Chapter 10 - As Time Goes By

 

Abbey Behr giggled as her aunt hoisted her into her arms.

“Little monkey,” Candy said, fondly. “Who’s going to be a good girl for Auntie Candy, hm?”

“Nah!” Abbey said, decisively, laughing again.

“Cheeky little monkey!” Candy set her down, watching as she tottered over to the flowerbeds. It seemed like forever since the girls had been that old, delighted with everything. She could even remember when Yuki had been this old, though she hadn't been that much older herself.

 

Abbey almost made it to the flowers she was after until the garden gate creaked and she squealed in delight.

"Mamma!"

"Hey, Yuki. Me and the little rascal were just talking about you," Candy fibbed, grinning as her baby sister rolled her eyes.

"I'll bet. Rem's nearly finished boosting your weather wards, so I thought I'd come check on Abbey."

Candy smiled at her niece affectionately. "She's doing fine. Are you guys staying until the girls come back from school?"

She tried not to count the ways she could see her sister had grown up. Her eyes automatically went to Abbey now, her hair was longer, and she seemed altogether more distant. She wasn't a teenager anymore, and not having her around had been a lot to take in for Candy.

Sure, she visited...but Candy missed her. A lot. 

At that moment, Remington headed over, his eyes bright, and he swept Yuki into his arms and pecked her cheek.

"There, that should stop any lightning from hitting the roof. How's my queen?"

Yuki giggled, and Candy, a bittersweet feeling in her heart went inside to give them some privacy. 

It wasn't as if she wasn't happy for Yuki. Remington was a great guy, and having a niece was amazing. But she did miss the days when Yuki had just been...her baby sister who lived with them. Yuki and her family visited often enough, though. She sighed and tried not to mind. 

If she was honest, Abbey also made her long for the time when the girls were that small. They were approaching that age now when they were slowly discarding childish things, and while Ciara was helping out at her scout group, she'd lost interest in other things she'd liked not even a year ago. Chanel still kept a few of her dolls out of sight in a box under her bed, but she still loved things like Brookefield, charm bracelets, or whatever fad was sweeping through her classroom at the moment. She'd even asked for an expensive palette of makeup, which Morgyn had put his foot down about. 

Candy sighed. Perhaps she was just feeling old.

"Can you believe it? Rhea is losing it over the new Brookefield episode!" Chanel had just stopped texting Rhea, while her sister was scribbling in a notebook. "Lacey went to the Pumpkin Parade with Hugh, even though he asked Lake? And Lacey's a witch!"

The twins had gotten home from school after their aunt, uncle, and cousin had left, to the disappointment of them both. 

However, Chanel was in the mood to talk about the latest episode of Brookefield, even though her sister was occupied. In fact, Ciara really wasn't in the mood.

"Well, what does Rhea think?" Ciara asked, offhandedly. 

"Oh, well, she thinks that Lacey is a cow - I mean, don't tell Mum, but that's what Rhea actually said. Love potions are such a taboo even in Brookefield!"She hopped off the bed and headed over to Ciara's desk.

Ciara quickly turned the page of her notebook. "Well, obviously. I'm surprised Dad lets you watch that trash if that's how it represents spellcasters."

"Hey, Brookefield isn't trash! Besides, Calliope Ward plays Lake."

"Do you even like Calliope?" Ciara rolled her eyes.

"Hey, if you're just going to be mean..." Chanel's voice faltered and she looked at the book on the desk. "What are you even doing?"

"Writing in my journal." Ciara didn't look at her sister. Chanel had an annoying habit of being persistent about things you wish she wouldn't. 

"Mom said Auntie Yuki dropped round today with Abbey, by the way. I can't wait for the holidays, I bet Abbey is going to be dressed up really cute! She's getting so big."

"Yeah!" Ciara gratefully pounced on the subject change. "She's super adorable. Do you think Aunt Izzy will come this year, too?"

