“Holy Fuck! What in the holy nine hells was that?!” Abruptly Archibald opened his eyes and reeled back in acute horror as he stumbled away from the mirror. Dizzy and seeing white dots flash in his vision, Archibald slumped down on the floor. In mere moments Archibald found himself leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door in exhaustion and confusion.

Trying to calm down his violently turbulent emotions and pounding heart, Archibald ineffectively tried reflecting on what just happened. “...That was insane. I felt everything that Riege felt…Jesus…Why the fuck did I feel everything that Riege did!” In a uncharacteristic seizure of emotions Archibald choked up in a half sob, the rawness of the emotions he felt in Riege's memory still lingering in his mind. “It was so real, it was just so real, what the fuck…”

Archibald took a long and silent yet ultimately ineffective pause to try to catch his breath and quell his broken sobbing, before he muttered out loud in a hoarse voice to himself, just trying to get any semblance of normalcy back to his thoughts. “...It’s over, for now, it’s over. Ha…” Archibald shakily laughed to himself as his unfocused gaze betrayed his tumultuous thoughts. “I guess I got ahead of myself when I thought that Riege’s memories didn’t affect me…hah…ironic I guess…”

Pausing for what seemed like the millionth time to quite ineffectively collect his thoughts, Archibald tried to recall what had even caused him to recall Riege's memories like that in the first place. With his sobs somehow growing into full-blown tears from the still raging remnant emotions, Archibald mulled over his prior actions, “Uh…I first woke up of course. Then I got angry…at Riege’s memories or something? What happened after that? Fuck... it’s all a blur. Why…why can’t I remember what happened after?” Archibald slapped his cheeks a few times, in an inane effort to jog his memory, “...Come on, think…” Despite his best efforts, however, All Archibald could remember were vague feelings of rage.

“It’s all been so strange lately,” Archibald cradled his slightly damp face in his hands as he wept silently in defeat. His tears seemed to stain his hands as they clung to his skin like blood. Voice slightly muffled by his hands and still hoarse, Archibald spoke aloud to himself in lethargic indignation, “What’s happening to me? Now I have random gaps in my memory all of the sudden? I’m so tired of being tossed around in situations that make no fucking sense…Fuck, why is everything so insane?”

Lifting his head from his hands, Archibald’s proud yet now down-trodden features curled up into a tired, almost unhinged smile. Sniffling, Archibald spoke aloud to himself as he wiped his eyes and looked around himself.

He was all alone on the floor of an alien yet familiar bathroom, in an alien yet familiar house, in an alien yet familiar city. With his gaze becoming unfocused, Archibald laughed. “Haha! This has been some fucking ride…One endless nightmare of an adventure!” Laughing even louder, Archibald ranted to himself, “This is all so uh…absurd!” Breaking out into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, Archibald could no longer contain himself. The situation he found himself in was just so strange and he had reached his stress limit.

Laughing profusely, Archibald yelled aloud. His face, usually an image of stoicism crumpled into a full-toothed, yet dispirited grin that when paired with his red eyes made him look manic. “Fuck it…Fuck it! Ha ha! I’m done questioning why this is happening! I’ll just have to find the answers myself it seems! Not like anyone's going to help me here!"

Laughing uproariously, Archibald felt the grip of catharsis on his mind as he let all his pent-out emotions through laughter and tears. While he would usually be able to manage his emotions, the strange circumstances surrounding his death and the even stranger events that followed when combined with Riege’s remnant emotions had fully pushed him over his edge of tolerance.

Now cradling his head in the palms of his hands once again, Archibald stayed seated on the bathroom floor. His hunched figure projected a dispirited shadow against the bathroom wall as he waited for his emotions to subsist.

Gradually, time passed by, the light outside of his window that trickled into the bathroom had now grown stronger and the fog had grown thinner.

Breathing slower now, Archibald felt the emotional exhaustion strangely start to drain out of him. It felt like his mind was somehow cleansed. Like a storm had passed and now clear rays of sunlight parted the gray clouds and clean air flooded the lands. It was almost as if a weight that he didn’t even know was in the back of his mind had been lifted.

“What the? What's happening to me? I feel like I’ve just taken a drug or some stimulant. I almost feel euphoric for some reason?" Confused Archibald gave a tired sigh as he wiped the remaining tears around his eyes," This is all too strange to even care about anymore.” Resigned by now to the strange happenings that continuously occurred around him, Archibald set about removing himself from the bathroom floor. He was done moping to himself. He would allow himself to cry and vent, but he would never allow himself to become defeated by his emotions.

