01

The sound of a voice jolted a boy awake. He blinked a few times, sleep still apparent in his eyes, before hearing the voice call out to him. The boy sat up groggily, rubbing his sleepy eyes as he yawned, and scratched the back of his head. The voice was muffled and distant; the boy could easily ignore the shout if he wanted to. He looked at the door opposite his bed, wondering who the person shouting could be and what he wanted. He sat there for a few more minutes, his head bobbing a little to the side, as if the bed was pulling him back and he was resisting. After what felt like forever, the boy decided that yes, it was time to actually leave the bed and head out. He got off his bed with remorse apparent in his eyes and left his bedroom. Upon opening the door, the muffled shouting was suddenly clearer, and he could hear his name being called. The shouting was accompanied with loud knocking, and it made the boy wonder how he managed not to hear it immediately. Was he that tired? Probably. Yes.

"Seto! C'mon, open this door! It's past ten a.m.! It's the harvesting season so—get up! And open the door!"

The boy, Seto, managed to recover from his drowsy state upon hearing what the voice had been saying since God knew when. Immediately, from the hallway leading to his bedroom, Seto ran to the front door and opened it, muttering apologies to the person who probably spent hours trying to wake him up. The person standing in front of him was a girl about his age. Her short, silvery hair was swept back by a headband with a lily attached to it, and her purple dress clung to her petite frame. Her slender arms were crossed in front of her, and she was frowning. One of her bare feet was tapping, most likely because she was forced to wait long. Seto sheepishly smiled at her.

"Uh, um, good morning—"

"What were you doing?!" She cut him off mid-sentence, and she put her hands on her hips. Oh no, she was terribly mad. "You're like, hours late from what we agreed on. I know there's no reason for us to worry, but we were worried!"

Seto scratched his cheek sheepishly. He looked down on his feet. "Um, I'm really sorry. It's just that I ended up going to bed really late last night. I was tired…"

Silence came after that, and then seconds later, the girl sighed. "Okay, okay. Just go dress up. You don't have to rush breakfast; actually, you don't have to eat breakfast. We have a basket with us in the field. Reid said we're gonna have picnic there. You can eat there all you want."

Seto looked up at her; apology was still all over his face despite what his friend had told him. "Okay, thanks. Sorry, Ren."

Ren nodded at him, and her magenta eyes peeked behind the boy, at the clock hanging above the doorway that led to Seto's room. "Just please don't take too long, alright?"

"Alright."

It did not take too long for Seto to change after Ren left. He wore the clothes he usually wore before heading out: white turtleneck under his ridiculously large cyan coat, and brown pants partnered with brown shoes. Seto's clothing looked hard to move with, especially with his coat, but in reality, it wasn't. Seto liked to think it was because he had worn the coat for a long time already that he got used to wearing it. After getting dressed up and having a really light breakfast consisting of a loaf of bread and a glass of water, Seto headed out of his house and to the rice fields, where his friend was waiting.

It was a lively day. There weren't any clouds above, and the sun was shining down. The townspeople of Alphard were busy, and as Seto sauntered towards his destination, a number of carriages and wagons passed by him. There were always a lot of those at this time of the year. Outside every store the boy passed by were dozens of boxes piled up. Those boxes were most likely goods waiting to get shipped outside of town. Several people greeted Seto good morning, and he greeted back, even though most of them were strangers to him. It was livelier than usual in Alphard, but it was no surprise for the boy at all; it was the harvesting season, and people were out preparing their products for shipping outside the town. If there was anything the capital was really well-known for, it would be the fresh fruits and vegetables, but that wasn't what Alphard was proud of.

As Seto neared the elliptical road, located in the middle of Alphard, he saw the proud and mighty Crystal Palace looming ahead. The castle, where the royal family that governed the kingdom of Ashlesha lived, was called Crystal Palace because of its crystal-like walls. The palace twinkled and shimmered under the sun's rays, creating a rainbow-like effect. A grand waterfall was on the side of the palace, providing fresh water for the townspeople. An ocean (and the port) was behind the palace, so it would explain the waterfall by the palace. Seto had no idea, however, how the water the falls provided was fresh.

Seto entered the elliptical road, and three different roads were now present to him. To the north was Aelioth, also known as the Nobles Quarters that eventually led to the palace; to the east was the Sargoth, the Middle and Lower Quarters, and to the west were the farms and rice fields. The road where Seto came from was the Shopping District. In the middle of the elliptical road was Lilith's Fountain, and like the Crystal Palace, it looked as if it was made of crystals. Seto glanced at it for a while and smiled. There was always a silent rule to always acknowledge its existence. No one knew why, but it was like a silent agreement by everyone that it had to be that way. Seto entered the road towards the fields, and as he exited the elliptical road, the noises of wooden wheels and people slowly muffled.

