━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ 𝖒𝖎𝖐𝖗𝖔𝖐𝖔𝖘𝖒𝖔𝖘.

        the girl with the iridescent parasol is five years old when she’s found dead in paradise river, golden curls torn out in clumps and chopped to her shoulder, and glossy wings clipped off at the base.

        the girl with the iridescent parasol is five years old when the sky cries for her above all else, drowning maninora forest in it’s crystalline tears.

        the girl with the iridescent parasol is five years old when the spirits of the forest find her and deem her death as unjust and unvirtuous.

        the girl with the iridescent parasol is five years old when she is restored, repaired, replenished, and given a new chance at life.

        the girl with the iridescent parasol is five years old when she gives herself a name and a place in the world.

        he swallows hard, pressing his eyes closed tightly and pulling the blankets up and over his head. he cups his hands over his ears, shakes his head, and shoves his face into his pillow.

        ❝ there’s nothing there ... nothing there ... ghosts aren’t real ... they aren’t real ... ❞

        he keeps his eyes closed, though, keeps his head turned away. he doesn’t want to risk looking, just in case something is there, just in case something is waiting for him at the foot of his bed.

        ❝ you’re not allowed to leave the confines of your chamber, do you understand ?? never are you allowed to leave. ❞

        no. he doesn’t understand. he never had and he probably never will, but he doesn’t question it. he can only assume that it’s because of what is happening outside of his chamber that he isn’t allowed to leave, for he hears the screams and cries, feels the earthquakes and rolling thunder --- his papa must be trying to protect him from the outside.

        never, in a million years, did he think that it’s because of him, because of something as simple as his touch, because his papa was trying to protect everyone else.

        pathetic sobs fall from split, bloody lips as he drags himself across the marble floor in some desperate attempt to get away. it’s harder than it should be, but every ounce of strength he had has been forcefully ripped out of him and magic, even in good condition, has never been his forte.

        ❝ oh, come on !! stop being such a baby and get up !! ❞

        ❝ i -- i ... can’t --- ❞

        all he can do is cry against the beautifully embellished, but now bloodstained floor. his head shakes slowly, fingers grasping at nothing but a futile attempt to escape.

        ❝ oh, my gods !! this is your own fucking fault, you whiny brat !! ❞

        the slightly older boy grasps onto a fistful of his brother’s shirt and yanks him up and off the floor.

        ❝ i said get the fuck up --- ❞

        he’s cut off by an earsplitting scream finally forcing its way passed the smaller boy’s lips, and he just barely manages to gasp out a broken, ❝ c-can’t ... ❞ before he goes limp in his hold.

        odd eyes widen in a fit of shock, his hand unfurls from its previous place grasping at his brother’s shirt, and he winces as the limp body hits the marble floor with a thud.

        ❝ i -- get up ... get up !! i didn’t --- i didn’t mean to !! i didn’t mean to !! get up !! she’s going to hate me !! get up !! get up !! ❞

        a knock on the wooden fence catches the attention of the young boy and he quickly sprints across the yard to poke his head over the fence.

        ❝ oh, hi !! ❞

        ❝ i have a ... uh, extra large fan, battery powered engine, and three shipments of steel pipes and cables to be delivered to this address ?? does that sound ... right ?? ❞

        the confusion in the man’s voice is evident, and all the boy does is smile brightly.

        ❝ yep !! that sounds exactly right !! you can just bring it through the gate !! ❞

        ❝ ... hey, kid, aren’t you a little young to be doing all this ?? ❞

        a soft laugh spills into the warm, summer air. ❝ yes !! yes, i am !! ❞

        he’s sixteen years old and he is the most important thing his world has ever known.

        that’s what he’s told as the silver needle is pressed into his neck, as his veins fill with cold, and as the liquid numbness and induced paralysis set in. it’s what he’s told as he’s lifted from his bed and carried unconsentingly from his chamber, through the crystalline hallways, into the palace’s brightest, most beautifully iridescent room.

