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Chloe sighed, looking out of the small window almost hidden behind the sewing room's old closet. It was yet another cloudy day in the City of Foam, another day where he'd have to be confined in that same dull room, repairing clothes here and there; another day where his sisters would laugh at him, yell at him, and insult him.
Nothing ever changed in that city. Not even the weather. Chloe wished he could somehow cast a spell and leave that place forever. Run away and never look back. But he was too much of a coward to even try practising his magic unless he was completely sure no one else was near. And his magic would never be strong enough. He would never be strong enough.
He truly, really, did not have anything at all, except for his dreams which he shared with an old sewing box. Those dreams that, after years of being dreamt over and over again, he was starting to think would never come true. His fantasies were nothing but fantasies. Stupid, useless fantasies that only distracted him from his work.
That's what he was thinking, when he thought he saw a silhouette in the corner of his eye that looked like it belonged to someone out of a fairytale. Purely out of curiosity, he looked towards the sewing room's door and stared at the tiny window on top of it. Silently, he approached it and removed the worn-out curtain that prevented customers outside from seeing the inside of the room.
There he was. A man whose appearance had nothing to do with his, or his family's, or anyone in the whole town, really. Not that Chloe had ever seen anyone else, but he could imagine. If his town was a cold cloudy day, then that person was a warm sunny day.
Chloe wondered what someone like him was doing in his family's shop. Was he lost? No, it didn't seem like he was. He was looking around as if searching for something, or someone.
"Haha, maybe he's come to get me out of here. Nah, what am I thinking... That's impossible, things like that don't happen. And especially not to me." Chloe thought, with a bittersweet smile on his face.
Even so, he couldn't bring himself to look away and get back to work. There was something about the way he moved that made him look noble and eternal, like a ray of light. There was something about his voice that made him sound like a carefully composed melody made to be played on an ancient yet beautiful instrument. There was no way he was from the same place as him.
Just as the mysterious man was about to leave, he seemed to notice a presence from the room Chloe was in.
"Excuse me." He spoke up, turning around to face Chloe's parents. "What's in that room right there? I sense the presence of a wizard. Are you perhaps hiding a wizard?"
"O-Of course not! Why would you think such a thing? There are no wizards in this place!" His father answered, feeling himself getting nervous.
"But there must be a wizard here. I would like to at least make sure."
Chloe felt his heart beating faster and faster with each second that passed. Fearing the door would be opened, he walked away from it, but still refused to look away from it. He could hear his family trying to convince the man that there wasn't anything remotely similar to a wizard, but he didn't seem to care.
He heard footsteps that sounded nothing like his sisters', and saw the door opening right in front of him.
His eyes widened and he couldn't help but gasp at the presence of someone else in the room. It didn't help that said someone looked exactly like a refined and kind nobleman from a fantasy world.
"Oh, were you the one in charge of sewing all those lovely clothes? Someone so good at sewing as you... why, you must be my bride!" Out of all the things Chloe was expecting the man to say, that was the thing he expected the least. But despite him being a stranger to him and despite his eccentric words, the way he was smiling at him made Chloe trust him more than he had ever trusted anyone.
"Amorest Viesse!" He said, but to Chloe, his voice sounded like he was singing.
In the blink of an eye, Chloe was turned into a bird. His skinny arms and sore, bruised hands were replaced with beautiful blue feathers, and his small mouth that could barely speak was turned into a beak. In the middle of all that confusion, he also found himself trapped in a birdcage. Only a few seconds had passed, but he felt like his whole life had just changed.
"Thank you very much for helping me find my bride. I'll make sure to return to your shop one day to show my gratitude. Until then, I bid you all farewell." The man smiled at his parents, who were left as speechless as Chloe, and left the place without saying anything else.
The moment he stepped out of the shop, birdcage in hand, Chloe felt like he had been born again. Before his eyes was the outside world, an infinite extension of what he saw through the small windows at his house.
Despite being trapped in a cage and not being able to even speak, he felt more freedom than he had ever felt before in his thirteen years of life. But he had to be careful ー he'd always been told wizards like him were terrible beings, and if the man he had just met was one too, he could get into serious trouble. Into more trouble than accidentally dropping something at home caught him, for example. He tried to somehow fly out of the cage, but to no avail.
He thought all was lost when he noticed a change of scenery, as if they had left the town, and noticed the man brought the birdcage closer to his face.
"Hold on, now that I look more closely... It appears you are not my bride after all. Sorry, wrong person. I'll let you out now and return you to your family." After those words, he opened the small door, letting Chloe escape, and he pronounced his magic spell again.
Chloe was who he had always been again. A small boy whose appearance was somehow alike to ashes purposefully scattered on the floor. He felt his heart beating fast again. What in the world was going to happen next...?
"You can fly freely now, little bluebird. Should I accompany you to your house, or do you know the way back? I'm certain I would cause some trouble if I were to go back to my journey with you by my side. Your parents must be worried..."
"N-No, wait!" Chloe finally found it in him to speak up. That was his first time talking to someone who wasn't part of his family. "I don't want to go back! Take me with you! Please, just don't let me go back!" Letting a stranger take him away was probably not a very wise choice on his part, but what could be worse than his hometown?
"Oh... Were you not treated correctly back home? That's certainly a pity. I think you're a lovely wizard, and you're good at sewing too. You could be a great tailor. What's your name?" Chloe couldn't believe what he had just heard. Was he... being complimented? He, of all people?
"...Thank you. I'm... My name is Chloe. I don't know how to cast any powerful magic or anything, and I'm honestly pretty useless, but... I hope I can be of use to you, um..."
"Rustica. My name is Rustica, and I am a Western wizard. I'm sure you're a wonderful person, Chloe. Not useless at all. I could tell that from the moment I first saw you."
"...Really...? But, I mean, I look... like this..." Chloe made a gesture with his hands referring to his whole body. "And I'm, uh. I'm a wizard on top of that...."
"Being a wizard is a wonderful thing as well, my dear Chloe. It doesn't matter if your magic is weak right now. I can tell your heart isn't weak." Chloe nearly teared up after hearing that. No one had ever been close to being so kind to him. For the first time in his whole life, he felt like he wasn't alone. "Now, would you like to join me on my journey? I just happen to be looking for my bride right now, you see. Like you, she's a lovely person, but I haven't been able to reunite with her yet."
"Ah, um, sure! Thank you, thank you!" He wasn't sure of what Rustica meant by that, but he was certain it'd be better than returning home.
"I'm happy to hear you're accepting my invitation. Here, get in my broom, and we'll fly out of here. I'll make sure to fly slowly, so don't worry." Rustica summoned his broom with a smile, and Chloe couldn't help but to smile as well.
From that day on, the days that had always been tormentingly cloudy to Chloe turned into glorious sunny days.