Icarus shuffled around in his ragged clothes. He slowly tucked in his shackled legs with his arms as he sat in the corner of the empty chamber. Small wisps of vapour escaped his mouth as he took short and quiet breaths. How long had Icarus been inside this cramped room? A year? Five years? Perhaps a decade? It had surely been a long time since he was imprisoned here. He could not tell for certain but one thing he understood was that he had grown up here since he was a child. Regardless, he had lost all sense of time and age since his confinement.
He stared at the dirtied silver reflection on his food plate to find a boy looking back at him. The boy had long dishevelled blond hair and dull blue eyes. He was incredibly thin, to the point that his bones were almost surfacing through his skin. He raised his hands to reveal an art gallery of cuts and bruises, and wondered how exactly he arrived here. He could not remember who he was before he arrived at this dungeon. All his memories from the past seemed to have disappeared.
However, almost as if to compensate for the lost ones, Icarus drowned in memories through his dreams every night. Everything unfolded through his eyes, yet it was not his, but another person's memories. In many of these visions, he would be called by the name of Raphael. Icarus often found himself wandering in a forest with a fog so dense that he could suffocate. He began to see these dreams as soon as he was thrown into this dungeon. And they were never random, almost in chronological order, but broken into segments. One memory always explained the situation in the next, but left gaps in the period of time between them. At first, he thought he was indeed the boy named Raphael. But Raphael was in complete contrast with Icarus. A tall black-haired boy parried what Icarus looked like.
After some time, Icarus embraced the idea that his only moments of safety throughout the day were in his sleep, purely unaffected by the cruel nature of his life in reality. He didn’t have to worry about the guards or the monotone dullness of the day. However, right now, this was the least of his worries. Today, he was woken up from midst the night's dream, something that had not happened since he first arrived in this dungeon cell.
His attention shifted to the source of his waking. A rat. Bristling black fur with a thin tail. Horrifying claws and disturbing red eyes. He lay quietly so as not to attract the rat. This room was frantically dark and was only lit up by the moon outside. At least he called it a moon. It was a yellow golden glow that constantly penetrated the high-placed, barred window. It never changed regardless of whether it was day or night. Therefore, he no longer knew the time of the day. And despite the broken lamp hanging from the earthen ceiling, no one had ever decided to fix it.
Occasionally, a bird would thrift through the dark sky and pass the window, creating a large shadow within the room. Thankfully, that hadn't occurred for a long time. The chamber itself was not extraordinary. Earthen walls, a high grille, and a high metal door. For the last two weeks, there had been a leak in the ceiling of his cell. It was a small leak, only a singular drop would pitter on to the ground every so often. However, despite the size of the droplets, it had accumulated over time, now forming a small puddle near the centre of the cell. Icarus had tried to complain to the guards. But the burly man and thin long-nosed men seemed uninterested for the most part. The guards were another reason why he hated this dungeon.
He had to knock on the door around five times for guards to enter and escort him to the toilets. He suspected it was to be simply one or two knocks, but listening to the responding grunts and sighs, he realised they took longer on purpose. He had thought about attacking the guards and escaping, but not only was he extremely weak at the moment, but he was also severely lacking information on the dungeon. Even if he escaped these guards by some miracle, there was no way he would escape another three or four.
He had named the big burly guard, ‘Elephant’. He never talked, but when he did, he would talk in broken sentences, almost as if his enormous muscles restricted his speech. Icarus named the other man ‘Mosquito’ for his long nose and thin frame. Despite Elephant’s burly appearance, he was usually quite careful with how he handled Icarus. Mosquito on the other hand was quite rough with him, often grabbing him roughly and leaving finger-shaped bruises around his thin arms. Last week he had launched his plate of food into the cell and it had caused Icarus to hurl an intense onslaught of insults. Usually, due to the high placed door, Elephant would ask for the silver plate, and he would return the plate with rationed food by slowly lowering it to the floor atop a flat board attached to a rope.
