Beautiful Day

Elaine Pov

It's been an hour, and I haven't seen my brother return yet. Mr. Webb was able to clean the clutter easily with magic and told me to go rest for the day. I was walking towards my room and by my brother's door. Curious, I went back to check on him. When I opened his door, I saw him sleeping in his bed with the fox lying on end curled in a ball.

I couldn't resist and quietly walked up to his bed to pet the cute little fox. His ears twitched, but fortunately, he continued sleeping. Looking over at his workbench, I continue quietly to step towards it. Reaching the desk filled with tools, books, notes, and jars of fruit. I look over the books he had and see books on healing, violin methods, magical creatures, and books pertaining up to second-years.

Before leaving, I checked the drawer. When I pulled it out, it was filled with notes and schematics. Hmm, it's nothing new I knew he was always into this stuff. Sitting in his comfy chair, I looked through some seeing research papers filled with theories on sound, gravity, and another about elements. There were a few others, but I was curious and picked up his notes on sound.

After reading a bit, I was a little skeptical, though now I know what happened at the concert… it's interesting. Regardless, I should stop here. I'm already being pretty intrusive in reading his work. I'll ask him about it later; I hope he doesn't get too mad. He doesn't get angry easily. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever seen him get genuinely mad before.

It's difficult to even get a rise out of him at all, and he usually catches on fast. He's always been like that, though. He can be no fun. I can't seem to find out what makes him tick. Lost in my thoughts, I suddenly noticed how tired I was, and my eyes closed, laying my head on the desk. While thinking, I'll only be here for a minut— was the last thing I thought before my mind faded.

Artorias Pov:

When I woke up with the bright sun shining on my face, I stayed lying down for a few moments before getting up. Rolling out of bed and standing on my feet, I walk over to my bathroom to get dressed. However, I noticed my sister seeping at my workbench and stepped over to shake her shoulder. Along the way, I decided against it and let her sleep there for a while longer since it was pretty early. I pointed my wand at my mouth, saying aloud, "Spotify." All the gunk vanished, and my teeth had a fresh, smooth feeling. I learned the spell from Mr. Webb and have been using it pretty much since. It also has an effect where you can pick a smell upon imagining it during the incantation. I usually just go with mint. When I first heard the chant, it was a little humorous since it was the same name as a company I know that sells digital music services.

After my hot then cold shower, I used my gravity to pull the clothes I would be using for today into my hands. I never bothered with using the summoning charm Accio since gravity came naturally to me. Putting on the clothes, I head out of the bathroom to my to wake my sister up. As I shook her shoulder, she groaned for a moment. Merely a minute later, she sat up whilst rubbing her eyes. I give her a moment before saying, "so… care to explain why you're sleeping on my desk with my research notes out?"

Hearing that, she looks up at me with wide eyes and replies, "I…". I cut her off, saying, "you know.. you could have just asked me instead of sneaking into my room like this. Although you seem to not be hiding it well enough." She replies, "well.. You were sleeping, and I didn't want to wake you up. Also I already planned on asking you. How else would I know what your up to if I don't check up on it you once in a while." I reply "right…." Sighing, I resume speaking "well ask away little sister." She gives me a stare and says "were both the same age now, I'm not your little sister anymore. Rolling my eyes, I say, "and? You'll always be my little sister in my eyes. That won't ever change." She gives me an astonished expression, suddenly hugging me.

| Time Skip |

On July 18, 1993, in a compact room with a medieval architectural design, one girl sat in a chair as the boy sat on a bed discussing. A small fennec fox runs around with a chew toy in its mouth, squeaking about. The door creaks open, showing the butler. The butler speaks, "ah, there you are young master. I was getting worried about you since you weren't in the kitchen cooking as usual." he continues to say, "well, excuse me, Mr and Miss Starscourge, I'll let you continue your conversation now." About to leave, the girl abruptly stands up, speaking, "no need Mr.Webb, me and my brother are already pretty much done here. Can you help me with that thing I asked you about yesterday?" Turning around, the butler smiles, replying, "certainly, miss". While they both leave the room, the boy sighs in relief.

The boy, now alone, stands on his feet, picking up the fox along the way to the door. Walking down the hall filled with moving paintings and stepping on the luxurious carpet. The boy looks down at the fox and speaks up, stating, "let's go outside after breakfast; what do you say, Theodon?" The fox, in turn, adorably barks in approval whilst jumping on the carpet. Both continue walking on the lavish carpet, heading down the enormous grand stairway. A gorgeous view of plant life and the sound of geese cackling about.

The waterfall was Mediterranean-blue and magical. It was swishing over the rocks joyfully. It was thundering down into the pool like a gigantic water spout. When it toppled into the pond, it foamed at the bottom. The rest of the pond was as clear as cellophane, enabling you to see down into the rocky bottom. Fronds of forest-green plants waved gently in the depths. The waterfall looked like a sheet of blue velour as it swished down. Its edges were hemmed with whipped-white lines.

