“AAAAAAAARGH! FUCK! SHIT! WHAT THE HELL!!! WHERE AM I?!?!”

Abrial jumped backward, sighing in relief. So they weren’t dead! She hadn’t killed them by accident! Whew, that would’ve been really awkward. Meanwhile, the newly awakened teen magician was hacking and coughing up whatever poisonous-tasting shit that had woken them up due to its pure bitterness, and looking around in alarm. Their black eyes fell on Abrial, who was grinning down at them relievedly.

They hissed, scooting backwards into the shadows of the alleyway. “Who the fuck are you?! Get the fuck away from me, you hear? Fuck off!”

Abrial stood there for a second, staring and blinking and processing that.

She felt…deeply wronged. Hadn’t she just done something good by saving this person?

“Hey!” She crossed her arms aggrievedly, approaching the magician’s crouched figure, who kept scooting backwards frantically for every step she took. “Is that how people talk to someone who saves them? First, I fought off all those guards for you, and I dealt with that troll imperial general’s bad insults! Then, I scared off a horde of villagers! Then — THEN, I carried you here and woke you up with medicine! Aren’t you supposed to thank me — or something?” Suddenly, Abrial frowned, hesitating. She’d never done something like this before, and she’d never read books about heroes, so she realized…she didn’t actually know how people were supposed to react when someone saved them. She eyed the teen magician with new eyes.

Maybe this was how people were supposed to react? By screaming and running away?

…Maybe?

While Abrial considered this interesting possibility, the young magician scowled, holding their legs close to their chest. They turned their head away bitterly.

“You — whatever you did, I didn’t ask for your help, and I didn’t need it. I would’ve been fine on my own. So — leave me alone! Got it? I don’t want your — ”

“Excuse me,” Abrial interjected, holding up a hand. Her dark eyebrows were drawn low in serious thought. “I have a question. Do people normally scream and swear at people who save them, or is it just you?”

The young magician blinked with their large, black eyes tinged with dark blue. They gaped slightly up at Abrial.

How…could someone be this dense? Was this…some kind of joke?

This person’s reaction only made Abrial even more confused. Were they looking all confused like that because she didn’t know people were supposed to act like this? Or because something she said was silly? Now she just had more questions! Giving up, Abrial sighed and rubbed her temples.

“Listen…kid magician. Do you really want me to leave you here when you’re like this? Because — ”

“YES!” The young magician emphatically grumbled, scooting even further into the shadows. “Leave me the fuck alone! And I’m not some kid! My name’s Romy. If…If you don’t leave right now, I’m going to attack you with my shadow magic, like I attacked that guard earlier!”

Abrial raised a dark eyebrow, suddenly interested. “Shadow magic? What’s that?”

Romy just turned around, curling up in the dark. “Dark magic, okay? Chaos magic. Now, leave me alone!”

“Geez! I’m starting to think you’re just abnormally rude!” Abrial seethed. “Here — take this sack. There’s food inside, and here’s a water jug. It’s kinda contaminated, but the grass woke you up and you’re not dead yet, so it should be okay to drink. I’m gonna go get another sack for myself at the market back there, since it’s empty right now, so you can have my food — ”

“Did you not fucking hear me? Get! OUT! Right now! Leave me the fuck alone, you fucking dumbass weirdo!” The young magician started chucking random things on the ground at Abrial, who dodged, wobbling: an empty crate, a tangerine peel, an old shoe.

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“Hey! Why’re you throwing things now? Are you nuts? I’m just trying to — ”

“GET! LOST!!!!!!!!!!!”

Abrial fled the alleyway with her hands over her head, discarded objects flying after her like pebbles. When she’d run a good ways away, she looked back at that alley furiously and huffed.

“They really were just rude! I’m starting to wonder if the guards caught them because of magic, or because of a bad attitude…Sigh. I need to stop wasting time and just get back to the house already. Next time I see something like that — I’m walking right past! No involvement! This was the last time I’m getting distracted from getting back to Finley!”

