As soon as he read the report in the folder that morning, David darted out of his office and dashed across the corridors towards the center of the large building. Panting as he finally reached the elevators, just in time when the familiar sound signals the elevator doors opening. It was empty. "Good," he said to himself almost loudly as he stepped inside.  His reflection came to a complete view at the closing elevator doors. He was the last living elf in the realm. Nobody knows his true age. Stories heard from the grapevine spoke that he was a great warrior, a powerful magus and a wise sage who participated in the great wars even before the time of men. One of them was in the battle against the demonic hordes for the legendary Myth Drannor. Born as Ar'Tel'Quessir or what mortals refer to as sun elves or high elves, he stood as high as any human but with a significantly much slender body.  His jade-colored eyes scanned his visage. His golden blonde hair extends down to his waist. His fair skin is unique even among his kin that they named him Vanyar Hinamelda which means “the pale beloved child”. “How uncomfortable,” he complained about the heavy suit he is wearing while he fixed his tie.  “No, this isn’t the time to be worrying about petty things” he thought.  He was more concerned of the implications of the news he brings. He had the feeling that this was the one that they have been waiting for in a very long time.  Surprised that he hadn’t noticed that he’s already on the 95th floor, the elevator doors opened. He darted off and turned left. The whole floor looked like a labyrinth to an untrained eye. All the doors to every room were made to look the same. Even the hallways looked as if they stretched forever. However, he was not a stranger to this place. He knew this place like he knew his own home. He knew where he was and where he wanted to be. As if automatic, he started walking, walked past two doors, turned left after the next room, went straight across 2 hallways, turned right and then faced the door almost to the corner. In just a minute, he was in front of the door he wanted. He gathered himself first before deciding to enter. He fixed his suit then his hair, took a deep breath and let out a big sigh. With one hand holding the folder and the other placed firmly on the handle of the door, he grinned and then pushed the door open.  There was nothing special in the initial room except for the bonsai that was strategically placed on the side of the table at the end of the room. One would say that the room was made not to attract attention. The wall, sofa and chairs were all in shades of cream, the ceiling is white, and the table and carpet tinted brown of the same hue. The same could not be said about the person sitting behind the computer, though. She was hitting the keyboard forcefully and intently. There’s something unexplainable in her that would startle even the wary.  Her charisma and gracefulness attracted his attention. She gave life to this lonely room. People would wonder why such a beautiful lady would be working here. "Hi David," she startled him with a greeting without lifting her eyes off the screen. He let out a small cough clearing his throat that caught her full attention. She looked his way and he saw her lips moved. She smiled with such sweetness that he almost forgot what he needed to say. So as not to appear rude, he adjusted his glasses to shift his focus from her lips to what and why he was there.  “Hey. Good morning. Is he busy?”  "Yes, As always. But he’s free now. Do you want to see him?"  “Yes, I have a report.” He replied.  He did not really want to give anything away. He was excited enough as it is. But he could not control his body. Unconsciously, he was now holding the folder tightly with both hands. Throughout their conversation he was fidgeting and tapping the edges of the folder with his fingers every now and then. This caused her to look at the folder he was holding. She gave another smile and acknowledged him. “Good news, I hope?”  "It might be,” he quickly replied. “But we will see. Thanks baby."  “That is great! But please, stop calling me that,” she scowled. She ended their conversation when she flipped a small switch that granted him access to the next room. As he entered the next room, his eyes squinted from the light that seemed to burst from beyond the door. It took David few seconds to adjust to the glare. He’s been here many times before and yet he still is caught awestruck as the room never ceases to amaze even him. This room was nothing like the last one, he thought. The door behind him was almost completely hidden. Covering the whole wall where door is located were plants that bear sweet flowers and orchids whose names escape his memory. They were in hues of yellow, red and deep blue, all in a background of green leaves and vines. On the left wall, water precipitated from the ceiling like rain and collected into a small pool below. The wall opposite the door and the wall on the right were made of clear glass panes that allowed the light and a reflection of the sky into the room. The ceiling and floors all seemed to be made of mirrors for they reflected the light that came in, thus making the room look like you were surrounded with clouds.   