Ring of Mushrooms

4

You reached out towards the papers. They were torn, scattered around the floor and your feet. Your heart felt heavy as it had been chained to the floor. The pages were charred, they burned, they curled into itself like a fist. Bright dazzling blue flames stained your heart. Scarring your brain wherever those memories were stored.
You saw that same damned priest. His dark robes mixed with the inky darkness of the room. The glowing orange made his eyes look dark. The ash covered you. White clothes stained gray, muddied with the burned evidence of your sin. How many worse sins have you committed that went unpunished? Why was falling in love with a monster the final straw?
You watched your hands press into the solid void, pushing you up. You felt like lead, and even as you felt like you had been stabbed in your right shoulder your charcoal stained hands became mixed with blood. You remember pulling his head into your lap and staring at it. Blue flames tipped with the sun's golden hue, engulfing both of you.
Yet you sat up in bed. No burns covering your skin, no ash glued to your body. You sat there looking out into the dark morning woods. You weaved your hands into the bunched up blankets that pooled around your waist. You were frozen there for longer than you wanted, longer than it felt. When you stepped out of the room to find Lilia bathing Silver he made a joke about how you sleep as long as a sleeping curse.
You nodded, still feeling like you were atop a pile of blankets. You started cooking, making something for yourself to eat. Lilia may not be able to cook well, but his collection of ingredients was hard to challenge. You honestly got overwhelmed whenever you cooked. Things you hadn't even heard of were sprinkled throughout the cabinets, spices pilled in for dishes you couldn't pronounce. How these many things made you want to quiet but master it at the same time, is something that you can't understand yourself.
    As you started to fry some eggs you got lost in your mind. Lilia was something. Friendly, but behind every smile, you could still tell that there was something off. Each smile made his eyes scrunch up, his laugh echoed and made you laugh with it. Yet just behind it, the legitimate happy laughs, and the loving looks he gave his son, there still was something dangerous behind it.
    Then little hands smacked the top of the water, soaking the father head to toe. You instantly laughed, coughing and sputtering, as you choked on your own spit. He blinked in surprise, his hair dripping wet, sticking his shirt to his chest.
    You laughed while placing a warm plate on the table. Steam rising up into the air. You sliced up some fruit, piling it on the plate too. Then you got water splashed down the back of your shirt. You turned to see Lilia smiling but conveniently looking away. Little Silver's hands played with the small little duck in his bath. He giggled as you rubbed his little head. When your hand brushed his cheek, wiping some of the bubbles away from his eyes, his little head turned and his mouth opened out of reflex. You breathed in a slight laugh, and went to go find another towel.
    Lilia hummed to himself as he dryed his son off. His eyes glowed with pride as his sweet boy fell asleep in his arms. His eyes looked out the window at a raven perched on the birdbath in his garden.
    "Oh?" he made a surprised noise, cocking his head to the side.
    He was momentarily blinded as you placed a towel atop his head drying off his hair for him. He thought that it felt nice. When you pulled the towel off of his head his hair stuck out in quite a few strange ways. It looped around itself and had a bit of a curl to it in some spots.
    "Want me to help dry you off?" he asked, drawing the question out with a low sinister chuckle.
    You tossed the towel back over his face. Plucking Silver from his arms, "Come here let's go lay you down while your father dries off by himself." Then you were gone, disappearing around a corner.
    Lilia looked over at the raven. The bird tilted its head, and hooped towards the window. With a soft click of the latch opening and the window pushing open the bird squawked. His claws dug into the window seal, a small piece of paper was tied to his leg. His fingers quickly plucked it from the bird and unraveled the paper.
    You walked back in wanting to question the bird that was poking its beak around in a cup of random rings and buttons. The bird squeaked at you hopping before it flew to the chair beside you. It turned its head, its eye looking at you.
    "Wanna go on a trip with me and Silver?" Lilia asked you, shooing the bird away from you and tying a message back to the bird's leg.
    "Trip?" you echoed, playing with the concept in your mind.
    "Yep, a trip!"