"Maybe? I mean, I hope so. It's not like we get to see them often." Chanel hesitated. "I guess she'll be at the Realm for the celebrations, though."

Ciara closed her book. "I mean, yeah. Probably. Rhea and M..Marcus might be there too, so I'll probably see them there." She hoped her stutter wouldn't be picked up, and luckily Chanel only gave her a slightly quizzical look.

"Rhea also said she's not getting that new palette because her mom said no," Chanel added, after a slight silence. "You know, the WARD one everyone wants?"

"Do you even use makeup? Why do you want it?" Ciara asked, but Chanel merely shrugged before wandering over to what was mostly 'her' side of the room.

Her peers' current obsession with Calliope Ward confused Ciara. As far as she could see, Calliope was just like any other starlet, admittedly one with a very famous mother. She'd tried to take interest in her, really she had, but it was harder for her. She just couldn't relate to the others on this one, especially when it came to wanting makeup. Personally, she didn't like the powdery feeling on her eyelids (she and Chanel had tried out some of their mother's makeup before) and it just felt strange.

"Ciara!" Her dad called from the other room. 

"Coming!" She scrambled up, hoping Chanel wouldn't check the journal while she was gone. Not that she would, but...

In purple pen, her latest entry had mostly been about Marcus. As much as she'd wanted to concentrate on her studies, she found herself thinking about him more than she'd ever care to admit, and wondering if she should start asking her sister about him more. She'd seen him with the latest Greywall book in school the other day, too, and desperately wanted to ask him about it. 

Why won't he be my friend too? What makes Chanel so special? 

If her sister saw that line she'd know. What exactly she'd know, Ciara herself wasn't even sure, but she'd know, and Ciara wasn't ready for anyone to know whatever it was yet. This strange, hurting feeling...She didn't want it anyway.

She might have changed her mind if she'd read her sister's journal, of course. 

Chapter 9 - Autumn Breezes and Tween Crazes

 

Rhea looked around her room, feeling slightly put off by everything. She’d been talking to Chanel that day about how difficult things were at the moment, with the trends changing all the time in the classroom. Crazes were sweeping through her grade one after the other like wildfire, and rather than them being steady, they were as volatile as a bad spell. The WARD palette was the only one that seemed to be going strong after its announcement.

Previously there had been beads, slotted onto safety pins, which had lasted two weeks before Alyse had brought in a new craze of charm bracelets. Everyone needed a charm bracelet, and luckily Rhea had one that her grandmother had given her. Charm bracelets evolved into friendship bracelets, where you had to wear the same colour as your friends, until it all dissolved because people were taking off their bracelets to show who they were and weren’t friends with. Currently, the WARD palette and Calliope Ward were running trends. Alyse had a scrapbook of articles and cut outs from any magazine Calliope was in, whereas Rhea was using her pocket money to buy Teen Dream every week just in case it had Calliope in it. Her drawers were becoming stuffed with the magazines freebies.

Chanel had shaken her head. “I just think it’s a waste of time.” She’d made special friendship bracelets for herself and Rhea, in green and gold, that Rhea loved, and as she spoke she ran her finger around hers. “These crazes come and go all the time, and it’s impossible to keep up.”

Rhea knew what she meant, but looking at all her Voidcritter decals and her poster, she’d felt a twinge of sadness. Voidcritters had been dependable up until this year. Everyone was desperate to be a teenager, and there were so many things you had to know and do.

The next day, an autumn chill was in the air, and she and Maranda went outside to play, clad in warm clothes to keep out the cold. In years gone by, their games would have been of princesses and dragons, or of having real life Voidcritters, but this time, Maranda and Rhea were playing at being students at Brookefield High, the fictional high school from the last series that Calliope Ward had been in. Her character, Lake, was so cool, but not as cool as Calliope herself.

"So we're part of the Brookefield Witches," Rhea told Maranda. "We're best friends with Lake, and we're going to cast a spell to make Hugh fall in love with her." 

"Love spells are bad, Rhea..." Maranda said, hesitantly. Rhea patted her arm. 

