So... I've given Skulduggery a break from the angst stick, but now I have stick lying around with nothing to do with it... What if I started beating Omen with the stick?

Omen Darkly took every opportunity to get away from the lousy Sanctuary funded housing and his ungrateful mother. The floorboards creaked, the plumbing reeked, and the roof leaked. Come to think of it, that was probably why his bedsheets were constantly damp and mouldy. He knew he could have had the bigger, cleaner room, the room planned for Auger, but it hurt too much just being in there. After the prophecy had been fulfilled and the Darkly's were no longer needed, society had cast them to the side with as much regard as one would spare an empty can, leaving them bankrupt. None of them even cared that their saviour had passed away from injuries just weeks after defeating the Unnamed. Omen nervously gnashed his teeth, as he once again moved to open the blistered and distained mockery of a door that would inevitably open the 'doorway', so to speak, for his mother's incessant intolerance. Now that his brother was gone, she seemed somewhat paranoid with his whereabouts, which he hoped was her caring but knew better. All his brother's responsibilities and roles had been forced onto him, the backup child, making him bare the weight of the world on his shoulders. He paused before the tarnished doorknob, the uncertainty of his mother's reaction to the news he brought opened his insecurities like a fresh wound. His apprehension in this task had eagerly tailed him like a lost puppy during his heavily procrastinated walk back from school. Just as an icy gust blew through the grimy street, sending the withered autumn leaves crunching, Omen felt his resolve harden and he pushed open the door. As he stepped into the stifling threshold, the change of air was immediate; the slightly smog-tainted yet refreshing autumn air melded into a musty and unpleasant draught that became nearly suffocating when the door slammed shut behind him.

"Where have you been?" Emmeline Darkly demanded with a semblance of restraint that failed to mask the irritability in her tone. "School ended an hour ago!" Omen took a deep breath and clenched his fists, preparing himself to take this risk. He raised his head and met his mother's animosity filled glare.

"I've been offered a place in a government funded overseas study program," he said it calmly, consciously suppressing his instinct to blurt it out. His mother was hypocritically vexed whenever he was inarticulate, a habit that was beaten out of him at a young age but still attempted to rear its ugly head. Mother Darkly narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"Why you? It's not like you've ever been a model student." Omen felt a pang of irritation and hurt and the jab. That was wholly untrue, despite the assumptions surrounding his circumstances, he made decent grades recently, due to effort, ingenuity, and sheer dumb luck. His mother would know that if she bothered to pay attention to what happened in his life, rather than gambling away what little money they had to try and buy back favour, as soon as it entered her possession. Didn't anyone ever teach her that you couldn't buy friends?

"A handful of students in my biology class were granted a scholarship into Pinto University for a degree in Biology!" Omen's dissipating apprehension began to seep back in once he caught wind of his mother's unimpressed and ignorant expression. She crossed her arms.

"So that's it? After all this family has done for you, you are going to leave me here, in poverty to do everything myself, to go off to some mortal university!?" Omen frowned. That is not what he was trying to say! And there was nothing wrong with mortals! He was sick of the pointless stigma that had built up around them in sorcerer communities. At least he was happy in the mortal world. Didn't she want him to be happy? "Well, I won't have any of it! You're not going to go on some risky trip for biscuits to get a pointless degree in pyrology!"

"It's biology," Omen meekly whispered, to himself rather than his fuming mother.

"Same thing! You are not going to go get some sparkly diploma! I need someone to cook and shop and-" Omen zoned her out, finally growing tired of his parents' years of dominance and neglect. The only useful thing she had done was make his choice a lot easier. He had nothing left in Roarhaven worth staying for. Never had vanished and Auger was... He made for the exit. A hot stubby hand wrapped around his wrist. "Where do you think you're going!?"

Omen coolly looked back at her, twisting his wrist, and breaking her grasp. "Goodbye mother."

"If you walk out that door, I'll-" Omen spun around, eyes flickering with anger on his expressionless face.

"You'll what? You can't make my life more miserable than it already is."