With his sudden change in mood, Riege’s memories now seemed like a distant dream. Greatly relieved, Archibald felt his self-control returning to him in waves. Now determination replaced his hysteria. Miraculously, his energy had returned to him and he felt his will and resolve come alive again, replacing Riege’s rapidly dwindling emotions. It was time to finally start getting some answers he decided. He needed to know for his own sanity what was happening to him.

Shakily at first, but with rapidly increasing steadiness, Archibald leveraged himself against the wall and stood up. “I can think about what just happened later, but I need to get to the orphanage soon…I need to get there while the Headmaster is still there.” With resolution, Archibald was determined to investigate what just happened. “Hell, maybe the orphanage and the Initiation will give me answers to what’s happening to me. Just maybe I’ll be lucky for once in my damn life.” Archibald gave a dry chuckle at the naively hopeful thought. He hadn't ever been particularly lucky, and if the recent events were any indicator his mediocre luck had taken a turn for the worse.

Mind made up, Archibald briefly looked past the mirror and was about to walk to his bedroom to get his house key and citizenship card when he suddenly halted his movements. Mechanically, Archibald shifted his eyes back to the mirror, where he could have sworn he saw his now only slightly blood-shot eyes glowing just a second earlier.

“That was definitely not a reflection of the light. In the first place, it’s pretty dim here, the only light source is the light from my bedroom…And I’m one hundred percent sure that the light outside wasn’t multicolored…”

Taking a few steps forward, Archibald arrived in front of the mirror and inspected his eyes. “Huh…must have been my imagination.” Despite staring deeply into his pupils, Archibald saw no trace of the light he could have sworn he saw. “Probably because I stood up too fast or something and my vision got all out of sorts.”

Quickly dismissing and forgetting about the event, Archibald turned his back to the mirror and walked out into the hallway and back into his bedroom. He had more pressing matters than a trick of the light.

Briskly walking into the bedroom and to the desk, Archibald was thoroughly astonished by how quickly his emotions and energy had recovered. In fact, he hadn’t felt so good in what seemed like years. Even his thoughts felt smoother, like ideas came to his mind faster. It really did feel like some shackle from his mind had been released.

Hardly feeling anything when he thought of Riege’s parents, Archibald found his eyebrows quirking up into a silent grin as he joyfully thought to himself, “Seems like I’m finally catching a break after all the strangeness. Even if the break is more based on something else strange, it doesn’t matter right now. At least I feel great. No, I feel more than great, I feel fucking fantastic!”

Cheerfully humming to himself, Archibald looked down at the desk in front of him and grabbed his house key and citizenship card. Turning his head up to look out the window, all he saw was the vague outline of the street below and the white-gray morning fog looming not far above him. There were only a scant few outlines of people passing by below. It was impossible to make out their features through the morning fog.

About to head out of his bedroom, Archibald paused in his steps, he had almost forgot that he was in his work clothes from yesterday. Looking critically down at the faded dark green pants and his worn beige short-sleeved shirt with old stains covering it. Archibald quickly decided that this would not be appropriate for meeting the Headmaster and even less so for personally meeting the envoy.

It was of utmost importance that he dressed appropriately when meeting the envoy from the City Lord’s Institute. Archibald knew the importance of a good first impression from his socializing with his peers and associates on Earth. On the other hand, Riege, from his years at the orphanage had it ingrained within him that he should never irritate the envoys and instead should take utmost care to look and act as presentable as possible.

Taking both of these reasons into account on top of his slight trepidation at meeting the mysterious figure who may very well decide his fate, Archibald decided that he would wear only the best of what Riege had. Additionally, all of this worrying about the envoy had made it so that some of Riege’s more buried memories - little rumors and snippets of overheard conversation - about the envoys started bubbling up from the depths of his mind.

It was rumored through the occasional whisperings of some orphan’s cousin of a friend’s friend or something along that line, that the envoys were actually Physiquers themselves. No one at the orphanage knew for sure though, or if someone knew for sure, it would surely be the Headmaster. However, what they did know was that Physiquers were notoriously secretive around mortals and the envoys themselves seemed to be more so than the usual Physiquer crowd. They were always seen in the same luxuriant black robes that even in broad daylight seemed to absorb all light and emit a haze that obscured the face and even the figure of the person wearing the robe. The only way that the orphans knew that the envoy’s changed occasionally was because their voices differed.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Pushing these thoughts away temporarily, Archibald turned from the desk and made his way to the glossy wooden chest next to his bed. Opening the chest, Archibald was presented with four separate piles of neatly folded clothes. Scanning his gaze from left to right, Archibald was first presented with a pile of neatly folded shirts. To the right of the shirts were pants and to the right of the pants were underclothes and undergarments. At the very end of the chest, however, were Archibald’s ‘formal wear’ if you could even call it that.

