"Hey, about that thing that you said back there..." Jurie began as they exited the town. Paley used air magic to hold five bags of groceries in the air behind them.
"What thing?" Paley asked.
"Y-you know, about me being already taken and stuff. You don't mean that you- like me, right?"
"Of course I like you. But I didn't mean it that way. I meant it for Teerom." Paley said casually.
"Teerom actually likes Jurie?" Rauba asked.
"I'd assume he does since he stares at her a lot, talks about her a lot, and thinks about her a lot."
"Do you really think he likes me?" Jurie was heavily blushing.
"If you like him, I'm sure he likes you. Isn't that how it works?"
"Nah, not really," Jurie sighed.
They returned to the orphanage at midday to a worried Madella. Paley took the bags and dresses and flew over the orphanage while the girls explained their disappearance to Madella.
"Where were you!?" She stormed towards them.
"We were just getting some herbs for Bacha," Jurie lied and showed Madella a handful of random mushrooms and grass as Paley instructed.
"You didn't go too far, did you?" Madella calmed down.
"No, we were just outside the town." Bacha said and rubbed her shoulders from the cold, "Can we go in? It's freezing," They went into the cottage with Madella. Paley was already waiting with the other boys.
"When did you get back?" Rauba asked him. "Just a little while ago," Paley replied and winked at her, telling her that he deposited the food and dresses in the forest.
They spent the rest of the week going about their daily business while preparing the party in the forest during the mornings. Adimia was not told of anything until the very last day before Madella's birthday.
When Madella went to bed, everyone had Paley fly them to the Fulguron's nest.
"Alright, you know the plan, good luck," Teerom patted him on the back and sent him back to the orphanage.
Madella woke up to the sound of rustling and heavy breathing. A chill washed over her, and she woke up, looking around the room to see the doors of the cottage wide open. She groaned and stretched before walking over to close them.
'I need to ask Teerom to make a lock,' She yawned and started to walk back to her bed, but the doors swung wide open behind her.
"Hello?" She called out and stared into the night wearily. A small fire lit up in the middle of the air outside, followed by another one just a few meters ahead. Soon a bunch of tiny flames formed a line into the forest.
"Paley? Is that you?" She put on her rugged boots but didn't bother to change out of her white sleeping gown. The flames disappeared as she neared them, making her follow them out into the cold outside.
"Thanks," She thanked Paley for making the air around her warm, "What's this all about?"
Paley wanted to talk really badly, but he had to keep her in mystery. "Okay, fine, I'll play along," She followed the trail of fire to the river, where there was a rectangular block of soft grass floating on the water.
"Do I get on this?" She asked, and the fire nodded. She tested the grass' buoyancy and sat on it. Small fires lit up the sides of the grass-bed like dim candles as it moved down the river. The grass-bed lifted into the air and slowly moved through the forest.
Paley used illusion magic on the leaves to make them glow red like his eyes. Madella looked around in awe as she was moved forwards into the Mana Zone. There were minor magic beasts in the woods, but they were too mesmerized by the light show themselves.
They finally arrived at Fulguron's nest, where everyone was waiting around the middle round table. A white cake with chocolate wedges on it rested atop the table. The other tables held fruit, veg, and meat like a buffet would.
The entire area was lit up by floating red flames that looked like lanterns in a lantern festival.
"Happy Birthday!" Everyone shouted. Paley set Madella down in front of them, and they all gathered into one big group hug.
"Oh, I love you all so much!" Madella teared up. She noticed Paley standing idly in the distance and held her hand out to him, "Aren't you gonna give me a hug?"
"I'd love to," Paley rushed over and joined them.
"Who made this cake?" Madella asked. On top of the cake, the letters 'Happy birthday Mo(m+t)her' were inscribed in pink strawberry frosting.
"Me and Teerom,"
"Does that say Momer or Mother?"
"It's mom and mother mixed together," Teerom grinned. He called Madella 'Mom' like Paley, Reben, Adimia and Amasha, but Jurie, Bacha, and Rauba called her 'Mother', so he had the idea to mix the words.
"You could've just written Madella. It would've been way easier," Reben commented.
"But she's our mother, so we gotta call her that," Jurie said.
"And mom," Teerom added.
"Ah, don't worry about the details. I'm just happy that you all did this for me." Madella embraced them one more time. They all cut the cake together and spent the entire night talking and playing.
Paley watched everyone from one of the outer tables with a smile on his face. Madella was being fed continuously by Reben and Adimia. Bacha, Rauba, and Amasha played on the tables, and Jurie and Teerom chatted away from everyone else.
Keeping everything lit up was exhausting, so he'd decided to meditate while using Dyaahn breathing. Everyone's voices faded out, and he entered a deep sleep-like state. He stayed in the calming black silence for a while before a voice called out to him.
"Paley? Is that really your name?" A figure appeared behind him, shrouded in darkness.
"Yes, and who might you be?" Paley tried to touch the figure, but it dissipated like a gas around his hand.
"Me?" The figure seemed to hesitate. There was a long silence before it finally said its name. A name that made Paley's heart thump and squeeze in agony, "I'm Quimor." The figure's eyes suddenly lit up into crimson flares.
"It stings, doesn't it? Your heart." He had a deep, cold, and overwhelming voice.
"W-Why?" Paley wasn't asking himself why his chest was tightening but why he had a sudden insatiable hunger.
"You'll find out soon enough. You'll find out soon enough who you are. Who we are." The figure faded away, and Paley snapped awake to Adimia's voice.
"Hey! Paley! Why're you sleeping!? It's a day to celebrate!"
"I have to focus on my magic," Paley explained, still dazed from what just happened. But he quickly forgot it like a dream forgotten after waking.
"Who cares, come on, join us,"
He joined everyone at the middle table, and they talked mostly about him.
"When's your birthday? Do you remember?" Adimia asked, to which Paley shook his head.
"You don't know anything about your past at all, do you?" Jurie asked. Paley was silent for a while before answering.
"I think I've remembered something." His words got everyone excited, "But don't count on it. It's still very vague." He shut their expectations down, "It was someone I knew. His name was..." Paley forced himself to remember but he couldn't pick out a name.
"Don't strain yourself. At least it's coming back, right?" Madella said. Paley nodded in agreement, but deep down, he doubted whether he wanted to remember the past or not.
They stayed up until two a.m. before finally running out of energy and going to bed. That night, as Paley drifted off to sleep, he felt the ground give underneath him. But instead of waking up from the shock, he fell deeper into the darkness of sleep. Into the darkness of his mind.
He found himself in a blindingly bright place. Everything was a blurry white, including the woman in front of him. She had long pointy ears and silver hair that reached down to her ankles. A smile came into focus on her face. The only thing that wasn't blurry.
She ruffled Paley's hair and said something before the bright white around them turned into a blazing yellow. The woman was swallowed by flames and he was thrust into darkness once again, emerging in a dingy, dirty place.
Everything was still a blur, but Paley could make out millions of figures in the distance, walking in synchrony as they pulled something massive. Before he had a chance to think, he was pulled by the darkness yet again. To another nightmare. To another memory.