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elfboyeros · 7 months

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Healing Pools

Bridgehid Masterlist [start from the beginning?]

@jj-pines @karaboutmyart @lerenee

“Calvin said he and Indigo went to the forge.”

“Where is the forge?”

“Down that hallway it the 12th door on the left.”

“Rowan!”

They marched down the hall with their friends following a bit behind, “Rowan, are you really sure that this is a good idea?” Elias asked.

The group of teens had found their way into the college from the festival—Rowan on the hunt for Indigo to get answers on the lying and what happened in the past.

“Indigo been lying to me this whole time!” they scoffed, “I don’t care if this a good idea, I need her to tell me the truth!”

They continued to the forge, found the door, and barreled through it, making Calvin jump at his workstation. The forge looked very much like a standard blacksmith forge with barrels of scraps, and tools. And weapons, specifically epées and a large onyx scythe hanging on the walls. Indigo sat beside Calvin in his large office chair now looking at the door since teens entered. “Rowan, what’s wrong?” she asked, all crunched up in the chair.

“You… You’ve been lying to me!”

She is silent, her eyes widen, and she stands, “W-what do you mean?!”

“You know what happened to my memories!” they yelled.

“What?!”

“You kept what happened from me this whole time!”

Indigo was flustered, combing her fingers through her hair, her shaking as she looked at everyone in from of her erratically, “I’ll know is that Esma was murdered that night then, Duke—”

“DUKE HAD YOU AND YOUR MAGES TAKE AWAY MY MEMORIES OF THAT NIGHT!”

The archmage froze, “I…” she crooked.

“BUT YOU AND MAGES FUCKED UP AND LEFT ME WITH NO MEMORIES AT ALL!”

“I didn’t know—”

“BULLSHIT! YOU’VE TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR PAST SEVEN YEARS, MAKING UP ME NOT REMEMBERING MY OWN PARENTS WITH STUPID GIFTS AND THE PROMISE OF HAPPINESS,” Rowan screamed.

“I-I…”

“YOU RUIN MY LIFE! AND YOU’VE KNOWN THIS WHOLE TIME! YOU’VE LIED TO MY FACE FOR WHAT?!”

“I DIDN’T KNOW,” Indigo screamed, her hands over her heart, “THE ONLY THING I KNEW WAS ESMA WAS SHOT!”

The room is silent again, she sounds genuine, her eyes full of tears, she heaved, “I didn’t even know that when it happened! I found that out later.” She exhaled unsteadily, “Duke told Sloan and I, she had died when the creatures from the tower came out that night! Then he said you saw something, and he didn’t want you to live with the memory of it! He had the mages join him in some kind of spellcasting to lock away your memories, but I did not participate. I assumed it worked as it should have and went with what Duke said to do regarding your well-being.”

Rowan only stared, with an anger-infused scowl that made Indigo’s skin feel like it was burning, “So you just listened to this guy you’ve never trusted?!?”

“I wasn’t any position at the time to not trust him!”

“I don’t like that answer,” Rowan huffed before turning to head for the door.

They didn’t want to look at her anymore, so they left the forge with their friends following behind them, while Indigo collapsed to the floor and began to wail. The mage could be heard through the walls as they all walked away, hiding in the school’s enormous media room.

They all sat in silence as it continued to grow late into the evening until Nemo began playing the piano softly. Georgia sat next to Rowan on the floor their arms linked together with the young seer’s head on their left shoulder, Elias paced, and Maverick had left after a while to go to the infirmary Calvin needed some help.

“You can stay with me tonight if you want Rowan,” Georgia mentioned, softly, “I think I still have some of your clothes, so you don’t have to go to Indigo and Calvin’s.”

Rowan only nodded, seeing Maverick, through the large windows looking out into the hallway. He was coming back, fidgeting with his hands, before he entered, “Indigo wants to seeing you in the infirmary.”

“I don’t want to talk her,” Rowan sneered as Nemo stopped playing the piano and Elias stopped pacing.

“She said she could fix this,” he replied.

“Can we really trust her,” Nemo scoffed, “she has been lying this whole time.”

“Wait she sounded genuine,” Georgia muttered sheepishly before receiving questioning glances, “I mean, yes, she has lied and maybe she didn’t have any good reason to lie, but she not a monster!”

