Chapter Text
Legosi walked down the path once more, a different air surrounding him this time. The bubble of warmth that had enveloped him and Louis earlier was nowhere to be found, instead the walk colder and the air not as fresh. It didn’t help that the aftermath of the battle was scorched into the ground, destroying the flowers he had admired not too long ago. Louis’s meadow would never be the same. The scars of the land tainted the sanctuary, stealing from it the tranquility Louis had fought to find. But Legosi tried to look on the bright side. One day, Louis would find that tranquility again, and Legosi would be by his side when that happened. Or, at least, he hoped he would be by the wizard’s side.
When he arrived at the shack, he saw that it was in worse shape than he originally thought. The door hung from its hinges at an angle, creating a crooked edge and allowing light to creep in. He saw through a gap that a fine layer of dust had settled over the inside of the shack. The key in his pocket grew heavier. Fishing it out, he brought it to the lock. The key scratched around the keyhole. His hand rocked by fine tremors. But eventually, he inserted the key properly. A faint click sounded when he turned it to the right, and the door creaked open. A blast of stale air and dust hit him in the face, causing a series of sneezes.
Once his sneezing fit subsided, he made his first step across the threshold. And then another and another until he was in the center of the shack. He took in its entirety, seeing the pile of books and papers fill any possible empty space. It brought a small smile to his lips. He could imagine a younger Louis spending his time here towing away at his studies and magic until sleep won against his single-minded determination. Wistful, he imagined what it would have been like if he and Louis had known each other earlier. Red burned his cheeks even though he knew an animal like Louis wouldn’t have spared him a passing glance.
He walked over to Louis’s desk. The surface was covered by a worn and faded star chart, held in place by stacks of books at each corner. Louis’s scrawl overlaid almost every inch. Legosi couldn’t read it the words so overlapped and smudged. Despite the ink and graphite, the stars and their paths were visible. Perhaps a magic Louis had infused the paper with. He thumbed through the top book of the stack closest to him. At first, he merely skimmed the pages, but the words captured his attention.
Over and over, the legend was written on every single page. The notes in the margin were the only change. He dropped the book and picked up the next one. This one the same as well as the next and the one after that. Books built up around his feet as he searched for any difference. Legosi was confused by the obsession. Louis had seemed so dismissive of the legend. It was supposed to be foolish. It wasn’t real, so why had Louis written about it hundreds of times?
He looked back at the star chart. Had Louis been trying to find a falling star? He smoothed out the curling edges, but his hands wouldn’t budge. The paper distorted around him, pulling his hands deeper and deeper into the paper. Panicked, he shouted, “What? What’s happening?”
He tried wrenching his hands back with all his strength yet nothing happened. He was being dragged inside, and there was nothing he could do about it. Soon, he slid further and further until he was enveloped up to his shoulders, the distortion creeping up his neck. He extended his neck as far as it could go in a pointless endeavor to delay the inevitable.
He took a deep breath.
The cold, wet magic engulfed him. It masked his senses, detaching him from himself. Almost like he could reach out and touch his own body. The feeling lasted for both forever and just a second before he felt a breeze on his right hand. He wiggled it around until he sunk into the smooth strands of grass. Digging his hand into the ground, it gave him the leverage to heave his body upwards. His other arm ascended from the nothingness to give him a second grip. His body sliding from under the earth like he was exiting a pool of sludge. He sucked in a welcome breath and opened his eyes.
The darkened sky greeted him, lit up by a sea of stars in swirls of purples, light blues, and white. It was breathtaking. He sat up, looking around. Despite the shroud of night, the field was familiar. His eyes roved over everything in front of him until they landed on a shack in the middle of the clearing. A remarkably familiar shack indeed. That’s when a scent, one he would recognize anywhere, cut through the fresh air.
Louis!
He jumped to his feet, brushing grass off his legs and butt. He ran in the direction of the smell, stopping past the cabin. He saw Louis standing at the lakebed, but something was different. Though the deer in front of him was undoubtedly Louis, Louis was wearing a foreign uniform. And when he caught a glimpse of the side of his face, the deer possessed an innocence he didn’t realize Louis could have ever owned. When was he?
A light in the corner of his eye redirected his attention. Louis turned his head as well. A shooting star fell toward them. He watched as Louis reached a hand out as if to touch it. It reminded him of the town children all coming together to catch a star. But never had one been so close. Never had the possibility been so real. Louis stared at his hand, then the star, with a contemplative look. Dread settled in his chest.
“Louis?” he called.
