Zacharia exited the classroom as if nothing had happened. He was back to his normal serious expression as he stared at the ground, waiting for Asher to come out.
"The top floor and the back of the school is what's left of this tour, right? Let's hurry up, I want to get this over with."
Asher proceeded to absentmindedly describe what was on the last floor; the floor where the seniors took their class. He caught a glimpse of Kio alongside the blond, meddlesome prince, but they escaped his vision as soon as he saw them. After that, they went back to the first floor and into the training field.
"This is where I take Magical Application. I decided to come every day to make sure I grow at a steady pace," said Asher as he saw the students who were training outside. They were all focused on the class and were displaying their skills and abilities. Some of them had failed at conjuring their elemental prowess or properly controlling their weapon, but the others just laughed it off and helped them out by giving tips. Asher's gaze trailed away from the scene as he lost himself in his thoughts; his arms crossed as his fingers rhythmically tapped his elbow.
Asher's emotions jumped from discouraged to frustrated, and from frustrated to scared. The leap of emotions left him feeling emotionally tired and above all very disoriented. What he thought he knew about himself might as well have been a lie he fabricated to protect himself.
It's a shame, really. It's a shame how he thought he was well over his fears only because he wasn't the same Asher as before. Despite having been unified with another soul, his fears still lingered deep within him. What's worse is that the fears the other soul carried passed on onto himself. He had never beaten his fears before, not in this life nor the other. How was he supposed to defeat his demons without guidance if he didn't know what they represented? Was there anyone he could entrust these of loss and confusion feelings too?
Zacharia hummed and nodded, not noticing Asher's chaotic mindset. As Asher had yet to say anything, he decided to take the lead by saying: "Let's go back to the office. I need to get the key to my room."
Asher finally snapped himself out of his thoughts and nodded. "The office is nearby, thankfully. We won't have to walk long."
The two teens walked side by side in silence. Zacharia, who had a neat look (his long hair being the exception), and Asher, who was noticeably messier and was missing his dark green blazer. Archer's absence was quite noticeable, to say the least.
Asher went inside the office and asked for Zacharia's keys. As the woman who worked at the desk sorted out the paperwork, Zacharia asked: "Are there any spare keys to the rooms?"
The woman stopped and nodded. "There is. However, even if we have a spare you mustn't lose your key. If you do, you'll have to pay for it."
"Give me the spare key to my room. Also, give me his spare key as well."
Asher turned to Zacharia, his eyes asking him why was he doing this. Instead of responding, Zacharia narrowed his eyes and ordered: "Your room number, now."
"Room 000..."
A few minutes later, the lady handed them Zacharia's key and the two spares they had asked for. They also gave them a document that they needed to sign detailing that if they were to lose the spare, they would have to pay for it. They left the office as soon as they signed the document and went in the direction of the boys' dormitories.
Fortunately for them, their rooms weren't that far apart. Asher resided on the first floor while Zacharia in the third, so they could find each other in case of an emergency.
Asher accompanied Zacharia up to the third floor. Strangely, Archer was inside the room as soon as Zacharia opened the door to his room.
"Good evening, Lord Zacharia, Young Master Asher," said Archer as he finished organizing Zacharia's belongings. Zacharia nodded as if Archer being here was completely normal. How could someone enter a room without even having the key?
As if reading his thoughts, Archer smiled. "I was ordered to come here and organize while you and Lord Zacharia toured around the school."
Asher nodded hesitantly, still finding his sudden appearance very weird. Nevertheless, he looked back at Zacharia and slightly bowed before handing over the map he made himself.
"Since you are new, I don't expect you to learn the layout on the first day, so I drew it for you. I also specified which places were which for your convenience," Asher bowed again. "I'll be leaving-"
"Wait," interrupted Zacharia as he handed him the spare key to his room. "I'll keep your spare key and you'll keep mine. Try not to come to me whenever you have a problem, I hate being disrupted."
The door was then closed by Zacharia himself and Asher sighed in relief. The stress of being with Zacharia for a whole morning had piled upon him, making his shoulders sag in tiredness. He could definitely relate to the coachman from this morning who had left as soon as he possibly could. At the very least he didn't have to deal with Archer's nagging.
Asher walked all the way back into his room, opened the window, and plopped on top of his bed. Not long after, Pithos came through the window and nestled himself beside Asher.
"Are you tired?"
"Yes," Asher groaned. "How could you deal with working under him? It was terrifying trying not to say something that would annoy him. I ended up irritating him either way."
Pithos' deep laugh sounded throughout the room. "Be thankful. He's been rather gentle with you, probably because you are Nikola's son and he respects her. If that weren't the case..."
Pithos and Asher shivered at the thought before laughing. Then, a realization dawned upon Asher, making him groan out once again.
"I forgot to ask him about your mission!"
Pithos rolled his blood-red eyes. He should've known that his little human would forget. Stretching his front legs against Archer's arm, he said: "There are a few people in this school that work for the Rising Faeries. It's my job to investigate them and check any suspicious behavior."
"Are there no names?"
"There are, but you would be in danger if you were to know."
'But I already am in danger, though,' thought Asher as he smiled to himself before closing his eyes. Why is the only thing he can do is close his eyes and sleep after a hard day? Actually, it's only been half a day and he was already exhausted. Asher will have to take the classes he took last week on Monday another day because he truly can't do anything right now. His mind wouldn't allow him to concentrate and he would either blank out or think about other things unrelated to the class.
The stress he had accumulated slowly drifted away like clouds as Asher fell into a deep slumber and his mind was transported into the land of dreams. He was standing atop a tall building overseeing smaller buildings and people down below. He could hear the honking of several cars and arguments between the people. They were mostly arguing about who pushed who and who spilled what on who. Despite the chaoticness, Asher felt at peace.
