"Hey Jude, Arst's at the inn again. He asked if you wanted to join him for a drink."

Jude frowned when he heard that name. Almost automatically, his hands reached out to close his books and his fingers deposited the pencil on the desk as he raised his head to look at Leia, who was innocently standing in front of his family's clinic counter. Arst, the playboy rich son from a distant family. A tall, leanly muscled and bronzed man, with wild black hair and fiery crimson eyes, like scorching rubies and rose gold melted together. Despite being rather new to this town when he first appeared two months ago, Jude was surprised to learn that Arst frequented Leronde's only inn even though he claimed that he was traveling for 'something', some indistinct and vague reason. Whatever it was, the young boy knew better than to be nosy and prod the man for answers.

They were simply, after all, acquaintances of one another.

"He knows that I don't drink; I'm underage for that sort of thing," Jude huffed softly under his breath, shaking his head in disbelief at Arst's playful invitation. Giving his childhood best friend a small smile, he stood up and leaned over the wooden counter to check whether there were still any other patients who would like to consult his father, Dr. Derrick. Thankfully though, no one else was waiting in line for their turn, and Jude's hands automatically moved to collect his books and stationeries to put them aside.

"I'll cover for you, Jude!" Leia's happy chirping echoed in the silence of the clinic as she watched him pack away. "My shift's going to start in an hour anyway –and you haven't had your lunch yet too!"

Slightly chuckling, Jude's eyes softened at Leia's offer and he murmured a small, abashed, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," she proudly replied, sticking out her chest in what seemed to be a heroic pose as the boy squeezed out from the gap between the counter and the wall, watching her with a fond look. "You've been studying waaaaay too hard for Talim. I know you just submitted the forms and all, but…" the auburn-haired girl shrugged slightly, studying his face with a vaguely firm expression on her face, "You need to catch a break, you know? I'm starting to see dark circles under your eyes."

Almost self-consciously, Jude glanced sideways to catch a glimpse of his face on the nearby reflective surface of hanging lamp. Albeit distorted, he could somewhat see what Leia was talking about; gaunt, pale skin, unkempt bedhead, dull golden eyes and the beginnings of bruise-like inky black blotches marring the skin underneath them. While it was true that Jude never had time to fuss about his appearance, save for any important events that his mother or Leia would force him to join, the sight of those eyebags made him chew on his lower lip in contemplation. Seeing his current state, it seemed as though he was going to become one of those 'zombies' that Leia showed to him inside one of her comic books before.

… perhaps a break what he needed the most at the moment.

As if reading his thoughts, the nurse grinned and patted his shoulder triumphantly. "Go on Jude, you haven't seen Arst in ages! I think he'd like your company too!"

At her encouragement, Jude ruefully scratched his cheek and placed his hand on the door, sliding it open and letting the bright sunlight tumble into the dimly lit foyer of the clinic. She was so understanding as his friend, willing to help him out every now and then, and he felt guilty for skipping out for an hour and letting her cover for him. But knowing better than to turn down her offer and making her even angrier like Master Sonia, Jude gratefully accepted what life gave him. "Thanks Leia!" he called out over his shoulder as he took a few steps outside, feeling the warmth of the afternoon sun seeping into his skin for the first time in what seemed to be ages; "I owe you one!"

Her only reply was a dazzling laughter and a frantic wave of her hand as she possibly shouted at him to take care, but by then, Jude was already jogging uphill and he was too far to make out what she was saying exactly. All he knew was that he was going to rendezvous with his friend, Arst, and let down his hair a little for the day with some juice and good noodles from the food vendor in the inn.

But fifteen-year-old Jude Mathis had no idea that a single letter would turn his life upside down.

