Frowning is all you do these days when you're at the church.

It's not good for you, and the nicer nuns worry, but they can't really help you, you won't let them, and there isn't much they can actually do to help anyways, because you're absolutely fed up with living in that church, that hag Mara makes it a constant hell for you and pushes you to achieve goals that aren't your own and learn things that you don't care for in the slightest, and you're done with it.

You try to stay away from the church as much as you can, which resulted in hanging around the town market, you'd hang around and look at the items for sale, hardly ever actually buying anything as most of it doesn't interest you; most of the merchants know you now because you've visited so frequently, they don't know your real name though, and you wear a mask when you go since you can't risk anyone who frequents the church seeing you there. While you're there you put on creative little magic shows for money. You'll sit there and do your thing with a woven basket laid out in front of you while people drop coins of varying worth.

At the beginning you'd only get a few copper and bronze coins; maybe a silver piece if you were lucky that day, but maybe a little bit over a month after you started something changed.

You'd gotten to the town market bright and early, the day was young but already the ground was beginning to bake with heat. Only a few people were there yet, they hovered from one stall to the next and you enjoyed the unusual quiet of the morning, absorbing the feel of the sun on your skin with your eyes closed. You felt something change though, like the presence of somebody that wasn't there before; opening your eyes, you looked around and a few yards away from you was someone dressed in a black cloak, they didn't scare you even though everyone else seems to have been intimidated.

Their face was blanketed in shadows, but they met your (e/c) eyes and held your gaze for a long time, perhaps too long. You pulled your pupils away and you felt nauseous for some reason, their eyes were so striking despite being covered in shadows, the cloaked stranger walked through the market without sparing any of the stalls a glance, but then they stopped in front of where you sat. From what little of the shape of their body you could see, you presumed the stranger was a male— or at the very least, masculine, there were plenty of genderless creatures, humans, and deities out there.

The stranger clenched his fist before dropping a coin into your basket, you hadn't started yet. Not looking down at you, he walked away just as quickly as he came, weird. You leaned over the basket and let out a silent gasp, it was a platinum coin, that was worth enough to feed one person for at the very least a month.

You stared down at the coin in shock, "...thank you." It came out in a hushed whisper, words spoken to someone who wasn't there anymore, and hadn't been for a long time; after that, it seemed like people were a lot more generous and willing to give you money, which was lovely. It made you wonder who that person/thing in the cloak was, you would think about it, but something would always get in the way and prevent it.

Recently, going to the town market started feeling almost like a chore to you despite the money that it brings, you're not sure why, but you began longing for somewhere else to spend your time, somewhere a little more isolated.

You're seventeen now, which means you're old enough to live by yourself, so there's no point in sticking around the church, only thing left to do is get out of here, and that's just what you're doing tonight; no more cleric training and no more sister Mara, you'll finally be free of her constantly stifling your every thought. A few days ago you bought something from the market, a warding charm in the form of a bracelet laced with small symbols made of silver hanging off and blue and green beads spacing them out.

The gentle and pale glow of the moon is your only lighting as you stare at the door to your room, not a soul is stirring, now's your opportunity to leave. You quickly throw the covers off of your body and pick up your woven basket that you bring to the town market and begin throwing clothes into it, not everything can fit so you only put your favorite items and you layer a few articles of clothing onto your body, making sure to slide the warding charm onto your wrist before wrapping yourself in a dark blue cloak. You carry a few belongs in your arms, your books on various magical topics, you mother's staff cradled underneath your right arm, the basket resting in the crook of your left elbow, and your vase of May bells balanced precariously on top the stack of books.

Bringing a vase of flowers may seem unnecessary, but there's no way you would leave without it, you don't have the heart to.

You gently pull the door to your room open with one foot, precariously balancing on the other for a moment before exiting. You keep your steps as light as you can and all your senses are on high alert simply out of necessity... it's very dark, which adds an eerie vibe to the halls as you navigate them.

You see something out of the corner of your eye, you swear it looked like a Tipua! Your head whirls around to look at it, oh... just a shadow. You grimace, you're too nervous.

