¤ Happiness

A girl in green Apprentice robes laughed wildly as she dashed down the corridor, her silver curls flying behind her as she ran. She could hear footsteps behind her, falling at a casual, comfortable rhythm as if her pursuer simply considered the chase a mere jog. Breathless, the girl rounded the next corner and ducked behind it, flattening herself against the wall.

She waited, listening out for the approaching footsteps. As they neared, she flung herself out from the corner. ‘Gotcha!’

There was no one there. She stopped in mid-pounce, frowning in puzzlement. ‘Where are you?’ But her question was met by nothing other than the sounds of her own heavy breathing, loud in the deserted corridor. She failed to see the dark figure that had darted behind her nimbly, carefully keeping out of her field of vision.

Suddenly, warm strong arms wrapped around the girl’s waist and lifted her clean off the ground. Giggling in delight, the girl tried to slap the arms of the young man that now hugged her close to him. ‘Brandon! Let me down!’

‘So, Silver, my girl, did you think that you could have escaped from me, huh?’ Brandon tightened the hug and murmured into her ear, before planting a kiss on her cheek.

Silver turned in his arms to face him, her childish face wearing a mock cross look. ‘I just wanted to surprise you.’

Chuckling, Brandon leaned down to kiss her lightly on her pouting lips. ‘So who gets the surprise now?’

Smiling, Silver reached up, her pale hands clutching gently at the front of his blue robes as the two shared another kiss, this time a long clinging one.

Brandon did not loosen his embrace around her even after they parted. Silver laid her head contently on his chest, closing her eyes as she savoured the feeling of that embrace. Her head just barely reached the young man’s shoulder; she looked almost like a child before Brandon, who was about three years older than her.

‘Hey, girl.’ Brandon started to say. ‘Have you found your Project thesis yet?’

‘Mm hmm.’ Silver nodded into his chest. ‘Grendel showed me some Black Sacks he got from Mr. Lim the other day. He told me that those only recently appeared, and even he didn’t know much about them. So I thought that maybe I could research on how to make use of those Sacks…’

‘Sounds really interesting. I haven’t heard of anyone taking up such a subject matter.’

‘Do you really think so?’ Silver smiled up at him, her hands moving to join up behind his back. It wasn’t every day an Adventurer Librarian praised the thesis of an Apprentice’s Project, and to hear Brandon’s approval was even better for the young girl.

Brandon reached to tuck a curl of Silver’s hair behind her ear, smiling back down. ‘Yeah. I really think so. In fact, I find it so interesting… do you think we could do a joint Project?’

‘But,’ Silver asked, a slightly mystified expression on her face. ‘You mean you haven’t thought of your own thesis yet? I thought the Ad Libs’ deadline was last week?’

‘Yeah. You know me, always running out of ideas. I did submit one proposal, but Master Grendel told me that it was too “impractical”.’ Brandon made a face.

‘What!’ Silver gasped in indignation on behalf of Brandon. ‘I’ll go talk to that Grendel. He isn’t usually that strict!’

‘Nah, don’t bother. Grendel wouldn’t be pleased. Don’t spoil things between you two just for me.’ Brandon patted her on the head. ‘So, could we be partners? I have some ideas already.’

‘Sure.’ Silver’s grey eyes widened in delight. ‘I’d love to!’

‘I know you’d say yes, Silver. Just think, we’ll get to spend more time together like this.’ Brandon hugged her waist closer still and winked. ‘Now that’s what I call an enjoyable Project.’

Silver only smiled and hugged him back, leaning the side of her face against his chest. She felt impossibly happy, her heart full of… well, she guessed ‘bliss’ would be a suitable word. But even that did not feel adequate to describe the overwhelmingly heady feeling that made her feel like she was walking on air.

In her naïve delight, she wished that they could stay like this forever. But how short-sighted people in love are, that they fail to see that forever isn’t as rosy and crystal-clear as they dream it to be.

Brandon smiled over Silver’s head, a wide self-satisfied smirk.

¤ Dangerous

The old wizard looked critically at the rows of Black Sacks sitting along the shelves of the cabinet behind his large desk, his hands tucked inside the long sleeves of his white robes. The sacks were all tied up securely with ropes, each strand of hemp charmed to the last fibre with magical wards. Even the dark material of the sacks themselves was practically stiff with those magical wards, the runes that spelt the protections shimmering slightly on the cloth’s surface. Some of the sacks moved more vigorously than others, almost as if their contents were struggling angrily against the very wards that imprisoned them.

‘How about that one, Grendel?’ The girl with loose silver curls standing next to him pointed to the sack that was placed at the highest shelf. It shifted slightly, as if sensing that it was being singled out.

