departure

Tennos eyes widened in surprise. An Ifrit? But before he could think more about it, the system continued.

"A combination of life and fire energy, warming its body and giving it strong regenerative abilities, the Ifrit is a very powerful being. For better development, host should stay in warmer regions. Ifrit are very sensitive towards temperatures, environmental changes and the intentions of the surrounding beings. Please proceed with caution."

He frowned. Caution had already jumped out the window and thrown itself into the winds of the miasma storm, it wold only be needed for stealth missions and displaying the act of a child.

He sighed. There was currently nothing he could do. Looking through the small window, he saw two moons in the pitch black sky: One was of a warm gold, almost orange, the other of a cold silvery white. He somehow felt that it was almost standard nowadays for fantasy worlds to have two moons, though he had to admit that it was very beautiful to look at.

After pondering for a while, he decided to sneak into the study and go through the books. He wouldn't even have to read them himself! It would safe so much time...

Tenno put on his socks and quietly opened the door. He made sure that there was no one near, then left and scurried through the hallway. The candles burned a bit higher as he passed them, reacting to his fire ability.

Without accident, he entered the study and looked at the titles of the books. His eyes had a faint, fire like glow to them, enabling him to see in the darkness. He knew that no one would be in the study at this hour, the master had gone to bed and the others weren't allowed to enter without him.

Titles that interested him were those about plants and herbs, a list of famous people, philosophies and general knowledge about Everni.

The system started analyzing everything, but before it could inform Tenno, he sensed someone outside the door and hid as fast as he could under the desk. His heart beat furiously as he pressed his hands onto his mouth.

The master looked at his study and squinted. He thought he had seen something, but since he was tired, he just shrugged and told himself it was his imagination.

After closing the door, he went to one of the shelves, pushed a few books back and then pulled. The shelf swung slowly towards him, revealing a secret staircase with high steps that disappeared in the darkness.

The master smiled and went inside.

Tenno had not seen what happened, but heard. Hearing the masters footsteps leave, he took in a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Then, he came out of his hiding place and curiously looked at the secret passage.

He could enter and look around, but risk getting caught, or leave now, save his skin and never have to think about this again. Torn between his consciousness and the thrill of uncovering secrets, he stayed in place. He decided to wait and see if anything else would happen.

After one hour, in which Tenno had gone through the information the system provided him but didn't find anything that peaked his interest, the master came back to the study. In his hand was a golden box which he placed on his desk. He opened it. On a red cushion sat a rosy white pearl with a character engraved on it, shimmering golden in the moonlight.

The master sighed and closed the box again as he looked at the pearl he held with his thumb and index finger.

"Mary, your child will be ready soon. Just a bit more, and he'll be able to change fate. Don't worry" his eyes formed slim crescents as an eerie, cold smile appeared on his face "the disturbance of fate will be gone tomorrow. Our boy will be able to climb the ranks and take over, just as you hoped."

Tenno frowned. Was the master planning a coup or what? But what could he do about it, he was just a child... Maybe he could warn someone? No, who would take a slave child seriously, especially in this cold world. Maybe when he was older...

He heard the master do something and then go back down the secret passage. He quickly stood up, looked at the desk and hushed outside. The master didn't leave the box on the desk, so Tenno didn't know about it.

Just as he was pondering a bit over this conspiracy he turned right towards his room and ran into someone of the same miserable height. It was the son of the master, the same age as Tenno, named Zero.

Zero was a relatively healthy kid for the circumstances of the land, a bit pampered but not arrogant. If one had to say a flaw, it would be that he was naive, not knowing how the world worked, but whole heartedly believing that if he tried hard enough, he could do it, whatever 'it' was.

"Young master, you should be asleep. What are you doing here?"

Zero blinked. He liked Tenno and was a bit sad that he had to leave. Tenno ending up beaten up was the fault of the mistress, being overly sensitive and irritated when she had her period.

"I couldn't sleep and wanted to talk with you, but you weren't there..."

"Oh."

Tenno looked down. He hadn't interacted much with Zero, but he knew that the kid in front of him somewhat admired him. He just couldn't tell why, and he wasn't really keen on interacting with children. Being a child didn't help him there, he felt like this body was wrong for him, he couldn't really attach himself emotionally to it or the world around him.

"Then, we will go to young masters room and talk there."

Zero nodded and followed Tenno. On the way to Zeros room, they didn't talk.

Just like the living room and other rooms that were regularly used, Zeros room had wood paneling at the walls to keep it warm. The floor was also made out of wood, feeling warm under the feet, and there were many cushions on the bed behind fine curtains.

Tenno helped tuck Zero into the blankets and patted his head with his warm, left hand.

"Dad said that left handed people attract good fortune." said Zero.

"Oh, really? And right handed people?"