“She certainly acts like one,” Elias commented.

“If she can fix it, is it not worth just hearing her out,” Georgia posed.

There was a moment of thought before Rowan sighed, “Fine.”

The group of teenagers headed to the infirmary, entering the quiet sanatorium in the middle of the evening, only a few homeopaths, including Casper, doing their daily tasks, and checking on the few patients they did have. Indigo stepped out of Calvin’s office, red in the face physically disheveled, and emotionally drained.

“Rowan, I am sorry. I—”

“Just tell me how you are going to fix this,” Rowan sighed, folding their arms in front of their cheats.

Indigo cleared her throat, “right, I wish to return your memories to you.” Rowan attempted to hide their shock, but failed, “I’ve looked into a possible reverse, I believe with we use the healing pools we can use magic along with Georgia’s seeing abilities, your memories will return.”

“Do you really think I could help,” Georgia asked, “I may be able to see the past, but I can’t see Rowan’s… sorry.”

“That’s why we will do it in the healing pool with the assistance of magic,” the archmage replied, “I understand I am not the most trustworthy at the moment, but I have faith that this will work.”

The is a moment of silence, “Rowan, I want to make this right! I want to help you and make up for my past negligence! I’m on your side! I thought by keep the things that I didn’t have the answers to from you it would make things easier when I found out the answers, because I knew everything that happens, I would have the answers to all of your questions. By the Goddess I just wanted to make things right… and I allows my emotions to get in the way.”

“Alright,” Rowan croaked, “but first you tell me everything you know even if you don’t have the answers.”

Indigo nodded, taking Rowan into Calvin's office. Explaining how she found out Esma had been shot, what happened with them and the orphanage how she didn’t speak up fast enough to have Rowan in her care from the start, and how that night Calvin had also been attacked so -even though it is not an excuse- the mage was not thinking straight the night Esma died. They ended the conversation in tears, ready to mistake the past mistakes made.

When Rowan collected themself, they followed Indigo and the others down to the healing pools under the infirmary. Changing into what could be described as a 3-piece pajama set in a vintage vouge green color, in a pristine pure color bathroom. They stared at themself in the mirror, an unbelievably disheveled person staring back. They looked like a mess with wet faces, red eyes, and messy unkept braids, they forcefully took them out before leaving the small bathroom.

They entered an opulent and large indoor pool, one of four under the infirmary. The room smelled heavily of healing herbs and oils, all the walls painted in a pastel rainbow of colors from the lights in the ceiling, the water in the large pool crystal clear, seeming both shallow and deep all at once, along with beautiful soft sounds of fae bouncing and echoing of the walls.

“Maverick and Elias, two will be at their sides, Georgia you’ll be at their head, I at their feet,” Indigo informed softly.

“What about me?” Nemo asked.

“You will guard the door.”

“Do you really think…”

“I have no suspicions that Duke will make attempts to interfere, but that doesn’t mean I am right,” Indigo replied, “I ask you because I know if he comes you can handle it. You are Sloan’s apprentice after all.”

Nemo nodded, holding in any reaction to her compliment before leaving the pool room and standing attention at the door. Indigo looked to Rowan who was now at her side, an empathic glance across her brow.

“This will work,” she cooed, “I promise.”

Rowan nodded before descending the steps into the large pool. The water is warm, like a bath, smelling more of medical herbs than outside of the water. Water shifts as Elias, Maverick, Georgia, and Indigo get in behind them.

“Imagine if we were wearing socks,” Georgia commented with a giggle.

“No, dear Goddess,” Elias cringed.

The group is in shallow water as everyone gets into place, with Rowan looking to Indigo for instructions, “lay on you back and float,” the mage instructed.

Rowan nodded, following her command, soaked in the water while staring at mural painted ceiling of some ornate piece from the romantism period art, “My dad can’t float,” Georgia stated, earning glances from her friends and teachers, “sorry, I’m nervous.”

“Georgia,” Indigo pronounced, making the young girl straighten her back, “do you not from a long line of great seers.”

“I mean yeah—”

“You are the first seer in centuries to be able to see a person past rather then their future! You are more powerful than you realize, Soleil!”

Sun, it would be an odd nickname for anyone, but Georgia, “okay,” she breathed, “I’m going to do this!”

“Preferably, like now. My ears are full of water, and I hate it,” Rowan mentioned.

