The Core of ...

"There was no limit to my happiness, once again. I hadn't lost you. You were there, and you wanted to be with me. I didn't want anything else. Everything was the same. Almost. We had to replace kisses with hugs - I was afraid that they would provoke a second wave of amnesia. We didn't talk about the past again - you didn't want to, you judged it only by the conversations you remembered, and you thought that was enough for you. I didn't mind - I didn't need it either. My father returned to his business and began to take me with him periodically. There weren't many household chores for you, and my father got you a device with which you could move around using only your imagination. In atlases and travel magazines, you found photos of deserted places and went for a walk there. Life seemed to be getting better. But you and I just served as a magnet for problems.

One day, we were too close to the wrong place at the wrong time, not far from the crypt when your foster parents were there. They noticed us, recognised me and, as they later swore, your gait, and suspected something was wrong. The Ministry raided without warning. All we had time to do was send you out of the house with the maid. Anywhere, just so you were not in it. Fortunately, it didn't even occur to them that you could be real, because they buried you themselves. That's why they decided that we had started growing a doppelganger before that. They turned over the whole house, but found nothing. They discovered your room, but we said it was all left over from last year, and I didn't return all the things. Then they started to inquire who was with me, and my mother said that a daughter of some friends was staying with us. Who exactly? She took them to those people. I don't know how she managed to do it, but they confirmed her lie. Nevertheless, the house was monitored for another week. The elf assured us that she had taken you to a safe place, so we pretended to live a normal life without nerves."

"Just imagine, this stupid forgot the place she took her to." The mistress complained to her husband about the servant. Poor thing almost pressed herself to the floor, but rather not out of fear for herself, but out of fear that she might really not find her 'young mistress'. "We barely found her. In the middle of the forest. Invisible! It's mind-boggling."

"Don't swear at her, it's not her fault. It was her uncle who moved us there. She couldn't have known the place. The fact that she guessed where it was is her merit." The girl stood up for her. "For some reason, he couldn't leave me in the house, so he hid me in the woods. There was a room in the trunk of a huge tree; only a knowledgeable person could find the entrance to it. I was safe. Every day he brought food, hot water, clean linen, clothes - he faithfully fulfilled what he had promised." She bent down to the maid and took her thin, trembling hands in hers. "I'm fine, don't worry. I wasn't scared. No one has done anything wrong to me."

"First, a couple of lovers showed up in the middle of the night." The girl was having fun telling the guy about her adventure. They were lying in tall thickets of yarrow growing at the very edge of the forest, making a site for themselves from packed tangled plants. She was on her stomach, propping her chin on her hands and looking at the wildlife crawling along stems and leaves. He was on his back, resting his head on her lower back and, closing his eyes, listening with the nape to all, even the lightest, movements of her body. She always spoke not only with her voice, but with her whole body. "They were ready to make their dreams come true right at my door. I didn't want to be a prude, but it was happening too close; and I couldn't get anywhere - they barricaded my exit. I couldn't think of anything better than running around the room, stomping and banging on the walls. When they moved away from the tree, I continued to do the same outside." The young man smiled silently. "Then some kids accidentally heard me muttering. Uh, I can't get rid of the habit of thinking out loud. They thought I was some kind of genius of the place, and tried to find me by scouring the bushes. I played along with them and eventually led them to the village. They were disappointed. But young people decided that I was a witch, and the little ones were just lucky to escape from me. They naturally came at night. They lit a bonfire and began scaring each other with horror stories. I was sitting nearby listening to them. And it would have been all right, but the smoke got into my nose and I sneezed. One of them said that it was the witch who was finally returning from the swamps. The company tensed up, began to whisper nervously, and suddenly we heard the cracking of branches. It came from behind me. They thought it was me, and I thought it was some kind of animal and that it could be dangerous. So I played a witch to scare them off: with a hoarse breath, I lifted a whirlwind of dry leaves - in fact, I did it with a cape, - crushed several of their open cans of beer, threw a cone into the campfire, and laughed viciously. It was enough for them to drop everything and run away in terror. I flooded the fire with the remains of their swill and also hurried to take cover. The next morning, all their belongings were scattered around the campfire. I waited until the evening - no one came for them, so I packed everything up and gave it to the elf when we met. The place, apparently, received publicity and the next time, late at night, some kind children took their friend there, distracted him with something and disappeared."

"Hey!" Someone whispered to the crying boy. This whisper came from behind him and from somewhere below. And then again, a little louder. "Hey! Don't cry." The girl sat down on the ground so as not to frighten the child even more. "I'll help you. Are you lost... or scared?"

"I'm lost..." the boy looked at the empty ground in front of him with interest, but still sniffing with his leaking nose, "and I'm scared," he added sheepishly.

"Are you from the village?"

"Yes."

"I know the way there. But it's dangerous to walk at night. I'll take you home in the morning. I promise."