You're almost out of the church now... how do you know what a Tipua looks like? You've never seen one before... that doesn't makes sense, you know for sure that's what it looks like, but when could you have possibly learned that? The church doesn't have any illustrations of a Tipua in books... so then, how... "(y/n)."

You freeze, 'shit. It's sister Eliza,' you curse silently to yourself as you turn around to face her.

Sister Eliza was always so kind. She was so young and full of life when you first met her, but now, even in the dimness of the moonlight, you can see faint lines etched into her skin, an unavoidable promise of wrinkles and a hidden melancholic look in her warm eyes. She chose this life— you know she regrets not being able to have children, in many ways, you're pretty sure that to her, you were like the daughter she could never have. She looks down, "I'm not mad, (y/n)." She sighs deeply, it's a sigh filled with regrets, some you know and some you don't. "Go. Please leave this place; leave here and find your firefly that lit up your summer nights once upon a time."

You don't fully understand, but you nod anyways and blink away an unexpected tear. You turn back around and face the door, you can feel her eyes on the back of your head and your resolve falters, what about sister Eliza and sister Josefina? They've been so kind to you all your life... are you really gonna leave them?

Your eyes study the patterns carved into the wood door and you take a moment to remind yourself why you're doing this in the first place, you'll miss them, but you're not happy here, you know it and they do too.

"I'm proud of what you are. Sister Josefina and I... we're both proud of what you will be."

Rapidly blinking away another tear from your eyes, you escape into the night. Even after you were out of sight, you could still feel sister Eliza's vibrant brown eyes on your back.

The usually green forest is washed in blues and purples, though it is night and you should be worried about what lurks in the dark, you feel rather comfortable mingling in the shadows of the night. Your feet walk along a familiar path, almost walking forward like they have a mind of their own, you're heading east. Strange fluorescent mint green berries grow low to the ground, they're intriguing, but you have the feeling it's better for you to leave them be.

"A berry that glows does bad things to the nose." You remember it was a little rhyme someone told you a long time ago, it was a kind woman who told you that... she had such warm eyes.

It was your mother, wait— no... that's not right... it felt too recent to have been your mother; was it a nun perhaps? No no no, it was someone else for sure... right? Pretty sure if you were to eat those berries then you would temporarily lose your sense of smell.

~

"You sure this'll work?" Asks Iwa-chan, starring apprehensively down at the magic deep sea blue colored liquid in front of him as you and Tooru sit on the floor of Tooru's castle bathroom with him.

"Positive," reaffirms Tooru, "it's a super powerful glamour potion that'll hide you and (y/n)-chan's real appearances from any demon that's at the party!"

"Even from your father?" You ask, picking at the trim of your forearm length, white, lace, gloves.

"Yup! Er— well, he'll be able to see through it if he reeeally tries," he sees your worried faces, "b-but don't worry! He'll have absolutely no reason to suspect you two, it'll be fine, I promise," He grins sheepishly, but it's still reassuring.

Iwa looks over to you and nods, "we trust you," begins Iwa-chan as he picks up his designated potion, "so we'll trust that this'll work too." With that, he pinches his nose and downs the whole thing in one go, careful not to mess up his suit, Tooru lent it to him so there's no way Iwa-chan will allow a single partial of dust to touch the suit. He makes a bitter face after drinking the potion, "that tastes awful."

You're not looking forward to your turn, Oikawa laughs, "sorry, the more powerful it is, the worse it tastes."

You let out a sharp exhale and quickly down your own vial of the stuff, and oof, Iwa-chan wasn't kidding at all, it's like a cherry, except incredibly tart to the point where you barely even realize it's a cherry.

But the potion is even worse than that, it's impossible to describe it anymore adequately; you don't know how Iwa-chan managed to look so composed when he drank it all down.

You must be making a ridiculous face based on how Oikawa is laughing and even Iwa-chan is snickering. Your eyes widen when you look at Iwa-chan, though. "I-Iwa-chan!"

"What?" He asks, a few chuckles bubbling through his lips.

"Your face! You've got scales!" You exclaim.

