Black shadows shifted and twisted through the dark air, hissing and whispering as they passed. The walls contracted and expanded, and a loud moaning could be heard reverberating through the darkness at each deliberate movement. Drifting deeper into the lightless abyss, the whispers grew louder and louder as the descent grew longer, until they cultivated to become deafening shouts and shrieks for escape. Sinful groans and shrills of spite echoed, bouncing off of each other until one was in a hell of screams. Under the sickening screeches, faint voices belonging to unknown people could be heard from beyond the receding walls, one from above and another lower down. Falling deeper still into the shadows, the voice below began to slowly rise until elevating above as the voice from above grew weaker as the distance became greater until finally disappearing. Suddenly, what felt to be a vacuum of dark fog pushed the shadows upward. The shaft of darkness whipped back and forth violently before slamming down onto an invisible surface. The shadows drew back and a very dull, grey glow was visible, blocked by a huge dune of inky black, atop which stood a figure, dressed in a flowing, brown cloak and overcastting hood.


Is that me?


The boy opened his eyes, cold sweat running down his face and glistened in the sunlight that broke through the wooden frame window at the left wall. He pulled off his thick, silken red covers and slid over to the edge of the mattress which was tucked into the room’s corner, holding his face in his hands as he bent over in perplexity. Ruffling his snow white hair, he then looked to the elaborately carved door, which stood some ten feet before the bed, just a crack open, sunlight flooding in from the opening. He rubbed his eyes and lifted himself from the bed, hunched over slightly from lassitude, and slowly made his way to the wardrobe at the other side of the room. Grasping its golden knobs, he creaked its double doors open and looked up to the assortment of illustrious-looking clothes and capes and shoes that were aligned along its width. He randomly pulled out a lavender vest with a high-collar cloak and black trousers, threw them on, laced his shoes, and stepped out the door.

As the boy sleepily dropped his feet down the staircase against the stone wall, he saw a man with jade-colored hair and donning a scarlet coat and cape laced with golden thread. The man was seated at the wooden dining table in the room below smiling up at the boy as he descended the steps.

“Well, well. Here he comes,” Gai announced, smiling as he stood from his chair, setting the cup of steaming coffee he held in his fingers onto the table. “Looking even more majestic than yesterday, I might add.” He walked up to the boy with open arms and held him tightly, his chin just over the boy’s ivory shock of hair. “A handsome young man you’ve become, Albeo. Just like your father.” He released his hold on the boy to see him smiling tenuously back up at him.

“Honestly, Gai. I wish you wouldn’t call him that,” said a beautiful woman with long, dark hair and bright, blue robes set a plate of eggs and sausages onto the table. “He does have a first name, you know.”

“But, Haruka, the name Albeo ran in his father’s family. He of course would’ve wanted it to continue, do you not agree?” Gai defended himself, turning to the woman with a friendly smile. “You should’ve honored him with it as his first, rather than giving him the title of ‘Akihiro’ and letting ‘Albeo’ to be his middle, so that it could hidden away as a mere initial. Regardless…” He turned back to the boy. “Happy Birthday, Albeo! Not every day that a young man turns fifteen.”

“Thanks,” Albeo spoke, smiling, his weariness evident in his weak voice. He leaned his head to the side to look past Gai, who stood in his immediate vision, and looked to the dining table, its cushioned chairs empty.

“Is Fuyuka here?” he asked, still looking to the table, the warm scent of a delectable breakfast pleasantly filling his nose.

“She refuses to come in,” said Haruka as she set a glass of orange juice beside the plate of hot food. “She said she doesn’t want to...Get away, Ossy! No!” She flicked her wrist, waving away the small, shaggy dog that was poking its nose over the sausages on the ceramic plate. As Haruka lightly flicked its snout, the dog jumped off of the table and ran past Albeo and Gai, scampering up the staircase. “Now eat.” She pulled out the chair in front and smiled at him warmly. “I made a special birthday breakfast for you.”

“Sorry, mom, I can’t,” Albeo stated, although he seemed tempted, his eyes resting on the delicious-looking meal. “I’ll be late for school.”

“Oh. Alright,” Haruka spoke, sounding a bit disappointed. “Have a good day, then. Don’t get into trouble with the school.”

