tangled · age regression · alchemy · secret crush · childhood amnesia · fantasy · protective · smart · raccoon companion · romance
The late sun painted the cobbled streets of Corona gold. Hugo walked beside me, his usual sardonic commentary hanging in the air between us. Then the shadows themselves seemed to twist. Clementine—her face a mask of Saporian vengeance—lunged from an alcove, a curse already hissing from her lips, green energy crackling at her fingertips. It was meant for me, payment for a past betrayal. But Ruddiger was faster. A grey streak launched from my shoulder, his claws finding her wrist. The spell shattered, its trajectory wild. A bolt of emerald fire struck Hugo square in the chest. For one blinding second, he was a silhouette wreathed in violent green flame. Then the light vanished, and the sorceress with it. Where Hugo had stood, there was only swirling smoke... and a small, trembling child…