        ❝ the security of our world hinges on how perfect you are. ❞

        that’s what he’s told as unfamiliar hands grab him, pet him, touch him all over. as he’s forcefully kept in a state of complete consciousness, and yet as he has no idea what is truly being done to him.

        it’s what he’s told as he’s made out to be the epitome of perfect to benefit everyone, everyone, no matter what it does to him.

        each and every hair is perfectly in place. lips are the perfect shade of honeysuckle pink. porcelain cheeks hold the perfect rosiness. mismatched eyes are so beautifully glossed over. mind is so delightfully blank.

        he is beautifully dressed, and delightfully drugged, and elegantly stripped of all senses.

        he is lifted and contorted and put on display like the utterly captivating, utterly perfect porcelain doll that he is forever made out to be.

        pathetic cries fall from bloody lips as he stares up at the beautiful mix of light and dark that his father holds in his hand. he twirls it around, holds it up, lets it shine like it’s some humane jewel, there to be admired.

        a feeble hand slowly lifts from where it had been previously pawing at the floor, as if reaching out for the mix, as if trying to draw it to him, trying to draw it back to him.

        a foot comes down, crushing his hand against the floor as a sinister laugh spills into the harsh, cold air.

        ❝ it’s such a pity that such magic has been going to complete and total waste for so many years. i know it’s been used in ... small incriminates, but ... this is far more efficient. ❞

        ❝ pl -- please... please, that --- i-i'll --- ❞

        a loud sob escapes his lips, his eyes press tightly shut, his head lolls limply against the floor as he tries so desperately to tear his attention away from the scene. all too abruptly, though, a hand grasps at his jaw, cruel fingertips pressing purple bruises into his skin, and his eyes are forced open, forced to watch, to stare so intently as his own magic, as such an important piece of him, is fed so eagerly, so maliciously into his cruel, sinister reflection.

        he wants to cry, wants to plead for it back, for them to just give him his pieces back. he feels empty, broken, completely incomplete. not a word, not a sound leaves his lips, though. silent tears simply fall down his cheeks, mixing with the blood that’s pooled beneath his head.

        it’s a silent eight months that follow.

        a loud, pained screech sounds throughout the manor, awakening everyone within as images flash across his mind at a speed faster than light. he stumbles from his bed, one hand pressing at his eyes as the other grasps at his nightstand in some desperate attempt to hold himself steady.

        he sounds like he’s being murdered and soon there’s familiar hands on him, all trying to gently guide him back to bed, to make sure he’s alright. he’s stiff, though, clutching the nightstand like it’s his lifeline and pressing his eyes closed so tightly they seem glued shut.

        when he finally settles down, when the strange images slow and come to a stop, he’s breathing heavily and there’s a dull ache in his head. the feeling isn’t foreign, but it’s also not entirely familiar.

        ❝ ... it was only a night terror. go back to bed. i -- i’ll tell you all about it in the morning if i must. ❞

        ❝ in the coming years  ... this ceremony will begin fall upon your shoulders, dearest. it may seem like an abundance to take on --- our kingdom depends on it, after all --- but i already trust that you hold shall magnificent festivals in the years when it is finally your time. ❞

        the shrill screams and earsplitting shrieks, the loud cries and harsh sobs, the terror-filled ambiance fills her ears as her pastel pink eyes meet her father’s own silver ones. she searches such eyes for love, for adoration, for anything at all, but all she finds is a sinister pride hiding away in his crystalline irises. she forces a smile to come to her rose petal pink lips.

        ❝ ... i promise i won’t let you down, daddy. ❞

        she stands under the old oak tree, hand gently placed on its trunk as she glances around, evidently waiting for someone. it’s been hours since she’d arrived. her long, pure white dress is getting drenched, soiled in the rain. her curls are falling quickly and her mascara is sure to be running down her cheeks. yet she continues to wait, perfectly manicured hands gently clutching the bag of jewels she’d managed to steal from her mother’s jewelry box.

        the tall clocktower in town square chimes three times, signalling that it’s three in the morning, and he still hasn’t shown. she’s starting to lose hope, and a soft sigh leaves her lips as she drags her hand down the rough trunk of the old tree and turns to leave.

        and her ice blue eyes meet a dark silhouette of a man. her heart beats fast and loud, her hands clutch the velvet bag in a vice grip, a smile comes to her cherry red lips, and ---

        a loud shriek is the final noise she makes. crimson blood slips with ease from her neck and spills through the grass. she awakes in an unfamiliar world with her jewels missing, but with a new cold and lonely feeling hanging over her.

        she walks through the front door with her head hung low, ribbons in her hair torn and tattered, and skin covered in scratches and bruises. she drags her backpack behind her on the floor as she makes a beeline for her bedroom.