"It's just for the story! That's what witches do on TV. Anyway, we're going to help our best friend Lake, but we've got to make a secret hideout first."

Maranda perked up. "A secret hideout?"

"Yeah! We've got to have a place to make our potion where no one can find us! And we have to make it really special, because if we make it wrong he'll hate Lake forever." 

"Um, okay!" Maranda giggled. 

They took off running, in the direction of a stone bench they usually played on.

"Now, we must find the perfect ingredients for Lake's potion! She asked us especially, because we're such good friends, and she knows that we're as good at casting spells as she is." Rhea giggled and leaned in close. "And because she loves Hugh!"

"Does Hugh like her?"

"Oh, definitely. He's going to ask her to the Pumpkin Parade for sure, even if Lacey Jenkins is the head cheerleader!" Rhea crossed her arms. "How could he not like her?" 

"Because...Lacey Jenkins is going to use a love potion on him first!" Maranda said, smiling brightly. "She's going to make him fall in love with her, because she hates Lake!"

"Um...okay? Then we have to hex...Lacey Jenkins..." Rhea's voice trailed off. "Maranda, what do you mean? Lacey isn't a witch."

Maranda blinked, and looked down. "Sorry. It just...came out. I know she isn't a witch, but I just...felt like that was...right?"

"Lacey can't be a witch. She's the head cheerleader and a...a cow." Rhea waved her hand. "Besides, it would be awful even for her to do that."

"Well, let's make a love potion." Maranda seemed nervous. "I mean, how should we do it?"

Rhea started to labour on about the ingredients they would need, all the while trying not to think about what Maranda had said. There was no way, right?

Chapter 8 - Calliope Enters

It seemed to Emilia as though it was going to be a tough time for everyone, this year. Rhea had begun to be more sensitive about the difference between babyish and grown up (at her age, too!) and they'd spent a lot of money last winter extending the house to create a new room for her. 

And while there was still a Voidcritter poster above her bed, the rest of the room looked, well...fit for a teenager. That was what Rhea was becoming, faster and faster. Marcus might have been her twin, but...somehow, she seemed older than he was. Gone were the days where she was happy with anything. Somehow, she was turning towards teenagerdom faster than Emilia had ever been prepared for.

Once, Rhea had been focused on Voidcritters and her magical preparation lessons. Now, that had changed, and she was talking about teenager things, like friends falling out and new friends and who was talking to who, who liked who, all in a blur that Emilia didn't quite understand. A name that cropped up a lot was 'Calliope Ward', which, over time, was revealed to be a celebrity's daughter. Calliope Ward was almost an obsession for Rhea and her friends. 

And in fact, Emilia could see why. Calliope's mother Judith was a very famous actress, while Calliope herself was an influencer, actress, model, and all round celebrity baby. Rhea was a proper preteen these days, complete with begging her mother for expensive things because Calliope was promoting them. 

"Mum, please, I really want the new WARD palette!" she said, one evening. She still looked like the same Rhea, but it was somehow different. Something in her stance had changed. "Alyse says that she's getting it when they send it out from pre-orders and--"

"Rhea, please. You can have something for your birthday, but I've seen that makeup online and it's extremely expensive." Thanks to a little research, Emilia was armed and ready for any conversation about Calliope Ward. "I'm not buying you makeup when you already have a little bit."

"Alyse is getting it!" Rhea said, plaintively. "She said!"

"Well, what about your other friends?" She raised an eyebrow. "Is Chanel getting a WARD palette?"

"It's...her dad said no..." Rhea mumbled, coming to sit down next to Emilia. Luckily, mentioning her best friend had the desired effect. Rhea, despite all these new ideas and fads, still was quite protective of her best friend, and conscious of not making her feel left out. 

"Then I'm also going to say no. Not just because it would be terrible if the two of you fell out over some makeup, but because I don't think it's the sort of thing you should be getting just yet."

