Ariana lightly gripped Ben’s wrist as they walked up the gravel path, the eclipsed, gentle moon lighting their way. The woods they were now in were on the other side of Riverglade village, opposite the forest where she had found Ben. It was much less dense, allowing her to guide him with relative ease.

A smile touched Ariana’s lips as she thought about her first day with Ben. She was proud of herself for finally making a new friend and not scaring him away like the others.

Even so, something about Ben is different. He doesn’t feel new, she thought. More like someone I’ve known forever.

Her mind flashed back to earlier in the day. Despite having just met Ben, she felt like some invisible force was pushing her to him, beckoning her not to let him out of her sight. When he tried to leave, Ariana’s body seemed to move on its own, reaching out.

But what was it? Ariana wondered. Was it really something else? Or am I just lonely?

Then Ariana remembered grabbing his hand. At that moment, she saw something. Flashes, maybe even memories, had flooded her mind, all of them of the mysterious Benjamin Blake. They passed too quickly for her to decipher, but the strange feelings from those visions remained. Though she couldn’t quite identify them, Ariana was certain of one thing: meeting Benjamin Blake was no accident. They had crossed paths for a reason.

“Some party, huh?” Ben said, breaking the silence.

Ariana smiled. The last few hours were probably the most fun she had in her teenage life, even beating her first Glimmering Moon performance. Also, there was the fact that she had now found the perfect dance partner, despite his actual dancing not being up to par with hers.

“Yep. I had fun tripping over your feet and falling on my butt.”

“—And I had fun being thrown to your dad and being asked to dance. Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Oh, hush. You know it was funny.”

Ben chuckled. “Okay, maybe a little. But seriously.” He glanced at her violin case. “How did you learn to do that? Dancing while playing?”

“I suppose I started doing it while practicing in the forest, where I found you,” Ariana explained. “At first, all I did was practice, practice, practice. Piece after boring piece. I got good at it but couldn’t feel what I was playing like something was missing.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “What was it?”

“Passion,” Ariana said. “I wanted to feel like I was making art, not just playing a tune everyone has heard a million times. I got frustrated, even wanting to quit at one point.”

“But?”

“But then, I saw something. I noticed how the birds sang while they flew, how the entire forest seemed to move, almost in rhythm. So, little by little, I moved as well. First, I just swayed back and forth, then my feet and whole body moved like my surroundings.”

“So, it came to you naturally?”

Ariana bit her lip. “Not really. I kept missing notes, popping strings, and occasionally falling when I tried something more complicated. I just experimented until I got better and better until I got where I am now.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “How long did it take you to perfect it?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say perfect.” Ariana blushed sheepishly. “It’s a constant work in progress if I’m honest.”

If that’s what you wanna call it, the voice teased. Ariana shook her head to rid herself of it.

“Well, I’d like to think you’re pretty close. You and Ole Betsy absolutely shredded it tonight. No wonder you carry it around with you.”

With a warm smile, Ariana reached back and patted the case affectionately. Despite its age, Ole Betsy had never failed her, always staying in tune despite being used so much.

Well, another successful festival, girly, she thought, smiling, especially this one. Thank you for helping me to impress my new friend.

“I know it sounds kinda pathetic, but Ole Betsy has always been there for me,” Ariana said. “I guess you could say that she’s my first real friend.”

“That’s the part I don’t understand,” Ben started. “Everybody at the festival loved you. They were excited. You were the talk of the town.”

“Well, now they do, at least. It wasn’t always that way.” She avoided his gaze.

“Why is that?”

“Do you remember what I said at the tree about how I’d never had someone to share the view with?”

Ben nodded.

Ariana opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. An image of her younger self flashed through her mind, lonely and isolated. She had felt displaced, alienated, like a stranger among everyone, even though Riverglade was supposed to be her home.

“It was rough for me during my first years in New Eden. I wasn’t socially adept. Every group I had tried to become a part of rejected me because I wasn’t like them. Also, having the village chief be my overprotective dad didn’t help. After a while, I just kinda gave up and became the village social outcast.”

“I’m sorry, Ariana.” Ben frowned, his gaze falling.

“It wasn’t all bad.” Ariana beamed, an attempt to purge that sadness from her soul. “I still had my dad. And Kira.”

Ben raised an eyebrow. “Kira?”

