Chapter Text
In a world where your soulmates name is written on your left wrist, but only they can read it. Their name is marked on your arm when they're born, and it disappears when they die. Douxie doesn't remember when the name formed on his arm, so as far as he knows it's been there his whole life and his soulmate is older than him. Time kept passing, Douxie would sometimes try to decipher the name himself. It proved to be impossible on many occasions, but it would keep him occupied when he found himself with nothing to focus on. When Douxie started to practice Wizardry, he realised his life was going to be prolonged. And it came with the fear that he would outlive his soulmate. Because of that, he decided he didn't want to meet them. He knew that needing to let them go when the time came and living the rest of his long life without them would be too difficult. So he'd rather never meet them, than have lived a life longer than the time they had together.
Douxie was reaching the years of the live expectancy of the average human. Every day when he woke up, he'd look at the name and spew out apologies that he never went to find them. He'd do the same at night. Always expecting that one of these days, the name would vanish. Though he sensed something was different, when the decades turned into the first century. When the name never vanished, Douxie had a spark of hope ignited in him, that his soulmate was too a Wizard. They would both have immortality. They would both get to live their long lives together when they meet. For the first time, since his first realisation, he wanted to go and find them. He knows that would take a long time. It may take a century or two to search the entire planet to find them. He wanted to do it. Something was holding him back from it though.
As much as he wanted to, Douxie could never bring himself to begin his search. It could just be the fact he'd gone so long without wanting to meet them, or it could be that the fear he'd outlive them was still settled deep within him. He had gone about another century without starting the search. It was only when one day, Douxie thought he saw the name fading, that he went. He wasn't even sure if fading was possible, and if it was, what it meant. That's when he started to travel the entire globe. Searching everywhere he could. Every known location to him that Wizardry was practiced. Because after all, his soulmate was another Wizard right? That was why they'd reached two hundred and fifteen.
It was proving to be difficult. It was taking so long, Douxie wasn't sure where to look anymore. He'd even tried conjuring up a spell that would give his soulmates location, but it didn't. It didn't mark anywhere on Earth with his soulmates life signature. The spell worked though. He knew it did, because he'd used it for someone else before. When he had just finished it and needed to practice it, someone had volunteered themselves for him. They were also in search of their own soulmate, and magic hadn't quite been forgotten just yet, so Douxie agreed. And they found them. So he knows it works. But... It also didn't, for him.
It was all so hopeless. The feeling that he'd never find his soulmate stuck to him like glue, and it caused him to terminate the search. Maybe they'd find him one day. Or maybe they'd die before it ever happens. It didn't matter. Douxie was exhausted and couldn't go on. He wasn't much of a quitter, but he had searched and searched and nothing. It was almost like they weren't even real.
Many centuries had gone by. The name never left his wrist, and he never found them. Douxie finally settled down, in small town named Arcadia Oaks. He'd felt so drawn to it, he couldn't explain it. He stayed there, watched it grow bigger. It just seemed like an ordinary little town, but Douxie felt like this was where he was supposed to be. Like he was destined for something there. Whatever it was, he had no idea. It was just a sense and that didn't mean that it was true. Nevertheless, however, he didn't leave. Perhaps this small town would be where he met his soulmate anyway? Because that name was still there.
---
Douxie awoke, fully expecting this to be just another ordinary day. All he had to do was get up, shower, dress, have breakfast and go to work. But as a bonus, sweep the town for threats, which he had found to be doing a lot recently. There was a spike in activity several months ago, and creatures tended to be lurking around in the shadows at night.
He did everything in order. Got up, had a shower, dressed, had his breakfast, then left for his shift at the bookstore. Archie had tagged along to keep him company. He really wasn't expecting anything exciting to come out of the day.
The first hours went slow. They always did. Douxie did a little reading on magics, because it was always good to keep revised about these things. It's not likely he would forget, but it was just something he did. He served the few people that had come in that morning, not thinking much of it. Until someone had caught his attention. Well, it was more than one person. Three people he had never seen before, and their dog. There was something going on out there, and Douxie couldn't help but watch from the window. The young boy had shoplifted from Zoe's store, and Douxie was oddly intrigued by him. He watched his every move, just fascinated. There was just something about him. It could be that Douxie never seen him before, or there was more to him that met the eye. He wanted to go out there, partly to talk to him face to face, and partly to see what was actually going on. But it all passed within minutes, and they all went their own ways. Douxie memorised the young boys face and made a mental note to speak to him if they ever encountered again.
---
As luck would have it, Douxie ran into the boy again within the week. Just outside the store. He was closing up from his shift when he saw him. Walking down the sidewalk, curiously. He was obviously looking for something, so Douxie decided he'd start a conversation by asking him if he needed something. It was a good opportunity and he didn't want to let it go to waste.
"Hey, are you looking for something?" Douxie asks as he approaches the younger boy. He stops what he's doing and looks directly at Douxie.
"Kind of. I was here a few delso-er-days ago and I felt something weird," he explains.
"Weird? How do you mean?" Douxie looks him up and down, studying him.
"Just a feeling. I just wanted to see what it was so I came back here."
"I can help you look, if you'd like?" he offers. Admittedly, he's not sure what this boy is on about, but he has an urge to get to know him. When Douxie does his hand gesture when he offers the help, the other boys eyes fall onto his wrist and stares at it.
"That's..." he points to Douxie's wrist as he collects his words and then checks his own wrist. "What's your name?"
"Um, Douxie." He walks over to the other boy, curious to know what his new behaviour is about. He looks down at his wrist, and gasps when he can read what's there.
"You can read it?"
"Yeah, I can. So you're..."
"You're my soulmate?"