The boy woke up after an entire day. Inside a great huge mansion, his room appeared to be in a worse state than that of servants. A spoiled soup sat on his old bedside table, cobwebs his tiny physique couldn't reach to clean even with the wooden stool by his bedside clocked the corners of the room.
Aiden got up, his head spinning from the slumber he'd been in. He was yet to recover from his headache when a voice snapped him out of his drowsy state.
The master of the house stood at the foot of his bed, a dark pair of eyes pinned on him as they showed neither concern nor compassion. All they had were anger and hatred. As the man rambled on different bulls, Aiden remained silent without any reply. How was he to reply when he couldn't even understand a word this man was saying? But looking at that face, for years, he'd come to learn one word whenever he came across this man's path. It was plastered all over his face. The disappointment.
"He can't understand any of that man's crap, right?" Caleum wondered.
They were hovering at the corner of that small room, plainly observing the life of this poor but mysterious boy. Right after waking up from a coma, this man, who was supposedly his father, began asking if the boy had learned his lesson instead of asking how he was feeling.
"Maybe that's the reason why he can't understand any of them at all," Riven said. "His curse turned into a gift around these vile people."
"I'm envious," Lucius said. "I hope to hear none of Caleum's crap too."
Riven observed the conversation as the two wisps went on their usual rumble. As his eyes focused on Aiden, he knew the boy needed not to understand any word. The father's expression alone displayed his dissatisfaction with his son.
"How long are you gonna disappoint me, Aiden?" the man asked almost rhetorically, his feet already headed for the door. "You should have never been born."
The room fell silent as the door closed behind Aiden's father. Even the two wisps called truce from their bickering, the last few words that echoed in the room brought more impact upon the three wisps than the boy sitting on the bed.
"You're still here?" the boy asked them. "I thought I was dreaming. Turns out I wasn't." He murmured the last words under his breath.
"You're one lucky kid," Lucius said. "You didn't get to hear all that crap."
Aiden laughed. "Did he say something like I shouldn't have existed? I've deduced that a long time ago."
The three wisps dimmed their lights. Their sadness evident from the pale blue flame they turned into. Never did they expect to feel empathetic for a mortal.
"Then do something about it," Caleum said. "Prove him wrong and get yourself out of this small room. I also want to move to a bigger room."
Aiden looked at them as if he'd heard the most ridiculous combination of words in his entire life. "What do you mean? Please don't tell me you plan on staying."
"Of course we are!" Lucius said. "We're bored and you're one interesting mortal."
Caleum racked himself up and down. "You can thank us later for keeping you company."
"Actually... I'd rather you don't--"
"Besides," Caleum beamed himself brighter as if making himself bigger. "It might be a little hard to believe but you should be on your knees right now."
"Uhm..." Aiden furrowed his brows. "I'm good at kneeling but why should I?"
"Well, mortal. Standing before you are the three strongest gods of the celestial palace," Lucius beamed proudly, his glow blinding. "Now, kneel."
Aiden's face ridiculed their words. "How are you standing with no feet?"
Both Lucius and Caleum burned red.
"Such impertinence!"
"You punk!"
Riven went in between the chaos. "Please let us stay." He said. "We really have nowhere to be in. And we might not be much of use now but I believe we can help."
Aiden's eyes softened as if Riven's words hit a spot. He did have a place to stay but in his head, he'd imagined leaving this mansion a hundred times before. If he had nowhere to be in, he'd pray for someone to accept him too. "Alright, alright…you can stay," he said. "And you don't have to find ways to help me. Even the people around me gave up trying."
"They can't help you but we can." Riven said.
"You can?" Aiden asked.
"Right. We can?" Caleum seconded, earning a dark aura from Riven.
Riven nodded. "You can't speak the mortal tongue. We can help you with that."
Lucius began to twinkle—which Aiden could only assume to be the direct equivalent of a wisp clapping. "That makes so much sense! I really wish Caelum had even a little of your brain, Riven."
As the two wisps began yet another fiasco, Aiden turned to Riven.
"I guess that could work," Aiden asked, his fingers running through his dark brown hair. "But where do we start?"
Just before Riven could answer, the door opened, and the same maid who maltreated Aiden the day before appeared with a set of clothes in her hands.
"Hey, Bastard's son," she said. "Lord Greyson decreed that you attend the academy starting tomorrow. Here's your rags." She threw Aiden's clothes at his face. "Have fun embarrassing yourself at school."
She turned her back and went for the door. But before stepping out, she took one look back, her face imbued with evil. "And by the way... Butler Mitch died last night. You have no one to defend you now, you weirdo."
Lucius burned red from anger. "I swear I'll get that ugly bitch after this!"
Aiden looked up. "What did she say?"
The wisps fell silent. Caelum stepped forward, trying his best to deliver the news in a delicate manner. "That man they call Butler Mitch... the one with the monocle. He died last night."
Aiden froze on his bed, his hands gripping the clothes tighter. "T-that man is dead?"
There was an apparent sadness in the boy's eyes. Butler Mitch was the only one who treated him kindly in this cold mansion. Everyone else treated him like shit.
Aiden gripped his clothes. The image of that maid flashed inside his mind. How dare she relay the news of his passing with a vile look on her face?
"This is no time to grieve," he said before getting out of bed to bow down on the three wisps. "Please help me in whatever way you can, celestial ghosts."
Lucius flared up. "Ghosts?! We're gods, you mortal! Celestial gods!"
Caelum didn't seem to mind the endearment, however—his body beaming with pride. "Well if you beg us ever so sincerely then we'll have no choice but to oblige."
While the two enemies basked in their own drama, Riven held Aiden's gaze.
"Don't mind them, they're useless,"Riven said. "We have one day before school starts…"
Riven flew to the other side of the room and hovered atop the bedside table. Aiden's eyes followed him and his eyebrows furrowed from seeing the book below Riven.
"Wizardry for Infants," Riven said. "We'll start here."