1 Abnormal Occurrence

[A/N: Read the prologue in the auxiliary chapters if you want to understand the story better. Or skip it if you want.]

It has been exactly five years now since Clover's father went missing. At first, life wasn't easy without his father, but everything gradually stabilized after some time. This was mostly due to the fact that his family wasn't a patrifocal one.

Clover repeatedly asked his mother about his father's sudden disappearance, but would usually get half-assed responses. He gave up on the idea that someday he might find out what happened to his father. This remained the truth until the truth finally revealed itself to him.

The day started like any other normal day for Clover. At this time, school was about to come to an end for yet another day. He was currently in the eleventh grade as he sat in his seat on the second floor.

He faced the window in the classroom with closed eyes while enjoying the cool autumn breeze brushing against his cheek and blowing along his long dark hair. The sounds of pens and pencils scribbling through papers and the silent whispers and murmurs of students could be heard in the classroom.

Soon, the bell rang indicating the end of school for that day.

"Okay everyone. Remember to revise chapters 16 through to 19 during this weekend." the teacher sitting at the front of the class announced. "You are dismissed."

With that said, the students in the class packed their belongings and exited the classroom as chatter and light footsteps could be heard along the school halls.

"Hey Clover, wanna hang after school?" A chubby boy with his hair parted in the middle and cut to the length of his chin called out to him.

"Nah, sorry Kyle. I promised Hara I'd walk home with her." Clover declined.

"You're sister sure does hog all your time and attention for herself huh? No wonder you don't have a girlfriend." Kyle said while patting Clover on his back.

"Says the guy with no girlfriend of his own. And besides, Hara isn't really my sister." Clover retorted.

"Ouch bro, that hurts," Kyle held his chest dramatically to emphasize the words stabbing his heart. "Okay then, notify me when you get online, 'kay?"

"You have my word soldier." Clover saluted.

After that, they went their separate ways with Clover walking to the tenth grade block in search for Hara, his 'sister'.

She was a girl that he knew ever since he was in kindergarten.

His father brought her home one day, telling him that she was now a part of their family, so now she's like a sister to him.

Although, Clover never knew about where she came from or the circumstances that led her into his family. He never really thought about it much.

While walking along the tenth grade block, his eyes focused on a short silver-white haired girl with sharp, milky blue eyes leaving one of the classrooms. She was slim and very mature looking, especially when it came to physique. Clover approached her while hanging on to his bag straps.

"Hara. What's up?" Clover asked. "You ready?"

Hara, the silver-white haired girl, turned towards Clover as she exited the classroom.

"Hey big bro," she said, hanging a messenger bag Infront of her. "Mhm, let's go."

The two left the school compound and walked for a while until they arrived at a concrete house which stood two stories high. It was situated in a tranquil neighborhood with alot of trees and narrow roadways.

The front of the house was painted in lime green, the left side in red, and the right in aqua blue. This combination of colours made the house stand out just a bit.

They walked through the gate on the fence.

Clover took out a key from the pocket of his school uniform and unlocked the door.

Clover and Hara entered the house and was greeted by a black cat sitting at the doorway on the welcome mat.

"Aera, what are you doing in the doorway?" Clover stooped down to pet Aera. "Were you waiting on us to get home?"

"Meow." Aera replied.

After petting the cat for a while. Clover and Hara made their way upstairs in their respective rooms to take a bath and change into more casual attires. They went back downstairs and started preparing dinner.

The sky grew darker as the sun faded away beyond the green mountains. It was well past 5pm and Clover was almost finished with dinner when the front door opened and someone raised their voice, "I'm home!"

A long thin black haired woman stepped in from the front door in sophisticated working clothes.

"Welcome home Sarah." Hara said while placing plates and utensils on the dining table.

"Mom, your back." Clover was finished with dinner and proceeded to place bowls of food on the center of the dining table.

Clover's mother, Sarah, went to the downstairs bathroom, took a bath and changed her clothes then came back to the dining room.

Hara, Clover and Sarah each took a seat around the dining table, said their prayers and started eating.

"Wow, this is quite sumptuous." Hara commended the food. "What is this?"

