassandra yawned and walked over to her, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. Emma pushed down the staircase that allowed the two girls to exit their room.

"Fourteen?" Cassandra asked curiously. "Em, it's thirteen. We're thirteen years old."

"As of a few hours ago we aren't," said Emma, beginning to descend the stairs. "It's September ninth, you dip."

"Our birthday…" Cassandra followed Emma down the stairs and into the second floor hallway. "Do you think Mom and Dad will be back from their trip?" Emma shrugged, putting her hands behind her head.

"Who knows?"

"Well, they did promise to be back today." Emma and Cassandra came across another staircase and headed down it. "It's your turn to make breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah…" The sisters turned into the living room and took a right, heading into the kitchen.

"Don't make anything spicy. Like those pancakes you made on Monday." Emma walked over the refrigerator and opened it, glaring at her sister as she sat at the island in the middle of the room.

"Hey, they were good!"

"Pancakes are not meant to have chili powder in them." Emma laughed.

"Come on, Cass. Live a little." Cassandra rolled her eyes as Emma got to work on making breakfast.

Emma and Cassandra ate their breakfast in peace. Luckily for Cassandra's mild tastes, Emma had not spiked her sister's breakfast. Anyway, their peace was interrupted when Emma's phone went off.

Raising an eyebrow, Emma grabbed the phone off of the table beside her. She grinned.

"It's Mom," she said excitedly as she answered. Emma put the phone on speaker and slid it to the middle of the table.

"Hello, Mom," said Cassandra as she set her fork down.

"Hey, baby girl," said their mother from over the phone. "How are you two?"

"Tired," responded Emma. "Hey, are you coming back today?" There was silence on her parents end of the conversation. "Mom?"

"Sorry, Cass. Em. We're not going to be back for a while." Cassandra's face fell.

"Why not? You were due back today…" said the blonde. "What's wrong?"

"Just a hold up with our plane. You know that your father and I love you very much, right?"

"Yes…" Emma said, her voice curious. "Mom, is everything alright?"

"Yes, Emma. I want you two to open your birthday presents without us. Make sure your do it before ten o'clock this evening. They're in my dresser. Top drawer." Cassandra nodded.

"Alright. Thank you, Mom."

"Happy birthday girls. We love you."

"We love you, too," said both sisters in unison before the line clicked dead. There was silence.

"Do you think they're alright?" asked Emma. Cassandra looked up at her sister with a small hum.

"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked. Emma sighed, putting her head in the palm of her hand.

"She sounded… worried. Scared." Cassandra shrugged.

"She was most likely worried about us." She swallowed down the last bits of her meal. "I'm going to get ready of school."

"Hey, don't use all the hot water!"

"I make no promises."

"CASS!"

The two sisters quickly got dressed and ready for school. Emma looked at herself in the mirror.

She was dressed in a red t-shirt with a sleeveless, black denim jacket over it. She had a pair of jeans hugging her legs and red converse sneakers. She laughed at her appearance. Emma glanced over at her sister.

Cassandra was dressed in a light blue turtleneck sweater the fit her body. She had on a pair of white leggings and brown boots. She was humming softly to her herself as she braided her hair down her back. Emma walked over to her.

"Watcha humming?" she asked curiously, startling her sister. Cassandra's eyes opened and she jumped a little. Emma laughed.

"Sorry, Emma. I didn't hear you," said Cassandra with a sigh.

"What were you humming?" Cassandra laughed a little.

"You're going to think this is crazy, but I don't know. I just… knew it." Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know the words?" Cassandra nodded. "Sing 'em." Her sister turned red, but nodded slowly.

"Listen now, for a tale to behold, it's story is as old as the cold," Cassandra sang, her voice hauntingly beautiful and icy. "A fire rages bright, as ice holds him in her might. The storm rages on, and the myths will play in their song while life and death keep each other a bay, and balance is there to keep peace at the end of the day. We shall hold this power in our hands, and protect you I hope you understand. For one day, you will be on your own, with no one but each other to hold. This is the magic you'll know, the power of flame and snow. You'll return to our world on the day we part, but know that you'll be in our hearts." There was a chill in the room as Cassandra finished.

"Where did you learn that?" Emma asked. Cassandra shrugged in response.

"I just knew it." Emma hummed a bit. She glanced over at the clock on the nearby dresser. Her eyes widened.

