What we Forgot|| By happyshadowthoughts

Looking Back at Me- Vertina

Hi everyone! This is a oneshot about Vertina and Jolie. I feel like their relationship is so underrated and not looked at enough. Enjoy!

I'm aware that I'm not real. I never was and never will be. I was made for the benefit of elves, and I intend to make their lives as closest to hell as I can. They are all ugly anyway, showing of their 'dazzling blue eyes' and 'perfect bodies' because they are all naturally beautiful. But, in truth if everyone looks the same, there is really nothing beautiful about them.

That was until I met Jolie Ruewen. Her eyes were not as muted as the others because they radiated like a morning sky. Her smile was brighter, somehow bringing one to my artificial face. She was more than just my owner; she was my dearest friend. Not like I had any to begin with, but it was comforting to know you had a safety net in the deep abyss of the world. She was starting her first years in Foxfire when I first met her, dreamy eyed and pigtailed with the loudest giggle you would ever see. You wouldn't believe that such a small girl could turn into a stunning wanderling.

Elves are inferior in my view, their lives soaked up by their conceitedness and own success. And yet, ever since I met Jolie, I had always wanted to be one. Not an elf, but something real. Touching and feeling something out of the shell of this mirror. I want to be loved and feel love and dance around a meadow full of dandelions that smells like honey. I want to cry and feel pain and just feel the sensation of being something outside of myself. But that isn't possible for me, it never will be.

So, I stopped daydreaming. Instead, I got the next best thing. Jolie often confided in me with everything her mind wandered off to. School drama (which was quite interesting in my opinion), family (Edaline and Grady were sweethearts) and anything she needed to escape from reality. Her imagination was wild, vivid enough for me to picture myself in her shoes. As if I was a teenage elf in the lost cities, living a normal life. I was always there, and so was she. Always looking back at me through the glass. Always.

Time passed much faster than I ever intended. While I dusted away in the back of Jolie's bedroom, she was out there living her life. I admit, I was jealous. I glowed green every time Jolie talked about her Foxfire friends, or every item she conjured a new item because I knew I could never do the same. And soon, the blonde girl found herself a boyfriend. She seemed so delighted; her turquoise eyes gleaming at every mention of his name. Brant. His name appeared in every conversation, it started to become engraved in my mind. Brant. I swear I could start seeing tiny hearts appear in her eyes which grew bigger every second. Brant. He was like an addictive drug consuming every fiber of her being. The girl was certainly smitten, and I was not one to judge. After all, I have never felt love and never will.

Days slowly turned into months, and I was often left in the dark. Jolie had always been occupied with something else, or rather, someone. I was busy with my own thoughts, and I soon went back to daydreaming. In another life, I would be reborn as someone who could feel everything possible. Do everything I can't. Maybe. I would escape from this suffocating prison, make new memories that our outside these walls.

But, before I knew it, she came running back. Tears staining her face, red cheeks, and a swollen heart. It didn't take me long to realize this was Brant's doing. My fists clenched with fury, how vile did a person need to be to break such a fragile heart?

"I'm going to kill that piece of-"

"No, no stop. This isn't Brant." Jolie choked out of pacing breaths.

My eyed widened at the confession. If not Brant, then who? The pieces fell into place as the words spilled form Jolie's mouth. She told me of some rebel organization called the Black Swan, and another called the Neverseen. Weird. I didn't think they'd have any rebels in a supposedly perfect world. I knew something was different about Jolie these past few months, and now I knew why. She had been keeping secrets from everyone, only confiding in me because she knew I could not do any better. I was loyal to her, always and forever. Her heart was a locked up safe and the key was crumbling away. She told me of some secret diary she kept and how the rebel groups were hoping to recruit her. My eyebrows pressed together in concern; I had never seen her so panicked. As soon as Brant came into the conversation, I knew something was suspicious.