"It's Calliope Ward's first ever eye shadow palette, though. I really want it." Rhea sighed. "I mean..."

"Well, if Alyse gets it, maybe she'll share it with you the next time you go over to her house." Emilia privately thought that Alyse was either exaggerating or quite spoiled, if her parents really did get her every latest thing she wanted, but that wasn't something she would say in front of Rhea. 

"Yeah!" Rhea perked up. "I mean, yeah, cool."

That was new, too, this correcting of her enthusiasm. Emilia tried not to feel put out by it. Alyse, in her opinion, was almost as bad an influence as Calliope herself, but that was also something she'd never voice in front of Rhea - or at all. 

Still, going into Maranda's room to check everything was neat and tidy, she couldn't help but think on it. Rhea was usually a little wiser, but these days she seemed to be flattered by the more glamorous sides to life Alyse had introduced her to. Not that Emilia hadn't once gone through that phase, but she had no idea how she should handle it. She didn't really blame Alyse entirely for it, because you couldn't blame young girls for this sort of thing, but Alyse lived a norm that Rhea seemed to want to emulate.

Sighing, Emilia tried not to think about it. 





In Del Sol Valley, a young woman was trying to ignore her mother's ongoing phone call. Blah, blah, agent, blah blah, fired, blah, blah, whatever. Calliope was at an age where she loathed and loved the silver spoon in her mouth in equal measure. She loved that people adored her simply for who she was, but the price she had to pay was living with her mother.

"Walter, darling, it's Judith. The script is magnificent, but my agent read it over and he's simply not happy with whoever wrote in the scene where I'm left at the restaurant. Carol is an icon for many women, and frankly I feel it's just bland for her to be stood up by a man. She's chic, rich, desirable..." Her mother went up the stairs, trying to get out of another scene she didn't like. God help the poor writer who'd penned that one. Carol was one of her longest standing roles and one with practically no character development these days, thanks to Judith. The agent hadn't been unhappy at all, he'd simply been the one to break it to Mom. 

Calliope's own agent was one Judith had picked out, and the brand she was presenting - a legacy of talent and a fresh face to the Ward family - had taken off beyond what they'd expected. A makeup line had launched, along with her small time acting gigs that Judith managed ("You won't be wanting to end up like a dreary small time actress, let them come to you,"), and she was always busy. 

An interview about her recent role in a minor series had been scheduled - she'd played opposite another legacy boy, Justin, and Judith had been very into the idea, thinking that she could hint at some 'on set drama'. The agent, on the other hand, had told her that she needed to be stoic about anything she was asked. Be polite, say what a great experience it was, exit. So boring.

Some people had it so much easier. She wished that she had a different mother a lot of the time. One who didn't have the diva reputation, one who didn't cause misery everywhere she went. One who didn't push Calliope into something she hated.

Chapter 7 - Cutting Off

It was early morning when Darrel went to the Von Haunt estate, as directed by the text from his sister that had shown up out of the blue. She'd sent him the location, and a time to be there, but nothing else. Nothing, after all this time. He wanted to see her - desperately - but something told him that this would not be a happy meeting. 

The woman waiting for him at the Estate did not look like his sister.

Her hair, for one, was longer, and she no longer dressed as casually as she did, once. Her belly was rounder, too, and as he opened his mouth in shock, she cut him off.

"We meet today as family heads," she said, loudly. "I formally recognise you as the head of a branch family. "

"What?"

"Come on, Darrel. I'm head of the Charm family now. I'm formally recognising you," she said, a mean little smile on her face. "I thought here, in the ruins of something great, might be an appropriate place to do so."

"Gemma, we're the same damn family!" Darrel took a step forward. "You can't do this. We're a part of the Charm family, same as you - and who made you head, anyway?"

"Mother never wanted our branch of the family to go to you," Gemma said, easily. "Anyone who knew her knows that. She might not have formalised anything, but I have the house, and I have the family - a growing family, at that, so I can."