"Cass, grab your bag and whatever book you're into this week, we gotta go!" Emma raced over, grabbing her schoolbag off of her bed. Cassandra raised her eyebrow and her sister's behaviour.

"Why are you in such a rush?" she asked.

"It's 7:15, that's why! Do you want to miss the bus!?" Cassandra's eyes widened. She snatched up her bag and the book on a nearby table. The two sisters quickly ran down both flights of stairs and out the door, racing to the to their bus stop on time.

Cassandra sat outside of her school, a book in her hand and her lunch beside her as she sat on a bench underneath the shade of a tree. It had long since been finished, and now the blonde was enjoying her time alone in peace and quiet.

Her fingers curled tightly around her book. She had found it in the small library she had made for herself in one of the spare rooms in her home. She had never seen the book before. Its cover was brown leather with golden corners. On the front was a golden spiral. The book was a mystery to her. Which is why she was so pulled in by its words. It was by far her favorite.

The book gave details of magic and magical beings. And right now, Cassandra was reading the section on magic.

"Ice Magic is all about persistence, slow but steady progression and advancement, like the great glaciers forever sliding across the landscape. Those who embrace the power of Ice, known as Thaumaturges, exhibit great patience and strength, but as a result they sometimes become rigid and inflexible. Thaumaturges use Chants to bargain or plead with Ice creatures to serve them," Cassandra muttered under her breath as she read the page. "Ice Masters train their students to take high amounts of damage and survive. Ice Wizards have the highest natural health and defenses which enable them to take large amounts of damage without dying. It is very hard to defeat them. A lot of their functional spells have to do with increasing their defenses and absorbing damage. They also have the ability to taunt enemies, which forces the enemy to focus attacks on them. This can come in handy when battling together." Cassandra smiled a little as she turned continued reading. "Ice Magic has its origins in the great Ice Giants, a race of Titans that build massive castles in the sky in th-" Cassandra was cut off from her reading when the book was pulled from her hands. Her icy eyes darted upwards. Standing in front of her were three girls, the one in the center holding her book.

"Casey, can I please have my book back?" Cassandra asked, holding her hand out. "I don't want any trouble."

"I sometime think that you spend too much time in that fantasy world of yours," said the middle girl, Casey. "You're not ready anything!"

"Yeah, the pages are blank," said another girl. Cassandra raised an eyebrow.

"No, they aren't," she said. "The pages have words on them. The book is about magic. I think it might be a spell-" The trio of girls laughed.

"A spellbook?" said the girl to the right. "What are you? Some kind of witch?"

"I never said-"

"Yeah, little Cassandra Willow is a witch!"

"Do you know what you do with witches?" said Casey. "You burn them." Cassandra's eyes widened.

"W-W-We're on school grounds…" Cassandra stuttered out. "You're not allowed to have a-" Casey handed the book off to another girl and grabbed Cassandra by her wrist, pulling her up. She tried to pull away, only to fail.

"Let me go, Casey!" she shouted. She kept her fingers crossed that a certain someone heard her. Casey pulled out a lighter from her pocket.

"What do you say girls? Burn the witch?" The girl flicked the lighter on, and Cassandra closed her eyes. The burn never came. She opened her eyes to see Emma standing in front of her, her hand placed firmly on the lighter, right where the flame should have been.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed. Emma pulled the lighter from Casey's hands and dropped it on the ground. "First off, leave my sister alone. Second, do you want your dad to know you have something like a lighter on the grounds?" Casey let go of Cassandra. The blonde took her chance and snatched her book back, clutching it tightly to her chest. Before either girl could exchange another word, a bell rang from inside the school. The upperclassmen shot a look at the sisters, and walked into the school. Emma sighed and picked the lighter up off the ground, stuffing it in her pocket.

"Are you okay, Emma?" asked Cassandra. Emma turned to her sister. She smiled.

"What?" said the redhead.

"The lighter was lit." Before Emma could protest, Cassandra grabbed her hand to take a look at it. The twins eyes widened. Emma's hand was unscahted. The girls locked eyes for a moment. Cassandra laughed a little. "I must have been seeing things…"

"Yeah…" Emma said as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. "What was going on anyway?" Cassandra looked down at her book.

"They thought I was a witch… because of my book…" Emma slung her arm around Cassandra's shoulder with a grin.

"They're just jealous of you, Cass." Cassandra raised an eyebrow. "Because you have such an awesome sister like me to help you out!" Cassandra laughed.