“Sorry, sorry,” Georgia giggled.

“Okay, Georgia, place your hands out palms up,” Indigo instructed, to which the seer followed her direction, “now repeat after me.”

Georgia nodded before Indigo began chanting some kind of incantations that the mage in training soon repeated. It wasn’t long until Indigo and Georgia’s voices began to collide in Rowan’s ears, so much so, that it became like white noise mixed with the sound of the water in the healing pool. They had closed their eyes so as not to awkwardly look at Elias and Maverick or blind themself while staring into the overhead lights. However, the world around them was no longer dark, but instead white covered in fog, longer smelling of healing herbs rather than crushed cherries and chia milk. It feels like Rowan is lying in a puddle after a large rainstorm.

“Hey, kiddo, are you going to just lay there or come and see us?” The voice is unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time, it’s kind yet husky, croaky even, sounding, a man’s voice.

Rowan raised but looked around trying to find the source, “to your left, baby,” it’s a woman's voice now, soft almost brittle with a slight Irish accent, but obviously in a caring tone, that valley of familiar yet not. They whipped their left.

Face people, a man and woman, a few paces away from them. The man is paler than the woman, but both of fair skin and pink hair, yet the man’s hair is much lighter and short, almost white in some places, while his female counterpart’s hair looks almost red and long done in a bun, low at the base of her skull. Their eyes, are both, orange shades, yet the man looks like they are the color of a marigold, while his eyes are permanently bloodshot the woman has many beauty marks across her face.

There is something in Rowan, that tell them to get up, something that tells them to go before them, yet that stay sat in a puddle of water.

“Momma?!”

Their on feet, running from their little puddle, into the arms of their parents hugging both of them for the first time in over a decade. Even if it wasn’t real, it felt like home.

“You used to be so tiny,” Jacob cooed, petting their hair as they cried into his chest, “Goddess, you look so much like me. Esma, baby, they look like me!”

“I know, Jacob, I’ve always known,” She croaked softly, placing a hand on Rowan’s cheek, trying to wipe away their tears, “but we have to focus.”

Jacob nodded, rubbing Rowan’s back, “come straighten up, baby marigold, you gotta get through this.”

“Is this because of what Indigo and Georgia are doing?” Rowan asked, hiccupping.

Esma and Jacob nodded, “We are like sprits in your subconscious, your gate openers for the journey you want to go on,” Esma explained, “you want to remember what happened that night, right?”

It became Rowan’s turn to nod. “Are you sure, kiddo?” Jacob asked, “it is all what you really want to see?”

“I want to remember everything,” they answered, “no matter how gross, horrible, or painful, I have to know! I haven’t remembered you both for the past seven years, my life started at age nine! I need to know!”

“You can’t go back once we leave,” Esma reiterated.

“I understand that, and that doesn’t change anything! My answer is yes, I have to do this!”

Esma and Jacob nodded again, “can I ask something first?” Rowan asked, “Before this is over, and I go back and never see you again.”

“Of course, baby,” Esma cooed.

“Why the marigolds?”

Jacob chuckled, “there are your mother’s birth flower.”

“and my favorite flower,” she added.

Rowan giggled, crying once again, “and the color of your father’s eyes.”

“Yes, my beautiful bloodshot eyes,” he joked.

Esma touched the necklace around Rowan’s neck, “I’m glad this made its way to you.”

“Can I have one last hug,” Rowan hiccupped.

Jacob and Esma involved them in a hug, as the scent in the air shifted from the crusted cherries and chai milk back to the healing herbs. “We will love you, Rowan.” Was the last thing they heard before the white skies and fog disappeared back to pitch-black nothingness.

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elfboyeros · 6 months

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Until the Marigolds Bloom

Reread or Wish for More Bridgehid

@jj-pines @karaboutmyart @lerenee

“Hey, Rowan?”

“Yeah?” Rowan inquired, looking up from their hand-held gaming device to look at Georgia. The lockdown during Spring Break had allowed them to game more than they could ever dream, and spending time with Georgia had been nice.

“Do you like Elias?” Georgia questioned.

“I mean yeah, he’s my friend, of course I like him,” Rowan replied, watching Georgia do her skincare routine.

Georgia giggled, “He likes you, a lot,” the seer commented, “Like a lot a lot.”