Icarus's thoughts were suddenly disrupted as he realised that the rat was approaching him. He remained still and quiet at first, but it inched closer and closer until it made him squirm. He had a strong hatred for rodents. As the rat stood on its hind-legs, Icarus let out a scream. Once he began screaming, he couldn't stop. He scrambled to stand up in the corner of the room. The chains attached to the shackles rattled loudly in metallic unison. "G-g-g-guards, I-I-I-I n-n-need t-t-t-t-to g-g-g-go t-to t-t-t-the b-b-bathroom!" He hated his stutter intensely, but he needed the guards to help him. Icarus waited a few moments, but when there was no response, Icarus began to scream even louder. He picked up the plate and skirted away from the rat. Unfortunately, the rat followed suit as it scurried after him. "HELP," he screamed. "PLEASE JUST ONCE, HELP ME." His pleas fell on deaf ears, and he decided to run around the room frantically. He thought he had heard someone asking what's wrong, and if he was alright, but he must have imagined it. He screamed again, louder now and decided to give up hope on the guards after there was no response. Again, he thought he had heard a voice, this time asking him his name, and who he was. However, he decided to ignore it. He had probably finally gone crazy after his long imprisonment.
Unfortunately, the rat had cornered him now. Icarus tried very hard not to notice the rats' mangled teeth, but it drew his attention anyway. The rat nibbled the air for a few moments before twitching and staring directly at Icarus. And suddenly, the rat sprung at Icarus. Icarus was impressed for a moment. Of course, the one time a rat came into his cell, it was powerful enough to reach his chest with a single leap. In one swift moment, Icarus grabbed and raised the silver platter behind his head and swung downwards at the rat. The rat could not evade the incoming mountain of metal, as it was mid-flight. A sickening crunch resounded through the hollow chamber, the moment the platter hit the rat.
He huffed intensely, attempting to catch his breath. He realised that this was the extent of his energy for the day, when he noticed black spots dancing around in his eyesight. Head muddied, he attempted to grab on to something, anything. A ledge, or even a bump on the wall. His legs felt weak. They trembled as he finally decided to prop himself against the cold mudded wall. His muscles began to cave in as he dropped to his knees. Hands on the ground, he arrived at the conclusion that unless he moved even slightly to the side, he would fall face first into the silver plate, less than a centimetre away from the dead rat. And with the last of his strength, he threw himself to the side, finally collapsing on the ground. Unfortunately for him, he landed on the small puddle instead, his face splashed with muddy water. As he cursed at the guards for disregarding his issue with the leak, he faded out of consciousness. Somewhere in the corners of his eyes, he thought that he had seen feint blue lights dancing in the puddle under him. But not before his eyes swept shut, finally allowing him to rest.
Elsewhere, far away from Icarus' strife with the rat, we witness a different scenario. We are taken to a country named Mienn. Mienn was a country gifted with sunlight regularly, but it was usually accompanied by bellows of sweltering heat. However, this day was blessed with a light breeze, and the harsh heat of the sun had dissipated. The sky was a beautiful azure blue, with the occasional stratus cloud. Unfortunately for the boys of Mienn Central Academy, there were classes to attend. It was the only school that granted higher education to children regardless of their status. As such, nobility decidedly did not enter this academy. They were home-schooled by academic tutors.
In one particular class, there was a pair of students arguing with a professor. An eight by four group of seats lined up just in front of the professor's blackboard, desk, and podium. The professor standing at the blackboard was no shorter than six feet. A tall young man around the age of twenty-five. A pair of rectangular glasses sit on the bridge of his eyes, just ahead of his royal blue eyes. The man boasted a crown of hazelnut brown hair, parted near the middle. His outfit was quite typical for someone of his job. An ironed white collared shirt fitted with some brown slacks.
One of the boys inclined towards the professor, hands on the desk, arguing frustrated now. His eyes gleamed a certain cerulean blue in the sunlight leaking in through the blinds of the window at his side, although they were slightly hidden behind the tufts of his honey-blond hair.
"I'm sorry boys, but you'll have to sit down. Don't cause a fuss now."
"You have to let us go, Dr. Ranielle. It's one of the few days that we won't be sweating all day long. We just want to leave an hour early."
"I don't think you understand Elijah, but I am not authorised to do that. If word gets to the headmaster, I may as well consider my job forfeit. Now, will you sit down and pay attention so that we can have a peaceful end to our class."
"But sir, it'll be dark by the time this class is finished. I would much rather go outside and enjoy the fresh air than be trapped inside here for another hour. And-"
The other boy strayed slightly behind Elijah and Dr. Ranielle, clearly unamused by his disruption of class. He grabbed Elijah and pulled him back to his seat slowly. Elijah, due to his frustration, did not take kindly to this. He turned around suddenly and smacked his arm out of the way. "Hey man, piss off if you're not going to help me."
They boy turned slightly red from the sudden provocation, but he recovered quickly and regained composure. "Hey, just sit down, man." He spoke quieter now. "Everyone's watching you now. Stop embarrassing yourself. Why on earth do you even want to go home so bad."