The next thing Seto knew, the road that was made of stone was now muddy, and all he could see was lush, green meadow and fields. Horses littered the wide road, and Seto could hear the sounds of cows and goats by the distance. The smell of wind was different. It was fresh and smelt of fresh grass. He was finally outside of town and in the fields.

The fields owned by the town were far and wide, and every family owned a piece of land. From what Seto remembered, the field that Ren's family owned was still a little far, maybe around thirty minutes of walking. If there was a wagon passing by, maybe Seto could ask for a ride. Unfortunately, there wasn't one, and the boy would have to talk his way to Ren's farm.

Ren was Seto's childhood friend. She was an orphan who suffered from memory loss, and the family that she now had was not her biological family. Seto was luckier than her back then; he had his grandpa who had always been with him since he was toddler and up until his mother died because of an illness. He was luckier only back then, because three months ago, Seto's grandfather died, and he was now identified as an orphan. His grandpa owned a piece of land in the rice fields too, and before his death the two lived in there. Seto decided to move to the town after his grandpa's death, leaving the land to the authorities until he was eighteen, and with the support from Ren's family, Seto managed to find a comfortable place to live in in the Shopping District while he learnt his new life of independence.

Seto wasn't sure just how long he had been walking, but after hearing a loud voice of girl, Seto was sure he finally arrived at the farm Ren's family owned. An old, small barn loomed ahead, and behind it was a vast green of crops. A tall tree stood beside the old barn with a picnic table underneath its shade. Seto could see a familiar red mop of hair and then afterwards, mops of silvery hair and brown hair. Seto smiled and jogged towards the farm, waving his hand at the group of people by the picnic table. The redhead first saw approaching boy, and green eyes shone upon seeing Seto.

"Oh, look! He's finally here," said the redhead. Ren and the brunette turned to look at Seto, and their faces lit up as well.

"Seto, finally," Ren said. She was sitting opposite to where the redhead was sitting, and her upper body was turned to a point she could comfortably see her friend approach. The brunette was only smiling at Seto as he jogged to their place.

"Man, you sure take your time," he said. Seto scratched the back of his head as he halted, standing just in front of them.

"Sorry for making you guys wait. Are you done, or…?"

"Yeah, we're done, actually," said the redhead. His hair was a mess, as usual, and his merry green eyes were full of life. Seto grimaced at the redhead's answer, and he only laughed at Seto's response. "It's okay; it's okay! Three people are more than enough anyway for this. We'll need your help though to carry all these baskets back to town."

Ren sighed as she eyed the redhead. "Reid, you're spoiling Seto so much…" She pouted. "You should at least spoil me a little! I'm your sister."

The redhead, Reid, blinked at Ren, his adoptive sibling. "I'm not spoiling him. It's my fault anyway that he ended up waking up late today. I made him run an errand for mum late at night when I'm supposed to do that errand."

Ren narrowed her eyes at him, like she just caught her brother doing something really, really dirty. "I'm telling mum." Reid's green eyes narrowed, mostly from fear.

"What? No, don't do that!" the redhead practically begged. Seto blinked at the two as they "conversed" while the brunette sitting beside Ren sighed. He turned to face Seto.

"Seto, you hungry already? We're actually waiting for you to arrive before eating." The brunette waved his hand at two baskets sitting beside Reid, and he smiled at Seto. He smiled back at the brunette before nodding.

"Yeah, I'm hungry," Seto replied, and the brunette loudly clapped his hands, making the arguing siblings stop.

"Our guest of honour is hungry!" he announced. "Now, please stop arguing and lay out the food. I'm also starving."

And Reid did just that. Taking out the contents of the first basket, Reid told the brunette, "Right. Thanks for reminding us, Len."

From the first basket were two packs of bread, cases of hams and cheeses, two bottles of mayonnaise and ketchup, and a container of fried chicken. There were also small plates and a big container of rice, along with spoons and forks. Len's warm hazel eyes sparkled at the sight of the food. "Wow," he breathed. "Your mum sure made a big feast for just a bunch of kids."

"I'm seventeen," Reid huffed. Ren blinked at Reid before laughing. Seto only smiled as he made himself comfortable beside the oldest of the bunch, who was currently being made fun of. The said oldest frowned at Ren. "Hey, stop that. I am still older than you guys anyway. I still deserve some respect."

"Reid's right," said Seto. "Although I still have to agree with her reaction. You try so hard to look older than you really are, and what's funnier is that you fail so badly at it."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Reid looked at Seto with a look of betrayal. "I thought you're on my side!"

