Hello, Everybody. This is Hyperjade.

This is Absol Lhant. I love the game Tales of Graces. I enjoy the story and plenty more about it that would take time to write up here. I also really like the pokemon species absol. So imagine, seeing that the main character of Tales of Graces is Asbel Lhant. Asbel. For the first several weeks since I discovered what Tales of Graces was, I kept saying his name wrong, calling him Absol accidentally over and over.

And ultimately, I get to this point here where I just had to, HAD to write a story about this. Please be aware that the updating schedule will be unlike the regular intervals that I currently update New Age and TAC and KatJ. It is more likely that if I have the impulse to do so, I will write a chapter for it. This means it will be less common that it updates.

That in mind, I do hope you enjoy the first chapter of Absol Lhant. Read on, people.


"Y-you're really going up there?"

Beautiful green scenery transfused with gray-white earth and stone surrounded the children. The boy standing upright stood tall and looked about the fields and trees and rocks, taking it all in. His brown hair looked like it was styled to look somewhat messy. He wore a green tunic with a lighter green vest of sorts over it. His brown pants held two large pockets on either side. He heard the voice of the other, the blue haired boy behind him, who was slightly hunched over, shivering.

The boy turned to view his brother, his pretty blue eyes meeting his brother's equally blue eyes. His brother wore a white-tan tunic and a green undershirt and red shorts, as well as a red neckerchief tied in a bow.

"Of course!" The brown haired boy exclaimed, holding his arms out in front of him as if grasping at the air before him. "Flowers bloom there all year round. Don't you want to see 'em?"

He straightened. "Come on! It'll be an adventure!"

The blue haired boy lowered his head meekly. "D-Dad's gonna be really angry if he finds out..." He tried to reason with his brother. "How many times has he told us to stay away from Lhant Hill? It's dangerous!"

His brother clenched his fists. "You think I believe a word he says?" He asked. "Don't worry, it's fine!" He turned around to examine the view again. "And besides, I'm eleven years old. I go where I want."

As the boy began to walk away, the blue haired boy quickly spoke up. "W-wait! What about Cheria? Shouldn't we invite her too?" He asked. The brown haired boy cast a sidelong glance at his brother.

"No, she can sit this one out." He decided quickly.

"What? Why!?"

"She's sick, Hubert. It would be hard on her" he defended his choice, turning fully back to his brother.

The blue haired boy, Hubert, just looked on as his brother said: "Besides, one scaredy-cat slowing me down is more than enough."

Hubert was taken aback. "Hey! That's not nice!" He protested.

"...Anyway, let's go! I wanna see what's up there!" The brown haired boy said, shifting on his feet repeatedly, almost bouncing. Then, he turned around, thrust his fist in the air for a moment, and started walking towards Lhant Hill. Hubert hesitated before racing to catch up to his brother.

But a mere minute later, they were ambushed by odd seedling-like plants, with long leaves spreading like ears from the top of the seeds. They had shambled up in a group, approaching the boys quickly.

Hubert cowered and held up two little sticks. He waited for the enemies to come closer, but his brother pulled out his still sheathed, expensive looking sword and began whacking his enemies with it, shouting 'bell ringer' and some other attack callouts as he bashed the plant-like monsters into submission.

"We're the toughest kids in town!" The brown haired boy exclaimed, one foot on a defeated monster and his still sheathed blade in the air.

"But we shouldn't be out in places like this…" Hubert protested meekly, looking around for more threats.

Instead, what the boys saw was a spring with perfectly clear water within. The water poured in from the walls, and the tiny cavernous opening was surrounded by a small canopy of vines with large leaves that left a human-sized opening for people to enter.

The brown haired boy walked over and knelt by the water. "You should try some of this spring water, Hubert!" He called.

Hubert shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not really thirsty…" he muttered.

Asbel attained a carefree smile, his hands going behind his head. "This water is famous! Plus, it's really good for you. So come on. Have some. You'll like it."

"W-well…" Hubert whispered "All right." He took some gulps of water he pooled in his hands. Then he straightened with a surprised and pleased smile reaching his lips. "Oh! Oh, this is good!"

Then he grew suspicious. "Wait… I thought you'd never been to Lhant Hill before."

"Huh, I guess Frederic knew what he was talking about after all. Here, gimmie some of that. I wanna try it." Hubert's brother said aloud, not paying attention to his brother's question.

"Hey! I'm not your guinea pig!" Hubert protested, backing away a bit. He watched his brother drink some of the water, wiping his mouth with his sleeve when he was done. Then, impulsive as he was, the brown haired boy leaped up and traveled further into the trees, having spotted something.

"Hey, somebody left a glassphere lying around." He said, holding up the shiny object. He dropped it and let it smack a flat rock near the boy's foot and bounced back almost as high up. He caught it and stuck it in his pocket. "Shame they're not worth as much as they used to be…" he muttered, emerging from the path again with his beautiful prize in his pocket.

The boys traveled up the final stretch of the small hill to discover a clearing-sized meadow spanning the top of the hill, which dropped into a cliff overlooking the water. A large tree loomed above them, swaying in the slight wind and adding to the wonderful effect of nature.

"Wow…" Hubert said.

"Whoa…" his brother said. The aforementioned brown haired sibling looked up at the tree with awe in his eyes for just a while before his brother's sudden cry of surprise drew his attention.

He turned to see the boy pointing. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Th-There's someone there!" He said, pointing into the field of flowers ahead of them a little to the right. Surrounded by butterflies, resting on her back with her eyes closed amidst beautiful yet simplistic purple flowers, was a girl with pink pigtails and a very odd outfit. Her pigtails were nearly as long as she was tall, reaching down to her ankles in the grass.

Next to her was an odd white and black flower that neither of them had seen before in their lives. Though it caught the brown haired boy's eyes quickly, it seemed entirely separate from the girl herself.

"It looks like a girl…" Hubert whispered.

His brother's attention snapped back to the girl. "Hey you!" He called. "What do you think you're doing sleeping out here?"

She suddenly sat up, causing both boys to exclaim in surprise and mild panic, before she looked up at them from her seated position, revealing lavender eyes and a slight frown as her expression.

"...I heard a voice…" she said monotonously.

"You did?" Hubert's brother asked.

"...I was asleep, at one with this place… But then I heard your voice, and I woke up. Why was I awakened?" She asked in her monotone voice. The brown haired boy looked away slightly uncomfortably.

"Well… You know it's dangerous to sleep out here…" he said.

As she failed to respond, he continued: "If you want to take a nap… Maybe you should find a bed or something."

Hubert noticed as his brother said this that the girl was instead paying attention to the random butterfly rather than them, ignoring the boy's words and standing to follow the bug like an interested child.

"Asbel!" Hubert exclaimed, using his brother's name finally. "She's headed right for the cliff!"

Asbel gasped and took off, sprinting after the girl. He felt a sting on his ankle but ignored it so that he could grab the girl's arm as she was about to step off the cliff. "Hey!" He exclaimed, surprised. "You'll fall! What do you think you're doing!?"

The girl turned to him with her odd blank expression. "Fall?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, Fall! Splat! You know what that means right?" Asbel demanded.

"No. What does it mean?" The mysterious girl asked, astonishing Asbel, who rushed to answer as Hubert began running up.

"It means… Um… Well…" Asbel trailed off as Hubert looked down the edge of the cliff and backed up, afraid. He turned to the others, gingerly holding a flower in his hand, avoiding its odd thorns. "That's a long way down… If you fell, you'd be in big trouble…"

"See? You get it now? If you fell, you'd…" Asbel trailed off as he saw the girl's blank expression. He did an about face with his arms crossed and eyes closed, looking away from the girl. "Oh, nevermind. Look, just stay away from the cliff. Understand?"

