Wish Upon A Star

First, there was darkness. Suddenly, a little spark of light came into existence. It flickered, as if struggling not to perish. Over time, it grew bigger, its radiance reaching further. It pulsated in a soft rhythm like a heartbeat.

For the longest time, it stayed dormant, traversing the passage of time while growing in size and brightness. However, it remained alone. With only endless darkness as company, it spent an eternity by its lonesome self.

With no consciousness, it never moved from the place it had been born in. It never wanted, it never needed. It was alive, yet wasn't living.

Until one day, the sound of a child sniffling managed to reach it. Its light flickered, never feeling such a foreign wave disturbing its energy. The sniffling continued to unsettle the stability of its existence. Like a flame being blown by the wind, it was quivering.

Even without consciousness, it tried to keep itself alight. Anything that was alive strived for self-preservation, after all. And against the stubborn voice of the child, it finally fought back. It condensed an energy that made up its body, before it made its light explode.

A bright flare lit up the night sky.

The sniffling stopped. For a few moments, the darkness and it returned to silence. However, it didn't last long. The same voice was back again, though this time it wasn't crying.

"A star...I wish upon a star, that I could save my friend. Please, make it so that fate will be kind to me and him. Please, help us."

Like a bolt out of the blue, the wish flicked a switch within it. It shuddered for a moment, before finally, for the first time since forever, it opened its eyes.

It looked down upon the vastness of the universe, until its eyes landed on a little girl sitting down in the middle of a forest. It knew that she was the child who had woken it from eternal slumber.

And so, it decided to answer her wish. It descended into her world.

---

Freya was exhausted from crying so much. Her eyes were red, and her face was stained with tears that were starting to dry out. Her brown ponytail had many strands that had gone loose. Her green dress was dirtied by the wet soil after rain, and its skirt was torn in many places.

However, despite the rough state she was in, she wasn't worried about herself. Sitting down and leaning on a tree before her, a boy who seemed to be a few years older than her was wincing in pain. He pressed a hand on his abdomen, where blood kept pouring out of a long gash from a sword attack.

The blood wasn't red. It was darker than crimson, but not quite black. It trickled down his dark purple skin, some of it staining a portion of his tail. Squished between his back and the tree were his black leather membranous wings.

The girl was a human, and the boy was a demon.

That was the reason they had to run, her from her home, and him from his nest.

"Freya..." the boy weakly called her name, "please, run before they get here."

Freya firmly shook her head. "I said no, Nix. I'm not leaving you." She gently squeezed his free hand.

Suddenly, Freya spotted something out of the corner of her eyes. She looked up and saw a trail of light in the night sky. It was a shooting star.

'Could it be...it answered my prayer?'

It could also be just a coincidence. Freya was unsure, though a huge part of her was desperately wishing for it to be the first option.

Meanwhile, Nix followed where Freya's eyes were looking. Then he saw the same shooting star. "That's...pretty," he remarked. Inside, he was secretly making his own wish to the star. All he wanted was for Freya to be safe and happy.

It didn't take long before the two kids realized, that the shooting star was heading straight down to their location. None of them had the chance to even gasp before the star flooded the entire forest with light so bright it was blinding. It was as if the sun had risen during the night. No, it was more like the sun had literally descended upon the world.

Freya and Nix had to shield their eyes with their hands. Even then, the light still found its way through the tiny gaps between their fingers.

A minute later, the light dimmed down. It took a few more seconds before Freya was able to open her eyes. Her vision adjusted to the contrast between the darkness enveloping the forest and the glowing golden light coming from an orb floating just a few centimeters before her face. The light pulsated and sometimes flickered as if it was alive. Just as she was about to reach out her hand, the glowing orb shot at her and entered her head.

---

The first thing it felt was warmth. And then came the coldness of the wet soil, followed by the gentle caress of the night breeze.

And then it happened. Hundreds, thousands of memories, along with all the emotions associated with them, poured over every aspect of its being. Slowly, it adopted the whole personality of a girl named Freya Hart. No, it was no mere adoption; it was an assimilation. A perfect assimilation.

It was still aware it was an entity originating from outside this world, but at the same time, it was also Freya. It had become her, and she had become it.

And as if by instinct, it wanted to realize Freya's first wish. Or, rather, its first wish, since they were both now one and the same. "Nix," it said, a soft smile blooming on its lips.

Nix, who had just opened his eyes, stared at her quizzically. "Freya, what was that light—" He couldn't finish his sentence as he noticed Freya's hand slowly nearing the wound on his stomach. He wanted to catch her hand, but halted when he saw her smile. Somehow, her eyes exuded a calm and reassuring aura that conveyed to him that he was going to be alright. Soothed by her aura, Nix slowly removed his hand that had been pressing on the wound.

It tenderly placed its palm on its friend's wound, whispering, "It's gonna be okay," when Nix winced and groaned. All it did afterward was wish for the wound to heal, and so it did.

A faint golden glow emanated from its hand. In a matter of seconds, the wound was closing, until it looked like it had never been there in the first place. Nix was no longer bleeding, and his dark purple skin seemed so smooth, seemingly without a single scratch.

Nix stared wide-eyed as his friend performed what he could only describe as magic. Magicians were a rare being in that world. As much as he was thankful to her for healing him, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Freya, are you a magician?"

It tilted its head, pondering for a bit. "I wasn't, until just now. I guess I am a magician now," it said, a grin forming on its face. Now that Nix's wound was completely healed, it quickly pulled the boy into a hug. It started crying. But this time, it was not out of sadness, but out of joy.

It was happy. Freya was happy, that Nix and she were going to be alright. She promised that from now, nothing and nobody would get in the way of their happiness. She wished for them both to stay together till the end of their lives, and that they would eventually reach their happy ending.