There was a mischievous look in her eyes.

“And what do you mean?” Rowan asked her with raised eyebrows.

Georgia laughed, flapping her hands.

“What?! Georgia, tell me what I’m missing!” they now sat up at the edge of the bed, from their relaxed and reclined state.

“Rowan, he likes you!” Georgia snickered, “Not a “my friend” like. It’s a “I want to be your boyfriend” like. Rowan, he might even love you!”

Rowan instantly blushed a dark red, their whole body becoming flushed, “No…”

“No! What do you mean no! Rowan, are you blind?!”

“Elias is just being nice—”

“Rowan! Have you seen the way he looks at you?” Georgia scoffed while laughing, “Even in the short time we’ve spent together, all of us can see Elías Hoedemarker has the hots for you!”

Rowan curled into themself, pushing their back against the wall that the bed sat against.

“And it looks like you feel the same!” Georgia squealed.

“I don’t know,” Rowan muttered, “He’s nice and everything… but—”

“You’ve never done any of this before?”

“Yeah,” Rowan sighed, “What if I mess it up?”

“Oh Row, I don’t think you could ever mess up with Elias,” Georgia cooed.

This all felt so strange to Rowan. This fog, this haze, full of memories both new and old. But now was not the time to sit with that if the light that they could see through their closed eyes was any indication. They groaned as they tried unsuccessfully to block it out.

Once they finally opened their eyes they realized they were in the infirmary. The sun was brightly shining through the window. Their beetle plush sat on the end of the hospital bed, while Elias was asleep in a chair that had been moved to be as close to the bed as possible.

Rowan was immediately hit with a wave of guilt. They made him worry…. a lot. Georgia would probably say, “a lot a lot.”

Elias was sleeping so peacefully. They sighed as they just sat and watched him.

Goddess, his eyelashes were so long and gorgeous. His hair was disheveled but still luscious. His dark cuffed jeans suited him quite nicely, and his homemade cloak shirt was lovely too. Even though he was scrunched up in that little chair, Rowan couldn’t help but see him in all of his beauty.

He stirred in his sleep, which made Rowan attempt to avert their gaze.

“You’re awake?” Elias muttered lowly, meaning it as a statement but it came out more like a question.

“I feel like death,” Rowan said honestly.

Elias chuckled, adjusting himself in his chair, “Thankfully you’re alive,” he replied, “You’ve been out for a whole week.”

“Goddess…” they sighed, staring back at him, “What happened? All I remember is going to Duke’s office and…”

They didn’t want to vocalize what happened to them, but in truth, they didn’t really know either.

“…Well, Duke was arrested. I mean... that’s the short of it. ...Apparently you turned into some amalgamated creature and attacked him? Then Indigo swooped in to finish the job. That’s what I heard.”

Rowan looked up at the ceiling, “Great Goddess,” they huffed.

“According to the grapevine, the college has a dungeon—”

“The college has a dungeon?!” Rowan asked, staring at the tailor boy wide-eyed.

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “They’re keeping Duke there.”

“At least he can’t hurt anyone now,” Rowan mumbled, “Wait! You said it’s been a week? That means finals are next week!”

Elias laughed, despite everything that happened to Rowan they were still worried about school, “Actually no. Between the fight, the tower coming down, and the catacombs being open, it was just too dangerous on campus so they canceled the semester. All of the professors were forced to make the current grades final.”

“That is convenient,” Rowan observed, “I passed with A’s and B's, that's the first time I’ve done that in a while.”

“I’m lucky we studied together this last time,” Elias noted, “You helped me pass Biology, it’s the lowest grade I’ve ever had but I passed.”

“Congrats,” Rowan exclaimed softly. “…I’m sorry.”

Elias looked at them in confusion, “For what?”

“Making you worry,” they admitted, “I know you tried to stop me, and I basically spat in your face.”

Elias chuckled awkwardly, “No you didn’t.”

“…I mean of course I worry about you. And yes I did try to stop you,” he paused, thinking about that night.

He thought about the things he did, all of the affectionate things he did. Things that he wouldn’t have done if he’d given into his fear of rejection.

“But I knew that no matter what I did, you were going to go see him. How couldn’t you, after everything he did.”

“I still made you worry…”

“Rowan, there isn’t going to be a day where I don’t worry about you or at least think about you!”

