New Year’s Special

This first memory begins on December 31, 20XX when His Highness William Philip of the House of Meelia was only six years old. According to tradition, the royal families of Wisteria had a ball to celebrate the New Year. The ball actually began on New Years Eve and ended exactly at the last stroke of midnight. After the New Year began, they all returned to their kingdoms and celebrated the rest of New Year's day with their people.

Such traditions were carried out to establish and reaffirm the bond between each and every royal family. This ensured peace and gave everyone hope that they would have a pleasant year. A representative from every state in Wisteria usually went to the party as well to show solidarity with this old tradition and for networking purposes. With everyone attending, there were bound to be some rivalries and disagreements involved.

To settle this matter, kids were allowed to attend the parties, after all, who would want to set a bad example for the impressionable children around. This may sound strange, but guilt tripping politicians into behaving actually worked most of the time. When it didn't, security was always on sight.

For Wisterians, the New Years ball was always a time of happiness and peace, but for little William, it was the one day of the year when everyone's eyes were on him. As one of the youngest royals in Wisteria, William was always the center of attention at the New Year's party. Everyone adored him. Adults, kids, royals, politicians, guards, servants. Everyone loved little William, and William loved the attention.

This year was different, though. He usually had Kylian by his side, but Kylian and his family weren't present as a ball wasn't the proper place for a sick two-year-old named Aimee. William had already met Kylian's little sister, so he semi-understood why he couldn't be there to soak up all of the attention with him. It didn't really matter to him. Nothing did, as long as he got his attention.

He patiently waited behind the grand ballroom doors as the royal families' arrivals were being announced. Firstly, the royal family of the West were announced with King Anoki and Queen Winona gracefully entering the ballroom. They were followed by their three sons: Princes Cheyton (16), Jared (13), Gustavo(10), and their adorable only daughter, Princess Awan (7).

William heard the swoons that followed Awan's little curtsy and imagined them ten times louder for his own entrance. However, he would have to wait for the Eastern royal family to be introduced. Empress Si-eun strided elegantly into the ballroom alongside her husband, Prince Consort Chung-Ae. Their eleven-year-old daughter, Princess Ahn-Jong, who mimicked her mother's footsteps almost perfectly, followed patiently behind.

Some said that the empress smiled at the sight of her daughter mimicking her, but most doubted it since no one outside of the royal families had ever seen her smile before. William, however, was convinced he would be the one to show the world her smile after he wooed everyone his "charm". After all, he was one of the youngest royals present. He was bound to get all the attention he craved.

And indeed he did. The swoons and "awws" that followed the entrance of the Meelia royal family were music to the six-year-old's ears. Crispus (13) held his younger brother's hand and proudly followed their parents into the ballroom. If King Ackley and Queen Evangeline were not announced before their sons, most would have probably forgotten that they were there.

It didn't matter to William though. He was finally getting all the attention he wanted. All eyes were on him and everyone loved him. What more could he ask for? He beamed his bright smile at every camera present as walked over to his seat, which was directly below his mother's. He smiled all the while the hosts of the party were announced: the South's royal family.

King Winston glided into the room with his wife, Queen Letitia, at his side. Although his cold, stern expression did not change, the queen's warm smile melted away the icy atmosphere the reigning monarch brought. Behind them, their oldest children followed with the oldest princes, Prince Lameckus (15) and Prince Spencer (11), on opposite sides of the oldest princess, Princess Mahogani (13).

William paid them no mind since none of the cheers that followed them were nearly as loud as the ones he received. He didn't care for their entrance until the volume of the palace almost shattered his ears. He turned to the staircase to see who could've produced such a gargantuan cheer, and that's when he saw Princess Celestia Mariah (3) in the arms of an unknown child.

William turned to his brother and did his best to whisper as he asked him who the girl was. He was shushed by their mother and told to listen as Princess Kiara Elesius (7) was introduced to everyone present. William couldn't see her well because of the distance between them, but he could hear the cheers and swoons that her presence brought to the ballroom.

Unluckily for the little attention seeker, the mystery princess was seated on the other side of their table, next to Princess Ahn-Jong. He tried standing on his chair to peer over everyone's heads, but his father saw him and gave him a stink eye before he could. The young prince sat back down, ready to throw a tantrum, but a camera flashing was all it took to put a smile back on his face.

