Chapter 2: Why Did He Stop?
Armored Dragon Calendar Year 410 – One Week After the Awakening
[Sylphiette POV]
I woke up scared, like every morning.
Gray light came through the window and I could hear Father moving around in the other room, making his morning sounds.
I looked at my hair on the pillow, green like always, and I hated it so much. The other kids always found me because of it, called me names and threw things.
I wanted to hide forever, but I couldn't.
Maybe today would be different, and it was never different.
My tummy hurt like it always did in the mornings, all tight and twisty because I was scared.
Father said my green hair was special, and Mother used to say it was pretty before she died. But the village kids said it was demon hair, and I didn't feel like a demon. I just wanted friends.
I smelled bread from the kitchen and it smelled really good, but my tummy still hurt too much to eat.
Father was eating his breakfast and looking at me with his worried face. He was big and strong and could fix lots of things, but he couldn't fix my hair or make the mean kids stop.
I saw him talk to Claude's father once and Claude's father said sorry, but Claude still threw mud at me the next day anyway.
"I could walk you to the Greyrat house," Father said like he did every morning.
"I'm fine, Father."
"Sylphy..."
"I'm fine."
I said it too loud and Father looked sad, which made me feel bad. But if Father walked with me, the boys would call me a baby and be even meaner.
I ate my breakfast fast without tasting it, then went outside before Father could say more things.
Yesterday was different though, because Rudeus saved me. The brown-haired boy from the Greyrat house used magic water to stop Claude and his friends, real magic floating in the air like in the stories.
Then Claude acted really weird, crying and saying sorry, and I didn't understand it at all. But Rudeus was nice and didn't care about my hair, just smiled at me like I was normal.
Maybe today I could see him again.
Outside was cold and I could smell smoke and dirt from the village waking up. A dog barked somewhere and a cart was moving with creaky wheels.
Normal sounds, but I wasn't normal.
I walked at the edge of the path, ready to run into the trees if I heard mean voices. My heart was beating really really fast because they could be anywhere, any corner, any shadow.
Usually the well was safe in the morning, but Claude liked to wait near the smithy and the market was scary because I never knew. Today the path was empty though.
Then I saw Claude alone by the well, his brown hair messy like always.
I stopped walking and my whole body wanted to run and hide before he saw my green hair shining in the sun. But it was too late and he was too close, and if I ran he would chase like he always did.
He looked up and our eyes met.
I got ready for him to be mean, to smile that mean smile and throw something and call me names. My hands made fists and my fingernails dug into my palms, and my heart was going really really fast like a bird trying to get out.
But Claude looked different, almost scared. He jumped a little when he saw my hair like it hurt him to look at it, and his face went white like he was going to cry.
Then he looked away and just walked past me without saying anything or throwing anything. He just walked away.
I just stood there frozen, legs shaking, and I forgot to breathe for a bit before letting it all out really loud.
He just walked away without throwing anything or saying anything mean, and my heart was still going really fast but now I felt confused instead of scared.
What just happened? Was it a trick so he could jump out and scare me even more?
I looked around for Somar and Mike because they usually came with Claude to be mean, but nobody was there. Claude was alone and looked small and tired and sad.
I went to the Greyrat house like Father wanted, my legs still feeling shaky.
The big house was scary but also nice, with flowers in the garden and a blue painted door. I knocked really quiet, hoping maybe nobody would hear and I could go home.
But the door opened and Rudeus was there, smiling. "Oh! Sylphiette, Come in! I wanted to show you something cool."
He remembered my name, my real name and not the mean names. Inside was warm and Rudeus took me to a room with books and papers everywhere.
"Look, I've been practicing." He held out his hand and made a little ball of water appear, floating in the air all sparkly. "It's magic, real magic. Want to try?"
"I can't do magic," I said really quiet.
"Sure you can! Everyone can, you just need to learn how." He made the water ball spin and said, "Here, say this word with me slowly."
I tried to copy the magic word he said but nothing happened.
"That's okay, it takes practice." He put a book with pictures in front of me. "These are the basic ones and you can borrow this book if you want."
Nobody ever let me borrow their things before, so I asked, "Really?"
"Yeah! We can practice together and it'll be fun."
Fun. When was the last time something was fun?
For three days, Claude kept being weird and I saw him in the village sometimes, alone or with grown-ups.
Every time he saw me he looked away fast, and every time I got ready for him to be mean he just wasn't. It didn't make sense because people didn't just change, especially not Claude who was always so mean to me.
But I started watching him anyway because I was good at hiding and being really quiet. The mean kids taught me that without meaning to.
So I watched Claude.
He was training with Paul Greyrat behind the guard captain's big house, and Claude looked different.
He was trying really really hard and the wooden swords made loud noises.
Thwack. Thwack.
Paul would show him how to move and Claude would copy it, but Claude moved weird. Sometimes he moved like a grown-up all smooth and fast, then he would trip like he forgot what he was doing, like two different people trying to use the same body.
Sometimes I saw his mouth moving like he was talking to himself even though nobody was there. Once he put his fingers on his head and made a hurting face.
But the scariest part was his eyes, because when he didn't know people were looking they looked old. Like Father's eyes when he talked about the war, all sad and far away and remembering bad things.
But Claude was just a kid like me, and kids' eyes shouldn't look like that.
I heard two ladies talking by the bread stall about how Claude was acting weird now, too quiet like he saw something scary. The other lady said it was good and maybe Paul was making him behave, and they both laughed.
I hid behind a barrel so they wouldn't see me, but I didn't think Paul was making Claude different. Paul was strict but he wasn't mean, so whatever happened to Claude was something else.
On the second day I saw Claude standing by the forest just staring at the trees, standing there forever not moving like a statue. When he finally walked away his face was wet from crying, and boys didn't cry, especially not mean boys like Claude.
