He was barefoot.
He felt the wet grass and mud beneath his feet stick to his skin, but he didn’t care. In fact, to be able to feel the earth, the air, the energies so intimately made it all the better.
But he had no time to concentrate on that.
He was running, a giddy giggle bubbling up his throat. He could hear footsteps behind him, following him, trying to catch up. Deep down, he knew that that person could reach him in the blink of an eye. But they liked to indulge him.
So he ran and ran and ran, using the energies raging inside of him to speed himself up, sometimes hiding, sometimes teasing, an exhilarating feeling enveloped his entire body.
Finally, after what simultaneously felt like an eternity and a flash of a moment, large fingers had gripped his wrist - firmly yet gently - and yanked. A gasp left his throat as he collided with a broad chest that felt like it could block out the world.
“I found you,” he heard a raspy voice whisper in his ear.
He was not scared at all. A hearty laugh slipped out of his mouth as he looked up. He could not see the face of the person in front of him clearly. After all, he was blocking the sun. But he knew this person. He knew them like he knew his own heart and soul. He felt warm and safe.
“You found me,” he whispered back, putting his head onto the man’s chest, frowning. “What took you so long?”
They chuckled. “My love, did you forget? You were hiding and running.”
He scoffed. “Still. You should have found me sooner.”
“Yes, I should have.” The voice was affectionate and indulgent at the same time. “Forgive me this once, hm? Come, let us sit.”
He was pulled along by the person. Soon he found himself leaning his back against the person’s chest as they leaned up against a tree. They stayed like that for a long time, in a comfortable silence. Neither of them had to talk. They just basked in each other’s presence. He interlocked his fingers with one of the person’s hands while their other hand gently combed through his long hair.
It was as the sun was setting that the chest behind him rumbled.
“My beloved,” they whispered. “Do you not love me?”
He frowned before chuckling. “Of course I do. What kind of a silly question is that, my love?”
“Really?” That hand was still gently running through his hair. But the tone of their voice was strange. “You do?”
“Of course,” he said, not paying much attention to the uneasy feeling inside of him. “How fortunate am I, an ordinary man like myself to have been able to gain the love of a being such as you? I love you with all my heart and soul.”
“Truly?” The voice whispered. The hand that had been in his hair left it and slowly traveled to his throat before those long fingers tightened around his neck. “Then, tell me, why did you do it?” They growled in his air.
He could still breathe. But he could feel that neck slowly tightening, constricting his windpipe. He brought up his free hand to gently try and take the hand off his throat. “Do what? Love, let go. You … you’re scaring me …”
A low chuckle sounded in his ear. “Do what? Are you playing coy now?” The grip on his throat tightened. “Why did you betray me? You said you loved me? Why did you turn against me?”
“Stop … stop … love, please …”
“Do you think you can escape me by doing this?” They growled. “I will always be a part of you. No matter where you go, no matter what you do, no matter how many lifetimes you spend, we will always be together, Forever!”
He couldn’t breathe, now desperately trying to take the hand off his throat. He tried to gasp for air and tears ran down his eyes. The grip on his throat tightened and tightened until all he could see were dark spots slowly spreading all across his vision.
“Emilio!”
Emilio’s eyes snapped open as he broke out in cold sweat. He let out a loud gasp as he got up from the bed, desperately clutching at his throat, as he tried to take in as much air as he could. He panted heavily as he looked around, his vision still blurry. But he could see Balsea sitting on his bed, looking at him with concern.
“Emilio,” he whispered. “Are you alright? What happened?”
Emilio opened his mouth to speak but then he realized how dry his throat was. He sighed softly and gestured at the nightstand. “ Wa… water,” he rasped out.
Balsea nodded and quickly helped him get a glass of water. Emilio gulped it all down before he looked at Balsea and gave a tired smile when he saw the fae’s worried look.
“I’m fine-”
“Don’t say you’re fine,” Balsea interrupted him. “You were strangling yourself, Emilio. I admit that I do not know much about humans but I do know that that is not normal behavior at all. What happened?”
Emilio looked at him in surprise. He was strangling himself in his sleep. That … never happened. He hesitated. Should he tell them? Up until now, no matter what happened, he never told anyone other than Ronald the details of his nightmares. And even Ronald did not know everything.
“Emilio, please.” Balsea sounded a bit desperate. “I’m a fae, you know. We know things. Maybe I can help.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Emilio frowned and then sighed. He leaned stacked his pillows up against the headboard and leaned against them before speaking. That dream …. nightmare … whatever it was … was still fresh in his mind. So he explained it. He did not go into all of the details, just gave them the gist of it. Thankfully, Balsea did not push for more.
“I see.” Balsea looked at him curiously. “Is that the nightmare you always have? Before, you said you always have the same nightmare.”
Emilio shook his head. And then he told Balsea about his nightmare. The one he’d had every day since he was ten.
“Pairre … ah, Father always said that humans have dreams that are the reflection of their subconscious. But not always. They could be desires of a person, their subconscious mind constructing their past and present, sometimes even their future. Do you have someone you like? Maybe your dreams are ... no, but then why would they strangle you? Is it a glimpse of the future? But that’s rare … maybe I should go ask Pairre…”
Emilio shook his head. “Balsea, it’s fine. It’s just a nightmare. There is no need to think so much about it. I will be fine. You don’t have to bother your father about it.”
