Summary:
It never occurred to anyone to question how Dorothy Unsworth, a whimsical witch, earned the trust and loyalty of Kirsch Vermillion, the narcissistic, arrogant royal.
Notes:
So, here's another platonic character relationship study like I did for Mimosa and Yuno and then for Magna and Zora.
This time it's about Dorothy and Kirsch.
This story covers some heavy topics, so that's why it's rated M...WARNINGS: Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Classism, Xenophobia
This is my headcanon of how things went down Pre-Canon...
Follow That Dream
By:
IAmStoryteller
Chapter 1: A Promise Made
"Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?"
A young boy with vermillion hair of the age of five wailed, wandering the fields of tulips nearby, which interrupted Dorothy's daily tea time in her Glamour World. Dorothy was curious at the appearance of the boy. Sometimes, since she didn't have perfect control of her magic, Dorothy accidentally hopped into other people's dreams or drew people into hers.
It was why she and her mother had to leave the Witches' Forest. The Witch Queen didn't like the idea of a child hopping into her dreams. The Witch Queen was benevolent only when she had complete control over her subjects. Her mother, a mere Rainbow Magic Witch, feared for the safety of Dorothy, as the Witch Queen had been known to put powerful young witches in cages to break them.
So, they no longer lived in the Witches' Forest, but in a small town in the Forsaken Realm of the Clover Kingdom. A small, sleepy, don't-ask-questions kind of town, Waverly, was a safe place where Dorothy's mom Iris worked at the church daycare. Her mom liked kids. Dorothy liked little kids too.
Twelve-year-old, purple-haired and eyed, Dorothy spent most of her time sleeping with her mother watching over her body in the Waking World.
Dorothy jumped out of her seat and went to the little boy, still sobbing in the tulip fields she conjured up, covering his face with his little hands. She knelt in front of him and asked, kindly with a smile on her face as she had seen her mom do a million times when the little kids at the daycare were upset. "What's the matter, little boy?"
"Hic, I lost Mommy," cried the little boy, furiously wiping at his face, making his face redder than it was before.
"Oh no," said Dorothy, sympathetically. When she was a bit younger, she didn't know how to deal with people who wound up in her Glamour World, but now, she knew that eventually, they'd wake up from their dreams and not remember their interactions. Young children wouldn't even recall that they had a dream. "Well, my Mom always says that if I get lost that I should wait at the spot for her so she can find me!"
The little boy shook his head. "'M not go with strangers."
Dorothy gasped. "But I'm not a stranger! My name's Dorothy and I'll be your honorary big sister for the day!"
"Oh," said the little boy, tears still streaming down his face. "Kirsch. 'M Kirsch."
She held out her hand for him to take. "Do you like cookies, Kirsch?"
"Hmm, yeah," said Kirsch, hesitantly taking Dorothy's hand.
His hand was wet from tears and snot so it was sort of gross but it was important to comfort him, so she didn't complain. Dorothy brought him over to her table where she had her tea and cookies. She picked him up and put him in a chair. She sat down in her own chair. "Do you want to see my magic?"
Kirsch nodded, shiny golden eyes big with curiosity.
Dorothy clapped her hands twice (she didn't need to but it was a show like her mom did for storytime with her Rainbow Magic) and a cup of milk and a plate of chocolate chip cookies landed on the table in front of Kirsch. "Pretty cool, right?"
"Wow," said Kirsch, gasping. "Beautiful!"
Gold is an unusual color for eyes, but pot-kettle, my eyes are purple, mused Dorothy as Kirsch took a cookie and bit into it, happily.
Dorothy grinned, as Kirsch's mood brightened a bit. A small grin appeared on his face and that made Dorothy happy. She boasted, "My magic is Dream Magic! This is my Glamour World. I can think of anything and it will appear! What's your magic?"
Kirsch politely finished chewing and then he said, as though he practiced saying it, eyebrows furrowed in concentration, "Cherry Blossom Magic."
"That sounds so pretty," said Dorothy, cheerfully supportive.
"I'm gonna be a Magic Knight like Mommy. Protect Mim," Kirsch told her matter-of-fact.