As the pinkette nodded silently, Hubert faced his brother. "So… Where do you think she's from?" He asked, "I've never seen her before." This prompted Asbel to turn around to face the girl again.

"Hey, what's your name?" He asked her. She stared at him blankly for several seconds before he smacked the bottom of his fist into his palm. "Ah. Right. That's rude. I should introduce myself first." He amended, sticking his thumb at himself. "I'm Asbel Lhant." He gestured to his brother with his other hand. "This is my little brother, Hubert."

"Hi. It's a pleasure to meet you." Hubert inserted with a slight bow.

"Sooo… Tell us your name." Asbel ventured, pointing at the girl. She looked up a bit, her eyes a little blank.

"My name?"

She looked down. "What was it? What was… My name..."

Asbel was taken aback. "Hey! Don't tell me you forgot your own name?" He said.

Hubert stepped forward. "Well then, I know. How about this? Can you at least tell us where you're from?"

"...Where I'm from?" She began looking around the flowers beneath them, her gaze settling on the purple flowers she had been lying in.

"Seriously?" Asbel asked, a little in disbelief. "You don't remember that either?"

Hubert, struck with an idea, called his brother's name. "Asbel? I wonder if maybe she has amnesia or something. They say that people with amnesia have trouble remembering things."

Asbel cast a sympathetic look at the girl. "Amnesia, huh?" He asked.

Upon receiving no answer from the girl, he attained a contemplative look. "Well, you know, Hubert… you may be right." He said.

"So… So what do we do now?" Hubert asked his older brother.

"We bring her back to town." Asbel decided.

"What?" Hubert shifted the flower he held. "Are you serious?"

Asbel ignored his brother's odd fascination with the flower. "Well, what else can we do? We can't just leave her here." He reasoned. "And besides, maybe she'll remember something once we get back."

Hubert nodded. "Oh… Yeah. I suppose that makes sense." He admitted.

Asbel called to the girl. "Hey, Why don't you come back with us?" He asked, "There's no point standing around here by yourself."

The girl nodded mutely. Asbel and Hubert shared glances. "Great. We'd better get going then." Asbel decided. He noticed The girl looking around at the field beneath them, observing all of the flowers, including the one Hubert held, before her gaze once again fell on the purple and pink flowers. "You like flowers?" He asked, stepping forward slightly. He knelt and picked one of the purple flowers. "Here. Take one for the road." He offered, holding it out to her.

She instead knelt by the flowers and picked one of her own, the same kind, looking at it. "It's just a flower, you know," Asbel said, standing up. "...You're weird. Well, nevermind. Let's go!"

He turned to his brother. "Hubert, what are you doing picking flowers?" He asked, shifting from side to side with his hands behind his head. "Never thought you'd be doing that of all things."

"Hey!" Hubert recognized the meaning behind the words. "I just picked it after you hurt yourself on it." Asbel started with surprise.

"Hurt myself? I feel fine." Asbel refuted, before he remembered the stabbing sensation from before, looking down at his ankle. He felt no pain, but…

The mysterious girl knelt to look closer at the wound. There was a puncture point, and some of his skin was black about a dime's radius around the wound. "What is that?" She asked.

Asbel looked at the black mark. "I… Think it's a bruise or something." He said. "It's not like it hurts at all."

He turned to his brother, seeing that the flower had oddly shaped thorns. "Geez, I'd think you would be the one clumsy enough to run into the only harmful flower in the entire meadow…" he muttered."

"Well, I didn't…" Hubert defended himself quickly. "But that bruise doesn't look too good. You should probably get it looked at."

"What?" Asbel asked, "I'm fine!"

The amnesiac girl held her hands around his ankle while the boys were distracted, her palms emitting a shining light that both boys noticed immediately. "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Asbel asked, only to watch the girl pull her hands away. The puncture wound was gone. The black mark was not.

"Asbel, I think she just healed you." Hubert offered.

"Woah…" Asbel murmured, looking at his ankle. "I just have to wait for the bruising to go away and I'm good as new!"

"I'm surprised you only got poked by it…" Hubert muttered. "These thorns look more like actual blades. You could have had your ankle slashed open more than that."

"Guess I'm just lucky." Asbel shrugged carelessly. His brother couldn't argue with that, instead electing to pay attention to when Asbel grabbed the mysterious girl's arm and walk off towards the way back to town, so that he could follow without being left behind.

As they walked, the pinkette began to be a bit more talkative. "What were the two of you doing in the meadow, Asbel?" She asked.

Asbel smiled. "I'd heard flowers bloom there all year round, and I wanted to see 'em. I'm kind of an explorer like that." He responded proudly.

Hubert was struck by his mischievous side out of the blue. "That's what he likes telling everyone." He said, "But he only went there because dad said not to."

"What!? No!" Asbel denied, stepping over to the girl and speaking to her directly. "This has nothing to do with my father."

The mysterious girl laced her fingers. "Mm-hmm."

Asbel didn't notice the obvious disbelief in a girl who apparently had amnesia, instead electing to advance forward as if he was king of the world. He was followed by his two quiet companions as he marched onwards, heading for the main road. Considering that the Lhant Hill area was actually quite small, they emerged on the road within three minutes.

Asbel quickly pulled aside the other two to hide behind a tree as a guard looked their way. He was stationed to their right, and Lhant was to their left, and so, quiet as they could be, they started on their way down the road to Lhant until that guard was no longer in sight.

With a sigh of relief, Asbel stepped out of the trees alongside the path. Stepped out into a crowd of little yellow bird-like creatures, that is.

"Ah!" Hubert hid himself behind the sticks he used to fight as they advance forward in little hops. "Peepits!"

"They're just tiny birds, Hubert." Asbel sighed, looking at the bird that came up to his knee. He then yowled with pain as that bird struck his leg three times with its beak faster than he could react. That bird received an angry strike to the head from the sheathed sword that Asbel carried around as the boy backed off, looking at the wound on his leg.

"Imbue the light of life…" the pinkett incanted suddenly from afar, surrounded by energy. "First aid!"

The call ended with power unleashing from the girl and towards Asbel, and the boy felt a warm energy fill him before his wound promptly disappeared. He looked at it, and then down at the offending bird. "How do you like that?" He asked cockily, bringing his weapon back and bringing it down on the bird's head, causing the monster to be unconscious on the ground.

The battle started then and ended five seconds later. Mostly because the mysterious girl leaped in front of the boys, gauntlets shimmering into place on her hands. The powerful strikes and techniques she demonstrated had the boys speechless as Asbel let his sword's tip rest on the dirt. "Wow…" Hubert whispered.

The mysterious (and powerful) girl stood straight. "I think that's all of them." She said.

"Yeah…" Hubert nodded. "That's… That's all of them."

She relaxed and looked at the boys, who realized that they were standing there, slack-jawed. "We're… No longer the toughest kids in town." Asbel realized. He paused, shook his head, and continued walking, leading his companions further.

That literally lasted only five seconds before the girl spoke up once more. "There are sparkly things on the ground…" the girl noticed. Asbel looked about to see what she saw, but she must have had better eyesight than he did.

"If you search around those" he proclaimed "You sometimes find really cool stuff!"

"Why are they there?"

Asbel blinked. "Um… I dunno." He admitted.

Hubert had an idea. "I'm sure people accidentally dropped them." He explained, turning to his brother. "We should be careful not to make the same mistake. Especially you, brother. I'm tired of being blamed whenever you lose something."

