Moss was waiting for him, eyes gleaming. “I heard you!” The ogre tried to whisper, but Cody was pretty sure Orion could hear him anyway.

He stood outside his house and waved when Cody turned back one more time on the other side of the garden. That dazzling smile sent Cody’s knees weak again.

“He confessed his love to you!”

“No! He likes me. That— that doesn’t mean anything. You can like all sorts of things. Cooking. Gardening. Making up spells.”

Moss slapped a heavy hand on Cody’s shoulder. “If Oak ever said that to me…” He let out such a deep sigh that his hand shook along with it. “Believe me. That human man is smitten with you.”

Something swirled in his stomach, tingling all the way to his toes. On reflex, he tried to smother the feeling by thinking of Fleur. This time, it didn’t work.

What if Orion was right?

Could Fleur really have bewitched him? The thought made him sick.

When he broke up with her right before the graduation feast, he’d been sure he only felt friendship for her. Could that have driven her to bind him to her with magic? It wasn’t the first time he couldn’t explain why he’d ended up in a relationship with her again. It had just… felt right.

And now it might turn out those feelings had never been real. That they were magical in origin—and that his real feelings were finally surfacing, now that she couldn’t dose him anymore… and Orion was back in his life.

It sounded less far-fetched than he wanted it to. And still… was she really capable of something that awful? If you bound someone to you like that, it couldn’t possibly be love.

“I don’t get it.” Moss’s rumbling voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “Why the long face? And why do you need the Titan’s Tears?”

As they left Orion’s house—and his cats—behind, Cody hesitantly started talking about Fleur and Orion’s suspicions. Moss’s stone face gave little away, though now and then he made a low, growling sound that told Cody he was getting worked up about what Fleur had done.

If she’d really done it.

The winding path narrowed, forcing them to walk single file. Plants with hair-thin silver leaves brushed his shoulders like soft brushes, leaving a glittering sheen on his clothes. Drops kept landing on his head and arms, falling more often the further they went. It wasn’t raining; it was like a permanent dew clung to the plants and flowers here. When the sunlight caught them, they sparkled like pearls. With every step Mos took ahead of him, branches swished in all directions. 

“Will the Titan even give me his tears?” Cody wondered aloud.

It was hard to hear Moss with him walking up front. He tried his best to catch his deep voice through the chirping of birds and insects.

Instead of an answer, Mos gave a deep rumble and turned around—nearly stepping on Cody’s feet. Cody hurriedly backed away.

“The Titan’s been dead for centuries.”

“Oh.” Cody scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward. “But… his tears are still here?”

“Of course. You’ll see in a moment.”

Moss grinned with a wide, gaping smile, then turned and stomped on.

Cody followed. The dripping leaves grew heavier, the ground beneath them softer. Eventually, the path opened onto a meadow full of flowers, bordered by massive rock formations.

Cody gasped as he took in the sight. It looked like a giant head—larger than all of Holtgaard—lying on its side, turned toward him. Sunlight streamed into the hollow eye sockets, where a bright blue gleam shimmered. Water poured out, twin waterfalls merging into a pool of clear, greenish-blue water.

The nose, mouth, and chin were there too, birds with silvery-white feathers hopping across them.

“Amazing…” Cody breathed, his voice tinged with disbelief. “So this is the Titan? Who carved him out like that?”

Mos turned to him. “No one knows. Just like no one knows who carves ogres when they rise to the surface. The old stories say the Titan fell from the sky and used his last strength to create all of us. All of us—except humans. They say you lot arrived here on boats.”

Cody stared at the giant head. He’d thought it was a massive sculpture—not something that had once lived. But why should that surprise him? Moss was made of stone, too. Maybe this gigantic stone being was some distant ancestor of his.

“So… how are you born, then?” Cody asked. “Don’t you have parents?”

“We do. When two—or sometimes more—ogres court each other, they’re overcome by a surge of heat. During those sometimes days-long heats, a soulstone forms inside them, just like in their partners. They bury the soulstones together, and over three years, those stones morph into a new ogre, who eventually crawls out of the ground. And sometimes there’s no partner at all. The soulstone just… forms.”

Cody was fascinated. He thought it was a shame that none of this was ever taught at the Academy.

“So… how does it work for humans?”

“Oh.” Cody felt his cheeks heat up. “Well… it’s… really different.”

“Tell me!”

“I think we should head over to those waterfalls first.”

Moss chuckled. “I can hear your heart pounding. Ka-boom. Ka-boom.” He started walking again. “Tell me on the way!”

It was silly, really, that Cody felt embarrassed. It was just nature. But it was so completely different from how ogres did things. He decided to keep it simple.

“Well… it’s kind of like with most animals. A man and a woman… get very close. Intimate. And then… the man sends little seeds into the woman’s egg. And the baby grows inside her belly.”

Luckily, Mos didn’t ask for more details about the intimacy part. “So only a man and a woman can make babies? Why?”

Cody shrugged. “That’s just how we’re made.”

“So you and Orion…”

Cody’s face flared red. “That’s… something couples only talk about after being together for a long time.” He’d always avoided the topic with Fleur. Maybe because part of him had resisted the unnaturalness—the enchantment that had been over him.

If there even was an enchantment. He still couldn’t imagine how that would’ve worked. She’d hardly ever given him drinks—he always did that himself. Casting spells on him all the time? As far as he knew, magic didn’t work that way. You couldn’t just make someone feel happy or sad with it.