        ❝ baby sis ?? is that you ?? i was waiting ‘til you got home to film my new --- oh, my god, what happened to you ?? ❞

        she bats worried hands away as they reach out to touch her, to see if she’s okay.

        ❝ i’m fine. just leave it alone, okay ?? and please, just ... don’t tell mom and dad. ❞

        ❝ don’t tell mom and dad ?? you’re --- you’re a wreck, of course i’m gonna tell mom and dad !! if i don’t, you’ll probably get yourself killed next time you --- ❞

        ❝ maybe that’s what i’m trying to do !! ❞ it’s loud and abrupt, and she hadn’t intended to say it. ❝ ... maybe --- maybe if i get hurt, if ... if he somehow hears that --- that something happened --- maybe he’ll finally just come home !! ❞

        his face falls and his heart drops to his stomach. he steps toward his sister, a soft, ❝ baby sis ... that --- that’s not the way to get him to come home ... ❞ spilling into the air.

        ❝ than how ?! ❞ she screams as loud as her lungs will allow. ❝ than --- than how ... ❞

        he pulls her into a hug, her face pressed against his chest as broken sobs spill from her lips. he’s never seen her so upset, didn’t know that she’d been so affected by something that had happened years ago. perhaps he’d been too focused on himself all this time, on trying to forget it all, on trying to pretend it had never happened.

        ❝ i ... i don’t know ... ❞ he admits, ❝ i don’t know. ❞

        the whisperings are louder than intended as she passes them by, but what they whisper of is no secret at all. in fact, it’s something she’s always known, something she’s been aware of all along.

        ❝ her magic is nowhere near as powerful as her sisters’ ... i mean, does she even practise her magic ?? ❞

        she doesn’t.

        ❝ i don’t think so. and she’s not very social ... i guess it’s a good thing she’s not the heir. ❞

        she’s not.

        ❝ yeah. or even just an ambassador. i’m not sure that would be good for anyone involved. ❞

        it wouldn’t.

        she knows all this. she knows that she’s the middle child. she knows that she got the short end of the stick in regards to just about everything. she knows that she’s not exactly good enough and probably never will be, but she’s long since accepted it.

        she holds the necklace up to the light, head tilting slightly to one side as it glimmers in the bright lights of her dressing room. she knows her accessories backwards and forwards, but this piece ... this necklace is far too unfamiliar. she doesn’t recall purchasing it, she’s not sure she’s ever even seen it before, and yet ... it feels so right as she clasps it around her neck; it feels like it belongs with her.

        he’s frozen in place as he stares into the room, unable to even scream in a fit of terror as he watches the scene unfold in front of him. the screams of his parents fill his ears, but they dull in comparison to the sound of flesh tearing and fire blazing.

        he manages to look away from the scene, his own eyes accidentally meeting a familiar pair of golden and red ones.

        ❝ find your sister and run. ❞

        the words aren’t uttered aloud, just mouthed to him from equally familiar bloodstained lips, but he makes them out all the same. yet he doesn’t run, doesn’t move an inch as he’s too utterly mortified to so much as even think properly.

