Memories

After the day I had taken my first test, I met with Fae every single day, making sure to learn as much as I could about magic. Some days definitely caused me to struggle. One time, Fae had accidentally set fire to her kitchen when she was trying to make soup. She asked me to use ice magic for the first time to fix the fire. Since it was my first time, it took a little while to cast, which wasn’t helped by the panicked screaming of Fae. Eventually the fire had been resolved, but due to my slower speed, the kitchen seemed to be sporting a new colour. She also set fire to her living room when she tried to show off her knowledge about fire magic, even though she hadn’t really practiced it at all. I also had to use ice magic to fix that. Thinking back on it now, there were far more fires than there ever should have been from a mage who was teaching me healing and ice magic. I’ve offered to let her stay at my home, but she refused for some reason. She said something about how she can’t leech off her student or something.

“Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to help me carry that in?” A larger man asked rhetorically.

“Ah yes, I’m sorry. Let me help right now.” I responded, picking up some of the vegetation he was bringing into his home. After we had finished the grueling task of bringing all the vegetables in, I asked him to sit down on his chair. He quickly became seated, dropping the stick he was using to hold himself up previously to the ground. I slowly brought my hands to his leg.

“How’s it looking?” He asked.

“Actually, after today, you won't need healing anymore. It would seem your leg has fully regrown.” I told him the good news. After hearing no response, I looked up at him and saw tears streaming down his face and a big smile. I gave a slight smile and turned back towards his leg. As I healed him for a total of 13 minutes, he stayed in silence.

Finishing up my work, I made my way away from the man's home. I should probably head home before I go back to Fae’s. I had promised to help out with some of my parents' work, as I didn’t want to put too much strain on my dad. All right, that's where I’ll go first then.

“Hey! Mom! Dad! I’m here to help with some of your work before I go back to learning at Fae’s!” I shouted aloud in the house.

“Ah, just in time!” My dad responded to my call.

“I’m on time? What do you need help with?”

“I need your help bringing this box into storage. Be careful, it’s heavy.”

“I see. Okay let me help then.” I spoke as I grabbed the box. With the help of my dad we were able to bring it to storage.

“Good work!”

“Where’s mom?”

“She went to get some ingredients for dinner.”

“Is that all you needed help with?”

“Yup, that’s everything.”

“Okay then, I’m gonna go back to Faes to keep learning then.” I told him as I was turning around and leaving the house.

As I left, he waved at me with his left arm. His right arm still stayed limp by his side, however. Seeing the sight, I could only turn away with a pained expression. I quickly hurried over to Fae’s house as I didn’t inform her that I’d be making this visit, so she was bound to be at least a little angry. Hopefully she didn’t set anything else on fire. As I approached the home on the hill, I was met with my biggest worry. It seemed she had somehow set the roof on fire.

“Hey! Celestia, where were you?! This fire is the perfect test for you, but you were gone for so long!” Fae scolded me.

“Fae. You realized we’re focusing on learning healing magic first right? Not ice magic.” I responded.

“Yeah I know obviously, I’m the teacher!”

“Okay, then why do you think I could take care of a fire that’s almost entirely swallowed your roof then?”

“Because I believe in you!” She spoke while giving me a thumbs up.

I let out a sigh and aimed my hands. Within thirty seconds the roof had iced over, destroying the fire in its wake. As the ice melted however, Fae’s roof was revealed to have charred a different colour, matching the spots on her home, but not the entirety of it.

“I could do that in five seconds just so you know.” Fae mocked.

“Are you planning on getting that fixed?” I asked, trying to brush off her previous comment.

“Yeah. One day I will.”

“Sometimes I wonder if one day will ever happen.”

“It will! Probably…” The last part faded out, as if she was trying not to finish the word.

We enter the home and take our usual seats. My chair, which looks as though it’s in constant agony, and Fae’s chair, which still looks comfortable after all this time.

“Ah!” She shouted aloud randomly as she rested her arm on the arm rest.

“What’s wrong?” I questioned her.

“It seems I have burned my forearm from all the excitement.”

“You should heal it quickly.”

“No, this is the perfect test. You heal it. By doing that, I think we’ll be finally ready to say you’ve mastered healing magic. Then we can focus on ice magic.”