Albeo gave her a nod and a slim smile at her joke, grabbing his books off a tall stool by the kitchen sink and stepping out the front door. The sky was clear with small patches of cloud drifting over the flowery meadows. Albeo squinted slightly in the sudden radiance of bright sunlight. Closing the door behind him, he took notice of a rather attractive girl with long, jade hair that extended to her waist and sky blue cast down over her ankles. She looked a bit impatient, standing before him and looking on him with tumultuous, green eyes and tightly holding a stack of leather books to her chest with one arm.

“Good morning, Fuyuka,” Albeo greeted with an innocent smile.

“You’re going to make us late again,” Fuyuka stated sternly, her eyes unflinching.

“We could’ve left earlier if you’d have come inside to get me,” Albeo spoke softly as the two began their walk down the open path that stretched through the grassy hills and stone houses.

“And get attacked by that murderous hound of yours? Are you mad?” she snapped, looking more resentful than ever.

“Ossy is not ‘murderous’,” he said hastily but faintly in his dog’s defense. “He’s my mother’s loyal dog. He was there since before I was born, and he’s never killed anyone before.”

“I’m sure he’s killed something,” she muttered under her breath.

There was silence for a while as the two continued down the bare path towards school. The trees were now almost bear as autumn was drawing to a close, the last of their red and yellow leaves detaching from their branches and being whisked away in the crisp, fall breeze. Fuyuka broke the silence after looking down to her left hand which was being held tightly by Albeo. She jerked her head slightly and gave his hand an affronted look as her face turned a light shade of pink. She then shifted her eyes up to look onto Albeo, who was facing forward as though nothing was unusual or out of place.

“D-Don’t you think it’s time that you stopped holding my hand, Akihiro?” said Fuyuka, irritation quite apparent in her voice despite her brief stutter.

“Huh?” Albeo said, turning his head almost immediately to her with a puzzled expression. “What? What was that?”

“Stop holding my hand whenever we go outside,” Fuyuka said as bluntly as she could, raising her voice a little, jerking her hand away from his.

“What? But why?” Albeo asked with a concerned expression on his face, his eyes a bit larger than before.

“I don’t want people getting the wrong idea, alright?” she immediately answered him, as though she had prepared saying this the previous night. “After all,” she began, brushing her long, streaming her over her shoulder. “I am a highly desirable young woman.”

“You are?” he questioned legitimately, receiving a whack on the back of his head as a reply. “Ow! What was that for?” he asked, rubbing the spot where she had struck him.

“Just hurry up,” she said a bit angrily, pacing ahead of him. “God, are you really older than me?”

Looking confused and distraught, Albeo nevertheless hurried his feet to catch up with her as she distanced herself away. He had never been the most confident student at his school. Not only did he have a problem with nerves, but he also became frightened at things quite easily. If someone were to disturb him at his desk while he was reading a book and tap him on his shoulder, he would immediately jump up and shout, falling to the ground and having the entire class laugh at him. All except for Fuyuka, who would often come to his rescue, helping him up and shouting away anyone who dare make fun of him. Their relationship was pretty much like that. Of course, having a girl for a bodyguard only seemed to make the taunting worse, and the fact that she was younger than him by five months didn’t exactly help, nor did the fact that he wasn’t exactly the tallest boy in his school either.

In English class that day, Albeo asked the teacher if he could go to the Nurse’s office. When she asked what was wrong, he said that he had gotten a paper cut. Fuyuka buried her head in her textbook as she sent him back to his desk, a few students in the front row snickering in their seats. During Biology, the class was dissecting parasite toads. As Albeo was holding a small knife in his trembling hand over the toad’s belly, it suddenly jumped up and leapt onto his face, sucking on his nose at which Albeo screamed for help. Fuyuka and the teacher had to come to help pull the amphibian off. To his great dismay and shock, Albeo’s nose had shrunken two sizes, and was sent to the nurse for examination. She said that his nose was fine, but he spent the rest of the morning rubbing it to make sure that he had not received any warts. At lunch, Albeo and Fuyuka were sitting beside each other at one of the tables (though not too closely, at Fuyuka’s request) next to a group of boys, one of which was apparently a spellcaster and had turned his soup into a frog, picked it up, and held it up to his nose, pretending that he was being attacked by it. Fuyuka ignored him, although Albeo seemed a bit unsettled.

