When they had first met he had been crying.
Timpani had been walking to the village on an errand for her parents when she heard him. She tried to convince herself to ignore it, that her parents had tasked her with something important and nobody else could buy the fruit they needed, but between her curiosity and concern, she had to find the source. And so she followed the noise, only to find a boy, his head buried between his legs so that the only thing she could see was his dark blue hair.
Still, knowing it was a boy around her age, there was no way she could leave him now. She got close to where his face would be when he looked up and smiled, so a friendly face would be the first thing he would see. "Hi."
The boy looked up at her, and Timpani fought her panic as she realized he wasn't human like her, but a member of the Tribe of Darkness. He rubbed at his red eyes with a dark blue hand, as though trying to hide his tears, or perhaps his weakness. "Hello..."
He hadn't immediately attacked, so Timpani took that as a sign to reach out. "I heard you crying. Are you alright?"
He blinked at her, uncomprehending. "What?"
"Are you alright?" Timpani crossed her arms. "Do people in the tribe not know to check up on each other?"
The boy immediately shook his head. "You're human...humans don't-"
"Me being human shouldn't matter, you're upset." She sat down next to him. "And if you're upset, that means I'm going to help."
He still stared at her, hardly comprehending her statement. So she waited. She should get back on her run to the village, but it wouldn't be right to ignore him now that she offered help in the first place.
"You're so strange." His voice was soft as he looked at her. "Aren't humans supposed to be afraid of us?"
"Hmm...nope." Timpani grinned, ignoring her initial fear reaction now that she was sure he was fine. "And even if I was, that doesn't change the fact that you're sad. I can't not help somebody sad."
There was another brief period of silence before he said, "I lost my mom."
Timpani tilted her head. "Is that it? I can help you find her then! We'll start looking on the way to the village!"
The boy shook his head. "Not like that, she..." He buried his head between his legs.
Timpani put a hand on his, and he looked up at her again. "I'm sorry."
He gave her a shaky smile, it was thin, and easy to miss with the tears in his eyes, but it was there. And it made Timpani want to smile back too, one more genuine than the last she had given the boy in her attempts to cheer him up.
As the boy went to speak, another voice spoke up. "Blumiere, who is this?"
The boy looked up, startled as another Tribe of Darkness approached. Unlike her new friend, this one was older, and he seemed to look over her outside of her connection to the boy (Blumiere?), as though she wasn't even there.
Timpani wasn't one to be deterred, however, and bounded up to the Tribe of Darkness. "I'm Timpani! And I'm his friend!"
Blumiere stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes. "She wanted to cheer me up. I'm sorry, Father. I didn't mean to go so far from home."
Blumiere's father walked past Timpani, hardly sparing her a glance as he put a hand on Blumiere's shoulder. "That's quite alright, no harm done." Finally, after patting Blumiere on the head, his father turned to face Timpani. "I'm afraid Blumiere is not interested in spending time with a human. While your concern for my son is admirable, it's time we take our leave."
"Why wouldn't he be interested in humans? He likes to play, right?" She tried to ignore the sting of being told that she couldn't be friends with her new friend, all because his father said so. It didn't matter, what mattered was getting Blumiere cheered up.
"The Tribe of Darkness don't like it when humans meddle in our affairs." Blumiere's father didn't elaborate anymore, instead turning to his son. "Come, Blumiere."
Blumiere looked at her before clinging onto his father's cloak and giving her a small wave. "It was nice meeting you."
She gave him a wave. "I hope I get to see you again!"
His father cast her a glare, but said no more as he and Blumiere walked back to their castle at the top of the cliff.
It was only after he walked off that she realized she never gave Blumiere her name.
It wasn't long before the odd encounter with the Tribe of Darkness had been out of her head. And why wouldn't it. Despite the fact that she was worried about Blumiere, she had other, more important things to worry about, and it was exceedingly rare for Tribe of Darkness to visit their human neighbors. It was unlikely they'd have another encounter within her lifetime.
It had been a surprise when two weeks later, as she'd been watching clouds under the tree, she heard a rustle from the branches and a soft "oof." She turned around, only to see Blumiere as a disheveled mess under the tree.
"Blumiere!" She ran over to him as he dusted himself off and gave her a smile. "Are you alright?"
He nodded. "Of course. I'm made of tougher stuff than to let a tree stop me." Blumiere laughed. "I wanted to say hi again. Since my father wouldn't let me talk to you, I wanted to talk to you now"
Timpani crossed her arms, and let out a hmph at the reminder. "He wasn't very nice."
"It's just how we are in the tribe," Blumiere defended his father. "We don't expect kindness from humans."
"Well it's still not nice. I did nothing wrong." She pouted. "Your dad should be nicer."
Blumiere remained silent for a moment. "You're right, he should be. But he's doing his best. He just misses Mom too."
"Are you okay now?" she asked.
He gave a half hearted shrug. "I'm not running away and crying anymore." Before she could ask anything more, he spoke up again with a mischievous grin. "Instead, I snuck out to say hi to you."
Timpani giggled. "Won't you get in trouble?"
"Nope!" Blumiere said. "I'm the Lord of the Tribe of Darkness. The only one who can get me in trouble is my father. And he won't even know."
Timpani was skeptical, but didn't press. "Then we can play together now, right?"
Blumiere looked down at his feet sheepishly. "Well...I can't promise that right now. But I'm going to get us a fort, a place we can play together and my dad or your parents won't know! And it'll be huge!" He gave her a toothy grin. "But I wanted to know your name now. I can't tell you where it is if I don't know what to call you and how to get you the message."
"Oh." Timpani grinned. "It's Timpani!"
"Timpani..." Blumiere extended his hand out. "I'm glad I met you, Timpani."
"Me too." She shook his hand and grinned, watching as he started running off as soon as he let go. "Bye Blumiere! I'll see you soon!"
He stopped his running, giving her another grin before running back to his home.
After that conversation, it had been a long time since Timpani had seen a soul from the Tribe of Darkness. She had been five the last time Blumiere had shown up, and at age eight, there was no sign of a fort or a little boy looking for friendship.
Some days, she almost swore she imagined him entirely. It was almost more believable than a kind member of the Tribe of Darkness walking into her life and wanting to be her friend. That was almost a fantasy in its own right.