Magic Knights, huh? That was something Mr. Julius mentioned he wanted me to join when I got my grimoire. Dorothy didn't really want to join the Magic Knights, but Mr. Julius, who came to visit her sometimes and actually remembered her, thought her magic was amazing enough to be in the Magic Knights. She knew a lot of kids in Clover wanted to join the Magic Knights. They were like the heroes of the kingdom or something.
"Is Mim your sister?"
"She's a baby. Very tiny," Kirsch explained with all the solemnity of a beleaguered big brother.
"Wow, you must be a good big brother to want to protect her," said Dorothy.
Kirsch's bottom lip wobbled as if he was going to start crying again. "Mommy says that when she is at work, I gotta watch Mim. Mommy says, be her brave, beautiful boy. Mommy's been gone a long time..."
Dorothy said, faking her cheerfulness. "That's wonderful of you to do such a big job for your Mommy, Kirsch. Would you like to see bubbles?" She didn't want him to cry again. Dorothy kept smiling and produced bubbles to distract Kirsch.
If Kirsch's mother was a Magic Knight, it's possible that she might have died on a mission and that's why Kirsch can't "find" his mother. When people were stressed or upset, it was easier for Dorothy's magic to interfere with their normal dream defenses. A five-year-old child wouldn't have the capability to understand death. Dorothy's heart hurt for the little boy in front of her. She'd be devastated if she ever lost her mother.
She'd make him smile and feed him cookies until he woke up. He wouldn't remember her that was just fine.
"Big Sister, can you make ice cream?"
Dorothy smiled a true smile at being called "Big Sister." "Sure can!"
Eventually, Kirsch disappeared from her Glamour World in the middle of making her a flower crown, meaning that he woke up. Dorothy sighed in relief and hoped that if he had a dad, that Kirsch was getting lots of hugs. Interacting with Kirsch made her want her own mother, so she woke herself up.
"Dotty! You're awake," said her mother startled out of doing laundry as Dorothy abruptly sat up in her bed in the attic of Waverly Church in the Waking World.
"Morning, Mom."
"It's the evening, sweetheart."
Dorothy laughed. She hopped out of the bed and tackled her mom to give her a great big hug.
"What's this, Dotty? You always wake up awfully affectionate." Her mom accepted the hug.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
A few months passed and Dorothy almost put the encounter with the little boy Kirsch out of her mind. After all, there was just so much to do, including celebrating her mom's birthday and telling Mr. Julius, when he visited again, she wasn't interested in being a Magic Knight. During one of her long hibernations, she played in her Glamour World, but she also had her reading, writing, and arithmetic to learn.
She was in the middle of practicing her letters when she heard a voice call, "Big Sister!"
Dorothy looked up and found little Kirsch running towards her. He grinned happily at her as he hopped in place.
She asked, "Kirsch? It's been a while. How-" She stopped mid-question. "Kirsch, what's wrong with your face?"
The five-year-old boy's right cheek had a welt.
Kirsch blinked once and touched his cheek. His face dropped. "Oh, um, I fell." He lied. Dorothy knew he lied because he looked away when he said it. And he knew that she knew he lied.
Dorothy's chest tightened. "Oh, you poor thing." She resisted the urge to hug him because she thought it'd upset him. Diverting the subject, she asked, "Do you want some apple pie with vanilla ice cream?"
Kirsch brightened up once again. "Yes, please!"
She summoned the requisite items, putting her homework away, and sat on the fluffy cloud floor she created earlier. "So, how's Mim?"
"Mim is getting bigger. She cries lots, 'cept when Leo and Noe visit," said Kirsch, patiently waiting for Dorothy to cut him a piece of pie and serve ice cream.
"Are they Mim's friends?"
"Leo is a cousin from Papa's side, Noe is a cousin from Mommy's side," Kirsch informed her. "Leo can walk. Noe is smaller than Mim!"
"Wow, you have a big family," said Dorothy.
"Guess," said Kirsch, shrugging. "Can you play with me again?"
"I can. I need a break from my homework!"
"Yay!"