He then lost interest in the mysterious girl since his one dream was coming true: he was getting the attention he craved. The party carried on as a success in William's terms until he realized that someone else was getting more attention than he was. He stomped over to the cameras that were all gathered around and saw Kiara standing there, trembling.

He grabbed her by the hand and walked right onto the dance floor with her. He started dancing with her, but she didn't do it well. She kept on stepping on his toes and wasn't getting any of the twirls right either. Annoyed, William dragged her over to his brother, who was talking with the other royals his age and demanded that he taught Kiara to dance.

Crispus was taken aback by his brother's demand, but William insisted that she couldn't twirl well and was continuously stepping on his foot. Prince Jared encouraged William to be patient with Kiara, but he refused. He threatened to tell everyone how Kiara couldn't dance if Crispus didn't teach her. Princess Ahn-Jong then swooped in and picked up the shy princess and offered to teach her.

William approved of the idea, thinking that everyone would focus on him again instead of a camera-shy, mystery princess. Ahn-Jong asked William to deliver a small piece of paper to the conductor and he obediently did so and rushed back to the table. He watched on as Ahn-Jong taught Kiara the wrong steps to the song. He went to tell her she was teaching her the wrong dance, but Cheyton stopped him and told him to watch carefully.

The song ended and it was followed by a slower, Eastern song that he had seen Ahn-Jong dance to once at one of her recitals. He turned to them and watched them glide to the middle of the dance floor and curtsy to each other. The conversation in the room died down along with the lights and all eyes were on the two princesses.

At first, Ahn-Jong did the dance she had briefly taught Kiara beautifully, but Kiara stood there frozen, most likely in fear. She looked around the room at everyone around her and her eyes met William's. He put his fingers on his cheeks and encouraged the young princess to smile. She laughed at the goofy face he had made and her smile was blinding.

Soon the shy princess was gliding elegantly beside the graceful daughter of the empress. She smiled at Ahn-Jong and she smiled back at her as they mirrored each other's movements. William stood in awe at the sight of the young princess replicating every dance move perfectly. He felt something fluttering in his stomach and told his brother about it.

Crispus just laughed at his brother's comment as the room erupted in applause. With cameras flashing, clapping, and whistling all around towards someone else in the room going around, William then thought of something other than attention for the first time. He thought of that weird feeling in his stomach, and how it got worse every time he looked at Kiara's smile.

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The next memory belongs to a five-year-old Louis Johanssenn, who had run out of excuses to avoid the New Year's party that he heard about every single year. He practically begged his father's secretary to get him out of going to the party, but he couldn't skip it any longer.

The morning of New Year's Eve, he pretended to be sick in an attempt to miss the party, but one of his guards offered to duel him with (fake) swords and the young child jumped at the idea. However, he soon jumped back into bed when he realized they had discovered his farce. How could he have fallen for something so stupid? Louis beat himself up the whole day as he thought of different ways to outsmart everyone.

He tried pretending to be bitten by his pet german shepherd, but the butlers saw through this trick as the gentle dog couldn't hurt anyone if it tried. Louis tried to show that the dog could hurt him if he wanted it to by sticking his hand in the dog's mouth. The confused pup gently held his master's little hand in his mouth until Louis's guard found him and took him to the car.

As he was being carried through the mansion, a maid called out to Louis and showed a tie in her hand. The centerpiece of his outfit. Louis used that as an opportunity to be released and ran up the stairs to the balcony where the maid fastened his tie. She patted him down a bit before the guard called Louis downstairs, so they could go.

Louis eyed the railing on the balcony that was connected to the railing on the stairs before climbing onto it. Everyone immediately yelled for him to get down, but the rebellious child jumped onto the chandelier and began to swing on it. The butlers and maids below him were evacuated as the guard begged Louis to get down. He ignored them and kept on swinging until he heard the chain of the chandelier creak.

He told the guard it was creaking, and the guard ran up the stairs to pull him down from the veranda. Louis suddenly realized what kind of peril he was in and got scared. He relayed his feelings to the guard and he told him to just keep swinging towards the railing. He did what he was told, but his hand just couldn't reach the guard's.