“Well, if it isn’t Toad Snogger,” came a voice from behind the two. They turned to see a tall, handsome young man with fox ears poking out from his head of amber hair standing behind them, smiling smugly as two girls giggled quietly at his sides.

“Just because you’ve never kissed a girl, Feodore,” Fuyuka addressed him, unfazed. “And his name is Akihiro Albeo Baryk, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, right,” he said, looking to Albeo, who sat next to her a bit nervously. “Sorry, Albeeoh.”

“It’s Al-bay-oh,” Fuyuka sternly pronounced for the seemingly slow young man. “Maybe if you would pay attention in English more, instead of picking your nose, you would learn to pronounce names correctly.”

“I told you, I was checking for unkempt nostril hair!” Feodore snapped at her. “Some of us care whether it’s just hanging out or not.” He gave Fuyuka an incriminating look. It took all of Fuyuka’s self-restraint not to give him a good punch in the jaw, leering at him fiercely. Albeo merely hung his head, avoiding eye contact with him. Feodore, looking at him in his weakened state, merely grinned. “You’d best stop being such a thumb sucker, Albeeoh. You’ll never make it like that in man’s world.”

“I don’t know if he’d want to make it in man’s world if you’re like what all the men are like,” Fuyuka said sharply, coming to Albeo’s aid once again.

“You’re just snippy because you don’t have a man to yourself,” Feodore commented, his smile souring a bit. “Or is that little lump of meat there your new boyfriend? So, how much is his mother paying you to date him and be his body guard?”

Fuyuka immediately stood up from her seat, furious. The two girls at Feodore’s sides jumped out in front of him, as though they were going to protect him, trying to leer down Fuyuka who stood full to the tip with rage. Feodore’s smile returned to his handsome face. He was able to get her to angry enough to stand up from her seat, and that was all of the satisfaction he needed.

“Those ears of yours are so cute," Fuyuka said, staring hatefully at him. “It would be a shame if I were to tear one of them off.”

“With your teeth?” Feodore suggested, grinning, rather pleased with himself. “Come on Andrea. Yumi.” He nodded to the two girls in front of him, their eyes still set onto Fuyuka. “Let’s leave these two lovebirds alone. See you, Fuyuka. Toad Snogger.”

And with that, the three left, making their way through the crowd of people walking around the lunch room with their lunches. Fuyuka gave a huff and took her seat, looking positively enraged. Albeo gave her a brief, concerned glance and then continued eating his now cold soup.

“That stupid, fox-eared crossbreed,” Fuyuka muttered, not touching her meal. “Thinks he can act however he wants, just because he’s the son of the Head Spellcaster.”

Like you’ve never boasted about being the daughter of the Village Premier thought Albeo. He didn’t say it aloud, of course. He would never have the nerve to. He looked up to the old, wooden clock, ticking away on the wall at the far end of the room. He hastily drafted down his soup, picked up his books, and got off his seat, walking through the crowd of people.

“Where are you running off to?” Fuyuka called out to him under the drone of all the blathering students.

“I’ve gotten an appointment with the counselor,” Albeo replied as he looked back, and then vanished into the multitude of people.

He walked through the school halls with a slightly rushed pace, swinging his feet around each corner. He would, occasionally, brush past a student or two, to whom he would nervously apologize and quickly turn away. He reached the main hall, and began marching across its great length, the cracked, stone walls tall and distantly apart from each other. Against them leaned the portraits of the school’s past principals and famous teachers and students, as well as a large trophy case from various sports, musical competitions, and literary contests. As he reached the end of the hall, he stopped before the large, grey double doors, and turned to his left, facing a much smaller, wooden door, at the top of which was a small, rectangular sign, reading in raised letters:

STUDENT COU SELOR

The “n” from the word “counselor” on the sign had fallen off a few years ago, and nobody in the faculty had ever really made any movement or shown any interest in replacing it. Therefore, whenever a student was troubled or needed to discuss something private, people would suggest that they go to the "Student Cow-seller".