She smiled at her older brother. "And you know age has nothing to do with whether or not you can take over. She might not have named an heir, but there was never any contest. My family and yours are something quite different now, brother."

With that, she was gone, walking away. It might have been more dramatic had it not had to have been quite as slow, quite as paced due to her belly, but it left Darrel shaken nonetheless. 

She had contacted him, for the first time in years, just to deliver the news that he was no longer a part of his own family. It was an old practice, a traditional one, whereby a family line could splinter and spread, in order to avoid infighting. However, what Gemma had done...If she'd done it right, that was, but she'd probably already put everything in place. Both parties had met at a suitably neutral location, she had stated that she recognised his line as a separate one, and he'd not claimed headship...

And if she had, then he was well and truly sunk.


Back at home, Maranda was adjusting her scout uniform.

Being in the scouts was exactly as she'd thought it would be. It wasn't...amazing, and though she was learning skills, it did eat into her free time. She'd met some nice kids, but her attention at the last meeting had been on the Griffin Scout who had joined them.

The girl in question was Ciara Ember, and she'd met her once or twice before. Ciara had been very kind to all the new scouts, and Scoutmaster Pancakes had happily told them all that Ciara was on her way to becoming a Unicorn Scout. 

"A Unicorn Scout is there to help out others! So when Ciara is a Unicorn Scout, she'll help me with the Llama Scouts." He'd smiled encouragingly. "Of course, the other Griffin Scouts are just as helpful. That's what being a scout is all about!"

He was a very cheery man, but Maranda had felt wary about Ciara. She knew of her besides just meeting her. She was friends with her sister, but her brother didn't like her at all. And Maranda knew why. Ciara could be an absolute snob about having magic, and she was even more of a snob about being the Mage's daughter. 

And then there were the boards. Scoutmaster Pancakes insisted that every scout have a big, unwieldy board where they could pin the leaflets and information that he gave them, along with their badges so they didn't lose them.

Really, it made her feel a bit silly to have such a big thing in the room. Even Rhea had been a bit taken aback. 

She sighed. Well, she'd received the 'Sociability' badge at today's meeting, along with another scout, and Scoutmaster Pancakes had seemed really pleased. He'd asked what badge she wanted to work towards next, and she'd chosen Arts and Crafts. 

Being a scout took hard work, she supposed. 

In the kitchen, Emilia took a deep breath as she looked down at the mess that her youngest had made.

"Donovan, Mommy has told you not to touch the paints." She tried not to think about how much it would cost to replace them. She'd not even had time to change out of her work uniform before Marcus had come running to get her from her room, shouting about how Donovan had taken his things. "Look, it's all over the floor."

Recently, Donovan had been acting out quite a lot, always when she came home from work. The other children - Rhea and Marcus in particular - seemed to prefer to come and get her rather than stop him. She sighed deeply, casting a simple cleaning spell that seemed to be the only magic she cast these days, whisking the paint away.

"Donovan, I'm going to put you down for a nap."

"No! No nap!" he yelled. 

"Yes, nap," she said, firmly, carting him off. 

As her mother walked through with Donovan and out to the nursery, Rhea tried not to give a little sigh. It was really hard to be around her younger brother when he was being such a brat these days. Mom was at least okay to tell him not to do things and clean it up, but it didn't seem to stop him. Maranda had at least only ever been a crybaby. 

She continued her practice. Her violin teacher had said that she was getting better, although insisted that she practice as much as she could, and she had been doing her best. However, she kept thinking about what Chanel had said to her during the break. 

"You know, Rhea..." Chanel had said, slowly. "Dad was saying that your auntie has been writing to him formally."

"What does that mean?" she'd asked. 

"Don't know." Chanel had shrugged. "But he said that it was going to be trouble." 

Trouble. Rhea didn't want to think about it too much, but Dad had gone out earlier and it had been a while since he had come back. She felt worried, and every wrong note made her upset as she tried to practice. Chanel's words played over and over as she tried to concentrate. 

What sort of trouble could it mean?