"You'll never be welcome here again."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." He walked out the house and closed the door, not giving her the satisfaction of seeing him break down. Sharp, fast breaths entered his trembling body as the risk and weight of his decision finally bore down on him. He'd broken his promise. Omen ran off, a ball of anxiety and hurt, wondering where he was going to live until for the next week.

---

The aeroplane seat was warm against Omen's back. He jitterily leafed through the smooth, shiny pages of the passport the school had provided him with. He had never actually had, let alone touched, a passport before. If he was out of country it was usually because he was kidnapped or Never teleported them there, Auger was the one that usually did all the travelling. He closed his eyes, trying to clear his head of those memories, not wanting another flashback. He settled on distracting himself by taking a moment to admire the burgundy red and gold embossed cover of his passport, and the shiny harp printed in its centre. Just looking at it filled him with exhilaration and anticipation for his new start as biology major.

"Are you OK?" He realised the girl sitting next to him was looking mighty concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine," he replied, unable to stop the massive grin that split his face.

"It just that you keep going from wonder to pain to anxiety to excitement, which is odd to begin with, but is quite troubling to witness at the pace you're managing to do it."

"Oh, yes." Omen let out a nervous chuckle. "I've never been on a plane before, or owned a passport, and I can't wait to get to Pinto University! These passports are really beautiful, aren't they?"

She smiled. "I guess. They evoke less pleasant feelings for me though, since I don't exactly enjoy plane rides. They make me feel nauseous." He extended his hand in a friendly manner.

"My name is Omen." The golden-haired girl shook his hand.

"Aurelia."

---

The walls felt like they were closing in on him, a sheen of sweat and panic blurring the muffled world. He hyperventilated, hunched over his desk pupils dilated. No, no, no, no, no, no! He faintly saw Aurelia, his flatmate, look up at him in concern before he lost grip of his mind a slipped into another flashback.

"Hey, Omen..." Auger sadly smiled from his hospital bed, taking Omen's trembling hand into his own unnaturally thin one, giving it a comforting yet worryingly weak squeeze. Tears pricked at Omen's eyes, rolling down his cheeks in hot, salty mess. "I'm so proud of you. You've done so much, got through... so much. You're so brave Omen." Auger's eyes fluttered tiredly. Omen gripped his hand harder.

"No, Auger, please!"

Auger gave an ironic, mirthless laugh. "It's funny... isn't it? I'm supposed... supposed to be the fearless, unstoppable hero... but... I'm not." He took a deep breath, eyes becoming moist. "Omen, I'm scared. I'm so... so scared...I just wanted to say goodbye to someone..." Auger gasped and he felt his hand begin to slip out of his grip. Omen grabbed Auger's clammy palm and sternly looked him in the eyes.

"You're not dying on me!" Omen heard his voice crack but didn't care. All that mattered was that Auger pulled through this. He had to, he always pulled through! Auger stared back with glassy, rapidly clouding eyes.

"I guess... I guess I do get to... to say goodbye to someone..."

"Don't say that! You're going to be fine! You're always fine!"

"Don't... don't have that prophecy to protect me anymore..." Omen felt the snot running from his nose and he pulled the thin frame of his brother forwards hugging him tightly.

"I'm not- I'm not letting you go,' the words chocking in his throat, felt like acid to whatever regulated his emotions. Auger leaned forwards and whispered into Omen's ear.

"Promise me... promise me you'll stay strong and- and be there for Mum and Dad... promise you'll stay strong... strong for me..." Omen scrunched his eyes shut, pulling Auger in closer and tighter.

"I promise." Those words seemed to lift a weight off Auger's shoulders, and he smiled, sighing a final breath of relief before going limp in Omen's arms. A single long beep filled Auger's room and the hospital staff rushed in, dragging Omen away from Auger's body. The droning note was still the only thing he could hear sitting on his damp bed, numb with hurt and shock. Just... numb. He stood up, trying to collect his emotions and smile. He had to be strong... for Auger.

The world began to fade back in to focus, two warm, comforting hands gripping his shoulders, and a voice. Omen couldn't make out the words but there was no mistaking their tone of concern. They felt familiar. Comforting. They embraced him firmly and he stiffed before melting into the hug. They rubbed circles on his back.

"Hey, Omen... everything is going to be alright." He felt a spark of hope flare inside him.

