Chapter 13:

Nightmares and Visions

One Wish They Never Wanted


Suddenly, the boy gripped the girl by the shoulders and shook her. "When's the valedictory?!"

"Tomorrow at seven pm. That's why I needed you to come on Wednesday," Amelie told him, her face completely blank.

Certainly, it would not take him much time to prepare, but she should have at least given him more notice than that if she had been planning for him to go all along.
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The now-familiar feeling of dread was already settling in at two pm. To take his mind off things, Takuma set about plucking weeds from the front garden.

"W-What are you doing to the poor dandelion?" Ember spluttered from her viewpoint on his shoulder as he yanked the flower from its roots. "Animals and fairies need it."

"Dandelions are a nuisance to humans," the human explained flatly, cradling the flower's head in his palm to prevent the seeds blowing away.

The sound of a car engine winding down cut off any chance of further talking - a jet black limo had halted in front of the house. Before Takuma could even question who was in it, Kris (in an all-black outfit that was mostly a suit, but with a cropped jacket) emerged from one of the doors, with Quartz peeking out from a breast pocket.

"A little bird told me you have a formal event to go to," Kris started shoving Takuma towards the open limo door, "so we're going to get you all prettied up!"

Amelie's face appeared in one of the windows of the limo, and while her grimace told him she hadn't quite expected this to happen, Ember was giggling with excitement at this sudden development as she took her place in the limo.

"Does this even count as kidnapping?!" Takuma cried (in a way that was almost inaudible to any potential rescuers) as he was buckled in.

Before he protested any more, he caught sight of what Amelie was wearing - an ice blue strapless dress that flowed to her feet and was studded with a cascade of fake silver jewels. When she leant forward to greet him, she exposed the silver straps of her heels, and once she noticed he was ogling her, she swept a freshly-done curl behind one ear, which caused Takuma to realise the entire limo was full of the overbearing scent of hairspray.

Ember hesitated when she spotted this, and muttered, "That's the exact same look she had in my dreams..." Now her gaze was fixed on Takuma in anger. "I told you I could see the future, didn't I?"