Work Text:
Prologue
Long ago, a curse fell upon the earth, giving rise to large, dark creatures, like a cross between bear, wolf, and shadow, known as otherbeasts, as well as something else.
Human babies that were not quite human began to be born. Hooved, scaled, horned, and sometimes feathered, these creatures were not quite goat, not quite dragon, and certainly not human with all the shadow they contained. Hermits is what humans called them, for as creatures of shadow, exile was their ultimate destiny.
The otherbeasts and the hermits are cut from the same cloth, but while the shadows corrupted the otherbeasts into dangerously temperamental creatures without fear, the hermits were given the gift of magic. Therefore, a new human order came to be: useful hermits were kept for their magical abilities, but those who could not cast well, or those who had proven to be undesirable in any way shape or form were cast away, food for the hostile forests.
The curse wasn't all shadows and monsters though. In time a rumor spread of the Traveler's Heart, an artifact that bestowed a blessing onto whoever possessed it. Because of this, many seekers set out to claim it for themselves. They never returned. It became understood amongst humans and hermits alike that seeking the Heart was a death sentence, and eventually the Heart itself was dismissed as a mere tale. But an ambitious few kept trying, desperate for a blessing.
This is a story about two of those ambitious few, both hermits who had been exiled to the wood. One was an outcast with secrets she'd prefer to keep to herself seeking the Heart to do one good thing before she died. The other was a failed mage, desperate to prove herself to those who didn't believe in her seeking the Heart for the glory finding it entailed.
Neither was truly prepared for what they would find on the journey.
I. The seeker and a thornbush
Before we had officially met, I had been trailing Mizuki for a total of three days. It had been said that she was seeking the heart and I had hoped to sneakily gain information from her before beating her to it.
Whether the clever pink haired girl had been aware of me or not, I do not know, nor does it matter, I suppose. The reason I can tell this story today, is because of a simple thornbush. See, Mizuki was always alert, even when asleep. As such when tailing her, I had the habit of hiding under bushes. The bushes themselves were heavily uncomfortable, but they hadn't given me any issues. At least, none had except for the thornbush.
I regrettably failed to check what sort of bush I was hiding in before climbing underneath it, so when Mizuki moved again and I tried to follow her, I found myself stuck. Panicked, I struggled without a care for quiet or subtlety stirring up quite the racket.
Of course, Mizuki noticed me struggling and thrashing about, and I must have made for quite the pathetic sight because she laughed at me, her long scaled tail swishing back and forth with mirth. I shot her my most withering glare, but it's difficult to look threatening when brambles have you by the hair.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she laughs. "It's not everyday you find a stranger stuck underneath a thornbush, you know!"
"Are you gonna help me or what?" I grumbled, quite embarrassed by the situation.
"Right, sorry," She summons flame to her fingertips. "Stay still for me will you?"
For it's crimes, the offending thornbush gets away scot-free. The same could not be said for my hair, which Mizuki carefully singed off until I was freed.
"Don't worry too much about it," she said, noticing my clear displeasure at my once long hair being reduced to just below shoulder length. "It'll grow back, and once we find someone with proper scissors, we can trim it properly."
"Whatever," I grumbled, "As long as it gets me out of this bush."
"So what are you doing under there anyway?" she asked. "Trying to avoid the otherbeasts? Or was it humans?"
"Neither. I was tailing you."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because you're also seeking the heart," I told her, "or is that untrue?"
Mizuki hummed, "It's true. I figured the quest was noble enough, and it'll be a fun adventure to boot."
"I also want to find it. I want to prove myself to them."
She tilted her head, presenting her suggestion as if it was the only logical solution. "Then why don't we just travel together?"
I hadn't considered that option beforehand.
"If you'll have me."
"Sure thing, I wouldn't mind the company."
II. Run, run as fast as you can
Of course, Hermits are not the only things in the forests. On our journey we came across a plethora of woodland creatures, the occasional human, and of course, otherbeasts.