Chapter 6 - Spring, Spring, Spring

Time went on.

Emilia gave birth to a boy, who they named Donovan, after a long-dead relative of Darrel's. Donovan himself grew into a chubby-cheeked, sunny toddler. 

Donovan, being the baby of the family, had the nursery to himself, while Rhea and Maranda, who was now old enough to attend elementary, although only just, shared what had previously been Rhea's room. Gone were the days where Rhea had been able to retreat to her own space, and gone were the days when Maranda had been a toddler who didn't understand much of anything. 

The twins had moved on to middle school, and now were navigating the difficulties of not yet being teenagers, but starting to have crushes and hurt feelings and all sorts of things. However, their own friendship hadn't wavered, and tonight, as Maranda sat in her and Rhea's shared room, Rhea was playing Voidcritters with her brother in his room. 

"Hey, Ray..." Marcus said slowly. "You know Aunt Gemma?" 

Rhea attempted an attack, only to be blocked, and nodded, uninterested. Since Minerva's passing, Gemma had stopped speaking to them, and as the years had passed, she'd become something of an unspoken subject.

"I saw her with her boyfriend the other day when me and Chanel went to San Myshuno." He dropped his voice even lower. "They were picking out spices, and..."

The memory of meeting her grandmother there flared into Rhea's mind and she shook her head. 

"It doesn't matter, Marcus. Aunt Gemma's stuff is her business." She cleared her throat. "Besides, she doesn't speak to us anymore."

Rhea was not wrong. Gemma had not spoken to any of them since the funeral. Marcus couldn't help but think on it, though. Gemma and her boyfriend had been very close, as if trying to keep as close to each other as possible. He'd almost wanted to go up to her, but memories of the funeral made him hang back, watching while Chanel was distracted at a food cart.

Chanel. That was also a big thing. He and his best friend were almost dancing around each other at the minute. He wanted to ask her out, but he didn't want to be weird, and he liked having her as his best friend. So instead, they'd been spending a lot of time at the weekends going...out, as it were, but not on dates. It was really confusing.

In the shared room, Maranda was doing her homework. She and Rhea shared a desk, which made things complicated sometimes, but she was happy to wait until Rhea went to do something else.

Maranda did wish, however, that sometimes the twins would let her join them while they played Voidcritters. They'd given her some cards, and she was even allowed to use Rhea's Battle Station when Rhea wasn't using it, but it sometimes felt very lonely, despite the house being so full. 

Her homework was relatively easy, which let her mind wander. Maranda had the sort of mind that liked to wander around if it wasn't occupied, which meant while her homework was being filled in, part of her mind began to idly wonder whether everything was quite alright at school. She, unlike her siblings, wasn't immensely popular, people seeing her as kind of creepy. What she'd done to deserve that, she didn't know. 

However, there was one thing that seemed important. Last week, the local Scoutmaster had come by the school with a girl Maranda vaguely recognised at his side, advertising the Scouts to anyone who was interested. Maranda had taken a leaflet, and later convinced her father to ring up the Scoutmaster to sign her up.

"He was very pleased you're joining, muffin." Her father sounded proud. "You'll be a credit to them."

She was still thinking about it later when she was outside, swinging idly.

Credit or not, Maranda had a vague feeling that being a Llama Scout was somehow important. And her vague feelings were usually correct - as a toddler, she'd apparently known her mother was pregnant with Donovan, according to family legend, though she herself did not remember it. She often wondered if Rhea and Marcus were the same, but she didn't want to ask them. 

She'd reserve her judgements for her first scout meeting, however. 

Behind her Emilia was cooing to Donovan as he splashed in the paddling pool they'd set up for him in this heat. Maranda slipped down from the swing and headed inside - she was supposed to go and pick up her uniform with Dad today. 

"There we go, baby, nice and cool." Emilia smiled, relaxed as she watched him giggle and splash.

"Momma!" He waved his arms. "Swim swim!" 

