The die is set, and the roll cannot be stopped. The caster hopes for a win through the throw and begs the world to make the turn a perfect land that he dearly wishes. One states the roll is all up to chance. Other states that the position, location, environment, and the force one puts on the dice can be calculated to the minuscule. If that is all true, then would it be considered a predetermined action that can be controlled and ends with an outcome they know? Would you then be able to control your fate, or is this called seeing the future?
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Walking back through the doorway toward the exit of the building, both Aurelius and Lucian calmly came out with a heavy silence. Both were thinking about what they had just gone through. Especially Aurelius, who was trying to figure out the meaning to put behind his name.
Why the name Obscurus Lux? What could it stand for, and why did I have to give it a name?
He didn't fully understand the name that he was given.
The better question was, who am I and where do I belong?
Aurelius didn't have a pair and wasn't even fully considered a member of a particular species. Black had called him an abomination, and he felt a bit of loneliness—and like a monster. A being displaced out of existence.
Where is my real home? Is it here in this world or somewhere else? What do I want in this life, anyway?
Such thoughts rolled in his mind angrily as a wave of sadness surged through his body. He straightened up, trying to not let such overbearing thoughts get to him. He had a place called home. Back in the cottage that his parents had left behind.
But is that really my home and not just a cage?
"Is it me or was that a bit strange?" blurted out Lucian. "I'm not so sure exactly what is going on, but it's as if your existence was considered taboo."
"It's just too sudden," Aurelius said a bit low in tone, making Lucian have to lean in to hear what he had to say.
"Obscurus Lux. Isn't that a Latin word for Dark Light? It's a complete juxtaposition. A light that is too dark or darkness that is too light?"
"Maybe both?" Aurelius shrugged, not sure how to answer that question.
"So now your full name is called Aurelius Obscurus Lux."
Aurelius got a shiver going up and down his spine from him, stating his full name. "Don't do that."
"What?"
"Don't call out my full name. It gives me the shivers; and I don't like it." Aurelius shook the feeling off him. It was weird to be given a full name—throughout his whole life, he had only had a first name. Last names weren't given to new species, especially one that was recently created until later down their lives. It would usually take thousands of years to be even given a last name.
"Then what am I supposed to call you then?"
"Just Aurelius."
"Fine, just Aurelius, what do you want to do next?" Lucian teased.
"Haha, very funny. I'll just go home and sleep. I need to rest. There were just too many things that happened that I'm already getting a headache. I'll see you tomorrow?" Aurelius said in a bit of a hurry. He wasn't in need to rush home, but the feeling of staying hidden until he could settle his erratic mind bothered him. It was as if he was slammed with hundreds of information all squeezed into a small orb, barely able to compute the answer without bursting from being overloaded.
Lucian patted Aurelius on his shoulder. "Get some rest, I'll come by tomorrow."
"Yeah," Aurelius agreed. The short encounter with the council drained him. He waved goodbye.
Lucian left first. Aurelius walked back toward his home. His mind was groggy, and his body was still in pain. The awakening ceremony had taken a heavy toll on him, and it was finally hitting him hard. He stretched and stopped in front of the small cottage.
Out of all of the houses in the area, this was the smallest cottage that was hidden behind a wall of bamboo trees. Luckily, nobody could see without walking through the front gates, just the way he liked it.
Aurelius opened the door, and walked through the dining room, past the kitchen that winded to his bedroom. Finally, he came to the end of the hallway.
In front of him was a blue lotus flower painting hanging up on the wall. Staring up, he raised his hands toward the picture. Gently, he tilted the canvas to the side. A mechanical click could be heard as it slid open.
Soft wind blew across his face, bringing in a sweet smell of lavender. He walked through the opened door and into the long, dimly lit passageway. Small mossy plants littered the side of the hallway, where the only source of light was coming from the tiny flowers. Its blue light casts its light, creating a magical feel.
The smell of lavender got stronger each step he took, until finally he arrived in an open area where a small pond was located. Over the pond was a hammock that he personally set up in the middle, dangling tightly by ropes. Two large trees held the hammock up steadily, making it difficult to fall into the water.
Exotic flowers of different species grew strong, and beautifully, especially lavender flowers flourished the whole area. Purple was the dominant color, the entire area looked as if it came out of a fairytale where possibly a mythical king koi fish might live. A stream of moonlight cast its rays down, small fireflies flew, buzzing with life, while the crickets sang its usual nightly song.
Aurelius stopped and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent. The usual serene air around the pond felt so distant, as if he was the invader himself. The growing feeling of his past thought slinked through his mind, making him annoyed.
This is my home. Right?
He shook his head; he threw such thoughts away.
Hopping over each raised stone, he carefully made his way toward the hammock. With one leg over the other, Aurelius crawled on the hammock, making himself comfortable. Yawning with pleasure, he fell asleep in an instant, listening to the songs of the cricket with the warm moonlight cocooning him in a warm embrace.