Elijah glanced at the teacher and sighed in frustration. "Just leave it, I'll sit down." He trotted towards his seat, clearly still frustrated at something other than Dr. Ranielle. The murmuring seemed to die down as the spectacle finished.
Dr. Ranielle finally decided to resume class. "As this is our first humanities class, we'll go over our basics. Is that alright with everyone?" No one objected to his almost rhetorical question, and he continued, beginning to walk around the classroom as he read from his book. "Our kingdom Bordenheim is the only kingdom left in this world. Does anyone know why Bordenheim is the only kingdom in the world?"
The room was silent for a few moments, but a boy sitting in the back of the class raised his hand slowly. It was the same boy who had brought Elijah back to his seat. Dr. Ranielle struggled to remember his name but called him anyway. "Yes, boy in the back. Please, if you can."
"An evil god descended on our land and destroyed every kingdom except ours -"
Dr. Ranielle paused in his tracks and interrupted the boy. "I must stop you there. That's a recurring misconception amongst commonfolk. Although, I do not mean to place any blame on you students. Nobility is taught about this topic from a young age. They are prepared about this, perchance they have to assume a title." As he quickly glanced up from his book, he realised that the majority of his class were irritated by something he said. Was it class in general? No, they were all commonfolk and they had enough of an interest in studies to pay for it. Nobility. The mention of nobility was the reason for their displeasure. Nobility in Bordenheim were eminently disrespectful towards those who were beneath them in the hierarchy. They treated commoners no better than the pebbles on the side of the road.
Dr. Ranielle folded his book and held it as his side, holding it opposite its spine. After slipping his glasses off and neatly folding them into his breast pocket, he cleared his throat. "I have a funny story, actually. You see, I was a troublesome kid. My parents raised six children, other than me, and I just happened to be the middleborn son." He paused for a moment as the students began to murmur. "I would like your attention for a small moment," he said as he clapped his hands. The students were not moved, and the buzzing continued, although it had now turned into a chatter.
The growing murmurs among the students unsettled him, a stark contrast to the engagement he sought. He gently placed the book on his desk and continued his pacing. "When I was a child, nearly my entire family died." The low hush across the room was silenced almost immediately, and Dr. Ranielle continued with a certain grandeur. "My parents paid little to no attention to my brothers and even less to myself. We had a small goat farm and harvested rice twice a year. My father was a quiet man. A lumberjack. And my mom was never home. I suppose that after having triplets, after I was born, she passed away or ran away. I never knew or cared to find out. Our home was a small hut near a snowy mountain called Vaihers Peak. Most of you kids probably would not have heard of it. Since it was always so cold, we would huddle around the warm fire made inside the house from the wood our father chopped up during the day. Our father was a man of few words. He would come home at times after working a day and cook us food with goat meat and rice. My brothers and I knew not to disturb or talk to our reticent father, as he would fly into a fit of rage. We grew up to be reserved and introverted. Although all my older brothers passed away. Our last two goats could not reproduce anymore, and we had no choice but to use them as food. Our father passed away shortly after, and I nearly died from the cold. Neither I nor my brothers were strong enough to chop up wood. Neither did we know how our father created the fire. My brothers and I were growing thinner by the day, and I had to do something to aid them. So, in a last-ditch effort, I took the cart our father used to carry logs to pull them towards the village."
Everyone listened to the professor with bated breath, hanging on to every word that left his mouth. The story was so sudden and yet so intriguing. The suspense was pictured through every student's eyes. Some sitting on the edge of their seats, leaning forward, closer towards the speaker. The professor's sudden halt in this story and silence caused a few moments of awkwardness. Dr. Ranielle clapped his hands and raised an eyebrow, now smiling. "Do I have everyone's attention now?"
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As the atmosphere lingered in suspense, a student bravely raised their hand. "Will you not continue your story?" The question hung in the air, breaking the silence that had momentarily engulfed the room.
"Just a moment, let me wear my glasses again. Ah, your name is... Rakus. No, Rakus, there will be no more story for today. If you so wish to know more about my story, you," he wriggled his finger around the classroom at the students. "And that means all of you should behave during class. I want your full attention, and you will have my respect. Does everyone understand?"
There was a collective nod of agreement across the room.
"Did you say anything? I'll ask again. Does everyone understand?"
"Yes, sir!" The boys were clearly not used to giving this level of respect to teachers, and it showed in their awkward gestures.