Albeo turned the rusty knob with a steadied hand and opened the door. He entered a room which, if you had never set foot in it before, looked like a very small, stuffy library. The walls were completely hidden away under the shelves and towering piles of old, leather-covered books that stood at every side and corner of the room. The only things visible of the actual room were the ceiling, the floor (and even that was covered from partial view by piles of more text and paper with illegible writing on them) and a small area of wall in the back, on which was a four-panel window, through which the sunlight shone brightly. Sitting at the desk at before the back wall (which was also cluttered with books and papers) writing on a small notepad with a black pen, was a man. He had neatly combed, silky azure hair and a rather fetching face. He wore a grey vest and white, long sleeves with wrinkled cuffs. He looked up from his writing at the sound of his door shutting to see Albeo, who was standing at the other end of his small office.

“Ah, yes, Albeo. Please, take a seat,” the man said, smiling welcomingly and setting his pen down onto one of the shorter stacks of texts. “I almost though that you weren’t going to come.”

“Sorry, Professor Sapphire. Feodore gave me and Fuyuka a visit while we were eating lunch,” Albeo said quietly, talking a seat in the uncomfortably small chair in front of the desk. He didn’t much like talking about people behind their back. Especially not something rude or insulting. He supposed that he could make an exception in Feodore’s case, however.

“Yes, well, Feodore can be a bit of a handful at times. Like father like son, I suppose,” the counselor admitted, flapping his notepad shut and placing it aside. “But enough of that, Albeo. How have your social skills been coming along? Working on them, I hope?”

“Yes, sir,” Albeo responded. “I’ve been trying really hard to speak up in class. So far, though, it’s only led me to make a fool of myself.” He recalled the incident in English class earlier that morning. “I’ve really made an effort trying to talk to people, though. Except for Feodore…”

“I’m glad to hear it, Albeo. Keep working at it, and you’ll be surrounded by close friends in no time,” the counselor gave him a smile. Albeo doubted that was possible, but he listened on. “And as for Feodore, well, perhaps he one who you should be better off not talking to, hm?” the counselor suggested, moving their conversation along. He then put his hands together, resting his elbows on his desk and lowered his voice slightly. “What about your nightmares, Albeo? Anything new?”

“Yes, actually…” Albeo answered, scratching the side of his chin. He knew this question would come. “Well, first, I had one about a fight.”

“The one with Lord Gai and the old man?” asked the counselor, his keeping his voice low.

“No, not this one,” Albeo spoke, shaking his head a little. “It had the old man, but he was younger. And he wasn’t fighting G—…er, Lord Gai. He was fighting…” He took a deep breath. “…my father.”

“Your father, you say?” the counselor questioned, his eyebrows raised with intrigue. “But, as I take I took it, you never knew what your father looked like. How do you—“

“I don’t, really,” Albeo cut him off, still speaking quietly. “I just…can kind of tell. I don’t know why or how…” He pressed his fingers to his forehead as though he had a headache. The counselor cast a curious look onto Albeo at his out-of-character interruption. He then set his hands down and drew them to the edge of his desk as Albeo went on. “It was dark. The sky was all clouded. I think it took place in a city. But there were no people, except for the man, my father, and a woman.”

“A woman?” the counselor asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “She was lying on the ground. It looked like she was asleep or something.” He stroked his forehead again with his fingers. “Anyway, the man and my father. They were fighting; shooting beams of light at each other. I think they were using magic. And there was this huge monster that the man was standing on.”

“What did it look like?” the counselor asked once more.

Albeo described the features atrocious-looking monster, revisited by unpleasant and uncared-for images. When he was finished, his body shivered a bit. The counselor simply nodded along his explanation.

“I see,” the counselor said casually. “And then?”

“Well, the man, he placed his hand onto the monster’s head,” Albeo continued his story. “And then there was a big flash of light. That’s where the dream ended.”

The counselor looked down to his desk for a moment to ponder, and then looked back up to Albeo, who sat in the small chair before him, looking a bit tense.

“You said “first”, did you not? I take it you have another dream you wish to discuss with me then?” the counselor spoke.

