-At this point I want to thank Talis Ruadair without who I couldn't have written the scene at the Paper Lantern

-Also sorry that I didn't use direct discourse in that passage, but I'm no native English speaker and have my problems writing in accent -_-°

-This chapter is not really eventful, but I need to build up something for the final part of the story to fit into here

-Although it might appear that way in this chapter this will be no Layla/Warren fic, I just felt like he got along with her best in the movie o_Ô

Warren tried to focus, collect his thoughts, concentrate on the problem in hand, but it was not easy with all that happened, and that woman asking him questions in something that, with some fantasy, resembled English.

He had done as the Commander told him, he had taken a shower, adjusted his hair, dressed in some decent clothes he had beforehand bought, and looked for a job.

It was only half a week after he had moved into the apartment that would be his home now, it was only ten minutes from the Stronghold's own home, to make their job easier as Jetstream had put it the first time she visited.

He didn't find it difficult to take care of himself, although he sometimes felt a sting in his chest when he, once again, woke up to find every single room in the apartment abandoned.

But those thoughts were locked inside his chest, safe from bursting out, like he had done it with every memory of his parents having yet another argument, shouting at each other. After they finished his father would leave to drown his sorrows, which Warren was sure he had, along with himself in drink after drink.

Warren told himself that he could just die if he concerned himself with these things, these emotions, so he kept his apathetic expression, which he had developed when he had ran away, stayed calm and did what he had to do.

Again, the woman had to repeat her question, obviously pissed off already, but Warren couldn't back down now. He had to get this job, at least until he was legal and could work somewhere officially. He repeated the question in his head, could he handle a lot of physical and mental stress at his young age?

He almost sneered, and only barely managed to retain his serious expression, telling the woman that it certainly wouldn't be a problem for him.

He had been lucky that this restaurant had been in need for a waiter, since not many placed would have hired a fourteen years old for these kind of jobs.

"The Paper Lantern", a Chinese family business, was a lot nicer than Warren had expected, the red interior decoration and lanterns created a nice mood, even though Warren would never admit that he actually cared about things like that.

And again, Warren didn't quite understand what the small Chinese woman in the green and white clothes asked him, he promised himself to learn whatever accent of Chinese she was speaking, given that they would actually hire him.

And then it was over and Warren had a job, returning to his new home he felt relief, since now he wouldn't have to look for yet another workplace, which was a depressingly boring task.

As soon as he passed the front door he turned off all lights, undressed and went to bed, there was nothing to do for him anyways.

Flowers, the grass beneath him, even the sky above him, all sent strange sensations through his body, making him dizzy and tired.

"Warren", this voice... ,"Warren where are you?"

Was that a dream? Again?

IF this was a dream and he knew it was a dream he would be able to wake, Warren was sure of that, so he tried.

Think of waking up didn't do anything, so he tried shutting his eyes, but his lids wouldn't move at his command.

He sat up, then stood, and watched as a person spotted him, dressed in a green T-shirt and Jeans, the red hair flowing down her back as she walked towards his stand.

This woman again, Layla, who had an eerie resemblance to the girl he had met at the Stronghold's place.

"I was looking for you, we need to go now!", her voice was without anger, sounding only a bit rushed.

"Sorry, I fell asleep", his own voice, only it sounded deeper, rougher as if...

If he was older, did that mean that the person in front of him was Layla, only older herself?

Now that he recalled it, he had only seen her after he had met her, still, what was with the voice?

He was sure he had heard that voice even before he had met Layla that one time.

Again, the world went dark, as if somebody turned out the light, streams of red were flowing around him as the horizon died, screaming in agony.

And there it was again, the other voice, dark and menacing: "Warren, just as I expected. You are a bit late don't you think?"

The sun rose, finally, expelling all shadows of the night, and enabling Warren to rise from his bed.

He left the apartment, not wanting to stay in those rooms for too long, and began to hike through the city, aimlessly, only for the sole reason to be on the move.

After a while he noticed that he had actually returned to the district that Stronghold lived in, maybe he could just pay the family a visit, so that none of them would have to check on him later.

As he approached the house he felt himself being watched when the feeling became more urgent he turned, suddenly facing a boy he had never seen before.

Peroxide blonde, short hair, contrasting his reddish skin, wearing a lemon shirt and white pants.

Warren despised wearing white, and the look that kid gave him was already pissing him off, so he turned again and left towards his destination.

"Hey, you!", he probably didn't mean Warren. "Hey, oily hair! You with the black clothes, hey!"

With a glare Warren turned and noticed the kid flinching for a second before regaining his confidence.

"I saw you at the Strongholds house the other day and I just want to make sure you know something."

Warren raised a brow and waited, when the other boy didn't continue he silently turned and motioned to walk away, but was stopped again by a yell.

"I hadn't finished! Now, what I want you to know is that you have no chance of being Will Strongholds buddy since I have that spot booked", he grinned when Warren turned again, "Now that was all, just wanted you to know."

Warren eyed the white kid for a moment, pondering how he should respond, then turned around without showing any reaction and finally continued walking, hearing the boy shouting after him: "You can run, but you know you have no chance!"

When he arrived he found the house dead-still, with no sign of life at all. He almost facepalmed, of course Jetstream and the Commander would be working by now since it was Thursday, with an annoyed growl he turned around, once again standing face to face with a certain kid, clad in white, staring at him from a small distance.

"Will is not here, he is off with his friend, Layla", the boy said with a smug voice, "I guess you didn't know that, did you."

A sudden urge to roast that kid on the spot rose inside of Warren, just one more reason...

"Time to clear off, mate"

Warren was already clenching a fist to send that annoying kid into oblivion, just when he heard a shout: "Hey, Zach, what are you doing?"

He knew that voice, the voice of a girl...

"Hey, Will! You're back!"

He followed Zach's glance and saw Layla striding towards them, the Stronghold kid at her side.

"Oh, hi Warren", she waved at him one she noticed him, Will in return froze, obviously not stoked at seeing him, "What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to check if Stronghold was here."

Layla looked confused and answered: "Well he is here now, what did you want from him?"

"Not him", Warren huffed, "His parents."

Layla had reached them, ignoring Zach, who greeted Will once he brought himself to move closer to the group.

"Well that makes a lot more sense, but they're at work."

Warren snorted: "Well yeah, I figured that much."

"You want to join us this time? We're going to stay at my place", Layla beamed, which caused Warren to falter, suddenly back in his dream, standing on the pasture with the older Layla in front of him.

The moment passed and Warren snapped out of his delusion, starring at the girl and trying to regain focus.

"No.. I'd rather return home", he felt sick, maybe he had caught something when he had traveled in those stinking trains.

Once he had returned he fell into a deep sleep, despite the fact that it was only midday, he dreamed of shifting worlds full of dust and plants, only waking when his buzzer reminded him that it was time for work.

-that's it for today, I will probably finish one chapter more this week, then I have holidays and lots of time to write