‘No, Silver, my child. That is too dangerous for you.’ Grendel shook his head. Even through the thick wards, the wizard could sense the latent power that lay curled up within the black cloth, waiting patiently for the day that it will be released. What was inside was done struggling for escape, because it understood that the only way it would do so was when someone brave, or foolish, enough broke the wards containing it. For a creature to understand that was for it to be either dumbly resigned to its fate or frighteningly intelligent, and Grendel had no illusions about which it was. ‘Never, ever touch that one without my permission, understand?’

‘Alright, Grendel.’ Silver shrugged. ‘But you will show it to me one day, right?’

‘Only after you get your second job advancement, and train a lot more.’ Grendel replied, still examining the collection of Black Sacks. ‘Can you wait until then?’

‘I can.’ Silver said earnestly. ‘Just don’t forget your promise.’

‘We’ll see.’ Grendel nodded, pleased at her enthusiasm. ‘Let us study this one today then. It contains Bubblings, I think.’ He picked a sack from the second lowest shelf and dropped it onto his desk. The surface of the woven sack shivered a little on the tabletop as Silver peered down at it over the journal she held open against her chest.

‘Bubblings! Aren’t they the more powerful cousins of Slimes?’

‘Yes. You handled yourself well the last time I released the sack with Pigs in it, so I thought you could do with something more challenging.’

The sack gave a little squeak when Silver prodded it playfully. ‘It’s cute!’

‘I think so too.’ Grendel smiled down at the girl.

One would not be wrong to mistake the look in his eyes as love for Silver, for he loved the girl as if she was his own granddaughter. Her cheerful ways, and the manner she took almost everything seriously were endearing to him. Instead of treating Grendel like the respectable old wizard he was, Silver never hesitated to berate him whenever he started one of his ‘fits of eccentricity’, as others name it politely; she also never balked at pestering him with questions about almost everything in Victoria Island and beyond.

Little did she know that it was her childish rebukes and incessant stream of questions that made Grendel feel a kind of acceptance he could not find from others. It also kept the old wizard from sinking into the depths of depression that the elderly find themselves so prone to.

Yes, it was love for her that the old man had, and he wished that Silver could truly have been his granddaughter. ‘Is Brandon coming this time?’

‘No,’ she poked the sack again, giggling as it issued another protesting squeak. ‘He said he would be looking up for more information through Ellis and in the Archives.’

‘But he was not with us for the last few times we studied the sacks,’ Grendel frowned, stroking his long grey beard. The old wizard did not tell Silver, but he found it unusual for Project partners to work so separately like that. It was even stranger for Brandon, the more experienced Ad Lib, to simply leave all the work to a mere Apprentice like Silver.

Silver looked up from the sack, her expression slightly troubled. ‘I don’t know… I think he’s scared of you,’ she told Grendel seriously. ‘Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to come.’

Grendel raised an eyebrow, doubtful of Silver’s words. However, the girl looked so grave about it that he decided to ask more about it before he judged. ‘Why should the boy be scared of me? Do I look like a man-eating Nependeath to him?’

‘I think it is because of the last time you rejected the Project thesis he submitted to you…’ Silver started to say slowly, ‘He told me you said that it was too impractical or something.’

That’s strange… Grendel scratched the side of his nose. He was about to open his mouth to say something when Silver spoke up suddenly.

‘Could I ask you something, Grendel?’

‘What is it, child?’

‘What’s a Nependeath?’ she asked, wide-eyed in curiosity. Having stayed in Victoria all her life, the girl had never heard about this Ossyrian creature before, and wondered what manner of monster it was. ‘Do they really eat people?’

‘I do not know, I have never spoken to anyone who got eaten before.’ Grendel replied lightly.

There was a moment’s silence as Silver seriously considered his words for a while, then gave him a mock glare once she realised what Grendel had said. ‘That’s as good as not answering me, Grendel!’ She stuck out her tongue at him, and lifted the black sack of Bubblings from the table. ‘Come on, let’s get to this! I want to see how cute these squeaky things are.’

Grendel chuckled fondly as he followed her out of the room, the girl’s antics making him forget how he wanted to say that he never did reject Brandon’s thesis: Brandon never submitted one for his Project at all.

¤ Blindness

Holding the skirt of her green robes in one hand and a folder of parchment in the other, Silver moved steadily down the corridor outside Brandon’s rooms, careful to step lightly. She had come to bring him the latest draft of their Project, having recently updated it after the last observation she carried out with Grendel. Silver had not told Brandon that she would come, but she expected that he would be in his rooms during this time of the night and thought that she might as well deliver it now.