Iwa looks surprised suddenly, "what? W-woah, well what about you!? You just grew horns and a tail!" Iwa-chan points at you with astonishment.

"Wha—" you don't even finish because Tooru bursts into laughter so strong he's actually hunched over, clutching his stomach.

"You guys are hilarious! I can't— pffft— i-it's the glamour, I— pffff," this makes you and Iwa-chan stop, seeing Tooru laughing so hard brings a grin to your face and Iwa-chan starts laughing too, soon, all three of you are laughing.

Once the laughing fit has died down you and Iwa-chan inspect yourselves in front of the large diamond encrusted mirror, "how come we look different from you?" You question as you inspect the small horns similar to that of a young ram coming from in between locks of your hair. The horns are black at first glance, but upon looking more closely they're actually tinted blue, which happens to match your dresses color, the color of a dark late evening sky, white threads woven into the fabric and making an intricate patterned swirls. You don't know how Tooru convinced a servant to give him a fancy dress for you to use in secret, but goddamn, is it beautiful.

"Yeah, what's with that?" Asks Iwa-chan, gingerly poking the rings of forest green scales around his eye with his clawd hand, he too is wearing fancy clothing, it's quite similar to what Tooru is sporting, but while Tooru is wearing all white, Iwa-chan's wearing dark beryl colors with hints of black sprinkled in here and there.

"Because, not every demon looks exactly the same, duh."

"You're the only demon we've ever seen, how should we know that?" Iwa-chan flicks Oikawa's arm in slight annoyance.

You touch the spiral horns on your head as Oikawa gently rubs the spot Iwa-chan flicked with a small pout, "it feels so... real," you swish your ashy black tail around, "look, I can even control the tail!"

"That's just the power of a glamour potion as strong as this one," Oikawa grins with pride, as if he personally made the potions himself.

Iwa-chan raises an eyebrow, "where did you even get the potions from?"

Tooru laughs sheepishly, "well when your the son of the king, servants usually don't ask questions if you ask something of them. Anyways, we should get going, the party's gonna be starting any minute." Tooru puts a hand on you and Iwa-chan's shoulders, "this is my eleventh birthday party, I want you two to be able to be here with me for once. Don't worry about all the demons out there, just act natural and polite around them and you'll be fine— they shouldn't even wanna talk to you anyways."

You gnaw on the inside of your cheek, "I'm still kinda nervous, I mean, what if I mess up or say something wrong?"

Tooru takes your hands and hold them in his own, his eyes a bright and vibrant red, "just remember to breathe and you'll be fine." A soothing feeling reaches you, starting at the tips of your lace covered fingers and spreading outward, "if anything's wrong then call for me and I'll be there in a flash."

You look down, your eyes trained on your hands being held by his, your cheeks are pink, you trust him, nothing will happen. You let out an embarrassed laugh, "you're right, I'm dumb."

Iwa-chan, who had been watching your little exchange with a soft smile on his face quickly intervenes before even Tooru can reply, "(y/n), you're not dumb."

"Yeah," Tooru withdraws his hands and you realize just how warm they were now that they're gone, "it's okay to worry—"

You don't let Tooru finish because you pull both of the taller boys into a hug.

You pull away after taking a deep breath, "let's go have a good time at your birthday party, alright?" You grin and Oikawa grins back.

"Lead the way birthday boy," teases Iwa-chan, ruffling up Tooru's chocolate hair just a tad.

~

The muted steps of your black boots are one of the few sounds around you, the faint chirping of crickets and the gossamer rustle of the leaves are so serene, the flowers blooming in moonlight and the gentle glow of unusual plant life feel dream like.

You walk deeper into the forest and the tall canopy of trees begin to blot out a little bit of the light from the moon, things are still visible enough to see so you continue on the familiar path. You're honestly surprised that you can remember this route so easily, the last time you tread this path you should've been maybe four, because your mother would have still been alive.

...there's no way you could remember something so specific from so long ago, is there? So how do you remember it? You want to just say that you subconsciously remember, but there's something about that that doesn't feel right.

