The Creatures Series

Thirteenth Night-2

“How can I be sure that that’s all you’ve involved yourself into? I’m not there to watch.”

“Arsene,” he protests teasingly while leaning on closer to my face. I can see the glow in his dark eyes as he can see mine sparkling.

“Artro,” I play along. But after having a staring contest, I finally break off to start my turn to hunt. “Come on, it’s my turn,” I say holding the grip on my own gun while getting up. “I think I saw something rather juicer than your deer over the south forest.”

Artro gathers his prey by putting it on the side of his shoulder in one swing and walks behind me. They really seem to be more muscle than I can see from him, truly. Because I’m sure that deer can’t be lighter than 70 pounds.

*

Banri is at the lounge when I head back to my room.

“Where’s everyone else?” I ask approaching him, my mountain lion on my other side, carried by my dark clouds.

“Wow, is that a lion?” Banri ask pointing at it as he jumps in surprise from his chair.

“A mountain lion, precisely,” I correct him.

“So you went on hunting with Artro this morning? I heard that he’s back.”

“Yes. And guess who the winner is?” I ask, smiling proudly ear to ear.

Banri put one of his arms under his chest and the other hanging on it to support his chin. “Hmm, that’s hard to guess.” I hit his arm lightly.

“Seriously, it’s hard to guess. I never know how far are you guys gonna hunt. It can be a small delicate little white bunny to a fire breathing dragon. The coverage is too wide to guess,” he says honestly.

“So, where are they?” I ask casually, ordering my cloud to put the mountain lion in the cafeteria’s frozen meat storage room mentally.

“Doing mission. It’s involving someplace underwater, so I signed out.”

“ Underwater. Not bad, ” I mutter with a certain glow in my eyes ─ a sign that shows my dark interest. “ Then what are you planning to do instead? ” I ask, back to my light tone, at him.

“So far, just waiting for you to come back. We didn’t contact you before because we thought you don’t want to be bothered with your hunting.”

Taking a minute to think of something, I say, “Why don’t we just check out our childhood photo album? You guys still keep it here, right?”

Banri nods. “It’s in the storage room, beside Crease’s,” he says standing up and heads to it. I follow behind him silently as he opens the door and revealing a room covered with wooden boards everywhere.

“Here it is,” he says approaching a bookcase full with rows and rows of photo albums. Each with different colors. He pulls one out with the color white that has label written, “Team Alphas.” I smile remembering the reason why we chose that name.

It’s not something that involves werewolf. Rather, it means that each member of the team is a specialist at his or her power. The masters of our own.

Banri open the first page, showing a photo of the group dressed up in our uniform and saluting at the camera like real soldiers. It was my parents that took it, after the seven of us graduated from our first test at the age of ten. I also remember that Shara and Banri fighting about who’s going to stand at my right side. Shara won, like usual.

I open the next page, revealing more pictures of us when we were small. From the smallest things like at the time when we first met as toddlers in Sorcier, then to when we ate together, taking classes, playing on the field, practicing our magic skills, to our proudest and most important moments like our first graduation, when we were given a medallion each as proof that we’re officially part of Sorcier, where wizards from all over the world form in one name, to when the celebration every year we have for the annual anniversary of Sorcier Star competition.

We used to enter sometimes, competing on who’s going to win. Sometimes one of us won, sometimes just unluckily none. I’ve won a couple of times, or Shara or the others won sometimes. And even Link and Artro became the winners at some other times.

“I can’t believe that we’re best friends now. Do you remember what it felt like when we first met?” Banri asks, chuckling. I join him.

“Of course I do,” I say.

We were destined to meet. But it was just not love at first glance.

When I was small, I used to be very picky at having followers ─ let alone for my friends. While children like me have tons, I have none. I used to be known as the most frightening child and be afraid by anyone, children or adult. It was because of my power, that I became arrogant and self-centered. But I can ’ t deny that I like being what I used to be.

The Noirmelns have the history of having our dark nature. Since we overpower darkness, we are consumed with evil as well. The more powerful we are, the more evil we get. Since I am one of the strongest members in the family, I naturally inherit my family's gift—and that is: The evil in my soul.

My soul's color is black, something that can be easily seen through my flesh and body if someone has the ability to. Some who had seen it usually described my soul to be something pure evil, with its cold, radiating black fire heat and pumping flair that's begging to overwhelm everyone else around me.

One day, I hurt someone. The kid didn’t die, but he almost did. Thus, my parents decided that it would be best for me to receive my first seal. I rebelled at that decision, of course. I was just too amateur back then to understand the importance of having those seals and keys. But they forced me anyway (by drugging me and perform the ritual while I was not in my right mind, so I don’t remember much of the event).

After that, I went back to school like usual. The different was just that I was more friendly and welcoming to other wizards than I ever had. They thought there was something wrong with me or that I was replaced by aliens or something, but I was careless after the ritual back then. It felt like something heavy was just lifted from my body and I felt really good. So good, that I started become friends with the guys right away.

I radiated so bright back then that they couldn’t resist getting close to me and the need to become my friends were just overwhelming.

And that was the root of Team Alphas.

Banri smile too as he remember our past.

Banri turn from the next picture to the next one. So fast that I start to spot a familiar figure on the photos. With pale skin and dark features that I hardly can make out. Just like from my ─

“Who is that?!” I shout.

“Who?” Banri ask.

