It's the early morning when Stephen starts his training in the hills without Triton by his side. He was escorted by Alviary and Uran in case something might happen during his training. The mountain and its hills are magnificent and to die for.
No wonder a lot of tourists and tourist spots are built here. The way that the place hugs its surroundings is breathtaking. Stephen inhales the cold breeze that welcomes him and Uran at the top of the hills.
"Wow," he said as he looks at the magnificent sight in front of him. "This place is awesome. It's like a live painting," he said while taking pictures of the place to post when he gets a proper signal since signals do not exist in Laryo's hut.
"Well, we are glad that you like the place where your training would be. I hope that the surroundings will give you energy and power to surpass every test that Alviary will throw at you," Uran said as he places their bags near a tree and walks towards Stephen.
Uran places his hand on his shoulder and grips it gently. Stephen nods and promises him to do his very best to surpass every test. Uran smiles at him and walks back to the hut. Stephen is now alone with Alviary and he is somewhat bothered.
"Is something wrong, Alviary?" Stephen asks tilting his head to the side. Alviary looks at him for a while then he looks away. "Your clothes," he said quietly. So quiet that even Stephen couldn't hear it. "What?" Stephen asks loudly.
"Your clothes," Alviary suddenly exclaims. "They are bothering me. Do you mind changing them?" Alviary asks with pleading eyes. Stephen looks at him dumbfounded and said, "How the hell am I going to do that? I don't have a spare." Alviary frowns at him and floats away.
Moments later, he came back with a piece of clothing and some old shoes. "What am I going to do with this?" Stephen asks still looking at Alviary with a dumbfounded face. "Make yourself a new pair of clothes," he said excitedly.
Stephen looked at him as if asking if he is joking but apparently Alviary isn't. Stephen just sighs and finds a place to sit down and focus on his first task; making three pairs of clothing for himself. He still not sure why he needs to sew his own clothing if he could just go back to the hut and get a new one.
As he was sewing, Alviary suddenly asked him. "Have you ever seen a fae before?" he asks in a gentler tone. Stephen looks at him with a confused face. "What's a fae?" Stephen asks back with no sign of sarcasm or malice.
"Faes are a type of fairies but more beautiful and enchanting. They have bigger wings and big pointy ears," he answers as if telling a story to a little kid. His voice is filled with wonders and adventure. It is silky soft and a bit buttery.
"I have never seen one before," Stephen answers his question a while back and went back to his task. "All you need to do is believe, and watch as the magic reveals itself to you," Alviary said while dancing on air and swaying with the trees.
"Guess that's the reason why I never saw one because I never believe," Stephen mumbles quietly as he tries to sew his clothes properly.
Hours passed by and Stephen is still on the second layer of his clothing. He still can't find the reason as to why he needs to do such things. The mantel doesn't look magical itself so he doesn't know why he needs to do this at all.
The training that he thought is more physical and emotional. He thought that Alviary will bring him back to the place where he met the caramel-colored giant wolf. He kinda missed the wolf. As he sews the clothing once again, he notices that there is something wrong with the fabric.
He is pretty sure he measures it correctly and even tries fitting it to his body since Alviary did not provide him a mannequin to work with. So, he stands up and lifts the fabric to his head to see what was he doing wrong when he sees that the fabric is changing to something fit for travel.
"W-What is happening, Alviary?" Stephen asks as he looks if Alviary is around. As he twirls around calling for Alviary's name, the fabric suddenly wraps around his body crashing him down to the ground. "H-Help!" he yells praying that Triton would help him or anyone from the hut. He struggles as he tries to escape but the fabric suddenly tightens its grip on Stephen's body then the latter's vision went black.
~0~0~0~
"Help me," a voice whispers in Stephen's ear. "Help me. Please it hurts so much. I want to walk away," the voice added. It sounded like a man's voice that is a lot of pain. "They left me all alone. Please help me," the voice said as it whimpers.