The next minutes passed with the group actively chatting, sharing stories and laughing. Lunch was great, and the group was a little disappointed when it was over. They had to go back to town before the day ends, since most travelling carts would be gone by that time, and they returned to town.

The sun had set, and the moon replaced it, its silvery light gracing the now silent town of Alphard. It was quiet outside, since most people were home by that time. The Crystal Palace looked most splendid during the night, as the palace's crystalline walls were at their brightest during the night. After Ren and Reid persuaded him, Seto finally agreed that he spend the night in the siblings' home. Their mother was out in a trip, so it was only the three of them at home. They opted to spend the night at the living room, where it was big and cool enough for them to sleep in. A big mat was hastily sprawled on the floor, with pillows and comforters dumped on. It was where the three were going to sleep in. Reid sat on the couch, his legs resting on the couch as well, while Ren and Seto sat side by side on the mat. The three were chatting about different topics, but currently about the workshop where Seto and Ren were being taught sword fighting.

"So when's the next sword practice?" asked Reid as he eyed the two friends. Ren looked at Seto who in turn answered the redhead's question.

"Hm, next week, I guess?" Seto shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Usually, Len just suddenly comes at home to tell me we have practice."

"So you don't know your schedule?" Ren asked next. Seto smiled sheepishly. The siblings sighed.

"You can't always count on Len to tell you," Reid said. Ren nodded, stretching her hands out and yawning.

"Yeah, and besides, I don't really like Len too."

Reid raised an eyebrow at her. "What's it got to do with his coming to Seto's home to inform him about practice?"

"I dunno," Ren mumbled, and the boys blinked at her. "He doesn't seem too trusty."

"But you guys have been friends—"

"For two weeks," Ren cut Reid off. "Well, Seto is. Not me. I always watch him, you know. During practice. He's fishy."

"I've been with Len a lot now…" Seto muttered. "He's a nice guy."

"Yeah, I know," Ren replied before yawning once again, plopping onto the badly-improvised bed. "It's just me, I guess. Maybe I'm being picky with friends." She frowned. "I'm a bad person for being like that, then."

"Guys, it's late," Reid told them, standing from the couch to turn off the lights. "Get to sleep. Mum will be here by tomorrow morning. You need to haul your ass off by then."

Seto nodded before lying down beside Ren. He yawned, rubbing his eyes. He didn't do much that day, but he got tired. How much more with Ren and the others? Seto felt his eyelids go heavy, and he felt the mat underneath shuffle a little bit when Reid lied down beside his sister. The last thing Seto heard before falling asleep was Ren saying, "…You're not supposed to use 'ass', Reid…"

Seto's eyes flew open, startled. The first thing he saw was Reid's bright green eyes. They look tired but panicked. It alarmed Seto.

Something was wrong.

"Finally," said Reid. Without waiting for Seto to reply, he took the boy's hand and hauled him from the mat, before shoving a long, wooden sword on his hand. Seto blinked at it a few times, before looking up at the older boy. He knew that Reid took up sword lessons and had fake swords hidden in the attic, but why bring them out?

"What's this for?"

"Something's going on outside." Seto looked at the direction of the voice, and it was Ren. She was holding her own wooden sword, and she looked scared. There was a loud blast from outside, and the whole house shook. It got Seto's attention. He looked at the windows, and what he saw was total havoc. There blue-like creatures outside. Some were hauling fireballs everywhere, while jellyfish-like creatures attacked the panicked townspeople. Reid cursed under his breath and looked at the two.

"Okay, look," Reid started. "We can't stay here for long, or we're dead. The goal: get to Mrs. Leico's workshop. How do we do it? Stay. Low." He stressed the last two words. "Once we get there, she'll know what to do. She used to be a knight, in case you guys don't know."

"We know," Ren supplied. "But those are monsters out there. How do we get to—"

"Just trust me. Listen to what I say." He narrowed his eyes at Ren. "I know you don't listen to me, but please just this one time, listen to me. This time, the oldest thing applies here. You guys are under my care. Even though our ages are just two years apart, heck, even though I'm still a minor, I still take responsibility to whatever happens to you. So please just this one time, listen."

Seto wasn't sure how many times Reid used the word listen, but the message got through him and Ren anyway. The two nodded, even though what Reid said was mostly directed to Ren. Reid nodded back. He walked towards the kitchen, towards the back door.

"We're going through the back alleys," Reid said. "Hopefully there weren't any of those blue jellies lurking there."

yay! finally i got this thing posted. it took me forever to pick up the pen and start writing once again, so i deeply apologise that i took so long with this.

we can finally say were back to business!