At the far end was a very unusual dark wooden desk. It was on object that seemed to be out of place and forcibly placed where it was now. It was large, spacious, looked very old but and had few marks of wear from use. The tabletop was uncluttered, except for a few pieces of paper and an old feather pen. Leaning on its side was a rather odd looking, tall as half a man object, covered in brown cloth.  The man sitting behind the desk wore a pinned stripe gray suit. He was very busy looking over the pieces of paper on his desk that he barely noticed when David came in. If he had not lifted the pen to sign one of the papers, David might have stood there for the next half hour. As David caught the man’s attention, he immediately focused on the visitor’s face and upon recognizing who it was, bade David to come closer so they can talk. He put the feather pen back to its place, leaned back on his comfortable chair and focused on the folder the elf was now offering with both hands.  "You have something to report?" His voice came over with both authority and calmness. The voice had so much power that it seemed the water stopped flowing for a second. The man's presence had always had that effect. It was something that David has admired about him.  "We have found him" he replied. Upon uttering these words, the man behind the desk took the files from David's hands. His face grew more serious now. As he was reading the report, he leaned forward, raised his right arm and placed his clenched hand over his mouth, imitating a man who was deep in thought and focus.   "It seems that this one was born earlier than expected. It might have been because of the early demise of his predecessor. This one, to date is already the 27th," David reported.  "Funny on how the balance works. No matter. Has the Divinus then confirmed his presence?"  "Yes. She knew even before we presented her with the file and a picture. She seemed so attune to him now," David replied.  "I see. Then let us now set things in motion. This one has long been overdue and the work is piling up."  "But," he paused for a moment before continuing. "Would it be alright? He has not yet fully awakened."  “Then pray that it would.”  David now assured and with orders started walking out of the room leaving the report with the man. The vines moved as if they were ordered to uncover the hidden door as David exited the room. When the man behind the desk was left alone, he stood up, walked towards the glass window and looked out into the sky. He smiled and let out a sigh of relief.  "At last, Venalicium, I've found you."  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  A group of mildly well dressed people are gathered in a small rectangular room. A petit mid 30’s woman is in the center of the room, speaking to the audience.  “Alright everyone, lets sum this meeting up, by Monday, you guys are going to meet your new partners and I'll try to fix the pairings of the new partners over the weekend. In the meantime, I am going to the beach, so I hope you guys enjoy your weekend as well. I'll see you all on Monday. Au revoir."  With that, the boss ends their meeting. Everyone in the room lets out a small sigh. Francis now felt a little relaxed. At last, he thought to himself, he can go home. He felt really tired today. His slightly long hair that extended to his shoulders is now strewn as he cropped them together with a tight rubber band. His 5’10” height and medium built body slumped as he walked out of the room. His usually brown bright eyes were dulled due to exhaustion. Still his face kept a smile as what was expected of him. At last, he said, he could remove his tie from the long sleeved shirt he was wearing to signal the end of the day. Once reaching his desk, he slowly gathered his things and prepared to leave the office.  He had not made any plans for this weekend. He had nothing to look forward to when he got home as well. All that he thought was that it’s just a few more days for him to rest. The last week had been hectic, and the coming week promises to be more stressful with the coming changes. But he had time now. A weekend he said to himself. Two days of refuge from his stress-filled work.  After tidying his desk, Francis says goodbye to few a friendly faces and got out of the building. Because of the nature of his work, he usually got out in the most ungodly hours of the morning. Like any other day, the sun hasn't even come up yet, making the morning dark, cold and hazy with mist. He wish he had already bought a car, but since he opted to spend most of his time either in the office or at home anyways, decided it wasn’t practical and opted for the public transports instead. So today, like every other day, he needed to walk a little and get to the local bus station to get home.   "Francis!" A female voice yells. He stops walking, turns around and finds a smiling face that was hurrying to catch up with him. When she was about 5 feet away, she starts talking him again with in a much milder voice.   "You got out so quickly, do you have something you need to do?"  "Not really." He starts walking again, but now he paced himself so they can talk a little more. "I just wanted to buy food and be home before the sun comes up. Other than that, I'm not going to do anything else except sleep."  "I see. Well I am going to have a small get together where I live. It’s just a few friends and people at work. So if you are not doing anything..." "No, I'm not doing anything. Why don’t I text you later and confirm that I'm coming. Will that be ok?"  "Ok. Here is where I live." Cecilia hands him a small piece of paper. Written on it are some letters and numbers that describe an address. He tucks the small piece of paper in the left pocket of his shirt and when they reach the corner of the street, they said their goodbyes and walked in opposite directions. He slows down a little to think of what he wants for breakfast. After deciding, he steps inside the nearest fast-food house. Once there, he allows them to take his order and requested that it all be made to go. In a few more minutes he was out of the fast food house and was walking towards the local bus station. When he got on the bus, he started to contemplate on giving the girl who gave her address a call. Cecilia. Why not, Francis said. She was a nice girl, especially when she was with him, and she was with him most of the time. He just didn't really like her because she drank a lot and she smoked. She does dress up pretty nicely and was even far from being un-pretty. The only reason he has not asked her out yet was that she just wasn't his type.  When the bus suddenly stops, it jolted both his body and whatever he was thinking about. He gathered himself, and after making sure that everything was still there, he got up and stepped out of the bus. He starts to march his way home.  The sight of his front door both gave him a relieving and saddening feeling. Francis was home. He opens the door and finds the house as barren as he left it. His house was just that, it was 4 walls and a ceiling. He had a little furnishing. A countertop table, Japanese style makeshift bed, a few amenities like TV, fridge and CD player but aside from that the house was practically empty. He closes the door behind him and placed the food he bought on the countertop near the sink. Next, he emptied his pockets on the coin dish in the same table then pressed the small button for the CD player. With a small protesting whir, the device sprang to life and started to play. He took comfort on the music it was playing and took a few small bites from his ordered food. Not finishing it all, he took off his shirt and proceeded to take a shower.  After half an hour, he stepped out of the shower still drying his hair. He had changed into his favorite shirt and shorts, clothes that were really comfortable. He took a small glance towards the clock he hung against one of his walls. It was almost 5 in the morning. Noticing that it was starting to break daylight, he pulled the curtains in and lay down his makeshift bed. He didn't even have time to properly fix the linens because as soon as his face hit the soft velvety cotton he was knocked out cold.  Francis immediately found himself dreaming. He was outside his office building, the mist and darkness enveloping him. It was like he was walking home again. And just like what had happened today, someone called out his name so he spun around to see. He was expecting to see Cecilia trying to catch up.   But when he spun around, everything around him changed. He no longer was in the familiar alley. He was on top of a pile of stone rubble and everything around him had changed and looked like war had torn through. Buildings, trees, even roads. Everything around him was either burning or in rubble. Everything was in chaos. Even the sky was angry with molten red color. Everywhere he turned, he could hear tortured cries, wails and screams of agony from both men and women. He has had this dream before.  But it was never like this. This dream had recurred to him a few times, but this is the first time that he felt like he was really there. Everything around him seemed so true. He could taste the earth in the wind. He could smell sweat coming from his own being. He could even feel the heat that flashed from the sky. All these filled his senses and made him feel uneasy. Although unfocused but alert, he suddenly caught a shadow move. It had come from behind so suddenly that it made his heart leap from his chest, making him turn towards where the movement came from. This was something that was new to this dream as well. It seemed to come directly from the ground beneath and moved purposely towards him. To see better, he squinted but before his eyes could adjust, whatever it was that he saw had now moved just inches away from his face. It took him a few seconds to focus his eyes and when he did, he could see what it was now. It was a pale, symmetric, well-built and beautiful person. The eyes he was staring into were pitch-black. The face had a calmness that displayed no genuine emotion. The person was half naked, wearing black leather-like material wrapped around from the waist down to each leg. He was puzzled. Francis stared at the person and had not noticed the amount of time that had passed.  He was only jolted back into consciousness when he felt a cold force pierce his chest and trespass his very being. It caused him to buckle, let out a breath from his chest, blurring his vision. When he looked down to see what it was, horror and panic shook his body. The man's arm was buried in him. Blood was dripping down from his chest where the arm pierced him and a small bloody stream dripped from his wound to the arm and finally towards the ground. +++  

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