The Sorceress and The Hero
Once upon a time, inside a lush forest filled with colossal trees and many kinds of animal and other smaller plantation. There lived The Sorceress or The Wizard whichever works, she made herself a house inside one of the large tree trunks, a comfy and convenient tree house suited to her needs, ranging from her daily life needs to her more scholastic requirement.
Her name was Ars Almal.
She was fine living by herself away from civilization, away from any form of normal human being interaction. It's not like she completely shut herself from interacting with another people, it just that she kept her reach to minimum, a small number she was the most comfortable with, a small group of friends with strong bonds that she holds dear in her heart.
Today too was a slow but not lazy day, she drowns herself in her study to improve her magic. Literatures and article she borrowed from the library in the far away city separated by sea of trees and an enormous mountain range with unnatural shape said to be the leftover scar of two nameless ancient deity clash on said mountain long time ago. But such a thing was not of her concern, the pile of book in front of her are far more interesting to her than any history about the mountain she always crossed every time she wanted to visit the library.
Tea. Check.
Cakes. Check.
Tea refills. Plenty.
Today's schedule? Empty.
Everything was perfectly aligned from the stars to her plan to enjoy herself in her study.
What she didn't expect was the tiny little promise she had forgotten…
*Knock! Knock! Knock!
A series of loud door knocks came from down stairs.
"Eh? Who is that?"
She doesn't remember anyone would pay her a visit today. That is until she heard the voice who calls to her name, her nickname, the only one who calls her that.
"Shishouuu! I have come! As promised! I have brought the fairy handmade sweets and nectar juice!"
From her window which directly oversees the front door, she saw a tall blond man wearing a set of metal armour with a sword on his back. In his hand was multiple packages wrapped in leaf.
Ex Albio, the hero from the city she frequently visits. He himself said that he hasn't killed any demon lord yet, he even friends with many demons whether they're half-breed demons or pure breed demons, she managed to know a few of them. It seems that at the start he really was came to slay the demon lord but something and other thing happened the battle was ended with a peace treaty between the humans and the demons without even a drop of bloodshed.
She met him by luck when he accidentally wandered into her territory and set off a lot of her alarm and deterrence traps. None of them worked on him and at first, the sight of him standing strong with traces of burnt and damages from her traps while looking straight into her eyes strike a deep fear inside her mind. After a more civil conversation later it turns out he was just lost and curious after finding an oddity that is her sorcerer territory. From then on, he frequently visits her while bringing some trinkets or treats, sometime they run onto each other in the city when she makes her monthly visits and stays there for a few days to rest after her travel.
Today too he was paying her a visit while bringing a rare treat she just reminded she said she wanted off handedly after reading a book in the library about the ever-elusive fairy tribe culture. Why he does it just because of that or how he even finds them was a question that will never have an answer, the first one because she dares not to even utter the inquiry, the latter was because she was sure he himself doesn't understand how he even managed to do the things he did.
More importantly, he was here with the curious food and drink none of the people she knows in the city ever taste or even seen it before now. It was a bummer that her today's plan was interrupted, but some compromise can be made, and…
"…It's just my student bringing his teacher a gift, as thanks."
Somehow, at some point, he started calling her Shishou since he wanted to learn magic from her. Elated from having her ego inflated to breaking point, she accepted the request with any second thoughts.
Though…
"…even if he hasn't learned any magic that I taught him from the very first time."
Any magic she taught him are either forgotten by the next meeting or he can't even attempt to use it at all.
"Well, at least he is nice to be around."
The sorcerer, will never admit it herself. She enjoys his company way more than she will ever verbally admit to the world. Being friends with him, the non sensical story of his adventure or misadventure that he told from time to time, or when he just listened to rants about her failures in her projects. She enjoys all of them and doesn't want it to stop, every time he drops by it was always fun and relaxing. The first gift he gave her was a red poppy flower, he said it suited her. In some books she read, red poppy means a hope for good fortune or peace, the other meaning was… a romantic affection.
At that time, she doesn't know how to react, she even went as far as locking herself in her tree house and refusing any of his visit, because she was sure that she will not be able to hold any eye contact without her blushing like a tomato. It takes some time for her to recover and finally accept his visits again, and she was sure that Ebio himself was not aware of the meaning of the flower when gave it to her. So, it means that he was genuinely feel that the beautiful red poppy was perfect for her, that notion in it self still makes her giddy to this day.
"Shishou! I can see you from here! Please let me in! the bees already started to come to me! They're attracted to the nectar juices!"
Ex albio screaming from the front door calling out to her who was lost in her reminiscence.
"…Ah! Yes! Wait Ebio-kun!"
Ars Almal immediately opened her window and casted a simple insect warding spell.
[Bugs go away! Or go Die!]
The spell effect was almost instant and saved the hero from a pitiful fate of being stung by bees without being able to fight back since he was holding the leaf wrapped packages with his both hands.
That day, the both of them enjoys the rare delicacy of the fairy tribe while Ars was listening to his tale about his adventure to search for the fairies, she still doesn't get how did he find them though. To her ear, it sounds like the lady luck was probably his mother or secret stalker. But the Fairy tribe sweets was wonderful, it pairs well with her tea, and the nectar juice was one of the most refreshing beverages she had ever drank in her life. He was happy recounting his story and she was happy with his company and his fruit of labour he shared with her. The day was ended in a good note in her book despite not being able to finish even one book she borrowed from the city library.