“Yes, I do,” Albeo replied. “It happened right after the first dream, since I woke up from it and then fell back asleep like I always do.” He rubbed his forehead again. “This one…it’s a bit harder to really explain, Professor.”

“Try me,” he said, waving his hand slightly off of his desk in a welcoming gesture.

“Well…” Albeo began, having difficulty determining what words would be of best use to describe his nightmare. “I couldn’t really see anything. Only darkness. But it looked as though it was moving. And I could feel that there were walls, moving in and out. And I’m falling, slowly, like I’m in a parachute. And I hear all these voices and whispers. And then there are these screams and moans. And the next thing I know, I’m being pushed back up, like I’m being sucked through a tube. Then I feel like I’m being slammed against something. Then I look up and I can see the man, the one who was fighting my dad, standing above me and looking down at me. Only…”

“Only what?” the counselor asked, his eyes seemed more intrigued than ever now, but his voice remained calm and casual.

“Only…I don’t really recognize him as the man who fought my father. When I looked at him…I saw him more as…” Albeo paused for a moment, certain that he wanted to continue. “…me.”

“You?” asked the counselor.

“Yes,” he responded quietly. “He doesn’t look like me or anything, but when I looked at him, it was like I was looking in a mirror. Then I woke up, and it was morning. I know it sounds strange, but…”

“Not at all,” the counselor spoke, leaning back against his chair and setting his hands onto his lap. “We can see, hear, and be the strangest things when in the deep depths of our subconscious. I, for instance, once dreamed that I was singing on stage in a musical before quite a large audience in my undergarments. I’ve never actually sung before in my life, I’ll have you know, nor do I ever intend to. Still, I put on a moving show, if I do say so myself, and was applauded greatly for it.”

Albeo gave him a weak smile as he heard the bell from outside ringing loudly to signify the end of lunch. Footsteps and talking could be heard from outside as students passed through the corridors, hurrying to their next class.

“Well, we didn’t get too much done today, I’m afraid to say,” the counselor spoke, wrapping up their meeting. “But I think you are improving, Albeo. Just keep working at it, and things will be fine. As for your dreams, don’t think too much of them. It doesn’t do the mind good to dwell on things which we have no control over. Until then.” The counselor gave him a smile and a wave, as did Albeo as he got up from his chair and opened the door.

“Oh, and Albeo?” the counselor addressed him once more.

“Yes, sir?” Albeo replied, turning away from the door to face him.

“Happy Birthday,” the counselor said, smiling.

“Thank you, sir,” said Albeo as his smile widened. He then steeped out the door and shut it, scurrying to class.

History class was quite a bore. Fuyuka slept through most of it, already having heard most of what the teacher said about the village from her father and Haruka, resting her head on the table, hidden behind the textbook which she learned to hold up in front of her face even as she was dozing away. Albeo diligently took note of what the teacher had to say, forcing himself to nervously ask a question whenever he didn’t hear or understand something, which made the entire class groan because now, of course, this made their teacher repeat his entire speech to make sure that everyone had gotten it to the punctuation mark. When the bell for dismissal rang, Albeo lifted his head from his textbook in bewilderment to find that everyone else had left in the split second he had looked away, and Fuyuka was now waiting impatiently by the door.

As the two left the school campus and were walking across the stone ground before its entry doors, they saw Feodore with a small group of students crowded around him, as he was holding a frog he had picked off from the ground and was holding it to his face, thrashing around as though he were being attacked by it, the other students laughing hysterically. Apparently, as Feodore had called it, “Toad Snogging” was now the new trend.

“I wish I was a spellcaster just so that I could give him zits, or set his trousers on fire, or…or something!” the outraged Fuyuka said to Albeo, who merely looked away as though he were not there. She then looked at him with sharp eyes. “You’re not just going to let him keep doing this to you, are you?” Albeo didn’t answer. “I mean, he’s making you look like a total fool. Just because he’s one, doesn’t mean you should let him drag you down with him.”

“I’m not letting him drag me down,” Albeo spoke in his defense, his head still turned. “He can do whatever he wants. I don’t care.”

“That’s a lie,” Fuyuka immediately responded. “You know that it bothers you, Akihiro. I can tell!”

