Lucas's apartment is basically a bigger version of Zane's. In fact, he has a set of barriers set up to help section off his bed space because his living room isn't even at the back of the wall. No, behind that is an area covered in training mats, with a couple of well-worn punching dummies and exercise balls sitting on them. The sleeping space is still on the back wall, so the barriers help separate it from seeing that area.

Why he decided to hide that from his sleeping space, I'm not sure. Or maybe his hookups or past boyfriends weren't too comfortable having sex with armless humans not far from them? Also, if Lucas trains at the center every day, does he even use the training space here? I'd imagine so, since he has the dummies.

"Sheesh," Zane says. "And here I thought my apartment was a decent size, Lucas! My family owns the building it's in, and it's smaller than this! Dude! Is that set of doors there a laundry room? You have your own private laundry room?"

Lucas having his own private laundry room would be pretty impressive, and I don't doubt Zane's assumption about the set of sliding closet doors he's amazed over.

"There are only four apartments per floor here," Lucas says, then taps the floor with his right foot. "Our floors and walls are soundproofed pretty well. Most of the people living here have some sort of security job and use the extra space for training. There's no sleeping on the mats."

"Why not?" Todd asks. "It would give more space."

"They make your body feel heavier," Lucas explains. "Not good for sleeping on."

"They're enchanted?" Danny asks. "Isn't that expensive?"

With resources are rare as they are, finding the magical items needed to create enchanted items is even harder. Most of them go to making spellsuits, vehicles, or keeping the domes functioning. To buy anything that's enchanted and isn't one of those becomes pretty expensive as a result.

"Cost about thirty grand for that, yeah," Lucas answers as he begins undressing. "The previous resident had then put in. These ones are good enough to only need replacing about every fifteen years, and the previous resident only had them for about two. I moved in here when I was sixteen, so it's been about six years since they were made."

"How come they only had them for two years?" Danny asks. "Something that expensive isn't something you'd just leave behind."

"Everything gets left behind when you die!" Zane begins undressing as well.

"Erm, yeah," Lucas says. "Previous resident caught the plague and died. The apartment was sanitized, and I moved in the next week."

"It's pretty warm in here," Danny says as he starts removing his costume. "Better than my apartment."

"Better than Kieran's too," Zane shivers. "That place really has no heat! No wonder he makes Lucas snuggle him if Lucas spends the night."

"You two have snuggled?" Danny asks me.

"A couple of times," I answer. "The first time he'd spent the night, no, he just slept under the blanket on the other side of the mattress. The second time, I was feeling lonely and depressed and didn't want to feel so alone, so I basically made him hug me. When we all spent the night at Zane's, they both snuggled me in bed."

"So what state are we all sleeping in?" Todd asks, having already completely undressed and stuffed his costume into his bag.

"Whatever state you want," Lucas tells him. "There's plenty of space on the bed or the pull-out bed from the couch to not touch others."

"There is?" Zane looks at Lucas's bed. "Damn, boy! That's bigger than mine! It'd be good for an orgy!"

"Please don't," Lucas sighs. "And no, I won't let you 'borrow' it for an orgy, Zane. Ever."

"Already told you I'm done with that," Zane gives him a wink. "I'll have to steal it for Kieran and me once we're dating, though."

"As if you can tone down the horny soon enough to be ready for dating him properly anytime soon," Lucas retorts. "I'll have sorted things out before you manage that, Zane. The bed will remain here, and Kieran will get to find out what it's like to sleep in the warm on such a soft, comfortable bed with just me."

Zane and Lucas start bickering, and I look at Todd, who's apparently decided to stay naked. I mime helping me out of my costume, and he nods, then steps behind me and begins pull off the wings. I've already removed my boots and the loincloth, as the only things I can't remove on my own are the wings, which I can't reach, and the bodysuit, which has the seal on the back of it and I'm not flexible enough to undo all the way.

"Are they always like this?" Danny quietly asks, having put on a pair of black boxers. "Arguing over, uh, who gets to date you?"

"Zane really wants to date me," I say as Todd helps me out of the bodysuit. "But he used to sleep around a lot. He feels like if he dated me, any sex we would have would be because he pressured me into it by accident as a result of being used to just having sex and me being so new to everything. I mean, I didn't even really have libido until a week or so ago. So he wants to take a break in general and get used to not, so that we can just date at first and build up to that. He's ignoring the fact that if I don't want to have sex, I'd say so rather than allow myself to be pressured into it.