She gave him a splash of water, and he shrieked with delight. Donovan, Emilia thought with satisfaction, was such an easy baby. All you had to do was entertain him and he caused no trouble at all. 

It seemed, after all this time, that things were finally going a little easier.

Evening fell over San Myshuno as Darrel, smiling wide, herded the three eldest children to the Romance Festival - one of his favourite events, it had to be said, in San Myshuno. Back when he and Emilia had met in the Realm, he had tentatively brought her here, and since then it had become a family tradition (although staying for the later party was not an option with the kids in tow.)

Emilia had stayed at home with Donovan, although she'd asked for them to bring something back for her, so Darrel headed over to the souvenir stand, wearing the t-shirt from the year before. The vendor (a new face this year) greeted him and soon had him deep in conversation about who the gift was for.

"My wife and I, we come here together whenever we can," Rhea heard, and smiled to herself. Dad could get so mushy when he was talking about Mom. 

"Here's your food, miss," the food vendor said, with a smile. "You enjoy yourself!"

The Romance Guru, as she was called in the official program, was waiting in an area surrounded by pink tea and light pink petals that had been scattered on the ground. People nervously looked at her as she waited, expectantly, but later on they would be lining up to talk to her - to ask her about their problems, or to ask what their future looked like. Fortune-telling! Magic found its way into the simplest of things, but there was something reassuring about that, Maranda thought.

As Maranda sat down, watching the candles around the lady flicker, she found herself instead looking at an old man with an even-older looking hat, his eyes darting around the festival anxiously. Darrel, coming to sit back down next to his daughter five minutes later, was surprised to find her chatting away happily to the older man, who was now sat next to her with a cup of herbal tea.

What had he told her about strangers? But immediately, the old man looked up at him, his eyes lighting up. 

"Ah, you must be this young lady's father! Forgive me, she said she wished to talk to me, and..."

The man was giving off a very strange magic, so Darrel obligingly sat down as well. 

"What brings you here?" he asked, gently.

"Well, truth be told, I came because I used to come here a long time ago, with my lady wife. She was the most beautiful woman, but I think she would be sad if she saw me still grieving." He sighed. "It makes me happy, however, to see so many young people enjoying themselves as we used to."

"I...I'm sorry for your loss." Darrel cleared his throat. "Sorry, Maranda--"

"Is a very perceptive young lady. Don't apologise, young man." 

Young man. How old did this guy think Darrel was? Still, there was something comforting about him, and Maranda certainly seemed at ease. 

"I met my wife back when it wasn't so popular to come here." Darrel found himself speaking. "She's watching our youngest at home, and I always try and bring our kids to the festival. It's a beautiful celebration."

"Oh, yes..." The man sighed, misty-eyed. "The petals, the young love, how can you dislike it? It's full of joy. A certain...magic, which is important for all holidays." 

With that, he stood, smiling at Maranda. "Thank you for your kindness, young lady." He bowed, somewhat awkwardly, and then walked off into the crowds. Darrel frowned at his youngest daughter.

"Maranda, you know you shouldn't talk to...strangers..."

"He wasn't a stranger," Maranda said, quietly. She recognised the man from so many Winterfest cards, and from the slight cold that had emanated from him. Father Winter, for better or worse, had been in San Myshuno.

Later, she was throwing petals as tradition dictated, and the incident was almost completely gone from her mind. Her brother laughed as he picked the pink flowers from his hair.

The lights around them suddenly blazed, and she squealed.

"Marrie!" Her brother grinned. "See, this is why you're a baby. Imagine getting startled by lights!" 

"I'm not a baby!" She pouted lightly, but neither of them really meant the back and forth.

Sat with her father, Rhea listened as he told her about the spellcaster traditions of the festival. 

"The tea that's here each year is brewed by a spellcaster. It's not even the same spellcaster every year, so each year it has a slightly different taste. It's considered a way of bringing the two communities together."

She couldn't help but smile, as a pink glow settled around those who had drunk it. This year's festival had been so fun...