Back to Aragon

The dream came again, just before the rain. He did not hear the rain. In his sleep the dream possessed him.

There was the clearing again, in a meadow covered in snow at the center of a huge forest somewhere in Aragon. Thomas emerged from the forest and walked slowly, and stopped as he reached the center of it. The clearing glowed in yellow light just like sun rays pouring down, by the ground, a pentagram is seen. Each end of the star glowed the brightest, and Thomas walked towards one of it. In his hand a pentagram appeared that glowed just like the marked spot he's at. Everything in the clearing is glowing.

From the other side of the clearing another four emerged, faceless, and walked towards the remaining spots. Just like Thomas, their hands glowed with the pentagram. A stele suddenly appeared in their left hands, glowing in a dull apricot.

The ground shake removes the snow covering the entire ground in the meadow, revealing a green and mossy grassland. Another shake happened, and the grassland turned into a frozen lake. The white-salt pentagram was changed into ash.

There were clattering of bombarding noises and the heaven opened, four angels flying down onto the clearing, standing by the remaining points in the pentagram. And they spoke in synchronization. "You are marked by heaven. Therefore, you are one of the originals." And the ground shook once again that broke the frozen lake, drowning the five onto the freezing water.

* * *

"Thom," Clarice shaking Thomas, trying to wake him from his nightmare. "Thom, wake up!"

Thomas opened his eyes and jolted up, breathless. Cold sweats in his forehead, cold creeps in his skin, like he was drowning, like the dream really did happen. He looked around and saw Clarice sitting in his bed beside him.

"What happened?" Clarice asked, worried. "You keep on having nightmares, Thom."

It is true that Thomas keeps having nightmares since then, the same dream for the whole week they stayed at the cabin. He didn't know the reason why this dream keeps on repeating, what he only got in his mind that it seems to keep on reminding him on something he didn't find to figure out.

This nightmare keeps on resurfacing for seven days straight, and Thomas' way of getting rid of it is through making himself busy – practicing getting used to transforming in his wolf form and vice versa to his human form, controlling his anger, physical training, and doing some rounds around the area before sleeping. And in those days, he barely had time to spend time with Clarice, and he would admit he is guilty. He would wake up from his nightmare with Clarice shaking him up, ignored her, took a bath, training himself, doing some rounds and sleep, the cycle repeated for days.

Thomas just stared at Clarice, feeling sorry, and nodded. "Same dream." He excused himself to take a bath, but Clarice followed until by the door.

"How many days will we stay here? I know you met the Spades and Octavian might have said something to you," Clarice started, leaning at the wall. "Just so you know, I need to go back. I also have a life back in Aragon. I-"

"A-aragon?!" Thomas asked, cutting off Clarice.

"It's my home, home for our kind, ho-"

Thomas cut her off again, and ordered with such authority. "Pack our things, we need to leave."

Clarice knew this tone so well and she couldn't do anything but to obey. Her instincts might be correct, she had a feeling that a part of the vision might come true today, and she had no worries of it. She had a great trust in Thomas and had a feeling that everything is going well this time.

This time, it didn't take long for Thomas to shower and changed. He was very thrilled at what he just figured out. He needed some help and he thought the Spade and Clarice could help him with his plan.

According to what Clarice had said, she needs to go home to Aragon and by that Thomas had a thought of figuring out that Aragon might be the same place in his dream, and going to Aragon will answer his pile of questions. He needs answers.

* * *

For a moment they arrived at the side of a secluded road with the help of Thomas' one of the new-figured abilities. For the past one week, Thomas figured out some hidden abilities during his physical training and one of those are teleporting and some of the abilities of a typical warlock. He knew for a fact that he's a hybrid and he knew Clarice knew it too and he had so much trust in her that she will never hand him out to anyone with interests in his identity.

Content that no mundane was around the area, Thomas raised his hand and his Civic appeared in front of them. Clarice looked at him at Thomas' suddenness of character but stayed and quiet, and continued observing his moves.

Thomas immediately seated in the driver's seat and Clarice on shotgun, and started to head to Sta. Monica's Chinatown. "We have to act like normal," Thomas started. "You being a witch while I'm going to stick to being a werewolf. We're going to meet Octavian and his pack, and they don't need to know my true identity. We don't know if we could trust them, we need to be cautious. I have a plan and it is somewhat related to the nightmares." He informed her.