"Uhm... Th-they... have luck with choosing their fate... or something..."

"Then you are definitively lucky. After all, your right hand is very nimble."

Zero grinned and contently closed his eyes. Tenno let out a small sigh. The young master waited for him to sing, so he had to search in his brain for a lullaby. His voice was slow and deep, like honey and caramel.

"In the misty forest, a light shines bright,

bringing the observer a mysterious delight.

From the fog, a beauty emerges,

the white forming an elegant dress.

Her smile is kind,

her face one of a kind.

She is like a fine rose,

so the observer tries to get close.

An alluring, enchanting song,

No one notices something wrong.

The fairy invites you to come,

so you decide to have some.

In the misty forest, a light shines bright,

bringing the fairy great delight.

From the fog, a shadow emerges,

getting rid of the edges.

You follow her to a land of dreams,

where nothing is ever how it seems."

After checking that Zero was asleep, Tenno returned to his own room and pulled the blanket tightly around himself. He had to sing very slowly so Zero wouldn't notice that he was just making the song up as he went, but as a result his throat hurt from being an unprofessional singer.

He soon fell asleep and dreamt of something that had happened in his original world. But when he woke up the next morning, he couldn't remember the dream. It made him a bit sad. His knowledge was still there, so why were his personal memories such a chaos?

After getting up, cleaning himself and putting on fresh clothes, he went to the kitchen. It was still early, so only the adolescent twins Uno and Secundus were already up.

"Ah, Tenno. Care to lend a hand?" smiled Uno.

Tenno nodded and helped prepare breakfast. Since he would leave today, the quiet Secundus gave him a bit more to eat and a portion for the journey.

Uno and Tenno talked a bit before the family got up and ate breakfast. Afterwards he said goodbye to everyone as a small group of guards in gray armor that only revealed their mouths appeared at the mansion.

When the leader spoke, a pair of sharp canine teeth was visible. He gestured for Tenno to enter the carriage.

Tenno did so. Soon after that, it was set into motion and they departed.

The carriage was very simple but comfortable, and inside were seven children. Two looked like twins in fancy clothes, another two with a crest at the back of their robes, one kid in relatively normal clothes and two in rags, probably children from the streets.

The four noble looking children were sleeping uncomfortably, talking quietly in their sleep, while the others warily looked at Tenno.

Only the one in normal clothes, which looked to be of the same rank as Tenno, gave him a tired smile.

"Did they abduct you too?"

"No. They sold me."

"Oh."

The smile dropped, making place for a sad expression.

"I'm Tenno, and you?" He asked. He wanted to keep himself a bit busy.

The other kid, a boy with thin, brown hair and cloudy grey eyes to weathered skin, smiled again. "I'm Mori. Nice to meet you."

Tenno nodded.

"Ah, those are my friends, Jane and Theo." Mori pointed at the two kids in rags. They both had light blond hair, blue eyes and dirty skin, but they obviously were not related to each other.

"And those kids?" Tenno pointed at the four nobles.

"I'm not quite sure, but when they were awake they acted very spoiled. Their parents seem to be from one of the better regions. And rich." he added after a pause.

Tenno nodded again. Then he looked through the window. The landscape was slowly drifting by, grey and withered.

"And where do you come from?" asked Mori.

"... I don't know. The south, probably."

"Mhm. I'm from this region. I wonder how the others look..."

"Better."

"Better?"

"With green plants and fat animals."

"Really?!"

"As far as I know, yes..."

Moris eyes gleamed with the desire to see such a world. He had always dreamt of leaving this central-northern region, so he willingly went with the vampire guards and took Jane and Theo along.

They had been traveling for a while already, and the guards gave them pretty good food and water, not like the polluted stuff they normally had.

Mori was tall and thin, 9 years old and the last survivor of a big fire a few years ago. Jane and Theo were two years younger and had always been on the streets, later helping Mori adjust himself to the homeless state.

Towards lunch time, they arrived at a dried out swamp. A guard cam inside the carriage to check on the kids, and found that the four abducted, rich children were throwing a tantrum while the poor looking one looked at them like they were retarded.

The mouth of the guard twitched as he regretted taking on this job. He gave some sweets to the rich kids and asked the others if they wanted something. Jane and Theo timidly asked for sweets, to which the guard smiled, Mori asked if the other regions were really as pretty as Tenno had said and Tenno asked if they had a music instrument. Hearing the last request, the guard thought for a bit before running outside and coming back with a small flute made out of bone.

"The large hole in the middle is the blowing hole, the three smaller holes on the top are finger holes. The two open ends of the tube are also used, played with the thumbs. It's called a koudi." explained the guard with a smile.

Tenno smiled back, took the flute while saying his thanks and started practicing while the carriage began moving again.