Rufus entered the guild, slightly disoriented by last night's dream. The masked wizard kept wondering how a dream of a funeral could keep him up for most of the night. He once experienced more bizarre dreams, like the time he somehow dreamed that Orga tried to put one of his poems into song form and demolished the entire town with his horrible singing. After that dream, Rufus kept his poetry folder in a desk drawer at his apartment.
So if a singing nightmare made him cautious, how did a dream of his parents' funeral leave him frightened?
Some of the other mages gave him open looks as he dragged his feet with each step towards the bar. Rufus was known for being able to keep a calm composure. But no one ever saw him in a daze. Everyone assumed something was wrong with him today.
"—watch out, Rufus-san!" The young man felt something pass above his head, and now his head felt slightly lighter. For some reason, Hestia panicked as she jumped off her stool and approached Rufus. Why was there a hat in her hands? "I'm sorry, Rufus-san!"
"Hm?" Rufus felt his head, eyes widening when his hands met his scalp instead. "Oh!" Hestia held his hat out for him and he accepted it gratefully. "Thank you, Hestia."
"No problem, Rufus-san," she said as they walked to the bar together. Rufus helped Hestia onto the stool beside him; sometimes it was difficult for her to climb on. Rufus cringed, remembering vividly the day Hestia hit her head on the floor after trying to climb the stool when she was two. It took a not-too-cold pack and some funny faces from Lector and Frosch to get her to stop crying.
"What do you want, sleepy? Something sharp?" Rietta questioned as she sent a tray filled with breakfast plates over to the mage who ordered it. And she did this while she flipped several pancakes in one go. Rietta was known for her speed and proficiency, especially when it came to the kitchen. She wasn't Saber Tooth's head chef for nothing.
"Just..." Rufus yawned widely, blinking back exhausted tears. "A sharp tea," he agreed. "Something to rouse my memory."
At the same time that she placed all the pancakes on one plate, she reached an arm for a tea kettle filled with water and set it on the stove top. The water simmered in its container while Rietta sent another plate away on a serving tray.
The doors burst open, with Lector and Frosch rushing in and landing in front of Hestia.
"Lector? Frosch? What's wrong?" Hestia asked.
"Tia-kun... needs to hide soon...REALLY soon..." Frosch panted between breaths.
Rietta stopped what she was doing, listening to the conversation. "Is she—?"
"Mother alert!" Lector exclaimed.
"I'm home!" Hestia's ears twitched, along with those of the Exceed. They were too late. Or so they thought...
Without warning, Rietta grabbed Hestia and hid her under the counter on the chef's side of the bar. The space was actually roomy and clean, Hestia noticed.
Rufus could only sigh sadly at the predicament. Hestia was nearly five and a half now, so that meant the incident with her mother happened just last year. That year brought about the most changes to the child's life. Initially, Hestia's mother adored her, but by her second year of life, things began to change. Her mother's kind smile would seem more forced; she spent more time on job requests than she did with her daughter. And by the time Hestia was three, her mother disliked the mere sight of her, all because Hestia resembled her father. Strangely, Rufus thought it was only the originally pink hair, since Hestia's face was all her mother in his eyes.
But apparently, Hestia reminded her mother of her father, hence the hostility she showed to her child from then on. It got so bad that Rufus had to suppress her memories. The final session did the trick, but it costed Hestia her own mother. Rufus wondered if Hestia hated him for that, but he could never exactly tell. Hestia's hair was dyed from her natural pink to purple and white. And effective immediately, Hestia was taken under Jiemma's wing.
The masked wizard got up and approached the bulletin board. The neophytes that stood before it cleared a path for Rufus, allowing him to scan the board for a suitable job.
Rufus read over one of the flyers carefully, noting the short distance to the client's location. The town discovered nocturnal activity on the streets from some rogue wizards and needed them captured. The reward came to the grand total of 500,000 Jewels.
"Your tea." Rufus looked up from the paper to see Rietta slide a steaming cup towards him. "I had better not find one drop remaining when you leave."
Rufus smiled slyly. "I'll keep that in mind."
Rufus cursed under his breath as he searched for an empty compartment. Of all the days for the train to be filled with people, why did it have to be today?
"Kyah! It's Rufus!" A girl's voice squealed. A choir of similar pitched screams matched hers.
No matter where he went, there would always be someone who reacted like that. He was part of Saber Tooth's elite five, albeit the last. In descending order, Minerva was the strongest without a doubt, followed by Orga; there was some debate about whether Rogue was stronger than Sting or if it was the other way around; and Rufus ranked fifth. He supposed it did have something to do with who was in the guild longer, since he was the last of the elite five to enter Saber Tooth.
Rufus spotted a compartment with its door open. Assuming that it was empty, he slipped in, closing the door quietly.
"...mh..." Rufus wheeled around at the noise, realizing that it wasn't as empty as he originally thought.
Sleeping in a sitting position, back to the wall and legs sprawled on the seat, was a pale boy younger than Rufus himself.
"May I sit here?" Rufus knew it was stupid of him to ask. His entrance didn't seem to hinder the boy's nap, so why would he answer his question? But to his surprise, the boy seemed to turn his head and nod to Rufus. Yet he never woke up.
Slightly perturbed by the boy's gesture, Rufus sat down. With nothing else to do besides stare out the window, he decided to take a closer look at his fellow passenger. Judging by his clothes, he looked like an ordinary schoolboy. Over a simple white shirt, a buttoned-up black vest, and a blue tie was a blazer the same color as the tie. His red pants had to come down to the middle of his shin, which made his dark boots visible. Strangely, the boy wore a navy blue cap that had to be too big for his blonde head.
Rufus frowned in confusion as he took note of the most curious part of the boy. With each inhale, his blonde hair darkened until it reached light brown; with each exhale, his hair lightened to its natural blonde. And the cycle continued. "Interesting," he murmured, taking his eyes off the boy to stare out the window.
"...dreams..." Rufus looked back at the boy, but he was still breathing evenly. Was he sleep-talking? "Some say...they're the future that has yet to happen..."
"Is that so?" Rufus mused, deciding to engage the curious boy in his sleep. "Then what are they to you?"
"Me?" The boy yawned widely, but showed no sign of waking. "Dreams...are a heart's way of saying...you've forgotten something...Tell me...what have you forgotten?"