"As for Lucas," I slip on a pair of shorts and a tee as I continue to explain things to him. "He just likes me a lot and would rather not let me date Zane. I straight-up told him that we wouldn't work out if he didn't deal with his issues with the Patron first, because I'm a full supporter of the Patron and we kept getting into arguments about his policies. Kind of called him a hypocrite, some stuff happened, and I asked him out. For sex. Then he told me he needed to sort out his head regarding the Patron and me."

"Just curious," Todd says. "But if some other guy came along before either of them did that-"

"One who's put-together," I say. "And doesn't have the holdbacks? Is cute and nice? And a full supporter of the Patron? I'd probably get with him. Lucas and Zane are both pretty nice, but I don't want to hold myself back anymore, thinking 'what if?' in things. That's why I initially turned Zane down, to be honest – I was scared it would be temporary. But… everything is temporary. Even our lives. So the first opportunity I have to date someone nice, I'm going to jump at it. Might seem stupid, but-"

"It's not stupid," Danny says. "That's reality, Kier. Most people start dating at the first chance they get just in case something happens. Out of curiosity, do you have anyone you're interested in other than them?"

"Nah," I answer. "I mean, you're both cute, but I don't feel anything towards either of you, and you're really the only other guys I really talk with or hang out with. Heck, I have more of an attraction to Zach, Zane's brother, than I do to either of you, and that might just be because he has similar looks to Zane and seems decent from the few interactions I've had with him."

"Makes sense," Todd says.

"What about you two?" I beckon toward the bed, and the three of us make our way over to it.

We're stealing it and leaving Zane and Lucas to their own things. I don't care if it's Lucas's bed and apartment, they're too busy bickering to notice us doing this.

"Me?" Todd asks as we climb onto the bed. "I think I mentioned that I've got two gals I've been sleeping with to help deal with the horny that comes from power using, right?"

"You're interested in them?" I ask.

"It's an exclusive thing," he says. "The two of them and me. We sometimes get together for a threesome, and we've recently talked about them moving in with me and my mom. In my bedroom, of course."

There's something in his tone when talking about them… is one of them pregnant, despite the low fertility of power users? Even if he was sleeping with two normal women, the chances of pregnancy would still be insanely low. Todd's tone also suggests that he really does like them, and the feelings might be mutual.

"Your apartment has separate rooms?" I ask.

"Just the two," he nods. "We got lucky on the price, we're locked in to the rate barring an emergency, and there were some repairs done to the building after we moved in that raised the prices for new renters. We're paying half of what someone who moved in after the repairs did."

"Damn," Danny says. "That's a nice deal."

"Yeah," Todd says, then nudges him. "What about you? Any ladies?"

"As a non-power user," Danny says, cheeks flushing slightly. "I move a little bit slower."

Yet we still live in a place where mortality rates are high, even for civilians. Those without powers don't move that much slower, the only reason they would is the lower libido.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"But there's someone?" I ask.

"Yeah," he answers. "A gal from a diner two floors up from mine. We've been talking a fair bit, and might have held hands the other day while doing so."

"No kissing?" Todd asks.

"Not yet," Danny admits, face reddening just a little bit more. "But we did agree to go out on a date tomorrow. Erm, actual tomorrow, not later today, since it's already Monday."

"Yeah," I cover my mouth as I yawn again. "I think I'm going to turn in now. You two can keep talking if you want, I'll probably pass out immediately."

"Alright," Todd says.

I tuck myself in to the bed, quickly drifting off. When I do, I find myself standing in darkness, the space feeling open, yet without any light for me to see by. The air is chilly, and I can feel something prickling my feet. Grass?

Remembering my first encounter with Shade in that weird dream taking place in a park, I summon up orbs of light, finding myself at the park once more. I spread the orbs out, their light extending only around ten feet in each direction. Just like back then, my body is completely bare of any clothes, though I feel a little bit less self-conscious than I did back then.

I approach the park, keeping my eyes peeled for Shade. Once I reach the edge of it, I take a tentative step onto the surface. It's some sort of textured rubber. Kneeling, I inspect it. No, it's more like a bunch of pieces of rubber that were stuck together and smoothed to form a grippy surface.

Rising to my feet, I look around. He's here, whether or not I can sense him. He has to be, since that's the only explanation for why I'm here again.

"Shade?" I call out.

"Master Kieran," Shade's young-sounding voice fills my head.

Images and impressions fill my mind, a handshake and a high-five, a dipping of the heads, two people welcoming each other and a sense of greeting and welcome. As that appears, shadows near the edge of my vision shift, taking on the wolf-like form that Shade used last time.