They tried several times to reach for Louis, but by this time Louis's father, Gilbert, had come in to see what was going on. At their last attempt, the guard reached as far as he could for Louis and as he did, the chandelier lowered. The guard yelled for the chandelier to be stopped before it landed on Gilbert, but the momentum of the sudden brake simply broke the chain.

Louis fell off the chandelier, but the guard grabbed him before he could hurt himself while simultaneously using his magic to push Louis's father out of harm's way in the knick of time. When Louis opened his eyes, he was in the guard's arms. He wasn't hurt at all, but the same couldn't be said about the guard.

An ambulance was called and most of the mansion's staff was dismissed. Gilbert called Louis to go along with him to the same party that he had been dreading to go to. He only remembered the party when his father asked him if the stunt he pulled to avoid the party was worth it in the end.

He didn't mean for all that to happen. He didn't mean to hurt Thomas like that. He didn't mean to hurt anybody. He just didn't want to go. He didn't want to go to that place full of people with fake smiles and fake laughs. He didn't want to be surrounded by adults that pinch him and drag him to dark corners. Especially since Thomas wouldn't be there to save him from the dark corners.

Thomas wouldn't be there to make him laugh. Thomas wouldn't be there to tell him which fork to use, what to eat, to flush the toilet for him. Thomas was in the hospital because of what Louis did. Because Louis was being a bad boy who didn't deserve Thomas. Thomas was gonna leave like mom because Louis had been bad. Thinking about that made Louis sad. Very much so at that.

It made him so sad that he didn't even realise that he had arrived at the party that he hated so. Gilbert's secretary held Louis's hand as they walked into the ballroom and were bombarded with pictures and adults. Adults with microphones. Adults with cameras. Adults with expensive clothes. Adults with weird hair. Adults with scary claws (long nails). And worst of all, adults with fake smiles.

Louis squeezed his father's secretary's hand tightly as they made it passed the paparazzi and finally into the party. They walked over to a table, but Louis didn't see who was at the table since he stared at shoes as he was walking. He didn't notice the other little boy on the table until a little face popped out in front of him and scared little Louis.

The toddler giggled as Louis almost cried after being scared by her. Her older brother finally came over and picked the little spooker up. Louis expected to hear an apology from the older boy, so he angrily looked up to meet the boy, who said nothing. Instead he kept waving his hands in weird ways in front of Louis's face, which angered him.

However, he was shushed by his father before he could yell at the big kid and told to face the ballroom doors. He watched as the royal children all descended onto the dance floor, gracefully. He watched as all the adults with their fake smiles took pictures with their big cameras. He started to feel nauseous as he saw the smiles increasing all around him.

He then felt someone rub his back and turned to see the rude boy from earlier who didn't apologize. He was still mad that the boy didn't apologize, but he was also grateful that he noticed and was helping him out. He sat next to the boy and his scary little sister and the boy pulled out a small board. Louis looked at him questioningly as the rude boy ignored him and drew on the board.

His confusion turned into anger as he snatched the board away from the boy and told him off for being rude. Louis expected him to cry the same way he cried when he was being scolded, but the boy simply pointed to the board the whole time, unfazed by the five-year-old's lecture.

The board read, "I am sorry about earlier. My sister likes to scare people." Louis looked at the board and then looked at the boy before saying that he wouldn't forgive the boy until he apologized. Out loud. He shook his head and pointed towards the board. Louis waved the board in the air as he asked the boy why he wouldn't talk. He suddenly felt someone rip the board out of his hands from behind and fell over as a result.

"He can't talk." one of the royal children said to Louis as he handed the board back to the rude boy. Louis pointed out how rude he was being by just ripping the board out of his hands. The royal boy just pulled Louis up from the ground and told him how the adults would come over if he kept yelling like he was, and that shut him up for a while.

The royal child's name was William, the rude boy's name was Kylian and his terrifying little sister was Aimee. Turns out Kylian wasn't rude, he just couldn't speak. No matter how hard he tried the words just never came out. According to William, Kylian was born like that and couldn't help it. William and Kylian started to wave their hands around each others' faces again when Aimee latched herself onto Louis's leg.

He picked up the infant and told her that she could stay up if and only if she didn't scare him. Louis then turned to William and asked him why he was waving his hands around. Apparently it was Kylian's favourite way to communicate: sign language. Louis thought that they were lying to him, so they all went over to the bigger royals and Kylian spoke to them in sign language.