"Who are you?"

"A friend. It is also dangerous to stay on the ground at night. Let's climb this tree... the big one by the stream. Give me your hand, I'll help you." The boy stretched out his hand and, as if caught by the wind, it soared up.

"Are you human?"

"Yes."

"Why can't I see you?"

"Because I'm not supposed to be seen."

"Until you want to?"

"In a way..."

They came to the tree, the branches of which began to grow low enough for a man to climb on it, and high enough so that an animal could not do it. The invisible lifted the child up to the first branch; then he managed to climb himself. He didn't even notice that for a moment he disappeared to the outside world.

"Wait a bit, I'm going to get something. Here, catch it." Out of nowhere, a bundle of woolen cloth appeared in the air and flew into the boy's outstretched hands. "Be careful! Don't fall down."

When they reached a place where bases of several large branches fused into one wide step, the girl sat down, leaning against the trunk, and sat the child in front of her so that he could lean against her. The blanket flew out of his hands and disappeared again. Then he felt warmth enveloping him.

"Now I'm invisible too. Is it because you wanted to hide me from danger?"

"You could say that."

"Are you a nymph?"

"Who? Why?"

"I know you're a nymph, a dryad. My brother is a poet. He told me that once upon a time they lived in this part of the island, before the stone wall. And now you can meet them too. It's difficult because they're hiding - they don't want to be seen - but it's possible."

"Since you're so smart, you'll have to promise me something. Namely, that you won't tell anyone about me. So that I, in turn, don't have to hide forever."

"Okay. Sing to me. I always sing when I'm scared."

"Are you still scared?"

"A little bit. Much less than I was."

"Then why don't you sing to me?"

"Which one of us is a nymph? I've already heard myself a hundred times."

"Such a chicken?" The void grunted in outrage, then laughed good-naturedly. "But I only know sad songs. And, oh, my howls are more likely to attract wolves than scare them away."

"They won't see us."

"Alright, I'll try. Just don't forget - not all of us are good at it."

The boy fell asleep. And the girl spent the whole night making sure that he did not fall out of the tree, and sang to herself all the songs she knew, thereby keeping herself conscious. Surprisingly, there were many of them. "How? I've forgotten everything." In the morning she took him to the village.

"And then, of course, his brother, the young poet, came. A pretty good-looking one. Made me laugh to tears!"

"Of course." At these words, the young man opened his eyes and sat up, frowning. He plucked a blade of grass and started to tear it in his hands.

"What?" The girl also sat down and began to try to look into his face, which he deliberately averted further and further away. "Are you... are you jealous?!"

"Why would I?" he said through clenched teeth. Nevertheless, he was, constantly ever since he saw her laughing face turned towards him in the train carriage. He was jealous, justifiably and not, of everyone he saw her with, and she rarely communicated with girls. He would never forget the look in her eyes when she returned to the dorm after his fiasco on the field (why did she even go to watch the game, she had never gone!), where she got another beating from her housemates, and how long this look lasted while she fought off their accusations.

("Do you belong to..." the guy didn't notice how they went down into the dungeons. To avoid as much trouble as possible, the girl halted a few turns before the passage to the house's dormitory.

"Yes." The brevity of her reply was reinforced by the rigidity of her voice and the challenge of raised eyebrows. But she didn't want to give him any serious tests, so almost immediately replaced the ice in her eyes with warm lights and waited for his reaction with slyness. At first, he was searching for some pitfalls in her act. Then his gaze rotated inward, not for long. He got back with a soft smirk.

"But who cares." And he smiled.

What a smile it was! So open, so pure. There wasn't a trace of worry that it would be mocked within it. And how could such a thing be imagined? How could it be conceivable to laugh at such honesty? It didn't have much to do with that girl personally. He wasn't smiling at her in particular, but at the very feeling he was experiencing. He was happy just because he had this feeling. Hence the lack of fear - no one can take away such a treasure from you. He left her standing, spellbound by this smile, reflecting that smile.)

He was jealous of her savior, of their head, of his foe when he saw the two of them in the empty chamber by the open rear exit (she retreated and did nothing as one boy knocked another down and they both fell on the floor in front of her). Even of that idiot, his henchman, when he loomed over her in front of everyone and started mumbling something. He was ready to pulverize him because he thought he wanted to invite her to the ball (it didn't matter that he himself had already invited someone else), but then she climbed up on the couch and publicly declared that he didn't try to do this. Which of all this was the stupidest? "What did he want from her?" he was tormented then. And one day his partner revealed this secret to everyone.

(In a vacant auditorium, the two set up desks along the walls, and placed the borrowed gramophone on the floor in the centre.

"By the way, what makes you think I can dance?"

"Umm... don't all girls can?"

"Oh, yes, indeed, what a question. Then why did you ask me specifically?"

