the seer and the warlock

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STORYBROOKE
[PRESENT]

The alarm rang to wake up Alex, but the boy was a heavy sleeper that the alarm woke up Quentin first. The youngest boy in the room had his head sprang up, startled by the sound as he barely lifted his eyes, he dug his head under his pillow, pressed the pillow against his ears and infuriated by the noise.

"Alex!" The boy muffled through his pillow, "Alex, get your stupid clock!"

Alex wasn't responding, it has been a long night for the boy, and it was merely another sleepless night for him. A peevish Quentin pulled his pillow down, squirmed to the edge of his bed, his hand reached to the nightstand and pounded his fist on the snooze button. He read the clock and it's seven in the morning.

Quentin sighed sharply, knowing that he has to get up and get ready for school. He rubbed his itchy and tired eyes before leaving his bed. "Alex, get up" he mumbled, he grabbed Alex's shoulder and shook. "Alex, come on" Quentin went over to his drawers to pick his clothes.

When Quentin left the room, Alex opened his eyes to see the morning light filling the entire second floor, the light shone from the large windows in the main floor, the smell of cooked bacon reached to the upper floor where Alex was and made his hunger to increase. Alex saw Quentin disappearing as he walked down the stairs.

"Good morning" Jamie was heard greeting.

"Morning" Quentin murmured.

It's never really important to get up and go to work with Jamie while Quentin goes to school. Because there's hardly anyone in town who needs their vehicle fixed, at least just once in a week and a few vehicles that need washing every day. But the only people that work in the shop is Jamie and Alex, and of course, Quentin. When Quentin gets out of school, he comes straight to shop to help them.

          After Alex changed to cleaner clothes, he went down the spiral staircase that leads between the living room and kitchen. The loft had two rooms, the upper level was the entire room where Alex and Quentin shared, beneath the upper floor was the private bedroom where Jamie sleeps, it's small and next to his room is the bathroom. Also, there was the exit of the loft just beneath the upper floor. The kitchen and the living room shared the rest of the loft, kitchen on the right side and living room on the left side.

          "I'm dropping off Quentin," Jamie said, as Alex sat down on a stool to eat breakfast, "you're opening up the shop"

          Alex responded with a nod, he grabbed the jug of orange juice and poured it into an empty cup. Alex was always the quiet one within the trio, he was somehow the odd one who always looks so glum and look like he's on the brink of letting out his temper.

Jamie, sitting across the table from Alex, the oldest boy stared with concern on his look as he noticed the young boy's bags under his eyes and the redness in his eyes. "Trouble sleeping again?"

"It's not a big deal, Jamie" Alex muttered, he split his omelet into small pieces with his fork.

"This has been happening almost every night, I can't keep letting you sleep on the job every day"

"I won't fall asleep again, all right?"

"You said that last time" Jamie reminded, with a slight attitude in tone. "Be honest with me, what's troubling you at night?"

Alex met Jamie's glance then responded with a shrug. He glanced back down at his breakfast.

"You could always go to Dr. Hopper" Jamie implied.

"I don't need a therapy" Alex frowned.

"Are you sure about that?" Jamie continually stared at Alex, "You scare Quentin sometimes, did you know that? He hears you having nightmares"

With the click from the bathroom door, unlocking, Alex and Jamie went silent, Quentin came out of the bathroom. The boy's curly hair wet from his shower, wearing his school uniform and came to join the table.

Alex doesn't even remember when his nightmares started or when he began having trouble sleeping. Only because he's afraid of sleeping and have these terrible dreams. The dreams or nightmares are the strangest, sometimes they're awful, and sometimes they're quiet and calm.

The nightmares involve with someone dying, or a person dies in front of him. The nightmares are sometimes where he's lonely, he's alone in the dark like he has no one, a place where no one is alive but himself. The nightmares sometimes have children crying who longed for love and care and screaming from agony. He dreams of a shadow watching him, sometimes he can't tell if the shadow is actually there in his room, or if he can't tell if he's awake or dreaming of that shadow.

Then there are the strangest dreams, he dreams of a green boy. Alex can't tell who this boy is and he never saw him before in his life or he can't recall if he ever met him. There is truly something about that boy in his dreams, he can't be dreaming the same boy over and over, a boy who he never even met, but somehow appears in his dreams, as if this boy is trying to tell Alex that he's real and actually alive somewhere.

Another strange dream is where a light appearing in the middle of the town of Storybrooke that is covered in darkness. This purple and grey clouds or smoke covering the entire town and somehow this light is slowly conquering the darkness. Then there's the clock, the clock tower of Storybrooke that he sees every day when he goes to Granny's, the clock that never moves or ticks, but in his dreams, it moves and starts ticking when this light comes.

For the quiet and calm dreams are the nice ones. In those dreams, he plays with children in the woods, all of them laughing and smiling. Even Jamie and Quentin are in those nice dreams. And that green boy. There are times where Alex finds himself standing with that boy in the middle of an island, both standing on the top of a mountain like they were both kings in the world. It's all quiet and oddly peaceful.

This is why Alex can't tell anyone about these dreams, they sound like they're from out of a fantasy film or a story they've seen or read. He was afraid that Jamie and Quentin will think he's crazy or he's some child with a fantasy imagination who needs to grow up. There are times where he wanted to tell Jamie and Quentin about them, but Jamie is practically the adult even though he's still an older teen, and Quentin, who's the youngest but somehow smarter than Alex. It's maybe because Quentin goes to school and Alex does not.

When it's eight o'clock, Alex left the loft to open the shop while Jamie and Quentin stay. Usually, when either Alex or Jamie stay in the loft, they drop off Quentin to school around eight-thirty. The shop was merely a few blocks away and they walk there from the loft most of the time.