Clover looked over to Hara at the next side of the table, swallowed and said, "Thanks Hara, It's actually rice steamed in mango juice and boiled eggs, irish potatoes and green vegetables mixed in mayonnaise to make a salad. To top it off there's fried beef."

"It's amazing!"

"Well I have learned from the best."

Clover's mother chuckled. "I'm not that good."

"What are you talking about mom? Your food is like ma-....like magic," Clover's voice transitioned from cheerful to an almost voiceless mutter.

"Clover, what's the matter?" his mom asked.

"It's nothing, I'm okay." Clover brushed off the thought he had in his mind.

They all finished eating dinner and cleaned up the dishes. Clover went up to his room and started playing online games with Kyle on his desktop. He stood up late since it was the weekend. It was almost 9 o'clock when he heard a knock on his door.

*Knock, Knock, Knock*

"Enter at your own risk!" Clover spoke loudly.

The door opened and Clover's mother entered. She silently approached his bed, sat on it and waited.

Realizing the absence of someone's voice, Clover turned around and saw his mother sitting there on his bed, without a sound, simply staring at him with a subtle smile.

"Mom, is everything okay?"

Sarah leaned forward and patted the bed. "Why don't you sit beside me sweetheart?"

Taking off his headset, he did as his mother suggested while looking at her, waiting for her to speak.

Sarah's eyes wandered around the room, analysing her surroundings, finally, her eyes settled on Clover.

"You still keep your room the same after all this time." she finally spoke.

"Yeah, I guess." Clover responded. "But I get the feeling you didn't come here to scout out my room."

Sarah looked away and hummed slightly before refocusing on Clover. "Well....I am your mother, I can't help but worry about you.

"You seemed out of it when we were eating dinner just now, Is it something I should be worried about?"

"Oh! That's-uhh..." Clover stuttered, averting his eyes from her gaze.

Clover's mother held his shoulder. "It's okay, you can tell me anything."

Clover looked at his mother's reassuring eyes before sighing. "Well you know when I used to hang out in dad's office, he would usually tell me stories, and said that there was magic and power in everything.

"Then I remembered how the meals that you cooked for me smelled and tasted, I thought to myself, 'Wow! This is truly magical'. I was reminded of that when we were eating dinner just now.

"I was reminded of those times I spent with dad in his office. But now, he's gone a-and I don't know how to feel. It's not like I'm going to know what happened to him but still, I wish I did. I just...I can't..."

Saying this, Clover's dark brown eyes went watery as silent sobs triggered his mother to catch him into her embrace.

Clover dried his eyes with the back of his forehand. He held his composure once again and pulled from his mother's arms. "Don't worry mom, it's okay, I'm okay."

"You know, it's fine if you cry. You don't have to stifle your emotions again. It's not healthy."

"Yes, I know but..." he trailed off.

"Go on...."

"It's nothing. I'm going to bed now," Clover walked his mother to the door and went to bed.

...

That night when Clover was asleep in his bed, there came a huge thud that pulled him from his slumber.

*Bam*

The muffled sound of something heavy dropping on the ground came from downstairs.

'What was that.' Clover though. 'A burglar?'

He glanced at the analogue clock on the table at the head of his bed.

'What could be happening in the middle of the night?'

He groggily shuffled himself out of bed before stepping towards the door to opened it. With cautious movements, he made his way downstairs.

While on the last step of the stairs, he took a peek from the corner of the hallway, there he saw a purple hue of light shining from the living room.

Using his hands to guide his way along the hallway walls, he approached the living room until he was but a shallow breath away from the living room's doorway.

He held on to the door frame and proceeded to look towards the room of light. What he saw struck a puzzling thought in his mind, 'Wait, what is mom doing with a sword.'

Clover's mother was in the living room with a man. He was wearing a black cloak and holding a sphere of purple light in his right hand. They stood as they faced each other.

Sarah held a long double edged sword with symbols engraved on it. The craftsmanship of the sword was flawless and the hilt was golden in colour.

"How did you find us?", Sarah said.

"Did you expect to hide from us forever?" the cloaked man replied. "We have come here for him."

"I won't allow you to have him." Sarah said.

"It doesn't matter if you resist at this point. The darkness is coming."