Then, while she was on her way to go get a new book to read from the library, she found a note.
It had said to go into the forest, just passed the river, a little ways away from the cliff's edge. The fancy signature in the bottom corner read "Blumiere" and immediately, Timpani was curious.
Had the Tribe of Darkness made good on his promise to be her friend? Was he actually real after all?
She followed the instructions, ignoring her plans all together in favor of finding those answers, and when she arrived, she found a rope ladder, extending up to what looked to be a small building in the tree. She touched the ladder hesitantly, unsure of whether to trust it or to investigate further.
"It's safe." Timpani jumped and turned around, her eyes landing on someone she could only assume was a slightly older Blumiere. He gave her a wave, grabbing onto the ladder. "If it wasn't safe, I wouldn't have told you to come and check it out."
"Blumiere?" she asked. When he nodded, she couldn't help her grin. "You're real!"
"Of course I'm real. I know it's been a while, but it hasn't been that long, has it?" he asked. Both of them were exactly aware of how long it had been since they'd last seen each other, and he stumbled over his words as he continued, "I mean...well...it's been a few years, but you can't build a fort overnight. Especially when you don't have the magic to do it right away and well..."
Timpani giggled. "That's okay, it doesn't matter how long it's been. Now we can actually play together, right?" Blumiere nodded. "Okay, then let's go up and see!" She started climbing as fast as possible, taking two rungs at a time before finally ending up in Blumiere's ‘fort'.
Once she entered, she found a small, one room treehouse with a door and single window for exit and viewing purposes respectively. The floor itself was littered in pillows and blankets, and a small bookshelf rested on the side, filled to the brim with all kinds of tales from the Tribe that Timpani only wished she could start reading sooner.
Blumiere appeared in the doorway seconds after she came in. "I know it's not much, but I wanted some place we could be safe and spend time together for as long as we want. My father shouldn't ever come here, he thinks it's my magic study, so..."
Timpani hugged Blumiere. "It's perfect." She pulled away moments later, opting to throw herself onto the blankets and pillows in the center of the room. She sat up not long after, pointing to the spot in the blankets next to her. "Come on, silly! Don't just stand there, jump in!"
Blumiere chuckled, and followed suit after Timpani, jumping into the pile of pillows and blankets that made up their tree fort as well. "My father would kill me if he saw me doing this."
"Your father isn't here. And as far as I'm concerned, he won't ever be."
The treehouse had become her normal place to hide after Blumiere had built it. Whether he was there or not, she would always find time to stop by and look through the books he had brought, or sometimes she would choose to sit there and draw, since it was always quieter up here than at home. Spending time with her new friend may have been the more important reason for why she came, but Blumiere's presence was never a particularly necessary detail to it, just an extra bonus to it all.
A bonus like today, when she opened up the tree house to see Blumiere with his legs up against the wall, lying on his back, with a book in his hand that he was trying to decode. "Blumiere, you're here!"
He looked over from his book in her direction. "Hi Timpani." He rolled over, attempting to put himself in a more normal sitting position.
She smiled, sitting down on the blankets next to him. "What made you come out here today?"
"My father's got a meeting over at the castle. I didn't want to deal with it." He gave her a smile back. "I thought it'd be more fun to see you anyways than some stuffy old guys in capes."
At his smile, Timpani felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. It had been a feeling that popped up more and more often when she talked to Blumiere, but one that she was determined to ignore. He was her best friend, and that was all he was. "Aren't you going to be one of those stuffy old guys one day?"
Blumiere laughed. "When I'm older. I'm only nine. That's a long time away that I'll be like that. I can be one of those when I'm like...thirty."
"And you're going to keep coming here until then?" Timpani asked. Her hands started fiddling with the blanket she was laying on.
"Nah, I'll be coming here when I'm even older than that. If I didn't, I wouldn't be able to see my best friend." Blumiere paused in thought before continuing. "Actually, I won't have to. We'll fix the rift between humans and the Tribe of Darkness one day. And then you can move into the castle with me, and we can sit through meetings of boring old guys together."
"No, you deal with them yourself. I'll be out adventuring and exploring all the dimensions." She let go of the blanket, instead using her hands to mimic a sword fight against some baddies. She could see it now. After she finished exploring her home, she'd go to another dimension, ones with all kinds of people, people who would never be as narrow minded as some of the people in their world now.
Blumiere's smile only got wider. "I'll come with you then. There's so many amazing places out there according to my father. Together, we can see them all."
"Together." Timpani laid down on the blankets, a book in her hand. They fell into a companionable silence from there, only interrupted by the sound of the occasional turning pages as each got farther into their book.
After a short time, Timpani broke their silence. "Hey Blumiere."
"Hmm?" He let out a noncommittal hum, continuing to flip through the pages.
"Do you really think we can do it? Get humans and the Tribe of Darkness to get along?"
Blumiere looked away from his book at her question. For a moment, she felt silly wanting to know the answer, for wanting nothing more than to stop hiding away their friendship. Before she could apologize for asking, however, he answered. "We get along don't we? If we can do it, I think the rest of our people could too, couldn't they?"
Timpani simply nodded. One day, their friendship would be accepted.
She wouldn't accept any other solution.
She'd been feeling watched, lately. Whenever she was traveling the forest, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. That deep in the forest, something was following Timpani, something was spending a little bit more time everyday, finding her little area of solace in the fort.
At first, she'd convinced herself she was imagining it, but when Blumiere had finally returned to their hideaway, she brought it up.
He remained silent for a while, pondering her question. "It's possible...my father might suspect something."
Timpani tried to hide her fear, but her hands clenched. Her single interaction with the Tribe's Count had been terrifying. His disdain for humans, including her, had been obvious from the beginning. If he knew where his son was...who he was with...
"I'll take care of it." Blumiere insisted, having noticed her tensing. "I won't let him or anybody else hurt you. He can find out about me sneaking out to see you all he wants so long as he doesn't come here. I won't let him find out about you."
Timpani nodded. "What...what would happen if he did?" Her voice shook as she asked, afraid to find the answer.
Blumiere fell silent again. It wasn't a reassuring answer. And so she sat down on their blanket, leaning against him, keeping watch on the window for any signs that somebody was following her. That somebody knew where they had gotten off to.
