Chapter 2
Wizard

Time... seemed to drag on as centuries passed by.

Wizard counted each day.

If she were still here, she would have told him that locking himself inside the observatory and only coming out during the middle of the night was...

Wizard strode towards the window and gazed out at the waking town. What would she have told him? He could no longer remember... The softness of her voice, the brilliance of her eyes, and the warmth that she radiated –all of them were beginning to fade away.

He had once told her that he had memorized every inch of her face and that when he closed his eyes, he felt that he had known her forever. But the mind was fallible –especially when it concerned memories.

He found himself hopelessly grasping at more and more fading memories as each day passed. It was a futile battle. After another century, his memories of Akari will only be faint whispers of something that once was. How could the person that meant the world to him fade away so easily?

What did it feel like to love? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember the fluttering of his heart when she smiled or the warm feeling of being loved when she was near.

Why was it that the feeling of pain continued to haunt him when he couldn't remember love? The hurt the gripped him when Akari died never went away. Nights were filled with nightmares and the cold feeling of loss. And each day he opened his eyes, he hoped that everything that happened had been a bad dream and that Akari was still by his side. But when his eyes fell on the empty bedside and the wall of his house, he wanted to pull the cover over his head and never get up.

He couldn't do that though. He had made a promise to Akari.

But his world was now nothing but dreary days spent searching for something to fill in the gap left behind by Akari. Everything felt completely pointless.

His grip on the window sill tightened.

He couldn't remember completely, but at the same time, he couldn't forget. He could never forget her. Akari had influenced him so that he could never return to the life he formerly led. It would have been so much simpler... studying during the day and stargazing during the night.

Yet, he didn't regret a single moment. Wizard knew from the start that this was how it would end and did his best to make sure that each moment with Akari was happy.

Gliding to his desk, the Wizard smiled sadly and brushed his fingers across the cover of the geology book that he was currently reading.

Akari... probably would have disproved of his current lifestyle. She had always been hardworking and kind towards others, so sitting around while the island was dying would have been frowned upon. There wasn't much he could do though. His eyes shifted towards the window, gazing at the quiet town below.

Humans never changed. They had forgotten to care for the land, and the Goddess Tree was weakening once again. Hopefully, the villagers would change before the situation became more severe. There was still time to reverse the situation without the Harvest Sprites.

As the days passed, he was reminded more and more of the island's situation when he had first met Akari. The humans had refused to change their ways and one by one, fire, water, wind, and earth weakened until the island nearly became uninhabitable. It was interesting how the human race had advanced so far in such a short period of time, yet somewhere along the way, they had forgotten that civilization exists only by the earth's consent.

She had loved the island so much. The least he could do was contribute whatever he could offer if any of the villagers sought his advice, so rising from his chair, Wizard unlocked his door, allowing the villagers access to his home for the first time in many, many years.

He could hear the faint sound of robins chirping outside, indicating that spring had arrived once again. Through the window he could see that the buds on the once barren trees were slowly unfurling and the last remnants of snow were fading away.

"Life returns... during the spring..." he murmured reminiscently. His hand moved so that it lay over his heart and he smiled sadly.

He shook his head and returned to his studies. A variety of books concerning earthquakes lay scattered across his desk. An old and heavy leather bound book asserted that the phenomenon was caused by the anger of the gods while another book believed that the movements of large fish were behind the shaking of the earth. He drowned himself in the various theories as he tried to pass the day. In a few hours, he found his attention slipping away and his thoughts reverting back to his promise to Akari and what he was doing with his dreary life.

Those thoughts always looped around and did nothing but make him want to forget everything. The sun was setting outside, casting a warm orange glow over the town. He ran his hand through his hair and decided to try analyzing the stars instead. Pushing away from his desk, Wizard headed up the stairs. The stars always managed to let him escape from his heavy thoughts. If only they were visible all the time. He flipped through his notes from the night before and immersed himself in the world of stars.