However, the deer did not answer. He chased after the star’s fiery tail. Legosi staggered after him, the dread spreading and numbing him to his bones. He shouted, “Stop, Louis!”
Louis jumped, catching the star right before it hit the ground. Legosi stopped in his tracks a few feet behind the deer and stared at Louis. How could he have wrenched his eyes away as Louis devoured that star? At first, nothing seemed to happen. He watched the glowing ball slide down Louis’s throat and settle in his chest, the light burning through Louis’s shirt. Right where his heart should be. Then, Louis fell to his knees.
Legosi gasped and reached out to Louis, despite knowing that there was nothing he could do. He lurched forward towards the deer. Haru said the star would be trapped. It wouldn’t be able to free itself. He rasped, “Do you know what you’ve done?”
Louis sliced through his horror with a deep cough. The deer touched his chest, and to both their surprise it seemed, his hand went through his clothes and skin. Pulling the glowing orb from his chest, they watched as the orb sprouted rabbit ears. Legosi blinked hard because the orb now bore a striking similarity to a certain fire demon he knew and loved. Before he could process what he was seeing, Louis swallowed Haru once more. This time, Legosi was forced to avert his gaze. The light emitting from Louis was too strong to look at directly onwards.
When the light weakened, he saw Louis coughing up Haru onto the grass. The deer then lifted the small flame in cupped hands, cradling Haru close to his body. They were speaking to each other but Legosi couldn’t hear it over the ringing in his ears. Louis caught a shooting star. Louis caught Haru, and she took his heart.
“Why are you here?” Louis questioned.
He jumped, his eyes shooting down to meet Louis’s gaze. It was the first time he had a good look at the deer. A whine escaped him when he saw the dark circles under Louis’s eyes. The exhaustion crueler on his younger face. But he realized the deer wasn’t looking at him. Louis looked through him.
“Why wouldn’t I want to witness my precious protégé spiral further into disappointment?” Yafya snickered behind him.
He whirled around to see the Sublime Beastar. The horse appeared just as he had at the castle. A haughty set to his shoulders that allowed him to tower. The wicked gleam in his eye glittering brighter under the star-filled sky.
Louis sighed, “Why can’t you leave me alone?”
“It’s simple,” Yafya shrugged, “You’re meant to be my successor. I can’t have you slacking.”
“Then, take this as me bowing out. Find someone else.”
“No.”
“Why?” The frustration in Louis’s voice rasped the word until it was almost a growl.
Yafya merely smiled. The Sublime Beastar turned toward him and said, “You’ve seen enough, haven’t you? I think you’re smart enough to figure it out.”
It took a second for him to understand that Yafya was actually talking to him. He looked at Louis to see him frozen mid-word. He asked, “What do you mean?”
“Aren’t you going to break his curse?” Yafya gripped him by the shoulders, “Well, you can’t do that here.”
Yafya shoved him, sending him flying back. The earth inhaled him. The distortion wrapping around his body. The nothingness replaced his senses again. And then he found himself staring at the star map in Louis’s cabin. His fingers bunched the worn paper. Small drops darkened the scrawl and smudged already smudged writing even more. He didn’t know why he was crying. All of a sudden, it was all too much.
A sound from behind startled him. He spun around to see Lord Shrub much closer than he expected. He stumbled over a stack of books on the floor when he tried to back up. His mouth bumped against Lord Shrub’s face, bringing them into the shortest kiss that ever was. He jerked back with reddened cheeks. He wiped dried tear tracks and sputtered out an apology, “I didn’t mean to do that!”
An exaggerated puff of magic in pink swirls and blue polka dots covered Lord Shrub. When the puff cleared, a spotted seal, who was very naked, stood in front him. His blush darkened, and he scrambled to cover his eyes. He shouted, “Lord Shrub, is that you?”
“Yes, it is! Nice to meet you, Legosi! I’m Sagwan!”
The cheery voice that came from the seal was unexpected. It caused some of his tension to dissipate. He peeked through his fingers as if that would protect him from Sagwan’s nakedness. “It’s nice to meet you too. How long have you been a scarecrow?”
“Not that long before I met you. I wanted a change, so I came to the surface to see what it was like. I had just gotten a house settled when I ran into Melon, and he changed me into, what did you call it, a scarecrow.” The seal chattered on happily, appearing to not have been as affected by being magically turned into a scarecrow as Legosi thought he should be.
“Were you worried?”
“Not really,” Sagwan shrugged, “I knew eventually I would be saved. Or I wouldn’t, and I would learn how to live as a scarecrow. I suppose it’s lucky you kissed me.”
Legosi glanced away, “Sorry about that.”