You let out a frustrated sigh, it's just another one of those things that can't seem to remember no matter how hard you try, you hate it— your steps stop abruptly, you need to calm yourself, getting angry at yourself isn't going to help. Taking a deep breath, you close your eyes and focus on the chirp of crickets; you'll be fine.

Opening your eyes once more you slowly begin walking again, you frown up at the canopy, it's getting thicker and there's steadily becoming less and less light available. That's fine though, you whisper a small incantation, it summons a small earth spirit. It's a little pale green glowing blob with a small sapling growing atop it's head.

You giggle at it's cute little form and allow it to sit in your basket, it's healthy green glow lights your way and you continue walking forward.before long it's practically pitch black as the forest canopy doesn't allow a speck of moonlight to shine through, and you're thankful you don't have to stumble around in the dark.

You start seeing some of those glowing mint green berries lining the forest floor again, though they add a cool effect to the dark scenery, they don't really provide much light.

"A berry that glows does bad things to the nose," it's such a simple phrase, yet you can't even remember how old you were when you heard it; you don't know who told it to you, where you were when you heard it, you can't remember anything about it besides the phrase itself.

You could let it go, but you don't want to, you're always letting it go, always just forgetting about it, but not this time. This has happened to you too many times, you asked the nuns before, and they told you nothing, hell, you even went to a doctor one time to see if she could help you, but to no avail, none of her medicines helped you, so you tried another doctor, and another, and another.

You can't let it go, you let it go when you were 15, not this time, so you kick and scratch at the barrier hiding away that memory. You feel a headache brewing, but you're not stopping, you burrow deep into your mind and you feel a sharp searing pain, you grind your teeth together hard, your steps not faltering at all. You can feel the uneasiness radiating off of the earthen spirit you summoned, you ignore it, and the headache is getting stronger as you continue walking, albeit with a lot more difficulty.

You can feel the earth spirit's panic and the ache evolves into a full blown migraine and your feet stagger to a stop as you groan out in pain, you nails digging into the covers of your leather bound books. Your hands are starting to shake and you try to keep them balanced, you can't risk that vase of May bells falling, your head is violently pounding but you can't stop now, you feel so utterly desperate.

The pain though, it's so much. So so much— too much.

You feel like your head's about to explode and your legs betray you as they give out, you're not strong enough to keep the spirit tethered to this plane of existence any longer and your only source of light un-willfully disappears; everything you were holding falls from your hands and you can't even move them in an attempt to catch anything. You hear the noise of something shattering within the dark and are now acutely aware of the sudden nakedness your wrist feels, the charm is missing.

Panic is rising in your throat to top off the horrible pain in you head, that charm is your only defense against the hundreds of will-o'-wisps lurking, you need to find the bracelet now, but your body's laying crumpled on the floor and the pain is too much, you can't move, all the energy you have is being used to cradle your skull in your hands.

The pain is getting worse and worse, it's so much more awful than anything you felt when you were 15.

A blue glow in front of you fills you with even more panic; they're here. Quickly, more and more will-o'-wisps appear before you surrounding you with their screaming voices layering on top of one another, you squeeze yourself into a tighter ball and dig your nails into your own head, the pain is unbearable, you're gonna faint.

Your breathing is labored and your vision is blurry, "please," your voice cracks, "s-someone— h-help me," you black out.

~

You'd never been to a party, let alone one as extravagant as a party held by the infamous tyrannical king himself, Tooru's father. Tooru despised the man, but for the sake of appearances— as well as his own reputation amongst his father's demon followers— Tooru has told no one except you and Iwa-chan. The courtyard holds a few hundred fancily dressed demons and the night is young. Back home you have an illusion spell casted, making it seem as if your sleeping soundly in your bed, a similar one has been cast by you for Iwa-chan.

Your biggest trouble will be conniving demons trying to figure out who you and Iwa-chan are and why you're hanging out with Tooru. Tooru plans on ditching the courtyard with you and Iwa in favor of the more peaceful gardens as soon as all the pleasantries are over, should a demon try to speak to you or Iwa-chan through, Tooru gave you one piece of crucial advice, "fake it till you make it, you're the snobbiest person out there and if they don't already know who you are then they aren't worth your time, that's how demons play."