Silence filled the tiny room as they stared at each other. Seeing Elias’s pearl white skin turning pink made Rowan feel warm, “Elias… Do you have a crush on me?”

His pink quickly turned red which made Rowan blush, “Georgia was right, I made it too obvious, didn’t I…”

“Well not really? …I hadn’t really thought too much about the stuff you do. I just thought you were being nice, but before I woke up I had a dream or something…. It was about a conversation I had with Georgia. She said you liked me and that she thought I liked you. I didn’t really deny it, because it’s Georgia. You know how she can see right through people. Goddess, I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

Elias smiled and nodded, “Well.. I do like you.”

Rowan covered their face with their hands.

“A lot a lot.” Elias cooed.

“That’s what Georgia said,” Rowan groaned against their hands, “and I didn’t believe her.”

“…Did you not want her to be right?” he asked.

Rowan peeked through their fingers at him, he looked dejected.

“It’s not that, I promise,” they replied softly and quietly, “I didn’t want to believe her cause then she was right about mine.”

“Which are?”

“I like you, Elias.” Rowan confessed, “I would’ve liked to think that I’m just “touchy” with people that I’m close to, which could be true? But I could have clung to anyone in the healing pool when I was crying, and yet I held on to you.”

“I was just the first person you saw,” he mentioned.

“You were the first person I wanted to see.”

Rowan moved their hand to the edge of the bed to give Elias the hint to hold their hand which he thankfully took.

Their fingers interlocked in such a way that Elias could stroke the top of Rowan’s knuckles, “You like doing that.”

“Your skin is soft,” Elias pointed out.

Rowan giggled, “I’ve never really done any of this before… the whole liking another person thing.”

“Never?” he asked as he looked down at their hands locked together.

“I doubt fictional characters count,” Rowan admitted.

“They do not,” Elias snickered, before looking back at them, staring into their orange sorbet eyes, “We don’t have to do anything. We can just be the way we are now.”

Rowan smiled, “I like that idea.”

The two’s closeness brings Rowan peace, but the serene silence didn’t answer some of their questions, “Where are the others?”

“Maverick and Nemo are probably sleeping; Maverick has been working nights to avoid his moms and Nemo’s been hanging out here during Maverick’s work hours. Since Nemo can’t do his alchemist training and he’s worried about you. I think he’s been keeping me company,” Elias explained.

He saw Rowan smile at the mention of him and his brother finally getting along.

It made him feel warm and fuzzy.

“Uh… Anyways, Georgia’s family tried to get on campus after they heard what happened? And since half of them actually came all the way here she felt she had to go back home with them. She’s been texting me asking for updates every couple hours- Speaking of—“

Elias pulled out his phone and texted the seer girl quickly, “She’ll be happy you’re awake, and I bet she’ll be on the first train back to see you.”

The idea of seeing Georgia again made Rowan beam, “Did your parents try to make sure you were safe?”

Elias frowned, “Dahlia did…”

“Dahlia’s your older sister, right?”

The white-haired boy nodded; thinking back to the morning right after the fight, how he and Nemo met his older sister at the gates of the college and she pulled them into an embrace, “My parents aren’t really worried about me after what I said at that dinner,” he mentioned.

“What about your other 2 sisters?”

“Well, Ammonia tends to go with whatever my father wants or says, so if he wants nothing to do with me then she doesn’t want anything to do with me either,” Elias scoffed, “Dahlia got Sparrow a phone for her birthday last month and the first number she wanted was Nemo’s, so they’ve been texting nonstop, she’s been pretty concerned about us.”

“I hope she isn’t worrying too much about the two of you, she should only worry about being a kid,” Rowan commented.

Elias nodded.

“…What’s Indigo been doing?” they asked, they were still a little upset with her but they still wondered about her.

“She’s been busy, her and Sloan,” Elias replied, “I don’t think she’s slept at all recently.”

“That’s not good, we know what happened the last time she didn’t sleep.”

Elias chuckled at their comment, “They’re trying to pick up the pieces I think. She’s not really been around, she’s come once or twice, but she’s been busy. All I know is that a bunch of the faculty including Indigo and Sloan have been talking.”

“Seems ominous,” Rowan mentioned.

“Probably is,” Elias retorted.

