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“Thank you, Ellory- sweetheart..”
Lucas remembered everything. He had been the one to make the wish, after all, so it only made sense that he’d carry the burden of its outcome. The others, however, did not. Ellory could see this the moment she had entered the cell to pardon them of their crimes. She wasn’t sure why she could remember, and she didn’t believe that she’d ever get a definitive answer, but hope sparked in her by her own memory left her distraught when she had learnt of the truth. While yes, she had her real, blood related parents back, she’d never have her bonded family back, at least not in the same way. Lives saved ultimately for the greater good, but it didn’t feel good to say goodbye to those who raised her for three months without any emotion.
After waving goodbye to the no-longer-prisoners, she went up to the library, telling her father that she wanted to read alone. She wanted to see if there was any way they could remember even a little about themselves. She grabbed a few promising books and got to work. No matter how futile it felt, especially as a young child with no magical ability, she had to try.
~.~
“You wanna go for a drink sometime?”
The words rattled inside Lucas’s head as he made his way home. It sounded so much like the Ashen he had known, the Ashen he had loved. But it wasn’t him, not really. It wasn’t the Ashen he had travelled with for months, the Ashen who had taken care of Ellory with him as if she were his own, the Ashen he had lost a hat to after one too many drinks once she was asleep. The Ashen he had been too distracted to confess his love to was gone, and now replaced with his old self, no longer cursed and still a good individual, but lacking that closeness they had formed between themselves.
After being pardoned by Ellory, who seemingly remembered everything too, the pair had made plans to meet at the Stumble Inn at sundown for a casual night out. Lucas was nervous to say the least, mostly due to that lost closeness. He’d have to get to know Ashen all over again, act as if he didn’t know anything about him, as if the best months of his life hadn’t happened. Because they hadn’t, not once that stupid wish had been cast.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the wish, about what he did wrong, what he could have done to fix things. As happy as he was for Ellory to have her real parents back, he couldn’t help but feel selfish regret for what he missed out on because of it. Though his, Daemys and Ashen’s curses all seemed to be lifted, he would take it all back just for a few moments more of that family they had built together. It had its ups and downs but he missed it.
Entering his home, Lucas saw just how little had changed. Everything was as normal, and he had to remind himself that only three days had passed since he was arrested. Not three months. He put his stuff down and looked in the mirror, rubbing his eyes. He looked like a mess, and he had a date, if you could call it that, in less than an hour. He would go, obviously. No matter how much of a waste of time it felt like, he had to try.
~.~
“They aren’t you..”
A headache plagued Ashen as he looked at himself in the mirror. He really was human again, his curse had been lifted. He didn’t know why, and at this point he didn’t really care. He styled his hair, humming to himself as he gelled it back, no longer having to worry about the precarious placement of horns.
He wasn’t sure why he had asked Lucas out for a drink, it just felt natural to him. That natural feeling mingled with the contrasting feeling that something is missing. He put it down to it being the lifted curse, although in the back of his mind, he knew it was something deeper. He ignored it, opening the medicine cabinet. His headache was getting worse, so he took some painkillers to numb it. It did little to help, but he couldn’t be distracted. Not tonight, not after asking that oddly familiar and incredibly cute elf. He was going to have a good night with him. No matter how much it nagged at him that something was missing, he had to try to enjoy this night.
~.~
5pm. 5:01. 5:02. Lucas was late. While Ashen already had two drinks, he wasn’t expecting his date to be late. However, he hadn’t had to wait long, as he could see Lucas trying to get into the pub, pushing politely through bar patrons as he caught Ashen’s eyes. He managed to get to Ashen’s booth, a flicker of familiarity in his gaze, quickly shaken off as he sat down.
“Evening. Ashen, isn’t it?” There was an understated pain in the elf’s voice as he checked, a contrasting polite smile on his lips.
“Yes, and you are Lucas, Lucas Flamingo I believe.” Was Ashen’s smug response, running a gloved hand through his dark hair. He still had a migraine, which seemed to only worsen at the sight of Lucas. He downed the rest of his pint, blinking at Lucas as he wondered if he should have a third already.
