I walked back to town, luckily uninjured besides a few scratches and a possible bruise on my ankle, but I knew that wouldn't last long if Ben saw me. He always had a habit of expressing his anger in different ways towards me if I had done something unforgivable, in his opinion, ever since we were kids. I had abandoned him and gone alone, which he had always told me not to do. I knew I'd regret doing what I did, but the past me was dumb, and the current me has learned from this mistake of tricking Ben. I knew I had gotten myself into trouble with him this time, though.

I hid behind the stone wall of a clothing store and looked around the area. Any sign of a redhead, and I'd run as fast and as far as I could before he could spot me and attack. I was injured enough; I didn't need another bruise or excruciating headache.

I looked for at least five seconds, which also felt like five hours, and I didn't see Ben. I relaxed a bit, letting out a sigh, and I went to walk home, letting down my guard a bit. I suddenly felt a heavy and sharp pain in my back. I let out a small scream as I fell, landing face first again. I rolled over onto my back. Looking up, I saw Ben standing over me, blocking the sunlight, mad, just like I had expected.

I sat up, feeling another sharp pain where he had kicked me. “Ow, Ben! You jerk!” I shouted out with a hand on my back; that kick would definitely leave a bruise.

“It's your fault for going alone! I waited for three hours! THREE HOURS, ELVA!”

“You could have gone home, idiot,” I said with a small pout, still rubbing the spot on my back. “Wait…three hours? I was only gone for thirty minutes at most!”

“It was three hours, and I did go home for a snack and to tell mom about how you abandoned me.”

“Oh, calm down. You're fine, I'm fine, we're all fine. Now go throw your tantrum at home if you're so upset. I've had enough issues for one day.”

I heard Ben sigh out of frustration, and after a moment, he offered his hand to help me up. I took it, standing up and dusting off my clothes as if they weren't already covered in mud. Ben didn't hesitate to walk off, leaving me behind as soon as he saw I was fine enough to walk. I followed behind him, quickly catching up, not wanting to just stand there alone. We didn't say much to each other while walking, but we both let our feet lead us to our favorite tavern that we went to almost daily.

When we arrived, we walked in together; there was enough room in the doorway for us to walk perfectly side by side. The room's lighting was dim, with every table having a candle and no more than one window above the door. There weren't many people there at that moment since the drunks mostly came at night, but that left the tavern quiet during the day; that is, if the students who practiced in the back didn't run through the place chasing each other for fight practice.

We sat at our normal table and got our usual surprise drinks. I could never remember what was in mine, but it was fizzy and purple and tasted like the smell of flowers. Oh, how I loved it. I thanked the tavern owner as she set the glasses down, having prepared them as we walked in. She was always a kind lady to us, plus I was always grateful towards her, as my sister trained behind here with other kids.

We both took a seat, and Ben had drank half of his yellowish orange drink quickly, as if it would disappear if he didn't. After a moment, he looked at me, staring into my eyes with his muddy brown eyes. I always thought they looked red when he would get mad, but he always said I was just imagining things. Luckily, I didn't see that red in his eyes for longer than a second after we arrived.

“What?” I asked him, not being able to ignore the staring anymore.

“Something happened. What happened?” Ben asked suspiciously.

“How did you—nevermind.”

“Because I know you. Plus, you're all cut up and dirty. Now tell me everything,” Ben said, looking at me with the look of a child ready for their bedtime story. His excitement and curiosity were amusing.

After about a twenty minute explanation of what had happened, Ben looked at me, surprised.

“Wait, so that person just left you there!?” he asked, shocked.

“Yeah, I went to thank them, and they were just gone.”

“That jerk! Who doesn't stay after saving someone?” Ben said, crossing his arms with a pout.

“At least they were a helpful jerk…” I murmured with a shrug.

When I looked at Ben again, he was still doing his very fake pout. He always looked so funny when he would do it, so I never pointed it out. How could I ruin my only good source of entertainment, even if Ben didn't know of it? As I sat there, slowly sipping my drink and trying to think, I looked to the bar at the end of the room and could see the lady cleaning some glasses, her curly pink hair tied back. Behind her was a window into the back room, where Rory spotted me. She waved hi to me, and I waved back before looking back at Ben, and that's when I remembered something important. Something very important. I stood up quickly, slamming my hands on the table, which sent my chair flying back behind me.