"Others wouldn't help, they would only scoff at me. And you're absolutely different."

"Okay."

"Well, yes, you see, you agreed despite the fact that we're not even friends." The big guy hesitated for an instant. "You know, last year, these assaults on you, we played no part in it, honestly... But I didn't tell you that, okay?"

"Okay..."

Music started.

"One, oh, I'm sorry. One, two, three, one, two, oh, sorry." His loud voice drowned out the rough sounds of the old device.

"Stop. Stop by yourself and stop counting. Just stand there and listen to the music." The guy stopped obediently. "Do you hear the rhythm?" He listened. "Do you hear these 'one-two-three' in music? The emphasis on 'one' and fading 'two-three'. Listen." The girl started drawing a triangle in the air with her hand and nodding at 'one'. The guy picked it up and also began to nod in time to the music. "Great. Now for one accent we take a step forward with the right foot and put the left foot to it. And for another, on the contrary, we take a step back with the left and put the right foot to it. Smoothly, rolling from the heel to the toe of the right, lower, and from the toe to the entire foot of the left. Soften your knees. Awesome! And now for 'two-three' we just shift from foot to foot, slightly rising on the toes. Wonderful! The main thing is to listen to music. People dance to it, not in parallel. Well, now let's all get together."

He was huge, she had to dance on her toes all the time to reach his shoulder with her arm. And as anticipated, he crushed all her fingers, but that was nothing - it was funny to watch this club-footed bear, puffing, trying hard to take control of his legs. When he finally realised that the girl wasn't annoyed at his clumsiness and relaxed, things went well. In stages, they began to add steps to the side. Having mastered the motion along a square, they moved on to a circle. Half an hour later, they were circling around the room at full speed. When once again the music came to an end, the guy, out of the usual order, without letting go of the girl's hand, took a step back and fluidly spun her around. On the last chords, they stood in front of each other in a deep bow.

The classroom was filled with applause and fervent whistling, and both of them turned their heads to the door in a panic. There were a lot of people in and behind it. The first row even sat on the floor so that more schoolfellows could see the show. And they were delighted; all except for one person - her roommate, who had brought them there to entertain, was standing at one of the desks sulking at everyone. The girl joined in the applause in honour of her partner. The guy was the hero of the day.

"Is that girl in the audience?"

"Yes."

"Then this is your chance. Go, there's nothing more to be afraid of.")

"Idiot, how could he invite this fool anyway?" But most of all, he was jealous of the twins. The moment he discovered this in himself could have been the most terrible in his life, but it became the happiest one.

("So, you've spent the whole summer with this family of... poor losers instead of... Oh, if I only knew, I would've burnt their junk to the ground with my own hands! And what, you were imprisoned?"

Aversion to this family was commonplace for this lad. But today it annoyed the girl so much. In addition, her mood was also to hell, and her nerves were shattered by recent events, so she snapped.

"Oh, not at all! In reverse, it was the best summer in my life. I had a lot of fun!"

"Oh, really? With whom exactly?! Let's have a look - they have a wide assortment. The three older ones are too old in my opinion, though it never stopped you. But as I've heard, one is out of reach, another has a fiancee, and the third turned away from the family." - "And how is he so well informed?" - "The youngest one is just an idiot, I'll never buy it. The twins remain..." The white spot on the map of his knowledge turned into a black hole, drawing his consciousness inside. "Twins..." he sank down on the bench with a moan and hid his face in his hands. "But of course. I've seen you with them so many times at school... and the ball, and the fireworks, and that day in their store right after... you've already smiled when talking to them... You get along well, don't you? So which one?!" he sharply raised his head.)

But instead of finishing him off with telling the name, she came closer, placed her palms on his cheeks and embraced his lips with hers. What was happening was beyond his comprehension, but he couldn't resist kissing her back and running his fingers along her neck, just the tips of them. "Is it for real?" - "Yes, it is." And she smiled, at him, at herself and at the world. And he recognised this look in her eyes that he saw in the spring two years ago.

"You are jealous." She stared at the back of his head, not hiding her surprise at his reaction to what she had said about the poet, as well as the feeling it had aroused in her. "I can't say that I'm not happy about it, but... why? Do you think I might be interested in him? He made me laugh with his stupidity! He read to me his verses. Do you think they were like the ones you read to me?"

"He writes them."

"He writes foolishness. It would be better if he didn't write at all. He doesn't even have those thoughts in the bud. Just a lot of whining. Useless suffering. He was chasing me through the woods like a madman, assuring me that he was in love. But he didn't even see me, didn't talk to me. He doesn't know me. How can he love me? That's nonsense. Levity. Impermanence. Do you think this is what I need?" The guy gave her a guilty, joyful, embarrassed and stubborn look at the same time. She sat in front of him, put her forehead to his forehead, nose to nose, and stared into his eyes with laughter in hers. "Not at all." She waited until the edges of his lips twitched in a restrained smile, then was behind him again, leaning against his back, hiding. "Just don't let it spill."