        ❝ i said run !! ❞

        the door slams in front of him and, for the first time in that moment, he’s forced into a state of acceptance. a heavy breath escapes his lips, his heart pounds in his chest; he takes off, abandoning his childhood home and the people who raised him in it, his sole focus on doing exactly as he was told before it’s far too late.

        the typically soft and smooth fabric feels rough against her skin and she winces at its touch, but that doesn’t stop her from twisting it around herself, from twirling herself into a cocoon, a prison of red fabric.

        when she was young, she’d loved the feel of it against her skin, she’d loved practising and competing, loved simply doing it for fun. it was silly of her to think that it would always be fun, though, that she would always enjoy it without so much as a care in the world.

        perhaps that was why she’d run away, why she’d disappeared without so much as a word, abandoned the only home she’d ever known, stolen a daughter, a sister from her own family like a thief in the night. perhaps she was trying to find a love for her art again, trying to find the love that had been stripped away from her by the very people who were supposed to do nothing but love and support her.

        it doesn’t matter now, she tells herself as the tent to the bigtop opens for general admission, right now, only tonight’s performance matters.

        the earth shakes with cosmic proportions, the ground cracking open, splitting apart, and crumbling beneath such epic power. dark, pitch black clouds form like puffs of sinister smoke in the ash grey sky, furling tragically and rolling with ease across it like some wicked blanket from hell. bloody tears fall from such clouds, hitting against the ground like sharp pins, drowning the earth in the messy, red liquid.

        the lightning flashes, the thunder crashes, a wildfire blazes in the distance, terrorising and burning down small populations and civilizations in their entirety.

        ❝ ... the be all, end all ... ❞

        divine screams spill into the air.

        ❝ ... the perfect weapon ... ❞

        bloody fingers claw at the marble floor.

        ❝ ... the end of times ... ❞

        a loud snap is heard as an invisible weight comes down against his spine, as invisible claws tear his chest open, as the dam opens and blood fills his lungs, floods his throat, and spills, like velvet ribbon, from plush lips.

        ❝ n-noire !! hes -- ‘estia !! dea -- ros --- ❞ he tries to scream, calling out for help for the first time in his life, between gushes of blood.

        ❝ ... all you were intended to be ... and all i have is this ... pathetic. ❞

        a scream louder than any crash of thunder, sharper than any bolt of lightning, more sinister than any dark cloud, more searing than any wildfire, more epic than any earthquake imaginable sounds throughout earth and the lands above and below as another harsh snap sounds, as an endless river of red spills from his lips and pools beneath his head, and as golden and red eyes gloss over and stare blankly into an empty nothingness.

        she stares at her phone, an amused smile coming to her lips as she admires her own image on the screen. she doesn’t bother reading the words that accompany it. she already knows what they say. they just flash across her mind effortlessly at the human of it all.

        world-class con artist. grand heist. shot and killed. vatician museum.

        a soft laugh bubbles from her lips as she shakes her head, tucks her phone into the pocket of her jeans, and leaps off of the roof of the building. she disappears into the night.

        she’s far too used to the murmured arguments that fall through the thin walls of her bedroom at night when they think she’s not listening. she’s far too used to the topic of conversation being herself. she’s far to used to having to pretend that she didn’t hear them the next day when they ask how she slept the night before.

        ❝ nothing she does ... ever ends in anything good. ❞

        ❝ i know, i ... we were doing some healing earlier and she --- it was my mistake of letting her even try ... ❞

        ❝ we have to do something about her before she --- before she does too much bad. ❞

        ❝ ... she’s only sixteen. she has ... a few more years. we’ll give her a few more years. ❞

        ❝ two more years. when she’s eighteen. ❞

        ❝ when she’s eighteen. ❞

        she doesn’t know what they mean, doesn’t know what her age has to do with anything, but ... she tries to ignore it. she trusts her parents, trusts the people around her. so, she simply turns over, pulls her pillow over her head, and forces herself to sleep.

        skilled feet glide across the glossy, wooden floor that has somehow become her god. toes are perfectly pointed, arms are excellently bent. tangled locks of brown hair scatter across her face as she twirls, twirls, twirls.

        she takes a leap, momentarily falls to the floor, keeps twirling.

        bloody footprints scatter beautifully across the floor.

        stop, stop, stop. but she can’t. she will keep twirling. she must keep twirling.

        a ballerina in a music box, twirling endlessly upon command.

        a fit of sobs escapes from her lips and spills into the air as she’s dragged by her hair across the cement. she kicks her feet and thrashes her head back and forth, screaming at the very top of her lungs for help as she tries so, so desperately to get away.