Just as she had started to calm down and relax, Blumiere spoke again.
"I don't want to find out."
The thoughts of her conversation with Blumiere still spiraled around in Timpani's head as she returned to their fort a few days later. Since he'd mentioned it, she'd been reluctant to go back out of fear that Blumiere's father did know. Yet inevitably, that was her favorite place to be, her hideout, and even if Blumiere might not be there for a while, she still wanted to go.
Perhaps it was her fear, but a part of her did want to avoid seeing Blumiere for now. It may have just been the knowledge of everything Blumiere had said, but the less he was there, the less likely his father would be there.
She put a foot on the first ladder rung when she heard a voice. "I'd been wondering for some time..."
Timpani froze, and turned around. Behind her stood another Tribe of Darkness, one she recognized even with age coloring her memories of hers and Blumiere's first meeting.
"Y-Your highness." Timpani curtseyed to the Count of the Tribe, attempting to show him whatever respect she could to avoid his anger.
He didn't lash out, instead simply waving his hand. "Just my title will do just fine."
Timpani took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. "Count then, it's an honor to meet you more formally."
"Formally?" The Count frowned.
"When I was five," she clarified. "But I'm eleven now, and I've never done anything to hurt Blumiere too in all the time I've known him! So everything's fine, and he and I can be friends now, right?"
The Count held onto his staff, leaning against the gem on top. "It was never about you hurting him. You're but a child. The worst you could do is make him cry. It's about how our kinds cannot be allowed to mix."
Timpani tilted her head. "Well why not? I don't think there's anything wrong with being friends."
"You won't understand," the Count said. Timpani crossed her arms and let out a huff of annoyance. She may have been a kid, but she could understand if the Count would just explain it to her.
"Of course I won't understand if nobody tells me anything."
The Count chuckled, amused but full of disdain. "It's not something you're going to have to worry about."
Once more, Timpani felt rather than her discontent and protest, genuine fear. "What are you gonna do to me then?"
The Count put a hand on her shoulder, gentle. "Despite what lies you may have built up about me in your head, I'm not cruel enough to hurt a child who simply doesn't know better."
"Then what...?"
The Count smiled at her. "I just need you to forget."
Timpani woke up on the forest floor, rubbing her head. It hurt a little, but not as badly as she'd thought it would've, falling from the ladder. She tried to see the sun, to see how long she'd been out, but no luck.
She looked up at the tree house and sighed. She'd been hoping to hide away to read in there, maybe write in a journal a bit, but after that fall, it probably wasn't the best idea to try to climb up there again today. Especially since if she didn't get home soon her parents would be wondering how she was, and if she was okay.
She pushed herself off the ground, running for home. She could always come back another day.
It was later, when she'd gotten home that night, that she found the letter in her pocket.
"Dearest Timpani,
I'll always remember you.
-B"
Blumiere had been attempting to escape the castle once more to visit Timpani when his father caught him. "Blumiere, a moment please."
"Father?" He paused, trying not to let his surprise show. Blumiere knew his father rarely traversed this corner of the castle, it was why he always used this route when he was sneaking away. For his father to have known he'd be here... "Does this have to be discussed now? Not later."
"I think you'll find it relevant to your destination right now," his father said. Blumiere froze. "I figured it's finally time we discussed her, is it not?"
His father knew. His father knew about Timpani. Timpani's fears a few days earlier were correct and she was going to be hurt. She was hurt. He had to get to her now. He had-
He had to calm his thoughts, and try not to let his father know. "Her?"
His father shook his head. "The human girl."
"There is no..." Any protests of knowing her died in Blumiere's throat under his father's gaze. "What did you do to Timpani???"
"I haven't hurt her. Despite what you seem to think, I'm not a monster." His father shook his head at Blumiere. "I made her forget about us. She was useful so long as she encouraged you to continue to learn magic, but now her time of use to us has come to an end. It's time for you to let go of this..." he trailed off, trying to find the proper words. "Infatuation."
Blumiere fell silent. "I never even got to say goodbye."
"It's for the best, my son." With that, his father left, leaving Blumiere to process his grief.
He left the castle in a daze, following the path down to the tree where he built their fort, where he found Timpani unconscious, more than likely resting after the encounter with his father and the strain of having so many years of memory altered and reduced to nothing.
He couldn't be her friend anymore, but he could stay with her this one last time, at least until she woke up.
A crash outside of the treehouse had broken Timpani out of her reverie as she'd been staring out the window. Despite her spotty memories of her time here with an old friend who may or may not have been real, it was still a place she cherished and held a fondness for.
With the crash nearby, she climbed down the old ladder as fast as she dared, following the path towards the cliff wall to see if whoever was there was alright. It was the one thing that always made her a little unsettled, the proximity of the treehouse to the cliff that separated them from the Tribe of Darkness. Yet while she never quite understood why it was there, perhaps it was fate. Its placement might put her close enough to the base where she could save somebody's life.
When she arrived, rather than a human punished for intruding on the reclusive tribe, she found a man of the Tribe of Darkness instead.
She ran over immediately, checking on the man as she searched rapidly for a pulse, but instead as she picked him up to search, she heard a groan. "Please..."
"You're going to be fine. Just...just hang on, please!" She wasn't sure if he heard her or not, but there wasn't time to question. She picked him up off the ground and started running.
So long as she had anything to say about it, his game wouldn't end. She wouldn't let him suffer that fate.
Despite the fact that she had gotten him stable several hours ago, it was still a relief when she heard the Tribe of Darkness start to stir.
At the sound of his groaning, Timpani had all but bolted over to his side. "You're awake at last?"
The Tribe of Darkness looked around through unfocused eyes until finally, his gaze rested upon her. "Where...where am I? Is this a human's home?" he asked in confusion. As soon as he started to get up however, he let out a cry in pain.
Timpani put a hand on him, forcing the man to lie back down. "Don't wiggle like that! Don't you know you'll just hurt yourself more?"
"Hurt myself...more?" He seemed to be slowly coming to awareness, and looked to her for any answers she could provide.
"I found you at the cliff base," she said. "You took quite a fall."
