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Fix you

  There was no band practice, yet Anna waited for Wei at the school gate, wishing he’d join her for a short jam. She wanted him to improve, and she was there to help. Practise alone the both of them. For a little bit. Enough to give him some advice without the embarrassment of other’s presence. That was the reason she kept telling herself, although at that point, she herself could sense her own deception.

  Wei’s head appeared from behind a group of classmates, but before Anna could get close to him, Teacher Wong stepped in between. “Anna, do you have a moment?”

  Anna fidgeted, and after realising she couldn’t leave a teacher hanging, she let out a breath that immediately red-faced her. Luckily, teacher Wong was as cool as any could be, and he chuckled to her impoliteness. “Just a moment of your time, Anna. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your counselling session.”

  “This is about NAFA instead of YST, right?”

  “Yes.” He paused, minding his words carefully. “I just want you to know there are plenty of scholarships and financial aid options for talented students like you. You don’t have to worry about the cost, and YST could open doors internationally.”

  “It’s not that, teacher.” She paused as well, but in her case, was to search for a giant instead of an answer. Searching through the crowds for Wei, she found a useful set of words practiced a thousand times. “I just want to stay closer to home and be able to keep my job at the family business. Too much commuting if I go to YST. I have given it a careful, long thought. And quality of life wins.”

  Wong’s expression softened after a moment of surprise, his eyebrows lifting slightly before approval showed on his lips. “Well then, you seem pretty sure of your choices.”

  Anna hopped away from the still baffled Wong, and with a tongue snapping clicks and fingers shooting invisible bullets she bid farewell to him. As she turned, her face reddened one more time. “Why did I do that? Am I stupid?”

  “Glad you noticed,” Nyx said.

  “Shut up!” Anna turned her walk to a trot to catch Wei, who was way down Bras Basah Road, while a couple of girls spooked at the yell.

  During her rush, her mind stubbornly replayed the conversation with Teacher Wong. Her decision was not really carefully thought out, neither had been decided for as long as she pretended to be. She wanted to be a wanderer musician. A glee girl travelling the trails with her belongings on a mule. Or perhaps more appropriate to her new world, a rocker riding from city to city in a beat-up minivan. A silly, childish dream, and the only dream she had ever considered for her future.

  As she reached closer, a group of boys approached Wei, their voices rising above the general noise of the city. One boy held his nose dramatically as he neared Wei. “Smells like fish again, huh? You bring that stink with you everywhere!”

  Another chimed in, taking a sudden run to jump and hit the back of Wei’s head. “Ah! My hand! Stinks of fish! Help!”

  The kid wiped on the back of a friend who at the same time wiggled to get away. After a series of disgusted faces and mock vomiting, everyone burst into an obnoxious laughter.

  “Gonna do something? Or want me to dream-walk them?” Nyx said.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “I’m sure if a girl steps in to help, it will be way worse for him later,” Anna answered. “And I prefer you keep your claws away, Freddie. Last time you dream-walked someone it turned out to be a mess.”

  “A beautiful mess that earned me a house.”

  Few steps away Wei Jian endured more mockery in silence, his expression as calm and impassive as ever. But Anna could see the tension in the way he held himself, the slight clenching of his fists by his sides. He was taking it all, as stoically as Adalan would have done it. The bullies, none realising they would stand no chance against the much bigger boy if he decided to fight, continued laughing and pushing each other. Full of themselves and their jokes, they walked away completely, forgetting who they were laughing at. Wei, unfazed, resumed his journey home.

  The quiet way he absorbed all thrown to him reminded her of the ways of her beloved paladin in a visceral way she didn’t fully understand. His physique, tall and corpulent, added even more to a resemblance, which, although clearly different in reality, she couldn’t help but see it as exactly in her mind. Of course, they looked different. While Wei had asian features and a sturdy build, Adalan, fit more in the stereotype of what in the new world would be described as a norseman warrior.

  She excused herself, pushing out of her delusions, yet, her mind oberflowed with the image of Adalan. His towering high. His broaden shoulders. His blonde mane dancing with the wind. As Adalan took over, Anna’s blood, boiling over the fate of Wei, stopped boiling as doubts spurred by inconsistencies in her memories.

  Without realising she had lost Wei of sight, she gave up on her intentions and headed for Bencoolen Station, her legs moving out of habit and her excuses preparing new opportunities to meet him the next day.

  “Was Adalan’s hair grey?” she asked Nyx. “On the sides I mean. Sometimes I remember some gray. Although sometimes I only see blondes.”

  In those beautiful times she was a few years younger, but old enough to remember. Conflicting memories collided. Not only about the hair, but at some points, the paladin was remembered as a young middle aged man, and sometimes older. When the memories failed the most, she even doubted the shape of his nose, or the size of his ears. “Nyx, was Adalan’s side-hair grey?”

  “I don’t remember. Does it matter? Maybe he got it with age. You two travelled a lot, didn’t you?”

  “I was slightly younger when they found me.” Anna slumped onto the train seat, but then stood up abruptly to let an elderly lady sit down. “If we had travelled that much, I’d be older now, don’t you think? Also, sometimes I remember him being older at times that I think happened before than times happening later. Isn't that weird?”

  “I don’t know. The guy had a lot on his shoulders, didn’t he? Stress can turn your hair white in an instant.”

  She entered the crowded streets of Chinatown with the feeling of uneasiness tightening her chest. At each step, her memories turned more confusing and Nyx’s ridiculous answer, aimed to cut off an uninteresting conversation, didn't make her feel better. “What a damn pain. Why don’t I remember well? Everything always gets blurry and confusing.”

  “Well, you told me the party’s mage erased your childhood’s memories so as to take away the horrors you endured under the Horde. Right? Considering she also launched you through the cosmos with a spell that few can do and few others can withstand, maybe she left you with some scorched neurons. That would explain the confusion and your tendency to go full ‘Bully Maguire’ in front of your teachers.”

  “Hilarious.” Anna adjusted her earplugs and cranked ‘painkiller’ at full. Not a song she particularly liked, but an ideal choice to punish her ears, ease her thoughts and torment her familiar.

  Maybe he was right. Maybe her past was scorched by otherworldly magic. But from the clear thoughts the ‘right now’ was giving her, she realized all she wanted was to be close to Wei. She wanted to help him, to give him a hand to rise above his bullies. A hand to keep him close, and, not letting the hold go, walk together home for all days to come.

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