"But that's… It's because you're always…"

Hubert giggled to himself as he continued on. His brother quickly moved to be in the lead again, as expected. With a mere twenty minutes past, they entered the gate to Lhant.

The peaceful and beautiful town spread around the children. A large tree laden with large apples loomed to their right and forward, a wall in the distant background spanning the other entrance to the town much like the wall they entered through. Ahead and to the left, a building with a windmill atop it was easily visible. Assorted village buildings surrounded the free space of the town of Lhant. A waterway spanned by a bridge ran to their right. The town had been built to accommodate the uneven landscape.

"So… What do we do now?" Hubert asked. His brother gave a hum and looked around, thinking about how to go about the rest of their day, when the group was interrupted by a voice.

"Hey! Asbel!"

Asbel took a look towards their side of the bridge and jerked back in a panicked, unbalanced stance. "Uh-oh!" He said shakily. "It's Cheria!"

The red haired girl in the blue and white dress put her hands on her hips. "Care to explain why you decided to leave me behind?" She asked.

Hubert took one look at her cold gaze. "Y-You're in trouble…" he whimpered. "She's really mad…"

Asbel made his decision. "Run!" He exclaimed.

"Don't you move a muscle!" Cheria exclaimed. "I'm not gonna let you run off without me again!" She continued, beginning to run forward. However, she quickly grew weak even as Asbel flinched, stopping and breathing heavily.

Asbel recognized this and rushed forward. "Hey!" He called as he ran. "Are you okay?"

As the girl huffed heavily, trying to get her breath back, Asbel reached her. "You know you shouldn't be running like that." He reprimanded her.

"You guys… Went to Lhant Hill didn't you!" She accused the trio.

Asbel, as it turns out, is an awful liar. "Uh…" he said. "Uh… Where's that?"

"Don't play dumb with me!" She exclaimed. "It's the hill where the flowers bloom all year round!" She glared at him. "You must have promised me a dozen times you'd take me with you when you went there!"

"I'm sorry." Asbel finally apologized "But look, if I brought you there, you would be too tired to walk back. And then… I'd have to carry you on my back again…"

Hubert jumped to his brother's defense. "And you always get really angry Whenever Asbel has to carry you."

Cheria stuttered. "Well that, that's just because he's so terrible at it!" The girl then broke out into a coughing fit.

"See?" Asbel asked. "What did I tell you?" He turned around and got on one knee. "Here, hop on."

The girl looked up to see him like that. "I promise I'll try to be more careful this time." He continued.

Cheria gave a heavy blush. "Th-that's all right!" She said, "I can walk on my own."

Hubert ruined the moment. "Hey, where did that girl go?" He asked, looking about. He heard Cheria behind him asking what girl he meant, but he saw the aforementioned unnamed girl standing right where she had been before. Literally having not moved a muscle.

"Why is she still back there?" Asbel asked. "Go get her, Hubert."

"Uh… Right!"

As Hubert brought the girl back to the group, Asbel asked "Hey there. So why didn't you follow us?"

She was silent for a moment, before replying: "That girl told us not to move."

Cheria, suitably confused, looked at the girl oddly. She noticed that this mysterious girl, as well as her odd, tight battle outfit or whatever it was she was wearing. "Asbel, who is this girl?" She asked the boy next to her.

"I don't know." He replied, looking back at her. "We found her on the hill and brought her back here."

"Why did you do that?"

Cheria stepped closer and began a more thorough inspection of the girl, looking at her head to toe. "Hmm…" Cheria thought to herself. "She seems a little older than me… So… Is this the kind of girl that Asbel likes?" Cheria was thinking about relationships while the oblivious boy was staring at the flower in his hand intently.

Then he looked up to see what was happening. "Come on, Cheria." He said "Don't stare at her like that. You two should try to be friends!" He then experienced a slight headache for a moment, and rubbed his head for a moment.

The others interpreted this as a gesture of exasperation, and continued on. Asbel didn't mention the headache at all. Cheria looked between Asbel and Hubert. "Hmph… I was wondering… Why are you two holding flowers?"

She approached Asbel quickly and Hubert recognized a devious little plot in their friend's mind that he decided to just stay out of for the moment. "Wow. It's just beautiful." She commented as she came up to him.

She fixed her innocent little girl face on. "How lovely… So did you bring this flower back… For me?"

Hubert realized that his brother was about to do something very silly, and stepped up to whisper in his ear. Asbel listened closely as his brother gave him much needed advice. "Just say it's for her! It'll make her feel better." Hubert told his brother, before backing off quick.

Asbel gave an unsure smile. "Uh… Yeah! Something like that!" He exclaimed awkwardly.

"Oh, Asbel!"

Part two of the plan initiated for Cheria. The devious girl began her hidden ultimatum: "Well, since you were kind enough to bring me a flower, I guess I can forgive you just this once." She said.

She then went on without the devious intent. "This is a sopheria, isn't it?" She asked "They don't normally bloom this time of year. I guess the stories about that place are true."

"Yeah," Asbel said somewhat shakily. "The hill had flowers blooming all over the place, like sopherias, and… Uh… Whatever the heck Hubert's got."

Cheria gave an 'aww' at the sight of the flower, before finally turning her attention to Hubert's flower. She gingerly took the plant from the boy and looked at it. "Its thorns are like sickle blades… How odd." She commented. "And I've never seen the colors alternating between black and white on any plant before. Why, even the stem has the colors swirling around it. The only other color is the seed, and it's just one red seed. What is it?"

"I-I'm not sure," Hubert admitted. "Asbel got hurt by it when he ran past it, so I've been careful to avoid the thorns."

Cheria started. "Oh, Asbel!" She exclaimed, turning to the boy "You're hurt!?"

She stepped forward, kneeling down slowly to view the previous wound while Asbel shifted slowly. "Aw, it's nothing." He said. "Just a little bruise."

Cheria stared. And stared. "What on earth do you mean bruised!?" She exclaimed, before launching into a coughing fit, causing Asbel to catch her before she could topple over. He grunted in surprise as he caught her.

"Cheria, what's wrong?" He asked until he saw what she was staring at. The black mark on his ankle had grown by a larger margin than before so that it now wrapped almost all the way around his ankle.

"Th-That looks really bad…" Hubert whispered, stepping back.

"I don't feel a thing, so it can't be that bad." Asbel.

"Nonsense!" Cheria exclaimed. "We're getting this to somebody quick! We've got to!"

The pinkett who stood still, watching, tilted her head. "My first aid didn't affect the dark spot." She commented, as if confused. Hubert and Cheria got similar ideas at the same time.

"Let's get you to Frederic, big brother," Hubert said, and Asbel reluctantly slumped his shoulders and followed the redhead and his brother towards a nearby house. Cheria opened the door quickly, though she was careful not to spend too much effort in case she broke down into another coughing fit, and looked inside. "Grandpa?" She called, entering and looking around a bit. "Not here…" she murmured, walking back outside.

"He's probably at the manor," Hubert said as she approached again. With the mysterious girl walking behind them, they approached the manor. An old man wearing a uniform of sorts stood at the edge of the flower garden outlining the entrance to the manor that loomed above them.

"Welcome back, Master Asbel, Master Hubert." Frederic greeted the two formally.

"Hey, Frederic!" Asbel greeted him back.

The old man turned back to Cheria. "You ran off without me again, Cheria." He told her seriously.

"I'm sorry grandpa…" she murmured.

"Please forgive her, my young masters." Frederic continued, facing the boys again. "I've instructed her that you are not to be bothered, yet she refuses my council."

