Northern Saggaran Hospital
Saggaran Skyland
Eastern Space

Alec stood amidst a large expanse of darkness. He looked around, trying to spot anything that might move. He walked away from his spot and across the empty space. All of a sudden, he heard a cry from behind him. He whirled around and his eyes fell on a child. He frowned, distinctly recalling that the child wasn't there a few moments ago. He approached.

As he got closer he noted that the young child was a boy and no more than three years old. He couldn't see his face for his small hands shaded it from view. His half-naked body lay on his side and imitated a ball's form.

Alec bent on one knee to reach for the infant. To his surprise, an eight-sided figure appeared beneath the child. It glowed in eerie violet. The infant began screaming in pain, and Alec could see gashes dripping with red blood forming on his back. The gashes looked awfully similar to his scars. The boy's eyes flew open. His irises were of similar pale blue color to Alec's. The child sprang up and tackled him with strength he didn't expect him to have. As the infant tried to bite at his nose, he finally saw his face.

Alec bolted awake. He clutched his heart and took deep breaths to calm himself. He ran his hands through his hair as his mind recalled every second of the dream. He knew the child.

It was him.

Yet, he couldn't believe it. He rubbed his hands all over his face in attempt to stop himself from falling asleep and stepping in to the dreamscape. No, he thought, it can't be me. However, no matter what he told himself, he knew the child was him.

When calm enough, he finally decided to look around the unfamiliar room. He lay on a bed similar yet larger than the ones in the Draeyer Academy's infirmary. The rest of the room was white, with a blue couch and a small wooden table to one side. The walls were bare. On a table beside his bed, there was a vase of white and yellow daisies. There was also a machine on his other side, but the screen on it was nothing but black.

He looked down at his hand and saw a tube connected to it. His gaze followed where its length and he spotted a bag of liquid hanging from a peg on the wall. The tube was delivering the clear liquid to his body.

A groan escaped Alec's lips when he felt stings course through his bandaged left arm when he moved it. His body fell back on to the bed, and he made his throbbing head comfortable on the big soft pillow. He looked up at the white ceiling as he tried to recall why he was in a hospital.

And then it came crashing back to him. Kreis had returned the black-hilted dagger and ended with him fighting Areisha. The last thing he recalled was glaring at her and felt the cool sensation of his blue Flame. That was until the familiar darkness during his black outs engulfed his mind.

Is she all right? he thought.

He heard footsteps behind the brown door, causing him to sit up. Soon enough, it swung open. His eyes met with weary emerald-green ones which later widened in surprise. Gael dropped the things he carried in his arms on the table and approached Alec with smile of relief. Without any words, he wrapped his arms around Alec and gently squeezed. Alec let him and for once, allowed someone's embrace to give him comfort. Gael broke away, and ran hand through Alec's hair.

"Thank all the Gods in Kosmiks you're awake."

"Don't I get to hug you too?"

Alec turned to the other side of the bed and found Kreis with his arms wide open. The young man rolled his eyes, before allowing Kreis to do what he wanted.

"Kosmos, this is sappy!" Alec cried. The two men laughed, as Kreis released his hold on him. He fisted his hand and messed Alec's hair by rubbing it over the top of his head. Alec could only glare at him.

Three shrieks filled the room and he felt the foot of his bed sink. He smiled when he saw his Draelings. They dashed over the bed and nuzzled against him with happy purrs. They raised their heads and Alec met their amber eyes and saw the relief they held.

"I'm sorry for making you all worried." He meant it for the triplets and the two men.

His mood suddenly dropped and he looked down at the blanket on his lap. His fingers unconsciously played on the fabric's hem.

"Is Roselintine all right?"

He dreaded the silence which followed, but dreaded the words Kreis said even more.

"She's dead." His eyes widened and he felt his heart stop. But then he heard a cry of pain, and he was forced to look to Kreis' direction. Somehow, Gael had appeared next to the man, and was now kicking Kreis' back and side with so much force that Alec doubted the man would survive without a broken bone.

