Mira left at dawn. Quietly, without even saying a word. I woke up—and she was already gone. The emptiness in the house became almost tangible.

  A few months passed. The end of spring. The ground beneath our feet continued to wither, as if the color was being drained from it. The livestock grew lethargic; the cows looked at me with a sort of mute reproach and almost stopped eating. Maybe it was just my imagination, or maybe this world really was starting to get tired.

  And then time just... crumbled. Another two years passed.

  Alastor and Aya—now they were indistinguishable from ordinary farmers. And Erol and Yara... those little shits. They grew up. They became a whole head taller than me. I looked at their backs and felt resentment stirring inside me. An eternal teenager surrounded by those who know how to grow up.

  The seventh year of my cycle arrived. Autumn.

  The timer inside me clicked again. My hair began to rapidly turn green, taking on the shade of emerald moss, and my eyes filled with a deep, forest green. Along with the color came that feeling—an absolute lack of understanding of why I was here.

  I lay on the grass for hours, staring at the gray sky, asking myself the same question: Who am I? Why am I here? I knew I had done this thousands of times before. The feeling of déjà vu became incredibly intrusive.

  Before the kids left for the Academy, we were sitting at the table. Silence.

  "Zen," Yara touched my hand, "why have you become so... dead? You don't explain anything anymore, you don't joke. You just go out into the field and stare off somewhere. Are you okay?"

  I looked at her. Her face seemed familiar to me, but I could no longer remember how we met.

  "I don't know," I answered, and it was the only truth I was capable of.

  Another half a year passed. February.

  A message from Erol arrived in the magic sphere. Yara is getting married.

  A minor apocalypse occurred in the kitchen.

  "WHAT?!" Aya roared. "WHO?! WHEN?!"

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  "WHAT THE...?!" Alastor nearly crushed his mug. "Who is this dead man walking?!"

  They paced around the room until they realized it was about that same guy Yara had been secretly sighing over for the last few semesters. In the end, they hugged, accepting the fact that their "little girl" had finally grown up. Tizor was also at the Academy, and the house became frighteningly quiet.

  At the beginning of summer, I went to get them.

  The teleportation went as usual, but when I found myself at the gates of the Academy, a wave of disorientation washed over me. I looked at these spires and didn't understand: what was I doing here? How was I even connected to this place? Only blurry, broken frames surfaced in my memory: mirrors, laughter, someone's silver hair... But none of it felt like it was about me.

  I sat on the grass by the road. Soon, voices could be heard. Erol and Yara—tall, beautiful, grown up—rushed toward me.

  "Zenhald! We're so happy to see you!"

  I stood there, letting them hug me, trying to figure it out: we had just seen each other half a year ago, why are they reacting like this?

  Yara, her eyes shining, pulled me by the sleeve toward a guy standing a little further away.

  "Zenhald, look! It's him! This is Ryan!"

  I looked at the young man. Tall, red-haired, with red eyes. He looked older than me, although there was something... childlike in his gaze. He walked up and held out his hand with a wide, sincere smile.

  "I didn't even recognize you at first..." he began.

  I arched an eyebrow questioningly, taking my time to return the handshake.

  "Who are you? Do we know each other?"

  Ryan froze. His hand remained hanging in the air.

  "What do you mean, Zenhald..." Yara fussed next to us. "I wrote so much about him! This is Ryan! My fiancé!"

  I finally shook his hand. His palm was hot.

  "Nice to meet you, Ryan."

  He looked at me strangely.

  "'Nice to meet you'?" he echoed, his voice trembling slightly. "But we... we've known each other for a long time. Do you really not remember me at all?"

  Such deep hurt reflected on his face that I felt uneasy. Ryan took a couple of steps back and stomped his foot sharply. With a quiet ring, his sword flew out of its scabbard on its own, made a graceful circle in the air, and hovered next to him like a loyal dog.

  Ryan looked at me hopefully, expecting this trick to bring my memory back.

  "It's me, Ryan! I was little when we met in the castle. You came to visit us for New Year's... We played 'War of Kingdoms'... You gave me this sword! Remember?"

  Heavy layers of fog began to shift in my head; some gears in my brain started to turn. A little kid... bare feet... the smell of roast meat... But the face of that child was a blurry spot. I could see the situation, but I couldn't see him in it.

  "Oh... yeah, yeah, yeah..." I hesitated, feeling everything inside me itching from the tension. "No. I don't remember. Sorry."

  Ryan's sword clinked sadly and returned to its scabbard on its own.

  "Alright," he said quietly, adjusting his collar. "We'll have time to get to know each other again."

  I didn't push the subject.

  "Let's head home."

  POP.

  We materialized in the courtyard of the farm. Erol and Yara habitually collapsed onto the grass, and Ryan... Ryan bent double. He loudly threw up right into a bush.

  "Ugh..." he wheezed, wiping his mouth. "I forgot what it's like... flying with you."