Early on in our travels, we got into a dispute with an otherbeast over a trapped rabbit. I've always been one to stand my ground, and I wasn't too keen on losing my lunch to this creature, especially since we'd found the rabbit first. I grabbed a fallen branch, ready to challenge the beast. Mizuki grabbed my wrist before I could swing.
"Ena, we should run," she said.
"But that rabbit is ours! We found it first! I can't just let that otherbeast take it right from under our noses! It's wrong!"
She tugged insistently.
"Come on, we can't fight that thing. Besides, It'll probably stick its snout in the trap and get itself hurt anyway."
I knew she was right. Otherbeasts are deadly creatures, after all. A stick and whatever tricks Mizuki held up her sleeve were most certainly not enough win a fight against it. So, with a heavy heart, I allowed Mizuki to lead me away from out lunch, and away from danger.
The otherbeast, satisfied with our retreat, did not give chase.
III. A sheep among wolves
The Whitewood looks exactly like what you'd imagine a forest of it's namesake would look like. It's also known to be a human hunting ground, so we resolved to be very careful when traversing through it. In hindsight, we probably could have gone around, but I doubt I had the patience for such a thing at the time.
Between the birch trees and the snow on the ground, the two of us must have stuck out like sore thumbs. Those who lived here had learned to hide themselves in the blizzard-like conditions.
Case in point, we had been in the Whitewood for less than five minutes when an arrow whizzed between us. The two of us squinted into the storm, but couldn't see a single thing.
"You two are to easy to spot," said a deadpan voice. "If I had wanted to, you two would be dead before you'd realized what happened."
Then, our assailant decided to reveal herself. A hermit, like the two of us, holding a bow in her right hand makes her way toward us. Her purple hair was high up in a ponytail, and her indigo eyes seemed to hold no emotion within them. Even her cropped furry tail lay unnaturally still. She was unsettling to look at.
"Good afternoon," she greeted, "I am Mafuyu. Are you aware of where you are?"
I had just met her and she was already irritating me. "Of course we know where we are! Do you think we're stupid or something?"
"Easy, Ena," Mizuki soothed. "This is the Whitewood, isn't it?"
"Indeed it is," Mafuyu said. "Most hermits with common sense avoid this place."
"Hah?!"
Mizuki hummed, but did not refute her claim.
"So then, what brings you here, to this hostile land?"
"Listen here, you," I seethed, "If only the stupid wander into these woods then what are you doing here?"
"I live here," Mafuyu said.
"We're looking for the Traveler's Heart," Mizuki said, answering Mafuyu's question.
"Ah, so you are seekers. You certainly seem the type."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" I growled.
"Nothing. Just an observation."
"Say, Mafuyu," Mizuki said. "Do you know where the Heart is?"
"I may know a few things about it, but I do not know where exactly it is. May I ask why seek the heart?"
"It's a legendary artifact," I said crossly. "If I find it, I'll prove to everyone that I'm a proper mage."
Mizuki gives no answer, only shrugging.
"I see." Mafuyu said. "Rumor has it there's a drake to the east. They say he is guarding something quite fiercely, and those who seek him out do not return. If I were you, I'd make haste through these woods. The humans here are not kind to our kind, no matter what your magical ability is."
"I see," Mizuki said, turning to me, "Then I guess we're heading east. Oh, Mafuyu, do you happen to have a pair of scissors by chance?"
"I do not," she said, "Would a hunting knife do?"
Mizuki nodded. "It would. We just need something that can cut hair."
"Then allow me," she insisted, "I do not believe I could trust the two of you to do such a thing safely."
"We aren't kids," I hissed, "We're competent enough to cut hair ourselves."
"You say that, but you two wandered into the Whitewood with no plan to conceal yourselves, and your hair looks as though it was trimmed with dragonfire."
"That wasn't my doing!" I yelled.
Mafuyu set her piercing gaze onto Mizuki who shivered.
"I didn't have much choice," she protested, "Ena looked like a crazed coyote set to bite it's leg off. If I hadn't singed it, she'd probably still be in that thornbush."
"I see. It takes a true fool to get stuck in a thornbush." She said, coming up behind me with the knife, "and an even greater one to venture into the woods with no blade."