You could see a gaggle of geese grazing by the bank, and the scene was picture-perfect. A group of amazonian ferns edged with saw's teeth and statue still, adding a tropical-like feeling. The boy was nearly at the bottom, as the sweet nectar smell of the flowers perked up the boy's spirit.

Artorias Pov:

I was walking towards the kitchen when I heard the barking of a small fox. Rushing back to my previous location in the massive entrance of the mansion, I find the little guy barking at the geese again. I've been training him to not do that. He was getting better since he doesn't chase them anymore, but man, it sometimes gets tiring with him around. Picking up Theo, I head back toward the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen, I see my sister suspiciously hiding something behind her back. Before I could walk any further, she jumped at me with a wrapped gift catching me off guard, yelling, "happy birthday, Art!"

Being jumped at like that, I flinched. Looking at her smiling face, I say, "today is my birthday? Since when?" She frowns at that and replies, "It's both of ours, silly, and how could you forget?" With a straight face, I reply, "I wasn't aware of this. Also, I don't have memories of my younger years, I was asleep remember?" She just looks at me with an 'oh' expression, then proceeds to say, "oh yeah… I actually forgot to tell you? Didn't I?" I smile at her words, thinking, hah, same as always, she's quite forgetful sometimes. Well, who am I kidding? I'm pretty absent-minded myself, oftentimes in thought.

Not a moment later, she shoves the wrapped gift into my face saying, "here, open it." I grab the small present from her hands and reply, "I don't have a gift for you right now, sorry." Responding back, she says, "don't worry about it. You can get me one later." After a few moments of unwrapping the present pass, I pick up a classy-looking watch from a small box. Upon inspecting it, I see the initials A.S. on the side. She smiles at me and says, "that's father's watch. I asked Mr. Webb for gift ideas, and he gave it to me. Supposedly, it functioned as a time turner, but no longer works." I smiled at her and proceeded to hug her as I replied, "thanks, sis." She smiles back, accepting the hug.

After breakfast, I exited the mansion with Theo as the enchanting woodland lured me into its beating heart. How could I resist a forest this lush? Its ancient music spoke to me with a deep, eerie ballad. With a light heart, I plunged into the over-arching vault of leaf and limb. It was unexpected. The exquisiteness of the dawn's light had not yet lanced to the lush, green short grass. Because of this, hoods of black shadow hung in the groves.

The oak trees' shaggy heads were encircled by vaporous mist coils. They writhed around them like a sensual and illusory milky smoke. Steam sieves caressed the lichen-encrusted bark. Adding its phantasmal gas to the damp breath of the forest, it glided with deadly intent. It muffled sounds, haunted glades, and filled empty spaces. A foreboding silence hung over the hallowed ground where no trees dared to grow. Nothing stirred, nothing shone, nothing sang. The wood was entombed by a hollow echoing like the hushed tones of a great, slabbed cathedral.

Then a ray of supernatural light pierced the misty mesh. It was followed by a loom of light filtering down through gold seams. It chased the shadows, banished the gloom, and spilled into spaces where the mist once stalked like the luminal glow of the heavens. The fluty piping of a songbird broke the silence just as the forest began to fill with light. As the breathtaking forest came to life, a barrage of chirps detonated all around me.

I admired the butterflies as I walked between shafts of gleaming-gold light. They twirled in the air, their wings whirring like silk ripples. In the birthstone-bright light, the glory of the forest was revealed. The almond-brown trees stood serenely, drenched in a tender glow. Their bark resembled riffled toast, and amber gems clasped their crusty exterior. The first blush of the morning gave the leafy bower a green-to-gold complexion.

I idled past suede-soft flowers, softly caressing them, getting tingles in my fingers. The metallic, tinkling sound of a stream piqued my interest. Through the lace of leaves, it flashed with a tinsel tint. I noticed it was sliding into an infinite loop when the trees parted. The pool resembled a polished silver mirror with swirl-white skeins twisting slowly on the surface.

A shiny spillway led to a turbulent pond. Moss-covered pillows and boulders populated the pond's edges. When water and stone met, they caused a rocky gurgling, a swell, clunk, swish, and clop all at once. My nose seemed to fluctuate between alluring and sweet scents. In this soul-enriching dream world, smell and sight fought for attention.

I leaned back against a knobby boulder, with my head pressed against the mossy pillow. I drifted into infinity as I closed my eyes and let my stream of consciousness take over. Although I was unable to recall my dream when I awoke, memories of its softness and silver tones persisted. Back to reality, I felt a feeling of weight on my lap as I looked down, noticing Theo snoozing away in a curled ball. Twenty minutes went by as I enjoyed the view. Standing up, carrying Theo in my arms, I depart the forest, taking the trail that leads back home.