"I-I see..." Afterwards, the man fell quiet, as though contemplating what had happened. She could understand why. There had never been much communication or cooperation between her people and the Tribe, and many humans were afraid of them.
Yet, she never found herself afraid. Uneasy and concerned of what they'd do if they found her so close to their home, but never quite going into fear.
She looked back to the Tribe of Darkness, only to notice him staring. She hummed, waiting for him to ask any questions he wanted.
"You're a human, correct?" She nodded to confirm his suspicions. "I don't...repulse you?"
"No." Timpani smiled. She watched the gears in his head turn, waiting for the connection that he was allowed to be here, that she wasn't bothered.
Instead, he protested again. "But...I am of the Tribe of Darkness..."
Before he could continue, Timpani interrupted him. "Why would that matter?" she said. "Anyone with a heart wouldn't ignore an injured soul!"
He looked at her, almost surprised, but not speaking. She couldn't help but wonder what he'd been told of humans while in the tribe. She knew it was probably much like the tales of the Tribe that they had around the village, and yet, something about his reaction still bugged her. As though she expected him to know better.
She fell silent too after her declaration. It was clear the man had a lot to think about, and she was more focused on tending to his wounds than trying to start a conversation.
"I didn't mean to offend you by assuming you were like that," the man said, all while doing his best to avoid meeting her gaze. "I just...I was always told to assume humans were all like that. That humans who would help somebody like me are one in a million."
"Maybe they are." She smiled at him, placing a hand over his. "But if they are, then I'm one of them."
He gave her a small, tentative smile in return. For a brief moment, rather than the man in front of her, she saw a young boy in his place. Unfamiliar, but a shadow she wanted to chase all the same.
And then, it was gone. And once more, she was left just looking at the man, the memory gone as quick as it appeared.
Rather than let themselves continue to sit in silence, she introduced herself. "I'm Timpani."
Like before, there was a flash of surprise on his face, one masked much faster than that from her declaration.
"Blumiere." Before she could ask about his surprise, he introduced himself, giving her no time to question. "I'm Blumiere."
She'd just stood up to leave the treehouse when she heard somebody climbing up the ladder. She'd been amazed when Blumiere had agreed to meet her again after he'd been healed, and a part of her was sure that he had only done so to appease her when he hadn't shown up at all. Yet all of her waiting didn't matter when she saw him in the doorway. "You're still here." The moment he realized it, his panicked frown turned into a smile.
"I couldn't leave until I knew for sure you wouldn't come." Timpani nodded, a smile of her own starting to form in spite of her worries. "Did something happen?"
"Yes." Just like that, Blumiere's smile was gone. "My father caught me. Sneaking out of the castle wasn't easy after that."
After Blumiere mentioned his father, Timpani fought down the feeling of unease. She'd heard Blumiere mention the Count of the Tribe of Darkness a few times while she healed him, but there was something more to it. Almost as though she were familiar with him herself. "I..." She shook the thought off. That wasn't possible. "I was worried you wouldn't come..."
"I can only imagine." Blumiere chuckled under his breath, though hardly left the doorway.
"What is it?" she asked.
"It's just...you know what I am, you know what we can do, but you're not afraid."
"I don't care what you are!" Once again, Blumiere looked at her, surprised. How many times would she catch him off guard just by telling him that she cared. "I just wanted to see you. Is that...Is that so wrong?"
No!" Blumiere shook his head, as though it would make him sound more convincing. He was almost as upset as she had been by the implications of her not wanting to see him. "No, of course not. I wanted to see you too..."
Timpani smiled. "Then there's no need to worry about the rest. We both want to see each other again, and I think that's all that matters."
It was an invitation, one Blumiere was all too happy to take as he finally entered into the treehouse and sat down on one of the cushions, the spare one she'd brought for him.
And then, it was like she was in a dream. The treehouse changed, blankets and pillows there had never been lining its hard wooden floors, in all sorts of colors and sizes. She was lying down on them, and a boy who was similar to Blumiere was laughing as he jumped in too.
She was pulled back to reality, blinking as Blumiere called her name. "Timpani, are you alright?"
She sat down on the cushion next to him, smiling. "I'm fine. It's nothing, I just..." She struggled to find an explanation. "It's been a long time since I wasn't here alone, that's all."
"How long have you been up here?" Timpani asked upon seeing Blumiere when she entered inside the treehouse. Since taking him here, Blumiere had decided to make himself at home in the fort (she had forgotten that used to be her nickname for it), showing up regardless of whether they would be meeting up or not. While at first it had surprised her, she appreciated so much more the days where she would show up to find Blumiere on a cushion he brought from home, enjoying the break from the busy castle he lived in.
Blumiere looked up from the book he was reading, giving Timpani a small wave. "Not very long. I wasn't expecting you to show up."
"I wanted a quiet place to do some research, and the chance to find a friend." She set her cushion on the ground next to his before taking a seat. She leaned against his back before settling into a calm rhythm, enjoying the comfort of his presence, basking in the comfortable silence outside of the occasional turn of the page.
"What are you reading?" Blumiere asked.
Timpani put the book down to answer. "Something on deja vu."
She felt Blumiere's back stiffen, and he let out a laugh that sounded a little forced. "Getting a familiar feeling from something lately."
She paused for a moment, trying to word things as carefully as possible. "From you, actually. Whenever I'm with you, you bring back memories of this boy I can't remember...a friend I must've had when I was a child. But it's all so spotty...I was pretty sure the only person I'd spent time with up here was an imaginary friend, but the letter, and now..." He didn't respond, she turned to look over her shoulder. "Blumiere?"
"My..." He took a deep breath. "Timpani, what would you say if I said we met before that day you found me."
"What?" Timpani asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper. "We couldn't have. I hadn't known a Tribe of Darkness before you, and you...if...why would you expect me to be afraid if we were friends?"
Blumiere closed his book, and turned around so they were facing each other. "My father..." His voice trailed off for a moment, but he steadied himself moments later. "It had been years since I'd seen a human who didn't react in fear. No matter how much you cared about me, it was...I didn't know how to believe that you were still the same girl you were all those years ago."
She got the feeling it wasn't the whole answer, she also got the feeling that if she pushed Blumiere much further on it, then he might shut her out. She couldn't handle that possibility, not now. Not when she was finally getting answers. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have believed me, or even wanted me around, if I had?" he asked. Timpani immediately wanted to reply that she would've, but the more she thought about it, the more she doubted it.