Hours passed and he ignored the gnawing pain in his stomach. He briefly wondered if the inn was still open.

"Excuse me, are you Wizard?"

Wizard furrowed his brow, surprised that he had a visitor. Pulling his eyes away from the telescope, he turned to see a young woman standing in the middle of his house. Upon seeing visitor's face, the first thought that came to Wizard's mind was that the gods were playing a cruel joke on him. The next line out of her mouth confirmed this and he was far from amused.

"Do you know the Witch?"

Perhaps he should have stayed locked up in his house for another decade. He wondered briefly if it was too late to shove the woman out of the house and lock the door behind her. She gazed up expectantly at him with wide compassionate eyes that reminded him so much of Akari's.

"Near Flute Fields lies Fugue Forest... Deep inside is her house," he answered brokenly. It had been a long time since he had to converse with anyone.

"But she wasn't there!" protested a sprite beside the young woman.

Another familiar face.

Wizard silently watched the sprite glare up at him. The sprite didn't seem to recognize him though, or if he did, he didn't acknowledge it. Yet, Finn wouldn't do that. Numerous questions and theories flashed across his mind but he didn't have the time, or correct state of mind to analyze them at the moment. Just seeing the familiar duo in front of him made his head spin and heart twist. Needing to focus on something else, he directed his attention back to the woman's problem.

Thinking about the Witch drove the distracting thoughts out of his mind. He furrowed his brow as he considered the various scenarios that would result in the Witch leaving the forest. A thought crossed his mind. Surely... the Witch knew better than to do that again.

"Was there... a frog...?"

"Yeah, there was a frog."

"..."

Ah... so she had done that again.

"That's the Witch..."

And so began the quest to return the Witch to her original form. Like Akari, the young farmer had presented to him the ingredients one by one and he found himself travelling to the Witch's house once again.

Wizard paused momentarily as he stood in front of the old cottage, the memories of his last visit to the house slowly returning to him –the memories of the darkest day of his life. Coldness crept across his body and he was momentarily brought back to that cold winter evening. Forcing himself to breath, Wizard opened the door and stepped into the oddly decorated room.

Sitting on the table was a pink frog wearing a small pointed hat. Carefully setting the required materials around the Witch, Wizard stepped back, closed his eyes and began to summon his magic. The cool feeling of swirling magic swept around him like the wind.

Wizard slowly opened his eyes after the spell had been completed. He hadn't seen the Witch since that day. She looked well...

"What the heck took you so long?" She yelled, stamping her feet. I thought you had learned to change me back as soon as possible when this happened! Are you stupid?!

Wizard noted that her hands were shaking as she glared angrily at him.

"I was stuck as a frog for forever! I had to eat flies! And it was all slimy! It was awful!"

"Well, I told you not to use that spell..." he replied calmly. Even though it was centuries ago, I'm sure that you remember the consequences of trying to revive the Goddess Tree using that method.

"So you left me as a frog to teach me a lesson?! That's just mean!" And I had really thought that it would have worked this time. I revised the spell and my magic is more potent now.

"Well, did it work?" Because it would be troublesome if you repeated this mistake a third time.

"Aaarrrggghhh! You make me so mad! I hate you! Get out!"

"..."

The farmer stared as Wizard calmly walked out as if the Witch regularly threw him out of her house. Wizard gazed silently at the farmer, noting all the similarities between her and Akari. He wondered if their innocent auras were the only things that were similar. His eyes shifted to Finn who was floating obliviously by Hikari's side. It used to be that he had always been by Akari. His heart clenched painfully and he decided that it was time to part ways.

"Well, it looks like we're done here," he said in a soft, velvety voice. "See you later."

Wizard quickly departed. It was raining outside. How fitting. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and stepped out from the forest's protection. She would have scolded him for being so careless, not wanting him to catch a cold. What he wouldn't give to hear her voice again, even if it was her scolding him.