Stephen woke up from his deep slumber and looks around him. He is not familiar with the place but he does not also want to stay there. The place looks filthy and it smells rotten.
As if dead bodies were thrown there. He walks along the bright lights coming from the outside when he hears a tiny whimper. He follows the sound unto a tunnel then he walks all the way to the end of it.
He then saw two junctions; one is leading where the voice is and one leading to nowhere. He got scared of the voices so he chose to go to another side. He saw a bright light from a distance and he runs to it.
As soon as he steps into the light, Stephen found himself in a new place. The latter got scared about what could happen to him now that Alviary or Triton would not be able to save him from some monsters that might attack him. He walks away from the tunnel to see if there is a sign of the place where he's at.
He walks for a while when he notices a hut not far away from the tunnel. He had the urge to go there but something about the hut that stops him. Stephen stops in his tracks and hid behind a bush then looked at the hut carefully.
In Alviary's head, 'Damn, this kid. No wonder he got the wolf wrapped around his finger.' He had been watching and wondering how can a kid like him call a mystic wolf-like Triton. It could not just be because his grandmother was once put on a curse.
He had also been watching him from the moment he woke up to that tunnel up until here. He thought of an idea to see how powerful this kid could be. "Let me add other creatures and let's see how will he handle it," he whispers.
A white smoke starts to form in his palm and when he is about to close his eyes, he saw that the kid is no longer behind the bush. 'What the actual fuck?' he subconsciously. He looks around and even up in the sky.
He flew upward to see if he could spot him in a bird's eye view. After minutes of flying around, he found him near a lake looking intensely at the vast space. 'What a weird kid,' Alviary thought to himself.
He then approaches the kid carefully trying not to disturb his concentration. He sat beside the kid quietly and look at his eyes. 'They are sparkling with wonder,' Alviary thought as he tries to wave his hand on the latter's face.
He is already on the third level, huh. Might as well sleep and wait for him to finish it all before we go back to the hills.
"Two more, kid. You can do this," Alviary encouraged before sleeping into the darkness. Meanwhile, on Stephen's mind. "Where am I this time?" Stephen asks himself. He walks around and sees himself sitting near a lake.
"Wait, why am I sitting by the lake? Is that even me?" he mumbles to himself. "Little child," a voice said. Stephen turns around and looks at the source of the voice when he felt as if something covers his eyes. "Just listen to my voice and nothing else," the voice commanded but Stephen felt as if his ears are numb.
"W-What?" he said out loud. The voice looks at the kid and tries to talk louder for him but the kid still can't hear nor see him. The voice sighs and went away. Stephen tries to blink his eyes and keeps on wishing that these messy and abnormal things to stop.
He just wants to go back to the hut and play with Triton. He sighs and walks around the lake again. He searches for a way out of this mess but when he tries to go out, he felt something blocked him. "What the hell is this time?" Stephen asks. He held his hand forward and felt something hard.
"A wall?" he asks as he tries to push it. The invisible wall won't budge so he sat down near his body and tries to touch it when his hand just passes thru the face. Stephen was shocked then he suddenly stood up.
He puts his hand near his face before sobbing away. He calls Alviary's name multiple times. Alviary woke up from the calls and tries to wake up Stephen. Moments later, Stephen woke up and looks at Alviary.
"You survived," Alviary speaks as he ruffles the boy's hair. The latter turns his head towards his direction. The boy's eyes sparkle when he saw Alviary. "Oh my gosh. Alviary, you are here," the boy exclaims then hugs the living god. Alviary was utterly shocked by the sudden hug.
"I was so terrified. I thought I died because I saw myself sitting by the lake and when I tried to touch it, my hand just passes through it. I was so scared for," Stephen said as he cries his heart out to Alviary. Alviary is still shocked by the sudden hug that his mind went blank.
"Alviary?" Stephen asks. "Why do you look as if you've seen a ghost?" the latter added as he tries to touch Alviary's face. Alviary suddenly holds his arm and looks at him.
"Who are you and how come you can touch me?" Alviary said in a stern voice.