2 Chapter 1

[FIVE YEARS LATER]

**The reason Len and his family had come to Agruiya (name of town), was to live closer to Len's Aunt as she was the only family left. So after his family "disappeared", he lives with her now, and is still in the same town. **

Len glanced out the window beside him. From where he sat, inside a small but livable wooden house, he could see children - younger than him - being released outside for play time. He looked back it his paper where he was supposed to be writing the history of ancient civilizations. His paper had only two sentences in half an hour. However around his paper every corner had random scribbles and small notes. Though given the fact he got distracted easily, Len was still a great student with mostly A's.

A cool breeze came in through the window and softy rustled the leaves on the plant sitting on Len's desk. The breeze hit harder against his hair, but it didn't really matter since his hair was always messy. No matter how he brushed it, it ways looked messy. Not that he cared...

Len sighed, and decided to get back to work. If he wanted-

"Len!" A voice exclaimed, startling Len, who nearly fell off from his wooden chair. A small head popped into veiw, and Len recognized his younger cousin standing there happily. He let out a sigh of relief, and smiled. "Hi Astral."

Len and Astral looked very alike. Both had dark brown hair, with lighter brown eyes. When either of them smiled, anyone watching would smile as well. If it weren't for their opposing personalities, lots would mistake them for siblings.

"Has school ended?" Len asked. Aunt Linda hardly ever let him out the house. Len had studied at home and only went to school for exams. But even when there, Aunt Linda always made him sit in a separate room. Still, his reputation was still widely known, as the "boy who lost his family to beasts." No one actually said to him or told him staright forward, Len had just heard from the various times he had sneaked out. But that was all he could pick up, since everytime he sneaked out, he was caught by Aunt Linda, who wouldn't even let him sneak a peak at the villagers. She had been like that for the past five years.

"No! It's terrible news!" Astral whined, waving his hands, explaining. "Miss has punished me again! Just because I fought with Xi, and now I have to spend another miserable two hours WITH him at school! I don't even know why Miss is keeps punishing us, she should give up because we aren't gonna get along even if it means the end of the world!"

"Astral, you can't talk about your teacher like that, she is doing it for your own good," Len reminded him. Then Len glanced at his cousin who was playing with his fingers. "Hey, Astral have you heard anything about The Gate?"

"What about The Gate?" Both Len and Astral flinched at the woman's voice. Len looked up and saw his Aunt standing there, arms crossed.

"Erm, I should go now. Don't want to keep Miss waiting!" Astral laughed sheepishly, then quickly ran off without even a glance back. Len sighed.

"Well? What is so special about The Gate?" Aunt Linda asked once again. Her ginger hair was tied into a bun and a few lose strands flew out, but it looked fashionable. She was dressed in her blouse and work uniform, meaning that she was heading off somewhere important.

"Nothing! I was just wondering... how it was doing...?" Len wasn't bad at lying. He could easily put an act. But when it came to Aunt Linda, her intimating figure and

fierce green eyes, it was like he was under a spell of fear!

Linda sighed and decided not to push the matter further. She glanced at Len's assignment, and frowned when only two sentences.

"Len I'm starting to think you're cheating on the exams, otherwise I don't know how on earth you get good grades when you can't even focus on your assignment," his aunt scolded him. Len looked down and murmured a sorry. Aunt Linda told him to finish in the next thirty minutes and turned to leave. She picked up a green cape lying on the rocking chair and put it on, fastening it around her neck. The residents of Agruiya were to where a green cape at all times when in the city, outside of their own homes. Only officials knew why, the adults just followed the rules and told the kids, who listened and did as instructed. So no one had a reason to question the fact. If they did and disobeyed, well, someone would report them and they would probably get taught a lesson by the police. Wearing the green cape had always been a culture of this town. Even hundreds of years ago when the current small town used to a bustling city. Len did not know what happened for the population to decrease, but it had happened anyway.

"Aunt Linda?" Len glanced up. His aunt turned around and raised a brow. "Today is the day, right?" Linda nodded. Len's Aunt work was usually done throught mail, but due to specific problems, she was going to be away the entire rest of the day. Len's mouth formed different words from what he had planned to say, "Stay safe." His Aunt was surprised. That was not was she was expecting, but she smiled. "Rememeber Astral will be at his friend's house, so I expect you to behave while your alone." And with that, she turned and left.

Len was excited. Not because he was going to be home alone, but because he finally had a chance to investigate.