Being friends with a Tribe of Darkness would've been something difficult to forget, especially one like Blumiere. Even now, she was struggling to actually believe Blumiere was telling the truth, and it was only because of the odd flashes of memories half seen, and a letter she'd found on her that she was even considering it.
"I don't know," she answered as honestly as she could.
Blumiere closed his eyes, resigned. "I thought as much." He looked away, towards the door, closing the topic off. "Don't worry about any of it. As precious as those memories are, we found our way back to each other now. That's what matters."
A part of Timpani wanted to protest. If the memories were that important to him, then shouldn't she have them too? It hurt to know how he'd lied to her about what may have been years of her life. Yet when she saw how much it hurt him to even talk about this when he knew she was missing that time, then maybe it wasn't worth bringing back painful memories just to hurt him again. Whatever had cost her her memories had hurt him too.
She put a hand on his face, making Blumiere look towards her. "I wish I could remember those memories we shared, and I wish you'd told me about them sooner, but...I wouldn't change anything if it meant that you weren't in my life now."
Blumiere's eyes softened, and he put his hands over hers, leaning lightly into her touch. "Right, how foolish of me to ever think otherwise."
"A mistake I'm sure you won't make ever again." Steeling her nerves, Timpani acted on all the feelings she'd tried to bury and ignore, and kissed him.
It had been a beautiful day, one of the rare times where Timpani would have wanted to be outside in the sun rather than in the fort. Blumiere was busy anyways, and so it made more sense for her to relax under the tree in her backyard to read, flipping through the pages idly as she thought about their last meeting, and the kiss she and Blumiere had shared.
"I'd thought our conversation years ago would be enough to keep you away." A shadow crossed into her vision, as another form blocked the sun. The voice, both familiar and unrecognizable, made it feel like ice was running through her veins.
She looked up, her eyes landing on an unfamiliar Tribe of Darkness. "I'm sorry, I don't..."
"How curious." He closed his eyes, thinking. "I believe you are familiar with my son."
She was sure that a smarter person, or perhaps one less brave or bold, might have lied to the man in front of her, but Timpani was not the kind to back down at a time like this. Not to a man who had caused somebody she loved so much pain. "You're Blumiere's father."
"That is correct." He opened his eyes and tapped his staff to the ground. The roots around the tree grabbed her ankles and her wrists, keeping her from running away. "We need to have a little chat."
"I don't have anything to say to you," Timpani said. She refused to give him any ground in the conversation, the less she said, the better. He glared, and despite the fact that she stiffened, she refused to do anything less than meet his gaze.
He would not take Blumiere from her. Not after he had evidently already done it once before.
"You don't have to say anything. I only need you to listen." The Count stepped towards her, keeping a fair distance. "I told you when you were but a child that your kind and my own should never mix, do you perhaps recall?"
"You won't understand."
The words sang in her brain in the Count's voice despite Timpani never having met him before. An echo of the memories Blumiere had told her had been erased. She didn't answer the Count, letting him continue.
"I can assume you don't. If you still have no memories of that time, I cannot pretend to know how you've managed to find your way back to my son." The Count stopped, just barely an arm's length away. "What I do know, however, is that your time with him, your corruption, ends here."
"I do not harm children who have no idea what they're doing, but you are no longer that. So let me make one thing clear. If I am to hear any word of you spending time with my son again..." He pointed his staff right at her, the gem on top barely missing her nose as it centered right in the center of her face. "There will be no mercy."
The blood drained away from her face. Had this been anybody else, she might have tried to fight, to tell them they were wrong. But even without her memories, she knew two things. She knew that she had met him a long time ago, and she knew that he was the reason she couldn't remember her time with Blumiere so long ago.
He would make good on that promise.
Without any other choice, Timpani nodded to the Count. "I...I understand."
The Count tapped the ground with his staff, and immediately the roots receded, leaving red marks on her wrists and ankles from where they had grabbed. "I'm glad we've come to an agreement then."
He turned to take his leave, only pausing briefly to say, "I hope this is the last time we meet, human," without even a glimpse back.
As soon as he was gone, Timpani started to sob.
Since the day the Count had visited her, it had been raining.
Timpani had taken it as a sign. The weather wasn't just reflecting her mood, it was simply a sign that she and Blumiere weren't meant to see each other. That after everything they had been through, they weren't meant to be anything. Not lovers. Not friends.
It hurt to even think about, but anytime she even thought about ignoring the warnings and truly seeing Blumiere again, all Timpani had to do was look at the red rings on her wrist, only just starting to fade, and she'd know exactly why it had to be so.
The Count's threats weren't empty. She had to keep reminding herself of that, or else she knew herself. She wouldn't be strong enough to tell him no when they finally-
The ladder underneath the treehouse started to creak, jarring Timpani out of her thoughts with the cold reminder of what she was finally going to bring herself to do.
Finally, in the doorway, she saw him. Blumiere's eyes lit up immediately upon seeing her, and she saw him start running towards her despite how drenched he had to have been, but rather than greet him, she turned to look out the window, and his footsteps stopped.
"Timpani." There was a forced cheer to Blumiere's voice. Like he was trying to convince himself that nothing was wrong despite her rejection. "You're here."
"I am," the answer was short, but any longer and she was afraid she might burst into tears mid-conversation. She needed him to get the hint and go, before she had to explain. Before anything more.
"I was worried. You haven't been here the past few days, and I thought that after all these years, I had accidentally pushed you away." He put an arm around her, but before he could do anything more, she pulled away, standing up. "What's wrong?
"I'm sorry," she said, moving towards the doorway. "I'm..."
Blumiere stood up after her. "Whatever you did, it's okay. We can figure this out and-"
"It's not okay!" Timpani shouted. "I...never mind. I shouldn't have come." Her voice quieted immediately afterwards. All she had wanted was closure, a chance to actually say goodbye. Instead, she realized as tears formed in her eyes, all she had done was break her own heart more.
Just as she was going to have to do to his.
Before she could exit the treehouse, Blumiere's hand was on her wrists, keeping her from leaving. "Why? Why do you avoid me?"
