Chapter Text
A Brimmed Cap had him. Olruggio rushed through the air with his sylph shoes. The wind beating against his face. Qifrey and the girls had gone out for their studies. It was supposed to be a last hurrah to learn in a dry outside before winter hit. Olruggio had spent the time alone to work on one of his commissions. It was a surprisingly complex contraption. When he originally received the order, he thought he would be done in a few weeks. Those weeks passed, and now the deadline was quickly approaching. He was just taking a moment to stretch his legs when the girls came tumbling into his room in a panicked desperation.
According to them, a witch with a brimmed cap had ambushed them. Qifrey, had taken the brunt of a spell, but had managed to hold them off long enough for the girls to escape. Olruggio had instructed them to go to the Great Hall for backup.
Now Olruggio was moving as fast as possible to find Qifrey before he was hurt more. Qifrey himself is a testament to the damage the Brimmed Caps are willing to inflict. They don't care how young nor innocent their victims are. Olruggio can't allow him to be used again. Not when Qifrey's still afraid of water. Not when he's struggled with his past and identity for so long. Not when he finally settled down and found a purpose.
"Almost there..." Olruggio muttered under his breath. He was nearly to the clearing the girls pointed him to. In the distance he could see the lights of spells firing off their palm quires.
The Witch Qifrey was fighting against was tall. It was impossible to make out their features. Even if Olruggio were closer, they were shrouded in shadow.
Suddenly, the witch threw themselves at Qifrey. They fell in a tumble to the ground. Olruggio pressed the sole of his feet closer together. The witch grabbed Qifrey's hand and violently pinned it to the ground despite Qifrey's struggle. They began to write on his skin.
Please. He just needs to be faster. He has to save him. He can't fail, not again.
"Qifrey!" Olruggio shouted, finally in range, "Get off of him!" Olruggio slammed into the witch at full force. Olruggio pulled out his palm quire, ready to attack—when he heard Qifrey let out an anguished scream.
Olruggio's attention snapped to Qifrey. His face was twisted in pain; with sweat dripping down his face. His hands were gripping his hair. And on the back was a completed sigil.
"You're too late!" the Brimmed Cap exclaimed in glee. "Now's when I take my leave." They placed their feet together and was lifted from the ground.
"Oh no you don't!" Olruggio started to charge after them.
"Ah ah ah, do you really want to waste your time going after me when your friend could be dying?" They titled their head in question.
As if to prove their point, Qifrey let out another moan of pain. Olruggio clenched his fists in frustration as the witch took that as a sign to leave.
With no more time to spare, Olruggio rushed to Qifrey's side. He cupped his face, "Qifrey! Qifrey! Can you hear me?" Qifrey opened his eye and a stray tear fell. Olruggio gently wiped it away with his thumb.
There was something... off about Qifrey's face. It was subtle and hard to put his finger on. But the longer he examined, the differences stood out more and more. Qifrey didn't have as many lines around his eyes from the times they spent together laughing after one of their adventures. Nor the lines on his forehead from stress. He looked a good ten years younger.
Olruggio sat dumbfounded. And it seemed Qifrey was doing his own examination. His eye filled with confusion and eyebrows furrowed, Qifrey reached out a hand to Olruggio's face. He clumsily skimmed his fingers along his beard.
"Olly? When did—when did you get a beard?" He paused. Eyes unfocused then focused. "What's—what's going on?" His voice was small. And then he seized in pain again.
"It'll be okay," Olruggio soothed. He wasn't sure if he believed that. He gently stroked Qifrey's hair in the hopes to bring some semblance of comfort. It was like watching years be washed away. And Olruggio was terrified to realize what the spell did. He just had to hope it had a stopping point and Qifrey wouldn't rewind to non-existence. He felt panic in his chest at the thought.
"Please, please, please," he whispered. Qifrey looked to be eleven. Not a day older than the age they met. That realization brought a terrified and nostalgic feeling. Olruggio scooped him into his arms. He couldn't tell if it was for Qifrey's sake or his own at this point.
The boy mumbled, eyes glazed in pain, "what's happening? Where's... I was with—Olly—" It was as if the pain was too much. Qifrey slumped in his arms, and his eye closed.
Then something even stranger happened. The spell wound him to a time before they met... and something other than his age changed. His hair went from an almost stark white to pitch black. The change was so sudden Olruggio almost dropped him.
"What the...?" Qifrey's glasses must've fallen off at some point in the chaos. Because, as Olruggio brushed Qifrey's dark hair back, he dislodged the bangs that always covered his eye. But instead of the typical scarring, there was a matching untouched eyelid. He could see the movement of an eye beneath moving in sleep.
Qifrey's been rewound to a time before the Brimmed Caps. And he kept shrinking until he was at least half the girls' age. Minutes passed. Olruggio didn't dare release his breath. He was waiting for Qifrey to become smaller until he no longer existed. But nothing happened. Maybe it was finally over?
Qifrey let out a small whimper. His voice high. He was absolutely swamped by the clothing. He shifted his weight and slowly opened his eyes. Shockingly, instead of the light blue that Olruggio was so used to, they were a deep brown. Face twisted in confusion, he looked up at Olruggio. The boy glanced around and seemed to realize he had no idea where he was.
Tears started to gather in his eyes. And he fearfully asked, "who're you? Wh—where's my momma?"