Albeo said no more. She looked at him for a while, then turned her head and let out a huff, as though she was just trying to reason with a kindergartener. She then looked down to beside her to see that Albeo’s hand was still gripping hers.

“Will you stop that?” Fuyuka said annoyingly, her face turning pink once more. As she tugged away her hand from his, Albeo turned his head to her. “I told you I don’t want other people getting the wrong idea! Or are you the one getting the wrong idea?”

“No, I’m not,” Albeo snapped, although his voice was still quiet and not at all aggressive sounding. “I just…need to feel safe when I’m outside. You know I have a…a problem.”

“Fine. Then have your mom walk to school with you so she can do it,” Fuyuka said with no sympathy apparent in her voice. She was sure that Feodore would get a load out of it if he did that.

“I…I can’t do that," said he apprehensively as he shook his head lightly.

“Why not?” she asked, taking advantage of the irony that she saw in his response. “Would it be too embarrassing?”

“No, that’s not it,” he responded, his voice drifting off a bit.

“Well, then what is it?” Fuyuka questioned him, honestly curious this time as they both approached his house.

“You’re…” Albeo hesitated for a moment, but then continued. “You’re the only person I can feel...safe with.”

Fuyuka’s pink face transformed to a bright red. She hastily turned away and walked up the stone steps to Albeo’s door. Upon opening it, Ossy had already made it to the dining room and was now barking enthusiastically at them. Fuyuka could only hold the door slightly open, as the small dog seemed like he was tiny enough to squeeze through the crack underneath. She kicked at the door, yelling at it to go away. Akihiro walked up the steps and pointed, through the small opening between the door and its frame, to the stairs, looking down at Ossy, sternly. The dog immediately ceased barking and scampered across the dining room and up the steps. Fuyuka then looked at Albeo with some level of astonishment. For someone who had very poor skills at dealing with people, he was quite skilled at dealing with animals. Fuyuka began to wonder if he was suited for a profession as a veterinarian. Albeo stepped through the now fully open door and gestured for Fuyuka to come inside, but she declined.

“I promised my dad that I’d help him rearrange furniture at the Tower,” Fuyuka explained, sounding a bit irritated with her father. “Honestly. What do we have all of those workers there for? To take up space? Oh, wait.” She took out a small package from beneath her robe. “I’m dressed in layers, so don’t get any weird ideas,” she said as she handed it to him. Albeo noticed that her tone was now quite different and not as stern as it was before. It was poorly wrapped, a red bow on its top held down by tape. She had obviously wrapped the package itself. “Happy Birthday, Akihiro.”

“Thanks, Fuyuka,” he said, taking the crudely assembled gift, smiling quite sincerely. He didn’t dare make a single comment.

They both said their goodbyes and parted. Later that night, after having a dinner of several servings of roast, Haruka presented Albeo with a small cake with chocolate frosting and fifteen candles which burned brightly with an orange glow. He made a silent wish and blew out the candles. Ossy had jumped onto the table and took a sniff at the cake when Haruka shooed him away. He had received, as a present, a rather expensive-looking golden pocket watch. The gift was marked as “from Gai and Roxanne”, but he knew that it was Roxanne who had picked it out for him. If it had been Gai, he probably would’ve just given him another dagger, or shield, or something else he would probably never use.

“Here you are,” Haruka said cheerfully, presenting her son with a small, thin box.

This box was wrapped quite beautifully: the wrapping paper was neat and tight around the box, looking as though it were painted on, and the golden ribbon was tied in such an elaborate style that Albeo had a bit of difficulty untying it. He would have just cut it off, but his mother liked to recycle things a lot. He had many outfits that she had made after modifying some of his clothing after it had been torn or damaged. He gently unfolded the wrapping paper and uncovered the box to find a small, wooden rod, resting on velvet cushioning. He picked it up, delicately taking it in his hand, and admired it. It was a very fine wand. Not crooked or rough like many of the other wands he had seen spellcasters use in their incantations. It was smooth to the touch and almost glowed with a light shade of mahogany.

“It was your father’s,” Haruka spoke, looking on Albeo with serene, blue eyes and a small smile as he examined the wooden scepter. “It’s one of his few possessions that still remain with us.” She put her hand over the golden heart-charm attached to the silver chain around her neck. “I want you to have it.”

