( don't kill me i wrote this from 1-3am )
( i wanna rewrite this so bad so i mean like. i probably will SO DON'T KILL ME PLS THIS IS THE ONLY CHAPTER I HATE IN THIS FIC WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING )

━━ ( 旋風 ; ☁️ ) ━━

𝕮LICKING keys of the laptop keyboard, stellan had his mind blank, his thumb and index alternating from the 'c' key and space bar as he rested his chin on his other hand, propped up with his elbow. he had to write some article about the smaller and less industrious, yet charming towns of california — arcadia oaks was one of them. frankly, writing was never too easy. many would agree. even if the somewhat busy noises of the café and the muted classical music were his preferred environment to write in.

a row of c's were scattered across the digital page.

stellan had traveled everywhere in this old realm. who knew he would settle down in such a small, ordinary town? it was somewhat hidden, at least.

he sat by the open windows of benoit's bistro. it was late morning, ten-thirty, with sunlight passing through the glass and illuminating the café's interior. it was somewhat busy — people arriving for coffee or brunch.

stellan stared at his screen, sat in his seat in a table for two with his canine familiar, aether, sat on the opposing chair. he took an extra nap in its puppy form. merely four paragraphs describing the history of arcadia oaks were laid on the document. he couldn't think of much today. the wizard must've been tired from all sorts of night patrols he partook in for the safety of this town. oddly enough, supernatural activity was high here.

"a breve latte - vanilla, light ice - for a sleepy spellcaster?" a shadow loomed over the table, stellan looked up to find douxie serving him for the day. the rocker held the drink in his left, his charmed brace disguised as an analog watch. the fellow wizard had a small, crooked smile in turn for meeting stellan for the morning. working as a waiter wasn't all fun, either.

"thanks, doux," stellan returned as the waiter placed his drink down on the table. "along with my exhaustion, this project's had me brassed off, even if i just started. might as well have eyebags at the level of yours."

douxie scoffed, a chuckle escaping for the tease. "pardon me, old man! anyways," he continued on, giving stellan's hound familiar a scratch behind the ear before taking a leave. the tired pup seemed to enjoy the second of comfort, "i'm unfortunately back to work. raven's coming later, at least — just for lunch with gemma. they're leaving classes early."

"well, at least it won't be lonely," stellan concluded, watching the friend walk off to the other tables. at least the time spent in this charming town was worthy enough for some contentment.

he recalled gemma to be a bookstore student of douxie's girlfriend, along with raven being a ridiculously close little sister of a friend. raven - hanako branwen - was, quite literally, a storm in a teacup. the girl was an orphaned plant witch taken in by natrix and their partner. adorably, the young immortal had ironic traits — she was as chaotic as ever for a spellcaster with the affinity for natural livelihood. gemma song was a sun mage, from what stellan could recall, and was learning how to wield her affinity for light at her teenage era.

all sorts of spellcasters could be found around the world, but stellan found a secret abundance in a set of rare places. one of them was arcadia itself. even the name arcadia gave away its mystery. along with that, a new trollhunter, the savior of the good trolls and mortals of the realm, was chosen. apparently, a heartstone was located here.

that said trollhunter was a human. how curious. stellan didn't see too much wrong with that, yet he wondered how the boy dealt with this sacred duty. cherith had told him all sorts of things she had learned about the young hunter during the two ancients' last sparring session. the princess wasn't too impressed with the chosen one.

luckily, sparring was a go for today's afternoon.

later in the day, he teleported to the outer bank of the woods. there weren't many places to openly spar with charmed weapons - this place was the best shot he and comrades could have.

soon enough, he and cherith were already engaged in zealous combat.

"you're starting to slow down, madoc!"

"says the girl with the aimless swipes-"

"so dramatic," ris complained, simply sitting atop a tree branch, with one leg crossed over the other as she held a book in her hand, along with aether and natrix sat by the specter. "be quiet - we're barely outside the woods, you'll be heard."

"why'd you two have to come along, then, if you don't wanna hear any of this?" stellan asked, not even looking back at the princess as he blocked her broadsword's strike to his maul.

"why not? i need some fresh air during my break from work."

"i just wanna see you get beat up," natrix said.

morgana le fay's former apprentice was tristabelle herself. the specter fortunately escaped the vile sorceress' grasp in the past, along with natrix escaping morgana as well, as a student, cherith also escaping her father, king arthur's influence when the two were younger, from what stellan heard. ris was satirical and placid, cherith was sweetly snappish, natrix was just... an asshole. occasionally the lovable kind.

at least natrix was the one that freed stellan from camelot's dungeons when they were younger.

the two dark witches grew tired of cherith and stellan's friendly rivalry, which was pretty understandable. frankly, cherith seemed to find some kind of rivalry with almost everyone, bringing out a sort of stormy snarkiness in many, along with stellan himself, an attitude he used to have when he was young. normally, he, too, was a placid, collected kind of guy, but not around the battlefield, especially with this friend.

an electrical charge started to spark at the tip of stellan's maul as he smashed it into the ground, the hit dodged by cherith. he made effort to deliver a powerful hit with his magic - that change was blocked by the pendragon's broadsword.