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Blue, white, red, and black. A clashing of swirling colors that mixed together in intricate paint. The thunderous roar of the sound of the trumpet blared through the colors, cutting the war-torn enemies into two sides: blue with black and red with white. One trying to overturn one another as each struggled to strangle the other.
An unusual battle-torn white flag flapped under the burning red sky. A black logo with a unique swan or winged design in between the words was capitalized Yami and Hikari. The right wing was colored in blue and the other in red. The A letter in the middle was replaced with a triangle filled with the opposite color of the wings.
A young man's voice that Aurelius had never heard before cut through the hectic chaos, yelling, "Honor to the glorious Yami Hikari!"
There was a clang of crashing metal against metal; explosive gunpowder sounds erupted from left to right. Smoke and fire floated in the air, covering and mixing in with the clashing swirls of colors. Dark emotionless creatures appeared from the smoke swallowing the black and red colors like it was water. Their growling voice overpowered the sound of everything else. From the dark shadows, six emerald-colored eyes that were shaped like diamonds opened up and stared back at him.
Frightened Aurelius bolted up, startled from his dream. Sweat encompassed his whole face and body, making the world around him spin out of chaos. The hammock rocked back and forth to the point where he tipped over and fell into the cold water beneath him. Splashing wildly, he woke up to reality.
Water entered his mouth and nose, and the world around him became blurry. Floundering around, he was finally able to get his footing on the bottom of the pond, where he stood.
Water came out from his nose and mouth as he coughed hard to clear his airway. With his back finally straightened, he pulled back his wet hair to see before him. The nightmare was over.
With each step Aurelius took, the sound of sloshing water could be heard from his shoes. The warm morning sunlight didn't make him cold and instead kept him warm and comfortable. He waddled his way to the bathroom to change out of his wet clothes.
"Aurelius!" shouted Lucian. He knocked loudly on the door, waiting for a reply.
"Give me a second!" Aurelius yelled back as he stumbled to get his shoe on before rushing out. Today was the first day of school. He was excited at the prospect of learning something new.
"Aurelius. We got training to do. Come on!" Lucian once again yelled out loudly for him to hear—and possibly the next door neighbor as well.
"Why does he have such a loud voice?" Aurelius frowned. Skipping toward the door with the other shoe barely being slipped on, he made his way through. With a click of the lock, he opened to the door to see Lucian with his back turned against him.
"Lucian? What are you doing here so early?" Aurelius asked. He usually didn't wake him unless it was something significant.
"Getting you up." Lucian turned his shoulder toward Aurelius. "Today's the day when we go to do our first day of training. You're not going to skip out, are you?"
"No. I just… forgot all about it." Aurelius couldn't believe he had forgotten so quickly that today was the first day of training. The nightmares had most of his attention until he heard the heavy knock by Aurelius. Not only that, the awakening process must have taken so much energy that he had a brief amnesia.
"Let's go. Tina is waiting for us." Lucian walked ahead while Aurelius followed behind him.
"Tina? Who's that again?" Aurelius asked. The name sounded familiar, but for some reason it floated out of his mind. Which was a bit odd, because he usually was able to remember things well.
"Don't you remember? Crazy Tina?" Lucian looked over toward Aurelius as if he had lost his mind. "She became our teacher for flight lessons."
"Crazy… Tina? Wait, Tina?!" Aurelius groaned. "You serious?"
"Yep."
"Wait. Tina was not your overseer… how are you under her?" Aurelius was sure that he was under someone else.
"Transferred."
"I'm guessing for my benefit?"
Lucian didn't deny or reply. He just stood there as if he knew the answer.
"You know, I'll be fine." Aurelius felt that they were treating him as if he were a porcelain doll that always needed to be protected from breaking. It was a constant feeling these past days since his awakening. Lucian had become much more on guard when it came to him.
"I know," said Lucian. "I'm just cautious. Plus we have flight training today." A smug look blossomed on Lucian's expression, giving Aurelius a hint of excitement bubbling up in his stomach.
Then it hit Aurelius, flight training. "Are we really going to go learn how to fly?" He asked a bit too excitedly, to the point where he was rocking on his tippy toes.
"You have a pair of wings, don't you?"
"Yeah…"
Lucian slowly shook his head at his friend with a bit of disappointment. His hand was against his forehead as if he had a migraine. "What am I going to do with you?"
"You're my friend. Don't worry, everything is going to be alright," Aurelius happily replied. The thought of flying made him so excited that he forgot that he had Crazy Tina for a trainer.
"By the way, why are you wet?" Lucian stared at him. Aurelius was still partially wet and hadn't gotten the chance to thoroughly dry his hair. "Did you have a wet dream or something?" He chuckled at his own joke.
Aurelius looked at him, confused. "I had a bloody dream…" He wasn't sure how to explain the horror he had gone through in his dreams.
"Never mind." Lucian went silent, changing the topic. "By the way, why in the world do you still like Dawn?"