On the third day Claude was sitting by the river with a stick, writing in the mud. When he left I came closer to see what it was.
Names, lots and lots of names written in the mud that I didn't know. Some had lines through them and some had marks I didn't understand.
Then I saw my name written there. Sylphiette. And next to my name was one word: Sorry.
I watched it wash away in the water until it was all gone.
On the fourth day I went to my special place in the forest, the clearing with the big oak tree where I went to be alone and make flower crowns.
Nobody bothered me there and I could pretend my hair was normal and I was normal and everything was okay. The flowers were pretty and the tree was big and nice.
But when I got there, someone was already sitting under my tree. Claude was there staring at the tree trunk like it was really interesting, his shoulders all hunched up, looking small and sad.
I should have run away like I always did when I saw Claude, because he threw mud at me and called me mean names and made me cry lots of times. But my feet walked forward anyway and I don't know why.
I stepped on a stick and it made a loud crack sound.
Claude's head turned really fast and his face looked scared, then sad, then something else I didn't know. I stopped moving and waited for him to be mean.
"I'm sorry."
It was so quiet I almost didn't hear it, and Claude was looking at the ground instead of at me. His hands were shaking.
"I'm sorry, Sylph."
Sylph? Nobody called me that, not Father or Rudeus or anybody. It was a nickname I never heard before, but Claude said it like he always called me that.
"Why do you call me that?" My voice was all shaky.
Claude didn't say anything for a bit and his mouth opened and closed like he didn't know what words to use. When he looked up his face looked all broken like when someone drops a cup and it cracks, and I felt bad for him even though he was mean to me.
"I don't know," he said slow. "It just felt right."
We looked at each other while the sun came through the leaves and the wind made the flowers move and birds sang like they didn't care about us.
"Something happened to me," Claude said in a really really tired voice. "I woke up a few days ago and I was different, remembering things that don't make sense and feeling things that are weird." He put his hand on his chest. "But I know that what I did to you was bad, really bad, and I won't do it anymore. I promise."
I wanted to say his promises were lies and remind him about all the mud and rocks and mean words, about when he chased me and I fell and hurt my knees, about all the names that made me cry at night.
But when I looked at his eyes I believed him because they looked so sad and hurt, like he saw something really really terrible that broke him into pieces.
"Why did you stop being mean?" I asked.
Claude's face got tight and he was quiet for a long time while I listened to the leaves moving and the birds singing. Then he let out a big breath like he was really really tired.
"Because I remember what happens if I don't."
That didn't make sense because how could he remember something that didn't happen yet? But the way he said it, he really believed it like it was real and he really saw it.
I nodded even though I didn't understand.
"Okay," I said quiet.
"Okay?"
"I believe you."
He looked surprised and then his shoulders got less tight and his hands stopped shaking. He stood up and brushed dirt off his clothes, still small like me, still the same Claude but also different somehow, changed by something.
"I should go," he said. "But maybe we don't have to be enemies anymore."
He walked past me back toward the village without waiting for me to say anything, and I just stood there with the oak tree and the flowers and lots of questions I didn't know how to ask.
I stood there for a really long time while the sun got lower and the shadows got long and the clearing got darker and colder, but I didn't really notice because my head was too full of thinking.
Then I walked to where my old flower crown was on the ground, all dead and brown now because I forgot about it while hiding from Claude. But Claude wasn't being mean anymore.
I started making a new flower crown and as I twisted the stems together I thought about Claude, the mean boy and the sad boy with the same face but different somehow.
Something changed him, something bad that made his eyes look old and sad. What could do that to someone and what did he see?
I didn't understand and maybe I didn't want to understand because some things were too big and scary to know about.
But I wasn't as scared of tomorrow now, and that was different. That was good.
When I walked home the stars were starting to come out and it was getting cold, and I could smell dinner cooking in the houses. My feet made crunching sounds on the path and I felt different than this morning, less scared.
Father looked worried when I came in the door and his voice was loud when he asked where I'd been, but I knew he was just worried. He grabbed my shoulders to check if I was hurt.
"The forest clearing," I said. "I was thinking."
I thought about Claude saying sorry and his shaking hands, about how he looked at my green hair like it made him sad and called me Sylph like he knew me forever.
"Claude said sorry to me and said he won't be mean anymore," I told Father.
Father's face got hard. "Boys like that don't just change, Sylphy, so be careful." He was quiet for a bit and then his face got a little softer. "But maybe something did happen to him because people can surprise you."
I nodded but I wasn't really listening, still thinking about Claude in the clearing.
"He looked at my hair and looked scared, but not scared of me," I said really quiet.
Dinner was quiet and I ate without tasting the food because my brain was far away. Father talked about work stuff and horses and weather but I wasn't really listening.
Later I was in bed with my covers up to my chin, looking at the ceiling and thinking about what Claude said.
I remember what happens if I don't.
The words were weird and didn't make sense, but Claude said them like they were real and he really saw it happen. Like he saw a future where he kept being mean to me and it was so bad that it changed him.
But that was silly because nobody can remember the future. Can they?
I turned over and put my face in my pillow that smelled like home and safe things, the smell that usually helped me sleep. But tonight my brain wouldn't stop thinking.
Tomorrow I was going to see Rudeus again and we could practice magic together, and that would be fun. And maybe Claude really would stop being mean.
I didn't trust him yet and maybe I never would, but I believed him when he said he wouldn't hurt me anymore. That was enough for now.
I closed my eyes and thought about flower crowns and oak trees and Rudeus's magic water ball and a boy who remembered things that didn't happen yet.
Tomorrow was coming, and I wasn't so scared anymore.
◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ AUTHOR'S NOTE ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
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