Dr. Ranielle stood at this podium now. He wore his satisfaction on his face in the form of a smile. "Now, let us continue on our class. Where were we... ah the destruction of the world as we knew it two centuries ago."
"The world wasn't destroyed by a god, but a human. Can you believe it? A single human caused all of this mass destruction. So, you can imagine that the world was thrown into disarray. So, the leaders of every country in our kingdom are extremely careful. The title that the leader of each country holds: Does anyone know what it is?"
The class shifted their attention. It was a simple question that everyone knew the answer to. "The Grand Duke!" Everyone shouted the answer completely out of unison.
"Finally, some interaction. Elijah, can you tell me the name of the Grand Duke of our country?"
Elijah's patience began to wear thin. He could not help but feel chafed by Dr. Ranielle and his story. It reminded him of his own story. And he still needed to leave early. It was not just for some fun, but something important. He decided to comply anyway. "His name is Grand Duke Ravine Harvey."
This was everyone's third week at the academy, and their first humanities class. Elijah fervently enjoyed these classes, but today he was ever-so restless. He recognised no one in this class room. His closest friend had began working and he had a spat with his other friends in the past which split them apart. Although it saddened him, he understood why his friend did not want to work in the farm. "What's the point in education, Elijah?" his best friend Kayam had asked. "I would much rather work here at my father's small farm, and try to survive in these nobility-controlled times. What's an education going to do for commoners like us in a country made to benefit the nobles?" At the time, Elijah didn't know how to reply. "Listen to me Elijah. I don't care what your sister had told you. But if a commoner get's education, they'll eventually try to fight against the nobility. And you know what would happen then." Elijah had decided to ignore it then, but now he wanted to be home.
There was no requirement for uniforms luckily. Elijah wore simple britches with a tunic. It couldn't be called fancy in any sort of way, but thankfully, it was the same for his classmates.
Despite his onslaught of thoughts, Dr. Ranielle continued. "Correct. Now as a Grand Duke, he oversees the political state of our country and sends emissaries to fix issues. Can anyone tell me the hierarchy of the nobles. Now, I know most of you do not like nobility, and neither do I. Unfortunately for all of us, it's still something we have to know and learn."
There was a repeat of the former awkward silence again, until the student at the back raised his hand again. It was the same student again, and the professor could not remember his name yet again. "... Yes, student at the back, please."
"The hierarchy consists of a Grand Duke, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron."
"Indeed, and in the correct order too. I'm impressed. The duke of a country is second in command. However, from there onwards, there are two Marquis's for every country and five earls. Barons are the lowest in terms of power and status. They are commoners who were gifted with the title of Baron for an achievement which greatly benefits the country. Viscounts are Barons who has accomplished himself even more and spread his influence," he paused for a moment to see Elijah packing his bag. He decided to ignore it and continue. "Remember this, students. A commoner can never. Never make it past the ranks of a viscount, no matter what they accomplish. Isn't that unfair? I-"
RRRRINGGGGGG. He paused, startled by the sound of ringing bells. Dr. Ranielle reached for the watch that he had placed on his desk earlier. "Oh, would you look at the time! I did not know that so much time had passed. Class is dismissed, people."
Almost immediately, everyone began to pack their bags, and the rest of his words were drowned by chatter and shuffling.
"We will resume tomorrow; it will be second class after theology!" He yelled, although it barely surfaced over the much louder children.
Elijah was the first of the children to leave the room. He bolted for the door as soon as class ended, slamming the door after him.
He sprinted past many surprised faces, as he crossed the mahogany floor, receiving a few "Watch where you're going's" and "Slow down's" as he did. He bumped into someone suddenly, knocking them over, and they both violently crashed to the ground. Elijah stood up almost immediately. "I'm sorry, so sorry. I have to go, I'm sorry. Sorry bye." Elijah was flustered from the crash. He dusted himself and extended a hand to the person he crashed into. The boy did not take his hand however, and laid on the ground, still stunned. His eyes were hidden behind a veil of brown hair. Elijah realised that it was the person who stopped him from causing a scene in the classroom. "I never caught your name actually..." Elijah glanced at the clock in the hall. "I'm so sorry again, I have to go. I'll make it up to you tomorrow." And with this, he ran out of the hall, and out of the school through the main gates.
A man arrived at the scene and picked up the boy and patted him down. He sported a top hat emblazoned with a golden crest, and the rest of his attire was matched with an equally fancy suit. "You didn't do anything did you?" The boy nodded. "No, I didn't. I made sure not to interact with him much, and no one asked me of my name." The man was pleased. "That's good. You must remember, the moment anyone realises what you're doing here, we may as well consider ourselves to have signed a death warrant." The boy snickered at the man. "You can't be more conspicuous than you are right now. Go now. I'm fine."