There wasn't much I could do to dispute that. Upon my exile I had been so upset that I stormed into the forest empty-handed. Fortunately for my pride, Mafuyu had no further comment as she trimmed my hair evenly into a shoulder length bob.
"Thanks Mafuyu!" Mizuki said once she was finished. I grumbled out some similar sentiment.
"No need. Oh, and a word from the wise," she said, turning to stare dead at me. "Those who seek the heart for their own glory often die the fastest."
And with that, she collects her arrow, and then turns and disappears into the blizzard.
IV. Slow and steady
We had been hiding in a cave since early that morning waiting for the humans to stop their insistent patrol of the area. They must have caught our scent at some point, I never claimed to have been particularly careful.
I was also not very patient and I didn't think I could stand another second sitting in the cold cave, listening to the distant crunch of boots on the snow.
"It's cold in here," I complained quietly.
Mizuki looked back from the mouth of the cave where she had been observing the hunter's travel patterns for a while now.
"Sorry," she said. "I'd make a fire, but I'm worried the light and smoke will give us away."
"Come here then."
She had tilted her head like a confused cat as I opened my arms.
"We're huddling for warmth," I said, leaving no room for argument.
She shrugged. "If that's what you want."
And then, she did the most infuriating thing she could have. Instead of climbing into my arms, she sat next to me, pressed against my side, but not actually hugging me.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"We're sharing body heat."
"Well you're doing it wrong."
"Oh." She made no move to fix it.
I wrapped my hands around her torso, still peeved. If she really hadn't wanted to, then she would have said something. True to my hypothesis, Mizuki made no move to resist my hold on her.
"We're supposed to huddle," I say, "Properly huddle."
Only when I make a move to climb into her lap, does she resist, pulling away.
"Surely we can huddle for warmth without being on top of each other!" she said, quickly turning red.
"If you don't want to, you can say so." I told her.
"It isn't exactly that," she admitted, "It's pretty cold in here. I just… don't want to scare you away."
"You won't."
"What if you find me unnatural?"
"We're both hermits, Mizuki. I'm every bit as 'unnatural' as you."
"It's not— that's not what I meant."
"Then tell me," I urged, "Or don't. If you want, we can sit shoulder to shoulder if you're uncomfortable."
I did end up in her lap eventually, with her draping herself over me like a weighted blanked as we formed a shape as close to a ball as we can achieve. The tears from Mizuki's revelation stained the back of my cloak as we talked about both everything and nothing at all.
Right then, I decided that waiting wasn't as awful as I once believed it to be. As long as I was with Mizuki I could wait forever.
V. The reaper's melody
I was more than relieved when we finally exited the Whitewood. Having to lay low and scrutinize birch trees in hopes someone wasn't up there who wanted your head was exhausting.
On the other end of the Whitewood lay a river below far below the cliffside which we walked alongside for a while.
In doing so, we came across another hermit, with curved horns like a ram and feathers instead of fur or scales. White wings sprang from her back and she tuned her lute as we approached.
"Visitors," She said without looking up. "Apologies, I'm not quite finished tuning yet. You'll have to wait a little bit."
"You're a bard?" Mizuki asked.
"Indeed I am. My father taught me."
She looked up giving us a view of sky blue eyes. Her pupils are a soft yellow, a shock to the both of us.
"It's peculiar, isn't it?" She asked.
"No, its… Its a miracle," I breathe. "How… how did you survive that?"
Those golden pupils could only mean one thing. This bard had been touched by a powerful being of light. Most hermits would evaporate after such an encounter. Surviving it meant this bard was incredibly powerful.
"Well, in truth, the reaper I encountered wasn't trying to kill me at all," she said as though it made any difference at all. "They only gave me a song to play. Would you like to hear it?"
I could tell that Mizuki was apprehensive, but I eagerly sat down. "I would love to."
"A reaper's song is laced with potent light magic, isn't it?" Mizuki asked.
"It is, but I have full control of it now. I'll make sure it doesn't hurt you."
That convinced Mizuki to sit.