“Don’t have too many ales!”
“Excuse me?” Ashen looked at the half elf before him. He heard his voice, but his soft lips hadn’t moved. Furthermore, he seemed confused by the reaction.
“I didn’t say anything?” Lucas’s eyes were curious and questioning, head tilting at him in an almost familiar way. His sandy hair flopped over slightly, genuine confusion painting his features.
“You told me not to drink too much, but you didn’t move your mouth? That’s a pretty good party trick, I’ll give you that.” Ashen explained, thinking Lucas was feigning ignorance to impress him. Lucas, however, was in shock, eyes widening slightly in memory. He had said something similar to Ashen during those three months, the months that never took place. They were staying at a Stumble Inn like this one. Was Ashen remembering something? Lucas shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He can’t be remembering it, the wish had worked as he had stated it would. No amount of wishful thinking would change that.
The pair awkwardly changed the subject as a waiter came over, with Lucas ordering his first drink and Ashen his third. These quickly increased as the night went on, the moment quickly forgotten.
~.~
These types of nights became frequent for the pair. The two would stay late together, slowly getting more drunk and comfortable as the nights went on. But, as Lucas already knew the hard way and what Ashen was learning too, all good things come to an end and all nights must come to a close.
The pub was quiet as it drew closer to the fateful 12 rings of the clock, and Lucas and Ashen’s conversations had died down, soft small talk in their own fuzzy world. They were a couple weeks into these regular nights out, and like usual neither particularly wanted to leave, but they knew they’d have to at some point.
“Where are you staying, by the way? Maybe I could come round one night?” Lucas asked quietly in the dim candlelight. His cheeks and ears glowed pink in the golden light, neat hair now ruffled and messy. He looked very pretty, Ashen thought, distracted by the man before him. Once he had processed the question, his expression faltered slightly.
“Oh, not sure, to be honest,” he answered, his overly flirty attitude lost in the alcohol. “Never really had a home, not in the usual sense anyway, since..” He trailed off, cracking his knuckles, a habit Lucas had picked up on.
“Since the curse?” The half elf asked softly, slipping up. This Ashen hadn’t told him about the curse, and his sudden pause in fidgeting made it clear he wasn’t comfortable with him knowing.
“When did I..?”
The campfire was dying out, the soft crackling peaceful in the night. Ashen was on guard, but he was distracted, thinking about his family. He had a sister, a mother, a father. But he had a curse too. A curse they feared, a curse he couldn’t change. His tail coiled around him, a stark reminder of his past mistakes as he pulled his knees slightly closer to his chest.
Lucas stepped out of his makeshift tent, having put Ellory to bed. Falmouth had gone to a nearby river, and they hadn’t seen Daemys in weeks, not since he betrayed them. Ashen was sat by the campfire, looking very out of it. Lucas stepped closer, tilting his head at the tiefling, catching him off guard as leaves crunch under his boots.
“Shit- Lucas, you scared me..” Ashen laughed it off, but his pained expression didn’t go unnoticed by Lucas as he sat down next to him. “How’s Ellory? She sleeping okay?” Ashen wasn’t one to get attached easily, but something about this young girl reminded him of himself.
“She’s doing as best she can, it’s a lot for her though..” Lucas explained, having had a careful conversation with the poor girl about their plans for tomorrow. “How are you though, Ashen? You seemed jumpier than usual today..”
Ashen sucked in a deep breath. He knew he had been acting odd today, and if anyone were to notice, of course it would be Lucas. He was so attentive, observant to all of them and their moods. He was the first to notice the Frauline’s suspicious nature, and if it weren’t for that, god knows what would have happened to them and to Ellory.
“Just been thinking about family, honestly.” Ashen answered vaguely but truthfully. He could tell Lucas was curious but didn’t want to push, so he continued. “I was kicked out. They feared me, because of this curse..” He explained gruffly, gesturing to the horns on his head. He didn’t expect the sympathy in Lucas’s eyes, used to people having the same responses of disgust or distrust. He didn’t expect Lucas to take his hand in his own either, squeezing it gently. He didn’t expect kindness.