Alex arrived at the shop, going through the front door, turned over the OPEN sign from the CLOSED side that was hanging from the main window. He went to the garage to open it, he went to the side of the large slide door, clicked the green button and the garage's door began to slide open upwards.

          As the door reached over Alex, there's a little boy standing on the sidewalk in front of the shop, the little dark brown haired boy, wearing his school uniform, exchanging a little smile for Alex, and the boy had a large book around his arms against his chest.

          Alex raised his brows in question, "Can I help you, Henry?"

          And the kid's name is Henry Mills and he's the mayor's kid. "Nothing, really" The kid shook his head lightly, "I'm just passing by"

          "All right, goodbye then" Alex gave a weak wave.

          "Bye" Henry smiled then proceeded to walk down the street to the left.

          Alex thought that kid was being weird, he stepped to the sidewalk and watched the kid walking away. Henry opened the large book before shifting his glance over his shoulder and met Alex's glance. The kid still had that smile, smiling like he was proud of himself or as if he just learned a great news.

✧ ✧ ✧

ENCHANTED FOREST
[ PAST ]

          Corvus woke up from a dream, it's the same one he's been having for weeks now and he knew it's going to come true soon.

          "Everything all right, Corvus?" His friend, William asked, he was sitting ahead, just across the fire, the fire crackled and danced between the two boys.

          "Yes, I am" Corvus assured him, he pushed himself to sit up then pulled himself back until his back pressed against a tree trunk.

Dawn was breaking, it is still early, the morning was crisp as the moss, the bushes, the dirt was all in frost, hinting winter could be near. They're about to pass the second season since Corvus and William began their journey once again, leaving town to town until they find a home that is right for them.

"Are we near?" William asked about a home they've been looking for.

"Possibly" Corvus was still not sure but the home he's been seeing felt it was still far away. He still hasn't told William where this home they've been searching for is, because Corvus saw this home is surrounded by a long sea and they may need to travel across the seas as well to find this place.

          "Well, let's replenish before we move along" William walked over to the fire and grabbed the meat that's been hanging over the fire for a while to cook. "We should reach the next town tonight"

"Maybe you could get us horses this time" Corvus hoped, he was tired of walking, his feet blistering the end of the day when he rests, they've walked up and down over the large hills for days and little climbing on the mountains just for a shortcut.

"I'll try this time, I promise" William cut the meat in half, one for himself and the other for Corvus.

"You said that last time" Corvus frowned, looked at William as he came over to give him the meat, using a leaf as a plate.

"We just can't afford to buy even just one horse," William told him, he walked back to his spot and grabbed his plate.

"You're a warlock" Corvus reminded him. "You particularly can do anything"

          "It doesn't mean I can summon a horse anytime or make a horse out of a dust, Corvus" William gave the boy a strange look.

          "You will eventually" Corvus assured, "as you grow, your magic grows more and powerful. I saw you in my dreams casting a much more powerful magic"

          "I believe you, Corvus" William frowned then ate his breakfast. There are times where he's tired of hearing Corvus speaking of William's future, like as if William never knew but he has already known since he was a little child.

          William remembers his mother clearly but not his father. He remembers how little he was to watch his mother's life being taken away by an illness before his mentor took him under his care. His mentor only had a few more years until the old age got him before he died, he told William to find Corvus's father and that's when William found the boy and his father. Does he think about his father? Yes, he has, almost every day and wondering if his father is still alive. He doesn't even know him, what he looks like or his name. William has guessed that he inherited the magic from his father but he has no idea who his father is.

After the duo broke their fast, they moved along and followed the trail. As the sun rose up higher and higher, the morning grew warmer and the frost has melted away. The ground, the mud became watery that William and Corvus had to walk on the side of the trail where there's not mud. Walking through the open fields, through the forests as the day was slowly passing, they took long breaks to rest and replenish again.

               When the dusk broke the sky, covering it with its marvelous evening colors, the air grew briskly as the sun is about to settle soon to rest.

          "We've come a very long way, have we, William?" Corvus was admiring the sky's colors, "We've come to cross a lot of wild adventures"

          "Sure" William muttered, he has to admit, it has been truly a long journey with a few wild adventures.

          "This is the story that we should tell the grandchildren, you know? Just two young boys, one is a seer and the other is a warlock, trying to find a home and all. It'll make a great children's book, don't you think?"

          "Perhaps" William shrugged a shoulder. "So you'll have grandchildren of your own then?" William took a quick glance over his shoulder at Corvus as he kept walking.

         "I have to... when I grow up" Corvus didn't sound happy. The idea and to think of his future, about having children didn't sound a lot like him. He doesn't really like that, or maybe he's just too young to think about stuff like that. "Who am I going to pass on this gift if I don't?"

          William halted and turned around. "Your father said you don't have to, remember? It is your choice to decide whether you want to or not"

          Corvus furrowed his brows, "If I don't have to, then this gift dies with me"

          William shrugged, "Consider it as an honor than" he turned around and proceeded walking.

          "Maybe I should stop prefer it as a gift and consider it as a curse" Corvus mumbled. "If its a curse then it has to die. If it's a gift then it has to live on"

          They were walking on a hill, towards the top, unable to see the sun until they reach the top. When they reached the top, to the boys' surprise, they can see the town and by the town was the large sea. It's possibly the biggest town they've seen so far in this kingdom.

          "Oh, it's closer than I thought" William smiled.

          The sea is what Corvus all thought of. He can see ships in the sea, large ships and maybe they'll get lucky they'll get in one of those to find the place they've been looking for. Perhaps they're getting close of finding it.

          Neverland is what Corvus is looking for. But this isn't Neverland. We're getting close.

*****

Give it a couple more chapters until Peter Pan comes into the picture, all right? :)