The darkness within

His first day of school had been just as he expected, boring and uneventful.

He knew his mum sent him here for a reason, and it wasn't to absorb useless knowledge from the teacher, or waste his time in a classroom sitting on a chair, or roaming the school halls.

Based on the conversation, he had overheard between his mum and his butler. There was something else he did not know about, which was not surprising, but was so important Thomas lost his cool and went against his mother for it.

He didn't have to be a genius to know that it had to do with the contract. Unfortunately, he didn't remember anything and they didn't go too deep into the conversation.

But it was definitely important.

"Yawn~", Xavier was very tired. He was tired of thinking and was very tired of keeping his eyes open.

He had worked late into the night sorting out his other business, Alexander's business, and the important bridge project.

He had a lot of work to do, and didn't have the spare time on his hands to be playing with kids, and making friends.

Although they might be in the same age bracket, or not, Xavier saw every single person in this classroom as a kid.

Because in his opinion, children were creatures who didn't have burdens on their shoulders, lived life as they saw fit, and did all that pleased them and made them happy.

Xavier was different from everyone else in this classroom, simply based on what he had done as a child, and what he was doing now.

For some reason, he didn't think they were any different.

Right now, he was digging into incidents that happened over ten years ago, dealing with his mother's shenanigans, dealing with his share of his father's business, dealing with his own business, assisting Alexander, schooling, and dealing with some doomed bastard, who had no idea he was still alive because Xavier did not have the spare time or manpower to waste on him.

In a way, he was overwhelmed, but then he wasn't. He had people assisting him, and had found a way to multitask simultaneously, but through different people.

All he had to do was issue instructions, and deal with other things himself.

Xavier was deeply immersed in his thoughts, and had completely ignored Aidan who refused to give up. Before he knew it, he was deeply asleep, and adjusted himself for his convenience.

***

"So how about it? If you sign this then I'll go"

There was only silence after the speaker had spoken. It wasn't clear whom they was speaking to, but it seems their lack of response was driving them crazy.

"What?! Weren't you dead set on sending me away?! Sign this! Sign it and let me be gone!!"

After a little moment of silence, the recipient asked;

"Is this what you really want?"

Their voice was a little bit sombre, but just that little bit amounted to nothing, as the coldness of their voice made it difficult for any feelings, or emotions to be passed across to the hearer.

"Tch, what kind of stupid question is that? It's all I've ever asked for, is it not? So just sign the stupid thing and let me get out of here! I'm tir…"

With a light scoff, the initial speaker began to talk. And nearing the end of their speech, their voice suddenly lost its vigour.

"Very well…"

There was a solemn silence in the air, as the only form of sound, was from the blowing wind, the scribbling of a pen, and the flipping of sheets.

After a while, all form of sound seemed to have disappeared. Even the gentle breeze had ceased to blow.

"Thomas…"

It was unknown who called or what they said after, because the person who had silently watched all this happen, turned around to the direction which the voice had called out to.

But all they saw was darkness, pitch black darkness. It was cold, silent, and it elicited a strong emotion from the silent audience.

The silent audience shivered, and turned around to check on the speakers who all had the same voice. The only form of recognition between them, would be the emotions in them.

The first one was full of unbridled anger, and sorrow.

The second one was cold and was full of hidden sadness.

And the third one shared the same sorrow with the first one, but spoke very softly and tried not to let it show.

Not like the first speaker would have noticed anything in his rage…

But alas, when he turned around, there was nothing there, only fragmented pieces of broken images.

The images themselves reflected no light, and showed no pictures, only the frightening darkness that was behind our silent audience.

"Wake up", an empty and placid voice spoke up behind him. It was akin to a whisper, but it was so empty and calm, and something about that empty voice made him feel scared, not a fear that came from the unknown but a fear one is well familiar with, and never wants to experience again.

Xavier felt a chill permeate the entirety of his being, and when he woke up, he remembered nothing.

Yes, he couldn't recall a single thing, even the voice and it's words. The only thing he could recall was his reaction to something, and the fragmented pieces of the darkness.

'Damn it!', he cursed for some reason and turned around to meet Alexander's distracted gaze.

***

'How can someone be so difficult to talk to?', Xavier thought. He felt a little bit out of it, but that did not stop him from cursing Alexander who caused the whole situation.

'He just couldn't keep a low profi- what the…!', In the midst of his thoughts, Ean had shoved a lollipop into his mouth and stood up.

He stood up straight and removed it, but the wrapper was already covered in his saliva.

'Is she crazy?!', Xavier was having difficulty dealing with Ean, and the only reason he hasn't really blown things up, is to keep a low profile and figure out her identity.

He was somewhat interested in Ean, but not for the normal reasons a guy should be interested in a girl.

He sat down on the desk with the lollipop in hand, he thought about the images he recalled and watched them converse.

Xavier's attention drifted in and out of their conversation, he had a lot on his mind, but Ean's melodious voice was enough to bring him out of it.

And just when he thought he'd be able to focus, he heard her say;

"It is nice to meet you in person, your highness. I've heard a lot about you and uh… "

Xavier immediately recalled the time he had first learnt Alexander's identity, he had also been in a similar situation as Ean.

Difference is, back then he pitied him, but he also despised Alexander for being so stupid and trying so hard, even after he lost almost everything that mattered to him, he still wanted to prove something to his family.

Xavier thought, 'If I had met Alexander earlier, I would have just told him to screw them all over. At least that's better than not getting the chance to do anything at all!'

But Xavier did not meet Alexander earlier and Alexander had already begun the trials of succession, and was fixed on not letting all his efforts go to waste.

Xavier was once again drawn out of his thoughts by Ean's loud and sarcastic words, and suppressed his laughter.

Why didn't he know that such a silly person exists?

'What army was Alexander supposed to bring over?! And to which country?! Does she have any idea what kind of place Arin Island is…', Xavier thought with slight ridicule and gloom, when he paused and recalled something.

"I had a dream…", he whispered softly into the wind, and looked down.

"Why did I leave Arin island…?", He frowned.

'Where did that come from? I never left Arin island', his thoughts were jumbled together as he tried to remember the dream, and why he left Arin island as a kid.

'A childhood memory?!', Xavier was pleasantly surprised, he had a dream about a childhood memory, but did not remember it, instead he recalled the darkness, and gave up on recalling anything more.

He suddenly felt cold, but he knew there was no point in trying to remember the dream, much less why he left Arin Island.

'More work for me I guess…', he stood up and joined their conversation. He needed to get his mind off these things.