The walk back was quiet and peaceful, and asides from the occasional grunts and grumbles from my companion whenever I failed to feed her in time, I was not the least bit disturbed.

I had to say, though, that I was starting to lose control over her tantrums. But I wasn't alarmed since I trusted her to meet expectations, regardless of whatever.

That was the result of our years of friendship.

It was beautiful, just like the weather.

Walking underneath the shade the tall trees provided, I felt at peace. The sun had already dialed down, and there was a comfortable chill in the atmosphere, probably because of winter.

I liked the blend.

All year-round, the leaves remained in full bloom, not falling even once regardless of the season.

Everlasting, I called it.

Amazed, I scrutinized the greens, pinks, and others around me, disappearing into a blissful landscape. The forest was so diverse; it was weird but mystical, in a sense.

Everything blended in perfect harmony. The rustling sounds of leaves encased us as gentle breezes blew without direction.

Beyond this breathtaking beauty I experienced, everything else was absolutely uneventful.

Liar.

I winced.

Shut up, conscience!

Okay, maybe it wasn't entirely uneventful.

But it depended on one's definition of eventful, anyway.

I mean, becoming intrigued by a strange flower species on your way home and discovering that its pollens made you sneeze uncontrollably after inhaling it could not possibly constitute as eventful.

Even more so, having almost not resisted the urge it gave you to scratch your face off wouldn't alter its category as uneventful, would it?

Right?...

What do you think?

Okay, okay, okay.

But to be fair, the flower was lovely, and there was absolutely no way I would have known that it would trigger such an awful reaction. So, technically, we, I and the flower, were both victims of ignorance and the situation.

In this forest?

Alright, fine!

And why I was defending some stupid flower, I did not understand.

Shaking my head, I let out a huff in slight frustration, and, since I was being honest...

It was probably very dumb of me to even attempt, picking up some pretty-looking flower from the forest path. Honestly, this forest wasn't really the utopia it outwardly appeared to be.

It was a whole lot more irritating, I'll say.

Anyway, I'd become fully invested in the understanding that it was out to get me one way or the other.

One miserable experience following another miserable experience, and I did not have to be a genius to put two and two together to have realized this.

There was a limit to clumsiness, even if I was the subject of said limits, after all.

There is?

Oh, screw you.

I did not need to take this from my conscience.

Jeez, alright; just don't crash into that tree branch you're headed toward, dear.

My heart skipped a beat.

What? Where?

Hastily, I zeroed my attention back to the path ahead-hoping to disprove something I knew deep down but didn't want to accept-and to avoid a potential smack-down.

But...

It was too late.

My nose had already made harsh contact before my legs could stop.

I watched as I collided with the branch that stood stark in the way; this was what I got for sinking into la-la land.

My thoughts were going to consume me before any cursed plant in this forest could.

Shit.

I cursed underneath my breath before stumbling backward, reflexively. A sharp, slightly burning discomfort streaked through my nose and into my head, making me groan in exasperation as I cupped my face.

Fuck!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Willow staring at me with a puzzled expression, but I couldn't even bring myself to form a complete sentence.

For that moment, I was in a daze, swaying back and forth in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow!" I hissed continuously and remained careful not to apply too much pressure. I did not intend to worsen my already unfortunate situation.

"Why me?" I whispered on the verge of tears. The heat seemed intent on squeezing out all the water stored in my eyeballs.

It started as a suffocating sensation, which slowly gave way to a searing pain, which I used my all to resist.

Damn, that one would leave an ugly bruise.

I released a muffled cry and started pacing in anxiety as the prospect of an injured nose and a less-than-perfect look for today dawned on me.

"Shit, fuck!" And a whole string of other curses poured out of my mouth as I tried to endure the panic and ache slowly coming on.

Pausing, I held one hand over my nose and fisted the other, glaring, from beneath teary eyes, at the bastard tree branch.

"You!" I seethed as I contemplated giving in to the desire to wreck it.

But I hesitated, since...

I didn't trust myself on matters of proper execution; the last thing I wanted was self-sabotage. And I certainly did not trust the tree to not send some surprises my way like the flower from before.

It took every ounce of my being to resist running up to the tree that decided to grow a branch low enough to get me and give it a piece of my mind.

The branch was way too low because I wasn't even that tall!

The tears started coming, building momentum for a host of reasons.

More due to the pain and then the depressing realization that I was truly and hopelessly clumsy, all culminating in the fact that today honestly wasn't giving me a break.

Gosh.

I swear I wasn't usually emotional on other days; it was just... how could I have run into a tree branch that was in plain sight?!

That type of thing was depressing!

You'll be fine, baby. You'll be fine.

I took a short moment to sulk before concern overcame me, and I hastily felt up my nasal region for any possible bleed, and thankfully there was none.

