dream

At the end of the first month, a bunch of teachers came to the western complex. They announced that they would teach the kids writing, reading and etiquette in the morning, participating was voluntary.

Many of the kids took this offering seriously and gave their best. A lot of the kids wanted to become guards or maids, because they liked the uniforms. Others tried one day this, one day the other thing, but no one bothered too much with it because they were still kids.

Some kids were very homesick, so the guards brought them back to their families. It was already bad enough that they had been abducted...

The king didn't mind this. After all, this was also a test for the guards. He and his ministers shared the opinion that a guard should have a kind heart towards kids.

Of course, the kids didn't know that king Midnight watched them... However, Tenno, Mori and some other kids that were of sensitive races noticed. Even though they didn't like it, they couldn't do anything about it, so they accepted it.

Tenno was, at the moment, rather content with his life in the palace. It was more slow paced than the modern world, the people a bit simpler. Although he missed listening to all kinds of music and always having all information he could ever want at his hands, he calmed himself with saying that that life was over. He couldn't go back, he didn't remember his personal life, and he liked being friends with Mori, Ichigo and Mero, working in the kitchen under the carefree Bang Cheng.

Tenno told chief Bang about all the kids while they were eating a small snack in the warm kitchen, making the fox beast frown slightly.

"The teachers..."

"What is it?"

"Oh, I just thought that the children might get the wrong ideas. The teachers were sent by the king, so they'll probably glorify the kingdom of Cure."

Tenno just shrugged.

"You don't mind?"

"Well, it can end pretty bad, but what can I do? I want to spend my days in leisure, not worrying too much."

"Ah yes, I understand that~..."

"Heh, thought so." Tenno grinned.

Bang Cheng shook his head. This child was really different.

"Oh, I heard from one of the servants that you scared the other children a while back."

Tenno looked up, squinted while thinking and then widened his eyes with an 'ah!'. "Well, they were rude."

"Aha?"

"I'm not their servant, if they want something they have to do it themselves. No matter what status they had before, here in the palace, at the moment we're all at the same miserable level."

"That's not quite right~."

"Ah?"

"Everyone who has already work is on the same level as low-level chefs, maids and so on. You see, finding work in only one month is quite remarkable." Chief Bang chuckled as he ate a few melon seeds. "Oh, before I forget..."

"What?"

"In the palace, there sometimes happen quite mysterious things, especially in the western complex. If anything happens, please do inform me. After all, I'm a fox spirit."

"Uh... Okay, if you say so, chief..."

"Good~! Oh, and there are certain events every month."

"Like what?"

"In the middle of spring, so next month, there will be a handicraft workshop for making dreamcatchers. Even if you don't believe in them, they are quite pretty, right~? There's also something for making pouches, a bit of self defense and such things. It's quite useful, and for the children in the palace very entertaining."

"I guess I'll ask around, thank you."

"Sure, sure~!"

"Are there many children in the palace?"

"Hm~... You could say that. There are many families. Many have grown up here."

"And what about you?"

"Ah, I was a young elven man, just finished my coming of age ceremony, when dragonkin attacked us. I died in the forest and became a fox spirit. Then the nobles found me and brought me here. That was... almost 300 years ago. I'll soon have three tails~!"

"So one tail is equal to one hundred years?"

"Exactly~!"

Tenno was a very open minded person, so finding out that spirits existed in this world didn't really surprise him. It seemed very similar to the Japanese concept of yokai. They were folklore monsters, specters and so on. For someone as interested in mythology and such stories as Tenno, it was natural that he took those things easy.

After knowing what exactly his master was, he looked at people more attentively. He was curious if he could see the differences between them, what sort of sub-race they were.

Since he was surrounded by people that he had friendly relations with, Tenno felt very relaxed. The people in the kitchen would often talk to him since he was a good listener, and there was no one in that kitchen that disliked him. Because of being a sensitive Ifrit, he felt the positive energy, which made him very happy.

But this was also the reason why, one week before the workshop for the dreamcatchers, he very clearly felt someone looking at him with bad intentions. It made his back tingle and he felt very on edge. The feeling would only go away when he entered his room in the western complex, and then he would be so exhausted that as soon as his head hit the pillow he would fall asleep.

He really liked his room, tho. It wasn't very big, with two closets, two small desks and two bunkbeds, one for the guards and one for him and Mori. Because Tennos body constantly gave off heat, he had to sleep on the top, else Mori would sweat buckets and need to drink a lot more. They had tested it, and it wasn't comfortable for either of them.

Because of that uncomfortable feeling of being watched, in a different way from how the king and his subordinates did it, Tenno ate even less than normally.

