Alexander and Altair had explored explored most of the bottom floor of the Academy by the time the sun started setting. Most of what they found were simple classrooms, laboratories and social areas. The most interesting rooms were the several libraries dotted around the campus, along with the shopping mall that was built right in the middle of the campus.
From what Altair had seen, the mall contained dozens of shops and seemed to sell basically everything you could ever need. It was also the first time Altair saw people exchanging Credits, which was a small silver coin with the Sky Cross logo on it. Altair and the rest of the First Years didn't have Credits yet, since for the first week everything was free. At the start of next week, Ms Quadreign claimed they would receive their own allowance.
As the two bots did their rounds of the Academy, Altair once again realised why it was considered the peak educational facility on the Gaia Continent. Everywhere he looked, he saw a perfectly sculptured layout with nary a single flaw. The towering spires shimmered magnificently in the dusk, and the rest of the grounds gradually lit up thanks to the lights stationed every couple meters. For a world that was disharmonious in its technological level, Sky Cross Academy was the closest thing to "modern" Altair had seen yet.
Of course, by "modern" he went by the standards of magicless world, where life had to manually scrap by and advance. These were the worlds Altair loved to watch the most as a Denizen of Infinity, because it was all the easier to lose himself in the immersion of playing God. Not that he was far off being one in that state.
Yet when the sun hovered on the horizon and the evening breeze began to settle in, Altair decided it was time to return back to his apartment, where Sia was probably waiting. He turned to Alexander and expressed this intention, and the golden-eyed boy agreed. The two walked back the way they came, silence hanging in the air between them. The duo had exhausted all topics of conversation already: or Alexander had at least, since Altair did little of the talking.
When the apartment building for the First Years came into view, Alexander suddenly stopped walking. His countenance, which had been cheery this entire trip, turned slightly darker as he looked at Altair with an indescribable intent. Altair also stopped walking, turning back to face his classmate and showing no sign of noticing this change. "Is there a problem?" he asked casually.
Alexander said nothing at first, before smiling slightly as he stepped away from Altair and looked up at the sky, which had since turned darker, and the first stars that were growing more and more visible with each passing second. He then slowly reached out at the sky, before clenching his fist and exhaling. He then turned back to Altair, his trademark cheeky smile present once again.
"Tell me buddy, do you have any dreams? Any hopes, or, fervent desires you want realised? Anything that makes you think 'Well, if I had that then life ain't so bad'? Anything like that?"
Altair kept his silence as he looked at Alexander. After a moment, he opened his mouth and slowly responded.
"I guess I do have some dreams, if you can call them that. Why do you ask?"
Alexander let out a little laugh as he shook his head. "No reason, I'm just curious, that's all. You see, I'm a firm believer that the best way to know somebody is to peel back the layers and observe their truest and most subconscious self. And what better representative of your innermost self than your dreams?"
Altair looked at Alexander and tilted his head, confusion plastered across his face. "That's a bit of a weird method to get close to someone" he commented. "But what dreams do you have, Alexander?"
Alexander fell silent as his eyes glazed over. He once again turned back to look at the shimmering sky, the boundless fields of the cosmos above his head. Just as Altair thought he had just put an end to their conversation and turned to leave, Alexander finally spoke up. "I once had quite a few dreams. Some were big, others much smaller. Yet I can definitely say I had them, and desired to bring them to reality. But...heh, dreams are called as such for a reason."
When Alexander faced Altair again, his face was as flat and cold as stone. His mouth was curved in a self-deprecating smirk, and his eyes bore a freezing frost that threatened to leak through.
"Dreams and dreams because once you get close to the end, you wake up and realise none of it was real in the first place."
Before Altair could comment, Alexander carried on speaking. "It's not like my dreams just upped and ended though. No, I was shook awake by external factors. And even then, I still had the option of going back to sleep and continue on my dreams where I left off. Yet once you open your eyes, it's nearly impossible to go back to your old ways. But do you know what the final nail in the coffin was?"
Altair looked at Alexander closely before he slowly spoke. "Enlighten me" he said breezily.
"It was the fact that even if I accomplish all my dreams and desires, it means nothing in the grand scheme of things. A single flick from a God, or a falling star, or a natural disaster could wipe away everything I know, including myself. Even the most magnificent and outstanding ant hill, or tower of cards, crumbles with the smallest push from human. It's not that the ant hill or tower of cards was incorrectly constructed. They did everything they could to perfect it! It's just that...the scales were never even in the first place."
"Since I awoke that day, I realised the weak shan't dare focus on the future, and only the truly strong have the right to dream of more, and the freedom to explore these dreams."
