6 - 6 -

I couldn't get to sleep quickly that night. Every time I was finally about to fall asleep, my mind would always be up on the possibility that Boingo would once again appear. Then I would instantly be put back to square one. It took several minutes of restless turning, two sips of water from a water bottle that I kept on my nightstand and a few jolts back awake before I finally found myself inside the corridor once more.

I rubbed my eyes, stood and instantly remembered what had almost cut a significant portion of my night and started to sprint down the endless hallway. All the while, my eyes darted in all directions to locate the small creature.

What felt like an eternity later, I finally found a small blur in the distance. I started raising my speed back from a brisk jog, trying to catch up. As I did so, I remembered the promise that I made to myself. I recalled the tidbit of information that I would reference tomorrow.

"Lambda," I wheezed, my lungs deflated from running for so long.

Boingo was understandably caught off guard by this, spinning around and instinctively flashing his teeth. "Feste! Why'd you say that?"

I skidded to a halt and began to explain. "I thought that I'd say that again in the waking world to prove myself." Boingo's frown slowly lifted. It wasn't by much, but at this point, I was relieved to have found him without waking up.

It was when Boingo shrugged off my reply and started to walk again when I added something. "Boingo, also..." I struggled to keep up with him, my legs stiff from momentarily stopping. "Why haven't you been talking to me recently? Your attitude seems to have been different from when we first met. Is everything alright?"

Boingo gritted his teeth before answering. "It's kinda because you're talking about all this stuff... All this dream stuff, and I don't believe a word of it."

I felt myself frowning, a wave of indignation sweeping through me. If anything, Boingo should be believing me. After all, his life had been centred around magic, had it not? Nevertheless, I started to close the gap between him and I until I was in range to step on the creature if I wanted.

"I won't let you get away this time," I muttered to myself. I saw Boingo's ears twitch as if he had deciphered my hushed speech. He looked over his shoulder.

"Can you leave me alone?" He snapped. I stood unwavering.

"I have always been fairly isolated when I was younger, as I had belonged to a family of seven. Time after time I would fantasize about magic, often wishing it was real. I read books about it and when I was very young imagined myself in scenarios where I would go on quests. After every session, however, I would always be crushed by the realization that none of it had been deemed forbidden by the universe. That is until the principal invited me to enroll in his 'magic school'. I practically begged my parents to make me switch schools, and when the semester ended, they finally caved in and I got in. I was surprised at the very low admission grades, but I assumed that because there were multiple establishments like this one, the principal obviously wanted as many students to attend as possible. I almost feel as if he is building a secret army, but that is all speculation."

Boingo spun around and gave me a death glare. "Can you shut up?"

I narrowed my eyes. " I figured that our bond would strengthen if I told you about my past." I opened my palm as if I were reaching out to grab a hand. "Now, Boingo, care to tell me about your own life?"

As I had expected, Boingo promptly shrugged off my offer and continued to walk down the hall, further increasing his pace. I also sped up, trying numerous times to initiate small talk with my distant friend, all of which failed.

Before long we both started to fade out of existence. Boingo had suddenly stopped, noticing his body becoming translucent before me. I barely managed to stop myself before running into him.

A few seconds later I woke up, silencing my alarm. As I swung my legs out and stood, I rubbed the sore throat that I had developed. I loosely speculated that it was the result of me talking for all that time, but I dismissed it as a coincidence.

With my things in hand, I approached the desk that was next to Boingo before the start of the first class of the day. He seemed much more lively this time around, and I started to sit down when he even greeted me. "Good morning, Feste!"

I was taken aback by this gesture of friendliness, but I shook my head and stifled myself. It was in no way a bad thing.

I took a slight breath before saying the word that I had carefully uttered when I met Boingo last night. "Lambda."

Naturally, Boingo acted with confusion. As he rifled through his bank of recent memories, though, he eventually realized the significance of it and his mouth made a small circle. "So we did have the same dreams?" He nearly shouted that, his eyes now like plates. I intercepted him and told him to be quiet, my eyes darting around at the classmates that had already taken their seats or the ones that were coming up the stairs to do so. "Yeah, sorry about that."

Boingo, when he somewhat forced himself to calm down, started to hang his head low, avoiding eye contact. "Uh... Feste, I'm sorry. It's just that you were spouting all these things that I thought in no way were true. A small part of me still thinks that you're lying about it all, too. And there's another trying to convince me that this is all still just a dream, that I'll wake up soon." Any semblance of a smile was wiped clean. "And I'm also sorry about how I've been treating you. I should be grateful that you're even by my side, since normally when someone starts to hang out with me, they find someone else that's better and leave me all alone. I even heard someone call me 'insufferable' behind my back once."

I gritted my teeth. Sure, Boingo was fairly annoying at first, but when you got to know the small creature and stayed on his good side he was very loyal and even charming at times. Perhaps he was being too loyal to his former companions and they wanted none of it? I pushed it all to the back of my mind and switched the subject. "So yesterday B told me about a beginner's club. The sheet that listed all of them said that their first session starts today, so I'm excited about joining."

Boingo seemed irked. "Well, I didn't have anything like that when I started learning magic! All I had was these boring classes and monotoned teachers that boss you around all the time."

I started to assume that Bingo had been taught at this school for most of his life. Eventually, it became such a pressing question and I also hadn't said anything in a while, so I communicated it. "Were you taught here for most of your life?"

Boingo shook his head. "Well, yeah, this was the first real 'school' I was taught at, but there was also a local school that I attended when I was very young. Like, young enough that I was still being weaned from my mother."

I nodded my head. Obviously, Boingo wouldn't have been admitted to this school from the start, it wouldn't be wise and he would most likely panic on the first day.

As I readied myself to talk about another subject to erase the silence that had been gathering, I heard a booming voice at the front of the classroom.

"Students, the class will now begin. Please take your seats."

The two of us turned our heads and instantly began to ready our writing utensils. I involuntarily slouched in my chair, ready for another day of lectures.