“Rory's teacher is coming over for dinner tonight! I need to go!” I shouted out at Ben.

I threw some money down on the table and heard Ben choke on his drink before falling out of his chair as he tried to rush too. I picked my chair up and yelled a quick thank you before running from the tavern. I heard the sound of someone running behind me and looked back to see Ben following close. Once he caught up, I looked to my side briefly. He looked at me, confused. I guessed he was wondering what could be so important and probably had a few more questions, but they would have to wait until we got to my house.

I grabbed my key from the pouch I had at my side and opened the door once we got to my house. I walked in, quickly taking my shoes off at the door. I made my way to the kitchen to get the food started for dinner. I could hear Ben scuffle in behind me. I scanned all the food we had and thought out the best meal to make as hastily as possible, preferably within an hour. I decided to make soup, so I put some broth into a pot and left it to boil.

“Will you open the windows to let in light?” I asked Ben, heading to my room to change and clean off the mud I was covered in.

I looked down once I removed my clothes from before; the scratches weren't as bad as I thought, most barely breaking skin. I took a wet rag and ran it over my body, not having time for a bath but wanting to look presentable. When I had finished, I cleaned any scratches that bled, bandaging some if it was necessary.

I grabbed the longest dress I had to cover my legs, where most of the injuries were, and it was the only slightly fancy clothing item I owned. The dress was from my school graduation two years prior. It was yellow with loose, long sleeves. It was quite floral as well. The flowers were shades of pink, blue, and white. After changing, I walked over to my mirror and looked at myself. My left cheek was red from my falls, with a small spot of broken skin in the middle of it. I wiped away the mud from my face. I hadn't considered that my hair would have mud in it; that would be an issue.

I poked my head out of my bedroom. “Bring me a bowl of water, please!” I yelled, loud enough for Ben to hear.

I heard slow steps come down the hall moments later, and Ben appeared in the doorway holding the bowl of water, trying not to spill it. I took a step back from the door and grabbed it from him, setting it down on my vanity desk.

I handed him the other bowl I had, full of muddy water. “Will you dump this out in the garden, please?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Ben said, doing a salute.

“Thank you, Ben,” I said as he walked off.

I wrapped a towel around my neck before lowering my head into the bowl, hoping the water wasn't freezing. Luckily, Ben had put warm water in it. I stood there for a few minutes, trying to wash out as much mud as possible. If I had remembered the dinner, I never would have gone into the woods that day, but it was too late to change any of that.

I pulled my head out of the bowl, squeezing out as much water as I could with my hands before putting the towel on my head to finish drying it. I used my hands to smooth my hair down. Once I finished with it all, I grabbed the bowl and walked back out to the kitchen, seeing Ben sitting on the counter and eating the ice cream that I had hidden in the freezer.

“Why are you here again?” I asked Ben, looking over at him after pouring out the water.

“Support.”

“Truth?” I asked, putting on my lavender colored apron.

“You make good food, I'm hungry, and I want to see what made you run so fast.”

I sighed, turning to the stove and putting ingredients from our soup this morning into the now boiling pot of broth, cutting up a few more things to add in as most of what I added wouldn't be enough. I quickly stirred the soup before putting the lid back on and moving to cut the fresh loaf of bread I had made the day before. I don't have the best memory, so I'm glad my past self remembered to prepare for this special dinner tonight.

Ever since Rory started learning magic, she would talk about her teacher nonstop until she went to sleep. Hearing all that information on them made me curious as to who they were besides the youngest magic teacher in our small town of Pinemore. Having this dinner would let me get some extra insight on what kind of person they were that Rory hadn't already said, plus I wanted to thank them for all they were doing for her. I wondered if they were as nice and helpful as Rory claimed they were, or if they were even a decent person outside of teaching. I didn't even care if they were rude to me. As long as they were nice to Rory, I'd be okay with them.

When I was younger, I never got along with Rory. We would fight a lot because she would always destroy my things, but after our parents disappeared in those same woods I had been in earlier today, we started to get along. She went through her own little rebellion towards me at first as a way to express her pain, but eventually she went back to normal and stopped trying to burn things down. I was grateful we now had a good relationship, but sometimes I'd miss how things had been.