The sound of crickets and gentle hum of the magical lights took reign over the atmosphere following the end of Alexander's monologue. Both boys looked at each other, before the orator reverted his expression back to normal and grinned.
"Look at me getting all sentimental! I guess we really are best buddied, since I've opened up so much to you. Now, in the name of fairness, don't you think you should tell me your dreams?" he stated slyly, snapping Altair out of his inner discussion.
He narrowed his eyes at Alexander, realising that he had just been played. By rambling on with his own deeply-personal views, Alexander had planted a subconscious balance in Altair's mind. He had felt a natural sense of debt towards Alexander, and a slight intention to repay this favour with his own expounding of his dreams. However, Altair caught onto this sneaky mental suggestion as soon as Alexander finished his speech, though the cause of that seed brought the topic up first.
Under the expectant gaze of Alexander, Altair felt his resistance towards the thought of sharing his dreams ebbing. He only had to give the barest version, and its not like Alexander would make fun of him for it, right? What's the worst that could happen...?
As Altair internally agonised, he failed to notice the slight gold glow emanating from Alexander's eyes. As Altair drew closer to giving in, the glow grew ever deeper. Yet when he turned back to answer, Alexander's eyes had returned to normal. "All right, but I warn you, my dream is a relatively dull thing."
"My dream..." Altair took a deep breath. "My dream is to walk across every earth, sail across every body of water, soar through every sky, explore the deepest of ruins and scale the highest of mountains. I desire to peel back the layers of history and ascend to a higher state of being. I want to live forever, to seek immortality and all the tribulations it would bring. I want to find true love and feel true despair, to tick off every emotion and experience all that this world has to offer. And when I have taken all I can...I want to move on to a new world and start all over again, over and over again until I eventually perish or finally sate my curiosity. I want to be amused and entertained, and for tragedy to follow comedy. I want to feel loss and longing, satisfaction and triumph."
This time, it was Alexander who fell quiet. He stared at Altair mutely, his eyes silently judging him without giving away the verdict. Altair held his breath slightly, taken aback by how much he had just revealed. And he was equally surprised by the desire he actually voiced. Up until now, Altair hadn't actually known what he wanted from this life.
Orvonia was a new start, a chance to manually climb the ranks back to his original spot as a Denizen of Infinity, a journey he had been unable to experience in his first life. But such a vague desire found difficulty in finding substance in his heart, and remaining in a foggy state. With the probing of Alexander however, he finally had some idea of how to fulfil his heart's greatest desire.
But at the same time, it brought the realisation that completing his dream would be incredibly difficult in his current state. Altair was in the body of a four year old: no matter the status he holds amongst the Nobility of the Gaia Continent, this fact would not change. Plus, he was caged within Sky Cross Academy, since Jace and especially Le'garde would be keeping a close eye on him. While the Academy would of course provide a valuable means of learning and a way to satiate parts of his curiosity, it was ultimately less beneficial than the wider Gaia Continent for certain...facets.
'If I want to truly experience everything Orvonia has to offer, I need to explore the world in person. But I can't leave the Academy. Unless...I make use of "that" to leave.'
Altair's strangest and most concerning Skill: Split Double. With it, he could create another self that would go out and explore the world for him. The System claimed he could connect with this clone at anytime he desired, and that it would also follow the directives it was created with. Of course, it also claimed the clone possessed its own sentience and may refuse certain orders but...Since the clone would be using his own personality as its base, he had no intention of commanding it. The clone would go out to explore on its own.
Alexander gazed at Altair as he organised his thoughts and came to a conclusion on what to do next. Then, he smile and nudged his temple . "Well, your dream is certainly amongst the most ambitious I have ever heard. And did you mention other worlds?"
Altair froze momentarily before answering cautiously. "The records of Consus and Ingrid point towards their being other worlds and realms somewhere out there in the cosmos. I believe in the research of those two Gods" he answered succinctly.
Alexander said nothing else, simply turning away and beginning to walk off. As he left, he waved over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow then" he said as his farewell.
Altair watched him leave, frowning once the boy was out of sight. He then looked down at his shadow, studying it intently for several seconds. The, with a snort, he reached towards it and "grabbed" it with his left hand. He pulled it up and out of the ground. It was night-time, meaning he could use the Hyppiliote-Nyx Bloodline!
Altair looked over his shadow and found nothing strange, eventually sighing and releasing it. His shadow automatically went back to its proper place and settled down. Turning around, Altair entered the apartment building and walked towards his room, humming a small tune along the way.