"how has the trollhunter been so far?" stellan asked, the two continuing to duel, hits and blocks from left to right, up and down.

"the scrawny idiot's slowly improving, i guess," cherith said. "but eris... she's worse."

the mood soon turned grim at the mention of morgana's champion.

"she's catastrophe personified," stellan frowned, the two stopping. "we've all read the books."

the books referred to many things, all sorts of assassinations, such as alucia valois. the poor apprentice of both morgana le fay and ingrid fortuna was assassinated during the war of camelot, just at sixteen, by this ancient harbinger — lady eris, who was currently disguised as a simple high school student. even worse, some others knew alucia to a great extent.

stellan loathed this sort of reminiscence. the tragedy of the past was something he just wanted to forget about, yet the horrors he had to experience still deeply affected the current present. it felt miserable, the said phrase having little exaggeration.

"well," the princess sighed. "i guess we finally have another chance to rip her apart, after all she's done."

ris and natrix stayed silent. aether softly whimpered. saying more would've made things worse.

"oh," ris finally said. "lina texted. there's something up at... the bookstore. it must be urgent for you. i sense a sinking feeling within her. she wants you there, stellan."

evangeline zhang, douxie's girlfriend and fiery spellcaster, was ris' closest confidant and one of her bestest friends. she always seemed to be prioritized by lina's updates. stellan knew the firewitch's family name well — thankfully, she didn't resemble a vile figure or two in her family's past, one that stellan knew quite personally. lina was well-mannered and genuinely sweet, looking out for others.

"...how come?" stellan asked the dark caster, his maul simply zapping into oblivion. the change of mood didn't sit right with him, nor did it with anyone.

"a friend's awaiting your presence," the specter read the messages on her phone. "one named... cassian?"

stellan felt shaken. that name sounded too familiar. his eyes widened, trying to process the statement. "cassian zhang. you said cassian zhang, right?" he clarified.

"yes, exactly," ris said.

cherith questioned. "is it... a signal for trouble?"

"no, no-" the wizard refused. "it's just... i dunno, i know cassian. i think i do, at least."

"i'm coming along to see this 'cassy.'" natrix jumped off the tree, landing with quiet ease on the grass like a wildcat, with aether soon joining them. "i'm curious. be thankful i'm giving you two girls a beat."

"let's go," stellan said, with a sigh. meeting his long gone friend would be wishful thinking - but, nevertheless, someone was waiting for him.

( ☁️ )

尺乇ᗪ ᗪ卂卄ㄥ|卂丂 and white blooms were heavily scattered across the field of flowers by the village. the mellow, seven-year-old stellan felt lost just sitting there, weaving stems together to make little crowns.

a young cassian spent time by him, the small boy brushing black bangs away from his face as the two sat together, a more powerful breeze coming and going every few minutes in the mild winds. stellan's elemental pup found a nice spot to rest on cassian's lap. the little one didn't complain.

"stellan?" cassian asked, stroking aether's fur. "did i tell you about the news mama told me?"

stellan looked at his friend, then shook his head. "what news?"

"the good news. i'm gonna have a younger sibling!" cassian grinned. "i have to take care of them and protect them, just like how father and mama take care of me."

"a younger sibling. like my older sister and me?"

"yeah— like you and saoirse!" the friend replied. "i'll teach my sibling how to fight the mean older kids and where to find the river spirits. those kids won't see it coming. zhangs are pretty strong."

"mhm." stellan never meant to be too mean, but he was quite focused on the crown he was weaving compared to the conversation, though it truly was fascinating. unbeknownst to cassian, it was for him.

cassian pondered.  "say... what did saoirse teach you?"

"um..." stellan muttered. all the things cassian had said sounded so engaging. "they're not as interesting as what you're gonna do."

"aw, i bet they are."

"hm... saoirse is teaching me how to read ancient runes in books, study the weather paths, and be one with nature or something."

"that's great too! like in the stories saoirse told us - the soul of the north wind and spirit of sands would be really proud."

stellan smiled at his companion. "maybe."

stellan held the flower crown in his hand, the two spending some silence together for a little longer. almost finished. cassian would like it.

"cassian, come home! dusk is nearing!" the two boys heard from one of the village homes.

cassian frowned. "we have to go already? aw... i'll see you tommorrow, stellan," he said, waking aether, having the pup step off his lap so he could stand up with stellan.

before he could say anything, stellan was already wrapped in a hug from the friend, which soon ended as cassian ran back, waving goodbye for a bit before turning around.

stellan looked at the almost finished flower crown.

almost.

BAI'S NOTES:
╱ cries sobs weeps i'm not the most satisfied with this chapter but whatever 🤍 it's 3am and i'm writing a narrative for school as well that's supposed to be like a whole story that i have ten chapters for like ew pray for me please
╱ !!!!: this isn't exactly edited that heavily - it's 3am ☹️ - aka unedited alert ! don't mind any mistakes until i actually edit this LOL ANYWAY BYE