        ❝ no !! no, please !! please !! just let me go !! just let me go !! please !! please just let me go !! ❞

        ❝ just shut the fuck up, brat !! it’ll be over the sooner you shut up !! ❞

        ❝ no !! just let me go !! let me go !! ❞

        a burst of light escapes her. his grip on her hair loosens and he falls to the ground.

        when she opens her eyes again, all she sees is stars.

        ❝ come on !! come on !! let’s go play, we --- we have to go play !! ❞

        his words appear to fall on deaf ears, and he stares up at his only companion, his only friend before he tries again.

        ❝ we haven’t played in forever !! can we please go play now ?? ❞

        he’s met with an annoyed sigh and an irritated. ❝ you’re not real. fuck off and go play by yourself. ❞

        ❝ will you marry me ?? ❞

        the question falls from her glossy lips with such hope laced with each word. her eyes sparkle as if they had stolen a million stars from the sky.

        ❝ what ?? ❞

        this question comes out fast, hard and cold.

        ❝ will you --- ❞

        ❝ no, i heard you the first time. are you fucking insane ?? we just met, like, two days ago. you were a good fuck and all, but ... seriously, the fuck ?? ❞

        this time, her eyes sparkle with tears, glossy lip quivering as she tries not to cry.

        you’re worthless if you’re not married. you’re life is meaningless if you never marry. marriage is the only way. it’s the only way.

        ❝ but ... but you have to marry me. you --- you have to !! you have to !! ❞

        ❝ i can put his spirit in the lantern. as long as the flame stays lit, he will live on inside. take on the task of lantern bearer… or watch your brother perish. come here. ❞

        ❝ there has to be another way ... there has to be some other way. ❞

        ❝ no. there is only me, there is only my way, there is only the forest, and there is only surrender. ❞

        the mirror must be warped, she tells herself. she stares into the reflective glass and she swears she sees her naturally green eyes flicker red, then black, before settling back to green. the mirror must be warped.

        something touches her shoulder and she spins around to face it, but her eyes fall upon nothing more than the lonely emptiness of her bedroom.

        ❝ memento mori, secundarum, memento mori. ❞

        the words are far too familiar. she screams as she stares down at her hands, now covered in what she can tell is her own blood.

        ❝ not again, not again !! please, please, not again !! ❞

        they all think she’s going crazy, but she knows what she sees.

        ❝ i’m sorry ... but it has to be done. for the sake of all of these people. you understand. ❞

        no. they don’t, they never do, but they’re not meant to. not really.

        ❝ your sacrifice is keeping an entire population alive and well. you are doing good. ❞

        she lies through her teeth, she knows better, and yet she can’t stop. she knows what will happen if she does.

        ❝ it’ll all be over soon. just ... close your eyes and try to be very still. ❞

        you’re too much of a burden. too much of a burden.

        she messily shoves as many of her clothes as she can fit into her backpack, followed by a few necessities --- a toothbrush, a hairbrush, her phone.

        you have to do this for her. you have to.

        she sniffles, brings her hair around to tie it into a loose ponytail, and slings her backpack over her shoulder.

        it’ll be better this way. she won’t be so sad all the time.

        she closes her eyes and, with a deep breath, leaps from the window, running as fast as her short legs will carry her across the sidewalk and down the street.

        shaky hands hold the gold tray carefully, balancing the delicate china tea set as she walks slowly down the golden hallway. she’s not typically so nervous, far too accustomed to the life that she was condemned to from the time she was born to fear anything within the palace any longer. she supposes that’s it’s not truly anything within the palace that she fears, though. she supposes that it’s the words that had fallen into her ears upon her visit with her parents that scar her.

        she doesn’t really love you. she never will. you’re not even meant to pay any attention to her. she doesn’t hold your soul. he does. him. stop being so silly all the time. forget about her.

