November was lying on the cold ground. The light above him flickered in mocking. He still couldn't get the hang of summoning a dream, at least not a colored one.
In the Academy, everyone was taught how to summon. But the magic they learned in Arcadia was not their magic. They were only borrowing the Princess's.
June explained that after one began ingesting Marilyn, it became possible to use one's own magic. But it would difficult after being conditioned to channel the Princess's. November just wasn't getting it.
He sighed again and picked himself off the ground, eyes glazed over as he looked around the wide vacant room. The place, emptied of any notable furnishing was eerie in its barrenness. Dust littered the wooden floor and the windows were all painted with the dark of night.
The truth was, he just wanted to go home.
"One more time," Unlike him, Treize was full of vigor. Large paws padded the floor and echoed in the wide spacious room. A lioness with a coat of red nuzzled her hand. Compared to June, Treize's dream was a lot more fearsome.
The lioness roared and lunged at him. November no longer thought this was a good idea. He dodged the clawed paw that swiped at him and ran to the other end of the room, steps squeaking and echoing as he ran. His lungs burned just from breathing and November remembered why he never had an interest in magic.
It was precisely because of moments like these! Where 'practice' was so rough he felt his own life was being threatened! "Treize! I can't do this." He shouted at her with a sigh of defeat. But the lioness was still chasing him and this time her claws caught the skin of his upper arm, leaving two long gashes that flowed with red. "Treize!"
But Treize didn't listen and continued to cheer for him from the sidelines, "You can do it! Just remember what June told you!"
November would rip his own hair out if it wasn't for the deadly lioness hot on his tail. That was the thing, wasn't it!? He remembered June's words alright! In fact, all June really said was, "Just remember the sweetest moment in your life and your dream should pop up."
Opened jaws came for him, sharp fangs brandished and November couldn't shake himself out of his own thoughts in time. The teeth descended upon him and like an idiot he raised his arm to shield his own face, eyes shut closed, bracing for the cutting pain.
Only the pain never came. The moment those fangs even brushed his skin, the red lioness dissolved into a mist of dust and scattered in the air.
Treize had her hands in fists, resting on her hips. She was frowning, "You're definitely thinking about this too hard."
Or maybe he wasn't thinking at all. November couldn't figure it out. He sighed, dragging himself up from the ground. "Sorry. I guess I'm just not getting it." His shoulders sagged in defeat.
"Don't worry so much about it," Treize tried to cheer him up, patting him on the shoulder, but November saw the disappointment veiled behind her smile. It just made him sigh even harder. "We can try again tomorrow."
Or not. But he didn't say that and nodded. A part of him understood that this was another part of his duty.
When he left Kaleidoscope's headquarters it was black outside and the streetlights in the Patch were flickering. November lived on the cusps of Lower and Upper Zion and it took a good, long walk before arriving home. "You know, you can just stay here for the night," Treize said.
But November turned her down. He wanted to go back home. It felt like he won't be able to anymore in the future.
Funny enough, the Patch, known to be the rotten slums, was a lot more comfortable to wander in the middle of the night. Maybe bars were still open, people wandered the streets, be it prostitutes or the homeless. The seedier types. But at least there were people.
The moment the threshold from the Patch to Zion was crossed it was as though one had entered into a different world with different laws. Not a single soul could be heard or seen. Even the crickets seemed to abide by the kingdom's curfew and were silent.
A chill traveled down his spine. Since he began to take Marilyn, November couldn't stop noticing how awful nighttime was in Arcadia with not a single soul afoot. It was really just a ghost town, wasn't it?
He quickened his pace and despised the way his footsteps echoed in the empty roads.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The beating of his heart harmonized with it as well, the noise straining against the murmuring of the wind.
A cat meowed.
November trembled from the creeps, goosebumps tickled his arms. He walked forward, guided by a line of lights--
Wait. A cat meowed.
The world slowed as the realization sank in with horror.
A cat meowed.
But all creatures beyond the threshold of the Patch abided by the kingdom's law. There should be no cat at this hour, not even a single mangy stray.
A cat meowed, louder, closer.
November cursed himself and broke off into a sprint. He heard something like a can being knocked over. The shadow cast by the street lights flickered. There was something that sounded a set of paws padding across the ground. Two sets. Three...
November swore. He wasn't going to make it home before those things caught up to him. He rounded the bend, just barely dodging a black clawed that leaped out from the shadows. Its voice was scratchy and screeching. Another Nightmare latched on to his pant leg. A black shaped furball, more vicious than any normal beast.
He kicked it and was barely able to free himself from its clutches. The Nightmare was flung off into the air. It twisted and November watched in horror it split into two before landing back down on the ground.
He might be able to handle one of those things but not if they could multiply like that endlessly.
November dashed down the main road, hoping the wider space would give the Nightmare cats fewer shadows, nooks, and cranny to hide and leap out at him. But the hoard of dark creatures was fast gaining on him. Little needle-like claws sank into his heel. A cat pounced onto his shoulder and he cursed when more descended on him.
He was wrestling to get them off. Horror nipped at him when he caught a glance behind and saw a long black sea with a dozen pairs of glowing eyes chasing his heel.
November wanted to scream, but who was there to hear him?
No one. Not a single damned soul. He closed his eyes and kept running, mustering as much speed as he could. But November was never an athlete and was already exhausted from Treize running him the ground. More claws and teeth nipped at him. And just when he was able to rip one off, another one was fast upon him.
"Just remember the sweetest moment in your life and your dream should pop up."
But how!? How was he supposed to do that at a time like this!?
November tripped over unevenly paved roads. He yelped and before he could even fall to the ground, his entire body was covered in the little black bodies of cat.
Just what was the sweetest moment in his life anyway? He thought, almost absently. The pain of claws sinking into his skin feeling oddly distant.
Was it when his father told him he made House Eitherfel proud?
Or was it when Queen Cecilia first smiled at him and told him that she liked his lessons?
Or was it when Lady Roeman thanked him for saving her life?
Or just looking down at Arcadia from above, the Princess looking down with melancholic eyes.
Things didn't turn out the way anyone wanted it to.
But that was life, wasn't it? Imperfect.
Cecilia sure has grown.
A light pulsed from within his chest, a power that was purely November's own.
The cats were devoured in a single instant and he was left there, passed out on the side of the road.