I put the food on the table once it was done, and with it, I set out the expensive bowls and silverware set my parents bought for when they had important company. The only way we could keep them nice was to never use them unless we had new guests who were, as they'd say, “as important as a teacher or king.” The two weren't even close to being similar, but they had strange sayings. I never understood it as a kid, and I still don't, but it's easy enough to get what they meant to say.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Rory hadn't gotten home yet, but I knew it wouldn't be too long before she arrived with her teacher. I hoped it wouldn't be too long, or else I'd have to put the pot back on the stove. That was just inconvenient. I took my apron off and looked over at Ben, who had gone from sitting on the counter to lying across it, looking at the bread and soup like a child who hasn't eaten in days. I walked over and tossed a cold, wet rag on his face to get him to stop whining about wanting to eat, and to get him up before they arrived. I'd rather the soup be cold than for Ben to make a bad impression.

I walked to the bathroom, looked into the mirror at myself once more. My hair, now dry, was a mess. I grabbed my hairbrush, detangling it as carefully as I could. I then styled my bangs, making sure they looked nice. Lastly, I made sure there was no extra dirt on my face that I could have missed before.

I looked at my blue eyes; they were the same color as my mother's. She was such a genuinely kind woman who loved everyone. I'd always look into my eyes when I was missing her more than usual. After her disappearance, I grew to hate them. I never even looked at myself for almost a year because of it. I wondered if she was there with me. I've always believed that when people die, they would come back as ghosts until it was their time to move on or even be reborn. They never did find their bodies, but it had been years. They would have come back if they were alive, wouldn't they?

I always wondered if they were still out there somewhere, maybe with a new life and new identities. Maybe they forgot who they were and decided to go to a new town, or they were stuck in a place impossible to escape from. I used to lay awake at night, thinking of all the different possible reasons they were gone, but I eventually accepted they were gone and wouldn't be returning. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Rory call my name.

I walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind me, and I looked around the corner to see her standing there. Half of her long black hair was pulled into a braid to keep the hair from getting into her face, while the rest of it was down folding into loose curls just like mine. She had on her usual outfit, which was a pink wrap dress and a blue underdress. Her pink eyes shined with excitement when I walked into the room.

I wrapped my arms around Rory when she ran over and hugged me, and I looked up and saw her teacher. They had blue hair that stopped around their jaw with pieces loosely hanging around their face; it was neat yet messy, similar to Ben's hair. They were the same person I saw in the forest this morning—at least I assumed they were. I was going off of their hair mostly, but I couldn't be wrong; no one else in town has hair like that. The only difference was that they didn't have horns. I was extremely confused, but I just assumed it was the lighting that gave off the illusion of horns. Maybe it was even because of magic. Still, I had to say something to them about it, even if it ruined the dinner.

“You! You were the one in the forest today!” I said loudly while looking at them.

“I have no idea what you're talking about," they replied, not a trace of emotion in their voice.

“You were the one who used magic to save me. Your hair, outfit, and height are all roughly the same as who I saw.” That was all a lie; I had to give more than one reason as to why I'd assume that, though.

“Impressive,” I heard them whisper before turning to me. “I was there before school today and saw you. I had extra time and no other reason to help besides that.”

I let out a sigh of relief; if I had been wrong, that would make the rest of the evening awkward. Rory let go of me, and I walked over to them and held out my hand. “My name is Elva, Rory's older sister.”

“Aspen,” they said, while shaking my hand.

After the introductions and some weird looks, specifically from Ben, everyone sat around the table. I served them all soup and set out the bread for whoever wanted some. Luckily, the soup didn't go cold, so that was a win in my book. While we were eating, there wasn't much conversation besides a few comments about what Rory did with her magic. I looked over at Ben after we had finished. He had started to cry while he went on to finish off the pot of soup. I wasn't surprised by this. It happened every time he came over for dinner; he'd always let everyone get what they wanted first, then make sure we wouldn't have leftovers. I could hear Rory's laughter and looked over to Aspen. They looked almost disturbed while watching Ben eat.

I guess anyone would be disturbed watching Ben eat that much. He was a tall and pretty thin guy, and just by looking at him, you'd never guess he could empty a fifteen pound pot of soup and five pieces of bread. I watched as Rory stood up, thanked Aspen for coming, and walked down the hall. I knew she was going off to paint in the art room; it's where she always spent her time outside of school, even if we had guests over. I wished she would at least spend a bit more time with us, but I wouldn't force her to if she wasn't interested in it. She was a kid, and I wanted her to have as much fun doing what she wanted while she could. I did make a mental note to talk to her about it after Aspen left, though.

