“I knew this would happen eventually, you know,” Yeri said sadly, her voice hoarse with restrained emotion. “I knew you’d never love me more than you love power. I knew you’d never choose me.”

“Then why did you stay? Why didn’t you make this easier for both of us?” Tzuyu demanded, teetering between heartbroken and angry.

“Do you really think I would have been able to leave you?”

“Yes! You’re stronger than I am and have more self-discipline. You would have been able to do it.”

“Would you have been able to stay away?” Tzuyu looked away without answering the question, her heart pounding. “Did you ever even love me?”

“If I didn’t love you, we wouldn’t be in this predicament,” Tzuyu snapped.

“Did you ever love me?” Yeri repeated, harsher this time. “Me. Just me. Not my heart. Not the prospect of power I hold for you. Me.”

“You really believe I’m shallow, don’t you?”

“You’re choosing yourself over me. You’re choosing power over love. That’s pretty shallow to me.” Tzuyu shook her head, looking truly hurt for the first time during the entire conversation.

“The reason you make me so powerful isn’t because you love me, or because you have a pure heart. It’s because I am in love with you. You are the one thing I truly care about, thus making you both my biggest strength and my greatest weakness,” Tzuyu explained. For the first time ever, the young witch looked completely lost and conflicted. Yeri stepped forward, tentatively reaching out to the cheek of the girl she loved so much.

“Why are you doing this? If you leave me here today, I’ll die without you. But if you stay, you’ll kill me yourself. Why does my life have to end either way?” Yeri was crying openly now. She didn’t understand any of this. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with another human? Why did she have to fall for a power-hungry, self-concerned witch? It wasn’t fair.

“Yeri, look at me,” Tzuyu begged. Tears were starting to stream down her cheeks too, but she ignored them, her attention solely on the beautiful blonde standing in front of her. The younger girl reached out, cupping Yeri’s face gently and making her look up so their eyes could meet. “I need you to listen to me, Yeri. I’m doing this for you, okay? I’m doing this for both of us.”

“How can you say that?” Yeri screeched, shoving Tzuyu away from her. “How can you possibly believe that killing me to increase your power will help either of us? Do I need to remind you that I’ll be dead?”

“Please, it isn’t like that. You need to understand―”

“No, you need to understand! You’re a selfish brat who has only ever cared about herself and her damn powers. You never deserved my love and I knew that, but I loved you anyway. I always knew I was stupid for it and that I’d regret it, but I had the hope that maybe you’d be able to love me enough to save yourself. But I was wrong, and now I’m going to pay for it with my life.”

“Yeri, that isn’t true. Please, listen to me.”

“I’m done listening to you!” Yeri suddenly went silent, visibly struggling with the flood of tears she was trying to hold back. Her eyes roamed over Tzuyu, but there was no longer any trace of that gentle love or that flicker of hope. Instead, Yeri’s eyes were cold and empty, the way Tzuyu’s had been until she met the other girl. A shiver ran down the younger girl’s spine as she locked gazes with Yeri, who whispered, “I hate you.”

“No, don’t say that. Please―”

“I hate you!” Yeri yelled this time, no longer trying to stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. “I hate you, Tzuyu! I hate you, I hate you, I―”

The blonde abruptly went silent again, her eyes rolling back as she crumpled to the ground. Tzuyu wanted to move forward to catch her, but she couldn’t move. Instead, the younger girl fell to her knees and wept, her purple hair forming a curtain around her face.

“God, you two are absolutely pathetic,” a voice rang out, echoing in the cavern. “I was really getting tired of hearing your whiney voices.”

“Jennie, can you shut up? This is so not the time for this,” another voice chastised.

“What? It’s only the truth,” Jennie replied.

“Can’t you see how difficult this was for her? Can’t you be a little more sensitive?” a third voice chimed in, full of sympathy and concern.

“Stop it, all of you. We have a job to do. Let’s not let Tzuyu’s heartache be in vain,” a fourth voice ordered authoritatively. There was the sound of people moving but Tzuyu couldn’t bring herself to help. Not yet. She watched through her tear-blurred vision as the owner of the second voice―a redhead named Rosé―approached Yeri’s limp body.

“Be careful with her!” Tzuyu croaked before Rosé could touch the girl. The redhead looked up and gave a slight nod before kneeling and proceeding to capture Yeri’s tears in a small glass vial.

