Hi, my name is Shade. I just a normal teenager like you till I found a place called Ouroboros. It'd take too long to explain so, let me give you the short version. It's essentially a mirror image of ours, if we were still in the middle ages that is, plus a few extra additions. Yes, I know what you're thinking "This guy is crazy", the answer is no I am not, I've just seen things that you wouldn't believe. So, Just let me tell my story and maybe you'll see.

My story starts on a Monday morning, and yeah Mondays are the worst. I woke up to the smell of French toast and coffee. I slowly got out of bed nervous about the first day of school and being the new kid again. I slipped on a black hoodie, a t-shirt, and jeans then rushed down the stairs to breakfast. My mom messed with my hair and said " You'll be fine. It's a new school, and new opportunity"

I laughed and replied, "Yeah fun" in a monotone voice. After finishing breakfast I rushed to get ready for school and ran out the door barely making it to the bus stop before the bus arrived. I quickly stepped on the bus and searched for an empty seat. I quickly walked to the only empty seat and sat down pulling out my notebook. I had just started to write a poem when a girl sat down next to me.

 I looked up at the cute girl sitting next to me and quickly shut my notebook muttering "Hi" under my breath.

She held out her hand and said; " Hi I'm Autumn, nice to meet you".

As I reached out to shake her hand I timidly replied "I'm shade, nice to meet you too" blushing, I put in my earbuds and looked out the window.

When the bus arrived at school I quickly got off and headed inside. I hurried to the office to get my schedule and searched for my first class, which was history with Mr. Smith. I made it in the door a few minutes before the bell rang and tried to find a seat in the back of the classroom. I chose the seat furthest from the teacher’s desk. Then I laid my head down and waited for class to begin. After the final bell rang my teacher walked in, Mr. Smith looked like a gray-haired older man with a seemingly laid back attitude. At least he did when he introduced himself and explained the class rules.

"

Turn your assignments in on time, stay quiet while I'm teaching, and you'll do fine." Though he took on a more serious tone when he started to tell us about the class.

It was mostly ordinary stuff though. Just as he finished speaking the bell rang and we rushed out the door. As I was walking out I saw some guys messing with the kid who sat next to me. I think his name was Jace though I wasn't really sure. I walked over and tried to shield him from them.

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One of them grabbed me, shoving me off to the side. "Don’t interfere" I heard the leader say and suddenly a searing pain radiating from my cheek he replied " unless you wanna get hit again" he sneered.

Holding my anger in, my body shook with the effort. Then they turned away from me, their focus shifting back to Jace. I pulled my arm back, my hand clenched, and prepared to return the favor from earlier.  Just as a teacher walked up and stopped us then dragged us off to the principal. He called us in and asked why we were fighting.

I said,"I was trying to defend a classmate named Jace when this guy punched me"

"John why did you punch him?" The principal asked.

"I was only defending myself from him" he replied, trying to seemingly explain away the mark he had left on my face.

 I end up getting a warning because it was my first fight and I was sent home.The secretary called my mom to pick me up. As I got in the car heavy tension hung in the air and not a single word was said on the way home. When we arrived at our house my mom commanded me in a stern tone "Go clean the attic, now shade!"

I sullenly obeyed trudging inside and up the stairs to the attic. As I opened the door dust billowed out, I started to cough as dust covered me from head to toe. Why was it so dusty? We had just cleaned it a month ago, yet it was already filled with dust? Focusing on my task I looked around the room groaning at the state of disarray. I grabbed a broom from downstairs and started to sweep the floor. When, strangely I tripped over something even though I had made sure that the floor was devoid of anything to trip on. I fell heavily into a stack of boxes and felt it give way a little then start to sway. I backed away in fear and watched with a sorrowful face as the stack started to fall towards me.

Closing my eyes, I waited for them to hit me. Time seemed to pass in slow motion when finally with a loud crash the boxes landed next to me, spilling their contents across the floor and making tears in the boxes. I started to pick them up one by one putting the items back into the boxes that were still usable and undamaged unlike some of the others. As I was putting them back in the boxes I noticed a strange book that caught my eye. It looked like one of those old leather-bound journals you see sometimes in libraries. You know, with the faded covers and closed with a metal clasp? Yeah, those, except this one had an almost brand new cover with a bright golden symbol emblazoned on it. It felt as if I was drawn to it, unable to resist reaching over and picking it up.