The last one was not the poet. While she was living in that place, someone else visited it. She didn't tell anyone about him, so as not to create even more problems for the housey. The thing was, when they arrived at her uncle's house, there was a man with him. And although the first one immediately closed the door to that room, she sensed the danger coming from him: from his appearance, sudden movement and gaze. "What do you need? ... A shelter? No, I can't right now, I'm... busy." - "But we have nowhere else to go!" - "That's not my problem." - "Please, please..." there were whispers from the corner. Suddenly, it was as if a fourth person had appeared in the hallway, except no one had entered it. The elf snapped his fingers, and the girl stopped seeing her body. A moment later, she was swirled in a whirlwind, nausea rose to her throat, and all three found themselves in the forest.

"Will your masters pay?"

"For what?"

"For hiding your companion, you fool. I do this for a living. You couldn't have not known it, since you came to me for it."

"But I didn't know... I do not know..." the terrified creature babbled.

"No. They won't pay," sounded firmly in the void. "Let's get out of here - we need to look for help elsewhere."

"But I know of no other place. I have no one else, no relatives, no acquaintances, to whom I could bring you." There were tears in her big eyes.

"Then maybe the fugitive herself will pay?" He fixed his greedy gaze on exactly the spot where the girl was standing. "The locket. I can take it as payment."

"I can't take it off."

"Then what happens?"

"I don't know. No one knows. I'm cursed. Maybe I'll turn into a monster."

"Don't worry, no one will see you." The elf laughed at his own joke.

"But I will see you." This threat did not frighten him much. "What if you give me shelter and I don't tell anyone what you're doing?" She watched his reaction. "And about your guest too," the girl added, stepping between him and his niece. "We won't tell." She touched the maid's shoulder. "Go away, and keep your mouth shut. Go." A pop. It was just the two of them. For a moment, his eyes darted over her immobile face. Then, they were attracted to her calm, confident gaze.

"Deal."

The elf didn't cheat. As the girl said, he gave her a roof over her head and provided everything she needed. And he kept her location a secret, otherwise that person would have gotten to her much faster. And when he got there, he still couldn't find her: he didn't know the entrance to the tree, and he couldn't see her - only the elves could.

"Little witch... Show yourself to me... I know you're here, I heard you." The man was walking stealthily around the tree, peering into the woods and listening. She managed to jump into a recess formed by two protrusions of the trunk, developing into the roots. Stretching out along it, she tried to breathe through her nose, smoothly and soundlessly. Every time he passed by, she lowered her eyes to the ground so that he would not feel her fear. "He can't see me. He can't see me. Stay where you are. If you run, it will get worse." On the next turn, he came so close to the tree that he ran his dirty, uncut nails over its bark, inseparably, repeating all its unevenness. The girl's heart squeezed, a scream rose to her throat. "I'm done. I'm finished."

(He shouldn't have made any rapid movements. He shouldn't have growled at her, pushing off the tree. Keeping her head down, she took a few quick steps towards him, and then forcefully lifted it up. A stifled groan sounded right at her ears, hot streams flowed down her forehead and cheeks, the smell of metal hit her nose... It wasn't an ordinary horse... It was a unicorn! In dismay, she stepped back from the tree - nothing had changed. She lowered her head down again and shook it - a heavy lifeless body slid off the horn and sprawled on the roots that came out of the soil. The dismay altered into shock. Numbed with her entire body, she stood over the corpse and stared at it until she finally realised what she had done. "I killed it..." Blood dripped from her nose onto the wound in his stomach. "Did I kill... an animal? No. No, he is a human. I killed a man!" Two lads ran out of the thicket with wands ready and stopped anon when they saw an awful picture. She turned her muzzle stained with someone else's blood to the aliens and recognised them. Panic took the place of shock, as if they caught her red-handed, not the horse.

"I've killed him! I've killed a man! I've... killed..." Breathing shallowly and unevenly, she shifted her eyes from one girl to another and back in horror.

"But you couldn't, you were here all the time."

"She said she would call the unicorn for help. And it came back... about ten minutes ago... and she's only now."

"Are you sure that he..."

"He's dead! Whoever he was, he's dead! The unicorn had pierced him through! So much blood!... What a sight."

She covered her face with her hands.

One of the last summer days, five teenagers went for a walk in the nearby forest. One of them was walking behind, maintaining a constant distance, pondering about something of her own, while the other three were violently discussing something of their own. The red-haired girl - she had quite nothing to do with it either - occasionally cast a glimpse at the one behind her and who whenever noted this smiled amiably, letting her know that everything was fine.