“They kicked you out?” Lucas showed nothing but empathy for the tiefling, refusing to judge him for something he couldn’t control. He hesitated before asking something more, unsure how Ashen would react. “If you don’t mind me asking, why were you cursed?”
Ashen tensed slightly at the question, and for a moment Lucas wanted to take back his curiosity. He let out a soft sigh, looking at the campfire. “I stole a pen. A pen from the Devil.” He answered simply, tired eyes shimmering in the light. Lucas’s eyes were wide with shock.
“Ashen..”
“Ashen!” Ashen blinked, and suddenly he was no longer by a campfire. He was on the floor in a dim pub, having slipped out of his chair. Lucas was over him, concern in his eyes. “Ashen, you’re… Are you okay?”
Ashen looked up at the half elf, blinking in confusion. “What the..? ” A tail coiled into his vision as the clock struck midnight.
~.~
Ellory had been studying for weeks, trying everything she could. She knew it was late, but she had to fix this. She had to make them remember. There was only one issue. She didn’t know the true wording of Lucas’s wish. Almost all of the texts she had read had told her she needed to speak the exact words, bar one.
She grabbed what she needed, most of which she could get with ease as the princess. Seven bluebells, six buttercups, five fossils (looking vaguely like pieces of a trilobite), four branches of a pine tree, three crushed grapes, two slices of a preroasted aubergine, and one important piece of jewellery to the wisher. She looked through her jewellery box, finding stashed a small jewel she recognised. It was the necklace that had first bound them together. Though it no longer connected them, it was still special to her. She glanced down at it in her hand before putting it in her bag of weirdly specific ingredients and taking it outside to the garden.
It was very dark, two minutes until midnight. She laid out her finds, surprised that no one had come to find her. She opened the book, looking down at the words. Even at only eleven years old, the words weren’t difficult to read, surprisingly simple for such a powerful spell. As she shook the bag, she spoke the words.
“Flora glow and devotion mix,
In this potion, i make a wish.”
Everything went dark, then bright white light blinded her.
“Princess Ellory of Lutorum. I believe we have seen each other before.” The voice echoed out in the empty space. “Although then you were a queen. What can I do for you?”
The voice was soft spoken, seemingly aware that it was talking to a child. Although it had no form, Ellory could feel its presence. “I.. I want to make a wish!”
“Ah yes, of course. For your friends back, I presume.” The voice breezed past the elven princess, and suddenly took the form of Ashen. Ellory’s eyes widened as she ran to the figure. As her arms wrapped around him, he dissipated into the air. “My dear, I am afraid there are terms to this which I must adhere to. Every wish has its limits.”
Taking the form of Lucas next, he looked down at the princess with those soft eyes she had gotten used to. When it spoke, he sounded so familiar, so safe. “Ellory, I made this wish to protect you. Would you really want to give up your parents again? For some low life commoners?”
She blinked at him, hugging her stomach tightly.“They aren’t commoners, they’re my friends! I just want them to remember me! To remember each other!” Ellory was panicking now. “I don’t want to give my parents up, I just want them back!”
The form of Lucas knelt down next to her, eyes shining with something unfamiliar. “Sweetheart, I can’t change the course of fate like that. There are two strands of destiny. One in which your parents survive, and one in which you meet those prisoners.” He sounded so harsh. “It’s one or the other, never both.”
Lucas’s form brushed over her head, tucking a strand behind her pointed ears as she looked up at him. Her eyes watered with unshed tears, wrapping her arms around him. She knew it wasn’t really Lucas, but she was scared and upset and wanted comfort. “I miss them..” She mumbled weakly into the form’s shoulder. She felt sick and dizzy as Lucas turned to ash before her, slipping away.
Everything went dark, and she awoke to the strike of twelve and the sounds of guards shouting, sirens blaring. She heard a dreadfully recognisable shout.
“The King and Queen are dead, where is Princess Ellory!?” The Chancellor. The wish had been cast after all. She hadn’t made her mind up, she wanted more time with her mother and father. What had she done?