Before any of the other children could speak up and say: 'Hey, Asbel's got this crazy weird injury on his ankle that's growing', Asbel cut in. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's no bother at all." He interrupted. Hubert quickly cut in as well so that Asbel couldn't sneakily excuse himself out of treatment.

"Frederic" he called "Asbel's managed to hurt himself."

"Hubert!" Asbel looked at his brother in shock. "No, uh, I'm fine. Not in pain at all." He claimed, seeing that the old man did not believe him for a single second. As if driving the point home, his headache returned momentarily, causing him to bring his hand up to his head halfway before he stopped himself, and it caused him to flinch.

"...Please, master Asbel, come inside." Frederic decided quickly, leading the children towards the door.

"Asbel, who is that?" The pinkette asked.

"This is Frederic" Asbel explained as everyone herded him along in unison. "He's a part of Cheria's family."

"...Family?"

"Y'know, moms, dads, brothers and sisters and stuff." Asbel was practically pushed up the stairs. "Hey, guys, I'll trip or something. You're overreacting." He continued, off topic. The pinkette looked confused, but she followed, intending to ask about it later.

"Mother?" Hubert knocked on his mother's door, keeping the flower where it couldn't hurt anything. "Mom, Asbel needs some help."

The door opened exactly a quarter of a second later, the woman standing in the doorway looking around until she spotted Asbel cheerfully waving at her. Obviously, she felt a degree of confusion until Cheria raised his pant leg, which covered half of the dark circle and it no longer looked like a shadow.

Needless to say, Asbel was not too comfortable in the next lengthy period of time. "Mom, I'm fine." He protested. "No pain, nothing."

"What did this?" She asked, ignoring her son's pleas to let him go because he felt no pain.

Hubert stepped forward. "This flower, mom." He presented the flower to him. "Please be careful around the thorns."

She looked at it. "I have never seen such a flower before." She murmured. "Perhaps your father has, and we can perhaps use it to create an antidote of sorts."

"May I take the initiative to inform lord Aston of this?" Frederic offered, receiving a quick nod. He left Asbel's bedroom, where they currently were residing as Asbel was forced to stay in bed. Asbel's mind moved at a million miles per hour, mostly because everything had kicked off and things were moving pretty fast.

His dad barged in, looking very unhappy, causing the boy to groan aloud. "Oh great…" he muttered, knowing he was in trouble. His dad placed the flower, which was now in a bottle except for the head to protect him from the blade-like thorns that apparently held some kind of painless poison in them.

"From fun to absolute zero in about thirty seconds." He muttered.

Hubert got out of the way as Aston loomed over the bed. "I told you." He growled "To stay away from Lhant Hill. Yet again, you have disobeyed me."

"Yeah?" Asbel spoke up, attitude filling his voice. "So what?"

"So what?" Aston repeated, pointing at the blackened skin on Asbel's leg. "If your brother had not put the time and effort into keeping that flower in pristine condition, we would have nothing to tell us what is wrong with you. Even then, no one has ever seen it before. You put yourself in grave danger, Asbel!"

"I keep telling everybody that it doesn't hurt!" Asbel exclaimed, exasperated.

"Whether it hurts or not is completely irrelevant!" His father shouted, dismissing the words. Asbel was silenced then when his mother spoke up.

"Asbel…" she said softly, agreeably. "You must let your father look into what the effects of the flower are so that we can counteract it."

"Even if it doesn't hurt, it's still worrying how it's spreading." Cheria pointed out, and Hubert nodded, looking worried himself. Asbel sighed and relented. Grumbling the whole way, he let his father inspect the flower and the dark spot that was spreading across his skin at an alarming rate.

"The thorns in this flower have no poison or any liquid within them," Aston said bitterly, having snapped the thorns off of the flower and checked every part of them, even grinding them up. "Nothing. And yet the dark spot originated from where the thorn pricked you…"

"We've been over this," Asbel muttered.

"The flower is almost unnatural, even." Hubert murmured, holding the now harmless flower in his hand.

"We've been over this," Asbel repeated irritably.

"Asbel, please! We're trying to help!" Cheria exclaimed.

At this point, Asbel was getting very uncomfortable. "You guys are surrounding my bed like I'm dying or something." He said. He ignored the urge to press his hand against his forehead, which was aching a bit again.

The others didn't exactly stop hovering. That is, until he was saved by Frederic. The old man stepped into the room. "Pardon me, Lord Aston, but you have received a letter from the capital."

Aston surprised his bedridden son by sitting in a nearby chair and holding his face in his hand, covering his eyes. "I have looked this plant up and down without finding any significant findings whatsoever. I worry that Asbel cannot be cured without a proper antidote, and I have never seen nor heard of such a thing before." He angrily said, snatching the letter away from Frederic and unfolding it quickly. He gritted his teeth.

"This is the wrong time." He growled. "Frederic, please prepare the guest room."

"Dad, what's happening?" Hubert asked.

"It appears that we are going to have a visitor from the capital," Aston said. "Kerri…"

"I will stay with him." Kerri put her hand on her husband's shoulder, before turning to sit next to Asbel on his bed. "Just tell me if you feel any pain, alright?" She asked.

Asbel couldn't say no to his mother. Waiting until his father left his room, he looked back. "I guess my head hurts a bit, but that's honestly it." He told her, looking a bit dejected.

"I'm worried about you, Asbel," Cheria told him. Her facial expression told the boy that much already, but he appreciated the gesture. Asbel laid his head back. "What am I supposed to do?" He asked.

"Just stay calm, and tell me whenever you feel something change." His mother instructed.

"Asbel?" A voice nobody remembered was around spoke up, causing everybody to shout in surprise.

"Uh… What?" Asbel asked the pinkette, who was peering down at him.

"You look upset." She noted. "Why?"

"I'm not sad. I'm just frustrated." Asbel corrected her quickly. "Everybody's worried about me but me, and I'm the one with this growing dark spot. It's not like I'm in any large amount of pain or anything, so I don't know why I can't walk around or anything…"

"Your father took one look at it and realized that by the time we got to the capital to get you to an experienced doctor, the black spot would have completely covered your body." Kerri reminded her son. Then, the blue haired woman turned to the pinkette. "I recognize that you and Asbel know each other rather well by this time, but please tell me who you are."

The girl blinked, and her blank face changed very little. "Who I am?" She asked slowly.

"We found this girl sleeping on Lhant Hill," Hubert explained, trying to keep the emotion out of his eyes. He was in admittedly deep turmoil about what happened to his brother, what was still happening, though he didn't know how to handle it. "She seems to have amnesia. She doesn't remember who she is or where she's from."

"Oh, dear…" Kerri murmured. "This day has been very stressful. Asbel is sick, A mysterious girl appears from nowhere, and a very important visitor is coming to visit…"

She closed her eyes. "And I am unsure what to do about any of them."

"Mom, I'm fine," Asbel said. "Nothing hurts at all. My headache's gone for right now." He looked down at his leg, with the pant leg pulled up. He saw the blackened yet obviously undamaged skin reaching now up past his knee, and having spread down over his uncovered foot. "It doesn't even look sick or anything. Just… The wrong color." He continued.

Hubert couldn't find much of a way to refute that. "You're right, Asbel." He said, "It doesn't look that different."

"I will not take that chance." Kerri proclaimed. "If it is dangerous, and we cannot treat it… I don't want to lose you, Asbel." She explained, looking like she was near tears.

