“Madilyn James, get back here!” roars a just-barely pre-teen boy as the two race through the village.

In the lead is Madilyn James, the baker’s daughter who today is wearing trousers and an earthy colored cotton shirt, though whether the entirety of that is the original color is currently up for debate. Sparing a quick glance behind her, she smiles, turns a corner and picks up a double handful of dry dirt.

Her pursuer, as seems to have happened these last several months, is Sidney, son of Orwen the Wolfsbane and Leticia the town healer. Of note today for the townsfolk is the fact he seems to be drenched, nearly head to foot. The first time this chase happened was when she gave him some soap “from your mom’s shop” which ended up turning the boy entirely blue for a week.

However, the third actor, known only to a very select few, is sitting under a tree near the town’s fountain, with book and fruit in hand. On his head rests a duck, and to his left rests his older sister Sia. Hearing the sputtering and coughing from the hapless boy, Sia asks Ted the same thing as she has before.

“You ever think we should stop giving her ideas?”

“You are the one that started this you know. I wanted her to give him soap that made him glow in the dark.”

“Yeah,” she says, “but that would have made the prank somewhat useful during the festival.”

“True.”

“You were the one to escalate it though!”

“This… may be true. That delayed spice was great though. And look, I help him prank her from time to time as well. It just usually doesn’t result in them chasing each other around town.”

“I do admit, that flour fight was spectacular, even if we all had to stay and clean up for an hour afterwards.”

“You ever think we may be the bad guys around here?”

“Totally,” Sia nods without hesitation. “You’ve been reading the history books. Almost all of them have you portrayed as a villain, at least the stories from a long time ago. Even a few of the recent ones are still blaming you for things.”

“Slander and lies I tell you, only a speck of truth in even part of them.”

At this point, Sidney and Madilyn can be seen making their way towards the fountain. Or more properly, Sidney is acting like she is a potato sack and is heading there, though once she realizes what he’s planning on doing, she starts struggling a bit and hanging on. One splash and two soaked children later, they stand up and are about to start arguing when they hear a suspiciously penetrating quack.

Looking towards the duck, the waving Sia, then back at each other, they laugh and crawl out of the fountain.

“Hey Ted, Sia!” Sidney begins, “Can we get dried out? I know you two are good at magic.”

Looking at Madilyn and then nodding at each other, Sia replies in the affirmative. Some minor levitation and whooshing sounds later, Sia and Ted both flash predatory grins as they have caught their prey. Said prey are tickled relentlessly by the wind currents and loose clothing before being dumped in a heap.

“Hey,” Madilyn says to Sidney while still lying on her back, looking at the tree above. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah, I guess. Thanks for that I guess,” is Sidney’s reply, elbow over eyes and still flopped out over the ground.

“Oh?” Ted says, taking the initiative and invitation. “What’s going on?”

“He’s been having bad dreams for months and won’t talk about it!” Madilyn replies, full of exasperation and emotion.

Unseen by Madilyn and Sidney, Ted and Sia exchange looks.

“Tell us about them Sid, we can’t read your mind,” Sia interjects.

“I keep dreaming that I’m in a world where I can’t do this or that,” he exclaims while shooting out sparks and a tiny flame from his fingertips. “Everything moves so slow but so fast, and there is so much rock and not enough green everywhere.”

“Huh,” says Ted. “Sounds only somewhat weird and interesting, but considering you’ve never left the village, it does sound strange. Sia, can you go…”

“I’ll be back with something to drink in a bit,” she says, interrupting the end of the sentence. Springing to her feet, she wanders off at a leisurely pace.

“Nothing to do today, so you might as well spill it,” says Ted to the enthusiastic nodding of Madilyn. ‘Bill” the duck seems to hum in agreement, though the children don’t notice the sound barrier put up around them.

An hour later with many humms, oo’s and ahs, Sidney’s rambling tale appears to be ending.

“It’s good to let it out,” he finishes. “I just hope they stop.”

“Well, we will see,” says Ted, “though bluntly I doubt it.”

“What? Why?” come the replies from Sidney and Madilyn.

Sia replies in his stead, “Because there is a story you do not know yet. Sidney, the mayor and his wife are going to have your family over for dinner tonight. I went to let the mayor and my mom know earlier.”

- - - - - - - - - - -

“Will that really work?” Ted asks Fleur. “I know you have had over a decade to work on this but it seems disingenuous.”

“I have no idea, but as you say, the mayor and I have been working on this for years and we think it is the most likely way to avoid major trauma. Sidney doesn’t stay isolated in his own head, earns some pocket-money in the meantime, and we get to find out more than what we could almost fifteen years ago.”

“You want to turn him into a bard,” he replies in a flat tone.

“No such thing unless he wants the training! And if we do things right, we can edit them slightly for children’s plays, make a small amount of money on the side since who better to play the characters in a magic-less world than those without magic?”

“Oh the tragedy,” he continues flatly.

“It will be fine, and hilarious,” says Sia. “We will call it ‘Short Children’s Plays by Sid the Kid.’”

- - - - - - - - - -

“It’s time, it’s finally time!” proclaims Sia as she bounces around the living area of the small house.

“You are only going because Madilyn was begging you and has been moody for the last six months because of it. And since 6 years have past since the start of the memories, so they have stopped entirely.”

“And you’re only -going -because -we -kept -bothering -you,” she retorts, emphasizing words with punches to Ted’s arms.

“For almost twenty years,” he says flatly, finishing putting on his leather half gloves. “It’s good to be back to full height as well. I wonder how long it has been since I’ve used this set-up?”

“I don’t know about the last time, but I remember the first time!” Sia exclaims, shadow-boxing the air. “You came back with that wood badge and we eventually found a recording of that fight. Well, I stole it from the sheepkin while she was sleeping and gave it back.”

“Like a proper minion should. Bask in my glory.”

“Are we ever going to tell the kids?”

Ted looks at Sia for a very solid 15 seconds as she grins ear-to-ear.

“No,” he says, and immediately walks out the door.

Fleur, having stood in the kitchen throughout this time, shakes her head with a smile, before getting choked up. As tears start dropping, Sia is there hugging her. Returning the embrace, Fleur finally says what is on her mind.

“We have lived more life in this village than we had in the last 500 years, and yet now I’m getting choked up because my two children are leaving, and I don’t know if or when I will see you again.”

“It’s okay mama Fleur, I’ll look after him,” Sia responds. “You were right though, back before we made the decision to move here, he needed to live life to live life, though I don’t think the hurt has gone away. And Bill is coming with us too.”

“I still can’t believe nobody noticed that duck has lived far longer than a normal one ought to,” she says, laughing and wiping away the tears.

“I know,” Sia says with a toothy grin, “and I’m looking forward to the day Sid finds out our duck is anything but normal.”

“Go on, meet up with the others and finish making the rounds, we will see you off in a bit. Sid and Madilyn have been working hard for the last five years after the expats told them about cities, so make sure to properly say goodbye to everyone.”

“Will do! I’m still surprised so many of the adults had no idea where the village actually is in the global scheme of things.”

“I remembered a study from around the time the emperor was caught in the soul net, they noted most sentients will spend the vast majority of their lives within a half-day’s journey of where they grew up, regardless of how far they travel for special trips. I suspect not much has changed.”

“Right, well, I’m off!”

“Say hi to Lomri and the kids for me, see you soon!”