I first met Aster nine years ago. He was nine, and I was eleven. He was a child prodigy, and I was just another half-elf locked away in the basement. I never really received much positive attention. The other half-elf researchers ignored me or acted indifferently toward me (how could a child help them with their research?), and the humans had absolutely nothing good to say to me (something that I think goes without saying). Somehow, I had ended up in the same room as some of the younger students (They were in their teens, if I recall correctly) and events progressed to their logical conclusion. I need to digress for a moment: my vision was and still is not very good. If I don't have my glasses, I tend to walk into objects whether they're in my way or not. Those students had stolen my glasses, and I was desperately trying and failing to get them back. I still remember their taunts…

"He's not just a half-elf… he's blind, too!"

"Why'd he have to get dumped off here, though? The dump's just a short walk away!"

"Come on! They've got the basement for that 'special' kind of trash."

"Yeah! Why don't you go back to the basement, half-breed?"

I pleaded with them as long as I could… and then made the dangerous mistake of trying to tackle the one who had my glasses. Needless to say, I was no match for that person, much less the ensuing dogpile they all joined in on. Unable to take much more physical or mental abuse, I gave up and tried to get away, but their leader grabbed me and held me off the ground.

And this is when Aster enters my story. I had heard vague rumors of some new child genius that would be joining the researchers soon. I felt no need to concern myself with whoever the new person was. I just assumed it would be another human to kick me around and made a note to myself to stick to helping out in the basement.

What I expected and what I got were two very different things. That boy nearly walked right by us, but then stopped and came back. One of my tormentors said, "Hey, it's that new kid!" That seemed to be the signal for them to investigate him, but not the signal to let me go (not that I would have gotten very far without my glasses). They surrounded Aster and started asking a flood of questions. Aster stared blankly at them, then said:

"Who's that with you? You didn't introduce me to him."

"Oh, this?" said the leader. "He's one of those basement-dwellers. Here's a lesson for you, kid: don't hang with the basement-dwellers. They're so low-down that they corrupt you if you just stand near them."

Another crony added, "We're risking our lives to protect you! You know, from being… corrupted!"

They were met with more staring from Aster… except that he was staring at me this time. I felt fairly certain that this would be the end for me in some way or another. Aster shrugged and said, "I don't know… it looks like he wants to go back to the basement. Why don't you let him go?"

"Well, if only just as a favor for the new kid." He let me go, and I hit the ground with a thud… and then proceeded to head in the opposite direction of the basement door before crashing right into a nearby table, much to the delight of my captors.

Aster ran over to me. "Are you okay?" he asked. I pulled away and didn't respond to him. His concern could just as well have been fake. He then turned to the older boys. "Doesn't he have some glasses or someone to help him get around?"

The reply felt like a stab through my heart: "Nope. He's just another one of those idiot half-elves. Y'know… special." More laughter.

Aster looked at me, and then looked back at them. "That's not nice at all! How can you say such a thing? …I'll ask again… does he have glasses or someone to help him get around?"

There was a tense silence, but the leader finally spoke up. "The answer's still no, Aster." He walked off with the rest of his group. I tried to crawl away from Aster, but ended up bumping my head into a leg of that same table. I froze up. If anything was going to happen, there wasn't going to be anything I could do about it. A bad ending seemed like the sole fate of a half-elf at the time.

I collapsed, but Aster held me up and said, "I don't think those guys were telling the truth. You do have glasses, don't you?" I could do nothing more but stare into those large olive-green eyes. What would he do if he found my glasses? Break them? I expected him to just leave me there. "By the way, what's your name? Don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you." He was talking to me like someone would talk to a frightened animal. That's a fairly apt comparison for the situation, of course. I still didn't say anything. He had asked my name and promised not to hurt me, but many others had done the same and betrayed that promise. And yet, I felt I just had to trust him. Maybe he would help me. I finally mustered up the courage for a tremulous whisper.

"I'm… Richter. They took my glasses, and-"

"Nice to meet you, Richter! My name's Aster." Those were words that seemed to be a myth until now. Was a human really excited to meet a half-elf? He looked around, and then began to whisper. "I'll bring you down to the basement so that those guys won't go back to picking on you for a bit. And then I'll try and get your glasses back."