Asbel didn't respond at all, unable to truly think about what he might say to comfort his mother. At the back of his mind, he thought of his father, and how he had seemed angry about his trip to Lhant hill even more than he was worried about Asbel's condition. Misinterpreting his father's actions, the boy felt resentment to a degree. He knew his father cared, deep down, but it irked the boy that his father had grown angry at him over going to look at flowers.


Much later, Asbel became aware that there was a commotion downstairs. "Huh?" He asked.

The dark mark on Asbel's skin had expanded to cover a sizable portion of his body, reaching up to his neck, and covering his upper body, as well as most of his other leg and arms. Still he felt little pain at all, just his mild headaches occasionally.

"I'll take a look," Hubert said, walking to the door and out while his mother stayed where she had for the past few hours.

"Where is Hubert going?" The still unnamed pinkette asked.

"I think he just heard something." Asbel shrugged, sitting up. "Y'know, we can't just call you 'that girl' all the time." He continued.

"Asbel…" his mother murmured, unsure of how to react to how her boy was distracting himself from his own odd illness.

"Why not?" The girl asked confusedly. "Is having a name important?"

"Well…" Asbel trailed off for a moment. "Yeah. It's like… I dunno."

"It is the heart of your identity." Kerri offered.

"Right," Asbel smiled. "Thanks, mom. Uh…" he looked the girl up and down, noticing the flower held in her hand. The major color she bore being the same as the sopheria gingerly held in her right hand. An idea struck him at that moment. "How about we call you Sophie?" He offered.

The girl tilted her head. "Sophie?" She asked.

"Yeah!" Asbel gave her a smile as his mother looked on neutrally. "Sophie. Now we can call you by name."

"As long as you understand that when she remembers her proper name, you begin to use it." His mother said to him. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as his mother cast a stern look at him.

"Sophie…" Sophie murmured. "It sounds nice…"

"Great!" Asbel exclaimed as Hubert came back in.

"Dad just ran out the door with a bunch of guards," Hubert said. Frederic stepped in after the blue haired boy.

"Perhaps I can dispel any confusion." The man said. "Lord Aston has become worried, as the transport carrying our guest is long overdue. He fears that they may have met with tragedy on the road, and has gone to ensure their safety."

Asbel straightened. "Hey, maybe we can help." He said, causing all others present aside from Sophie to look taken aback.

"Absolutely not, Asbel." His mother spoke sternly. "You are sick, and it could be very dangerous."

"But what if they need help?" Asbel asked. "I still feel fine. My skin's just mostly black. So far, that's it. I'd be fine!"

"Asbel, you shouldn't be running around like that…" Hubert and Cheria tried to reason with him at the same time.

"And why not?" He asked even as Sophie took the initiative to gently push him back onto his back on the bed. "It's not like that dark spot thing grew any faster when I was moving around."

"Any moment, you might feel something else happen." Hubert murmured, hesitating. "I mean…"

Asbel grunted in annoyance. "We can't just let dad go and fight without us! We can handle ourselves in battle. Sophie and I can fight!"

Hubert blinked. "Sophie?" He asked.

"I can help." Sophie agreed.

"Absolutely not." Kerri asserted. "I will not put you at risk. Either of you. Sophie, you poor girl, you probably have a family somewhere, a life. We can work towards finding your place in the world and healing your memory. I will not send you into a battle you have no place in."

Asbel, having developed protective feelings for the girl, as he did for everyone, could see the logic in his mother preventing Sophie from going, and he realized that nobody was about to let him leave this room. He knew that his father could handle the monsters around the town on his own with his exceptional swordsmanship skills.

So he laid down and rest for several hours until Frederic announced that Asbel's father had returned with the convoy, safe. Asbel and everyone else managed to lose the tension in their shoulders upon knowing that the exhausting mental journey of sorts was over.

Aston walked into the room to discover that the black mark had spread up the right side of Asbel's face, curving around his cheek to the side of his eye, and the mark had begun to reach his wrists. He gritted his teeth at the sight, and turned to everyone. "Prince Richard is our guest, and we cannot be seen to show him the slightest disrespect." He told everyone sternly. "Asbel, Hubert, Cheria… And you, odd girl, are not to go anywhere near him. Do you understand?"

"He's staying in our house and I don't even get to meet him?" Asbel asked.

"Do you understand?"

Asbel sighed. "Yes, father." He grumbled. "I bet this is about the growing black mark thing."

"It is starting to look kind of frightening…" Cheria whispered. Hubert nodded in agreement.

Aston sighed. He walked over and sat at his son's bedside. He did not move from that position for quite a long time, which weirded Asbel out a bit. Eventually, he had to break the awkward silence. "I guess all you needed to keep me down was a little illness, huh?" He half quipped, half seriously spoke.

Aston felt an imaginary stab to the chest, and he looked away. He reminded himself mentally that his household regulations were in his sons' best interest. And he reminded himself that his wife often told him that when Asbel grew up, he would understand better. Children are prone to resent restrictions, she would tell him. "Eventually, every boy will calm down and see sense." He recalled her saying.

If his son got to grow up in the first place. He might be looking at his own sudden demise in this sickness, and the flower had provided absolutely nothing that might help him learn how to counteract whatever poison the boy had in him.

Aston got up and picked the thornless flower out of its container, staring it down. Its red seed was gone, but that was of little consequence. The flower caused this illness, so it could not possibly lead to a cure, and experimenting could make it worse. Aston was lost in his thoughts, unsure of what to do with this flower. "This is all too soon." He thought bitterly.

"D-Dad?" Hubert asked. Aston felt another stab at his younger son's voice. He would have to contact Oswell, and call off their meeting for another time, or perhaps never hold that meeting. Guilt raced through him at the sound, but he answered anyways.

"Yes, Hubert?" He asked, putting the flower back.

"Is Asbel going to be okay?" He asked, now very worried.

Aston sighed. "I don't know." He answered honestly. I bought it up with the guards from Barona. None of them had even heard of such an affliction. Two of those men had rather impressive medical training individually, to my surprise. No information on this flower or the black mark spreading across Asbel's skin."

"Oh…" Hubert whispered, clutching his hands together in front of him and shivering slightly. Cheria, hearing this, followed Kerri's example and took Asbel's free hand.

"Geez, you guys are acting like I'm going to die any second," Asbel muttered. "Seriously, I'm fine. I've been fine this whole time. And that headache's not even shown up in the last thirty minutes or so."

"Die?" Sophie asked, tilting her head.

Aston turned to the girl, and Hubert quickly intervened. "This girl has amnesia, dad." He said, finally introducing her. "We've nicknamed her Sophie until she gets her memory back."

"...I see." Aston replied shortly, understanding the girl's failure to understand the word 'die'.

"I'm not going to die, Sophie," Asbel assured her, although with everybody hovering over him, he was starting to experience some doubts of his own.

"What does it mean?"

Asbel looked her in the eye, trying to decide how to say it gently. "When someone dies… You won't be able to talk to them anymore." He decided to say. "Nobody can. Everything but their body disappears."

"Well said, Asbel." Aston complimented the boy in his mind. His son must have gained some perspective right in these moments. Perhaps in the face of this, if he survived, Asbel would be more responsible, more understanding of danger and when to avoid it.

Sophie clutched at her chest. "I… I don't know why, but my chest feels heavier…" she said, "Why does my chest feel heavier?"

"I think you're feeling sad." Hubert tried to explain.

"...Sad?"

"Still alive over here…" Asbel muttered.

"Sadness is difficult to explain." Asbel's mother murmured. "It is… A form of emotion that is your heart reaching out, grasping at something it cannot have that it desperately needs. If you feel sad about the death of someone, then you clearly care about them as they live."