The rain had completely drenched his clothes now. He didn't particularly care though. The mud squelched unpleasantly under his boots, reminding him of the days he had helped Akari water her fields. Running his fingers through his hair, Wizard sighed. Since Hikari's appearance, he hadn't been able to concentrate on his studies as memories of Akari kept flooding his mind. He wasn't sure if he should be happy or not at the constant reminders.

He raised his head to gaze at the farmland now owned by Hikari. The drooping crops seemed to welcome the rain but even with all the water, the soil quality wasn't good enough to produce high quality crops. He remembered the rows and rows of shining crops that Akari had planted each summer. She would save the best vegetables for him.

"I want you to be healthy. You should take better care of your body."

And so she provided him with meals made from the freshest vegetables each day. He would have been happy even if she had just given him decent vegetables though. Actually, he would have been happy living off wild mushrooms as long as she was by his side. She would smile when he said this and insist that he was her first priority. And he had been so happy. Shaking his head, Wizard turned north, deciding to pay the Harvest Goddess a visit. A question had been bothering him for a while and he decided that it was time to get an answer.

He shook out his wet clothes as he entered the spring. Warm sunlight kissed his skin and beckoned as he crossed the sparkling water. The fountains trickled calmly and slowly as if they had all the time in the world. Here, the inhabitants seemed to be protected from all the hardships of the outside world.

Stopping before the Harvest Goddess, Wizard bowed.

"Wizard, it's been a while," she said warmly. Though she looked tired and pale, she still did her best to assist her guest. "Please, tell me what brings you here."

"When Finn... left me and Akari... to search for a person... with a pure heart... were his memories of us... removed?"

The Harvest Goddess bowed her head.

"Harvest Sprites must be shielded from the pains of humankind in order to remain pure at heart," she said softly. "It is this that separates them from other magical beings. And because of this reason, they cannot be allowed to remember friendships with any humans once they have passed on."

Wizard felt his nails digging into the palm of his hands. Finn couldn't remember Akari then. He couldn't remember her kind smiles, her warm presence, or her encouraging words. All those years that Akari had cared for the Harvest Sprite... all of them were gone. It was a cruel fate.

Then there was the other path. To remember and bear the pain of knowing the loss that you had suffered. To watch as centuries passed on and watch through jaded eyes the cycle of pain humanity can never seem to escape from.

The Harvest Goddess smiled sadly and gazed down at Wizard.

"It is one of the many paths of life that have to be chosen."

"I understand."

Wizard gazed distantly up at the blue sky. Wispy cirrus clouds floated across the wide expanse, a large contrast to the stormy weather outside. Everything about this spring was protected –even the inhabitants... or perhaps it was for the inhabitants. Would he rather forget or remember? Even though it hurt, he still had happy memories to remember Akari by. He wouldn't trade those away for anything.

Wizard returned home with many thoughts on his mind. Closing the door of the observatory behind him, Wizard pulled everything out from his cabinet. Scrolls, books and magical instruments littered the floor. A hint of blue peeked out from inside a thick book at the bottom of the cabinet. His eyes blurred as he freed the feather from the book. The Blue Feather gleamed brilliantly as if it had been untouched by time. He closed his eyes as he hugged the feather to his chest.

All that remained of Akari in this world were his memories. The Harvest Goddess and Harvest God may be able to recall parts of Akari but they didn't know her warm presence, comforting smile, ringing voice, or beautiful personality like those close to her did. Yet Finn could no longer remember. It would be as if Akari had never existed if he chose to forget as well. Even if he would be left happier than he currently was, he couldn't walk down that path. He hoped that she didn't mind him breaking his promise to her this way.

But he couldn't allow the woman that lived selflessly making others happy to completely fade away from this world. He couldn't allow everything that she had done and everything that she represented to fade away completely.

Wizard breathed in deeply and brought his knees to his chest. He couldn't allow that to happen. So he desperately clung onto his memories.