The forest could be so cold sometimes. That was the first thing on Desyi’s mind every time she woke up. She hated how the wind made her skin and body shiver, she missed the warmth of indoors.

And then, every time, she’d forget why she was thinking that as she began mindlessly strolling around the forest, looking for any lost meal unfortunate enough to greet her.

It had been days, and she hadn’t found one.

She was getting hungry.

Then one night, she saw a bunch of people together in the distance, moving right toward her, and she was elated. Finally, a feast! And all to herself too!

But then she took a closer look at them, and saw they all had their guard up, had come with weapons, fire, and were magic users. She wasn’t sure how she could tell they were magic users, it was as if something in the back of her mind just knew.

They also looked… familiar. She couldn’t quite say where she’d seen them before, but she felt like she knew them. She felt like she knew them pretty well, in fact, so much so that when they stopped and finally noticed something dangerous was lurking around, she hesitated to strike.

She needed to eat! She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten a meal.

And yet, it was hard to bring herself to attack them.

She managed though, but it was already too late. Her moment of hesitation gave those mages the exact opening they needed to attack, and the next thing she knew, she was knocked unconscious.

The following morning she found herself laying in a warm bed, in a room that looked like some sort of medical ward. Again, it was… familiar, and she wasn’t sure why. But she liked the nice warm room. It felt amazing compared to the cold, dark forest.

Inevitably, she prepared for the moment when she’d forget she hated the cold, and begin her relentless search for the poor person who ended up being her next meal. She braced herself, and…

It didn’t come.

She looked down at her hands, bewildered.

“Do not overwhelm her”, she heard a voice say outside the room, “she’s still recovering, it might take a while for her to get all her memories back”.

Before she could prepare herself, the door opened, and a girl with black hair and violet eyes came inside. Just like the people in the forest, she looked familiar.

The girl stared at her, her eyes clearly wet from tears she couldn’t hold back. Her name was… what was her name? Desyi felt it was just on the tip of her tongue, like her brain was trying to form something, but she couldn’t quite make it out.

It was like that a couple days ago too. It took her a while before she even remembered her own name.

Desyi was about to say something. She wasn’t sure what it was, maybe some guess at her name, but she was cut off when the girl suddenly hugged her.

“I’m sorry.” She choked out.

Desyi was shocked at the sudden motion, but she couldn’t deny she loved how warm it made her feel. She hugged her back.

“It’s my faul…” The girl hesitated to finish.

Desyi almost felt like she knew why the girl was upset, and so she hugged her tighter.

“You didn’t finish saying it was your fault.” Desyi said to her. “Are you sure you really believe that?”

The girl’s tear stained face looked up at her. Yes, she was crying over her, the girl thought she was responsible for her absence.

“I know I haven’t been myself lately.” Desyi said. “You’re blaming yourself for that. Don’t, it’s not your fault. You know it’s not and you know you didn’t do this.” She emphasized. “I forgive you.”

The girl managed a sad smile, burying her head back into Desyi’s shoulder.

“I missed you, Desyi.”

And finally, Desyi remembered the girl’s name.

“I missed you too, Suhara.”

=+=+=

It wasn’t long before two other girls came into the room and immediately ran up to Desyi with tears in their eyes. Val… wait no, Tricks, and Frey? Yes, that was it, she remembered their names!

And this building… the Lyceum under the goddess… Maria? Marcila? Marciana? No, it was Mar…lifa? Yes, Marlifa, the goddess of knowledge! And these girls were her old roommates, she was a student here, she remembered! She remembered it all!

“Are you okay?” One of the girls, Frey, asked her.

“I… think?” Desyi was stumped. “I’m very hungry.”

Tricks sniffed and chuckled. “Yeah, I bet you are. I knew you couldn’t handle the forest.”

“Forest…” Desyi repeated to herself, whispering. “Why was I in the forest?” She asked.

The other girls all looked at her, puzzled and clearly apprehensive to share what they were thinking.

“Did I say something wrong? I just want to know.” She said. “Did I get lost?”

The other girls remained mute, looking at each other, seemingly checking if the others knew the right words to say.

Desyi grew concerned, before Frey suddenly came up and turned her head toward the dark window. Her reflection was as clear as it could’ve been through the glass. And it looked normal, as far as she could tell. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and… wait, where were her fangs? Why weren’t her eyes scarlet red? And her skin… it had much more color than it did last time she was awake. The last time she remembered looking like this was…

Before her heart was pierced through by a vampire.

It just occurred to her that in all the time she was in this room, with other people, and while being hungry, she never once craved the taste of blood.

And suddenly, Desyi had tears of her own falling from her eyes.

Frey rushed to hug her, Suhara and Tricks standing close beside her.

“Oh god.” Desyi said, her head overwhelmed by the returning memories. “I was so alone out there, I almost…” She sniffed. “How did I get back?”

Suhara’s eyes drifted down. “A spell, it… takes life away from one person and gives it to another. It’s the only way to get rid of the blood demon.”

Desyi went rigid. “Who?” She asked.

Suhara turned to meet her gaze, her lips forming a sad smile. “The old wand shopkeeper, Raycern, you remember him right? He gave away his life to save you.” Suhara turned wistfully to the window. “He’s a hero.”

Desyi was stunned. “Oh that’s…” For a second she was about to be consumed with self hatred. The thought of someone willingly ending their life, just so she could be human again, made her feel indescribably guilty. How could she live knowing that? She didn’t deserve it.

But then she remembered what she said to Suhara.

“That’s incredibly selfless of him.” Desyi said. “I hope wherever he is now, he knows I thank him.”