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Darkness, it was all what he could see, he looked around in a panic, searching for anyone, any signs of life, any light that he could follow, but there was nothing. Everything felt so hollow and dead, and he couldn't bear it.

"H- hello! Can- can anyone hear me? Is a- anyone here?!" He shouted desperately, there was no answer but his voice, that echoed grimly in his ears. Suddenly, he felt an unendurable achiness hitting his head like a hammer, he yelped in pain and held his head in his hand, dizziness started to take over him as a dim purple light started to appear from a distance. He fell to his knees, shutting his eyes close, his heartbeats quickened, he tried to take deep breaths to steady it, or to decrease the ache in his head, neither way it worked. He tried to open his eyes, only to shut them and look down again when he was struck by a blinding purple light, it felt wrong to even look at it, he slowly opened them, his gaze rising from the cold ground beneath him, his scared pale blue eyes, met a couple of terrifying, hideous black ones. A few foots before him a great purple red fire was burning, thought he couldn't feel any warmth at all, and over the burning mess stood a massive black figure, hundred times his size, its tall body holding a pair of large hands, which seemed to have Sharp claws at each end, and its head was that of a monster, it had a long and thin jaw, with sharp fangs peeking out, the figure had two huge twisted horns at each side of its ugly head, its black eyes were looking deadly into him.

"Who-.." No, no that wasn't the right question. "What are you?!"

He wanted to run but he couldn't, the pain in his head grew worst with each second, he held his head tighter and yelped more. The figure's hands moved up and it started to murmur words that he couldn't understand at all, but he knew something bad was going to happen, his eyes widened as a shinning ball of energy started to form in the figure's big hands, and rising them up more, a strong shot if power was heading towards him, his body tensed then froze in fear, he looked away shutting his eyes, waiting for was expected to be a huge wave of agony, but after seconds, there was nothing. Now there was a bright blue light shimmering in front of him, and he could finally feel a bit of security and warmth.

A woman was standing before him, her hands stretched in the air holding what seemed to be a massive shield that protected them from the powerful purple red fire. His sight was blurry, his head was aching and he hadn't seen her for way too long, but he recognized her, with his heart. Those feelings, of protection, of longing, of care, of love.

"Come on, son, I need you to listen to me," She called over her shoulder, struggling to keep the shield between the two of them and the monster, he looked at her with astonishment and pain all over his face.

"Please, get up, get away, run. I know you're tired of it, but please do it for me, for your mother, please..." She pleaded, her voice shaking with fear and grieve, thought it still holds the tender tone.

He had to obey her orders, to run, for her, his mother. He pushed himself up with all the strength he had, his slender legs slowly carrying him away from the danger, he walked with all his body aching, holding his head with a hand, and trying to keep balance by the other. Unfortunately he fell down again, he let out shaky breaths, blinking tightly with each inhale, he pulled himself up again and paced a few steps away, but then he has done something very regretful, he looked back, and when he did, his jaw dropped at the sight of the huge shield shattering into pieces then disappearing in a blink, and the purple red fire has covered the spot where his mother stood, he shook his head in disbelief.

His mother was in danger, and he was running away? What sort of a person is he?

"Mum.." He whispered breathlessly. "Mum!!" Suddenly a strong wave of energy was filling his body, he started running, running back towards her, he couldn't help losing her, not again. "No! No, NO!! Mum!! No!!!" He cried out with fright, everything was getting away from his sight, the monster and his fire were fading away, and no matter how much he ran, he didn't advance an inch. His eyes began to water, then hot tears streamed down his face as shouted more. "No! Mum! Please, no, no! No..."

He could see a small hint of the same blue light shimmering above him, before the sound of shattering glass and ceramic was heard.

As the sun slowly raised, her great beams of light appearing far away in the horizon, the moon said his goodbyes to the world, and promised to brighten the next night to become. The sky was filling itself with colours to welcome the day happily, colours shifting from the yellowish white to the dark inky black, with stars slightly appearing at the tips of the sight. The light greeted the land of Corona, with the help of some clouds which caused it to shatter into large golden paths touching the high spots, Corona Mountains. But for human beings, the tallest landmark to come into the mind is the magnificent Castle of Corona, home of the beloved royal family and many other noble people. And it was the first to face the sun, the long windows of the castle returned the greet with shimmering reflections.

But there was that single long window, with a different atmosphere, a big window with bars on the outside, opening to an approximately isolated, private part of the castle. This particular room was the one supposed to be the cell that holds a single certain person, someone who's known to be Corona's most dangerous criminal ever, for his crimes had badly crossed the line of the law, and roughly stepped on the logical limited abilities of someone at his age.