Meta:Mor:Phose

Prologue: Jude and the Letter

The easiest way to recognize Arst? Simple: Look for the nearest black object with a twinge of red. The last time Jude had seen Arst, the man wore a black trenchcoat and was all suited up, looking rather formal and dangerous. Perhaps it was due to his upbringing as a rich man from a rich family; the aura he exuded was dangerous, but his personality was strangely amiable in a way. However, underneath all of the layers of composure and elegance was just the simple 'playboy Arst', the traveller with a tendency to drop by Leronde inn whenever he got the chance. It didn't surprise Jude to see him clad in the same attire again; perhaps Arst had a whole wardrobe full of the same clothes, just for different days.

Opting to settle down on the chair nearest to the man, Jude's eyes flickered over to the glass of drink that he was having before smiling wryly. "You still haven't changed, Arst."

A slight derisive sound, almost sounding like a harrumph, came from his companion. "Change isn't necessarily a good thing," his deep baritone echoed in the empty inn, seemingly amused at Jude's words. It definitely confirmed Jude's theory that Arst definitely had a closet full of the same clothes every day though. Readjusting his position on the stool, red eyes met golden ones and Arst's thin lips curled into a slight smirk. "It's good to see you again, Jude. I trust life has treated you well?"

"As well as it can be," was Jude's vague reply, unable to help himself from smiling at seeing his friend again. The food vendor at the counter handed him a mug of warm chocolate, always free of charge as a service to Jude who always took care of Leia, and he gratefully accepted it with a nod. "How about you, Arst? Found anything new on your journey?"

"As new as spirit artes could be," the older man uttered softly, taking a sip of his golden brown beverage. "How are your parents then?"

"Same old, same old," Jude shrugged, although his bright eyes seemed to dim slightly at the question.

It didn't escape Arst's watchful gaze though. The moment Jude's lips eased out of its customary smile and seemed to lose its brilliance, the man set down his drinking glass with a dull thud and leaned his chin against his hand, giving Jude a piercing look. He didn't say a word. Jude knew him well enough though: It was not in Arst's nature to snoop through others' problems, though he never seemed to have a problem with listening to anyone's trouble with an open mind. Arst never did anything else other than to watch Jude carefully, but the pressure was already tremendous enough until the younger male finally heaved a sigh, compelled to talk to him in one way or another.

"Remember how I told you that I'm studying hard to get into Talim Medical School at Fenmont?" Jude said, to which Arst gave a slight indication of his head so that Jude would continue talking. "Well… my dad's completely against it."

Arst's eyebrows rose, supposedly surprised at the news, but his calm demeanour betrayed his emotions. "Really now."

"Yeah, really," Jude sighed again, slouching over the counter as he rested his cheek against the aged wooden furniture. "My mom's supportive and she's been trying to talk to him about letting me become a doctor but he's just dead set against it. I just… really don't know why."

"Have your grades declined?" the red-eyed man suggested quietly, taking another light sip of his drink.

That made Jude scratch his cheek in wonder. Did his grades dwindle down in school? He didn't recall seeing anything else on his results slip other than receiving above 90 marks in each test, causing him to get teased a lot in class. "I don't think so, unless scoring an average of ninety something in exams is a bad thing."

At that point, Arst made a noncommittal sound that was neither an agreement nor disagreement, and left it at that.

"I don't really think it's about the grades," Jude continued softly, letting his sight lazily trail from the older man's strong jawline to the deepening claret undertones settling in his beastlike eyes. "Leia made a theory about how he doesn't want me to follow his footsteps because being a doctor is some serious hard work, but it's nothing that I haven't handled before. Helping out at the clinic isn't as fun as it used to be, ever since dad made me do only the deskwork and nothing more."

"Oh?"

That seemed to have caught Arst's interest for some strange reasons. Jude raised his head slightly, piqued by the faint change of the other's tone, and took it as a sign that Arst wanted him to elaborate further on that matter. "Yeah, he caught me trying to heal some of his patients before. Kids, you know how they get into fights," Jude rolled his eyes, memories of that day flooding into his mind; "One of them had some cuts and bruises, nothing serious, so I thought I'd just heal and send him on his way. That… didn't go too well."

"Derrick gave you a sound scolding then?" Arst aptly guessed, raising an eyebrow. It sounded as if he wanted to make it sound lighter than it seemed, but somehow, the atmosphere seemed to thicken all of a sudden. And Jude didn't know why.