The idea of speaking to someone without making a sound baffled and intrigued the young lad, and soon Kylian was teaching him how to say different things in sign language. His interest soon fled to Princess Ahn-Jong's native tongue that he heard as she was speaking to her security guard. He was soon sitting with her as she read him her favorite children's book.

Soon enough, Princes Jared and Cheyton caught the five-year-old's attention with colourful cloths they had brought along with them. The explosion of colour fascinated the little boy and he even stopped thinking about the fake smiles. He ran around the palace with his new friends and they brought chaos for the palace staff wherever they went. It was the best day of Louis's life, until it was time to go back home.

Louis suddenly didn't want to leave the palace or his friends. For the first time ever, he didn't want to go back home. He trembled in his little shoes as he told his father this. He had never talked back to his father. He was always afraid that he would leave him like his mother if he did. He didn't want to lose him too.

The little five-year-old began to cry as his father picked him up and walked out of the room with him. Once out of the royals' sight, he put his son down and asked him if he loved his friends more than he loved him. Louis denied it. He just wanted to play with them for longer, that was all. Gilbert embraced Louis as he told him that he could stay over.

The little child squeezed his father back as he warned him to be a good boy and not hurt anyone like he did earlier. He promised to go see Thomas in the hospital with him later, and told him to have enough fun for two years.

Why two? Because Louis hated New Year's parties. Gilbert smiled at his child's reaction, but the smile didn't scare Louis. It made him feel happy instead.

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Kylian's most vivid memory of the New Year was on December 31, 20XX, when he was eight years old. It's memorable because it was the first time he didn't want to go to the party. He didn't want to be around happy people and their families. He didn't want to see the children running around and being loud. He didn't want any of it. He just wanted to stay home with his mom. If it wasn't for Aimee, he would've stayed home forever.

Kylian knew his father didn't want to go either, but he also knew that it would've been harder for him to go in the first place if he said anything. He remained quiet about the elephant in the room and instead talked with his father about things that most adults wouldn't understand. He understood them, though. He understood them because he was the smart, level-headed, strong older brother.

They arrived at the palace of the East in a timely manner and greeted everyone with smiles on their faces. All the adults at the party knew that Kylian was mute, so they never mentioned anything when he simply bowed to them or shook their hands. This was the way it always was. They all whispered to each other about his disability after they passed him, and all Kylian could do was want to tell them that he could hear them, but he couldn't. That's not what a level-headed person would do.

All the royals arrived and were all announced to the ballroom as usual and everything was going smoothly until the Empress rose and said, "My condolences to you Antoine and Kylian Louvre for the loss of the youngest member of your family. Aimee was an angel and brought love and light into all of our lives. I could only imagine what you are going through. My heart is to you and your family."

All the other kings present said something similar, but Kylian's brain stopped responding shortly after the Empress began speaking. He felt like he had gone deaf. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't see or feel anything either. The sound of his father responding to the royals snapped him out of his daze fast enough for him to thank them for their warm wishes.

His ears then became hyper sensitive as the clapping filled the room. What else could they do but clap? They were all just following suit. That was a natural response to such words. He was used to it. So why? Why did he feel so agitated? Why did he feel this way? What could he do to make this feeling go away? This horrible feeli-

Kylian's dark thoughts were all clouded away by a loud, sharp, bossy voice that belonged to the son of the Chancellor of Avstrija. Louis's familiar tone helped Kylian bury those thoughts inside his head and even helped that feeling of resentment inside of him subside. Kylian remembered why he went to these New Year's parties. It was because of them: William, Louis, and Kiara.

They were his best friends in the whole of Wisteria. They always made him feel better about himself when he was down. Whether it was William and Louis arguing, or William yelling at Kiara, or Louis yelling at William for yelling at Kiara, they always made him smile. He wasn't sure if they did it intentionally, but everything they did made him smile.

The New Year's Eve balls had gotten pretty rowdy with the addition of children, so the adults arranged games to keep them out of the main ballroom. Last year, the game was hide and seek with a grand prize of a year's supply of candy. To make sure no one wandered off during the game, the adults paired the kids up and gave them colour coordinated wristbands with numbers.