Deep in thought, he stopped at the edge of the pool. Tiny dragonflies and butterflies flitted across the shimmering surface. The water called to him, a prickling sensation running down his neck. The falling tears sparkled as they fell, whispering to him. Come. Let us wash you clean.

He had no intention of undressing. Suddenly, he was wading ankle-deep in the swirling water—and then knee-deep, waist-deep. He let himself fall forward, swimming toward the waterfalls that broke apart on a smooth, flat stone. He climbed on top of it, crawling on hands and knees over the slick surface.

The streams poured over his shoulders, his back, his head. Around him, a dark red mist began to rise, smelling strongly of roses. The mist swirled, slowly shaping itself into a silhouette that spun around—and smiled.

Then it collapsed into dust. The water washed the crimson specks away, leaving Cody kneeling—dripping, suddenly freezing. The tears stung his eyes.

Inside, something felt torn out, as if a part of him had been ripped from his chest. Something that had never really been his—but had felt like it over the years. He slid off the rock and waded to shore. Pulling himself onto the bank, he let his legs dangle in the water.

With his eyes closed, he thought of Orion. He pictured every detail of his face, sharp and clear. For a moment, he imagined brushing his thumb along Orion’s smile.

He waited, tense.

No trembling fingers. No stabbing headaches.

Nothing happened.

He thought of the red mist that had surrounded him—the scent of roses that had always clung to her. The scent she must have used to enchant him.

Cody opened his eyes and drew in a deep breath. Even though he felt freed, what remained was mostly betrayal. Deceit. He got to his feet on shaky legs. At least now he could function again—and start searching for the memories.

The sooner he had answers, the sooner he could confront Fleur with the truth. He glanced around, searching for Mos.

The ogre was gone.

Cody scoured the entire area. There was no trace of Moss anywhere. It made no sense. He refused to believe his friend had just abandoned him. Something must have happened. But what? Had he climbed the rocks, slipped, and shattered into pieces?

Out of better ideas, Cody threw caution aside. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Moss! Where are you?”

He strained to listen for a reply. All he heard was the waterfall’s endless roar. What should he do? Head back to Orion’s and ask the cats for help? The ones best suited for that were already out searching for Nova. Besides, he wasn’t even sure he could find his way back—he’d followed Mos blindly.

He took out his wand, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger as he thought. Maybe he could charm a leaf and have it fly toward Moss. He wasn’t skilled enough to make a spell last an hour, but surely Mos wasn’t that far away.

“Cody?” a voice called behind him. “Is that really you?”

Cody spun around. The voice wasn’t familiar.

A young man stood a few steps away. He was Cody’s height, with the exact same build. His hair was blond, though it didn’t glow, and his face had fewer freckles than Cody’s.

Otherwise… they were identical.

Cody stared at him, stunned. “Who… who are you?”

“Andrew. I— I can’t believe I’ve finally found you.” The young man rushed forward and pulled him into a tight embrace. “I’ve been searching for you for years. Years.”

Andrew’s voice cracked. Tears welled in his eyes and fell.

Cody had no idea what to say. The resemblance was undeniable. This had to be his brother. Probably even his twin.

His throat closed up. Family… I have family. Here. In the middle of nowhere. He sucked in a shaky breath. “I don’t… how did you find me?”

The young man smiled through his tears. “After the fire, I wandered the wilds for months until a centaur family found me and took me in. They said humans were dangerous and wouldn’t take me near them. They believed we’d meet again if it was meant to be. Every now and then, I ate the Fruits of the Future. And last time… I finally got a vision. I had to go to the ogres. There, I met Oak—I saw I’d be going on a journey with her. She was worried about a friend of hers who hadn’t returned, and I offered to help her search. That’s how I ended up here.” He smiled again. “And found you.”

“And Moss?” So he wasn’t lying in pieces somewhere.

“Moss got chewed out. Bast wasn’t too pleased he’d vanished without telling anyone. Everyone thought something bad had happened. And… I’m sorry to say this, but the fact that he was helping a human didn’t exactly go over well.”

Cody looked around. “That still doesn’t explain where Moss is now.”

“Oak dragged him home. He actually wanted to say goodbye, but… you’d been under that waterfall for hours, and her patience ran out.”

Hours? That… he couldn’t wrap his head around it. Then again, magical places like this probably weren’t meant to make sense. And why would Andrew lie?

Moss must’ve planned to find him later—or maybe he was waiting for Cody to look him up for once. He could imagine Moss not daring to go against Oak, afraid of ruining his chances with her.

The thought that Oak cared enough to come looking for him made the corners of his mouth lift.

Cody refocused on his mirror image. Andrew. His brother. He was still stunned. He’d dreamed his whole life of the family he’d never known—and never thought he’d find. And now… here he was.

“So, um… you mentioned a fire? Did our parents…?”

Andrew lowered his head, his shoulders sinking. “Yeah. We were really young when it happened. Maybe three. I don’t know what went down, but someone must have gotten us to safety… I’ve always imagined it was one of our parents—and they didn’t make it.” He drew a deep breath. “I can show you what’s left of our old home. It’s not far.”

Cody didn’t miss the hope in Andrew’s voice. How long had he waited to share this with someone? Even if all that remained was a charred ruin—it tied them together.

At the same time… it was a lot. On top of everything else already on his mind.

But he couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud. Andrew looked at him with big, blue eyes—eyes that spoke of too many disappointments, too many years searching for a place to belong, for a connection that mattered.

My brother. Everything else could wait. He smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I’d like that.”