The two wizards stared at one another in silence for what felt like an eternity. Elyon bit her lip and took a determined step forward.

"My mother made up that song," she quietly but firmly stated, "so no one else besides June should know it."

"It took you long enough," the boy sighed.

"W-Wait! Then you really are June?! But June was a girl!"

"No."

The girl found herself growing frustrated.

"Well, then explain. Please. This is a rather... absurd bit of information."

"Fair enough." He began patting her head. "Should I start from the beginning?"

Elyon nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Do you remember my mother?" He waited for the girl to nod again. "Well, she was a spellsinger who traveled all over exterminating magical beasts that caused harm to humans. We had traveled to your village because there was a large outbreak of wargs in the area."

"I remember," Elyon murmured, "they killed a lot of cows and injured quite a few people."

"Right," Joel confirmed, then continued, "My family lineage of spellsingers runs back many generations. To protect the males who inherited the trait from being kidnapped by Leanan-Sidhe..."

"I'm sorry, but who is Leanan-Sidhe?"

"Oh, it's a faery with the form of a beautiful woman that bewitches men and gives them artistic talent in exchange for their magical powers. Anyway, in order to protect us from Leanan-Sidhe, it's a custom to raise our boys as girls until the age of eight."

"Okay..." Elyon nodded. "So that's why you were called June?"

"Right, and things like that are the reason I could grow up without being targeted." Joel suddenly let out a sigh, "As thankful for that as I am, there were a lot of embarrassing memories because of it."

"So you never told me you were a boy?" Elyon asked, furrowing her brow ever so slightly.

"We had to keep it secret from everyone. Besides, you were, what, seven at the time?"

"I understand, but..."

But you were my only friend...

"Besides, I did tell you." Elyon lifted her head and looked at him. Joel let out a sigh. "Forgot, huh?"

Elyon bit her lip and nodded.

I forgot my first friend... Maybe I really didn't deserve to have a friend if I'm just going to forget them like... like the leaves under my feet!

"So you always thought I was a girl, huh?"

Elyon nodded again, and mumbled, "I thought you resembled her, b-but not that you were her..."

"Well, I knew who you were right away, from the very first day you came. You're exactly the same as I remember... Well... Maybe a bit hairier."

The boy reached out, running his hands through the white bangs that hid the girl's eyes. He didn't notice her quivering lip.

"But why..." she murmured, "why don't I remember you? Why am I only remembering now?"

When he didn't respond, Elyon figured he hadn't heard her.

"Do you... remember our promise? That one day, we'd go to the academy together?"

Elyon closed her eyes, trying to remember.

A pair of young children were laying down in a field of flowers. The white haired little girl turned to face her ebony haired friend.

"Hey, Junebug?"

"Yeah, Snowdrop?"

"You're going to be a spellsinger when you grow up, aren't you?"

"Uh huh."

"Well... Then I'll be a wizardess. Then we can stay friends and go to the academy together!"

"Really? That'd be awesome! But, Ellie, I'll always be there for you, no matter what."

"Promise?"

"Yes! I promise to always be there for you!"

"... And?"

"Um... Oh! And I promise to go the academy with you!"

The two children widely smiled at one another and reached out to hold each other's hands.

"Oh..."

"I've been waiting for you this whole time at the academy. I thought it was my only hope of ever seeing you again," Joel said quietly, "But when I suddenly lost my magic, I knew I'd get kicked out sooner or later. Then you finally came when I needed you the most."

"... How could I forget something so important..."

"I guess you don't remember our other promise, either?"

Elyon shook her head.

"It's... It's alright... It's not your fau-"

"Was it an important one?"

"Well, I guess you could say yes and no. But we'll leave it at that until you remember. More importantly, the bug's late. How annoying..."

Joel is June, June is Joel... And I forgot him. I forgot my first friend. I forgot the first child to ever be kind to me. How horrible am I?

"I'm back!" Eress sang, seemingly appearing out of thin air.

"W-Welcome back," Elyon replied weakly.

"You sure took your time," Joel grumbled.

"It seems like my powers have grown weak again. The road could be hard to find, but if we've made it this far, then we're halfway there!" Eress whooped, "So I think we should make camp here. This area seems safe enough."