Kirsch visiting Dorothy became a regular occurrence thereafter. Dorothy was glad to have the company. Kirsch was a good boy. He was quite bright, though he skipped his words when he spoke. He even showed her his Cherry Blossom Magic. The amount of mana this kid had astounded Dorothy. Once Kirsch got his grimoire ten years down the line, he'd be unstoppable. She grew fonder of Kirsch as she got to know him.
But the main thing she figured out (with the help of her mom, who Dorothy told everything) was that Kirsch and his baby sister Mim's mother had died and that their father hadn't taken it well (an understatement, but her mom's face crumbled if she asked what that meant). Kirsch mainly spoke about his sister, his younger cousins, and his Mommy. Once or twice he mentioned his Papa, but he got quiet afterward so Dorothy didn't have the heart to bring his father up unless he did.
There wasn't much she could do for him, except being kind to him when he was there. He didn't know where he lived or his last name (or maybe he just refused to give it). What could Dorothy do anyway? She was just a kid and her mom had no way to help, especially if Kirsch was far away from them.
After nearly a year of Kirsch's visits, they suddenly stopped.
At first, Dorothy didn't think it was a big deal since Dream Magic didn't always work, but the months wore on and Dorothy was nearing her fourteenth birthday and she worried. Was Kirsch okay? Did his father get himself together? Or did something bad happen to that poor boy again?
Dorothy paced a hole into the carpet she created for this purpose as she wondered what she could do. Her Mom told her that things happened and that Dorothy had to let it go.
"Little Dorothy! I've brought you a book," said the friendly voice of her other constant visitor, Julius Novachrono, a member of the Aqua Deer Magic Knight squad. "Oh, what's the matter?"
Dorothy was in a bit of a mood because of the Kirsch situation, so she snapped, "I don't want a book, Mr. Julius. And I don't want to be a Magic Knight!"
"Woah, slow down, you're not yourself," said Julius, calmly. "What happened?"
"Nothing," said Dorothy.
"Dorothy, you can tell me. I'm a Magic Knight. I'm here to help."
Dorothy frowned. "I suppose you might be able to help me." So, she told him about the little boy Kirsch and everything she knew. As she spoke, there was a spark of recognition in his eyes.
"Kirsch, this big," said Julius, gesturing to his mid-calf, "gold hair, vermillion eyes, Cherry Blossom Magic?"
"Yes, that's what I just said," said Dorothy, huffing in annoyance.
"I see," said Julius, slowly. "Kirsch is fine, considering..."
"How do you know," asked Dorothy, insistently.
"Kirsch is from one of the Royal Houses of Clover, the Vermillion House," Julius explained patiently.
Oh, that's why Kirsch didn't say his last name. He knew that she'd recognize it. Smart kid. If she had been someone actually dangerous, it was smart not to reveal information that could make Kirsch a prime target for kidnapping. Dorothy crossed her arms and asked, "Well, explain."
Julius sighed and said, "Kirsch's mother was a senior of mine. She died shortly after her second child, Mimosa, was born. Since it's Magic Knight classified, I can't tell you the details of what happened. Anyway, her husband took her death badly. He had always been a bit of a social drinker, but he just started being drunk all the time after... The nannies hired by Kirsch's grandparents kept the two away from him, saying that their father just needed time to process his grief."
"That's awful," said Dorothy, sadly, but it was what she expected.
"Two months ago, in the middle of the night, Kirsch and Mimosa's father took all of his wife's belongings and threw them onto the Vermillion Castle courtyard and set it aflame," said Julius, softly.
"God," said Dorothy, horrified. "Everything?"
"Everything-wedding dress, journals, letters, books, clothes-everything," Julius affirmed, eyes sad. "Eyewitnesses said that Kirsch ran outside to save some things."
Dorothy gasped and put her hand over her heart. "He didn't!"
"He managed to save her recipe book and a packet of letters from her sister Acier. Thankfully, Fuegoleon and Nozel, Kirsch's older cousins, had been training nearby and saw the smoke and they arrived in time to stop things from getting worse," said Julius. "Kirsch and Mimosa are now under the care of their Vermillion grandparents. Kirsch's grandfather is...a harsh man and expects children to be little adults."