"Hello, Shade," I say.

"Hello, Master of Shadows," he responds, then pauses for a few moments. "Prince of Shadows."

There is silence between us, Shade watching me and me watching him. He brought me here, so he must have a reason for doing so. Something tells me he's attempting to figure out how to ask. Soon enough, he does.

"You… are fledgling," he finally says. "Young. Weak."

His words are accompanied by an impression of Nox, the supposed ancestor of mine, wielding shadows to an incredible degree, moving between them, gliding through them, manifesting weapons of them and battling armies of monsters, even becoming shadows, at times. There's a touch of curiosity there, telling me he doesn't know if he said it properly.

"I am new to learning my powers," I tell him. "Only began recently. I'm growing stronger."

"Master of Shadows was near," Shade says. "Close. Felt presence. Knew Master of Shadows was near. Prince of Shadows. Much weaker than Nox. Many times weaker. Much noise."

The visions this time include the park we're in, along with the sounds of many people talking, kids squealing, people cheering, and music in the air. There wasn't much music at the festival we were at, and what I'm hearing from Shade's memory is much too loud to have definitely been that which was.

We were at a festival that's closer to the upper districts than Lucas's apartment, but not bymuch. Is Shade at a park in the upper districts?

"It's Halloween night," I tell him. "A night of festivities to drive away evil spirits."

"Shade… not evil," Shade tells me. "Shade is Shade. Shade does as King Nox commands. Or Master Kieran. Prince Kieran. But Shade is sleepy. Feels stronger today. Regaining strength."

Let's try this again.

"What are you?" I ask.

Instead of answering, Shade walks a full circle around me before taking a seat directly in front of me, five feet away. His tail swishes a few moments before stopping beside his legs.

"Shade is Shade," he answers. "Shade came with Nox. Nox gave Shade his name. His identifier. Shade is nothing more than that. You are Master of Shadows. Descendant of Nox. Prince of Shadows? Yes. Prince of Shadows. And Master of Shadows, Prince Kieran."

Well, I didn't get much further, but Shade mentioned he came with Nox, which might mean nothing, or it might relate to my theory about where Nox came from.

"Has Prince Kieran spoken with Sivalshi?" Shade suddenly asks, head tilting to the side.

"Sivalshi?" I ask. "The giant turtle?"

Shade shifts his form, taking on the form of a giant turtle. At the same time, I receive an impression of Sivalshi, a vision of looking at him from off and above. Rather than a city on his back, though, there's forests, even a stream that flows out of it and into the ocean he's swimming in.

"This is Sivalshi," Shade says. "That is turtle?"

He seems more clear this time, more alert. Has he recovered his strength, then? Or at least, more of it than before?

"Yes," I answer. "That's a turtle. Sivalshi is the giant turtle we live on."

"Yes," Shade nods, shadows shifting as he returns to wolf form. "People settled on Sivalshi, to escape monsters and demons. He protects. Ever protects. Some arrive, but his champions fight."

The Sivalshi Guardians? The Patron did enlist them back at the founding of the city to protect the people living upon the back of Sivalshi. I thought it was to protect them from greater threats within, from things which could disrupt society as a whole. Was their original purpose to help protect people against monsters and demons? They still do that whenever something does actually come.

"Yes," I say. "The Sivalshi Guardians are still around today, though different than the ones you knew. The Patron wishes to ensure we're safe. You seem more alert."

"More strength recovered," he responds. "Though must sleep again soon. Maybe soon, we meet. Maybe soon, Shade strong enough to roam again. Only through dreams may Shade talk now. But soon, we talk real."

"That would be nice," I tell him. "I'd like to meet you for real, Shade."

"Shade would be honored," Shade gives me a small bow. "Master Kieran is strong. But may become stronger. Become true self."

"Speaking of who I am," I say. "I wanted to know something about Nox, Shade."

"Ask," Shade tells me, with an impression of him in his wolf form curled up, snoozing. "But Shade must return to sleep soon."

"Was Nox an elemental?" I ask.

"Elemental?" Shade asks.

"Yes," I respond. "An incarnation of shadows themselves. Living shadows."

"That might be the name," Shade tells me. "King Nox is shadows itself. Nigh unkillable. Form is whatever he wishes to be. Shade born of his blood. Blood is shadows. Life is shadows. Core is shadows. Master Kieran is shadows, almost. Have human within. Diluted. Prince of Shadows nonetheless, much like the others, from where we came. Shade must sleep now. We speak again soon, Master Kieran. Closer Prince Kieran is to Shade, easier communication be."