His counter made them laugh which of course made Elias laugh. Their combined laughter alerted the working healers that Rowan was awake and lively.

The homeopaths made sure to check on them. They gave Rowan a healing talisman, a bracelet, and instructed the teen to wear it for at least 6 months just in case.

When Calvin and Casper came in for their shifts they were overjoyed to find Rowan was awake and healthy.

Once Georgia arrived she began bawling her eyes out and talking at length about how worried she was along with how happy she was that they were alive.

Maverick and Nemo came in just as the sun began to set.

Maverick didn’t even want to work after he saw that Rowan was awake. Nemo tried everything in his power not to show how relieved he was, but he failed miserably if his smile was anything to go by.

After a week and a day in the infirmary, they were allowed to leave. The first place Rowan wanted to go was the cemetery and their friends weren’t going to argue with them after everything that had just happened, so they followed along. Georgia did convince the group to take a detour to a flower shop though, which was a pretty good idea.

“Is your last name King or Pawn?” Georgia asked as she helped Rowan decorate their parents’ graves in a nice flower arrangement.

“I’ve always been Rowan King, but on my birth certificate my last name is hyphenated. I’m technically Rowan Pawn-King,” they answered as they both stepped back.

The beautiful arrangement of flowers against the limestone graves could’ve brought anyone in the early stages of mourning to tears, “I wish they had Marigolds for you, Row,” Georgia noted.

“They don’t bloom until the summer. There is nothing I can do about the way flowers grow if I don’t have magic,” Rowan mentioned. “I wish I had some seeds and then maybe Indigo or someone else could grow them around their graves.”

“I can ask Casper if there's any in the greenhouse,” Nemo uttered softly, his arms wrapped around Maverick’s shoulders as he stood behind him.

“I’m sure Indigo would be more than willing to use her magic to do something like that,” Maverick added, holding Nemo’s hands as they were draped over his shoulders.

“Were the marigolds because your mom was born in October?” Elias asked.

“Yeah, my dad’s eyes were also the color of marigolds. Apparently my dad would call me baby marigold while he was alive,” Rowan stated as they took hold of Elias’s hand, leaning against his shoulder, staring at the grave enjoying the calm silence.

Georgia, Maverick, and Nemo looked at one another seeing Elias and Rowan's little display of affection. They shared a glance that said we were right.

“Alright, I’m done being sad!” Rowan exclaimed, “Let’s go do something fun!”

Georgia clapped her hands together letting out a joyful yelp, “Let’s go into town, shop like we own the world!”

“Even though we are still broke teens,” Nemo commented as they left the cemetery.

It was nice, this feeling of being whole that coursed through Rowan’s body.

They felt like a normal teen, not someone whose memories had been stolen from them.

Sure some of the memories were unpleasant and even traumatic, part of Rowan even wished they could forget those particular memories all over again.

But they knew that it was probably just a part of being whole again. And they would never want to trade that wholeness for anything, even if it meant they could forget the bad memories again.

The group of teens fooled around town until the sun started to set, heading to Indigo and Calvin’s cabin which was slowly being hidden by the spring foliage.

Upon entering the cabin felt warm and smelled like heaven. Whatever was being made in the kitchen was definitely being prepared by a master!

Singing and jovial conversations could be heard through the open sliding door, and the smell of delicious food on the grill wafted through the home.

The teens collectively decided to head to the patio, where everyone seemed to be gathered.

Calvin was at a Blackstone griddle grilling up some tasty food, when he saw the group poking their heads out of the door.

He gave them a friendly wave with a huge grin.

Percy was reclined on one of the couches with a drink in her hand, laughing at Indigo and Sloan.

The pair were dancing and singing along with the songs playing on the speakers.

Bottles of alcohol and empty glasses were all over the table in front of Percy. Apparently all of the adults were planning on drinking tonight.

“You all can come out,” Indigo laughed, looking over her shoulder, “Tonight is about CELEBRATION!”

She was not drunk off any of the alcohol she had, but drunk off joy.

“TO CELEBRATION!” Sloan exclaimed, in a similar state to Indigo purely drunk off joy.

“Celebration,” Percy muttered, who unlike the other two was definitely drunk from the alcohol.

The teens stepped out onto the patio, laughing at how their teachers were acting. They gravitated to another set of patio couches slightly separated from the adults, so both groups could have their own space.