She let out a cry in pain at his grasp, yet he refused to release her wrist. "Unhand me!" She pulled her arm away, rubbing it.
Blumiere let out a soft gasp. "You're crying? Why?" The hesitance was clear in his voice. He was blaming himself for her pain, for everything she'd gone through.
He thought she was crying because he was the one who had hurt her.
"You must tell me what has happened?"
"It's nothing..." Timpani shook her head. She couldn't tell him what had really happened, but she wouldn't let him blame himself either. "Don't worry about it... Just...just forget it." She needed him to forget it.
She needed him to forget her.
He took another step towards her, but froze. She looked up towards him, and followed his gaze to her wrists, where she still bore the injury his father had left. "Oh no..." He was connecting the dots. "Not again." He shook his head. "Timpani, is my father behind this?"
Timpani shook her head. "I'm...I'm just an ordinary girl." She couldn't reveal that the Count had done this. It would make him come after her again, she knew that. "No matter how much I love you, we must part."
Blumiere reached out towards her again. "I...Timpani I..." He looked lost, and as much as it hurt him, it hurt her to see him like this too. "I only just got you back. Please...don't make me lose you again."
Perhaps against her better judgment, she approached Blumiere, pulling him into a hug. The intention must have been clear, because he pulled her tighter to his chest, and they were both sobbing in a moment that neither wanted to end.
A moment that she knew had to. That they both had to move on with their lives. That they no longer could just be. "We were both foolish enough to believe that we could have this." That fate had given them a second chance for any other reason besides to hurt them both.
Blumiere must have sensed that there was no convincing her, or perhaps he worried about her safety too much as well to truly let her stay, to hold her against him for as long as he needed to convince her to stay with him, because he let go.
Timpani stepped back, desperately trying to ignore the hollow look in his eyes, the desperate pleading on his face to reconsider. "This is goodbye, Blumiere. There is no other choice."
"This is our fate."
She hadn't seen Blumiere since that day.
It had been two weeks since she'd said her goodbye, and time hadn't made it any easier. Her heart still hurt as much as it had when she'd been saying it.
Before they had gotten together, perhaps because of the latent bond she still couldn't remember, Blumiere had quickly become one of her closest friends. She had not only lost a partner, she had lost a close friend as well.
But she was keeping her promise. She was alive, and she would stay so. For now, that was what mattered most.
A knock on the door grabbed her attention, and Timpani got up and opened the door. "I'm sorry, but whatever it is I..."
Her voice died in her throat. Standing on the front porch of her door, a sheepish smile on his face, was Blumiere.
Before she could slam the door in his face and stop him, Blumiere raised his hands. "Please...just hear me out."
Timpani tried to go over her options, but before she could (or perhaps out of desperation) Blumiere started to talk.
"You were my first love," he began. "Back when we were kids, and I first met you. I knew I had to see you again. I wanted to end the hatred between your people and my tribe so even if you thought I was the ugliest and worst person you could ever marry, you'd be in my life in some way until my games ended."
"When my father...when your memories were taken away. I tried to convince myself otherwise. I tried to forget about you. I tried to be with other girls in the Tribe of Darkness. I tried to be everything my father wanted, because then he'd have no reason to hurt you." He was talking faster, starting to get more and more nervous about what he wanted to say. "But then, you saved my life that day at the cliffbase."
Blumiere smiled softly. "When you said your name and I realized who you were, I knew. I knew you were the only person I'd ever want by my side."
Timpani wanted to smile back, she wanted to run up to him after hearing that, but she couldn't. Not with the threat of his father so painfully real. "Why would you tell me this? Blumiere, we can't..."
He reached into his pocket. "We can't here, but...if you want to try, then we..." He pulled out a ring, offering it right to Timpani. "I won't pretend it will be easy, but together...I'd be willing to try to find the place where we can."
Timpani wanted to say yes. There was little doubt in her mind that she wanted to accept his offer of marriage, to find a small world together where they could spend the rest of their days, somewhere far away from his father, from blood purity and lineage, from tribes and humans and everything that comes with them. "But, Blumiere, is there such a place?" She thought of his confession, of his proposal now. "I can't bear to see you hurt again."
Perhaps it was the fact that he managed to get through, or perhaps it was just that she was allowing herself a bit of hope, but she noticed Blumiere's smile grow a little wider. "If our love has no home...let us spend the rest of our lives searching together!" He pushed the ring towards her once more. "So I beg of you again...Timpani, marry me! I promise to keep you safe, that I will make you happy."
For the first time since she'd broken it off with Blumiere, Timpani smiled. "You...just won't give up, will you? Of all the crazy...stubborn...foolish men..."
But he was her crazy, stubborn, foolish man, and when he asked one more time, there was only one answer she could give.
"Blumiere, I love you. Take me away. Take me to a world where we can be happy."
This time, they would make it. This time, Timpani was sure of it.
The ground next to Blumiere was empty when he stirred.
Timpani had been there last night. He had fallen asleep with her tucked away in his arms, looking forward to a tomorrow in another world, where they could finally be together.
"I don't need to wish anymore. I already got my wish. Now I have everything I need right here."
Her words from last night hung around in his brain. She was happy. They were happy. She couldn't have left without reason. She wouldn't have left without reason.
At first, he contemplated the idea that she'd forgotten something. He'd run to her home, trying to prevent his panic from overwhelming him, but the house was empty, the forest was empty, and no matter where he worked, she was nowhere to be found.
There was a thought in the back of his mind. One he had been desperately trying to ignore until now. It hurt him to consider, but Timpani was no longer there, and there was only one person who could've found out where they were and would have willingly hurt her.
It was why Blumiere was storming up to the gates of his own castle. He had to find his father. He had to know.
He stopped in the room in the center of the castle, where the dark book of prophecies lay. As was to be expected, his father was by the Prognosticus, keeping watch on the book as usual. "You're upset."
Blumiere closed his eyes. His father's lack of reaction told him everything he needed to know. "You...I don't understand why. What do you have to gain by continuing to take her away!?"
"Taking who away? Your human girl?" His father scoffed, stepping away from the book to stand closer to Blumiere. "You weren't actually thinking of starting a life with her, and she wasn't either. It's why I was trying to protect you."
