A shrieking explosion reverberated through the empty, abandoned warehouse. Before Daphne’s body even began processing what happened, blobs of blood and gore splattered her face and clothing, covering her in rancid splotches. Daphne threw her hands up in frustration and started wiping the gunk down from her skin with an already grimy cloth. Now, one could argue she was flogging a dead horse. Her clothing was ruined for good by the putrid smell, and to get it off her skin she would need to take a dip in the ocean anyways. Still, she just couldn’t stand the feeling of the fish viscera on her face. At least she remembered to keep her mouth closed this time. She had a nasty habit of opening it while being focused on a daunting task; and what a task it was! Just that evening, she had already gone through five buckets, each with a fish of its own. Most of those she… sent to a better place, she couldn’t even name. And she was doing this every single evening, going through the ocean inhabitants faster than a fasting family. Thank gods she knew how to fish and thank them again that nobody noticed her stealing from the fishermen when her efforts came up fruitless.

Once done with the cloth, Daphne scraped the bones and cartilage from the dark-stained, square plank lying flat on the ground, while she proceeded to mentally review the spell formula. She was sure she executed the movements flawlessly, and there was no doubt that her will held as strong as ever, forcing a pitch perfect formation onto her mind. Yet, like a thousand times before, her mana refused to move along the intended lines, slipping away from her control. Hence, the violent spluttering of fish insides.

She sighed heavily and strengthened her resolve. She couldn’t fathom why her mana was behaving so differently from everything she had ever learnt of it but she wouldn’t let it keep her away from her dreams.

She had started studying the imaging spell exactly three years ago. At first, the fish had simply exploded right away, not allowing for a single glimpse of the internal structure of its body. These days, she had the spell almost ready. She was able to view anything she wanted, being even capable of zooming in and seeing the more intricate structure of the organs. The last inconvenience she had to eliminate was the inevitable death of the subject. Not once had any of the many fish go through the process unscathed yet.

Determining her spellcasting form impeccable once again, Daphne took out the last bucket inhabitant she had at her disposal, putting it on the desk. She tried not to look into its eyes, hoping, praying that this attempt was going to be the one she had been waiting for. It had to be. This was the last one she had. The next day she was going to perform it in front of an examinator as part of the entrance exams.

As she started to weave the spell, she forced her mana into submission with an iron hand, pushing it through the formation. Just as always, the energies wobbled in resistance, trying to slip out of her grip, threatening to collapse the complex pattern. Focused as she was, all of her attention was on the task of keeping the structure stable. She was so close, she was sure. Just a bit more, a bit longer…

Right then and there, a sudden, cold breeze of the night brushed against her nape, and she lost control.

This time, Daphne forgot to keep her mouth shut, and the pungent odor invaded her nostrils. She vomited on the floor. Gods, she hated fish. Kneeling in the puddle, tears welled up in her eyes. So, that was it? Just like that, it was over?

Daphne slapped her cheeks, pushing the tears back. Her blurry gaze sharpened. She wouldn’t stand for it. So what she had failed the last thousand tries. Tomorrow, she would go and cast the spell properly. Simple as that.

Once she stood up and started searching for the cloth to clean as much of the gunk as she could, she noticed a dark figure standing next to the opened entrance doors. The young man was simply watching her silently, as if waiting for something. Daphne sighed.

“I told you not to come here, Arthur. You know I hate to be seen like this.”

Arthur nodded.

“Yeah, I’m aware,” he said nonchalantly, without skipping a beat. The two of them stared each other down for a few moments, a serious stillness to their faces. Then, Arthur’s face scrunched up in a grin. “Still, I think you will find my reasons to be here up to your liking,” he winked at her, beckoning to her to come closer as if he was about to tell her a secret. That was Arthur all over. Sadly, that night, Daphne was in no mood for his antics.

“If this is one of your schemes to make me go do something fun with you, I swear, I am going to use you to try my spells on.”

Arthur didn’t seem overly fazed by her threats. Shrugging, he simply said: “Oh please. You know very well why I insisted on us spending some time together every once in a while.” Their eyes met. Now, of course Daphne knew. She really didn’t need to rest, though. Suddenly, the cheeky smile found its way to his eyes again. “Can’t have you going all Reaper on me.”