The man looked down at his clothes. "There is nothing wrong at all with my clothes," he said indignantly. "And how much more days will it take for you to carry out our task?"
The boy grinned and pointed at the ground.
"What? The ground?"
"No. It will be done today. We will have Dr. Yamez Ranielle by tonight."
"Good job," The man in the top hat smiled finally. "Raphael."
At the same time, Elijah had reached his destination. The path home was simple. He had taken the main earthen road for what had seemed like an hour. After his running, turned to jogs and then to trudging walk, he had finally found the path which veered off from the main road. The path zig-zagged between a forest of trees, and sometimes it would be lost beneath the greenness of grass. But by this time, he could follow the narrow river with the path until it led him to a woody enclose. A small bungalow lay in the middle. Much of it had lost it's colour, and the wood seemed damp. It was surrounded by a beautiful nature view. A sparkling river at it's side, coniferous trees hugging the enclose from all corners and the mounds, hills and mountains behind the bungalow.
He had taken his bag off by now and was sat across a young blond girl at a table of food. A lot of her features were the same as his, the small, accentuated nose, or even the similar blue eyes and blond hair. She seemed older and kinder than him, however. They had joined their hands in prayer.
"We thank God for his many endowments on this blessed day. Thank you, God, for allowing me to live another year with my brother. And thank you for keeping us away from death, and close to health. Please God, let our mother rest in her grave and let her be at peace in heaven. Thank you for your many miracles and thank you for being our only hope in our world. May we live a bountiful year full of happiness again at your behest. Amen."
Both Elijah and his sister opened their hands as a sign that the prayer had ended. She smiled kindly and brightly. "Happy Birthday Elijah! My precious little brother is already fourteen years of age." She ushered him to pull himself closer to the table. "Eat, eat. I cooked your favourite chicken stew with carrots. And I managed to buy honey butter bread as well."
"Thank you, Agatha! But I must say..." he glanced at the delicious food on the table with a hint of sadness. "Was it not all expensive?"
"Expensive? Not at all. I bought them from a friend. She sold them for a cheap price as they would have gotten bad if they were left till tomorrow. Don't worry, it's fine. I paid with mom's stash of coins in her vase."
Elijah did not complain, and immediately began to ravage through the food. A single hot tear strolled down his face and plipped on to the table next to his bowl. "It tastes amazing Agatha. Almost like mom's food..."
Elijah experienced what was the third awkward silence in the day now, but this time seemed like it would remain that way. In truth, Elijah knew that Agatha had made it exactly like this, so that Elijah would enjoy it. Agatha never knew that her secrets did not go stay unhidden with Elijah. Like how she never had friends, so she could never buy a chicken from one. Or how the stash coins that their late mother left for them had finished about three months ago. Elijah knew that she was working. He had heard from a friend that they saw her leaving a factory in their uniform. Although he already had suspicions from how she formed callouses on her soft palm. And after checking himself, he realised that his sister really did work in the factory. It was the only factory in the country outside of Stiev. And she must have been the only girl in the entirety of the factory. It greatly saddened Elijah to see just how hard she would work.
She was working hard labour just for him to attend the academy. And because of this, he usually paid great attention to his teachers. But today was a special day, and not for his birthday, but for what happened after their celebration.
Agatha had ensured to wrap up Elijah properly, as it was getting darker and colder. They walked behind their house, over a small hill until they reached a small mound in the earth on the peak of the next hill. The mound had a wooden signboard stuck at the head of it, reading Seraphina Velvetorn. It was their mother's grave. Agatha turned to Elijah. "I'm sorry that your birthday is on the same day as... her death."
Elijah laughed softly. "Don't talk nonsense. It isn't your fault that mother passed away on this day." Each word they spoke was followed by wisps of visible vapour due to the cold. The vapour was almost reminiscent of their mother. It was there, a shimmering white cloud, and then it disappeared.
Agatha, put her arm on Elijah's shoulder, pulling him closer to her, and hugged him. Elijah tried to move and escape her hold. He wasn't used to this. But it always happened once a year. "Just wait a moment," Agatha croaked, and Elijah stopped resisting. Hot streams of tears pitter-pattered on to his face. Agatha was crying. After a quiet five minutes, they stopped hugging, and kneeled at her grave, telling her about their year. Telling her something, anything. Somewhere in Elijah's mind, he wished that a shocking story would make her jump out of the ground and on to them, to scold them. But it never happened. After what seemed an eternity, Agatha decided to leave. "I'll be home, alright?" she said whilst sniffling. "Don't stay out too long." Elijah nodded in return.