His name was Varian. For the people of Corona, very little was known about him, even that little wasn't good, but now, for what he has done, he became very well known to everyone for...bad things as well, such as almost killing off all of the royal family by using giant ancient technology.

Things, crimes, that seemed impossible to the mind was planned and applied by his mind, Varian made complex chemicals, built menacing massive machines, outfought with brilliant plans, but the thing that made Corona's criminals feel like little whimps, that he's only a boy, a teenager at the age of fourteen, a boy with a very high level of intelligence, and resourcefulness that can fascinate the mind.

But why would a child do such things?

Strange, how the darkness of anger and vengeance can creep into the kindest of hearts, when accompanied by the hurt and grieve of losing what was loved. For he was one of those who loved. Who loved to help who's in need, who loved to show what they're capable of but with great intentions, who loved the idea of having friends by your side and knowing how important they are to you, who loved their dear loved family and wanted to make them proud. But it was all taken away and the love inside his heart disappeared.

Varian's days in prison would have been easier, if his feelings didn't make it hard for him; Fear and sadness forbid him from sleep, hate and vengeance never let him talk to anyone or accept anything, anger told him to to never forget, never forgive.

And this was another day, another day for nightmares to hunt him.

Varian's body was launched with fright out of the bed he's been sleeping in, falling with a loud thump to the ground, and a louder yelp escaped the boy's tired throat. The guards out of his living quarters , Pete and Stan, were alarmed by his scream and the noise of objects crushing harshly, they opened the door made of bars to be surprised by the scene, the boy was as surprised as them. Varian was breathing heavily, heart pounding strongly against his chest and sweat running down his face, neck and body, his wide eyes started at the ground, which was covered by what was once everything breakable in his room, his gaze slowly turned to the mirror, his shaky reflection looking at him through cracked glass, it was broken as well. After a moment of silent, another sound was heard, that of a worried, concerned, little raccoon. Varian's pale blue eyes met those deep dark green of his small companion, Ruddiger. The guards watched as the raccoon advanced hesitantly towards his human friend, the poor critter was sleeping peacefully next to the kid, then he was suddenly knocked off the bed. The raccoon put his paws on Varian's lab chittering in worry, the boy looked down at his friend, his eyes softened and his breath calmed, he raised a hand to dry the sweat off his forehead, then ran it through his hair, taking a deep inhale, he leaned the back of his head on the bed behind him and closed his eyes tightly, but then he broke, tears ran down his face and soft sobs were let out before he burried his head in his arms. Ruddiger cooed sadly, he gently nuzzled his head to Varian's side. Pete and Stan shared a look, then decided to try and calm him down, both walked through the room, making sure to not step on pieces of glass, Ruddiger looked at them with a pleading look when they stood before the boy, the two guards looked at each other again, Pete gestured for Stan to do it, Stan shook his in defence and gestured for Pete to do it, Pete sighed, none of them wanted anything to do with Varian, because every time they tried to talk to him he would either ignore them or send them glares that could torn them up in pieces if it was real, Stan grimaced at the thought of that one time they tried to apologize for taking him away from the princess, in that one horrible stormy day, it was the last time they tried to talk and they never tried again.

Pete kneeled on the ground after cleaning away a bit of ceramic, he hesitantly placed a hand on Varian's shaky shoulder, "Hey, kid-" his hand was harshly taken off when Varian yanked his shoulder away, the kid managed to stand up quickly, he dried his eyes and climbed up his bed again, and he was setting there, his side against the wall, not facing any of them, eyes closed as he took shaky breaths and sniffed slightly.

Pete stood up and Stan put a hand on his shoulder, both looked at the ground, disappointed, their help had been rejected, again. Stan said that he would bring a maid to clean the mess, and the two of them went out after closing the door, Pete stood next to the entrance.

Nightmares had been chasing Varian since a week after his arrival to Corona's Castle, after the Battle of Old Corona, after it all happened. But what sort of nightmares were those, he couldn't tell, he couldn't find any possible explanation of them, he couldn't understand them. What was that monster? What was his mother doing there? Why should he stay away? Why couldn't the monster just burn him off and leave his mother alone? Why his mother?

He knew one thing, he hated them, just like how he hated every single thing happening to him nowadays.

In the Castle, King Frederic decided that, as a mercier punishment than going to the dungeons, Varian would be working in social services around the kingdom, for he knows what the boy is capable of, and the King wanted his folk to gradually get used to the boy, and maybe some work and time alone will get him back his sense, of course, the boy didn't like the idea at all, he would rather stay in a cell than working for those who ' betrayed ' him, but he doesn't have a say in this.