Sophie went silent, holding her chest with her hand. "Can I feel sad if I still have what I need?" She asked.

"Fear can lead to sadness before the thing, or person, is lost," Kerri said after a moment. "The fear of losing someone… It is preemptive sadness."

"I don't like this feeling…" Sophie murmured, looking at the flower in the jar. She walked over, and after a moment, slipped the sopheria she held into the jar next to it.

"Oh, please not the bouquet…" Asbel said, Groaning "Can you at least wait until something happens to make a bouquet?"

Cheria closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Asbel. We're just so worried." She explained. "Afraid."

"Well, I would like it if you guys pretended I was still alive until I'm not, okay?" Asbel asked, exasperated. Everyone realized how they were acting soon enough and nodded in agreement.

"...What's a bouquet?" Sophie asked.

An hour later (it took a surprisingly long time to explain to Sophie what exactly made a bouquet a bouquet), there was a quiet knock on the door.

"Prince Richard requests entry." The guard outside surprised Aston and everyone else.

"Of course," Aston replied immediately, followed by the door opening. A young boy with blond hair entered the room, looking around.

"I was informed that your son was sick," Richard explained. "I felt it was necessary to offer my condolences…." He trailed off, having seen Asbel sitting on his bed, the black mark covering half of his face. "...I see."

"Oh, come on," Asbel complained, gesturing at the prince. "Even he thinks I'm dying."

"Asbel." Aston quickly intervened, before settling. "We greatly appreciate you putting such time into visiting Asbel as well as Lhant in general. I cannot apologize enough for the seemingly unwelcome introduction to our home. I hope to show that neither I nor any other mean you the slightest disrespect."

"I understand," Richard replied slowly, nodding. He was unnerved by Asbel's half dark-skinned face, as it severely contrasted in color. "And I apologize for intruding, and as it seems, for irritating your son by acting as though he was in grave danger."

"He's just getting that message a lot today." Hubert pointed out from one of the books he had out, researching poisonous flowers in the hopes of finding a cure of sorts. He read though the pages faster than Asbel had ever seen him.

As he traced his finger down each page, he looked more and more subdued.

"I see." Richard nodded in understanding. "At any rate, it was a pleasure to meet you." He continued, although it sounded more forced, more like an obligatory goodbye. "After my training with Bryce, I believe the plan my knights developed is to stay the night."

"We have prepared our guest room for you." Aston bowed to the prince. "I hope you find it to your liking. Forgive me if I do not leave this room often."

"I understand perfectly. Thank you for allowing me into your home." Richard replied, turning away and walking out of the room.

Aston turned to his son, surprised that the boy did not cause more of a scene than he did. He then saw his son frowning in the direction of the now closed door, rubbing at the area around his ear. "Asbel?" He asked, growing worried.

Asbel stared off into space for a moment until he registered the words. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Dad. Just got a weird feeling when he was talking. When he said 'Bryce', actually."

"What kind of feeling?" Aston asked, nearing his son.

"I… I dunno. I just feel… I think somebody should keep an eye on whoever Bryce is." Asbel said slowly, almost distantly, rubbing the right side of his head. Then, he snapped to attention. "Sorry." He muttered. "I'm fine again."

"If you are certain," Aston replied. He was confused. His son had sudden suspicions about somebody he had never met… That was uncertain, for a start, but the way he had rubbed his head implied that he actually had felt something more physical at the word 'Bryce'. "If you feel strange again, let us know immediately." He ordered, moving away for the time being.

Hubert set down the book slowly. It was closed, the back cover lying up. "Nothing." He said softly. "Not a single flower in that book matched this one, and not a single one showed even remotely similar symptoms."

His mother put her hand over her mouth at the words. She looked at the other books Hubert had gone through, and had found nothing in. Had such an illness been discovered before, or even a flower of that sort, it would have been documented somewhere, but these book copies seemed to hold nothing. It was barely believable at all.

The dark coloring spread further across the boy's face, leaving his fingers and about a third of his face untouched. Kerri looked closely at her boy's eyes, seeing that his right eye had bright red flecks amid the blue, which she had never seen. It was not blood, definitely not, but his eye color was changing as well.

Then something else became apparent to her. Asbel's hair where the dark mark had reached it was beginning to change from its brown color to white.

"Hang on, my hair's going white?" Asbel asked incredulously as his mother mentioned it "Crap! I liked having brown hair!"

"How is that your reaction?" Cheria asked incredulously.

"You still underestimate the severity of this situation," Aston told his son.

"Asbel says he is not in pain," Sophie interjected. "And he doesn't look like he's in pain."

"Thank you, Sophie!" Asbel exclaimed theatrically. Hubert and Cheria found themselves giggling at his tone and at the way he waved his arms.

Sophie gained a smile and she laced her fingers near her chin. "You're welcome, Asbel" she looked between the two of them, and Asbel's mother recognized the look on the young girl's face.

"Cheria-" she started, feeling that this was not the time for this. However, Asbel interrupted.

"I can't get my mind off this Bryce…" he muttered, rubbing the right side of his head again. "Who is he, actually?"

"He is one of the ones assigned to protect prince Richard," Aston replied. "He is not of our concern."

"Then why do I have this feeling?" Asbel asked, uncertain.

"He would not be allowed near the prince unless he was heavily trusted by the king himself," Aston told his son, who hesitated before nodding to his father quietly. He took his hand away from his head and lay back on the bed again.

"I'm bored…" he muttered ten minutes later. "Think I could walk around a bit? Anywhere?"

"Not to Lhant hill." Hubert joked. Asbel laughed in response, grateful for his brother's attempt to help his mood.

Cheria giggled. "I'm sure he'd find trouble padlocked into a room with a feather and a pebble." She added.

Asbel faked indignance. "Hey!"

"Or in a meadow." Sophie jumped in.

"Huh!?" All the kids in the room said, looking at Sophie in surprise. Nobody had expected an attempt at a joke. Sophie looked at them blankly, almost causing the lot of them to think they had been hearing things.

And after that, there was basically nothing else to do. Asbel was allowed to at least stand up and walk around for a while, and like he thought, the dark spot did not grow any faster than before. His other eye gained red flecks of color within his blue eyes, but he never lost the mostly blue color.

Aside from that. His brown hair turned white, and his skin was jet black. Everyone kept staring at him as if waiting for something else to happen, something worse. But he kept claiming that he was fine. Even his headaches were gone.

"I'm going to do… Something." Asbel decided, and nobody tried to stop him from exiting the room. They did, however, follow him at their own intervals. "I dunno."

"You can't really go outside like that." Hubert pointed out.

"I know," Asbel muttered. "That flower is the ultimate fun killer. Who knows, maybe it'll wear off later or something."

The boy walked over and looked at the family portrait at the staircase. "Heheheh…" he chuckled sheepishly. "That's weird to think about."

"Your colors just flipped. That's all, right?" Cheria asked.

"I guess so." Asbel shrugged, and walked further down the stairs to the lower floor. He looked left to the door where he knew Richard might be, and then right to his father's likely empty office. He decided to walk to the window to look out of it, seeing the garden and fountains that adorned the front to his house.

There, he saw Richard, breathing heavily with his wooden weapon in hand, as a man stood opposite him, seeming to be just fine. His eyes narrowed at the sight.

Aston stepped up to Asbel's side. "Asbel?" He asked.

"Richard doesn't look like he feels good," Asbel said slowly. "And I don't think he's just in pain."

"Are you one to talk?" Aston asked irritably. "Richard must practice with a blade to protect himself."

Cheria came up next to him. "Asbel's right." She announced. "Richard's sweating a lot, and breathing hard."