The song she played was the most beautiful melody either of us have ever heard. It eased our anxieties and soothed our rumbling bellies. After it was over, the three of us talked a bit. She introduced herself as Kanade. She talkd about her parents, their deaths, and how the reaper took pity on her and gifted her their song in exchange for her eyesight.
"This song will be the last thing I ever play," she said, "Once enough people have heard it— once they've all been saved. My life shall end, with me looking out at the river I grew up beside."
Mizuki hummed, looking as though she understood. "It's your mission. Like the Heart is ours."
"So you're seeker then. I had thought you to be simple exiles," Kanade said. "Tell me then, is the Heart to you what music is to me?"
"I'm not sure," she answered. "I thought so, but now I'm not so sure."
"I see. Whatever it is you decide, I hope you find happiness in it."
She turned towards me next. "And what about you?"
"The Heart is my ticket back home," I told her. "I need it in order to prove myself."
"From my impression of you," Kanade said, "You don't need to prove yourself to anything."
Mizuki nodded beside me. "I think you're plenty capable, Ena. Whatever those people said about you, they're wrong."
As comforting as their words were, I didn't believe them. I needed to hear it from the villagers themselves. I needed to hear it from my father himself. I needed to prove it to them somehow, and the Heart would be how I did it.
VI. But who will bell the cat?
"Do you ever think about how we're just fumbling around in the dark?"
Mizuki's question had caught me off guard. "What?"
"I mean, we hardly even know where we're going, and if we do find the Heart, what then?"
"Well, when we find it, I'm going to take it back to my village. Then they'll see that I'm not a failed mage, and they'll have to accept me again. I'm going to prove my father wrong."
"What if it doesn't matter to them?" she asked.
"The Heart is an artifact of legend. Of course it'll matter to them."
"Sorry," she said. "It's just, I've been thinking. I'd wanted to do something good with myself before I— but now, I'm wondering if that in itself is selfish of me."
"Before you what?" I asked her.
She never answered my question, but now, years later, I understand what she'd meant.
She wanted to do something noble before she died. She wanted the Heart as a final penance.
"It's just… what's the point of all of this, if it won't fix anything in the end. How would we even get the Heart? Would we have to slay the drake? Would we have to slay a human or a hermit like ourselves? Even if our wish is pure, if we were to kill for it, what would that make us?"
I thought about this often. What if upon my return, I am seen, not as a proper mage, but simply as the seeker who made it back alive. That would still be wonderful, of course, but it wouldn't be what I wanted.
What, then, if they simply saw me as a murderer? Sure, one would likely require powerful magic in order to dispatch of the legendary seeker, but murder for selfish gain is a crime most heinous.
"I think we should try anyway," I say. "I mean we've come all this way. If we don't finish it, all of this will have been for nothing."
Mizuki nodded, a grim look crossing her face for just a moment. "Alright. Then we'll keep searching, no matter what happens next."
Despite our decision, the grim atmosphere never quite went away. We sat in quiet despair for a long time before picking ourselves up and setting off once more.
VII. Even a cornered rat
"You will never cast a proper spell"
Those were the words said to me by my own father as the villagers dragged me into the wood, never to be seen again. I'm proud to declare he was wrong, though the circumstances behind this spell of mine are dire.
The only other notable otherbeast we came across was quite angry for some reason. Maybe it had a nearby cub. Maybe it was territorial.
Of course, in this moment, none of that mattered to Mizuki. She instantly defaulted to her tried and true, grabbing my hand and urging me to run. The angered beast gave chase, razing the weaker trees in its wake.
I've never been particularly fast, nor have I ever been agile in any sense of the word. Mizuki ran as fast as she could, practically dragging me behind her, but I proved myself unable to keep up with her. At some point I tripped over a tree root and managed to injure myself. I cried out in pain as I went down, my leg aching as though filled with shards of glass.
Mizuki tried to help me to my feet as I sat shivering in a mix of fear and agony. I didn't dare to look behind me, but I knew the otherbeast was catching up, teeth gnashing, ready to tear through our flesh.
"Come on," Mizuki urged, trying to pull me up.