Minutes beforehand Tooru gave you and Iwa an extremely quick crash course in royal posture and behavior, because although all the demons act like snobs, they act like royal and rich snobs.

Tooru steps out of the castle with you and Iwa-chan by his side, immediately, hard stares and judging eyes are laid upon you and Iwa-chan, but especially Tooru. Tooru acts like it doesn't phase him whatsoever and keeps his head held high and an uninterested look on his face.

Deep down, it kinda scares you how much of a different person he looks when he acts like that.

You don't have time to think about that though, because you too are trying your best to keep a complacent look on your face as you mentally go through all the things Tooru told you about posture.

Sharp looks and cold eyes are boring into you; they're all whispering about you and Iwa-chan, who are you two and why are you walking beside Tooru up to the center of the courtyard where his father awaits? Tooru steps into place beside his father and sends him a nod of mock greeting and respect while you and Iwa-chan exchange a quick glance from behind Tooru and bow the full 90° to him, he's scary up close. Tooru has his eyes but that man's eyes look nothing like Tooru's, they're missing any of the warmth that could've ever existed.

You and Iwa-chan stand maybe two feet behind Tooru and his father, his father delivers some bullshit speech about how happy he is that his son is growing older, "so everyone, please enjoy the party," he finishes and Tooru pretends to smile up at his father.

Quite quickly the courtyard erupts into noise and voices conversing, some are still questioning who you and Iwa-chan are while others have moved onto Tooru, and of course, everyone wants to get a chance to talk to the king.

No matter who they're talking about, they all have the same goal: squeeze out any information they can. As soon as the speech is over Tooru grabs you and Iwa-chan by the hands and is dragging you both through the courtyard, speeding by before any demon has the chance to try and hussle you three for information. You're given a break to catch your breath when you reach the entrance to the garden and wonder how someone like Tooru's father would ever allow a single flower near his castle, let alone a garden of this magnitude and size.

"These are the two you ditched me for, Oikawa-kun?" Speaks a young voice from behind the three of you, Tooru flinches like he knows who it is.

You turn to face the speaker, it's a demon boy around Tooru's age but a little talker with wild black hair and charcoal grey curved horns sticking out from his mess of hair with sly cerise eyes to go along. "Sorry about that Kuroo-chan... uh, these are my friends, I've known them for a long time."

Kuroo-chan? The name Kuroo sounds vaguely familiar, pretty sure you've heard a few wild stories about Kuroo getting into trouble. "Long time? How come I've never met them? You said you didn't have any other demon friends either— unless... you two are the human friends that he's always blabbering about to me, aren't you?"

"You've told him about us?" Asks Iwa-chan, glancing at Tooru.

"Aha, don't worry, he swore a long time ago not to tell anyone about you two," Tooru chuckles sheepishly. "Um, so why don't you all introduce yourselves properly," asks Tooru, you can tell he was hoping you wouldn't meet like this.

Kuroo shrugs his shoulders, "Kuroo Tetsurou, apprentice/manipulator of the dark arts and cat lover," he bows jokingly.

You let out a huff of amusement through your nose, "(l/n) (y/n), begrudging cleric in training and manipulating the progression of life itself via magic on the side," you grin.

"Iwaizumi Hajime." You elbow Iwa-chan in the ribs a little harder than was necessary, he groans, "Iwaizumi Hajime, beetle conqueror and knight's apprentice on the side," Iwa chuckles towards the end despite himself.

"Nice to finally meet the humans that he's always talking about," Kuroo gestures in Tooru's direction.

You giggle, "does he really talk about us that much?" Although somewhat intimidating, it's nice to meet another demon that doesn't look at you like a piece of meat in a lion's den.

"Like you wouldn't believe— nice glamour by the way, if I hadn't known about you two already then I would've never expected it."

"It was Tooru-kun's idea, honestly," replies Iwa-chan.

Tooru smiles watching the three of you converse, it's nice to see his only friends actually hitting it off pretty well.