“Tzuyu?” the soft, sympathetic voice from before said softly, drawing the young witch’s attention. Tzuyu looked up at the blonde witch hovering over her―Lisa. “We need your tears too.”

“Right,” Tzuyu mumbled. She pulled her hair back, allowing Lisa to collect her tears in a similar fashion to what Rosé had done to Yeri. Together, the three witches got to their feet (after Tzuyu had comfortably accommodated Yeri, of course). They moved to the center of the cavern where Jennie and Jisoo―the leader of the small coven―were preparing a cauldron of bubbling, luminescent liquid.

“Did you get it?” Jisoo asked as the three girls approached.

“Yep. Tears of pure hatred,” Rosé said, holding out her vial.

“And tears of true heartbreak,” Lisa added, also holding out her vial. Jisoo took both of the small crystalline objects, emptying their contents into the cauldron in a burst of colorful flame.

“You know, I really must applaud your acting, as annoying as it was. You almost had me convinced you were actually going to kill her,” Jennie mused, her gray eyes alive with mischief. Her comment earned her a hard punch on the arm from Rosé. “Ouch!”

“Stop being such a douche,” Lisa hissed.

“What? It was a compliment!”

“Enough!” Jisoo boomed silencing all of them. The eldest turned to Tzuyu, whose bright blue eyes had been downcast the entire time. “Tzuyu, are you positive you want to go through with this?”

“Will it really give me a second chance, a real chance? Will we be able to start over?” Tzuyu asked, her voice barely audible.

“I can’t promise you anything, Tzuyu. If it works, then yes, you’ll be able to start over. You’ll be in an alternate dimension where magic doesn't exist,” Jisoo explained. “But I can’t guarantee that you and Yeri will be able to find each other, or that you’ll even have any recollection of one another. Are you willing to take that risk?”

“I have to. It’s the only way she and I have a chance of being happy together,” Tzuyu whispered, determination shining in her sad eyes. Jisoo nodded, conjuring a cup and scooping up some of the luminescent liquid from the cauldron. She held it out to Tzuyu.

“Drink,” she ordered. “And make sure Yeri has some too.”

Tzuyu wordlessly did as she was told. She threw her head back, taking a large gulp of the bitter drink. Her face scrunched up at the taste but she said nothing. Instead, she silently trudged over to her fallen lover and tilted the girl’s head back, letting the liquid trickle into the unconscious girl’s mouth. The other four witches formed a small circle around Tzuyu and Yeri, linking hands. Tzuyu closed her eyes as the girls began to chant an incantation. Images of Yeri flashed behind her eyelids as the world began to slip away…

***

One year later…

“So, I’ll pick you up after school?” Yeri’s mom asked as the blonde climbed out of the car.

“No need. I’ll take the bus after practice,” Yeri replied. She blew a kiss to her mother before turning to enter the school building. She was almost at the front door when a wisp of purple in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned to see a confused looking girl staring up at the school building before analyzing a crumpled paper in her hands. Yeri approached the girl. “Hey, is everything alright?”

“What?” the girl asked in accented Korean, spinning around swiftly. Yeri noticed with a sharp acceleration of her heart that this girl was breathtakingly beautiful. And, somehow, she seemed… familiar. “Oh, um… s-sorry. I’m n-new here. From Taiwan. I’m a bit lost.”

“Well I could definitely show you around. On one condition.”

“C-condition?”

“Yep. I’ll show you around school, but you have to promise to sit with me during lunch.” The new girl automatically relaxed after hearing that, a beautiful smile gracing her face.

“Deal.”

“I’m Yeri, by the way,” the blonde said, extending a hand. The purple-haired girl timidly reached out her own hand.

“I’m Tzuyu,” she replied.

“Tzuyu, hmm,” Yeri hummed, turning towards the school building. “It’s weird. I feel like we’ve met before.”

“Weird. I got that feeling too,” Tzuyu admitted. “Maybe we knew each other in another life.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Yeri laughed. Without thinking and without hesitation, she took Tzuyu’s hand in her own, tugging her towards the front door. “Come on now, before we’re late.”

I don't know where this came from but  it seemed like a good idea so I wrote it down as fast as possible. I hope it wasn't too confusing. Also, I'm sorry it turned out kind of angsty.

I hope it was enjoyable!

~unsungpoet