Mentally tsking at the dismal state of Riege’s clothes, Archibald light-heartedly laughed to himself at how different his and Riege’s life situations were. Where Riege lacked even a presentable outfit due to his poor economic and social situation, Archibald could have closet fulls if he so wished. Truly, it would take some time to adjust to Riege’s living situation but Archibald knew that it was just another challenge that he had to surmount if he wanted to achieve his ambitions in this new life.

In a moment of idleness, as he sifted through the stack of clothes, Archibald had a moment to ruminate his ambitions, "I wonder what exactly it is I want? I know I want to be truly free, but how will I do that? Hah, not like there's anything here to shackle me anymore. No shitty friends, business events, expectations...or even my parents...yeah no one to hold me back..." Shaking his head at the sudden strange longing he had for his distant family, Archibald noticed that he had stopped paying attention to the clothes and forced himself to face the task at hand.

Rifling through the formal wear again, Archibald found that as suitable outfit. It was simple yet strange by Earth standards. For one, the pants seemed fairly normal, looking similar to black dress pants. There was also a pair plain black socks that complemented the pants. The shirt was also normal, a simple dark green long-sleeved tee. The other two pieces of clothing were strange, however. There was a thin knit sweater made out of some type of material Archibald had never seen or felt before, it was smooth and white and seemed to gleam in the morning light. It sported both the orphanage’s logo of a church spire and the city lord’s seal. No doubt the seal was there because the city lord technically owned the orphanage along with every public building in Craggvale.

The strangest piece of clothing though was the light brown robe that was supposed to cover his whole body. Confused at this seemingly contrary style of clothing, all Archibald could do was grumble in his heart, “I guess every place has its sense of fashion no matter how bizarre. I better just wear it according to Riege’s memory so that I don’t violate the envoy’s sense of style and make a bad first impression…”

With that thought, Archibald quickly undressed before carefully putting on all four articles of clothing starting with his pants and ending with the robe.

Finished changing, Archibald walked into the bathroom and inspected himself in the mirror. Through the dim white light that tapered through the bedroom and into the bathroom, Archibald saw a hooded figure staring back at him. Looking at the slightly worn and fraying robe, Archibald could only hope that the envoy wouldn’t find the attire too offensive.

Shifting his gaze to his sleeves Archibald found that they were quite meticulously fitted. At rest with his arms at his sides they only covered around a fourth of his hand and were quite free-flowing. Moving his arms in circles Archibald looked on in slight amusement as his wide and loose sleeves billowed and briefly revealed the thin knit sweater beneath it.

Tidying himself up one last time, Archibald looked himself in the mirror, took a deep breath, and decided that he looked as best as he could. It was finally time to make his way to the orphanage.

Grinning to himself, Archibald knew that this would be a pivotal moment in his new life. Speaking aloud to himself, Archibald ranted, “First time taking a step into a foreign world and making a trek to meet some mysterious and powerful envoy? Now that’s what I would call adventure,” Archibald nearly shivered from a mix of excitement and nerves, “Hopefully, today I step onto a new path. A new beginning!”

Pulling himself away from the mirror, Archibald exited the bathroom. This time instead of heading straight forward and into his room, he turned left and walked a couple of meters until he reached the staircase that led down into the living room.

Walking down the creaky flight of wooden stairs, Archibald made it down to the second to last step and paused as he was presented with a simple, yet homely view that reminded him of a log cabin.

The room was dimly lit only by the natural light peering in through the windows. Dim white light, that was almost gray was the only source of illumination. Beyond that, however, the room was completely silent. At once, the world seemed to stand still, the first light of the newly risen sun still a recent memory. In this still, almost serene atmosphere Archibald made it his brief goal to take account of his surroundings.

Assessing the living quarters, Archibald saw sparse yet rich, brown wood walls. The walls seemed to be made up of stacked logs fitted to each other. The walls themselves were mostly bare, the only decoration being a metallic red plaque that hung above the entrance and read ‘Gallien Riege. Hunter - 3rd Order’.

Pausing his gaze on the plaque, Archibald sighed in frustration as he mentally braced in preparation for the inescapable flood of memories. Gritting his teeth, Archibald closed his eyes and muttered in his heart, “Come on! Not this again.” In dreadful anticipation, Archibald waited with painfully clenched hands and teeth. The memories certainly came as they always had…but that was it, they came as they had before. They only washed ineffectively over his mind as he comprehended the information.