"I should let you guys go now before someone else spots us, you wanted to sneak into the garden right?" You nod your head, "have fun, I'll redirect away anyone that tries to come this way," you say goodbye and Kuroo winks before making a flashy exit by disappearing in a puff of red smoke.

"He seems cool," you nod in agreement with Iwa.

"This is the first birthday I've had different people stand behind me while father gives his usual speech," explains Tooru a a he opens the garden's gate, "I always played it safe by not inviting you two all the other times, so Kuroo-chan usually stood behind me during the speech, I met him a little after I met you, (y/n)-chan."

Walking through the garden, you can't help but feel a little bit in awe by all the different species of plants that are gathered here in one spot, magically large flowers and bushes with glowing leaves, there's way more diversity here than in the forest back home.

In the distance, you see a woman observing some flowers,"T-tooru, Iwa-chan, look," you point and whisper.

"I thought you said no one was gonna be here?" Question Iwa-chan.

Tooru frowns, "there weren't supposed to be, that's my mother, she's very sick right now and shouldn't be out of bed. She already got out of bed today at midnight so she could wish me happy birthday." A corner of his lip twitches upwards, you can tell he cherishes his mother. Sometimes you forget that about Tooru, that technically, he's only half demon, because his mother is human. "C'mon," he signals the both of you to follow him as he runs up to his mother.

She hears your steps and turns around before you reach her, she's a little surprised to see two other children running right alongside her son, nevertheless, she smiles warmly at all of you as you reach her, "Hello Tooru," she bends down a little to get to his level and pushes her wavy light brown hair behind her ear and hugs him before kissing his forehead, "I see you brought friends," she smiles kindly to you and Iwa-chan, she sniffles like she has a stuffy nose. Even though she's sick she has such a motherly aura, it amazes you, honestly.

"I'm Iwaizumi Hajime," Iwa-chan goes ahead and introduces himself first.

"And my name is (l/n) (y/n), it's uh, very nice to meet you, your majesty." You introduce yourself with a twinge of nervousness in your voice and you notice a special twinkle in her eye when you say your name.

"It's very nice to meet you both," she lets out a somewhat nasally chuckle.

"Mama," Tooru starts, "you should be in bed."

She sighs and massages her forehead, she probably has a headache, "you're right dear, but I couldn't help myself, I wanted to pick you some nice flowers for your birthday before the day was over." Damn, what a sweet lady; that seems like something Tooru would also do if demons could actually get sick, you guess he must get a lot of his personality from his mother then.

"You don't have to do that for me," Tooru seems a little embarrassed, "please, head back to bed."

She pretends to think it over, "hmmm, alright," Tooru sighs in relief, "but first, let me have a word with (y/n) in private." She smiles mischievously but you know there's no ill intentions in her smile.

Tooru and Iwa-chan looks at the both of you, wondering why she would want to talk to you, but you're just as clueless as they are, "uh, alright I guess, we'll be over there then," Tooru gestures behind him and the two older boys walk to a different area of the garden, their bodies disappearing behind a wall of tall hedges.

"S-so, what is it you want to tell me, Queen Oikawa?"

She gently laughs, "no need to be so formal, please, call me Ume."

She's royalty but yet she's so humble and kind, the stark opposite of the king it seems, "A-alright, what is it, Ume-san?"

"I wanted to thank you for giving Tooru a chance; you were his first friend and he would've never come out of his she'll if he hadn't met you." She pauses, "the day his father burned the flower crown you made for him he was heart broken, his father didn't know it, but that had been his prized possession, I had a nasty fight with Tooru's father because of it, his father insisted that such things made Tooru weak... his father still doesn't know about you or Iwaizumi-kun." Ume grimaces and you can tell something isn't right between Ume and the king. It makes sense that she's known about you and Iwa-chan all along. Ume chuckles, "Tooru wanted to befriend human children so badly, and then you came along." How could she tell you're human? "Right, your glamour is illusion magic, but someone like me, who can't use magic, can't perceive illusions created by magic either."

"Are you a mind reader, Ume-san?" You can't stop the question from escaping your lips in time.

She lets out a huff of laughter, "maybe."

