This was the drawing that inspired this book, since I never really have written an original and non fanfic story.

I made it a couple of months ago, but never posted it until now. It was in another book first. Then I looked back at the book and began thinking. What's the story behind this? And here is my book. We may be in Chapter 2, with two characters. But my planning is already in chapter 7, five characters.

And sorry if I do slow updates, I now have 4 stories to work on, meaning I need to make a schedule. Especially catch up with my main story, Illusive Tears, since I should have been on Chapter 26-32 by now.

Pretty lengthy... I was never even planning how long it would go for though... O h w e l l...
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           As Yukari suggested, Iris roamed around, while Yukari was busy preparing tea for herself to drink. The young and curious child first began with the hallways, nothing special, just a light gray carpet extending the whole house, next to the sides of the wooden door of the homeowner's bedroom was two little tables, both with red roses inside a beige vase. It was labeled by a black chalkboard signed 'Bedroom', written in sky blue chalk. So she didn't just know it was Yukari's bedroom from thin air.

Under her boots, she felt a bulge from the carpet, kneeling down and uncovering the floor from the carpet, she discovered a gold colored key. Peculiar. She kept it in her hand for now. She opened and closed multiple rooms, closets, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, every necessary requirement for a house.

      It didn't seem special at all. And she was lonely, nobody to talk to and no one that lived with her. Not even a pet was around, except for the forest's natural animals. Maybe they were her company? It was uncertain to make that decision this early on the road. She continued opening and closing doors until she stumbled upon a hard to open the door. The doorknob didn't open it.

       She was puzzled on the door until Iris remembered the key she collected at the beginning of her exploration. It fitted perfectly, like a new pair of clothes. Unlocking the door, she slowly opened it. Dark. That's all she could see, but the light from the hallway revealed a staircase going down. Of course, she walked down the stairs, careful not to trip and fall her way down, causing attention to be given to her.

   The room gave her an anxious feeling as if she didn't belong in here. But Yukari only said to not go in her bedroom. This was a basement. It's a polar opposite of a bedroom. Once she reached downstairs, a faded light green hue came from a wall in front of her. Toggling on the light switch, the lamp unsteadily flickered on.

        It seems like a magical room, bookshelves filled with books, some stacking on top of each other due to no space left. The books didn't even seem chronological or in any order what so ever. It bothered Iris a little bit, but she tried to ignore it.

Green bubbles floated up, elevating to the basement's ceiling and popped, a long black spoon was in the cauldron, and a spell book open to page 617, the title being 'Guide for Wacky Wondrous Witchery for Novice and Intermediate: Health Edition' which didn't really roll off the tongue nicely due to the lengthy title. With over 617 pages, the informational book seemed boring. Though, 'witchery', and a cauldron? Spells, perhaps? Maybe Yukari was a sorceress!

Iris gasped, a witch? Was Yukari like the witch in the famous tale, Hansel & Gretel? Was Yukari going to eat her? Iris trembled worriedly. From upstairs, the blonde haired woman noticed the basement door open, as she ran down the stairs. "Iris?" The caring woman stuttered. "Yes?" "Why are you he-..." She paused her sentence, noticing the small key held in the child's hand.

"How did you find that?" "Something was on the ground so I picked it u-." "Don't touch things that don't belong to you..." Her worried expression changed to slight stern variation. "I-I'm sorry ma'am." "Don't call me ma'am, Yukari is enough." "O-Okay..." Yukari bowed, apologizing.

Iris eyed the book, awkwardly attempting to keep the conversation alive. "Are you magic-..." "Yes." "A witch...?" "You too?" "No." Iris, as slow as a tortoise, mimicked a wincing pose, afraid that Yukari might snap that her secret has been exposed. Instead, she pulled out a stool and sat down, without leaving one for her child. "Y-Yes..." Stars, like a magic trick, began to gleam in Iris' eyes. "C-Could you show me a spell?"

        Not knowing where to begin, Yukari hesitated on the response. Though it smacked her like a rod of lighting, putting back the volume of 'Guide for Wacky Wondrous Witchery for Novice and Intermediate: Health Edition' back in the antique bookshelves, grabbing multiple flasks and filling it with the emerald green liquid in the cauldron.

         "Sit next to me," Yukari commanded, motioning over to the wooden floor that she sat on, as she removed herself from the plain oak wood stool. Flipping to page 463, she laid her index finger on a spell boldly labeled, 'ENHANCE MEMORY', Iris already knew what Yukari was planning. Soon enough, after a long hopeless sigh, Yukari chanted:

        "All that I learn may I retain and keep to call upon again.
    And everything I need I'll  find within my labyrinth mind."

      Like Yukari when she thought of the spell, Iris also got hit by realization. A flashback.

     August 11th, a Saturday. It was the birthday of someone in her family. 'Iris' didn't care much about the child in her family. It wasn't even someone who lived with her, she lived in the state right above her's. She only came for the sweet pastries. Her parents were strict on their only daughter's health. So they sadly declined the traditional option for a cake.

     Iris was out playing with her cousin in the birthday girl's backyard. "******, you can't catch me!" The cousin teased. "Y-Yeah right, K-Kiki!" Iris said, panting as her stamina was low. Kiki was pretty fast for her age, possibly due to how tall she was. Kiki was 12, Iris was 6.

      Strange for a 12-year-old to be doing such childish things, but it was a party. And Kiki was pretty energetic and childish. If she's still alive, she might be acting like a 5-year-old in her profession, throwing paper airplanes here and there. Of course, Iris was too young to acknowledge such facts. So, like the normal spontaneous child she was, she resumed the game. Though they never even paused.

     It was all fun and games until a small infant began crying next to Iris. "How could you say that in front of him?!" The mother growled. "I-I'm sorry! I just had to say it!" After asking the mother of the baby what had happened, the mother explained. The father of the baby committed murder to his uncle. Just cause of how the father was drunk.

     The mother did say the name of the father, but Iris could not remember if during the flashback, like her own name.

     "Iris! Iris!?" Yukari shook Iris, her hands on a tight grip as they were placed on her shoulders. "Did I do the spell wrong? D-Did you die?!" Yukari asked the interviewee, panicky shaking the child. "I-I'm fine!" "Did you get your memory back?!" Yukari seemed to grin. After shaking her head, the brunette admitted, "No, only a piece of it.". The witch muttered something under her breath. The main words being, "Promised", "All", "Memory", "Lied". Probably the spelled swore that they would regain all memories. It's not rare for this generation to be filled with lies. At least it did some fraction of the job done.