"Jolie, I do not trust him. You don't even know his ability,"

Something startled her at the mention of it. I had always assumed he was talentless. Would she willingly date somebody like that? My words started to trigger something deep down inside of her, another secret she kept buried away. It reached the surface before I could offer a helping hand.

"He's a pyrokinetic, Vertina."

That was it. So many thoughts rushing into my mind. A pyrokinetic, one of the most dangerous abilities amongst elves and Jolie was conspiring with one of them. It was worthless trying to stop her, it seemed as if love was blinding her from reason. And so, I did not stop her. She was my friend, and I was hers, kindred spirits together. Always.

The day she received her matchmaking list seemed to scar her like a broken kiss. The thick red letters reading 'UNMATCHABLE' appeared everywhere through the reflection. It was an inevitable fate and yet she was still surprised. It wounded me knowing I could not do anything to help her. Jolie seemed to isolate herself from the world, always sneaking off in a black cloak with different symbols on it each time. What was she getting herself into? How much longer before all these secrets began crumbling down. But I was nothing more than a mirror, sitting patiently while I watched the person, I held dearest tear apart. Another day passed as I watched her leave without a word.

"Jolie, wait! What are you doing?"

The blonde woman looked back at me. When her eyes met mine, I suddenly got the sense that she has really grown up, so much has changed from the giddy little girl I first met. Her eyes held a burden I could not place. She was a stranger to me. And without a word, the woman left me alone in my mirror, disappearing into the night.

Jolie never returned. I awoke with a sobbing Edaline, watching as blotchy tears pooled through her eyes. I only imagined the worst, and that was what I was met with. Her corpse burnt away in ashes dusting away. Ashes. Fire. Uncontrollable. Pyrokinetic. Brant.

Brant.

Brant.

Brant.

The boy I never met. Jolie's mysterious boyfriend. The bad match. The pyrokinetic. But why? Why would he do this? I could not think of a reasonable solution, so I stopped wondering and started crying. I can feel emotions, but I never had a reason to. Until now. All those times I yearned to feel something, it was right here. With my best friend's death. I cried for everything, for Jolie, Brant and how things could have been different. If only I stopped her, tried to think of another solution so her life was not the cost. An unforgiving pain in my chest threatened to stay there forever. I assumed Grady and Edaline could not stand my grieving any longer than I could plaster a smile on my face. A constant reminder of their dead daughter, who was lost in a fire. Her heart had been lost for much longer. Eventually, they left me in her old room, dusting away along with every memory of her. It was isolating to say the least, but in here,nobody could hurt me.

I never saw her wanderling, only heard descriptions of how beautiful it was. Jolie Lucine Ruewen. Turquoise flowers that were decorated intricately in her blonde branches, curving ever so delicately in its form. Hundreds of narrow towers stretching, bridges and pathways reaching from each one, and turquoise ceilings so colossal the sky disappeared in its presence. Such a pretty tree for a lovely spirit.

Years flew by ever so slowly. I caught myself continuously replaying the memories we shared together. It was all that occupied my thoughts. I realized that I have taken so much for granted with her, and now I let the pain seep through. It was like a rabid animal that knocks you off your feet. If you fight back, it claws across your chest.

I woke one morning to red hair that filled my vision. Edaline? She was older now, bags hanging deep and a sorrowful look on her face. When she caught sight of me, I could see the faintest hint of a smile. But not out of happiness, out of grief. I smiled back ruefully, after all this time. They both had the same turquoise eyes. The rest was a jumbled blur, but it seemed like Edaline and Grady had adopted a new child. A replacement, it seemed. Anger clawed through my body. Nobody could replace Jolie Ruewen, not even Sophie Foster.

And yet, as time grew on and I spent my days in Sophie's room, I felt a connection. A shallow one, but it was still there. Jolie might not be here, standing in front of me anymore, but the faded feeling of her presence lingered on much longer. As of right now, I have another owner. Another friend. Whose blonde hair was silky, just like hers. But whose chocolate brown eyes were big and curious, and certainly strange.

Looking back at me.