Lucian waited for Aurelius' answer, but he didn't reply fast enough because Lucian dropped his own opinion of her in his lap. "In all honesty, as a friend, you should stay away from her. She might not be the best one for you. You know what her prickly, high-class taste and personality is like. She's only attached to you because she was there for you during your lowest point in life when your foster parent passed away. She's not the type to stay with just one her whole eternal life. Which makes me wonder what's going through her mind."
"She's not that kind of person. I can change her mind slowly," Aurelius stubbornly replied. His words didn't sound as confident as it should have.
He knew that Dawn was tough to handle. Plus, she was a Maestro. Aurelius' heart twitched tightly, he knew he wasn't at her level yet. It bothered him.
"Look. Just don't get hurt chasing after someone that has a different future set for them. You already know she had dozens of relationships that didn't last long. Actually, all of them were just her flirting; she probably didn't even see them as a partner. Which is highly unlike an Angelous at all." Lucian's words were a cold stab to Aurelius' heart, but at the same time, what Lucian said was the truth. It wasn't similar to the typical mindset of an Angelous. "Would you want to fall under that list?"
"No…" Aurelius' voice was tinged with pain; Lucian's words had hardened his heart. "Why are you so against it? I thought you were my friend," Aurelius snapped back, getting angry at his friend's outburst.
"I am. I personally not a fan of her."
"Really now. Your dislike for Dawn has always shown from the moment you met her. I wouldn't be surprised if that dislike is over clouding your judgment," Aurelius grumbled. "She is charming if you actually take your time to talk with her."
"I'm going to pass on that. My gut feeling is telling me that it's not a good idea." Lucian was dead set on his opinion. There was no way Aurelius could change his thoughts about it.
"Fine. If you don't want to take a chance and keep to your stubborn judgment, then I still will do what I want to do. Your judgment is voided." Aurelius went on ahead, peeved at Lucian's words. To suddenly bring up his love relationship made him annoyed. Aurelius was wondering if Lucian even understood the word love by the way he could be so cold with his words.
"Aurelius," Lucian called out, jogging over next to him. "Look, I'm sorry. Do whatever you want; it's not like you were going to listen to my words any time soon."
"That's true, especially your love advice. You haven't ever fallen in love once."
"Hey, I had my first love before," Lucian grumbled, a bit peeved about what Aurelius had said.
"When?" Aurelius asked skeptically. He searched Lucian's face for an answer; he had never heard Lucian ever having a lover or even a crush until now. This, in itself, was a whole different side to Lucian. It surprised him. He had thought this entire time that Lucian was the type to live a solitary life, banning females indefinitely.
"Let's say… when I…" Lucian was deep in thought, "when I was a kid. There was this girl with a pretty white aura around her and beautiful eyes that smiled every time she laughed. I kinda… sort of… fell for her," he said uncomfortably, making Aurelius gape at him in surprise.
"You jest. An Angelous?" Aurelius asked. To know that about Lucian, who was set on following the culture of his race, was mind-boggling. He was the type to follow the rules without batting an eye.
If he knew any better, having an Angelous and Daemon pair was unheard of. Mostly because it was almost a quiet taboo that their own race had to set up with one another.
Lucian was silent about Aurelius' question. He fidgeted for a moment and looked away from Aurelius' gaze as if he was caught red-handed.
No way. Seriously?
A broad grin plastered itself on Aurelius' face; his hands started to rub against each other excitedly, looking like an evil merchant about to do a dirty deal. "Did you get to talk with her?"
Lucian coughed. He pulled back his collar, looking uncomfortable.
"You didn't?" Aurelius' mouth dropped open. He thought Lucian was the type to make a move first, but to hear that his best friend was having troubles in love made him seem more his age. "I thought you were fearless in everything."
"Well, you know. Girls are a different beast entirely." Lucian's voice became quiet; almost painful to hear. He was uncomfortably shifting from the question.
"The great Lucian skimped out on his first love and probably watched in hiding instead." Aurelius chuckled, teasing him. "So, what is the name of this lucky Angelous that you're talking about?"
Lucian grinned. "Snow."
For the first time, Aurelius saw a sense of interest in the opposite gender. This was a great earth-shattering, history-changing event. For a moment there, he wanted to pull out every bit of information that he could on this girl.
"Snow? Like the white flakes that come down during the so-called wintertime?"
"Yes."
"I've never seen snow before…" Aurelius couldn't help but break a smile. Seeing actual snow was something that he wanted to see, especially from what he had heard from many people. The beauty during the winter times; such a sight never happened in the City of Beginning. He quickly squashed the thoughts and asked, "When was the last time you saw her?"
"When I was seven years old."
"That's quite a while. You haven't seen her anytime lately?"
Lucian thought it over for a moment. It was as if he was trying to find the right answer before he spoke.
"No," Lucian denied, but Aurelius had a nagging feeling Lucian was hiding something.
"Well, buddy, maybe one day you will see her again." Aurelius reached over and patted Lucian's back, giving him condolences. Indeed, first love wasn't easy. Aurelius understood that the most.
"Maybe." Lucian shrugged his shoulder, rolling off his hands. "It's not important. We're finally here."
They had arrived at the school.