He looked to his mother with surprise, and then looked back to the wand. Although he wasn’t a spellcaster himself, he knew that his father was. That was about all he knew about his father, however. His mother would not tell him much. Whenever he asked about him, she would only give quite vague, unequivocal answers. To have something that had actually once been in possession of his father meant more to him than even he could ever know.

“Thanks a lot, mom,” he said, looking up at her from his seat with a smile. He looked on the wand again, and, out of the purest intent and just for the-heck-of-it, gave it a graceful flick through the air. Unfortunately, this was not as inconsequential as he thought it would be, as he soon heard the sound of wooden cabinets swinging open and the crashing of dishes.

Unclenching his eyes after the shock, he opened his eyes to what looked like the remains of an earthquake that was isolated to within the confines of the kitchen. Taking a gulp, he slowly and apprehensively turned to his mother. Haruka gaped as she looked onto the kitchen, her face showing an uneasy mixture of emotions which kept her from saying anything. Albeo took this moment of silence to his advantage. He shoveled down the remainder of his cake, grabbed his things, and bolted out of the dining room, saying, as he darted up the staircase, “G’nightmomthanksforeverything.”

Albeo, once he was in his darkened room, plopped himself down onto his bed which sat in the corner and turned on the lantern atop his bedside drawer desk. He lifted up his father’s wand, looked at it for a moment, and then placed it back into its box, covering it, and putting it beside the lantern. He then looked down beside him and, lying on the bed, was Fuyuka’s gift, which he had forgotten to open. He picked the gift up, its bow dropping to the ground, and began tearing the wrapping paper away (there was no use in trying to remove it neatly, as it had already been mangled and covered in tape to hold the paper together).

He lifted the top of the slightly dented box and pulled out a violet scarf with black stripes and Albeo’s initials in fancy, golden lettering at its end. He realized that Fuyuka must’ve made the scarf herself, looking over to the scrunched up, tape-covered ball of wrapping paper that sat next to him in slight disbelief. He wrapped the scarf around his neck and felt that it fit him rather nicely, and was quite warm and cozy at that. It was at that moment that he realized how sleepy he was, putting his hand over his mouth as he yawned. He neatly folded the scarf and tucked it away in his drawer, setting his new pocket watch next to the box containing his father’s wand. He changed into his night robes, got under his covers, and extinguished his lamp.

He had not gotten a peaceful sleep in days, being plagued with nightmares of duels, strange places, and monsters. He hoped that tonight would be different. It was not. Albeo found himself somewhere high on a mountain at night, being attacked ruthlessly and viciously by a giant, loudly buzzing swarm of black insects which were gnawing away at his flesh. He tried to run or beat them away, but he couldn’t. He found himself frozen and unable to move, as though he were without arms or legs. Just as he thought he was certainly about to be devoured completely by the horde, a thunderous roar sounded with a great flash of orange light, scattering the insects away. The rest of the dream was quite fuzzy. The environment became blurred and shifty in his vision, until everything blacked out.

Albeo awoke alarmingly, jerking his head upwards and gasping for air, his face broken out in cold sweat. The room was quite dark, other than the faint, silver moonlight that came in through the window above his bed. He picked up the pocket watch at his bedside and held it up to the moon’s rays. Both hands were pointing straight up at the number twelve. He heard a knock at his door and turned to see his mother, her hand on the knob, looking at Albeo with a perturbed face.

“Could you come downstairs for a second?” Haruka asked in a disquieted voice.

She then withdrew from the doorway and made her way down the stairs. Albeo sat in the dark room, looking both confused and overwhelmed from his nightmare. He pulled off his covers, got up from the mattress, and made his way to the door. As he stepped down the staircase, he immediately took notice of three men standing in the dining room, all beside each other with Haruka waiting by the bottom steps. One of them, he knew right away, was Gai. The second, to his surprise, was his counselor, Professor Sapphire. The third man he did not recognize, although the man was looking up at him with rather spiteful eyes. As Albeo touched down to the floor, the counselor pulled out a chair from the dining table and turned it so that it faced outwards.

“Please, take a seat, Mr. Baryk,” the counselor spoke, smiling at him. “I want to talk to you about something.”