"Like Cheria does when she moves around a lot." Hubert put in.

"Yeah." Cheria was glad Hubert was playing along. "It's worrying me, too."

Kerri was compelled to look out the window alongside Frederic, who had heard the children's' analysis. "Oh dear… He does look exhausted." She said.

Asbel rushed over to one of Richard's guards, who was doing… Something. "Hey, mister!" He called, causing the man to turn around and nearly jump out of his skin at the sight of the oddly colored boy. "Does Richard usually get super tired during training sessions?"

After the man recovered, his hand on his chest, he registered Asbel's question and turned to the window. "...No," he replied smoothly. "He appears more exhausted than usual. Bryce must be working the boy very hard."

He turned to Asbel. "The other knights will stop him if they believe Richard is no longer in a condition to train without risk to himself, I promise you." He gave a slight smile underneath his mask, before going back to what he seemed to be doing.

Asbel was almost pacified. Almost. But he didn't say anything yet. He had a brilliant (probably stupid), sudden (it had been building for almost twelve minutes), reasonable (in no way reasonable) idea, but with everybody watching him like hawks (for good reason), he could not implement the idea.

So the first thing to do was get everybody's eyes off of him.

Asbel smirked to himself and started talking to Sophie. "Hey, Sophie." He started, bringing her attention to him. "What do you think of the house?"

"He really is bored," Hubert whispered.

Sophie looked around at the walls. "What I think?" She asked. Asbel then started asking questions using words she did not recognize and spent ages trying to explain things to her. This caused the rest of the group to start to really, truly want to go do something they probably should be doing instead of staring at Asbel to make certain he didn't keel over.

Aston eventually thought of the many papers he had to work with, looked at the door to his study, and sighed. "Sophie." He distracted the girl, who seemed to be learning a lot at least. "If Asbel seems to be in pain, alert me immediately."

"Okay," she said, and Aston went into his study. Kerri nodded to Asbel and Sophie and left to stay with Aston and perhaps help him with his work. Asbel waited until Frederic walked into the study himself before he leapt into action.

"Alright!" He exclaimed in a whisper-yell. The others looked at him, startled, but he made his way for the front door. "And we're off."

"Asbel, Dad's not gonna be happy with you." Hubert protested.

"Let him be mad" Asbel replied quickly. He turned the knob. "Richard's out there, and he's not feeling good. I'm not just gonna sit around and let him be made to work a bunch. It'd be like making Cheria carry a bunch of stuff around!"

The other children, Sophie included, followed the boy as he made his way to the center of the ring of flower beds and fountains to where Bryce and Richard were sparring. Something about walking towards Bryce really put Asbel off.

"Hey." He greeted the two, causing Bryce to jump in surprise at the sight of the boy, looking him up and down.

As Bryce attempted to collect himself much like the last guard, Asbel turned to Richard. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" He asked. Richard was breathing heavily, and he coughed once.

That was all Asbel needed. "Hey, if Richard's not feeling good, he shouldn't be forced to train!" He exclaimed in Bryce's direction.

Richard stepped back, surprised. Bryce glared at the boy. "This training is of the utmost importance!" He exclaimed in return, attempting for a stern tone. Asbel crossed his arms in defiance.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he gets sick after you've pushed him around that much," Asbel said.

"Whoa…" Hubert said loudly enough for Asbel to hear. "It's almost like Asbel's being responsible or something."

"I heard that, Hubert," Asbel muttered, slumping a bit, but then he stood tall and faced Bryce. "I am in good condition. I will take Richard's place in his training!" Everyone in the room made various noises of surprise, shock, and-slash-or worry.

"You?" Richard asked, staring at the white-haired boy.

Bryce managed a smirk. "All right then." He decided "Though I fear you will end up regretting those words before long." He had no weapon on him.

"Where is your sword?" Asbel asked, having procured a wooden blade meant for sparring from no discernable place.

"I have no need to arm myself against a mere child," Bryce responded cockily.

"I can't fight an unarmed man." Asbel asserted. "It would be shameful for a knight to do so."

Bryce put his arms behind his back. "It seems our little swordsman is afraid of losing." He decided. "In that case, I must insist that Richard take this lesson after all." Asbel's eyes hardened and he held his blade at the ready. Many things about this man screamed 'danger' to Asbel. He wasn't about to let Richard keep on brawling with him. "Very well." Bryce amended "Prepare yourself!"

Bryce darted forward, and Asbel's senses kicked into high gear. Bryce was coming in low, and he knew the strike would send him flying out and onto his back. The boy tried to react to this premonition of pain, but only managed to reduce the impact of the blow, merely staggering rather than being thrown. "Oh, is the little knight done already?" Bryce asked.

"Raaaaargh!" Asbel shouted, racing forward and attempting two strikes on the man, who swiftly stepped out of the way of the attacks.

"Too slow! Are you even trying, boy?"

Asbel's eyes narrowed. "Damn it!" He exclaimed, bolting forward again and delivering a slash, grazing the man's shoulder before he could think to avoid it. Bryce jumped back, alarmed.

"What!?" He exclaimed. He quickly calmed and stood tall. "So. The little knight has some skill after all." He said. "But this ends now!" Bryce brought his hand around, and a device was on it that Asbel was certain had not been there before. The man swung it forward, and the claw extended from the hand grip. Three menacing metal claws hung in the air before Asbel.

Asbel could only think: "I knew it. He is dangerous."

"Stop this at once!" A man shouted from the doorway. Both turned to see a knight standing there, upset with what he found happening right outside the manor.

Asbel rose and wiped his brow, playing it cool. "Wow." he said, "Real knights are strong!" He strode forward, addressing Bryce directly. "Thank you for the lesson." He told the man "Also, please forgive my earlier insolence. I hope you will let me spar with you again."

Hubert and Cheria stared. "Asbel actually sounds grown up," Hubert noted.

As Asbel turned towards them, hearing the words and feeling a surge of pride, he saw Cheria with her hands covering her mouth. "That fight must have scrambled his brains." She said.

Asbel blushed and shook his head. "Hey, knock it off!" He scolded the other children. "True knights are polite and honorable. If a fellow knight agrees to train you, they deserve your thanks. Even I know that."

The knight at the door walked up between Bryce and Asbel. "So you want to become a knight?" He asked.

"Yes, sir!" Asbel replied enthusiastically. "More than anything!"

The man looked him in the eye, undisturbed by the red flecks within the boy's blue eyes. "You have some talent with a sword." He told the boy "Once you get older, I wager the knights would be proud to have you."

"R-Really!?"

The knight turned to Bryce with a disapproving glare. "You should be ashamed, Bryce." He growled. "There is no honor in provoking a child."

Bryce turned fully to the man and gave a formal bow. "I apologize, sir." He replied.

"I will take over Master Richard's training from this point forward. You may join the other guards inside." He continued.

Asbel started. "Hey-..." he started, but the knight turned to him.

"Don't worry." He assured Asbel with a smile. "I will not have Master Richard do anything beyond what he should be doing considering his condition."

Asbel nodded. "Thank you, sir." He said, turning to Richard. He gave the prince a childish smile and a wave before the knight turned and said something to Richard before he left along with Bryce. Asbel mentally patted himself on the back until a chill ran through him. He fixed his gaze on Bryce. Why did the man continue to seem dangerous to him?

Hubert ran up to Asbel. "He said you have talent!" He cheered, smiling happily. "Imagine, my big brother, joining the knights!"

"Come on, Hubert, knock it off," Asbel said, closing his eyes for a moment.

