𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂'𝓈 𝒜 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝓌𝒾𝓃'

August 1st, 1994

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝐹𝒾𝓋𝑒

A breeze ran through the garden, stirring awake the world with its gentle but fleeting touch. Soft music from the faint rustle of the leaves as they brushed against each other. Flowers of all kinds pushed into dances, swaying back and forth with each other. A butterfly shook from its rest, fluttering along in search of a new perch.

The butterfly followed the breeze, its mostly pitch black coloring making it almost too easy to spot. And the white arcs on each wing make it easy to name as a White Admiral... butterflies have the strangest names. But it carried along, leaving the comfort of the flowers and venturing along the path. Passing so close by the approaching man that he must have felt the faint brush of a wing. And undeterred by the close run-in, off it went, disappearing from sight as it passed the man.

Iris stirred from her own rest, eyes fluttering open slowly. Nothing seemed to cross her mind. Not a single thought about the unfamiliar ceiling above her. Or the strange feel of the blanket thrown overtop her. Or the quiet sounds coming from beside her.

No. All Iris had the sense to pay any mind upon waking up was that pit in her stomach. That lingering sense of dread hid in the deepest part of her head. And... the way she was struggling to breathe.

Tall, dark hair, and those strange dark green eyes with the ring of cobalt blue. He contained both a level of elegance in every step he took and a noticeable strength... power. He screamed it. And more often than not, eyes would fall away right there. Unable to look beyond the power and so unable to see what was beyond.

But if one did have the ability to look further, to focus on what else was there... you would find exhaustion. And if you watched as he approached the gazebo, his eyes landing on the small girl... you could find the faintest but most sincere of smiles.

Dark hair and those strange dark green eyes with the ring of cobalt blue. Sat across from Professor Edwin Lancaster as he rambled on about that day's lesson plan. His teachings clearly going in one ear and out the other.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, the man called out while stepping into the gazebo, "How is today's lesson going, Ed?"

If one were to watch the man closely, one would immediately spot the way his eyes crinkled as the question was thrown into the air. A quick bit of regret as he sent the ever-eccentric Edwin Lancaster into his usual rambles that came with such open-ended questions. But proving patient, the tall man just relaxed his shoulders and listened with the most polite of smiles.

The man's eyes flicked over to the girl for a brief moment, his smile remaining but eyes once more giving away something else. Worry... worry from the way she still seemed very much in her own world.

The two men spoke for a few minutes. Well, no. Edwin spoke for a few minutes until the tall man cut in as politely as he could manage. Eventually, managing to send Edwin packing and off, a promise to pick up the lesson the next day instead.

And so as Edwin left with a quick bow and "Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness.", the man waited not a second longer to turn towards the young girl who sat picking at her dress.

Kneeling to her level, using the arms of the chair to steady himself, Leonardo Blackwell studied his daughter. Smiling softly as one simple question left him, "You feel it as well?"

Pushing through her mild struggle... Iris silently attempted to ground herself, doing her best to not disturb her friend only inches away. Just trying to gain herself back.

Five senses...

A method her father had used with her all her life... a method her father had used for himself.