        a soft sigh escapes her lips as she reaches the door to her chamber. she takes a deep breath, puts on a smile, and gently knocks, knocks, knocks away at the door.

        there’s blood everywhere --- on the bed, on the floor, all over her skin. every breath she takes she feels like her lungs are on fire, and she’s surprised that they’re not when every couple minutes she leans over the side of her bed and coughs and retches endlessly as thick, red liquid pours from her lips.

        everyone is rushing around, yelling at each other. she thinks they’re trying to help, trying to think of some way to help her, but --- she doesn’t want them to worry. she didn’t mean to cause them so much stress and pain. this had only happened because she’d wanted to help. she’d wanted to help and she didn’t even think of the dangers that she knew came with outside world as of late.

        a soft sob leaves her lips as she tries to speak, tries to tell everyone that it’s okay, that she’s okay, and that she’s sorry.

        she’s silenced before she can say anything, though, as an all too familiar hand gently touches her shoulder and an equally familiar voice murmurs something to her, something that she can’t quite make out, before her hair is ruffled and the familiar presence disappears.

        the last thing she remembers is being told to stay awake.

        brown eyes stare at the golden flames that dance across the skin of the hand that’s outstretched in front of him.

        ❝ oh, come on !! it won’t hurt !! it’s just to seal the deal !! for official purposes !! ❞

        ❝ ... you swear this will bring her back ?? ❞

        ❝ you have my word !! i would never tell a lie from the tip of a golden tongue !! ❞

        whatever that’s supposed to mean. still, he reaches out, allowing his own hand to meet with the flame-covered hand of his companion.

        ❝ thank you for shopping with zazzy universal !! no refunds, exchanges, or returns !! i’ll be back in a year to drag you to the pit !! ❞

        a cloud of golden smoke is all that remains, and that’s when such words finally set in.

        he’s eighteen years old and he has one year left to live.

        ❝ i will get to the bottom of this ... i promise. ❞

        bruised and bloody hands hit against the cold floor. the room is silent saved for the pit, pit, pit as stray teardrops hit the cement.

        why wouldn’t they listen ?? why wouldn’t anyone just listen to him ?? he’s not just some crazy kid. he knows what he’s talking about. if they had all just listened, maybe they would have been able to stop it. maybe none of this would be happening right now.

        his woodland companion cowers in a small fit of fear beneath a nearby table.

        ❝ i swear ... no matter what comes of me, anybody who stands or has took in my path ... ❞

        they are going to pay.

        ACTION: POWER         >MODE         >>ON

        SUBJECT: IDENTIFY         >INHUMAN         >>ALIEN         >>>ARGENTI

        TASK         >ERROR         >>ERROR         >>>DESTROY         >>>>ERROR

        TASK CANNOT BE COMPLETED

        she runs. she shoots. she slices. she kills.

        the adrenaline that rushes through her on the battlefield is nothing in comparison to the absolute adoration that floods her upon laying her eyes on the one that she loves.

        so long that you are alive, i will fight to keep you safe. i won’t let anything touch you. i won’t ever let harm come your way.

        ❝ star light, star bright ... first star i see tonight ... i wish i may, i wish i might ... have this wish i wish tonight ... ❞

        a soft gasp escapes glossy lips, sparkling with stardust as she rushes to her balcony, fingertips reaching out to gently run over her crystal ball. shining, silver eyes peer into the crystalline glass, black locks falling over her face as her head tilts to one side.

        a face appears in the glass, a smile comes to her lips.

        ❝ ... i wish to be put out of my suffering ... i wish to die in my sleep tonight ... ❞

        silver eyes widen in shock and a horrified scream falls from her sparkly lips and into the air. she clutches the moon-shaped pendant that hangs from her neck, head shaking in a fit of absolute panic as she steps back from her crystal ball.

        you’re the princess. you have a duty. you must grant every wish that comes to you. the words of her parents come to her, and a soft sob leaves her lips as she sinks to the floor, stardust falling from pale skin and sparkly tears spilling down rosy cheeks.