Ariana nodded. “Yeah, she’s an angel too. A good friend of ours, always there for us. Heh, she even taught me to play the violin.” The memories surfaced as her voice trailed off. All the time Kira had spent with her, patiently teaching her how to hold her instrument, stay in tune, play vibrato, etc. But to Ariana, it was more than that. Kira was there for her on her worst days when she felt like giving up. She was also the one who first witnessed her new talent, seeing Ariana dancing and playing in the forest. Ariana smiled. “I guess you could say she’s like a mother to me.”

“I’m glad you still had somebody.” Ben chuckled. “So, am I gonna need her stamp of approval, too? When do I get to meet her?”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Well…” Ariana scratched her chin. “…hopefully soon. She doesn’t live in Riverglade, just comes to visit sometimes.”

“She doesn’t?”

“Nope. Kira is up in the mountains, managing a village of her own.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “Wait, I think Zachariel said something about that. He told me that there was someone who could help with my memory problem and that she specialized in this kind of stuff.”

“Really?” Ariana raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Does sound like her, I guess.”

“Yep. Your Dad said he would take me over there personally in a few days, so I guess I get to meet Kira after all.”

“A few days?” Ariana blinked. “Oh. I see.”

Ben smiled, though his gray eyes appeared sad. “Yeah. I was supposed to leave tomorrow, but your dad changed his mind and decided to keep me around for a bit.”

Ariana’s brows drew together in surprise. “Wait, what?”

“Yep,” Ben confirmed. “Just out of nowhere, he basically grounded me.”

“Wow.” She whistled. “Dad must really like you then, huh?”

“No, not even close,” Ben said with a chuckle. “Something set me on fire, so it’s probably just for my safety or something. I’m okay, though.”

“You were on fire?” Ariana asked, a worried look crossing her face before being replaced by a puzzled one. “Then why didn’t he send you to the village doctor?”

“Oh.” Ben froze, looking down. “I didn’t think of that. I mean, it’s not even that bad.”

“Can I see?”

Ben nodded and spun around for Ariana to inspect the blackened hole in his shirt. She couldn’t see well, so she felt underneath, running her hand across his skin. It felt warm... a little too warm, perhaps. But smooth, intact and burn-free.

“I guess you got lucky.” Ariana stepped back as Ben faced forward. “It is kinda weird, coming from Dad. I would have thought that he would have kicked you out of town the first chance he got.”

Ben scoffed. “Maybe he does like me after all.”

“He’d better,” Ariana said. “Otherwise, I’m gonna have a talk with him.”

“Ha.” Ben snorted. “Good luck with that.”

Ariana blew raspberries as they walked onward, the gravel path crunching beneath their shoes. She glanced over at Ben, who she could barely see because the woods were so dimly lit.

“So, uh…where are we going now?” he asked.

“We’re almost there. Wait—” Ariana squinted, focusing on the light ahead, “—we are there. Come on!”

Grabbing Ben’s wrist, Ariana led him through the rest of the woods until finally they broke free of the dark and made it into the gentle caress of the moonlight. She looked back just in time to see Ben’s eyes widen, the storm within them illuminated by the sight before him.

The unbroken blue of the ocean stretched before them. Waves reached toward the moon as though trying to be part of the light before falling back and rolling onto the white sand. With each wave of the shifting water, a blue glow flared to life, like the breathing of a slumbering creature made of enchanted light.

Ariana smiled, setting down her violin case and removing her shoes. She rushed into the wake, blue luminescence appearing next to her ankles. Ben followed suit, dipping his feet into the ocean.

“What is this, exactly?” He looked up. “Is it the eclipse doing this?”

“It’s a phenomenon that occurs every year around the time of the festival,” Ariana said as she nodded. “The moonlight penetrates the water's surface and illuminates all the tiny sea creatures below, making the ocean a perfect reflection of the night sky.”

“It’s incredible.” Ben looked down, the shifting light from below crossing his face. “How did you find it?”

“Kira was the first one to show me. She brought me out here when I was about ten. She told me about all the local legends surrounding it, how the lights were the souls of those who had passed on from New Eden returning to visit. Very few know about it, but those of us who do call it the ‘Sea of Stars.’”

“That’s a cool name,” Ben noted. “Maybe next festival you can do a show here or something. People would love that.”

“I feel like too many people here would ruin the vibe.” Ariana shrugged and scratched her head. “So, I probably won’t do a show here.”

“What if you did one for just me?” Ben asked. “An encore?”

Ariana’s eyes widened, her cheeks flushed. “Uh…sure!” She waded onto the sand, opening her violin case. She brought the violin up, quickly tuning it before returning to where the water barely reached her ankles.