Dorothy sniffled. She let out a soft sob. "Oh, poor Kirsch. He needs me!"
"Dorothy, I doubt that Kirsch will ever visit your dreams again," said Julius. A trace of bitterness in his voice, he said, "Lord Maxmillion Vermillion is the type of man who doesn't believe in fun or laughter or happiness. Your magic is very much everything he'd be against. And Kirsch is a child that needs to protect himself and Mimosa, so he wouldn't risk doing anything out of line."
"Can't you do something?"
"Magic Knights have no authority over the Royal Houses," said Julius. "But he's safe enough."
"That's not good enough," said Dorothy, hotly. She wiped her face of tears.
"Vermillion always joined the Crimson Lions squad upon receiving their grimoires," said Julius. "But if you joined the Magic Knights and climbed the ranks to be Captain in time for Kirsch to join the Magic Knights, you'd be able to protect him."
Dorothy opened her mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. By the time, Dorothy reunited with Kirsch, he'd be fifteen, and goodness knows what kind of shape he'd be in by then! "How would I be able to protect him if Magic Knights have no authority over the Royal Houses?"
"Joining the Magic Knights is akin to being considered an adult in the "eyes of the law." Kirsch wouldn't have to answer to his grandparents or his father, if he ever gets better, once he joins. His sister, however, well...family can live with Magic Knights in squad bases," said Julius.
"I'm almost 14 and I don't feel like an adult," said Dorothy, in confusion.
"Well, I'm almost 30 and I don't feel like an adult, either," said Julius, smiling gently at her. "Dorothy, it is ultimately up to you. I'd think you'd be a great Magic Knight and have what it takes to be a good Captain."
Dorothy frowned. "I'll think about it."
Dorothy's mom, on the other hand, was firm in her refusal. The idea of Dorothy joining the Magic Knights made her mom cry. It was too dangerous, her mom said. Dorothy hated to disappoint her mom, so she said she wouldn't.
Time went and it inched closer and closer to her fifteenth birthday before she knew it.
"Ugh, what the heck am I supposed to do," Dorothy yelled to no one in her Glamour World. She lounged on a couch, as she thought about her impending appointment at the Waverly Grimoire Tower. Should she join the Magic Knights to try and meet Kirsch again? Or honor her mom's wishes and stay safe with her?
"Oh, no," said a voice.
Dorothy jumped up. "Kirsch?"
Seven, he might be eight by now, year old Kirsch stood glancing around the area. He spotted her and didn't say anything.
She went over, knelt in front of him, and hugged him. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"I can't talk to people like you," said Kirsch, pushing Dorothy away from him. Kirsch looked very upset to have to do so, because he almost moved to touch her hand, but stopped himself.
Dorothy asked, confused, "What? People like me? What does that mean?"
"You're a witch. You're not supposed to be in Clover," said Kirsch, tone even. "Grandfather says I'm not to speak to witches or peasants. They're lesser than us Royals, who were blessed by Mana."
It's been barely two years since she saw him and this was what happened to him. What nonsense got put into his head? What happened to the sweet boy she knew? Dorothy had never wanted to drop kick an old man so much. She exclaimed, "I'm not just anyone! I'm your Big Sister, remember? And your mean ol' Grandfather ain't here to tell you what to do! I'm the boss of Glamour World!"
Kirsch's lower lip wobbled and he whispered, as though his Grandfather would appear out of nowhere and yell at him, "I have to protect Mimosa. Keep attention off of her. So I have to do what he says, even if I don't believe a word of it."
Dorothy went to hug him again.
He moved back, away from her. "Sorry, Big Sister. Goodbye."
And then, Kirsch was gone, as he must have woken up.
Dorothy's heart hurt, she clenched her fists, as she frowned, "Goodbye? No. I don't think so."
She'll join the Magic Knights. She'll become Captain and run her own squad and steal Kirsch (and Mimosa too) away from their horrible grandparents.
Now, she just had to learn to use her Magic in an offensive way...
"Just wait, Kirsch. I'll protect you."
~to be continued