Clarice just nodded. "I know," she answered. "I know you badly want to go to Aragon." And she continued to remain quiet, looking outside the car.

It would take one and a half hours in order to reach Sta. Monica and no one talked between the two. Thomas was relieved to stay as the way it is as he had a lot of thoughts running in his head, his questions kept increasing in numbers, his plan for the next few days as well as his back-up plans. He needed to think ahead as he needed to be tough in order to protect himself.

Thomas looked at his side and Clarice had fallen asleep, he held her left hand and smirked. "You're not asleep," he stated. "Stop pretending, what do you want to say?"

"You really have changed," Clarice chuckled. "The warlock in you keeps on resurfacing." When Thomas didn't respond and gave her a stern look, Clarice became serious. "I think you need to know what I had done from the beginning," she continued. "Five years ago, I had a vision of what's happening now, that would've been worse if I didn't alter some parts of the vision."

"As what I've known in myths, altering the past, present or future comes with great consequence," Thomas butted in, worried.

"There is," Clarice confirmed. "I took the risk because if I didn't, you wouldn't be here beside me."

"Why?"

"Why?!" Clarice questioned in disbelief. "Because you are important to me, and because a prophecy was given to me to make the Prophecy of Four to happen whatever hindrance may come." She looked at Thomas for such a reaction but couldn't find any, and continued to stare at him. "I erased Dena's memories to save her," she heaved a deep sigh. "Back to the time you were dealing with Marcus, I went to save her by all means the safest scenario I could think of. I put her into a set-up accident to make her lose her memories and did some back-up story to support it. I put your house on fire and put fake bodies for mundane to believe that all of you are dead and that Dena is going to be an orphan. And the rest is history…"

Thomas couldn't imagine how awful her sister might be feeling at the moment, but couldn't get away from the thought that someone had offered such great sacrifice for them.

"Thank you," Thomas sincerely said.

"If you want to visit her, I won't stop you," Clarice offered, trying to lighten the mood.

"You don't have to be sorry. I know what you did is only what's best for everyone."

"But I didn't say I am sorry," Clarice replied.

Thomas chuckled. "You lie, I know you felt sorry. Here…" Thomas snapped his finger and an ice cream tub appeared on Clarice's lap that made her laugh. "It's the least I could do for now."

* * *

The moment Thomas stopped the car in front of a Chinese restaurant, Láng Qún, the atmosphere within the area changed. Thomas felt something dangerous, someone was watching them, someone of different race.

"Do you feel that too?" Thomas asked Clarice through the mind-link, and Clarice nodded in response. "Just act normal like what you planned," she reminded him.

Thomas and Clarice entered the restaurant burying the suspicious one outside with Thomas in lead. He approached the counter and directly stated his business at the place. "I need to talk to Octavian," he calmly said to the buffy bartender.

The clattering noise inside the restaurant died down as they heard Thomas, making them alert, some are wary, and some recognized him. A woman approached the buffy bartender and whispered something. The guy just checked them up from head to toe, unsure. "He's waiting at the back. Llona will guide you," pertaining to a middle-aged woman who approached him.

Thomas and Clarice immediately followed Llona when she stopped before they could open the door. "Without her."

"She's with me," Thomas growled with such authority that made the restaurant full of murmurs, recognizing the authority in his tone.

"A-as you say s-so," Llona plain said, stuttering.

They entered without any hindrance anymore and were immediately welcomed by Octavian. "I know you would come. Come sit," Octavian offered.

"Let's get this straight, Octavian," Thomas was direct, "What's your plan? Or can you give me a reason why I should trust you? What's your agenda?"

Octavian was amused with his nephew. "I am your father's twin brother. Is that enough reason to believe that you can trust me?"

"It depends."

"Don't put up your walls, Thom. I am no stranger to you. I used to babysit you while my brother was on a trip to another pack to deal with some treaties," Octavian explained.

"Should I trust him?" Thomas asked Clarice in his mind. "I don't know, Thom. Only you can tell that."

"Then what should I do?" Thomas asked Octavian.

"Let me help you start anew in Aragon."

And just like that, Thomas started his plan.

* * *

The rain was pouring hard in Aragon, but it didn't budge Thomas to care an inch about it and remained laying at the lawn of West Hight University, drenched. He was savoring the satisfying moment under the rain when he noticed someone's presence.

He opened his eyes and saw Clarice, in a black umbrella, "She had just arrived."