The Wishing Tree (1): A Destiny City Star Festival Tradition to be held every year; In Town Square, there is a beautiful tree with spreading branches. It is tall, but the lowest branches are easily reached. The city has decorated the tree with small, starlike ornaments and glistening lights. Thick leaves and beautiful purple flowers dangle from the branches, along with a myriad of different colored papers with handwritten wishes. Next to the tree is a stack of blank paper with twine attached, and a handwritten sign that explains:
Write your wish on a sheet of paper and tie it to the tree. Take one wish off the tree and do your best to grant it. When you have granted the wish, bury the paper in the park.
The papers are biodegradable and filled with seeds. There are no rules for wishing, but you are encouraged to wish for something vague enough that it can be interpreted in many ways so that it can be granted; you do not write your name on it, but it is encouraged to write something that doesn't wish for self gain, but rather something that can make the world a better place. Some wishes dangling from the tree already include things like "I wish there wasn't so much litter in the park," "I wish someone would clean the graffiti off the old historic buildings," and "I wish there were more volunteers at the shelter."
If you choose to use the Wishing Tree, what do you wish for? If your wish is private, you may write it on the paper and choose a spot in the park and bury it yourself instead of hanging it on the tree.
“Order for Griffin,” The barista fitted the third cup into the compostable tray carrier before settling a smile on Erica, who had been enjoying her spot beneath the ceiling AC.
Loath to relinquish her place so quickly, she stepped away from the coveted spot with a deep frown as a mother and her two children quickly filled the space. “Two more minutes,” she teased to the barista, who laughed in reply.
“Wearing that dark uniform and a heavy vest in this heat must be really rough,” she grimaced apologetically. “I have your venti iced coffee and mango guava refresher. I also included a cup of ice for you and your partner. It’s not much, but I hope it helps some.”
“That’s very kind of you, thank you. It looks like it’s going to be really busy. Stay cool and take it easy when you get done with work.” Erica put a five-dollar bill in the tip jar and gathered the drinks and straws before joining Jeremy outside to resume their patrol.
“One venti iced coffee,” she removed his drink from the tray and handed it to him. “And a cup of ice to cool us down.” Erica took a few chips from the cup and set them against the back of her neck before offering it to her partner so he could do the same.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2026 4:02 pm
Most of the time, Jeremy didn’t mind the heat. Or, at least, he’d learned to ignore it, as he did most inconveniences. Tonight, for whatever reason, it was just rubbing him the wrong way. Or, everything was. Mostly his clothes.
He accepted the ice and coffee with grumbled gratitude, sipping at it while also massaging his neck with the ice.
“What the hell is with this weather. There’s not even a breeze over here. Isn’t Destiny City supposed to be, you know,” he shrugged, “Weird?”
Things had been normal lately. The kind of normal that usually came before something ‘weird’.
“I wouldn’t mind one of those weather phenomena we get. Snow or something would be great right now.”
He sipped at his drink again, looking at Erica over the rim of the cup like he was waiting for her to make that happen.
Shanyume
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2026 4:14 pm
“Hey,”” she laughed, holding her hands up in mock surrender. “That is well beyond my realm of control. But maybe you can add that to the Wishing Tree.”” Erica teased before taking a sip of her lemonade. “I’m sure someone out there could make it happen.””
Given all the strange happenings around Destiny City, it wasn't entirely unreasonable to assume there was a Senshi or two capable of granting such an odd request. As a Knight, however, Erica's talents were considerably more limited.
“Although…”” Her voice trailed off in consideration. “If you’re free after work, I could always take you somewhere cold.”” Erica’s grin widened at the implied offer to take him to her Wonder for a few hours.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2026 12:33 am
Jeremy groaned when she suggested the Wishing Tree, not necessarily because he had anything against it, but because he’d heard enough about it from Myles already. He looked at her, exasperated, but it didn’t take long for his expression to relax and he eventually shrugged.
“You know. I don’t even think I’d mind. Might be nice to go somewhere the ice isn’t melting in half a ******** minute.”
He shook off his hand and reached for some more ice. He needed to get as much use out of it before it all melted.
“Have you been out granting many wishes? Myles dragged me out yesterday to go do some.”
Shanyume
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2026 5:16 pm
Erica didn’t even feign an attempt at stifling her laugh. Instead, she held the cup of ice with an amused expression.
His frustration with the weather was definitely justified. The precinct had air conditioning. Their patrol vehicle had air conditioning.
And yet… today they were on foot with not even a fan to help them keep cool.
“No,” she admitted with a small shake of her head. “Not yet anyway.”
“I’ve thought about it,” Erica’s shoulders rose and fell in an indifferent shrug. “But… I’ve been spending most of my time off the clock following up on the reports we’ve received regarding monster attacks.”
She had yet to encounter any of them but was sure it was only a matter of time. From previous years, she knew that the criptoid at the reservoir wasn’t a youma, but she didn’t have any gear that could support a deeper investigation into what it actually was. The large angry chicken also did not share a signature with the Negaverse’s feral beasts. It seemed reasonable to believe that the reports of frog-like creatures would be no different.
I wonder if Beira or Surtur have had any leads Eria wondered. It has been a while since she reached out to either of them, and she considered that perhaps this might be a good enough excuse to see how they’ve been doing.
“It might be a nice break in routine if you want to pick a couple of wishes for me. Or you’re free to send Myles my way, and I’ll grant some with him.” His younger brother was a good kid, though perhaps kid no longer best described him since he was in fact a young man. Still, it was difficult not to remember him as the boy who waited patiently in the waiting area, or the lunch room, for his brother to finish with his shift.
Kyuseisha no Hikari
Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2026 7:36 pm
Jeremy instinctively grumbled at the mention of monsters but he didn’t bother to voice further dissatisfaction.
“Are you sure you want me to send Myles your way? He loves Star Fest, always goes a little overboard. I told you he’s vending this year, right? You can probably smell it on me.”
Not as badly as Jeremy seemed to think, though. He smelled like the same cologne he always wore, except for the last few weeks he carried the faint trace of Myles’s festive candles.
“I don’t get it, we got a bigger house–he has a whole room for his crafts, and I still can’t get away from it. He’d probably like to run around with you. And when you got tired of those wishes…”
He grumbled again and gestured vaguely. “You two can go fight monsters or something.”
Shanyume
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Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2026 1:29 am
“Oh, don’t tempt me with a good time now. Who knows what trouble Myles and I could get into with that sort of permission?” Erica wiggled her eyebrows, a playful grin spreading across her face.
She was joking, of course.
Mostly anyway…
In Destiny City, it didn’t matter what uniform she was wearing; trouble had a habit of appearing whether she was looking for it or not.
Erica didn’t mind letting Jeremy grumble and gripe about the inconveniences his brother brought into his life. Beneath all the complaining, she knew how much he loved Myles and how proud he was of him.
Honestly, candlemaking was probably one of the tamest hobbies Myles could have picked up, next to probably soap making. There were far worse things he could have come home smelling like, and somehow she doubted Jeremy would be nearly as amused if those smells were the kind that could get either of them into trouble with the precinct.
“I remember you mentioning that he was looking into getting a stall, but I don’t recall you mentioning that he actually got one.” Erica took a drink of her refresher as they continued down the main street toward the Wishing Tree. “If you know where he’s set up, maybe we should stop by and bug him for a bit.”