Blumiere clenched his fist. "Her name is Timpani."
"Her name doesn't matter, my son. I did you a favor by scaring her off." He put his hand on Blumiere's shoulder, but he shrugged his father off.
He wouldn't be bowing to his father anymore.
"What is the meaning of this?" his father asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Where is Timpani? What did you do to her!?" He took a step back, pulling out his own staff. If his father tried anything, then Blumiere would be ready.
His father seemed to take the warning to heart, stepping away. Aside from reacting to the threat to his own safety, however, his father was unbothered. "Still your tongue, Blumiere." Blumiere glared, but his father continued as though he hadn't noticed the reaction. "Your assumption that I had anything to so with this is absurd. Can't you see you have been duped by a dirty human?"
Blumiere gripped his staff tighter. "All you've done is continue to hurt her. You erased her memories. You told her to stay away. The fact that she's gone now, you're the only one who could be behind this. Timpani would never!" He loved her too much. If she had betrayed him...
No, he wouldn't let his father get into his head. He knew the truth, even if his father would never admit it.
"And yet, she has," his father said. "You have brought shame to my name...and to the entire Tribe of Darkness."
"And what if I did? That doesn't matter to me!" It was the first time in his life that Blumiere finally acknowledged the truth to his father. He didn't care about the tribe's reputation, and he didn't care about his family name. Not when it came from some stupid belief of purity that didn't matter, that never mattered to him. "She's my entire world."
His father shook his head, disappointed. "Then perhaps it will interest you to know that she no longer resides in this world."
"No...no longer..." Blumiere fell silent. He knew the threats his father had supplied, and yet he'd assumed they were empty at the end of the day. "What...What do you mean by that?!"
"This is the price those who resist their own fate pay, my son." His father put a hand on his shoulder again, and this time, in the cold shock of learning that his love was gone, he didn't react, simply staring numbly ahead.
"She...No...It can't be so..." His voice was hardly a whisper, breathed out as he tried to understand. "You...why couldn't you just leave us to be happy? All you've ever done..."
His father began to walk out of the room, leaving Blumiere to process and grieve. "Someday you will see, Son. Our kind and humans must never mix."
His father left, and Blumiere fell to the ground, trying to understand what he could've done different, how he might have been able to protect Timpani?
A part of him blamed himself. If he had not been so desperate to be with her, it he'd put her ahead of his selfish desires to be with her, would she be alive? Would he still be able to see her smile, would his father have spared her.
Blumiere...
He looked up. He swore he had heard her voice, but instead, all that was there was himself, and that cursed book. Regardless of where it had come from, however, that voice was enough to settle his resolve.
Blumiere...
He closed his eyes, standing up. He would dedicate himself to the end of his game, searching all the worlds to try finding her.
Blumiere...
And if that failed, he would drag all of the worlds with him.
She was gone.
She would always be gone.
He would never see her again.
Those were the facts that Count Bleck had to constantly repeat in his mind, from the moment that pixl had spoken to him in Sammer's Kingdom. It was everything about her that had brought the truths he had been so sure of into question, from her voice, to her feel, to her beliefs that everybody in the world had worth and meaning that had led her to come and try to help him again and again.
Even now, he could imagine her coming to him again, a rainbow butterfly filled with little more than righteous justice and a belief that everybody could be helped, everybody could be saved. If that was really her, she would come, and she would do everything in her power to free him from the darkness that had consumed him in the wake of her game's end.
That couldn't be Timpani.
His hands hovered over the Dark Prognosticus. Even in his meeting with the heroes, the dark book was never to leave his side. Just as it had shown him how to destroy the worlds, the book would be able to answer if it was possible that his love, that his childhood friend may have come back to life.
But if the book knew that she was alive, then the book would also know that he would do everything in his power to stop the prophecy to remain so, even if the cost was his own life.
The Light Prognosticus might have the answers. The Pixl herself would have the answers, but to learn from those would mean to face her. Would mean to own up to her judgment and hatred that he couldn't face if she was Timpani.
That couldn't be Timpani.
He had waved it off in front of his minions and Nastasia. For them to see him so shaken up wouldn't matter, but now that he was alone...
"I am so sorry..." he whispered.
"I can't not help somebody who's sad!"
"Anyone with a heart would not ignore an injured soul."
"All living things have a heart. They're all priceless! You can't just erase them."
Her value of the lives of others no matter how different they were was the thing that had allowed the two of them to meet, to become friends, to become more. Now it would be the very thing that would tear them apart.
That could not be Timpani.
"Count!" Count Bleck's spiraling was interrupted by Mimi behind him. Her arms were tucked behind her back, and she was looking down to avoid meeting his gaze. It was clear she was aware of the rules she had broken by choosing to challenge the heroes in Sammer's Kingdom. "Nastasia said you'd want to see me."
He closed his eyes, abandoning his true self once more to regain the mask and confidence that Count Bleck provided as he began to lecture Mimi on what she had done.
The heroes were gone.
Tippi had fallen to the ground. There was no trace left of any of them left behind after Dimentio's cruel attack. Without Mario, Peach, Bowser, or the Pure Heart, there was nothing they could do to stop the Void. There was nothing they could do to stop Count Bleck.
Count Bleck was another matter. With no hope left for all worlds, then there was no reason for her to ignore the aching familiarity she'd felt when he had arrived. Even with the intense hatred she felt towards anything he'd done, she couldn't feel any malice. All she could feel was sadness and loss and a void that she had always known, but only felt stronger than she ever had before.
Had she...known Blumiere before?
Merlon picked her up, putting her on top of the Light Prognosticus. "Are you alright, Tippi?"
"I..." Perhaps it was still simply fatigue from her earlier fainting spell, but something told Tippi that wasn't the case, that it was a stronger unknown that had her so beat. Though whether it was the grief over the heroes or her strange connection to Count Bleck, she was less certain. "I don't know what to do."
"We have done all that we can," Merlon answered her. His gaze briefly lingered to the book beneath her, as though he had hoped that it might hold the answers to bringing the heroes back. "All we can do is hope that the heroes will return."
Tippi had known that was the answer, but she had hoped there was more they could do. "I understand..."
"Is something else bothering you, Tippi?" She hesitated to answer his question, but his concern over her well being had her confiding.