"Auger?" He asked, voice incredibly hopeful. He looked up at the tear-blurred silhouette, childlike eyes glimmering with opportunity. Their outline began to fill in and Omen's hopes hung themselves.

"No... no, I'm not Auger. It's me. Aurelia," she whispered comfortingly as her best friend gave out a heart wrenching wail and clung onto her. "Hey, it's OK." They stayed like for 20 minutes before Omen looked up at her, the faraway look in his eyes were gone, and he smiled gratefully.

"Thanks Aurelia. You're- you're a good friend," his voice sounded pained but earnest. She smiled back at him and put some distance between them.

"What was that? Do you... do you want to talk about it?" She bit her lip, stopping from asking who 'Auger' was. She didn't want to overwhelm him. Omen slightly averted his gaze and looked down at the floor. He felt Aurelia's soft, comforting hand on his arm again. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's OK. Don't push yourself."

"No, no. I should talk about it. It's not good to just... just brood or bottle it up." He steeled himself. He hadn't talked about what happened since Auger's death. "I had a flashback. A flashback to when my brother died, Auger. I'd been watching him grow weaker the past few weeks, and then- then he died." It felt weird saying it out loud. Made it more real.

"Oh, Omen. I'm so so sorry." She sounded more sincere than anyone he'd heard from in a long time.

"He made me promise him something with his dying breath, and I- I broke that promise." He sniffed and wiped the tears and snot from his face with the corner of his sleeve. "I think I'm going to take a break from my assignment for tonight." He stood up and pushed his chair in. "Thank you."

---

Omen and Aurelia made fast friends and had been studying at Pinto University for quite a while now. They were both holed up in the library working on their respective papers. Omen ran his fingers through his hair in stress, unable to find the right words to summarise his theory and research on the biology of primitive man and corresponding to height. He envied Aurelia's choice to specialise in waterfowl. Surely geese were easier than this. He sighed, and typed out a few tester sentences, knowing that he only had to apply himself just a bit longer before his risk of coming here would finally pay off. Now that he thought of it, he had taken a lot of risks to get to this point. His risk of telling his mother he was leaving, actually leaving, studying in an unfamiliar country, and picking as hard a topic as he had for his paper.

"Hey Omen," came the strained voice of Aurelia. "Could you pass me the pencil?"

"Sure."

---

It was a week after graduation, and Omen was drinking in his last sights of Pinto University before he returned to the airport for the inevitable flight back to Dublin. He felt himself getting slightly emotional. Pinto University had been like a home to him the past few years, and he never really thought the day he would be leaving its halls with a doctorate and paper in hand would arrive. He knew it was only a building, but he was going to miss it.

"Omen! Omen!" He heard an out of breath shout reach him, and he grinned, recognising the voice of the only person who could shake him out of one of his internal monologues. He turned around and amusedly watched her run up to him, a newspaper clutched in hand. Aurelia gripped his shoulders and vigorously shook him. "Omen! You're famous!" She shoved the newspaper into his face, sporting a grin to rival the Cheshire Cat. Omen snatched the report and skimmed the text, seeing that indeed, he was famous. Not only that, he was going to receive money. "Your paper, it was a hit, or to quote, 'An ingenious advancement in biology that was most surprising having come from a university student.' Omen, you know what this means!?"

"No?"

"You can stay here with me! You don't need to go back to Dublin, I know you've been dreading it since you were moping ever since we graduated." He felt lightheaded and giddy. His work was a success, his risks paid off, and most importantly, he could continue doing what he loved, where he loved!

---

Moral: Even the most daunting risks can reap excellent rewards.

... have a feel good story? I'm feeling generous today, despite this boring me to no end. I found a mistake in here that I don't care to fix: Omen's mother actually cares about his whereabouts. Also, would you believe that this was originally a modern rewrite I did of Jack and The Beanstalk called: Jack and the Government Housing? I somehow fleshed it out and changed a lot of details. Aurelia was the golden goose; her name means golden. Omen was Jack and moving to London to study was symbolic of Jack's journey up the beanstalk. Jack's paper's content was the giant.

I wrote this because Omen darkly deserves better.