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No matter the grand expanse of the Academy of Witchcraft’s estate, Shelby found herself returning to one tiny area again and again. No one else seemed to visit, which Shelby thought was a shame, but it wasn’t exactly in eyesight either.
Although most of the Academy was orderly, Shelby was pretty good at finding hidden little corners. She attributed it to her childhood in a dense swamp, without so much open air. Still, she couldn’t help but be glad for where it led her.
Lost in the towers of the ancient castle the Academy had been built in was a tiny courtyard. It was overgrown by now, blades of grass peeking through and overtaking the cobble, with thick vines clinging to the encircling stone walls.
Shelby thought it was beautiful and peaceful, a great place to study and practice magic by herself. Yet that wasn’t quite why she found herself returning so often. That reason was something else entirely.
In the middle of the courtyard was a statue, carved of a white stone that Shelby hadn’t paid enough attention in Earth Studies to identify. It was on a low plinth, one that's carving had faded to time. The statue itself was the figure of a woman, with flowing long hair and a determined smile as she stared off into the distance. She was wearing an odd mix of a dress and a set of mobility supporting armor that looked fairly unique for what little Shelby knew of armor.
She was also -and hear Shelby out on this one, she knew exactly how weird it sounded- really pretty. The witch had no idea how a statue could capture such a thing, but there was certainly something mesmerizing about the woman portrayed in stone. Shelby felt an odd draw to the courtyard and found herself coming just to see the statue. It was like actually having a friend at this Academy.
Shelby had made inquiries about the statue, curious about the figure, but came up with nothing. None of the professors knew what she was talking about, and they made it quite clear that they didn’t have the time to humor her. Book research didn’t get her anywhere either. There were simply too many people and beings in recorded history for her to narrow it down. A fed up classmate suggested that the “jinx-blasted statue she wouldn’t shut up about” was a work of fiction, not a recreation of a person’s likeness. It got to the point where Shelby got pulled aside and lectured about how her own studies were a lost cause at this point but her distracting the hardworking people around her was unacceptable and she needed to stop being such a disruption. Sufficiently scolded, Shelby didn’t bring it up again. It didn’t stop her from visiting the statue though. So day after day, she made her way.
Shelby pushed through twisted vines and made her way to an intricately carved stone bench, plopping down on the small pillow she had brought in with a sigh.
“Hi Starry!” She called up to the statue. The nickname was very overthought, picked because of the star-like crest that was carved on the statue’s armor. “Sorry I was late today.”
Unsurprisingly, Shelby didn’t get an answer. Even though she was sure that anyone would think she was crazy, it had been far too easy to start talking to the statue. She allowed herself to wonder if having any friends might make a difference, but Shelby wasn’t going to dwell on that.
Instead, she continued speaking as she opened her bag, pulling out books. “I got held up when my partner in Collaborative Casting thought that it was funny to levitate my hat out of reach. They didn’t even get in trouble and I had to stay after class” Shelby huffed, annoyed. “Apparently they were just trying to help me practice because I’m so far behind.”
The witch sighed again, lying down on the vegetation covered stone behind her. “At least I didn’t get assigned extra homework again. I have enough to do with the curse homework from my Balance Studies.” She laid there for a moment, soaking in the quiet of the courtyard. No matter how bad her day was, coming here always made Shelby feel better. Eventually though, she heaved herself back up with a groan.
She pulled her bag to her side and started digging through it, eventually pulling out a page of messy notes. As Shelby looked for her textbook, she started talking again out of habit. “We’re just doing basic hexes and curse breaking right now, which I can manage. The issue is that there’s an advanced seal removing spell that’s supposed to go with this last curse breaking one. That’ll be a bit tricky.”
After spending another minute looking over the confusingly detailed instructions, Shelby stood up. “I’m going to try that hard one first. Wish me luck Starry!” She withdrew her handcrafted wand from her pocket and took a step forward to cast the spell.
At first it seemed like nothing was happening and Shelby was ready to write off her first attempt as a failure. She concentrated, pulling on her magical energy from within her being. She had never been able to conceptualize the ‘dish’ that her professors talked about ‘pouring a controlled flow of magic out of’. Her magic felt more like a thick fog drifting this way and that. So it came to Shelby as a surprise as the power billowed forward, out of her being and into physical form.
