William and Lila

Sparkles of dust gently dance in the air, illuminated by the bright warm sun, threading through the crevices of an old but yearning curtain.

Sniff, something smells good..

Her vision is still dark, with warn dim lights seeping in through. She can hear the sound of metal clanging, birds chirping, and muffled sounds of the busy horses and the wooden wheels scraping around the hinge. But suddenly the clanging sound stops. It feels more peaceful at first, but slowly it becomes concerning. Couldn't be bothered, she doesn't want to open her eyes.

She hears the wooden floors creak, before it just straight up followed by thumps, slowly becoming louder and louder. At this point, she is awake but her stubborness takes control. If she sleeps, she sleeps!

"Wakey wakey, I cooked something nice."

Here it goes. No amount of temptation will work on h-

Sniff sniff

The amount of pressure on her heart exceeds the stubbornness she has.

Her eyes jerks open, looking at a familiar figure by her side. It's a boy, relatively young around 19, smiling smug. The girl pouts.

"I don't wanna go to school" she says, while her hand reaches the spoon, but whoop!

"Not so fast!" The boy chuckles, he takes away the food faster than his sister could reach it.

"If you want to eat my food, you better go to school! Or else, I guess we have no choice to buy that plain bread again.."

The girl grits her teeth with her eyes glaring at her brother.

"Unfaiirr!! Aaaaaaa" she yells, throwing a tantrum.

The brother takes a spoon and ate the food he made. He closes his eyes because of how good it tastes, at least, trying to bait her even further.

"Ughhhhh fine!!" She says, feeling defeated.

"There's my good sister!" He says while handing her the plate.

The girl grabs the plate forcefully and starts shoving the food to her mouth. The moment it touches her taste buds, everything splashes, crumbles, and stirred inside, the first thing that comes first is the saltiness just the right amount, before it is washed with a glimpse of sweetness followed by the alluring aroma of combination of spices.

This is worth it. So worth it..!

She munch and munch the food as if she will not see the light of day tomorrow.

"You don't need to be so dramatic about it.." he shrugs.

"Am nhoot!"

"Swallow your food first!"

"Whatheveuv!"

"Silly!" He marks, while stroking his little sister's hair with a wooden comb.

The brother always enjoys this moment with his only family left. He looks outside the window to see the blue sky. Today is a really nice day for a fresh start.

The city has lots of lanes with all kinds of buildings huddled together, forming this asymmetric European style of city architecture, that at first looks disorganized, but turns out to has its own charm, added with the rising sun that gives red and orange tint, a pleasantly cheerful sight to behold.

"Be careful on your way to the academy, dear!" Says the landlady.

"We will, goodbye auntie!" The brother and the sister replies. The two embarks on their journey across the blocks to reach the academy. The silhouette of the academy building is quite visible, and it would probably show more of its details if the fog is thinner. Either way, it was a lovely day to have a walk!

"Lila, how do you feel?" The brother asks.

The sister is busy hopping through the cracks. The way she jumps is as if she is jumping across a very deep trench.

"Mm what did you say?" The sister asks back, looking towards her brother at the back.

"Lila watch out!"

"Huh?" She looks back to the front and noticed a quite huge bump (considering her size), but it's too late.

"Waaah!!"

Hup!!

Lila slowly open her eyes, she did not fell. She sighs in relief. She shakes her arms as a way to tell her brother she is fine now.

"Thanks." Lila says quietly.

The brother looks at her from the back. He sighs, just accepting the way she is, before replying cheerfully, "your welcome!"

Lila doesn't turn her head back. She is quite taken aback, a bit embarrassed of what happened just then.

"William!" A familiar voice is heard.

William turns.

"Oh! Professor Hitchson!" William says surprised.

"..and who is this?" William asked.

"Oh, this is Mr. Marls! He is the person the prophecy foretold." The dog answered.

Upon hearing that William is surprised, a little bit taken aback.

"Prophecy?" Marls whispers to the dog, squinting.

"We'll get there soon" Prof. Hitch pats his back.

"N-nice to meet you, mister..?"

"Marls, don't need to use mister here, I'm probably at your age" Marls said, relaxed.

"Err.. okay"

"Do no worry Mr. William, he is not in his prime yet."

William just nods.

"Don't be too awkward! You two could be more than an acquaintance don't you think?"

"Friends?"

"Affirmative!"

William looks at Marls, and then quickly turns back to Prof. Hitch.

"I surely hope so! Did everything go well Prof. Hitchson?"

Hitchson and William starts walking towards the academy, while Marls and Lila follows behind.

"Yes, yes, it was a fine trip to the overworld. Just had a bit of unfortunate hiccup on the way back here"

"Huh, what is it?" William asks curiously.

"One of those hell spawns! I thought it was the usual, but turns out ..."

The conversation is drowned by the sound of wagons and horses walking on the middle of the street. At least that is how Marls feel about it.

Next to him is the girl, William's younger sibling. She is as cold as ice and as stiff as stone.

"So uh, hey. What's your name?" Marls asks, trying to break the cold.

No answer.

Marls thought she doesn't hear him.

"Hey! What's your name?" His second attempt.

"Brother said I shouldn't talk to strangers." She answered, sharply.

Disappointed, Marls tried to just shrug it off. He feels like the walk is going to feel more longer than he anticipated..

".. so I encapsulate it." Prof. Hitchson ends.

"I see. We should probably report that to the academy, we need to tell the guards to be more prepared in case those creatures come." William says.

"Great assessment Mr. William, we shall!"

The four of them finally arrived in the front of the academy.