Suddenly, the peripheral sight of the loner noticed a white spot that slid against the background of dark tree trunks and left the field of view the next instant. Purely by reflex, she stopped, turned in the direction of the unexpected vision and started to scan the forest area while listening. There was a sound of the hoarse breathing of a horse. Carefully navigating through the undergrowth, avoiding stepping on dry twigs, she approached the shrub, the branches of which swayed out of sync with the others. A lawn was hidden beyond its dense foliage, and in the middle of it, a unicorn stood with its head lowered to the ground and grazed with appetite. With the expression of a person who has witnessed a miracle, she faced the girl who came off the path after her. She silently and cautiously came closer and, following signals of the first one, looked through the window formed by the branch pushed aside. The same expression lit up her pretty face. Motionless, as if mesmerised, two girls admired the magical creature - its snow-white fur, shining like starlight, its long mane, flowing in neat waves along its strong neck and creating an architectural shadow on the beautiful smooth lines of its body, its horn on the forehead, shimmering like mother-of-pearl in the soft rays of the sun, and its big eyes, reflecting the universe. Very soon, their presence was discovered. The horse perked its ear, flared its nostrils, tore its muzzle from the grass and alert turned it towards them. After a second or two, it was leisurely moving to the place the girls were standing, periodically making halts and showing signs of curiosity. They left the shelter and also slowly headed to it. Having sniffed the young ladies, it nodded approvingly, gently pushed them with the soft and warm nose, and stood between them waiting for caresses. The girls exchanged glances and laughed as they smoothed its silky fur, untangled its mane ruffled by branches, and paid it compliments. The animal snorted peacefully at all of this. Everything was amazing, but then, out of the blue, it whinnied loudly and reared up. To not be harmed, his companions took a couple of steps back as it kicked and galloped away headlong.

"Well, well, well..." There was a man standing at the other end of the glade. His appearance wasn't very attractive, rather dangerous: long tangled hair, an unshaven face, dirty hands, shabby clothes; his knees were mildly bent at all times, when walking, he bounced on them and leaned forward, as if ready to switch to running at any point. But the main thing was his gaze - the one of a predator on the trail of its prey. "This is a meeting. I was in search of a unicorn and here it is."

"But there have never been unicorns in these parts, why were you seeking them here?"

"And since when are werewolves interested in unicorns?" If he had been looking at both girls before, then after this question, his eyes, burning with excitement, shifted to the one with brown hair. His lips spread into a satisfied grin, exposing yellow fangs.

"I'm just a lucky guy - didn't count on finding even one, but found two. And it's the second one that I need."

"Looking for me? What for? He's a werewolf," she whispered rapidly to her friend, "and there's a full moon tonight. And I'm not allowed to conjure, under any circumstances - the headmaster forbade it. Can you stand up to him alone? Just a little. I'll try to retrieve the unicorn. I believe they won't be able to capture this type of magic. Can you?" The red-haired girl nodded. "If it goes badly, wake me up, you bet." She nodded again.

Another girl sat down on the ground, took a deep breath, and put herself into peace on the exhale "What is she doing?" to neglect those present, to concentrate on the image of the white horse racing through the forest; to envision that it was she racing, breathing heavily, breaking branches of thickets, skirting thick tree trunks... to stop and turn back...

She returned just in time to prevent the beast from throwing. Raising the front part of her body and making a sound similar to a neigh she bashed her hooves at him. The man howled in pain, grabbed his bloody head and scooted into the thick of the forest. The horse chased after him. He did not make his way fast, and meanwhile, she did not know what to do after overtaking him. When he reached a more or less open space under the crown of a large oak tree, he fell to his knees, crawled to it and, clinging to its bark, stood unsteadily on shaky legs. She was angry: she lowered her head, set back her ears, wheezed threateningly and beat the ground with her hoof...

Sleep was out of the question. The explanation of how she guessed the essence of the stranger came quickly. For a whole year, one of them was a teacher at the school. Hence the habit of hers to follow the phases of the moon, and a recent meeting with the former professor reminded her of this sensation. It was a simple question, a complicated one was another. Lying on her back and drilling her eyes into the ceiling, she replayed the scene at the oak tree in her head over and over again. "How did it come out? Accidentally or intentionally? Why was he looking for me? No doubt he knew a lot about me since he called me that. From whom? Very few people are aware of that. But all this can only denote one thing - he was sent for me. Even so, it remains unclear how he learned where to look. Summing up... What if he had survived? He would've brought the others here. So how did it come out: accidentally or intentionally?" A star lit up under the ceiling. "What is this?" It danced on the spot for a while, and then, pulsating, moved towards the window. Twisting her neck, the girl watched it, and when it flew outside, curiosity got the better of her and she quietly, so as not to wake the others, got up and went to the window. The star rose fitfully into the sky. "Does it come to make a human out of me, but reconsidered?" Something crunched under the window. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and as she put her gaze down, she saw two inseparable brothers bent double. They noticed the girl and actively signalled for her to get out. She had no choice but to accept their invitation.