Elijah began to cry now. Maybe his sister's presence blocked him mentally from crying, but it all rushed out now. "It's been 7 years hasn't it mom. It's been 7 years since you left. Believe it or not, your enormous stash of money in your vases has been finished. We tried to be careful with spending, I promise. I know you didn't like it when we spent money unwisely. Agatha's been working ever since. It's been about 3 months mom. Did you know that our Agatha has callouses on her palms now? Isn't it outrageous? Our baby hand Agatha? And Raphael left almost a year after you left. I know you brought him in seven years ago, but he disappeared. And in the entire year he was with us, I did not find out much about him. But you were right about him, he was a good person. If not for him, our money coins might have ended earlier. He would work, or whatever he would do, and place it in the vase." He paused for a moment. "I miss you mo-"
And suddenly there was screaming. He leaped away from the grave and looked around him. The screaming was loud, and yet no animals were affected by it.
"Are you alright, Elijah?" Agatha called from their home.
What? Elijah wondered. Did she not hear the loud screaming?
"I'm fine," he replied back.
He turned his attention to the source of the screaming, and it led him back to grave. Particularly, a small puddle formed besides the grave. Where was the puddle from? Their tears? There were small blue lights dancing in the puddle. Elijah dangerously leaned in closer to the puddle and suddenly, he heard a voice. "HELP. PLEASE JUST ONCE, HELP ME." Elijah's eyes widened as he took a small step back in precaution. What was the sound? Who was speaking? Could he find out?
He placed his mouth close to the puddle. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Are you alright?"
There was a pause in the screaming, although it resumed again a moment after.
"Who are you? What's your name?" Elijah did not know what had happened now, but there was a clatter of something metallic, and it rung loud as if echoing. And right after, he heard the thud of a body, as if someone fell to the ground. He looked around himself again, just in case he was going insane. He felt crazy talking to a puddle anyways.
Especially a puddle of his and his mom's tears.
There was some muttering emanating from the puddle, someone was swearing at someone else. Someone called Guards. No, this person was swearing at guards. And then there was utter silence. The dancing blue lights disappeared from the puddle.
"Hello?" Elijah said to the puddle. "HELLO?"
There was no response. He sat there for a few more moments, but after his sister called him again, he decided to go home. And that's when it happened. The air in front of him shimmered for a moment, making a buzzing sound. Elijah thought that he was tired, maybe this whole thing was a trick of his mind. And then the air burst with crackling energy, and three men appeared from nowhere. And again, for the second time of the day, he collided with someone. Although this time, he believed it was not his fault. Elijah groaned and looked around, head aching from the sudden collision. He jumped in his skin when he saw the person at his side – almost like an out-of-body experience. Dr. Ranielle lay at his side, hands and feet bound, and his mouth was covered by some kind of cloth. He was knocked out cold, although he seemed unharmed despite his bondages. And a man in a suit with a top hat was on top of him, holding him. And on top of Elijah, lay a boy. It was the boy from before.
And suddenly, Elijah wondered about him. He never talked to him before and yet he seemed to recognise him. He had been angry during class, and he did not check to see who the boy who stopped him was. But he realised that the voice seemed familiar to him, from somewhere. And finally, Elijah could see the boy, eyes uncovered. Glistening emerald-green eyes with blue pupils. Those pupils were undeniably recognisable - Raphael. It was the Raphael that had left their home a year ago. But other than his eyes, he did not look the same. He looked much different from the usual fifteen-year-old boy who had once lived with them. Neither did he have his usual black hair.
Raphael got off of him and pulled Dr. Ranielle and the strange man with him.
"WAIT, STOP! RAPHAEL. IT'S YOU RIGHT?!"
Raphael placed his fingers on his pursed lips. "Sorry, got to go. I'll fill you in sometime. Poalah, try again. And this time, actually get us to the mansion basement."
The man at his side clicked his fingers, and a golden dust enveloped the three of them.
Elijah scrambled to his feet now. "WAIT, DON'T GO. WHEN IS SOMETIME. WHEN WILL I SEE YOU NEXT?"
Raphael began to form words with his lips, but it was too late, the air crackled again and then with a pop, they disappeared. The three of them vanished into thin air, and Elijah stood there, confusion mopping his face.