Under Her Cursed Scythe

"A miracle happens anyway, even when it seems impossible. I can ensure you that, somehow, somewhere, it will fulfill your wishes... somehow someone or something will become that savior that you have been waiting for like-"

"Have miracles ever came to you?" Alivia turned her head towards the boy and dared abruptly.

"Um…" There was a dim quietness, and for a full minute, the question hung in the air between them while gloom seemed to envelop the boy's face. But by the next minute, that sad expression was quite gone and he answered Alivia's question with a forced grin, "Yes, once.", and took out something from his pocket.

"I once thought that I would never find this pocket watch again when I accidentally dropped it down a cliff with a sheer drop awaited…" His fingers softly stroked the round bronze alloy case of the watch which was covered by raised floral vines on the back and a steampunk heart engraved in the front, and in the inside of it, there were a white enamel dial with Roman numerals, a subsidiary seconds dial and needles that had heart shape rubies at their tips.

"But after a week," he went on. "It was miraculously picked up by some hikers who found it in a little stream at the foot of that cliff and the officer who phoned me about it said I was really lucky to get the chance to retrieve it...He said normally things that fall down that cliff just disappear forever...but I know it was not just luck, it was miracle's -"

"That's it? You found your pocket watch?" Alivia broke in as she shot him an annoyed look. "For an old crap like this? Is it even worth it?"

"This is no ordinary pocket watch." the boy responded in the calmest way possible but he still couldn't hide the rising fluctuation in his voice when he said the word "no". "This is my dad's-" His voice drifted off and he and swallowed the rest of his words, knowing that Alivia couldn't care less.

"Perhaps, you've heard about the history of Snow White? The prince who coincidentally came by the woods and save the princess who was said to be dead, with his kiss? It is one of the most well-known proofs of the existence of miracles."

"That absurd fairy tale is true?" Alivia felt fretful at this news, for she hated the ideas that were brought out from that story. "Don't tell me true love is another key for miracles to happen cus I can tell you it never works in the real world." she put in. 'Look at Luke! He wasn't revived miraculously. He didn't wake up from the dead by mother's true love kisses.' She thought. 'He was revived by a daemon and with a price. A price that I have to pay for him!'

"Well... to be honest, if you think about it, the act of falling in love is already an act of miracle. As someone who has experienced it, I can tell you for sure that there's no complete explanation on why one loves this one but not the other." the boy in the white cloak suggested. "For Snow White's case…"

'Phew! I thought he was going to tell me his love story.' Alivia thought.

"...I would say miracles definitely takes part in it, cos during those less open-minded ages, there were only a few ne-necro-you know, those who would fall in love with a corpse..."

"You mean necrophiliacs?"

"Yes, necrophiliacs! Speaking of which, the idea of being a necrophiliac doesn't seem to be that gross to modern people anymore, isn't it? Even for the Non-Maguses...cause it's like falling in love with those shimmering, good-looking vampires in that romance novel that Bunny is obsessed with, except they don't suck blood, isn't it?" the boy queried, following by a nervous laughter as though what he had just said was something funny. Yet, what he received as a response from Alivia was no more than a blank face.

"Really!? Not even a smile." he asked with a disappointed tone. "I thought it was funny." he mumbled.

Alivia rolled her eyes.

"An-anyways," the boy went on. "No matter now or then, you need to be extremely lucky, perhaps, 1 to a million chance that you find a necrophiliac prince who is willing to kiss the dead princess, and hence, miracle plays a critical role in this! And I believe the thing that urged that miraculous act of revival to happen was the faith and belief from the Dwarfs who believed that their princess could live once more."

"The faith and belief from the Dwarfs? Are you sure?" Alivia doubted. "Can't it be someone else? Like the...hunter? There's a hunter in the story, right?"

"No, it's the Dwarfs. They prayed hard for their princess's revival. They told me themselves."

"They told you? If you say this fairytale is real, shouldn't they be dead by now? " Alivia asked, doubtfully.

"Well, we have copies of their memories... weaved into different objects that represent them or embroidered onto fabrics to create portraits of them. Once you touch either of these objects, you can see a hologram of each of them. You get to talk with them, ask them about their lives and learn about their true personalities as well as their deepest thoughts. Memories can't lie…" the boy illustrated. "I can show you those objects if you are interested! Just come with me to the Bureau! They have-"

"No, thanks." Alivia broke in and gestured the boy to halt his speech. "I'm not interested and…I get what you're doing now." Her fingers wiggled towards the boy's direction. "The ninety-degree sitting position, the friendly offering of sweets, the lame jokes and the 'kind' invitation to your Bureau…Do you really think your usual trust-building exercises can trick me into following you back to your council and handing you the ring willingly?" she inquired as she was reminded of the things she had learnt from the after-school psychology club she had once joined before her mother demanded her to stop going.

"Just to be clear. I'm not stupid or naive so you can't fool me with your lies or your little act. I am well beyond than that. " She turned her head away from the boy once more.

"It's not an act or a lie. I really want to help you." the boy underlined in a sincere tone. "I don't want to see you falling any further. I've seen the consequences of people choosing the Left-Hand path and it's-"

He frowned when his mind flashed back to the scenes of people screaming into his ears as their eyes turned all white, patches of their hair fell out and their faces torn apart by themselves.

"Listen to me. There's still a chance for you to redeem yourself. It's not too late if you-"