"What are you up to?"

"A rooftop picnic."

"We want to watch the stars."

"Will you come with us?"

"Look what we have," one of them showed a bottle of wine.

"Wow! That's you romantics. Get drunk on the roof under the night sky... I'm actually underage."

"And under our responsibility," another waved it off.

"That is, you are not risking anything. Pragmatically."

"Are you in or not?"

"Well, it's hard to resist it. I mean alcohol."

"It will only benefit you today."

They took the girl by the arms and they made a skip. Even a brief similar action was enough to make her sick. Only the brothers' tight grip prevented her falling back down.

"Why?"

"Hmm, let me think..."

"For example, I don't move into unicorns every day..."

"To kill werewolves."

"So, being in your place..."

"It definitely wouldn't hurt to relax."

"The brother told you everything, didn't he? And I thought he didn't believe it."

"Oh, yes, he did. Now he's only afraid of you more than spiders."

"He says he saw you butchering a rabbit, helping our mom cook dinner, and didn't even wince."

"Pfft! I didn't gut it... Oh, and how to stare at the bloody corpse for half an hour, so it's okay. Afraid... Ha! But he doesn't refuse to eat."

"This would never happen!"

"Never!"

"Yeah... and your father thinks that I'm just good at conjuring up a fantasy..."

"He just doesn't know what we know."

"Namely, that you are the princess of unicorns."

"Oh, guys... The fact is, it's not a bit funny. Do you understand what I've done? Including violence against the will of another being."

"Yes... and still..."

"You were protecting our little sister."

"I was protecting myself first of all. Your friend holds the same perspective, by the way. And she, she was protecting me... and continues to stand up for me, now in front of him. We should leave her a sip."

The red-haired girl trusted the instincts of her twin brothers, and also remembered well one episode in the training chamber, which forever endeared her to the daughter of her enemy.

("And is it true that you... well..." The girl raised her eyebrow inquiringly. "His... well..."

"That is." The boy's voice, as last time, sounded accusatory. All his comments that day seemed to be aimed at exposing something about her. "I feel it... with the scar... just like him."

"Oh, you've finally noticed. I tried to keep my distance from you, but it's become a bit difficult lately." She didn't stand on ceremony with him - sometimes he was so slow-witted - and took a few steps towards him. "By the way, how are you feeling now?"

"Frankly speaking, shitty." He began to get irritated. "Because the one I trusted the most didn't tell me a word about my worst enemy having a biological copy." Keeping calm the girl came closer. "Shitty, because the one who was supposed to defend the school didn't learn from the previous lesson and let another monster into its walls." Now she stood very close. He winced in pain, touching his scar every now and then, growing even more annoyed by it. "But that was not enough! Despite the fact that you followed in your father's footsteps, he decided to encourage and develop your abilities at any cost! As if he doesn't understand! Doesn't see that you're a time bomb that will destroy us all!" He fell silent, and everyone around held their breath. The girl saw that he was suffering, mentally and physically. Also step by step, she began to move backwards.

"That's not your words, right?" The muffled voice of his frightened friend was heard.

"Not at all. I spoke my mind." It began to let him go, and he traced her with a tough but much colder look.

"I know."

"But I wasn't going to raise this topic." The girl was standing far away again, so he could pull himself together.

"I know..."

"Then what has gotten into you?"

"She has... So that's why you gave up our house?!"

"...Including." She smiled gratefully at the girl - the boy's another best friend.)

"It was self-defence anyway."

"I do hope so... This is not an excuse. This is a reason, but not an excuse. Considering reading the black book to be useless for me, the old wizard thought that I would not be able to find reasons that could drive a person to commit this kind of cruelty. In reverse, it was not difficult for me - I had been living among people for nearly sixteen years. It was relatively easy to imagine how one could intimidate, bring up, persuade, deceive, educate a person so that the one would yearn someone's death, enjoy someone's pain, think that he or she has the right and reason to dispose of someone's life, being assured that they are acting for good. In extreme cases, there are pathologies. I could embrace it all. Is there evil without a reason? After all, we never know everything about another person. We don't know what or who has already distorted their souls. I had such an experience. Which of the two of us was evil? Both? He thought I didn't see how the evil you've done affects your own soul, but I did. Her suffering and my remorse have always been with me. They haunted me everywhere, appeared in my nightmares, reiterating themselves. Plus one more terrible dream for me... Those who are unable to withstand such torture will hide their memories and emotions farther from the consciousness and deeper into the soul, will strive to forget what they've done, will tend to absolve themselves. If they succeed, they will be able to repeat it. You can't afford to forget and it's not for you to absolve your own crimes. You can only make conclusions, evaluate them and move on. The reasons are not difficult to understand, it's difficult to understand that none of them can be an excuse. That's where the chimaera lies."