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Down by the river just outside the town, Abrial filled her newly stolen water jug and splashed her face. The water was cold and refreshing, like wintry air.

She grinned. It was nice to have such a familiar feeling after all this time away from the house. The river washed away her irritation at the lack of appreciation from that young magician. What’s more, this feeling reminded her of the lotus pond, cool and clear and clean.

Her smile evaporated.

Why…Why was she thinking fondly of the paradise gardens?! That wasn’t right!

No, no — that house was a prison. It wasn’t possible to miss a prison. Splashing her face some more, she pulled back painful memories to remind herself how much she’d hated it there — the tightened panic of her chest in the garden at night, threatening to close off her breath permanently; the feeling of crumbling from the inside out as she sat by the lotus pond, watching the moon move through the sky. Her heart began to beat faster, and her jaw tightened.

She took a breath.

Then she nodded firmly, a fierce glare in her eyes.

There was nothing to miss in that house. It had only been filled with pain and suffocation.

Something flitted in the corner of her vision. She looked up curiously.

Huh…weird. There was nothing there. Only some greeting pines, their needles blowing in the breeze. A sparrow flitted between branches.

She frowned. It must have just been the sparrow.

But as she gathered up her things and left for the next town…for some weird reason, she couldn’t shake the creeping feeling that she was being watched.

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She slept in the hills that night, satisfied that she was much closer to the house. A greeting pine provided her good shade from the pearly moonlight.

As she slept, she had a nightmare.

She had used to have nightmares almost every night at the house, waking up in a cold sweat and unable to breathe. But this was her first nightmare since escaping.

She dreamt she was sitting out by the lotus pond in the paradise gardens. The lotuses drifted gently across the water, gleaming white and pink. A soft mist seeped over everything.

“Stop moving, Abrial.”

Someone was touching her shoulder. She looked up; it was Finley! Finley’s hazel eyes glimmered in the ambiguous light like jewels. Her honey-colored braids tickled Abrial’s face. They smelled like honey and crushed leaves as she leaned down, her face coming closer and closer to Abrial’s.

“What — are you doing?” Abrial stammered, wide-eyed.

Finley frowned in confusion.

“I am tending your wound. You fell out of the window last night in a panic.”

A door burst open somewhere. Suddenly, someone grabbed Abrial roughly beneath the arms and dragged her away from Finley.

“Hey! What the fuck? Let go of me! Let fucking go! Finley!”

Finley smiled sadly at her.

“Goodbye, Abrial.”

Then Finley’s figure was surrounded by dark shadows. They converged on her, and she cried out in pain.

“Stop it!” Abrial screamed until her throat was raw. “Stop it! She didn’t do anything! It was me who wanted to escape!”

Suddenly, the gardens melted away into the front doors of the house. The doors flew open; something was kicked outside.

It was Finley’s body. She rolled on the cobblestones, coming to a limp stop like a sack of stones.

“This is what happens to filthy traitors like you! There is no home for you here any longer!”

It was Abrial’s mother, towering in sea-gray robes on the steps of the house like a goddess of stone.

Abrial screamed in rage. Her chest seemed to be on fire. Then she leaned over and vomited. Her vomit was bright red, burning her throat like flames, and where it landed, it rose up into a scarlet fire, consuming her.

“Gah!”

Abrial gasped awake, shooting to a sitting position. Her chest was heaving, as though she’d sprinted a mile. Cool beads of sweat streaked down from her hair to her chin. In the moonlight, she was pale as a ghost.

When she could finally breathe properly again, she flopped back down into the grass, staring up at the moon. It was in almost the same place as it had been when she’d gone to sleep.

“Weird,” she murmured, settling back into the grass. “I feel panicked, but…I can't even remember the nightmare. Hm…I guess that’s a good thing, heh.”

After tossing and turning for some time, she drifted back into a deep sleep.