“Is that a green apple seltzer?” Maverick asked, looking at the cans and bottles of liquor.

“Yeah, none of us like it,” Indigo answered.

“Can I have it?” the healer teen asked.

Percy picked up the can ready to hand it over, “Wait, how old are you?” she asked.

“18,” Maverick answered honestly.

“And you are not going to give this to your friends or your little boyfriend?” she questioned.

“No,” the teen replied.

Percy tossed it behind her shoulder causing Maverick to panic and try to catch the can which was honestly more sugar than liquor, “Don’t make me an irresponsible adult, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Maverick sighed before joining his friends.

“Hey, no fair!” Georgia whined, looking at the drink in his hands.

“I am of legal age,” Maverick remarked, sitting down next to Nemo, “What’s not fair is the fact that I have to wait to drink it!”

Everyone had loads of fun, enjoying all of the food and good company.

But one question seemed to persist in the teens’ minds.

“Since Duke is gone, who’s going to be the dean of the college?” Rowan asked, taking the initiative. They turned to face the adults behind them.

Sloan and Casper quit dancing. Percy and Calvin were still in their respective places, while Indigo stood between the coffee table and one of the couches. They all shared a glance before turning their attention to the teens.

“It’s not the necromancer, is it?” Maverick asked.

“Dear Goddess, no,” Sloan chuckled, shooting Indigo a side glance.

“If it was him, we would be sulking not celebrating,” Calvin added while taking a sip of his drink.

“Well, who is it then?” Elias questioned.

“You all obviously know,” Nemo scoffed.

“It hasn’t really been decided—” Indigo started.

“Like hell it hasn’t been decided yet,” Percy huffed, cutting Indigo off.

“Oh, come on, just tell us,” Georgia remarked.

“…It's me,” Indigo uttered, quietly.

“Seriously!”

Indigo put her hands up in defense as the group of students looked at her wide-eyed, “I said the same thing!”

“Who else but you?” Casper signed.

“Sloan, maybe!” Indigo exclaimed, pointing her finger at him.

“No ma’am, too many people hate my guts for me to be in charge of that college,” Sloan replied.

“I’m not qualified!”

“Neither was Duke,” Casper signed back.

Calvin took hold of her hand pulling her closer to him, “Angel eyes, you already said yes.”

“I said yes because I had a whole room of people staring at me,” Indigo huffed.

“I would rather you be the dean than anyone else,” Percy stated into her glass.

“How kind of you, Percy,” Sloan snickered.

“Are you still going to teach?” Georgia asked.

Indigo thought for a moment, “I plan on it,” she answered, “Even if I don’t teach classes at the college, you’ll still be my apprentice. I promise.”

The mage’s reply made the young seer smile at the prospect of continuing her training.

“Hopefully all will be well by the summer semester,” Sloan pronounced, swaying Casper side to side, “We only have a few weeks to make sure it’s all cleaned and proper.”

“That’s something I don’t have to worry about,” Percy declared, raising her glass.

The group of adults returned to their conversations, leaving the students to continue their own.

“What classes are you taking next semester, Rowan?” the seer mage asked.

“An alchemy observation class, a magical anatomy class, and a magical weapons physical education class,” they replied, “You?”

“A magic science and that anatomy class,” she replied, “Elias?”

“I’m also in the observation class! And I’ve shadowing Calvin in his forge, I wanna see how you can endow this with alchemy and magic,” the tailor boy answered.

“I have to take that observation class,” Nemo muttered, “But I just wanna train.”

“You can’t graduate without it,” Maverick mumbled as he laid against him.

“And what classes are you taking next semester?” Nemo asked mockingly, “Oh right you get to work!”

“Yup,” Maverick yawned, “I get to work because I’m a healer's apprentice… and a senior.”

“Mrs. Corals, can we stay here for the night? Maverick is falling asleep on us,” Georgia asked.

“I’m not falling asleep… I’m just tired…” Maverick mumbled.

“Of course you can all stay,” Indigo replied.

“You can camp out in the living room like I used to do with my friend when I was in primary school,” Calvin added.

If this was what normal felt like: the joy and the warmth, the laughing and smiling, Rowan wanted things to stay like this forever. Staying with their friends, their guardians, and staying with Elias.