They didn't dwell on the topic any longer. The young people stretched out on the roof, sipping wine and observing the starry sky. They bragged about their erudition in astronomy and shared myths about identified constellations. It was always easy and merrily for her with the twins, her heart felt calm and warm. Several times they saw a shooting star. As usual, she couldn't make a single wish; she simply traced one in this flicking moment with her mouth open, and every time she remembered about a wish, it was too late. And really, what else was to dream about?)

"It should be here, it's very similar!" A familiar squeaky voice was heard. The man stopped; anger, annoyance, and displeasure were reflected on his face, his nostrils flared, and a strangled guttural growl seeped out of his mouth. The girl barely suppressed an exclamation of relief that was about to escape, even holding her breath. "Yes. This is the tree. I'm sure." The terrible visitor disappeared, leaving a trail of black smoke. When it completely vanished, she exhaled forcefully but quietly and slid limply along the trunk to the ground. She heard other voices nearby, also familiar to her. "Calm down. Pull yourself together. They must not find out anything. Inhale and exhale." It happened on the same day that the poet came.

The twins... It was impossible to spend more than five minutes with these guys and not laugh, and if everything was truly awful, then at least smile. She met them for the first time in her freshman year. They were rummaging in the caretaker office, and she was passing by the slightly open door and noticed a sleeping eye and a drooping ear sticking out from behind it. When the girl carefully glimpsed into, everything became obvious: the boys were so captured by exploring shelves with all sorts of curiosities that neglected their own, and they dozed off on the lookout. Chuckling softly, she quietly went her way, but after walking ten steps, or so, she saw the caretaker pulling out from the corner. Then she sneezed loudly and, just as loudly saying "Thank you, mister", even though he was far away and did not wish her a blessing from above, the accomplice to the crime hurried to him to sneeze again, and again, seizing his hand, carrying on to thank him and blame the constant dampness in the dungeons. The brothers sneaked out, but then hunted her down. They spotted the emblem on her mantle - that only made them more excited, and they babbled and laughed long after about all of that and how they were going to thank their savior. Frankly speaking, all their options made the girl's hair stand on end, so she said it wasn't worth it. They didn't meet on purpose, but sometimes she happened to witness their antics or preparation for them. It was always impossibly fun.

("What are you seeking?" The two red-haired brothers raised their heads so much to see who had called out to them that they fell at the girl's feet. They were squatting, bent over a map covered with small captions. Moving captions! "Haven't all the secret chambers already been opened?"

"Oh! Evelyn!"

"You can't do that!"

"Why?" The girl depicted a childlike innocence on her face.

"Actually, she's right. She can do whatever she pleases." She also beamed like a child.

"Firstly, we bet there are dozens more secret rooms waiting for us."

"Secondly, we are not seeking..."

"We are tracking. The caretaker."

"He has a new bypass route and it is vital for us to identify it."

"And how exactly do you do this?"

"With the help of this wonderful map."

"You see, it shows where each of the inhabitants of the castle is at the moment. All the dots are signed with names and they go after their carriers."

The girl's breath caught in her throat. She quickly found their names on the map, last year's digging into the plans affected. ("How did you find out about this?" - "I heard someone's chat in the library. I didn't see the speakers, they were standing in a parallel row." It was pointless to lie to the head, but if mull it over, one could attempt a little fraud. "Which department were you in?" - "The history of the school." -"Well, at least some part of history you have honoured with your attention." The professor was in his role, as if there wasn't any incident in his office a few weeks ago. Or that was why. "Rather of architecture. I was exploring the old plans."). And she was not mistaken - hers contained only one part of the last name - the genealogical part. It was unknown how deeply the boys were immersed in the topic of what befell their sister, but it was also unwise to take risks. "For example, we are here..."

"Aha, and what are these dotted lines?" The girl pointed at one of them.

"Look at that! She sees the root."

"And these, my little friend, are the covert passages of the castle."

"And this is the most valuable property of this invaluable map."

"Freedom and impunity, I see. Okay, guys. It's very interesting here, as always, but I must be going."

"So soon? Oh! What's that on your head?"

"Oh, nothing, forget it."

" 'Traitor'?! Who did this?!"

"Don't have a notion, and it doesn't matter."

"We can try to disenchant you."

"Don't do that, leave it be. I'll deal with it myself, seriously."

"Is it because of us?"

"No, not at all! Well, definitely not directly. It's my own fault. Never mind, it doesn't bother me much, honestly."

"When you find out who did it, let us know."

"Trust us, this person will regret it very much."

"I do... Thank you. I do have to go. See you again sometime!"