A rush of magic ran through Shelby, filling her with a rush of euphoria that quickly turned to dread. She tried in vain to reel the magic back as it rushed forward, straight at the statue she spent so much time thinking about. A resounding crack rang through the air, knocking Shelby down. She closed her eyes in despair.
“Shelby! Magia! Are you alright?” The witch couldn’t help but find it strange that it sounded like someone was calling her name with such concern. Maybe she had hit her head too hard. That would explain it. She blearily tried and failed to open her eyes, startling a little as she felt someone’s hand on her neck as if checking for a pulse. Shelby wasn’t exactly an expert on head injuries, but this all seemed a bit weird for concussion symptoms.
She tried again to see what was going on, forcing her eyes open as the gentle hand brushed the hair out of her face. Someone, a woman about her age, was kneeling by her side, dark eyes so full of concern and care that Shelby could have sworn she was dreaming. That couldn’t be true, though. Her sleeping mind could never hope to imagine the absolute joy that lit up the beautiful face looking back at hers.
“That was incredible!” The voice was completely unfamiliar, but another blink brought more of her surroundings into focus. Whoever it was was deeply familiar, not quite in the black leather shine of her armor or the night dark shade of her hair. Yet the structure of her face, the fold of her rose pink dress, was burned into her mind’s eye. It was almost as if-
Shelby gasped as she sat up, scrambling back while her mind raced to finally connect the dots. A glance beyond the person in front of her confirmed her suspicions; the statue plinth was empty. The figure that had previously stood there was next to her, looking even more breathtaking than she ever could in stone. Shelby’s mouth opened and closed a couple times before anything came out. “Starry?”
The no-longer-a-statue nodded with a bright smile. “My name is Katherine, in actuality.” She chuckled. “Although I do not mind it when you refer me that name. Indeed, it is rather cute.” A light blush dusted her face. “My deepest gratitude to you for saving me, Shelby.”
“Oh! You’re welcome? Even if it was an accident?” Shelby floundered for words, suddenly flustered. Katherine was really pretty, okay? She stilled as a question crossed her mind. “Wait. How did you know my name?”
Katherine gave another breathtaking smile. “Eyes of stone cannot see, neither can a body of rock feel. By some chance, I was not left to my thoughts alone, but was able to still hear sounds about me.” She took a deep breath in, as if savoring the feeling of doing so. “I must express how nice it is to have a proper body again after so long. I cannot thank you enough for breaking my curse.”
Shelby perked up, her mind still whirling to make sense of the situation. “You were cursed to be a statue?” Katherine nodded. “And I managed to accidentally break said curse?” Another nod. The witch frowned. “That couldn’t be. Something else must have happened. I’m not strong enough to undo even the most basic charm. There’s no way I could have broken a powerful, longstanding curse like that, and definitely not by accident.”
That statement was met with a fervent shake of Katherine’s head. “It most certainly was your doing Magia. You should not undersell your magic, nor yourself, in such a way. You are incredible.”
Those words, combined with the soft look that Katherine was sending her way was almost too much for Shelby’s heart. She could feel the tips of her ears burn as her full face flushed. She coughed, flustered. “Well- what was the curse then?” The witch asked lamely before genuine curiosity took hold of her. “And why were you cursed to be a forgotten statue in the first place either?”
Katherine seemed to stare at Shelby for a moment before she focused. “Ah. I will gladly tell you, but perhaps we should sit down for such a conversation.” She gracefully rose from her kneeling position, offering a hand to Shelby. She accepted the help, expecting for Katherine to let go as soon as she had risen. Katherine did not, instead gently leading Shelby over to the stone bench, readjusting the pillow for the witch to sit on. Upon sitting down herself, Katherine released her grasp on Shelby’s hand, but did not withdraw from laying her own hand on top of it.
“I was the Princess of these lands. The heir to a kingdom none now recall.” Katherine’s eyes grew distant as she spoke. “A great monster invaded our realm. The people could not defend themselves against it. I could not stand idly by so I tried to join the fight against it.” The princess’s hand curled tightly against Shelby’s, who rubbed a soothing circle on it. “My parents forbid me from doing so, so I snuck out in the cover of night and came face to face with the monster. It had gotten through all other defenses and now stood without the castle’s walls. Something about myself, or at least the circumstances, must have intrigued the monster. Instead of killing me like it did so many others, I was turned to stone.” She shuddered, and it occurred to Shelby that the process of one’s body turning to stone must be much less than pleasant. She gave a reassuring squeeze to the hand that she now held.