"You don't," Gael said with a kick, "tell that to somebody," he kicked again, "who has asked seriously and is genuinely concerned about someone!

"Alec has just woke up after four days and you're giving him something to stress about, you bastard!"

Gael continued beating his friend up and Alec looked on as everything sank in to his mind. An underlying sense of annoyance and frustration coursed through him and he turned to his guardian.

"Mr. Gael," he said, "could you split his head in half for me, please?"

"With pleasure Alec."

Kreis suddenly yelled and scampered away like a scared little rabbit. He stood, stumbling at first, before using the couch as a barricade between him and Gael.

"You two are evil!" he yelled.

"It's your own fault for drawing that out of me!" Gael yelled at him. Alec didn't notice when, but he realized the two started a game of tag with the small room as their playground. Occasionally, Gael would catch Kreis, but the latter would easily escape like a slippery snake.

Kreis stumbled when Gael pushed him. He quickly twisted and grabbed his friend's collar, bringing Gael along with him. It ripped the top part of the latter's shirt open. But before Gael could land on him, he braced himself so he landed on all fours.

Alec's attention snapped to the door when it flew open. A familiar woman emerged from behind it. Her brown eyes widened at the sight of the two men in a rather very compromising position. She gasped.

Alec suppressed his laughter when he realized what she was thinking in her mind. Gael's shirt had appeared to be ripped open and exposed a good amount of his chest where Kreis' palm rested. The situation looked very inappropriate to someone who wasn't in the room before.

The loud thud which came from her shutting the door broke the two men from their surprise. Kreis kicked Gael off and made himself, presentable as he stood while his face was red. Meanwhile Gael stood, looking flushed as well. Alec didn't know how long he had until he couldn't stop himself from laughing.

Meolie stepped further to the two men. Skin hitting skin filled the room when she slapped each of the two on their cheeks.

"I knew it!" she yelled. "I knew you two had something going on between the two of you. But I can't believe you actually thought of doing it in front of Alec!"

Her words were the last straw and Alec released a laugh so loud one would dare say it rang throughout the hospital's halls. He fell back on his bed as he clutched his aching stomach. Tears gathered in the corner of his eyes and he was still busy laughing to wipe then off. He had never laughed that much before.

He started to calm down. But just when he thought it was over, his laughing fit continued when he saw Kreis' and Gael's faces turning so red a tomato's color would be put to shame.

His laughter mellowed down just enough for him to watch and listen to their conversation.

"It's not what you think, Meo!" Kreis yelled. He approached her but she moved away. Kreis froze on his spot.

"It's obvious Kreis! And don't call me that!"

"There's nothing between me and Gael!" he yelled. "What you saw was just an accident! Gael, tell her!"

"It's true. I was chasing him around so I could beat him up for trying to stress Alec, and we ended up in that position," the professor said. His face had returned to normal, and he was now sitting on the edge of Alec's bed.

Meolie stood there looking back and forth between the two before her eyes fell on Alec.

"Is that true?"

Alec nodded at her as he tried hard not to laugh. "I wouldn't have laughed if it wasn't Professor."

It was Meolie's turn to flush a deep hue of crimson. She covered her face as she released a scream of frustration.

"I'm sorry, so very sorry!" she said. "I'm so sorry. From now on I won't assume things like that. Kosmos, I'm such an―"

Alec quirked a brow and an amused smile formed on his face. Kreis was kissing his homeroom advisor, who had her eyes wide open in contrast to the Head Ryder's closed ones. When they broke away, Kreis was panting and Meolie was even redder than before.

"I already told you, Meo," Kreis said with his brown eyes boring into hers. "You're the only one I'll ever want for myself, and I am not going to stop until you feel the same way."

They continued staring at each other, and Alec had the sudden urge to laugh again. From the corner of his eyes he saw Gael biting his lower lip while his shoulders shook with laughter. Here they were, laughing, while there were two people having a moment in front of them.