Okay, girly. Relax, the voice told Ariana. It’s just an encore.

Ariana took a deep breath, bringing her thumping heartbeat under control. She lifted the bow to the strings, her fingers in the third position on the neck of Ole Betsy. She drew the bow across, her fingers dancing across the fingerboard as she moved.

The water around her feet created a little more drag than usual, but she adapted and quickly learned to move in it until she was comfortable. She smiled confidently.

Alright. Let’s do this.

Ariana looked directly into Ben’s eyes as she danced around more actively, her body in sync with the waves. Unlike the raw and haphazard dance in the town square, this one was about grace and flow, being part of the ocean. She let the push and pull of the sea guide her, her music following suit.

As she twirled, her foot hovered above the water, caressing its surface with a gentle touch, while the bright luminescence trailed behind like a loyal puppy following its master. She splashed, whipped, and frolicked across the shallow tides, her bow crossing up and down the strings until she brought her song to a close. The waves behind her roared as if from a crowd of applause.

Ben clapped, smiling. “Wow…that was…”

Ariana stepped back out of the water, brushing her brine-sprayed hair out of her eyes. “It was what?”

“Epic.”

She laughed as she placed Ole Betsy back in her case and walked back out to the shallows. “Epic, huh?”

“I mean, yeah,” Ben admitted. “Do you know what else is epic?”

“What?”

Ben darted over and sent a barrage of illuminated seawater to Ariana’s festival outfit, which she had worked on for hours. She froze for a moment before she looked back up at him.

“Oh, no, you just didn’t.”

He grinned. “I did.”

Ariana chased him into the water, splashing him as he guarded his face. Flashes of blue, glowing ocean flashed across the surface as they fought. Eventually, Ari splashed Ben into submission, forcing him to declare his defeat once more.

“You really ought to finish what you start,” Ariana said with a smirk. “I will have you know I am very protective of my performance outfits.”

“Little late for that,” Ben joked. “Anyway, I didn’t ruin it, did I?”

She glanced down. Her dress was wet, a lot of the sparkles came off, but it was still salvageable. Hopefully.

“I guess I’ll find out later. Maybe I’ll make you fix it.” Ariana glanced at Ben, who bent over to pick something out of the water.

“Ooh, what did you find?”

“It’s…a seashell,” he answered, gazing at it intently.

“Yep. You’ll find lots of those around here. Even—”

“She loved seashells.”

Ariana paused. For a moment, nothing could be heard but the crashing of waves on the shore. Her friend’s beautiful gray eyes were fixed on the horizon, tears rolling down his face. She frowned, stepping closer to him.

“Ben?”

He avoided her gaze, continuing to stare out at the sea. “She feels…so far away.”

Who is he talking about? Ariana wondered, before it suddenly hit her. When he had come to New Eden, all he could remember was losing someone. Someone close to him, special even. Whoever that person was, the pain in his eyes made it clear that he missed her dearly. Her eyes widened.

“You mean…?”

“I don’t even know her name. All I remember is failing her.” Ben dipped his head. “And yet, I get to enjoy this?”

Ariana frowned. The night had been so fun that she had forgotten about his missing memories, the person he had been trying to save. Her promise.

Can you imagine how he feels? the voice in her head told Ariana, being thrown head-first into a new world, knowing he can’t even remember the name of someone he loves?

Ariana’s lips curled. As much as she hated to admit it, the voice was right. More than anything, she didn’t want to see him hurting.

You’re right, Ariana told the voice. I need to be there for Ben. No matter what it takes.

Her gaze drifted down to his open hand. For a moment she reached for it but hesitated. Instead, she placed it on his shoulder.

“Hey, you’ve had a long day. Why don’t we head back?”

Ben didn’t move at first, the fist with the seashell clenched tight, the night’s breeze shifting his hair from his eyes. With reluctance, he nodded and let it slip from his palm into the ocean; the once-bright sea was now devoid of its gleaming light. Lonely.

As they walked on the beach, Ariana grabbed him and drew him in for a hug. At first, he didn’t move. Finally, Ben’s hands made their way around to her back as he returned it.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered into Ben’s ear. “I’ll help you find her. I promise.”

“Thanks, Ari.” Ben’s voice threatened to crack. “That means more than you’ll ever know.”

Ariana broke the hug and smiled at him reassuringly. She returned Ole Betsy to her case and strapped it to her back. The pair returned to the village, both ready for a good night’s sleep.