"That was amazing, Asbel!" Cheria called to the boy, who smiled as he stood there in thought. He opened his eyes and approached Richard.

Asbel smiled a little bigger. "I'm just glad that Richard won't be forced to practice when he's not feeling good." He explained.

"Amazing…" Richard murmured, almost to himself.

"Well, since the lesson's over and we're already outside, why don't I show you something co-" Asbel started to offer.

"Asbel Lhant!"

Asbel froze, and turned, finding the knight from before with a mildly apologetic look on his face, and Aston himself looming over the boy angrily. "Aw…" he started.


Bang!

"...Crap." Asbel muttered a second time, looking at his closed and locked door to his room with his parents standing in front of it. "Triple security…"

"Do you understand what you have done?" Aston growled.

"Helped a friend?" Asbel asked cheekily "Told a knight off for overworking a kid who didn't feel good?"

"You walked out in broad daylight and entered a battle when you yourself were sick!" Asbel's father exclaimed.

Kerri, ever the voice of calm, spoke up. "We understand that you were trying to help your friend." She tried to pacify the boy "But had you been more urgent, you could have convinced another who is not at risk to do quite the same thing."

"Well…" Asbel muttered, watching his father look between Kerri and their son "I didn't think of that, but still! It didn't seem to me that anybody was going to wind up helping. And I don't like making a fuss. I just do stuff and it works out."

Aston rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "This was incredibly irresponsible." He told the boy "Despite the good things that came out of it, I will not allow you to put yourself at risk for the sake of it!"

"And why not?" Asbel asked, "If you're so sure I'm gonna die anyways!"

"You are not going to die." His mother refuted. "I feared that at first, but you have not changed further, and your headaches stopped… I feel that there is no longer a danger. Even so… Asbel… " she trailed off.

"You will obey me." Aston asserted.

"Yeah, yeah." Asbel muttered "Just get off my case, Dad. I helped Richard."

Aston growled and swept straight out of the room. Kerri smiled down at her son. "Please, Asbel, don't be so hard on your father." She pleaded softly. "He only wants what is best for you."

"What a way to show it…" Asbel muttered.

"I agree that he can seem overbearing now." His mother agreed "But I promise you, when you are older, you will understand exactly how your father feels. His protectiveness is the root of his actions, not his anger. Promise me, Asbel, that you will try to see it that way."

Asbel looked his mother in the eye, having listened, wanting to show her that he meant what he said. "Okay, mom. I promise."

"Now get some sleep early, Asbel. In the morning, we will see how you are feeling and if any danger has passed. I may wake you during the night if I fear anything is going wrong." Asbel's mother promised. "I will stay here with you and Hubert tonight."

"Okay, mom."

Hubert was allowed into the room. The blue haired boy explained to Asbel that Cheria had been bought home by Frederic by this time, and so the Lhant family and Richard and his guards were the ones in the house.

Seeing the sun starting to near the land in his vision, Asbel relented and went to sleep. His mother, in a very comfortable couch, nodded off near his bed. Hubert, for his part, quietly put all of the large books he got out about flowers and stowed them all away in their proper places, including the ones that he had to take to his father's study. As he handed those books back to his father, he informed Aston that the three of them were intending to sleep.

Aston was not surprised to hear the kind and gentle boy ask whether he would be getting sleep as well. "I cannot as of yet," Aston told Hubert. "I have many things to prepare for tomorrow that I failed to prepare today. Despite the… Insanity of today's events, my deadlines have not and likely will not change."

"Okay, dad." Hubert nodded apologetically. "It's hard to imagine my brother with the patience to do that kind of thing in the first place."

"He will have to come around someday," Aston replied.

"Yeah…" Hubert trailed off. "...well, good night, dad."

"...Good night, son."

Aston watched the boy leave, his gaze softening. He slowly stepped over to his desk, laden with paperwork. The first thing on the table was a piece of paper with little writing on it. 'Dear Mr. Oswell' was written there.

Staring at the page, and then at the door, Aston's soft gaze returned to frustration, and he gritted his teeth. He forced himself to sit down and pick up his writing utensil


Lady Kerri opened her eyes slowly, a sound reaching her ears. Tense, she sat up in her chair as quietly as she could. The woman saw her boy shifting on his bed.

Horror reached her eyes when she heard a soft moan. The woman shot out of her seat to approach the boy. In light candlelight, she saw something terrifying.

Fur had begun spreading rapidly over her son's body, having already covered most of him. Lady Kerri gripped her son in panic, seeing the boy squirm in the candlelight with a strained expression on his face.

"Asbel!" She shrieked, instantly waking Hubert the next bed over. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and giving a soft moan.

"Mom, what's wrong?" He asked sleepily. Asbel was not waking up, to Kerri's horror.

What frightened the two of them even further was that Asbel seemed to be shrinking. With actual fur and his hair length changed to match that fur, the boy developed several physical changes. They could only watch, helpless, as Asbel's face stretched into a muzzle about as long as a cat's. Hubert recalled the sickle-shaped thorns of the flower as a sickle-shaped blade began to grow into place on the right side of Asbel's head.

He shrunk further, and his hands began morphing into actual paws, developing sharp claws in the process.

"Asbel!" Kerri tried to wake her son, shouting as loudly as she could. The shriek of fear resonated through the manor as both Hubert and his mother watched Asbel's transformation complete itself, his legs snapping backwards, his arms shifting fully into forelegs, and with a final motion, Asbel shrunk to be no more than the size of a slightly grown up puppy, larger than the average cat, but not by much.

Asbel's expression turned to one of calm, remaining asleep even as his mother called his name.

And he remained asleep until Sophie, who had seemingly fallen asleep somewhere outside the room, literally bashed the door down to get in as Aston followed her.

Asbel slowly gathered his consciousness. A warm light filled his vision, making him feel safe. Calm and collected for the moment, not even grumpy from being woken up. He opened his eyes to see many faces staring back at him as Sophie's hands glowed, filling him with warmth.

"Hey, Sophie." He said. "Hey, Hubert. Mom, dad. What's up"

"Asbel, why are you smaller?" Sophie asked, recognizing the boy's voice. He blinked his mostly blue eyes at her and looked down.

Everybody waited with bated breath, until…

"Aaaaaaaaack!"


"Yep. That's pretty much what I expected." Hubert admitted. "His reaction, I mean."

It had been ten minutes of sheer panic. The royal guards had barged in and learned what happened. Seeing a boy turned into an odd creature was very disconcerting.

Aston stared at his son, who had pretty much collapsed onto his bed, staring at his paws. Literally everything about their lives had changed. Aston could see that now.

Asbel had become a creature that resembled both a dog and a cat in different ways, with a solid piece on his forehead, perhaps the cause of the headaches, and a blade-like horn from the side of his face that Asbel had rubbed whenever he started talking about the feeling he got looking at Bryce.

"W-what am I?" Asbel finally asked. But… Nobody could answer him. Nobody.

"...What am I?" He asked again, almost desperately. His mother, relieved that he was still alive, wrapped Asbel in a tight hug, afraid that if she let go, he might just disappear.


Well, that seemed stressful. Yes, I did indeed just make a transformation last almost the entire chapter. You're welcome?

But yes, I realized as I wrote that this event would shift the entire story, essentially. As things go on, the story will deviate quite a bit.

I do not know how often this will update, but I do intend to continue it over time. I wanted to start with the first chapter so that I might actually remember it exists and to continue doing it. The updates will be fewer and further in between.

That all being said, please tell me your first impressions of the story. I am excited to continue this one, just like the rest of the stories I have on my profile. Thank you, all of you, for reading. Have a nice day!