Ben had passed out on the table after he finished, which was a common occurrence, but that left me and Aspen alone. To avoid any awkward small talk, I stood up and started to clear off the bowls and the now empty pot. There wasn't a drop left in it. I will forever be amazed by Ben's ability to eat like this; I'd be surprised if anyone wasn't. I set the dishes in the kitchen, leaving them for when everyone leaves for the night. I didn't want to seem as if I was avoiding Aspen by cleaning and leaving them alone to do whatever.

I walked back to see that Aspen was now in the main room, looking at the pictures on the walls. They looked interested in this one photo. I walked over and stood next to them, seeing that it was a picture of me, Rory, my mother, and my father. I guessed it was because of how small Rory was in the picture. After a moment of silence, I decided to speak.

“Out of all the pictures here, that has to be my favorite,” I said quietly.

“It's a nice picture. Rory never talks about your parents, though. I was curious if there were any pictures here of them.”

“She was too young when they disappeared to remember much of them, but she misses them. We both do.”

“I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories,”

“Don't be. I never mind talking about them.” The room grew silent again after that. I didn't want it to stay that way. “Is your main magic fire?” I asked to change the topic.

“No. It's water.”

“Water? Oh. I assumed it was fire because of how you used it earlier,”

“I only recently started to learn fire. I just got lucky today when helping you. Besides, fire isn't that popular because it's demon magic,” they said, looking away from the photo.

“You believe those child tales?” I asked, amused. As a kid, sure, I believed them, but now it was funny how fake they were.

“Yeah, I guess you're right, but it makes people paranoid. If parents heard I was using fire magic, they'd keep their kids from coming to my classes, then I'd have to move again.”

“Again?”

“Growing up, I uh, traveled a lot, moved towns every few years.”

“This town must seem boring then.”

“It's the best one I've been to. I like places like this—small and quiet; there are a few people here too that make it worth the stay.”

I listened quietly and took a step back, sitting on the couch, “So, how is Rory doing with her classes?”

“She's the best student I've had. Second best magic user for her age from the many kids I've known.” Aspen said, looking at me.

“Second best? Who's the first?”

“A friend of mine from a few years ago.”

“Oh really? Where is she now?”

“She's dead.”

Aspen's words were cold when they spoke. I felt as if I should say something, but what could I? I didn't know who it was, and they looked like they didn't care and definitely didn't want to talk about it. It was almost as if there was a wall put up between us once it was said.

“I tested Rory's magic when she first started learning from me. She was able to do small things in all elements, but water was her strongest point. That's what we are working on for now. If she's able to advance quickly with the water, I'll have her move onto another element,” Aspen said as they sat in a chair next to the couch and looked over at me again.

“Alright, thank you for teaching her. Most families who use magic here teach their own kids, but with our parents gone, she couldn't learn much from me,” I said, looking down at my hands for a moment before looking back at Aspen.

“You don't have magic?”

“No, I do; it's just a rare form, so no one teaches it; at least that's what I've been told. They tried to teach me in school, but nothing ever worked, so they gave up.”

I watched as Aspen stood up from their chair and sat next to me. “Give me your hand,” they said while holding out theirs.

I hesitated, but I moved my hand on top of Aspen's. With how close we were and the feel of their hand under mine, I felt my face grow warm, a soft shade of pink on my cheeks. I watched as they held the back of my hand with my palm facing up.

They closed their eyes like they were trying to focus and stared down, amazed, as sparks started to form around my fingers, like small fireworks. Before the sparks could grow anymore, though, I pulled my hand away. I wasn't sure why; I wasn't scared or nervous; I didn't even realize I was the one to pull away at first, but it was strange. I've never heard of someone who could reveal another's magic just from touch.

“Your magic is definitely rare. The last person who had it died nineteen years ago. Since then, no one has been born with that ability,” Aspen said quietly after a moment of silence.

“I heard about her. My parents named me after her because of all the things she was able to achieve. Well, before her magic backfired and killed her,” I said, sitting back now with my hands in my lap.

“That's not how she died,” Aspen whispered, as if they wanted to scream it but also as if they never wanted anyone to hear.

“What?”

“Nothing, but I know someone who can teach you how to control your magic. She doesn't use the same kind, but she did know the other girl before she died. Tomorrow, come with Rory to her class, and I'll introduce you to her.”