"Come on, come on, come on," her voice grews more frantic with each passing moment.
The deafening roar of a beast that's found its prey sounded through the wood, making us both tremble a bit.
"Ena, please," she begsged "You have to get up."
"Mizuki, I don't think we can run from this. I think you'll have to leave me behind."
I had said those words with the intent of giving up and letting the otherbeast eat me. Mizuki, on the other hand, had gathered something else entirely from my message. A dark despair flashes through her eyes, then she steels herself and rises to her feet.
Instead of leaving me behind like I thought she would, she instead moved between me and the rapidly approaching otherbeast, summoning flame to her fingertips. And so I witnessed Mizuki bare her fangs for the very first time.
I'd seen her use magic before, of course, mundane everyday spells that posed no real threat to anyone.
The magic she used in that moment was most certainly not that. Deadly flame collided with the fur of the otherbeast's snout. Enraged, it reared, bringing down a massive forepaw to knock her to the side. For a moment I feared the worst. After all, coming out of an otherbeast attack alive was practically unheard of at the time. However, after a second she rose to her feet again, seemingly dazed, but alive.
The otherbeast seemed to have forgotten about me entirely, it's attention fully on the cloaked shape moving behind it. It was big and not very agile which Mizuki used to her advantage, getting behind it and climbing onto its back. She fought like a feral animal, singeing its fur off in patches as she made her was toward its neck. The beast twisted and turned, trying its absolute hardest to sink its teeth into her. It managed once to grab onto her arm, but Mizuki instantly set it aflame forcing it to release her.
Once she finally reached its neck, she held her injured arm to the sky, summoning lightning to her fingertips and bringing it heavily down onto the beast. It let out a piercing sound, half howl and half screech as it reared, bucked and twisted, clawing and biting at itself in an attempt to dislodge her.
After a terrifying moment of this, Mizuki was sent flying. There was a snapping sound as she hit the ground, and then nothing. She remained eerily still, as if she were a corpse.
A bloodcurdling scream tore itself from my throat as the beast lumbered toward its downed prey. It looked up and back at me, deciding that I'm the more interesting target and turning to approach me.
With a surprising speed for her state, Mizuki stepped between us again. She was certainly worse for wear. Her left horn had been reduced to a stump, she was covered in blood and her right arm lie limply at her side. Her left arm, which she'd been using to apply pressure to a deep looking gash, dropped to her side as she summoned lightning once more.
I had obsessively studied magic for many years before this journey in an effort to learn to cast even a single spell. I had watched more experienced mages cast in hopes to mimic them later. I had thought there wasn't a spell I'd yet to see. I was wrong. The spell I had seen Mizuki cast for the first and only time was nothing I'd seen before. It was the type of spell only seen in ancient books and children's stories as an example of things never to imitate.
The lightning in her hand changed from a golden color to a pitch black, darker than night itself. Then it condensed in on itself, an eerie whirring sound emitting from it. A ball of pure void.
Mizuki could never hurt a fly. She's the least threatening person I have ever known, but in that very moment, she terrified me more than anything ever had.
The otherbeast was undeterred by this new development, be that due to bravery or stupidity. It charged toward us and Mizuki allowed it to, though with the way her legs trembled violently under her, she may not have had a choice in the matter. The creature opened its mouth, showing it's fangs in an attempt to dispatch her in one bite. When it moved to close its jaws around her, she shot the condensed void point-blank into its mouth. The beast howled in agony, blood gathering at its lips, but being a creature of shadow the void wasn't enough to kill it. At this point, the otherbeast decided it'd had enough and fled into the wilderness, whining and yelping the whole way.
At this very moment, Mizuki collapsed. I slowly crawled toward her, hoping to properly assess her injuries, but she shrunk away.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered. "I know it's not natural. I know I'm not natural. I'm sorry."
"Mizuki… what—"
"It's forbidden magic," she continued, not seeming to have heard me. "It's grotesque. I'm grotesque. I'm sorry."
"You're not grotesque," I said, "You saved me. Forbidden or not, your magic saved me."
