He fell in love with a demon

Ezume Hirano

Once they finished eating Aleksei and Theo met with Ezume in the building she instructed them to come to.

She was standing in front of a table and mixing some herbs.

When they entered she did not lift her head. She just asked a question "Do you have any knowladge in spells or herbs?"

"I know some of herbs used in medicene." Theo said quietly.

"And I know some magic other then my fire. Nothing but parlor tricks though. Just some small levitation and things like that." Aleksei added.

"Alright, that means we go from the start." she said and started the lesson.

She then srarted explaining the use of certain herbs and what they can be mixed with, followed with what you should never mix them with unless your intention was to kill someone. To that part Aleksei payed close attention. After that she showed them some basic spells and as she was explaining one of them the blindfold on her eyes moved a little bit, revealing something like scarring underneath it, she quickly tightened it.

The couple looked at each other as if they were about to ask about it but decided not to. If somebody chose to cover up a part of their body they have a reason, and they may not want to share that reason with someone they met merely hours ago.

"Now, onto more complicated spell." she announced and turned around, took a table watch that has long stopped working and placed it in front of them. "I want you to use a spell to take it apart and then put it back together so that it's working again." she added and took a step back, waiting for Aleksei to complete the task she gave him.

Seeing as Theo never used magic in his life, unlike Aleksei, this was still a bit too difficult for him. That day he learned only about potions and herbs. He was suprised that you don't in fact need magic for all the potions, some are just corectly mixed ingrediants.

As Aleksei was trying his best to take apart and then restore the clock, memories floated their way into Theo's mind. Memories of people being acused to witchcraft, the most vivid one was of a girl his age at the time.

The memory takes place when Theo was about 8, he was getting home with his father after they went to a near by town to buy some nesecities.

As they passed the village inn a girl was pushed out. Her hair was tucked into her hat and her clothes were filthy and worn out. When she looked up Theo noticed that her features weren't quiet the same as the ones he knew other people to have, and her skin tone was different too, though you could harly tell becaus of  the filth that she was covered in.

"Get away, we don't shelter those of your kind here!" the owner's wife, madam Smith, was the one who pushed her out. Once she noticed Theo and his father her tone changed drastically, "Oh, mister Darlington, so good to see you. And you boy, helping your father out, huh? You will make a fine man one day if you continue like this."

"Thank you, madam Smith." Theo automatically responded, knowing he would get in trouble at home if he was caught feeling sorry for the girl crying on the ground.

"Good to see you too, madam. Are those orphans giving you trouble again?" Theo's father asked, looking at the girl, his face showed nothing but disgust towards here, even though she was only a child and by no fault of her own in this situation.

"No, this is not one of them. This one wandered out of the woods this morning, since then she's been going around, from door to door begging for someone to take her in."

"The woods you say? Lucien told me something the last time he was here. Are we sure it is not a witch child?" Theo's father said and both him and madam Smith took a step back, he even pulled Theo behind himself.

"A witch child? I did not think of that but now that you mentione it I do find her eyes kind of weird. And she speaks in some awful sounding language. I thoght she was just mocking me but now that you say this she might've cast a spell on me." madam Smith told him, sounding terrified.

More and more people gathered around them, leaving the girl nowhere to run. She just stood there, head down. Her tears were still falling and her knees and hands were bloody from falling onto the rough ground.

One man stepped forward and pulled her hat of, resulting in black hair falling down, to the girl's shoulders. What was strange about it is that it seemed it's tips were red, though Theo couldn't see properly from behind his father.

The one thing that made the crowd gasp were her eyes. They were brigtly purple. The most beautiful shade of purple you would ever see.

"What is this?!"

"She is a cursed child!"

"A demon!"

Various screams and yells spread through the gathered crowd. People hide their kids and some even crossed their heart.

A priset stepped out of the crowd. He was an elderly man, his hair fully gray, but he stood tall and most of the children feared him. It was because he would yell at them and sometimes even hit them with his walking cane.

"Who are you and why have you come here you child of devil?" his voice was autoritative and deep.

The girl looked up at him but didn't speak, she was simply too afraid.

The priest used his cane to hit the girl on the head before repeating, louder this time. "Who are you and why have you come here?"

"E-zume...Hirano." the girl said quietly, her voice trembling and her hands shaking over her head. Theo wasn't able to hear the name because of all the people mumbling and talking.

"What? Did you just cast a spell on us?!" the priest yelled.

"Theo, go home. Now." his father ordered in a strict tone.

Theo obeyed but he would still hear the shouts and after a moment a scream, the girl was screaming in such agony Theo thoght they must have killed her. He turned around and ran all the way to his house, he got scared and once he got home he ran straight to his room, closing the door and leaving his mother worried.

He heared his parents talking later that night, his father said the girl was a witch and that they chased her away, he also mentioned something about making sure she never uses witchcraft again.