“Green, do phantoms cry?” Jacob has been bothered by the sound coming out from Green’s hut. He knows who likes to hide themselves there. And he does not like to think about the worst thing that might happen.

But Green does not seem bothered. “Ah, Blue just doesn’t like Violet. Thinks Violet takes everything from him. Which might… be partly true, I think. Don’t worry about him, he’ll get over it soon. Always happens. Always got resolved.”

The phantom’s answer does not satisfy the businessman at all. “Is it because Violet is about to teach me some magic? I thought it was his idea.”

“Mmmm…”

“So you didn’t even give him a chance to say no.”

“Look, don’t worry about Blue. You need to learn magic, and we all know that Violet is the best fit for that. Violet is friendly (as long as you don’t get on his nerves) and has tried to make amends to Blue since I don’t know when. Blue has to start opening up and give Violet a chance to reconcile with him. And the only way we can support that is just to let him be.”

“…and let him feel betrayed?”

Green sighed. “Why are you always so stubborn? Look, from tomorrow on, you will be taught by Violet. And Nona will be my pupil. And if Blue wants to stay away from Violet, there are still the two us for him. You don’t need to worry. Besides, you can always come over at break time, Violet likes to be left alone at those occasions.”

“Alright, so he is crying in the hut?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go talk to him then.” Jacob turned around and left Green in his field.

The new young lady who came with Violet is a funny one. She listed every name people call her with, as if she can’t decide herself what she would like to be called. It reminded him a little when he started giving up and use ‘Jacob’ as his name.

“So your real name is not Jacob?” Blue asked from inside the hut. The failed student was telling them about everything that has been going on from the other side of the door.

“No, it’s similar, but not quite the same. People in Iluskia just end up calling me Jacob though, so I gave in.” He noticed that Blue stopped sobbing. Phantoms are a little like humans, and apparently distraction also works on them. “But anyways, thank you so much for the books you brought me. I hope Violet still lets me read about other things than magic.”

Blue gave out a loud silence they broke after it seemed enough. “Well, Violet can be strict sometimes. But if you do well, he might give you longer breaks you can use for other things.”

“I hope I’ll do well. Apparently I have been testing Green’s temper all this time.”

The phantom chuckled. “Green has a temper, yes. Violet is just strict. You’ll do fine.” After a long pause they added: “actually, I have been a little bit jealous of him.”

Jacob decided to just sit down. He has worked the field all day and his legs started to feel weak. Blue might still need some more time to talk. “Why jealous?”

He notices some shifting sounds. Blue got restless. “Because,” they said, but stopped. “Because he could meet so many humans,” they continued after a long pause, “and threw it all away. Then he goes on about how he hates humans, but look at him.” Blue shifted again. “He still wants to be your teacher. And he still teaches other humans.” The phantom took another long pause. “I just find that arrogant.”

“Hm…” Jacob tries to comprehend Blue’s answer. He never talked much about the other phantoms with Blue and Green. If he thinks about it, they never talked about their past at all. It was all about plants, Blue’s books, Iluskia’s geography, his business… What else? “So you are jealous because he could teach so many people, but always complains about it, while you have barely someone to mentor?”

“Yes,” Blue immediately answered. “Isn’t that unfair?”

The man who had to stop being Blue’s apprentice nodded, although he knew that his old master would not see it. “A little strange, yes.” He thought for a bit. “Say Blue, don’t even the locals have a way to get through the blue snow?”

“Maybe, but that might be a long time ago, before I forgot everything. Maybe they forgot, too. It is always funny with human tribes. So many things get forgotten, and so little remembered.”

“Before you forgot?”

Now Blue nodded, although Jacob cannot see it. “I don’t remember much. All I know is that I suddenly forgot everything. And the confusion.”

The former apprentice stayed silent.

“I remember being confused about why everyone is here.”

After making sure that Blue does not have more to say, Jacob followed up. “How so?”

Blue shifted again. Now maybe trying to formulate their answer. “I don’t know, but I remember asking myself why everyone is here. What that means, I don’t know.” There was another shift. “Anyways, I have to go.” And they opened the door.

As they parted, the phantom decided to at least say hi to Violet and welcome the newcomer next time. Maybe they were a little bit too harsh on their fellow phantom. But who knows. Reconciling would not make Blue’s wish come true though. A wish to finally have a student they can fully mentor. But maybe, getting along with Violet might make things easier. Blue never knows. Blue will never know.