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Daphne frowned at him. She blew up only a couple fish a week. Of course, the rest of the time she spent studying, fishing, or doing her part with the chores in the orphanage, but she was sure she wasn’t about to start kidnapping kids anytime soon. Inhaling the cold night air, she prepared an icy retort. Arthur, seeing what she was about to do, just laughed.

“Come on, Daph. You really ought to smile more often,” he put his hands up and used his fingers to spread the corners of his mouth far apart. “Like this, see?”

Daphne couldn’t hold it in any longer. She snorted. Gods, what was it about Arthur that made her laugh like this? She had to confront a real possibility that her sense of humor was even crappier than Arthur’s crass jokes.

Daphne smiled, rolled her eyes, and decided to indulge her friend for a bit.

“Who are you, who are so wise in the ways of living this mundane life? And, pray tell, what could your reasons be to meet me here, at my worst?”

Arthur averted his gaze, his bearing a little slouched suddenly. “You know, I honestly think you are beating yourself up too much over this. This…” he spread his arms, as if to encompass the space of the warehouse and all in it. “This doesn’t make you a bad person.”

Daphne came closer to her friend, locking eyes with him again. “Let’s not go over this again.”

Silence descended upon them. For a while, only calm, peaceful splashings of the ocean waves on the city shores were heard. Daphne was now almost next to Arthur, the distance between them half a meter at most. She was terribly aware of how she looked. Her frizzy, red hair stuck to her head, her face and her clothing, dark and drenched, pieces of bone and cartilage embedded in the strands. The colors of her pants and shirt unrecognizable under the layers accumulated over the years. At least the freckles dotting her cheeks and nose were hidden by the smudges on her face, or so she hoped. And the smell…

Yet, Arthur had never seemed bothered by any of it. Even now, he didn’t step back, he didn’t scrunch up his nose or looked away. Eventually, it was Daphne who broke eye contact.

“Why are you here, Art? Out with it.”

He put a hand into his pocket and took out an unassuming wooden box wrapped in brown cloth. As he began unwrapping the package, a powerful lavender scent spilled out of it, finally unrestrained. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back in surprise. Could it be?

Arthur grinned, a toothy smile from ear to ear.

“I brought soap.”

“I… This… How…” Daphne struggled to make sense of the situation. Then, a horrible realization came upon her, and her chest tightened. “Please, tell me you didn’t steal it.”

It was one thing for her to steal. She was basically a convict already, and too valuable to boot, so her occasional embezzlements weren’t much of a risk for her. But Arthur’s situation differed from hers, and a theft of this scale could effectively ruin his life.

Arthur laughed. Relief flooded her veins…

“Of course not. I traded one of mom’s maps for it.”

…and guilt replaced it right away. She couldn’t, wouldn’t accept it. The price he paid was too high.

“What the hell, Arthur? I know what the collection means to you. Why would you trade it for something I don’t even need?” her mind raced.

“Daph,” he started, but she wouldn’t let him finish.

“Maybe you could still get the map back, if you brought it back to where you got it.”

“Daph.”

“Gods, Arthur. I, I can’t.”

Daphne turned away from him. For a while, neither said anything.

“Look,” Arthur sighed. “I am not even sure of what exact shade your hair is anymore. You know that I don’t mind this savage visage, but tomorrow, you are having the test of your life. I want to give you every edge I can. If that means giving up one of the maps, so be it.” His hazel eyes met hers. “Losing you would be much worse.”

Before Daphne could answer, he took her right hand and pressed the box into her palm. Leaving her no space to object, he turned around and began to walk away. Daphne was left standing there, a bundle of emotions. Fear, guilt, confusion… But one of them clearly dominated over the others.

“Art?” she called out after him.

He looked at her over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

He smirked and waved her off.

“Oh Daph, don’t be naive. After all, I am investing into the future. Having a friend up high might come in handy, you know?” Arthur tried to state it in a serious manner, yet the twitching corners of his lips betrayed him.

When Arthur got to the entrance, he simply called out: “Meet me at the usual spot once you are done, okay?” He went out right after, leaving Daphne in an empty warehouse filled with moonlight, hope, and the scent of a gift worth princesses.