The pairs had to stick together as the two oldest royals, Lameckus (16) and Cheyton (17), who were paired up with the two youngest, Kingus (1) and Celestia (4), looked for them. If only one part of a pair was found, the game automatically ended, so splitting up wasn't a good idea. The best tactic was to stay in the one spot that none of them could check. A place where even adults wouldn't check.

As the returning champion, Kiara got to pick her hiding partner first. Louis tried using reverse psychology on her by telling her not to pick him, so she didn't pick him. To everyone's surprise, the princess chose Kylian as her partner instead of Princess Ahn-Jong, like she usually did. Louis tried using his reverse psychology trick on Ahn-Jong and William as well and ended up pairing them together.

Kylian studied the competition before the game began and picked out his biggest contentions: William and Ahn-Jong, Louis and Jared, Awan and Mahogani, Spencer and Gustavo, as well as the main seekers: Lameckus & Kingus, and Cheyton & Celestia.

William and Ahn-Jong were both very headstrong people and hated being told what to do, but they both excelled at teamwork and putting the competition itself above everything else. Kiara and Ahn-Jong were close, but the feeling of victory was on par with Kiara's warm embraces.

Louis and Jared were both extremely lively, but the difference comes in enthusiasm. Louis was competitive when it came to anything with a reward, while Jared really couldn't care less.

Awan and Mahogani were both quiet people, but they were also extremely articulate and prospered in calculating advantages and disadvantages. The upper hand they had was that Mahogani hated losing to Kiara, so she most likely was determined to beat her after she lost the year before.

Spencer and Gustavo were polar opposites, but they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses like the backs of their hands. Spencer was excruciatingly athletic, but equally impatient. Gustavo, on the other hand, had all the patience in the world, but no athletic ability whatsoever to go with it.

The main seekers were their toughest competitors. There was a reason why the two oldest couldn't compete in the games. For starters, Lameckus prided himself on being the first magician amongst the royal children. Moreover, having Thoth, the god of wisdom, at your disposal wasn't fair. Cheyton, on the other hand, knew all the children better than they knew themselves. He knew exactly where to and not to hide.

Though they're the youngest, Celestia and Kingus had a telepathic bond that allowed them to send signals to each other wherever they may be. Neither of them were magical in any way, but their telepathy made it difficult for anyone who was found to run away in time.

Crispus was the moderator and had to keep an eye on everyone. The rules said that he wasn't allowed to tell the seekers about where the others were, but a small bribery goes a long way. This was something Kylian knew and understood, and he knew that Kiara understood that as well. After all, she excelled at analyzing situations, no matter how complex they may seem.

Kylian enjoyed analyzing situations as well, but Kiara took his breath away every time. To others Kiara may seem dull and ignorant, but to Kylian, the young heir was observant, resourceful, and commendable in tactical situations. She didn't waste time worrying and simply just did what she felt was right. In this particular case, she felt the best way to win was to sabotage the other teams.

There was nothing in the rules that said that you are forbidden from sabotaging your opponents, so they weren't doing anything wrong. The only thing wrong with this plan was that Ahn-Jong and William were most probably doing the same thing. Their resolution? Out sabotage them and then lead them into a trap.

The plan worked perfectly. They used candy, money, jewels, and even some of Kiara's magic to trick the kids into revealing themselves to the seekers. They repeated the same tactic over and over and over again until it was down to the last two teams: Kylian & Kiara vs. Ahn-Jong & William. Coincidentally, both teams sabotaged Louis & Jared at the same time, eliminating them from the game.

Kylian and Kiara were running around the castle when Kiara suddenly grabbed him and pulled him into the palace garden. Kylian landed in a bush, and saw William come out to inspect the trap he had just laid for them. He hadn't even seen the trap! If it wasn't for Kiara, they would've lost the game then and there. Kylian turned to thank the quick-thinking princess, but he couldn't find her.

He searched around him frantically until he felt that lingering feeling from before coming back. The feeling slowly crept into his heart and he suddenly lost all of his senses again and he couldn't breathe. His body trembled as he gasped for air. He felt a lump in his throat that grew with every passing second until all he could see was light. Then he felt something warm.

Something gentle. He opened his eyes and saw his little Aimee hugging him tight and he could breathe again. He held her tight in his arms as he struggled to make out the sound "I'm sorry". She held him back even tighter and shushed him. She knew how painful it was for Kylian when he tried to talk, so she quietly held him in her arms. He apologized over and over again, but she remained silent.

