Rowan climbed the worn steps two at a time, his fingers curling around the folded notes in his hand. His head still buzzed from the evening's reading, old pages still clawing at the edge of his thoughts.
When he reaches her room, the door isn't closed — of course it isn't. Auro never seems to bother with barriers. She floats near the narrow window, her bare feet a few inches off the cold stone, mist pooling at her ankles like spilled ink. Her hair shifts with the light breeze sneaking through the glassless frame, soft and pale as moonlit smoke.
"You're being so quiet," she says, not turning. "What is it?"
Rowan leans against the doorway, his voice low but steady. "I found something."
That earns him a glance. Her eyes reflect the moon, bright and unblinking.
"A witch," he goes on, holding up the pages. "Someone old. Experienced. It couldn't have been just a forest curse. It's too... woven. Too deliberate."
Auro drifts away from the window, circling him in that lazy, weightless way she has, the mist curling against his boots. Her expression shifts, the glassy shine of her cheeks tinting faint pink — amusement, maybe, or something close to it.
" Is that supposed to strange?" she teases. "Aren't you a witch yourself? I saw you wield magic."
" That's not how it works." He closes the door behind him. " I'm a wielder of magic, meaning I can cast a few spells and conjour items. But nothing comes close to the power of a witch."
Rowan watches her carefully, trying to measure the distance between her words and the truth.
"Have you tried remembering yet?" he asks. His voice lowers, softer now, but firm. "I know you don't want to but..."
Auro's smile lingers, but her eyes flick away. The light inside her shifts, cooling to a pale, flat gray.
"I tried, while you were gone. I could only get the fragments of them."
He exhales through his nose, jaw tightening — frustrated, but not surprised.
"You'll have to piece them together eventually," he says. " I'll help you. We'll write it down and keep track of the progress."
"Eventually," she echoes, drifting back toward the window, her form half-vanishing in the moonlight. "But not tonight."
For a moment, neither of them speak. The only sound is the wind pressing against the stone, and the quiet rush of the wind through her hair shifting like fog in the breeze.
Rowan doesn't leave. His fingers tighten slightly around the old pages, his voice quieter this time.
"I don't have time for this. For all we know this link isn't going to just share the pain, and the feel—." He hesitates, he didn't want Auro knowing he felt her feelings. " I don't want to become like you."
Auro glances over her shoulder, her mouth curving just enough to be dangerous.
" I don't want to be me either." she says.
That tension — sharp, but unspoken lingers between them.
Rowan runs his hand through his hair, letting out a frustrated sigh. " Let's start with the basics we know, shall we?" He takes a seat at the edge of the bed on the bed. " A witch cursed you." His voice sounded unsure.
" Are you asking me? Because it sounds like you're not sure?" Her voice sounds mocking as she combs through her hair.
" Of course I'm not sure. It's only a hypothesis."
"I thought you said you're a magic man?"
" Wielder. Magic wielder." He corrects.
" So you don't know if a witch did this to us or not."
Rowan was tired. He didn't understand her. "To you..." He watches her. " She did this to you, and you did this to me. There is no us. Why are you trying to start a fight?"
Auro looks at him angrily, purple colors reflecting from her skin. " I'm not." She shifts her gaze from his. " And I've apologized already... Why do you keep bringing it up?"
" Because, I am LIVING your mistake!" He lowers his voice now. Burying his head in his hands, he thinks of all the ways this could have been avoided. Why the f*ck was he so unlucky?
" Maybe I should leave then." Her voice trails, her colors turning blue slowly.
Rowan runs his temple, trying hard not to let out a sarcastic laugh. " Maybe you should leave. You aren't that much help anyway."
He meant it. There was already too much on his mind. He couldn't deal with this if this was how she was going to act.
Auro doesn't argue. Her glassy skin fractures with different sad colors—The mist around her coils tight like it's holding its breath.
She turns away.
Where her bare feet hovered a second ago, tiny ferns and moss bloom in a perfect circle on the cold tile floor. Then she lifts, silently, and glides through the open window in a flash.
Rowan watches her disappear beyond the tower's shadow, her light disappears into the everglades.
He sighs. " Shit."