Alec faked a cough and the two lovers fixed their attention on him.

"I know I'm old enough to hear and watch this kind of things, but could you please continue what you're doing outside, Uncle Kreis?" he said. "I would like to resume resting."

He saw how the Ryder's eyes widened, probably from hearing Alec call him "uncle." A smile graced his lips before he took hold of Meolie's hand and squeezed it.

"With pleasure, kid," he said. "And now that I actually heard you call me that, I don't like it. Just call me Kreis." In the next few moments he left out the door while tugging a dazed Meolie behind him.

Alec laughed, and Gael joined him. It was short though, and he lied back down on his bed. His guardian approached and once again ran his hand through his hair.

"Areisha is fine, and she's been awake for two days now," he said. Alec nodded as his eyes closed. "Your wounds opened and worsened, that's why they had to be stitched up. You lost a lot of blood too, so you'll feel a bit weak for a while. The healers said they'd remove the tube later today since your condition has already improved."

Alec released a sigh at this, and he reached up a hand to his injured arm. His finger tips ran over the bandages around it, and he wondered what the scars would look like. It would scar, he knew that.

"And while you're at it, just call me Gael. Mister makes me seem old, and need I tell you that I'm only seven years older than you." Alec nodded again, this time with a laugh.

"Thank you...Gael," he said. Before he closed his eyes, he saw the smile which appeared on the man's face.

"Get some more rest."

―――

Dressed in cotton clothes of white, Alec roamed the hospital's halls. The tube was removed yesterday and he was allowed to leave his room. Lying on the bed made him feel restless and he needed to leave the room or else he would've gone mad―of course that was an exaggeration. Entiny, Leyan, and Midnight stuck close to him. Occasionally, the triplets and their Draeyer would gain the attention of the others. However, Alec would ignore them and continued trying to gain the strength back in his limbs.

A few moments later, he stopped in front of large open doors. Sunlight passed through it, and he could see a beautiful hedge garden filled with flowers in colors of red, yellow, blue, orange purple, and many more. When he looked down at his Draelings and saw them wagging their tails rapidly, he knew they wanted to be outside. He sighed and entered the garden, much to the delight of the triplets who scampered ahead and crashed in to a hedge covered with small yellow flowers.

He chuckled when he saw them inhale the cloud of pollen which rose up and they sneezed and sneezed and sneezed. Alec looked on as they crawled through a path. They saw a group of butterflies and the three, entranced by the wing-color and pattern, chased them throughout the garden. Alec shook his head and all he could do was keep them under his watchful eye to look out for any harm that might come to them.

They passed a few benches where people sat eating and conversing, and a few children would ask if they could pet the triplets.

Alec stopped when Entiny ran and met a familiar green Draeling. When they clashed, they playfully wrestled each other. Soon after, the other two joined them and he could hear the growls and shrieks of laughter that would escaped their toothless mouths.

He tore his gaze away from the Draelings when he heard footsteps in front of him. He looked up and saw Areisha wearing a yellow robe over her hospital gown. Her dark blue eyes were on his, but she looked away soon after.

"Emera, let's go," she said as she bent down. Her soft voice reached the Draeling and she broke away from her friends. She then ran in to her Draeyer's open arms, but not before growling something at the triplets and Alec. The young man only assumed it meant something along the lines of "see you later." Areisha cradled her, and they walked off to the opposite direction.

"Come on you three, it's time to go back," he said. Entiny flew up to his shoulder while her brothers chose to walk on either of his sides as always. As they strode through the garden, he couldn't stop himself from looking over his shoulder.

When he did, he caught Areisha looking over her shoulder at him as well. They held gazes for a while, as if trying to read what the other was feeling and thinking. Eventually, they had to rip their gaze from each other.

"I don't know whether that was awkward or not," he said, and rubbed Entiny's silver head.

####

Finally! Our Christmas Break has begun so expect updates more often until January.