What she had not expected was the sound of whispering coming out from his rooms, audible through the crack in the slightly ajar door. There was the familiar sound of Brandon’s low murmuring, followed by a sharp girlish giggle that made Silver frown. What could Brandon be doing with a girl in his room?

Silver slowly approached the door. She strained her hearing to catch the words of the conversation within the room, but could only catch muffled sounds and low laughter that meant nothing. She was close enough to touch the doorknob now, and her hand reached out to hold it.

The door swung open then, and a figure in blue robes hurried out, almost crashing into Silver. Silver stepped backwards immediately, her breath catching in her throat at this unexpected interruption. An apology automatically came to her lips, ‘Sorry, Ad Lib senior.’

‘Watch where you’re going, squirt.’ The Ad Lib’s unfamiliar voice was sharp. Looking up, Silver saw that it belonged to a pretty looking brunette, the older girl’s small pointed face screwed up in a disdainful look of annoyance.

‘Veronica. What’s going on?’ The door opened wider to reveal Brandon. He had heard the commotion at this door and had come out to investigate. An expression of surprise came upon his face as he saw Silver from where he stood behind the brunette. ‘Oh. Silver! I-I didn’t expect you here.’

No one spoke for the next few moments. Silver looked curiously at Veronica, unable to recall if she had seen this senior before. The brunette in turn scrutinised Silver with a disparaging air, as if regarding an insignificant ant. ‘Why are you looking for Brandon?’

‘Um.’ Silver stepped back again, surprised at the possessive tone in the other girl’s voice.

‘Veronica, meet Silver. She has been my partner in our joint Project for the past year.’ Brandon cut in smoothly at this juncture. ‘Silver, Veronica.’ Before both girls could respond to the introduction, he gave Veronica a little push on her shoulder, nudging her in the direction of the start of the corridor. ‘Veronica, aren’t you going to collect something from the Archives? Master Solomon wouldn’t be happy if you were late.’

‘Alright.’ Veronica said. ‘See you next time, Brandon dear.’ She flashed him a bright smile, before pushing past Silver with one last suspicious glance at her over her shoulder.

‘What are you doing here?’ Brandon asked when Veronica was out of sight; Silver thought he sounded a little irritated.

‘I wanted to pass the Project’s draft to you.’ Silver said slowly. ‘Who was that Veronica? Why is she in your room at time of the night?’

‘She’s my friend. We were Apprentices together.’ Brandon explained. ‘She just came back from her travelling and we were just talking about stuff.’

‘Really?’ Silver raised an eyebrow. She had noticed that Veronica looked slightly dishevelled as she had emerged from Brandon’s room, and could not help the sour feeling of jealousy that was rising in her chest now. ‘You two were just talking?’

‘Yeah, nothing else.’ Brandon said smoothly. Then, he laughed, and bent down to squint playfully into Silver’s face. ‘Ooh. Is my girl jealous now?’

Silver huffed and looked away crossly. ‘Who’s your girl! I’m only your partner for our joint Project.’

‘Yup, my girl is definitely jealous.’ Brandon moved up and pulled Silver close, his large hands lacing behind the small of her back. ‘Come on, don’t be. You know there’s only one person that I love.’ He cajoled, swaying both of them a little to his words.

‘Who is that? Veronica, right?’ Silver pouted childishly, and prodded Brandon in the chest.

‘Let’s see if you can guess who she is, alright?’ Brandon caught Silver’s hand and held it to his chest, smiling down at her. ‘She’s beautiful, she’s darn talented, she’s really cute when she gets cross, she forgives me when I keep forgetting stuff for our joint Project, she loves me so much that she gets jealous when she sees me with another girl, and she’s standing right in front of me now. Hmm…’ Brandon squeezed her hand, pretending to think. ‘This is so hard to guess. I really wonder who this wonderful girl is?’

Silver couldn’t help but laugh. ‘You always know how to talk your way out. But I wouldn’t let you off the next time, alright?’ She finished her sentence a little fiercely.

‘There wouldn’t be a next time, I swear.’ Brandon released her hand and raised her chin to touch his lips to hers. Silver accepted the kiss eagerly, her suspicions fading away as quickly as they appeared, wiped clean by the giddiness of blind love.

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Links to previous chapters:
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I did warn you, many many chapters back, that there would be icky romance. While it was fun writing this, it was also a bit goosebump inducing. (If there is such a thing as ‘Romance-phobic’, I’ll qualify immediately.) If you think it was entirely too mushy, I’ve succeed in making my point about puppy love.

It doesn’t feel like a cookie day. Marshmallows in hot chocolate then! *watches the white bobby things bob*