All of these joyful feelings had finally replaced their melancholy from the past. Their years at that orphanage, the amnesia, those things were finally behind Rowan. Now they could look toward their future, one that they hoped would be just wonderful as their present.

Yet there was still that one little issue. That little issue was now locked away in a cage in the depths of the college’s basement.

A deep chuckle bounced off the sandstone walls, as a certain mint-haired necromancer stared down at the wayward man through the bars, disheveled, dethroned, and shackled to the ground.

“Well, well, well,” Neon chuckled, “how the mighty have fallen.”

Neon’s laughter continued to bounce off the walls as Duke wished that Sloan had shot him or that Indigo just sliced his head off. The last thing he ever wanted to do was grovel at the man in front of him.

The necromancer squatted down, somehow fitting his thin arms through the bars, and taking Duke's face in his hands pulling it as close to his as possible, “Oh, how fun this is going to be!”

A few weeks after Rowan was freed from the infirmary they stood at the cemetery alone waiting.

They stared at their parents’ graves until they heard a whistle from behind them, they turned around to see Indigo approaching from the entrance gate.

“I haven’t been here in ages,” she mused.

“You don’t visit?” Rowan asked.

“Not like I should,” she admitted, “I’d rather look at the pictures so I can remember them as they were when they smiled and enjoyed their lives. Coming here makes me think about the bad… but maybe that’s because I never thought of making it look nice.”

Rowan nodded, handing over the marigold seeds in their pocket and watching Indigo work her magic. She spread the seeds on the ground atop the graves, focusing all her energy on making the flowers grow, allowing the orange petals that normally sprouted in July to grow in early May.

“How is that?” Indigo pondered.

Rowan smiled at the orange blooms twisted around the gray stones, “That’s perfect.”

“They’ll last all year until the first frost then come back around the same time in the coming years,” Indigo informed.

“Thank you.”

Rowan looked over at their guardian, she was smiling yet she was looking somberly at the graves.

“…Why did you wait so long?” they queried.

“To tell you everything?”

Rowan nodded.

Indigo shrugged, “…I thought if I waited you’d just stop asking? …I mean what was I supposed to do with just the facts I had? Say“Hey, jellyfish. I’m pretty sure Duke murdered your mom, but I don’t know why you got amnesia. Even though I’ve been lying to you, I promise I’m telling you the truth about that.”? I didn’t know what Duke did to you. The documents were censored, and Duke insisted that because I wasn’t a blood relative that I couldn’t have the originals or even uncensored copies.”

Rowan looked back at the graves.

Indigo huffed in the middle of her explanation and shook her head, “I promised your mom I would take care of you like she would, protect you like she would, and I have done a horrible job!”

“Well…” Rowan sighed through their teeth, “you haven’t done a horrible job, just a very lackluster one.”

Indigo chuckled before exhaling and looking at them, “I’m sorry. My first mistake was allowing him to put you in that orphanage and then allowing you to stay there until he allowed me to get you! Since then, with you, I have been making mistake after mistake, again, I am sorry.”

“I forgive you,” Rowan declared softly, matching her gaze, “Honestly, it all felt like shit, but it probably needed to happen this way.”

Indigo nodded, “You know,” the mage laughed quietly, “I asked your mother why she loved your father so much, she said she felt it needed to happen that way. Then when she told me she was pregnant with you I could not have been more excited, because I knew how happy it made her… to have you.”

The teen smiled at the memory Indigo shared while watching Indigo’s eyes filled with tears, “She was my best friend… I wish she could see how you turned out… she might not approve—”

“I think she would be proud,” Rowan interrupted, “Dad too, they would both be proud.”

The archmage let out a little laugh while wiping the tears off her face, “Come on, we gotta get to the college. Your first class of the summer semester is soon, you don’t wanna be late.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” Rowan mentioned, following Indigo out of the cemetery, “Can I be put in the pathway to become a huntress?”

The mage-dean hummed, “I can look into putting you in the track, but you may not be able to do anything in the pathway until the fall semester.”

“That’s fine,” they replied before following behind her to the college, feeling at peace. Not only with the fact they are whole, along with feeling normal, but at peace with the fact that their parents' graves are decorated in the beloved marigold flowers, and hopefully that in the afterlife (whatever it may be) both Jacob and Esma are there in a field full of the orange blossoms. Truly that thought is what put Rowan at ease.

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