"It's all good!" Caelum yelled. "They're gone!"
For the entire morning, the four of them packed Aiden's bag and prepared for his runaway from home. Now, they were in the middle of helping him climb out of his room that was on the easternmost attic of the mansion. Lucius accompanied Aiden from above, Caelum was a lookout for the roaming guards, and Riven guarded the door in case someone broke in, startled them all, and led their mortal to his death.
Their teamwork 'somehow' paid off, and Aiden climbed out the window of his room with only a scraped knee, and a slightly inflamed ankle. Thanks to Lucius urging him to let go of the makeshift rope they made with blankets, only halfway to the first floor.
"I think I sprained my ankle," Aiden complained while glaring at Lucius.
"Well, sorry," Lucius played innocent. "I didn't know mortals were this fragile. I could have jumped off this height like nothing."
Their teamwork worked better as they ran off towards the fences, Aiden tossed his backpack and immediately climbed up the tall fence, landing directly in front of Mr. Busty whom he figured out had also ran away from his owner by now.
Once he'd climbed up Mr. Busty's back, their journey began.
"Where are we going?" Aiden asked the wisps.
"To the academy?" Caelum said, which made sense because Aiden was still in his uniform. His cape packed carefully in his backpack.
They all stared at Riven, awaiting instructions from their real master.
"Let's skip school," he said, and the two wisps went crazy.
"Skip school?!" Lucius said, his body twirling around Riven. "You? Want to skip school?"
Aiden believed it was a big deal. Even Caelum grew silent, if he had a jaw, it would have been muddied on the track they traversed. Judging from how he knew Riven, he could envision Lucius and Caelum sneaking out of Gold Moon Pavilion while Riven stayed behind to snitch instead of joining them.
He laughed, the loudest laugh he'd had his entire life while the two wisps continued teasing Riven. He preferred these three's chaotic company to his boring, bland life. An uncertain future was so much better for him than an eternity in that old mansion.
When Riven blazed brighter, it was their signal to stop and listen.
"Let's know more about what's going on in the mortal realm," he said, flying closer to Mr. Busty. "Do you know of any place that's infamous for supernatural happenings?"
Mr. Busty neighed, and Riven bobbed himself up and down. "Please take us there, Mr. Busty."
Aiden could only assume the donkey said, "Yeah, I know a place. Want me to take 'ya there?"
They passed the exact route they took to the academy, but on a certain crossing point, Mr. Busty took a different path. One that was unpaved, leading to a dark forest with century old trees and thick shrubs.
"I feel it," Caelum said, "A presence. A dark energy."
Lucius hovered closer toward Riven. "Should we keep going? What if Bastardsson absorbs an evil energy?"
"Well," Riven said. "Evil energy is still energy so..."
Lucius beamed as if he heard the most ridiculous words from a complete stickler like Riven. "What happened to you?!"
Aiden rubbed Mr. Busty's head, his eyes vigilant for unexpected surprises, like a snake or a monkey that could harm the donkey. "It's okay. Mr. Busty won't take us somewhere dangerous."
Caelum laughed. "Wrong. He's already given up on life--so he gives no damn if we're all waking to our deaths."
Mr. Busty neighed, undeniably agreeing to what Caelum said.
"I stand corrected."
A few more minutes passed as they ventured deeper into the woods, sunlight barely filtering through the dense canopy above. Even the wisps had fallen silent, alert for any dangers that might threaten Mr. Busty and their mortal.
"There are wolves ahead," Lucius warned. "Take a left detour."
"No," Caelum interjected, "not left—let's take the right path. There are snakes on the left. I can't stand snakes."
Lucius flicked a glimmer of his ethereal form in annoyance. "Bastard, I am a snake."
"Exactly my point."
Caught between conflicting directions, Mr. Busty chose to forge straight ahead. Thankfully, Riven wasn't caught up in the bickering. "Let's take the left path. There's a river where we can camp."
Mr. Busty neighed, his tone almost conveying disappointment.
Aiden nodded. "And the snakes?"
"We'll put them to good use," Riven replied. "Lucius can command snakes. He's a pure-bred immortal from the serpent clan."
Aiden raised an eyebrow, skepticism creeping in. If anyone else had said it, he wouldn't have believed it one bit. "So, you really are immortals, huh?" he murmured to himself.
He could only wonder what had happened for them to be reduced to such state.
The grass began to rustle from all directions. Aiden could hear water flowing from up ahead, so he guessed they were nearing the river, and snakes were already slithering their way toward them.
All of a sudden, a huge python jumped up to them, almost biting Mr. Busty in the nose if Lucius weren't fast enough to block it, screaming, "Down!"
The python fell down, terrified from the wisps sudden appearance. Lucius beamed a bright shade of red. "How dare you not recognize me from a mile away? Huh?!"
The snake hissed, the softest hiss Aiden believed a snake could make.
"What?!" Lucius burned bright. "You didn't recognize me--because I'm smaller now?!"
Aiden stifled a laugh, which Caelum surely did not hold back on. His laughter echoed through the entire forest as if everything within the woods could hear his voice.
Lucius spent a good minute lecturing the snakes who all had their heads down. He even asked them to apologize to Mr. Busty whom they almost killed. Mr. Busty on the other hand, only shook his head. He would have preferred getting bitten off, Aiden believed.
"Take us to the river," Lucius instructed. "And bring us some food."
They began settling down at the riverside, and Aiden could only marvel at the sight of a hundred snakes surrounding them, all following a wisp's orders. Soon there were a dozen snakes in front of Aiden, their mouths full with whatever food they brought.
A snake expelled a rat out of its mouth, another one literally threw up a crow he had for breakfast, and so did the others offering what they hunted. Aiden could only shake his hand to refuse, his eyes going through the slimy produce they offered. "I... actually still have some food with me."
Lucius glared at Aiden before going back to the snakes. "Ignore the mortal. Bring my guy here, Mr. Busty, some apples."
The snakes obliged, happily swallowed the animals they had expelled back, before slithering away to look for apples and all sorts of fruits.