“No need to be sorry! You saved me from the curse. I should be thanking you.”
“I didn’t really do it on purpose.”
“I can still be thankful for the accident that brought us together.”
“I suppose so.”
Sagwan lit up, “I have just the thing to give you.”
“Oh no,” he shook his head, “You don’t need to give me anything. Please don’t give me anything.”
“Nonsense! I brought so much I might as well give you some as thanks.”
He couldn’t see much through the slits his fingers created, but he saw Sagwan shuffle around, seemingly searching for the thing he wanted to give Legosi. While he wanted to protest the gift again, there was something about the seal that told him his protests would meet deaf ears. Sagwan made a triumphant noise when he found what he was looking for.
“Hold out your hands.”
He didn’t want to lower the barrier between him and Sagwan’s lack of clothing. But he stretched out his hands, his palms faced toward the ceiling. He kept his gaze trained on Sagwan’s face. The seal dropped the gift into his hands, which drooped under the unexpected weight. Confused, he looked down at the jar of water.
His eyes narrowed as he inverted the jar. It looked like a normal jar of water. Where did Sagwan keep the bottle? He decided that he didn’t want to know the answer. He said, “Thank you?”
“You’re welcome!” Sagwan clapped him on the shoulder, “This sea water is very sought after by the surface’s wizards.”
“Is it?” He brought the jar closer, but it still just looked like water.
Sagwan adopted a thoughtful expression, “Ah, I suppose someone who doesn’t use magic wouldn’t be very impressed.”
“No, thank you for the gift! It’s more than you needed to do.” Guilt punched him in the throat. He hadn’t wanted to appear ungrateful.
Sagwan tilted his head, a quizzical look. “Why don’t I show you what it does? Follow me.”
Without waiting for his answer, Sagwan walked outside the cabin. Legosi hurried to follow him, the jar of sea water cradled in his arm. Sagwan stopped in front one of the worst scorch marks, the flowers blackened and crumpled to ash.
Sagwan said, “Pour some water here. You’ll only need a little.”
He didn’t know what the water would do for the deadened earth, but he decided to humor Sagwan. He popped the cork lid, careful to not let any liquid splash out. He tipped a little bit of the water onto the flowers. As soon as the water touched them, green sprung from the ground, weaving past the scorch marks. The stems rapidly grew before a bud formed and petals blossomed. Legosi stared in awe at the patchwork of green interspersed with the black.
“What?” he asked, speechless.
“Sea water from certain waters has healing properties. I don’t really understand it, but I do know how to find it!”
“This is too much,” he thrust the water toward Sagwan, “I don’t deserve this.”
Sagwan pushed the jar back toward him and smiled, “I think you do.”
Tears welled up, and he clutched the jar to his chest. “Thank you. Really, thank you.”
“No problem! Now, I should head back home. I don’t think I locked the door before I left.” With that, Sagwan started walking away.
“Wait, we could take you back! You don’t have to walk all the way back. Do you even know where your house is from here?”
Sagwan politely declined, “No, I can make it there myself. Besides, you and your castle have very important things to do.”
He could see that Sagwan wasn’t going to budge. He asked, “Do you at least want some clothes for the journey?”
“What do I need those for?”
Because of the genuine look of confusion on Sagwan’s face, he decided not to press the issue. Some animal would get the seal clothed. It didn’t need to be him. He waved goodbye to the seal and waited for him to get a ways away before he sprinted to the castle.
“Haru, I figured it out!” he yelled as soon as he entered the door, a smile wide on his face. He set the jar of sea water on the ground by the door. His smile soon dropped when he saw the grim look on Haru’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Legosi,” she breathed, “There’s something wrong with Louis. I can’t feel him anymore.”
His heart stopped for one terrible second before being jumpstarted by overwhelming panic. “What does that mean?”
“He’s gone. The magic that ties us has been severed!” Haru was frantic, her flames dancing nervously around her. “Without that magic, the curse will eat him alive.”
“Take me to the Black Market.” Even Legosi was surprised by the steel in his voice. “Take me to him.”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“Louis has forbidden it.”
Shock seized him. Louis had forbidden it? Anger surged through him before being crested by a wave of helplessness. He pleaded, “Change the door, Haru. Let me help him.”
Haru looked just as angry, just as helpless. “I can’t.”
Legosi’s reply was swallowed by the loud blare of the doorbell. Without saying anything, Haru flicked the door to Kingsbury. He croaked, “We don’t have time for this. Take me to the Black Market.”
“Open the door, Legosi.”
He opened the door. The person he saw made his breath catch. “Grandpa?”