The light in the cloaked man's hand grew brighter. He took a stance and threw the sphere at Sarah, at the same time she held up her sword to block it.

"Mom!", Clover shouted.

Sarah turned her head and saw her son dashing from the doorway towards her when the sphere collided with the sword in her hand. She was pushed back by the impact but fortunately, she was caught by her son.

"What are you doing here?", Sarah asked while regaining her balance.

"I was sleeping when something loud woke me up. So I came down here to see what it was but...," Clover was unable to explain the situation further.

The man started walking towards Clover and Sarah. Another purple sphere appeared in his hand once again.

Sarah grabbed Clover's wrist and ran out of the living room. They went upstairs in the hallway and saw Hara coming out of her room.

"What's happening out here," Hara asked.

"No time to explain. We've got to go," Sarah was about to pull Hara towards her when....

"Boom."

An explosion tore a big whole in the concrete floor and sent them all skating across the floor.

Clover hit his bedroom door while Sarah and Hara were laying unconscious on the floor in Hara's room.

The cloaked man appeared levitating through the hole in the floor and flew towards Sarah. Clover ruffled the back of his head and focused his vision. When he saw the man hovering over Sarah he stood up and gritted his teeth while grunting.

"Get away from my mom!", clover shouted, charging at the man.

Subsequently, Clover was blown away once again, this time knocking his room's door off it's hinges. He slid on the floor until he collided with his bed.

The man now set his focus on Clover who was now gasping for air while leaning his back against his bed. Clover coughed repeatedly and backed up on his bed when he realized that the man was now Infront of him.

He felt something poking him from under his mattress and realized, it was the two frying pans his father gave him that he stashed underneath his bed. Clover took out both pans from under the mattress without taking his attention from the obvious enemy before him.

Clover held up the frying pan tightly in his left hand and limped the other pan in his right. He charged at the man with all his strength.

The man held out his hand and conjured up another purple sphere.

Just then, something jumped on his face and started scratching. It was Area, the black cat.

Clover used this chance to strike. With all his strength he jumped into the air and swung the frying pan.

"Pong."

The sound of the frying pan hitting the right side of the man's face came into being. The man collapsed on the ground and Aera landed on her feet. Clover somehow stood firmly despite being thrashed around earlier by the explosion.

He walked out of his room and into Hara's while Aera followed.

Clover tried to shake both Hara and Sarah back to consciousness, "Mom, Hara, wake up."

Sarah slowly opened her eyes while Hara was still unconscious. She saw Clover's long dark hair resting against her cheek.

Her crimson eyes stared deeply into his daring not to look away. She lifted her right hand and combed his hair between her fingers.

"Clover, my sweet boy," she said, wearing a soft expression.

"C'mon mom, let's go," Clover helped his mother up.

"No, it's too late now," she refused.

"Mom, what do you mean?"

"Soon, you will find out...Clover. I'm sorry that I hid the truth about you father from you. I wish I could tell you now but we haven't the time.

"I hope that you can forgive my selfishness."

"W-What are you saying mom? I don't understand."

"Clover. I promise that I'll find you but if I can't fulfill that promise, promise me that you'll come find me instead. When we meet again, I'll tell you everything, the whole truth. Promise me."

"Mom I-I don't...."

Sarah interrupted his sentence and said to him sternly, "Promise me Clover!"

"Y-yes mom, I promise."

Suddenly, bright golden symbols appeared in a circle on the floor beneath them. The brightness of the symbols increased

Clover started panicking, "Mom, what's happening?"

"Don't be afraid," Sarah said, pulling Clover into a hug.

The cloaked man on the floor in Clover's room started gaining consciousness. He looked around and saw no one. He scoffed and ran out of the room.

He saw a golden light coming from the room Clover was in and dashed towards it.

He then saw Clover and his mother hugging each other with Hara laying unconscious beside them.

He swiftly lifted his hand and a purple sphere appeared, but this time it was bigger and way more brighter.

As golden particles rose up from the symbols the light became more intense. Clover held his mother tightly and just as the man was about to release the purple sphere, they disappeared.

"Argh!" the cloaked man cursed. "No matter. I will find you soon enough."