✨ A Little Bit of Magic || READER X RAY || The Promised Neverland

♟ Isabella's Memoirs #1 ♟

It was still a taboo thing, more so then than it is now.

Being an elf, I mean.

I remember the first time I'd spoken with your mother, after I'd flunked a hydro exam, despite having a hydro affinity. Josephine ran up to me, with  her sparkling eyes and silly smile. "Isabella! You're an elf, aren't you?"

To be honest, I was quite taken aback. I thought that she would've reported me. But again, to my shock, she'd brushed back her air, whispering the glamour incantation I'd become all too familiar with.

Your mother was sweet, yet reckless. Kind, but tough. She was a tomboy of some sort, always commanding attention just by being herself. She was popular, that Josephine. And she became my best friend.

Your mother had lost her parents like I did mine. You've head about it, haven't you? The Nox Vitri.

The Night of Broken Glass.

I've always had a disdain for the Magic High Committee. I've always had a disdain for the scum who killed my kind and pushed my people into hiding. That hatred was always burning in me, but it was further amplified on the Nox Vitri. When a group of those disgusting humans broke into my family's little shoe store and murdered my parents. I escaped, walking endlessly for days. I lived on wild berries and river water that often made me sick. But eventually, I was found and placed at Grace Field Orphanage.

Your mother went through a similar ordeal, so we felt like sisters.

And yet a sisterly love- It was always something easily broken by a man.

Like me, your mother had harbored that same hatred for humankind.

Until she didn't.

And that happened when she met James. A rather peculiar boy, with platinum white hair and eyes the color of a blue summer sky. His gaze was always elsewhere, towards you but through you. He fascinated her. She'd never seen a human so different. Maybe that was the sign that he wasn't. Particularly normal. We were in the town, shopping, when we saw him.

That strange boy, in a strange white suit, with strange friends and a strange vibe.

She'd asked him where he'd come from.

"You're not like the other boys here!"

And then he laughed, his elbow grazing hers.

"Is that so? I'd hope that's a good thing."

She'd smiled again, somehow wider than before. She was practically a blushing mess at this point, and I'd seen their future flash before my eyes.

I was upset. No- Upset is far too mild a word.

I was fuming. I was angry. I was disappointed.

"He's a human! A fucking Ratri too!" I protested to her, one night.

And she'd rolled her eyes. "So what?"

"He'll get you killed if he finds out what what you are."

"So I'll be killed, Isabella. So what?"

A stupidly stubborn woman, your mother was. But we couldn't help ourselves from loving her.

"I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell him tonight."

I clicked my tongue. Their relationship had gone far too deep for it to be a clean break. My mistake was assuming that they would break.

"I'll see your head on a stake at the front of Grand Commissioner Ratri's head tomorrow morning." 

And she frowned, but quickly shoved it down. Her smile was sad, as if she'd accepted that fate long ago.

Much to my surprised, they returned hand in hand, knocking on the locked window at 3 am.

"Isabella! Isabella! We have some news for you!"

I probably shouldn't be telling you this. You're only a child after all. But I think you've been through hell and back. You deserve to know your heritage.

Your father, James, was not an orphan. He was the first son to our generation of the Ratri family.

He was undercover that day, when he'd met your mother. His duty was to "weed out the elves". But ironically, he was one of them! And he'd fallen in love with a woman he'd meant to kill.

Isn't that ridiculous?

Ridiculously sad.

He'd ran away from that life, from his father and his duties. He'd promised himself to your mother, and he found his way into Grace Field, using a quite powerful glamour.

I know what you're asking.

How did an elven family find their way into the regent heads?

And what about my story? My love? Ray had to come from somewhere, after all.

And your curse? It'll break itself with time. You've learned a lot today, after all. Come back tomorrow for another story. I have paperwork to do.

Treat my son well, y/n. He's really missed you.