“But-”
“Balsea,” Emilio called, taking the other’s hand. “Truly. I’m fine. You don’t have to do that much. Instead, would you mind just … talking to me? I just need some … distraction right now.”
Balsea paused for a moment before grinning, back to their cheerful self. “Of course. What do you want to talk about?”
Emilio cast his mind around for a topic and, after a moment, he settled on one. “You …. You just said Father, right? But aren’t fae genderless? So how can one be Father?”
“Well, yes,” Balsea leaned back. “We fae have a different concept of mating. We are born with our energy meant to be compatible with another fae. Once we reach a certain age, we can find that fae. Of course, we may not find that fae for a long time, since they might not have reached that age or might not even be born yet. Anyways, once the Klatyams - the compatible faes - connect, one of them becomes the Will and the other the Willed. What this means is that, when mating for a child, the Will provides the most energy and directs the process and the Willed nurtures it within their meytra - their core, if I had to compare it to you humans. The Will is Pairre and the Willed is Piesse. The human equivalent would be Father and Mother.”
Emilio nodded, processing those words, before chuckling. “It seems your fathers play a greater role in your creation than human fathers do.”
“Really?” Balsea blinked at him. “Didn’t your father provide energy little by little every day in order to properly mix it with your mother’s and ensure that you were a healthy ball of energy inside your mother’s core?”
He chuckled and shook his head. “No … no that is definitely not how it works.”
“Huh.” Balsea looked thoughtful for a moment before he turned to Emilio. “Then how does it work?”
Emilio flushed a deep red and looked away. “Um … that is not an appropriate topic for conversation. I … I think you can find books on it in the library>”
“Really?”
“Yes. really.” Emilio quickly looked for another topic to change the subject. “I saw some interesting things at the Research Department today!”
He then started talking about the things he saw. The boy seemed fascinated by some but unimpressed by others.
“They can make clocks dance to the tune of the alarm?!”
“Portals? What’s so impressive about that? I can do that anytime. Though … that’s only to the fae realm hehe…”
“Huh. Humans can pull some neat illusions. I didn’t expect that!”
“Awaken? As in resurrection? I mean … I have heard of the Salvadore before …. But does that mean the Salvadore will return?”
Emilio was actually surprised at that. He did not expect the fae to have much knowledge about the stone tablet. “Salvadore?”
“Ah, yes.” They nodded. “Humans don’t remember it anymore. Most faes don't either. All we have is word of mouth and vague myths. Apparently, the Salvadore was a human who somehow helped the Spirits seal the Void. We have no idea how, though. From the wording in that tablet, it sounds like something the Salvadore had written.”
He frowned. “How long ago would that be?”
“In human years?” Balsea asked. “A few million at least.”
Emilio let out an inaudible sigh. So a lot longer than five hundred thousand years.
“But how would he be resurrected?” Balsea asked himself. “He has been dead for millions of years now. His bones would be mixed into the ground and absorbed by the earth by now. There is no way to resurrect someone without a body.”
“Resurrect …” Emilio frowned as he looked at him. “As in Necromancy?”
Balsea shuddered and turned a glare at Emilio. “Do not compare that abomination to Resurrection! Those … those morons bring back twisted, fragmented souls back into their dead, rotten bodies in order to make puppets out of them. And then they call it Resurrection. What a disgrace!”
“Is…” Emilio hesitated for a moment. “Is there any other way to bring the soul of the dead back?”
“For us faes, there is. We can bring back life, in a limited time after death. But the price for that is heavy.”
Emilio frowned. “What’s the price?”
Balsea smiled at him. It was a somber one. “A life for a life, a soul for a soul.”
Emilio shivered at that before shaking his head. “Okay, okay, let’s stop here for now. Otherwise, I will have some different kinds of nightmares again.”
Balsea chuckled. “Alright. Get some sleep.”
He did. A restless one, but thankfully one free of nightmares.
The next day, they had two foundational classes.
One of them was Mana Theory.
It was nothing he had not learned before. He had devoured even the most obscure books on Mana Theory once upon a time. He knew the established theories, the proven ones, the still in experiment ones, the rejected ones, and the vague ones.
There was still so much people did not know about mana.
The Professor questioned him and promptly decided that he would be promoted to the Third Year Mana Theory class. The last and most advanced class on the subject. He accepted it graciously. He might not have mana but he could learn about mana all he wanted. Maybe he could find some answers there. And even if he couldn’t, it would still be of use to Jeremiah.
Soon enough, he was going to his second Foundational class of the day.
“Why is this the last one today?” He asked Balsea. “Aren’t there usually three Foundational classes each day?”
“Yes,” Balsea nodded. “But the Professor is a real taskmaster. He takes longer classes and apparently, the humans all become pained and exhausted. They all complained tp the Archmaster after the first week and the solution was to let them have some rest after the class and before lunch so that they can continue the rest of the classes properly.”
“Is it that bad?” Emilio asked nervously.
Balsea shrugged. “For you? Probably.”
Emilio sighed and, ignoring the sympathetic gaze of the fae, walked past the doors into his next class.
Magical Combat.