        ❝ whoa !! this shit is funny looking !! ❞

        ❝ oh, yeah !! he’s kind of ugly ... lets take him to the science lab and cut him open !! ❞

        ❝ yeah !! see if we can figure out what he --- shit !! ❞

        quick hands grab the small creature from the desk of her classmates and hold it safely in her grasp.

        ❝ you so much as lay a hand on him and i’ll cut you open !! ❞

        the threat is probably too loud for a classroom setting, but in that moment, she doesn’t care. she simply turns away from her classmates and holds the creature up to her face, murmuring a soft, ❝ hey, little guy ... i won’t let them get you, okay ?? you’re safe with me. i’ll take you home later and feed you and everything ... i won’t let anyone hurt you again. i promise. ❞

        ❝ the ringing of the bell commands you ... kill him. ❞

        ❝ yes, master. ❞

        a smile comes with ease to her bubblegum pink lips as beautiful pink shimmers and sparkles fill the tent, causing absolute but such ethereal distortion in the eyes of all who watch. it takes no effort at this point. it’s second nature to her, giving such entranced people such magnificent illusions.

        her routine comes to an end. the audience’s applause only makes her feel stronger. she blows a kiss out to them, leaving a sparkly, bubblegum kiss mark on everyone’s cheek before she smirks and turns away, disappearing in a cloud of pink smoke.

        she’s met offstage with a familiar hand grasping her shoulder and a comfortable face smiling down at her. ❝ that’s my star. ❞

        he watches from a distance, always from a distance. it’s all he can do in the state that he’s in. he’s tried interacting with them before, tried speaking to them once or twice, but ... they never seem to hear him, or if they do, they’ve chosen to ignore him, which he would understand entirely, considering all things.

        so, he continues to watch, occasionally blocking a window from being broken or catching a vase that’s been knocked over before it breaks. he’ll sometimes find missing objects or finish odd chores for them. but, mostly, he watches.

        he watches and wishes to, someday, be a part of their family, too.

        ❝ you’re not one of us. you’re ... human. what are you doing all the way out here ?? these woods aren’t a place for humans like you. they aren’t kind to humans like you. ❞

        ❝ i know. i’ve ... i’ve learned that, but --- i’m trying to find my brother. i’m trying to get us home. ❞

        ❝ well, you’re a long way from home now, kid. probably even more lost than you started. ❞

        ❝ ... yeah, actually, but i --- i can’t go home until i have him with me, so ... i just have to keep wandering. ❞

        ❝ wandering, huh ?? what do you say, wanderer ?? how do you even know that this brother of yours is even alive anymore ?? what with the argenti out there and all --- ❞

        ❝ he’s alive. i know he is. ❞

        ❝ but how do you --- ❞

        ❝ he has to be. ❞

        she sniffles, wiping at her eyes with the too long sleeves of her sweater as the deerfox snuggles up against her side. it was silly of her to think she was big enough to stop something so much bigger than she was, so much stronger, so much more powerful.

        ❝ i should have listened to you, mum. all i did was fail. i should have known. ❞

        ❝ you tried, though, sweetheart. that’s far more than most people would have done. ❞

        another sniffle. ❝ i -- i just didn’t want to have to leave home, that’s all ... ❞

        ❝ i know, but ... look at it this way: some day your home may be somewhere else, but that doesn’t mean you have to leave your other homes behind. ❞

        a hand touches her shoulder, her small woodland companion slowly climbs onto her lap. she looks up and is met with a warm, perfectly familiar smile.

        ❝ the wilderness will always be a part of who you are. ❞

        she twirls through the field of wildflowers and thorny weeds, soft strings of giggles spilling from her glossy pink lips as vibrant butterflies and delicate ladybugs land in her hair, decorating her so elegantly. she feels free for the first time in her entire life.

        for once, there aren’t guards watching over her shoulder or spying on her from within the tall branches of the trees. for once in her life, she doesn’t feel like she’s being watched; she feels like she finally has a foreign moment of privacy.

        ❝ princess !! ❞

        she sighs. she spoke too soon.

        ❝ you’re not allowed beyond the garden !! ❞