She shook her head, trembling from where she lay curled up in a ball. "I've used my vile magic for vile acts. I promised. I swore I'd be good. I swore I'd be normal."
She wheezed, coughing up blood. "But that's okay, because now I'm paying for it."
I shook my head. "No. No, you're not dying. You're not leaving me."
"Neither of us have a say in the matter," she said. "It's for the best, Ena, really."
Hearing the reason I'm here today say that her death would be the best possible outcome filled me with rage. I pulled her close to me, ignoring how she let out a pained whimper at the movement. Her blood soaked my clothes and her breathing was labored. Even so I refused to let her go.
"I'm going to save you. We're both going to make it out of here alive, I promise. You said we'd find the Heart together, so you can't die on me now!"
Mizuki only smiled sadly at me. "I don't think… I have a choice."
Tears clouded my vision. "Just.. just stay awake for me okay? Just for a little longer."
She did as asked, keeping her soft pink eyes trained on my face.
Now, I don't remember how exactly I did it. I'd like to call it desperation, love even, if I'm feeling particularly romantic, but in truth, I couldn't tell you what exactly enabled me to do magic that day.
I remember trying and failing again and again, desperate angry tears flowing down my cheeks as I tried to heal the grave wounds. I was running out of time and I knew it. How useless was I? Mizuki had risked everything protecting me and yet I couldn't even muster an elementary healing spell when she needed me most.
Then, just as her eyes began to flutter shut, something clicked within me. The larger, more life threatening wounds slowly began to stitch themselves together again as if they were never there. I had done it. I had saved Mizuki.
Instead of pride, all I felt was a crushing relief and an exhaustion that ran bone deep. I hugged her now unconscious body close until she woke and my tears dried.
When she did eventually come to, her hands immediately went to her missing horn. She winced as she touched it, her body still tender.
"Everything feels lopsided," she'd said when I asked how she felt.
I knew not even the strongest of healers could regrow a broken horn. The best I could do was help her locate it and let her decide what to do with it.
She decided to bury it by the rosewood tree she'd nearly died against. We held a silent vigil for its loss.
VIII. Like flies to honey
I was not at all pleased to learn that our perilous journey had been for a mere fruit tree. Mizuki didn't mind. In fact, she was relieved that she didn't need to kill anyone for the Heart like we had previously thought, but I was livid.
"You're telling me all of this was for a stupid tree," I seethed at the guardian, a large white drake with a golden underbelly.
"Well, yes." he said, "I apologize that it isn't to your liking. I cannot control the rumors that are spread about this place."
Being a creature of the light, the drake was weary of us, but not in the same way the humans were. He was awfully kind to us and said that as long as we caused no trouble and Mizuki's mastery of the void went unused, we could stay as long as we wished. If his rules were broken, however, we were told the consequences would be dire.
"Does it actually grant wishes?" Mizuki asked, sparking an energetic conversation about the fruit and it's origins that I never bothered to listen to. If the story is really of such interest to you, then you could seek the Heart and ask the guardian yourself. He'd be happy to explain.
There was another way I could return home with glory, even if it required no magic whatsoever. I reasoned that bringing multiples of the fruit home would expose its secret. The village would accept me once more, not as a failed mage, but as a great adventurer who had uncovered the Heart's secret. It wouldn't be exactly what I wanted but it would be something.
Being engrossed in conversation with Mizuki, the guardian failed to notice me reach for the fruit. He was, however, somehow alerted when I took it off the vine.
Angered, he roared, "You dare take advantage of my hospitality to take what is mine?!"
I dropped the fruit, hoping to placate the drake, but the damage was already done.
"I had warned you of the consequences of stealing what I was entrusted to guard, and yet you did not heed it," he growled, "For your crimes, I shall have your heart!"
My eyes had widened in terror for I knew this was an encounter I would not survive. He was a creature of pure light who wielded it like a well sharpened blade. I was a creature of shadow, barely able to cast a simple healing spell and holding absolutely no control over the void that welded me. He would likely decimate me in one strike.
"Wait!" Mizuki called from behind him. The drake turned around.
