Snippet #2180888

As a sudden rush of air from above me alerted me to the rapid plunge my companion was taking above me, I did not panic. Even as he flew past, reaching out and catching onto me at exactly the same time I spread my grasp to catch him, I was not afraid. As we fell to the hull of the ship far below, my heart did not so much as accelerate in its beating. While a normal girl might have been screaming her head off right now, there were two things that made me different.

I said before that I was irredeemably ordinary, so you might wonder why I now claim that I different. To this question, I give you two simple answers.

Firstly, I was in the presence of the person most important to me, falling right by his side. To panic would be unsightly, especially after the confident reassurance I had just given him. And I, as his friend - even if he did not remember me - could not stand to burden him in such a manner. I would hold fast to my belief in the magic that would protect our lives, but, at the same time, even though it seemed impossible, I tried to alter the course of our fall slightly so that we would both strike the deck in different locations. Even if I could not save him entirely from the impact, should it come, I could at least spread the force of the fall over a large area so as not to land on top of him and cause him serious, albeit inadvertent harm.

But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it was because I realized now that he did remember me, even if he didn't fully recall who I was, nor, perhaps, might he want to recall. For the words he had just spoken were...

"Don't worry, Eden!" I had said resolutely, standing before my fallen friend and facing down the large black dog that snarled and raged at the two of us children, having chased us for quite some distance from our usual route home. We had outrun it for a while, but Eden had tripped and fallen, leaving us no option - in my opinion - but to stand and fight. And so, I made my vow, braced myself, and prepared.

"I'll protect you with my magic!"

To be honest, I hadn't needed to keep my promise on that day, for the dog's owner found it again and subdued the escaped beast before it could cause any harm, but ever since that day, I had taken those words as a new code of conduct, an oath by which I would abide for all of my remaining days with my friend. From that day onward, I had changed the focus of my magical studies. At first, I had researched silly things like "how to summon a pony" or "how to transport oneself into a storybook," or other such simple ways of pleasing myself and escaping from the reality of my all-but-imprisonment in the tower I called home. My friendship magic, the first spell that had been met with absolute success, had just been another one of these studies in self-amusement, if a very vitally important one.

But, after I had made my promise, I changed my focus. Charms of protection, spells to keep those I cared about safe from misfortune, injury, sickness, and all manner of other things. Even when I myself was ill, I worked tirelessly to invent arcane sigils to cure diseases my friend hadn't even yet contracted. Most of these well-intentioned spells never saw the light of day, but I liked to think that Eden had believed in the power of those I had mustered the courage to give them, few though they were. And, given what he had just said, he really had, truly, accepted and believed wholeheartedly in the power of my magic. That much was enough to bring a warmth into my heart, even as we fell through the cold air.

"There's a Witch protecting me," Eden said.

Then, with a sudden jerking stop, we halted. For a moment, my eyes widened with irrepressible fear for the worst as I looked to see if there had been an impact. But, I realized, there had been no sound of a body striking hard on wood, and the friend who now floated beneath me as though on the surface of some unseen, glassy pool still smiled cheerfully up at me, not a trace of pain showing in those familiar eyes. Then... the spell had worked after all! We were safe! But even this relieved thought did not occupy my mind for long, for a far more important thing now took up the entirety of my thoughts. Even as Eden embraced me and gave an elated cry of success, my thoughts were elsewhere.

"We were..." Was all I said in reply, but even though my features were blank as, in my tumultuous stream of consciousness, forgot to place the appropriate smile upon them, the light of absolute glee in my eyes could not be mistaken.

He remembered. Eden remembered me, and still believed in my magic! Even if he couldn't recall who I was right now... he was willing to do so slowly despite all of my failures! I would be able to redeem myself in his eyes after all! I could change after all, become someone worthwhile, and when Eden remembered, he would finally accept me once again, as he had done back in the old days! My very soul leaped for joy, and my heart welled up in my chest. I almost cried. But, I restrained myself. It wouldn't do to shed inexplicable tears right now. Eden would just feel like he had done something wrong somehow if I did, and I would have to explain to him why I was crying. That would only hasten his remembrance while preventing me from changing at all. It wouldn't do to be remembered like this. I had to change first, to cast aside the flaw of unimportance that had plagued me all my life, that had nearly taken my precious friend away from me forever. Now that he was back, I wouldn't miss this second chance I had been given by this unknown magic. I would absolutely, without a doubt, become the Witch who Eden had believed in, who Eden still believed in, who had been special enough to remember, even now! No, in fact, I would go beyond even her, and become a Witch worthy of staying by Eden's side forever! I would surpass everything I had been as a Human, as a Witch, and as Marie, and seize back those wonderful days of old from the ruthless hand of time!

For the first time in countless years... I felt hope - true, boundless hope - once again.