Elyon lightly coughed.

"Then I'll take a look at Joel's hands."

"Let me just get a fire started, " Joel replied.

"But your hands!" Elyon cried out.

"I'm fine. It's better to get the fire going first."

"Then I'll help!"

"Guess I should, too," Eress sighed.

With the three of them working together, it didn't take long for them to get a fire going. When Elyon commented on Joel's evident experience in starting campfires, he explained that because of his mother's job, he and his family had ended up camping numerous times. A sudden yawn interrupted him.

"I'm sleepy..." Eress muttered, rubbing her eyes.

"Then you ought to sleep," Elyon told her in a quiet voice, "you've certainly earned it."

"Thanks, I think I will."

With that, the blue faery crawled into the girl's bag. Not long after, soft snores could be heard. Elyon moved over and sat on her knees next to where Joel was sitting.

"May I see your hands?"

"Okay."

She unwrapped the bandages on his hands and took a sharp breath when she saw all the cuts and dried blood.

"... Looks painful..."

Her shoulders began to shake.

"I-I'm sorry... It's my f-fault..."

"No, it's not." Joel shook his head. "This happened because of my own choices."

Elyon didn't respond as she drew her wand. Under normal circumstances, she might've been worried about casting a spell, but for some reason, she felt confident that it would work.

"O sacred water, mend this wound with thy cleansing power. Sanatio Aqua!"

As the words left her lips, a thin stream of water flowed out of her wand and enveloped the boy's hands. The wounds began to heal at a rapid rate.

"You did it," Joel commented.

When she didn't respond, he frowned.

"Hey, are you okay? You're not hurt or something, are you?"

It was then that he realized Elyon was shivering. He took hold of her shoulders, a wave of worry rolling over him.

"Elyon, what's wrong?"

A sudden sob escaped her, and she buried her face in her hands.

"W-What? Elyon!"

She began trying to speaking through her crying.

"I-I'm so, so s-sorry, J-Joel!" she wept, "All this time, y-you've been w-wa-waiting, a-and I f-forgot all about y-you!"

She lifted her tear stained face and looked at him.

"H-How can you s-stand being a-around m-me?"

For a moment, Joel could only stare in mute shock.
Then he reached out and tightly pulled her into his arms. The girl buried her face into his chest as she continued sobbing.

"Don't cry, Ellie, please," he quietly begged, tightening his embrace, "don't blame yourself, 'cause I don't blame you either... Gods, what am I supposed to do?"

"I-I said you were m-my b-best f-friend," Elyon continued, "How h-horrible am I?"

"You're not, damn it!" Joel snapped, "You haven't done anything wrong! You're remembering now, and that's the important thing."

"B-But-!"

He took hold of her shoulders and gently, but firmly, pushed her back.

"Don't blame yourself. You've got nothing to apologize for," Joel stated. "And I'm not going to bother accepting meaningless apologies."

Elyon silently stared up at him. With a light cough, Joel reached out and brushed the bangs from her face so he could wipe her tears.

"... You must be tired. Why don't you try to sleep?" he suggested.

"Okay..." Eyon nodded, laying down.

The ground's so hard... And it's cold...

As the girl began to shiver, the boy laid down next to her. He fidgeted around for a bit before speaking.

"You cold?" he asked.

"... A little..."

He shifted around before dropping his cloak over her.

"Then use this."

"I can't!" Elyon cried out, "You'll get cold, too!"

"Don't worry about me, just take it."

"Mm... Let me do this."

With that, Elyon slid closer to her companion. She took off her own cloak and snuggled up next to the boy under the warmth of the two cloaks.

"Now, we'll both be warm," Elyon stated, smiling up at the boy.

Joel stared at her wide eyed. It was then that she noticed how close their faces were. They both turned red.

"You... You understand that I'm not a little girl, right? I'm a man, not a child."

"I-I-I know! I d-didn't m-mean-"

"You know, I can only control myself so much..."

Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her.

"W-What?!" Elyon gasped, her face turning crimson red. "J-Joel?!"

"How can you let your guard down so easily?"

The girl stared up at him in silence.

