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It's been a couple days since the corrupted rituals and Drift has been pushing it to the back of her mind. She feels guilty about doing it and has only told Ros and Megii about it. The three have been going around the island occasionally to look for signs of the corruption spreading.
Good news for them, it has not.
The group thought that was the end of it, that it was just going to be a one time thing and Drift even swore to never do another ritual without confirming if it was safe.
But it was in fact not the end of it.
Recently Drift has been dissociating often, missing important information whenever anyone’s speaking to her. She also has been having difficulty sleeping, often finding herself mindlessly wandering the academy whenever she gets bored of waiting for sleep to take her or getting short naps.
Tonight is nothing new.
Drift has been in bed for what seems like forever unable to keep her eyes closed. Annoyed, she sighed as she got up, gently shifting Fern aside to not wake the dragon.
“Time for another adventure.” She mumbled, changing out of her sleepwear into something more appropriate then left. By now Drift has familiarized herself with the academy, making her way through different halls and rooms she normally would not pass by on a regular basis. Drift hummed as she walked. She has been finding these strolls to be relaxing, once she was able to put aside the aerie feeling of being watched.
Eventually she made it to the library, aimlessly searching the shelves until she found one of the ritual books.
All of a sudden she had the urge to read. Earlier Scott and Shelby mentioned something about a two part ritual and they only had the first part. She figured she should get ahead and help them find it.
“This might make me bored enough to finally fall asleep.” She hummed as she found herself sitting on one of the higher levels of the library, pulling books from shelves soon enough burying herself under them. It took some time of searching before she finally found what could be the ritual. Just as she began to read her eyes became heavy, sleep finally taking a hold on her.
Drift awoke to a voice calling for her. At first she ignored it, not wanting to move
Then the voice called again, this time with someone nudging her shoulder.
"Drift, love, wake up."
She froze as she recognised the voice. She was confused. It was her Mother, but how? Was she dreaming?
She hesitated before opening her eyes to see her mom standing next to her bed, smiling at her and significantly younger. Not only that but she was back at home, in her room, and her hair was annoyingly long again.
She was definitely dreaming. She instead decided to ignore that fact, sitting up and looking at her mother ecstatic, pushing down the tight feeling in her chest.
"Mom?"
"I have something planned for us. Quick, change out of your pajamas. I’ll be outside."
Without much thought Drift nodded as she got out of bed, her mother leaving and allowing her to change. It’s been a while since she has had a dream, considering how messed up her sleeping pattern has gotten. This being the first time and it being about her mother, it felt like she was given a third chance after what happened the week before.
And she's going to make the most of seeing her Mother for what could possibly be the last time.
As she got up she quickly realized that she was not fully in control of her body. She wanted so badly to follow behind her mother but her body did not allow it. While changing she then glanced in her mirror noticing that she looked as if she was a child again, 13 to be exact. “That explains why I can’t move, I'm in my younger self's body.” It also explained why her mother looked younger than she did the last time she saw her. Drift ultimately gave up on trying to take control, figuring that she was reliving a memory. She observed herself humming as she changed, putting her hair up in a ponytail. Not long after, she was outside her room waiting for her mother to return. When she did she was now holding up what appeared to be hoods, grinning as she approached Drift.
"Ready?"
"Ready." Drift nodded, smiling back at her, “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere you’ve always wanted to go.” Her mother giggled, leading her out of the castel.
It did not take long for present day Drift to figure out what her mother planned, noticing that it was just before dawn. They were obviously sneaking out, though younger Drift surprisingly did not question it. As they made their way out the castel and through the town, Drift could not help but feel nostalgic. The town was quiet with only a few late night travelers and the occasional guard. Sure she was forbidden from leaving the castle grounds, but that did not stop her from sneaking out. Even as young as 13, she often sneaked out, roaming the empty streets at night. The only downside was that it limited any outside interactions with the townspeople. A part of her missed how it felt whenever she got out. No one would be policing how she kept herself and she had no responsibilities.
“Figured out where we’re going yet?”
Drift blinked as her mother spoke, pausing in thought before looking up at her and nodded. “To the forest?”
“Correct.” Her Mother snapped her fingers as they made it past the last couple guards on the outskirts of the town. She hummed a song Drift found familiar as they divert on to a path leading into the forest. “I know you’ve always wanted to come out here so I thought why not bring you myself.”
“Does father know?” Following behind her, Drift furrowed her eyebrows confused, “Is that why we’re sneaking out?”
Her mother went quiet for a moment for chuckling, “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Lily.” Drift felt her heart skip at the name. Growing up she always hated it but now she misses it. They then shifted from the visible path into the thick bushes before reaching a clearing between the trees.
Drift quickly realized where they were heading and felt her younger self’s heart drop. It was the same place she woke up when she got her magic. She bit her lip as she followed her mother to the center of the clearing.
Noticing this her mother sat down as she smiled reassuringly. “It’s fine. I always knew you came out here. Though I can’t say how often.” She gestured for Drift to sit in front of her.
Drift shifted nervously before sitting, mumbling as he hung her head in guilt, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m honestly not that upset that you’ve been sneaking out.” Her mother shook her head, “In fact, I was like you at one point. I’ve always wished to have as much freedom as the other children back at my kingdom. The only difference is that I wasn’t as strong willed as you are.” she mumbled the last part before switching to a serious tone. “As much as I want to give you more freedom, I can’t continue knowing that you’re out in the forest alone and unprotected. You are going to stop coming here.”
Drift could not help but huff, “But-!”
Her mother stopped her, “Drift. Listen. There has been a… a thing spreading in towns and other Kingdoms and killing everything in its path. If it was to get here, it would start in this very forest.” She went quiet then cupped Drift’s face in her hands, “Please listen to me Lily.”
Drift went quiet as she looked away before looking back at her and nodded. Her mother pulled away, sighing then smiled. She gestured to her to turn around and loosen her ponytail, “Now, we should have a couple minutes before we need to show our faces. Let me braid your hair.”
Drift sat in silence as her mother combed through her hair with her hand, hesitating then mumbled, “Can I at least go into town?”
“You already know the answer.” Her mother clicked her tongue in false annoyance as she began to part her hair.
“Then can I cut my hair?”
“Hmm, we’ll see.” Her mother shrugged as she began braiding, the two falling quiet.
Drift was abruptly woken up with the pile of books now fallen on her. She groaned as she sat up, immediately being greeted by Fern sitting in front of her. Drift yawned, mumbling under her breath as she petted the dragon, “Morning Fern.” The dragon made a sound of approval. Drift hummed rubbing the dragon’s chin, “How’d you even find me?” She paused as she heard voices not too far from her. Both her and Fern looked in the direction they were coming from. Without warning Fern leaped from the table and ran to the voices. Drift stared at the dragon confused before finally standing and stretching. Not too long after Fern returned with Shelby and Scott behind.
“This is the last place I’d expect to find you.” Scott greeted as he raised an eyebrow.
“Between a pile of books at that.” Shelby added teasingly
“I got bored.” Drift shrugged sheepishly, “How’d you know I was here?”
“Fern kept scratching at the door between you and Cam, who should have been here by now.” Shelby answered, mumbling the last part to herself then continued. “She’s the one who led us here.”
“What’s up with the books?” Scott pointed at the pile as he walked over
“Oh right,” Remembering the reason for the books, Drift gave him the ritual book, “Look what I found.”
Scott took the book while Shelby stared at her before taking something white from her hair, “You have a lot of flowers in your hair. Bad dream?”
Drift paused then took one out from her hair. A lily of the valley. That’s a first, She thought to herself, twirling it between her fingers, “Opposite actually. Best sleep of my life even.”