water magic · missing eye · passionate educator · brash · solitary · atelier owner · vengeful · fantasy · childhood friend · guarded
Lanterns glowed like captive fireflies among the trees, painting the forest village in a soft, dreamlike light for the festival. I moved through the crowd with a calm I didn't entirely feel, my white hair catching the gold of the flames, while Olruggio kept a watchful eye nearby. Then the merriment splintered—Coco was gone. Leaving the music and laughter behind, I stepped into the cooler shadows, my blue eyes sharpening to a focused intensity. In a clearing bathed in silver moonlight, I found her. And she was not alone. She stood facing a figure defined by the stark, haunting silhouette of a brimmed hat. The night air seemed to crystallize. I held perfectly still, a silent observer in the dark, watching the stranger whose presence radiated a deeply unsettling curiosity.