Once the twins convinced her to attend their game. After many discussions, they agreed that she would only come to the game of both of their houses, then the reconsiderations of her habits would not look so suspicious. She wasn't going to root for anyone - that wouldn't be fair on her part - just to look at the action. Therefore, another condition was that they would not communicate with her in the vicinity of the field before and after the game. But elated with victory, they caught up with the girl on the way from the stands and, paying no heed to her violent protest, began to recount to her their successes and blunders, teasing each other and asking if she had spotted this or that. She disowned them, swore to others that she had no idea why they were attached to her. Very soon she realised the futility of all this and accepted that she would have to face the consequences of her recklessness.

"How could I have been so gullible?! How could I have presumed even for a second that they would keep their word? After all, they are the most irresponsible guys in their merriment in the entire school. I should have demanded the vow from them! You should at least go to wash up first, animals."

"That's how real winners smell!" Declared one of them, but the second's face coloured green when he came closer to him and took a breath, so they glanced at each other and touched their wet heads with wands, instantly assuming a look befitting association with a girl.

Overall, she relished the game. Despite its length, it was also fairly dynamic. Keeping track of everything was challenging so she tried to focus on the important points, monitored the score and violations. Luckily, the girl was familiar with the rules - last year, she listened to them on the train for a good half of the way to school.

"Your girls did their best."

"Just girls?"

"No, who would argue, they're excellent, but..."

"Didn't you notice us?"

"Beyond doubt, it's hard to ignore you. Okay, don't sulk. To be honest, I enjoyed watching your team, I didn't expect to see something like this. It was like... Ha! Sorry for such a girly comparison, but it looked like a dance! Beautifully directed and well-rehearsed. I admire your choreographer. To think through all the details so accurately, to build the game taking into account the weaknesses and strengths of the opponent, and distribute the players so effectively. He's just a magician!"

"Oh, heart, stop! No, no, and you conversely, go on, don't be silent, please. The fruits of my labour have never been evaluated in such a way."

"And here is the great choreographer!"

"Oh, how embarrassing! You're the captain, right?... Well, congratulations... I'm impressed..."

"I'm not less..."

She attempted to retreat but failed. The four of them moved forward to the walls of the castle. The conversation didn't change the course. At some point, the twins disappeared and there were only two of them left. The topic remained the same.

The twins' distance from her hit her much harder than the breakup with their former captain. She did not take offense at them, she understood the force of the blow inflicted by this news. However, after the meeting in the room where they were part of the army, and the conversation during which she demonstrated everyone her winged unicorn having poured him out of her hands ("How do you do that?!" - "Looking for quintessence." - "And what are you thinking about evoking it?" - "Definitely not about world supremacy. Hmm... Actually, I'm thinking about them." She nodded in the direction of the glowing animal. "Unicorns - incredible animals - vessels of pure magic. I delight like a child every time I see them."), after she gave them the remnants of the healing cream she had left over from the beginning of the year, and also, when they saw how she rushed after the upset and annoyed blond-haired young man ("Wait! I need to apologise to you!"), and then, how he called her his friend in front of the whole school ("You are wrong. She cares. Sometimes even more than it is worth for some."), they understood something about her.

The habitual measured hum in the ground floor corridor was torn to pieces by the chaos of deafening, heterogeneous sounds. Screeching and guffawing could be heard from outside the door. Everyone who was not there hurried in. Something hardly describable was going on in it. Gleaming and flame-spewing dragons, huge fiery wheels and rockets with sparkling tails, fireworks and firecrackers. All this was smoothly spinning, rushing or exploding in the air, growing and gaining strength every minute. All endeavours to tame them, admittedly few, resulted in quite the reverse.

"Come on... Just dare!" One of the firecrackers arose in front of her nose. The girl didn't think about running away from it. "No way!" Being prepared for defence in a second, she began to closely monitor the circling object. All of a sudden, it soared and hovered over her head, and then exploded... Dozens of golden butterflies, big and small, surrounded her, shutting off from the rest of the world. They swirled around like a whirlwind, then stopped and wobbled rhythmically between floor and ceiling, allowing themselves to be studied. Then, they took off again, and from the frequent flapping of their wings the space was filled with the melodious ringing of wind chimes. Their motion resembled that of an ancient dance. It was such beautiful magic! "Thank you, guys..." When these amazing creatures began to alter into withered leaves, inertly sink one after another to the floor, swaying as if in the wind, and crumble in golden sand at her feet, tears came to her eyes. The fireworks were buzzing around, but she didn't hear it. The corridor was filled with people, but it felt like she was alone. The girl looked at the grains of sand scattered on the floor, reflecting the uneven light of the flames, and her soul was joyful and sad in the meantime. She was happy to be accepted back, but upset since she knew that soon they would leave the school, and the last ray of light for her would go with them. And when they did it, she retrieved the white lotus they created the year before from her wardrobe, reduced it in size and put it into the puddle left over from their swamp.)

The twins...