Someone was glowing.

It was hard to make out details at this distance, but walking along the main market street, slowly winding his way through the evening crowds, was a young man giving off a vibrant, swirling blue glow.

Lapis had never seen anything like it. Despite the golden evening sunlight filling the street where he stood, the blue light surrounding the man was still perfectly visible, making him stand out even more in the busy crowd. He looked human, and young—probably around the same relative age she was, though humans aged much faster than elves. His clothes were far too big on him, and his large coat hung off his shoulders, nearly dragging on the ground. He had a bulky travel bag over his shoulders—clearly he was from out of town—and his shaggy mess of black hair hung awkwardly in his face.

Lapis glanced around, but despite the man glowing with some kind of ethereal blue light, nobody around him seemed to notice. No one even gave him a passing glance as he wove through the crowd.

Lapis felt a bizarre feeling prickling at the back of her mind. Was it fear? Curiosity? Apprehension? She wasn't sure. A thought floated to the surface: I need to get a closer look.

She considered rushing downstairs and trying to catch him on the street, but she doubted Agatha would let her go chasing after a random stranger just before the dinner shift. As she weighed her options, Lapis watched as the man kept walking, the blue glow around him disappearing from view behind one of the buildings on the corner.

Dammit—I'll lose him! Lapis looked around—the rooftop of the building next to Angel Haus was roughly the same height, and only separated by a narrow gap. Maybe if she got a running start...

Her body moved before she finished the thought. Taking a few steps back to give herself space, she ran to the edge of the roof and leaped across to the building next door. Stumbling slightly as she landed, her heart pounded as she steadied herself. What am I doing?! What would Agatha say if she found out I was jumping across buildings like some kind of burgular?!

Yet, somehow, she wasn't afraid. The feelings bubbling up in her chest weren't the same as the ones she felt under the burning stares of her audience. She wasn't afraid of being on the roof, or jumping between the buildings. She wasn't even afraid of the possibility of falling to her death. If anything, she felt... excited.

That excitement mixed with her curiosity about the glowing man pushed her onward, taking a quick breath before sprinting forward and jumping to the next rooftop. She was about halfway to the corner now—only a few more jumps left. She didn't stumble at all landing on the third building, and feeling a surge of confidence, ran across the roof and jumped the next gap without stopping. The evening wind whipped around her as she leapt, her dress and hair blowing backwards through the air, and as the adrenaline rushed through her, she couldn't help but let out a shy but triumphant laugh. Did she find this fun?

She landed on the 4th roof—one more and she'd be at the corner, and would hopefully have a better view of her target. Confidence surging through her, she kept running toward the final gap between buildings. Kicking off the edge of the tiled roof, she leapt gracefully over the gap, feeling the wind on her face, smiling from the rush of this new feeling, until—

I wish performing came as naturally.

The thought shoved its way into her mind, and she made the mistake of looking down. The once insignificant leap between buildings suddenly seemed much wider, and her stomach flipped as she realized the distance she would fall if she missed her jump. The fleeting confidence from before was knocked out of her like a punch to the gut, and she missed landing on the roof by a mere inch.

Fear crashing over her, Lapis threw her arms out and just barely managed to grab the edge of the roof, holding on for dear life as her body swung forward and slammed painfully into the wall of the building. Nausea gripped her as she hung there, a several-story fall awaiting her if her fingers slipped. Taking a terrified breath, she summoned every ounce of strength she had and slowly pulled herself upward, her feet pushing against the wall for leverage. Hefting her torso up onto the ledge, she rolled the rest of her onto the roof and lay there, letting out a ragged sigh. Her heart pounded against her ribs, her lungs burned, and her whole body shook as adrenaline raced through her.

What am I doing? she thought as she came to terms with her near death experience. Had she really pulled some ridiculously stupid stunt on a whim, just to chase after—

The glowing man. Where was he? Ignoring her aching muscles and shaking legs, Lapis shakily pulled herself to her feet. The building she was on top of was at the corner of the main market street—she had made it. She looked over the edge of the roof, scanning the bustling crowds for any sign of the strange light, only to see...

Nothing. The glowing man wasn't there.

Frustrated, Lapis looked over the crowd once, twice, thrice more—but there was no sign of him, or the strange blue light that surrounded him. She sat back on the roof, cursing. He must have turned down a side street while she had been making her way across the rooftops. Frustrated, she punched her leg, and tears stung at the corner of her eyes. The feeling confused her. Why was she getting so worked up over this?

She sat down on the rooftop, letting the rush of adrenaline subside. Above her, the sky was beginning to fade from its bright sunset yellow to a dark pink as she sun dipped behind tree-covered hills. She needed to get back to the tavern; the dinner rush would be starting soon, if it hadn't already. Yet as she looked over over the crowd below, she felt a strange sense of anticipation rise in her chest. Who was that man? What was that light around him? And why did it feel so...

...Familiar?