“Can I come!?” Ben yelled out from the kitchen, now sitting up on the table.

“I thought you were asleep,” I said, confused, looking back at him.

“Uh, yeah, you can come,” I heard Aspen say in a confused tone.

I looked over at the clock on the wall. It was already eight p.m. I felt bad for keeping Aspen out so late, but at least I was able to hear something about Rory and the ability to learn about my magic. I was never successful at any other magic, no matter how many tests they gave me, and for some strange reason, I wanted to see Aspen again, to be near them as if I had known them forever, but they were a stranger.

I stood up as Aspen grabbed their cloak and walked to the door. I followed behind. “Will you be alright walking alone this late?” I asked.

“I'll be fine, thank you,” they said with their back to me. Aspen turned back to face me once they were outside. “Thank you for the food.”

“It was no problem. You can come by anytime to eat with us; I always make more than enough.”

“I can see why…” Aspen said, I watched their eyes move from looking at me to behind me, where Ben was. “Rory said that was her brother?”

“He's something like that. She just likes to call him her brother.” I replied with a nervous laugh. “We grew up together, and his mom also helped us after our parents died,”

“Did you tell him about what happened in the woods today?”

“Yeah, he demanded I say something. Is that a problem?”

“I'll have to talk to him tomorrow. Tell Rory I said goodnight, and I'll see her tomorrow for class.”

“I'll let her know. Are you sure you can get home alright on your own?”

“Yes, I'll be fine. Goodnight, Elva,” Aspen said with a soft smile before putting their hood up and walking away.

I turned around after shutting the door and sighed. Luckily, the dinner went well, and Aspen wasn't scared off. They were very close to what Rory had described when talking about them, but she missed something. There was so much pain behind their eyes. It seemed like multiple lifetimes full of pain and suffering shoved into one person. I wondered what could happen to a person to make them have that much hidden, but I wouldn't pry. What could I even say, “Hey, I saw this pain behind your eyes, tell me about it.”? That would just be rude and could ruin Rory's chances of learning. It would also make me seem like some freak for even being able to see it there.

“What do you want?” I asked, looking at Ben, who was kicking his feet.

“Elva and Aspen sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-”

Before Ben could finish his childish song, I walked over and pushed him off the table. “Shut. Up. They're Rory's teacher, and that's it. Any relationship we have is professional.”

“You're mean,” Ben whined from the floor.

“If you plan to sleep here, wash the dishes,” I said while tossing a rag at Ben's face.

As I walked down the hallway, I heard Ben stand up and begin to mess with the bowls. I sighed before I went to Rory's room to get her pajamas out for her, but when I opened the door, I saw she had fallen asleep on the floor where she was working on a painting. No matter how many times I tell her to keep the paintings out of her room, she manages to sneak them from the art room and continue past bedtime, thinking I wouldn't know. I walked over, picked her up, and moved her up to her bed, carefully pulling the blanket over her. I grabbed a wet rag and cleaned the dry paint off her face and undid the slightly messy braids in her hair.

I brushed her bangs out of her face and looked down. She looked so peaceful while she slept. After a moment, I moved from her bed and grabbed the painting off the floor to put it up. I looked down at it, and the painting was of a fire. It was always something like this at night. She would get tired and paint some kind of symbol for a future event over something she had already started. Our mother would do the same thing before disappearing. It was almost like a future prediction, yet I hoped that it wasn't going to be something big—maybe a small house fire at most if it was anything bad.

I walked out of her room and closed her door quietly, going to the art room and hanging the painting up on the wall to dry. Even if it was for something small, the imagery of it made me anxious. I shook my head, trying to get rid of any bad meanings it could have, and I left the room.

When I walked into my room, Ben was already passed out on the floor with a sleeping bag I'd kept in my closet for him. It seemed he was hugging something, and after taking a closer look, I realized it was a cooked chicken in a plastic bag. The sight of it confused me, but I chose not to think about it too much and grabbed my pajamas, leaving to change.

The whole time I was in the bathroom, I couldn't help thinking of the painting and what it could mean. I closed all of the windows in the house before going back to my room, stepping over Ben to get to my bed, lying in it, and looking up at the ceiling. Eventually, after thinking of all the events of the day again, especially what was talked about through dinner with Aspen, everything went black.