Waking Hours

An uneasy silence engulfed the very house that the raven-haired boy resided in. He laid fast asleep in a small bed, a clock next to him reading '4:06 AM'. Suddenly, two middle-aged people, one man and one woman, entered the room. The inky-haired woman rushed over to her son's bed, before collapsing onto her knees and carefully observing her son's features.

"Stand up. If you keep getting more attached, then you'll just find it harder when the trade takes place." The harsh-eyed man coldly commanded.

"Of course, I'll find it difficult. He's our son. Why are you so okay with this?" Questioned the boy's mother, barely able to contain her tears of both sadness and anger.

A tranquil quiet entered the room once again as the impassive man contemplated his wife's words. "... Because if we kept him, he'd just cause trouble. And we can't afford 'trouble' right now."

The woman scoffed at her husband's idiotic excuse, before an idea came to her. She had known that this deal was going to occur for 5 months now. Ever since they reached out to her husband about acquiring Keizo. She had never liked it, but she went along with it, because she knew that they needed money desperately.

But over the last 5 months, she had spent more time with Keizo than she ever had before. She had grown to truly be able to call herself his mother. And of course, with love comes attachment. Her husband was still excited about the trade, but she knew deep down that she couldn't go through with it anymore. Not after everything. And not for anyone.

A sigh left her lips before she told her husband, "Listen, Isaac, I- I'm not going through with this."

"What? What do you mean 'not going through with it?' I don't know if you've realised, but it's not your choice." Isaac laughed.

She didn't want to have to do this, but she had now realised that she had no other option. "No, it is my choice. You're the one without power here. I will save my son."

The second she said that, her eyes began glowing a harsh red colour as the power dynamic completely shifted. The room seemed to fill with an ominous air and what appeared to be some form of crimson lightning engulfed her arms.

"And just as a warning, I won't hold back."

- - - - - - - - - - 12 years later - - - - - - - - - -

Soft moonlight swept through the thin curtains in a certain raven-haired boy's room. An alarm began singing it's all too familiar and all too painful song, awaking anyone in the near vicinity, including the blue god.

"Ugh..." He groaned, not believing that it's already time to get up. He managed to force the strength to open his eyes and sit up. He then grabbed his clock, turned off the alarm and checked the time. '4:06 AM.' 

'Wait...'

'What...'

'If it's only 4 AM then why the fuck did my alarm go off? It's not set for another 3 hours!'

He decided to check the date to see if he missed something, when he finally remembered what today was. The day of the transfer. 

- - - - - - - - - - A week ago - - - - - - - - - -

The final message appeared in front of all of the students of Mercia Hunters Academy, signalling the end of the school day. The end of the school day was always appreciated by the students, most of all being Keizo. He could finally escape all of the eyes being on him constantly.

Out of nowhere, he got a personalised special message, asking him to report to the headmaster's office. He didn't really think much of it, and just went along with it. He knew the headmaster well enough, and that she was an... interesting lady, so a secret message that she has for him isn't too out of the ordinary. And the quicker he was there, the quicker he was home.

A rather loud bang emanated the second he knocked on the door to her office. "Come in!" The old lady shouted from the other side.

Keizo pushed open the door and stepped inside, preparing himself for another conversation with the crazy lady.

"Well, if it isn't my top student! Please, do make yourself at home! Now, why have you come to my humble office today?" Questioned the silver-haired lady in her familiar overexaggerated tone.

Keizo scanned the rather familiar walls of the headmaster's office. This office in particular had been built inside of a cleared out Gate, meaning that it was much bigger on the inside than the outside. Walls towered over the two, going as high as 20 feet in the air. Despite the height, every square inch was adorned with memories and rare artefacts from all around the globe.

"I'm not sure I would call this humble, director Kyria." Retorted the cyan-eyed boy.

The director herself glanced around the office, before stone-facedly replying, "No, this is extremely humble. I remember that my childhood home was about the size of, I'd say, around eight hundred of these all merged together. You see-"

"Alright, director. I appreciate that you feel comfortable enough to share your childhood with me, but I'm gonna guess that nostalgia isn't why you called me over this time." Ushered Keizo, trying his hardest to keep the headmaster on track.

"Ah, yes, of course. My apologies, dearest boy. You know how much I enjoy rambling on. Anyway, the reason I called you is that, in a week's time, I need you to be at school by 4 AM." Explained director Kyria, an almost evil twinkle in her eye.

"Understood, directo- wait, did you say 4 AM?!" Keizo exclaimed, shocked at the unruly time frame.

The director simply nodded her head as a way to say 'yes' and then practically kicked him out of her office.

- - - - - - - - - - Present day - - - - - - - - - -

Keizo walked the streets towards the castle-like establishment, wearing a black hoodie and dark blue jeans. He didn't want to go, in truth he thought that the director was just pulling a sick prank on him, but he went anyway. He was currently in the director's good book, and it came with a lot of perks. He did not want to lose that.

Eventually, he arrived at the gates. The second he set foot past them, another message popped up, giving him some form of relaxation in having a better chance at it not being a prank. The message simply told anyone who passed the gates to head to the headmaster's office.

'Wow, director Kyria. All of this just for me? You've really outdone yourself.'

Keizo lightly knocked on the hard wooden door leading to director Kyria's office. He would've usually knocked much, much harder, but considering how nice she had been to accommodate to him so far, he decided he could use a bit of courtesy. 

"Ah, my star pupil! Please, come in!" The director answered, sounding even more excited than normal, if that's physically possible.

Keizo gave the door a hard shove and entered it, expecting it to seem just like a regular meeting of theirs. But to his dismay, it was not.

"Oh. It's you." He sighed.

In front of him stood 10 other students, all within the top 11 of Mercia power-wise. 11 - 7 being known as the titans. And 6 - 2 being known as the immortals. With him at the #1 spot, but having refused to join either of the groups.

Despite what the overdramatic names may imply, the two groups were created by the school. The titans are pretty much equivalent to a school's student council, and the immortals are the school's sports team, face and they also keep lookout for any bullying or unmonitored spars.

"Really, director? You didn't tell me these side-characters would be attending." Keizo attested, clearly unhappy at the sight of them.

Hearing this insult clearly annoyed a lot of them, but most knew that they couldn't do anything about it. 

"Come now, Keizo. That wasn't very good model behaviour for the #1 in our esteemed establishment, was it?" Director Kyria advised, trying to avoid any conflict.

"Oh, don't worry director. They all know how I act." The ocean-eyed boy stated bluntly.

"I- Is that so?" Questioned the headmaster.

Nods of agreement came from all 10 other students.

"Well then, before some of you get into a brawl with my #1, there is a reason I called you here. It's to give you all a... heads-up should I say."

"A heads-up for what, ma'am?" Queried the #3 student, Evan Parra.

"Some new students will be transferring to Mercia today. Two to be exact. And these two are extremely special. Not only are they royalty, but they're elven royalty." Explained the nervous professor.

Instantly, everyone in the room was left shocked. Even Keizo, someone who nearly never showed any trace of emotion other than tired, had his eyes widen upon hearing the news.

"Now, since this is the first time in history that elves would be joining humans in schooling, we need to treat them respectfully. Especially since, as I said, they are elven royalty. This could be the first step in a massive movement between the three races." Finished the lime-eyed woman.

'Woah. Elves, huh? I wonder... no, probably not. I don't think she was royalty. Well, if it's not her, then I've only got one question.'

"Director, I have a question." Stated Keizo.

"Please, go ahead." Responded director Kyria.

"How strong are they?"