Two Is Company (The Ancient Magus Bride)

Chapter 1: Lindel

Akise's P.O.V

Ever since I was small, all I've been shown was hatred. Hatred from my father, from my neighbours, and from everyone at school. No one questioned why I might show up to class one day with a large cut on my face or a black eye, not a single child or faculty member cared. Everyone was afraid of me, and wanted me dead anyway. I would always see things that supposedly weren't there. For the longest time I thought I was just crazy, that everyone was right and I was a freak with mental instability. My father was already a crazy alcoholic and addict, so I had to pull his weight too. He was an awful person, but I had this dream once, my mother told me to believe in him. She asked me to love him and help him through it, even when it got tough. I had never actually seen my mother, so I guessed it was just that; a dream. And yet I couldn't help but to do as she asked. My father would beat me daily, and I had to starve myself to feed him. We were dirt poor because he spent all the money on drugs and alcohol. The night he overdosed shouldn't have been that much of a surprise, but it was. I saw him lying there on the floor when I got home from school, and my body froze stiff. I was only ten years old at the time, so I had no idea what to do. I just screamed, as loud as I possibly could, and someone on the street ran to help. They took him to the hospital, but he was proclaimed dead upon arrival. I was devastated, I couldn't speak for weeks, and my eyes were always red from crying. I was dropped into the foster care system, and went from home to home, but no one ever kept me for more than two weeks. I would always scare the other children when I saw things, or people would get too frustrated to deal with my constant moping. It didn't really matter. When I was finally shipped off to Germany, I lost all hope. I had no parents, I was being forced out of my home country, and I had no idea where I was going to end up. I started to cut myself, I don't know why, it just gave me the notion that I was dishing out punishment to myself since my father couldn't beat me anymore. I should have felt free, but I was broken up inside. I felt like I failed my mother, even if it wasn't really her I saw.

The last home I was in, I decided to run away. They saw my mangled arms and wrists, lined with scars and fresh cuts from just above my palms to my shoulders, and from my ankles to my hips. I was covered in them, I couldn't wear t-shirts or shorts, but for whatever reason, they gave me great satisfaction. The family I was with tried to send me to a mental hospital, so I ran away. I was on the streets for the following two years, stealing and selling drugs along with other illegal things to survive. I got into trouble with a group of dealers, I paid them, and they wouldn't give me the drugs I was owed, so I picked a fight. I got the shit beaten out of me, and I was chased all the way to the docks where I hopped on a ship and hid. I didn't bother to think about the ship leaving. It was a small cargo boat, bound for Greenland. Not like I knew that at the time. Halfway through the voyage though, when I was trying to wait it out, they did a check of the storage and found me. I got up and bolted, jumping right off the side of the ship when they cornered me. If I died, then it didn't really matter to me. It was a gamble worth taking in my case. As luck would have it, the crew didn't find me, and I drifted unconsciously towards Iceland. I would have drowned if it weren't for the small fish-like creatures that kept my head above the water for the most part. I definitely couldn't swim, I'd never been in the water of the ocean or a pool until that point, the opportunity just hadn't arisen. They held me up for two days, the impact of hitting the water knocked the wind out of me when I leapt off the ship. I was passed out, and the creatures left me on the beach, soaked and freezing to death. They did all they could, which was all I could have asked for. I opened my eyes for a brief moment, my head was foggy and my vision blurry, but I thought I saw a man in a cloak. His face held hostility at a distance, holding his weapon in front of him. As he approached me though, his eyes grew wide in surprise, and he rushed over to help, dropping down onto his knees.
"What is a child doing all the way out here? Are you alright, what happened?!" He exclaimed, grabbing my shoulder and tilting me up slightly.
I was shaking violently and everything was fuzzy. My ears were ringing so loudly it almost drowned out his voice completely.
"It's alright, you're safe. I promise I won't hurt you." The man said as he picked me up.
I was numb to it though, I couldn't feel myself moving, but I could see him moving me as I looked up to him. He scooped me up and took off, and I finally decided to close my eyes once more, it was too much of a strain to keep them open, and my head felt like it was being split open.

Lindel's P.O.V

Instead of my usual findings of emptiness on my patrols of the island, I saw a figure at the shore.
"A poacher?" I asked myself aloud, drawing my weapon and approaching them slowly. As I got closer though, the figure became clearer, it was a young girl with hair as black as ash. She was looking at me weakly, blood trickling from her mouth. I bolted over to her, sliding down onto my knees and turning her on her back. I cradled the girl gently and lifted her shoulders up, resting her head on my knees.
"What is a child doing all the way out here? Are you alright, what happened?!" I asked her, but she gave no response. Just a barely audible groan, signalling she was in pain. Without hesitation, I petted the girl's hair, but she didn't seem to notice.
"It's alright, you're safe. I promise I won't hurt you." I tried to comfort her, but she was too out of it. I picked her up and started running for my camp. The one time I decided to patrol on foot is when a dragon would have been the most helpful. When she closed her eyes, I started to worry. Normally I wouldn't be this concerned for a human girl, but something about her seemed nostalgic. She felt important, and familiar, like she was someone from my past that I'd forgotten over time.
It hadn't taken me too long to reach camp, where I immediately set her in the bed and removed her soaked white sweater. She would freeze to death if I didn't warm her up quickly. The moment I took it off though, I gasped, the colour draining from my face. She was covered in cuts. There wasn't a single free space on either of her arms, and some of the were bleeding. The blood started to flow quicker when I removed the hoodie, and when I looked back at it, I noticed that there were red spots on my hands and the sleeves.
"This poor child... what could have been so awful to do this to yourself?" For the sake of it, I checked her legs as well, and sure enough, they were the exact same as her arms. I frowned, she must have been through something truly terrible. I closed my eyes, placing my hands over her arms and concentrating my healing hands, and her arms became clear of any blemishes within the minute. I did the same for her legs, and just like that, it was like nothing ever happened, as if they had never been there. Her face looked so peaceful as she slept. I took a towel and dried off her hair and arms. Instead of invading her privacy and changing her clothes for her, I closed my eyes and willed my magic to do it. I put her in a plain white nightgown that had been left behind by Chise a long while ago. Her breathing seemed fine, and she was dry, so I decided the the best thing I could do was try to keep her warm and wait for her to wake up. When I touched her hand, it was like ice. She definitely had hypothermia. I was too afraid to leave her on her own, so I stayed in the tent with her. I just stared at her for a while, not quite knowing what to do. Eventually I had the sense to prepare dinner in case she woke up. Hot soup seemed like the best choice, so I got to it quickly.
"What are you doing, master? You're uneasy." My familiar asked, popping it's head in, then the rest of its body.
I nodded to the girl, and explained the situation.
"Would you like me to watch her while you prepare the food?" They asked, and I nodded gratefully. They saluted me as I hopped up on my feet and exited the tent. I gathered everything I would need and lit a fire, gradually adding the ingredients to the boiling water. I kept glancing at the tent, worrying. I had absolutely no idea why I was getting this feeling. I just hoped she'd wake up very soon.