If he stared at his right, he could see his apartment complex. It was relatively old and was in need of repairs, but it was the only place he could afford at the time. Thinking about it now, he was thankful to have a place to stay.
What he couldn't do was see his family home. Closing his eyes, he imagined his home. A house made out of wood with a red ceiling. A large and open space behind the house that Asher used to treat as a backyard; that space was used to grow crops and care for the animals.
He opened his eyes and, to his surprise, he was in front of his old home back on Earth. His hands traveled across the house's railings as he stepped over the small stairs.
Creek...
The door made a sound as Asher opened the door, making him flinch. He hoped and prayed that his parents wouldn't notice, but there was no need to worry in the first place. Fully opening the door, Asher noticed that the house was empty. The fireplace in the living room had a weak flame, making Asher smile and shake his head.
"To think mom didn't extinguish the fire. It was always such a hassle with her."
Asher took a bucket of water that was conveniently placed beside the fireplace. He did the motion of pouring the water out before hesitating and stepping back. The floor was now wet and so were Asher's barefooted feet. Still, he paid no attention to this and only frowned. Did he really have to extinguish the fire?
He stood there, motionless. After a minute had passed, he placed the bucket back down and gathered more firewood. He tossed them into the fireplace and the fire began to grow hotter and brighter. Strangely, this made Asher feel relieved.
After doing this, he walked around inside his house before closing his eyes once more. This was no longer his life. He had to let go of his past burdens. However, this didn't mean that he had to completely forget about what this house represented to him.
Closing his eyes once again, he imagined himself being atop of the tall building. He heard a familiar voice sobbing as a soft and unknown voice said: "It's gonna be okay."
Asher opened his eyes in a rush and frantically moved his head to see who was making such a noise. However, he was already back at the top of the building. The sobbing and the soft voice weren't heard again.
Strangely, he didn't seem all that distracted by what he had heard. What he was paying attention to now was the beautiful sunset that was occurring in front of him. The honking and the people down below stopped making noise as they all admired the beautiful sunset. However, despite its radiant beauty, Asher didn't feel all that great while seeing said sunset. He felt disheartened while staring at the scene, so he turned to look away.
The sky had then immediately turned dark as he lowered his gaze. Bright stars twinkled in the night sky, welcoming Asher back. This was when Asher noticed that something wasn't quite right. He perceived a metallic taste in his mouth and spit out whatever was inside onto his hand. What he found was a couple of teeth and a puddle of blood.
His eyes widened as his heartbeat quickened. What was going? Asher kept coughing non-stop as his eyes remained glued onto the teeth that had fallen to the floor. He kept coughing up more blood and his teeth fell one by one, leaving him feeling unstable.
Asher's tongue trailed along his gums. All of his teeth had fallen to the floor. The metallic taste of blood kept dancing on his tastebuds, making him gag. His eyes never left the teeth that were on the floor, even as they slowly crumbled into dust and flew away, dancing with the wind.
His dizziness became even worse after that. He stumbled for a bit before finally regaining his balance. After that, a strong gust of wind pushed the already weak Asher off the building's railings and he began to plummet to the ground. However, just before he fell to his 'death', Asher saw his reflection on a puddle of water. He was wearing the clothes he used to wear while living on Earth, but his body was Asher Pierce's body. The clothes were noticeably too big for this young Asher.
Asher woke up with a gasp. Cold sweat ran down his spine as his eyes swam across the room. He sighed in relief after seeing that only he was there alongside Pithos who had been startled awake. Right next to him was a note that read:
'Hey, Asher! You were sleeping so I didn't wake you up! We'll be waiting at our usual place!
- Dashiell'
He smiled while standing up. "My bad. I just had a strange dream."
Asher walked into the bathroom and locked the door. He splashed cold water on his face before narrowing his eyes in the mirror. He didn't consider the dream he just had to be bad. Sure, it was weird on many different levels, but it wasn't exactly bad. He still vividly remembered seeing his old home and lighting up the fire in the fireplace. There were still those strange elements: the sunset, his teeth falling and crumbling, him coughing up blood, and then falling to his 'death'. Most importantly, he still couldn't make sense of the sobs he heard before being transported back to the building in his dream.
Asher straightened his back and turned towards the door to leave the bathroom. A hand snaked its way to his mouth as a knife was pressed against his neck.
"Asher Pierce, was it?"
Asher stared towards the mirror and saw a man dressed in all black. The only detail he could capture was the pink-colored insignia on his arm.
"To think you would've been saved if you joined us. Well, too bad you couldn't say goodbye to your new friends. Say, are they even your friends if you can't recognize their handwriting?"
He struggled against the man's grip, but it was no use. He was far too strong for Asher to handle on his own, but he persisted. The assassin chuckled once more as the knife cut into Asher's skin.
The ring Asher was wearing had turned cold after he had been cut. A bright, blue light shone and blinded both Asher and the assassin. Using this as an opportunity, Asher struggled fiercely against the assassin as he was blinded by the light.
"Ugh!"
The knife cut Asher once again, but this time it was deeper than the last. Asher was rewarded with freedom after having struggled against the assassin's hold. His ringed hand was holding his neck, trying to prevent the blood from flowing but ultimately failing.
"I'll take you down with me!" exclaimed the assassin as he lunged towards Asher. The young boy could only close his eyes.
A growl was heard from behind the door. The ring in his hand glowed even brighter as particles of ice cut into the assassin's body. He wasn't expecting Asher to be able to fight back, much less have something that would protect him. The ring blinked and released one more spell before finally returning to its normal state. Slowly opening his eyes, Asher saw an unexpected sight.
The assassin who had tried to kill Asher was trapped in a block of ice.