Mira left at dawn. Quietly, without even saying a word. I woke up—and she was already gone. The emptiness in the house beca almost tangible.
A few months passed. The end of spring. The ground beneath our feet continued to wither, as if the color was being drained from it. The livestock grew lethargic; the cows looked at
with a sort of mute reproach and almost stopped eating. Maybe it was just my imagination, or maybe this world really was starting to get tired.
And then ti just... crumbled. Another two years passed.
Alastor and Aya—now they were indistinguishable from ordinary farrs. And Erol and Yara... those little shits. They grew up. They beca a whole head taller than . I looked at their backs and felt resentnt stirring inside . An eternal teenager surrounded by those who know how to grow up.
The seventh year of my cycle arrived. Autumn.
The tir inside
clicked again. My hair began to rapidly turn green, taking on the shade of erald moss, and my eyes filled with a deep, forest green. Along with the color ca that feeling—an absolute lack of understanding of why I was here.
I lay on the grass for hours, staring at the gray sky, asking myself the sa question: Who am I? Why am I here? I knew I had done this thousands of tis before. The feeling of déjà vu beca incredibly intrusive.
Before the kids left for the Academy, we were sitting at the table. Silence.
"Zen," Yara touched my hand, "why have you beco so... dead? You don't explain anything anymore, you don't joke. You just go out into the field and stare off sowhere. Are you okay?"
I looked at her. Her face seed familiar to , but I could no longer rember how we t.
"I don't know," I answered, and it was the only truth I was capable of.
Another half a year passed. February.
A ssage from Erol arrived in the magic sphere. Yara is getting married.
A minor apocalypse occurred in the kitchen.
"WHAT?!" Aya roared. "WHO?! WHEN?!"
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"WHAT THE...?!" Alastor nearly crushed his mug. "Who is this dead man walking?!"
They paced around the room until they realized it was about that sa guy Yara had been secretly sighing over for the last few sesters. In the end, they hugged, accepting the fact that their "little girl" had finally grown up. Tizor was also at the Academy, and the house beca frighteningly quiet.
At the beginning of sumr, I went to get them.
The teleportation went as usual, but when I found myself at the gates of the Academy, a wave of disorientation washed over . I looked at these spires and didn't understand: what was I doing here? How was I even connected to this place? Only blurry, broken fras surfaced in my mory: mirrors, laughter, soone's silver hair... But none of it felt like it was about .
I sat on the grass by the road. Soon, voices could be heard. Erol and Yara—tall, beautiful, grown up—rushed toward .
"Zenhald! We're so happy to see you!"
I stood there, letting them hug , trying to figure it out: we had just seen each other half a year ago, why are they reacting like this?
Yara, her eyes shining, pulled
by the sleeve toward a guy standing a little further away.
"Zenhald, look! It's him! This is Ryan!"
I looked at the young man. Tall, red-haired, with red eyes. He looked older than , although there was sothing... childlike in his gaze. He walked up and held out his hand with a wide, sincere smile.
"I didn't even recognize you at first..." he began.
I arched an eyebrow questioningly, taking my ti to return the handshake.
"Who are you? Do we know each other?"
Ryan froze. His hand remained hanging in the air.
"What do you an, Zenhald..." Yara fussed next to us. "I wrote so much about him! This is Ryan! My fiancé!"
I finally shook his hand. His palm was hot.
"Nice to et you, Ryan."
He looked at
strangely.
"'Nice to et you'?" he echoed, his voice trembling slightly. "But we... we've known each other for a long ti. Do you really not rember
at all?"
Such deep hurt reflected on his face that I felt uneasy. Ryan took a couple of steps back and stomped his foot sharply. With a quiet ring, his sword flew out of its scabbard on its own, made a graceful circle in the air, and hovered next to him like a loyal dog.
Ryan looked at
hopefully, expecting this trick to bring my mory back.
"It's , Ryan! I was little when we t in the castle. You ca to visit us for New Year's... We played 'War of Kingdoms'... You gave
this sword! Rember?"
Heavy layers of fog began to shift in my head; so gears in my brain started to turn. A little kid... bare feet... the sll of roast at... But the face of that child was a blurry spot. I could see the situation, but I couldn't see him in it.
"Oh... yeah, yeah, yeah..." I hesitated, feeling everything inside
itching from the tension. "No. I don't rember. Sorry."
Ryan's sword clinked sadly and returned to its scabbard on its own.
"Alright," he said quietly, adjusting his collar. "We'll have ti to get to know each other again."
I didn't push the subject.
"Let's head ho."
POP.
We materialized in the courtyard of the farm. Erol and Yara habitually collapsed onto the grass, and Ryan... Ryan bent double. He loudly threw up right into a bush.
"Ugh..." he wheezed, wiping his mouth. "I forgot what it's like... flying with you."
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