She simply pulled his face up and looked in his little sister's dark brown eyes as she told him, "c'est bon maintenant. ça va. vous n'avez rien fait de mal. tu étais le meilleur frère aîné que je puisse demander. le moment est venu pour vous de devenir son frère aîné. je t'aime. maintenant ouvre les yeux."

When Kylian opened his eyes, he saw Kiara clinging to him, and motioned that he was fine. Kiara flashed her signature smile at him and he suddenly felt the tears he had been holding back all this time run down his face. Why? Why now? She left months ago. Why now?

Kiara must've seen the confusion on his face, since she just held him in his arms as he desperately cried out to his little sister. Aimee. This was Kylian's first New Year's without his sister since she was born. He was broken as you can see, but Kiara will be taking care of him in her place from now on. Aimee may now fly with the angels and not worry about her darling older brother.

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Unlike the previous flashbacks, Princess Kiara Elesius had no way of knowing that it was New Year's Eve. She didn't even know what New Year's Eve was. To the four-year-old who had spent the last 2 and a half years of her life in solitary confinement, this was just another starry night. Everyday looked the same to the princess. Waves crashing against the rocky shore of her lone island with seagulls crying outside the windows.

Although the princess received food three times a day, she was still malnourished as she shared most of it with her friends. Some days she shared half of it, sometimes three quarters. When she felt really lonely, she didn't eat anything at all. However she always counted the days until her birthday. Her papa would always bring her a cake and two cards.

She thought of her birthday as the New Year since it was on her second birthday that she was placed in her tower. She never really understood why she couldn't be around other people. She had a vague memory of her father calling her a word that she had only seen in her story books. A monster.

Kiara didn't want to be a monster. She just wanted to meet her family. She just wanted to hug them and say sorry to them, just like in her books. She wanted to apologize because you're supposed to apologize when you do something wrong. That's what her story books said. For an extended period of time, Kiara's story books were the only thing that kept her company in her lonely world. That was until he came.

One night, two years ago, a blonde man with gray eyes called out to the young princess from the bottom of her tower. She was frightened by the stranger and tried to hide under her small bed. Her big bed was taken away after she had a nightmare and almost hurt the guards outside with it. She didn't mean to, and she didn't even realize what she had done until papa yelled at her.

The four-year-old regretted that day since she could easily be seen under her new small bed that had been nailed to the ground. She tried to keep herself calm. Every time she wasn't calm, the man in the mask would come with his chains and put her in that dark box that she hated so. She tried her best to remain calm, but she got more and more frightened with every step she heard on the side of the tower.

She decided to grab one of her toys and confront the intruder. If she caught him, then father would be proud and she would leave the tower. She soon focused her attention on the silence that followed her grabbing her doll. The footsteps had ceased. She couldn't even hear the sound of his breathing. Did he fall? Kiara had no way of knowing. She called out to the mystery man and asked him if he was okay, but there was no answer.

She then panicked and ran over to her window and tried her best to peer down the steep wall that confined her. She tried leaning forward as far as she could, but she felt her hand slip at the last second. She fell out the window, head first. She felt herself fall and felt a darkness rush into her heart. She closed her eyes instinctively, but reopened them as she felt someone holding onto her arm.

She looked up and saw the blonde man, who looked scared, flustered, and angry all at the same time. He pulled her up back into the tower and lectured to her about safety and responsibility, but the two year old simply played with his hair. He soon gave up on the sermon and asked little Kiara where her mother was. Kiara pointed out the window, and so he asked her for her name.

He responded with, "You're kidding, right?" at hearing her mispronounce her own name. She vigorously shook her head at his question, but he got up to leave. Kiara, however, latched herself onto the man's leg and didn't let go until he agreed to stay with her for the night. Kiara felt a warmth that she had never felt before, and wondered why she was so comfortable with this stranger.

As the two year old drifted to sleep, four-year-old Kiara woke up from her dream about the past to see the blonde man from before. He dropped in to check on her whenever he could and he taught her new magic things every time he did. She called the man Jule and he called her Kia, and they were the only people in the whole of Wisteria who called them by that.

