Some Haziness

Devin was about to push his way through the hundreds that crowded the entrance, but Sam stopped him. He pulled him to one of the houses close by.

He saw a ladder next to it and he decided that climbing onto the roof of the house was better than pushing their way through the crowd.

He quickly climbed up and helped Devin hold the ladder in place. He pulled Devin onto the roof and from that spot, they could see most of the compound. Rick sat between his parents as people came over to congratulate them. Most of these people were prominent in the town, and each of them brought a gift.

"Mayor Morrison has at least one more term ahead of him" Devin stated.

"Indeed" Sam replied in the same tone.

He understood the thought that led to this conclusion. Given the fact that awakening an element put a person on the path of an astral warrior, there had t be some merit for awakening it early, or a crowd of this size would not have formed around the house.

"I still haven't felt anything from the potion," Devin complained. "Have you felt anything?"

Sam shook his head. What potion? Could that be the reason he lost part of his memory? He was missing a lot of information and he had no idea how to get the answers he needed.

The whole thing had turned into one big ceremony, and the two of them had a clear view of it from their place on the roof of the house. It was only when it got dark that they finally left the place. They bid each other farewell and Sam walked home.

Stepping into the house, he felt that whatever was missing from his memory was an essential part, one he had to remember as it would explain a lot.

He was still considering this when he walked into his room and crashed onto the bed. The moment he hit the bed, his eyes glazed and he passed out. It was so instantaneous that when he opened his eyes, for a moment he was confused.

He found that he could see nothing in the darkness. He felt the coldness seeping into his bones, and the desolate feeling the place gave snapped him out of the confused state.

He remained calm despite the darkness. He guessed that this was likely a dream. The emptiness bothered him and it was starting to get on his nerves. After a few moments, he could not bear the silence anymore and shouted, "Hello. Is anyone there?"

He heard nothing. He could not even hear his voice. This was surprising and he tried again. He decided to go all out, but no sound came out. It felt like the darkness devoured the sounds he made.

This feeling was stifling and it made him uncomfortable. Just before he lost it, he found himself on the ground, face first. He could almost hear the cracking sounds his back made when this happened. Unsurprisingly, the pain that came with it made him scream, but same as before, no sounds came out.

He had no time to think about his situation before he felt his mind skip and the next second, he felt the soft feeling of his mattress.

He had been kicked out. He opened his eyes to see light coming in through the window. The moon had risen and while he appreciated the return to light, he was deep in thought.

What was that place? Why did it feel like nothing existed there? Was it just a dream? What was that pressure and why was the pain so real? Many questions ran through his mind at that moment and he had no answers to them, and it wasn't until he tried to sit up that he noticed a problem.

The moment he pushed himself up, painful shocks ran up his body, forcing him to lie down. The pain came so suddenly that he grunted.

Touching his back, he felt nothing until he touched the middle of his back, right on his spine. The moment his fingers touched that spot, the jolts returned and forced him to quickly remove his hand. Another bizarre part of all this was the spot that caused the pain. It was the same as the spot that cracked earlier.

As he had just experienced this, he felt the situation was too suspicious. Was it the injury that formed the basis of the dream or vice versa?

Thinking about the fantastical things he had seen today, he could not write off the possibility, although he leaned more toward the first proposition; the wound affected his dream.

If that was the case, then how did he get the wound?

This question was the main point. If he knew what caused the wound, he would have his answer, but the wound was not going to tell him that and thinking through everything he did in the day showed no clues.

He tried again and the pain that tore across his back made him give up on that plan. He could not move, so his mind was soon filled with random thoughts and soon, he fell asleep. It wasn't until the next day when his biological clock went off that he finally woke up.

He saw light streaming into the room. It was dawn and the town was waking up. There was a clock on the wall and the time showed he had to leave for school in a few hours.

However, one thing stood out to him. During the night, he had turned and was now lying on his back. He lightly touched his back, prepared for the pain, but it never came. He pressed harder, but the result stayed the same; there was no pain.

He sat up slowly, worried that it might just be because he laid face up. But he was soon jumping and yet, there was nothing.

Was it a dream, he couldn't help asking himself. To be completely sure, he laid face down and tried to stand up, and he felt nothing. It was all bizarre and it bothered him.

Thinking about it for a few seconds, before he abandoned the thought. This was what he did; he preferred to keep thoughts in the back of his mind, rather than obsess over them. Over the years, he found that these thoughts had a way of resolving themselves over time.

A few hours later, he was in class; he had arrived early. There were some students in the class already, most of them standing in a group discussing things while the others were alone like him.

He saw Eyva the moment he entered the class. She had a blank look on her face when he looked at her. She was surrounded by some students but just as he looked away when he saw a figure standing behind her.

The figure was slightly taller than she was, shrouded in smoke and faint like it was made of mist. He blinked, confused by the sight, until it faded away a moment later. He noticed that he had stopped walking and quickly looked away, walking to his seat.

He had questions from the day before and this was an addition to it, albeit a lot easier to dismiss. He felt it was a remnant of his imagination.

Coming to this conclusion, he discarded the thought leaving a question in its place: What caused me to imagine something like that?

He quickly picked up the topic of discussion. The students were discussing Rick's awakening and Eyva who was the bearer of all their gossip still wore a blank look. Since this was the situation, he turned away and laid his head on the table, dozing off a moment later.

He woke up to the sound of students cheering, so he raised his head. Rick walked into the class with a triumphant smile on his face. He was pleased with the reaction from the students and looked at Sam with a smile before he turned to Eyva who still maintained a blank look.

He walked up to her and suddenly got down on one knee before pledging. "This knight is at your service," He said, glancing at Sam as he did so. He found that Sam had simply gone back to sleep, ignoring him completely.

Let's see how you fare. I have awakened and you have not. You can only be crushed by me

Despite these thoughts, he still had a smile on his face as he and the class waited for Eyva's response. She looked him deep in the eye and rejected him with the simplest statement…

"No"

Most of the students grimaced when they heard the rejection. While Eyva had always rejected his advances, she had never said that word to the impact it had at this moment. Her voice was cold and simple, bringing the feeling that a massive gate was slammed shut in Rick's face.

His face fell and he stood up. The class was silent as they waited to see if Rick was going to break down. However, that breakdown never came because he suddenly smiled widely before declaring in the most impactful voice he could muster.

"As you wish. I remain your knight and will work for your acceptance" He declared.

It was dramatic and most of the students cheered for it.

On the other hand, Sam looked at Rick again and his eyes narrowed. Why was it also showing up there?