It was silent for a moment, Katherine seemingly lost in thought. Shelby thought over everything she had been told, letting the moment pass before she asked a question. “What happened after that? To the monster, I mean.”
She was answered with a wistful look. “I am honestly not certain. It was not exactly simple for me to know what was occurring at the time, and little has been made more clear since.” She thought for a moment. “I believe that my parents survived even a bit longer, for I heard the voice of my mother apologize, and my father urgently telling her they had to leave. At some point later the castle was taken by another people who knew me not as anything but a carving of stone. It was them who placed me upon a plinth in an effort to reshape this place in their own image. I lack information to guess what happened further, aside from what must have been a user of magic who was investigating the area. They sensed the magic surrounding my stone form and classified it as a curse with a certain requirement for being lifted and before leaving without any effort to do so.“
Shelby considered this. “That kind of sucks. They knew you were a cursed person and didn’t do anything about it? If I had known you weren’t a statue I’d have tried to help you so much earlier.”
Katherine nodded. “I have no doubt of that. In however long has passed since I was turned to stone, the length of which I have no ability to guess, few have visited me. I would have thought myself forgotten and forever left in this state were it not for you.” The smile she gave Shelby was so lovely that the witch felt warmed head to toe. “After so long alone, mostly having accepted my eternal fate as a statue, I finally had something to look forward to. I could hardly wait each day to hear your voice. To hear the way that you ramble when you are thinking, or the clever jokes that you make for yourself. It was the most joy I could have.”
Shelby squeaked slightly at that, blushing deeply again. Katherine didn’t seem to notice, kneeling down in front of her to hold both of Shelby’s hands in her own. “It was nothing close to enough although. As a statue, I was not able to be there for you. I could do nothing to comfort you when the harsh words of others echoed in your ears. I could not express how impressive everything you do is when you had doubts. There was no way to share in your joy nor sorrow, which hurt me more than an eternity of stone ever could.”
“Yet I dared to hope that one day it could be different. That you might meet the condition the previous magic user spoke of, so that I may see you, meet you. All that time as a statue was worth it to know you, Shelby.” A look that was best described as lovestruck crossed Katherine’s face. “You are even more amazing and beautiful than I could have ever hoped, Magia.”
It was that which snapped Shelby out of her daze, at least slightly. She couldn’t bring herself to address any of Katherine’s other words, so she focused on the last one. “Why do you keep calling me that? Magia is a title for Great Witches. If you’ve been able to hear me this whole time, then you’re fully aware that I’m nowhere near that level.”
Katherine raised an eyebrow. ”I am not too certain about that. After all, I myself think that you are rather great.” She softened. “I do not know why so much of the world seems set on making you feel inferior, but I promise you I will never do the same. I will be here to lift you up, so that you can know for yourself just how amazing you are. I will be here for you. Indeed-” She lifted up one of Shelby’s hands to press a soft kiss to the knuckles. “I could not consider treating my true love in any other way.”
Once again, Shelby was sent reeling. “Wait, true love? Didn’t we just meet each other properly less than ten minutes ago?”
Upon hearing this, Katherine jerked back, releasing her hold on the other’s hands. She stood up, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “My deepest apologies if I made you uncomfortable. I had heard that it was to be my true love who was to break my curse. As a result, I unrightfully assumed you would be in some way aware of this. I have no intention of pressuring you into a role you do not wish to be in.”
Shelby reeled back herself at this, trying not to focus on the way that her hands felt colder without Katherine holding them. Or the butterflies that still seemed to dance through her in happiness. She exhaled, trying to calm her racing heart. “You didn’t make me uncomfortable. Something about being with you seems right.” She admitted. “But maybe we should get to know each other first before committing to the idea of true love? Go on a date? Maybe?”
Katherine laughed, an unfairly adorable sound to come from this entire situation. “That seems like a just idea to me. I would love to spend such time with you.” She smiled again, and if the previous ones were breathtaking, this one was entirely blinding. “Though it may be up to you to arrange that. For rather evident reasons, I am far from up to date on the area. I fear it could become confusing to see what was once familiar so different.”
“That’s okay.” Shelby assured, standing up in order to take hold of Katherine's hand. “I’ll be here with you.”