“That seems like it’s a little too much on a whim doesn’t it?”

“Nah, it's fine. Trust me.”

“Well, okay then.”

I raised my arm to her burned skin and focused on healing it. In seconds the burned skinned had vanished, being replaced by nice healthy skin.

“How old are you now by the way?” Fae questioned me curiously.

“Huh? I tell you this every month and you still can’t remember.” I responded in a slightly annoyed tone.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Just tell me already.” She apologized while laughing.

“Ugh, fine. I’m fifteen but I’ll be turning sixteen in three days.”

“Wow. So on May 26th huh? That means you’ve been learning from me for quite a while then. Seriously, I do so much for you.” She spoke candidly, patronizing me and laughing.

“Alright then. I’m sure a mage of your caliber would easily be able to fix the hundreds of fires you’ve had in this house daily then, isn’t that right Lady Fae?” I retorted with a heavy amount of sarcasm.

“Ugh. Again with that Lady.”

“Well it’s getting late, so I’m gonna head home now. You’re welcome to join me if you’d like.”

“I’ve already told you I can’t. My pride won’t allow it!”

“Well at least get the charred parts of your home fixed.”

“Suuuuuuuure.” She responded, sarcastically.

Letting out a heavy sigh at her lack of concern, I waved to her as I left for my home. The light in Fae’s house shining brightly behind her clearly showed me her silhouette still waving at me, even from a pretty decent distance. It took quite a while before I saw the silhouette disappear. I guess Fae decided to go inside then. That’s probably for the best. It was starting to get cold.

“It’s pretty cloudy today.” I told myself, seeing blue replaced with dark streaks of gray as I left my home.

I made my way towards Fae’s home, ready and excited to see what I was going to learn today. As I approached the bottom of the hill, I could hear the now familiar and panicked screams of Fae’s. Realizing the possible urgency, I rushed up the hill as quickly as possible. I could see Fae running in and out with items from her home. Seeing this, I was confused.

“Fae? Is this some new test?” I questioned.

“Celestia, good, you’re here! Come inside the house with me and help me grab things as fast as possible.” Celestia ordered as she ran back in.

Unsure of why, I followed what she said and went in to grab anything I could. When I got inside and reached the room at the back, I realized the need for urgency. Her house was collapsing in on itself. I quickly grabbed whatever I could carry and brought it outside. As Fae and I attempted to run back in to do another trip, a set of debris fell in front of the front door, stopping us where we were.

“All right, it’s not safe to go in anymore. Let’s just stand back for a bit. After all, we can’t use healing magic if we die, right?” Fae was unusually playful given the situation.

As the last remnants of the home crumbled in front of our eyes, we watched it cave in and release a puff of dust. Fae held her eyes wide open as the building she called home crumbled to nothing. I stayed in silence, switching my vision from both Fae and what was left of her house. Eventually I had stopped looking at Fae and only stared at the home which had completely fallen apart by this point. The off coloured walls, the moss, the creaky floorboards, the spiders, all of it was gone. As my vision became hazy, I realized tears had grown in my eyes. Remembering all the memories I had in that home and how I wouldn’t be able to make more in that home. I sobbed silently for a while, trying my best not to disturb Fae.

“Well, I guess I’ll be living with you from now on Celes.” She spoke to me with a smile, but her ashen eyes told you everything.

I turned and reached out to her, grabbing her and hugging her. We stayed like that for a while as I wept. She consoled me silently. I felt a couple of drops on my head, and thinking it was rain I tried to raise my head, but Fae kept my head held down, saying it was simply the moisture in the air. After a few minutes, we slowly released and grabbed whatever items we could salvage, making our way towards my home with everything. The pace we walked at reminded me of the fateful day I came home with my Father—the day I met Fae. Our slow dreary walk felt like it would go on forever, but just when that thought seemed to cross my mind, we were in front of my house. I knocked three times. I could have just opened the door but I thought I should properly introduce the new guest to my parents. Finally, my father opened the door where he saw me and Fae blocking the entry way.

“Hey dad. This is our new guest: Fae.” I told him with a little bit of forced glee. A confused look came across his face, probably because I had never mentioned Fae was coming to stay in the house.