The 11 Colors Collection [Discontinued]

Orange

Orange slowly opens the door and carefully steps inside the tree house. Odd trinkets and masks decorate the walls and hippy looking decore fills the space between. The hut is filled to the brim with all sorts of things that instantly makes him think of a witch.

She's really overselling herself

Cautiously, Orange steps deeper into the building, looking around at the glasses and viles with an arm on his hand. A glow is coming from further within the building. That's where he walks

In the glowing room, a large cauldron sits on top of a fire, with a mysterious liquid  bubling inside. All sorts of flowrrs, herbs, and ingredients line the walls and tables of this room, and behind the cauldron is the witch herself, Purple. She turns to the doorway Orange stands in, holding what looks like long, dried grass.

"Oh, it's you again!" She tosses the bundle into the mixture and excitedly steps up to Orange, a large smile cross her face. "Welcome, kiddo, welcome! Did you decide to accept my help afterall?"

Hesitantly, Orange nods. Purple grabs his face and tilts it in the light, her face growing to a grimace.

"Yeesh, looks like you need it more than I thought." She let's Orange go and places a hand on her hip. "Is *this*-" she asks, pointing him up and down, "the situation?"

Orange avoids her gaze, unsure how to answer. But that in its own was and answer for her.

"Right, come, come." She walks past Orange and into the room before them, becoming him to follow. "I need a bit of compliance from you, kid, to let me help you." She plops herself down on a cooshen sitting in front of a low table. "Usually I ask all these fun questions about what's bugging you or what you want and the jist, but with you being mute we kinda gotta go straight into the magic biz' with this."

Orange stands by the table, too anxious to make a move. Purple smiles politely at him and taps the spot in front of her.

"Just take a seat, sweetheart. I don't bite."

Orange gives a face at her pet name but does as she says. Purple folds her hands infront of her.

"Now, I'm going to need you to let me inside your mind," She slowly starts. Orange tenses at the suggestion. "I know, it sounds scary. Even people more willing to open up struggle with this. Trust me kid, it's fine to struggle." She smiles and holds her hands out, as if to grab his hands. "Struggling is the first step for help. So will you let me?"

Orange fixes his gaze to the table, not answering Purple. He picks at the table as he debates over her offer. A moment passes without an answer.

"I can see a lot of inner turmoil happening, so how about this?" She reaches under the table and pulls out a deck of cards. "How about I instead give you a tarro reading then? None of the psyche stuff."

Orange tilts his head in confusion.

She holds up a few cards. "These bad boys here connect to the stars themselves. If you need answers, we put that faith into these cards and reach out to the universe. Through these, we find your answers."

Orange raises his eyebrow, clearly skeptical over her offer.

"Don't give me that look! You came here for my magic, and this is a part of it. There's magic all around us and this is the easiest, safest way to see it."

Orange shakes his head with a sigh.

"Is that... deciding the tarro cards?" He nods. Disappointed, she puts them away. "Fine..."

Orange looks over his hands, then shakingly holds them out for Purple. She took a moment to decipher his message, then smiles.

"You're giving me permission?" She asks, taking one of his hands. He nods, avoiding eye contact. "Proud of you, kiddo. It's a big first step." With her free palm, a pile of purple dust suddenly appears that she gently blows onto Orange. Confused, he looks over where the glitter landed on him. She reaches out for his other hand, which he carefully places in hers, the confused look never once lifting.

"Now, what I just blew you with is going to let me into your mind. If you work with me here, I'll only be seeing what you let me, right? Close your eyes." He does as he's told. "This will take a lot of focus." Purple closes her eyes as well.

"Take a slow, deep breath in." The only sound in the room for a brief moment was the two breathing in unison. "Clear your mind. Let that breath out." Orange releases his breath. "There should be nothing in your head but the sound of complete silence. In this moment, the only thing that exists around you is the sounds of my voice. Breathe in."

As he breaths in, a purple hue begins to glow around him. "Now," Purple begins. A large eye appears over her for head, glowing a bright purple. It took all of Oranges strength not to peek through to see why it began to glow so bright around him.

"With what's bothering you? Take yourself to the beginning. When it all started. What's the earliest thing you can remember with it?"

Orange focused in his head, brief memories flashing as he tried to find what he could consider the first. But he couldn't decide when this all first started.

When this Black burned down the manor and killed his wife?

No, he met her outside the gates first, when she tried "recruiting" him peacefully.

But was it before then? With the first Black, before she was shattered?

That woman literally married into the family he served just to get Orange to serve he like a dog.

The more he thought, the more he remembered. Orange was no longer trying to find the start of his problem, he was trying to find when his life ended.

Before the first Black, he became a servant against his will to the Bells.

Even in Ireland, he wasn't free.

"You're spiralling," Purple suddenly spoke in a gentle voice. "Come back to me. Take a deep breath and listen to my voice. Remind yourself why you're here, kiddo. What do you need?"

Orange takes a shaky breath in. Right, what was it? Surely, Purple doesn't need to know the very beginning, or even the first Black. He needs help to get away from the Black he knows now.

"Once you remember," Purple begins to prompt with perfect timing, "you can find the beginning from there. When did this problem first start?"

When he first met Black, of course. The second she entered Oranges life she's made it a living hell.

So that would be the night she burned down the manor.