He was told that he would get all the help he needs. ' Stop speaking like I have mental issues! ' that what he thought, he should give way more credits to the royals, they actually treated him very well, he wasn't in a cell, there was an abandoned guests room in the farthest of the Castle, were no one used to stay, which was turned to a proper place for him, he cannot be left in the jail with the other criminals, he was a minor, a kid after all, the room was just changed a bit, the door was replaced by long black bars, and there were bars covering the outside of the long window on the wall across the door, the furniture were his bed, a chair and table, a mirror on the wall next to the table. And there was a bathroom.

And now he was watching the sunrise through his window, and Ruddiger was curled near him, Varian inhaled deeply, another day of work was about to begin, he released his breath and took his raccoon in his hands, he stroked the fur of the little critter tenderly, "Hey, Ruddiger," the raccoon peered up at his owner, the look on Varian's face made him sad, ears went down, waiting for him to finish, "I…Sorry for scaring you, again," Varian spoke calmly, then finally looked down at his friend to see his reaction, the raccoon slowly climbed up to Varian's shoulder, then chittered lightly, a bright expression on his furry face as in saying that he's not bothered. Varian couldn't help but crack a smile to his little companion as the critter rubbed his head against the boy's freckled cheek, then he leaned slightly to the critter's comfort, eyes closed in peace. Frankly, Ruddiger was the best thing to happen to him, the loyal animal chose to stay by Varian's side, comforting him and trying to help as much as he can, even after all what happened, when Varian didn't find anyone on his side, this little buddy stayed, even after what Varian himself done to the raccoon, which was something the boy really regretted, Ruddiger knew that Varian wasn't in his sense when he did so. Ruddiger knew that Varian needed help, but in the right way. But the raccoon also couldn't hide his feeling of guilty, for he has a hand, or a paw, in Varian's imprisonment, but the worst would have happened if the raccoon didn't do it. Varian looked down in shame, he also had his own feeling of guilty, actually this was the only thing that he regrets, he felt bad for the raccoon to be locked here with him. Ruddiger has done nothing wrong! By his own well at least, and now he's paying for Varian's actions. The boy huffed and scratched the back of Ruddiger's ear, the only thing that he can do to show his gratitude is to care more and show more compassion toward his little friend, his only friend.

But then something hit his mind, he looked down at the floor, the shattered glass and ceramic there, the more he looked the more confusing it gets, his eyes narrowed in examining. "H- how did this all happen?" he asked his little friend, Ruddiger only gave a look of concern and shook his head, his was asleep when it happened. If a cup near him was shattered he wouldn't be confused, maybe he kicked it in his sleep or something, but it was everything breakable in his room, everything, even the mirror, it was still on the wall though, but it was cracked with little pieces on the ground. Everything was shattered, and not in place. The cup on his table was now broken near the window, the plate too was near the door, there was even a small vase with flowers, it was on the table but now it was somehow under it, that one really terrified him.

Varian was a human of logic, he couldn't accept the idea that something abnormal happened, he didn't want to accept it, special to him, he hated magic and anything related to it, it wasn't actual hate, at first he didn't believe in magic, being ' a man of science ', but then magic became the reason his plan failed, then he hated it from the bottom of his cold cracked heart, and he will not trust magic again, good or bad, he will never trust it again.

Suddenly he gasped, his hand searched his head in a panic, Ruddiger jumped on the bed from the sudden action, then Varian began searching on his bed, the sheets were thrown to the ground, then the pillow, then he was relieved, relieved to find his goggles save under his pillow, not shattered like the rest of his stuff.

His fingers graced the round glass, his reflection appearing on it, he looked awful with his hair sticking in all the directions and the bags under his eyes, said fear has forbidden him from sleep, every time he would try to get some rest, every time he's woken up by terrifying nightmares, he preferred to avoid them by avoiding the sleep. He sighed, exhausted he was, then held his goggles close to his chest. After a moment, he looked down at Ruddiger by his side, then patted the critter's head. "Guess it's another boring day, buddy, who knows, maybe I'll finish Monty's stupid sweet shifter, and give him a little extra surprise, " Varian smirked in mockery, Ruddiger didn't like how it sounds, he tilted his head in disapproval, the raccoon still didn't get used to Varian's new sarcastic cold self, though he knows the boy's true colors, oh how much he missed the cheerful happy helpful alchemist, Ruddiger knew that Varian would have been so delighted to do such useful services to the kingdom, he would have been so happy to help people, but not now, not after what happened, not in this situation.

Then Varian stood up to get ready for his day at work, the boy has his high place between criminals, he can't let people see him like that.

Words Count: 3128.

This was hard, but so fun at the same time. Question tho, do you think my writing style is good?