"'A heart for a heart,' that's the rule, isn't it?" she asked.
"Yes," the guardian answered, "For if too many hearts are taken too quickly, I'm told the world itself may crumble."
"Then, will my heart do?"
I gaped at her words. She really intended to give her life for my silly mistake.
"Mizuki?"
"Why, yes," the drake said, "Your heart will do just fine. I'm not particularly picky. However I must warn you to keep those shadows of yours to yourself. I do not wish to use more force than absolutely necessary."
She nodded. "I can do that. Promise me that you'll let Ena go once you have it."
"I swear on my sacred duty," he said, "One heart is all I require."
Mizuki gave a final nod, closing her eyes as the guardian dashed toward her. I remained frozen on the spot, held down by some intangible force. Judging by the way it burned slightly, I assume it was the drake's doing.
Much to the surprise of both of us, the drake took the fruit from her hand instead of the heart from her chest.
"Very well then," he said, settling back onto his perch. "As punishment for your greed you are both to return empty handed. Now leave my presence."
I rushed forth as soon as I was able, pulling Mizuki into a bone crushing hug.
"Wha—"
"Never do that to me again!" I shouted. "Mizuki, I thought you were a goner. Please, promise me you won't do anything like that again. I love you too much to lose you."
The shock was still written all over her face, but she nodded. "I promise. I just— I didn't want to lose you either."
And there, with the guardian of the Heart as our witness, we came to a common consensus and decided to stay together.
The End
Ena ends the story with a smile. The her from all those years ago would never have been content with telling children stories, but at the same time, all she'd ever wanted was for her story to be told.
The baker's dozen of small children stare at her with wide curious eyes, their feathered, scaled, or furred tails swishing back and forth in wonder— well, all except one.
"I don't believe you!" He loudly declares.
Squeaks of dissent and little cries of 'what?!' arise from the other children. A younger Ena would have snapped 'well it's true, so get over it!'. Now though, she keeps her cool.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"How could you possibly know so much about the seeker who found the traveler's heart? It must be fake!"
Ena smiles. This is exactly why she loves telling kids this story so much, aside from it being the story of meeting the love of her life, of course. She traces over the rosewood ring on her finger, the wedding band she'd meticulously carved from the wood of the very same tree Mizuki had almost died against as a sort of final conquest.
"Because she's my wife," she said proudly.
The children gasp. A cacophony of 'Really?!' echoes through the room. Ena finds it so amusing. Learning the legendary seeker has been in such close proximity to them this entire time is enough to break their poor little brains.
She puts a finger up to her lips in a shushing motion. "Lets keep this between us, alright?"
The children nod excitedly.
Mizuki chooses that exact moment to grace them all with her presence.
"I brought snacks!" She exclaims, holding up a plate of unleavened bread, an assortment of cut vegetables from the garden, and creamed goat cheese. The hungry children swarm her as she takes the large charcuterie board to the table, only leaving her be when she sets it down.
Her tail flicks proudly as she watches the children inhale the food like starving otherbeasts before she makes her way back to Ena who notes the bandages on her fingers with a slight frown.
"Competent enough to bargain with a god, but not competent enough to be trusted with a simple kitchen knife." She grumbles, tracing the bandages.
Mizuki laughs sheepishly. "My poor fingers shake with age."
That earns her a pinch on the cheek. "The clumsiness of your fingers has nothing to do with your age and you know it."
Mirth fills her wife's eyes as she laughs, genuinely this time. Ena traces over her smile lines, proof that she's happy now, proof that she's survived. Then her hand reaches up to the top of the stump that used to be Mizuki's left horn.
She shivers when Ena brushes it. "It feels weird when you do that."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not really. I've gotten used to feeling unbalanced all the time, so when you touch it like that it's a bit of a reminder." A haunted look crosses her face for a moment. "Sometimes, it feels like it's still there, still bleeding."
"Do the families passing through help you to take your mind off of things?"
"They do." She elbows Ena gently. "So did you tell this batch that same story?"
"So what if I did?"
She laughs. "Enanan~ If you keep that up, I'll start to think it's the only one you can tell!"