"That's not even relevant…" She sighed. "Thank you, Emma."

"No prob." The two girls began to walk back to school. "Hey, can you read me a little from your magicky book?" Cassandra nodded, opening to a random page in the book.

"Fire is passion, the bright, burning flame of raw emotion sweeping over everything. Those who follow the Fire Magic, known as Pyromancers, are tempestuous, very smart, quick to anger, and consumed by whatever drives them at that moment. They tend to walk a fine line, having great passion and enthusiasm for one's loves in life is good, but watch out! Passion can burn you up and consume you, leaving nothing but a charred husk of your former self. Pyromancers use Incantations to dominate and convince Fire creatures to do their bidding…"

Somewhere in an unknown location, an old man was standing over a crystal ball. He had white hair and a long beard. A moncle covered his blue eyes. He wore blue robes decorated with stars and moons, and a crooked, pointed hat as well. He held a staff in his hands, in which was a blue orb.

"Is the spell working?" asked a gray owl standing over on her perch. The old man nodded.

"Yes. After fourteen long years, I have found them," said the man. He waved a hand over the crystal ball. An image waved in the crystal, forming to show Emma and Cassandra, both girls in their kitchen once more, setting up for their third meal of the day. Emma was at the stove, while Cassandra was reading her book aloud "There they are!" The owl flew a little closer.

"They look just like Miranda and Caleb, may they rest in peace," said the owl. "Where are they?" .

"In a very distant realm…" The old man gasped with shock. "Goodness, they are in a world that does not even believe in magic!"

"The blonde girl does not seem to disbelieve," said the owl. "She is reading Miranda's spellbook rather intently." The man took a closer look.

"This may be easier than I believed it to be." The man turned away from the crystal. "I will prepare the spell. At ten o'clock tonight, we shall cast the spell and return them home."

Cassandra sighed as she dropped her plate in the sink. The day had been rather uneventful, save for what happened at school.

"Are you ready for bed?" she asked her sister, who was laying on the couch. Emma waved her hand.

"Yeah, you head upstairs and get ready," said Emma. "I'll go grab our b-day presents from Mom and Dad's room." Cassandra looked over at Emma.

"That's right. Mom wanted us to open our gift before ten o'clock…" Cassandra grabbed her book from off of the table. "I'll meet you upstairs." Cassandra raced up the staircase to the attic. Emma swung her legs over and got up, heading for their parents' bedroom.

Emma opened the hatch and crawled up into their bedroom. Cassandra was sitting on the floor waiting for her. Her book was in her lap.

"You're a little obsessed with that book, aren't you?" said Emma as she dropped down in front of her sister. Cassandra shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's rather interesting," said the blonde. "The details about magic in here make it seem like magic does exist." Emma laughed.

"Whatever you say magic girl." Cassandra rolled her eyes as she looked at the package in her sister's hands. Emma plucked a letter that was on top of it. She unfolded it with a raised eyebrow.

"What is it?" Cassandra asked. "What does it say?"

"If you two are reading this, it is the eve of your fourteenth birthday," Emma read out loud. "Just know, that we are proud of you and we love you. We hope to see you two again. The fire belongs to you, Emma. And the ice belongs to Cassandra. Happy birthday."

"Hope to see you again?" Cassandra asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, you know Dad and his dramatics." Emma folded the letter and placed it to the side. She opened the package and gasped. Drawing her fingers from inside the package, she pulled out a necklace. It was a ruby shaped to look like a flame. It was on a golden chain.

"Emma…" Cassandra breathed out. "That's beautiful…" Emma slid the package over to Cassandra. Cassandra dug her fingers in the package, withdrawing another necklace. It was a sapphire shaped like a snowflake. It hung on a silver chain.

"How much do you think Mom and Dad…" Emma said.

"It doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts, right?" Emma nodded. She and her sister slid their necklaces over their heads. It was then that the clock struck ten.

A bright, blue light began to glow from under the sisters. They stood up in a shocked panic, with Cassandra clutching her book to her chest.

"Emma?! What the heck is this?!" shouted Cassandra in a panic.

"Do you think I would know?!" Emma yelled back. "You're the one with the magic book!"

"I thought it was fake! You know, one of Dad's jokes!" The room began to turn white around them. The girls shielded their eyes as the light engulfed them. In a flash, both Emma and Cassandra Willow disappeared from their bedroom in Denver, Colorado.