"R-really? You won't break them?"

"Of course not! Glasses are expensive, aren't they? …I think we ought to go. They might come back soon." I obeyed his guiding hand down the stairs, and I was soon in the dank comfort of the basement once more.

Later that night, I heard the door to the basement creak open. I sat right up in bed, still afraid of noises in the night. There were footsteps. I pulled the covers closer to me, as though hiding under them would save me from a larger human hell-bent on revenge of some sort. I still ached where the boys had hit me and I was quite sure I had come away with some bruises. The adults tended to the cuts and scrapes, but I couldn't really see how many bruises I had. The footsteps came closer and louder still. I hid under the useless covers. When I finally gathered the nerve to peek out, I saw Aster (although I couldn't tell it was him) looking around with something in his hand. We locked eyes, and I immediately went back under the covers. But then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and heard a soft, reassuring whisper.

"Hey, Richter… this is Richter, isn't it?" I cautiously peeked out. "Good! I finally found you. And look what I got back." He slid my glasses back onto my face, and I saw the face of the one who defended me for the first time. "They beat you up pretty bad, didn't they?" I nodded. "But… I've got a question for you. Are you really that blind without your glasses?" It really was an innocent question, but it seemed like an insult at the time.

"Didn't you see me?!" I whispered back. "You saw, didn't you? You think I'm a liar, don't you? Go ahead, side with the other humans. It doesn't make a difference to me."

"I-I'm sorry. I just wanted to know…" He walked away from me, clearly a bit hurt. I realized that my small outburst was the wrong move, so I quickly called him back, apologized, and thanked him profusely for helping me. When I finished, he smiled at me. A human, smiling at a half-elf? It was like the world's rules all broke themselves that day. "You know, Richter… you're pretty much the only other person around my age here, and you don't seem nearly as bad as everyone else says… do you think that we could be friends?" …Friends?! I stared at him in shock. From my experience, humans and half-elves were never friends. However, I took the bait.

"…S-sure, Aster. We could be friends, if you really mean that…"

"Of course! I need a friend around here as much as you do." He extended his hand to me, and I shook it. And then he said the words that would echo for years afterward: "Don't ever be afraid to come talk to me, or to stand up to those bullies. Remember… Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality. If you're confident in yourself, you can do just about anything. That sounds about right, doesn't it?"

For the first time in a very long time, I felt myself smile. "Yeah… I'll remember that. It sounds… important. If that motto helped you get here, I think it might help me, too." That moment of happiness swiftly faded as I saw a bunch of strange, patch-like spots on Aster's neck. I reached up and touched a spot, and realized I was touching a bandage. "Aster… what happened? There's bandages on your neck."

His hand slowly went to his neck, and his own smile faded. "Oh, that? Um… don't worry about it, okay? I just had a little accident along the way. That's all it is." He changed the subject as quickly as I did. "Say… half-elves can use magic, right?" Uh oh. I felt something sink in my stomach, but nodded anyway. "Do you think you can show me a magic trick? Or just any magic? I want to see magic for myself." I almost laughed out loud. It seemed like a ridiculous notion. I could use a little fire magic, but I got yelled at for using my own built-in lighter, so to speak.

"Uh… Sure, I guess. I don't really know any tricks, but I guess I can show you a little magic. I mean, I'd have to find a place where no one was around, but I think I might be able to show you."

"A place? Don't worry. Some older boys showed me a safe spot earlier. They told me when their classes are, so we can go there when they won't be using it. Here's the plan…" Just as he finished outlining his plan, I heard something move, followed by footsteps.

"Aster! There's something moving!" I whispered. If we were caught, there would be no end to the problems that would be unleashed just by our meeting. "I think you've got to get out, Aster."

"Right… see you tomorrow, Richter!" And just like that, he darted up the stairs. The disturbance was just someone checking on me to see if anything started bleeding again. After I assured him that I was about as fine as I could be in my current circumstances, I pondered the day's events. I had a friend. A human friend. A human friend who, if those bandages were any indication, put himself in some sort of danger to help me. A human friend that I would actually meet more than once. This was just the beginning of our story…