"Okay," I say. "Goodbye, Shade."

"Goodbye," Shade says. "Until next time."

The dream ends, and I find myself waking to the apartment being illuminated slightly. Danny has an arm stretched out over my chest, while Todd is stretched across both of us. They both move in their sleep for sure, and I'm going to assume that either the dream started late, it ended during my sleep and shifted to another dream and I don't remember those ones, or both.

I also really, really have to pee, but trying to get out of bed would probably wake one of these two and I'd rather let them sleep. It's probably not that late into the morning, and they can use their sleep.

So instead, I try something I haven't done before. I close my eyes and attempt to shadow-walk out of bed. There's barely any light in here, so it's not implausible that I can just teleport to somewhere random in here. However, I've never gone blind before. It has only been about three weeks since I began training, after all.

For about two minutes, with a growing need to pee now, I continue to try to shadow-walk. Then I feel the familiar sensation of my body slipping through shadows, and I find myself on the carpeted floor of the apartment, butt-naked. Right, I can't take things with me right now.

That's not important, though. I hurry over to where I can see the bathroom and enter it, flipping on the light as I close the door. I relieve my bladder in the toilet, flush, wash and dry my hands, then leave the bathroom, flipping the light back off.

Since my clothes for sleeping in the warm are on the bed, I walk over to my bag. With my shadow-shaper ability to see in the dark, finding the bags isn't hard. I pull on some underwear and sweatpants, but instead of pulling on my own hoodie and jacket, I walk over to Lucas's closet and open it up, looking through the hoodies inside. I pick one that looks black and pull it on, he can have it back once it's time for me to leave.

Walking over to the couch, I find Lucas and Zane both asleep on it, both naked, and Zane tightly spooning Lucas, who has one hand on Zane's face, the other holding one of Zane's hands. My guess is that Lucas fought it when he returned from his outing as a vigilante, but eventually gave in to his exhaustion and just let it happen. The fact that he decided to go nude even though Zane was in the bed with him is telling.

He's starting to accept Zane. Did my words really have that much of an impact on him?

Shaking my head, I grab Lucas's keys off the coffee table, along with my phone and wallet, then head outside, making my way up to the roof of the building. When I try the door onto the roof, it denies me access. I try Lucas's key, and the door opens.

Most apartment buildings let residents up onto their roofs.

"Brr!" I shiver a little as the door swing closed behind me.

Maybe I should've put on my jacket, too.

I pull the hood up over my head and walk over to one of the chairs sitting up here and take a seat, looking up at the sky, blue tinged with oranges and reds from the early morning sun. It's quiet up here right now, giving me time to think over Shade's words.

He basically confirmed my theories. Nox wasn't human, he was a shadow elemental. Not an elemental like Zane is, but an actual elemental. Zane is probably descended of a stone elemental, and the full power remained in his bloodline because they trained the ability to shift their form through the generations.

If my ancestors below Nox had trained their power to shift into their shadow forms, I'd probably be a true shadow elemental rather than just a shadow-shaper. Instead, the power weakened, nearly disappeared. If my parents hadn't met, would I even have powers, once I was born?

As for the other theory… Nox didn't come from Earth. Much like Sivalshi and the other great beasts, he came from somewhere else. Shade said as much, when he made the comment about from where they came.

Nox and other true elementals are probably actual deities, unlike the Patron. They and other deities probably came here upon noticing the problems, the calamity that we suffered a few centuries ago, and had children with the humans of Earth in order to give humans the power they needed to help themselves. Once they'd done that, they left, probably returned to where they came from or to go do the same on another world.

For some reason, though, Nox left Shade behind. Was Shade wounded? He said he has to recover his strength.

Something I'll find out eventually, especially as his speech is getting better at a decent rate. Shade's probably not sleeping all the time, instead listening to people and learning from them. He might also go through their dreams to learn.

When my phone rings, I know it's time to head back down. I don't think there's really anything happening the next few days, outside of training and hanging out with Lucas and Zane on their respective hangout days, until the party.

Crap. I've never really been to a proper party before and have no idea what it's going to be like. Can I even handle a party?

Well, I managed the festival just fine. Maybe the party won't be so bad. What's bad will probably be the panic downstairs upon finding out I'm not there.

As I stand and make my way to the access door, something else Shade said comes to me. Why did he want to know if I'd spoken with Sivalshi? Can the turtle actually talk? Or is it some sort of telepathic thing that only other creatures can hear?