"Not just a scolding, it was more like a lecture. Even mom had to break it off by making an early dinner for us," Jude weakly grinned. He sat up again, quenching his thirst with the hot chocolate that became nothing more than a tepid chocolate drink, and rubbed the back of his neck half-heartedly. "I guess… it's just that my dad didn't really give me a straight answer in the end. He didn't tell me why I can't be a doctor; I just simply can't, even though I have the skills."

"So you think by getting into Talim, you'll be proving him wrong?"

Jude astutely nodded at the man's precise conclusion. "That's what I'm hoping for, at least."

There was no reply from Arst's end, and the silence was only filled with the meagre sounds of spatula clanging against a wok as the chef made some food for other lodgers to enjoy. Jude briefly wondered if he had actually managed to irritate Arst by talking too much about himself, and he self-consciously glanced at the taller man, but his expression gave away nothing. Not even the least bit of detail, other than how deeply engrossed the man was in analysing the problem.

Somewhere from behind, the lodge's doors creaked open and Jude heard a familiar voice calling out his name, followed by rapidly approaching footsteps. The both of them turned around, and he watched with wide eyes as Mr Oswald, the mailman, approached him with a beam on his face.

"Your letter from Talim is here, lad!" Oswald proudly announced, smacking Jude's shoulder lightly before dropping the envelope on the counter. "Stopped by the clinic and Leia said you were at her house, so I rushed all the way here instead!"

"W-Wait, the letter's here!?" Jude jumped in his seat, nervously glancing at the official-looking envelope bearing the heavy judgment on him. He didn't expect it to arrive today since the applications normally took at least two months to be processed and reviewed, and Jude had only submitted his about three weeks ago. Why did it come too soon? Was he rejected so they booted him quickly? Or was he actually kicked out because of some errors when he filled up his forms? His heart started to race as the seconds ticked by, and Oswald waved him off with a grin.

"Well, I gotta get back to work, so you better announce the good news later!"

With another wave, Oswald was off on his way and left the inn in complete silence, save for the rapid thumping of Jude's heart.

Arst was, naturally, the first one to cock his head towards the letter. "Aren't you going to open it?"

"I-I… guess I should…" Jude weakly agreed, but the sight of the heavy looking parchment emblazoned with fragranced red sealing wax made him all the more nervous. At times, he hated how he seemed to overanalyse things, much like what he was doing now, but the anticipation was building up in his stomach and his throat felt too constricted for him to breathe freely anymore. His fingers were evidently shaking when he lifted the envelope into his lap and tried to peel off the wax, but coupled with clammy fingers and disrupted nervous system, Jude was clearly having a hard time doing so.

After all, it was the letter that would change his life.

One that would prove his father wrong… if he got accepted into Talim Medical School.

But what if he didn't?

"Allow me to open it for you," Arst's deep voice sliced through his torment, and wordlessly, Jude nodded. He watched as Arst's gloved fingers gracefully pried the letter away from his childlike hands, and it only took the man seconds to remove the sealing stamp, extract the contents that were written on a heavy laid paper, before unfolding the letter before his eyes. Seconds for his glowing rubellite eyes to skim through the letters written on the thick paper, letters that Jude couldn't see from his end, and seconds for him to neatly fold the paper according to its creases before putting it away into its confines.

The strangely calm expression on Arst's face made Jude's nervousness a living nightmare.

"… what did it say?"

Arst's words were curt and clear enough for Jude to comprehend.

"You didn't make it."

The world painfully stilled for a moment there. As Jude squeezed his eyes close and dropped his head with a deep sigh full of crushed hopes and devastated dreams, he didn't see the odd, ambivalent expression that ghosted over Arst's face, almost undisturbed, almost iknowing/i. The red-eyed 'playboy' only slid the letter back to its owner on the counter and took a long draught of his drink, particularly lost in his own thoughts.

The silence in the inn was deafening.

「つづく」to be continued