“ The man. That man that ’ s standing behind the tree, ” I say pointing at the picture, only to find him disappear from it. “ What the ─” I turn to the previous page, trying to find the picture where I spotted him before, too. But he ’ s just not in anywhere. It ’ s like something just snipped him away. But how?

When Banri see me looking questionably insane at the album, he closes it and puts it away.

“Okay, what’s going on?” He asks, sensing that something is not right. “Are you okay, Arsene.”

“That man....” I whisper lowly, so low that I’m sure he can’t hear me. “He was.... in my dream,” I finally say.

“Who?”

“ I don ’ t know. It was too dark to tell. I can ’ t remember his face. All I remember is ─” Flashes of the images from my dream starts possessing my vision and I fell on the floor. I can feel Banri ’ s hand holding me, but I can ’ t see him. All I can see is the last second that the man points his gun at me. And then, my burial ceremony....

“No!” I shout, hands covering my ears. “No, no, no, no! I’m not dead. I’m not going to die,” I yell.

“─ sene, ” I can hear something from afar, but it ’ s too low to be heard clearly. “ Ars ─” It starts again, but I ’ m drowned too deep into the blackness. “─ Arsene! ” Finally, I can hear someone calling my name. Banri. He ’ s supposed to be next to me. Where is he now? All I can see is darkness....

As I find my body shaking, I open my eyes to find the sight of him.

“Banri.” I extend my hands to him. He catches them and part his lips with concerning eyes.

“Are you okay?”

I blink. “I think so. What just happened?”

“I think you were just trapped into your own dark thoughts.”

“How long was I gone?”

“Not much. Just three hours.”

“Three hours?!” I shout in shock. I look around, and for the first time spot my interior room. Everything were already back to its normal position just before I left the room this morning. I used my power to create shadow tentacles and help me fixed everything faster. Banri must had taken me here while I was paralyzed in my own thoughts.

“Thanks for taking care of me,” I say.

“No problem,” he replies with a cheerful smile of his.

There’s silence after that. Banri can be so carefree. But in situations like this, he knows what he should do. Nothing. Don’t ask too much. Don’t mention anything bad.

But just before he leaves my room, I go against everything and blur it out.

“My nightmare,” I mutter as he turns back to face me. “It was about me. Death. I saw you with everyone else in my burial ceremony. I was sleeping in this black coffin, so peaceful I thought I was still alive inside. You were crying for me.”

“Why did you die?”

I gulped before I answer. “I was shot by someone. The man I was hallucinating before. I couldn’t see his face, though.”

“So, this nightmare,” Banri ask walking closer. “Do you think it’s going to happen?” There is fear illuminating from his eyes when he asks this question.

“Maybe. I’m not sure. I never predicted the future before.”

“Have you told your parents yet? Your cousin?” Banri intentionally say ‘cousin’ instead of ‘cousins’ because he knows that Link won’t be much help. For me, anyway. Me and Link are not enemies, but we aren’t that close cousins either. It’ll be weird to tell him about my nightmare-that-possibly-going-to-come-true.

“None yet. Just you.”

The last thing I look on his face is grief and.... fear, before he says goodnight to me. He doesn’t say anything because there’s nothing he can do to help me either.

*

I’ve been trying to get some sleep tonight. But if I fall asleep, I’m afraid that I’ll have that nightmare again. What if when I wake up, I’ll find myself already burning everything down? I don’t know how far my fire is going to go out of control. How far can it reach? My room. The entire level. Or even perhaps the whole building?

This makes me wonder if I’ll need another seal to restore my power again. After all, it is functioning to keep me from being insane. If my powers go over-control, then I think it will be the right thing to do. Even if I have to seal away another part of me. Again.

How many seals will it take until a wizard die? Surely I won’t die too soon. There are many wizards in our history that has the same case as me.

And that is called over-sealed.

Finally, after realizing that I will not fall asleep like this, I get off my bed and open my door.

The hallway is quite, much because everyone is asleep. It is 12 past midnight, after all.

Then, I walk to the door beside me.

The door is not locked when I turn the handle. I crack it open as silent as possible and then part my lips.

“Banri? Are you awake?”

Everything inside is dark, without any window or night lamp to brighten the inside. Only the light is that’s coming from the other side of the door I open, and it’s not even enough to see anything besides some part of the floor.

There’s a groan coming from the inside, indicating that he is now.

“Arsene? What are you doing in here?” His voice sounds sore.

“Can I sleep with you tonight? I need someone to watch over me if I have another nightmare again,” I say, crooking my head inside while the rest of my body is hidden behind the door.

It takes Banri a minute or two before he answers, “Sure. Come in.”

I walk in and close the door behind me, making the room fall into darkness once more.

I’m lost in the darkness before I can finally reach the edge of Banri’s bed. Once I do, I used it as a guide to crawl up to the side of the bed and get under the cover. It feels too warm, but that’s fine for me. Banri is a hot breather after all and I’m already used to it.

“Don’t let my fire spread, alright?” I ask Banri, who has his back facing me.

“And you don’t worry about me sleeping next to you?” He teases. I chuckle.

“Yeah, right. Like my fire is going to burn another fire.” Besides his ability to manipulate volume of things, he can also control fire. Banri was basically born from a fire breed, as he told me once, so it’s more likely to be impossible to happen. That’s why I come for his help in the first place.

We both chuckle a little before I fall asleep in no time.