Rapidly relaxing and unclenching his jaw and fists, Archibald uncertainly concluded in his mind, “Seems that I won’t be affected so easily anymore by Riege’s memories. It probably had something to do with how…” Archibald paused, trying to put words to what he felt just a few minutes prior, “...free I felt? Yeah. It probably had to do with how free I felt after actually experiencing one of Riege’s deepest memories. No doubt the memories had something to do with me taking over his body in the first place. Still, I don’t even know what to do with that information. And that’s assuming that my half-assed conclusion is even right.” With the tentative realization that all was back to relative normalcy, Archibald resumed his assessment of the room.

Upon either side of the small room were two unlit lamps that seemed to be made of some type of dull-black metal. On the bottom of each hourglass shaped lamp there was a faint red rune. The room itself was a little cramped and dim despite the sparse furnishings. Luckily however, the sun had risen so he could make out some finer details. The light that peered through the fog and then through the two large windows located on the opposite side of the room was just enough to illuminate the whole room.

Gaze sweeping the room, Archibald eyeballed the size of the it, “Huh, looks a bit around five meters wide and long. Maybe a bit larger. Though I can’t really be certain.” Noticing the small size of the room in comparison to that of the bedroom, Archibald mentally pieced together the house’s design. “That means that the bedroom should take up almost all of the right side of the second floor of the house, only leaving the narrow hallway and the small bathroom on the left side of the second floor.

Stepping down the last step of the stairs, Archibald's feet hit the ground. Tsking at the chilled stone floor, Archibald remembered that while he wore thin wool-like socks, he hadn’t remembered to put on any shoes yet. “Damn, guess I’m still getting used to all of this.”

Mumbling to himself aloud, Archibald's proud features turned pensive, “Let me remember then. Where did Riege put those shoes…” Closing his eyes briefly Archibald forcefully roused Riege’s memories. “Aha. That’s where they are.” Opening his eyes Archibald walked a few steps to the left before being greeted with an open doorway that led to the kitchen. The shoes weren’t in the kitchen though, they instead lay to the right of the doorway.

What greeted him was a poor sight of what seemed like near tattered leather shoes. There was a singular black lace on each shoe that Archibald assumed was used to tighten the shoes. Bending down, Archibald quickly slipped his feet into the shoes and tied them on snugly.

Satisfied with how broke in the shoes felt, Archibald, looked up at the doorway in front of him and completed his mental schematic of the house.

Absent-mindedly, Archibald lightly scratched his chin. It had a bareness that he wasn’t used to, his stubble a world away by now. “The first floor should only be the living room and the kitchen then. The living room is at the front of the house and takes about three-quarters of the whole floor. On the other hand, the kitchen is in the back of the house.”

Satisfied with his mental floor plan of the house, Archibald mumbled to himself with a slight smile, “Pretty standard layout then. It’s pretty cozy all things considered.”

Walking into the kitchen, Archibald looked straight ahead of him and was presented with a wooden counter that looked much the same as the one in the bathroom. Even the runes in the sink looked identical. Shifting his gaze to the right of the kitchen Archibald saw what looked like a box, and with the help of Riege's memories recalled that it was a frost box. Something that seemed like a fridge, but was much smaller and far less effective at keeping things cold.

Looking at the dull-brown pantry shelves around him, Archibald knew that Riege had kept his food - an assortment of preserved meats and vegetables - within them. “I don’t really feel hungry right now though. Plus I really need to meet with the Headmaster and report my Awakening. Maybe then I'll learn more about what Physiquers. No...What I am now." The morning's events, along with the anticipation of what was to come had quelled any feelings of hunger that would have otherwise pestered him.

Finished with his brief assessment of the kitchen, Archibald turned around and walked out. All in all, it looked like the rest of the house: Wooden and bare.

With his leather shoes the only noise as they clicked against the stone floor, Archibald walked a few steps into the living room. To the left of him a meter or two away, in between a small wooden table and the wall of the kitchen was a simple stone fireplace, at the feet of which lay a rugged red-brown fur rug.

Taking in a deep breath of the slightly musty and chilled air, Archibald lifted his head to the ceiling as he spoke aloud to himself, “Alright, enough wasting time.” Archibald brought his head down and gazed at the doorway ahead of him. He stared at the doorway to a completely new world. “It’s time that I take my first step in this new life.”

With determination in his steps, Archibald walked to the doorway. Each step brought him closer to something entirely new. A new adventure. A new life.

Reaching for the cold, gray metal door handle Archibald unlatched the lock on the door and pushed the door open.

Rays of white light streamed in and illuminated Archibald’s figure as he cast a lonely shadow on the cold stone floor behind him.

Stepping out into the light, it almost seemed like Archibald was walking past a boundary. One both ethereal and physical. He was bathed in light. Baptized by it as it erased his shadow from behind him.

Today, Archibald knew deep within him. Was a whole new Dawn.