"Uh, sorry..." the boy quietly apologized, his cheeks turning pink.

He gently let go of her and rolled to face the other way. Elyon kept quiet, unsure of what to say. For what felt like hours, silence reigned the air. Elyon was listening to the crackling of the wood when Joel suddenly spoke up.

"Still awake?"

"Yes..."

He sighed before continuing.

"Earlier... When you were in that cage, I should have been able to save you. I should have been able to use my magic, and you would've been out of there in no time. But... I'm so pathetic..."

Elyon bit her lip and pressed her forehead against his back.

"You're not pathetic, though. You saved me even though it meant you getting hurt. You couldn't use your magic, but you still rescued me. That's far from being pathetic."

"But still... It's so frustrating not being able to use my spellsinging like I always have... I want it back..."

"You will, I'll help you." Elyon let out a small giggle. "In exchange, I request that you sing me, and only me, a spellsong."

"Of course. After all, you're the reason I ever wanted to be a spellsinger in the first place."

"How so?"

"Being a spellsinger, that was expected of me considering our long line of spellsingers. It was only natural for me to continue it. And yet, that never felt like I good enough reason. It was the day I saw you crying that I made a promise to myself. I would become a powerful spellsinger so that I could always protect you, so that you would never cry again."

The day... I was crying?

Past the point of crying, a young Elyon sat staring vacantly out the window. Having refused to leave her home, even with her mother now gone, the Crawfords moved in to take care of her. Day in and day out, June- no, Joel- stayed by her side, caring for her.

"I'll stand by your side," he quietly told the girl, taking hold of her hand, "Together forever."

"For... ever?" Elyon murmured, directing her empty gaze to her friend.

"Let's make a promise, okay?"

"O... kay..."

Biting her lip in shame and guilt, Elyon curled up to the boy by her side.

"That's the foundation of who I am today," Joel finished.

"But... why?"

"If you don't understand, then I'm not going to explain."

"How rude!"

"That reminds me," Joel said suddenly, "what happened after your mother..."

"I'll tell you tomorrow." Elyon yawned. "I'm quite tired."

"Oh, okay. But Elyon?"

"Hm?"

"Our other promise... Let's talk about it after I get my magic back and once you're admitted into the academy."

"... Yes, okay."

With that decided, the pair decided to try and follow their fae companion's lead and tried to get some sleep.

...

...

Three brier faeries laid motionless across the the dark forest floor. A fourth tried to crawl into the underbrush, only for a laced up, heeled sandal to stomp down on its back.

"Let me go!" it cried in a weak voice.

"Mm... No."

The other figure leaned down and quietly spoke in a sweet voice.

"What is that you have?"

"Y-You can have it! Just l-let me go!" the faery, opening up its tiny clenched fist.

The larger figure took what the other faery was offering. She grinned and a euphoric gleam shined in her blue eyes. Turning her gaze to the faery under her foot, she giggled.

"And where," she asked, "did you find this?"

"A-A cage! In B-Briar F-Forest! I'll take you the-"

"Not what I asked, but still good information. But then that means she got into Elphyne, which brings into question how did she get here?"

"I d-don't know!" the brier faery cried.

"Stupid weed pixie," the larger faery snorted, "and I don't need your help finding Briar Forest. So tell me, should you be allowed to go free?"

"Y-Yes! Please let me go!"

The larger faery pressed a manicured nail to her red lips.

"Hm... I don't think so."

With an unexpected swiftness, she snatched up the brier faery. Holding its face up, she leaned in as though she were trying to kiss the faery. She opened her mouth and took a deep breath in. A pale blue mist flowed from the brier faery to her. The smaller faery let out a short, nearly inaudible scream before its body went limp. The larger faery dropped its body and walked away as it began to shrivel like a dead flower.

"So, it all begins anew," she purred, looking at what the faery had given her.

In her hand was a cluster of long, white hair.

Sorry it took so long to update this story! I'm trying to finish this and The Fearful Heart's Magic before I really start working on The Meek Heart's Magic and The Lost Heart's Magic (not yet posted).

Please leave reviews and critiques, and thanks for reading!

Have a nice day/night!