Page 25 of Gift from the Wing

Laid out perfectly on the table, the purple Memoria stone shines brighter than any star in the night sky in its new casing. The silver is delicately woven together at the base, creating the trunk of the tree, as thinner cords spread out, forming its branches. Around and around the rim the silver tangles to establish a protective shell that will no doubt hold it in place no matter what comes out of my girl at any given time.

A thin but indestructible chain slips through the anchor at the top, completing the masterpiece.

“It’s everything and more, Gaster. Truly beautiful. Brilliant,” I murmur, running my hand across it.

“Are you going to tell me who it’s for?” he asks, arching a brow.

“Her name is Willow. Would you mind, actually, engraving that on this box, please?”

“Willow, you say. Is she a special lady?” he asks and I visibly gag.

He’s going to understand why that is so vile once his memories are returned and I hope it embarrasses him.

“An important lady,” I grumble, and he laughs mischievously as though he’s caught me.

“Well, let me get busy then.”

With unwavering concentration, he scripts her name across the lid of her box. His cursive writing is one he rarely uses nowadays because most of the younger generation can’t read it, but her name is clear as day.Perfect.

“Aht, aht. You can’t just lay that necklace in a wooden box. You’re going to damage it, careless boy.” He fusses at me as I attempt to do just that.

Pushing my hands away, he calls forth his element once more and creates a bed of silver silks that cover the bottom of the box in soft layers. Just right for the necklace to lie on top of.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Is today her birthday?” he asks.

“It is.” I smile.

“What a magical, wonderful, wonderful day. Off you go then. Don’t leave the birthday girl waiting, and you two enjoy yourselves. Please tell her happy birthday from me.”

“Will you seal this for me?” I ask, passing him her letter.

His element glides across the parchment, pouring a glob of wax on the fold, imprinting it with an impression of a willow tree.

“Gaster, I can’t even begin to thank you for all you’ve done for me. You’ve been my father, my mentor, my best friend. The realm’s most amazingGuardria. You’re my greatest blessing and I only hope I’ve made you proud.” I breathe as I pull him in for a tight hug.

“Oh, CC, my boy. That means more to me than you will ever know. You’re a blessing. Every day. I couldn’t thank Elementra enough for bringing you into my life.”

My tears slowly track down my face and when he attempts to pull away from me, I hold on harder as I command these past few moments from his mind. I replace them with us enjoying a nice cup of coffee in the rocking chairs out front. I tell him that the sight is sending me away, but I’ll return in due time. All in all, I give him a blissful, uninterrupted hour of time together. Laughing, joking, teasing, and teaching. Everything that over hundreds of years have brought us closer.

Grabbing the box off the table, I back away from him slowly, letting my heartache pour out of me before he comes to and senses it.

It’s a strange feeling mourning when you’re still alive. Knowing you’re going to die in just a short time but you can’t tell everyone you love. In my two hundred and fifty-two years of life, I’ve known for two hundred andthirty-seven of those that this was the day I’d die. I just didn’t know the adventure I’d be sent on in the meantime.

Closing my eyes as my feet hit the porch, I transport out.

There’re a couple more stops until my final destination.

Opening my eyes, groaning, my insides feel like they’re shrinking to nothing, and I use my shaky hands to pull some cloth from my pocket to clean some of the blood off me before Willow arrives. She’s going to go into full panic mode when her eyes land on me, but I do my best to conceal the worst of the worst.

Leaning my head back against her willow tree, I use what energy I have left to reach around me and pull her present through the pocket dimension in the trunk. I’m careful not to sully her box with my blood, and I lay it gently on the ground beside me as I close my eyes again and breathe through the pain.

“Elementra?”

“Yes, Seer.”

“I ask one more favor of you. Please.”

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