All I had was a bruised and slightly cold nose.

Wait, what?

I didn't notice at first, but the burn had started to cool down. It was like a cold, wet blanket hovered above my nose.

Hurriedly, I poked my nose gently to make sure I still had a feeling there. I was scared that it had gotten paralyzed.

"Oh, thank goodness!" I sighed in relief when I felt the pain from the contact. Who would have thought that pain would bring me as much comfort as it did at that moment?

The coldness also brought strange comfort, which seemed to linger for a while.

Curiously, I continued poking gently, and soon the pain started receding. Then the burns followed, and before I could process what happened...

I was fine.

What the-

I kept poking and prodding, but I felt none of the earlier discomforts like they had dissipated into thin air.

Wait, how-

I tilted my head in wonder and started fact-checking.

At first, I thought that maybe I was experiencing a lingering side effect from the Gods-forsaken flower I'd inhaled.

But after carrying out numerous tests, which were truly only hitting my head repeatedly and chanting 'wake up, wake up,' I realized it was all real! I was not hallucinating.

"What the hell?!"

Speechless was an understatement for how I felt; I was amazed! And yet, I couldn't pick a suitable word for it; one was most likely not invented yet.

It was a miracle.

Like magic!

"Wait, was it?"

A thought popped into my head after I tried rationalizing the phenomenon, as I did before.

I directed my gaze at the dainty bracelet, its pearls held together by a metallic frame, I assumed.

Magic?

"Damn. Isn't this overpowered or something?" Realization dawned over me as I recalled what Sage had told me.

A sense of triumph overcame me, and I turned to face my companion with a beaming smile on my face.

"Get yourself a Sage, why don't ya?" I teased and flaunted the life-saving accessory in her face.

Willow didn't even give me the time of day as she promptly gave a grunt and turned to resume her journey without me.

Letting out a snobbish cackle, I caught up to her and continued flaunting.

The rest of the journey entailed me disturbing her and then having close shaves with her hind legs.

By the end, I appeased her with the lemmons I'd packed beforehand.

Impatient, she had gone through more than half of the fruit and considering I fed her sparingly, I was astonished. But that was the extent to which I could affect her consumption; anymore, I would have had a dissatisfied horse to handle.

Sighing, I pulled my thoughts away from her and attended to the familiar and less optimistic ones that nagged at the corner.

I had deliberately ignored them, as I usually tried, but it proved futile. There were always two sides to a coin and my mind. Plus, I lacked the ability to compartmentalise. It was the one failing trait I possessed, among others.

So whenever I was on the upside of things: I was never entirely free from the downside, and vice versa.

Because of this, my intention to sustain optimism from this morning was slowly starting to seem unnecessary. And although I remembered Sage's assurances, I just couldn't bring myself to feel that way.

I was being fickle-minded, sort of.

But I wasn't entirely worried, anyway. It was a usual occurrence. I trusted myself to get to the upside eventually. So even if I did not know how to get there, I planned to hold on for dear life. As long as I did, I would be okay.

But the understanding did not change how heavily depressing the situation felt. Although I knew what it was and why it was, I didn't know how to tackle it. Every year around this time and some others, I endured the assaults.

No one, except Sage, knew as far as I was concerned. She was the only one who helped me deal; she tried her best. But it just was not enough.

After all, yesterday was...

Sigh.

Sighing, I kept a bitter smile on my face; as I lamented my miserable situation.

Truly unfortunate, hehe.

Unconsciously, I tensed as we reached the clearing which my home occupied.

It wasn't too big; the land or the house. But it was big enough to house a double-story building, a stable on the left, and a well at the back. It was many times larger than the village structures, definitely.

There was a tree house right up front that Dad built a long while back with him.

Just the thought of it and the fact that I hadn't neared the place in years nearly caused my mood to drop by more than a little.

We soon reached the stable as Willow released excited neighs, effectively announcing her return to the rest of her family that resided within.

Right on cue, the replies reverberated throughout the woody interior as we made our way through the doors.

It was slightly warmer inside, considering five horses lived there, but it had ample space.

There was a gear rack by the entrance, an open area at the front center, and their stalls from far back to the corner.

I watched as her father, Vassili, and youngest brother, Paladin, gathered around her excitedly.

Her mother, Odyssy, was almost due, so she had to stay inside her stall to prevent stress from unnecessary movements, and Caesar stayed with her.

And Caesar, her immediate younger sibling, was the more reclusive one among them, hence why he stayed inside.

The wholesome and affectionate scene made me space out for a moment, causing me to relive a time past.

You're doing it again.

At the thought, I shook my head and patted my face three times to retrieve myself from the stupor.

"Daphne, stop, stop. There's no point in thinking about that." I muttered, despite the fact that my heart screamed otherwise.

Soon, I mustered up the strength in my legs to join the bunch.