A few heartbeats go by in silence and the queen turns her face away from you to study some mesmerizing red flowers, "do you ever miss the village you grew up in, Ume-san?"

"...yes, very much." You cannot see her expression, "it was very beautiful there, and it was my home, but my place is here now." She turns to look at you, a gentle smile gracing her lips, "please, be there for Tooru for as long as you are able. No matter what his father tries to mold him into, keep him the sweet and caring boy he is now," you nod. You crouch down, eyeing a vine of mint green glowing berries, "I don't recommend you touch those too much, it'll damage your sense of smell, a berry that glows does bad things to the nose."

You look up at her, "really?"

Ume nods in confirmation, "well, run along then, let Tooru know I'm heading to bed now and not to worry, goodbye (y/n)-chan."

When you reunited with Tooru and Iwa-chan Tooru kept on bugging you to tell him what you talked about, but a private conversation is supposed to stay private, and eventually Tooru gave up asking.

The night progressed and before long, what started as a momentary dot of yellow light in the grass transformed into hundreds of fireflies showing off their existence from within the darkness with luminous light shows. You, Tooru, and Iwa-chan sat in the soft grass watching the free light show that nature itself was putting on. Tooru lets out an unexpected shriek when a firefly lands on his nose, resulting in hysterical laughter from you and Iwa-chan.

It was the first and last time you went to a birthday party of Tooru's.

~

Your rub open your groggy eyes and sit up, immediately you pop ten things in your back and regret sitting up so quickly. A soft yellow glow illuminates your vision quite nicely and you realize you're sitting on the forest floor, looking around you see your basket filled to the brim with clothes and your mother's staff next to your neatly stacked books, a delicate vase of May bells perched on top. Then you remember everything— or, the lack of thereof, how you couldn't remember things so you tried to force yourself despite knowing what would happen. You ended up falling and dropping everything, you heard the vase shatter... yet it's in perfect condition?

Not only do you remember the vase shattering, but you thought you were a goner for sure when all those will-o'-wisps appeared, but now the charm is secured safely around your wrist.

"Find your firefly that lit up your summer nights once upon a time," you didn't pay much attention to them, but now you see it, hundreds of fireflies are lighting up the forest, a truly beautiful display. Hundreds of them line a path you haven't travelled down in a long time, it splits into two directions but the fireflies only light up one, it's the path you need to get to your old home, and the fireflies lead you straight to it.

The outside is unkempt, long vines and plants have grown up the walls and the window panes are dirty, however, amongst all the weeds and tall grass, a patch of beautiful Amaryllis flowers are blooming, a fascinating pattern of white petals with red bleeding through, the splendor of it only looks better in moonlight. You open the creaky wooden door, nothing in this place has been touched for a little over a decade and it shows, layers and layers of dust cover the place from head to toe.

You're going to clean this place up so well it'll look brand new... but what then? You stand there for a moment, what will you do? This is your first taste of complete freedom and you're not completely sure what to do with it. Gently, you wipe off copious amounts of dust from a nearby table and set your things down.

When you were a kid, you wanted to be an amazing mage when you grew up, and you wanted to join a guild, so, after you finish cleaning up this place you'll join the guild in the town across the forest, you'll make 5 year old you and everyone else who believed in you proud.

There weren't many people who believed in you in the first place.

~

Tooru never truly let you go; even though he had a kingdom to run he'd use a scrying glass to check how you were doing every so often, so when he saw you being swarmed by will-o'-wisps he couldn't stop himself, he didn't need to hear to see your lips call for help.

He fixed the broken vase and frowned at the bouquet of May bells it was supposed to contain. He could tell you would wake up soon, it was difficult to do something so magically good natured with his chaotic magic but he managed, with his magic he left you a gift, something to light your way.

He was a fool to ever introduce himself to you and he was a fool to ever let you go, but the night you finally left the church so you could be independent of them and be your own person, a delicate Amaryllis bloomed in the small garden of his heart.

In the language of flowers, an Amaryllis signifies pride.
:.•*.°¿°.*•.:
Oof I hope my girlfriend isn't reading this embarrassment lmao. Uh anyways,, I really need to get faster at putting out these chapters.