Kiara always enjoyed Jule's visits since he always brought a new book along with him. She enjoyed papa's childish books, but she loved the big ones with difficult words that Jule brought. They made her head hurt the first time she read them, but she slowly understood more and more of it as she kept on reading.

Jule and papa weren't the only ones who kept Kiara company, though. When both of them were busy, Kiara spent most of her days with the seagulls that landed on her window sill and the lovely family of mice that lived under her bed. Jule knew about the family of mice and scolded Kiara every time she fed them her food. However, one thing Jule could never remember was how every word went in one ear and went out the other of the four-year-old.

He brought the mice food to stop Kiara from sharing hers, but the mice shared their food with her and the cycle started all over again. The mice genuinely thought of Kiara as a part of their family, and the four-year-old didn't detest the idea. Jule knew how sick she could get from sharing her food with mice, but to his surprise, she never fell sick.

The reason why? The Dark Creator. Jule knew Kiara was the Dark Creator's magician, and knew how important it was for her to keep her magic in check. Kiara seldom understood her power and so took their magic lessons very seriously. Every time Jule visited he would leave with her having control of a new part of herself. That was the routine. He came in, he scolded her for feeding the mice, he taught her new magic, and left the book beside her as she slept. He always left when Kiara was asleep, and he always dropped in when she was asleep too.

This time was different though. Instead of teaching Kiara magic, he placed his hand on her head and told her to trust him. She did so in an instant, after all, she trusted Jule with her life. He smiled at her confession and the beaming smile that followed it before placing his hands on the floor below them.

The stone floor turned into white light and Kiara was soon floating above the light. She giggled and laughed as Jule held her hand and told her to try her best to keep her eyes open the entire time. She squeezed his hand back and she watched as the dreary, stone walls around her became intricate, colourful light shows all around her.

She reached out to touch the light and it became beautiful, glowing, dust in her hand when she did. Jule smiled at her as he told her that they were in the passage between worlds. Kiara didn't understand what that meant, but she enjoyed her ride to another world. Kiara hadn't seen much of her own world, so travelling to a new one was the experience of a lifetime for the young child.

When the passage came to an end, they were in a dark, barren landscape. The floor below them was just black dust and they would've fallen through the dust if it wasn't for Jule's magical feet circles. He led her to a clearing in the landscape that had a tree in the middle of it. Kiara reached out to the tree, but Jule pulled her back and told her to watch as a deer-like creature walked over to the tree and ate the green patch of grass under it.

As it was eating, a giant lion-like creature that was as tall as the tree itself came out of the shadows and stalked the deer. It slowly crept up on the absent-minded creature and pounced when the time was right. It mercilessly mauled the deer, ripping it limb from limb. The deer looked Kiara in her eyes and Kiara simply closed hers. The deer followed suit as it died in front of the four-year-old.

Jule asked her why she didn't do anything, but Kiara knew that she should never mess with the circle of life, no matter which world she was in. She had learned that in her book. Some people have to be sad in order for others to be happy, just like how some have to die for others to live. That was the way of life. You can't have light if there is no darkness to show it's there and you can't find darkness without light. They need each other to survive.

Jule stayed quiet for a short while before walking up a gigantic sand dune made of the same black dust. At the peak he told her how someone upset the balance of the world. It was up to her to fix it. Kiara looked at the darkness all around her and closed her eyes as she thought of the tree.

She pictured the trees everywhere and the deer and lion all around with other creatures she had never seen before. They all just appeared in her head, and when she opened her eyes, they were all there in front of her. Jule smiled as the four-year-old excitedly jumped around at the world she had made. He picked her up and put her on his shoulders and she saw everything she had made all around.

Kiara then felt the tears rolling down her face as she wished for everyone to see the world she had made. For them to see that she wasn't a monster. For a monster could never make something so beautiful.

Kiara yawned as she had exhausted herself fixing her first broken world. She asked Jule what he wanted to name the world, but he said it was better to let the inhabitants name it rather than the creator. She sleepily agreed and heard him say, "This year is gonna be different you know. A lot is going to happen, but don't worry. You'll have me beside you. Me and-"

Unfortunately, the child didn't hear the rest, but she imagined what a new year would bring.

~End of Part 1 of the New Year's Special~

~Part 2 will be out in 12 hours ...