"Is it...is it possible that I knew Count Bleck from before?" she asked. It had just meant to be a question, but saying it out loud, she was confirming it to herself. It wasn't a question of if she knew him, it was only a question of how.
Merlon didn't answer, but she hadn't expected him to. He knew as much about who she'd been before she became a Pixl as she did, only the scattered memories of two children playing in a treehouse to try to guide her.
Those two children...
No, it couldn't be possible. That kind young boy couldn't be Count Bleck.
She wouldn't let it be.
Blumiere was Count Bleck.
The return of her memories just before arriving into Castle Bleck meant she now had to face one single possibility. Her closest childhood friend, her best friend, the love of her life, was trying to destroy the worlds.
And she knew there was no way for her to save him and the worlds themselves.
He'd known it too.
When the heroes had all come back, he'd thrown the battle for them to survive too, and now he was on the floor, injured and tied to the Chaos Heart, and with only one way to make it all end.
Count Bleck looked up at all of them, looked up at her, and finally spoke, "Now...finish Count Bleck. Dispatch me and the Chaos Heart will disappear. The prophecy will be undone."
"Blumiere..." Tippi flew over, and his hand reached out for her, giving her a place to land as he gave her smile, a truer smile than any he had given in all his madness given speeches about the destruction of all worlds. "We've fought so hard...it can't...it can't end like this."
"We were fools to fight against fate." He let out a weak laugh, making her unsure if fate was against the prejudice they'd both faced or the call of the dark book of prophecies besides him. "No matter how many times we'd try, we were always destined to be on opposite sides...to stand apart."
Tippi remained silent, ignoring the quiet whispers of the heroes behind her. "We don't..."
"Timpani...When you vanished...I searched long for you... I searched...and searched..." Count Bleck shook his head, acknowledging his own mistake. "But I never found you. Without you, the world held no meaning or joy. I used the prophecy to destroy old worlds because I wanted to destroy the world that had taken you from me."
She couldn't accept that. She wouldn't accept that. "There's nobody left to keep us apart anymore. We fought so many times, you can't give up now, you can't!"
Count Bleck simply pressed a kiss to her wings. "Count Bleck has done so much evil...it must end. Above all else, the fact that you are still alive despite all of my father's attempts...it gives me peace." He turned away from her, finally giving acknowledgement to the heroes. "I do not have long to live. You must destroy the Chaos Heart before the Void consumes all."
"You're...but...we're finally together again." Blumiere had never given up before now. Even if he was right, even if he was the thing powering the Chaos Heart, it wasn't fair. Hearing him finally give up, Tippi could barely hear it.
Count Bleck smiled. "I want you to live, Timpani. Live the life you would have met if you had never met me, if my father hadn't come after you. It's the life you deserve to live."
The life she deserved to live maybe, but not the life she wanted to live. She wanted to plead with him, to tell him that they'd find another way, that he should want to live, but she didn't have a chance.
"Count, look out!"
They were trapped in Dimension D. They were useless.
They were worse than useless hiding here. Count Bleck was injured, the Pure Hearts were gone...
Tippi refused to give up. "We have to get out of here, there has to be some way..."
Count Bleck sat down on the floor of the dimension, his head buried between his legs. Despite the change in circumstances, the different reason why, when she saw him so hopeless, so consumed by despair, it reminded her of their first meeting so long ago. "We no longer have the Pure Hearts, and without them, we cannot defeat the Chaos Heart. There's nothing we can do..."
Deep down, Tippi knew that, and yet hearing Count Bleck share that realization, she felt more determined than ever before to hold onto that hope. "You're the one who's always been convinced we could defeat the odds! You're the one who's held onto hope even when I gave up." He didn't look up, he barely even acknowledged her. "You promised we'd find happiness together! Was that all just a lie?"
It was that question that startled him out of his hopeless daze. Count Bleck looked over to Tippi, startled. "It was no lie, but...without the Pure Heart, there's nothing we can do."
"You have to snap out of this, Blumiere!" Tippi rammed into him, keeping him from falling back into his despair as he continued to look at her, almost stunned. "How can you think it would end here, after everything we've been through? After every attempt to keep us apart. We found each other because we stayed alive... How can you admit defeat!?"
He'd been the one to keep hope after she'd forgotten all about him. He'd been the one to hold on when she'd pushed him away. The Prognosticus may have changed him, but she knew, somewhere in him was the same man who had fought tooth and nail for them, and would do so again if he remembered just who he was. "I will not give up. You promised we'd find happiness together. You promised!"
Before she could say anything more, or he reply, his minions had arrived, and with them, the answer to their question on how to take down Dimentio.
They had found hope.
"Will you come with me to that place now?"
"Blumiere...of course... I will always be with you..."
Their wedding had been a small affair, but quite possibly the most important wedding in all of existence, given its power to destroy the Chaos Heart. They had woken up in a place far away from everyone who had ever tried hurting them, and yet closer to home than they'd been in far too long.
It was different from how their fort had been in Timpani's last memories. The floors which had been barren for years matched the memories of her childhood, with blankets and pillows strewn about it in every which way, creating a soft, rainbow spread across the treehouse floor.
They sat down on the floor, leaning into each other as their hands held each other, neither quite willing to let go for fear that they would never see each other again.
"It feels so strange to be back here after so long." Timpani smiled. Blumiere nuzzled into her, burying his face in her hair to plant a quick kiss on the top of her head. "When your father sent me away, I never thought I'd see it again."
"I didn't think I would either," he said, his voice soft and muffled by her hair. "Even when I'd return to take breaks from my search, I couldn't come back here. Not without you."
"You don't have to come back here without me again."
"I know," he said. She could feel him smile in her hairline. "So long as you'll have me, so long as you forgive me, I'll always be by your side."
Timpani didn't say anything, just leaned back into him further. She caught him off guard, and the shifting of her weight caused them both to fall back into all of the blankets with a laugh.
Years ago, the treehouse had been a fort because Blumiere built it to be the only place they could be together.
With his father gone and the world saved, at least for now, it would finally fulfill its purpose as being not just a hideaway, but as the place where they would start their new lives together.
It had taken so many years for them to get there, but now, the future finally looked bright.