Seeing the condition of his little student, chief Bang was quite unhappy, which scared the other chefs because of his frown. No one dared to mess with his students! But apparently, someone didn't know about Bang Cheng, which was a great misconception.

When Tenno was asleep, chief Bang, who didn't need sleep since he was a spirit beast, identified the traces of energy that were left on Tennos back and followed the trail.

The trail led him to the eastern complex, the area in which the minister of genetic experiments resided. Many guards wanted to enhance their bodies, which led to experiments to change their bodies.

Now it was also told, that the blood of an Ifrit could give one regeneration abilities and let them live very long, but Ifrit were extremely rare on the continent, coming from the volcanic islands near the equator.

The minister seemed to have noticed Tenno, wanting to use his blood.

When Bang Cheng came to this conclusion, his mouth twitched. No matter who he took under his wing, he would protect them. It was a blessing and a flaw, but for learning children really the former one.

The next day, when Tenno was on his way to the kitchen together with Mori, he felt that that strange energy was gone. Thinking about it, he frowned. It was really too strange...

He made breakfast for himself, Mori and the two guards that accompanied them and gave Mori and Mero lunch. Chief Bang would also give Mori a small box with food for old man Fu since that old vampire had a sweet tooth.

The next day was the day of the dreamcatcher workshop. Mori would go in the morning with old man Fu and Mero, Tenno in the afternoon with chief Bang and Ichigo.

Tenno chose a medium sized, wooden hoop, wrapped a soft leather lace around it and then chose a string that was wildly dyed red, yellow and orange. As decoration, he chose small, translucent gemstones that looked like a warm fire was burning inside of them and a golden coin. According to the system, the gemstones were infused with the fire element, reacting to Tenno, and the coin was from a lost civilization of the continent from 40 thousand years ago. He then began looping the string around the hoop, creating the outer layer of the web. While making the other layers of the web, he knotted the smaller gemstones into it and the coin into the center. After he was done, he used a knotting technique for the bigger stones to let them dangle off the dreamcatcher. The first one was done.

The others weren't as nimble with their hands as Tenno, so he used his time to make another one. It was a very small one, also made with a soft leather lace, red, yellow and orange string with fire gemstone, but on the strings dangled small, glowing red feathers. After fumbling around with it a bit more, he made the small, filigrane dreamcatcher into an earring.

When chief Bang saw this, his lips immediately curled up.

"Wow~! Yan Biao, can you make me one too?"

Tenno seemed to freeze slightly as he heard that name. Bang Cheng didn't call him that often, just like the others, so it was a little hard to get used to it.

"Make one yourself."

Bang Cheng just laughed.

"Tada!"

They looked at Ichigo. He held a crooked dreamcatcher in his hands.

"I'll help you." said Tenno after a long pause.

This way, they spent a whole afternoon chatting and making dreamcatchers. Chief Bang and Ichigo made a lot to give them to their friends who didn't have time for the workshop. Tenno found this kind of consideration kinda cute.

After a bit of thought, he made another, matching earring dreamcatcher. If he found someone he really liked, he would give it to them.

When Mori came by the kitchen in the evening, he made big eyes when he saw Tennos earring.

"You do know the function of dreamcatchers, right?"

"To filter the bad dreams and leave the good ones."

"Yes, yes. But won't you carry around those bad things when you wear it like that and attract bad luck?"

"Might be, but it might just as well attract good luck since the bad stuff won't reach me. Also, having a dreamcatcher over your bed is really nothing bad. It also looks quite pretty."

Mori sighed and gave up. Tenno was right, so the dryad could only admit defeat.

They hung their dreamcatchers over their pillows and went to sleep. That night, Tenno dreamt of the shadow of a small person, surrounded by dazzling yellow lightning, lighting the whole world up with a warm and calming aura, like someone was gently smiling at him. He also meant that he could hear the faint, deep melody of a bawu flute.

When he woke up, the music still lingered around his ears, gradually fading away as his head became clearer. As his eyes fell on one of the gemstones in his big dreamcatcher, the sound completely disappeared. He squinted at the gemstone, feeling like it had a slight glow, but it seemed like he had just imagined things.

However, on this morning, something else was different. The children were gathered in the hall in which they had first met the king.

But this time, on the stage stood a man in full body, unusual awe inspiring armor, just revealing the mouth, a woman in a very graceful maid outfit with green eyes and golden hair, a gardener that looked a lot like old man Fu and a small woman with brown hair and red eyes in a chefs uniform.

Besides them stood the kings butler with a subtle smile.

"I am Tian Se'as, the personal butler of king Midnight. This are the head of the guards, Brook Ainsworth, the head of the servants, Lari Rufiyaa, the head gardener and pharmacist Nion Laguna, and the head chef of the royal kitchen, Zora Marov. They will help you make your dreams come true."